Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Xi Arrives at the White House for State Visit with Donald Trump; Trump to Host Xi for State Dinner at the White House Tonight; Palestinian Authority President Abbas Addresses UNGA via Video; Abbas Calls on U.N. To Hold Israel Responsible for Gaza Deaths; "Extreme Concern" Over First Known AI Hack of a Government System; Chickens Loose on Washington State Highway After Semi-Truck Crash. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 24, 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]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Live from London, I'm Christina Macfarlane, and this is "One World". And we begin with some unfolding
breaking news this hour. The Justice Department has 90 more minutes to respond to an emergency request for a hearing filed by CNN, MS Now, and
Politico after some staff are still being denied access to the White House.
It comes just hours after a judge's order suspending the Trump Administration's ban on the media organizations. The judge, a Trump
appointee, said the reporter's credentials were revoked without due process. He also expressed skepticism about the White House argument that
the ban was motivated by national security concerns.
CNN Media Analyst Sara Fischer has been following all of this and joins me now. So, Sara, look at this hour, we know that our White House
Correspondent Betsy Klein, as well as journalists from MS Now and Politico, have been unable to gain access to the White House despite that ruling that
came down last night.
And now, the Justice Department has just 90 minutes, as I was saying, to respond to this emergency request for a hearing filed by those outlets. Can
you just bring us up to speed?
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. So essentially, that judge's court order being defied by the White House is a major escalation of this battle
between the White House and those outlets. You know, when you issue a court order like this, there is an you know a little bit of breathing room,
right?
I think Betsy Klein was trying to figure out. OK, maybe there's a technical difficulty here. Like maybe they're trying to get my press pass reinstated,
but they can't. But no, it's now been enough time that we know that they are likely just defying this order intentionally, and so they have not
commented yet on what the plan is here or why they are doing this.
But here's what's the next steps, the White House cannot appeal a temporary restraining order. They cannot appeal for the next 14 days this request by
the judge, this mandate by the judge to reinstate these press access passes. What they can do is after that process goes through, and we start
litigating on new grounds, they can try to appeal the case.
They can try to litigate it in their favor. But when you do something like this, you A, open yourself up to possibly be held in contempt. Although
there's a lot of steps that could happen before that, and B, you weaken your case. I mean, it's going to be hard for a judge to be taking their
side seriously, especially after this first feeling.
But now, when you're defying the court order, and so it will remain to be seen what happens, but I will say the CNN folks are the ones that have the
press pool management responsibility today for the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping at the White House. So, it's unclear to me if they
don't have access what kind of video fee, we're going to be getting covering that meeting.
And also, a bunch of outlets have said that they're going to stand in support of CNN, MS Now, and Politico and boycott coverage unless these
press passes were reinstated. Well, if they're not instated, then I don't know what that means for the continued boycott of the broader press corps.
So, we're in a big state of limbo right now.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, I mean that's a really good point. We don't know if that boycott is set to continue as things stand at this moment. And you're right
to point out that we don't know either whether this, you know, lag in these reporters being allowed back into the White House was due to some sort of
administrative lag or was deliberate.
Do we know, Sara, what will happen after 90 minutes if the Justice Department doesn't respond?
FISCHER: Well, I mean, I guess next steps would be that they could be held in contempt. But for me, I look at this as being a clear indication of the
fact that the White House is going to have a very hard time litigating this case further on First Amendment ground. So let me walk you through what
that means.
When the judge issued this injunction, he did it because he said, I believe that the plaintiffs have presented enough evidence that they are likely to
win on Fifth Amendment grounds, meaning the White House didn't offer them enough due process. They didn't give them enough notice when they took the
press badges away.
But he didn't make a ruling on the First Amendment complaints from the plaintiffs, which is that you, you know, restricted us based off of our
viewpoints and based off of our coverage. The next phase of this court case after those 14 days, it could happen earlier. Who knows?
Is to likely be litigating on that First Amendment point? And if the White House is defying a court order and they're not responding in a timely
fashion. And if they don't get a response in, in these next 30 minutes, to your point. To me, and I've talked to some legal experts about this, their
case, trying to defend themselves on First Amendment grounds, is weakened.
[11:05:00]
And so, I think that this is a very critical moment these next few minutes to see what they're going to say. And CNN's Legal Analyst Elie Honig made a
really great point earlier. I just want to reiterate that. He said that this is a really serious moment for the lawyers on behalf of the DOJ,
because if you lie at all about what the intention was of this press ban, like that could be a very serious problem for your legal career, right?
