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Storm Forming Off Coast Of Carolinas In U.S.; Former FBI Director James Comey Indicted By Grand Jury; Immigration And Customs Enforcement Detains Superintendent Of Iowa's Largest School District; U.S. Federal Government Faces Shutdown As Senate Democrats Block Republican Passed House Continuing Resolution; President Trump Says NATO Countries Should Shoot Down Russian Aircraft Flying Into Their Airspace; President Trump Draws Controversy By Saying Pregnant Women Should Not Take Tylenol; American Team Losing To European Team In Ryder Cup Golf Tournament. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 27, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: CNN meteorologist Chris Warren joins me now. Chris, the National Hurricane Center just issued a new advisor. Tell us, what does it say.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's the intermediate advisory. We're not seeing any major changes right now. Still on track with this right here, tropical depression nine. When it does get a name, Imelda is the next name. Here it is. An eye storm, will be an eye storm, 35 mile per hour winds associated with this. It's getting better organized we've seen throughout the day today, this morning and now getting into the afternoon hours. And eventually it will strengthen, and expect it with just a few more miles per hour to become either late tonight or by tomorrow a tropical storm. It will be Imelda, and then by the time it gets closer to Florida, if it goes on this track right here, there could be tropical storm conditions.

There's a tropical storm watch posted there for the central portion of Florida. Tropical storm warning, meaning tropical storm conditions are expected for a lot of the Bahamas here, but closer here. And what was new this morning with the big update at 11:00 was the turn here in the forecast cone. So the official forecast at this point, and this is subject to change because you look here, and it is expected to be a category one hurricane by Tuesday morning. So some point Monday into Tuesday. So we're looking at a few days still. And it's going to take a while to get here. So the track is very important.

Now, it's just as possible that the center could be right here. And that would be bad news in terms of rain, wind, coastal effects. And then still the thinking is it's going to move off in this direction.

Now some of the forecast models have been showing that turn. Not all of them, and not consistently enough. So we'll have several more forecast runs over the next few days. And if this trend continues, that will be good news. If it doesn't, if it starts to go back, that could be a bigger issue here for parts of the Carolinas. This is what we're looking at with the possibilities here. Now,

Humberto that does play a role, can help kind of tug what is now a tropical depression, expected to be tropical storm and a hurricane could help bring it away from land. Time will tell with the multiple possibilities that we are going to be tracking.

Here's one scenario, and that would be a big rainmaker with the heaviest of rain staying off shore. That's what we're looking at right now with that major hurricane just off to the east, and then helping to kind of draw it in that direction, drawing it away from land.

And if that pans out, flash flooding certainly a concern, some surge of concern at the coast. But when you look really closely in here offshore, these are rainfall totals expected, 10 to 20 inches. Again, if this plays out. This is going through much of next week. If this shift were to go over here, that would end up being really bad news.

Let's remember here in the tropics you're getting this transport of all of that moisture. This is that tropical moisture heading off. If it stays offshore, that will be helpful. If it comes onshore, could end up being a really big deal in terms of flooding.

In the near term here, Danny, we're looking at the potential for some rip currents, have a big hurricane offshore. In between that and shore is that tropical depression. So it's a messy ocean which means rough surf at the beaches. And just definitely be careful in the coming days.

FREEMAN: Yes, certainly be careful in the coming days. And I just keep seeing Charleston like right there, hoping it keeps east in the ocean.

WARREN: And the main thing, Danny, is everybody needs to monitor because this is an evolving forecast.

FREEMAN: Right, right. No, very well said. Chris Warren, thanks so much for that report.

All right, joining me now is Michael Brennan, the director of NOAA's National Hurricane Center. Michael, good to see you. Can you first give us a sense of the development of this tropical depression here that will eventually be called Imelda? And I guess how Humberto could impact it as well?

