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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Prepares for Diplomatic Flurry as Unga Approaches; CNN, MS Now & Politico Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access; U.S. Treasury Secretary Pushes for AI Safety Dialogue with China; Major TV Networks Stand With CNN, Won't Replace WH Pool Crew; Film Maker George Lucas & Wife Open Art Museum in L.A.; NASA Space Telescope Captures First Photons of Starlight. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 21, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right, coming to you live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. Bianna is off today. This is "One World". Ahead on
the show, President Trump has a big week ahead at the U.N. General Assembly, but that's not the only place he'll be focusing his diplomatic
efforts.
Plus, brand new developments in the First Amendment fight. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico hitting back with a new lawsuit after President Trump banned them
from the White House, and a star-studded opening night for filmmaker George Lucas and his museum dedicated to narrative art.
Right, nearly 130 leaders from across the world gathering at one place at a time of multiple wars and heightened geopolitical tensions. The U.N.
General Assembly kicks off tomorrow at its New York headquarters, the biggest event in global diplomacy. U.S. President Donald Trump addresses
the General Assembly on Tuesday morning.
He's expected to meet New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani later today. A spokesperson for the mayor says the two will focus on issues affecting the
city and its people. The U.S. war with Iran is also going to loom large at this week's gathering as the war nears the seven-month mark.
Iran is claiming Washington plans to resume military action as well. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian is expected to fly to New York for the
U.N. Assembly. The U.S. gave him permission for him and a core group of delegates, delegates rather, to enter the country.
CNN's Kylie Atwood kicks off coverage from New York. So much to talk about. You have 100 plus world leaders essentially descending on New York, vying
for the world's attention, and also to sort of put forward their own narrative about what's happening in their country.
The focus will be on Iran. It will be on Israel. You also have the fact that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was denied visas to
attend. We've got Delcy Rodriguez also coming and speaking. That will be interesting to hear what she has to say about her country's relationship
with the U.S. especially given that her former boss is in a jail in Brooklyn, not far from where the UNGA is going to be taking place.
Just walk us through what we can expect here, Kylie.
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, well, it's really hard to see just how there's going to be any breakthroughs on these increasingly
complicated problem sets around the world, frankly, when you when you talk to folks, obviously the Iran war is front and center for Americans, for the
global economy, for U.S. allies in Europe, for the delegations coming from the GCC.
They're going to be meeting tomorrow with President Trump. But what's unclear is what the strategy is to really try and draw this conflict to an
end, because right now it is at a moment where it is escalating in the region, where it is expanding. You have the Iranian-backed Houthi militia
that is making gains in the Red Sea, carrying out strikes against the Saudis.
You have the Saudi Kingdom who is firing back, but also receiving U.S. intelligence support, but also asking the U.S. for more direct military
support to confront the Houthis. We're told, however, that President Trump is not at a moment where he wants to provide that kind of support.
But when they do get together with President Trump tomorrow here in New York, the Saudis are going to be focused on that momentum that the Houthis
have and trying to tamp that down, trying to end that portion of the conflict. Meanwhile, you have the other GCC countries that are going to be
focused on the specific confrontation with Iran right now.
So, it's not clear how that conversation is really going to lead to a breakthrough on this front. I do think another important topic that we'll
watch to see how President Trump addresses it tomorrow is AI. This is something that has the eyes of the world on it right now.
President Trump has been dismissive of safety concerns related to AI that have been front and center lately. What we did see, Secretary of the
Treasury Scott Bessent yesterday after meeting with Chinese officials here in New York ahead of what happens later in this week?
President Trump's state visit with President Leader Xi in Washington D.C. He said that the United States did put on the table an AI mechanism, a
safety mechanism, essentially that could be established between the U.S. and China. We haven't seen confirmation from the Chinese side that they are
actually entertaining that possibility, but something that the U.S. has put on the table.
So, we'll watch and see what Trump's message to the world is on AI. Of course, we know that he favors the economic gains that development in that
space has given to the stock market, to the global economy.
[11:05:00]
So, there are a tremendous number of issues to be watching here. And of course, not the least of which is the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. We don't
know exactly if there will be momentum there, but President Trump is set to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy while he is also visiting New York.
ASHER: All right, Kylie Atwood, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, the U.S. President is expected to hold meetings with a number of
overseas leaders this week on the sidelines of the U.N. meetings. He's slated to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron, who's making his
final appearance, and the General Assembly.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says he'll hold a meeting with Trump as well. Sources say he will discuss the next phase of the Iran war
with leaders from around the Gulf. And Venezuela's acting President Delcy Rodriguez is expected to meet Mr. Trump ahead of her debut at the U.N. as
well.
