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CNN, MS NOW, Politico Denied White House Access After Trump's Ban; Inside Congress' Years-Long Failure To Regulate A.I.; Prosecutors Reveal Affair Allegations In Flynn Murder Trial; Lone Lindsay Clancy Holdout Juror Speaks Out; Patrick Clancy Speaks Out After Mistrial; Trump White House Bans Major Media Outlets; F-35 Deal Between U.S. And Saudi Arabia Raises Questions Across The Middle East. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired September 19, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:01:47]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

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

And we continue to follow breaking news from Washington, D.C. 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 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 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.

In a statement, CNN says, quote, "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."

CNN's Julia Benbrook is part of that White House team, joining us right now from outside the White House on a nearby street corner there.

Julia, what more can you tell us about this new media ban? JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And although things look different

today, we are continuing to report and to do this work. Now, I do want to point to a statement that came out just moments ago from the White House Correspondents Association, which serves as a go between for nearly 900 members of the press and the administration. In this statement, they are calling for the immediate reactivation of access to the White House.

This statement came from the current WHCA president and White House correspondent for FOX News, Jacqui Heinrich. I want to pull this up for you now and read it to you in full. She said, quote, "Today's action, revoking access for journalists from CNN, Politico and MS NOW, violates the First Amendment. The implications extend beyond these organizations. A standard used to exclude one news outlet because of its coverage could be applied to any outlet in the future.

"The American people, through a free and independent press, must be able to scrutinize those elected to power, regardless of whether government officials view it favorably. That's why courts have repeatedly held that once the White House provides access to journalists, it cannot deny that access arbitrarily or based on the content of the reporting. The WHCA calls on the administration to immediately restore our colleagues' access."

[15:05:09]

This, of course, all comes after Trump yesterday on social media, he said that he would be banning a number of outlets. CNN, MS NOW and Politico from the White House. He did not cite specific reporting when he did that, he instead said that it was cumulative, but he has pointed to those outlets, as well as many more, calling them fake news at multiple points during this administration.

And as he spoke yesterday, he suggested that this could happen to other outlets as well. He said that there may be more in the future. So obviously, a lot of concerns there. The White House Correspondents Association making their stance clear after those badges didn't work today.

And I want to give you a little bit of background there. As you pointed out, CNN White House reporter Betsy Klein, she did try to go through. She was going to report for our morning shows just as normal and went through, tried to get access, got to that last point where you scan your badge, it typically turns green. You go in. It did not turn green. The Secret Service did inform her that it had been disabled.

She asked a few questions, why and could she keep her badge. Ultimately the answer was that they would be taking that pass -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Julia Benbrook, continue with that stellar reporting, whether inside or outside the White House gates. Appreciate it.

All right. With me now to talk about this media ban and more, Julian Zelizer. He is a historian and professor at Princeton University. He's also the author of the Substack, "The Long View," and a columnist at "Foreign Policy."

Julian, Professor, always good to see you.

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN AND PROFESSOR AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: Nice to be with you.

WHITFIELD: All right. So your reaction to President Trump's decision to ban CNN and other news outlets from the White House?

ZELIZER: Well, it's obviously a dangerous step. You don't want a president curtailing access to the media, even if they are critical of the media. And it's part of a broader campaign that we've seen over the years. That includes different kinds of intimidation, regulatory threats, and now just prohibiting certain outlets altogether. So it erodes a very basic part of our democracy that we depend on. And that's media access to what the president is doing.

WHITFIELD: If the president is thinking this is going to be a deterrent, you know, for these outlets or any others to report on the White House. I mean, he's got it all wrong there. So I wonder if, you know, what his intention really is. I mean, is it to just convey a certain level of strength because he's not going to stop reporting?

ZELIZER: I think you're right. I mean, Richard Nixon famously tried to intimidate and threaten the "Washington Post," and it didn't stop their coverage. It only accelerated their coverage in the early '70s, culminating in Watergate. I think part of this is personal vendetta. And I do think the president feels a level of hostility from certain parts of the media. Part of it, again, is an effort to show strength over the media through the presidency.

And finally, I do think some of this is his standard tactic of distraction. The issue he doesn't want talked about as much, the economy, Iran, all issues that are causing problems in the midterms. And so there are some way in which this is, I think, an effort to deflect as much as to just attack.

