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CNN, MS NOW & Politico Denied White House Access After Trump's Ban; Source: False AI Intel Report "Almost Started A War"; Google Reveals Its AI Model Hacked Three Companies; Trump Admin. To Host AI Event On Sidelines Of U.N. General Assembly; Trump Strikes Greenland Deal After Threatening Annexation; Trump Admin Approves Sale Of Stealth F-35 Fighter Jets To Saudi Arabia. German Leader Under Pressure as Far-Right AfD Party Gains Ground; Response to the Lindsay Clancy Mistrial; GOP Candidates Sideline Trump in Midterm Ads; Trump Calls for Vaccines to be Split Up. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired September 19, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:36]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And we begin this hour with breaking news from the nation's capital. Today, the Trump administration has now implemented the President's ban on some media at the White House, including CNN. This morning, when CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Kline arrived at the security checkpoint, she was denied access and the U.S. Secret Service seized her press pass.

MS NOW reporters and photographers, as well as a reporter from Politico, were also denied the same access. This move comes after the President posted a threat on social media on Friday that he was banning CNN, MS NOW, and Politico effective immediately from the White House. The President did not cite any specific reporting that prompted his ban.

Press freedom groups and lawmakers slammed the move as a blatant violation of the media's constitutional right to report on government functions.

We go now to CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter in a moment. But right now, let's begin with CNN Senior White House Reporter Betsy Klein on a street corner outside the White House. Betsy, you were blocked from entering the White House today. You did everything you customarily do when usually being gained access. Tell us more about how the moments played out today.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, Fredricka, as you mentioned, I've covered the White House for CNN since 2015 in some capacity, since the Obama administration, first as a producer and now as a reporter. So it was just like any other day.

I arrived at this intersection. I showed identification to the Secret Service. I walked past the Eisenhower Executive Office Building and into the Northwest Gate. Except unlike a normal day, there was a crowd of cameras waiting to greet me. There was also a performance, a rehearsal by a military band of the song "Battle Hymn of the Republic" as I walked in preparing for an upcoming China state visit. So a little bit of a triumphant walk in.

And when I walked inside, I placed my backpack and my phones inside the airport-like conveyor belt security. And then I put my badge, my White House hard pass identification, on the card reader and tapped in my four-digit code. Usually it beeps, it flashes green, you move forward and get screened. This time it flashed green, blue and red.

It beeped a lot. And the Secret Service agent asked me for the badge. He went on to say that it had been disabled. I asked him why, if he could provide an explanation. He said he didn't have any more information to share with me. I asked him why one more time. He said that he was referring me to the White House Press Office, to the Wranglers, for additional information.

Now, then my colleague Jonathan O'Beirne, a photojournalist, and I walked out, me without my badge, and went to report the news. Now, all of this comes after President Trump posted to social media around 3 o'clock yesterday that he planned to revoke the White House access for CNN, Politico, as well as MS NOW. He has done so as well with our colleagues Akayla Gardner of MS NOW and Cheyenne Haslett of Politico.

And one thing that we had reported was that many White House staffers were caught off guard by the President's announcement yesterday, including members of the press shop who were left scrambling to figure out the logistics of how this was going to move forward.

Now, I want to read to you a statement from CNN. We say, quote -- excuse me, I've lost my passcode here -- "Early today, CNN journalists were denied access to the White House grounds. CNN's mission to report on the U.S. government will continue, regardless of any attempts to restrict physical access to the White House and other government buildings or any other attempts to impede our journalism.

We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do our reporting without hindrance or interference from the government and this ban is an illegal assault on this fundamental right. We will not be deflected from our duty to hold the government and other public bodies to account, and we will continue to report on the actions and processes of this administration without fear or favor. CNN stands fully behind our White House team."

Now, there are also a lot of questions about the legality of this. We have heard from constitutional experts, First Amendment experts, who say that this is likely unconstitutional. President Trump, for his part, has suggested that even if it fails, he said it's good to point it out. It depends, he says, on what judge is assigned to this particular case.

