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300+ South Korean Workers Challenge Trump Administration Over Immigration Raid; Stocks Fall on Bond Market Woes, Rising Price of Oil; Poll Finds Wide Edge for Dems, With Many Seeking a Check on Trump; Pentagon Confirms Deployment of Weapons in Space; Trump Administration Removes Climate Pollution Limits on Power Plants. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired September 15, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Now to a CNN Exclusive. More than 300 Korean workers who were swept up in an immigration raid in Georgia last year are now challenging the Trump administration. The case stems from the arrest at a sprawling Hyundai manufacturing plant and what the workers say they were subjected to in detention. This is the first major legal action over the raid, one of the largest immigration enforcement operations under President Trump.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is here with more on this. So Priscilla, what are the details?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is a pretty stunning lawsuit, coming just after a year after this raid happened. And essentially what it is, is an attempt to seek damages for what transpired last year. Now, as a reminder, you mentioned there that it was the largest single-site operation by Homeland Security Investigations. That's a branch of ICE.

What we mean by that is that there were nearly 500 federal and local authorities that descended on this plant and arrested some 475 workers, the majority of whom were South Koreans. Now, what we are seeing happen now is administrative claims are being filed. That is the first mandatory step before a federal lawsuit.

This is according to an attorney. And they are alleging unlawful arrest, as well as being detained without explanation or interpreters. Now, I want to read here a quote from the attorney. She told CNN this, quote, "Before the whole world, they put engineers who had come lawfully to install equipment in handcuffs and shackles, and paraded them like criminals, shaming all Koreans before the world as if Korean companies were invading the U.S. labor market."

I want to take a moment to note too, this was part of a diplomatic spat between the U.S. and South Korea last year. So what they are pursuing here is actually something that garnered a lot of controversy in that country last year. Now, what they are seeking, let me list a few of them -- damages for confiscated belongings, lost work, psychological harm, and alleging, again, that false imprisonment, abusive process, and other emotional distress. Now, they declined to specify the amount of damages that they are seeking. But this is, again, the first step leading to that lawsuit. Now, DHS, for its part, says the following, that ICE, quote, "Executed a judicial search warrant as part of an ongoing criminal investigation into allegations of unlawful employment practices and other serious federal crimes."

So, again, Boris, this is resurfacing what was a massive operation at the time that led to immense controversy and a diplomatic spat that involved senior Trump officials to try to resolve at the time, again, between the Trump administration and South Korea.

SANCHEZ: So, then what happens next?

ALVAREZ: So, this is a lawsuit that could force the government to explain a little bit more about the operation and how it unfolded, why they made a decision on the targets, and any other payments that may come of this. So, there are still several steps ahead, but certainly a big one starting this week.

SANCHEZ: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much for that reporting.

Now, to a quick check on where markets stand. It's been a tough day for the three major stock indices so far. Right now, the Dow down about 427 points or so. Markets obviously facing headwinds from several sectors.

The bond market could drive the borrowing cost for both the government and American consumers. The rising cost of oil also weighing on stocks, as the war with Iran has driven the price of oil up over $100 a barrel. We're going to keep a close eye on markets and speak to CNN's David Goldman about the state of markets next hour.

Also, while President Trump's name is not on the ballot this November, new polling finds that he is on the minds of many voters, though it's not quite working out the way the president had hoped. We'll dig into those numbers when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:37:43]

SANCHEZ: So this afternoon, we're closely watching the pro-human assembly gathered in the nation's capital. And just moments ago, Steve Bannon, an early supporter of President Trump who served in his first administration, was speaking about the threat to humanity posed by artificial intelligence. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE BANNON, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE ADVISER: This past 72 hours, or four or five days, should show you, right, and exemplify to those people what their fear is. We've had all these, as we've said for years and years and years, all these revelations about the labs, about what they're working on, of what the youngest people there and their best people, what they're afraid of. And then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, four, I think, or five of the oligarchs, they've got old-time religion. Now they think, yeah, we ought to have -- we really ought to have some controls. That's a bald- faced lie.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Notably, another speaker at that conference, Senator Bernie Sanders, is going to be on CNN later this afternoon with Jake Tapper. No doubt he's going to be asked about the conference and A.I. and perhaps the fact that Steve Bannon is there alongside him.

So we're less than 50 days until the midterm elections and a new poll shows Democrats have a significant edge. The just-released New York Times-Siena poll has Democrats holding a 51 percent to 43 percent lead in generic ballot questions. Among the voters who say they would like to see Democrats win control of Congress, sizable shares name opposition to President Trump or Republicans as their main motivator.

Separately, 49 percent say they would rather vote for a candidate who wants to provide a check on Trump versus just 26 percent who would rather vote for someone who supports the president. With us now to discuss this and more is Karen Finney. She's a CNN Political Commentator and a former Senior Adviser of Hillary Clinton's 2016 presidential campaign.

