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Trump Sends Jared Kushner And Steve Witkoff To Meet With Putin; Rare Glimpse Of Damage After Nepal-China Floods; U.S. Strikes Three Iranian Tankers In Retaliation For Missile Attacks; Trump Ramps Up Economic Pressure Campaign Against Iran; U.S. Economy Creates 162K Jobs In August; Trump's Projects. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired September 05, 2026 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:32]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

New tonight we've got a renewed push to end Russia's war in Ukraine. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and President Trump's former son-in-law, Jared Kushner, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow earlier today. His son in law Kushner. They're expected to head to Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, next.

Now, Russia said it had agreed to pause strikes on Kyiv for three days to coincide with Kushner and Witkoff's trip, though not the rest of Ukraine. Previous diplomatic efforts to end the war stalled, and the U.S.'s attention largely turned to Iran.

Now, today in the Gulf region, the U.S. struck three Iranian tankers. Now Central Command says this was in retaliation for Iran firing at U.S. Navy vessels.

CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook joins us now from Basking Ridge, New Jersey, where the president is tonight.

Julia, what are we learning about the Trump administration's renewed push here to try and make inroads in ending Russia's war with Ukraine?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, they had these meetings at the Kremlin in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin today. We have reached out to the White House for more details. But we do know that the meetings lasted for roughly three hours and that the main area of focus here is bringing this years' long war to an end.

Now, during this trip that the U.S. delegation is taking, both sides say that they have agreed to for three days halt attacks on the cities involved in negotiations. And Moscow is expected to be the first leg of this trip. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that the two are expected to visit Kyiv next, and that visit to the Ukrainian capital would be the first for the envoys, as the country is facing a barrage of Russian missiles, and also as Ukraine has been pleading with the United States for more Patriot missiles to intercept some of those attacks. President Donald Trump, he's spending his weekend, as you mentioned,

here in New Jersey, at one of his properties nearby. But he did speak on this recently. He said that he is sending in great negotiators to essentially see what they can get done here. He also noted the complicated nature of these discussions, and that part is notable because when Trump took office for the second term, he said that this would be an easy conflict to bring to an end and that it was going to happen very quickly. He now says that he and his team have some ideas for peace.

Now previous attempts to come to an agreement to end Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine stalled last winter, and that was in part because of these sticking points. The failure to find a breakthrough when it comes to some really big issues here, like territory as well as security guarantees. And that was after multiple rounds of talks that were mediated by the United States -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Julia Benbrook, really appreciate the reporting.

I want to bring in now former NATO Supreme Allied commander, General Wesley Clark.

And General Clark, a diplomatic solution to quickly end the war is pretty unlikely, given Putin has maintained his maximalist positions here. Knowing that, keeping that in mind, what is your overall assessment of the state of the war now after more than four years of fighting here?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: I think the Ukrainians have done a remarkable job of holding on to what they've got. They don't have the combat power, the capabilities to really push Russia out either of the Crimea or Donbas. And they are increasingly vulnerable to the ballistic missile inventory that Russia is building up. The potential mobilization of another 600,000 Russians in the fall and the 50,000 North Koreans that are coming. So it's a precarious position.

On the other hand, if the president really wanted to get this resolved, he could put more pressure on Putin and bring it more likely to a conclusion by providing the Patriot missiles, by not stating that the Europeans have to pay for all the assistance that the U.S. has ever given, by not allowing the U.S. to redeploy forces out of Europe and so forth. So there are other means of support for Ukraine that could be given that might lead Putin to reconsider but I don't see that happening right now.

[19:05:09]

JIMENEZ: And, you know, to that point, Russia has said that it is pausing strikes on Kyiv as U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, are set to visit. But as you know, the Kyiv region has been under near constant aerial assault over the past week. Most of the attacks from jet powered drones.

What is that like for Ukraine to try and defend against when the country has been already struggling with a critical shortage of interceptor missiles?

CLARK: Well, for the jet power drones are mostly having to use their aircraft with things like sidewinder missiles. And again, they don't have enough of the air-to-air missiles. So they're desperate to get more air-to-air missiles. You don't like to use F-16s to go after these drones because you're in the air with them at night. They're hard to find, easier during the day. And they're moving pretty fast.

