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California Gov. Gavin Newsom Mulls Decision to Run for President; Newsom: Won't Run for President in 2028 if Kamala Harris Does; Trump Rejects Warning on AI Danger as a Hoax; Pentagon Watchdog Issues First Review on Impact of Iran War; "Widow's Bay" is Biggest Emmy Winner with 14 Awards. Aired 8:30-9:00a ET

Aired September 15, 2026 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: ... win that he had, adios amigos, goodbye, see you later. Look at his net approval rating now, at an average of polls, CNN, SSRS polls, across 2026, he's 42 points underwater. That is a switcheroo-capable win of what?

43 points, shifting away from the President of the United States, his support rapidly declining, plummeting among working-class Latinos, a group that helped get him elected back in 2024.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: On what issues?

ENTEN: Yes, OK, so you know, obviously we've spoken about the economy being an issue, but one issue on which working-class Latinos especially have turned against the President of the United States is the issue of immigration. There has been a massive, massive backlash, and you can see it here. OK, non-college Latinos Trump and immigration.

Back in 2024, versus Kamala Harris, he was more trusted on immigration amongst this group. Look at this, he won it by nine points, he was more trusted in this issue by nine points. Look at his net approval rating now on immigration when it comes to working-class Latinos, those Latinos who didn't graduate college.

It's 47 points underwater, absolutely diving down in there, into the Gulf of Mexico. Kate, you do the quick math with me here, minus 47 plus nine, that is a shift away from the President of the United States of 56 points. You don't see shifts away from a President of the United States of 56 points unless you have done something absolutely terribly wrong in the minds of the voters.

And when it comes to working-class Latinos, that is Latinos without a college degree, he has done something horribly, horribly wrong. As I said at the top, no bueno for the President of the United States. He ran on immigration, he was more trusted on immigration than Kamala Harris was with working-class Latinos, and now he is horribly underwater.

We're talking 47 points underwater. These are terrible, terrible numbers. BOLDUAN: Where are you particularly watching to see how this plays out in the midterm?

ENTEN: Right, exactly right. So this is the President of the United States. You might say, hey, I'm a Republican running for Congress.

I don't necessarily have to worry about the President of the United States. He is not on the ballot. But you know what?

First of all, the President wants to be on the ballot, and second off, you are running under the same party banner as the President of the United States, and we are seeing a massive shift away from Republican candidates. I mean, just take a look at Texas, OK? Texas, where of course Latinos make up a massive share of the population.

Non-college Latino voters in Texas. Look at this. Donald Trump won that vote by 15 points, but we have a key Senate race going on between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.

Look at this. James Talarico is up by 13 points among non-college Latinos in the great state of Texas. That is a shift away of 28 points, and this is the type of movement that could help James Talarico become the first Democrat to win a Senate race in Texas since 1988.

You put together these big gains with working class Latinos for James Talarico, along with those massive gains among whites with a college degree in Texas, and that is a winning formula for Democrats in Texas. Republicans should be running scared. Ken Paxton should be running scared.

These are the types of numbers that make history for Democrats.

BOLDUAN: We will see. It's good to see you, Harry. Thanks.

ENTEN: Nice to see you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you. California Governor Gavin Newsom making a definitive statement about running for President. In Jake Topper's new series, "OUT OF OFFICE," new streaming series, the two went fly fishing, and Newsom was clear that there is something that will stop him from running.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: How does one even make a decision to like run for president?

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): I have no experience in this process, so I'm going through it.

TAPPER: I remember people thinking, oh, he should have run in 2024.

NEWSOM: I wasn't ready. TAPPER: You weren't ready?

NEWSOM: No, God no.

TAPPER: Do you think if you'd taken on Biden --

NEWSOM: I would never. First of all, I wouldn't do that. And second, if I did, I would have gotten crushed because I didn't have a why. You don't have a big enough why, then you don't belong there.

I'm not screwing anything up anymore, man. I mean, I know what matters in life. You know, I got four kids.

It's the only thing that matters to me. They got to be on board. And if that's a -- forget it.

If they're not on board, that's a nonstarter. And then you just have to meet the moment. You got to be honest with yourself.

Do you represent the zeitgeist of the moment? Are you wasting everybody's time? And you just have to -- honestly, you have to feel like you can stand on there and stage with, what, 30?

TAPPER: It's going to be a lot of people.

NEWSOM: Yes.

TAPPER: It's a lot of Democrats.

NEWSOM: 31 flavors.

TAPPER: You're not even the only Californian.

NEWSOM: No, right?

