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CNN Headlines: Media Outlets Allowed To Return To White House, TV Pool In Limbo; 40 Million On Alert For Powerful Weekend Nor'easter Targeting Central East Coast; Two Of Jeffrey Epstein's Closest Advisers Reportedly Under Federal Investigation. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 25, 2026 - 05:30   ET

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

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[05:30:38]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's check our top stories.

Forty million people along the East Coast are bracing for a powerful nor'easter that's expected to lash several states tonight and through the weekend. Preparations already underway in Sea Bright, New Jersey where strong waves and heavy winds have starting pounding the area.

And it's day three of Chinese leader Xi Jinping's official state visit to Washington, D.C. President Trump is set to take him to the National Archives to see the nation's founding documents in honor of America's 250th anniversary. It's his first visit to Washington in more than a decade and his second meeting with Trump this year.

Trump hosted a lavish state dinner for Xi last night, but CNN was denied access to cover it. However, CNN is scheduled to be in the TV pool for President Trump's activities with China's leader today. This after a judge order This after a judge ordered the administration to restore access to three media outlets Trump tried to ban last week.

Here's more from CNN senior legal analyst, Elie Honig.

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ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR, FORMER ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEY, SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK: From here on out, really, the key decision belongs to President Trump. He can choose if he wants to cut his losses, to accept last night's ruling, to abandon this effort to ban the press, and to just move on with life. That's actually what happened in the Jim Acosta case back in 2018. Now, a lot has changed since 2018, so the decision may not be the same.

Alternatively, the president and the White House can continue to fight this. They will have the next two weeks to continue to fight this in the district court to try to prevent what was a temporary restraining order from maturing into a more permanent injunction. And then if the president wants, he can take this up to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals.

I should also note we could have some interim litigation because the move that was made by the White House tonight to deny our colleague Kristen Holmes and others access to that event, to me that flat out violates the judge's order from last night. That order was unequivocal. It says that the White House shall immediately return, reinstate, and restore the hard passes to CNN. And so if the White House is going to continue to play games and try to nickel and dime this and cut off and restrict access to certain rooms or events, and if CNN's lawyers choose to go back to court in the interim, I think CNN is going to continue to prevail.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And stay with CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. We'll have more on this developing story throughout the day.

All right, back to another top story. Final preparations are underway today as millions along the East Coast are beginning to feel the impacts of a rare September nor'easter. It's forecast to bring heavy rain, damaging winds and major flooding from North Carolina to New York.

And you can see the massive waves right there slamming into North Carolina's Outer Banks Thursday as the storm inches closer to the coast. Transportation officials are warning a highway connecting the Outer Banks to Hatteras Island may close as conditions worsen.

Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Millions are already under flood advisories, flood watches, and flood warnings from Boston all the way down to Norfolk in anticipation of this storm getting much closer over the next 24 to 48 hours.

You've got two low pressure systems out there right now. It's this one right here, the one that's closer to the coast. That's the worrisome one as we head into the weekend. Notice from now all the way through early Saturday it really doesn't move all of that much, but the impacts have already begun. So what it's doing is essentially pushing a tremendous amount of water into these coastal communities even by Sunday afternoon. Again, really not seeing all that much movement with this particular storm. So you have all of that water that being pushed in along the coast. That's why you've got a concern for coastal flooding.

But you also have those very gusty winds expected with this storm. We've already had wind gusts up around 35 to 40 miles per hour today. Then we can continue to see those numbers even jumping higher -- 40, 50, even 60 to 65 miles per hour, especially as we head into Saturday and Sunday as that storm edges even closer to the coastline.

In terms of rainfall, some of these areas likely to only pick up maybe about two to four inches. Others could pick up four, six or even as much as eight inches of rain all the way through the weekend.

[05:35:00]

So it's going to be several different types of impacts here. That's why you have a lot of those flood alerts, and it's likely that we're going to see a lot more communities get those flood alerts added to them as we go through the next 24 hours.

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WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks, Allison.

And for the third time this year, Hawaii is bracing for yet another hurricane. The National Weather Service upgrading Nolo to a hurricane Thursday. The category one storm moving at a snail's pace of five miles an hour and in -- just over 400 miles southeast of Honolulu. Officials warn it could bring catastrophic flash flooding to the Big Island this weekend.

