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Judge Temporarily Lifts CNN, Two Other Media, Allowing Coverage from the White House; Trump-Xi Summit Begins at White House. Aired 3- 4a ET

Aired September 24, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and we do want to begin this hour with breaking news.

A federal judge ordering the White House to reinstate access to CNN, M.S. NOW, and Politico. President Trump banned those media outlets last week, claiming that their coverage was negative and unfair, and the Department of Justice later defended that ban, alleging that their reporting was a threat to national security.

Federal Judge Timothy Kelly heard some of those arguments on Wednesday afternoon before issuing his overnight ruling, and he says that the journalists' press credentials were revoked without constitutionally adequate due process. He went on to write, quote, "the general rule is that individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the government deprives them of a constitutionally protected interest."

Ted Boutrous, the lawyer representing these news outlets, told CNN, quote, "this is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process, and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court's swift action."

Of course, one that we were not expecting overnight. Let's talk a little bit more about what that means in a moment, but first, let's get the latest from CNN's chief media analyst, Brian Stelter.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: The judge was likely going to have to rely on past precedent. He would be bound, and he says that in this filing, by past precedent in the D.C. circuit, and that is partly what he finds in this eight-page ruling.

He cites the Sherrill ruling from the '70s, he cites the Karam case that we've talked about from last decade, and says that he has to be bound by those precedents. Of course, the government knew that going into this, the Justice Department knew that's how this was going to go. It was very clear from about the first hour last Friday, when President Trump announced this supposed ban, that if it were challenged in court, these news outlets would prevail.

So we see the rule of law working in this situation, we see the system working as intended, and now, Elex, this could go in all sorts of ways. In some ways, in the flowchart that we can construct, this is the most simple and expected step, and now I could see a dozen different ways this could go.

Between appeals, between follow-ups by the White House, between other shenanigans that could occur, that's the word that the lawyer for CNN, M.S. NOW, and Politico used in court earlier today, this afternoon, when he said that the White House could try different ways to impose different bans, could try different ways to come back around and punish these news outlets.

I am wondering what that might look like in the days to come, but at least in the short term, I think it's apparent that the White House will have to allow these journalists back into work, probably in the morning hours in Washington tomorrow morning. Those journalists, and there are dozens of them who were affected by this ban, will likely be allowed to return to work at the White House, and that could impact coverage of the Chinese leader's visit to Washington tomorrow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now is Adam Rose, he's the Deputy Director of Advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Adam, it's great to see you. Thanks so much for coming back.

ADAM ROSE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: It's a pleasure to be here, and in many ways celebrate what is a really wonderful ruling this evening.

SANDOVAL: Adam, let's start off with you telling our viewers, why is this far from over?

ROSE: Well, as Brian was mentioning, there's a lot of things that will happen in the days ahead and also the weeks ahead, especially in terms of legal arguments. One of the issues that came up during the hearing today is different areas of the White House. So, for example, we could be dealing with issues where maybe the briefing room is now open to CNN, M.S. NOW, and Politico, but perhaps maybe not the Oval Office or the Air Force One.

I mean, there's any number of spaces, and so it's not like the press were ever trying to get into the private dining room of the President, but they were trying to have fair and appropriate access and not have that be done in a way where the President was picking and choosing who was maybe going to ask him the questions that he wanted and not the ones that he was afraid of.

SANDOVAL: And from the start, I do wonder, though, if this case was obviously destined to fail for President Trump, who was very explicit, as you know, on Friday about the reasons for this ban. I mean, he said very clearly that it was because of covers that he deemed to be negative. So I'm wondering just if you could expand more on that and why this is the result out of court that really was almost expected even by the President himself.

[03:05:06]

ROSE: Yes, well, the President keeps sort of betraying himself when he opens his mouth, when he says that this is about negative coverage, that tells you that it's about the content and it's not being done in a constitutional manner.

He also said during one interview the other day that this was a free press ban. So pretty obvious what this is about. What's wild is when we think about these claims that the President and others have been making about national security.

You have to remember that these credentials were revoked basically on Truth Social, which we should note the President is trying to charge people $1.2 million per year to get early access to. So that whole thing is sort of weird on its own. But then when you actually look at how this played out after the fact, Politico and CNN and M.S. NOW were given reasons.

Many of them, in particular ones that were cited with Politico, were allegedly national security. But repeatedly, this has been the Don who cries wolf when it comes to national security, whether it's calling trombones or windmills a matter of national security, really things that this man has said.

Now, in this case, the judge started to dig into it a little more and recognize that some of the reporting cited by the administration is harming national security is years old. One of the reporters had her hard pass renewed after publishing one of the stories that the government cited as violating national security and several cited as harming national security written by journalists who didn't even have the hard passes.

