Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Trump Administration Makes New Push to Restrict Mail-In Voting; Republicans to Hold Midterm Convention in Dallas this Week; Russia, Ukraine Exchange Strikes After Peace Talks with U.S. Envoys; Labor Day Puts Child Water Safety in Focus. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired September 07, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They're saying that there's simply not even time to implement some of these changes. And in this filing that came over the weekend, the Justice Department pointed to timing as well but framing it a little bit differently. They said this in part, "Once those ballot envelopes enter the mail stream, there is no retrieving them," adding, "And while the injunction allows the Postal Service and the states to continue taking steps to ensure that their envelopes satisfy the rules requirements, each day the injunction is in place risks sowing confusion and chaos because the injunction makes those preparatory steps voluntary rather than mandatory." And as you pointed out, North Carolina has already started this process. Alabama is expected to start sending out mail ballots in the coming days.

And then there are five other states that are going to be starting that process within a week as well. So time is of the essence here. The Trump administration claims that this move would help secure ballots and that it would make sure that only those eligible receive them.

But lots of pushback. Twenty-three Democratic-led states and voting groups are saying that this is simply a power grab from the president, who has falsely alleged widespread voter fraud related to mail-in voting, also noting Trump does frequently vote by mail himself. Now, he did spend his weekend here in New Jersey at one of his properties nearby.

He'll be traveling back to Washington soon. And then he's got a busy week ahead focused on the midterms, that midterm Republican convention taking place in Dallas, where he's scheduled to speak both nights.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: That's right. Julia, thank you so much for that report. Republicans, as Julia mentioned, are gathering in Dallas this week for the party's first ever midterm convention here in recent history.

President Trump teasing it as the greatest rally of them all. And now we're getting a look at the speaker lineup. The president will deliver the keynote address on night one.

Vice President Vance will be speaking night two. BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Several high-profile Republicans will also take the stage, making their pitch to voters less than two months before the election. This coming at a time when new polling shows the president's approval rating is stuck in the mid-30s. Let's discuss with our political experts, former Pennsylvania Republican Congressman Charlie Dent and CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist Maria Cardona.

Thank you both for being with us. Charlie, first to you. So Trumpapalooza is happening, as we just noted, with the president's approval rating stuck in the mid-30s.

New NBC polling also showing just 36 percent of Americans approve of the job that he is doing. When President Trump hits the road, for example, in South Carolina for that recent primary and says to voters, act as if I'm on the ballot, is that a winning message in the midterms?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE (R-PA): Well, if the president chooses to show up in ruby red areas and endorse people in primaries, sure, that can be helpful, but not necessarily determinative in a primary. But if they're going to try to send Donald Trump into swing states and swing districts, I think that would be a huge mistake. The best thing President Trump can do right now to help Republicans is open up his checkbook and help that way.

And frankly, keep a much lower profile. Look, he's not going to do that, but that's what he should do because he is clearly a liability to many Republican members in these swing and battleground districts. So he needs to stay away, just spend money.

KEILAR: And Maria, you have a bunch of Democrats, a group of House Democrats who are going to go down and bracket. They're going to counterprogram what's going on with this Trumpapalooza midterm convention. And a lot of their messaging for this midterm is around affordability.

And yet that's the very issue that they lost on in the last election. So how do they convince voters that they should be trusted this time around?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Because they learned from experience, right? And they can even say, look, we know exactly what you're going through. We got it wrong.

We're getting it right this time. And they actually are getting it right because you've seen Democrats across the board have overperformed or won in more than 90 percent of the elections that have taken place since Donald Trump took office. There have been more than 31 state legislative seats that Democrats have turned from red to blue.

Republicans have not flipped any of them. And you have a recent Gallup poll that just came out that says that Americans who identify with a political party are identifying with Democrats by 10 percentage points more than Republicans. We haven't seen those kinds of numbers as a party since 2008.

So what that tells me is that Democrats are winning on this message of affordability. They are the ones who are offering the solutions. They are the ones who are pointing out, look, Donald Trump and Republicans betrayed you, right?

You gave them a chance when they talked about helping make ends meet, bringing down inflation, bringing down the costs on day one.

[15:35:00]

And everything that Trump has done from the tariffs to this horrific war, to passing this big, horrible bill that stripped health care from millions of Americans has done exactly the opposite. And this midterm convention where Trump is front and center is going to remind Americans of that across the board.

KEILAR: Charlie, I wonder what you think about something that I think may be getting a lot of attention or maybe people are kind of getting used to this idea of names changing. Trump has now posted many times this map showing New America written over New Mexico. Should new Mexicans be thinking that they might be new Americans soon?