[13:05:11]

Now, there are also a lot of questions about why now. What exactly prompted this, if there was a specific piece of reporting by these outlets? But what we know is that we are 45 days out from a midterm election. We -- the President's approval rating is at a low of 36 percent. We are at war with Iran. Gas prices have spiked just this week. They're up now to $4.47 a gallon on average, according to AAA.

And this is actually what President Trump is choosing to focus on. So, Fredricka, we will continue to do our job, whether we are inside the White House or out.

WHITFIELD: That's right, and we're going to continue to tackle all of those extensions of those stories and headlines that you just mentioned, in addition to this.

All right, let me bring in Brian Stelter now. So, Brian, as you heard Betsy, you know, underscore, it's not just CNN, other outlets as well, MS NOW, as well as Politico. So what are and how are the other outlets handling this?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: That's right, and those organizations are also saying they are working with lawyers talking through the next steps here. It is clear that legal action will be coming either in the hours or days ahead. And more broadly, Fredricka, we are starting to see a real show of solidarity across the American news media.

Brands like the Associated Press and the Washington Post now speaking out in solidarity with CNN, MS NOW, and Politico. And I expect, from what I'm hearing from sources, we are going to see more and more of that. One source who has known Trump for decades said to me, quote, "nobody thinks this is a good idea, including his own people."

And another likened this to the 1990s movie "Wag the Dog," when a fictional president makes up a war to distract from a scandal. This person said, "This is Wag the Dog, except you start a war with the media." All right, so there's a micro story and a macro story here.

The micro story is about White House access and how the press pool functions. And just as a practical matter, will TV cameras be with the President on Monday? That's because CNN is the pool representative on Monday when the President is slated to go to New York to the U.N. General Assembly. And so there are questions now about whether that access will be permitted. So that's the micro story.

The macro story here is about the public's right to know. The press does not show up at the White House every day for, you know -- the press shows up there every day to inform the public about what's going on. The press works together in what's known as the pool to gather information, to share video. And that is why we are seeing a show of solidarity today, because, quite frankly, Fred, these newsrooms, the AP, the Post, the Times, they know they might be next. They know Trump might wake up tomorrow and decide to ban them as well.

We are looking at a very slippery slope, something that Trump has not tried to do before, except in one, you know, one case in 2018 with our old colleague Jim Acosta. Trump has not gone down this road before. So we are seeing many news outlets paying close attention and figuring out legal steps to take.

WHITFIELD: Right. There was 2018 with Jim Acosta. But then just last year in 2025, he did try to --

STELTER: Yes.

WHITFIELD: -- punish, shall we say, the Associated Press. So there is, you know, precedence, there is history with this President trying to, you know, trying to get in the way of any of these news organizations from carrying out their jobs.

STELTER: Yes, the AP case in 2025 is important because it was a little bit more narrow. It was about access to the Oval Office, access to Air Force One, a legal battle did ensue. It was a little bit difficult the way it was sorted out. And that battle is still going on, actually.

The AP is still in court over that issue. But its reporters have been given some limited access since then. But that is why, Fred, this is a direct threat to press freedom in the United States, not because CNN has been singled out, but because it could be ABC or it could be CBS or it could be NBC or it could be The New York Times.

This is clearly undemocratic. And I was thinking about this, Fred, telling my kids about what's going on and why we've been on TV here talking today. They've already learned in grade school about the basics of the First Amendment. These are basic concepts that kids understand. But Trump is testing those very basic tenets.

And ultimately, it's going to go to court. I expect we will hear about legal action sooner rather than later.

WHITFIELD: Right. And to underscore our service, we are going to continue to cover this challenge, but we're also going to continue to cover everything else that is important to the American and the international consumer of information.

All right, Brian Stelter, Betsy Klein, thanks to both of you. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up, it, quote, "almost started a war." How a false intelligence report created with AI almost triggered U.S. military action against China. We have exclusive new reporting.

[13:10:00]

Plus, President Trump says he struck a deal with Denmark and Greenland after threatening to seize the territory. We'll tell you what they've agreed to.

And yet another artificial intelligence model has gone rogue. This one hacked into three different companies. New reporting on the latest AI breakout straight ahead.

