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Blanche Will Not Pledge Independence from White House; Joint Exercises Begin with South Korea; Trump Orders Scale Back of Joint Exercises; Polls on Trump with Hispanic Men; New Safety System to Stop Planes is Saving Lives; New CNN Series Interviews actress Allison Janney. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired August 17, 2026 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:31:55]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, the country's newly confirmed attorney general is signaling there will be very little daylight between the Justice Department and President Trump. Todd Blanche, who was confirmed a little more than a week ago, was asked flat out whether the department will act independently from the White House. This is how he answered.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL: No, I'm not going to pledge that. And no attorney general should ever pledge that. The president -- I mean, if I were to pledge I will be independent of the White House, what that means is that if President Trump says I want the Department of Justice to go after every violent criminal in this country, which is what he has said, what you're saying to me is, I just say, no, sir, I'm not going to do it. So, there's -- I will act with integrity. Our prosecutors will act with integrity. We will prosecute without fear or any sort of favor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: With us now is Sarah Krissoff, former federal prosecutor for the Southern District of New York.
And I have to say, he treated that as a false test, right? He was saying that independence from the White House means that I can't prosecute violent criminals. What is the right distinction there in your mind, Sara?
SARAH KRISSOFF, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Yes, I mean, he's just twisting words, right? I mean, the Department of Justice has a long history of independence from the White House, and that's critical for the operations and legitimacy of the Department of Justice. They cannot do their job properly if they are involved in politics and instructed by the president and the people working close to him on who or who not to prosecute. And so, this lack of independence is hugely important. And really, you know, we should all be worried about that. BERMAN: And what message does it send? And you've worked in these U.S.
attorney's offices before. What message does this send to the federal attorneys and FBI agents around the country?
KRISSOFF: So, we're in a situation right now where the roles of the Department of Justice, the roles of the FBI and other DOJ law enforcement agencies have been decimated. The career folks who have been there for many years, who have the institutional knowledge, the experience to bring complex prosecutions, are scared or they have left. So, we're in a situation where the -- our law enforcement agencies are simply not operating properly because they are scared of retribution from the -- from the White House or they are scared of retribution from the people above them at the DOJ, or they are -- they have simply left because they have pursued other opportunities given the circumstances they are working under.
BERMAN: And just very quickly on this front, what is an appropriate level of contact between the White House and the Department of Justice? Because Todd Blanche, again, it's sort of a false choice because independent -- pure independence I'm -- is not what I think a lot of people are talking about when they say the Justice Department, the attorney general should display some independence from the White House.
[08:35:00]
KRISSOFF: So, the DOJ really needs to make its own decisions about pursuing or not pursuing a prosecution. And Todd Blanche also said, listen, if the -- if the president wants to weigh in on a particular prosecution, whether we go after a single individual or a single company, I'm going to listen to that, just as I would listen to that if someone else brought that to my attention. I mean that's just, again, to me, is just not accurate. If I go into Todd Blanche and say, hey, please look at this person, look at this company, he is not going to do that. If the president is saying that, it's a whole different story.
And so, they're just really -- the idea of the Department of Justice is, you put in folks who have a lot of experience and capability and incredible good -- incredibly good judgment, and you have to let them do their job independently.
BERMAN: I will say, and we'll play this out here, the president -- Todd Blanche claims the president is not calling, telling him who to prosecute. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TODD BLANCHE, ATTORNEY GENERAL: There is this extraordinarily false narrative that the president wakes up in the morning and calls me and says, Todd, go prosecute x or y. He does not do that. He has never done that. He will never do that. And so, if there's something that he wants to do, but he needs to know that there's a challenge or that we can't do it, of course I will tell him.
(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: All right, I don't know if the call in the morning is doing a lot of work there, or the fact that maybe the president pressured Pam Bondi and not him, but the president absolutely put out messages on social media telling Pam Bondi that she should go after James Comey, Letitia James, Adam Schiff. There is something of a record of this, isn't there?
