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CNN, MS NOW and Politico to Sue Trump Administration Over White House Access; Venezuelan DoorDash Driver Shot, Injured by ICE Agent in Austin, Texas; Trump, Mamdani to Meet in New York City Ahead of U.N. General Assembly. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired September 21, 2026 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Talk to us about the football yesterday, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: What's up, Sunshine? Yes, two things seemed pretty clear after that Sunday night game. Patrick Mahomes' knee doing just fine, and yes, the Chiefs are still really good.

Mahomes gives Kansas City the lead in the third quarter. There he is. Taylor Swift was up there in the stands, too.

The Stars were out. He finds Jalen Royals for the touchdown. But Indy punches back.

They have this guy named Jonathan Taylor, one of the fastest guys in the league, rumbling for 92 yards on the night and two scores. He helps send this one to overtime. But that's where Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker says, no more football today.

Game winner. Chiefs survive 33-30 and move to 2-0 on the season. Now two quarterbacks, two huge losses, Chicago's Caleb Williams and Washington's Jayden Daniels both leaving their games.

Williams, a hamstring injury, in the Bears' ninth. He lost to Minnesota. And then turn your head if you're queasy.

Jayden Daniels, tripped up by his own lineman, dislocates his elbow as Washington falls to Dallas 37-20. Two franchises now holding their breaths, waiting to see how this plays out.

Miles by name, Miles Stones by game. Caitlin Clark's WNBA rookie scoring record shattered by Lynx phenom, Olivia Miles, 21 against Connecticut, giving her 790 points in the season, most ever by a rook. She's averaging nearly 20 a game. Minnesota owns the best record in the league, and Olivia has the best hair in the league.

Finally, Dr. Jesse McGuire performing the national anthem at the Diamondbacks game when his trumpet stops working, John. But listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. JESSE MCGUIRE, TRUMPET PLAYER: He watched, words so gallantly streaming. And the rockets ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: Crowd standing ovation. No trumpet, no trouble. Finger keys got stuck, but Dr. McGuire becomes the instrument, John. How awesome is that?

BERMAN: He sounds great. Like, good for him.

WIRE: He's amazing.

BERMAN: That is super impressive. All right, Coy Wire, thanks so much. I do have to say, too many injuries to too many good players in football. The NFL's got to be a little worried two games into the season.

Brand new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

This morning, CNN and other news organizations suing the Trump administration over the president banning journalists from the White House. We are standing by for the White House response.

In Texas, an ICE agent shooting wounds, a DoorDash delivery driver, what Homeland Security is saying about it this morning.

And beware what is under the hood, because sometimes what's under the hood is a four-foot bullet constrictor.

Kate is out today. I'm John Berman with Sara Sidner, and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, a First Amendment showdown. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico all suing the Trump administration after President Trump banned them from the White House, including our own Betsy Klein. The president's own words being used against him as to why he made the decision.

And that's not the only escalation this morning, this face-off between the president and the press. CNN has been stripped of its White House TV pool duties for today, breaking with decades of precedent. We were set to be the pooled network traveling with President Trump to New York for the U.N. General Assembly as he meets with city and international leaders here.

CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz joining us right now. This lawsuit just coming down, and you're getting the details. What does it say?

What are the messages to the court here?

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Sara, we've been able to see a draft version of this lawsuit. It's called CNN v. Trump, and it's set to be a major case in the D.C. District Court very soon, one that can move quite fast. CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, the three outlets banned by President Donald Trump and the White House from accessing their workspaces, accessing the White House grounds, being able to take part in pool coverage, all three are suing together. And they are asking to have their White House access restored as part of the national press corps covering the president. One of the things that they have said so far in a joint statement is that this is a lawsuit to protect our First Amendment rights and defend the principle that the government does not decide what the press reports or publishes.

The joint statement also says that without notice or process, the White House revoked our journalists' credentials because it objected to our reporting. "Left unchallenged, this threatens press freedom and the public's right to independent journalism, free from government interference."