WHITFIELD: And, of course, midterm elections less than 50 days away, we're about 45 days away now. And we're even hearing from many Republican candidates who are sort of distancing themselves from the president, his approval ratings are very poor. The economy, as you point out, is top of mind for people. So is this accomplishing, if this is a mission of the president, accomplishing a mission as being a distraction to all those things with midterm elections just weeks away?

ZELIZER: Look, it's a distraction for him, at least that, I think, is the intention, I would suspect. But I think for Republicans, it simply puts him front and center in a way that some Republicans, as is often true with midterms, want to distance themselves. So he is the front of the news. And now the midterm campaign has begun and so he reminds voters of his connection to the GOP. So it might have the exact opposite effect for Republicans running.

WHITFIELD: Julian Zelizer, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much. ZELIZER: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: New today, another tech giant tangled up with its A.I. going rogue. This time it's Google revealing its A.I. system, Gemini, hacked three companies earlier this year.

[15:10:01]

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 Web sites. Google's vice president of security engineering says they notified 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 A.I. models. This afternoon, President Trump announced that he is creating an A.I. force and plans to name an A.I. czar as the government faces growing calls to impose guardrails on the technology. Congress has failed to regulate A.I. for years, and there is little evidence that that is changing.

CNN's Annie Grayer looks at how efforts to pass legislation have so far stalled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Congress has failed to regulate A.I. for years, and there is little sign that that is changing. So going back to December of 2024, there was a bipartisan task force that put out 85 recommendations on what Congress could do to legislate around A.I.. And the Republican leading that effort, Republican Congressman Jay Obernolte, went to his Republican leadership team and asked to turn this task force into a special committee so that he could work on legislation, be able to bring that legislation to the floor, because the way Congress is set up, A.I. touches so many different industries, it would be very difficult to move legislation that would be waylaid in a very complicated committee process.

But Republican leaders denied this request for a special A.I. committee because they felt like the task force had completed its work and the existing committees of jurisdiction could take up the recommendations from the task force and turn it into legislation. But that's not what happened. Instead, what we saw is a number of bipartisan bills get introduced with no momentum behind them. There are a number of efforts, including from Republican Congressman Jay Obernolte, that haven't even made it through the committee process.

There are 10 bills that have made it out of one committee, but have yet to get any time scheduled on the floor. And so now lawmakers are asking themselves, what role does Congress have to play here? Republicans are adamant that it is on A.I. leaders and executives to put forth ideas on how to regulate this industry. But Democrats see that as a complete abdication of responsibility, that Congress regulates every other industry, why should A.I. be any different?

There's also a conversation of political will going on. Republicans -- when President Trump came into power, Trump did not want to see any regulation on A.I.. He wanted to see developments and new businesses. He was very concerned about the U.S. race against China and did not want any regulation to slow companies on that down. So as a result, Republicans were not focusing on A.I. regulations.

There's also a question of age going on here. There are a lot of lawmakers who are 70 years old or older, who don't use A.I. in their regular lives, who don't have a basic understanding of the technology, and that is creating a real knowledge gap that some say is really preventing Congress from being a major actor here. But Democrats see this as an opening. They want to be very pro-regulation in this space. And they argue that if they reclaim the majorities, particularly in the House, that they will make legislating around A.I. a very key issue as part of their legislative agenda.

There was a bipartisan group of lawmakers who was pushing House Speaker Mike Johnson to keep Congress in session to work on this issue. Now that whistleblowers and A.I. executives had come into the national spotlight and really raised the alarm on this, lawmakers were hoping that that would create some bipartisan momentum to get some of the stalled legislation through committee and onto the floor.

But instead, Speaker Johnson sent lawmakers home a day early. And now lawmakers are heading back to their districts with no sign of passing legislation between now and the November midterms.

Annie Grayer, reporting from CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: 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. And later, 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 balance of power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:47]

WHITFIELD: Some stunning new details have emerged in the trial of a former "American Idol" contestant accused of killing his wife. During the first day of witness testimony on Friday, prosecutors laid out their case against Caleb Flynn. It included revelations about an alleged affair and the thousands of text messages.

Also Friday, new developments in the Lindsay Clancy triple murder trial. We're finally hearing from that holdout juror, whose lone vote to convict the former nurse resulted in a mistrial.