DENT: Well, look, this is another distraction. It's like Lake America from Lake Ontario, the Gulf of America. This is a total distraction.

I think the American people realize that, you know, obviously, they're focused on the cost of everything. That's what they're worried about. You know, if the President is going to engage in these sorts of distractions, you might want to engage in distractions that actually would help Republican candidates.

This is not helping. Just as you know, obsessing on the ballroom and the Kennedy Center and the reflecting pool. None of that helps.

And so by not focusing on the cost of living and dealing with the issues that Americans care about, I think he's hurting himself. And more importantly, he's hurting his party. At times, I almost think it's intentional that he is doing things to undermine his own party's prospects in the upcoming midterm.

I can't find one Republican who thinks this is a good idea. In fact, you know, and even on the Iran war, they want this thing to end, and the president can't end it. He needs to be focusing on that, too.

And so it doesn't make any sense. It's not helping. Full stop.

SANCHEZ: Maria, I want to get your thoughts on some drama with one Democratic senator, and that is John Fetterman. There's new Wall Street Journal reporting that indicates, based on accounts from former staffers, that he wasn't, as the Wall Street Journal put it, up to the job of being senator. He skipped constituent meetings.

He also tried to allegedly get out of certain votes or spend his minimal amount of time casting certain votes. He, of course, dismisses all of that in an exclusive report to Manu Raju on CNN. He says that these are disgruntled staffers pushing smears that want to tarnish his reputation.

There's been a lot of speculation about whether he wants to stay in the Democratic party. Would you want him to?

CARDONA: I think what we have to take a look at John Fetterman is in terms of what he does. And as of now, even with all of these disturbing ways of how he has conducted himself, he's voted the vast majority of the time with Democrats. And he has said he's not going to become a Republican.

He has said he's going to continue to vote with the Democrats. But at the same time, he is going to have to face Pennsylvania voters, right, in the next two years. That's what's going to dictate what his political future is.

Because the problem is, when he ran, he promised to represent and to focus on blue-collar workers and working-class progressives. And what he's done ever since he's come into office, and especially since he has had some of those health issues, he's completely changed character from what I understand. And so people are now concerned that he's not the same person that Pennsylvanians voted for when he ran for election.

And so he's going to have to make a decision whether he wants to continue. If he wants to continue to represent Pennsylvania, is he going to continue to represent the same agenda that he promised when he got elected? Because right now, a lot of Pennsylvanians don't think that he is doing that.

And so that's going to be what he's going to face in the next two years. But as a party, we have to understand. We talk about this all the time.

We're a big-tent party. So as a big-tent party, we have to also look at everyone who is representing us and say they're going to do what they think is in the best interest of their voters. And if they're voting the vast majority of the time with Democrats, then that's something that we should accept.

KEILAR: A lot of voters in Pennsylvania say he is representing them. They're the Republicans, though. He's more popular than the Republican senator.

CARDONA: And that could be a problem, right?

KEILAR: That'll be interesting to see what happens. Charlie, Maria, thank you so much to both of you. Really appreciate it.

CARDONA: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead, Russia and Ukraine exchanging new strikes, just as the Trump administration renews its push to end the war.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) SANCHEZ: More than four and a half years after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the U.S. is trying again to reach a peace deal. This weekend, U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met separately with the presidents of both countries. Afterward, Witkoff said he's, quote, confident there will be a good resolution.

The talks, apparently, did not put a pause on the latest fighting, though. Today, Ukraine and Russia each reported strikes against the other. Ukraine hitting oil refineries, while Russia struck a tobacco factory.

Let's turn now to CNN military analyst, retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, appreciate you being with us on Labor Day. What is the significance of Kushner and Witkoff going to Ukraine for the first time since the war began?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Boris, that is absolutely significant now. They should have been in Ukraine from the very beginning of the peace process. And this is one of the problems with this, because the perception is that the peace process that the Trump administration is engaging in is really one that favors Russia.

And there are several things, of course, that lead to that perception. But it's very important from a diplomatic perspective to make sure that you're talking to both sides and doing it on their respective territories.

[15:45:00]

And the fact that they have gone to Ukraine finally is a positive sign, but it sure took them a long time to get there.

SANCHEZ: On the other side, Witkoff and Kushner going to meet with Putin. There have been a few notable figures meeting with the Russian leader since last year when he visited Alaska, that big summit with President Trump. Would you say that much has changed from the Russian perspective since last year, the end of last summer, that would get us any closer to peace?

LEIGHTON: Not at all. And the reason I say that and regrettably say that is because the Russians have never abandoned their maximalist ideas. And, you know, the maximalist ideas, Boris, that they have are basically they want to control the entire Donbas, even though they don't control all of it militarily.

