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The Situation Room

Woman Wrongly Jailed After Flock Camera Mix-Up Speaks Out; Trump Admin Wants Schools to Prepare Lunch from Scratch; Chinese Giant Pandas Arrive at Zoo Atlanta. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 28, 2026 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, another week of testimony has begun in the murder trial of Caleb Flynn. On Friday, prosecutors played police interviews conducted just hours after he called 911. The former "American Idol" contestant told them he heard gunshots while in his daughter's bedroom, saw the truck console where he kept his gun was open, as well as the garage side door, then found his wife Ashley in a pool of blood with two gunshot wounds. A detective who worked the case is expected to take the stand today.

NVIDIA is rolling out a new safety platform to keep artificial intelligence agents under human control. This is designed so companies can monitor every action an A.I. agent takes. The open agent platform was developed with more than 100 industry partners. And the move comes as concerns grow over A.I. systems going rogue and potentially threatening humanity.

And the queen of pop makes a comeback. Madonna kicked off the 2026 MTV Video Music Awards with Sabrina Carpenter and Charli XCX. It was the material girl's first VMA performance in 23 years. It was also a big night for Taylor Swift. She surpassed Beyonce as the most awarded artist in VMA history. She now has 33 Moon Man statues. Pretty impressive.

Well, happening now, this is a crazy story, the Florida woman wrongfully arrested and jailed for nearly two weeks is speaking out after a Flock camera using A.I. wrongly connected her vehicle to a deadly crash that killed three people. Here's 23-year-old Lindsey Isaac's emotional testimony last week before a Senate Judiciary panel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LINDSEY ISAACS, WRONGFULLY JAILED AFTER Flock CAMERA MIX-UP: I'm sorry. I was then moved into a mental health unit for approximately 24 hours before ultimately being transferred to G block, a maximum- security housing unit, where I remained for approximately 10 days. I was terrified. I was facing the possibility of spending the rest of my life in prison for a crash I knew -- that I knew I had not been involved in.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, charges against Isaacs were later dropped, and now she is suing the Florida Highway Patrol over her wrongful arrest. Lindsey and her attorney, Patrick McGeehan, join us now.

So, wow. Lindsey, first of all, how are you doing after going through so much trauma for something you weren't even involved with?

ISAACS: It's a lifelong trauma. It's something I'm always going to have to remember and deal with, but I'm trying every day to mentally get better.

[11:35:00]

I'm in therapy, too. So, I'm doing everything I can.

BROWN: That's good. I'm glad that you're in therapy. I mean, this is just should never happen in this society, right? There are protections, constitutional protections in place. You were three miles from the crash scene moments before the collision took place. Your SUV didn't even match eyewitness descriptions of the vehicle responsible for the crash. What was your initial reaction when police said you were being arrested for three counts of vehicular homicide?

ISAACS: I didn't even understand how they could make it that far to an arrest. So, when it actually happened, I was just in a state of shock. I have to turn myself in right now, and there's nothing I can do about it. So, I had to just literally be strong, wipe my tears, and go into jail and wait for this to be over.

BROWN: You were in solitary confinement for a time, too. What were the conditions like, Lindsey?

ISAACS: Yes, they put me in solitary confinement for about three and a half days. They said the severity of my charges were too much to be around regular other inmates. So, I was there for three and a half days. It was a terrible, terrible experience. And then I was moved to G-Block after that, which is where I stayed for 10 days after.

BROWN: Patrick, how was this finally resolved?

PATRICK MCGEEHAN, LINDSEY ISAACS' ATTORNEY: We did the police work. My team and I did the police work that the Florida Highway Patrol should have done in the beginning. It was a lot more police work than it was actually lawyering. And we presented evidence to the state attorney, which caused them to question their troopers and reinvestigate the case. Basically, this was a case of you're guilty until we prove you innocent. And we were able to do that in this case.

BROWN: Tell us more about how you were able to do that.

MCGEEHAN: Well, when Lindsey first came to me, she came to me the day after the Highway Patrol seized her vehicle. We gave them a reasonable amount of time. We reached out to them and tried to get the vehicle back. We gave them a reasonable amount of time, and then we sued them for return of the vehicle. When we sued them for return of the vehicle, I got to examine the vehicle personally and take photographs of it.

