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California Governor Candidates Prepare to Face Off in a Debate; Hegseth Gives State of the Force Address to Service Members; Hegseth Ends Tenure Offers for Military Academy Civilian Professors; First Look as Pandas Settles into New Home at Zoo Atlanta. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 30, 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]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We're just about five and a half hours away from tonight's CNN California gubernatorial debate. You see the stage is set. This is actually a live image of the two podiums where Democrat Xavier Becerra and Republican Steve Hilton are going to duke it out.

As a majority of that state's likely voters say they believe things are heading in the wrong direction. Both are going to make their pitch to replace term limited Democrat Gavin Newsom. CNN's Elex Michaelson is in Los Angeles and joins us now.

Elex, help us understand why this debate over the Golden State matters nationally.

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, when I've been on with you, you like to talk about why Florida matters so much nationally. I'm going to talk now about why California matters so much. And the big issue here is that California is the fourth largest economy in the world.

Thirty nine million people in California. It also has an extraordinary influence in some of the biggest, most important industries in the world. Think about tech, the phones that you use.

Those all California companies. Ai, the big debate over that. All those companies based in California.

Entertainment around the world. All of the main entertainment companies based in California. Agriculture -- California actually feeds 30, 40 percent of the country. So California is at the center of a lot of these issues.

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And the next governor of California is going to be regulating all of those industries, which has a big outsize effects, not only on California, but on the country and on the world.

SANCHEZ: And talk to us, Elex, about what issues are going to be front and center for voters in the Golden State. What do they care about most? MICHAELSON: Well, the biggest issue that people care about most is affordability. But the second issue that voters care about most is fighting back against the Trump administration. This presents a real challenge for Steve Hilton, who is running as a Republican who was endorsed by President Trump in the primary.

And so the challenge for Hilton tonight is to try to make this all about state issues, about local issues and not about national issues. If Becerra is able to keep this race about national issues, that's a huge advantage for him.

SANCHEZ: Important that you point that out because, of course, President Trump looms large over the midterm elections. Generally, he's asked voters to act as though he is on the ballot. I wonder what you're hearing from voters about his influence.

MICHAELSON: Well, it's really interesting because that is going to be the big question in this race. There's no question, as you pointed out, that California voters think that the state is going in the wrong direction. The big question is, who do they blame?

Is it the Democrats who have been running this state for 20 years in every branch of government? Or is it the Republicans who are running the federal government? When I went to a Steve Hilton rally, the supporters there blaming the Democrats.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I see a lot of problems with high taxes, continuing to get high taxes. I see a lot of uncertainty as to where our future is going.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think California is in a heap of trouble. You know, I'm really concerned about my children, my grandchildren. And as one of the largest economies in the nation, I'm really concerned about California and California's future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So those are Republicans, conservatives, people that are leaning towards Hilton. The problem for Hilton is that the state has twice as many Democrats as it has Republicans. And so he needs to convince independents and Democrats to vote for him.

And a lot of those folks that we talked to said the fact that he was endorsed by Donald Trump is essentially a deal breaker. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bam. You got it. Yes, that's it. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't think that Trump and his party has the best intentions for California.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think anyone who's backed by MAGA at this point just has lost, lost, should be losing everyone's vote.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAELSON: So recent polls show that Hilton is down by about 20 points. This is the only scheduled debate of this race. But Becerra has not done many interviews, not done many public appearances.

This is probably the key moment in the entire race. And it's happening live right here on CNN, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Elex Michaelson, live for us in sunny L.A. Thank you so much for that. Be sure to tune in tonight for the California governor's debate, 9 p.m. Eastern on CNN. Also streaming live with an All Access subscription.

Coming up, the secretary of defense right now is delivering his annual State of the Force address to service members. What we're learning about his plans to continue reshaping the U.S. military.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: We're following Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's State of the Force address. He just spoke moments ago about an upcoming 20 percent reduction of top officials at the Pentagon. Here's more of what he had to say about his reforms for the military.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: We are no longer the woke department or the weak department. Simple translation of that? No fatties, no trannies, no beardos, no weirdos, no wimps, no radicals.

Just warriors. Just tough, ready, committed troops. The War Department, as you know, is colorblind, gender neutral, and merit- based.

The ideological clowns are out. The patriotic cowboys are in with testosterone testing on top. Diversity is not our strength.

Unity is our strength. Because that's all that really matters when the missiles are flying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by retired Army Brigadier General and former head of the History Department at the U.S. Military Academy, Ty Seidule. He's also the author of A Promise Delivered, 10 American Heroes in the Battle to Rename Our Nation's Military Bases. General, thanks for being with us.

First off, what did you think about the remarks that you heard?