TAPPER: You got Ro Khanna.

NEWSOM: Yes.

TAPPER: Kamala.

NEWSOM: Yes. I don't know if she runs, but we'll see.

TAPPER: I know she's called around.

NEWSOM: Yes. But I wouldn't run if she ran.

TAPPER: If she runs, you will not?

NEWSOM: Of course not. Why would I? I wouldn't do that to her. I wouldn't do it to me.

Why would I? I wouldn't do that to you. I wouldn't waste everyone's time.

Who needs that? TAPPER: What do you mean? That doesn't even make sense to me.

NEWSOM: I just, I wouldn't -- no, I wouldn't. First of all, electorally, it's a gift from God for everybody else. They enjoy the hell out of it.

Mutual assured destruction. It services no greater good.

[08:35:00]

TAPPER: I mean, you do whatever you want. I don't care. But my counterargument would be like, you know, she had a shot.

NEWSOM: Yes.

TAPPER: And you've never run, and she's run twice.

NEWSOM: Yes, that I mean, that would be the -- that'd be the approach to the campaign, certainly. That would be the case you'd make. Pretty good one, actually. You know, that's objectively true.

I just, but I know what that means. I know, her base of supporters, I know her friends, the Zen diagram on that is just pure crossover. It's not -- I wouldn't do that to -- I wouldn't do that to people.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And with us now, Will Steakin, co-author of the "Political Playbook", also political reporter for Axios, Stef Kight. I don't want to spend too much time on this because I have a lot else to ask you. But pretty remarkable statement right there.

Steph, let me just start with you. Do you buy it? Do you buy the Gavin Newsom would not run if former Vice President Kamala Harris did run?

STEF KIGHT, POLITICAL REPORTER, AXIOS: I mean, I would say I'm surprised, but he was pretty definitive and that answer, which I think is what's so interesting here. I don't think anyone was looking at the two of them and thinking that they would have some kind of deal and despite the California roots, of course. You don't look at them as candidates who are necessarily super similar, but it will be interesting puts even more pressure on whether Kamala Harris will indeed decide to run.

She's obviously taken a lot of those early steps and publicly kind of hinted at considering a run. And of course, lots of people have been looking at Gavin Newsom as a front runner for the Democratic nomination 2028. So, you know, things can change.

We know that people running for president or thinking about running for president often will say one thing this early as far out from the actual primary season and change their minds. So that could, of course, happen. But it was fascinating to see how definitive that answer was.

BERMAN: Will, very quickly. I mean, I know everyone online last night was looking for a loophole in what he said.

WILL STEAKIN, CO-AUTHOR, POLITICO PLAYBOOK: Yes, I'll just say this. I was literally just with Gavin Newsom in South Carolina of all places last week. So when I saw him on, you know, the first primary state for 2028, he certainly looked like he was running to me.

But I mean, what a great get for a Tapper. I'm off to see if that's if that holds.

BERMAN: Yes, exactly. I mean, if it doesn't hold, then people will be able to look at that and say, wait, you said this.

All right, I want to talk about artificial intelligence, because that's what people in the industry want to be talking about right now. It's less clear that people in Washington really desperately want to be talking about it. You both got reporting this morning in each of your publications about what might be driving President Trump's response to the concerns.

Will, I want to start with you here. Who's the person behind the scenes that might have the biggest influence on President Trump calling all of these concerns a hoax?

STEAKIN: Yes, and it might not be necessarily surprising, but it's David Sacks, who did leave the administration earlier this year. He was the AI czar, crypto czar, and then left in March when his time as a special government employee, you know, finished. And I think there was some talk back then of whether or not he was on the outs with the president and the administration.

But from what we're hearing from our sources that we reported in Playbook this morning, he's been the one that remains in the president's ear, especially over the last few days, really helping guide the president push back against what Sacks and the president are deeming doomers, against, you know, the kind of full force, all in, excuse the pun, on AI And I think, you know, it's interesting that he has continued and you had seen that in both their public responses have been rather similar. And that continues with his with Sacks as the main voice in the president's ear.

BERMAN: Yes, Stef, and that's the word that is in Axios this morning, the phrase the war on doomers, the president's war on AI doomers. He just doesn't want to listen to this right now. What impact, Stef, do you think that might have on what Congress does or more likely doesn't do in the next few weeks?

KIGHT: I mean, to start, Congress doesn't know what to do when it comes to AI. Both parties are kind of splintered in their response. And we're seeing solutions ranging from President Trump saying we don't need to do anything. I'm the only guardrail needed. To, you know, people on the left saying we need a full stop of the development of these technologies.