CNN's Jean Casarez has the latest on both cases. [15:20:01]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 yearslong 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.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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: 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. 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, show inconsistencies 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 for 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 Casarez, for CNN. (END VIDEOTAPE)

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

So we're also hearing from Lindsay Clancy's ex-husband for the first time since a judge declared the mistrial in that murder case against her. Patrick Clancy and his new wife sat down in an exclusive interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" that will air tomorrow. The couple discussed the trial's impact and how Patrick Clancy still connects to his children. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PATRICK CLANCY, EX-HUSBAND OF LINDSAY CLANCY: I talked to them.

ROSS DOUTHAT, CBS 60 MINUTES: What do you say?

CLANCY: Help me. All the time.

DR. RACHEL DANIS, WIFE OF PATRICK CLANCY: I don't understand how the story has been so twisted. But I would hope people know that Pat is, as I said before, the most selfless father and supportive partner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right. Here with me now to discuss is attorney and former state prosecutor Julie Grant.

Julie, great to see you. So the next hearing in the Clancy case is September 29th. What do you expect might happen?

JULIE GRANT, ATTORNEY: Fred, we can bet our bottom dollar they're going to pick a trial date. This is going to be retried. There is no way in the world these prosecutors are going to drop this case with the homicides of these kids.

WHITFIELD: Even though the defense would be open to a plea deal of some sort?

GRANT: Right. You're right. And that was something that it was largely missed by the court of public opinion that before the trial started, Lindsay Clancy's defense attorney came forward and essentially said, hey, we're willing to stipulate, meaning agree on the record in this case, that she killed her three kids, Cora, Dawson and Callan, that she and she alone was the one who killed them. Our only issue we want before the jury is her mental state at the time.

But the prosecution wouldn't accept that, Fred. They said, no way, Jose, we think this was a premeditated murder without any doubt. And I would be stunned if they come off of that position.

WHITFIELD: Oh, interesting. So hearing from Patrick Clancy and, you know, his wife, and now the holdout juror as well.

[15:25:04]

Hearing from all this, I wonder if any of this might kind of impact how the prosecutors would proceed.

GRANT: That's an excellent question, Fred, because they've got to be paying attention to the feedback from the jury. One of the best things you can do when you're a prosecutor is talk to your jurors after the fact. Whether you win the case, lose the case, or have a mistrial, like in this case. Talking to them, you understand the way in which they perceive the evidence that you presented. And now hearing that statement that you shared from that holdout juror, it really does show that he methodically went through the evidence and was of the same opinion as the prosecutors were that Lindsay Clancy premeditated this and one by one tortured and killed her kids.

WHITFIELD: Let's move on to the other case. This is the Caleb Flynn, the former "American Idol" contestant accused of shooting his wife Ashley, staging the crime scene. This is part of the accusation. Ohio prosecutors, you know, began to focus on an alleged affair as well before presenting a slew of messages to his mistress and then playing a call to 911. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CALEB FLYNN, FORMER "AMERICAN IDOL" CONTESTANT: My wife is -- she'd had two shots to her head and blood everywhere. Oh, my god, oh, my god, oh, my god. Sir, please --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please, I need you to take a deep breath. OK? Do you still see anybody in the house?

FLYNN: No. The door to the garage was wide open. Please hurry. Please.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: So he's painting a picture there, right, in the 911 call that somebody did this and, you know, fired two shots into the head of his wife. Jurors had to take in a lot on day one.

GRANT: They sure did, Fred.

WHITFIELD: How influential might this be?

GRANT: Oh, incredibly influential. That call they got to hear on day one. It is chilling. It is stunning. And if you're one of the prosecutors, you're going to say that this guy is manufacturing his alibi in that call. First words out of his mouth are not help, help, because my beloved, the mother of my kids, my spouse, has been shot execution style in her bed.

No, his first words are, somebody broke into my house and then in the portion you played, you hear where he goes into Dr. Cyril Wecht mode, and he says she has two gunshot wounds to her head. Who's identifying the gunshot wounds in a moment where they allegedly just happen to find their wife shot? And then he continues to stick with that story about the garage being open. When police finally arrive, he talks about the garage open. Somebody broke in.

He was very committed to getting those words out so early on, Fred. And I think his words are going to sink himself.

WHITFIELD: And it had been established, too, in that first day, glove box of his car open, he happens to be an owner of a nine millimeter weapon. But now we're going to find out or make if a correlation will be made about any kind of casings that were found in the house.

GRANT: Yes.

WHITFIELD: But there is no murder weapon, right?

GRANT: You're correct.

WHITFIELD: So prosecutors have to proceed to convince a juror or the jurors no murder weapon, but they want to try and, you know, connect the dots quickly.