They also want to keep control of Crimea and that part of southern Ukraine, southeastern Ukraine that basically provides that bridge between the Donbas region and the Crimean region. So they want to continue that. And really, their ultimate aim has not changed.

That ultimate aim is to subjugate Ukraine completely and keep it basically off the map. So that is what they're trying to do, what the Russians are trying to do. They've never abandoned it.

And that is really the problem. Because if, you know, somebody like Witkoff or Kushner think that they're going to change that attitude, it's not going to happen. They have to -- the Russians have to be convinced militarily that they are not going to be able to succeed.

SANCHEZ: Republican Senator John Kennedy agrees with you on that. And their visit obviously comes after the House left without passing this Russian sanctions bill that the Senate had advanced. And the Senator lamented that this weekend, saying that Putin doesn't care about a bunch of pretty talk.

You've got to show him you mean business. How does the U.S. do that now?

LEIGHTON: Yes, there's several things the U.S. could do. Some of them, I think, are unlikely to happen. But one thing would be to make it very clear to the Russians that they cannot go any further in Ukraine.

They need to stop right there where they are militarily. They also need to stop sending drones into Ukraine. And one way to do that is to tell them that if they don't stop, then you, that we impose, we and NATO impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine.

Now, nobody is going to do that. They're not brave enough to do that, quite frankly. But the idea would be that you do that to stop the fighting, to stop the killing, and that would actually get you where you need to go.

Because right now, these half measures and this diplomatic talk is not getting anywhere because Putin, you know, he'll talk forever. That's his style. But the way he does it is really to draw things out because he thinks, what Putin thinks he can do, is that he can outlast Ukraine and actually succeed this winter in subjugating Ukraine.

And that is something that, of course, we can't have happen.

SANCHEZ: You mentioned the drones that Russia is sending in -- Shahed drones. Iranian-made drones. And that leads to the question, do you think that the Iranian angle, the U.S. conflict in Iran should overlap with some of these conversations, given the immense support that the Kremlin provides Tehran, notably reported by CNN and others, specific locations of U.S. bases and data that ultimately puts U.S. service members in harm's way?

LEIGHTON: Yes, once you start putting U.S. service members in harm's way, then it's game on at that point, as far as I'm concerned. And one of the key things that we need to think about from a diplomatic and a military perspective is how we respond to these things. 18 U.S. bases were adversely affected, some of them had to be shut down in the Middle East because of the precise targeting that the Iranians were engaged in. They were engaged in that precise targeting. They were using precise targeting because the Russians were helping them with that. So that becomes a real problem.

And we need to make it very clear to the Russians that that is unacceptable. The minute you touch U.S. troops, which they did through the Iranians, then it's something where we have to stand up and this administration needs to do that. SANCHEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always appreciate the perspective.

LEIGHTON: Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Thanks for being with us -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines that we're watching this hour. Today, Britain's King Charles issued a new letter reiterating that his son and daughter-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, will not be carrying out official engagements on behalf of the crown, despite their recent return to the UK after six years in the U.S. CNN has learned the King's message follows several requests for Prince Harry and Meghan to attend charity events.

Also, thousands of mourners gathered in Serbia's capital to view the body of Ratko Mladic, the Bosnian Serb commander who died while serving a life sentence for war crimes. The government there ignoring warnings from the European Union not to allow public homage to a man convicted of orchestrating the massacre of 8,000 Muslims during the war in Bosnia. Pro-government media in Serbia says that Mladic will receive full military honors while the head of the Orthodox Church there will lead the funeral service.

And a Pennsylvania county coroner is revealing the second of two measles deaths in the state was also a child.

[15:50:00]

She's identified as a six-week-old girl who was born with a rare disorder called Amish lethal microcephaly, which predisposed her to deadly respiratory infections. The baby's death, as well as that of a newborn who died from a ruptured spleen and tested positive for the measles have been classified by the state as measles associated.

The two deaths, however, are not included in the CDC's measles death count for 2026 and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. previously suggested the state's governor was possibly fabricating the deaths.

Still to come, how a couple is fighting to prevent childhood drownings after losing their own son.

And we are waiting on an update from the NTSB after that Amazon jet crash in Miami. Investigators will discuss their initial findings from the scene. We'll have that in just a few minutes. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:55:00]

SANCHEZ: As families head to beaches and pools this Labor Day, so many kids will be spending time in the water, though water safety experts say the risks can be easy to underestimate.

KEILAR: That's right. According to the CDC, drowning is the leading cause of death for children ages 1 to 4 in the U.S. The Stew Leonard III Water Safety Foundation, is on a mission to change that. Kim and Stew Leonard started this organization after losing their 21-month-old son, Stewie, in a drowning accident in 1989, and they join us now.

