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More than 400 Celebrities Back Jimmy Kimmel in Open Letter; White House Scrambles to Explain Changes to H-1B Visa Program; VA Health Care Provider Blames Clinic Closures on Trump Legislation. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 22, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: They are going to not just respond with anger but also respond with action. We're going to have to watch and see what that action looks like. As you said, potential moving forth on annexation of the West Bank is possible. We'll watch and see what happens there.

And it's not clear exactly how the Trump administration would respond to that, because they have said that the recognition of a Palestinian state is only going to encourage Israel to move forward with that West Bank annexation, and not explicitly saying how they would respond.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Very interesting. Kylie Atwood, live for us at the U.N., thank you.

And still to come, finally weighing in after avoiding Jimmy Kimmel's suspension and comments on air, the women, their colleague being sidelined, and they say they won't be silenced.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:35:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Women of The View today finally addressing the elephant in the room, the suspension of their ABC colleague, Jimmy Kimmel. Co-host Whoopi Goldberg saying they didn't discuss it on air last week to give Kimmel time to chime in first. This was the first time they talked about it on the show.

Here's a clip.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHOOPI GOLDBERG, CO-HOST THE VIEW: Did y'all really think we weren't going to talk about Jimmy Kimmel? I mean, have you watched the show over the last 29 seasons? So you know no one silences us.

ANA NAVARRO: I don't understand how in this country, where the first amendment made to the Constitution was to guarantee freedom of the press and freedom of speech, the government itself is using its weight and power to bully and scare people into silence.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is Emmy award-winning actor Bradley Whitford. Sir, thanks so much for being with us. I want to let our viewers know that you signed an open letter by the ACLU, along with 400 other notable Hollywood luminaries condemning the Kimmel suspension, supporting freedom of speech.

I wonder what else you might like to see from your colleagues, whether you would support, as some have suggested, a boycott of Disney.

BRADLEY WHITFORD, EMMY-AWARD WINNING ACTOR: Well, first of all, Boris, thank you for having me. I mean, this is a no-brainer. This isn't even a partisan issue.

Free speech is the counterweight, it is the check on government control. That is why censorship is the authoritarian's dream.

Those are Brendan Carr's words. This is a non-partisan issue, a fundamental issue of free speech. I agree with Ted Cruz on this. Conservatives are alarmed about this.

And I think there is a real opportunity here because we have seen a lurch towards a consolidation of power that is threatening so many fundamental freedoms in this country. In my community, we have, you know, unidentified armed people jumping out of vans, taking people away without charges.

And we need to stand up. And this is low-hanging fruit. And it's an opportunity for Bob Iger to do something wonderful. I think it's a case that if he fights it, I think the Supreme Court has made clear that what happened here is an infringement on free speech. And I think it is an opportunity for Iger.

One of the most discouraging things to me over the last nine months has been the cowardice of the least vulnerable, richest media moguls on the planet to stand up to what feels to me like encroaching authoritarianism.

And I think Iger has an opportunity to win this case.

SANCHEZ: What do you think he should do?

WHITFORD: I think he should fight it in court. And I think that his company, you know, I think people are very upset about this very clear attack on free speech. And I think caving, as he appears to have done so far, he's left himself an opportunity to fight this on First Amendment grounds. And I think he should do that.

SANCHEZ: If he has to go toe-to-toe with Nexstar and Sinclair, the private companies that threatened to preempt Kimmel's show, that is undoubtedly going to affect his business. You're essentially saying that he should potentially disrupt business that he has before his broadcasters, before the FCC, to stand up for freedom of speech.

WHITFORD: Listen, this country's economic power is based on freedom, freedom of speech and the rule of law. That is why a 30-year Treasury bond is so valuable in this country, because up until now we have believed in things like the rule of law, like freedom of speech.

[14:40:00]

This crazy idea of the peaceful transfer of power. If we let those things go, we will lose our economic power for generations. So yes, I think it's a fight that Iger needs to have. And I can't believe nobody's been courageous enough to engage in that fight before this.