And some of them now are able to observe around them. They've got a television channel on board that they can see an interceptor missile or even an aircraft coming at them and they can dodge. So, so it's a cat and mouse game. Ukraine is trying to hold its own, but it is a tough problem.

JIMENEZ: You know, Germany this week accused Russia of being responsible for a recent drone attack targeting Leipzig Airport. And President Trump was asked about this on Friday. He said Putin isn't looking to attack a NATO territory.

Now, look, you're former NATO supreme allied commander here. How should this attack inform NATO's position about the threat Russia poses? Do you believe they're not interested in attacking NATO territory?

CLARK: Well, I believe that they're interested in creating a distraction for what you consider an attack on NATO territory, sabotage. That's going on right now. Drones coming in, that's going on right now. So they are attacking in that regard. Is it going to be a full-scale, full-fledged assault with tanks and artillery? I don't know that. But NATO is certainly trying to prepare for it.

We see vulnerabilities and possible areas in which Russia might attack in north Norway, the long border between Russia and Finland, Latvia, and Lithuania to try to secure a corridor between Kaliningrad and Belarus. So all signs actually, all the warning and indications, signs, point toward to some kind of a Russian move in the month of September against NATO.

JIMENEZ: And while -- and I was just going to say, while all this is going on, the U.S. and Iran are still trading strikes back and forth. U.S. Central Command says it struck three Iranian tankers in the Gulf region in retaliation for Iran firing at U.S. vessels. But overall, when you look at this, at what's been going on in the strait and the Gulf there, it seems -- it has seemed that Iran has tried to wait things out and put economic pressure on the U.S. as prices rise globally, which we have seen, for example, diesel hitting a record high.

Do you assess that Iran maintains the level of strength in that strategy now, and whether it is growing or decreasing at the moment?

CLARK: I'd say that we haven't yet figured out how to go after the considerable Iranian missile inventory that's in these underground shelters that we haven't been able to really take out of business. So do they have a thousand, 2,000, 3,000 ballistic missiles? They still have drones that they can launch. They are losing their radars. They turn them on. We spot them, especially around the Strait of Hormuz. We're going to take those out.

So it's a tough really no-holds-barred fight for the Gulf. And as long as the Iranians are able to hit a ship or two, if the insurance companies then say, well, it's too dangerous to really go with big ships, then they're going to hold their grip on the Strait of Hormuz. So I hope the United States, behind the scenes is not only working with CENTCOM and helping these ships go through, but also talking to London and the insurance companies like Lloyds of London and maybe giving them a little help so that they'll encourage a movement through the strait.

This is likely to continue through the election, and then we don't know what's going to happen. But right now, what the Iranians are counting on is causing trouble, making the president look weak, and raising the price of diesel and causing him to overreact and then make it worse.

[19:10:09]

So he's -- President Trump and CENTCOM are trying not to escalate this. The Iranians are -- they're willing to escalate it. But they're doing it in a cautious manner. So they're not too much provocative against the Gulf States, more targeting U.S. bases. So they're coming after us in Jordan. They've hit Aqaba, they've hit our two air bases there. They're still going after installations in Kuwait.

And so they're trying to pursue a de-basification, basification policy. Run us out of the region while all this is going on. So there are lots of different strategies at work here, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. General Wesley Clark, always appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.

CLARK: Thank you. Good to be with you.

JIMENEZ: Coming up, we've got two more miraculous stories of survival in Nepal. A man and a woman both rescued after 10 days trapped. We'll bring you those details. Plus back and forth retaliation strikes between the United States and Iran as talks stall between the two nations. But is this a sustainable strategy before getting to an agreement? We'll dig further into that dynamic.

That and much more ahead in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:07]

JIMENEZ: Two miraculous rescues in Nepal 10 days after catastrophic flooding.

I mean, you can see the moment there that the woman is lifted from the upper floor of a severely damaged four-story building. She's in her 60s. She'd been missing for so long her family started to plan her funeral. She was taken to a hospital for treatment. The other rescue, a Chinese national was pulled from the hydropower tunnels where hundreds of other workers remain missing. Officials say he was found about 245 yards inside the tunnel.

Meanwhile, disaster workers are tirelessly searching for thousands of missing people after flooding along the Nepal-China border. Authorities say the death toll is now over 1300. And then on the Chinese side of the border, authorities say at least 31 people were killed in the flooding.

