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Antitrust Suit Filed Against The Four Big A.I. Companies; Trump Says Proposed Triumphal Arch Will Double As Military Complex; Trump's U.N. Ambassador Defends WH Press Ban On CNN, MS Now And Politico; U.S.-Canada Spat Rocks Residents In Border Towns; Germany's Far-Right Party Gains Power; Gas Prices Soar Amid Intensifying War With Iran; Airlines Cutting Cheaper Flights Due To Rising Jet Fuel Prices; Mamdani To Meet With Trump Monday In New York. Aired 2-3p ET

Aired September 20, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:00:32]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Ahead this hour --

New plan: President Trump is now saying that his proposed Triumphal Arch in the nation's capital will be built with a dual purpose.

Plus, midterm sprint. With just six weeks to go, how the Trump administration's economic decisions are impacting some key races.

And later, travel troubles as airlines cut more flights this year in response to soaring fuel prices. Some routes may soon be on the chopping block.

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

New today, artificial intelligence is now at the center of a legal battle, raising more concerns over its controversial development.

A group of A.I. users has filed a lawsuit against the four A.I. tech giants, saying their plan to slow development breaks antitrust laws. Anthropic, OpenAI, Google and Meta all allegedly agreed to pace development after recent incidents of A.I. agents hacking companies on their own. That's in addition to dire predictions from a former Anthropic researcher who said A.I. could kill us all in a decade.

Let's get some perspective now on all these A.I. developments. Adam Kovacevich is founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a tech industry advocacy group. Great to see you.

So you helped Google. What's your take on the lawsuit accusing the big A.I. companies now of colluding to slow development? Are their concerns valid? If so, is it illegal?

ADAM KOVACEVICH, FOUNDER/CEO, CHAMBER OF PROGRESS: Well, I think the lawsuit is probably getting ahead of the facts, but it may point the need for policy makers to bless some type of coordination. Look, the antitrust laws, they require pretty clear facts that

companies get together, make an agreement not to compete. That's what you have to prove. And I don't think this complaint has it.

And I think all you really have to do is look at the market. You see Anthropic, OpenAI, Google -- they're all just racing each other constantly, putting out new frontier models, new agents every week. So if this is a cartel, it's like the least effective cartel in history.

But having said that, I mean, it's precisely because this race is so intense that some of the people at these labs have started worrying out loud about where it all ends. And they are the ones who are saying that that competition scares them, that there ought to be some kind of coordination, some kind of pacing agreement.

There are disagreements about whether there's -- that is allowed under the law. But I do think that this lawsuit probably strengthens the hand of the people who say that the law really should provide a clear antitrust exemption for this kind of coordination among the frontier labs around existential risk.

WHITFIELD: Is there a middle ground between the industry coming together and not violating antitrust laws?

KOVACEVICH: Well, I think there could be. I mean, I think there's an open question about how, you know, I think there's some agreement that pacing is a good idea, right.

What I think you've seen over the last week is a disagreement about how to do that. You have Anthropic out there saying, let's try to achieve pacing through industry agreement and rules and enforcement, auditing those kinds of things.

You have other people, particularly Mark Zuckerberg of Meta, David Sacks, a former A.I. czar at the White House, saying, look, if companies want to pace themselves, that's fine. Go ahead and differentiate in the market. But we shouldn't have government blessing that.

WHITFIELD: Are you encouraged that, you know, the heads of these A.I. companies did come together rather quickly to say, yes, let's, you know, collectively pace ourselves.

KOVACEVICH: I think what it shows is that the people who are closest to this technology, who are building it, have concerns. And that is unusual, right?

And I think it's very unusual. I can't remember a time when the people who are building a technology voiced that kind of concern. So I take that seriously.

The question is, what do we do about it? And I think there's range -- there's room for a range of agreement, disagreement about how do you achieve this kind of pacing? Is it something companies should just do, unilaterally differentiate in the marketplace by being, you know, the safest, most responsible A.I. company? Or do you try to achieve it through rules?

[14:04:42]

KOVACEVICH: The big problem with trying to achieve it through rules is China, because China doesn't really abide by all these rules. So putting in place some kind of rule regime that China would follow is really the big question mark that underlies the whole thing.

WHITFIELD: We heard some say a third party should be involved to kind of oversee A.I.

