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CNN This Morning

Trump Says CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO Banned From White House; Ed Sheeran Continues U.S. Tour Amid Palestinian Controversy; White House Blocks MS NOW Journalists From Entry; Family Of Woman Who Died While Pregnant Sues Texas Over Abortion Ban; Sikh Truck Driver Survives Harrowing Stabbing Attack At Wyoming Rest Stop; Black Men Face Highest Prostate Cancer Mortality Overall. Aired 8-9a ET

Aired September 19, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:12]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Well, first of all, President Trump says that he's now banned three media outlets, including CNN from the White House. The president claimed that the ban on CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO was effective immediately. But as of last night, CNN was still reporting from the White House.

Not clear how the ban on CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO will be enforced. A source familiar with the matter tells CNN White House staffers were caught off guard by the announcement. Now the president did not cite any specific reporting that prompted this declaration, but he did say this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: There's something wrong with a country that can allow people to write purposely negative stories. Now, if they want to write them, that's fine, but I don't have to let them into my into the people's house.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Press freedom groups and politicians on both sides of the aisle have slammed this decision as a blatant violation of the media's constitutional right to report on government functions. CNN senior White House reporter Betsy Klein is with us. Betsy, what can you tell us about this?

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Victor, President Trump has often tangled with the press. That's no secret. And he's also attacked what he believes to be unfair coverage. But this appears to mark a major new escalation in the president's attacks against the media.

Trump claiming that he is going to ban CNN, POLITICO and MS NOW from the White House. And interestingly, a source tells me that this announcement caught the off guard. Many staffers, including those in the White House press shop, learned about this for the first time via President Trump's post to social media announcing this planned ban. So that left staffers scrambling to fill in some of the logistical details here in terms of how this gets enforced, what exactly it means, when it goes into effect.

And to just take you a little bit behind the scenes here, White House reporters have something called a hard pass. That is a pass that you swipe to get into the White House campus. It requires a background check. What happens there.

Additionally, questions about the rotating network pool. CNN is part of five networks that rotate every day. In these small group interactions and travel with the president like in the Oval Office, how is that impacted as well as the travel of the president, he has a lot of midterm travel coming up. How is that going to be impacted?

We are still seeking clarity on all of these issues from the White House. There are also a lot of questions about the legality here. First Amendment groups say that the president, if he tries to implement this, does not have the constitutional authority to do so. The president was asked about a similar case. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think it's good to point it out, whether it survives or doesn't. I mean, I don't think a court should allow. Depends on the judge you get to be honest with you. I don't think that a court should allow fake news to be written day after day after day. I think that somebody has a right to keep them away if they're going to write false stories all the time.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KLEIN: But, Victor, we are 45 days away from the midterm elections. The president's approval rating stands at about 36 percent. The country is at war with Iran, gas prices around $4.47 a gallon. And this is what President Trump is choosing to focus on. We will continue to do our jobs, Victor.

BLACKWELL: Betsy Klein, thanks so much.

Now, CNN issued this statement in response to the president's ban. CNN stands fully behind our White House team and their fair and accurate reporting. We have a right under the U.S. Constitution to do that reporting without hindrance or interference from the government.

Should the ban, which President Trump threaten go ahead, it would be an illegal assault on that fundamental and constitutionally protected right.

Tia Mitchell is with us now. She's the Atlanta Journal-Constitution's Washington bureau chief. Tia, good to have you on. We even heard from the president yesterday some of these kind of qualifications as well. We need a good judge. We'll go as far as we can. It appears the president knows, even with his history with Jim Acosta

here at CNN and AP, that this is not going to hold up in court. So what's this about?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF, ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION: Well, I think it's about a lot of things. I do think it's about his perception of the way he's treated by the media, the fact that stories he perceives as negative that he wants to discredit and he wants to stop the flow of articles and reports that he perceives as negative or damaging to his reputation. And this is his effort to do it. And I think as you covered, as Betsy covered, he kind of did this unilaterally.

[08:05:02]

This was something that came to his mind and he decided to kind of put it on social media and try to make it happen. It doesn't seem to be super thought out. Definitely doesn't seem, it doesn't appear that he really consulted his legal counsel or even his press team or strategist, quite frankly, to see how feasible this truly is.