So ultimately, as Brian pointed out a moment ago, the court recognized that there's no precedent here, and in particular, not for applying the laws that prohibit disclosure of classified information to reporters. Last thing I'll point out on all of this, one of the most mind blowing aspects is that one of the ostensible reasons for banning Politico was that they reported on a potential Iranian peace deal and they were using an anonymous source.

Well, reporting just in the last few hours has come out that that anonymous source was arranged by the White House itself and allegedly was none other than Vice President J.D. Vance. So if Trump wants to kick anyone out of the White House, it might be his own Vice President.

SANDOVAL: What do we also get on what, back to one of your earlier points too, Adam, is this is an administration that has clearly shown intent to continue to specifically go after some of these reporters in terms of restricting their access. In terms of what we could see in the future legally, what kind of precedent does this particular ruling, you think, establish?

Really none. That's an important thing to remember here is that this is a temporary restraining order. It takes effect immediately, we'll see how fast those hard passes are actually returned and whether access to areas like, say, the Oval Office are allowed.

But then after 14 days, you know, it expires. It could be extended. But realistically, you can expect any number of emergency motions and filings on both sides trying to hash this out.

Keep in mind that this was actually merely a matter of due process that the judge ruled on. He didn't even get to the First Amendment arguments. The First Amendment isn't even mentioned in this temporary restraining order.

So what we will see surely is that the White House will push back. They will find ways like they have tried at the Pentagon and ultimately lost on most points. At best, what they were able to do at the Pentagon and what they still have is an escort for journalists.

But we've seen the historical precedent that has been blown away by this particular President. We have seen now that he has tried this before in his first term with Jim Acosta from CNN. We have seen him try this in his administration, try this, whether it's with the Associated Press and calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.

We have seen it, you know, obviously with the Pentagon as well. So whatever his next move is will probably surprise us just like this one did. But it will also probably be unconstitutional or otherwise illegal.

SANDOVAL: Adam, the hour is late, but this nuance and this perspective is certainly critical as Americans get ready to wake up to some of this news right now, a significant loss for the Trump administration. Adam Rose, again, joining us from the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Thank you so much.

ROSE: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And we're going to continue to follow that breaking news and, of course, in the coming hour as well, I'll bring you more on these developments as a U.S. federal judge orders the White House to restore access for those outlets, CNN included. It is certainly going to be a very busy day for the White House as it hopefully will respond to this.

But also, President Trump rolled out the red carpet for Chinese leader Xi Jinping. He arrived on Wednesday in the U.S. for a three-day state visit. Unfortunately, we couldn't show you video of the arrival, and that's because before that ruling, well, pool coverage of President Trump's activities was suspended amid his White House ban on CNN and other media outlets. Of course, that has now potential to change with this overnight ruling.

For now, though, let's get some more perspective from CNN's Mike Valerio, who joins me live from Beijing. Mike, off the top, of course, the breaking news now and this ruling from a federal judge. How do you expect the coverage to change? And then also, I assume even Iran will be talked about during this summit.

[03:10:01]

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Polo.

And I will tell you that everyday people here in China are well aware of the pool situation in the United States. And I mean, on the way to work and over the past few days, people have said to me, you know, a proud American from New York, they've said, oh, well, thank goodness for Chinese state media or else we wouldn't have any pictures of what is happening. And people arguably on the subway in Beijing have seen more images than friends and family back home in the United States have.

So that dynamic certainly is known. But Iran, a lot of conversation is expected on that front because China is simply able, Polo, to talk to both Tehran and Washington, D.C. China is seen as a key interlocutor between these two countries. And really, we're looking to see if China brings a United States proposal to Tehran's ears.

Certainly, Tehran and China, I should say, wants gas prices and petrol prices to come tumbling down. They're elevated right now. But China is the biggest producer or consumer of Iranian oil.

So certainly China has leverage in these negotiations. And Iran's foreign minister, Abbas Aragchi, visited Beijing just a couple of days ago last week with the expectation that he would talk to his Chinese counterpart, specifically Foreign Minister Wang Yi, and lay the groundwork for what the Chinese should tell to their American counterparts in Washington, D.C. over the next couple hours.

But in terms of what we're expected to happen, let's take a look at the board. The main events start at 10 a.m. on the South Lawn of the White House, the South Portico greeting between the President, Chinese leader Xi Jinping, and the first ladies of China and the United States.

We also have Trump and Xi remarks that are expected at 10:15 Eastern time. 11:30 is when the Oval Office meeting is going to happen. And after that meeting, we have sort of an intermission until the state dinner. Worth noting, before the state dinner gets underway at 8:10 in the evening, there is going to be a second opportunity to hear from Trump and Xi.

And we're waiting, Polo, finally, before we go, to see if there's going to be any other economic details revealed, if there are going to be any other tariffs that are reduced besides this trade truce that has been extended until January 10th.