And there are all these different solutions in between. Of course, President Trump saying that he doesn't want to see any additional guardrails go up. It's going to tamper -- tamp down any effort in Republican -- amongst Republicans to add some of those guardrails. There are going to be those who just stick to President Trump.

And if he doesn't want more legislation, they're not going to support it. And I think also you have so many lawmakers who don't really understand the technology. They don't necessarily use it in their day to day.

And it is such a complicated and quickly evolving industry that many lawmakers are just unsure how to respond to some of the concerns that these executives have put out there. So any short term AI legislation is pretty unlikely at this point. But there are some at the top who are thinking about what needs to be done, even if it's, you know, just small steps at adding some guardrails there.

[08:40:00]

BERMAN: Very quickly, brand new, New York Times/Siena poll out this morning. Will, look at a number of things, but one number jumped out to me, and this had to do with the president's approval rating, Will. Is, you know, 38 percent approval, 50, you know, 58 percent -- or 68 percent disapproval.

But what's staggering here, what's staggering is the 52 percent strongly disapprove. 52 percent of people in this poll will say they strongly disapprove of President Trump. That's a serious headwind for Republicans. What do you see there?

STEAKIN: I think, you know, reading that, I think you just hear Republicans across the country screaming out after we just had, you know, their midterm convention where the president said, I'm on the ballot and, you know, really wants to make the midterms a referendum on himself. And I think, boy, with those numbers like 52 percent strongly, I mean, you know, that is going to weigh around their necks heading into -- the really worst case scenario, I think. And it really, I think, is more, you know, fuel for Democrats who are really hoping it's going to be a blue wave.

And with numbers like that, you know, I can see that really happening.

TAPPER: All right. Will Steakin and Stef Kight, thank you so much for both being with us. Appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John. This morning, brand new report released by the official Pentagon watchdog is giving us our first real insight into the damage sustained by U.S. forces since the war in Iran began. The report issued by the Pentagon Inspector General assessed that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases across the region in just the first months of fighting. It also acknowledged the depletion of key U.S. munition stockpiles.

Joining me now is CNN national security reporter Davis Winkie. Is it surprising to you? Is it unusual that we're just learning of all of this where we are nearly seven months into this war?

DAVIS WINKIE, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Well, Sara, it's interesting in that we're learning some of these, not necessarily for the first time, but it's the first time that we've actually had an official perspective from the Pentagon on these issues, in this case, from its independent watchdog, the inspector general. Some of the things that are new as official acknowledgments are, as you discussed, the hundreds of buildings that have been destroyed on U.S. bases across the region. I'll note that the report also covered damage to U.S. diplomatic facilities as well, and it was collaborative with the State Department's watchdog.

But I also want to focus on one of the examples of how the destruction of buildings has impacted the U.S. approach. There's a naval base in Bahrain, which is home to the Fifth Fleet headquarters and served as a big logistics hub for the U.S. Navy. As acting Navy Secretary Hung Cao put it in an interview recently, Iran blew the hell out of it.

And I want to talk about how that changed logistics for the Navy in the region and made it more difficult for things like mail. They had to shift a lot of their logistics very far away to the Indian Ocean island of Diego Garcia, which contributed to those very public struggles that we saw for sailors aboard long deployed ships such as the USS Abraham Lincoln that we covered over the summer. In addition to that, this is a first official acknowledgement in some ways of the munition shortages that have been downplayed by top Pentagon officials.

However, the report is still an incomplete picture of what's going on out there. It's unclassified, which means it doesn't have a lot of the details that the government is providing to Congress here -- that the administration is providing to Congress here. And, you know, a couple of the things we're not seeing in there are there's aircraft we know were destroyed that aren't reported in there.

There's no cost estimate on what it would look like to rebuild U.S. bases because we don't know yet what the posture of the U.S. military is going to be after this. And overall, the report is a contrast with the polished talking points we've seen coming out of officials such as General Caine and Secretary Hegseth on the issues which have been polished and mostly focused on U.S. tactical successes -- Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, truly. And we haven't seen a briefing in quite some time as well. This is kind of the first official gathering of this information and putting it out to the public.