KRISSOFF: Yes, that's exactly what I was going to say. So, there is -- the president doesn't not keep quiet, right? And so, we have a record that contradicts exactly what Mr. Blanche is saying. We have the -- and the judges that dismissed the first Comey indictment, that dismissed the first James indictment, they've cited to this information. They said that the president has been unabashed about talking publicly about these cases, about directing the Department of Justice to bring certain cases. So, I just think Todd Blanche is not credible when he's -- when he's saying that I, you know, I don't get messaging from the president about who to prosecute.
BERMAN: Yes.
KRISSOFF: It may be on social media. It may not be a morning call, but it's coming.
BERMAN: Yes, maybe he doesn't call him on the phone every morning, as Todd Blanche is suggesting there.
Sarah Krissoff, thank you so much for your insight on this.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, happening now, South Korea says joint military exercises with the United States are underway, but what isn't clear is whether they've been pared down. President Trump, yesterday, ordering the Pentagon to scale back these drills, which take place every year. But he did so just hours before they were set to begin. In a social media post, the president said, "South Korea, a long time U.S. ally, declined to help with the war against Iran, and he cited his, quote, "very good relationship" with Kim Jong-un. The drills were supposedly designed to adapt to North Korea's evolving capabilities.
CNN's Betsy Klein is live this morning at the White House.
Much to talk about here. Also, words that he has spoken about bombing Oman, another U.S. ally. Give us some sense of what's going on this morning at the White House.
BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, Sara, President Trump could be extending what appears to be an olive branch to North Korea as he says that he's not happy that the U.S. is conducting these planned strikes -- exercises, excuse me, alongside a key ally, South Korea.
Now, these annual exercises, as you mentioned, began Monday as planned, according to South Korea. It's not clear at this stage whether anything has been pared down here. But this is a move that President Trump made back in 2018, when he was trying to get those denuclearization talks off the ground with Kim Jong-un. And President Trump met three times during his first term with the North Korean leader.
It is not clear at this stage whether there has been any known correspondence between Trump and Kim Jong-un during his second term. I've asked the White House just that. Have yet to receive a response. But I want to read to you a little bit from the president's post to social media. He says, quote, "based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has long ago agreed to participate in the joint military exercises with South Korea." He goes on to say that those exercises "send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile."
Now, it's not clear what exactly, if anything, he is basing that very good relationship with Kim on. And in the time since President Trump's first term, we have seen North Korea significantly escalate. They have scaled up their armed forces and their illegal nuclear weapons program. They've also gotten practical battlefield experience serving alongside Russia in its fight against Ukraine.
Now, some experts have warned that this move puts U.S. military at risk and lowers readiness in the region.
[08:40:07]
And South Korea, meanwhile, says that they are reviewing President Trump's statement.
Now, a big meanwhile here, President Trump says that the war with Iran has potentially played into this. He says that he "asked the president of South Korea if they would like to join us in the denuclearization of Iran and they said, no thanks."
We should note, of course, that Kim has made clear that Trump's war with Iran really proves that he made the right decision in calling off denuclearization talks with the U.S.
SIDNER: Betsy Klein, thank you so much for your reporting there for us on these developments between the United States, President Trump and South Korea.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, let's talk more about this. Joining us right now is Gordon Sondland, the former U.S. ambassador to the European Union during Donald Trump's first term.
It's good to see you, Ambassador. Thanks for jumping in.
GORDON SONDLAND, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE EUROPEAN UNION: Good morning, Kate.
BOLDUAN: The way Tom Nichols wrote about this announcement from the president overnight in the commentary in the -- for "The Atlantic," Nichols wrote this, "last winter, Donald Trump plunged recklessly into war with Iran. The United States is now losing that conflict. And so the president of the United States has taken the logical next step. He is punishing South Korea, a loyal American friend, and tempting U.S. enemies to doubt America's will to defend its allies."
Do you see that?
SONDLAND: No, I don't accept the premise of "The Atlantic" article.
Look, what he's trying to do here is several things all at the same time. He's trying to keep very, very hostile regimes like North Korea at bay by at least continually extending olive branches, but not giving up a thing militarily. These exercises, which are held annually, were long planned. The north Koreans know that he's trying to just insert some friendly rhetoric into the equation, and also to smack the South Koreans a little bit about their lack of willingness to stand next to us during the Iran conflict. They were not particularly helpful, although as time has gone by, they're slowly warming to the idea that this is in their interest to help. So, no, I don't look at it as, you know, as extremely as the author in "The Atlantic" article wrote at all.