You could be de barred for something like that. So, I'm very, very curious to see what they say. I've gotten no comment from the White House so far,
and all we know is that the outcome of this case is going to be critical for coverage for the American people moving forward.
MACFARLANE: And just to go back to your previous point about you know the solidarity we've seen here from other networks. I mean, let's just put this
in context of the bigger picture. How unprecedented is it, to have three outlets suing at the same time and to have seen the boycott that we have in
the past 48 hours?
FISCHER: The first point is very unprecedented. I've covered so many lawsuits that have been lobbied at the White House and lobbied at various
administrations and agencies. I've never seen multiple outlets like this come together for a lawsuit. We saw the AP sue the White House in 2025 for
blocked access in the Oval Office and in Air Force One.
We saw "The New York Times" sue the Pentagon. You know we've seen press freedom groups sue the FCC. We have not seen multiple outlets come together
on a joint lawsuit like this. And we have seen the White House press corps band together to defy any sort of efforts to stifle the press.
But nothing really like this. I recall in 2009 when the Obama Administration tried to block a Fox News Correspondent from an interview,
like the rest of the networks stood behind Fox and said, look, we're not going to be a part of that unless you let them in. And they were successful
in pressuring the Obama Administration.
They did eventually let that correspondent in. Fast forward to where we're at with the Trump Administration. Fox News and other networks all stood
behind the AP when the AP was their reporter was blocked, and that, by the way, lawsuit that's still in litigation. So, we've seen a definite effort
of cohesiveness and support, but nothing like this.
I mean, what is happening now is you have the networks that are part of the major U.S. press pool, which is CNN, Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC, all saying
that we're not going to distribute video feed of the president and of the White House until this is resolved and those acts that access is
reinstated.
And you also have those that manage still photography, so that would be outlets like the AP and Reuters and Getty and "The New York Times" and
"Washington Post" say they're not going to distribute photography in real time. Also in protest, they've said several of those outlets that they're
not going to stop this protest, this boycott, until the press passes are reinstated.
They still haven't been reinstated. So, you're looking at this unprecedented situation. Nothing that I've covered in my lifetime like
this, where the President of the United States is going to meet with one of our most formidable, you know, foreign adversaries in China, they're going
to meet with their president.
And there's going to likely be no video, no photographs in real time. That is wild, and it's such a sad thing to happen for the American people who
deserve that access. But that's where we're at.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, we are certainly in extraordinary times, and of course, we'll continue to follow it in detail. Sara Fischer, really appreciate it.
Thank you very much.
FISCHER: Of course, thank you.
MACFARLANE: And to the point, Sara was making there, we can't show you because of the media ban. As Chinese President Xi Jinping is at the White
House on his first state visit to the U.S. in more than a decade. His visit comes just four months after President Trump's trip to Beijing.
And as the two most powerful nations on the planet vie for the lead in the artificial intelligence race. Well other key issues expected to be
discussed between Trump and Xi today include trade, Taiwan, and the war in Iran. The relationship between both men is the most consequential on the
world stage right now.
And today's summit will be watched closely in capitals across the globe. But even though the stakes are high, expectations remain pretty low,
despite the pomp and pageantry. Each side has made it clear they don't want to slow down the AI race. Our CNN's Mike Valerio is in Beijing for more.
And Mike, we know that Xi Jinping has, in the past hour, arrived at the White House. As we say, we've not been able to see that arrival owing to
the strange situation in which we find ourselves. But look, ahead of this meeting, China's Ambassador had already been sort of projecting, outlining
China's red lines.
So, I just wanted to get your sense on what it is China will be hoping to walk away with today, and you know where there's room here for
collaboration, if at all.
MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think that room for collaboration comes to economic stability, to lowering tariffs, and making
sure that we don't go to the roller coaster, Christina, of tariff, you know, raising into triple-digit territory that we saw last summer.
[11:10:00]
And the red line for China is clearly Taiwan. But we're going to get into that in a second. You know, we outlined before we came on the air with you
three main things that each side really wants, and we're going to start off with U.S. President Donald Trump. So, point one, what he wants far and away
above everything else, I know that economic stability is a really kind of wonky concept to get into.
But greater access to rare earth minerals is something tangible we all understand. This is the biggest check that China has managed to find
against the United States in modern history, arguably. So, the United States wants greater access to rare earth minerals because our reporting
and reporting from our colleagues has shown that the rare earths are flowing to critical, you know, United States tech and industries, but it's
flowing pretty slowly, Christina.
