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President Trump Travels to Ireland; Houthis in Yemen Take Key Areas along Red Sea Coast in Military Offensive; Gas Prices Rising Due to Continuing Conflicts in Middle East; President Trump Promises $5,000 Dividend to Every Adult American Citizen If Republican Party Retains Control of House of Representatives and Senate after Midterm Elections; Man Arrested in Connection to 29-Year-Old Woman Found Hanging from Tree in Jackson, Mississippi; Fifteen-Year-Old Boy Rescued at Sea from Overturned Skiff; Senate to Return to Session after Five-Week Recess; Department of Homeland Security Announces New Policy Allowing Non-Airline Passengers Access to Airport Gates; U.S. Open Tennis Tournament to Commence in Flushing Meadows, New York. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 12, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:00:31]
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, no relief in sight as gas prices spike and diesel hits an all-time high. Fresh strikes in the Middle East could complicate the situation even further. New reaction from President Trump on his overseas trip.
Plus, gate side green light, the TSA is bringing back gate area access for some people without a plane ticket for the first time since 9/11. We'll tell you which airports made the list.
And later, remarkable rescue. A 15-year-old is found clinging to his fishing boat off the coast of Alaska days after it capsized. What he told the crew that found him.
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me. I'm Fredricka Whitfield. All right, President Trump is in Ireland today meeting with top political and business leaders and weighing in on one of the most politically sensitive issues in Ireland. During a bilateral meeting with the country's leader, the taoiseach, which is the equivalent of the prime minister, President Trump said he supported the reunification of the republic of Ireland with Northern Ireland a long, contentious, and divisive issue that sparked decades of sectarian violence.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: Well, I don't want to cause any problems, but I will tell you, I'd love to see it unified. I have friends on both sides. Great people. They're Irish people. How can they be bad, right? I'd love to see it unified. I think it would be great. Yes, a great feather in everybody's cap if that happened. Now, the U.K. will have something to say about it, obviously, but I think it would be a great thing. I mean, how could it be bad?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: Trump's two day overseas visit to Ireland comes at a critical time politically for him back home in the U.S. The high stakes midterm elections just weeks away now, and the Iran backed Houthis are threatening to open a new front in the war with Iran that could push oil and gas prices even higher.
CNN's Julia Benbrook is traveling with the president and is joining us now from Dublin. Julia, the president was asked about the war with Iran. And what is he saying?
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: He has been on this two-day, really a whirlwind trip taking place in Ireland. This is not an official state visit. In fact, it kind of illustrates the sometimes blurred lines between his official travel and some travel that is done for personal reasons.
He started here having different meetings, discussing some big topics, like you mentioned. But the bulk of the trip he is spending in Doonbeg. That is where the Irish Open is taking place, and that is happening at one of his properties.
But this morning we were there. When he arrived he was greeted by the Irish president, Catherine Connolly, who has been critical of the way things have been handled in the Middle East, specifically. Those were a courtesy call, a meeting that happened behind doors. There was a lot of pomp and circumstance leading up to it, but reporters were not in the room.
They were in the room. However, for the meeting with the prime minister, Micheal Martin, and there were a number of topics that came up. White House officials told us prior to that, the main topics would be about trade and international mutual interests. Now, Trump was asked about, he spoke on the conflict in Iran, and he predicted that it would come to an end quickly after the midterms. That's a statement that he's made a couple of times recently. But I want you to listen to his framing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When will the war in Iran end, Mr. President?
DONALD TRUMP, (R) U.S. PRESIDENT: I think very soon. I think it will be probably right after the midterms. They're and trying to hold out as long as they can to complicate the election. But I think people are wise to it because Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BENBROOK: But it's important to note that he has said that this would come to an end quickly multiple times before. In fact, shortly after those first joint U.S.-Israel strikes against Iran, he said that this could last a couple of days. He predicted six weeks at some point. And this has now dragged into its sixth month. And poll after poll has shown that Americans do not approve of the way that Trump has handled the conflict in Iran.
This visit, this topic coming up again, all around this lead up to the midterms.
[14:05:02]
In fact, Trump hosted this unique, one-of-a kind midterm convention just a couple of days ago as a way to try and engage GOP voters. He said that they need to think like he is on the ballot, even though those polls don't necessarily back that up specifically.
