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Supreme Court Backs, for Now, Trump's Order to Curb Mail Ballots; Trump-Backed Sen. Darline Graham Faces Rep. Ralph Norman in South Carolina Runoff; Interview with Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME): Trump Warns Canada to Fall in Line or Face Far Worse Consequences; Trial Resumes for Lindsay Clancy Accused of Murdering Her 3 Children, Rare Charges Filed Against U.S. Airman Who Criticized Trump. Aired 9- 9:30a ET

Aired August 25, 2026 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, the Supreme Court gives President Trump a procedural but significant win in his battle against mail-in voting. What does it mean for the midterm elections just 70 days away?

And the President taking a new jab this morning at Canada. As the trade war between the two countries deepens, he's now suggesting the U.S. might rename Lake Ontario, Lake America.

Plus, I sit down with breakout star Tal Anderson from HBO's The Pitt about her Emmy nomination and being neurodivergent in Hollywood.

I'm Sara Sidner with John Berman and Kate Bolduan. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Supreme Court ruling now throwing fresh confusion into the midterms with little more than two months to go to Election Day. The high court is now allowing President Trump's push to restrict mail-in voting to move forward. The President wants to use the post office to control who does and does not get mail ballots.

The court essentially said that the states don't have standing to block it right now. What the justices did not weigh in on, though, is whether Trump's move here is even legal, which means this fight is not yet over. In the dissent on this, written by Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson, they warn that the ruling, quote, needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections.

But we will see. The White House calls it a major win for the security of American elections. CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House for us to start us off.

A victory for now for the for the president. What are you hearing about it today?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, look, clearly the White House is framing this as a win, and it is a win. But as you mentioned, Kate, it's a procedural win, and it could be temporary. I think the fighting over this is really just getting started, and there's likely to be more court battles ahead on what's going to happen.

But to break down exactly what the President is trying to do here, he signed an executive order back in March that essentially says that he wants the post office to control who and who does not get these mail- in ballots. Now, essentially, this order issued by the president back in the spring told DHS that they were to come up with a list of eligible voters in each state and then told the Postal Service that you can only send mail-in ballots to those people and only get ballots back from those people from these eligible lists. A group of 23 Democratic states, plus Washington, D.C., challenged that executive order. They essentially said that it was unconstitutional and argued it's up to the states under the Constitution to determine how elections are conducted.

However, the Supreme Court came in and said it's a little bit too early to actually make that legal argument, that it's not clear yet how this would actually work. So it's hard to say whether or not it's legal or unconstitutional.

And so this is a temporary thing, again, that we're likely to see a legal battle in the future ensue to actually determine it. Of course, timing is a big issue here. You laid out how some of the Democratic -- the people who -- the justices on the bench who were appointed by Democratic presidents in the past, how they're arguing this throws a lot of chaos into the midterm elections.

The November elections are just 70 days away now. And this could upend how people understand whether or not they're able to get mail-in ballots or not. So there's confusion around that.

Now, I do think it's unlikely -- you speak to legal experts -- that this is actually going to be upheld in time for the midterm elections, that all of this is going to be implemented. But even if it's not, of course, it could be implemented for 2028. So the stakes remain very high for this.

And I would just add, Kate, that this is a fight that the President has wanted to really launch going all the way back to his first term. He has repeatedly argued that mail-in ballots are rife with fraud, something that, of course, many other experts have argued is just not the case. And this was one way that he's trying to exert that pressure on different states to change the way some of these elections are conducted, specifically when it comes to mail-in voting.

So keep all of that in mind. One more thing I would just add is, there was an election last week, a primary elections, in Florida. The president did vote by mail in that election.

Just something to remind some of our viewers, that many people vote by mail, and that is how they are able to vote in these elections. So a lot of questions about what's actually going to happen and whether or not any of this will actually be in effect when we look ahead to the November elections. BOLDUAN: Yes, many people vote by mail, including the president of the United States. Thank you so much, Alayna -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, speaking of voting, right now the polls are open in South Carolina. The special Senate primary runoff between two Republicans is now underway. Congressman Ralph Norman and Senator Darline Graham.

[09:05:00]

Graham is the sister of late Senator Lindsey Graham and is hoping to lock in her spot as a Republican nominee after being appointed interim Senator six weeks ago following her brother's death. Now, someone hoping to get her to finish line?