MICHAEL BRENNAN, DIRECTOR, NOAA'S NATIONAL HURRICANE CENTER: Yes. You know, as you were just talking about, we have seen tropical depression nine form here just north of the northern coast of Cuba, currently a little over 100 miles to the south southwest of the central Bahamas. You can see it becoming better organized and satellite imagery in the data we're getting from hurricane hunter aircraft. And you also do see Humberto, a powerful category four hurricane, you know, several hundred miles to the east of our depression.

The forecast does take the depression strengthened into a tropical storm moving generally northward through the central and northwestern Bahamas, coming potentially close enough to the east coast of Florida. We could see tropical storm conditions there where we now have a watch. And then as we get into the middle to early to middle portions of next week, we could see some interaction between this system and Humberto, which you see the forecast for here passing to the east. And, you know, there's a lot of uncertainty here in the exact track of the center of the depression, which is forecast to be a hurricane by the time it gets up here off the southeast U.S. coast. But it's important to emphasize it doesn't take a hurricane making landfall in this area to produce dangerous impacts, storm surge, wind, heavy rainfall. It gets close enough to the coast and sits there for a couple of days, we could see some significant impacts beginning as soon as Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday timeframe.

[14:05:03]

FREEMAN: Well, can you speak a little more about that, Michael? Because what is the actual risk then? Because that's the thing that matters most to us, right. What is the actual risk then to some of those people who may be living on that southern east coast over the next, let's say, 72 hours, how intense could it be?

BRENNAN: Well, we're forecasting a strong tropical storm, category one hurricane in this area. Obviously, those hurricane force winds are going to be close to the center. So if you have a there's still scenarios where we could see the center of the storm actually move inland and make landfall, some say along the South Carolina coast or southern North Carolina. That would sort of be the worst-case scenario in terms of coastal impacts because you get those hurricane force winds. You get a significant storm surge near where the center could make landfall that could result in dangerous inundation.

And, you know, sort of the worst-case scenario would be the system center moving inland and stalling out and meandering here over portions of South and North Carolina from a rainfall perspective. And those are the scenarios where you could get double digit rainfall totals.

But even a scenario where the system stalls out in the Andrews here along the coast, even if it doesn't make landfall, you could have elevated water levels along the coast and storm surge over multiple high tide cycles, long duration of at least tropical storm conditions, and heavy rainfall, probably more isolated to the immediate coastline, say eastern South Carolina, southeastern North Carolina. So that could still be very impactful as well.

FREEMAN: OK, so again, were still hoping that it goes east and keeps heading off into the ocean. I'm curious, though, Michael, just taking a little bit bigger of a picture and perspective here, what are you forecasting in the coming weeks in terms of more potential major storms? Because frankly, up until now, it seems like hurricane season has started perhaps a little bit quieter.

BRENNAN: Yes. Well, you know, America is the third major hurricane we've had this year, so we haven't had a lot of hurricanes, but all three of them that have formed so far have gone on to become either category four, category five hurricanes that are very powerful storms. It's important for everybody to know that late in the hurricane season, the development as were seeing right now tends to shift back toward the western part of the basin near the Gulf, Caribbean, Florida. And those systems that form late in the season because of where they're starting out have a much higher chance of affecting the United States, the Caribbean, and the islands. So that can continue all the way into October, and even had hurricane landfalls into November. So the back end of hurricane season can still be pretty busy.

FREEMAN: All right, so far from out of the woods, but at least hopefully, again, fingers crossed that this particular depression keeps heading into the ocean. Michael Brennan, thank you so much for your time. As always, appreciate you.

To this now, we're learning new details about the indictment against former FBI director James Comey. Sources telling CNN the alleged media leak at the center of this indictment appears to relate to the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton's email server rather than the separate 2016 FBI investigation of Donald Trump and Russian election meddling. Comey's indictment happening as CNN viewers are getting a look at never before seen video of Comey speaking about Trump. The former FBI director sitting down with CNN before his indictment in May, sharing his thoughts about the president. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I'm still considered a villain in MAGA world. I hope I said that correctly, although I've offended enough people in MAGA world, that doesn't matter at this point. I'm not sure exactly why that is. I often joke I'm the relationship that Trump cant' get over, wakes up in the middle of the night thinking about me and how I'm living my best life.