And then we just learned yesterday, President Trump has a plan for an A.I. Force. We don't know real specificity about it. But who would best be suited, in your view, to kind of lead such an effort? And who might be this czar that the president would Have in mind?

KOVACEVICH: Well, I got to be honest. I think the Trump White House is flailing on this stuff, right? I think they've had -- just a couple days ago, Trump said A.I. was a hoax. And now he's saying we need to have a A.I. Force. Who knows what that would do?

All this confusion, I mean, look, A.I. is the most transformative technology in our lifetime. There are big, serious questions underlying it. And frankly, the Trump White House position is just utter chaos and confusion.

Whatever you thought of Trump's first A.I. Czar David Sacks, he did the thing that's been missing from this White House for the last six months, which is developing a coherent view and an actual strategy, right.

So since then, the administrations A.I. policy has kind of been whatever the presidents posted most recently.

And so, look, if we have an A.I. czar that brought some coherence to that, that'd be great. And said, you know, we're getting Truth Social polls, which I think is not really going to get the job done.

WHITFIELD: So if the president does indeed follow through with what is planned to be a meeting with the heads of big A.I. Companies this week, what do you think that conversation is going to be like?

KOVACEVICH: I hope there's less cheering about how great it is that the stock market is powered by A.I. gains and more genuine listening and trying to understand what the companies are saying about, you know, really trying to solve these problems. I think, you know, there is a range of solutions here, right? But what I think what Trump's been doing is sort of waving away the whole problem, saying, oh, this is all just a hoax.

That is not going to get the job done, right. We have -- you know, every week there's some new story about some cybersecurity incident involving A.I. models. I think there are some, like Google, who have called for kind of a voluntary rating, almost kind of assessment regime, like the MPAA movie ratings. I think there's some interesting promise there. We need something. And right now, Trump is basically kind of AWOL.

WHITFIELD: All right. Well leave it there for now. Adam Kovacevich, thank you so much.

KOVACEVICH: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right. New today, President Trump is offering a new justification for his proposed Triumphal Arch in the nation's capital. He now says the monument will double as a military complex. Trump wants to build the 250-foot-tall structure across from the Arlington National Cemetery.

In a social media post today, he says the arch could be used to store military ammunition and drones with snipers on the roof and plaza areas.

The president also says there will -- there will be no facility like it in the world.

CNN's Julia Benbrook is joining us right now. Julia, what more can you tell us about this plan? And is he serious?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He says that after a request from the United States military that this proposed 250-foot Triumphal Arch would double as a top-grade military complex.

He announced this development in his plan just hours ago on social media. He said that the arch would serve, quote, "It would house, store and have the rapid ability to use large numbers of drones, plus snipers on both the roof and plaza areas, and additionally have and hold large quantities of sniper ammunition in storage."

He went on to say that there will be no facility like this anywhere in the world. Our team has learned that this announcement did catch some working on the project, working alongside the administration on the project off guard.

And this arch, it's been at the center of controversy as its proposed location is at a traffic circle near a bridge that connects Washington, D.C., and Virginia. And a group of veterans suing against its construction have said that this large structure would block the view from Arlington National Cemetery to the Lincoln Memorial.

This arch is just one of many examples of how Trump has been working to reshape the nation's capital to his liking, to his style. And it's also not the first time that he has said that adding a military aspect to this is a part of the developing plan.

He did this with the White House ballroom as well, which he says will go where the East Wing once stood. He has tied that project to an underground military complex.

[14:09:42]

BENBROOK: There are a lot of questions here, because some of the approval processes are already in action. There are several groups that have the right to look over the developments and changes architecturally here in the nation's capital. And this part of the concepts and designs were not submitted.

So we have reached out to the White House for more details. They have not responded yet. We reached out to the Pentagon as well, and they declined to comment, Fred.

All right. Julia Benbrook, thanks so much.

All right. The U.S. ambassador to the U.N. is defending President Trump's ban on several news outlets from accessing the White House. This weekend journalists from CNN, MS NOW and Politico were denied entry into the White House and had their press passes seized when they arrived at the White House this weekend.

The move came one day after Trump posted a threat on social media, saying he was banning the three media organizations from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE WALTZ, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: The president is absolutely within his rights to limit journalists to government facilities, particularly when, in his opinion, they're not behaving as good faith journalists. And that's just not his opinion. That's the Supreme Court's opinion.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Not behaving as good faith journalists.

