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J.D. Vance Hosts First White House Briefing in 40 Plus Days; Vance on When Iran War Might End: I Wouldn't Call it a War; Court Official: Lindsay Clancy Jury has Sent a Note. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired September 03, 2026 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's why I wore a pink tie today. I knew you would see it. Anyway, nine justices.

We all know, growing up since grammar school, there are nine justices on the U.S. Supreme Court. How long does it stay that way based on what happened yesterday in the House?

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: What do you mean?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, you know, going forward, how confident are you it will remain at nine?

VANCE: Well, look, our commitment in the Trump administration is that we would like to have nine Supreme Court justices. That's the way that it's been for a long time, and we think that's the way that it should stay. We also know that Democrats have explicitly promised that they will pack the United States Supreme Court if they're given additional power.

And, again, this is why I think that the choice in this election is not between this set of policies that are good and this set of policies that are not so good. The choice in the election really is between crazy people who are trying to rig the game and common-sense people who you may have disagreements with from time to time, but at least they're rooted in common sense. The Democrats are saying, they're actively bragging, that they don't like the rules of the game, meaning Americans vote for House members, Americans vote for senators, and then we all try to make the best government and the best rules and the best legislation in the interest of the American people.

They're saying that they think that the rules don't allow them to run roughshod over the American Constitution, so they want to change the rules. They want to add additional states so that there can be more Democratic senators. Note that they're not proposing to add territories that are heavily Republican.

They just want to add the territories that are heavily Democratic. They also, of course, want to pack the Supreme Court. So how long will it last?

I think, frankly, so long as Republicans are in power, we're going to have a Supreme Court that is good and honest and fair to the Constitution. What's up, ma'am? Yes, you right here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. You mentioned something very interesting earlier. You said you wanted to -- the president was focused on creating a nation of builders.

The ISM manufacturing PMI showed that manufacturing activity in the U.S. expanded for eight consecutive months. When you hit the trail, particularly in the Rust Belt, have you noticed the trickle-down effect of the tax cuts and the trade policy of the president having a positive effect on U.S. manufacturing? And does that make ideas like the Foundry School, which you were talking about at the Institute of Peace, that much more important?

VANCE: Yes, so let me just take -- I'm going to take a couple more questions here, but I appreciate you asking that. So what I think President Trump will be remembered by, rightfully so, is for a renaissance in American building and American manufacturing, that he is the president who said 40 years of bipartisan policy where we ship American jobs, we ship American industry, we ship American pharmaceuticals, we ship everything overseas and hope that it's all going to work out for the American people, he said enough. This is a terrible idea, and it happened because we were being taken advantage of, both by corporations that were shipping American industry overseas, but also by other nations that were getting rich by pursuing policies that the United States leadership was too unwise to pursue themselves. So you're right.

The manufacturing index is at the highest level that it's been. By the way, after many left-of-center economists and many Democratic politicians predicted that the manufacturing index would fall to historic lows, it is now at historic highs. The tax cuts have been a major part of this, one of the most important data points in the economy.

And again, this takes a little bit of time to bear fruit, is that you're seeing businesses buy capital equipment, buying the big machinery, buying the things that allow them to hire people and build more stuff. They're buying that stuff at a record level, and that's because of the working families tax cuts, because we invested in people who are building and making right here in the United States of America. When those pieces of equipment get online, and then you've got to hire the workers who actually run those pieces of equipment, what does it mean?

It means more products and lower prices for American consumers. It also means good, middle-class manufacturing jobs for American workers. But it's not, if I'm being honest, it's not just the carrot, it's also been the stick.

I do not think that you could have the beginning of a manufacturing renaissance were it not for President Trump's willingness to penalize corporations and foreign countries that take advantage of the American worker. So it's been both. It's been the tax cuts that induce people to invest in our country, and it's been his willingness, and sometimes him following up with action to say that if you're going to shut down an American factory and put an American worker out of a job, then we are going to charge you a big, fat tariff on anything you try to send back into the United States of America.

That's done as much as anything to protect American jobs and protect American workers. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you very much, Mr. Vice President. I want to ask you about the announcement made by Secretary Bessent back on August the 24th, the Economic Outcast Operation. Since that time, besides the UAE, has any other country joined in isolating Iran in that way?