BOLDUAN: If the exercises are actually scaled back, do you think this hurts Ukraine? Are they the -- they the unwitting victim in this considering that North Korea is the one helping Russia prolong the war on Ukraine?
SONDLAND: No, I think the scaling back of the exercises is largely performative. I think they're going to do everything they need to do to have an effective exercise. I think this is Trump's strategy to keep an open line of communication with Kim Jong-un. And my sources tell me they are in regular contact. He won't admit that. And clearly the North Koreans won't admit that. But he believes very strongly in constant dialog. And I think that's what's going on between the United States and North Korea right now.
BOLDUAN: It's interesting. The president, in his statement, kind of says that this move is linked to the war with Iran. Today was the deadline set for negotiations to conclude over Iran's nuclear program. Clearly, that's not happening. Remember, memorandum of understanding went out the window a bit ago.
But just this, also this morning, when it comes to the war with Iran, Ambassador, there -- in a new interview, President Trump said and leveled the threat, saying that he'll bomb Iran -- oh, sorry, he'll bomb Oman if it interferes with U.S. efforts in the Strait of Hormuz. What do you do with that threat? I often, in our conversations, feel like I'm -- you're trying -- you kind of are translating what you hear the president saying or trying to do with when he makes these threats. Should Oman, an ally to the United States in this conflict, take that threat seriously?
SONDLAND: Of course not. You know, this is Trump's hyperbole. He's telling Oman, you know, STFU (ph) and sit on the sidelines and let me handle this. That's what he's -- that's what he's telling Oman. You know, saying he's going to bomb them as opposed to he's going to tariff them, as opposed to he's going to cut them off. You know, they're all interchangeable. That's just Trump speak.
He's in a very delicate position right now, Kate, because they really are making traction with some of the moderates in the Iran leadership and the IRGC hardliners continually interfere with that. That's why you see these on again, off again, on again, off again announcements coming out of both the United States and Iran.
[08:45:05]
And, you know, you have to give the president credit. Everyone characterized him as a war monger. He's really trying to make a peace deal here. But it's very difficult. He is dealing with a regime that knows it's facing an existential threat because if the hardliners are deposed, the IRGC goes away. And, you know, people that are going to lose their existence fight pretty hard. And that's what's going on right now.
BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean trying to get a peace deal, maybe, but in a war that, you know, he launched. So, it's one -- again, we get back to the beginning of what is he actually going to get out of it that he didn't have in the beginning, but a long way -- clearly a long road to that from where we are today, Ambassador.
It's good to see you. Thank you for coming on. Always doing a little translation for us.
John.
BERMAN: We are getting ever so closer to the midterm elections. And one of the key questions is, this November, what will happen to some of those voting blocs that swung a little bit toward Donald Trump, toward President Trump in 2024? Will those groups who were away from him but swung toward him stay with him?
With us now, CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.
One of those key groups is?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hispanic men. Hispanic men. Donald Trump put up a historically strong performance for a Republican candidate for president amongst Hispanic men. But the phrase this morning for President Trump is, ay caramba, because look at these shifts. I mean Hispanic men on Trump. In 2024, he won among Hispanic men by ten points. Look now where his net approval rating is. Down he goes into the Gulf of Mexico. Minus 41 points in an average of polls this year. That is, Johnny B., by my math, a 51-point switcheroo against the president of the United States. All of that movement that you saw, that historic performance that President Trump had amongst Hispanic men, adios, amigos, goodbye, see you later. As Johnny B. was telling me backstage, these numbers are bonkers.
BERMAN: I mean, that's a huge swing. At 50 points this thing is huge. What might be one reason? What is one issue area where we're seeing the impact of this?
ENTEN: Yes, it's the economy. It's the economy. We're seeing this across the board. But you're specifically seeing it amongst Hispanic men. I mean just look at these numbers here.