And new testimony is shedding light on the relationship between accused killer Caleb Flynn and his mistress in the months leading up to his wife's death. Alleigha Botner was back on the stand Thursday in Flynn's murder trial. Texts and voicemails from her phone emerging as key evidence. He's accusing -- he's accused rather of fatally shooting his wife Ashley in February and staging a home invasion.

Botner read a series of texts that she exchanged with Flynn. Here are some notable excerpts.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLEIGHA BOTNER, CALEB FLYNN'S FORMER MISTRESS (reading text messages): "I'm sorry, this sucks. I hate this in my life and this situation more than anything in the world. If I could literally kill her and not go to hell, I would do it in a heartbeat. That's how dark and hateful I feel."

Sorry. I just wish I didn't say this.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What does the message say?

BOTNER: I didn't mean it. It says -- it says, "I want to kill her, Caleb."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who said that?

BOTNER: Me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next message.

BOTNER: I said, "It so bad."

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next message.

BOTNER: And he said, "That makes two of us." "Caleb, I just saw the news. Someone told me to pray for Mrs. Flynn in all caps. What is going on right now? Were you behind this? I deleted that message." I said, "What is going on? Is this real?"

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How would you describe your feelings for the defendant today?

BOTNER: I hate him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why the change from love to hate?

BOTNER: Because I believe that he murdered his wife.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Flynn shook his head several times during her testimony.

He has pleaded not guilty. His attorneys say he sent the texts only to appease Botner and argue that there is no direct evidence, including a gun, linking him to the killing.

All right. We're tracking a developing story out of Pittsburgh and the details are disturbing. A suspect is now under arrest after police say he broke into the home of a doctor and his wife through an open window and then stabbed them while they were sleeping. The husband was pronounced dead at the hospital. The wife is in critical condition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR JOSEPH, ALLEGHENY COUNTY ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT: The victims were home in their bedroom when a male assailant entered the home armed with a knife and attacked the male and the female, stabbing them both multiple times. The male later fled the area and like I said, was apprehended by local police. He's now charged with the homicide of the male and the aggravated assault from the female victim, as well as the burglary charge for entering the residence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police are trying to find a motive. It's not clear if the suspect and the victims knew each other.

In a major development for survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's sexual abuse, CNN has learned federal authorities are investigating two men who were some of Epstein's closest advisors. Survivors have long pushed for those who may have helped the notorious sex offender be held accountable.

CNN's MJ Lee has the latest.

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MJ LEE, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Federal investigators are reportedly investigating two of Jeffrey Epstein's closest advisors. They are Darren Indyke, who was his longtime lawyer, and Richard Kahn, his longtime accountant. This is news that was first reported by The Wall Street Journal this week.

And we spoke with a source who was interviewed by investigators earlier this year and our understanding in speaking to our source is that they are currently interviewing potential witnesses, including Epstein survivors.

They are soliciting documentation like emails and checks from the people that they're interviewing and that they are interested in basically a range of issues that these two men, Indyke and Khan, would have had familiarity with. So including the many shell companies that Epstein had set up, including the Florida Science Foundation, which as you guys know was this bogus nonprofit that Epstein had set up right around the time that he pled guilty and where survivors have told us he continued abusing us using that office while he was serving jail time.

[05:40:00]

Now SDNY is not commenting. This is the Southern District of New York. We reached out to Indyke and Khan's lawyers.

Meanwhile, a DOJ spokesperson tells us this. They said, "We don't comment on the existence or lack thereof of investigations. We have always said with regard to Epstein that if the evidence presents itself, we will investigate."

Just in the big picture, a couple of reasons that this is potentially, again, a really big deal. Indyke and Khan's proximity to Epstein first comes to mind. I mean, these were, again, people who worked for Epstein for many, many years and would have been intimately familiar with the ins and outs of Epstein's business dealings. And some survivors have said -- just straight up said they enabled Epstein's criminal conduct.