But again, he had all these meetings here. A number of issues were discussed. He is now in Doonbeg where that golf tournament is taking place.
WHITFIELD: All right, Julia Benbrook, we'll check back with you. Thanks so much.
All right, President Trump today said Iran was likely responsible for an attack this week in Saudi Arabia. Officials say the strikes led to the shutdown of a major oil pipeline. CNN's Oren Liebermann explains.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: This attack happened on Thursday, and in hitting the pumping stations that are right by the pipeline itself, it forced Saudi Arabia to shut down a key east-west pipeline that's used to bring oil across the country. And of course, this comes at a key moment with the worlds energy infrastructure already feeling the effects of the Iraq war. And we see that in the price of oil, which surged past $100 a barrel this past week.
According to two U.S. officials familiar with the matter, projectiles hit these pumping stations, at least two of them. In imagery and early analysis from Thursday and Friday, you can see extensive fire damage to one of these pipelines and then a plume of smoke from another one of these pipelines. It is this threat and damage to the pumping stations near the pipeline itself that, again, compelled Saudi Arabia to shut down the pipeline. And it's unclear how soon it will be open.
One of the officials familiar with the matter said it was drones launched from Iraq that hit the pipeline itself. And although we haven't seen any group claim responsibility for this drone attack, we do know and we have seen Iranian backed militias operating in Iraq that have, in the past and for years, carried out attacks on U.S. forces, and, according to analysts, have also attacked Saudi Arabia as well.
All of this puts additional pressure on the world's energy markets and forces oil prices potentially even higher here. And that's because Saudi Arabia had used this pipeline to divert oil that would have gone through the Strait of Hormuz, trying to get it out, instead, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula and out through the Red Sea. And that's where the greater challenge comes now. That's because the Iranian backed Houthis in Yemen have seized a key island right along the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. That's another one of the world's most critical waterways. And they have issued a threat that directly affects Saudi Arabia. Here is their military spokesperson
YEHYA SAREE, HOUTHI ARMY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The Yemeni armed forces affirmed that maritime navigation is safe for all companies except Saudi vessels, which were previously declared subject to a ban. They also affirmed that they will continue enforcing the equation of siege for siege, striking Saudi enemy mobilizations and escalating in response to escalation until the aggression stops and the siege on our dear people is lifted.
LIEBERMANN: All of this puts even more pressure on world oil markets and on Saudi Arabia itself. In late July, in a key meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Saudi Defense Minister Khalid bin Salman, the Saudis warned that Iran could do this, use their proxies around the region to essentially cause havoc in world energy markets. And that's potentially what we're seeing here.
Iran has never had the military to compete with the U.S., but it's this sort of asymmetric warfare that's put that puts pressure on the energy market and, crucially, from a U.S. elections perspective, on gas prices. So this is potentially Iran's way of putting pressure on oil markets and carrying out threats around the gulf's ability to produce and transport oil. And it comes at this critical moment in the Iraq war. The U.S. has signaled that potentially they want to they want to scale it down or find some way to end the Iran war. But that's simply not what's happening as we see further escalation in the region.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: All right, Oren Liebermann, thank you so much.
All right, President Trump, as you saw just moments ago, is in Ireland on what he's calling a diplomatic trip. Meantime, back home, he's facing growing economic headwinds. And now new attacks in the Middle East are driving fuel prices even higher. Oil is now trading at more than $104 per barrel. The surging cost of crude is also driving up the price of gas. The national average per gallon is now $4.31 per gallon. That's up from $4.15 a week ago. The cost of diesel is at an all-time high, hitting an average of $6.16 per gallon.
With us now is professor Justin Wolfers. He teaches public policy and economics at the University of Michigan. Professor, always great to see you. So these fuel prices, I mean, they hurt. And this is just a piece of the bigger puzzle in the U.S. economy right now. So with the war not appearing to be winding down any time soon, what should the Trump White House do right now to mitigate these factors that are affecting the economy?
[14:10:08]
JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: Well, the biggest things driving the cost of living right now are the oil, the cost of oil. And so actually getting some -- making some progress, progress, or figuring out what the heck it is they want to do in Iran. We've had this four-to-six-week war now entering its sixth month. The second big thing that's going on is the trade war. That keeps
going on, that keeps escalating. We're now in a tariff war with Canada.