SANCHEZ: When it comes to Kimmel himself, it's pretty clear that we are going to hear from him at some point, whether on ABC or somewhere else. And there were indications that before his show was suspended, he was going to deliver a monologue that took aim at the MAGA base. One source actually told CNN that there would have been no way back from that monologue for Jimmy.

I wonder what you would like to hear from him once he finally speaks up.

WHITFORD: Well, you know, the first thing Jimmy said after the horrific assassination of Charlie Kirk was an expression of horror and of love and support to Charlie Kirk's family. I have no idea what monologue Jimmy was, you know, thinking of delivering to the MAGA base. But I do know that his response to this horrific murder was, you know, nothing but compassionate.

SANCHEZ: If Kimmel's show winds up getting canceled, what does that do to comedians and to artists and to the free flow of dialogue?

WHITFORD: It's incredibly chilling. You know, clearly the president is going out there and saying Colbert should go. Now Kimmel is gone. Good. Now let's go after Fallon. This is blacklisting.

And it's been very interesting for me because I've spent my entire, you know, adult life as an actor and hearing about, you know, the incredible injustice of blacklisting back in the 50s. And I always blamed McCarthy and -- the real people who you need to blame are the people who were not brave enough to stand up to fascists, to stand up to people who are attacking fundamental rights that we have under the Constitution. And those were the studio heads back then, and it's the media moguls now.

And I would just encourage them, again, it's in their own self- interest to stand up for these fundamental rights that have allowed them to become as sort of obscenely wealthy as they already have.

SANCHEZ: Bradley Whitford, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate you sharing your point of view with us.

WHITFORD: Thanks for having me, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still to come, the White House now trying to clear up the confusion following President Trump's order to charge $100,000 for work visas that some major American companies rely on to hire skilled workers.

[14:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The White House is trying to explain changes to a critical visa program for foreign workers. It's a change that was announced on Friday, a $100,000 fee for the H-1B visa. The details, though, were confusing, and it sparked panic among some visa holders.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is tracking the story, and she's with us on it. What are we learning?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a chaotic weekend for corporate America, because U.S. employers do depend on foreign workers to work in this visa category, which is for, quote-unquote, specialty occupations. So that can be particular to the tech sector, Amazon being one of the biggest companies that relies on this visa. So when this was announced on Friday, there were still a lot of questions that some of these companies had in terms of who it applied to right out of the gate.

So for example, is that anyone who has a visa right now? Can they re- enter the country if they were abroad? This happened to be the case on a flight that our colleagues reported on, where people who had H-1Bs and were getting ready to come back to the U.S. didn't know if they could, because it had just been announced that a $100,000 fee was now part of this program.

Now, what the White House has since clarified on Saturday, so about 24 hours after this announcement, was that this is only for new petitions.

So it has nothing to do with people who already have this visa so much as those who are going to get it in the future. It's not annual. These visas are for three years, and then you have one renewal for another three years. And those who already have it, again, are free to leave and re-enter.

Now, the reason that these visas are so important is, again, because these companies, particularly in the tech sector, do rely on them. And the argument the administration is making here is that it's going to make them more selective. So perhaps instead of immediately relying on this visa, it'll go to a worker in the U.S.

Now, economists say that this is what makes the U.S. competitive, the ability to not only hire American workers, but to also bring the best talent from abroad. The big question now, going into the weeks and months to come, is how many companies are willing to dish out additional funds?

[14:50:00]

Visas are hard to get. It's a cumbersome -- it's a very cumbersome process. And to now add $100,000, if you think about it, even a company that is as big as Amazon, that can make just a few hundred visa holders all that more expensive in the millions of dollars? Because there are already fees tied to this. So that is going to be a question moving forward.

But for now, the White House is saying this is their way of tightening the system. The sources I've been talking to say, look, this is going to be able to root out any fraud of this visa program.