CNN went on a rare government organized reporting trip, accompanied by Chinese officials. We should note, though, CNN still maintains full editorial -- control of the coverage.

CNN's Simone McCarthy has the story from Tibet.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA CORRESPONDENT: We're on the road to the China-Nepal border on the Tibet side. CNN is part of a handful of foreign media that are on a government organized trip to the disaster zone in Tibet after a major natural disaster struck the China-Nepal border late last month.

Now we're driving hours to the border area, and that really speaks to just how remote this region is. We're going through tunnel after tunnel through the Himalayas, on this plateau. The altitude here is around 3500 meters.

Now disaster effort, the response efforts have been incredibly difficult in this remote part of Tibet. Roads were completely blocked. Information has also been moving slowly out of this area, and that's been devastating for families who are desperate for news about loved ones that they believe were at a hard hit land border crossing on the China-Nepal border into Tibet side.

We'll be traveling to that border crossing and speaking with local officials there, trying to understand more about what happened and how those rescue efforts are progressing.

Access for foreign reporters into Tibet is extraordinary. Now, this is the only part of China that requires foreigners to get registration authorization in order to enter. And that's especially for journalists. Information is difficult to get from this part of China.

Now we're seeing that our itinerary is being closely controlled by the government officials. But at the same time, we can certainly see that they're interested in showing what those rescue efforts have been on the ground, the challenges that the rescuers have been facing, and we're going to put questions to local officials about those efforts and when we're going to get more information about the people who may have been lost at that border crossing.

Simone McCarthy, CNN, Tibet, China.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Simone McCarthy, really appreciate that reporting for us. Meanwhile, as the world marks 25 years since the September 11th

attacks, CNN will screen the -- screened the acclaimed film "9/11," the only documentary with firsthand footage from inside the towers. Plus, we're going to have a special interview with the French filmmakers as they reflect on that day. Here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're milling around, regrouping with other chiefs to say, OK, what do we do next?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got seven -- nine more people in there. One woman is flying down to the right, to the left, and to go into the entrance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chief Pfeifer decides, OK, let's go back inside. The tower is still there. It's still burning. There's still people so we have to go.

[19:20:01]

And I remember making about two or three steps. The ground is shaking like a freight train going towards you at 100 miles an hour in the tunnel. And I jumped in between the two trucks. And I feel someone jump on top of me. And then suddenly, the sound stops. The person on top of me gets up and says, are you OK? And that's when I realize it's Chief Pfeifer's voice.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's get out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, get (INAUDIBLE).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can anybody hear me?

(CROSSTALK)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Just unbelievable moments there. You can watch the CNN Film "9/11" Sunday at 8:00 p.m. right here on CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:25:30]

JIMENEZ: More strikes in the Middle East. This time the U.S. military says it went after three Iranian oil tankers. The U.S. attack was in response to Iran launching ballistic missiles at two Navy warships overnight.

The war with Iran has gotten to somewhat of a stalemate. This week marked the first time both sides traded strikes in a month, and with no ongoing negotiations between Washington and Tehran, at least publicly, the future of the region remains in limbo.

So I want to bring in CNN senior political commentator, former Republican congressman, Adam Kinzinger. He's also a former Air Force pilot as well.

Look, Congressman, U.S. Central Command is warning Iran that if they shoot at two U.S. ships, the U.S. will take out three of theirs. But as I just mentioned widely, it does not seem there are any negotiations happening here, at least at a consistent pace. Where does this go from here?

ADAM KINZINGER, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, clearly there's no negotiations going on. I think we end up basically in this stalemate. I think there's going to end up from the U.S. side being a continued economic embargo, which in essence we had, by the way, before this war.

I mean, it was only -- you know, Iran had basically all their oil sales shut down prior to the war. So we're back to that now. We're trying to inflict pain on them. The thing is, is, as we all know, the Iranian regime has a far higher pain threshold than we do. So it's clear that we got into this without a clear way out. And I think right now we're just going to probably have to accept that this is going to go on and on.

And I think it's up to the administration. This is where they have failed big time, besides launching a war they shouldn't have, is they're not telling the American people what to expect. They're not saying what the goals are here. And by the way, this is our military. It's not Donald Trump's. We have a right to know these things.