[08:05:00]

I am watching for this to move quite quickly in court today once it is on the books there, filed before the judges in federal court, because there's ample case law around this. Courts that have stepped in already and restored access to White House press pass holders, that goes as far back as 1977, where there was a pivotal case where the courts found that there had to be due process, there had to be a process if the White House wanted to revoke press credentials, and a valid reason, perhaps a national security reason. It could not be just because the president or the White House or the federal government disagrees with what publications or reporters are doing, publishing, printing, saying on television as they do their jobs.

There can't be what's called viewpoint discrimination. That is all captured in the draft version of this lawsuit that we're waiting to see filed in court this morning. The Justice Department has been alerted to this, and we are waiting to see exactly what they might say to defend the president's actions here as well -- Sara

SIDNER: Certainly the president's own words about this, never mentioning anything about national security or anything else, but not liking the coverage, will play in this as well. Katelyn Polantz, it is a pleasure.

Thank you so much for running through that with us -- John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now, Ayesha Rascoe, host of NPR's Weekend Edition Sunday and weekend host of Up First. Ayesha, great to see you. I'm going to start off with some rapid fire questions here.

So what is banning certain reporters from the White House? How does that lower diesel prices?

AYESHA RASCOE, NPR HOST, WEEKEND EDITION SUNDAY AND UP FIRST: I don't think it does.

BERMAN: How does banning reporters from the White House lower interest rates, which were just raised?

RASCOE: I don't think it lowers interest rates.

BERMAN: And then finally, how does banning certain reporters from the White House bring the war in Iran any closer to completion?

RASCOE: I know that reporters can have a lot of power, but I don't think banning us will do that.

BERMAN: OK, so I appreciate you answering these questions. So the answer then is, if that's not what's happening here, which is what the country seems to be focused on, what do you think the president is getting out of this?

RASCOE: Well, I mean, what President Trump is getting out of this is, you know, he has had a disdain for media. He feels that they treat him unfairly. He feels like they write negative stories and that they are not, you know, touting what he feels like are his accomplishments.

And so he's focused on, you know, his, you know, beefs with CNN and MS NOW and Politico. But of course, as you're pointing out, that means that he is not as focused on diesel prices or interest rates or the war in Iran, which is, you know, affecting everyone. And that's really the problem for Republicans, this midterm cycle.

BERMAN: We did just get a statement from the President. He posted on social media. I'm going to read this out loud.

He says, "The White House is not instituting an assault on the free press, something which I cherish. It is instituting an assault on the fake news, something that has grown like cancer in our beloved United States of America. It is corrupt, purposeful, pervasive, fully coordinated, and totally out of control. It is a threat to our national security and must be stopped now. Thank you for your attention to this matter."

So the first line, "The White House is not instituting an assault on the free press, something which I cherish." What evidence is there that President Trump cherishes the free press?

RASCOE: Well, I think we have a lot of evidence to the contrary. And he did say in the Oval Office that this was about the free press. And this was, you know, something aimed at the free press.

Whether he misspoke or not, that's what he said. I think what you're seeing here is that he's getting some advice from the Justice Department that he has to somehow tie this to national security. But the issue is it's not for Trump to decide what is fake news and what is the free press.

The free press means that they can report news that the president doesn't like. That is what the free press is, and that they can report news that, you know, that makes the president look bad. That is what it means to have a free press.

And, you know, under, you know, more liberal administrations, they haven't liked Fox News, right? They haven't liked conservative press. But you can't discriminate because you don't like the coverage of a news network.

BERMAN: Back to just sort of, again, the why of this and the atmospherics for what's going on while this is happening. Axios, Mike Allen and Jim VandeHei, they had a nice turn of phrase this morning.

[08:10:00]

Where they say that "Trump's vincibility is being exposed. Courts restrain him more. GOP candidates criticize him more. The public turns on him. Trump's vincibility is being exposed. Courts restrain him more. GOP candidates criticize him more. The public turns on him more."