It's not going at the clip that it once was. And furthermore, what does the defense sector need to replenish munitions expended during the Iran War,
rare earth minerals for missiles and advanced defense capabilities. The United States also wants help winding down the Iran War because China, of
course, is a friend of Iran and an interlocutor between both countries.
You know, Iran's Foreign Minister was here in Beijing a couple days ago trying to tell China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi, you know, here's what we
want from the Americans, and China, you can help in that regard. And finally, the president wants follow through with investment pledges.
You know, back in May, the Chinese delegation said we're going to buy you know 200 Boeing planes, but there's still no specifics with that and what
kind of planes exactly they're going to buy from Boeing. What does Xi Jinping want? The three main points, lower tariffs, greater economic
stability.
We are getting indications from Beijing, Christina, throughout the day that they do expect tariffs to be lowered on very non-sensitive goods. Think
stuff that's not high tech. Think products you would get from a farm or things that are very easy to manufacture. We could see that as a very
possible deliverable of those tariffs coming down.
They want greater access to U.S. chips. It's been since the Biden Administration that the most advanced U.S. chips are off limits to Chinese
consumers, and then more pressure on Taiwan is the third bullet point. We are expecting Chinese leader Xi Jinping to bring that up at the table, but
when you have President Trump saying he wants to win the AI game, where are the most advanced chips made?
They're made in Taiwan. So, it would be almost inconceivable that the United States would change its position on protecting Taiwan and not
leaving it potentially vulnerable from the American position to a takeover by Beijing, Christina.
MACFARLANE: All right, Mike Valerio. So much to discuss. Thank you for now, though.
VALERIO: Thanks Christina.
MACFARLANE: Let's turn to my next guest, who is Christopher Hill. He is a five-time U.S. Ambassador and a Former Assistant Secretary of State. Thank
you so much for joining us, Ambassador. Look, before I get to talking about the deliverables on this summit, given your history, your career history.
I just wanted to ask you about how unprecedented it is in this moment to have no network pool camera for a summit of this magnitude with a global
superpower?
CHRISTOPHER HILL, FIVE-TIME U.S. AMBASSADOR: This is truly extraordinary and not to ever be repeated. We'll have to see what plays out in the next
really minutes and hours, but this is just extraordinary. I was at the one of the previous Chinese visits to the White House.
There is a lot of pageantry. There are a lot of people there, and to have this just blanked out for the American people is just unbelievable. So, I
hope this gets resolved very, very soon.
MACFARLANE: Yes, indeed. Well, look, we were just hearing from Mike there what it is that President Xi and China will hope to be getting out of this
summit. But it's worth remembering that when these two leaders last met back in May in Beijing. I mean that was a ceremony and a meeting that was
heavy on pomp and very lacking, I'd say, in deliverables.
So just to start with, I mean I just wanted to get your expectations for what might we get out of it this time around or see this time around.
HILL: Setting expectations as low as can be is probably the right way to go. I think the president often goes for this pomp and ceremony at the
expense of substance, and pomp and ceremony should sort of confirm a kind of momentous move on the substance. And there doesn't seem to be one at
this point.
I mean, we need to restore some kind of patterns of cooperation with the Chinese. This is difficult, but it's not going to be handled through
episodic summits. It needs to be handled by the hard work of diplomats in between the summits to see.
[11:15:00]
It's hard enough to solve the problems where we disagree. It's also hard to find areas where we agree. But I think that is something we really need to
do. And you know, if you think it's hard to work with China and try to work against China, and I think that's what we've been seeing in this
administration.
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
HILL: So, you know, they'll probably try to slip through with a couple of general statements, but it's going to be tough.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, I mean, one point of agreement that we actually have had, you know, in the run-up to this meeting, is the trade truce, which was, of
course, set to expire in November, has now been extended to January. I mean, how valuable an outcome is that for both nations, given how explosive
that trade war was last year.
And do you expect that we are going to see more maneuvering and perhaps more agreement on the trade issue?
HILL: I would expect maybe some continued improvement on the trade issue. It's going to be very incremental, but the point is to satisfy that the
direction is in a positive course on trade. I think the Chinese come in with a very strong view of this, and even the Trump Administration, I don't
think, wants to open up this can of worms again on trade.