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WHITFIELD: All right, turning now to some exclusive reporting. Sources tell CNN the U.S. military nearly boarded a Chinese ship in the Middle East thinking it was carrying parts of a nuclear weapons program. But U.S. officials had to call it off after the planes were already in the sky. That's once they realized the report was put together using artificial intelligence. And the AI chatbot had made a mistake.

CNN's Zachary Cohen has more details now on how all of this unfolded.

[13:15:01]

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Sources are telling me and our colleague Katie Bo Lillis that this intelligence report was circulated through the U.S. military earlier this spring while the war with Iran was still ongoing. And it concluded that a Chinese vessel that was transiting through the Middle East was likely carrying components of a nuclear weapons program.

Now, that obviously caught the attention of U.S. military officials who immediately moved to prepare for a potential operation targeting that ship, even taking steps towards possibly boarding the vessel. We're told that it was when military aircraft were in the sky and that this operation looked like it was going to be underway, that U.S. officials took a closer look at the intelligence report itself and determined that it had been generated with the help of AI.

And that the chatbot used by a special operations analyst had misidentified the ship's cargo, ultimately leading U.S. officials and the military to pull the plug on the planned operation and hence likely avoiding a potential international incident with one of the world's other superpowers. Now, this is reviving and contributing to ongoing concerns and the debate about the place of AI going forward and the U.S.'s commitment to potential guardrails around AI.

And the U.S. military, under President Donald Trump and his Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, have been very AI forward during their second time in office. Hegseth himself sent out a memo earlier this year saying that he wants the military to be experimental in how it uses AI and to incorporate it in nearly every facet of its job, whether that be targeting operations or more mundane tasks like budgeting.

This is going to raise additional questions, though, given the close call, as our sources characterized it, in terms of incorporating an intelligence report that was aided by AI and ultimately proved to be, as one source put it, entirely false. So another source saying and reiterating that this was not necessarily a one-off incident and that AI, the use of AI, particularly when it comes to precision targeting operations, is increasing under Pete Hegseth.

The source says, quote, "AI in targeting is definitely something that's ramping up and there is no real guidance for how having a human in the loop will prevent civilian casualties or fratricide." And so that does speak to another concern we're hearing from our sources, that there is no consistent guidance coming from the very top levels of the Pentagon about how the military branches should be using AI, which tools and which systems they should even be using.

There is very little consistency across all of the services on that regard. And as we've seen in this case with the Chinese vessel, at times AI can be incorporated into producing intelligence that almost goes to operational status without being fully vetted. And so, again, we're -- we've heard lawmakers here in Washington, D.C., debate in recent weeks about potential guardrails around the use of AI.

The Pentagon and the U.S. military, meanwhile, has been on the forefront of trying to find ways to incorporate AI more, and it will be interesting to see how this revelation may impact the Pentagon's stance on AI going forward.

Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.

WHITFIELD: All right, Zachary, thank you so much.

Also new today, another tech giant tangled up with its AI going rogue. This time it's Google revealing its AI system. Gemini hacked three companies earlier this year. This is the first known such incident involving Gemini. Google said the hacks happened during cybersecurity testing in May. Gemini found public information online and was able to guess login credentials to three different websites.

Google's Vice President of Security Engineering says they notify the three organizations and worked with its training partner to change the testing process. Similar incidents have been disclosed by Meta, Anthropic, and OpenAI, raising serious questions about the safeguards needed for evolving AI models.

This latest AI incident also reminds us how these systems become more powerful and autonomous. Now lawmakers are weighing whether the industry needs more oversight. This after a meeting with representatives from AI companies earlier in the week.

CNN's David Goldman explains how we got here.

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: AI is dominating the conversation right now. How did we get here? Well, let's go through the foggy mists of time all the way back to November of 2022. ChatGPT, remember when that came out? Oh, my God, this can help me cheat on my homework and it can write poetry.

That was revolutionary at the time. It feels quaint now because then three years later we had DeepSeek. This is China entering the conversation. Now Chinese AI can do everything that American AI can do. This was a big, big moment for AI, but not as big as this.

