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The Situation Room

Poland Reinforces Border Against Russia; Pennsylvania Reports Fourth Measles-Related Death; Deadly L.A. News Helicopter Crash; Will Federal Reserve Raise Interest Rates?. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired September 16, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: What will Kevin Warsh do, facing pressure from the president, Wall Street, and everyday Americans? The chairman of the Federal Reserve could announce the first rate hike since 2023. Its impact on the economy and your wallet.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Plus, federal investigators are probing what caused a deadly news helicopter crash in Los Angeles. Three people are dead, including a news crew that has been flying together for three years.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in THE SITUATION ROOM.

We begin this hour with a closer look at how much more expensive it may be for you to borrow money. A few hours from now, the Federal Reserve chairman, Kevin Warsh, set to announce the Fed's decision on interest rates. The Federal Reserve is widely expected to raise its benchmark interest rate for the first time since 2023 in an effort to try to tackle surging inflation.

BROWN: And according to a new analysis from the Congressional Budget Office, the Iran war is expected to increase inflation for the first quarter of next year. And Americans are paying the price.

According to Brown University, the increase in gas and diesel prices during the war have already cost Americans more than $107 billion. That's more than $820 per household.

BLITZER: According to the AAA, the national average price for a gallon of gas today is $4.37. That's up almost $1.40 since the war started. And diesel prices, they're at an all-time high right now, $6.31 per gallon.

BROWN: All right, let's bring in CNN senior reporter Matt Egan here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

So, at this point, it seems like it would be a surprise if Warsh doesn't actually hike the rate. Tell us more about that and how this could impact all of us.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, well, Pamela and Wolf, this is a big moment for the Fed and for Kevin Warsh, the Trump-appointed Fed chairman. If he raises interest rates, it's a big deal, right, the first interest rate hike in three years.

If he doesn't, it's an even bigger deal, because, right now, Wall Street is widely expecting an interest rate hike. The market is pricing in a 93 percent chance of a hike today. The Fed almost has to live up to those expectations, because, if they don't, they risk shocking the market.

And shocking the market is something the Fed officials do not want to do. It wouldn't just be a problem for Wall Street traders. It would have real economic implications, because it could set off more selling in the bond market. That would drive up bond yields even higher and make it even more expensive to get a mortgage and for Washington to borrow.

So let's just assume that, yes, they do an interest rate hike to debt. What gets more expensive? Well, anything with floating rate debt, right, so home equity lines of credit, credit cards, not as common these days, but adjustable rate mortgages, personal and student loans with floating rates, and, going forward, new car loans.

Now, let me just give you a real-world example. When you take into account the fact that the Fed has already been raising interest rates significantly over the last four years, we're talking about a much higher borrowing cost, right?

So let's just say you're in the market for a $50,000 car and you're going to put 20 percent down. Four years ago, you were looking at monthly payments of a little under $750. Now it's about $800, and that's per month.

Money management international analyst Ted Rossman, he told me that people who have been looking for a car for years, they're going to be shocked by, one, just how expensive the car is, and, two, how expensive it is to borrow.

So, look, bottom line, there's a lot at stake here when it comes to the cost of borrowing, inflation, and Fed independence, and this is a real test for whether the Warsh-led Fed is willing to go against the president, who clearly wants lower interest rates.

BLITZER: I know you spoke with Senator Elizabeth Warren yesterday, Matt, about the Fed's monetary policy. Tell our viewers what she said.

EGAN: Well, Warren, she's been a fierce critic of Kevin Warsh, right? She's argued that he's just not independent, he's too close to the White House. She's even gone as far as labeling him the president's sock puppet.

So I asked her, I said if Warsh presides over an interest rate hike today, is that going to change your perception of him? And she said it takes a long time to rebuild a reputation, and she argued that it's the president's Iran war and his tariffs that have really put the Fed in a tough spot.

Take a listen to what Warren said.

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SEN. ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MA): Donald Trump's economic policies have backed Kevin Warsh into a corner. And he's going to have to make a decision whether to bow down to Donald Trump and not do anything on interest rates, or to say to Wall Street that he is committed to bringing inflation under control.