And the problem with both of these is that they're not only just open- ended conflicts, but they're sending a broader signal. Folks are wondering, what's next. Is there a confidence problem? Is the administration actually focused on the real cost of living issues that are affecting regular Americans?
WHITFIELD: Inflation rose again in August. Consumer prices going up 3.4 percent. Could this cause the Federal Reserve, in your view, to raise rates when it does meet next week?
WOLFERS: Yes, I checked just before I came on the show, and currently markets say there's about a, I think 87, 86 percent chance that the Fed will raise rates at its next meeting. And if they don't raise rates at the next meeting, they might raise it at the one after that, which is also before the midterms.
So markets are basically convinced that Kevin Warsh and his colleagues have got no choice but to jack up rates in order to hurt inflation, although we do know there will be someone in the White House who will be very, very angry if that happens.
WHITFIELD: Speaking of that, someone in the White House, President Trump this week pledged, you know, to send every adult American citizen $5,000 if the Republicans win the House and Senate in the fall midterm elections. I mean, still being debatable, is that even legal?
But in the meantime, have a listen to what Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said about where that money would come from
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD LUTNICK, COMMERCE SECRETARY: This is going to be non tax money. You know, one of my favorites, as you know, is like the Trump platinum card, where people can extend their visa up to 270 days and pay us $5 million. We have a wait list of more than 100,000 people who want to come. That's $500 billion, right? We can earn the money that Donald Trump wants to pay out not from the deficit, and not from taxpayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: OK, so what's your view on this? Do you agree with Lutnick that, you know, taxpayers wouldn't even foot the bill? We're talking about something like $1 trillion plus. Uh, where would this come from?
WOLFERS: Yes.
WHITFIELD: If it were legal?
WOLFERS: I just love the fact that -- yes, I just love the fact the commerce secretary has discovered a secret money tree, and it's a secret money tree that can only go to paying checks just before, just after an election, and only if Republicans win the House and the Senate. That secret money tree couldn't be used to pay down the deficit. It couldn't be used to pay down the debt. And apparently this secret money tree that he's invented, despite the fact he adds up to $500 billion, pays a $1.2 billion election bribe.
Look, this is absurd on its face, but the thing that's crazy about it, I actually think it's amazing. They say you and I only deserve this check if Republicans take the House and the Senate. So I think they're saying if Republicans take the House and the Senate, they're so worried about the state of the economy that we'll need an immediate stimulus to save us if that happens. Why else would you make an economic policy depend on an economic outcome, unless the whole thing is purely manufactured nonsense, which, by the way, it pretty clearly is.
WHITFIELD: All right, on that optimistic note, Professor Justin Wolfers, always great to see you. Thank you so much.
WOLFERS: Pleasure.
WHITFIELD: All right, still ahead in the CNN Newsroom, an arrest has been made after a 29-year-old woman was found hanging from a tree in Jackson, Mississippi. What the police chief told CNN about additional arrests.
Plus, a 15-year-old rescued from the freezing Alaskan waters after clinging to a capsized boat for multiple days. His incredible story of survival.
And the city making a major move to rename an airport after Dolly Parton.
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WHITFIELD: All right, still a lot to learn about the death of Tasia Fortune, but her family is finally starting to get some answers after the 29-year-old black woman was found hanging from a tree in Mississippi. Late yesterday, a big announcement. A state medical examiner ruled her death a homicide, and police in Jackson, Mississippi made an arrest -- 51-year-old Jacques Ratliff is charged with murder. His first appearance in court is set for Monday. The police chief in Jackson tells CNN that this arrest is important to the investigation, but their work has not concluded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF RASHALL BRACKNEY, JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI POLICE: The medical examiner has been very clear that this is a homicide as the cause of death. Part of the manner of death, as it will be fully will be disclosed, will be disclosed as part of the investigation. There are certain things that the persons involved in this would know about this case, and to continue to disclose a lot of the information puts the investigators at a disadvantage and then could also compromise the integrity of this case.
[14:20:0] There have not been any other arrests overnight, but as I've stated previously, we expect more arrests to come.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WHITFIELD: All right, this is all happening in the context of two other people found hanging from trees in less than a year in Mississippi. Black college student Trey Reed seen right here, and an unhoused white man named Cory Zukatis. Both deaths were determined by authorities to be suicides.