I think it has some combination of I really have had a happy, productive life since then, and that I spoke out about him, and that despite their absolute best efforts, they're never able to get me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Well, after Comey's indictment, President Trump told reporters he expects other political opponents will be prosecuted as well. CNN's Katelyn Polantz has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE REPORTER: The president clearly is pleased with this development where Jim Comey, his longtime political foe, the former FBI director who Trump fired early in his first administration, now under criminal indictment in a federal court in Virginia. But it is not just a political case. This is now a court document. We have the indictment now in front of us, and this court document, this indictment, it was charged by a grand jury. So a group of 14 people in the eastern district of Virginia secretly voted to approve these charges against Jim Comey.

Walking through them a little bit, they are about testimony that Comey gave to the Senate Judiciary Committee on September 30th five years ago in 2020. During that testimony, he was asked by Senator Ted Cruz if he had ever authorized someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source to the media. Comey maintained that he had not, and he stood by earlier testimony where he also denied leaking to the press.

This, though the Justice Department says, is something that they believe Comey there knew he, in fact, had authorized a person to serve as an anonymous source in news reports regarding an FBI investigation.

[14:10:00]

And on top of that, that the Justice Department accuses him of lying, so making a false statement about that alleged leak, as well as obstructing the congressional proceeding.

This now is going to go before a judge to be road tested. Comey's lawyers, they're going to have lots of opportunity to try and contest this case, these charges, these facts, and also argue about why he shouldn't be charged. They may even have the opportunity to present in court to the judge, potentially even to a jury, the statements that Donald Trump has been making publicly and others have made about this case.

There has been some reporting, including here at CNN, that prosecutors wrote down their concerns about this case and delivered that in a memo to the U.S. Attorney's office before the U.S. attorney Lindsey Halligan just five days, or four days onto the job went to court to get this approved by the grand jury.

All of it is going to be happening over the next couple months. We don't know how long yet it will be until a trial. It could be a short time. It could be a long time. But Comey's next appearance, it's on October 9th. Thats when he'll go before the judge in the eastern district of Virginia, and he will have the opportunity to formally plead not guilty.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

FREEMAN: Katelyn Polantz, thank you kindly.

All right, still to come, Iowa's largest school district is in turmoil after it's superintendent is arrested by ICE. Federal agents calling him a public safety risk. We have that story.

Plus, new developments in Russia's war with Ukraine after the United Nations General Assembly meeting. We'll tell you what President Trump is saying about Russia's recent airspace incursions into NATO countries.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President, do you think that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Yes, I do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:26]

FREEMAN: We have some new information here. BMW has issued a recall notice to nearly 200,000 vehicle owners. The car company says owners should park outside because their vehicles could short circuit, sparking a fire. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says the issue is with the engine starter. That's regardless of whether the cars are parked or moving. BMW says the recall was issued after the company tested ten vehicles which caught on fire. No injuries or accidents have been reported.

To Des Moines, now, where protesters are voicing outrage after ICE detained the superintendent of the state's largest school district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: No peace, no justice! No peace, no justice! No peace, no justice!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: ICE took Ian Roberts into custody on Friday. The Department of Homeland Security says Roberts, who is from Guyana, is in the U.S. illegally and had existing weapon possession charges. Des Moines public schools officials say he had submitted verification forms at the time of his hiring two years ago and has been, quote, "an integral part of the school community."