BLACKWELL: We are just a few weeks out from the start of early voting, a little more than a month and a half out from the election -- midterm Election Day. And I continue to think back to the finding from the July CNN poll that found that 73 percent of Americans say that the president is not focused on the most important problems to the country.

So put this decision in that context as Republicans are asking Americans to keep them in power in Congress. And the president says make it all about me.

MITCHELL: Yes. And this, quite frankly, is all about him. Right. Him saying, I don't like how the media reports about me. He's saying it's my White House even though it's not. The people own the White House. He does occupy it right now because he's the president. But I think there are a lot of Republicans who wish Donald Trump was focusing on the issues they're hearing about from voters.

And every time he does something, not only that it's not on the number one topics for voters, but that it's perceived negatively by voters, they feel that it further damages Republicans chances in the midterms. So this is going to be just another example where they might not say it out loud, but some will that Donald Trump, you're focusing on the wrong issues and quite frankly, you're doing things that are going to make it harder for us to win in November.

BLACKWELL: What do you expect from the White House Correspondents Association? They issued a statement reaffirming the rights of the outlets that have been named, CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO to do the work there at the White House, condemned the decision, but there was an era where there would be a show of solidarity that wasn't on paper.

And so what do you expect in this moment?

MITCHELL: I'm glad you asked that, Victor, because it gives me a chance to try to stand up to my colleagues. I'm a member of the White House Correspondents Association. It's tough. Jackie, our president, the board, they're in a tough position because the Trump administration just doesn't adhere to the norms. It's not the same type of open door relationship.

Think about his comments and his posture towards the White House Correspondents Association around the dinner. And now he turns around and does this. So they're going to try -- they put out this statement. I know they are working hard behind the scenes to advocate for White House Correspondents Association members, but they can only do so much. And at the same time, they're still trying to do their jobs for their respective news organizations. So it's almost an impossible thing.

There are going to be plenty of journalists who want them to fight harder. But at the end of the day, you know, the Trump administration just doesn't really bow to pressure, particularly from the media. So this is probably going to have to play out in the courts.

But I think what the other journalists can do if in fact he follows through, by limiting access to CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO, other journalists can make sure that the access from the pool reports and statements and all these other things, that doesn't necessarily go away while maybe other things play out in the court.

And I will finally make this point, Victor. CNN does great reporting. It does not happen necessarily while those employees are on the White House grounds, they have sources. They are doing investigative work that is going to continue even if those hard passes are taken away.

BLACKWELL: Certainly will. Tia Mitchell, always good to have you on the show. Thanks so much.

For the first time since the controversy erupted, Ed Sheeran performs tonight without Macklemore. After he was dropped from Sheeran's tour for giving a free Palestine speech, Macklemore made a donation to support Gaza aid.

I'll speak to the founder of a Gaza Soup Kitchen who Macklemore says some of that money is going to. That's coming up next.

Plus, you'll hear from the aunt of a pregnant woman named Tierra Walker. Tierra's family says the abortion ban in Texas is responsible for her death. And now they're suing Texas attorney general and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton. That's ahead.

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[08:14:27]

BLACKWELL: Ed Sheeran is going to be OK He's performing tonight in Philadelphia. No more opening act after he dropped Macklemore for delivering a free Palestine speech. But he'll be OK. Macklemore will be OK.

So will New England Patriots owner billionaire Robert Kraft. Kraft used his stadium ownership role to help oust Macklemore from Sheeran's tour. There is a risk with controversial viral stories like this to lose sight of who should actually be kept at the center. So let's talk about the people of Gaza.

[08:15:03]

If there is anything close to positive to come from this controversy, it's that the key players have now pledged donations. Kraft says he's committing $2 million to, quote, aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis. Macklemore says he's donating $1 million of earnings from his time on Sheeran's tour to six organizations that support Palestinian people.

Other influencers are matching that and calling on others to join in, like children's educator Ms. Rachel who posted I will match Macklemore's donation, and I invite every wealthy white celebrity to match it and speak out against the genocide in Gaza.