GRANT: Exactly, exactly. And they probably can. And this is why there were two spent cartridge casings from a nine millimeter firearm that were left at the scene and found and recovered. Caleb Flynn has admitted to owning a nine millimeter handgun, and, as you pointed out, told police, oh, I keep it in the truck that I own in the center console. As you noted, it was found up.

If his story is true -- he's saying that somebody came to burglarize my house and was just counting on my gun being in a place where it was unsecured and used my gun to go kill my wife and disposed of the weapon, but didn't take anything from my house, what kind of a boogeyman burglar does that? You know, it is quite a story. And I think if prosecutors show the jury those forensics and say, hey, we believe this guy did this because of these evidentiary reasons, and he didn't pick up his brass at the scene.

So now we can tell you, we do know he was the owner of this gun that magically vanished. You can decide how much weight you want to give those casings.

WHITFIELD: Of course, as a former prosecutor, you know exactly how the prosecutors are going to proceed on this. You painted a picture right there.

GRANT: Had a little practice, my friend.

WHITFIELD: Julie Grant, you're amazing. Thank you so much.

GRANT: You are. Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Appreciate it.

All right. Coming up, the Trump administration upholds its threat to ban CNN and other news organizations from the White House. Ahead, how the White House Correspondents Association is responding.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:33:47] WHITFIELD: We continue to follow breaking news out of the White House. Today the Trump administration following through on the president's threat to ban CNN and other media outlets from the White House. This morning, reporters from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied access to the White House and had their press passes seized. The president did not cite any specific reporting that prompted his decision.

CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is back with us.

Brian, media organizations and journalists are reacting to this ban. What are you hearing?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, there's a lot going on behind the scenes. But out in public view, I'll tell you what I'm noticing this afternoon. It's a real growing sense of solidarity among American news leaders. These are the editors and executives who are competing every day. They're competing for scoops, for stories, for traffic, for talent. But on this particular issue, they are not competing. They are cooperating and showing solidarity.

We've heard from the Associated Press, from the "Washington Post," from the "New York Times," from other outlets that are saying they want to stand in defense of CNN, MS NOW and Politico. And as you mentioned earlier this hour, the White House Correspondents Association also coming out very vigorously defending these journalists. And frankly, that's because places like ABC and Axios, go down all the lists, name a dozen different news brands, all those news outlets know they very well might be next, that they might be the next to be banned.

[15:35:09]

So this is a situation that calls for solidarity. And I expect we're going to see more of that as the weekend progresses -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Do we know how this ban could impact the TV news pool, which is the primary way in which a lot of television stations, you know, cover and get material about covering the president?

STELTER: Right. When Trump is on camera, when he's talking to reporters in the Oval Office, or when he's boarding Air Force One or when he's getting off Marine One, or if he's in a bilateral meeting with another foreign leader, that is the pool in action. It's the TV pool that is showing us those images. Oftentimes, whether it's at a rally, whether it's at a photo-op, the images are being transmitted to the world by the TV pool.

And five networks make up the pool, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and FOX News. MS NOW is a big channel, but it's not part of the TV pool officially. So you have these five networks that share pool duties. They take turns keeping track of the president, traveling with him. And it happens to be CNN's turn on Monday. So as much as today is a dramatic moment, and it's unprecedented in American history that you've got these networks now having to stand outside the White House because they've been kicked out, Monday will be even more significant, Fred, because we will see if the White House tries to enforce this ban on Monday and CNN is then prohibited from conducting its activities as the pool.

The question becomes, what will the other networks do? And my sense, talking with sources at all these networks is that there will be a show of solidarity. Exactly what form that will take remains to be seen.

WHITFIELD: And so what are the likely, you know, or possible next steps for CNN and these other media companies as they respond to this ban?

STELTER: Well, I think that the number one step and what we were -- we will see in the hours or days to come is legal action from these outlets. You know, we're here on CNN talking about CNN, but we'd be saying this if it involved Reuters or the "New York Times" or NBC instead. Lawyers for these big outlets are discussing this. I believe, as we speak, they are working on a plan.

