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Interview with Sen. Andy Kim (D-JN): Trump: GOP Doing Extremely Poor Job of Promotion Ahead of Midterms; Senate Homeland Security Committee Examines Rogue AI Risks; Top Choices to be the GOP 2028 Nominee; Women Can Now Access Breast Cancer Risk with Help of AI Tool. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 01, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Why do you think that was, and what do Democrats need to do better to reach those voters?

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ), RANKING MEMBER, SENATE HOMELAND SECURITY COMMITTEE: Thanks for shining a light on this. There was a lot of talk after the '24 election that voters slid towards -- the Hispanic voters slid towards Trump. Very little attention on the Asian American voters, and that's what I've been trying to lift up.

I mean, we hear over and over again, I was just down in Texas, one of the largest Asian American communities in the country, over 2 million Asian Americans that could very well decide the fate of that Senate race. And they overwhelmingly said, look, they were concerned about affordability. And that was why a number of them chose to support Donald Trump in the last election.

But what they're doing, what Trump has been doing on tariffs has been gutting small businesses, which is the backbone of the Asian American community. It's been raising prices on so many Asian American families and just broader American families. And the war, it is absolutely devastating to the Republicans in terms of what's happening when it comes to this war.

And those are some of the things that really stood out to me.

BERMAN: It is interesting. And you're saying those are the concerns among Asian American voters. The concern among, it seems, voters across the country of all races and persuasions.

KIM: That's right.

BERMAN: And the president, by his account, he says he's doing a good job with those issues, just not selling it well. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm going out because nobody's selling it. I'm doing, we're doing an extremely poor job of promotion and an extremely great job of running the country. (END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: How much of this is a problem with promotion, Senator?

KIM: That's not the problem at all. When I was down in Texas and I'm going to be going off to New Hampshire and North Carolina and elsewhere. What I've heard from voters overwhelmingly, they are very aware of Donald Trump's record and what he's done.

They're just disgusted by it. They just can't stand what he's done. I mean, again, this Iran war that has been raising gas prices over $100 billion more that American families have paid.

But the other thing I'll just say is just the deep level corruption that is happening. I mean, that is something that's pissing off voters left and right. And when I was down in Texas, it wasn't just about Donald Trump's corruption.

I talked with even Republican voters there, people who voted for Trump in multiple elections. But they just said Ken Paxton is unelectable. They said that the bribery, the corruption that they know about him, that it means that he's unelectable.

And I think seeing that contrasted with amazing candidates like Talarico, we're really showing the kind of contrast of what politics should be.

BERMAN: So the House has been out for a long time now and the Senate now, I think effectively done until the midterms. What have you accomplished in terms of addressing concerns surrounding artificial intelligence?

KIM: Well, look, we haven't done enough. And that's in large part because of President Trump telling the Republicans that we're not going to do anything. I mean, he just had a bunch of AI executives over and basically got a pinky promise out of that.

He made them sign this morally binding agreement. And look, unlike the president to sign a lot of morally binding agreements about his family's corruption. But when it comes to AI, we know that the American people are demanding real action.

And I'll be honest, in Congress, I have had substantive conversations and progress going forward with some Republican senators. Senator Josh Hawley and I just held a hearing yesterday bringing experts before us from the AI industry. And overwhelmingly, not a single one of those experts said that it's a good idea to just allow these companies to voluntarily do the monitoring and the evaluation and the standards on their own.

So, you know, I'm hoping that this is a bipartisan effort where we can show we need to have safety regulations. And we should also be taking forward actions to be able to strengthen our innovation and our race against China when it comes to this technology. But we can't use that competition as an excuse not to respond to the actions that the American people are demanding. BERMAN: Senator, you're on the Homeland Security Committee and I you just put out a text -- a tweet, I should say, on your personal account. And I want to know if this is a matter of national security. Your son apparently has a new phone watch, and you got a first text from that.

Can you tell people what it was that your son said?

KIM: Yes, you guys are very fast in picking up on this. Yes, my son just got -- he's 11 -- just got a phone watch as he's in middle school now and send me his very first text message ever.

And I was really excited about this. You know, it's his landmark milestone.

[09:35:00]

And I thought maybe he'd say, you know, love you, Dad, or something like that. Instead, he sent me six, seven poop emoji. And I think he's now probably super happy that that is now national news.

BERMAN: Senator, I have two sons. They're 19 years old now. I can tell you poop emoji does mean I love you.

KIM: OK, that's good to know.

BERMAN: Senator Andy Kim from New Jersey. Thank you so much for being with us.

I appreciate it.

KIM: Thank you.

BERMAN: All right, a man's fishing boat sinks off the coast of Alaska. How the Coast Guard came in to rescue him.

And police officers pull a man out of a burning truck moments before it explodes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right, the president headed to Texas today. You know who was there just yesterday?

[09:40:00]

Vice President J.D. Vance, who's been out across the country campaigning for Republicans and maybe also just saying possibly himself. Not so much for 2026, but possibly a White House run in 2028.