One of the organizations Macklemore is pledging to support is the Gaza Soup Kitchen. Its founder has been a guest on the show over the past two years.

In one of those conversations, we spoke about his brother, Chef Mahmoud, who helped run the kitchen. Mahmoud was killed in an Israeli drone strike. Hani has lost scores of family members over the course of this war. But still, as evidenced from the videos and photos he posts frequently on the work of the Kitchen, they are able to put a smile on the faces of those they serve, despite so much death and trauma. Hani Almadhoun is joining us now.

Hani, thank you for being with me. You know, in a U.S. context, this story, we've been talking about it as, you know, a pop culture story, a rift between two celebrities, the influence of a billionaire stadium owner, politics and pop culture. But I wonder, from your perspective and the work that you do in Gaza, what has this saga meant for and to you?

HANI ALMADHOUN, CO-FOUNDER, GAZA SOUP KITCHEN: Victor, thank you for having me. It's been a while since we spoke about Gaza. What Macklemore has done is center the Palestinian suffering, brought the conversation back to the people. I couldn't have written a better statement than Macklemore have done.

I know my daughters and I enjoy his music. "Hind's Hall 1, "Hind's Hall 2," it's amazing. It's the only song that we can listen together that has a four letter word just because it's such a beautiful song.

Look, we are at the Gaza Soup Kitchen. We make hot meals for the community. And we were moved emotionally by Macklemore gesture. The funds that have been pledged will deliver about 800 water trucks.

Can you imagine 800 water trucks delivered by an American artist from Seattle. Something about Seattle and Washington, where people are more aware and politically active. I was moved when the team in Gaza saw the news from Macklemore and they felt a sense of visibility that they had been seen as -- it's sad Victor, that we continue to need the places, like the soup kitchen, cooking in the side of the road at an open fire.

But that's the reality. Macklemore continues to talk about Gaza, about Palestine, because the atrocities have not stopped. I want to talk to you about how we make meals for community, keep people from starving, deliver water and all that stuff. But it meant a lot to us that this is the conversation of centering Palestinian voices.

You know, you were talking about the Kennedy Center earlier, because art is important. This is where, you know, people have a message. And I'm all about helping the community and serving meals. We're one of the charities supported by Macklemore, but there are others who do great work, like the work I do with the UNRWA USA.

And I think Macklemore understand that. And he's written about centering Palestinian voices. Not just that, but he also talked about his own family in the context of his own children seeing Palestinian children suffer. I look forward to buying the tickets for Macklemore when he announces his tour, but this is really about you and I want to talk about the people in Gaza and their struggle.

BLACKWELL: And so it seems as if the tipping point for Robert Kraft was this Free Palestine speech. He said that the reason that he corralled these stadium owners was because of a history of antisemitic messages and statements. And there was that mask costume from 12 or 14 years ago that was offensive. And Macklemore apologized for.

But journalist Jamele Hill offered a contrast worth consideration. I want you to think about this. She posted on social media, the man who released a song called Heil Hitler and called himself a Nazi, completely welcome to perform in a stadium. This is Ye or Kanye west in November. The man who said Free Palestine is not.

What do you make of what appeared to be the two words, Free Palestine being the tipping point to where that now is not acceptable on this tour.

ALMADHOUN: This is exactly right. This is the situation where words have been weaponized. Look, I stand in front of you knowing that one of my biggest supporters are a coalition of rabbis.

[08:20:02]

Rabbis for Ceasefire continue to say Free Palestine. They continue to work with the soup kitchens and other organizations. And look, the atrocities are hard to deny. Even as Macklemore was being dropped from the tour, a little boy, Mohammed Zinati, that we've seen in the video where the bomb was caught and the guy is no longer with us. This is the atrocities committed in Gaza by Israel and they have not stopped.

Look, Macklemore is amazing artist. There is an element of free of speech. I've seen people pull public funding that the stadium have received where that brings another conversation. Also, Kraft has not been very specific like he's going to give to the region. What does that mean? Right. He's it's a soft pledge. We don't know where those funds are going. This is not about money. This is also about keeping Palestine in the

headline and the suffering in Gaza. I promise you, I want to spend Saturday morning with my kids. But this is important because this is something that we don't talk about enough. That people are still starved in Gaza and I know -- I know that their emotions. I work every day.