Also, Melik Abdul is with us. He's a Republican Strategist. I appreciate you both joining us. Karen, I imagine you like seeing those numbers.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: A huge motivator for those who want to see Democrats win control of Congress is opposition to Trump and Republicans' agenda. I wonder, though, if you think that opposition is enough to motivate turnout in a way that it didn't in 2024.

[13:40:00]

KAREN FINNEY, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's a great question. Look, I think there's two things going on here we should pay attention to. Number one, you know, Trump is a mobilizer for our base. And part of what this poll showed is he is also mobilizing parts of the Republican Party, the more moderate parts, and Independent voters. And there are a lot of interesting data points in there about what Independents are saying as well.

Frustration that he didn't do what they said -- what they thought he was going to do. And one young woman in there says, I feel like I'm being gaslit every time he tells us that everything is all right. Because that's -- I feel poor in America, which I thought really stuck with me.

But the second thing is, I think that Democrats should recognize this means we have an opportunity. You know, we all have a lot of concerns about the election, making sure we have an election where everybody gets to vote. Those votes are counted. Trump is trying to confuse people.

But we have -- if we do win back the majorities, we've got to show people that they were right to put their trust in us. And I think it's really important that Democrats remember that as well and work hard all the way through Election Day.

SANCHEZ: Melik, I'm curious to get your thoughts on Democrats having the advantage on the top issue overall, the economy, 51 percent to 45 percent. How do you sense that Republicans and President Trump see those numbers?

MELIK ABDUL, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Well, I imagine that Republicans will say that, you know, what are polls? You know, we know there are polls --

(LAUGH)

ABDUL: -- that doesn't -- you know, that don't paint us in a good light. But I think one of the things to be mindful of here is that obviously, if you have -- and in this case, we control the White House, the House and the Senate. So historically, we're supposed to lose at least one or both of those. It looks as if that there is a greater chance now in the House.

I would compare it, though. I was looking, doing some analysis and I went back to CNN's own 2022 analysis during the midterms. And CNN had Biden -- or Democrats on the generic ballot, about eight points, which is around the same that it is now. The difference, though, and this is something that I think that Republicans and the White House should be watching, is that although Joe Biden had a 36 percent approval rating in the summer of 2022, that changed to about 45 percent approval rating by November.

Really, by the end of September, Biden was already in the 40s, while Donald Trump at this point is still in the 30s. So we actually have some way to go and this will be a referendum. Donald Trump won't be on the ballot, but obviously this election will be a referendum on Donald Trump.

SANCHEZ: It seems like the White House and the president are trying to tip the scales on the economy question, in part with his promise to give $5,000 to every American --

ABDUL: Yes.

SANCHEZ: -- if Republicans hold on to Congress. The Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent was just asked about that. Let's listen to that response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. EMANUEL CLEAVER, (D-MO): Do you believe that the president can make a declaration about $5,000 for each American without the consent of Congress?

SCOTT BESSENT, UNITED STATES TREASURY SECRETARY: We are currently examining that at Treasury. And when the Republicans win in November, if we need to, I look forward to working with Speaker Johnson on it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Fascinating to hear the conservative party talk about something that would add over $1 trillion to the national debt and undoubtedly, make inflation skyrocket.

ABDUL: If the federal government wants to give me $5,000 --

(LAUGH)

ABDUL: I am going to take $5,000. However, this is not something that's fiscally conservative, prudent, and it's not something that many Republicans that I talk to thinks that it has a chance of actually getting passed or Donald Trump finding a way to do this.

We never really did get the $2,000 either from the tax rebate, from the tariffs. So I don't think this is something that Republicans think seriously about this. But it does point to the administration trying to throw everything at the wall to see what sticks because we have some headwinds that we're running up against.

FINNEY: But it also goes to something Trump does very well, right? Throw something out there so people hear a piece of it and think, well, wait a second, what was that about the five? I would just remind you, again, think of all the broken promises. It's about it. Put that in line with the Epstein files, the money that we're supposed to get from the tariffs, and then, then come back to that question about whether or not that's real.

SANCHEZ: Still checking the mailbox every day for that $2,000.

FINNEY: Right, come on.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: Karen, before we go, I want to get your reaction to something that Gavin Newsom --

FINNEY: Yeah.

SANCHEZ: -- told CNN's Jake Tapper, that he would not run for president if Kamala Harris ran in 2028. The California governor saying, quote, "Electorally, it's a gift from God for everybody else. They enjoy the hell out of it. Mutual assured destruction." Should he step back if Harris has already run for president twice?

FINNEY: It's the right decision on his part. And I'll tell you why. I mean, look, technically she's run twice, but we all know in 2024, it was a bit of a truncated process to say the least. She is still very popular with the Democratic Party, with the base.

[13:45:00]

I just did an event last night and her being part of it, like our numbers grew exponentially once we announced it. So she's still very popular. And so I think Gavin is right to say it may not be good to have the two of us in there with a similar, you know, similar issues, similar conversations that they would be having, kind of going after each other in a primary.