President Trump. He has been standing by his endorsement of Graham despite questions being raised about Graham's lack of experience. CNN's Dianne Gallagher is live outside of a polling center in Lexington County, South Carolina for us.

Give us some sense of what you're seeing because you've got to wonder. There's been a lot of voters asked to come out to vote more than once lately. Are you seeing a lot of people or is there seem to be a little bit of fatigue?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sara, this is my fourth time this summer covering an election or a runoff in South Carolina. So, yes, voters have been asked to come out many times to cast their ballots. And it does sound cliche, but in a runoff election, it is going to come down to turnout.

We've seen a, I would say, light but steady flow of voters coming in. You see two of them right there here. There's actually four precincts at this polling place.

So we're probably seeing more than the average place here in South Carolina right now. Now, Republicans are going to be choosing between Senator Darline Graham and Congressman Ralph Norman. The winner tonight will face off against Democrat Annie Andrews.

And the big question for so many people is with the full support of President Trump behind her, will it be enough to get Darline Graham across the finish line? And there have been concerns you mentioned about experience or lack thereof from the pundit class, from political people here in South Carolina, but also from voters, especially after that shaky debate she had just one week ago today. We talked to voters today who say that that did factor into their selection at the ballot box this morning.

And we also asked them if President Trump's endorsement, that full- throated endorsement of Darline Graham, all the effort he's put behind them, matter. Here's what one voter who supports the president told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER: What did you consider Darline Graham because, at all, because of Trump's endorsement?

PAULA WILSON, SOUTH CAROLINA VOTER: No. I'm not a just-because-he- says-so person. I did my research. Ralph Norman is a, you know, he's a fiscal conservative, he's done a lot for South Carolina.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GALLAGHER (on camera): So the president, of course, putting it all behind Darline Graham here. We're talking about an in-person rally in Myrtle Beach, two tele-rallies, and his super PAC, MAGA, Inc., made a rare drop of about $830,000 to support her with get-out-the-vote efforts in these final days here. Ralph Norman has had very healthy attendance at his events across the state, though, as well.

Again, we are going to see that this evening here. Many, though, say that what happens here in South Carolina, if Darline Graham is able to pull off a win, will be a reflection on President Trump himself and whether or not he maintains this record of being able to pick candidates in these Republican primaries that has struggled recently, especially here in the South.

SIDNER: Yep, Dianne Gallagher, I know you're watching it all. Thank you so much. This morning, outside of a polling place there in South Carolina -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, breaking this morning. President Trump claims the U.S. is considering renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America as the trade war between the United States and Canada heats up. The Canadian Prime Minister, Mark Carney, says that Canada is willing to return to trade talks if the U.S. comes to the table with, quote, the right attitude.

With us now is Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, a Democrat from Maine. And, of course, Maine shares a long border with Canada, although not your district specifically there.

The U.S. trade rep says there's no possible way that this trade battle with Canada can really affect U.S. well-being. Is he right?

REP. CHELLIE PINGREE (D-ME), APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: No, of course, it's going to have a huge impact on us, and it already has. As one of the border states, we've seen a big drop in the number of people crossing the border. People come here as tourists.

They come to shop. And we have a lot of cross-border industries. So this new move towards a 50 percent tariff on multiple goods, that could impact our potato, blueberry, lobster, lumber industries, all of which are very vulnerable because we have such integrated economies.

But I think the underlying concern that the president doesn't understand, and, of course, his announcement about Lake Ontario today, which is, excuse me, it's just utter baloney, is just unthinkable because people in Canada are mad. They're mad that J.D. Vance was in our state yesterday and called Canada a state, that the president refers to the prime minister as a governor, that we just continually insult this sovereign nation.

[09:10:00]

And if you dig into what went wrong in those negotiations, you can see at the very end the United States was trying to break into the sovereignty of Canada and insult this sovereign nation. And if anybody tried to do that to us, we would be beside ourselves.

BERMAN: You mentioned the vice president was in Maine yesterday. A lot of focus on Maine of late, I have to say. He was asked about the individual, Johan Sebastian Guerrero, who was killed by ICE officers in Biddeford, I think it was, right?

This is what the vice president said in response.