My boss, who's an amazing leader, happens to be a Jewish American. She is a granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor. She shows up for the Palestinians the same way I do. Now, Pink can say she's offended or she feels unsafe. Somehow the reality begs to differ. When Macklemore said Free Palestine, the audience went wide, clapping, applause. It is not affecting the tour in the way that Robert Kraft wants you to believe. It is stealing more tickets. And now we see as he has been dropped. The tickets are on sale now.

BLACKWELL: All right, Hani Almadhoun, the Gaza Soup Kitchen. Thank you so much for your time.

ALMADHOUN: Thank you, Victor.

BLACKWELL: The family of a black pregnant woman in Texas says the state's strict abortion ban led to the death of this 37-year-old and now they filed a lawsuit. Named in this suit Texas Republican Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton. I'll speak to Tierra Walker's aunt and the family's attorney about the justice they're seeking. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:26:29]

BLACKWELL: All right, we're just getting this into CNN. MS NOW says that its reporters were blocked from entering the White House this morning. The network posted this on X earlier this morning MS NOW journalists were denied access to the White House grounds. The White House belongs to the American people and the decisions made inside are funded by our tax dollars.

MS NOW intends to take any and steps to defer defend rather our First Amendment rights and the essential role of independent journalism in our democracy.

As we've been reporting this morning, President Trump threatened to ban CNN, MS NOW and POLITICO from the White House yesterday afternoon. We'll continue to follow this and bring you updates as we get them.

A family of a Texas woman who died after being denied abortion care several times during her pregnancy is suing her doctors and Texas officials, including Attorney General Ken Paxton. It is the first lawsuit over a death linked to an abortion ban.

Tierra Walker left behind her mother, her husband and her teenage son, who found her dead on his 15th birthday. It was her concern for him and her awareness of her condition that led Walker to ask her doctor about ending the pregnancy and to keep asking. And she was denied again and again by several doctors over several visits from October 2024 until she died on December 30th of that year.

The opening sentences of the lawsuit say Tierra Walker is dead and those responsible must be held accountable at every turn. Texas's political and medical establishments not only failed, but actively harmed Ms. Walker.

Leading the lawsuit for Tierra's family is her aunt, LaTanya Walker. She joins us now along with the family's attorney, Molly Duane, litigation director at Amplify Legal. Welcome to you both.

And LaTanya, let me start with you and the simple question. Why do you believe that the attorney general, Ken Paxton, is partly responsible for your niece's death?

LATANYA WALKER, AUNT OF TIERRA WALKER: Because he pushed and he pushed for the law to come, and because of that law that he made, proceeded to her death.

BLACKWELL: And you were with Tierra during this pregnancy. And it was not just one or two visits to a doctor. She was under a doctor's care for much, if not most of the pregnancy. And what did they tell you when she inquired about what you say was the only relief that could have protected her, an abortion?

WALKER: That she was crazy in her head for me to go tell her husband that she was making this all up, that she was making it all up. And what the doctors and kept saying was, it's not the baby, it was her. It's not the baby, it was her.

BLACKWELL: Molly, let me come to you because Texas does offer some exceptions to its abortion ban in the case of a risk to the mother of the life. But according to your suit, terrorist doctors acknowledged that she was at high risk of clinical deterioration and or death. And so why, even in that scenario, was she denied the opportunity to abort the pregnancy?

MOLLY DUANE, LITIGATION DIRECTOR, AMPLIFY LEGAL (ABORTION IN AMERICA): Tierra Walker is proof that the exception to Texas's abortion ban does not exist.

[08:30:02]

Because if even she was not sick enough, if even her doctors were too scared to act, then the medical emergency exception is nothing more than words on paper. Preeclampsia is the disease that killed Ms. Walker. And in any other state, she would have been offered the only treatment for preeclampsia, which is premature delivery. But in the state of Texas, delivery at 20 weeks is an abortion, and that is why she died.