BERMAN: Wow.
ENTEN: OK, Hispanic men on Trump and the economy. He was more trusted than Kamala Harris on the economy by 11 points. Look at this. You thought a 50 plus point swing was huge. Look at now. His net approval rating here is 49 points underwater in an average of polls. That is a 60-point move away from the president of the United States on the issue that got him re-elected to a second term. It really helped swing Hispanic men into the Republican column (ph) to an historic degree. And all of that movement, all of that hard work that Republicans made and did for the 2024 election, it all is just basically gone at this point. A huge swing back against the Republican president, Donald John Trump.
BERMAN: OK, how might this manifest itself in the midterms?
ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, it is one thing that you're seeing these big moves among President Trump, right? You're seeing these big moves among Hispanic men for President Trump.
But the key question is, will this actually matter when it comes to the ballot box? Because it's one thing to not like somebody else, but will you actually pull the lever for the other party? Just look at this. OK, choice for Congress, Hispanic men. Republicans won them by eight points. Look, now, Democrats ahead by 20 points. So, yes, what we're seeing amongst Hispanic men and their views of President Trump very much diving towards the negative. Absolutely look like they're going to have a massive impact on the midterm elections. Hispanic men now favoring the Democrats by 20. That is, as I finish this out, a 28- point swing against the Republican Party.
If you're a Republican running for re-election, or a Republican running for Congress in these midterm elections, and you think you're going to escape the wrath that President Trump has now amongst Hispanic men, you are sorely, sorely mistaken. These are bonkers shifts and Democrats have to really like these numbers.
BERMAN: Texas, Arizona, California, where there's a lot of redistricting, but also places like Pennsylvania. This can matter in a lot of different states.
ENTEN: You got that right. A lot of states locked congressional races and Senate races as well, such as you mentioned, Texas.
BERMAN: All right. Thank you very much, Harry Enten.
ENTEN: Thank you, John.
BERMAN: Sara.
SIDNER: All right, gentlemen, tens of thousands of people left in the dark after Hurricane Lala rips through Hawaii, lashing it with heavy rain, strong winds and serious flooding. A look at the devastation left behind. And he's no longer mailing it in. Nope, not this postal worker. He's
now diving into the professional wrestling ring at 61. How did this happen?
Those stories and more ahead.
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[08:53:45]
BERMAN: A new safety system installed at dozens of airports nationwide is saving lives. It is meant to be the final buffer before a plane slams into something else. Something it's not supposed to.
CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean explains how it works.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From Virginia --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just had an alert three on the airfield, aircraft accident.
MUNTEAN (voice over): To California --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We literally like, whoo. And so we were all like, whoa.
MUNTEAN (voice over): An airport safety system is saving lives, called Engineered Materials Arresting System. EMAS is a bed of lightweight, crushable cement placed at the end of runways to stop an airplane that's about to careen off the end.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I like to think of it, it's like a runaway truck stop but for airplanes.
MUNTEAN (voice over): Here at its facility in New Jersey, the Federal Aviation Administration has been testing EMAS, which in the last year has stopped a record for planes from running into highways, hills, even homes.
MUNTEAN: This material is soft enough that a heavy airplane will sink into it, but dense enough that a person can stand on it. I can even jump on it. And that's key in an emergency.
MUNTEAN (voice over): The system is installed at 70 airports across the country, including Roanoke, Virginia, where last September, husband and wife Steve Harrison and Deborah Tatar's United Express flight skidded off the end of the runway.
[08:55:01]
The National Transportation Safety Board said the plane's approach was too high, and the first officer twice told the captain to abort the landing. STEVE HARRISON, PASSENGER: And I thought, you know, this better stop
pretty soon. And then I remembered seeing that device at the end of the runway and thinking, like, that's supposed to stop airplanes, and that's when we hit it.
MUNTEAN (voice over): The couple says the plane would have tumbled down an embankment were it not for EMAS.
DEBORAH TATAR, PASSENGER: There were probably other things that should have happened differently before we got to that point. All we know is that that was the last point.
HARRISON: And that's what saved us.