Julia Vargas Jones has been following this story for us. Julia, can you tell us more about Roberts and this detention?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look what we are hearing from the Department of Homeland Security is that he is being described as a criminal alien, someone that could be a threat to public safety. The DHS is saying that he entered the United States in 1999 on a student visa, and then was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge in May of 2024. They say that when he was arrested, he was in possession of a loaded handgun, $3,000 in cash, and a fixed blade hunting knife. It is a violation of federal law to own a firearm and ammunition if an individual does not have status in the United States.

They say that this was part of a targeted enforcement operation. But this arrest, of course, comes as the Trump administration continues its crackdown in multiple cities. We've heard from our colleague Kevin Liptak about operations supposed to begin in Portland. We've seen this happening here in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York. This also comes from ICE painting a very different picture of the superintendent than the community. As you see, outrage there with this arrest and shocked with heard from the Des Moines public schools, the board chair here saying that not only he was a pillar of this community, that he had shown up for both staff and students repeatedly in the two years where he served as superintendent.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JACKIE NORRIS, CHAIR, DES MOINES SCHOOL BOARD: We do not have all the facts. There is much we do not know. However, what we do know is that Dr. Roberts has been an integral part of our school community since he joined over two years ago.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: The governor of Iowa, Kim Reynolds, Danny, also said that she is in touch with the Department of Public Safety and with federal authorities. Now, we're also hearing from the education community, the Iowa state and Des Moines education associations issuing a statement backing Roberts, saying, quote, "His leadership and compassion for all students, regardless of background, identity or family origin, are a beacon of light in one of the state's most diverse school districts. It is a dark and unsettling time in our country. This incident has created tremendous fear for Des Moines public school students, families, and staff."

[14:20:00]

The school district also said that they have not been notified formally by ICE, nor have they been able to talk to the superintendent since his arrest. But there is a meeting today. This is a closed door, special meeting of the school board to decide how they will move forward. We have also attempted, Danny, to get in touch with attorneys for Mr. Reynolds, and we have not yet gotten a response.

FREEMAN: All right, a lot of moving parts on this particular story. Julia Vargas Jones, thank you so much for breaking it all down for us, appreciate it.

Coming up, a federal government shutdown could be just days away, putting thousands of jobs at risk if Republicans and Democrats fail to strike a deal. We're breaking down what's at stake and the key sticking points up ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:07]

FREEMAN: The clock is ticking on a possible government shutdown. The U.S. government runs out of money at midnight on Tuesday if lawmakers cannot reach a deal to keep the government open. With just a few days to find a compromise, President Trump and congressional Democrats are locked in a stalemate over the GOP's current government funding plan. Federal workers, meanwhile, are bracing for the potential government shutdown and the possibility of mass layoffs.

Joining me now to talk more about this looming shutdown is Max Cohen. He's a congressional reporter for "Punchbowl News." Max, great to talk with you about all of this. Let's start here. According to some sources, Speaker Johnson says he may keep the house in recess next week even if government funding lapses on Tuesday. That's not, as we understand, historically what usually happens in these situations. Can you break down what the tactic is there and what it could mean for the House Speaker? MAX COHEN, CONGRESSIONAL REPORTER, "PUNCHBOWL NEWS": Yes, this is all

about House Republicans playing hardball here. Of course, last week the House passed a continuing resolution to fund the government for seven weeks. And now that measure went on to the Senate and Senate Democrats killed that. So for Speaker Mike Johnson, his perspective is we've done our job in the House. We've passed the bill. Now it's the Senate's turn. So by keeping his members on recess, he's trying to force Senate Democrats to fold here and support this Republican plan. Of course, as you know, those Senate Democrats say they're going to hold firm and reject that bill unless there are major health care changes to that bill.

FREEMAN: Meanwhile, Max, the White House is now threatening to use the shutdown as the pretense for enacting mass layoffs, potentially. Democrat leadership, they're brushing that off as a meaningless threat, essentially. But is there real concern behind the scenes?