All right, we're now hearing from the captain of a boat who took part in rescuing a 15-year-old boy who had been stranded at sea for several days. His family's boat had capsized off the coast of Alaska during a fishing trip.
Rebecca Palsha from CNN affiliate KTUU, has more.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We'll swing around in front of you. Stay on the boat.
REBECCA PALSHA, ANCHOR AND REPORTER, KTUU: There's the skiff. A 15- year-old boy is kneeling on the overturned boat that had been out fishing for halibut. The captain of the rescue boat, Adam White, says they saw the teen waving through binoculars.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay on your boat.
ADAM WHITE, CAPTAIN OF THE NORTHWEST EXPLORER: When we saw the unusual object in the horizon, we blasted our horn a couple times.
PALSHA: He's finally being rescued.
WHITE: Saturday all the way to Tuesday, that kid was on top of that skiff. I mean, that's one tough kid. It's unbelievable. It's remarkable. And it's cold. The water is ten degrees Celsius.
PALSHA: He's been clinging to this boat for several days now.
WHITE: That was like elation. You know, everybody was, you know, cheering and like, yes, you know, we got him. We got him. You know we can get him. And as we got close to Parker, we threw him a line. And Parker still had enough strength to like pull, hold on to the line while our deckhands pulled him slowly in.
PALSHA: He, a cousin, and his brother capsized four miles east of Saint Lawrence Island. They were overdue after leaving Sabunga (ph) Friday.
WHITE: I was able, you know, the scientists and the crew. We were able to get blankets warmed up and rotating blankets and hot packs and a mattress. Through the teeth chattering, he had mentioned that his brother was still under the skiff. And then he said that the previous night before our rescue, that his cousin had slipped away off the top of the skiff.
PALSHA: The crew of the Northwest Explorer hauls him in. They also recover the bodies of the other two missing.
WHITE: When you look into a family members eyes, you know. And they, and they're filled with gratitude but sorrow at the same time. And it's just, I know I became overwhelmed.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: Wow, that's incredible. Thank you to KTUU's Rebecca Palsha for that report.
All right, it's been an Atlantic hurricane season like no other. We're now more than 100 days into the season with absolutely no hurricanes, making this the longest wait in 60 years. Meteorologist Derek Van Dam explains how El Nino is changing these weather patterns.
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DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Strong El Ninos, like the one that's building right now, have an outsized influence on the Atlantic hurricane season, reducing both the number and the strength of tropical systems. Now, El Nino isn't just about the warmer waters here in the Pacific. Its also a change in global circulation patterns. These altered patterns shift sinking air across the tropical Atlantic, stabilizing the atmosphere, reducing thunderstorm development that's needed to create a hurricane.
Additionally, these circulation changes, they help displace the jet stream across the tropical Atlantic. These strong upper level winds create wind shear, which is a hostile environment for tropical development and can deliver a death blow to an emerging hurricane.
In the early stages of a tropical storm's life, it needs a calm environment at all levels of the atmosphere to grow. When wind shear is introduced, it disrupts this vertical alignment, making it harder for thunderstorms to organize into a tropical system and get stronger.
Now think of a hurricane as a spinning top. Wind shear would be like pushing this top and altering its spin. This is particularly disruptive when the top is spinning slowly, just like the early formative stages of a tropical system. With more wind shear around, it's harder for budding hurricanes to get over that hump.
Now, while wind shear and sinking air can put a big dent in tropical activity throughout the Atlantic, it doesn't eliminate it altogether. Previous El Nino seasons, like the destruction brought on by hurricane Andrew in 1992, have proven that it only takes one landfall to make this a catastrophic season.
[14:25:04]
So be hurricane ready this year by downloading the all new CNN Weather app.
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WHITFIELD: All right, getting ready with that great explanation and demonstration. Derek Van Damm, thank you.
All right, still ahead, U.S. senators finally heading back to Washington after a five-week recess. But one big question hanging over the Capitol is whether Mitch McConnell will join them. Our brand new reporting next.
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WHITFIELD: All right, with only two days left before the U.S. Senate comes back from its five-week recess, and one thing remains unclear, whether 83-year-old Republican senator Mitch McConnell will return to Capitol Hill.
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The former majority leader has been absent for three months due to health issues. His office said he was hospitalized in June due to a fall. So far, no announcement from him or his aides about returning on Monday. Earlier this year, McConnell announced that he will not run for reelection. His current term ends January.