Joining now by Ron Brownstein, a CNN senior political analyst and a columnist for Bloomberg. I mean, striking to hear those words, but that is the justification for this ban.

But Ron, why do you think the president is doing this? And now?

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, I mean, look, it may be always a mistake to attribute too much strategy to some of these erratic moves, but to the extent there is strategy, I think it was clearly a signal by the focus of the Republican midterm gathering in Dallas, where speaker after speaker, including the president, wanted to talk about anything except the economy and try to ignite all sorts of culture war fights. And I think this is just the latest attempt at that.

I mean, we had polling out today again, that by 2 to 1, more than 2 to 1, Americans think his economic policies have diminished rather than improved their economic situation.

So against that backdrop, I think he is trying to energize his supporters by wherever he can starting culture war fights.

You know, whatever his motivation, though, Fred, I think, you know, this is a -- this is a serious moment for American democracy. I mean, how the other media organizations respond, the institutions that own the media, do they step up and recognize this for what it is?

And I think also the unwillingness of other Republicans today to criticize this, their support for this, I think, is a pretty ominous signal about how far down the road they would go with the president if he takes even more extreme measures in the months ahead to try to either corrupt or overturn the 2026, much less 2028 election results. So it's a -- it's a worrisome moment all around.

WHITFIELD: Yes, perhaps not so surprising when it's coming from someone who's been appointed by the president, to hear them kind of echo the thoughts, but it will be telling to hear, possibly from other Republican.

(CROSSTALKING)

WHITFIELD: Yes, elected officials.

So, you know, we are talking about the final stretch, you know, before the midterms under six weeks. The president is focusing on the media bans and then now talking about converting this Triumphal Arch idea into a military complex.

I mean, it just -- it just doesn't seem reasonable. It just doesn't seem like it's possible. But he wants people to take this very seriously.

But really? I mean, what's the goal here of -- of now proposing this dual function of this arch?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, look, I mean, each one of these efforts Trump has to kind of create monuments to himself, whether its tearing down the East Wing, putting his name on the Kennedy Center, putting his face on a coin -- all of them have faced roughly two-thirds opposition, 60 percent to 65 percent of Americans have said they oppose them in polls.

And the cumulative problem, I would argue, is, you know, the whole is even more than the sum of the parts in that all of these actions by the -- by the president, feed the sense among voters that he is focusing on almost everything else other than what they elected him to do, which is deal with their cost-of-living problem.

And you know, that was the predominant -- that was the dominant reason given among his voters for why they elected him.

And instead, you have a sense among even many of his supporters, much less the broader electorate that he is focusing his second term on his personal obsessions, everything from getting rich himself on crypto to cutting taxes for his allies, his kids making overseas business deal, building all these monuments to himself.

And I think that is even the greater risk than the specific opposition to these individual projects.

[14:14:45]

BROWNSTEIN: It's that people see the cumulative focus of the president on himself rather than on them and their problems.

WHITFIELD: All right. Ron, stay with us. We're going to talk to you some more after the break and zero in further on what the voters are looking for as they head to their polling stations.

All right. Coming up is the president's trade agenda pushing voters away from the Republican Party just before the midterms?

New reporting on how his tariff message is actually landing on the campaign trail.

And airlines are issuing a major new warning, saying soaring jet fuel prices are forcing them to cut flights. What it could mean for your upcoming holiday travel.

[14:15:27]

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WHITFIELD: Just 44 days until the midterm elections and President Trump wants voters to see the election as a referendum on his presidency, repeatedly saying to pretend he's on the ballot. But could Trump's trade war become a political liability?

CNN's Omar Jimenez talked with people living along the U.S. Canada border, where the tariff fight is hitting especially close to home.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So Lake Ontario, that's gone. Lake America.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. and Canada relationship hitting some new lows.

TRUMP: I can tell you this that, you know, Canada has been ripping off the United States for many, many years, for decades.

JIMENEZ: Online, the U.S. president posted this image, beating up the Canadian prime minister in hockey. While offline, the two countries are locked in an escalating trade war as President Trump now threatens outright bans on Canadian products on top of the 50 percent tariffs on more than $20 billion of Canadian goods, which Canada is now matching dollar for dollar. And these Americans aren't upset about it.