Economists, though, they're still pretty skeptical about whether this is going to be any good for the U.S. economy, especially against the backdrop of what's already been happening, Brianna. We've seen the way that the administration has targeted other legal immigration.

So this is going to be difficult, perhaps another challenge for these companies.

KEILAR: They have to be willing and they have to be able, right?

ALVAREZ: Correct.

KEILAR: That is very expensive. And there's I mean, how many people are we talking about relying on these visas?

ALVAREZ: Thousands of people who rely on this and companies that aren't all just large like Amazon and Microsoft, but other smaller companies do, too. And a population that is especially going to be hit by this are is are those who come from India. They have a lot of workers who come here on these visas.

Again, all of this, the economists say, is to make the U.S. competitive. So you take out a tool like this and we just don't know what the ramifications are going to be. And again, it's not quite taking the tool out.

But as you mentioned, Brianna, it makes it that much harder. Makes them think twice.

KEILAR: Yes, huge hurdle. All right, Priscilla, thanks for taking us through that. We appreciate it.

Still to come, concerns that one of the early impacts of President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill, as he calls it, is causing some rural health clinics to go bust. We'll have details on this rising health crisis next.

[14:55:00]

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KEILAR: Now to some of the headlines that we're watching this hour.

The Florida man accused of trying to assassinate then candidate Trump last September rested his case today. Ryan Ruth is representing himself at his trial and chose not to take the stand. He questioned three witnesses, including a former Marine sniper, before the judge cut Ruth off.

The prosecution presented 38 witnesses and hundreds of exhibits. Ruth allegedly pointed a rifle onto the Trump golf course in West Palm Beach, where the president had been playing nearby.

Delays and disruptions continue today after a major cyber attack hit some of Europe's largest airports over the weekend, including London, Berlin and Brussels. The EU's cybersecurity agency confirming the attack, saying an investigation is underway, but not detailing where this attack started. The hack impacts automated check-in and boarding systems provided by Collins Aerospace. Collins says it's working on the final stages of updates to get networks back online.

And a joint operation between the Dominican Republic and the U.S. may have stopped a literal ton of cocaine from reaching the United States. After the U.S. sank the boat in the Caribbean, the Dominican Navy says it recovered 377 packages of drugs from the wreckage. That amount of cocaine could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: A Virginia health care company is blaming President Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill for the recent closure of three of its rural clinics that serve communities in the Blue Ridge Mountains. The bill is set to cut hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade, money that struggling rural providers rely on and cannot afford to lose.

CNN's Eva McKend joins us now. So, Eva, why the focus on these rural hospitals? Why are they so important politically?

EVA MCKEND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, listen, the bottom line is that as a result of these sweeping policy changes, rural clinics are closing. Augusta Health, these three clinics, this is probably the most high-profile episode to date. And in a statement, they say that this is a result of an ongoing response to the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act and the resulting realities for health care delivery.

And Democrats are seizing on this. They are kind of saying, listen, we told you so, that if you are going to cut Medicaid spending by a projected $900 billion over the next 10 years, there are going to be real consequences to this. And they believe that ultimately the solution here is to be in conversation with these communities.

I spoke to a group called Rural Ground Game. And they say that this is not the time for charts and facts and figures. This is the time for Democrats to descend into these communities, listen to how people are being impacted by losing their clinics, and then offering real solutions when they can.

SANCHEZ: How are those who supported the Big, Beautiful Bill now defending these cuts?

MCKEND: So Republicans cite this $50 billion for rural health care providers that was also a part of this. But when you speak to health care policy experts, they say that this is not enough to fill the gap. But they argue these were necessary reforms.

But listen, if you live in a rural community and the next clinic or hospital over is more than 10 miles. I spoke to one woman who told me she's not impacted by one of the closing clinics, but she fears that her Franklin, Virginia hospital could be impacted and said, this is a matter of life or death if I no longer have access to these facilities.

SANCHEZ: Yes, a big story to keep an eye on. Eva McKend, thank you so much for the update there.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

KEILAR: The diplomatic fight over a future Palestinian state.

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