All right, with their first ever midterm convention now behind them, Republicans are in the final stretch to convince enough voters to let them retain control of Congress. Both the president and vice president took center stage in Dallas with high profile attempts to get out the GOP vote in November. Trump's historically low approval rating is just one of the obstacles Republicans are facing, and an important question remains for the party. What's the strategy this close to midterms? Here now is CNN's Kevin Liptak.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: This week's Republican midterm convention in Dallas gave us the best window into President Trump's strategy heading into the midterms, and it is one that puts himself at the very center. He was at the very center of this convention. He spoke for two-and-a-half hours spread over two nights, and even on the evening that was ostensibly meant to feature the vice president, J.D. Vance, it was President Trump who ended the evening alone center stage as the balloons fell, which really kind of crystallized his view of himself as the best and perhaps the only motivator for Republicans this midterm cycle.
And you heard him say it again and again, pretend that that I'm on the ballot, really reflecting his concern and his advisors concern that those low propensity voters who have supported him and have gone out to vote for him when he is on the ballot, will not turn out this time around.
Now, this is a strategy that is not without some risk. President Trump is historically unpopular. According to polls, majorities of Americans say that they think the country is heading in the wrong direction. And plenty of Republicans, including those who didn't show up at this week's convention, think that making this election a referendum on his first two years in office is essentially a recipe for disaster.
And that's not the only place where we've seen Republicans split with the president on a critical election issue. The other is this question of a dividend for voters if Republicans keep their congressional majorities. The president unveiled that during his speech, promising a $5,000 check for every American adult. But you've heard many Republicans say that that could contribute to inflation, that it could inflate the already $40 trillion U.S. debt. And it's something that virtually no other speaker at the convention mentioned, even after the president brought it up, including the vice president, the speaker of the House, and the president's own son, Donald Trump Jr.
Now, nevertheless, the president is promising quite an intensive campaign schedule over the next two months. He says he has 35 races that he's focusing on. In particular, he says he'll be out across the country stumping for Republicans. That first trip will come next week when he's scheduled to visit North Carolina.
Still, when a FOX News interviewer asked him whether he intended to be on the campaign trail at the same intensity level as he was during his own presidential campaigns, the president answered pretty bluntly, saying, no.
Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEO TAPE)
WHITFIELD: Kevin, thank you so much.
Coming up, remember when you could go all the way to the airport gate, even without a ticket? Well, that could be returning to America's airports. But some airline experts are warning this could be a bad idea.
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WHITFIELD: All right, greeting friends and family at the airport gate is making a comeback. The Department of Homeland Security is letting TSA to allow some visitors through security checkpoints without a ticket. The program is called gate side, and it's available to precheck members, and it's already being tested at some of 13 airports across the country. This is the biggest return of gate access since the security overhaul that followed the 9/11 attacks.
CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo is joining us right now. Mary, you've called this a terrible idea. That nostalgia or romance travel may be driving this decision and should not take off. So why do you see this program as a security risk?
MARY SCHIAVO, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, TRANSPORTATION DEPARTMENT: Well, you're exactly right. I call this movie memory. When they announced that they wanted to bring back the romance of travel, and people wanted to go to the airport to shop and to dine, I literally laughed out loud. But more, you know, seriously, though, besides that I think they were
remembering more Rick and Elsa in the last scene of "Casablanca" than real airport travel today, it does present some serious safety problems. First of all, many airports, and some of these on this list -- I mean, I know the LAX airport well. It's busy, it's crowded. There's not a lot of room. The facilities that the airport already can't handle, the number of passengers and travelers and wheelchairs and red caps and airport personnel at peak times as it is.
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It is way overcrowded. So the facilities cannot handle this. We won't even get into the bathrooms.
Then the checkpoints. You know, TSA, this summer we had in some cases five and six hour waits to get through the TSA checkpoint. Now, granted, the government was open and closed and open and closed. But what people have forgotten is that since 9/11/01, the attacks, attacks on the airports themselves and crowds at airports have occurred. 2002 in Los Angeles. In Atlanta, there was somebody who got a gun out of his checked luggage. Pakistan, there was an attack right on the airport. Kabul, Leipzig, they were going to use drones to attack the airport. So anywhere you have mass numbers of people, it's a terrorist, literally a potential terrorist attack point.