Let's take a closer look at all of this with CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. He's also a correspondent for "The New York
Times", also the author of several books, including New Cold Wars, China's Rise, Russia's Invasion, and America's struggle to defend the West.
David, there is so much to dissect here. I'm not honestly not even sure where to begin.
DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Yeah.
ASHER: I think I want to start with President Trump addressing the U.N. I mean, just walk us through what you think the key issues and the key points
he's going to touch on are. I mean, obviously, his main priority is obviously the war in Iran, which is now dragged on into its seventh month.
You have no sign of this war coming to an end. In fact, the opposite is true. You have much more likely sort of military.
SANGER: Quite -- opposite. Yeah.
ASHER: Yes, much more likely military escalation. Obviously, we are also going to be looking forward to seeing what Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli
Prime Minister, has to say on Thursday, especially when you consider that against the backdrop of Mahmoud Abbas being denied visas to attend, he'll
likely address via video link.
And then on top of that, just this time last year, you had a number of countries actually recognizing the State of Palestine as well. Just give us
your take. I mean, those sort of two key issues, what President Trump is going to say, what we can expect from the Iranian president and the Israeli
Prime Minister as well.
SANGER: Well, I think when you look at the week in its broadest sense, you are most likely to see the president be quite aggressive in his speech as
he has been in his past talks to the United Nations General Assembly. And then I think you're going to see him quite deferential to President Xi when
he arrives Wednesday afternoon at Andrews Air Force Base, because the president's view of China has shifted from his first-term warnings that
they are taking over the American economy to his second-term argument that they can be a partner.
So, let's just break those two down. At the U.N., I think you'll hear him make the case that he took steps in Venezuela and Iran, that his
predecessors and everyone in the room, by extension, at the UNGA were hesitant to take. What I think he will not admit is that he is now
completely bogged down there.
That his hesitance to get involved in attacking the Houthis after many provocations and their attacks on the Saudis tells you that he has neither
the resources nor the backing right now to go in and expand the war, and what will have changed from the last time is that he made these early
projections.
This would be a conflict of a couple of days or a couple of weeks, and here we are at seven months, and there is truly no end in sight. China will be a
little more complex, and we can come back to the AI issues you raise, which I think are particularly fascinating.
ASHER: Yeah, and I do want to get to Trump's meeting with Xi Jinping in Washington this week as well, in addition to their sort of alliance on AI,
but just in terms of Ukraine, because Ukraine right now is in quite a difficult situation as it pertains to air defenses, as it pertains to
winter fast approaching, their energy infrastructure being very vulnerable, as I understand it.
Zelenskyy is going to be meeting with Trump on the sidelines of the UNGA. How much of a priority? I mean, Trump has his attention split in so many
different directions, not least obviously Iran, and then of course the midterms, which is a massive priority. Gas prices too, because that is a
key issue for Americans overall.
How much of a priority is Ukraine for the president right now, David?
SANGER: Well, it's a priority, but not in the way that it had been in the past. He's concerned a lot about the diesel prices, and you saw him as
early as recently as last week, and as and then again, this morning, argue that the Ukrainian attacks on Russia are driving up the price of diesel.
[11:10:00]
I'm not sure he's entirely right about that, but what it tells you is that he's basically gone to a position of asking the Ukrainians not to strike
back against the Russians. A position I think he's going to have a hard time sustaining with most. The second thing with Zelenskyy is the president
at this point doesn't have any interceptors to offer to him.
And the Europeans are no longer going to be able to buy them from the U.S. because our own stockpiles have been run down so low because of the Iran
war. So, the Ukrainians are to a great degree being left on their own. I mean, there is still intelligence cooperation with the U.S.
There's still some other guidance through the U.S., but I think Zelenskyy has learned that he's got to rely on himself. And Putin has clearly picked
up on this because, from everything that we can tell, he told the combination of representatives who showed up last week, Jared Kushner and
Steve Witkoff, that he wanted showed up in in Moscow, that he wanted very much to keep the war going through the winter, weaken the Ukrainians so
that he would be in a better negotiating position come the spring.
And Jared Kushner said to him, well, that's what you told us a year ago, and it didn't work. But I don't think there's any indication that Putin's
giving it.
ASHER: And I also want to talk about Delcy Rodriguez's appearance at the UNGA. I mean, obviously, a lot of people will look at this relationship
that Venezuela has with the U.S. now, as you know, some people would describe it as neo-colonial. Some people would describe it as Venezuela
being a client state, or at the very least, an exploitative relationship that the U.S. has from an economic perspective as it pertains to oil
infrastructure.