Thank you so much to both of you for being with us. As we mentioned a lot.

STEW LEONARD, CO-FOUNDER, STEW LEONARD III WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: Happy Labor Day.

KEILAR: Happy Labor Day to you. This is such important work that you guys are doing, so we thank you for doing that. Talk to us a little bit about the risks that parents should be thinking about as they're celebrating the end of summer, no doubt with a little time in the water.

S. LEONARD: Well, you know what the problem is? Everybody who has a little two or four-year-old, which is the critical age when these drown, you're used to bringing them in the bathtub at night, you know, and they've got toys and bubbles, and it's so much fun in the water, and it's not deep. So the problem with these young kids, you put them over a pool, a river, a pond, you know, at the beach, and all of a sudden, they don't realize that that's dangerous over there, and they end up in the water.

Unfortunately, that's what happened to Kim and I. We lost our little almost two-year-old. Gosh, it seems like it took just a second.

But we looked over, and he was floating face down in the pool.

KIM LEONARD, CO-FOUNDER, STEW LEONARD III WATER SAFETY FOUNDATION: That's why it's so important to talk to your child about water safety and never going near the water without asking permission. And when you know you are going to be around the water with a group of friends or people, make sure you have a designated water watcher.

S. LEONARD: Yes, and that's really the key, yes.

SANCHEZ: Yes, talk to us about that, Stew, and how that conversation with young children should go, and how you sort of alert them to what is a danger that they may not be aware of.

S. LEONARD: Well, one thing you can do, if these are only five bucks, you can buy this book right here, and it's got the three rules for water safety in here. You want to keep reinforcing the message. We have a little thing to twinkle, twinkle, little star, and it goes, don't jump in until you learn to swim.

Cover your chest with a safe life vest, and a grown-up must watch you in the pool, and you'll be safe if you learn these rules. So we're trying to get them to learn how to swim and to make sure they don't go out around the water without an adult, whether it's a grandparent or a parent.

KEILAR: And Kim, it's that, as a parent, you have to be watching. You talk about that 60-second text message trap. Tell us a little bit more about that. K. LEONARD: Well, that's it, exactly. You got to put your cell phones down. And I know our two oldest daughters have young children, and there's so much, you know, and the kids want to start karate or soccer or ballet or dance, and while all those activities are fun and wonderful, swim lessons are the only life-saving skill that you can give your child.

And consistency is so important, especially with the young ones who are just learning how to float and get, you know, if you stop for three or four months, can you think, oh, we're not going to be around water, but then all of a sudden, maybe after the holidays, you end up somewhere in a warm climate or this coming spring, and the work that your child wouldn't progress may not be there. It gives you a false sense of security.

S. LEONARD: So, you know, what we would recommend all the viewers doing today, get this book. It's not much. Read it to your kids at night.

It's a great bedtime story. It reinforces the safety message. The other thing, we have these little plush toys right here.

And if you push the button, you'll hear the song right here, OK? They, the biggest complaint we get about this is how do I take the battery out of it? Because the kids are just playing it all the time.

But you want to reinforce the safety message all the time for the kids. And, you know, Kim had a good point right there. And even the Olympian Rowdy Gaines was on our board of our charity.

He says, you don't really have to teach them to swim. You got to teach them to float. So, if our son was able when he fell in the water, rather than he probably thrashed face down, we hadn't done it, you know.

But if you could teach him to float, roll over on his back, presto, OK?

[16:00:00]

Even the Olympians recommend that. So, you know, all you want to do is get the book, get the plush toy for fun, reinforce the message all the time, and then get your kids to swim lessons so that they learn to float. And you can start it, like, we have parents coming in at six months. They get in the water and just get them used to acclimation in the water. And, you know, they're one, one and a half years old, they can learn to float.

K. LEONARD: And another thing, when you are going to be with a group of people, it's so easy. That's what happened in our case. We let our guard down.

We never said, hey, you're watching him to each other. And there were, you know, a bunch of adults around and we let our guard down. And I remember afterwards hearing when everyone's watching, no one's watching. So, again, how important the water watcher is and putting that water watcher cannot be on their cell phone.

SANCHEZ: Kim and Stew, thank you so much for sharing your story. We always appreciate when you come on and spread this message. We know how much it means to you.

So thank you so much for the time.

KEILAR: Yes, thank you guys.

S. LEONARD: Hey, you want me to give you the plush toy so you could bring it to bed with you at night, Boris?

SANCHEZ: We'd love that. I would love that. Thank you both so much. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.