With us now CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten. And so say Vice President J.D. Vance wants to be president. How's it looking right now?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, I mean, to win the Republican nomination, I do have to say at this point he appears to be the heir apparent, or at least the closest to it. You could see it right here.

Just take a look at the national polling. Top choices to be the 2028 GOP nominee. Vance is doubling up on the field.

J.D. Vance at 44 percent. Marco Rubio, who's in second at 21 percent. And then Don Junior down here at 8 percent.

But he is doubling up on where Marco Rubio is. Yes, there was some polling earlier in the year suggesting that Rubio was coming up. But that momentum seems to have slowed significantly.

And J.D. Vance, you know, the other way you can sort of note this is that Kamala Harris, who obviously was the Democratic nominee last time around, potentially running again. He's more than doubling up on what she's getting in the Democratic primary, despite the universal name recognition. So this isn't just name recognition.

This is actual support ahead of 2028.

BERMAN: In this number right here, 44 percent. That's a pretty big number. It has some significance.

ENTEN: This is a very big number. It's very similar where Donald Trump was polling at this point during the 2024 primary cycle, right? And it's more than that. Just take a look at this. OK.

Polled at 35 percent or more in the early primary polls in competitive races since 1972. Seventy seven percent of those went on to win the pres. nomination. So when you're polling north of 35 percent and J.D. Vance is absolutely polling north of 35 percent among the national primary electorate, it usually converts to success. And we're talking about a three and four chance based upon the early polling. The early polling does, in fact, foretell usually success, at least to win presidential nomination.

BERMAN: It's a pretty good chance. Pretty good position to be in right now.

ENTEN: Pretty good.

BERMAN: How is the vice president doing with the president's base?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So you see these numbers. We see these numbers right here. J.D.

Vance with MAGA GOP. Take a look here. The approval rating right here, 95 percent. Ninety five percent.

You can't really do better than 95 percent. I guess 100 percent would be better than that. But the bottom line is this.

J.D. Vance has clear support among Republicans at large and the Republican MAGA base as well. Who, of course, at this particular point are the base of the Democrat -- or the Republican Party, the base of Donald Trump support and J.D. Vance gets two thumbs up, A-plus from the MAGA GOP base. He is, I said at the beginning, seems to me to be the heir apparent to take over that base and take over the Republican Party, at least at this point.

BERMAN: Ninety five percent is pretty high. Although the president loves to note that some polls do show the president with higher than 95 percent among MAGA voters.

ENTEN: Yes. Yes.

BERMAN: All right, so what are the prediction markets saying right now?

ENTEN: Yes, OK. So, you know, this we've been talking about the primary, right? But of course, we've been talking about Vance's chances, not just chance to be the Republican primary, to win the Republican primary, but the chance to be the next president. And take a look at the Kalshi prediction market here.

OK, top choices to beat -- top chances to be the next president, according to the Kalshi prediction market.

Look who's number one on your list. It's J.D. Vance, right? A 20 percent chance. Look, it's early days yet. You've got to win a primary.

You've got to win a general election. But that is nearly double, John. Also, if it's a 12 percent chance and more than double, AOC is in a 9 percent chance.

So at this point, J.D. Vance isn't only the most likely to win the Republican nomination, but also the most likely to be the next president of the United States.

BERMAN: It's a pretty interesting mix, though, I have to say

ENTEN: It's a it's a very interesting mix. I think that 2028 may be a very interesting cycle, Johnny.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: We have a lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

[09:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: In Missouri, law enforcement officers saved a man from a truck that was engulfed in flames. Moments after they dragged him away, the truck exploded. It's not clear what caused the initial fire.

The driver was taken to the hospital with burns to his legs. Oof, look at that.

Off of Alaska, the Coast Guard rescued a man who was stranded on an island after his boat sank. So what happened was the guy had managed to put on a survival suit and get into a life raft. But then the life raft started sinking, so he had to swim to the island. He was stuck on the shore where the Coast Guard was able to locate him and get him to safety.

So a logical partnership here. Outkast and Waffle House have partnered to release a line of merchandise that includes shirts, hats, and socks. At least one shirt features the lyrics Gator Belts and Patty Melts from the 2000 hit song So Fresh, So Clean -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm pretty sure I'm getting you a Gator Belt as a gift from Florida. You're welcome, John.

BERMAN: Get me some Waffle House. I'm hungry.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. A revolutionary tool that predicts your chances of getting breast cancer in the near future is for the first time being made available to the public at large.

It is an AI-powered platform that uses a mammogram to make the prediction of your five-year breast cancer risk. This technology could save countless women from having to go through the most difficult cancer treatments and surgeries. Until today, women can only take part in this in a couple of states.

Now all they have to do is go online. Joining me now is Dr. Lehman, founder and CEO of Clairity, and Julia Cheek, founder and CEO of Everlywell. Thank you both for being here.

I'm sort of getting chills while talking about this as someone whose cancer was found late stage, but I had gotten a mammogram.

