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Trump Says Kennedy Center Closed, No Repairs Until His Name is Added; Rep. Massie Introduces Articles of Impeachment against Hegseth; Female Athletes Infuriated Over Sydney Sweeney Nude Sports Ad. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:15]

BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Today we're talking about Trump's ultimatum. Put his name back on the Kennedy Center or it won't be renovated and reopened. So, we're going to talk about whether or not this is a political shakedown.

Plus, a GOP rebel forces a Pete Hegseth impeachment vote as Americans learn the staggering cost of the Iran War. So, what could Republicans say when forced to go on the record?

And bestiality and the FBI. Kash Patel defends a bizarre policy in front of senators at a public hearing. Is this your tax dollars at work?

And Ed Sheeran's tour is in turmoil over Macklemore's "free Palestine" fight. Every opening act, and his own band just quit. Is staying neutral no longer an option for major artists?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He would have been so beloved, had he just taken a stance and stuck up for his friend. And instead, it's this. We hate you now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Here is where we begin.

A tense call and the closure of the Kennedy Center. It's the latest in the saga in President Trump's influence over this iconic venue.

So, the Trump-aligned Kennedy Center board voted to close for renovations. But this was after a combative call with the president. And he says those renovations won't happen if his name doesn't end up back on the building.

Now, just moments before the vote, a federal judge stopped the board's latest plan to re-add Trump's name to the memorial, who says the move needs congressional approval.

Sources say President Trump took his anger out on a Democratic congresswoman who sits on the panel, Representative Joyce Beatty. She is leading the legal battle against the proposed name change.

A source familiar with what happened on the call called it, quote, "F- ing crazy." But she says she's not backing down.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH): The president threw a tantrum.

I was not going to let him tell me that he thought I was incompetent. So, I responded by telling him I knew he was incompetent.

He wanted to blame me if someone died, if something happened, if the ceiling fell in, and I reminded him he has us at war, and people are dying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Today in the group chat, Maya Prabhu, editorial director for PeachPol; Jenny Beth Martin, chairman for Tea Party Patriots Action; and Latasha Brown, co-founder of Black Voters Matter. Thank you, guys, for being here.

So, this is an interesting story, because legally, a court has spoken and said, your name is not going on this thing. It's a memorial to the Kennedys. And you can't willy-nilly throw your name on it.

But of course, we haven't seen it since. The tarps are there.

Talk to me about this back and forth, because this lawmaker is now speaking very publicly about this call.

MAYA PRABHU, EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, PEACHPOL: I think people are starting to get frustrated with President Trump's desire to put his name on everything. They've been staying quiet, but I think being berated by the president is going to force, especially, a Democratic congresswoman to come forward.

CORNISH: Yes. Here's what Trump had to say.

So, it says, it's not what a prudent board chair would do. They would say, I'm making the donation to make it healthy, to pay the employees.

What he's saying I will do if my name is on the Kennedy Center. If it's not, I'm not doing anything. I'll let it close.

Ironically, if it goes into bankruptcy, then there might be an independent receiver; and then Trump wouldn't even be involved in this anymore at all.

JENNY BETH MARTIN, CHAIRMAN, TEA PARTY PATRIOTS ACTION: Well, I don't think it's going to go into bankruptcy. Congress has appropriated, I think, $237 million to -- to the center. CORNISH: So, why is the White House saying that? They're basically,

like, you need him to fundraise, because it's going in -- it's going to fall apart.

MARTIN: Well, they're -- they -- I -- I don't know that I can answer that properly.

What I will say is this. What we know is that part of the ceiling has collapsed. It is not safe. Closing it so that renovations can happen is the right thing to do, if we're going to keep this as a living memorial to John F. Kennedy, who is a president who was assassinated.

[06:05:05]

Normally, under normal circumstances, I would look at it and say, why do -- why are we taxpayers paying for an opera House in the first place?

But this is designed to be more than just a performing arts center. It's supposed to be a living memorial to a president who was assassinated.

CORNISH: So, should his name be the price of reopening it? Trump's.

MARTIN: I think that's something that the board and Congress are going to have to determine.

LATASHA BROWN, CO-FOUNDER, BLACK VOTERS MATTER: Well, as a citizen and as someone who pays taxes, I think it is absolutely ridiculous that we are having this argument right now, really, about a space that is a cultural arts space.

It's an art -- an arts for all of us, no matter who you are, whether you're a Republican, whether you're a Democrat, whether you're libertarian, that there is a love of the arts.

I've been to many shows. I've even gotten awarded at that space. It's a beautiful cultural space for us to celebrate the arts in this country right now.

And so, out of all the things that are going on with the raise, the high gas prices, with all of what people Americans are dealing with right now, this cannot -- should not be an issue that is taking up the president's time or this administration's time.