COHEN: Yes, I think if you talk to a lot of congressional Democrats like I've been doing in the past couple of days, they're very concerned about these mass layoffs. Some reports said at the EPA, 90 percent of staff could be fired under these plans proposed by the Trump administration. But publicly, Democrats are saying, look, Donald Trump and his administration are already doing things which they feel are extreme. And the threat of these mass layoffs to them is not worth giving in to Republican demands. This is like their only point of leverage, government funding, right? And Democrats say, if we cannot use this bill to get health care changes, then we have no other opportunities all year. Thats why they're holding firm at this point.

FREEMAN: Max, once again, we are about to enter this week playing this game with real consequences, by the way, of, OK, if there's a shutdown, who will be blamed? Obviously, Republicans control all the branches of government, but maybe the Democrats who can't provide the votes to pass a bill to keep the government open. So I guess from your perspective right here, what is at stake for both of these parties?

COHEN: I think for Democrats, they're playing this game looking at their left wing voting base. Back in March, when Chuck Schumer and some of his allies voted with the Republicans to keep the government open, there was a mass revolt among the activist class, the grassroots, the Democratic base. They said, all we want is our leaders to fight, and they could not even fight on this government funding debacle.

So what's happening now is Democrats, they think their voters want them to fight and at least force a government shutdown standoff. But if you look at the Democrats, what they're saying also is, look, Republicans control the White House, the House, the Senate. They believe Democrats believe that Republicans will be the ones to bear the blame for this because of their unified control of government.

FREEMAN: Well, and again, just fascinating, to your point about bringing up what happened earlier this year, Chuck Schumer really took the arrows from a lot of progressives by saying, listen, this would not have been good for any of us. Does it seem like we're going to hear that kind of language from Chuck Schumer in the next 72 hours? COHEN: No, he's completely changed his tune now from when you look

back at March. Back in March, Schumer was saying, listen, a shutdown would be worst case scenario. It would allow Trump to fire people. It would allow Trump to do even more illegal things in his mind.

But even with the Trump administration, as you just laid out, giving plans to do mass layoffs, Schumer is still saying, we want to force this fight. So it's a very different Democratic leadership because they're very aware of what Democratic base wants. And again, all they're saying is they want fighters. They're not happy with their leaders who they associate with the establishment. And even with these potential negative repercussions, they're willing to have this fight.

FREEMAN: Quite a showdown boiling in Washington, D.C. Max Cohen, thank you so much for your time and insight. Appreciate it.

All right, still to come. President Trump is turning up the pressure on Russia to end its years long war in Ukraine. From shooting down Russian planes to cutting off oil purchases, he's saying neighboring countries must step up. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:32]

FREEMAN: New today, more drone sightings are being reported across several European countries, including a military base in Denmark. Russian aircraft incursions into NATO airspace and a string of recent sightings of drones suspected to be Russian are having Europe on high alert. President Trump also saying this week that NATO should shoot down Russian military aircraft if they enter NATO airspace. The president has been increasingly pessimistic about the prospects for a peace agreement that would end the war in Ukraine.

[14:35:00]

With us now is Kristine Berzina. She's senior fellow for U.S. Defense and Transatlantic Security at the German Marshall Fund, and she's in Washington right now. Thank you for joining us, again, after a really consequential week for Europe and the Russia-Ukraine war. Tell me, what do you make of today's possible drone incursions across Europe?

KRISTINE BERZINA, SENIOR FELLOW, U.S. DEFENSE AND TRANSATLANTIC SECURITY, GERMAN MARSHALL FUND: Russia isn't interested in backing down or showing NATO that it is weak. In fact, it is sustaining its airborne tests, assaults, depends on how you look at it, against NATO allies, especially in Europe. We also see some air concerns off of Alaska, with the U.S. Also being concerned about Russia testing the airspace boundaries in the Pacific. This is a way for Russia, perhaps, to answer Trumps question of, well, is Russia a paper tiger? Russia doesn't want to be. And yet Russia isn't able to do what it wants to do in in Ukraine either.