[13:20:05]

This year we are expected to spend $1 trillion, let's see, thousand, million, billion, trillion. Yes, trillion dollars on AI data centers and infrastructure. And this has caused an uproar. This has become a political issue and certainly helped make AI a conversation piece across the country But it's gotten even bigger because then in June of 2026, we had

Mythos. This is Anthropic's tool that basically they had to warn the government that this could hack into anything. The government says, nope, you're blocked. And Anthropic listened. This was an enormous moment in time.

But this is the thing I think that started to freak people out -- Hugging Face. OpenAI says, we found that our chatbots have hacked into Hugging Face, which is another AI platform. Their agents went rogue. Basically they had a jailbreak. It was like an Ocean's 11-like heist. They even had a getaway car.

It was incredible and it was an eye-opening moment because 1,400 AI researchers wrote an open letter that said, wait a minute, we need to start to regulate this thing. And then, of course, Jacob Coxon, who is a now resigned Anthropic researcher, says AI could kill us all.

This opened up the conversation to, wait a minute, are we going too fast? And his former boss, Dario Amodei, said, yes, maybe we need to slow our roll just a little bit. And an open letter says, we need to come together as an AI community and we need to slow down.

Now, whether or not this is true is up for debate, but it has caused alarm. And that is how we got to where we are now.

WHITFIELD: Yes. David Goldman, thank you so much for that breakdown.

And a high-level event on artificial intelligence is set to take place on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly next week. That's according to multiple sources familiar with the matter. The Trump administration's event is set to take place Wednesday, the same day as a U.N. Security Council meeting on AI and security.

Coming up, a controversial $24 billion arms deal the Trump administration intends to sell Saudi Arabia stealth fighter jets. How the proposed sale could reshape the Middle East's balance of power.

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[13:27:20]

WHITFIELD: President Trump says the United States has reached an agreement with Greenland and Denmark to give the United States permanent control over Greenland's security. The announcement means Greenland will remain under Danish control and comes months after Trump threatened to seize the territory. Still unclear what this agreement actually looks like.

In practice, as the U.S. already has a large military presence in Greenland, the U.S., Greenland, and Denmark are set to sign a deal next week at the U.N. General Assembly.

In another foreign policy move, the Trump administration has approved a potential $24.3 billion sale of stealth fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. The package includes 48 F-35s and 49 engines. But it's not a done deal yet. The proposal still faces congressional review, with lawmakers raising concerns about Saudi Arabia's ties to China and the potential impact on Israel's military advantage in the region.

CNN's Paula Hancocks has more.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: If this deal comes to fruition, it would be a significant upgrade to Saudi Arabia's air force. So the Trump administration has said that it will approve this multi-billion dollar deal to sell America's most advanced fighter jet system to its key ally here in the Gulf. Now, this is a deal that Saudi Arabia has been chasing for years.

It would make Saudi Arabia only the second country in the Middle East to be able to have this system alongside Israel. There has been concern inside Israel. We understand back in November when President Trump first floated the idea of this deal. We heard from one Israeli security source calling it, quote, "very concerning."

Now, of course, it does need to be approved by Congress at this point. But Israel's main concern is that it's going to shift the balance of power in the Middle East. We do have a statement from the State Department clearly addressing that concern. I quote, "The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter military balance in the region."

Originally, this was believed to be tied to the possible normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel. That does not appear to be the case anymore. This is just a purely business military deal without that normalization being a requirement or a condition.

Back in the first administration of President Trump, he did try and do a similar deal with the UAE, the United Arab Emirates.

[13:30:00]

But at that point, the deal fell apart during the subsequent Biden administration, because there were concerns about the close ties between the UAE and China. Experts say that that is still a concern within this deal, because Saudi Arabia also has very close ties to China.

Now, it comes as Saudi Arabia is fighting against the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen. We have seen some remarkable progress from the Houthi rebels trying to take control of a second critical waterway in the Middle East, that Bab al-Mandeb Strait. And it comes as we see fighting and strikes back and forth between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis.

Now, of course, it will take many years if this is approved by Congress for the jets to arrive in Saudi Arabia. But it does come at a time when the kingdom is realizing it does need to upgrade its military.