And, you know, and then finally the idea that people would, you know, go there just to dine and shop. I don't know, the restaurant choices. There's no Michelin starred restaurants at the airports. And then people have to drive there and park. So it just doesn't make any sense whatsoever. It's going to increase the workload of the TSA at the airports. It's going to increase lines. And already in many airports, there's nowhere to sit. And if by way, if your plane is delayed for hours, that only multiplies the problem at the airport.
But I would make two exceptions. Yes, two exceptions.
WHITFIELD: You would?
SCHIAVO: Oh yes.
WHITFIELD: Oh yes? Well, you said, you know, it does increase the workload of TSA. I mean, already they're pretty taxed. I mean, who can forget what happened in recent months? There was a government shutdown. A lot of them had to work without pay. And then they lost a lot of TSA workers because, you know, it got to a point where people were unable to even get to work or pay for parking or all those things that also come with going to work. It got expensive. You don't have a paycheck. You couldn't even afford to go to work. So then you've laid out kind of all of these reasons why you don't see it taking off successfully. Then do you see this program, you know, becoming grounded before it even makes its way into these 13 named airports thus far?
SCHIAVO: No. Sadly, programs like this, they tend to go into effect, and they limp along until something happens, until there's at a breaking point or whatever. And it will help some people. It will help wheelchair -- people who need wheelchairs and have medical equipment already. They don't get adequate service from the, you know, from the companies who push the wheelchairs. And children flying alone. They're terrified at the airport. You know, many times, you know, I've seen them at the airport and have gone to talk to them. They could use the companions all the way through.
WHITFIELD: So what kind of improvements do you think might be necessary at airports to make it, you know -- the Department of Transportation wants to make it a more pleasurable experience. What ideas do you think they should be considering instead of Homeland Security saying, you know, giving this new edict to TSA?
SCHIAVO: Capacity and speed of trans, you know, you know, the transport through the airport. By the way, you know, the, the pleasant experience is not in the Department of Transportation's job description. Their description is to make travel safe, to make travel secure. Homeland Security and TSA is to make it secure. And so, many airports are already having to resort to offsite security checkpoints. They're so full, they're so overcrowded, there are so many people trying to travel, they have to do this away from the airport and then bus them over.
So speed through the TSA checkpoint and adequate facilities, chairs, you know, seats, bathrooms, and reasonable ways to board without these horrible long lines. And then efficiency of travel. We can't have planes backed up, stacked up. And, you know, hours of delay because that only increases the problem at the airports. And we don't want to make our airports a point for potential terrorist attack.
WHITFIELD: Right. All right, keeping it safe. Mary Schiavo, thank you so much. Great to see you.
SCHIAVO: Thank you.
WHITFIELD: That is the priority.
All right, as we remember the September 11th attacks 25 years ago, naturally, we are all still assessing the damage in so much and so many lost. But many are also reflecting on how people across the country came together and comforted one another. CNN Hero Jeff Parness started a nonprofit to pay that goodwill forward by bringing grateful New Yorkers to help other communities hit by disasters. And that work also helped resurrect a one-of-a-kind artifact that became a tangible symbol of resilience and unity.
(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): One of the most unique artifacts in the 9/11 Museum's collection isn't currently on display. It's a 500 square foot flag from ground zero that was repaired through an ambitious effort led by CNN hero Jeff Parness.
JEFF PARNESS, 2011 CNN HERO: It's emotional. Each one of the patches reminds me of all the people who stitched the flag.
COOPER (voice-over): Now known as the national 9/11 flag, it was hanging across from the World Trade Center and was destroyed when the Twin Towers fell. Jeff lost a close friend that day, but he was also deeply moved by the unity people showed after the attack
PARNESS; The day after 9/11, there were no Democrats or Republicans. We were just Americans. We were at our very best.
COOPER (voice-over): This led jeff to start New York Says Thank You, which brought New Yorkers to help other disaster stricken communities.
In 2008, the group helped rebuild Greensburg, Kansas, after a devastating tornado. A volunteer who worked at Ground Zero brought along the tattered flag and local residents started stitching.
PARNESS: They had gone through their own 9/11, right, and they took it upon themselves to start healing the flag.