Very great reporting from you. Thank you so much, Davis, appreciate it -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: And joining us right now is CNN senior military analyst, retired Navy Admiral James Stavridis for more on this. A quote from this report, Admiral, is Iranian strikes -- it says that Iranian strikes damaged and destroyed hundreds of buildings and structures at U.S. bases in Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan during the war's first months. And you heard, Winkie there talking about how it is some -- offer some confirmation of the depletion of U.S. munitions stockpiles. And he talked about the Navy base that was really hit in Bahrain and how it's kind of shipped the depletion of U.S. munitions stockpiles. And he talked about the Navy base that was really hit in Bahrain and how it's kind of shifted the footprint for U.S. assets overseas.

You add all of this up from your perspective and your deep knowledge here. What does it mean?

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET.), CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST: Two things really jump out at me, Kate. First is the cost, the expenses of this. The Pentagon saying 35-ish billion.

I suspect when you add in all of the destruction to the footprint, all of the ancillary costs, all the support, this conflict is costing probably 500 million a day. So figure a billion dollars every couple of days. So high, high expenses.

And number two, you used the word a moment ago, Kate, it's footprint as the nation, our nation decides whether or not to rebuild this massive, extensive footprint in the Middle East. We have to think about those costs. We have to think about the geopolitics of this.

And I think there are going to be some pretty significant changes ahead. Final thought here. I've been to that Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain too many times to count over the course of my career.

It was the crown jewel of the maritime efforts in the region. And to simply shift those out to Diego Garcia, a thousand miles away and more, I don't think is tenable. So some tough decisions ahead for the Pentagon -- cost and footprint.

BOLDUAN: And then just to what has become the central focus of the war right now, which is the shutdown of the shipping channel, the Strait of Hormuz. It's still not open. Add to this, the Houthis have made these key gains around the Bab al-Mandab Strait, which you and I have talked about so much.

And now Saudi Arabia has taken their kind of go around pipeline offline after a drone attack. How bad is this?

STAVRIDIS: Can you spell oil at 120 a barrel? I can if this continues. And you've got a tale of two blockades here.

The U.S. is blockading Iran's entire coastline. That's putting massive economic pressure on Tehran. That's good.

But Tehran continues to not quite fully close the Strait of Hormuz. But I think out of the 20 million barrels a day you're normally expecting, it's probably five or seven at most. So it's a significant shutdown.

And Kate, that brings us to the map you just showed of the Bab al- Mandab, you and I have called it correctly, the Western Front in this war. The Houthis are on the march. The Saudis are concerned.

You're showing that red area that they control. Guess where it is. It's right on that strait.

And that effectively shuts down the Suez Canal just to the north. So I think, again, the administration has real challenges at sea here, both in the strait and in the Bab al-Mandab.

BOLDUAN: Yes, seems like it's getting more challenges, not fewer. It's good to see you. Thank you so much, Admiral.

I really appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you so much, Kate.

This was not on the list of dangers for a delivery driver, a rogue arrow smashing into his truck. What happened after this?

Plus, we have all the biggest moments from an historic night at the Emmys. We'll bring you the glitz, the glamour and the winners, ahead.

[08:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: There is some breaking news now on the investigation into the death of actress Hayden Panettiere. The L.A. Times is reporting federal agents are now focusing on whether she may have gotten nonprescription pills from a dealer.

Dianne Gallagher has much more on this. She's joining us right now. Dianne, what are you picking up?

DIANNE GALLAGHER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Kate, this is all according to new reporting from the L.A. Times. They say that the federal authorities, who were probing the death of actress Hayden Panettiere, are focusing their investigation in Los Angeles, and they're looking into whether she got nonprescription pills from an area dealer.

Now, Drug Enforcement Administration agents, along with local investigators, have questioned several people about the circumstances surrounding her August 16th death in an apartment in Greenville, South Carolina. The focus is on her taking what was described as counterfeit oxycodone before she died. Now, that is according to the L.A. Times, citing sources familiar with the probe.

Now the Greenville County deputy coroner told CNN on Monday that they had nothing new to report at this time in regards to the autopsy. We've been waiting on toxicology and other test results to come back. No official cause of death has been declared for Panettiere at this time.

If we go back to that police report from August, her on again, off again, boyfriend Brian Hickerson and brother Zach called 9-1-1 that afternoon. According to those reports, the 36 year old was found in cardiac arrest at that apartment where she was temporarily staying in the South Carolina. Upstate medics tried to save her, but they were unable to do so.

Now the young mother, of course, did die in South Carolina on August 16th. The police report noted that Brian Hickerson showed the responding officer a bag of Panettiere's medications, and there was a list of the contents in that report. But all of it was redacted -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Dianne, thank you so much for reporting clearly much more still to learn about the sad circumstances around her death -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

[08:55:00]

On our radar, this is terrifying to watch a new video showing this morning, a bus driver who looks like he's asleep at the wheel ends up crossing into oncoming lanes and boom, you see what happens. They were slamming into several trees it looks like, and leaving passengers injured. The crash happened in Atlanta.