Paula Hancocks, CNN Abu Dhabi. (END VIDEOTAPE)

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Paula, thank you so much. In Germany, the far-right is testing the country's leadership and seeing its best performance since the end of World War II. And Sunday, Germans will head to the polls in a regional election that could further boost the far-right AfD party running on strict anti- immigration policies and nationalist cultural reforms. CNN senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen has more.

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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Germany's right-wing AfD looking to race to another state election victory in the former communist east of the country, doing 25 miles an hour on old socialist-era motorbikes, like at this campaign event.

Their most potent fuel voter anger at Chancellor Friedrich Merz, a participant who would only give his first name Chris, tells me. He's the wrong guy, Chris says. He had his chance. He will never be able to recover. Many people just feel this man is incapable.

The AfD is leading the polls here in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, capitalizing not just on Germany's economic turmoil, but also propagating mass deportations of undocumented foreigners, as well as ending all military aid to Ukraine and renewing ties with Russia. A position the AfD's candidate for governor tells me aligns them with the Trump Administration.

Like America First, we want Germany first, he says. That's our core value, and it's also good for international stability if Germany is stable in the middle of Europe, with good relations with the U.S. and towards the east.

Mecklenburg-Vorpommern could be the AfD's second big win in only a matter of weeks. In early September, they beat Merz's CDU in the State of Saxony-Anhalt by a landslide. A desperate Friedrich Merz then attacked the AfD's mass deportation policy, which they themselves call remigration in German Parliament.

If what you demand became true, remigration, which is nothing more than ethnic cleansing by skin color and country of origin, he says.

But so far, Merz's political counterpunches don't seem to be landing. His popularity has fallen off a cliff, and there's a discussion even among some in his own party about him possibly being replaced as chancellor soon.

Merz himself says he will not step down, but back at the AfD's communist era scooter rally, Chris explains how Merz lost his vote. Many voters feel they're just not interesting for the chancellor, he says that's why I think maybe it's not just a protest vote, but you have to try something new if the old doesn't work. A sentiment that appears to be growing in parts of Germany, jeopardizing the current government and turbocharging the far-right. Fred Pleitgen, CNN, Schwerin, Germany.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. still to come, the holdout juror in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial, now sharing what he said during the deliberations, plus what the father of the three murdered children is saying about his life after the mistrial.

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[13:35:00]

WHITFIELD: This week, the start of the trial against the former "American Idol" contestant accused of killing his wife. Prosecutors laid out their case against Caleb Flynn on Friday with stunning new details, including revelations about an alleged affair and thousands of text messages.

Meanwhile, there are also new developments in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder mistrial. We are finally hearing from that holdout juror whose lone vote to convict the former labor and delivery nurse resulted in a mistrial. CNN's Jean Casares has the latest.

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JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The prosecution wasted no time in their closing arguments on Friday, telling the jury that Caleb Flynn had a mistress. It was a years-long affair. There was over 100,000 texts in a year. And that this former music pastor and self-proclaimed man of God was writing texts to his mistress about exactly what he wanted to do with his wife. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was up until 4:00 a.m. last night, crying, literally trying to think of ways to kill her and not go to jail. If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That is how dark and how hateful I feel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ The defense pushed back, saying in a lot of those texts, he said that he was going to get a divorce. That's what he wanted to do. And just because someone has a theory or a mindset, it doesn't mean that they executed on it. It was a shoddy investigation from the beginning.

[13:40:00]

They're making assumptions, and they cannot prove this beyond a reasonable doubt. But the prosecution said, oh, yes, because we've got forensics. We've got fingerprints. We've got DNA. We've got ballistics. We have so many electronics. And that will poke holes in what he told law enforcement, showing consistencies and show that he was not telling the truth. Also, on Friday, a very big revelation, the lone holdout juror in the Clancy trial, which we have not heard from at all, now has legal representation and has now come out with a statement. And if you remember, the jurors that were four not guilty by lack of criminal responsibility, some had come out saying that he refused to deliberate, that he just sat there in the jury room, that he wouldn't follow the law, wouldn't follow the instructions.