And I noticed, you know, I used to be one of these homicide investigators. So, I noticed that there was absolutely no damage on this vehicle. It was in pristine condition. I gathered that along with some scene evidence and presented it to the prosecutor when they made the arrest of Lindsey.

BROWN: Yes, because they had claimed, Lindsey -- from what I read, that when they first knocked on your door, they claimed that there was evidence of collision, of your car being in a collision. But there clearly wasn't based on what you saw.

So, Patrick, Flock executives did not attend the Senate hearing where Lindsey testified. CNN did reach out to Flock Safety for a statement, and they said, quote, "Ms. Isaac's experience was unacceptable, and she has our deepest sympathy for what she went through. Her experience appears to have been the result of human errors and judgment unrelated to Flock, which led to an unconscionably long period, lengthy period of detention. Ms. Isaac has filed a complaint against the police department in which she clearly states that our cameras established she was not, in fact, at the crime scene."

So, who do you blame, Patrick, for Lindsey's wrongful arrest? And I also want to hear your thoughts on that, Lindsey.

MCGEEHAN: I blame Flock Safety directly, because if it wasn't for Flock, we wouldn't be here in the first place, and this whole nightmare for Lindsey would not have kicked off. Fortunately, we were able to use Flock's information and the police information because Flock got two hits on her vehicle. And I was able to mathematically show that Lindsey was not at the crash scene at the time of the crash. But we wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Flock.

BROWN: And, Lindsey, what about you? Where are you on that? Where do you place the blame?

ISAACS: I totally agree with how I wouldn't be where I am right now, and I wouldn't have went to jail if it wasn't for Flock. But I also blame the two police officers that said there is damage consistent to your car with the collision, and there wasn't. So, for them to take it to another level and lie, and then lie to get an arrest warrant made for me, an innocent woman, I mean, it doesn't take an investigator to look at my car and see that it was not involved in an accident. So, I blame both parties, but it was complete negligence and lies.

BROWN: And the eyewitnesses said that the Durango was maroon, right?

MCGEEHAN: There was one eyewitness that said it was black. The rest of them said maroon and gave a partial black. But Highway Patrol never looked into that. They saw black Durango, and that's what they ran with.

[11:40:00]

BROWN: So, we want to note that CNN reached out to Florida Highway Patrol for a statement, but we have not received a response. What do you say to law enforcement officials, Patrick, who argue they need this technology to help solve crimes in a similar way, even though you say she wouldn't have been in that place to begin with had it not been for the Flock cameras, but then you use the Flock cameras to essentially solve the crime? What do you say to that?

MCGEEHAN: Sure. And that's a very common response from law enforcement. We get that a lot here in the Central Florida area. And sure, it's a great technology. I would have loved to have this back when I was a detective. We would have solved a lot more crime.

But you would also solve a lot more crimes if the police were allowed to kick down your door and come in and search your house whenever they want to or search your car whenever they want to or violate your rights in other ways. There has to be safeguards in place, you know, that comport with the Fourth Amendment, like the warrant requirements. And it's as simple as that. This technology is growing so fast that we are unable to control it. And we must get ahead of it.

BROWN: And just to be clear, has another arrest been made in this case, Patrick?

MCGEEHAN: Yes, they arrested the proper driver who was driving the vehicle who had the partial tag. And their vehicle did have damage consistent with the collision. You know, you have a lot of law enforcement agencies say, hey, we only keep this information for a few days. But when they arrested that second person, they went back through the database months and were able to find pictures of that person's car.

BROWN: Wow. That's all I can say. Lindsey, Patrick, thank you. Lindsey, we wish you the best on your journey just to overcome this trauma. I hope you do overcome it. It's crazy what you went through. Thank you both for coming on.

ISAACS: Thank you. I really appreciate it.