BLACKWELL: And so let me test this lawsuit here, because you're linking this to the attorney general, and what you say in the lawsuit is this fear that he instilled in health care workers. Reading from the lawsuit first, University Health improperly triaged Tierra, failed to ensure that she was seen by the OB GYN attending, failed to properly screen for preeclampsia or pulmonary edema. That the staff knew that failing to treat her preeclampsia could result in serious jeopardy to her health, including death.

The staff documented those risks in her chart, yet still never offered her an abortion, discharged her without providing the stabilizing care she urgently required, causing her death.

I mean, the narrative here suggests that she was mistreated, that this was malpractice from the start. So why is this more than that on the hospital? If that's the case, how is the attorney general liable here?

DUANE: Because everyone is to blame. The Texas officials that have enforced and really used and abused their offices to push for a merciless abortion ban in the state of Texas, they are also to blame. It is a toxic and deadly environment in which too many have already died. You know, I think a lot of people get concerned about the politics of all of this and forget that there are real people impacted by these policies.

Tierra Walker should still be here, and everyone knows why she's not. It's because she was poor, because she was black, and because she lives in a state with a total abortion ban. It's as simple as that. And so our lawsuit seeks accountability from all of the people who wronged her, all of the people who mistreated her. And yes, that includes Attorney General Ken Paxton.

BLACKWELL: And so, Molly, let me ask you, we're just, as I've said, a few weeks out from the start of early voting and about a month and a half from Election Day. Tierra Walker died at the end of 2024. You know, the political calendar.

What do you say to people who suggest that the timing of this lawsuit is designed to correspond with his run for Senate in Texas?

DUANE: The statute of limitations in Texas runs from the date that the negligence began. So we had no choice but to file this lawsuit this week. This has nothing to do with politics. This has to do with the fact that a woman is dead, a family is grieving, a son does not have his mother.

And we are seeking justice for Tierra's family, but also seeking to ensure that this doesn't happen to any other Texas families. Too many have already died. Yenny Glick, Josseli Barnica, Porsha Ngumezi. The death toll is mounting. And so I'm not concerned with the political calendar. I'm concerned with the suffering of real Texans.

BLACKWELL: And LaTanya, what do you want more than the damages that a jury might award your family? What do you want to come out of this lawsuit?

WALKER: I want justice. I want justice for her son, justice for her mother, and justice for her husband.

BLACKWELL: LaTanya Walker and attorney Molly Duane, thank you very much. A spokesperson for the hospital that treated Walker declined comment.

Paxton's office and the Texas Medical Board did not respond to requests for comment this week.

America's sick communities are worried this fear is growing. Their worst fear is now realized at a moment where there is a lot of rhetoric aimed at immigrant truck drivers. News of a sick driver stabbed multiple times at a truck stop in Wyoming. An attorney who just visited that driver in the hospital is here. Next.

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[08:39:03]

BLACKWELL: America's immigrant South Asian community is worried that their worst fear just got closer to reality. A Sikh truck driver is now recovering after being stabbed 17 times at a truck stop in Wyoming. A 44-year-old man has been arrested and charged. Officials have not said what they think the motive was.

It's unclear whether the incident is even being investigated as a hate crime, but the environment in which this has happened is important. We've covered on this show the push by the Department of Transportation to crack down on immigrant truck drivers. The Department of Homeland Security has played into the rhetoric too, and that includes this Transformers themed post from back on the 9th of this month. The caption of DHS is apparently AI generated post refers to the man seen in this as Mr. Singh.

DHS has since taken the post down, but the office of California Governor Gavin Newsom screenshotted it, reposted it, called the post disgusting and racist propaganda.

[08:40:00]

DHS replied to Newsom's office and claimed their post was referencing a truck driver arrested for killing three people. Attorney Jasjit Singh is now with us. He is director of legal services for the organization Jakara Movement, and he met with the truck driver at the hospital as he recovers from this stabbing.

Mr. Singh, thank you for being with me. So let's talk about this. 3:30 in the morning. So you're in the middle of the night at a truck stop in Wyoming, remote area. Law enforcement has not identified a motive here, but does the victim here, does he have a belief about why he was attacked and stabbed 17 times?