PINGREE: Yes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Now, in that particular case, I don't want to comment on it, I don't want to prejudge all of the details. But look, when you have a law enforcement action, when you have somebody who is committing a crime in the United States of America, and you go and arrest that person, now, I believe the person who was shot was not part of the underlying investigation. But when the officers approached the person, they were trying to arrest, that person, like, drove away from the scene. And what at least the law enforcement officers argue is that that person posed a danger to the community.

And so my message to the Democrats who are so worried about that situation is to say, have a little bit of perspective.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: What do you think of that response?

PINGREE: It was so dismissive and, you know, rude and just, you know, lacked complete compassion. I mean, this has been, so far, you know, a very well documented case of, you know, not the targeted individual being the one who was shot, an officer who appears to be improperly vetted and untrained for the job, a 23-year-old man who was on his way to work, who had, you know, to go to work, who was a valid asylum claim, who was then shot through the windshield, then witnessed by his wife and three-year-old daughter.

And for the vice president to just sort of walk into our state and act as if this was just normal law enforcement, these things are going to happen in the course of the day. I think everyone knows this is an overfunded agency, ICE, operating lawlessly. And people in my state are so angry about this.

They're angry because these are their neighbors, their co-workers, their friends. They're showing up to protests. We had a shadow hearing with my Democratic colleagues last week, and we had a packed house because people want answers. Now, the way he describes this crime is basically his own interpretation of it. But if they had actually turned on their body cameras, as we were promised that they would wear body cameras and have them operating, we would have a lot more visibility into what actually happened.

BERMAN: I want to ask you a little bit about Democratic Party politics here, because House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has confirmed that he met with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law. It was a meeting that Hakeem Jeffries says that Kushner asked for, and he took the meeting. Jeffries says that everyone will be held accountable, no one will get a free pass.

But there are Democrats who've criticized this meeting. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Don't meet with him. Don't have anything to do with him. Say, any business we have is going to be conducted with you under oath.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So how do you feel about the fact that Leader Jeffries met with Jared Kushner?

PINGREE: Well, I think what you just heard is reflective of how a lot of Democrats feel. They are so angry at this president and their lawless activities. And frankly, at the way the Republicans have shown absolutely no spine at fighting back on anything from the war in Iran, which they don't agree with, the dismantling of the Department of Education, the rising costs.

I mean, one thing after another. Ask the farmers in my state. They are mad at the USDA for completely disassembling, you know, the appropriate funding that they should get.

So I understand the churn and the turmoil with Representative Jeffries right now. But I also hear people saying to us, well, what are you going to do when you're in power? And how are you going to move forward on those things that people care about?

So it is a very difficult balance. I'm not surprised that people are angry. They are just saying, are you going to fight back? And one of the things that so many of our Democratic constituents feel is like Democrats haven't fought hard enough and they're worried that doesn't look like a fight.

BERMAN: Would you have taken the meeting?

PINGREE: I don't think Jared Kushner would have called me up. But I mean, I do -- you know, I chair -- I'm the ranking member on a subcommittee. So, you know, if I need to meet with somebody from the administration who can help me with the EPA or the arts agencies or anything where we can make the tiniest bit of progress, I will do that. But I understand. You got to make it clear you're not going to concede to anything these people want.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Chellie Pingree, Maine a wonderful place. I think everyone would want to meet with you. Thanks so much for being with us this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: A decorated U.S. airman now faces rare military charges over his comments about President Trump. We're going to bring you an update on this.

[09:15:00]

And right now, NASA astronauts are conducting a spacewalk on the International Space Station.

And video shows what appears to be a San Francisco transit train operator falling asleep moments before a crash that occurred last month. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: All right happening now, court is resuming in the murder trial of Lindsay Clancy, the mother who killed her three children.

[09:20:00]

Today, a forensic psychologist is going back on the stand after a dramatic end to testimony yesterday that led to the defense asking for a mistrial. The judge denied that motion.

Let's get right to CNN's Jean Casarez outside the court in Plymouth, Massachusetts. What do we expect to see today, Jean?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, this continues to be the criminal responsibility part of this trial. Did Lindsay Clancy know right from wrong? Could she comprehend the criminality of her acts?