SHARON CAMPBELL, DERBY LINE, VERMONT RESIDENT: I don't know what else is going to work with that man. But --

JIMENEZ: So you're glad that Canada is fighting back with these retaliatory tariffs.

S. CAMPBELL: Yes. Absolutely. Yes. I don't blame them at all.

JIMENEZ: The U.S.-Canada border runs right through Wayne and Sharon Campbell's Vermont house. WAYNE CAMPBELL, DERBY LINE, VERMONT RESIDENT: This part of the yard

would be in Canada. The pond, the border patrol has three cameras on the property. I can walk out there, but I can't leave my property into Canada. I have to go through a border.

JIMENEZ: In the small border town of Derby Line, Vermont you can't separate the United States and Canada regardless of politics. Even their library is split in half by the U.S.-Canada border.

Driving this town, the one thing you cannot miss is the U.S.-Canada border checkpoint. I mean, it basically funnels you right into that middle of town.

The town on the other side of the border is Stanstead.

Karin Cantin (ph) owns the Auberge La Sunshine Bakery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Its almost 50 percent of our customers come from U.S.

JIMENEZ: She says she's been seeing more lately like these women on a group biking trip.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We thought, ok, we got to -- we got to pull together and support our Canadian friends. And we could have chosen any place.

JIMENEZ: Do you find yourself apologizing to Canadians?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's true. And when I do meet someone who's Canadian, who's come to Vermont to visit, I thank them. But the sadness is heavy.

JIMENEZ: But the cross-border visits haven't been reciprocal.

KARIN CANTIN, BUSINESS OWNER: It's like our way to tell to the politic (ph) say we are not agree with that.

JIMENEZ: Starting in February 2025, U.S. Customs data shows arrivals to the U.S. from Canada at this Derby Line port of entry declined every month for 13 months straight, compared to monthly arrivals in the previous year.

JANICE BEADLE, DERBY LINE, VERMONT RESIDENT: I've lived on this border for 72 years.

JIMENEZ: Why are you also flying the Canadian flag here?

BEADLE: Why?

JIMENEZ: Yes.

BEADLE: I feel just as loyal to the Canadian side growing up here my whole life.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Where Canada is quite literally just across the street from your house.

BEADLE: It's just across the street, right there.

JIMENEZ: How would you say business here has changed over the past year?

LORALEE TESTER, DIRECTOR, NORTHEAST KINGDOM CHAMBER OF COMMERCE: It's been stressful because it's unpredictable. The tariffs have been really challenging to navigate. Where I see the greatest hit is in those all of our businesses related to tourism.

And then that manufacturing piece, because that is, again, like I said, the consistent backbone of our economy.

CANTIN: It's sad for everybody. We hope that it's just a few years.

JIMENEZ: Back with the Campbells.

W. CAMPBELL: So if I sit here to do any kind of work at all, I'm in Canada.

JIMENEZ: They're a house divided by border, but they still believe in unity.

W. CAMPBELL: They're our closest ally, and it's become a mockery.

S. CAMPBELL: We're just -- we're loving and honoring. It's those guys in Washington that are screwing everything up -- I almost said it.

JIMENEZ: Omar Jimenez, CNN, Derby Line, Vermont. Awesome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you Omar, for bringing that incredible perspective.

Ron Brownstein is back with us. So in your latest piece for CNN.com, you write that protectionism was supposed to be a sure pathway to winning working class voters, but that Trump's tariff agenda is largely falling flat.

[14:24:49]

WHITFIELD: We heard from them as to why some of it is falling flat. But what are some of the other ways?

BROWNSTEIN: Oh what a -- what a great piece by Omar.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

BROWNSTEIN: You know, the Canadian tariffs are especially unpopular. I mean when CNN just polled recently in Michigan and Maine, 2 to 1 voters said that they were they were hurting the state. But they are only slightly more unpopular than the overall tariff agenda.

I mean, you know, again, this polling by CNN in April by 4 to 1, Americans said that tariffs had done more to hurt than help their own personal bottom line.

And what's really significant, Fred, is that this resistance is spreading into the blue-collar communities that tough on trade policies were supposed to appeal to. I mean, there have been hard -- trade hardliners arguing since the 1970s like John Connelly, Walter Mondale, Dick Gephardt, Pat Buchanan, Ross Perot, that protectionism was a pathway to winning support in working class communities.