You now have Delcy Rodriguez coming. I'm curious what you think she's going to say, especially with the juxtaposition of her former boss, Nicolas
Maduro, in a jail. You know, just only a few miles away from where she's speaking.
SANGER: That's right.
ASHER: Just give us your give us your take on that, David.
SANGER: I don't think you're going to hear President Rodriguez refer to Maduro very much, if at all, during this it is this oddity that he is just
being held just across the way in Brooklyn. But the fact of the matter is that there are echoes in the relationship the U.S. has with Venezuela now
to the kind of relationships the U.S. had in the late 1800s, with countries from whom it was seeking resources, and the president makes no secret of
that.
He believes that in return for having gotten rid of Maduro, Venezuela owes the United States a commitment of a good amount of its oil reserves, and
that U.S. companies should go in and exploit that, and he started that process just weeks after the successful seizure of Maduro.
I think he recognizes now that his -- he must recognize that his early argument that the Venezuela example would take place in Iran as well has
failed, and so Venezuela is back to being his best argument for his approach to foreign policy in this past year, which is use the military
force first to accomplish what diplomacy has made little progress on over the past few years.
ASHER: Yeah, such an important point. You know, just in terms of how Venezuela, in many ways, was a catalyst to what we ended up seeing in Iran.
SANGER: Absolutely.
ASHER: But it obviously back fired spectacularly on the United States and continues to do so. David Singer, Sanger, excuse me, live for us there.
Thank you so much. Right, as we just mentioned, just one day after President Trump's General Assembly address, he will welcome Chinese Leader
Xi Jinping to Washington.
The two -- leaders will then hold a White House summit on Thursday. Their main focus will be trade between the world's top two economies and a tariff
truce that's set to expire in November. The sensitive issue of Taiwan and the one Iran will also likely be discussed as well, as both countries
compete to establish dominance in the AI industry.
Cooperation on AI security will also be on the agenda. The U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he discussed the creation of a new safety
notification process with China's Vice Premier on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: What we discussed was setting up a mechanism, so it's going to be called U.S.-China AI dialog. We've agreed to
meet again. We have -- the U.S. has proposed that we have a notification mechanism between the two countries, and we want a shared vision of common
goals and common threats.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[11:15:00]
ASHER: CNN's Will Ripley takes a closer look at the meeting with the vice premier and what it means for this week's summit.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The talks between U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng, who
oversees China's economy, really set the table for what we're expecting when President Donald Trump hosts Chinese Leader Xi Jinping at the White
House on Thursday.
The two leaders last met in Beijing in May, and this time three big issues are likely to dominate, technology, trade, and Taiwan. Artificial
intelligence is particularly important, Bessent says. The two sides have agreed to a new U.S.-China AI dialog, including discussions about how the
two leading AI powers in the world should notify each other if there was a serious AI-related security incident.
And the backdrop to all of this is just how much China's position has changed. When Trump first hosted Xi at Mar-a-Lago in 2017, nine years ago,
China was much more vulnerable to U.S. pressure on trade and technology, but now Xi arrives in Washington, leading a China that is far more
confident, a major player in AI, robotics, chips, and even reusable rockets.
China recorded a roughly 1.2 trillion-dollar global trade surplus last year, powered in part by exports including electric vehicles, solar panels,
and chips, and its dominance of rare earth supply chains gives Beijing real leverage over Washington. And here in Taipei, the big question is how Trump
and Xi handle the highly sensitive issue of Taiwan.
Beijing wants stronger U.S. language opposing Taiwan independence, and Trump has already called a pending $14 billion U.S. arms package for Taiwan
a negotiating chip. So, we need to watch Trump's wording very closely here and watch what happens to that arms package, particularly after Taiwan's
military drills on Friday, and above all, whether Taiwan somehow becomes part of a broader deal between Trump and Xi. Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
ASHER: All right. Still ahead on "One World", Germany's far right is gaining ground, shaking up the political landscape. We'll look at what it
could mean for the country's future. Plus, an exercise in Russian democracy throws up no surprises, which is just how Vladimir Putin seems to like it.
We're looking at the latest parliamentary elections there when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz is calling Sunday's regional election results a disaster after a surge in support for the far
right.