But of course, there are some really very tough issues in the economic side, namely the one everyone has talked about, which is artificial
intelligence.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. Yeah, and obviously let's talk about that because that is hanging over this summit in a very big way, especially the need and the
call out that we've seen for regulations. I mean, Donald Trump, I'd say, of the two leaders, has been far more competitive in his approach for this.
You know, with his comments on Truth Social, whoever wins AI wins, but I think both leaders and both countries appear to be skeptical about the, you
know, wanting to be second in this race. The fact that it is actually -- there is actually a race in place appears to be apparent to both.
So, do you -- how much room do you see for agreement on the issue of regulation and where there's going to be movement there?
HILL: I would expect some kind of general comment to the effect that this is important and both sides need to work very hard on this. I think one of
the problems is even on the U.S. side there doesn't seem to be agreement on where we should go with this. The president understands that the AI
companies are a big part of the stock market run up, so he doesn't want to stop them in their tracks.
On the other hand, some of these CEOs, as we know, have been very concerned about where some of this is going. So, we don't even have agreement within
the U.S. But I suspect there'll be a kind of generalized statement. I'd like to see it followed up by serious efforts with the Chinese and
establish, as I mentioned, some kind of patterns of cooperation.
But the president puts it in a kind of zero-sum terms, and the Chinese they don't react well to that. They'll come right back at us. So again, I think
we need to take some of these oscillations in this relationship, and see if we can kind of get to work on some specific issues.
I think it's important to understand, though, the president is really looking for short-term gains. He's got to get this Iran situation behind
us, so he comes in as a demander, asking for help from the Chinese on this, and that's going to be very elusive. That's going to be very difficult, but
I think that's probably going to be the number one.
And with respect to Taiwan, I suspect we're just going to see a further continuation of this situation where he's not moved ahead with the arms
package.
MACFARLANE: Yeah. Well, I have more questions for you on Taiwan and Iran, but we're going to stand you by for now, Ambassador, and we'll talk a
little bit later this hour. Thank you very much for now. And still ahead on "One World", both the Palestinian and Israeli leaders are addressing the
U.N. General Assembly today.
We'll look at the controversy surrounding both of their appearances. And another incident is making the case for more AI regulation for the first
time an AI agent has hacked into the government network. Details on that coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:20:00]
MACFARLANE: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing a tough re- election fight next month, and his address to the United Nations later today will no doubt be directed in part to voters in Israel. Netanyahu says
he'll use his speech to defend what he called his country's heroic soldiers.
And in a video post online, Netanyahu said, I'm going to tell you the truth about you. Now, the you he's referring to is New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani,
who he accuses of supporting Hamas and inciting riots against Jewish New Yorkers. Mamdani responded, saying, we all know what the prime minister
said is not true.
For his part, he has called Netanyahu a war criminal. Well, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas told the General Assembly it's Israel
standing in the way of the two-state solution in the Middle East. And for the second year in a row, his comments were delivered via video, since the
U.S. has prohibited the Palestinian Leader from entering the U.S.
In his speech, Mahmoud Abbas called on the United Nations to hold Israel responsible for the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza and to ensure a two-
state solution is reached. He adds, the Palestinian people are facing one of the most dangerous times in history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAHMOUD ABBAS, PRESIDENT OF THE PALESTINIAN NATIONAL AUTHORITY: The world has witnessed the tremendous cost in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. So,
what is the international community waiting for in order to protect the Palestinian people, ensure their continued presence on their land and the
Israeli occupation, and implement the two-state solution on the basis of international legitimacy?
This solution guarantees peace for all, instead of the threat emanating from Israeli extremism, which seeks to expand its colonial project towards
establishing the so-called Greater Israel and completely erasing Palestinian presence.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Let's get reaction from the Middle East. We're joined by Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. And Jeremy, these comments from Mahmoud Abbas come
following a UNGA this year where we have seen a number of world leaders stand up and condemn the treatment of Palestinians in Gaza. Tell us what
else the Palestinian leader had to say.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Palestinian Authority President began by criticizing the United States for the fact
that he had to address this U.N. General Assembly for the second year in a row virtually, criticizing the U.S. for not providing or authorizing the
visas necessary for him to be able to speak at the U.N. General Assembly in person.
But he spent the you know the majority of his speech criticizing Israel's conduct in the West Bank, in Gaza, accusing Israel of carrying out a quote,
unquote genocidal war, something that Israel of course denies. He said that he believes that Israel is trying to make conditions on the ground for
Palestinians so unlivable, so difficult that they will ultimately leave their territory, leave the area that could become a potential future
Palestinian state.