MUNTEAN (voice over): For Tatar, the incident carried a poignant reminder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Good evening. There was an air disaster today in Boston.
MUNTEAN (voice over): As a teen, a friend was killed when the flight she was on crashed into a seawall at Boston's Logan International Airport. The airport is about to begin installing more EMAS pads to prevent planes from skidding into Boston Harbor. The more than $100 million project could delay flights for two and a half months. Worth it says Tatar and Harrison, whose first grandson was born only weeks after their crash.
TATAR: We would not have seen him born.
HARRISON: Yes. Yes.
TATAR: There's a very good chance that we would not have survived.
HARRISON: Yes.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MUNTEAN (on camera): Boston's runway shut down for its EMAS installation begins in just about two weeks, on August 31st. And the airport says the potential for 75 days of flight delays is necessary for what it calls a critical safety upgrade.
John, I'm going to teach you a new piece of aviation vocabulary. We've talked a lot about runway incursions, when airplanes are in the wrong spot at the wrong time on the runway. This is called a runway excursion, meaning an airplane going off the end of the runway. And it's the most common type of accident involving large and small aircraft worldwide. This is a piece of EMAS. This is sort of like -- it's very light. It's kind of like Styrofoam mixed with concrete. And it is all predicated on something called resistive drag. So, when the airplane runs into this, it slows it down really fast and makes an accident from being a whole heck of a lot worse.
BERMAN: Light, but strong enough to withstand a jumping.
MUNTEAN: That's right.
BERMAN: Pete Muntean. All right, I'm going to go try to use excursion in a sentence.
MUNTEAN: Yes.
BERMAN: Pete Muntean, thank you very much for sharing your reporting on this.
Sara.
SIDNER: I love geeking out with Pete Muntean.
BERMAN: That's right.
SIDNER: It is so cool.
All right, thank you, John. Thank you, Pete.
All right, Tropical Storm Lala pulling away from Hawaii finally, but the cleanup just beginning. Thousands of customers remain without power after hurricane force winds battered parts of the islands. Officials say at least 100 homes were damaged or destroyed in some areas. Homes in some places were swept off their foundations. Tropical storm warnings have since been canceled now.
A construction crew in Belgium literally striking gold while on the job. This is wild. Eight construction workers were digging a sewer trench at a former brewery when a drill hit a bar of gold. The crew uncovered gold bars and coins worth an estimated nine million euros. That's about 10,500 -- or, sorry, 10.5 million U.S. dollars. Police have since secured the treasure while investigators work to determine where it came from and who actually gets this treasure.
And meet Jinny Lu, the six year old pug who was just crowned the world's ugliest dog. How dare you? She beat out seven other finalists to take home the top prize after being last year's runner up. Jinny Lu charmed the judges with her floppy tongue and her pearl necklace. Her fun fact, she screams at her own reflection in the mirror. So do I. Jinny Lu, I understand you.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: I mean, the pearl necklace just is what has -- just clearly is what brought it all the way (ph).
SIDNER: She's gorgeous.
BOLDUAN: They put their own dogs into this competition. So they, you know, it's ugly in the endearing way.
SIDNER: It's true.
BOLDUAN: Yes.
SIDNER: She's a winner all around. BOLDUAN: All over the place (ph).
This morning, CNN is kicking off a new series all about this year's Emmy nominees. And the first episode features actress Allison Janney, who is nominated for her role in "The Diplomat." And she sits down with CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister, and they dug into the twists and turns that made her career.
Here's a preview.
ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, guys.
I sat down with Allison Janney for a wide ranging conversation. And of course, Allison Janney really broke out on the television scene with "The West Wing." Well, now she is starring in another political drama where she plays the president of the United States. I spoke to her about how political dramas have changed over the years.
Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLISON JANNEY, ACTRESS, "THE DIPLOMAT": I love playing a female president. That sort of resonates with a lot of us right now. And just being in this -- in this -- these rooms, getting to play these incredibly smart, capable people. So, getting to play these badass women is just so much fun. And I think politics always is a great backdrop for a good drama.
[09:00:04]
WAGMEISTER: At the time of "The West Wing," could you have seen a female president being written into a show?
