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FBI Grapples with Fallout from Massive Data Breach; FBI Operating Under Assumption Hackers Stole Data on All Employees; Speaker Johnson Makes Comments After AI Execs Meeting at White House; Trump Speaks After Meeting with AI Execs at White House; Caleb Flynn Convicted of Aggravated Murder in Slaying of His Wife Ashley. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 29, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: A week after a cyber criminal group claimed to steal sensitive personal data on thousands of current and former FBI employees, the bureau is still assessing the extent of the damage while facing internal criticism about how it's handling the incident. The issue began a week ago when hackers broke into an online portal hosting information on FBI job applicants. Social security numbers, emergency contact information and addresses were believed stolen in the data.

[15:35:00]

We're joined now by Andrew McCabe. He's a former FBI deputy director and CNN senior law enforcement analyst. Andy, this is really concerning here.

What's the exposure of the FBI in terms of national security from this breach and also just to the individuals who may have been exposed here?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Yes, Brianna, the exposure of the FBI and its work in this breach is massive. And it is the type of exposure that can create vulnerabilities, not just today or this week while we're all focused on this problem, but for years and years and years into the future. And I'm referring specifically to the type of information that has allegedly been compromised, which is not just personally identifying information, which in and of itself is bad enough, but also information relating to the assignments that some of these FBI personnel have.

So the adversary knows not just who you are, but they may know that you're working very sensitive counterintelligence matters, you know, for about Russia or China or Iran. They might know that you're working terrorism matters. And all of that very detailed information enables a nation state actor.

If this information ends up in those hands to use that information, to target FBI personnel specifically for the purposes of recruiting them or undermining their work. So this is really goes far beyond today's headlines. KEILAR: So how should the FBI be handling this internally? Because you have some employees who have felt that they're in the dark. They don't know if they're affected.

They're underwhelmed by the security resources being offered to victims. That's according to current and former officials. What should the FBI be doing?

MCCABE: Yes, so there's no question that number one on the director's list of priorities right now must be communicating to the FBI workforce. I remember this from my own experiences of trying to lead the organization in a time of great crisis. Every minute that FBI people are worried about their personally identifying information or their spouses or children being identified in this group.

That's another minute that they're not focused on the very important, lifesaving work that they do every day. So the director's got to get out there. He's got to be present.

He's got to be interacting with employees across the field offices and headquarters and addressing some of these matters. You don't necessarily have to have the answer for every question in the first week, but you have to at least convey that you are prioritizing them and their family's security and let them know the sort of steps that you're taking to get your hands around this problem.

KEILAR: All right, Andy, thank you so much for that. We're going to have to leave it there. Unfortunately, we need to go straight to the White House where Speaker Mike Johnson, who was in that AI summit where you had AI CEOs and founders meeting with the president at a summit today. They are speaking right now just outside of the White House. Let's pick it up from just moments ago at the top of the comments.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Never before had all of these folks been assembled in the same room. And I want to thank President Donald J. Trump, who is the only person on the planet who could have assembled this meeting today and held it here.

And it was very timely and appropriate. What was discussed today could be summarized in this way. We have to strike the right balance here, the balance between the interests of the American people and benefiting from the extraordinary advancements that are being made with this new technology, with the necessity of maintaining our edge over China and any other competitors that might emerge around the globe, and that the superintelligence companies ensure the safety of the products that they are producing.

They are fiercely dedicated to that. And that was articulated very well today in the meeting. Safety and innovation are not mutually exclusive pursuits.

Everyone around the table nodded in agreement and said it in their own words in their own way. But we can do both of these things. In fact, it was noted that when innovation continues, safety innovation continues as well.

That's a big part of this. The superintelligence providers are committed to building trust as they help us build the future. And they can and will do that.

And they're ready to put their names on the line to agree to that very commitment. They express their desire to take accountability and ownership. And we have just formally signed a new document that you'll all be seeing circulated today.