JIMENEZ: You know, the "Wall Street Journal" was out with a piece yesterday, essentially saying that time is no longer on Iran's side in the battle of the blockades, essentially citing that that the U.S. naval blockade has been less leaky than the ability to still get some oil out through the Strait of Hormuz, which we have seen, even if it has come from U.S. military escort.

Do you agree with that sentiment? And is that an opening you believe of weakness for Iran that could erode more quickly over time?

KINZINGER: Yes. I mean, it's possible. Again, I think we're in a position where, you know, short of just leaving the Middle East, which would just lead to huge problems, including my four and a half year old son having to fight Iran someday, this is about the best deal. Now, are we able to tamp down on some of Iran's oil sales? Sure. Seems to be, though, that there's still a lot of oil sales to China that's coming through.

We talk about this massive whatever they're calling it in essence, like a -- I forget the word, but it's like Normandy -- economic Normandy or something like that.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Economic D-Day is what they called it.

KINZINGER: Economic D-Day.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Yes.

KINZINGER: Yes. And you look at that and China is hugely exempt. I think 70 percent of Iranian oil sales is to China. So if you really want to take on this issue, you'd go after China. The problem is we don't have the economic leverage to do that anymore. So I think the future is just clearly, if we would fast forward six months from now, we're probably going to be in the same situation again.

This is why it is important for the administration to level with the American people and quite honestly, put a rotation plan in place for the reservists, particularly the reservist pilots that I talked to that have gone there. What was initially going to be a two or three- month deployment, they're on month six, seven now, told they will be there until the beginning of next year.

There's going to be a real retention problem in the military, particularly the reserves.

JIMENEZ: And to your point on China, it hasn't been included in these sanctions and even Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, he said we have more in common with the Chinese on Iran than we disagree with them on. But in terms of, you look at them being the number one customer of oil coming through this -- through Iran's permission, essentially, that's the conflict. But we will see.

I want to ask about some of the effects here in the United States because obviously, look, Americans are experiencing the firsthand costs of this war. How much do you believe this weighs on Republicans ahead of the very quickly approaching midterms? And do you think the Trump administration is doing enough to try and mitigate the impact this war is having on Americans?

KINZINGER: No. They're not.

[19:30:00]

This is going to have a huge impact. I mean, there are so many things that are going to have an impact whether it is the lack of a release of the Epstein files, just this general feeling of corruption, but certainly high energy costs is going to be essential.

And clearly the administration is not doing enough to mitigate this. If you keep in mind, before they even launched this war, there was no effort to refill the SPR, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve that is running towards empty. And they can blame Biden all they want for that, because of course, some was released during the beginning of the Russian invasion into Ukraine, but they made no effort to refill that.

And so we are here without these options, and again, no point, you know, Donald Trump just acts like this really isn't a real war. It is not really happening. He is trying to minimize it, when the people are sitting around saying, look, we feel the effects of this.

And by the way, you have Russia, you have China, you have Iran and North Korea that have created an alliance that everybody sees, but for whatever reason, the U.S. government doesn't acknowledge or see, and we end up, you know, on the one hand, trying to become friends with Russia while taking on Iran, while Russia is giving Iran coordinates to our troops. And meanwhile, China is buying all of the Iranian oil. It just doesn't make any sense.

JIMENEZ: So let's talk about Russia a little bit, because U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, they have been in Moscow. They are next headed to Kyiv and that will actually mark their first visit to Ukraine, to Kyiv in particular, though they have previously visited Russia many times.

Do you see any hope for a diplomatic end to that war, or at the very least, does this opportunity now present any new opportunities that we haven't seen previously?

KINZINGER: I mean, I would love to be able to say, yes. Honestly, I don't think so, because the only way that this war is going to end, it is not going to end with Ukraine saying, oh, you're right, we shouldn't defend ourselves against an invasion and against an attack on our people and Ukraine has shown its ability to defend itself.

It is going to end when Russia realizes that the cost that Putin is willing to expend is not worth the juice anymore, and the only way to get there is to have the U.S. government, with our allies, inflict huge economic and, frankly, military cost on Russia and it appears we are not doing that.

I mean, you mentioned Kushner and Witkoff have gone to Russia a number of times. Witkoff in particular, meets with Vladimir Putin. It feels like every two weeks and smiles and shakes his hands and talks about how beautiful Russia is, they have yet to go to Ukraine. If they go this weekend, it is the very first time the message that sends to Vladimir Putin is not that your time is limited, it is keep biding your time, because eventually the United States is just going to fully admit it is on your side.