FREEMAN: Well, you know, I want to talk about one of the more stunning things that came in this storyline over the past few days. President Trump said in a social media post this week, "I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form." So I think a lot of the conversation has been just the, you know, stunning 180 that really that sounds like from President Trump. But aside from that, what's your perspective on the feasibility to actually achieve that goal?

BERZINA: It is going to be very hard for Ukraine to take back all of it's territory, but not impossible. When you have a line that is so locked in, you have to understand that, especially on the Russian held side, you have very significant minefields. And this will make it very difficult for anybody to really change that reality very much.

To have the kind of weaponry that would push the Russian troops out, it would take a lot more than what Ukraine has. And it also begs the question, well, what is the situation in Russia that would make it OK for all those Russian troops to pull back?

So understanding and assuming that there is still political stability in Russia, that Putin is still in charge, I don't see an easy way for Ukraine to get all of that land back. But should there be changes in Russia, should the Putin regime not be especially stable, should there be another attempt to shake up military leadership, perhaps there could be openings. But again, the pure mechanics of taking that land back and making it usable again for the Ukrainian people, those are going to be very difficult.

FREEMAN: Well, along the same lines of tougher talk from President Trump, he went on to say this week that NATO should shoot down Russian planes if they enter NATO airspace. Secretary of State Marco Rubio later clarified it applies only if Russian jets are attacking. But I guess, do you think comments like this, comments like the one regarding Ukraine potentially taking back land, will that -- how is that hitting the ear of Vladimir Putin as this war goes on?

BERZINA: President Trump is certainly being very provocative. Trump was very friendly to Putin in Alaska, and now Trump has not gotten what he had wanted, which is a quick peace. And instead, we're looking at a different strategy, which is the United States running out of patience and NATO running out of patience. And again, we could be coming into a situation where you see more military pressure being put on Russia.

Russia doesn't want to seem like it can be a pushover. And so now we're getting more of this risky behavior in the air. If NATO shot down a plane, that would be a massive consideration. It would be something that would lead to very serious consequences. And any country that is willing to shoot down a Russian plane will want to know that the U.S. has it's back. And Trump saying in a press conference that, sure, NATO can shoot them down, that isn't quite enough of having the U.S. backing.

And so I think what should be happening at the NATO level is a very clear process for determining how can NATO have a very robust response to these Russian air incursions, but also a careful one, and so no individual country or pilot is misunderstanding the backing that they might have against a Russian jet. FREEMAN: Yes, robust but careful. I mean, it illustrates the challenge

and the delicate line that so many NATO countries are walking right now.

All right, last thing I want to pick your brain about is this economic aspect, because the concept of buying oil and gas from Russia came up. In many ways he critiqued the European, many European countries for doing so, but also said he may have swayed Turkey's leader to stop buying Russian oil. From your perspective, is that going to be something that actually does put the finger on a pressure point for Putin, maybe even more so than, say, shooting down a drone?

[14:40:03]

BERZINA: There are a lot of pressure points, and the economic ones are incredibly important. If countries stop buying Russian oil and gas, it's going to be very hard for Russia to maintain its war machine. It simply won't have the money to keep buying all the weaponry and paying all of the soldiers to keep fighting.

And they're not fighting out of passion. They're fighting because it's a really good paycheck right now. If Turkey stops, if other Europeans stop, if globally it's going to be harder for Russia to find buyers, that's going to have over the next months and over next the next year a very significant effect on the Russian war machine. But again, it's not any more or less important than the kind of red line NATO would draw by shooting down a plane or showing the fact that it's very serious about its airspace using other means.

FREEMAN: Kristine Berzina, thank you so much for breaking down a very, very important week again on a very, very important topic. Appreciate your time.