[11:20:00]
While the far-left party dominated in Berlin, the far right continued to make gains in northeast Germany, many voters there abandoning the
chancellor's Christian Democrats for the pro-Russian and anti-migration alternative for Germany. Merz has ruled out stepping down, but he is
certainly fighting for his political life.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen joins us live now from Berlin with more. I mean, these results add to what we saw early September in Saxony-Anhalt as well. And
so, a lot of concern, especially because Fred, Germany, as you know, has spent decades really building up the kind of political culture that would
prevent the far right, just given German's history, that would prevent essentially authoritarianism from gaining ground.
It's interesting what Merz had to say. He did admit that not only was it a disaster, but did say that he, as an individual, played a role in these
state elections. And even though a lot of people are calling for an end to his leadership, it is very difficult in Germany to sort of oust or to have
a change in leadership when it comes to the chancellor, just walk us through that, Fred.
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, first of all, you're absolutely right. He did acknowledge a certain role in his
person and his leadership of his political party and also of the German government as well. But you're also absolutely right to state that it is
very difficult to put a new chancellor in place at this point in time.
The stability of the government is obviously something that's very important. You do have a coalition here also in place together with the
Social Democrats as well. But nevertheless, the magnitude of the defeats that his Christian Democratic Union has suffered, as you mentioned in early
September, but then also especially this past weekend, are gigantic and they come against parties from the political fringes in that northeastern
state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
Not only did the Alternative for Germany, the far-right party, win, but Friedrich Merz's political party did not even manage to get into the local
state parliament in that state. That's the first time that's ever happened in post-World War II Germany, and here in Berlin, in the German capital,
they lost to the far-left Die Linke Party, which wants to expropriate large real estate companies.
So certainly, for his political party, for the CDU, as he put it, he believed it was a disaster. He did acknowledge it was a role. Let's listen
into what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRIEDRICH MERZ, GERMAN CHANCELLOR: I know that national politics played a major role both in the state election two weeks ago in Saxony-Anhalt, and
in yesterday's election, as did my own role. However, the election results and the reasons behind them extend far beyond my person.
We are witnessing a profound transformation of Germany's political party system, as is happening in many other countries around the world.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PLEITGEN: So, what he's alluding to is the political fringes of his being strength. It's not just in Germany, but certainly in other countries in
Europe as well. And he does find that very difficult to deal with, as he put it. At the same time, though, Friedrich Merz did say that he's not
going to step down, that he wants to follow through on what he calls his reform agenda.
But certainly, the voices of criticism against Friedrich Merz seem to be getting a lot louder here in Germany. Just a day after that big election
loss that he had in two state elections here in Germany, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Fred Pleitgen, live for us there. Thank you so much. All right, while Germany's chancellor is battling to cling on. Power in Russia
is set to remain firmly in Vladimir Putin's hands. Russia's ruling party is on track to maintain its grip, following rigorously controlled elections to
parliament with no real opposition permitted.
The Putin-supported Russian United or United Russia party is leading with 58 percent of the votes. Final tallies are not expected until Friday. For
more on this, let's bring in CNN's Clare Sebastian. I mean, it's interesting, isn't it? Because even though this was billed as a chance for
voters to have their say, you know, in the wake of the war in Ukraine, I mean, there was only ever going to be one result, Clare. Let's be honest.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. No opposition, no real opposition, no independent observers, and so the Kremlin really got the
results that it was looking for here. And if the preliminary results, which is what we have at the moment, are confirmed, that it looks set to
translate into a record number of seats in parliament for Putin's party, United Russia, 355 seats out of 450 expected.
That's the most they've ever got since the party was formed in 2001. That's more than three quarters of all seats, and they had another metric that was
being closely watched, turnout. That was also higher than it has been in the last election, certainly 59 percent and there was a record in Moscow,
according to the mayor there, that we know voting incentives were on offer in the Russian capital.
So, this result will allow Putin to claim strong public support for his war. And we are hearing as well that the fact, certainly from Russian
officials, that the fact that there was that huge Ukrainian drone attack over the weekend, more than 2,000 drones or almost 2,000 drones fired at
Russia, that they are using that to claim that even despite that they got this result.
[11:25:00]
And that you know strengthens the case for that mandate even further. So, look, the big question now, given that that result was expected, is what
will Putin do with it? We know that he's already in escalation mode when it comes to this war. And there have been rumors leading up to this
parliamentary election that he could be set to announce another mass mobilization drive.
We saw the first one in 2022. Will this result strengthen the case for that? It's not clear at this point. And I think beyond Ukraine, there will
be concerns that an emboldened Putin could be, you know, looking to launch more hybrid attacks. We could see more cross-border incidents happen as
they test NATO's defenses there.