And in fact, in 2016, Trump's opposition to the North American Free Trade Agreement and some of his more limited tariffs, I think even Democrats agree, helped him, you know, flip blue-collar places that had voted for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012.

But in the second term, going so much further on tariffs at a time when Americans are overwhelmingly concerned about the cost of living, has engendered a very broad backlash. And the best measure isn't the polls. It's that even Democrats who are skeptical of free trade and running in really blue-collar areas in Pennsylvania or Iowa, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, feel utterly comfortable denouncing these tariffs. And Republicans are really struggling about how to respond.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And then how do you suppose Republicans who are running for office who are on the ballot in the midterms, how might they feel that impact?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Well, look, I mean, it is you know, as you and I have talked about before, the real challenge for the overall environment for Democrats is even more positive.

The undertow of Trump disapproval is even more powerful than it was in 2018. Really a big barrier they still have to get over, is that a lot of the playing field in both the House and the Senate are heavily white, blue-collar areas.

Two-thirds of the House districts, the Democrats are formally targeting have more non-college whites than the national average. Most of the states that both sides consider the most competitive in the in the Senate, whether it's Ohio or Iowa or Michigan, Maine, New Hampshire also have more blue-collar whites than average.

Trump historically was very strong with those voters, but the resistance to his economic agenda, the feeling that he has not solve the inflation problem that they elected him to solve, really has knocked down his approval, rating them with them to around 50/50 in national polling.

And that's created the opportunity for Democrats to make inroads in places that have long been out of reach for them.

WHITFIELD: So that new, you know, NBC News poll finding more than half of voters say Trump's policies have hurt the economy, compared with 26 percent who say they have helped.

We've been hearing from voters for a very long time. You know, Americans have been saying they're feeling it. They're feeling it. It hurts. Why do you suppose the president is so dug in on continuing and using

tariffs, sometimes as a punishment to, you know, a number of economies just to say, you know, the U.S. is sticking it to them, even knowing and hearing in so many ways that Americans are saying, ouch, this is hurting our business, our livelihoods.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes. Trump has always been a base politician. I mean, he's never really focused on what swing voters or the overall electorate want. His view has always been that if he can maintain support of his base and turn them out, he can overcome that.

Didn't work in 2018 and 2020. Did work in, you know, in 2016 perhaps. But I think that, you know, the risk for Republicans here again, is this overall sense that Trump is not only failing to solve the problem that they elected him to solve, which is their cost of living.

He's not focusing on it enough in all the ways that we talked about in the last segment. And to the extent he is, he is making it worse, not better. I mean, you can't view the tariffs in isolation. They're also, you know, kind of yoked, linked to the higher gas prices, tied to the war. The cuts in federal support for health insurance through the cuts in Medicaid and the ending of the enhanced subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

I mean, all of these ways, there are a significant number of voters, as you saw in that poll, including roughly one-sixth of people who voted for Trump, usually in 2024, who says that his agenda is compounding, not alleviating the principal problem they elected him to solve.

And that is just a big undertow for Republicans to escape. I mean, they're focusing on cultural issues. They've got a battlefield, a playing field that does advantage them, and that is being fought out almost entirely in red terrain.

But when a wave gets that big, the -- you know, even the biggest wall can be surmounted.

[14:29:48]

WHITFIELD: Wow. All right. Ron Brownstein, great to have you. Thank you so much. Twice in one hour.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, two weeks after Germany's far right party won its first major election since the end of World War II, the party is poised to gain even more power. What it could mean for the U.S.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:34:35]

WHITFIELD: Voting is now over in Germany. An early exit poll show the far-right alternative for Germany -- German party or the AFD posting major victories. Today's results could determine whether Chancellor Friedrich Merz stays in power.

CNN's senior international correspondent Fred Pleitgen is joining us now from Berlin.

Fred, Germany's chancellor, is calling the outcome of the election, quote, "a disaster". What are you hearing?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I mean, that pretty much accurately describes it, most probably for the German chancellor. It's been a pretty rough evening for him. Just to make clear to our viewers.

[14:35:00]

So there were two state elections here in Germany, one where I am right now in Berlin and one in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania. And it's up there in the northeast. The Alternative for Germany, that right wing party really did score a big victory. And also, where Friedrich Merz's Christian Democratic Union lost a lot of votes.