All right, still to come, confusion and concern after a new CDC warning that pregnant women should avoid taking Tylenol. It comes as the Trump administration rolls out major changes, adding new pressure on doctors to guide their patients. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:45:56]

FREEMAN: Several medical groups are denouncing President Trump's claim earlier this week regarding Tylenol use involving pregnant women.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: I just want to say, I want to say it like it is. Don't take Tylenol. Don't take it. If you just can't -- I mean, fight like hell not to take it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: President Trump tied acetaminophen in Tylenol to autism in children, but did not really offer evidence to back up that claim. His recommendation appears to contradict also the advice from his own administration.

Take a look at this. Here's a portion of what a news release issued by the FDA says. Quote, "It remains reasonable for pregnant women to use acetaminophen in certain scenarios." You see it right there.

All right, for more on this, let's go to Dr. Jeremy Faust. He's an emergency physician at Brigham and Women's Hospital and an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School and author of "Inside Medicine" on Substack. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us on this very, very important issue.

Listen, many people may understandably be confused after this week about what to believe and who to believe, frankly, after President Trump's comments about Tylenol and acetaminophen during pregnancy. What's your perspective? What's the best way for patients to navigate this?

DR. JEREMY FAUST, AUTHOR OF "INSIDE MEDICINE" ON SUBSTACK: Thanks for having me. And there's so much confusion here. And as an emergency physician working on the front lines, we have a very specific mission and a mandate we take very seriously. We want to save your life, save your limbs, save your organs, and treat pain. And when people come in to see us, it's our honor of a lifetime to be able to do that in a safe way.

So pregnancy is a is a situation in which there's pain, and acetaminophen or Tylenol is the safest option we've got. So the confusion is unfortunate, because we want our patients to feel that they can be treated safely, and we can offer that. We saw a press conference with, as you said, no new data, no report. A lot of bluster being packaged as a breakthrough.

And I would be remiss if I didn't point out another area which is, I think, inherent in your question, which is, well, what's the harm of just sort of erring on the safe side here, the so-called precautionary principle, which was invoked by Commissioner Marty Makary of the FDA. That is unsatisfying and unsatisfactory because it supposes that the alternative has no benefits. And in fact, it turns out that fever might be the variable of interest here. So instead of giving people something safe, they're actually creating confusion, fear, and possibly backfiring on the stated purpose.

FREEMAN: Well, Doctor, can you actually talk a little bit about that too? Because that is one of the points that I think really stood out to a lot of people. President Trump told pregnant women to, quote, tough it out if they do have a fever while pregnant. What are the risks of not treating a fever if you're pregnant?

FAUST: Well, first of all, as both an E.R. doctor and a parent, I would not recommend telling any person who's pregnant to tough it out. That's just not good guidance for anyone's health. But the reality is that high fevers might be associated with some of the conditions that we're following here. And also, we need a safe way to treat pain and fever. And Tylenol is the best one.

There are other options, but they have other risks. So when people are trying to figure out what's safe, and the government comes in with this, this new idea that they're going to sort of make this their hobbyhorse, it does undermine our safety. And that's why, again, as you mentioned, so accurately, the medical expert groups like the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology have to come out and say, look, this is safe. And even the FDA itself had to say, yes, look, no new data. We thought we were going to get a report. We didn't get a report. We can't even criticize it because there's no report. It's just that press conference of, in my view, a guy yelling, don't take Tylenol a lot of times. That didn't achieve anything safe, in my view.

[14:50:03]

FREEMAN: Doctor, can you just be clear for our viewers to the guts of what the president and all of those folks were saying during that press conference. When it comes to autism and its potential causes, what does established science say at this point?

FAUST: So it's a very open question, but there are a lot of things we know are associated with higher rates of autism. One of the big ones is the age of the father. So that's one thing that we see. But there's genetic. There are genetic ties, tie-ins. There are genetic connections. There's environmental exposures. There are certain drugs that we know that might cause an increase. And I think what's interesting here is that there are some studies that show a possible association with Tylenol use during pregnancy and an increased rate of autism in the fetus once born.