But the Palestinian Authority President was also defiant, saying that Palestinians will not leave our home land.
[11:25:00]
And he argued for a two-state solution for a vision that seems very much forgotten here in Israel of two states living alongside each other,
something that Abbas said that he still holds on to dearly. And he called on the nations of the world to help in making that vision a reality, and
also to cutting off support for Israel in every way possible, notably focusing on the issue of weapons that are being provided to Israel in order
for the killing to stop in both the West Bank and Gaza.
MACFARLANE: Yeah, well, the Palestinian Authority President may not be attending this year's UNGA, but the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is, and he is in New York amid protests and growing international criticism of Israel. And it's been reported that he has actually shortened
his visits.
What do you think we can expect to hear from him in his speech today?
DIAMOND: Well, the Israeli Prime Minister said that he's first of all going to tell the truth about New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, obviously
someone who has become a political foil in many ways for the Israeli Prime Minister. And there's no question that he is going to strike out at other
opponents and global rivals on the world stage as he frequently does at this annual U.N. General Assembly speech.
We expect that the prime minister will also, you know, list off and tout the foreign policy and national security accomplishments as he sees them,
and that's in large part because this is not just a foreign policy speech for the Israeli Prime Minister. In fact, it mostly is not a foreign policy
speech.
Rather, the Israeli Prime Minister will be speaking mostly to a domestic audience here in Israel. We are a month out now from the next Israeli
elections. The Israeli Prime Minister, according to the latest polls, his governing coalition is going to fall well short of the 61-seat majority
needed to form another government.
And so, the prime minister is likely going to be doing everything he can in this speech to rally the Israeli public around him and to kind of show once
again something that he has over the years used as a selling point to Israeli voters, which is his you know longstanding tenure as a statesman,
as someone who can make the case for Israel on the world stage.
Obviously, right now the prime minister is doing so at a moment of enormous criticism of Israel, with accusations of war crimes, of crimes against
humanity being leveled not only against Israel but against the Israeli Prime Minister himself. So, you can expect a combative prime minister and
one who's also going to be fighting for votes here in Israel.
MACFARLANE: Jeremy Diamond, appreciate it. Thanks. Now Australia is investigating a first of its kind AI data breach. The prime minister says
an OpenAI agent unlawfully accessed the country's national healthcare database. Now a forensic probe is underway, including scrutiny over
OpenAI's delayed response in disclosing the breach.
It's just the latest warning about AI agents going rogue and acting beyond what their human handlers intended. CNN's Hanako Montgomery reports.
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And what's believed to be the first known AI hack of a government network, an Open AI agent hacked into an
Australian healthcare system, causing extreme concern.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANTHONY ALBANESE, AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER: Today, I spoke with the CEO of OpenAI, Sam Altman, to express Australia's extreme concern about this
incident. This situation is obviously unacceptable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: In June, the agent was supposed to be researching healthcare spending, but while doing so, it bypassed security blocks and accessed
information it wasn't authorized to see. OpenAI says it didn't discover the breach until August, while it was reviewing its model's activity.
But Australia didn't find out until even later on September 10th, when the company sent a notice through a generic inbox, Albanese says. Resulting in
a five-day delay before the appropriate government minister was notified. The prime minister called that unacceptable and says Australia is now
investigating what else the AI may have accessed.
He said three other government services may have been affected. There's no evidence so far that patient records were breached, according to OpenAI.
But the incident is fueling a bigger debate over AI safety and guardrails, as we've seen at the United Nations General Assembly this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAM ALTMAN, CEO OF OPENAI: It doesn't matter whether people put the risk of catastrophe at 10 percent, or 1 percent, or 12 percent, or 0.1 percent.
None of these levels are remotely acceptable, and we should not train models that we cannot make an extremely strong case they will be able to
keep under human control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: But this isn't even the first time OpenAI's agents have hacked other systems. Earlier this year, they breached the AI company Hugging
Face, further showing that tech companies are having a hard time getting their inventions to follow the rules. Hanako Montgomery, CNN.
[11:30:00]
MACFARLANE: Now a high-stakes summit is unfolding in Washington. Details ahead on how the topic that is likely to dominate this week's talks. And
how the U.S. and China will proceed on the AI race.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: Welcome back to "One World". I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. Here are some of the headlines we are watching today. Chinese
President Xi Jinping is at the White House right now for a state visit hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump. The two leaders are expected to talk
about the AI race, Taiwan, and the Iran War.