[14:35:00]

And secondly, how can that operation be successful if you don't have China coming on board and isolating Iran?

VANCE: Well, first of all, you do have, I think, the Chinese, the PRC, being willing to play ball here. And we all know this, and I think it's an open secret for anybody who understands the People's Republic of China. Say what you will about them.

And, of course, we have some policy disagreements. The President has a very good relationship with President Xi, but obviously we have some misalignment of interests, some issues where the President has to pursue our interests at the expense of everybody else. Say what you will about them.

They are not the sort of nation that shoots at commercial shipping because they're not getting their way in an international dispute. They are, in that way, I think, willing to be a little bit more responsible. Again, I'm not saying they're doing everything that we've asked them to do, but I think that the PRC has been much more responsible, certainly than the Iranians, and much more responsible than a couple of other nations as well.

But it's not just the PRC. If you look at Turkey, if you look at Azerbaijan, if you look at UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, a lot of the Gulf Arab coalition, but if you look all across the world, we're actually seeing a lot of countries, sometimes they're not willing to say so publicly, but privately they're doing a lot of good things to help us ensure that the Iranians pay a penalty for firing at commercial shipping. Now, I have to remind you, it's not just that they're paying a penalty when they fire at commercial shipping, it's also denying them the economic resources to rebuild their nuclear program if they try to do so.

Now, so far, we haven't seen them try to do so, but part of what we're doing here is having destroyed their nuclear enrichment capacity, we're trying to ensure they don't rebuild it even if they try to do so in the future. And that's why this matters. We're protecting commercial shipping, we're protecting world energy markets, but it's all in the service, all in the service of ensuring that Iran does not become a nuclear weapons power.

Let me ask a final question of Mary Margaret Olihan.

MARY MARGARET OLOHAN, SENIOR REPORTER, THE DAILY WIRE: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. I have two questions for you, if that's OK.

VANCE: Go ahead.

OLOHAN: On the first one, were you or the President involved in the Milo Yiannopoulos, and when did you learn about that activity? And then on the second one, could you give us your elevator pitch for why Americans should choose Republicans over Democrats in the midterm elections?

VANCE: Yes, so on Milo, I won't speak for the President, but I found out, I think like so many others found out, if you can imagine, we are, because the last administration brought in so many illegal aliens, I don't keep track of every single person that DHS deports. So I found out about it publicly. I'm not sure if the President knew about it beforehand, but I'm sure we can follow up with the President and get you an answer to that question.

It's interesting. I didn't expect to be asked that. That's one thing I did not talk to him about before I came out here for the briefing.

And then, look, my elevator pitch is actually, it's very simple. Do you want to live in a country that has safety and security and prosperity? If the answer is yes, and I think most Americans do, then vote for congressional Republicans over congressional Democrats.

On every single issue, the Democrats have taken the side of fraudsters, of criminals, and of far-left interest groups over the side of the American people. Let me choose just a few issues, OK? So on fraud, we are trying to take money out of the hands of fraudsters so that people who rely on Medicaid or people who rely on food stamp benefits, they're able to get what they need because we've ensured that Americans' people's tax dollars actually go where it's supposed to go rather than fraudsters.

Democrats have fought for the fraudsters, and Republicans have fought for the people who deserve these benefits and the American taxpayers who are paying those benefits. If you look at oil and gas policy, Democrats for a generation have gone to war against energy. We've tried to make it easier to build additional energy capacity, and we've done that for the past 18 months.

If you look at crime, we have had, I think, the most successful anti- crime policy maybe in the history of -- I can't think of a single 18- month period where you've seen violent crime drop so significantly thanks to the work of a single administration. And at every step of the way, the Democrats have fought us to open prisons. They've fought us to prevent us from putting people, violent criminals, behind bars.

They've fought us on basic things like funding and supporting law enforcement. They've fought us on giving tax breaks to our police officers. So on every issue where we've been successful in promoting law and order, the Democrats have been for the criminals, and we've been for the American people.

And finally, just one other very, very important issue, and that's building in the United States of America. This guy, Abdul El-Sayed, he says that he stands for working people. Well, if you stand for working people, then why have you supported the same policies that for 40 years shipped the Michigan auto industry to foreign nations?