JASJIT SINGH, DIRECTOR OF LEGAL SERVICES, JAKARA MOVEMENT: Well, thank you for having me. You know, the victim, Mr. Singh, is in disbelief that he was attacked. I think to start off with the fact that it was completely unprovoked, you use a rest area, you're using a public area to make sure that you can stop, take a break, you know, wash your face, you know, brush your teeth, use a restroom.

And this completely unprovoked attack in which, as he said, he was stabbed 17 times, he really has no idea for what reason this individual attacked him.

BLACKWELL: Does Mr. Singh say that the man said anything, any indication, heard anything from him?

SINGH: Nothing. He was attacked from behind while in the restroom. Unprovoked. A attack that started with some punches to the back of his head, turned into a stabbing incident, and which left him bleeding and struggling for his life.

BLACKWELL: He's from Sacramento, California. Senator Adam Schiff posted a sickening reminder that hateful rhetoric will never be just rhetoric. Words that attack or belittle people of color over their skin can also incite the most brutal attacks, especially when they're given official sanction. What an absolute, unmitigated travesty.

And so what do you believe the significance of that meme that was put up by Department of Homeland Security that said, get off our roads, you don't know how to drive, Mr. Singh is?

SINGH: Of course, as you said, the Department of Homeland Security responded to Governor Newsom saying that it was in reference to one particular individual. I challenge that, considering that the surname Singh is carried by every Sikh individual, every male Sikh in the world. So that poster was purposeful, misleading, and I believe that this is the exact intention of putting up such posters asking for folks to possibly take matters in this situation into their own hands.

I think the speculation is real that we have created an environment over the last, say, two years, let's be honest, through this administration, it's creating an environment of concern, of fear, of hate and pinning communities against one another, when in reality, our truckers right now are struggling on the road due to the high demands, especially in diesel prices. Folks are just trying to get by.

These are the people who are delivering food to our communities. They don't see skin tone. They don't see skin color. They don't see race, religion. They're just trying to deliver the food and make it back home safely to their family. And the fact that can even be guaranteed by the government is pretty dangerous.

BLACKWELL: And we should also point out, I mean, this was a fact that surprised me when I learned it when we started talking about this about a year ago, that the Sikh truck driver population is not a small minority. Some estimates have 20 percent of truck drivers in this country who are Sikh or of Punjabi descent. Before I wrap here, how is Mr. Singh physically? This morning?

SINGH: Mr. Singh was discharged. He's recovering. He is with family and he would love to get back on the truck as soon as he can. He loves trucking. He's been driving for nearly four years. It's his passion and he's in high spirits. There's a concept in the Sikh faith called Chardi kala (ph) to remain in rising spirits. And he truly embodies that as he makes his recovery.

And we hope that we can pursue everything possible and make sure that the authorities explore every angle to ensure that every aspect of justice is truly delivered for this individual.

BLACKWELL: Jasjit Singh, thank you so much for joining me this morning.

Black men face the highest risk of prostate cancer. Now to raise awareness of that, this is how we do it.

[08:45:03]

Singer Montel Jordan survived prostate cancer twice. He's here live to talk about his journey and advocacy for Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: So you know him from his Grammy nominated song. But you may not know that Montell Jordan is a prostate cancer survivor. Not once twice. As a black man, he is fortunate.

[08:50:00]

According to the American Cancer Society, the most common cancer diagnosis in the United States for black men is prostate cancer. Black men die of prostate cancer more than any other racial or ethnic group, and they're more than twice as likely to die of prostate cancer than white men.

Montell Jordan is now working to help change that. He's raising awareness of early detection on this Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. And he's also the co-author of a new children's book, "Shilo and the Not-So-Scary Girl Above His Bed," a book about overcoming fear with faith. Thanks for coming in.

MONTELL JORDAN, GRAMMY-NOMINATED SINGER: Thank you for having me.

BLACKWELL: So you were diagnosed, was it 2024?

JORDAN: Yes.

BLACKWELL: It returned last year, cancer free at the end of 2025. How are you now?

JORDAN: Fantastic.

BLACKWELL: OK.

JORDAN: Couldn't be better if I were twins. I'm good. Oh, good, good right now.