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EGAN: Now, everyone is going to be listening today to the press conference to see what the Fed signals about interest rates going forward.

And, of course, we're all going to be watching the president's social media feed to see what kind of reaction he has to what might be the first interest rate hike in three years.

BLITZER: His nominee to be the Federal Reserve chairman, to be sure.

EGAN: Exactly.

BLITZER: All right, Matt, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.

EGAN: Thank you.

BROWN: All right, happening now: An investigation is under way after a news helicopter crash in Los Angeles, killing three people. Officials have confirmed a veteran pilot and a reporter were among those killed.

And we want to warn viewers this next video may be distressing. This is the livestream from the KNBC helicopter in the moments before the crash and appears to experience a flight issue before rapidly descending. You see it right here. NBC4 confirmed the news live on air before temporarily switching to other programming.

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COLLEEN WILLIAMS, NBC4 ANCHOR: We have just received the confirmation that in fact News Chopper 4 went down just before 7: tonight in Chatsworth. And we are going to take a couple of minutes to think about that, to process and to regroup.

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BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN's Julia Vargas Jones, who is at the scene of the crash.

What's the latest, Julia? JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the scene is still on

lockdown behind me here, Pamela. Police are telling me that the crash happened just be behind one of these large industrial buildings here in this area.

As expected, the scene is still being processed by the agencies. Both the FAA and the NTSB still have to conduct their investigations here. But we are learning a little bit more about this crash as we get more information of what happened in those moments. We don't yet know what caused it.

But there is video from inside of that cabin before that helicopter hit the ground that includes sound of the engine losing power, and then a warning alarm seems to be pointing the pilot to the main blades being slowing down. That's according to an analysis from my colleague aviation correspondent Pete Muntean.

Let's take a listen.

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ELIANA MORENO, REPORTER: You -- you can't pull up?

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VARGAS JONES: Harrowing sounds there, Pamela, but in that helicopter pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno. They worked for Angel City Air. And they were reporting for NBC4, as we saw in that clip earlier, and Telemundo 52.

They had been flying together since 2023. And Moreno had a large following on Instagram, where she had shared for a long time snippets of behind-the-scenes content of what it was like to report from the air here in Los Angeles. She was also an avid runner, and she was engaged. Earlier this year, she had run a half-marathon in Orange County with her fiance.

And, of course, the news of their loss shook Los Angeles, a city that relies so much on the reporting from the air, a city that invented reporting from a helicopter. And so many iconic stories, from car chases to wildfires, are here covered from the air. It is a ubiquitous part of TV news and the landscape here in L.A.

So, Angelenos are feeling this loss hit really, really close to home -- Pam.

BROWN: Yes, very, very sad.

Julia Vargas Jones, thank you -- Wolf.

BLITZER: And still ahead: new concerns about the spread of the measles after a fourth person died in Pennsylvania from the contagious disease.

BROWN: And impeachment surprise. Why a Republican congressman is calling for the impeachment of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM, and we will be right back.

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BROWN: Happening now: Pennsylvania officials say a fourth person has died from measles-related complications. The last time this many people died from measles of the U.S. was more than 30 years ago, back in 1992.

According to state officials, this most recent death was an unvaccinated teenager. The county coroner said the 18-year-old died from a rare neurological condition that can occur after a measles infection.

Well, Pennsylvania has counted nearly 700 cases so far this year, while the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there's been more than 3,200 measles cases reported nationwide.

And the outbreak in Pennsylvania has sparked a political clash between the state and federal government over how deaths are counted.

Joining us now is infectious disease specialist and epidemiologist Dr. Celine Gounder. She's also the editor at large for public health at KFF Health News.

All right, I just checked the CDC Web site this morning before the show, and it says zero deaths so far this year's for the measles. And then you have Pennsylvania say there have been four measles-related deaths. So what do you make of that? What is the process for state and local governments when they calculate these deaths, and what does it mean when someone dies from measles-related complications?

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DR. CELINE GOUNDER, KFF HEALTH NEWS: Right, Pam.

So, to be clear, there have been four measles-associated deaths. The way that this is normally ascertained is that state and local health departments will collect the information, they will collect the case reports, whatever supporting information. They are the ones that then report that to the CDC.