And so I think, you know, I wish I had more hope in that, but unfortunately, that's what it feels like.

JIMENEZ: Maybe not a lot of hope, but you do have some expertise. So, Congressman Adam Kinzinger, really appreciate you being here. Thanks for taking the time.

KINZINGER: You bet. You bet.

JIMENEZ: All right, meanwhile, the Labor Department says hiring surged in August. But what is behind it? And what does fall actually look like for people looking for a job? We will tell you about it, talk about it, a lot of details to get into. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:37:52]

JIMENEZ: Turbulent headlines this week for the economy: A strong jobs report, but also tremors in the bond market. Then President Trump made an unprecedented, if yet consistent demand for lower interest rates, including a threat no president has ever made before. But the really big problem with his threat is lower rates tend to fire up inflation. That's at least what many economists say.

There is a lot to break down here. Kayla Bruun joins me now. She is the head of economic analysis at Morning Consult. So Kayla, let's just start with the Jobs Report news here.

It came in strong, solid 162,000 new jobs in August. Unemployment steady at 4.1 percent. What did you take away from this number and kind of where things were surging here?

KAYLA BRUUN, HEAD OF ECONOMIC ANALYSIS, MORNING CONSULT: So thank you for having me on. Good evening.

I would absolutely agree with your characterization of the report as a strong report, really across the board, there were pretty solid signals. That non-farm payrolls number, the job additions was one of the best numbers we've had in the past couple of years, the second highest this year. But other than that, I think the highest since 2024.

The unemployment rate holding steady, we have low unemployment this year, but what was different this month is that it wasn't really helped by labor force participation declining, which is sort of the kind of negative trend that we've been seeing this year, where it was almost artificially held down by labor force exits.

So the increase in labor force participation, I thought, was also a very strong signal, too, and a bit of a departure from what we've seen this year so far.

JIMENEZ: And look, in previous Jobs Reports, however strong or maybe weak they have been, you typically see revisions up or down, as we saw in many cases for some of the numbers over the summer. When you look at this number in particular, what is the conventional wisdom right now among economists about the integrity of these jobs numbers? Any concerns or anything you're waiting for sort of final confirmation on?

BRUUN: So the revisions were actually a pretty important part of the Jobs Report this month. What stood out to me was that the previous month we had seen a very weak, a surprisingly weak jobs report where there was actually jobs losses of about 23,000.

[19:40:11]

And then with the revisions that we saw, the last two months were revised up by 55,000 jobs. That being said, the revisions always happen. These aren't extremely large numbers. I think what was kind of eye opening this time or eyebrow raising this time was that that previous month that everyone was kind of up in arms about this very weak number, it flipped positive after the revisions.

So the Bureau of Labor Statistics, they are always just releasing the best estimate they have with the information they have at the time. When they get more information, they update those estimates.

So I don't -- I just take it in good faith as the best estimate they have at the time. But yes, it is always subject to revision if more information becomes available in the next few months.

JIMENEZ: So I talked about, you know, the data we have been getting a little bit of a mixed bag in terms of the economy. Jobs, good; bond market, okay, some volatility there. But then also the big headline is gas prices.

The national average has never been above $4.00 a gallon on Labor Day. But you know, diesel is hitting an all-time high. It is just basically costing a lot more in terms of filling up whatever vehicle you have here.

Do you expect that the high prices we are seeing with gas here could contribute in any way to inflation, especially because of diesel?

I just wonder how you're viewing these numbers in sort of the longer tail of things here.

BRUUN: Yes, and has kind of a funny role in inflation. For consumers, gas prices are a huge deal, but they're also very volatile and economists and the Federal Reserve, when they're looking at inflation, they pay a lot of attention to sort of the core inflation number that strips out the more volatile commodity components, including energy.

So on a day-to-day basis, they know, yes, gas prices could surge up, but they could also come down the next month. So typically you don't read that much into it. That being said, what does become more concerning is when gas prices and diesel prices, energy prices overall stay high, kind of persistently because of the way they filter through to supply chains.