Here in Berlin, they also lost the election here as well. And one of the things that we need to make clear is that Berlin actually has the status of being a state in Germany. So, it's like losing a governorship for the Christian Democratic union of German chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Now, he came out earlier tonight and he tried to strike a defiant tone. He said that he would continue the reforms. And most importantly, he also said that he would not resign as chancellor and that he would stay on.

However, I did manage to speak to the chairwoman of that alternative for Germany, that right wing party. And here's what she told me earlier tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PLEITGEN: How badly damaged is Friedrich Merz as a chancellor?

ALICE WEIDEL, GERMANY'S AFD PARTY CO-LEADER: He is strongly damaged. I believe the CDU cannot continue with Friedrich Merz with a weak chancellor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A weak chancellor there, she says. One of the things about this Alternative for Germany party, they do advocate for stronger ties to Russia. They also want to cut all military aid and financial aid to Ukraine as well. Of course, the German chancellor came out late last week and said, that's absolutely not going to happen. The Germans are going to continue to support the Ukrainians.

He also says that he wants to continue what he calls the reform course here for Germany. But right now, as far as his popularity is concerned, things certainly not looking good for the future of the German Chancellor -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much.

Still ahead, back in this country, fuel prices continue to skyrocket as the war with Iran drags on with no end in sight. And now some airlines are resorting to drastic measures to survive the spike, and it's going to hit you directly in the wallet.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:34]

WHITFIELD: No relief in sight for Americans at the pump. Here are the latest numbers from AAA. A gallon of regular gas is up nearly 20 cents from last week to $4.48. Diesel prices jumped 30 cents in a week, putting even more pressure on the nation's trucking and transportation industries, hitting $6.50 a gallon.

This as President Trump downplays the soaring prices, saying they're just a small price to pay for the Iran war.

But this morning, White House economist Kevin Hassett explains it this way.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE ECONOMIC COUNCIL: We've been bringing oil through the straits. It's up to a billion barrels of oil have come through the straits with naval escorts to try to keep the price as low as it can possibly be, given the disruption. And so, you know, President Trump will decide when enough is enough. But I can say that the U.S. government has done everything we can to make the price effect way smaller than people expected.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Those skyrocketing fuel prices are now prompting several airline executives to announce plans to cut less profitable flights from their schedules in the coming months.

CNN's senior reporter Matt Egan has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: This is something that virtually all airlines are expected to do as they scramble for ways to cope with the surging cost of jet fuel. So, this week, executives from United, American and Southwest, they told that Wall Street investors that they plan to scrap some of their cheaper, less profitable flights in the final months of the year. The airlines did not say specifically which flights will get canceled, but experts say it's likely to be those cheaper, less profitable, less popular flights.

Think the ones that are preferred by bargain hunters. Early in the morning, late at night, maybe on a Saturday. These flights, some of them might have made economic sense for the airlines. Back when jet fuel was cheap, but they just don't anymore. The big problem is the fact that jet fuel has just skyrocketed in price.

Back in late February, just before the war with Iran started, jet fuel cost an average of less than $2.50 a gallon. Now it's above $4.50 a gallon to the highest level since early May. And this is a big issue for airlines because fuel, it's their number two cost, second only to the cost of labor.

In fact, if you zoom in, you just look at the big four airlines, United, American, Delta and Southwest. During the second quarter, they spent a combined $80 million more on jet fuel every single day. Yes, $80 million more per day on jet fuel.

The other problem for those of us trying to get a cheap flight is the fact that spirit does not exist anymore. The discount carrier it suspended operations back in May. Now, spirit was already on life support, but it had reached a critical deal with creditors to emerge from bankruptcy. And that deal, it collapsed after jet fuel skyrocketed in price.

That matters because it means there's even fewer options available for budget travelers. No wonder we've seen such a significant increase in the cost of airlines for travelers. The August inflation report showed that airfare has surged by 23 percent year over year. That's more than six times the overall rate of inflation.

[14:45:03]

So, bottom line, this is just one more example of how the war in the Middle East is making life here in the U.S. even more expensive.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Thank you so much.