It is entitled The White House Accord on Superintelligence, a Joint Commitment on Frontier SI Responsibilities. This is a statement of principles that you'll see, a statement of standards, commitments that are voluntary on behalf of the industry. It sets forth expectations.

It's in short summary, robust internal controls and layers of internal and external review. That's important because you need people to be providing oversight and transparency. And that's what these leaders are going to do.

[15:40:00]

The White House and Congress will continue to guide the industry's development in a safe manner because we owe that to the American people. And we will do it. Congress is going to keep steady hands at the wheel on this.

It will continue to assess and further deliberate in the days ahead. This technology is advancing quickly, and that is an exciting thing. We've talked about advancements in medical technology and in every facet of our work and in our culture and society in very positive ways.

But we can do innovation. We can keep America's edge over our competitors. And we do that in a safe way.

And everyone here will have their hands on the wheel to ensure that that happens. That's from the president, the United States leadership in Congress and from the industry leaders standing behind me. So I want to thank these leaders again for being here, for committing their time and for doing what they're doing to make sure America remains the great superpower on the planet.

Thank you all so much.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: So we are watching their House Speaker, Mike Johnson. And there is President Trump, who appeared moments ago. This is actually live.

Let's listen in.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I love our country and love the world more than love. No, it requires this and the smartest people in the world. And we had a great meeting today, every one of them.

We had a great, really a great, great meeting. It was something very, very special. We had the top.

I'd say it looked like a group of about 40, but whatever it was, here's one of them right here, Jensen and NVIDIA. And they love our country. They love the world.

And they came together and they did something that few people really -- it's almost like a constitution in a way. And the biggest people in the world signed that.

And I signed it as President. And it really is a form of protection.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, who should be held accountable when the AI agents committed a crime?

TRUMP: It's not AI, it's SI. That's the other thing. We've changed the name officially today. We've changed the name, Steve, officially to SI OK, SI like SI, SI instead of AI You know, that means superintelligence. So the name, I guess that's really quite an announcement because -- but the name has been officially changed by the biggest, the smartest, the greatest people anywhere in the world at this. And I was with President Xi a few days ago and he would admit he said these are the smartest people in the world at what they do.

And it's a big -- it's a big thing. But it's been officially changed to superintelligence or SI

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, it's more than about a name, is it?

TRUMP: Yes, go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this accord that everybody signed, is it binding in any way?

TRUMP: I think it's morally binding, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, what could a bad actor do with this technology? From what you hear from your intelligence?

TRUMP: Well, I tell you, a good actor can do tremendous in terms of medical. It's already taking place. We're they're finding solutions to problems that they've never thought even possible.

And they're coming up with medical solutions that are incredible. A lot of other things, very positive. And a bad actor is going to get caught.

And that's why we have the DOJ. That's why we have the FBI. That's why we have the CIA.

A bad actor is going to get caught. But the -- what they signed today means something very, you know, we had the biggest that was that was a who's who. I don't know if that's ever going to be assembled again, but that was a who's who of that world.

And I think it's a very special day. You know, they almost viewed it as a separate kind of a constitution. And I think they when they signed that, it meant a lot.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, did anything that you heard today, did anything change your mind, given the fact that you said you don't want to see guardrails, you don't want to see AI slowdown? Anything that you heard today change your mind on that?

TRUMP: Well, I think I'm seeing tremendous self-policing, and they understand that they have to self-police. And it's very hard for somebody to come outside, get into these. These models are very complex.

And again, I believe they're going to be used for the good. And when they're not, we're going to be able to nab them. But there's going to be a tremendous self-policing aspect.

We're also thinking about forming a committee of sorts where we put maybe 10 people on that committee. It could be from that group so that we can -- so the committee can watch over the whole enterprise.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You've also indicated that Democrats are talking about concerns about as a hoax. Do you believe that after meeting with all these AI executives?

TRUMP: Yes, I do. I think they would love to see it shut down, just like it was a hoax, the 12 years for global warming, which they trained to change right now to climate change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though Bill Gates says that I could kill up to a billion.

TRUMP: Well, now he's not saying that anymore.