So, the big question is what happens next, and that is why this result matters, not because it was anyway unexpected.
ASHER: Right, Clare Sebastian, thank you for that. Right, still ahead on "One World", a First Amendment showdown is shooting up in Washington. CNN,
MS NOW, and Politico are selling to the courts after President Trump banned their reporters from the White House.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher, New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. More than 100
world leaders are descending on New York this week for the U.N. General Assembly. Donald Trump will address the meeting on Tuesday, the first day
of the leaders' speech.
This year's theme is restoring trust, managing transformation, a United Nations that delivers for all. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico are suing the
Trump Administration days after the president banned them from the White House. The news outlets are accusing Trump of violating the First Amendment
and the U.S. Constitution's due process protections.
The fighting between Saudi Arabia and the Houthis of Yemen has intensified in recent days. Over the weekend, the militant group claimed attacks on
sensitive sites in Riyadh and an Aramco oil facility in Yanbu.
[11:30:00]
On Saturday, the U.S. State Department warned the conflict has the potential to escalate rapidly. Chinese Leader Xi Jinping is due in the U.S.
later this week for talks with President Trump at the White House. The two are expected to talk trade, the war in Iran, and Taiwan.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says that China has agreed to start an AI safety dialog with the United States. All right. Trump's decision to ban
White House access has implications extending far beyond the three affected news outlets. Before the ban, CNN was actually scheduled to have TV pool
duty and travel with the president for the annual U.N. General Assembly.
But now the press badges have been deactivated. We're seeing a powerful show of solidarity. Bryan Boughton runs the Fox News Washington Bureau and
is the current pool chair. In an email to other members, Boughton writes, quote, there will be no replacement pool put in place.
We also have a rare joint statement from ABC, CBS, CNN, Fox News, and NBC as well. It says the public has a vital interest in receiving accurate,
independent information about its government. No administration should restrict a news organization because it objects to its reporting.
This morning, Trump posted on Truth Social, quote, the White House is not instituting an assault on the free press, something which I cherish. It is
instituting an assault on the fake news, something that has grown like a cancer. Let's bring in CNN's Katelyn Polantz for the latest in terms of the
fallout here.
So, Katelyn, obviously, this is not the first time that Trump has sort of tried to limit First Amendment rights when it comes to the freedom of the
press. And also, it was just a few months ago that we were discussing what was happening at the Pentagon, with a potential restriction there for
reporters as well.
Walk us through how this particular ban that the White House is attempting compares to what we saw in 2018, when Former CNN Journalist Jim Acosta was
also banned from the White House and had his press credentials deactivated. CNN sued for that as well. Just walk us through the comparisons between the
two cases here.
KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, already, Zain, we are seeing the White House and Donald Trump, especially in that
statement publicly on social media, as well as the vice president speaking to reporters today, saying that, or at least they're trying to move this
into the realm of a national security issue.
That's just not where the facts have been so far. And instead, the facts of what have happened so far with CNN, MS NOW, and Politico having their press
badges, their access to the White House grounds and the workspaces there restricted or cut off on Saturday. That is very much in line with what has
happened previously with journalists individually at the White House during the Trump years, and journalists as far back as 1977.
Jim Acosta, working for CNN in 2018, he was a person who lost his press badge because the White House just revoked it. There was another reporter,
Brian Karem, a Correspondent for Playbook, or I'm sorry, for "Playboy" magazine. Both Brian Karem and Jim Acosta were able to win their access
back.
The cases moved very fast, and it wasn't an issue of national security, as the White House wants to make it. It was an issue of due process. Was it so
abrupt that those news outlets, those journalists, were unable to have some sort of back and forth with the White House, some notice in advance that
they would be losing their access?
In this case, there doesn't -- there also does not appear to be much due process at all. At least that's what the news outlets are saying in court
and arguing why this is a wrongful constitutional violation? There's also the issue of discrimination. Is Trump discriminating political viewpoints,
violating the First Amendment by saying what coverage he wants versus what coverage he doesn't want, and allowing that to dictate who the White House
gives access to as part of the free press?
This is all going to be something that a judge in Washington D.C. is going to look at quite closely. That judge we now know is a Trump appointee,
Timothy Kelly. He sits on the bench, and in fact. He ruled in favor of Jim Acosta in 2018 pretty quickly after that case was filed, restored the
access there.
We're waiting to see what Judge Kelly does in the first hours today after this lawsuit's been filed.