Well, I want you to listen to what this lone juror is now saying in a statement. I didn't have any doubts as I tried to explain different possible theories during deliberation. I kept getting cut off as if I had doubts based on the evidence present, based on all the physical evidence, key witnesses and what the prosecution presents, I thought it was enough proof that she, Clancy, knew exactly what she was doing and planned.

The next hearing in the Clancy case is set for September 29th. We may find out information if, in fact, the defense can get the charges dismissed or if there could be a plea deal in this case.

As far as the American Idol Caleb Flynn case, which is out of Ohio, just starting right now, testimony resumes on Monday in Troy, Ohio.

In New York, I'm Jean Casares for CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Jean, thank you so much. Coming up, with just weeks until the midterm elections, warning signs flash for President Trump. A new CNN analysis finds Republicans have mentioned him in just a handful of ads this month. Why the president may be becoming a political liability for his own party.

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[13:45:00]

WHITFIELD: Early voting is already underway in some states. And it comes as new warning signs emerge for President Donald J. Trump. More Republican candidates are now distancing themselves from the president, including two Iowa lawmakers who voted for the first time to rein in his Iran war powers.

Plus, Florida Congresswoman Maria Elvira Salazar released an ad saying his immigration crackdown went too far, leaving many Hispanic supporters feeling betrayed. The growing dynamic among many Republican candidates has them shifting away from the president across treacherous political terrain. Their strategy instead is betting the distance can do more for their campaigns than their ties to Trump. CNN's Jeff Zeleny explains.

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JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): President Trump is eager to be at the center of the midterm election fight. DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: So, I'm asking to pretend that I'm on the ballot. I'm on the ballot.

ZELENY (voice-over): Yet one place he's not, at the center of Republican campaign ads. A new CNN analysis shows that Trump is a bit player, often seldom mentioned at all, in a deluge of GOP ads in some of the biggest races in the country. While the president asked Republicans to vow their loyalty to him --

TRUMP: Please raise your right hand. I pledge --

CROWD: I pledge --

TRUMP: -- to the greatest president in the history of the United States --

ZELENY (voice-over): Our analysis shows that Democrats are far more likely to invoke Trump's name in attack ads like this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mike Rogers, all in on the war, all in on Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Susan Collins does what's best for Trump.

ZELENY (voice-over): So, far this month, Republicans have aired just 12 ads that mention Trump. A CNN analysis of ad impact data found to the tune of about $1 million. But that's only a fraction of more than 500 GOP ads produced during that period, spending that adds up to more than $160 million. That means Republicans and their allies are devoting less than one percent of their ad budgets on Trump-specific TV spots.

Still, the president wants to make the midterm elections all about him.

TRUMP: When I'm in the ticket, Republicans always do very well.

ZELENY (voice-over): But given his historically low approval ratings, Democrats do too. So, far in September, Democratic candidates and groups have spent nearly $23 million on 95 TV spots that mentioned the president, making up about 1/5 of their ad budget.

Fallout from the Iran war is a theme Democrats have seized on, like in this ad attacking Republican Mike Rogers in his Michigan Senate race with Abdul El-Sayed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The endless war in Iran is costing us all. Billions for bombs, brutal at our gas pumps, and Mike Rogers, a cheerleader for Donald Trump's war.

ZELENY (voice-over): As some Republicans thread a delicate needle by showing their support and independence with Trump.

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): This is not the first time I've disagreed with President Trump, and it probably won't be the last.

ZELENY (voice-over): Outside GOP groups are firing back hard, erasing a Democratic spending advantage in nearly every top Senate race. Republican advisors say the party's best hopes of holding the Senate majority is not by touting Trump's agenda in TV ads, but by tearing into their Democratic rivals.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something not right about Abdul El- Sayed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sherrod Brown. Bailouts for big banks, higher taxes for you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Roy Cooper, his record is worse than you remember.

ZELENY (voice-over): Trump repeatedly talks about the fate of all presidents and their parties in midterm elections.

TRUMP: Even if he's really a good president or a great president, there aren't too many of them. They don't win the midterms, and nobody quite knows why.

[13:50:00]

ZELENY (voice-over): A lesson he well remembers from 2018, when Republicans lost control of the House during his first term.

