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Solemn Ceremonies At Ground Zero Mark 25 Years Since 9/11; 7th Moment Of Silence Honors Victims Of 9/11-Related Illness; Nation Marks 25 Years Since 9/11 Terror Attacks; Sources: Saudi Crown Prince Urges Trump To Strike Houthis; Saudi Oil Pipeline System Hit By Projectiles Triggering Fires; Trump & Vance Cap Off Two-Day Republican Midterm Convention In Dallas; Trump Defends Promise Of $5K For Americans If GOP Wins In Midterms; Cyclospora Outbreak Declared Over By The CDC. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 11, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:00:30]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Today, the nation is pausing to reflect on 25 years since the 9/11 attacks. Survivors and families have been gathering in New York, at the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, to honor the nearly 3,000 people who were killed that day.

At Ground Zero, where the World Trade Center once stood, for the first time this year, a seventh moment of silence was held to honor the thousands who have died from 9/11-related health issues. Here was that moment.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is in lower Manhattan for us.

And Brynn, you've been speaking with people there. Just what are they telling you today?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. You know what, Omar? Collectively, everyone sort of says two things. One, that, you know, they cannot believe it's been a quarter of a century, because it still feels like it happened yesterday. And then another thing is that this year just felt heavier.

No one could sort of pinpoint why this year just feels so much heavier. Is it because it's been 25 years? Sort of a big number? Or perhaps it is because of that seventh bell that was tolled today before the end of that ceremony on the World Trade Center site for all those victims, thousands of people who have lost their lives due to 9/11-related illnesses, 60 cancers associated with the toxins that so many rescuers and first responders and volunteers breathed in and then lived with these illnesses.

Some -- many do still. You know, I talked to one woman who says, you know, every year is so tough for her, but she lives with this every day. Every day, she takes her medicines in the morning for the illness that she's fighting and the medicines in the evening. So, those are sort of the stories that we were hearing out of this, but also just so many stories of hope.

I talked to one woman whose husband passed away when the South -- South Tower collapsed. Her daughter was two at the time, didn't even get to know her father. And I asked her, you know, what do you do to keep your husband's memory alive? Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIMMY CHEDEL, HUSBAND WAS KILLED ON 9/11: Fun living. That's what I tell my children every day. Live every day to the fullest. Do good. Like we're in a -- we're in a -- like we're -- I feel fortunate that we can do good and we can help others. That's the only way that I've found to heal and to survive from something like this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: That woman incredibly opened schools in Africa in her husband's name. I mean, the things that people have done to keep the memory alive of the loved ones that were lost in doing good favors, doing good deeds, but also just speaking the stories, right, Omar? Talking so that generations in the future can learn from what happened and learn about what happened, and remember the heroes, remember the lives lost. And of course, never forget. Omar.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Brynn Gingras, really appreciate the reporting there for us on this 25th anniversary. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: More than six months after the U.S. launched the war with Iran, the latest government data shows costs for your family are continuing to rise. Consumer prices in August went up 3.4 percent compared to the same time last year.

On a monthly basis, prices rose four-tenths of a percent from July. Software and computer accessories saw a 25 percent jump from the previous year. The hotter than expected report could set the stage for the Fed to raise interest rates next week.

Another record that the economy is seeing, diesel fuel is now more than $6 a gallon for the first time ever.

And adding to the troubles facing the global energy market, a new report today that a key oil pipeline system in Saudi Arabia was hit by projectiles on Thursday. Satellite images show smoke near that pipeline system after there were reports of an attack.

We've also learned from Yemeni government sources that Iran-backed Houthi rebels have seized the strategic island there in the Red Sea. This is a CNN exclusive video that was taken just last week. The seizure today means Iran may now have more control over another critical global shipping route, one that Saudi Arabia has increasingly relied on to bypass the Strait of Hormuz.

[15:05:03]

A source telling CNN the Saudi crown prince is now urging President Trump to strike the Houthis. CNN's Kylie Atwood is here with details on this.

Kylie, what are you learning about this and what would this mean for an expanding war?

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: It signals that the war is expanding right now. I mean, everything that you just said in that introduction there, Brianna, the Houthis are getting more and more engaged in this conflict. And it is really critical that these two phone calls by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman came in to President Trump yesterday, urging him to carry out U.S. strikes on these Iranian-backed Houthis. President Trump declined.