ASHER: Right, Katelyn Polantz, live for us. Thank you. Renowned First Amendment Attorney Floyd Abrams spoke to CNN this weekend. Here's what he
had to say about Trump's White House ban on news outlets.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FLOYD ABRAMS, CONSTITUTIONAL & FIRST AMENDMENT ATTORNEY The one thing the president can't do, the one thing the First Amendment protects us from the
president and the government from doing, is saying, I don't like your thoughts. You're wrong. You're not fair.
[11:35:00]
And on that basis saying so, go home. We will not allow you to be here anymore. That's what he's doing, and that's not allowed under the First
Amendment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, my next guest is Corey Brettschneider. He's a Constitutional Scholar and Political Science Professor at Brown University.
He's also the author of "The Presidents and the People: Five Leaders Who Threatened Democracy and the Citizens Who Fought to Defend It". Corey,
thank you so much for being with us.
COREY BRETTSCHNEIDER, CONSTITUTIONAL SCHOLAR: Pleasure.
ASHER: I first want to get your take on this. Is this a First Amendment case or a viewpoint discrimination case? I mean, obviously there is a
difference, especially when you consider viewpoint discrimination. Just explain to our audiences, where the government says, you know what, I don't
like your viewpoint, I like yours.
And therefore, I'm going to allow you to speak, and I'm going to allow you to have access to the White House because your viewpoint is particularly
favorable to me. Just explain to us the difference here and what this case is really about at its center.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Sure, the First Amendment, of course, has a lot of rights in it. It has in it the right to free speech and the right to the freedom
of the press, and one very important part of the free-speech clause, in particular, and the cases that have come up around it, is a very simple
idea.
And the doctrine, the sort of formal term for this idea, is called viewpoint neutrality, and it bans the idea of viewpoint discrimination. And
what does that mean? It means that the government, in this case the president, can't just pick and choose which view to allow or ban and which
to not.
And so, in some areas, this doctrine of viewpoint neutrality is applied. Certainly, if the government were to try to punish speech based on an
opinion that the president liked or not to put people in prison, that's almost the paradigm of what's not allowed under our free-speech clause.
And it was the case actually in history that we had a President John Adams, who did this, who did imprison his opponents using the Sedition Act. But
the rebuke of that has been the sort of bed rock of the First Amendment, this idea of the ban on viewpoint discrimination, and so yes, the free-
speech clause requires viewpoint neutrality.
ASHER: Yeah, and in addition to that, it's also about the Fifth Amendment. So, it's the First Amendment, its viewpoint neutrality, as you point out.
It's also the Fifth Amendment because, as Katelyn Polantz was just saying there. This is also about due process. There was no notice given.
You know, there was no chance for these news outlets to contest. How important is that aspect of this as well?
BRETTSCHNEIDER: I think it matters. You know, the president willy-nilly just revoked the access, and there are ways, for instance, the court has
outlined where you might actually ban somebody from the press rooms. For instance, if they were a physical threat to the president, and you could
show that, then there would be reason for a government to deny access.
But that really isn't the case here. What's going on? And I do think the due process part is a lot less important than the simple point, because
after all, in due process, if you have process, you can revoke liberty, and here that's not what's happening. What's going on is the president is
really saying, and it should be obvious to all viewers, that he doesn't like CNN, he doesn't like MS NOW, and that's why he wants to ban them.
And so, it's almost like he's the worst advocate for his own position because he's just admitting that he's engaged in a shutdown of free speech.
ASHER: Right. And I was going to -- I actually was going to ask you how important the president's own words are here, just in terms of that being
used as evidence. But in addition, just in terms of sort of, I guess, playing devil's advocate in a way and sort of thinking about the defendants
and their sort of argument.
How important is the perspective of you know the government does have control over who has physical access to the White House, right. So just in
terms of the government's argument that listen, this is not a First Amendment issue, but we do, it is important for us to be able to decide who
has access or who has, you know, who can actually access the White House just physically in terms of walking in doesn't mean that you can't cover
us, but we're just saying that you can't access us physically.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Right.
ASHER: You know how important is that argument in all of this?
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Well, going back to your other point, I think the president has really undermined that argument by saying he doesn't like the fake
news.
ASHER: Right.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: It's not that he's just controlling space, he's trying to control ideas and not just the viewpoints of journalists, but those
watching and listening to the news itself. That's why this is such a core First Amendment case. But you're also right. Although there is a case from
the 1970s, a Washington D.C. Circuit case that's going to be central here that says you know when free speech is tied up with access to the building,
it really is still a First Amendment issue.