But the issue is that those studies have some really important, what we call confounders, meaning that they didn't control for all of these different things. And the best study out there that actually looked at siblings, which is such an elegant scientific way to do it, actually found no effect.

And it was alarming to me that you had these, not just the president and RFK, Secretary Kennedy, who basically don't have the training to know better, but you had the men around him, the physicians who do know better than to propagate anecdote as science, such as the president was talking about, and who do know better than to cherry pick one piece of data and to ignore the very best pieces of data, and then relying on saying, oh, well, some of the studies came out of even places like Harvard and Mount Sinai, where I train and where I work.

Unfortunately, there's conflicts of interest there, and they're not always right. The best study that I've ever seen still shows no association. And when I asked scientists who believe in this association why that really great study from Europe was wrong, and we had that conversation, nothing I heard was compelling.

And I'm open to -- there might be an effect, there might be a small effect. We cannot say that, but this is way premature. And it was just it's I think when you have parents being told they've done something wrong, that's really disturbing. Secretary Kennedy is a real liability to our safety, I just have to say that.

Dr. Jeremy Faust, thank you so much for sharing your expertise in separating fact from fiction on this important topic. Appreciate your time.

FAUST: Thank you.

FREEMAN: Still to come, it is tea time for the Ryder Cup, where the best of the best face off every two years. We'll take you live to the tournament with the unfortunately steep climb the American team faces in topping the European team.

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FREEMAN: Sports now. Day two of the Ryder Cup is underway as the American team scrambles to make a comeback. The U.S. team dug a big hole on day one and now needs a big turnaround on the course today if they hope to take the cup back from the Europeans. CNN's Don Riddell is at the course for us. Don, the Americans showing any fight, any fight today?

DON RIDDELL, CNN HOST, WORLD SPORT: Yes, some. I mean, they dug that hole a little bit deeper this morning. And so they've got even more to do this afternoon.

This is the final fourball foursome pairing session because it's the singles tomorrow and it's just mano a mano. And if you were to hit freeze right now, Europe would win this session as well. They're up in two, and the other two matches are tied. But they are all close.

And there is certainly a lot of energy out on the golf course. The American fans are into it. In particular you've got Justin Thomas and Cameron Young really whipping up the Bethpage crowd. So this session could go either way. And let's see where we are at the end of the day. But I mean, with regards to points that are on the board, the Europeans are five points ahead. They have been playing absolutely brilliant golf, led by Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Tommy Fleetwood. They've just been playing absolutely superb golf.

And by winning the first three sessions, they have become the first team in all of Ryder Cup history, whether it be home or away, to win the first three sessions. So just remarkable, just remarkable.

The American team, we'll see how today turns out. But at the moment they have some questions to answer. And in particular, I think their captain, Keegan Bradley, is going to be under some scrutiny. His world number one player, Scottie Scheffler, has let him down. He has lost the first three matches that he has played in. I think Bradley will be questioned because some of his selections, some of his decisions, you know, essentially having had their hats handed to them on Friday, he pretty much put the same teams out again today. And what do they say about the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result.

Anyway, this was Bradley's defense of his approach to this Ryder Cup last night. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEEGAN BRADLEY, U.S. CAPTAIN: We knew this was going to be difficult. We knew this was going to be tough. We didn't expect to come in here and this not to be a difficult week. So, you know, we're sticking to our plan. We're not going to panic. We're not going to panic and make those sort of mistakes. So we're going to stick to what we know.

My role would have been a lot different on this team if I had played. We'll never know how that's ever going to be. But my role certainly would have looked a lot different than it does this week.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Well, Danny, let's see how this thing looks at the end of the day in a couple of hours time when these matches are in the books. But as I say, right now, with regards to points in the bag, the Europeans are five points up and no team has ever come back from a deficit like that in the Ryder Cup after the first two days.