I would expect to see a lawsuit in the coming hours or days because that has been the history here. Whether it was CNN with Jim Acosta's press pass in 2018 or the AP battling Trump in 2025, these lawsuits have proven effective in the courts and all the legal experts I'm speaking with say they expect the same thing will happen in this case, that this would be rejected by the courts once as a case up in front of a judge -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

Straight ahead, a $24 billion fighter jet deal sparking concern across the Middle East. Why the Trump administration's proposed F-35 sale to Saudi Arabia could reshape the region's balance of power.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:42:31]

WHITFIELD: Happening right now, Cuba is struggling to cope with the collapse of its entire electrical grid. Its nine million people plunged into darkness yesterday. The Energy Ministry says a failure in the high voltage transmission grid in the island's central region caused the system-wide breakdown. Restoration protocols were immediately activated, with priority given to hospitals, water pumping stations and other essential services.

Cuba's aging power system has been under severe strain from fuel shortages, deteriorating infrastructure and the U.S. oil embargo. So even during normal operations, Cubans face frequent rolling blackouts.

Also new this week, the Trump administration 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 details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

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 multibillion 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.

[15:45:02]

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. 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)

WHITFIELD: Coming up, a weekend washout for millions with rounds of heavy rain threatening Chicago, Detroit and Cleveland, before pushing into the northeast where the worst conditions may hit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:51:06]

WHITFIELD: A rare tornado touches down in Utah as strong storms rolled through the Salt Lake City area. You'll see the swirling clouds there raking across that mountain peak. The same system also unleashed deadly lightning. A 19-year-old man was killed when lightning hit a shelter on the summit of a mountain south of Salt Lake. Several others were hurt, according to the Utah County Sheriff's Office. And now the threat shifts east to the Great Lakes, where storms could cause flooding.

Meteorologist Chris Warren has the latest.

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: A lot more heavy rain is expected for parts of the Midwest, and this is where some of that heavy rain once again could lead to some more flash flooding. Round one came through for Chicago in the morning hours. The next round is going to be during the evening hours and overnight before that threat for heavy rain, possible flooding moves into parts of the northeast and mid-Atlantic on Sunday.

And here's a look at the future radar. So where you can expect to see some rain? A reasonable good expectation of what the radar could look like through time. This is after the overnight hours, after the rain begins in Chicago. This is 5:30 in the morning on Sunday. Still quite a soaker. Starting Sunday very similar to Saturday in Chicago as more rain, possibly heavy at times, moves into the northeast throughout the day.

It's going to be a pretty wet and cloudy day throughout the, you know, morning, afternoon and evening. So most of the day in the northeast and in the evening hours for the northeast on Sunday, there's going to be a chance for some thunderstorms as well.

And here is that look for some of the heavy rain that could lead to some flooding. That's more likely in the yellow. But possible in the green, in the northeast, where there has been a lot of rain lately. And the soil has a lot of water in it, so it's more likely to run off. It's not going to take as much rain to see some localized flooding, and it has been wet lately. This past week it has been the Midwest with that pattern like this going over the heat dome has kind of set the stage for day after day, round after round of showers and storms.

And that heat dome, of course, keeping things unseasonably hot. Ten degrees above normal is common throughout much of the south southern plains and even parts of the Ohio Valley. Each one of these dots this weekend is where there could be record high temperatures. Some records could fall. Of course not great news for fans trying to keep cool at many of the football games.

WHITFIELD: Not at all. All right, Chris Warren, thank you.

All right. Straight ahead in the next hour, a dramatic showdown over a D.C. landmark. Hundreds of people formed a human chain around the Kennedy Center protesting its potential closure. That's after Trump said the living memorial to Kennedy will be needed to be ripped down if Trump's name isn't added to it. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:58:38]

WHITFIELD: All right. The "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" crew is back to break down the news of the week with special guest journalist Kara Swisher and Virginia Governor Abigail Spanberger. Here's a preview of tonight's show.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., HOST, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": The story is gas prices are soaring. The economy is in shambles. Preventable diseases are running rampant, climate regulations are being destroyed, and it's all the fault of one man. Joe Biden. And if you don't believe it's Joe Biden's fault, just listen.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're digging out of a massive hole that Joe Biden left us.

REP. LISA MCCLAIN (R-MI): A massive hole that Biden left us.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): We inherited an absolute disaster.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I inherited that war. That was Joe Biden. I inherited all these high prices. It was Biden's thing. Do you remember, you know, affordability, I inherited that from the Biden administration.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WOOD: Biden, Biden, Biden. But, you know, if you say Joe Biden name five times he appeared.

MICHAEL IAN BLACK, CO-CAPTAIN: What's so weird is this is the one inheritance he hasn't squandered.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

WHITFIELD: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We continue to follow breaking news in the nation's capital.