[15:45:00]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He said that this Sunday.

TRUMP: Well, I don't care what he said Sunday, because I can tell you yesterday, he didn't say that at all.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, Mr. President, a lot of people are coming in --

TRUMP: He actually went the opposite. But look, it's one voice. He actually went the opposite.

No, we're looking at this for good. It's also maybe the biggest industry. They say bigger than the Industrial Revolution. Think of it.

You know what? We're leading by a lot and we're going to keep it that way.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're someone who always talks about growth when speaking of this. After this meeting, meeting with all these incredible minds, how much growth can we see in the upcoming years with all of your -- TRUMP: Growth like nobody's ever seen before. And I see it with these statements. Statements came out. You open a company and if it does reasonably well, it goes a little bit like this.

These companies are opening and going like a rocket ship. This is unbelievable growth for our country. And we have all of them.

In all due respect, Europe has none. They have none. You have to count on us to help.

But we have all of them. And it's amazing. Second is China.

But as President XI would say, you know, they're quite a ways back and we have to keep it that way. Remember this, whoever wins SI, because now we're calling it again. Super.

We're using the word super because the other word is a fake word. It's just not a -- it's not a good -- it's not an appropriate word. Whoever wins SI is going to win.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I mean, what do you tell Americans, sir, about data community -- data centers going up in their community?

TRUMP: Well, that's another thing we discussed. And I think the companies will be very generous to them, both financially and otherwise. I think they'll help with their schools, they'll help with their teachers, they'll help with pay of the teachers and the people that are good to them.

And I see that happening. And I think the companies will be very generous to these communities. And if you look at most -- for almost in all cases, the data centers have tremendously have the money bring brought in.

Their taxes have gone down. Their incomes have gone up. The value of their housing has gone up.

But I think that the companies -- and here's one of the greatest in the world. There's two of the greatest in the world. They're going to be very generous with communities.

And I think in a way, they're going to be forming partnerships with communities when they open up data centers. And they're going to benefit both financially, morally, every single way they're going to be benefiting. And I think that's taking place.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What is the importance of superintelligence in the next 10 years?

TRUMP: What's the biggest thing there is? And nobody even can answer that question because it is the biggest thing there is. Maybe the biggest thing there's ever been.

It's much bigger than the internet. Now, that's already been proved. The internet was the big thing when it happened. This blows it away. I think Jen said, would you say, would you say something about that? JENSEN HUANG, CEO, NVIDIA: Yes, sir. Absolutely. Well, this is this is the largest industrial revolution in history.

And we're going through the single largest infrastructure buildout in human history. And so it's creating a million jobs here in the United States. We have chip plants coming up, computer plants coming up, we have factories coming up.

And so it's creating just an enormous amount of jobs. On top of this infrastructure, several hundred billion dollars of venture capital has gone into creating new companies. And all of those 10 -- those thousands of companies are creating lots and lots of jobs.

TRUMP: And so do you think as an example, NVIDIA. So he's still a young guy, handsome guy. Look at him. He's a very handsome guy, he is.

But as an example, in a fairly short period of time, he's built, I think, the most valuable, right, in the stock market. And it's very easy to value -- the most valuable company anywhere in the world. And it's basically new technology.

It's not oil and gas and all the other things that you associate with also a lot of money. It's technology. And this man has done a great job.

That man right there has done a great job. You know what he's doing, too? Same thing.

And Greg, do you have anything to say?

GREG BROCKMAN, CO-FOUNDER, PRESIDENT, OPENAI: So we build artificial intelligence --

TRUMP: This is open AI.

BROCKMAN: Thank you, Mr. President. We build artificial intelligence to benefit everyone. We take a run up. We see a whole renaissance of small businesses, scientific discoveries really starting to happen, drug development, really being able to improve everyone's lives.

And we think that these accords and under President Trump's leadership, everyone coming together to agree on how to move forward safely. I think that's just so important because we're doing this in order to benefit people and the world.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So do you agree with the president? Do you all agree with the president that no guardrails are necessary, that you can self-regulate and that this existential threat that you've all talked about can actually be managed? That's a question for you all, actually.