We should note, though, that the U.S. has been providing support to the Saudis as part of their effort to encourage them to be able to go after the Houthis. But that's intelligence support. That is support that has to do with, you know, identifying where they could actually be carrying out those targets, but not actually providing those targeting and those missiles themselves.

So, the Saudis are asking the U.S. for more. The U.S. is providing support. But it's critical that that -- those two phone calls yesterday came, as -- as CNN has reported, that that tiny island, that that critical island at the southern tip of the Red Sea has now been taken by the Houthis. And that could further upend the capability of Saudi Arabia to get that critical oil supply out of the Red Sea because they can't go out of the Strait of Hormuz.

KEILAR: So, what can you tell us about the attack on the oil systems, the Saudi oil systems?

ATWOOD: So, we have learned, according to two U.S. officials, that it was multiple projectiles that hit this critical oil pipeline, the East-West pipeline in Saudi Arabia. And we're told, according to one of those officials, that it was Iran -- drones that originated in Iraq that actually carried out the strike. We don't know who was responsible for those drones. But in the past, we know that Iranian- backed militias in Iraq have carried out strikes on Saudi Arabia.

And as we look at, you know, what is going to happen here, we still don't know how big the damage actually is to the pipeline itself, because according to one of the U.S. officials, it was pump stations that are part of that greater system of the pipeline that were actually hit here.

And so we'll have to watch and see how long it takes until that damage can obviously be fixed. We've also heard this year, in the last hour or so, from the Saudi energy ministry. And they said that the pipeline had shut down. They called it a precautionary move. But they notably didn't say that it has been reopened.

So, it's a really critical area for us to be watching, as Saudi Arabia has relied on that pipeline to get that oil that they had initially been getting out of their country through the Strait of Hormuz to the Red Sea. The Red Sea, obviously, now an even greater question mark for them to continue doing that, too.

KEILAR: Yes. Kylie Atwood, thank you so much for that report and welcome back.

Still to come, the first ever Republican midterm convention is in the books. To be determined whether it's going to help or hurt the party in November's election.

And then later, the CDC says that nasty stomach bug outbreak that impacted thousands of people this summer, it's over. We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[15:12:39]

KEILAR: Republicans looking to build momentum after their first ever midterm convention with just over seven weeks until the elections. President Trump and Vice President Vance spelling out why they believe Republicans deserve to remain in control of Congress despite Americans' growing concerns about the economy, the war with Iran, and the growing influence of A.I.

President Trump capping off the night, insisting that Republicans take a new oath.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please raise your right hand. I pledge ...

ALL: I pledge ...

TRUMP: ... to the greatest president in the history of the United States, that I will go out with my family, my friends. I'll do it anyway. I don't care if I'm registered or not. I'm going to try and cheat like hell like they do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Kevin Liptak is at the White House. And Kevin, before this event, Republicans were saying it was going to be a Trump-a- palooza. Certainly lived up to that billing. The President taking the stage both nights.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And he spoke for about two and a half hours over those two nights. So, very much at the center of all of this, even last night, which was ostensibly meant to be about the vice president. It was President Trump who ended up on center stage at the end of the night, kind of swaying along to an opera singer as the balloons came down, which kind of crystallized, I think, his view and his advisers' view that he is the best and perhaps the only animating force in the Republican Party at the moment.

They really think that his name has to be on the ballot, at least in theory, if his voters, the low-propensity supporters who only go out when his name is on the ballot, that they'll need all of that to happen if Republicans are to be successful in these midterms. And that pledge that he asked the crowd to swear to, asking, I think, facetiously for them to cheat in the election, but also saying that they would, quote, go to hell if they didn't go out to vote, really just underscoring that view.

Now, the Vice President did also receive a pretty warm welcome. He talked about the importance of the nuclear family. I thought it was interesting. He didn't mention Iran directly, unlike President Trump, who mentioned it repeatedly. But he did talk about these disagreements within the conservative movement and asked conservatives to kind of move past them, say, do not throw out the baby with the bathwater, but also himself not offering a robust defense of the Iran war.

[15:15:08]

Now, President Trump says that this will just be the kickoff for his campaigning. He says he will be out very intensively over the next two months campaigning for Republicans. But I thought it was interesting when he was in an interview with Laura Ingraham last night when she asked him whether he would be campaigning just as intensively as he has for his own campaigns over the last 10 years. And he said pretty bluntly, no.