BRIG. GEN. TY SEIDULE, U.S. ARMY (RET.): Yes, I think it's, one, it's the most overtly political Secretary of Defense we've ever had. The second is, what a leader spends their time on is what counts, and he spends so much time denigrating both people that serve, the free press and, like, other Americans, and it just, I find it distasteful and unbecoming somebody who's the senior leader of the largest military in the world.

KEILAR: So let's talk about these cuts, and he discussed them in his remarks. And they are supposed to take place pretty quickly, as we understand it, by January.

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SEIDULE: Well, I think we don't know yet because, I mean, that would lose about 170 general officer and admiral slots. And what is going to happen is, is that he's going to get to choose which positions and which people they are. And so if you combine that with the number that he's already removed of senior leaders, five out of eight members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he intervened in promotion boards to block officers, especially women and Black officers, and now he's creating a new test to become general.

Well, what we have now is him controlling the next generation of military leaders to be political. And we want to be an apolitical force, but he is creating a political force that is going to take a long time to undo. Remember, it takes 25 years to create a general.

We don't have lateral transfers into the military. So this is a long- term problem that the next person who is in charge of the Department of Defense is going to have to fix, and it's going to take a lot of work to fix this horror show.

KEILAR: Do you have any concerns about this affecting force readiness?

SEIDULE: Yes, I certainly do. I mean, you know, I think that one of the things that he's just doing is creating this new test, and this new test is being created by a guy who, a former Marine lieutenant colonel who was convicted of 32 counts and a court-martial for criticizing the president of the United States and Secretary of Defense and others. And he's creating this test to, as a sort of, as a way of getting to the new generals.

So we're going to have, rather than finding out who does well in war or on the training ground, it's going to be this new test. And who knows what that's going to be? We know it's going to be people that Secretary Hegseth wants to be in control.

It's going to create a politicized general officer corps, which we haven't had in hundreds of years. So, yes, I absolutely worry about it.

KEILAR: So the Department of Defense also just issued this directive to halt tenured civilian positions at U.S. military service academies, so West Point, the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, so on, which would make it easier to fire civilian professors. As I mentioned before, you were the chair of the history department at West Point. What would the effect of this be on what the future officers in the military are going to learn, the kind of education they're going to get?

SEIDULE: Well, it's going to take away depth, expertise, and long-term stability. So most of the officers that teach there rotate out after three years. And even the ones that are long-term, like me, are only one or two per every department.

It's our civilians that do that. A little bit of history. The reason we did this is that Sam Nunn, who was then in the Senate from Georgia, said, listen, the problem you have at West Point is that you're like a community college.

You only have people with master's degrees. So he mandated from Congress that we have at least a quarter of our faculty are civilians. And it has been an incredible success to do this.

It's the same at the War College. We need that blend of military and civilian to adequately educate. And in fact, the Air Force Academy just took the word educate out of their mission statement.

And there's this Athens versus Sparta debate that's always occurred in the military. And what we're seeing now is Sparta saying there is no need for Athens. There's no need for education.

Instead, all we need to do is train. But remember that the most important six inches on the battlefield is not around the waist. It's between the ears.

KEILAR: Yes. The DOD says this reform addresses, quote, the critical issues of academic stagnation and complacency that are often associated with tenure. That's what Hegseth is saying, that it ensures institutions remain laser-focused on lethality and readiness.

Do you think it does that?

SEIDULE: No. I mean, I've been there. They are the most innovative academics I've ever been around or at West Point, including the civilians, especially the civilians.

And so no, that's absolutely true that they're not innovative. It's absolutely not true that they are serving the nation just like I did. And they are creating a better -- the mission of West Point is to educate and train leaders of character and inspire leaders of character for the nation. And that's what they do. And he is trying to get rid of -- that's what the underlying thing -- is get rid of civilian academics at these places.

But he is wrong. And he is absolutely wrong. They are wonderful Americans, patriots, and brilliant people who are making our force better by educating the future leaders of America.

So I couldn't disagree with him more. These are great people. And he should leave those academies alone of something he really doesn't understand.

KEILAR: General Seidule, thank you so much for being with us.

SEIDULE: Thanks so much, Brianna.

KEILAR: And still ahead, we've got some very important news. See what I did there to cover? Pause everything that you're doing.

[15:50:00]

We're going to take a closer look at the new giant pandas that just arrived in Atlanta. We're so excited about this.

And he's big. He's fat. And he's Alaska's newest champion. We'll have a look at this year's Fat Bear Week winner next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ AND KEILAR: Panda Watch!

SANCHEZ: We nailed it.

KEILAR: Yes, we did.

SANCHEZ: That was great.

KEILAR: That was so good, right? Yes.

SANCHEZ: Zoo Atlanta has shared the first video update on Fu Shuang, one of two pandas that arrived at the zoo over the weekend. In the video, you see him there enjoying a snack, taking a look around his new digs as well.

KEILAR: Yes, listen, Boris. I have been on some serious, serious reports, but nothing quite like this. OK, sorry.