Still ahead, Ed Sheeran addresses fans for the first time since rapper Macklemore was removed from his tour over pro-Palestinian comments. We'll tell you what the singer said as he took the stage completely alone.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:08]

WHITFIELD: We're taking you on a road trip to highlight great and unique places to eat across America. CNN's new original series, "THE DETOUR WITH DAVID CHANG", follows the celebrity chef as he asks us to get off our phones, ignore the algorithm, and find local eats that you may never have heard of.

Sara Sidner sat with David Chang to talk about the most memorable moments from his journey.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: David Chang, your new show, the detour. It takes us along with you as you're going on road trips across the United States. Did you plan this out very specifically?

DAVID CHANG, HOST, THE DETOUR: I told them we want to do a road trip. We're going to have an itinerary, but we're really going to do our best not to use it. My intention was to not do any homework whatsoever, not look at the phone, not look at any websites, talk to people. It had to be friends or getting recommendations from total strangers.

SIDNER: You start talking about influencers. You're like, I don't want to be influenced. What's wrong with doing that?

CHANG: Nothing's wrong with it. But I think if that's the only way of discovering things, that's not necessarily the best thing. There's a lack of discovery, a lack of personalization, of sort of interacting with the world. And I think that's a growing movement of people that want to go back to a time and place where it wasn't fed to you, and it wasn't a consensus.

You know, that's what community was to me, was having different viewpoints about something that wasn't as polarizing as politics. There's nothing wrong with using your phone. I do it all the time too, but maybe there's a time and place to not use it. And maybe we could make a TV show on that

SIDNER: You end up in Tennessee. What did you discover that lit you up?

CHANG: The state of Tennessee has always, weirdly been a second home to Momofuku because of the things that happened in that area in Madisonville, Tennessee. We go visit Allan Benton and Benton's Smoky Country Hams.

SIDNER: What is your connection with Allan Benton's hams?

CHANG: The flavors of Tennessee, the flavors of that smokehouse from Allan Benton, a loud Momofuku to be Momofuku. It was like a huge unlock. It was so critical to our early success, because I just wanted to do things that weren't necessarily Asian. I wanted to do something that was like a rediscovery of what American food could be.

SIDNER: What are we looking at here? This is your joint.

CHANG: This was a steamed pork bun. And we have some spicy cucumbers, daikon and jalapeno, and some kimchi

SIDNER: Oh, good.

You then take a trip with a buddy named Corey Jefferson. And you two dudes go from Los Angeles to Las Vegas. You made a statement that Las Vegas may be the best food city in America.

CHANG: Yeah, maybe. Well, listen --

SIDNER: Why?

CHANG: Las Vegas is an amazing place. So, you have like, two million people that are locals, and then you have who knows how many people coming in every day that are transient. They're looking to have a good time. Like when people want to spend money and have a good time, like that's good for restaurant business. And over the years, casinos have had to attract people. One of the ways that is now the case is food.

SIDNER: You have every kind of food as well.

CHANG: It's also a slice of America.

SIDNER: This is amazing. And congratulations.

CHANG: Appreciate it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Yum, yum. The new CNN original series, "THE DETOUR", premieres tonight on CNN, and you can stream it Monday with an all access subscription.

All right. Coming up, an oil refinery up in flames in what's being called the largest ever drone attack on Moscow. Ukraine targeting the capital with more than 1,000 drones on the final day of Russian elections. New details on the latest attack.

Plus, monument or military complex? President Trump now wants his triumphal arch in D.C. to store snipers and drones directly across from Arlington National Cemetery. Is it a defense strategy or a national security risk?

And CNN takes a trip down Route 66 as America's most famous highway turns 100 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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

All right. Just in to CNN, CNN has learned that New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani will meet with President Donald J. Trump Monday ahead of the U.N. General Assembly. That's according to Mamdani's office, saying the meeting will take place at the mayor's residence.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is joining us right now with this brand new reporting.

Gloria, what do we know about this meeting and the focus?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, this will be the third time that President Trump and Mayor Zohran Mamdani have a meeting. And the big difference with this one happening tomorrow is that it will be the first time that Trump will be essentially meeting with Mamdani in his home turf. Right? He is going to be meeting with the mayor at Gracie mansion. That's the

mayoral residence here in Manhattan. And there will certainly be no shortage of topics for both the president and the mayor to be discussing. We got a statement from the mayor's office saying that this meeting is confirmed for Monday.

And as the mayor usually says, that the expectation is that their conversation will be focused on issues that affect New Yorkers, right?