But I think what they could say is things have changed since the 1970s, and I think what the government is going to argue is that the president can get
his own message out, and when he's speaking, when he's sending his own messages, he can restrict all sorts of things about who hears him, who the
audience is.
[11:40:00]
And so, it isn't a free-speech issue. The forum of the press office is really about government expression. Now, the lower courts are not going to
say that it would take overturning this precedent that I mentioned. But the Supreme Court could do that. I don't think they will.
But there's certainly I think a couple of votes for that idea, Justices Alito and Thomas.
ASHER: Yeah, worth noting the sort of case law goes back to just in terms of referencing the 1970s, 1977, when the Secret Service revoked the press
pass of Robert Sherrill, who was a reporter for "The Nation". Corey Brettschneider, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it.
BRETTSCHNEIDER: Thanks so much.
ASHER: All right. Still ahead on "One World", another shooting by an I.C.E. agent. This one in Texas. What we know about the victim, as well as the
moments before and after -- happened.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Officials in Austin, Texas, say that a Venezuelan delivery driver is the latest person to be shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
federal officials, aka I.C.E. They've still not said what led to the shooting on Sunday, but they say that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was facing
a final order for deportation.
A lawyer for Perez says that he appears to have entered the USA legally and was shot while working as a DoorDash driver.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh my God. Holy dude. Oh my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Video shot by a bystander appears to capture the incident as well as visible bullet holes in Perez's car. The Department of Homeland Security
says that Perez was taken into federal custody after being shot pending removal from the United States. The shooting is raising new questions about
the use of force as I.C.E. ramps up operations in several cities.
Later on, Sunday, protesters gathered at the site of the shooting, bringing traffic to a cruel Congressman Greg Casar, who represents Austin, is
calling for transparency.
BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GREG CASAR (D-TX): I think it is appropriate for this community to ask for independence, to ask for transparency, and to ask for accountability.
This is a pattern. It's a disturbing pattern, and it's got to stop.
[11:45:00]
I.C.E. has arrested five-year-olds in Austin in the last few weeks. They've arrested pre-K teachers, and now someone's been shot, and this has to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Let's go to Priscilla Alvarez, joining us live now from Washington for more on this. I mean, obviously, we have seen a number of these cases
since January, when 2 U.S. citizens were actually shot and killed. Just in terms of what happened here in Austin, what does the video actually show
here?
Because we've seen video just sort of showing the shooting and the aftermath. What do we know about what actually led up to the shooting in
the first place, Priscilla?
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I'm getting a little more information about what exactly unfolded right before the shooting happened
from some of my sources, and what I'm being told is that on Sunday, I.C.E. officers had been conducting targeted enforcement operations based on
license plate checks.
What does that mean? That means that there will be license plates that are put through a system, and if it comes back that individual, or rather the
person who that vehicle is registered with, is in the United States illegally, then they may initiate a vehicle stop.
So that's what happened here. Essentially, they came across his vehicle, Garces Perez. And they saw that he was in the immigration database. They
pulled him over. There was actually a moment before this video, as I understand it from my sources, where there was an exchange.
There was a general vehicle stop, an exchange between Garces Perez and the I.C.E. officers, and then he fled the scene in his vehicle, according to
one of my sources, and that's when the shooting later unfolded. Some of the video you are seeing there. So again, we're trying to piece together, as is
often the case after these shootings.
And based off eyewitness videos as well as what our sources are telling us on what exactly transpired and why, of course, there was a shooting at all?
Why did the officer decide to fire his weapon? And we don't yet know the answer to that. That is something that is being investigated by Homeland
Security investigations with the assistance of the FBI, and that, of course, is according to DHS.
But a little more about what we know about the man who was shot, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. He's 28. He's a Venezuelan national. DHS says he
illegally entered the country. His lawyer says he legally entered the country. But even so, it appears that he had a final order of removal,
according to DHS.
That is, in other words, a deportation order, making him eligible to be removed. He was treated at the hospital again. He was shot in the torso,
according to officials, and he is now in federal custody. His lawyer, according to a video she posted on Instagram earlier this morning, is still
trying to get information from I.C.E. on where he is, where, what detention center, and also what his condition is.
We understand that he was in stable condition when he was discharged, but his lawyer and his family are still waiting to hear from him to again check
in on his condition and understand a little more about what his situation is right now as we speak. Now, it's unclear whether the lawyer was able to
get in touch again, her video on Instagram was posted earlier this morning.