COOPER (voice-over): It was patched with flags that had survived the tornado. Then, for the 10th anniversary of 9/11 --
PARNESS: We decided we were going to return it to its original flag format.
COOPER (voice-over): For more than a year, the flag toured all 50 states where patches and threads from historic flags, including the star-spangled banner, were sewn in by more than 30,000 people.
PARNESS: People lined up for hours for the privilege of putting one stitch in. It's kind of like the best of what America is about. People chose to strengthen our national fabric.
JAN SEIDLER RAMIREZ, CHIEF CURATOR, 9/11 MUSEUM: The national 9/11 flag was the first artifact walked into the newly opened 9/11 museum in May of 2014. So, it was a very moving, beautiful ceremony.
[05:25:01]
It's just a tremendous symbol of good.
COOPER (voice-over): It was on display for a year and a half and is now being safely preserved. Jeff hopes the flag will be exhibited again soon so people can appreciate its powerful message.
PARNESS: It's a symbol of not just resilience, but of compassion. This is living proof that love is stronger than hate.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[14:51:49]
WHITFIELD: All right, in just an hour from now, the women's singles championship at the U.S. Open tennis tournament in Flushing Meadows will get underway. Aryna Sabalenka will be going for her third consecutive U.S. Open title and fifth Grand Slam singles title overall. CNNs Patrick Snell is in New York covering the U.S. Open for us. Patrick, set the scene. I know it's electric there for today's championship match. What's ahead? PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi there, Fred. Yes, welcome to
Flushing Meadows. Look at the scene, a mass of people right here, as you say, in the heart of the big apple. And these are people outside Arthur Ashe court, Arthur Ashe stadium. It's going to be packed to capacity, just under 24,000 on this matchup between two really impressive players. Aryna Sabalenka, as you say, Fred looking to try and make an incredible piece of history by becoming just the third player in the history of the sport in terms of the Open era to win three straight U.S. Open tournaments. The other two are the great Chris Evert and Serena Williams, no less. So if she can do it, she'll be in storied company.
But I will say this, her opponent, Elena Rybakina has her beat in terms of the first major of the year in Melbourne, Australia. So that is something that Rybakina will take great heart from.
Now, ahead of this final earlier today, I caught up with the 2006 winner from Russia, Maria Sharapova, to look ahead to this eagerly anticipated women's final today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARIA SHARAPOVA, FIVE-TIME MAJOR WINNER: Theres a lot on the line. It's the championships match. And you know, you could think of all the stats and who's number one and who's across the net. But at the end of the day, they are just going to go out there and compete at their very best. This is what they were born to do. They are fighters. They're mentally and physically so strong. The resilience that they showcase on that final stage is really impressive. And as a fan now, I get to appreciate it from a healthy distance
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SNELL: And what a storyline on the men's side of things. Fred, Ben Shelton, the young American player through to the final on Sunday, he'll take on a formidable opponent in the shape of Germany's Alexander Zverev. But I can tell you firsthand inside Arthur Ashe last night, I was right there sampling the atmosphere. It was electric at times in that semifinal against Frances Tiafoe, the all-American semifinal. Shame on so many levels. There had to be one player going home. But what an achievement from Shelton, who is now looking as well to make his own very special piece of history by becoming the first black American male to win the U.S. Open since the iconic icon himself, the pioneering Arthur Ashe, when he won the U.S. Open back in 1968.
So much great storylines on the line here, Fred, so much history in the making. But it will be tough, very tough indeed for Shelton against Zverev, who is looking to win his second Grand Slam singles title of the year. Back to you.
WHITFIELD: It will be tough, but also very fitting because it will be in Arthur Ashe stadium there at Flushing Meadows.
[14:55:02]
Patrick Snell, you've got the best seat in the house outside, inside. So you are our eyes. Thank you so much. We'll check back with you.
SNELL: OK, all right.
WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, and all-new next hour, President Zelenskyy calling out NATO in an exclusive interview with CNN. Why he says the alliance should defend Ukraine just like it stood by the U.S. after the 9/11 attacks.
Plus, inside a tight congressional battleground outside Denver where one Republican is fighting for survival. We will find out if the key Latino voters who backed Trump are staying with the party or crossing the aisle.
And a major new lawsuit filed against Amazon over that fatal cargo plane crash at Miami International Airport last weekend. Why the retail giant is being accused of negligence.
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