The CDC compiles all of that information and then reports that out. The CDC does not normally get involved unless a state invites them in. And public health powers in this country sit with the state level.

And so the -- I think what we're really seeing is a situation where these four deaths are an inconvenient truth for the administration, an administration that has really called into question the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. And, unfortunately, that is partially responsible for a drop in childhood vaccination rates that we're seeing across the country right now. BROWN: And you say that people typically die from complications for

measles, right, not measles itself, but what it can cause. Tell us more about that.

GOUNDER: Yes, so there's actually a lot of parallels between measles and HIV. Both of those viruses infect immune system cells, leaving you vulnerable to numerous other complications, infections, and that is what kills you, whether you have HIV/AIDS or you have measles infection.

It's that window of susceptibility. Now, with measles, it doesn't last for the rest of your life. It lasts about two to three years after the measles infection, that a child or even an adult who gets measles as an adult is left vulnerable to bacterial pneumonias, to diarrheal illness, to sepsis, and more.

And that's because the immune system memory has been erased to many infections as a result of measles infecting your immune cells.

BROWN: So, what should people know about who is most vulnerable to complications from this disease now that we're seeing these outbreaks again?

GOUNDER: Well, if you're not vaccinated, you are vulnerable. And you could be an adult. You could be a child. So this most recent death was an 18-year-old, so essentially an adult, who was not vaccinated and got measles.

In this case, this patient died from a neurological complication. So this is another way in which measles can kill. It can infect the brain. It can also trigger an autoimmune reaction, where your immune system turns on itself and in this case destroys the brain, and that's what this 18-year-old had. It's what we call acute disseminated encephalomyelitis.

And then there's a third complication called subacute sclerosing panencephalitis, so SSPE, which is a much later complication. It could be like a decade after your measles infection, but which can also slowly destroy the brain.

So there are a number of different really terrible neurologic complications that can result from this as well.

BLITZER: Dr. Gounder, it's Wolf.

I have one last question for you. It's very personal.

GOUNDER: Yes.

BLITZER: In addition to measles, we're approaching, as all of us know, the flu season. When should people start getting their flu shots for this year? I get the flu shot every year. I have been getting a COVID booster shot in recent years.

Should we get them at the same time, separate those two shots? And when is the best time to get that flu shot? GOUNDER: Well, the best time is when you can get it done, hands down.

But, that said, if you're if you're somebody who's able to time it, who has a little bit more flexibility in your schedule, who can get the shots separately.

So, then I would say COVID now. For flu, probably late October, early November. We haven't seen rates of flu virus go up in the United States yet. So, you can afford to wait. Just make sure you get it.

BLITZER: Good advice, Dr. Celine Gounder. Thanks very, very much for your expertise.

BROWN: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: And up next: national security emergency. Calls are growing for immediate action to control A.I.

I will speak with one man who worries artificial intelligence could become uncontrollable once it realizes humans are trying to limit its abilities.

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BROWN: Happening now: Poland says it is reinforcing its border with Ukraine after Russian strikes near crossings prompted heightened security concerns among NATO allies. And, over the weekend, a drone struck a passenger train in Ukraine just over a mile from the Polish border. Russia claims the train was transporting military cargo.

BLITZER: Let's go live right now to CNN correspondent Clare Sebastian, who's following this story for us.

Clare, what more are you learning about Poland's response now and what prompted it?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, I think case in point as to just how much the mood of tension is heightened in Europe around these various incidents around Ukraine's borders is that, just today, a day after announcing it was reinforcing its border with Ukraine, Poland had to scramble jets, not for the first time, and suspend air traffic from two of its airports close to Ukraine.

It does this as a precaution when there are drone attacks in Western Ukraine, which there was again overnight. So there's a very heightened situation. The Polish defense minister is saying that they are now reinforcing the border because the recent days, he said, show that Russia's actions threaten the security of the entirety of Europe.

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And we've seen a number of incidents in recent days. NATO jets had to shoot down a drone over Lithuania on Tuesday. Denmark this week summoned the Russian ambassador after it said that a Russian warship fired two emergency flares towards a Danish helicopter. It says -- Russia says that that was the helicopter causing a provocation.