But look, he's also someone who could get in at a later time. So, you know, when you get in is also part of the calculation. So he might say, if she's in early and then for whatever reason is, you know, drops out, he still could have time. So I think the timing is also something that we should consider.

ABDUL: That sounds --

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Republicans have a preference of who they want to run against.

(LAUGH)

ABDUL: That sounds very Marco Rubio-like, saying that he won't run if J.D. Vance runs. I think that much like Marco Rubio, if there's a significant effort behind him or Newsom in this case, he's definitely going to run. And I want to say this for the criticism that people should have of Jasmine Crockett, one of the leaders in the Democratic Party, not is that she gave Chris Brown and Usher a congressional certificate.

(LAUGH)

ABDUL: It should be that she actually went to a concert and gave it. I don't care if it was Beyonce. I'm a big Beyonce fan. She shouldn't have gone to a concert. Don't try to make this about Chris Brown and his history with women. This was about Jasmine Crockett not deciding that she was going to campaign for Talarico. She decided she was going to be the hip hop queen.

SANCHEZ: If you had Usher and Chris Brown on your bingo card at home --

(LAUGH)

(CROSSTALK)

FINNEY: I know and that's something I thought we would be.

(LAUGH)

SANCHEZ: Melik Abdul and Karen Finney, thank you both for the conversation.

FINNEY: Thank you.

(CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: Of course. Ahead on "CNN News Central," Star wars, we're laughing now with the Pentagon confirmed. It's deployed weapons in orbit over Earth. The latest on what we know after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:11]

SANCHEZ: So the U.S. military has deployed weapons into space and will use them to defend the country against any kind of threat. That's what the Air Force Secretary said while speaking at an air, space and cyber conference in Maryland.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TROY MEINK, AIR FORCE SECRETARY: Today, we continue to ensure we remain ready to meet the challenges of evolving threats wherever they exist. This is why the United States now has on-orbit space control weapons capable of defending the joint force against hostile adversary action.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Important to note, this marks the first official confirmation of those capabilities. Let's get more from CNN's Senior National Security Reporter, Zachary Cohen. Zach, I imagine that America's adversaries are hearing that as a direct message. What is up in space and what does it do?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, Boris. Absolutely, a deliberate signal by the Air Force Secretary to adversaries like Russia and China, who U.S. officials have been warning for years are testing offensive capabilities in space. And now we're hearing from the Air Force Secretary the first public acknowledgment that the U.S. also has put weapons in outer space.

And while he didn't elaborate on what exactly those weapons look like, we do know the U.S. has been developing anti-satellite weapons to compete with what Russia and China have been seen doing. Take a listen to what the Air Force Secretary said, though, about why the U.S. is putting these weapons in space.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MEINK: There have been many who are developing capabilities to take those away from us, to threaten those things. So it is critically important that we maintain our dominance not only in the air but in space. And so that we've had to take steps to make sure that when we're threatened, we can take care of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So we don't know when the U.S. put these weapons in space, but we do know that Russia and China have been testing these offensive capabilities, including satellites that can perform attack and defend tactics. Really, both countries seeing this as the next and the future domain of war fighting, and one the U.S. has historically had dominance over, now seeing that dominance challenged in a way that is really prompting this message from the Air Force Secretary. And also, we've known for years as well that U.S. officials believe Russia is developing a space-based nuclear weapon. Now, that would violate a treaty that was signed back in the '60s that prohibits putting nuclear weapons in space. But it also does leave some gray area for conventional weapons, which is what we're seeing from Russia, China, and now apparently the United States.

SANCHEZ: Zachary Cohen, thanks so much for that important report.

Just minutes from now, Attorney General, Todd Blanche will brief reporters from the Rose Garden. These are live images there from the White House. We'll bring you his remarks as they happen. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:58:34]

SANCHEZ: Environmental groups are now threatening legal action after the Trump administration announced a major rollback on climate protections. The EPA has repealed regulations that limit how much planet heating pollution coal and gas-fired power plants are allowed to produce. The agency says the move will help lower electricity bills for millions of Americans.

CNN's Chief Climate Correspondent, Bill Weir is here. Bill, obviously the long-term effects are going to be significant.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, because if you look at power plants in the United States, Boris, writ large, they emit about as much carbon, actually more than countries like Japan or the UK. Just the power plants in this country alone will be sixth largest in a list of emitters. And this continues President Trump's second term all-out war on environmental regulation announced yesterday in Houston at a meeting of G20 Summit leaders.

And it rolls back these Biden-era limits, basically, on power plants, especially coal and natural gas. These are the dirtiest on the grid these days. And it would have required them to bring them down, those limits, to about by 75 percent to 2005 limits over time. And they're not only going to destroy that regulation, Lee Zeldin announced they also want to basically get rid of the Clean Air Act, which regulates so many of these power plants. And that would really just benefit coal and natural gas.

They claim that this would help Americans' power bills, but energy experts would say it's just the opposite. It's now more expensive to run a coal-fired power plant --