CORNISH: Yes. Although should we be surprised? I mean, he wants the arch. He has knocked down a wing of the White House. It's very clear he wants to make his mark on Washington. Recent reporting had him saying, If I don't do it, no one else will.

MARTIN: I think it's more than him wanting to make a mark on Washington.

President Trump is a builder. He -- his whole entire career was building things. He loves construction. CORNISH: Yes.

MARTIN: I watched as those flagpoles went up in front of the White House. I -- I watched that entire press conference that day. And he's so excited talking to people, being around the bulldozers.

So, I think it's -- it is more than just him leaving a mark. This is what he does. He does it very, very well. And he's trying to help make things better for Washington, D.C. --

CORNISH: What --

MARTIN: -- with something he is talented at.

PRABHU: But do we think people elected him to be the builder in chief? That's not why people elected him. That's not why we have a president, to -- to build things; to make things, in his mind, look better.

So, it's -- I think citizens are getting increasingly frustrated with the changes that he's making, especially as, like, a Washington, D.C., area native. Like, people are getting really frustrated.

CORNISH: Yes. And then I think the -- the Reflecting Pool thing didn't help, right? It's kind of cost on cost on cost.

All right. Stay with me, because we've got to turn to one other thing. Don Jr.'s wedding, brought to you by a Russian oligarch. So, what would the GOP say if this was Hunter Biden? We're going to talk about that back and forth.

Plus, Thomas Massie, the thorn in Trump's side. He's pushing back against the war in Iran and forcing an impeachment vote of Pete Hegseth. So, are we going to see any other Republicans break rank and join him?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:12:34]

CORNISH: So, the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, is facing an impeachment vote, and it's a Republican who's forcing it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. THOMAS MASSIE (R-KY): Impeaching Peter Brian Hegseth, secretary of defense, for high crimes and misdemeanors.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky there, stunning his own party by reading articles of impeachment Tuesday on the House floor.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you give leadership a heads up? MASSIE: I didn't give anybody a heads up, because when they found out

I was doing the Epstein discharge petition, they canceled two weeks of Congress. And I think, if they had found out I was going to do this, they might have canceled even more days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, Massie alleges that Hegseth started the Iran War illegally and defied orders from Congress to withdraw.

The group chat is back. I wanted to start with you, Jenny Beth Martin, because he -- he sort of, once upon a time, Tea Party affiliated.

And you heard what he said. He was like, I'm not even going to tell them I'm going to do it, because then they'll bail. They won't even have session.

MARTIN: Well, they probably are trying. They're trying to bail anyway and trying to go on their six-week vacation. So -- so there is that going on.

Yes. Thomas Massie has done -- been in documentaries with us about patent rights. And intellectual property rights.

CORNISH: So, you know, he's an independent guy. He's got his own way of doing things.

MARTIN: He's an independent guy.

I don't think that there are high crimes and misdemeanors. I don't think that this rises to the level of impeachment.

I understand that he does not like what is happening in Iran, and there -- we have a commander in chief that is the president of the United States. And I don't think that Hegseth, the secretary of war, has done anything that rises to high crimes and misdemeanors.

CORNISH: So, Massie is clearly also wanting to take advantage of public sentiment. Right now, if we look at the most recent polling in September from "The New York Times," Trump's handling of the war in Iran, 66 percent of people, likely voters --

BROWN: Yes.

CORNISH: -- disapprove. And then, just to give people a sense of what is at stake, the human cost, we've already lost 18 service members, and we've had nearly 800 injured.

One thing I've noticed is, bit by bit, you've had more, even, House members vote for these congressional resolutions against the war. Is Massie counting on one other person, two other people to join him?

PRABHU: I think -- I think he's definitely hoping that more Republicans will join him in this vote.

[06:15:04] And it's forcing Republicans to make a stance on this, whether or not they think this war has -- was started legally and should continue, especially --

CORNISH: But shouldn't this stance be easy? They support the president. That seems straightforward.

PRABHU: I think, again, they're -- folks are getting frustrated.

CORNISH: Not so straightforward. Why? The cost? Why?

BROWN: I think a couple of things. I think one, in terms of even how he's running it.

Let's just -- back in June, he took -- he made lieutenant colonels that were actually two steps from being general. He took CTOs that people were chief technology officer who had zero military experience, and basically made them lieutenant colonels in the military, right? When usually, it takes 20 years.

So, all these service members who have served this country well get skipped over for technology people who had no military experience to wind up being lieutenant colonels.

In addition to that, this war has cost $38 million [SIC]. Do we understand that --

CORNISH: Hold on. Let me give the folks a thing onscreen. It's $38 billion with a "B."

BROWN: Thirty-eight billion dollars. I'm sorry. With a "B."

CORNISH: And that's 2 to 3 billion per month. Never mind inflation, which people do directly connect to the war. That's from the Congressional Budget Office.