But there are a number of incidents happening in quick succession. So, obviously, there's a fear in Europe that these might be intentional hybrid attacks by Russia. There's also a big fear as we see the situation escalating in Ukraine. You see images there of a train that was attacked in Southern Ukraine today.

There was also a bus that was attacked, five people killed. This escalation is leading to an increased risk of spillover. Russia is not only stepping up its attacks. It's broadening its list of targets, and it's innovating with new weapons like jet-powered drones, which are increasingly overwhelming Ukraine's air defenses.

And amidst all of this, we see Europe now promising to set up its own new security protocols, a realization, I think, for Europe that this is a new reality, and that the old tools simply are not working anymore when it comes to deterring Russia.

BROWN: All right, Clare Sebastian, thank you -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Also happening now: The U.S. Coast Guard says it boarded a foreign-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Mexico last month after indications it had been hacked by foreign actors. The specialized team included FBI agents and federal cyber experts. A U.S. official says a team also inspected a liquid natural gas tanker around the same time due to similar concerns.

CNN military analyst retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton is here with us in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Colonel Leighton, as usual, thanks very much for joining us.

When you hear about these vessels possibly being hacked by foreign actors, what do you think? What are the major concerns?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: So there are a lot of concerns in a situation like this, Wolf.

One of them is that a vessel nowadays is basically like a floating factory, and hacking a vessel is basically akin to a cyberattack against a factory or some kind of an installation like a sewage plant or something like that. And what they're doing is, they're going into the equivalent of the industrial control systems.

And what that means is that they can change the way in which the ship is moving, the navigation systems on the ship, but they can also change the way in which the cargo is handled. So, for example, they can change the pressure readings for an oil tanker, and if they change the pressure readings for an oil tanker, it could mean that tanker explodes, and that, of course, would be devastating not only to the crew, but potentially from an environmental standpoint.

BLITZER: Very worrisome indeed.

I want to turn to Russia's war on Ukraine right now, Poland, a key NATO ally, reinforcing its border after nearby Russian strikes and a drone shot down over Lithuania just yesterday. What is your assessment of the threat Russia currently poses for NATO nations? And, remember, an attack on any NATO country is an attack on all NATO allies.

LEIGHTON: Right. And that's -- that would bring Article 5 of the NATO treaty into effect, potentially, if the NATO countries agreed that that attack warranted that kind of a response.

So what we're talking about here, I think, is really an extension of Russia's hybrid warfare activities. So, what they're trying to do is, they're trying to get as close as they possibly can to the NATO border, attacking things such as trains that they say had military cargo on them, but also, of course, we're talking trains that carry passengers.

And that, of course, is a big risk for the people who are traveling into Ukraine, and it's also a big risk for the Ukrainian military, as well as the NATO military forces. So, what the NATO countries are looking at is not only a situation where Russian attacks are happening physically, but they're also looking at cyberattacks.

They're looking at targeted assassination teams that have been deployed throughout Europe in some cases. And you're looking at basic efforts by the Russians to sabotage installations within NATO countries, and that is a potentially very big deal at this point.

BLITZER: It's a huge deal indeed.

In the Middle East right now, Saudi Arabia says it struck down a Houthi drone right near Mecca, of course, Islam's holiest city. A Houthi spokesman has denied the claim. This comes after the group's advance on the Red Sea coast in Yemen and recent attacks on neighboring Saudi Arabia.

What's the significance you see of this drone over Mecca?

LEIGHTON: It's a huge deal, Wolf, because Mecca, as you mentioned, is the holiest city of Islam. And any attack on Mecca would basically do several things.

First of all, it's an attack on a religious institution and a mosque that is basically at the center of the Islamic faith. The other thing that it does, though, is, it also helps question the legitimacy of Saudi Arabia's role as a protector of Mecca.

Basically, the legitimacy of the Saudi Kingdom is based on their ability to protect the religious in installations in Mecca, the mosque, the Kaaba. All of those things are really part of the reason that Saudi Arabia exists. They're basically the guardian of the shrines there.

And if they lose that role because of an attack, if that -- if this -- the religious areas are damaged, then it calls into question their legitimacy to control that.