You mentioned diesel. If you think about pretty much everything you buy, it gets shipped. It goes around in trucks. So truckers are having to face these very high diesel prices. Maybe that hasn't filtered all the way through to consumer goods yet, but it is a cost pressure, and the longer that oil prices stay high and energy prices stay high, the more likely it is that shippers and consumer goods companies are going to need to pass that on to consumers.

So it does in that way eventually filter through to core inflation and overall inflation.

JIMENEZ: And we had the graphic on the screen while you were talking there, just laying it out that for some of these trucks, they have got 300 gallons, and if diesel is at $5.85, you do the math, you're quickly over a thousand bucks in terms of how much it takes to actually fill up for these trucks.

Now, I want to ask about one more thing before we go, just the bond market already was kind of nervous driving some yields near highs we haven't seen in about 20 years or so and I just wonder from a purely economic standpoint, what do you think is driving that and would cutting or raising the rates at the Federal Reserve impact the maybe nervousness around the bond market?

BRUUN: In a word, I would say uncertainty is driving that, bonds and markets in general, they are trying to price in not only what we know today, but what will happen in the future, and there are a lot of major factors that are very uncertain right now.

The Iran War and oil prices are major ones we talked about. The Federal Reserve's decision, we've been kind of getting mixed signals about what will happen there. And just --even the labor market, yes, we had solid numbers today, but if you think ahead with A.I. disruption, there are a lot of question marks there.

So there are so many factors that could have big swings one way or the other. And to me, that is what is driving all of this volatility.

JIMENEZ: Sure. Kayla Bruun really appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.

BRUUN: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

Now, meanwhile, the Trump administration plans to break ground on the presidents Triumphal Arch in the next two weeks, but they are facing a few legal hurdles. We will tell you about them coming up. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:12]

JIMENEZ: There are some new legal wrangling over President Trump's so- called Triumphal Arch Project. In a court filing, White House attorneys seem to be backtracking on the extent of planned work on Trump's Arch. They say the work plan for the next two weeks is not construction activity, after they earlier announced groundbreaking plans.

Opponents had asked the federal court to block any further work. CNN's Sunlen Serfaty brings us up-to-date.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: That's pretty great, huh?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Without the usual approvals and still in legal limbo, the Trump administration is pushing forward to break ground on President Trump's Triumphal Arch.

TRUMP: I think we'll be the most beautiful in the world.

SERFATY (voice over): Announcing they will start excavating the ground to build the arch in the next two weeks.

TRUMP: The Arc de Triomphe would be the one that you would probably know in Paris. It's one of the most beautiful -- it is very similar size. Slightly larger. We're doing, we have to do slightly larger.

[19:50:10] SERFATY (voice over): The proposed 250 foot arch planned for Memorial Circle between the Lincoln Memorial and Arlington Cemetery has not been approved by the National Capital Planning Commission, the last of the two agencies that need to review and approve the work, nor has it gone through a full review necessary under the National Historical Preservation Act.

The FAA's final aeronautical study looking at the safety impact to the nearby airport has also not been finished. And the project is still bogged down in the courts with the veterans' rights group seeking a temporary restraining order Friday saying the arch obstructs the view of D.C. from Arlington Cemetery.

TRUMP: We get a better view right over here.

SERFATY (voice over): All this comes after the administration scored a major victory for one of the President's other projects, the Supreme Court, allowing the construction of President Trump's ballroom to move forward.

TRUMP: This will be the greatest military complex ballroom anywhere in the world. There won't be anything like it.

SERFATY (voice over): That decision appearing to embolden the administration.

TRUMP: What I do best in life is build. I build buildings really well.

SERFATY (voice over): With Justice Department lawyers now using that ruling to make the case that other challenges to the President's construction projects should be dropped. Administration lawyers for the Arch and for the President's desired championship golf course he once built in D.C. this week both requested the courts to dismiss each case.

TRUMP: This will be here long after we're gone. No matter what happens with the world, this is not moving.

SERFATY (voice over): Meantime, as the President pushes ahead with only these projects to remake Washington in his style and liking.

TRUMP: We weren't necessarily thrilled with the contractor.

SERFATY (voice over): His Reflecting Pool renovations continue to grow in cost. The administration hiring yet another new company to help clean and maintain the Reflecting Pool, adding another $2.7 million to a project that has already ballooned in cost to now over $16 million.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: All right, our thanks to Sunlen Serfaty for her report.