Just in general, what is the reality facing the president as he comes to New York for the U.N. General Assembly, as the midterm elections are 45 days away?

RASCOE: Well, he's a weakened president, right? He's deeply unpopular. He came in with very strong numbers.

But now the Americans are not pleased with where his focus is. They feel like he's focused on an arch and the White House ballroom and the Kennedy Center and all these things, but that he hasn't focused on the price of groceries, and he's had a direct hand in raising the price of gasoline. And so I think that he goes into this with his weaknesses exposed, right?

And many times, you know, Trump can seem like the Teflon Don, but right now he's a little more like aluminum foil, I don't know, Saran wrap.

BERMAN: Maybe Velcro, maybe Velcro, Don. Ayesha Rascoe, great to see you this morning. Thank you so much for being with us.

I really do appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: Thank you, John. Ahead, protests erupting in Texas overnight after a Venezuelan DoorDash delivery driver was shot by ICE agents. What DHS and the family attorney is saying this morning.

And they vilify each other in public, but in person we've seen something very different. What will happen today when the mayor of New York meets with the President?

And shoe brand Converse now apologizing and pulling an ad that sparked backlash and comparisons to KKK imagery.

Those stories and more ahead.

[08:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This morning, a Venezuelan DoorDash driver is the latest person to be shot by ICE agents. This time, it happened in Austin, Texas. He has been identified as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez.

Video shows what appears to be his car, with bullet holes in it. Federal authorities have yet to explain what led up to the gunfire, but a bystander actually caught the shooting on camera. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Holy s***. Whoa. Oh my God.

Holy s***, dude. Oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Perez was treated at a hospital, released, and is in federal custody, according to authorities. DHS says Perez is an undocumented immigrant who had a final order for removal. Perez's lawyers say she could not confirm his current immigration status, but says he previously held a valid work permit and entered the U.S. lawfully.

Joining us now is CNN's senior law enforcement analyst and former deputy director of the FBI, Andrew McCabe. When you look at the scene, what questions do you have when you see what happened here?

ANDREW MCCABE, CNN SENIOR LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, Sara, many, many questions. We really have very little information from the shooting. We have that video, and there are reports of other videos, but I don't think there's any really conclusive, up-close, complete video that shows the interaction between the victim and the ICE officers before the shooting, which is really what you need to tell the tale.

The officers are invariably going to claim that they thought they were in some sort of danger and had to fire to protect themselves or others. That is the standard for a law enforcement shooting. Whether or not those claims are validated by facts and evidence is a much bigger question.

SIDNER: The local authorities there and one of the Democratic congresspeople has also put into the zeitgeist, hey, we'd like to see body camera video. And if they're able to do an investigation, do you expect ICE to investigate? And if so, is it trustworthy, considering agents have been caught in lies by courts in other cases?

MCCABE: Yes, I don't expect ICE to investigate in any sort of a credible or transparent way. And I'm simply saying that based upon what we know from so many other shootings. There have been upwards of 20 shootings of individuals in this country by ICE officers since this operation began about a year and a half ago.

Six of those resulted in fatalities. And quite frankly, we've heard almost nothing about every single one of them. There's now been one ICE officer indicted is currently charged criminally in Minneapolis for shooting an immigrant through the door of his home after chasing him back to that residence.

But every one of these shootings, including the death of Renee Good, the death of Alex Pretti, and many others, we haven't heard anything from ICE about the results of any sort of investigation. We also haven't heard from the FBI. Notably, the FBI has not gotten clearly, publicly, clearly involved in any of these shootings. Each one of them presents the distinct possibility of a violation of the victim's civil rights, which could result from what we call a color of law offense.

[08:20:00]

People who, wearing the uniform, utilize excessive force, things like that. But again, we're hearing nothing. Zero transparency from the federal government on this. No indication that the sort of credible, thorough investigations that we should be demanding are actually taking place. What we do see, though, is local jurisdictions who want to investigate are being frozen out.