KEILAR: And Kevin, the President just doubled down on his promise to pay adults $5,000 if Republicans win in November. What's he saying?

LIPTAK: Yes. And he is not saying yet where that money is coming from, which I think is the big question in all of this. Remember, this is going to cost about $1.3 trillion. And if he actually does want to send $5,000 checks to every adult in the country, instead, what he's saying on Truth Social just in the last few minutes is that the money will come because, quote, "Our country is taking in trillions of dollars of economic development, investment and pure SUCCESS," success written in all capital letters.

And then, he says, "When I say something, I mean it. The $5,000 dividend will happen. The People of our Country deserve it."

Now, we should point out that, in fact, when the President says he is sending checks to the American public, that doesn't necessarily mean that that is going to happen. He promised a year ago that the American public would receive checks because of money coming in from tariffs. He said at the beginning of his term that the American people would receive checks due to the savings from the DOGE program that was overseen by Elon Musk. None of those ended up going out in the mail to the American people.

So, I think there is some question to believe about what the President is saying here, but clearly still very much caught up on this idea. It was notable, though, last night at the convention, you did not hear any of the other speakers talking about these dividend checks. You didn't hear it from the Vice President, from the Speaker of the House. You didn't hear it from the President's son, Donald Trump Jr. It really is only the President himself who's talking about these checks.

So, if he's sort of dangling them out as an incentive to get people out to vote, it really is going to be only him who's talking about it. His supporters are sort of silent on the matter. KEILAR: It's really interesting. Kevin Liptak, thank you so much.

And coming up, good news for those of us who love iceberg lettuce, and hate stomach bugs, and saying diarrhea on air. We have details.

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[15:22:11]

JIMENEZ: The outbreak of cyclosporiasis that swept across 21 states this summer is officially over according to the CDC. It made the announcement this morning, marking a significant turning point in a health emergency linked to iceberg lettuce that made thousands of people sick. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard joins us now.

So, Jacqueline, is the risk officially over? How should we be thinking about this?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Yes, Omar, what we should know with this outbreak, because it's now over, what this means, all of the contaminated lettuce tied to this outbreak is off the market. It's no longer in stores, no longer in restaurants. And the CDC has seen a significant decline in the number of recent cases of cyclosporiasis. So, this outbreak has officially come to an end.

And this is a major turning point, like you said, Omar, because this outbreak, it was the largest known cyclosporiasis outbreak here in the United States. It sickened more than 12,800 people. Among those people, at least 570 were hospitalized. And sadly, two people had died. That's how much of an impact this outbreak has made.

Now, even though the CDC has declared the outbreak to be officially over, I should note that the FDA's investigation into how the lettuce got contaminated in the first place is still ongoing. You probably remember when the outbreak first emerged, the FDA did link the contaminated lettuce back to the company Taylor Farms and specifically growers based in Central Mexico. While their inspections and analyses of lettuce samples are still -- some are still pending analysis. So, that's why the FDA investigation is still ongoing.

But the outbreak itself and the risk to the general public right now, according to the CDC, that has officially come to a close, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. That's great news for a lot of people. Great news for a lot of bathrooms around the country as well. But could people still get sick from cyclospora, I mean, with other types of foods as -- as this investigation and risk closes or not investigation -- the risk, excuse me.

HOWARD: Yes. Right. Right, exactly. You know, with food-borne illnesses, there is always going to be some level of risk, even though the level is now over now that the outbreak has ended. But when you think about this outbreak, it's an important reminder for all of us to just simply practice food handling safety, like washing your hands regularly, washing fresh produce. And keep in mind, when you cook food, that is a great way to kill germs, including the cyclospora parasites.

So, when you cook food to a temperature of at least 158 degrees Fahrenheit, that can kill cyclospora.

[15:25:00]

And of course, stay up to date on food recalls and food outbreak announcements. And if you do happen to have a recalled product at home, throw it out immediately. So, while this outbreak is over, it's an important reminder for all of us to still practice those, you know, proper food handling hygiene. Omar.

JIMENEZ: Good news no matter what. Good advice no matter what. Evergreen stuff.

HOWARD: Yes.

JIMENEZ: Jacqueline Howard, good to see you.

All right. Coming up, President Trump wraps up the first ever Republican midterm convention, at one point urging voters to, quote, cheat like hell like they do as to help keep Republicans keep control of Congress. We'll tell you what he said, and we're also going to discuss that with Republican Congressman Tom Barrett next.

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