MCGEEHAN: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, just ahead, made from scratch. A White House push to serve homemade meals to your kids at school. But it may be harder than it sounds. We'll explain the challenges.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

BROWN: Well, new CNN reporting this morning. The Trump administration wants schools to start making lunch from scratch. It's all part of House Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s Make America Healthy Again campaign.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: Schools tell us they need better kitchens, equipment, training, practical models for cooking from scratch. We need to expand scratch cooking, reduce added sugars, and ultra-processed food. Serve more fresh produce, whole grains, and high-quality protein.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BROWN: CNN senior writer Tami Luhby has been reporting on this. So, Tami, what is the Trump administration doing to help these schools prepare more meals from scratch?

TAMI LUHBY, CNN SENIOR WRITER: Thanks, Pam. The schools are -- they would love to make more meals from scratch, but only 16 percent are doing so at this time. And so, the U.S. Department of Agriculture recognizes this. They're going to spend $70 million on equipment grants for the schools to buy more so that they can make more from scratch. And the Department of Health and Human Services is going to spend $30 million on research to try to find cost-effective ways for schools to serve healthier meals.

But the school nutrition directors I spoke to said that it is far from enough. $70 million won't go far over 50 states. I spoke to one district in Connecticut that spent, this district alone, spent over $300,000 in equipment purchases and repairs last year. And the entire state only got $209 million from an initial tranche of these equipment grants. So then the equipment is not the only thing. There's actually even more than that. They really need skilled labor. They need workers who will be able to handle raw meat, handle the equipment, the knives, and follow directions and be able to cook things from scratch. That's not the way they do now.

Now, they really mainly get prepackaged food that is sort of heat and serve. So, there's -- in addition to that, there's space issues. There's funding issues. School districts have to fund their own operations -- sorry, school kitchens have to fund their own operations. They don't get money from the districts. And they're concerned because the USDA reimbursement for the meals just isn't enough to do all of this.

BROWN: Yes, it's a great idea in theory, but in reality, it's a lot more complicated, as you laid out. Tami, thank you so much for coming on.

LUHBY: Thank you.

BROWN: Well, coming up, panda diplomacy. Two have arrived from China to bring peace and blessings to Atlanta. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez joins us live with a preview.

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pam, I'm outside Zoo Atlanta where the two giant pandas, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang, are settling in to their new home. And it's causing a little bit of pande-monium. People we talk to say that they're excited to see these new pandas.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:50:00]

BROWN: Happening now, two giant pandas from China have arrived at their new home at Zoo Atlanta. They took off from Chengdu, China on their own special FedEx plane nicknamed Panda Express and they were sent on a goodwill mission. Announced after President Trump's meeting with Chinese leaders Xi Jinping last week. CNN Correspondent Ivan Rodriguez is in Atlanta. So, how long will it be before people can see the pandas, Ivan?

RODRIGUEZ Pam, Zoo Atlanta's newest guests, Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are settling into their new home here. They're currently in quarantine. Zoo officials say that they'll be in quarantine for about a month. So, for people hoping to see them today, it's not going to happen. We actually don't have a specific date yet for when they're going to be on display for the public. So, again, that quarantine is going to last for about a month as they get acclimated to their new home.

But it was a long journey from China, a 15-hour flight aboard that custom FedEx Boeing 777 plane that giant panda painted on the side. When they arrived at Hartsfield-Jackson, there was also a FedEx truck that took them on that journey from the airport here to Zoo Atlanta. Those trucks also had giant pandas painted on the sides as well. And Ping Ping is the male, which his name stands for peace.

[11:55:00]

Fu Shuang is the female. Her name stands for double blessings. People I talked to said that they were sad to see the pandas go in 2024, and now they're really excited to get a chance to see them again.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBECCA SCHRODT, ZOO ATLANTA MEMBER: I bring my granddaughter every day that she doesn't have her little preschool. And we have seen the pictures on the billboard in the zoo of the new pandas coming. And so, it's just been waiting, waiting, waiting. And we'll be overjoyed to go see them again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RODRIGUEZ: The two new pandas are part of a 10-year agreement with China. Pam.

BROWN: All right. Ivan Rodriguez in Atlanta, thanks so much. And thank you all for joining us. We'll see you back here tomorrow morning at 10:00 Eastern. Inside Politics with Dana Bash starts after a quick break.

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