But as you can tell, there are still remaining questions here about the investigation and why, and we're dealing with another incident of an I.C.E.
officer discharging his weapon. And then, where is Wilber Rafael Garces Perez right now in the immigration process is he soon to be removed?
That is a concern with local officials who say that should not happen, given that there's an ongoing investigation, and of course his family and
lawyer are trying to get answers to all of that.
ASHER: Right, Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for that. All right, still ahead on "One World", he's known for Star Wars, but now George Lucas
is trying his hand at another art form. We'll take you inside his new museum.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
ASHER: All right, the stars were out in Los Angeles as filmmaker George Lucas and his wife Mellody Hobson celebrated the long-awaited opening of
the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art. The big night coming many years after the couple first proposed a cultural institution dedicated to visual
storytelling. CNN's Elex Michaelson was there.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to the Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
MICHAELSON (voice-over): For more than 20 years, George Lucas, the director, and his wife Mellody Hobson have been envisioning this. It's now
a reality. It looks almost like a spaceship, a 300,000 square foot facility that had cost them over a billion dollars. Of course, it has Star Wars in
it, but it's also got a lot more than that.
A look at storytelling over the years. Mellody Hobson emotional seeing Oprah at the opening event.
MICHAELSON: Is the emotion hitting?
MELLODY HOBSON, LUCAS MUSEUM CO-FOUNDER: It is really. It's like I saw Oprah, and I just like, you know, you see idols at your event. It's deeply
moving.
OPRAH WINFREY, MEDIA MOGUL: To see them accomplish this. Really, is one of the most meaningful things I've seen.
MICHAELSON: It brings you the tears.
WINFREY: It brings me to tears to see what they have been able to do here. It's beyond words.
MICHAELSON: What's the big thing you want people to see when they walk through those doors --
HOBSON: Themselves. We want them to see themselves when they're here and their stories.
MICHAELSON: You've dedicated your life to storytelling.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You too.
MICHAELSON: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right back at you.
MICHAELSON: Why does storytelling matter?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because we know it changes people's lives.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the heartbeat of what, and who we are, right?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It tells us a lot about where we've been, who we are, where we're going.
RUSSELL WESTBROOK, NBA LEGEND: They give people something to look forward to, to talk about. I think it's good for our youth.
DAVID ALAN GRIER, ACTOR & COMEDIAN: If you have children, if you've ever had a loved one who's older, younger, sick, what's the first thing you do?
I'll read to you. If not read, I'll tell you a story.
AL ROKER, NBC NEWS: Especially stories told with narrative art have a certain universality about them. You know that you almost don't need to
speak a language to understand what that story is.
MICHAELSON: What does this museum mean to the Star Wars legacy?
MARK HAMILL, ACTOR, "LUKE SKYWALKER" IN STAR WARS: Well, it's an acknowledgement of how George created something that has become a permanent
part of pop culture for the ages.
FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, DIRECTOR: He's inspired young people, which is the most important people to inspire.
JON M. CHU, DIRECTOR: Star Wars made me believe in magic, made me you know sit in that theater and want to change my whole life.
NANCY PELOSI, FORMER U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: I invited George to come to the capital a number of years ago. There's nobody who ever showed up at the
capital who got more attention from the staff, from the members.
BRIAN GRAZER, PRODUCER: And just think about it. He invented a museum. I mean, a lot of it's his stuff too.
MICHAELSON: It's all great stuff.
SIR LEWIS HAMILTON, FORMULA ONE DRIVER: It's mind blowing. I mean, this building is really Mellody always describes it. It's like going through
George's brain, you know, and the fact that he's collected 50,000 pieces of art.
MICHAELSON: This museum officially opens to the public on Tuesday. Elex Michaelson, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:55:00]
ASHER: All right, NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope has successfully captured its first photons of Starlight by activating its wide field
instrument. It also tested its planet imager, the coronagraph instrument, which will help discover exoplanets. The huge milestone confirms the
telescope is operational in space to help scientists discover the universe's darkest secrets.
And finally, before we go this hour, Alaska bears are packing on the pounds for a shot at a very big title. Fat Bear Week is soon to get underway at
Alaska's Katmai National Park. The bracelet, the bracket rather, is full of Brody brown bears that have been feasting on Sockeye salmon all summer.
Those fat reserves will help them survive the months of hibernation. This reigning champion, named Chunk, has a title to defend. Rangers say his low-
hanging belly is evidence he has been eating well. This is a single elimination tournament for each mashup. Members of the voting public get
behind the bears as they believe that they believe have packed on the most pounds ahead of hibernation season.
All right, stay with CNN. I'll have much for "One World" after the break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