[14:40:00]

We are the people who have been fighting for the jobs of Michigan auto workers. We've been the people willing to stand up, both to the big corporations but the big foreign competitors, and say, you are not allowed to steal American industry anymore.

So on all these issues, Democrats stand for somebody else. The Republicans stand for you. My argument to the American people is not that you're going to agree with us on every issue, but they're a bunch of crazy people.

Elect the common-sense people to Washington, and we'll keep on doing great work. Thank you all. Good to see everybody.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: We've been listening to Vice President J.D. Vance there from the podium at the White House, laying out some midterm messaging, trying to explain why he would not call the war with Iran a war, why Republicans should not be blamed for high prices, why the administration's predictions about $3 gas returning by Labor Day turned out to be inaccurate, why he has confidence in Pete Hegseth as defense secretary, even as he faces intense pressure over turnover in the Army at the Pentagon, and also why he believes Americans should be bullish on data centers. I want to go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who was in the room and had some important questions, but we're going to wait for just a moment before we get to her and bring in some of our friends on set.

CNN military analyst Colonel Cedric Leighton is here, also trade and economic policy reporter for The Wall Street Journal, Gavin Bade. Gavin, I want to go to you first. The vice president was asked why Republicans should not be blamed for high prices.

He said, I don't care who's to blame for it, then said it was created by the bad policies of the Biden administration. He said when prices get baked in, it takes a little time to undo the damage. The counter argument would be that this is an administration that enacted inflationary tariffs and then began this war that has raised energy prices and therefore the price of everything.

GAVIN BADE, TRADE AND ECONOMIC POLICY REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: Yes, absolutely. I think that is the counter argument. Everyone remembers the Biden years and how prices inflation was very high coming out of the COVID pandemic, right. But as you said, this administration is doing a number of things that are pushing those price levels higher.

Number one is the war. One of Trump's signature policies. I mean, if you drive a diesel vehicle right now, you know that the price of everything from shipping on trucks to diesel for combines and farm equipment to personal vehicles is rippling through the economy right now. The other thing is Trump's other signature policy, which is tariffs.

And I was surprised we didn't get a question about the looming trade war with Canada right now. But that's our second largest trading partner. And I think that, you know, those things are pushing up inflation and they're making it much more difficult for the Fed to cut rates, which is something that the vice president said that he wanted to see.

Well, their policies are actively counteracting that.

SANCHEZ: Let's go ahead and go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins, who's at the White House. And Kaitlan, you asked some very important questions of the vice president, namely the fact that there was a fallen U.S. service member whose family has been struggling to get benefits. And he had a message for that service member's widow.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and Boris, actually, the center of why that service member's widow. This is a service member, an airman who was killed when that plane went down over western Iraq.

If you'll remember during this war in this first initial few months when it when it happened, that plane went down and she has said recently, this widow, that she is having trouble getting access to all of the benefits that typically the family of a fallen service member would be entitled to and would deserve because the war is not officially declared a war by Congress. And actually, interestingly enough, when I was speaking with the Vice President in my questions, he himself said that he does not view this as a war. When we were asking about the timeline of this, given initially the administration has said it was going to last about four to six weeks.

We are now six months into this war that has gone on. And I want you to listen to what the Vice President said to me in terms of how long Americans should expect this war to go on for.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS: Secondly, in terms of the war and the timeline, given this administration has put timelines out there before, what you just said about no negotiations happening with Iran, will this war be over by the time of the midterm elections?

VANCE: Well, Kaitlan, again, I don't, I wouldn't call it a war. Right now there is no active shooting. I recognize there have been places where this has flared up.

Major combat operations, again, major combat operations lasted for about six weeks. And since then, we destroyed, of course, their nuclear facilities with midnight hammer. With Epic Fury, we destroyed their defense industrial base for producing weapons and also a lot of their conventional military.

And then we made it harder for them to rebuild that nuclear program. But when you ask, when will this end? You're asking me a question like, when will the Iranians stop shooting at ships? I think the reality is I don't know the answer to that question. You would have to ask the Iranians. When will the Iranians shooting at ships stop having an effect on world energy markets?

And the answer is it has less effect day by day. So what we're going to do is not depend on the Iranians behaving responsibly or negotiating in good faith.