My thesis is this. He's about to give a speech, State of the Force address. And we know he is, because he's already issued one of these things that's like, you have to be fit and hot to come to it. Those are the requirements.

No, seriously, there's requirements about how you should look in order to join him for a workout and do this address.

And I wonder if Massie was trying to plant a little sort of embarrassing moment for Hegseth on the way.

MARTIN: I'm not sure if that was Massie's motivation or if Massie had other motivation. I'm not quite sure of that.

CORNISH: Well, I ask because I don't know if Massie's truly anti-war. Or --

MARTIN: I think that Massie is anti-war.

CORNISH: OK. MARTIN: I definitely think he's --

CORNISH: Because he believes in that. Yes.

MARTI: -- anti-war. I think that it -- it extends beyond what is happening in Iran right now. I think that that is a consistent stance with -- with where he stands.

So, what he is doing with this and his approach with it is coming at it. I don't know that its coming at it so much from an anti-Trump or anti-Hegseth as it is from his values.

I don't agree with -- with him on this. And also, when it comes to the Iran War, we -- we -- right now in the Strait of Hormuz, a fifth of the world's oil goes through there. Iran has been willing to plant mines and missiles and try to prevent ships from going through there.

Those ships have fertilizer that we need to grow food. They -- it affects our grocery stores. I think that we have to make sure we have control of the strait. And then we also need to increase --

CORNISH: Yes. So, is this like a "we broke it, we bought it" situation?

MARTIN: We have to increase our own energy production.

CORNISH: Yes.

MARTIN: I don't think that we broke it. Iran has been at war with us for 47 years.

CORNISH: No, not that. But you pointed out the Strait of Hormuz.

MARTIN: Yes. Yes.

CORNISH: And the Strait of Hormuz was open before the strike.

MARTIN: It was open.

CORNISH: It is now not.

MARTIN: It -- it is -- it is now under U.S. control. So, there are still ships going through.

CORNISH: Do you believe it's under U.S. control?

MARTIN: I -- I think that it --

CORNISH: Do you think the shipping companies believe it's under U.S. control?

MARTIN: I think that the -- that it is under U.S. control right now.

CORNISH: OK.

MARTIN: And I think that the -- one very quick thing: the technology. I think the technologists have to be in a position right now, because we're dealing with drones in a new kind of warfare that we haven't seen until the last few years with what's happening in Ukraine.

CORNISH: I think the argument you're making is the argument these Republicans who will have to vote on Massie's resolution --

MARTIN: Yes, yes.

CORNISH: -- will make to their constituents.

MARTIN: Yes.

CORNISH: Constituents who we know currently disapprove, despite the argument.

BROWN: And I think if 66 percent of Americans are saying they don't want this war.

CORNISH: Well, likely voters.

BROWN: Likely voters, right.

CORNISH: Which I think is interesting going into the midterms.

BROWN: If it's $38 billion, let me tell you, because I want us to understand what $38 billion would pay.

Americans are saying take care of home. Like, we need to take care of home.

We're saying that we have control over the strait. The truth of the matter is that's not being reflected in our gas prices right now.

In addition to that, $38 million [SIC], with rural hospitals are closing. The majority of those hospitals that are slated to close right now are literally in red states.

CORNISH: Yes.

BROWN: And so, we've got 38 --

CORNISH: Which brings us to the point of --

BROWN: Yes.

CORNISH: -- your Tucker Carlsons.

BROWN: Yes.

CORNISH: Your Marjorie Taylor Greene. Like, there is a world of Republicans who also do -- are upset about the war. And will these Republicans who have to take a vote suddenly run afoul of that wing of the party?

We'll see in a bit. After the break, on CNN THIS MORNING, there was this really weird Senate hearing. FBI leader Kash Patel forced to defend this, like, new policy about bestiality in their hiring.

Plus, Sydney Sweeney, yes, facing backlash again over yet another controversial ad. Is she the business winner here?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:24:11[

CORNISH: So, this morning, Sydney Sweeney facing backlash again for another controversial ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has just set back every single woman who is fighting for respect in the sports industry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That Sydney Sweeney ad is so disrespectful to every female athlete in the world. Every woman who works in the sports industry, in the world, everyone who's, like, an advocate of women's sport.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something needed to be said, because women who I know, women who I've seen have worked so hard their entire lives to get to where they're at in sports. And to see it being made fun of, in a way, is just disgusting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, so the ad is for a prediction market app, and the reason why everyone is so mad is -- Well, you'll see.

[06:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SYDNEY SWEENEY, ACTRESS: Think you know sports? Prove it. Novig is just sports so they wanted a show just sports. You can trade this sport and this sport.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, here is the naked truth behind Sydney's ad. She's saying "just sports" for a reason. The app Novig is suing five states so they won't be shut down for illegal sports gambling rings. They claim they are different from Kalshi and Polymarket, since their entire marketplace is dedicated to, quote, unquote "just sports."