TRUMP: You know what happens if you don't vote? You go to hell. You know that.

ZELENY: Now, Trump's near absence from the Republican advertising campaign clearly is a sign that he is a political liability for his party. But it's not just Republican candidates who are trying to show some independence and distance themselves from him. It is Trump's own allies, his own political network, choosing not to use him as the salesman for the party's message. As one Republican strategist told me, the president right now is not the best message or messenger for the party.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you, Jeff. All right. Coming up, President Trump says he'll demand vaccine makers split up doses. This would change how parents vaccinate their children. Ahead in the next hour, we'll detail what families need to know.

[13:55:00]

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WHITFIELD: All right. The late Princess Diana's brother is doubling down on his claim about what then Prince Charles said to him after her death, in which he says Charles said Diana would soon be forgotten after her death. Here's what Spencer told the BBC.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The king is plainly furious. Buckingham Palace almost never issues any kind of statement.

EARL SPENCER, AUTHOR, "SWAN SONG: DIANA, MY SISTER": Well, is he furious or is he embarrassed? Because I can tell you here and now, those are exactly the words he said. I've only ever had two calls on the line with Prince Charles at any stage of my life. I was hyper alert to what he was saying. And those are precisely the words he said. And I promise that to you now, genuinely, that is what he said. I don't hear him saying he didn't say that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: This comes following a rare rebuke from Buckingham Palace in response to those allegations saying, quote, "His Majesty is mindful that the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment and color memory in ways others do not recognize even many years after such a loss," end quote.

And they hide under cars, slip behind buildings and often go unnoticed in plain sight. Tens of millions of stray and feral cats live across the country facing hunger and illness. This week, CNN hero is working hard to break that cycle. Here is her story.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAINA SPAGIS, CATS OF SAN BERNARDINO: If you aren't looking for cats, you might not see them. But as soon as you do, you see them everywhere. And they're in such great need, especially in low-income areas like San Bernardino.

Today, we're trying to catch three orange kitties and we're trying to get them in for TNR tomorrow.

Cats of San Bernardino is a nonprofit cat rescue. Some of our main focuses are TNR, which is the process of trapping a cat.

All right, mamas. Getting them spayed, neutered, vaccinating and then returning them back to where we got them. This helps curb the population of cats that are being born to suffer on the streets.

Come on, big guys.

We also do colony feedings where we care for 14 different colonies every single day, providing food, water and medical care to them.

Can I see them?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, of course. We just found her, I believe, out in our dugout.

SPAGIS: We find a friendly kitty or they're sick or injured.

She got upper respiratory infection for sure.

We take them into our rescue. We get them the treatment they need. Our rescue, which is based out of our home, has our isolation and medical room. It's time for your medicine. Which is our garage, which has been outfitted fully as a medical ward.

20.5 ounces. You're a big boy. You're the biggest. Good job, bud.

And then we also have what we call the healthy kitty club, which is a bedroom in our home. This is where the healthy adoptable kitties come to hang out until they're ready to be adopted. We have three patios that are connected to that room.

Although work never ends, it's a work that we love. So, I love having them close by.

It is vet day Friday. We have six kitties for TNR.

Social media plays a huge role in our rescue. My wife does almost all of the social media.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's start with the first clip.

SPAGIS: It is the only place that we get funding from. It is a huge aspect of what we do and so, so important.

So, if you're looking for a high energy, definitely him.

Finding them home is always a great feeling, but even better is when their adopters create their own social media for them. We get to follow along on their journey for the rest of their lives.

Let's get the crusties off.

They all have different personalities. They all have worth. I love seeing them live their best life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: Hello again and thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We continue to follow breaking news from the nation's capital. The Trump administration has now implemented the president's ban on some media outlets at the White House, including CNN. This morning when CNN senior White House reporter, Betsy Klein arrived at the security checkpoint, she was denied access and the U.S. Secret Service seized her press pass.

MS NOW reporters and photographers, as well as a reporter from Politico were also denied the same access. This comes after the president posted a threat on social media on Friday banning CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House effective immediately. Trump did not cite any specific reporting that prompted this ban. Press freedom --

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