[14:45:00]

What we're going to do is use the tools that we have at our disposal to ensure that the American people, one, never have to deal with the threat of an Iranian nuclear program, and two, that world energy markets are properly supplied.

COLLINS: But so it's up to the Iranians when this war ends?

VANCE: Well, if the Iranians keep on -- but Kaitlan, if the Iranian keep on shooting at commercial ships, again, we have, I think, a responsibility, but certainly we're the only ones with the capability to ensure that the Iranians are not destroying world energy markets. And our attitude is we're not going to set an artificial timeline because let's just say, hypothetically, let's say I told you three months. Let's say I told you three days, OK?

And then the Iranians start blowing up oil and gas ships, and the United States is the only country with the capability to ensure that those oil and gas ships get to market, well, what I would say is it would be irresponsible for us to write out our strategy and our timeline for an Iranian nation that simply cannot honor its commitments and cannot stop shooting at commercial ships.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COLLINS (on camera): So, Boris, the vice president there not saying when this war is going to end and putting a lot of this on the Iranians and the actions they've taken. Of course, the president has described a decimated Iranian military, though clearly, they are still able to affect shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, and it's part of why this war is still going on. Even though the Vice President himself did not call it a war, did not say what he would describe it as instead, even as we've seen the fighting resume just this week alone with the United States firing on Iran and Iran trying to go after allies in the Middle East, Jordan, Kuwait both having to intercept missiles just in the last 48 to 72 hours alone.

But back to the initial question that I had asked him, which is about this widow who says that her family is not getting all the benefits that they should be getting because it is not officially declared a war. I asked the Vice President if he and the President can personally ensure that the family of that fallen airman gets all of the benefits that they deserve, given he died serving this country. And the Vice President said that his heart breaks for her family and that they will try to work to make sure that they get all the benefits that they are entitled to, given, of course, the devastating incident that has happened to them. And I should note she also has three small children that she is left

to raise without her husband now.

SANCHEZ: Important to point out, even though the Vice President doesn't see it as a war, and he said that major combat operations ended six weeks after the war began in late March, U.S. service members have been facing attacks ever since, including four that were killed just a few weeks ago. Kaitlan Collins of the White House, thank you so much for that.

Let's actually go to Colonel Cedric Leighton. I want to get your reaction to what the vice president said, not only about this sort of semantic argument about whether this is a war or not, but also his argument that now the Strait of Hormuz is effectively open, that the U.S. was able to last night get some 15 million gallons or barrels, I can't remember which --

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Barrels.

SANCHEZ: 15 million barrels of oil through. Is that true?

LEIGHTON: Well, according to both CENTCOM and the vice president, it is true. So there have been other reports indicating that they were able to get ships through this area. And that's significant.

There were about 40 ships, they say, which mathematically that works out to about 15 million barrels. So that could be about right, depending on the capacity of the ship. The problem that you have with this assessment, Boris, is that, yes, that's true.

Let's take for granted that it's true right now. The problem that you have is this is only a partial win because what you're having here is about one third of the volume that went through before the war started. And that, of course, is a significant difference.

You know, clearly there is some that's getting through, so the Iranian effort is not airtight. That is true. We also have the U.S. blockade against the Iranian ports that is apparently being fairly effective in the last few days. They talked about 83 ships that had been diverted from those Iranian ports. So that also means that the U.S. Navy is definitely not only paying attention but being fairly effective in limiting commerce through that area. But the problem really is, you know, from the perspective of the Strait of Hormuz and the Arab Gulf states, is the volume is not going to be sufficient enough to sustain economies like those of countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the UAE even, although the UAE has a bit of an out, you know, through the port of Fujairah.

There are some significant issues there. And as far as the issue about this being a war or not, well when you're in the middle of combat operations, you feel that it is a war. And I think, you know, the way we are talking about it and the way the Iranians are talking about it indicates it is a war.

SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, Gavin Bade, appreciate the analysis. Thank you both. Still plenty more news to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

After days of deadlock, can jurors in the Lindsay Clancy trial reach a unanimous verdict? We'll take you live to the courthouse and watch for any clues about how deliberations are going. They're now past 33 hours.

Stay with us.