However, despite the fanfare, expectations for this summit are low. We're not able to show you the Chinese President at the White House because some
CNN, MS Now, and Politico staff are still being denied access to the White House. That comes despite the judge's order suspending the Trump
Administration's ban on news organizations.
The judge is giving the Department of Justice one more hour to respond to a request for an emergency hearing. In the coming hours, Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the U.N. General Assembly. Earlier in the week, he said he would defend Israel's actions against the
Palestinians and will, in his words, tell the truth about the New York Mayor Mamdani.
The two have been in a war of words since Mamdani called Israel's war in Gaza a genocide. And earlier, the General Assembly heard from Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. He delivered his address via a video link because the U.S. prohibited him from entering the country.
Abbas calls the move, in his words, an unlawful punitive measure. He also called on the U.N. to hold Israel responsible for deaths in Gaza. Well,
today's summit in Washington comes as the U.S. and China push across a new technological frontier beyond the pageantry of arrival ceremonies and gift
exchanges. A greater economic issue prevails.
[11:35:00]
President Trump says that AI will be a big topic of discussion. Both Trump and she are resisting any meaningful constraints in the AI sector, and in a
new CNN poll, about 8 in 10 Americans are expressing negative sentiments about the rapid pace of development.
In recent days, Trump has started calling AI, SI for super intelligence. However, that phrase is already being used in the tech world. It refers to
a hypothetical benchmark when AI's intelligence surpasses human intelligence in virtually all areas. Well, let's discuss this with Anna
Stewart, who's joining us from London.
And Anna, I mean, there has actually been a lot of pre-summit discussions leading up to this meeting on AI, largely between I think China's Vice
Premier and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who has said the U.S. is willing to discuss shared risks with China, despite whatever President
Trump has been saying in the past 24 hours.
So, what are your expectations for progress on this issue?
ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I don't think we have a huge amount of -- in terms of expectations in terms of what we might get out of this summit.
What was discussed with the U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the Chinese Vice Premier was almost like an alert system.
So, China and the U.S. would alert each other if they could see that an AI risk was getting to a national security level, which frankly is quite
reactive, not very proactive in terms of controlling the technology through testing. Certainly, a lot less than what a lot of company leaders, the
industry leaders, and many other countries would like to see.
We may not even get that. There's a post from U.S. President Donald Trump from earlier today saying a big day with President Xi of China super
intelligence as he has now rebranded the technology will be a big topic of discussion but I want to leave it exactly where it is. That is China's
position also our guardrail is the DOJ President DJT.
Now this is interesting just in terms of we've had a lot of noise over the last few days about what people want to see, including actually from the
industry itself. We've had Sam Altman, the Head of OpenAI, Dario Amodei, the CEO of Anthropic, Fierce Rivals, actually both speak at the conference
about the risks, both calling for coordination on safety and standards, at a bare minimum, really sort of rules of the road and red lines where
frontier models shouldn't really cross.
Which, given the breaches in terms of security we've seen from various AI models in recent weeks and months, is not a big surprise. We've also had a
letter co-signed by 22 countries this week, calling not just for safety standards, but even for an institution, a global institution of AI to
oversee all this.
I don't think we're going to get anything like that, but we may get something about the notification system between the two countries.
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, I'm sure you are right. We will wait to see if anything positive or progressive comes out of this on AI. Anna Stewart,
thank you very much. So, let's bring back our guest this hour, five-time U.S. Ambassador Christopher Hill.
And Ambassador, I wanted to return to more of the sort of geopolitical aspects of what could be being discussed in this meeting and the issue of
Taiwan that you just mentioned a little bit earlier, which of course, we know will be top of mind for Chinese Leader Xi Jinping, who's repeatedly
called for an end to U.S. arm sales.
You said earlier you didn't expect much movement on this issue, but Donald Trump has previously described this as a potential bargaining chip, and
knowing you know the sort of impasse that he's at ahead of midterms on the Iran issue. Do you expect this could be used as the negotiating point when
it comes to Iran?
HILL: I think it's a very awkward bargaining chip. Even though he said it's a bargaining chip, I mean he's got about five weeks before these elections,
so it's you know he needs some real progress on some things, and the main thing he needs some progress on is Iran.
But on Taiwan, I think he understands that if he moves ahead with his arm sales, he's not going to see much progress anywhere else. In fact, it could
be a major setback in the bilateral relationship with China. So, I suspect there's going to be a kind of willingness to just keep this hold on it
going a little longer.