[15:55:00]

No, that was my best Brian Fontana. Fantana?

SANCHEZ: Fantana.

KEILAR: Fantana. That's right. OK, so in all seriousness, the zoo posted on Facebook that Fu Shuang and Ping Ping are eating well.

They're adjusting more and more each day. Oh, they're so cute. All right, let's talk now with Jarod Miller, who is a zoologist at Fauna Media.

Jarod, I am just overcome by the cuteness of these pandas. They're quarantining for about a month. How do they adjust?

What is that like for them?

JAROD MILLER, ZOOLOGIST: Oh, my God. Well, great to be with you, Brianna and Boris. And I know I'm super excited, too.

I mean, I think we all have pandemonium right now, and this doesn't happen all the time. I mean, we've had pandas, you know, only in our country since like the, you know, 1965, since, you know, the first pandas from China came over. But to answer your question, yes, I mean, there's such preparation that goes into making not only that transport, but that acclimation just perfectly smooth for the pandas.

And, you know, the folks over in China, as well as the staff at Zoo Atlanta, you know, they've got this. And, you know, it's a lot of prepping for that flight. But I'll tell you what, pandas, they sleep a lot of the time.

So I think even that 15-hour flight, I think they were able to get some shut-eye.

SANCHEZ: They do have an important mission. Aside from entertaining zoo-goers and snacking on bamboo and doing all that sleeping, they're supposed to breed while at the Atlanta Zoo. And pandas in captivity notoriously have a difficult time doing that.

Talk to us about how that gets done in general terms, not specific details, but also why it's so important for them to breed and to alleviate the vulnerable global panda population.

MILLER: Absolutely. I mean, Boris, you know, pandas all the way around, and especially bringing them to the U.S., I mean, they serve so many great functions, just them coming to Atlanta. First off, panda diplomacy shows that we're having greater relations with China.

But also just the preservation of the species. I mean, pandas are an icon of the conservation movement, and they really are an animal that does have trouble reproducing in captivity. They are kind of disadvantaged in the wild compared to a lot of other species.

And that's why it's just so important that not only is this an Atlanta breeding project right now, but this goes way beyond. This goes beyond, you know, over to San Diego, the other zoos here, and also in China and where the pandas are found in the wild. Now, pandas, you know, they do reproduce very typically in the wild and in captivity.

So setting up the right environment for them is just essential. And I'll tell you what, the folks at Atlanta Zoo, I think they are as prepared as possible to welcome some new pandas pretty soon.

KEILAR: A little bamboo, a little romantic music, you know, they know what they're doing in Atlanta. OK, also, Jarod, amazing, because we also get to talk about Fat Bear Week, which we love here on the show. It has come to an end.

There's a new winner. His name is Backpack, because as a kid, he rode on his mom's back. Backpack, he's a Nepo baby.

His mom won Fat Bear Week back in 2019. Brown bears get pretty fat to survive. Why is that?

MILLER: Yes, I mean, a fat bear is a happy bear and a healthy bear. I mean, you know, we all know that bears, you know, they go into their hibernation period. So getting up that weight is really important, especially this time of year.

And talk about a week. We get pandas and we get fat bear in the same exact week. And you know what?

Backpack is amazing. You don't want to wear him as a backpack anymore, because he is a fat, fat bear. But it is funny that you brought up his mom, Holly.

His mom, Holly, won back in 2019. She was the fattest. So maybe, you know, there's something about bear genetics there.

KEILAR: Yes.

MILLER: He's got some champions.

SANCHEZ: He will wear you as a very small backpack on his body. Jarod, before we go, what should we know about brown bears and the importance of monitoring their health in what is, you know, a fun and lighthearted way?

MILLER: Yes, you know what? Brown bears, they're our panda. They're an American icon.

They are, you know, they're an animal. They're the largest carnivorous predator on our entire continent. And we do need to protect them.

You know, they're top of the food chain. And they're also a good indication of how our environment's doing. So if the brown bears, the grizzly bears are doing well, that means that our environment's doing well too here in the U.S.

KEILAR: OK, and just real quick, I need to fact check this, Jarod. I think we know this about brown bears, but back to panda bears. Was Brian Fantana correct when he said they will literally rip your face off? Because they're pretty cuddly looking.

MILLER: You know, they are the most, they are an animal that they are the cutest thing. Sometimes the cutest animals can be the most hazardous. And in the case of pandas, Fantana was absolutely correct.

You do not want to mess with the panda bear. They are the cutest things around, but they are all bear.

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They are all teeth, claws, and for as cute as they are, they also have a very short temper at times.

KEILAR: Oh, goodness. All right. Jarod, thank you for the fact check, Jarod Miller. And Boris, those were some really great stories. Very rich and compelling.

SANCHEZ: Yes, yes. Nothing like a miniature Buddha, but yet also covered in hair.

"THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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