BLACKWELL: So let me say that, you know, when we get to our mid to late 40s, people start talking about colonoscopies. Right. But the diagnoses of men for prostate cancer often comes in mid to late 60s.

So when you got the diagnosis in your 50s, was that even something on your radar? JORDAN: I never thought about cancer until cancer thought about me. And that's just a real thing that most people don't necessarily consider the maintenance of the body. Now from the time I was about 40, I was going to get regular checkups and screenings and things like that just because it was incentivized by a ministry I was a part of at the time. And so going was just a regular thing.

So by the time I hit 52 and I'm getting screenings and they could see my prostate specific antigen level, my PSA level had risen to above 6. I could go back and I could see. I had a 10 year track record of it being at 3.1, 3.4, 3.5, 4 point. And so because I had a track record, the doctors and we're able to look and be able to see, hey, this is something that is trending upward and we probably need to take a look at it.

BLACKWELL: Take me to 2024. And when you learned of the diagnosis, because I read that you said that this was something that not only hits you, it hit family, having to share the message.

JORDAN: Yes, well, I think when I first heard the words, it's cancer sitting across from a urologist, that was, you know, to this moment, when you hear those words, you never expect to hear them. And then because I'm in ministry, I also know, OK, there's life and death in the power of the tongue. And so immediately when he said, it's cancer, my immediate response, well, this is not going to kill me.

Like, I didn't know what the quality of life was going to be like afterwards, but I thought to myself, this is not going to kill me. And then how do I tell my wife? How do we navigate that? Keep that information solidly between us for about six months before we told our oldest kids. Oldest kids basically said, we got to let the rest of the kids know.

So how do you let an 11-year-old know? How do you call your mom? You know, there's no playbook. And when you get a cancer diagnosis, which is not a death sentence, when you get a cancer diagnosis, how do you inform the people around you to navigate the journey with you?

And the biggest thing I learned was I can do hard things, I cannot do hard things alone. And in sharing that journey and sharing that diagnosis, you feel like. And I know a lot of men don't necessarily talk about because you feel like when I tell my cancer story, I feel like I'm giving cancer to somebody else. And the reality is I was able to express to my children, dad is going to carry this cancer.

I don't need you to carry cancer. I need you to carry dad. I don't need you as a wife to carry cancer. I need you to carry your husband. And in those spaces, when you're able to convey to people, hey, this is a battle that I'm in. This is the thing that I've got to carry. But if you can come alongside of me to carry me in that journey, it frees people to be empathetic with you. You know, apathy is I feel nothing. Sympathy, I feel for you.

Empathy is I feel with you. And so empathy is allowed. And it allows people into that empathetic space when they're able to feel like, I don't have to carry the disease, but I can carry the person. BLACKWELL: It is important that you say it's not a death sentence. Obviously you are sitting here with me and is the early detection that's important because stages one or two men are far more likely, some say more than 99 percent to be alive in five years. So that screening early is the key.

JORDAN: Absolutely. One in every eight man is going to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in a lifetime. One in six will look like --

BLACKWELL: Yes. One in six black men.

JORDAN: And so one in six and we're twice as likely to die from something that is 99 percent treatable when caught early. When I -- when I caught my diagnosis, it was early first stage. When I had the radical prostatectomy surgery In November of 2024, they biopsied it, and it was actually in a more aggressive stage, too. And then when it came back in 2025, that journey, I had proton therapy, 37 rounds, seven and a half weeks. Community came alongside of it. I'm now 0.1 PSA, so thank God I'm undetectable.

[08:55:02]

But in the journey you have more options the earlier you can catch it. And this is extremely important. People think it has to be anal rectal exam that is optional now. It's a blood test. It is a blood test, but you have to ask for it because it's not government mandated or supported.

And so when you go and have a regular physical, you say I want a PSA test. And the PSA test is probably more accurate than because I was -- I had the rectal exam because I've been doing it for 10 years and they didn't find anything. But the PSA is what detected them and said Montel, it's cancer.

BLACKWELL: Montell Jordan, I thank you for coming in and sharing your story. And again, it's a blood test, so make sure to get it. Thank you so much for coming in and thank you for watching. Smerconish is up next.

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