I don't know who to focus.

TRUMP: Well, I mean, I can tell you the answer is yes. So we discussed it with the top about 40 people. But somebody who answered it very well is Jensen. He answered it before. Jensen, go ahead.

HUANG: There's no conflict between innovation, technology and safety.

[15:50:00]

We are going to have to create new technologies to advance the capabilities of AI, but we're also creating new technologies that advance the safety of AI. All of this technology is being developed by the industry today. And you see behind me just an incredible number of leaders in our industry moving together as one.

And we're going to we're going to advance this technology that is so consequential to humanity, so consequential to the future prosperity of our nation. We're going to do it responsibly and safely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, are you concerned at all that your continued support of data centers could hurt Republicans in the midterms?

TRUMP: I just have to do what's right. All I can tell you is that these big, powerful, very rich, very smart companies are going to be making massive contributions to communities, individual people within the community. And it's going to be really partnership.

We talked about it. They're going to be forming partnerships with communities. They're going to have something that people don't understand, and they're going to let them understand it.

But they're going to form partnerships within the communities. That's going to be so good for the people.

JOHNSON: And as you're talking about that, our candidates for Congress right now, the Republicans in the House, our candidates and our incumbents are out in their communities right now, as we speak, communicating on this. They're saying we cannot lose the race to China, we cannot lose America's edge because it's important for every American worker, every American family, for their safety, security, the future of the economy. So but it has to be a balance.

You have to take the community concerns in hand. That's what all of these folks agree to. That's what the president articulated in the room today, that you have to heed those concerns and you have to make commitments to them just as they're making as an industry.

They will make it to the local communities. For example, we just codified about three weeks ago in the House -- we passed with almost no dissenting votes -- the Ratepayer Protection Act.

That is a codification of President Trump's ratepayer protection pledge. They're guaranteeing that when they need energy resources for these AI infrastructure, superintelligence infrastructure systems, that they will produce it themselves. They will put power back onto the grid in most cases.

They're going to take care of the local communities. Trust is earned. It's not automatic.

And they understand that they're earning the trust.

TRUMP: So what Mike is saying, that means financially as well. You know, in Louisiana, you probably heard they're having a big trouble, big problem with teacher pay, etc, etc. A company went in -- I believe it's Meta, in this case. And they're paying every teacher virtually in that either area or actually far beyond that area --

JOHNSON: Richland Parish.

TRUMP: They're paying every single teacher over $50,000 a piece. This is more money than they've ever seen.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, are you worried about the AI enforcement, Mr. President, to the FBI and the DOJ, as you suggested? Isn't it too late then to prevent any damage?

TRUMP: No, I think we're going to have it very well assessed. And we also remember this. We have the smartest people in the world watching over each other.

And we've done that. You had the smartest people. Look, I guess you could say different industries.

But these are seriously high IQ people. You know, we used to deal with a lot of low IQ. These are seriously high IQ people, and they're really watching over each other.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the comment, you mentioned that you have all found some common ground, but the leaders standing behind you have had some very serious concerns about AI. Even after meeting with them today, you are still calling this a hoax. So why should the American people take your word for this?

TRUMP: It's not a hoax. It's a very serious. That's why I changed the name.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

TRUMP: A hoax sounds like, you know, when you're using the former name, but this name is now super intelligent.

That's not a hoax. In fact, it's the exact opposite. What I am calling a hoax is what the Democrats do because they don't want to see it be successful because they think that's bad for Republicans, OK. So they don't want to see this tremendous surge of growth.

We have growth. And by the way, we have a lot of car factories opening. We have all the medical companies, all the pharmaceutical companies. Pfizer just announced. Merck just announced.

They're all announcing everyone. They're all building massive plans, not just the SI. But what has happened and what's taking place right now is we have a level of growth that no country has ever seen before. We're going to have jobs like nobody's ever seen before. And, you know, the numbers just came out. We have now the best poverty numbers, meaning the lowest number in terms of poverty, the best poverty numbers we've ever had. We have the best individual income numbers in the history of our country.