You know, most of these weapons aren't -- wouldn't be ready for two years or so anyway. So, I don't see really any movement on that arms sale, and I
haven't seen really much other fresh thinking on Taiwan. So, I think it's a real problem doing anything, and I suspect we'll just see the status quo
continue.
[11:40:00]
MACFARLANE: I want to talk for a moment a bit about the pageantry that has been on display today, which of course Donald Trump seems to enjoy and
deems necessary, but it has been receiving a lot of criticism from lawmakers on both sides and within his own Republican Party.
I just want us to listen to Republican Senator Roger Wicker what he had to say for a moment.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED BUDD (R-NC): We can't forget that China is also a competitor and an adversary. The Chinese Communist Party's malign influence on the world
stage is growing rapidly, and American citizens are paying the price.
SEN. ROGER WICKER (R-MS): During every minute of dialog, our commander-in- chief should keep in mind that his guest is a brutal, unelected, and oppressive dictator who seeks to dominate his neighbors and whose massive
military arsenal is aimed directly at the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Ambassador, when we consider those comments and the pomp, the pageantry, and the red carpet that has been rolled out here. I mean, what
does that message send as it's beamed out across the world, and is it the right one in this moment?
HILL: Well, first of all, the Republicans in Congress have been very compliant with just about everything the president has wanted to do, and
this began to change during the Iran crisis. And so, I think it's going to be very difficult for the president to bring these Republicans along, many
of whom have stated their position on China for years and years, and they're going to election with that.
So, I think it's a further kind of fracturing of this solidarity of the Republican Party on this issue. But the pageantry, you know, again,
pageantry is something that you would want to do when you've got some serious substance, and it's not a good substitute for substance, and one
gets the sense that it's being used as a substitute for it.
And I think with an inadequate explanation from the president to his supporters, or frankly to the American people, as to what we're trying to
do in China. Again, I think the president has some very urgent tasks on Iran. And I think he's hoping to enlist the Chinese in an effort to help
end that war.
MACFARLANE: Ambassador Christopher Hill, it's been great to have you with us here on the show. Thank you so much for your analysis. Of course,
there'll be plenty more to come in the hours ahead. We appreciate it. Now, still ahead on "One World", AI is moving fast, as we've been saying, but a
new poll finds Americans are wary of its rapid rise.
The growing concerns over where the technology is headed, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:45:00]
MACFARLANE: Now, artificial intelligence is advancing at lightning speed, but Americans are feeling more uneasy than hopeful about what's ahead, a
new CNN poll finds broad concern over the technology, with 75 percent of Americans concerned with the growth of AI, where only a quarter feel
hopeful and excited by it. Our AI Correspondent Hadas Gold has more.
HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: What's striking me most about this polling, it was conducted between September 16th and 17th, this is after
the Hugging Face hack, and this is after that vile resignation from the now Former Anthropic Researcher Jacob Coxon, who said that the people leading
the industry honestly believe it could kill us all.
And we're seeing that reflected in the polling. Americans do not feel good about AI. You put up that slide earlier. 75 percent of Americans expressing
fear and concern over this. This is pretty bipartisan. Democrats have an 85 percent fear. Republicans less 62 percent fear and concern over AI, but
that's still two thirds essentially of Republicans also feeling the same way.
What's also striking is that for a long time, people have wanted the government to do something about AI regulation, and we're looking at our
polling recently. It's showing 71 percent of Americans do not believe that the government is doing enough about regulation.
And this is one of the more bipartisan findings because when you dig into the data a little deeper, 85 percent of Democrats and 67 percent of
Republicans both say that's not enough, but that's in stark contrast to what the Trump Administration is doing. What we hear from President Trump
over and over again is that he does not want to get in the way of AI development, the speed of it.
And he doesn't want to put you know regulations and you know guardrails in place that in any way could slow this bit down. But we are also seeing from
the polling that people care about the subject, whether it's data centers, whether it's about AI. It's you know climbing up the list when it comes to
the issues that they will be voting on come this November for the midterms.
MACFARLANE: Now, still ahead on "One World", a multi-cancer blood test could one day revolutionize early detection, but some say it may be too
good to be true. When we come back, our own Sanjay Gupta takes the test.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:50:00]
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. A new class of blood tests could offer major advancements in early cancer detection. Federal regulators have just voted
in favor of the blood test that can detect more than 50 types of cancer in your bloodstream, but there are limits to this test.