So, is the uproar exactly what they wanted to distract from what's going on behind the scenes? Joining me now, Lisa Respers France, CNN senior entertainment reporter.

Thank you for being here.

LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN SENIOR ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: I feel like maybe Sydney Sweeney is our distracter in chief.

FRANCE: I think quite possibly. But she's also an extremely smart businesswoman. According to the CEO of Novig, Jacob -- Jacob Fortensky, he says that she actually has an equity stake in the company.

And she helped them come up with this ad, this whole "just sports" thing. Because according to him, she was attracted to the company because they don't bet on things like politics and pop culture and stuff like that. That it's literally just sports.

So, I'm sure they would argue that that is what the ad is supposed to get across.

CORNISH: Yes, yes. And I'm sure the state A.G.s and Wisconsin and New York and all the other people who think that they should be regulated --

FRANCE: Yes.

CORNISH: -- like sports betting apps disagree.

To your point, Sydney has multiple companies: a lingerie -- a lingerie brand. Her film and TV production company. She sold her bathwater; limited edition, needless to say.

I -- you know, I'm not talking about her at the Emmys, though.

FRANCE: Yes. See this --

CORNISH: Like originally, her title was actress.

FRANCE: Right. And her title still is actress.

CORNISH: Is it?

FRANCE: Well, I think she thinks her title is still actress. And in Hollywood, all publicity is good publicity, right?

CORNISH: Correct. Because the Novig app jumped --

FRANCE: Right.

CORNISH: -- several spots in the app store.

FRANCE: Right.

CORNISH: Right in the middle, as they are suing these states.

FRANCE: Exactly. And we're here talking about them.

I mean, and who had even heard of them prior to, like, you know, this ad? A lot of people, the general public, did not know about this. You know, you know Kalshi. You know Polymarket. Now, you know Novig. Because we see the scantily clad -- and you can't even call it

scantily clad, the nearly nude Sydney Sweeney.

And so, she knows how to be a provocateur and to get eyeballs. But now the test will be, does this really help their company? Because everybody's talking about Sydney Sweeney, but is everybody talking about Novig?

CORNISH: Right. And it will draw maybe attention from all directions.

FRANCE: From all directions.

CORNISH: Law enforcement and otherwise.

FRANCE: Exactly.

CORNISH: You know, one of the things I noticed is how much female athletes really were upset, really bummed by this.

FRANCE: Yes.

CORNISH: And she pointed out online, look, ESPN [SIC] has its naked issue. I don't see what the problem is.

FRANCE: Yes.

CORNISH: What were they saying, though?

FRANCE: Well, the difference with the naked issue is that those were athletes. Right? And she is not an athlete. She is a --

CORNISH: Thank you for that explanation, Lisa. You said it slow, though, so I appreciate that.

FRANCE: That's what it comes down to. But you do have female athletes like Amy Hunt, the British sprinter who it was so important to her that in a post-race interview with BBC, she was like, this is what female sports is about, like power. And, you know, actually putting in the work.

Because in this time when we're having so much discussion about women's sports and the lack of equity, and why they should be respected and treated the same as male athletes, a lot of female athletes feel like this ad, which was clearly geared towards men, because a lot of women are saying --

CORNISH: It was?

FRANCE: Yes.

CORNISH: I didn't notice. I didn't notice the subtlety.

FRANCE: That's why I'm here.

CORNISH: Yes.

FRANCE: That's why I'm here. To express -- explain it to you.

CORNISH: I love that for us.

But yes, you have all these women saying every time we step out on the court, we're sexualized.

FRANCE: We're sexualized. And hypersexualized.

CORNISH: Yes, because did you know, in some of these betting markets, at one point, people were betting on athletes' menstruation?

FRANCE: Not at all surprising.

CORNISH: Because they thought it affected performance.

FRANCE: And this is exactly why women, especially female athletes, have an issue with this ad. Because they're saying we are more than just our bodies.

And these people who got on the -- the ESPN, that -- part of that photo shoot being nude, they got there because of their performance. Because they put in the work to rise to the level of an athlete that could be noticed by an ESPN, as opposed to an actress who is known for "Euphoria" and "White Lotus" and her movies.

CORNISH: You're being very generous there. But go on.

FRANCE: Yes. Even though she's playing -- even though she played an athlete, she played a boxer in the movie "Christy," she is not herself an athlete.

CORNISH: Yes. Can I just say Sydney Sweeney has tried to be in serious films.

FRANCE: She has.

CORNISH: She played Reality Winner. As you said, she played a boxer. She did not get accolades nor attention for it. And do you see a person who has simply decided to take the reins and say, if it's my body you want, it is my body you will get?

FRANCE: She's -- she's feeding the beast. She's giving the people what they want. And in this economy, people are doing what makes them money.