The other thing is that this is obviously a big deal for the many hundreds of survivors who have been pushing for accountability. They have wanted more transparency, more prosecutions, more investigations. And for so many of them, they've said all along it is a no-brainer to look into Darren Indyke and Richard Kahn. You have to do a better job of looking into what they potentially knew, particularly given that when they sort of look back at the history of the Epstein saga, Ghislaine Maxwell is the only person up to now who has been prosecuted in the U.S. for anything related to Epstein.

I should importantly note that both men have previously told Congress they knew nothing about Epstein's criminal conduct.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Thanks to MJ Lee for that report.

All right, next on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, it's that time again. The holiday shipping deadlines have been released. What you need to know to get those gifts mailed out in time.

And a music collaboration between the late Dolly Parton and band U2. Behind the scenes stories from U2's frontman Bono about her final recording, next.

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[05:46:11]

WHITFIELD: As the midterm elections draw closer, political parties are using social media to galvanize voters around their key messages. But as CNN's Tom Foreman explains, paid content creators are also influencing the political landscape by flooding the internet with misleading ads masquerading as legitimate information.

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TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): You have to work 47 percent more to afford rent in Texas compared to California. The cost of living in the Lone Star State is unbearable. That was the essence of the claim in this TikTok from a user going by the name Drew -- a post so popular the California governor's social media feed shared it twice. But The New York Times found Drew was not his real name. The math was made up. And in a later post, since deleted, he admitted the whole thing was backed by an app offering money.

DREW: So they were paying me to post very left-leaning stuff about how Texas was super expensive and how it has been hard for me living in Texas. I don't even (bleep) live in Texas. I'm from Utah. I'm in Florida right now.

FOREMAN (voiceover): It's part of what the Times called "An army of paid creators carpeting the web with political content" from the left, right and center pushing social media engagement that seems like a grassroots movement.

KEN BENSINGER, MEDIA AND POLITICS REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: You can normalize something online by repeating it a billion times, and that's essentially what these things are trying to do.

FOREMAN (voiceover): Here's how it works. Social media users connect with an app or website of unclear origin, promising payment for basically scripted posts about chosen candidates or issues. By fulfilling the orders, the users push those subjects deeper into the online debate where social media algorithms then see the topics as popular and push them even more.

BENSINGER: It's really cheap, it's fast, it's agile.

FOREMAN: It's not broadly illegal, but in a word, it is advertising. And even though Drew did not respond to The New York Times' request for further comment, he did have thoughts after he says his deal was cut off.

DREW: Really (bleep) up though, because you have so much stuff on your reels that isn't labeled as ads, it's just people making videos about stuff that really is an ad.

AD: It doesn't matter if you live here or here.

FOREMAN (voiceover): That's key because traditional political ads must reveal who is writing the checks.

REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): And I approve this message.

FOREMAN (voiceover): But the federal rules dictating that don't apply to this paid online content. So who is behind all this influence on American politics just grows murkier.

BENSINGER: We found many, many accounts in Pakistan, Nigeria, Philippines. Hard to imagine they have much connection to it, but they know how to cash a check, I suppose.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: Macklemore has announced new shows for what he is calling his "Free Palestine" tour. Right now there are only three scheduled dates. They're all in Europe. The concerts will be held in Dublin, Paris, and London during the last week of October. North American dates are expected to be announced soon.

The rapper was recently kicked off Ed Sheeran's U.S. tour after making comments supporting the people of Gaza at a show. He donated his $1,000,000 earnings to organizations supporting Palestinian causes. Macklemore says he'll be doing the same with all the money made on his upcoming tour.

All right, time for Buzz Express, the stories that will have people talking.

[05:50:00]

Today, Swifties are rejoicing over new music. Taylor Swift released "The Life of a Showgirl: The Encore" edition, including four brand new songs -- Patient Zero, Cleveland, Pink Clouding, and Babylon. Swift also released a trailer of her brand new music video for Patient Zero, the newest single off the album. It stars Swift, Colin Farrell, and Dakota Johnson and it is set to premiere during the MTV Video Music Awards this Sunday. And it's like 13 minutes long, by the way.

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Clip from YouTube/Marvel Entertainment "Avengers: Endgame Encore."