Coming up, a group of influencers are trending, but not for the best reason. They are accused of being a disturbance at the U.S. Open. We will tell you what happened. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:56:52]

JIMENEZ: It is the end of Week One at the U.S. Open. Influencers have been all over the tournament with some posting some impromptu photo shoots that have actually interrupted game play at times.

One umpire even paused a match with tennis star, Naomi Osaka, now fans have been debating tennis etiquette in the new digital age. CNN's Jason Carroll has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Antics off the court temporarily stopping play at the U.S. Open. This after a group of influencers were so disruptive while taking selfies in the stands, a chair umpire paused play during Naomi Osaka's match on Monday and told them to take their seats. Some tennis fans are frankly fed up.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's taking over everywhere, the influencers. Why shouldn't they take over this?

WENDAY MARKS, TENNIS FAN: You should have the courtesy to the people who are competing and their families and guests.

CARROLL (voice over): Point taken says this content creator who is offering up her humble apology.

MRIGANKA CHAWLA, SOCIAL INFLUENCER: And I had the influencer light on me. I was the perfect stereotypical dumb influencer. So, I get it.

CARROLL (voice over): Mriganka Chawla says all she wanted to do was have her picture taken during the Osaka match.

CHAWLA: This lovely usher or guard, I don't know what they're called. And she was like, she took the photo. I thought I was okay. And then I woke up to a storm, a well-deserved storm, but a storm regardless.

CARROLL (voice over): Her moment went viral, landing her in newspapers and on the receiving end of some hate.

CHAWLA: Listen, I deserved it. What do you want me to say? I deserve to get called out for what I did. I messed up. I can't do nothing.

You caught me in 4K.

CARROLL (voice over): It turns out not all tennis fans here think influencers like her are out of bounds.

IVAN ABRAMS, TENNIS FAN: I think it's great.

CARROLL: Oh, you do?

ABRAMS: Oh, totally.

CARROLL: Tell me why. ABRAMS: Just because it gives more publicity to the event.

ELLEN CALLAMARI, TENNIS FAN: I find it tiresome.

ABRAMS: We're married.

CALLAMARI: For me, it's part of the problem because you can't quite get away from it.

CARROLL: Got it. So, you'll have to agree to disagree.

CALLAMARI: Yes, we do.

CARROLL: It sounds like the two --

ABRAMS: I think so.

CARROLL: Can I get your --

CALLAMARI: Like a lot of things in our marriage.

CARROLL (voice over): Jokes aside, former pro player Patrick McEnroe says, folks are being just a little too hard on all these influencers.

PATRICK MCENROE, TENNIS COMMENTATOR: I consider myself a tennis purist, Okay, so, I love tennis. I love the competition. But let's be serious here, we're supposed to be upset that the U.S. Open in tennis is getting bigger? Getting more popular? I say it's much ado about nothing.

Of course, the influencer has got to learn to turn off their lights if they're on the stadium court, if it's during the match.

CARROLL (voice over): A point echoed by the former number one player in the world, Andy Roddick.

ANDY RODDICK: Stop the (bleep) ring lights!

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just stop the ring lights.

RODDICK: Stop the (bleep) ring lights.

CARROLL (voice over): Certainly, critics of content creators worry the selfie culture has gone too far, that it may be cluttering artistic spaces as well. So, here's this advice from a self-described sports influencer.

ALIYAH FUNSCHELLE, PODCAST HOST, "THE MATCH UP WITH ALIYAH ON IHEART RADIO": I think the biggest piece of advice would be to learn the culture of the sport that you're getting to go to. Whether it's the U.S. Open or the World Cup.

CARROLL (voice over): And while a picture may be worth a thousand words, this influencer says it should also be kept in perspective.

CHAWLA: I hope people are like, I'm -- like, they see that I messed up by taking a photo.

CARROLL: Yes.

CHAWLA: But like, I didn't kill their cat. You know, like, I'm still a person.

CARROLL: Yes.

CHAWLA: Like, I'm sorry.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Hey, at least she is honest about it! Owned up to it!

Jason Carroll, really appreciate the reporting.

And thank you all for joining me this evening. I am Omar Jimenez, but stay with us thought, "Decades in Sports" gets into the 90s, next.

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