You can see the driver kind of jolting to awake after that. But then moments before that crash, you can see him here sort of nodding off for the first time before suddenly waking up there. The crash sent passengers flying out of their seats and into the aisles. Police said three people were injured.

The driver is charged with distracted driving and failure to maintain a lane.

All right. A bizarre close call in Missouri. An Amazon delivery driver was on the job when an arrow shot through his front windshield and through the packages sitting in his van. Thankfully, it missed the driver.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CARL MCCASLIN, AMAZON DRIVER: Do you see how big this is? If that would have hit me, that would have went straight through my body and it almost did. If I was in the front seat, that would have definitely impelled me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Good grief. The incident happened just days before the start of bow hunting season, which begins today in Missouri. The man who shot the arrow told police he was testing out a new crossbow and accidentally overshot his target -- John.

BERMAN: Oops.

SIDNER: Yes.

BERMAN: Oops.

SIDNER: Huge.

BERMAN: All right, it was an historic night at the Emmys. Apple TV's "Widow's Bay" walked away with a record breaking 14 total awards and "The Pitt" won Best Drama Series for the second year in a row. One touching moment came when Reba McEntire paid tribute to her late friend Dolly Parton.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REBA MCENTIRE, PAYS TRIBUTE TO DOLLY PARTON: I'll keep looking to the sun to keep my head above the water. Memories keep me strong. I love you, darling.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister was at the show and joins us now live from Los Angeles. Up late, up early, working around the clock. This was a big night, though, with some pretty clear statements about what shows were great.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was. And as you said, John, it was a huge night for "Widow's Bay". I mean, "Widow's Bay" absolutely swept and star Matthew Rhys.

He was a double nominee, and he walked away with two Emmy Awards. He won for "Widow's Bay" and also for a Netflix show called "The Beast in Me". He made Emmys history, the only actor ever to win for two leading roles in the same year.

Now, another history making moment came from Jean Smart, who won for the fifth and final season of "Hacks" Now, "Hacks" lost a lot of the awards that they were nominated for. But Jean Smart again won the big award, and she also made Emmy history.

She is now the only woman in Emmy history to win for every single season of a series. Now, by the way, Allison Janney won last night as well. And her and Jean Smart are now tied with eight Emmy wins over the course of their career.

That is the most of any actor also tied with Julia Louis-Dreyfus and also Cloris Leachman. Now, "The Pitt" won for best drama. As you said, John, they were the reigning champs, and they won for the second year in a row.

And star Noah Wyle also won for the second year in a row. Afterwards, I was backstage chatting with all the winners, and I spoke with Noah Wyle and the cast of "The Pitt." Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAH WYLE, WINNER, BEST LEAD ACTOR IN A DRAMA SERIES: It's one thing to make "The Godfather". It's another thing to make "Godfather 2" afterwards and to come back in the sophomore attempt and have the bar that we set in the first season be what we were trying to maintain and or maybe even surpass. It's incredibly gratifying coming back and feeling like we did it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Now, the cast of "The Pitt", they were all so excited, they're actually in production for season three. So, John, you're saying to me that I had a late night and an early morning. Well, I went home after my work. I did not go to the after parties because I had to be here with you, John. But Noah Wyle and the cast of "The Pitt", they told me that they were going to the after parties and they will be on set today because they are filming the third season. So I'm sure that they will be very tired.

And they're actually just right across the street from us where they film.

BERMAN: Yes, I'm sure it'll be a great day of shooting. I will note both Noah Wyle and Matthew Rhys came and visited us here at CNN NEWS CENTRAL, then went on to win Emmys. So clearly, if you come to talk to us here, you can win and likely will win.

I will note Taylor Swift was not there last night. She was at a football game but did somehow figure out a way to be part of it, nonetheless.

WAGMEISTER: Yes, so Taylor Swift has not quite yet figured out how to clone herself, but she did appear. We're seeing here this looks like an episode of "Law & Order SVU", but it is not. It is a sketch that was meant to be like "Law & Order SVU".

Of course, Mariska Hargitay was the host of the Emmys and Taylor Swift is one of her real life best friends. So they did this entire skit about will Taylor Swift show up? Will she not?

And as you said, she didn't actually show up. She was at the Chiefs game watching her new husband on the field, but she did make an appearance there ...

[09:00:00]