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WHITFIELD: Ooh, and another encore to talk about, "Avengers: Endgame Encore." That re-release of the 2019 movie came out today with some extra scenes that are supposed to help get you ready for the next Avenger movie out in December. We'll see if this takes over the box office this weekend.

And today, cities across the country are celebrating Dolly Parton Appreciation Day. The date is a nod to her hit "9 to 5." Celebrations across the country, such as in New York and New Orleans that will include parades and music events, all in honor of the country music icon's enormous contributions to music, charities and entertainment. And I'm quoting now the words from Bono. "She sang her heart out."

He's talking about Dolly Parton because he tells Rolling Stone that what's believed to be Dolly Parton's last recorded vocal performance is one that he did with her. The upcoming duet called "Torn" will be featured on U2's next album set to be released in November. Parton co- wrote the track with U2 and Snow Patrol's Johnny McDaid.

Bono says Parton pushed through even though she was sick. It was hard getting out of bed to sing the song just two months before she died. I can't wait to hear it.

All right. Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, two giant pandas are heading to the U.S. from China for what they call an "envoy of friendship." We'll tell you which zoo will get those pandas on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

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[05:56:45]

WHITFIELD: In today's Money Express, I'm not trying to stress you out, but Christmas is just three months away and the Postal Service says if you want to save money, get those holiday packages in the mail sooner rather than later.

Maribel Aber joins us now from the NASDAQ MarketSite with that and the rest of your top Money Express headlines. OK, come on, I was -- I was getting stressed out over Halloween and the decorations, but now I already got to start, you know, shopping and sending.

MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: Fred, it is go time and you know it's go time for me. This is my thing.

WHITFIELD: Is it?

ABER: Listen, if you're planning to mail packages -- oh yeah -- this holiday season, you got to take note. The U.S. Postal Service has dropped its recommended shipping deadlines. Ground advantage and first class mail need to be out by December 17 for ground service. It's one day earlier for those in Alaska, Hawaii, and U.S. territories. Priority mail, it's December 18. And priority Mail Express, that's the 19th. Dates for military international mail will be posted in mid- October.

Hey, if you've been charged ATM fees in recent years, you may be due some cash. Visa and Mastercard have agreed to a $167.5 million settlement related to the fees charged by independent ATM's but deny any wrongdoing. So those are ATMs often found at gas stations or grocery stores and hotels. The companies were accused of restricting independent operators from offering lower fees through competing networks. To check eligibility and file a claim, visit nonbankatmsurchargesettlement.com.

OK. Panda diplomacy between China and the U.S. is back. President Xi Jinping says China will send two giant pandas to Zoo Atlanta in the coming days. WHITFIELD: Hmm.

ABER: Uh-huh.

It marks the return of pandas to the zoo after its four remaining bears returned to China in 2024. The panda program between the two countries dates back to 1972. Fred, who doesn't love the pandas -- come on.

WHITFIELD: Always, and Atlanta has been missing pandas, you know, recently --

ABER: Yeah.

WHITFIELD: -- so now their arms are open to welcome some new ones.

Maribel, thank you so much. Have a great day.

ABER: You got it.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's get a check of the other stories making news across the country.

We start in Maricopa County, Arizona, where a brawl broke out in a county courtroom. The father-in-law of a murder victim is accused of attacking the defendant during a sentencing hearing. An attorney for the father-in-law says he saw the defendant laughing during the proceedings and "lost it." He was released after initially being detained.

And more than a dozen people are recovering after a Baltimore City bus was hit by the driver of a stolen car trying to escape police. Four teens were reportedly in the vehicle at the time. Officials say two of them are now in critical condition. Police are investigating.

And a big mess in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, after two cranes collapsed onto a house Thursday. The homeowners say they've been remodeling for months. While crews worked to upright the first crane and clean up the mess, the second crane toppled to the ground. No injuries were reported.

[06:00:00]

Also in Florida, a man is in custody after a carjacking and police chase outside a hospital. Police say the suspect was a patient who was reportedly there for a mental health evaluation. Officials say that the 35-year-old man left the hospital in scrubs, forcing his way into a woman's car in the parking lot and then fled the scene hitting several vehicles, including a police car. Police were able to stop him nearly six miles away from the hospital.

That's going to do it for now. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.