[14:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Breaking news to CNN. We have a note from the jury in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. Remember, jurors have been deliberating for about 35 hours and have told the judge twice now about being unable to reach a unanimous verdict.

Clancy, of course, is accused of murdering her three children by strangulation. The defense argues that she should not be held criminally responsible because she was suffering from postpartum psychosis.

[14:55:00]

CNN's Jean Casarez is outside the courthouse for us. So Jean, what did they say?

JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we don't know yet, and I think court will convene at any moment, so we will find out. But two court officers did confirm with CNN that this is, in fact, a note. And we have seen that the elected district attorney of Plymouth County, Massachusetts, has entered that courtroom, along with the two assistant district attorneys that tried this case.

Keith Reddington, the defense attorney, is in the courtroom. He is looking at his phone, not seated yet at the defense table. But it appears as though there is movement.

We just have to find out exactly what that note has to say. And as you can see, we can see the court seal. That means that something is close.

The judge has to take the bench, however, and normally what he always does is calls a sidebar so the attorneys can become the first to know exactly what any communication from this jury actually is.

SANCHEZ: And, Jean, if you could bring us back up to speed in terms of the other notes that we received from the jury, because they had previously told this judge twice that they could not come to a consensus, and so he gave them this Tuey-Rodriguez charge. Walk us through what that entails.

CASAREZ: Exactly, and we want to tell everyone that Lindsay Clancy's family is also in that courtroom. Father Bob is in that courtroom. This is who we heard from the defense during the trial that he would visit Lindsay during the court day.

He also baptized Callan Clancy, the youngest child. But this is really the fourth communication that we've gotten from the jury, Boris, because, number one, they asked for the pill bottles and the knife, so that was a request. And then, just as you said, there was a note saying that we have come to a point where we cannot be unanimous in this case, and that was two days ago yesterday.

Close to this time was a second note saying virtually the same thing. That is when the judge read the instruction, the official instruction in Massachusetts, word for word to that jury that they must continue deliberating. It's called the Tuey-Rodriguez instruction.

You can also call it the "dynamite instruction," so that they just get a little, uh, to go back in there and keep trying. Obviously, they have another communication now. All parties are getting set in order.

It's a packed courtroom. The line of the public to get in that courtroom was very long. The line to the media was very long, media very quiet.

The public, according to our producer, was very chatty. But now everyone has entered that courtroom, so it's just a matter of the judge taking the bench, and we should see momentarily what that communication is. And we do know now the defendant is in the courtroom.

We just see the seal, but our producer is telling us Lindsay Clancy has been brought into that courtroom. She is wheeled in by a court officer every time -- her nurses are with her. They are normally in the first row of that courtroom.

And now Keith Reddington, defense attorney, is sitting next to her, as he always does, at the defense table, Boris.

SANCHEZ: All right, Jean, keep us posted on what you see and hear coming from the courtroom.

Let's get some perspective with attorney and legal affairs commentator Areva Martin. Areva, just based on the previous notes that this jury has sent and public sentiment surrounding this case, how polarizing it is, would you be surprised if we saw this jury come back and say, we've argued for 33, 34 hours.

We cannot come to a consensus. We don't have a verdict.

AREVA MARTIN, ATTORNEY AND LEGAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: No, I wouldn't be surprised at all, Boris. I suspect that that's what we are going to hear. I can't imagine what has changed over the last four or five hours as it relates to this jury.

I just think they are deadlocked in terms of their ability to come to a unanimous agreement. This is a very complicated case, 300 exhibits, 80 plus witnesses put on in this case, and a very difficult decision about criminal responsibility. Again, we're not arguing about whether she did it. Did she kill her three kids? The argument is about that psychosis, that postpartum psychosis that her teen claims caused her to hallucinate, to hear voices that someone told her to go and kill her kids, that that should absolve her from criminal responsibility for her actions. So would not be surprised if this is not going to end in a mistrial after 35 hours of deliberation.

SANCHEZ: Let's bring another voice into the conversation. We're joined now by criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor Mark O'Mara. Mark, thanks for being with us.

I wonder if there is much more that can be done. If the jury, after 30 plus hours now, has not reached a unanimous verdict, even after, as the judge put it yesterday, going after so much evidence, hearing from so many witnesses, it sounds like he can't send them back in to deliberate more, can he?

END