The federal government very often does not share the information from the crime scene, the evidence, access to that evidence or the crime scene with local investigators, thus kind of blocking them from taking any action on their own.

SIDNER: What is the protocol normally? I mean, how far away from the norms when it comes to shootings is this?

MCCABE: Miles. This is completely unprecedented. Every federal agency with law enforcement responsibilities has an inspector general or an internal investigations function.

For instance, in the FBI, every FBI shooting gets investigated first and foremost by the FBI Inspection Division. The results of those investigations are shared with the Department of Justice Inspector General. And if they believe a crime has been committed, will be shared with federal prosecutors in the relevant jurisdiction.

We're not seeing any of that here. Nothing. 20 people shot, 6 people killed, and zero accountability so far.

So, yes, ICE has inspectors general. I'm sure they have an internal investigations component. And we have federal prosecutors who should be impaneling grand juries to look at some of these uses of lethal force, but it is just not happening at this point.

SIDNER: It is good to have you to give us some sense of what is normal and what isn't, as well on all of these cases. Andrew McCabe, thank you so much for your expertise on this.

All right, just ahead, snipers, drones, and ammo. President Trump now trying to sell his enormous arch as a military complex. What we're learning this morning.

Plus, a community demanding answers after a string of rare childhood cancer cases. Those stories and more, ahead.

[08:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BERMAN: In just hours, President Trump comes here to New York City. I'm going to look over here. In just hours, President Trump comes here to New York City to meet with New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

So for men on different sides of the political spectrum, they have some surprisingly cordial moments together. CNN's Gloria Pazmino outside Gracie Mansion here in New York. Give us a sense of what we expect from this meeting.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know, John, if you speak to people in Mayor Mamdani's orbit, they would tell you that these meetings actually have delivered some wins for the mayor and for New York City. And that is one key reason why Mayor Mamdani continues to seek this out, despite their political differences, right? These are two very different politicians with two very different worldviews, ideologically opposed.

And as you said, every time they have met, it has been surprisingly friendly, despite what each other have said about one another in the past, right? Mamdani has said that Trump is a fascist and a despot. And Trump has called Mamdani a communist and a lunatic.

But when they meet face-to-face, they usually have good meetings. The last time Mamdani got some pretty specific deliverables, you might remember there was the case of a Columbia University student who was detained by federal immigration officers at the time. It was shortly after the mayor's second meeting with Trump in February that that student was actually released.

The mayor also pitched President Trump on a major federal housing project here in New York City, which he is hoping to follow up on during today's conversation. The mayor's office has said that today's meeting will be focused on New York City and New Yorkers. And I want to tell you one more thing that is different about this meeting.

It's happening in what we could refer to as Mamdani territory, right? It's happening in Gracie Mansion here behind me, the mayoral residence here in Mamdani -- in Manhattan. And this is the first time that Trump is coming to Mamdani's front door, right?

The last two meetings have happened in the Oval Office, at the White House. But Trump is in New York City ahead of the United Nations General Assembly. He is scheduled to deliver a speech on Tuesday, and he will be meeting with the mayor this afternoon.

We are watching closely to see what they discuss and to see if the mayor once again is able to come away with any sort of significant wins or specific commitments from the president about things that New York City needs and it's looking for, like federal funding for housing. But again, just the last two meetings have been surprisingly friendly, and I wonder if we're going to continue to see that tone here today -- John.

BERMAN: Obviously, we're standing by to see what the dynamics there are. One notable thing, Zohran Mamdani, the Mayor of New York City, his popularity pretty high among his constituents. President Trump, less so this morning.

All right, the former husband of Lindsey Clancy, in his very first interview, what he is saying about his children's deaths and now his plans for the future.

And that is not a jumper cable. That is, where is it? There it is. That's a snake.

That's a snake. A four-foot boa they found underneath the hood of the car.

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