CNN Chief Medical Correspondent Sanjay Gupta decided to investigate by trying the test himself.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. KATRINA FIRLIK, CANCER SURVIVOR: You automatically see this bright lump right here, kind of lighting up like a light bulb. This tumor was sitting
there, not causing a problem. And what's funny is when I met my thoracic surgeon for the first time, he walked in, he shook my hand, and he said,
you might be the luckiest unlucky person, unlucky because I had the positive result, but lucky he said he never sees tumors this small.
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Katrina Firlik and I have been friends for years. She credits her luck to a blood
test that aims to catch cancer at its earliest stages. They're known as liquid biopsies, multi-cancer early detection tests that can identify 50
plus cancers by searching for DNA fragments of the disease in your blood.
FIRLIK: I didn't have to live through any cancer crisis. I was able to intercept that crisis.
GUPTA (voice-over): Many doctors do preach the gospel of early screening, and the numbers sort of bear this out. Between 1975 and 2020, there were
almost 5 million cancer deaths that were averted due to routine prevention and standard screenings.
GUPTA: The problem is this, most diagnosed cancers do not have a recommended screening test. As a result, many of those cancers are caught
later, and they're harder to treat.
You're a friend. You're a fellow neurosurgeon as well. We're the same age. Should I get this test? Do you think?
FIRLIK: Do you like the idea of catching cancer early?
GUPTA: I do like the idea of catching cancer early, but at the same time, I'm still not sure that I really need to be doing a test like this. And
here's why, these tests have what's known as a high positive predictive value. If it comes back positive, I likely have some form of cancer.
But at the same time, if it comes back negative, I'm not really that confident that I don't have cancer.
DR. VERSHALEE SHUKLA, CO-FOUNDER OF VINCERE CANCER CENTER: After doing this for over five years and almost 10,000 lip biopsies, less than a dozen
cancers detected.
GUPTA: So, it's not picking up as many cancers as you would like.
SHUKLA: 100 percent is not picking up cancers.
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Vershalee Shukla runs a cancer screening program for first responders in Arizona. Now they are often younger than the 50-
year and older population that these tests are designed for. But studies also suggest firefighters have higher rates of cancers because of their
jobs.
SHUKLA: We went out in one week. We drew 500 firefighters. We did all of their blood, and not one came back positive. And no one wants to come in to
get their cancer screenings because everyone had this sense of security.
GUPTA: I think what the picture you're painting is someone goes, gets the Grail test, comes back negative, and they think, hey, I'm good to go. I
don't need to get the colonoscopy or the additional screening tests.
SHUKLA: It took a lot of work on our part over the next 18 months to two years to get all those members to come in and get their colonoscopies or
whole-body MRIs. We ended up diagnosing another 14, 15 cancers.
DR. ALEX KRIST, FORMER CHAIR OF U.S. PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE: But that's also something we need to measure. Like, how much will that happen?
Will people continue with usual cancer screening?
GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Alex Krist used to chair the federal government's advisory group on screening recommendations. I asked him how a group like
that would think about these tests today.
KRIST: When we're talking about cancer screening, we're looking at, are you less likely to die from cancer? Will you live longer? But also, you know,
could it improve your quality of life.
GUPTA (voice-over): It's a lot to mentally wrestle with as I take my own test. A negative finding does not mean I'm in the clear. It also doesn't
mean that I should skip my routine cancer screenings. Even the test makers say that. And importantly, we don't yet have the studies to prove whether
or not these tests save lives.
That will need a lot more people and a lot more time. But then there is the story of Katrina.
FIRLIK: In my case, the benefit was that I needed the most minimal treatment. I found it at the earliest stage.
GUPTA: It's been pretty nerve-wracking these past few weeks waiting for these results. I mean, here's the thing, there are over 600 FDA-approved
cancer treatments. And we can't take advantage of them if we don't know that we have cancer and find those cancers early enough. In my case, came
back negative, no cancer signals detected.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: And our thanks to CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta for that report.
[11:55:00]
And finally, before we go, remember the old joke why did the chicken cross the road? Well, in Washington State, it was because the semi-truck they
were in crashed. It happened on Wednesday on the freeway on ramp. State Department of Transportation workers were spotted scrambling to corral the
chickens.
You can see here the on ramp was closed while the foul situation was cleared up. See what we did there. Good for them. That is it for us for
this hour. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. But do stay with us. Bianna will be back after this quick break with more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