[09:50:00]

So, Dr. Lehman, how would you describe what this tech means for women's health now?

DR. CONNIE LEHMAN, FOUNDER AND CEO, CLAIRITY: We couldn't be more excited about this day and this announcement because for decades, as a physician, that common story was explaining to a woman she had breast cancer and shock and surprise.

How can this be? No one in my family has had breast cancer. I've taken care of myself.

I'm healthy. How can this be? 85 percent of breast cancer is sporadic.

We weren't identifying women in advance so we could give them better methods for early detection and cancer prevention. And now we can.

SIDNER: Julia, what do you need to use this tool? What do you need to have to use it?

JULIA CHEEK, FOUNDER AND CEO, EVERLYWELL: So the reason this is now available nationwide today is because you only need to go online, order the Clairity breast test, and all you do is sign a release to get your mammogram imaging, your existing imaging that you're already doing, once a year. And that is sent to Clarity to run their risk analysis.

And so for us, that represents a huge opportunity for women to use a tool they're already getting to get more data about their potential risk of getting breast cancer. So it's super, super easy. And before today, it was available in two states through health systems.

And obviously, Clairity is working hard to make that through more health systems. But now it is nationwide and online.

SIDNER: How much does it cost?

CHEEK: It's $249. It is covered by your HSA and FSA. And we're also working to expand access nationwide with Clairity breast through insurance coverage in the coming months and years.

SIDNER: OK, so Dr. Lehman, mammograms are used basically to find that you already have cancer. And this, how does this tech work? How did you determine, OK, what do we need to do to be able to predict future cancer?

LEHMAN: So we started with standing on the shoulders of giants in the domain of AI and computer vision. There were people that Geof Hinton, the Fei-Fei Li that knew we could have with the power of AI computer see. How we have self-driving cars. In health care, we can use AI for good. We can take that technology and apply it to see patterns and signals in images of the human body. Not for disease detection diagnosis, which we've been doing for decades, but for getting that phenotype of the patient. What are they at risk for?

What about the inflammatory changes in their body? And we're starting with breast cancer. We're starting with the mammograms, which are ubiquitous.

They're all over the world. As Julia said, women are getting their standard screening mammogram every year. And now we're going to go beyond that.

So we're going to extract predictive data with the power of AI to predict a woman's future of breast cancer.

SIDNER: So you basically have the AI look at thousands of mammograms, right, and go through it to give some sense of what it might look like and could predict, hey, if the breast looks this way, this might be a sign. So I guess the question is, you know, did you -- when you looked at all of these different or when you had all these different mammograms, were Black women included, Latino women included? Because those are groups of people who are often kept out of studies, who are left out even of tech.

LEHMAN: Left out and left behind. So we know with our traditional clinical models, those were trained on European Caucasian women, and they have not translated to be impactful in women of color. We wanted to change that.

So when we started at Clairity, we asked for partners from around the globe, from South America, from Europe, from all corners of the U.S., rural, urban, diverse races, diverse ethnicities. We wanted to represent all women. And at the time, 90 percent of AI health care models were being trained on women in three states in the U.S., California, New York, and Massachusetts. So we just blew that up, took a different approach, because from the beginning, this would be a model that was good for all.

SIDNER: Julia, this is on the site right now where people can go there, and if they have a mammogram, they can get this test. I do want to ask you, look, if it comes back and it says, hey, you're high risk, that you have a very high potential of getting cancer in the next five years, are, for example, your doctors and the insurance company, are they going to be able to respond to this? Because it is new.

CHEEK: Yes. And here is the great news, is we do not provide information without giving you an action plan. And what is so exciting about this risk score is that it works with your provider to then say, OK, what are the national guidelines for increased screenings for women that have a higher risk of getting breast cancer in the next five years?

And so just like if today, if you have a family history, there's a risk score calculated with your doctor. If you have a cancer gene, there is a risk score calculated with your doctor.

[09:55:00]

The rest of the population is currently left out of those existing guidelines. And so now you have another way to better stratify the population. And so you as a woman can say, oh, I actually do have a higher risk score and I'm not going to panic.

I have next steps to take with my provider, which can include stepped- up screenings, maybe a breast MRI, maybe a low-dose medication, maybe increased self-exams or doctor exams. And so all of these steps are now well-trodden paths for other risk categories, and this allows us to make women more empowered with an existing screening you already have.

SIDNER: And just quickly, I know you have talked to me about how important having funding is for this. Was this government-funded or was this funded outside?

LEHMAN: Outside. The Breast Cancer Research Foundation, they were there at the very beginning. When everyone else thought this was crazy, the BCRF said, we believe in this, we see the problem, we know these women, we know these patients, we're on, we're on this. And they've been with us every step of the way.

SIDNER: Well, it is an incredible tool that people can now use. And I know a lot of people are scared of this sort of thing, but it could save you from a lot, a lot of suffering in the end. Ladies, thank you so much for coming on and explaining this to us today.

It is available today.

Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL, "THE SITUATION ROOM," Up Next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)