The defense says no, she did not, because she was in psychosis. She was, frankly, psychotic at the time. It was because of all the prescription medications she had been on.

Now, at the time, she was on four medications. They were low doses. But they say putting that all together created these command hallucinations.

But the prosecution, through their expert yesterday, Kirk Heilbrun, he spoke about that the way to look -- one way to look at this is on that day, it was a normal day, the whole day. Patrick said it was one of the best days she's ever had. And then he said for 18 minutes, there was that commanding voice.

But Patrick came back to the house with the takeout very shortly after that and asked her what happened. And she said, I tried to kill myself. He says that's a strange reaction. Normally, you would say, well, I was told to do this. A voice commanded me. He also said that because of her love for her children, there is one way to think about this.

She wanted to commit suicide so bad she wanted to take her life, and she didn't want her children to be without their mother. It was kindness. Listen to another analogy he gives.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. KIRK HEILBRUN, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: If one of us were to learn and we had no doubt in our mind that the Holocaust was coming tomorrow, and we thought that was going to be awful and I can't -- I can't live through that and so I'm going to take my own life. If I had children, the question might come up. Do I take them with me?

Do I take their lives as well? Now, I'm not saying that I would definitely do that, but what I'm saying is that it would come up as a possibility.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CASAREZ: Psychologist Kirk Heilbrun, who you just heard right there, he will return to the stand on direct examination. Then there will be cross examination from the defense. There is one more expert we understand from the prosecution.

And Kevin Reddington, the defense attorney, told me yesterday coming out of court, he definitely expects closing arguments to be tomorrow morning.

BERMAN: Tomorrow morning. All right, Jean Casarez, you are standing by there for all the developments. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, John. An Air Force officer is facing rare criminal charges this morning after publicly while in uniform calling for President Trump's impeachment.

Major Jason Watson is basically in solitary confinement. His attorney told our Erin Burnett the 40 year old father is charged under the uniform code of military justice with violations for contempt, disobeying orders and conduct unbecoming of an officer. He could face years in jail.

CNN's Brian Todd has more on the case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: These are new criminal military charges for anti-Trump active duty Air Force Major Jason Watson, according to a charging document that his attorney shared with CNN. He is charged with three violations of Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. That is for alleged contemptuous remarks about President Trump.

He's also been charged with five violations of Article 92 for allegedly disobeying orders. And he's charged with two violations of Article 133, alleged conduct unbecoming an officer. Article 88 violations are extremely rare.

And those charges for Major Watson are connected to his June interview for the Defenders of Our Republic Substack Newsletter, also for his July 1st protest in uniform at the steps of the U.S. Capitol -- excuse me -- and for his August 17th interview with CNN's Erin Burnett.

Now under Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a commissioned officer who uses, quote, contemptuous words against the president, vice president, Congress or other named officials can be punished by court martial. Watson was first arrested in July at that protest while protesting in uniform on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, including holding a sign that read, quote, impeach, convict and remove, in reference to President Trump. He was then arrested again last week, just days after criticizing President Trump again during Erin Burnett's CNN interview with Watson. He was placed in confinement both times when he was arrested.

Now an Air Force spokesperson previously told CNN quote, "Major Watson's personal statements do not reflect the views or policies of the Department of the Air Force," end quote.

[09:25:00]

Public dissent within active duty military ranks is very rare because service members are required to follow orders in accordance with that Uniform Code of Military Justice, which criminalizes contemptuous words against the president, vice president and others. Now, in that way, service members really don't have the same freedom and latitude as civilians to criticize elected leaders.

Also, defense department rules restrict troops in uniform from partisan political activity. Now, military courts martial for contempt of officials are indeed very rare. CNN identified only two such convictions since the uniform code of military justice was enacted in 1951. In 1965, an army lieutenant was convicted after participating in an off-base protest against the Vietnam War.

And in 2021, a former Marine lieutenant colonel pleaded guilty to contempt of officials. That was linked to a series of social media posts criticizing the Biden administration's withdrawal from Afghanistan.

Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Brian, thank you so much for your reporting.

President Trump is threatening now to rename Lake Ontario as his trade war with Canada shows no signs of letting up.

Plus, extreme heat is fueling massive wildfires in North and Central Texas. 50,000 acres have burned, doubling in size in just hours this morning. Be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)