We have the best crime numbers. We have the best crime numbers in the history of our country. And that's despite allowing 25 million people into our country through an open border of the Biden policy that could have destroyed the country.

And we got the murderers out, large numbers. We're getting the rest of them out. We've done a great job.

[15:55:00]

We have the most successful country in history. A piece of it is this is not all of it, because the car companies are doing better than they've ever done. The pharmaceutical companies, they're all building factories. You take a look at Eli Lilly.

They're spending tens of billions of dollars building plants for pharmaceuticals. Nobody's ever seen what's happened to our country. And what the Democrats are trying to do is stop it because they think it's bad politically for them.

And on that, they're probably right.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, is Iran, in your opinion, about to give up, about to concede?

TRUMP: Well, they're doing very poorly. I don't know if they're going to give up yet, but they'll give up. But they're doing very poorly.

You know, we took more oil out of the Hormuz Strait over the last couple of days than at any point in history, including long before we had the war to stop the nuclear weapon. And this is to stop the nuclear weapon. Iran will not have a nuclear weapon.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This technology is advancing ...

SANCHEZ: Clearly having an issue there with a signal of President Trump making a rare appearance on the North Lawn of the White House, making important news on artificial intelligence, what he calls SI, this accord between the folks that were in that lunch this afternoon. That is, the president said, morally binding. Unclear exactly what that means.

We'll, of course, bring in more details on that. But there is breaking news elsewhere.

KEILAR: There is the Caleb Flynn murder trial. We are getting a verdict. And he has been convicted of aggravated murder in the slaying of his wife, Ashley.

Let's listen in. JUDGE JEANNINE PRATT, MIAMI COUNTY COURT OF COMMON PLEAS: Mr. Flynn, would you please stand? That's your verdict to count one aggravated murder. We, the jury in this case, being duly impaneled and sworn, find the defendant, Caleb C. Flynn, guilty of aggravated murder. As charged in count one of the indictment pursuant to ORC Section 2903.01(A), 2929.02(A) an unclassified felony.

As to the gun specification. We, the jury, further find that Caleb C. Flynn did have a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense and displayed the firearm, brandished the firearm, indicated that he possessed the firearm or used it to facilitate the offense in violation of 2941.145(A). All twelve jurors signed in ink and dated today's date.

Verdict count two murder, ORC Section 2903.02(A), 2903.02(D) and 2929.02(B). We the jury in this case, being duly impaneled and sworn, find the defendant, Caleb C. Flynn, guilty of murder as charged in count two of the indictment pursuant to ORC Section 2909.02(A), 2903.02(D) and 2929.02(B), an unclassified felony.

Furthermore, we, the jury, further find Caleb C. Flynn did have a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense and displayed the firearm, brandished it. The firearm indicated he possessed the firearm or used to facilitate the offense in violation of 2941.145(A). All jurors signed in ink and was dated today's date.

Verdict on count three, murder, felony murder, felonious assault, serious physical harm. We, the jury, in this case, being duly impaneled and sworn, find the defendant, Caleb C. Flynn, guilty of murder as charged in count three of the indictment.

ORC. Section 2903.02(B), 2903.02(D) and 2929.02(B). Furthermore, on the gun specification associated with that count, three. We, the jury, further find Caleb C. Flynn did have a firearm on or about his person or under his control while committing the offense and displayed the firearm, brandished the firearm ...

SANCHEZ: This coming to us moments ago from a courtroom in Troy, Ohio, the jury finding Caleb Flynn guilty of several counts, including aggravated murder and murder and the death of his wife, Ashley Flynn. He, of course, a former American Idol contestant and a worship leader. Prosecutors built their case and described his motive as wanting to end his wife's life and solidify his affair with a 24 year old.

KEILAR: That's right. With a woman he was having an affair with the jury here only deliberating for two hours as they delivered this verdict. We'll continue to monitor it.

In the meantime, "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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