There's a possibility that some not-so-sensitive tariffs could go down, and we're also pretty acutely waiting to hear whether or not the President of the United States has anything to say about this A.I. dialogue, which has been agreed upon between the United States and China, Polo. SANDOVAL: Yes, it is a massive and significant topic there ahead of

the summit, CNN's Mike Valerio, with that live report from Beijing. Mike, thank you so much for that.

On Mike's last note there, let's keep the conversation going. It's good to see you, Mike. We'll check back with you.

Let's get now some perspective from Eleanor Olcott. She's the China technology correspondent for the "Financial Times," and she also joins me from Beijing. Eleanor, thank you so much for joining us.

ELEANOR OLCOTT, CHINA TECHNOLOGY CORRESPONDENT, "FINANCIAL TIMES": Hi, good morning. Good to be here.

SANDOVAL: Yes, good morning to you.

So on A.I. policy, is there any expectation that there might be a scenario during the state visit in which both the U.S. and China agree to slow development of A.I. technology? We've heard from one expert after another saying that we should keep expectations relatively low on that front.

Yes, I would align with what I've heard already.

(TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES)

SANDOVAL: Eleanor Olcott, there we go. I think we may have audio. I'm wondering if we can hear you loud and clear now.

Do you want to give that another try?

OLCOTT: Yes.

SANDOVAL: Great. So tell us a little bit about where they may or may not find some consensus.

OLCOTT: I'm just getting really fast. So I can't.

SANDOVAL: Tell you what, Eleanor, let's sort out some of these audio issues and try to get back to you, because it's some great insight that we want to get. So do hang tight for us as we try to address that tech issue, and we'd love to go back to you. Thanks again, Eleanor Olcott.

We also have some other stories to share with you now. The U.S.-China meeting that will be coming in a day after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed the U.N. General Assembly here in New York, Zelenskyy called Russian President Vladimir Putin patient zero, saying that Putin spreads the idea of war and must be stopped. Zelenskyy also defended Ukraine's strikes on Russian energy facilities.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: For the first time in Russia's history, we now hear that its pride, its oil industry is running of fumes. But oil itself is not Ukraine's target.

[03:15:02]

Not our target, not gasoline or diesel, not factories or ports as such. Our target is Russia's ability to finance this war, to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And as President Zelenskyy spoke, a Russian strike hit the headquarters of his political party back in Kyiv. We know that two people were killed and dozens injured in attacks on the capital on Wednesday. And just hours ago, Kyiv's mayor said that a new missile attack killed another two people.

The Ukrainian President later said that the attacks prove that Russia will not stop the war without any more pressure. And despite Russia's war in Ukraine, Putin, President Putin out of Russia, has been invited to the G20 summit in Miami in December. U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announcing that invitation on Wednesday, saying that it would give Putin an opportunity to engage with other world leaders.

But one European Union official says that Putin stands to gain something else by receiving that invitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, EUROPEAN UNION FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE: It's very clear why Putin wants this. He wants to show that nothing to see here.

You know, I'm a leader amongst the other world leaders. There's nothing wrong. But actually, why? Why would the Western world want or the Americans want a person who has ordered killings of people in a situation where, you know, last two months have been the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians throughout this war?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: All right, let's get back to one of the topics that we already discussed with and head back to Eleanor Olcott, who's joining me now from Beijing. She's a correspondent with the "Financial Times."

Eleanor, thank you so much for your patience. We are at the mercy of technology, and sometimes it just doesn't want to work.

So let's pick up on what we were talking about a little while ago.

OLCOTT: Indeed.

SANDOVAL: Speaking of technology and A.I. policy, I was asking if there was any possible scenario that we may see where China and the U.S. could agree to slow development of A.I. Of course, that is highly unlikely, especially given the competitive nature of this A.I. race. OLCOTT: I think from China's perspective, right, they see that they are behind in A.I. They don't own the critical chip infrastructure. Obviously, they're lagging somewhat on the model development, even though, you know, only by a few months.

So from their perspective, why would they sign up to these restrictions and limits when they think that the U.S. is ahead? So the likelihood of that happening is very slim.

SANDOVAL: Where does China stand when it comes to A.I. safeguards? Have developers in China essentially built up these institutional safeguards not just to adhere to censors, but to actually have an influence on how these A.I. models are being built and to try to safeguard them?

OLCOTT: I would say in China, the regulation around A.I. development has been pretty reactive. And as you alluded to there, it's very much focused on the sensitive question.

The government and regulators don't want these models spitting out answers which are going to be, you know, producing politically sensitive content, et cetera. So that's really where the focus has been so far.

And to be fair to the regulators, right, this technology is just moving so quickly. So it's hard to kind of create forward looking regulation. I think there is definitely a conversation now about what that looks like, especially with the deployment of all these more capable agents.

What are the cyber risks? Are there potential for mass hacking events? That conversation is definitely happening, but we're not at the point where this is being meaningfully regulated.

SANDOVAL: Now, without a doubt, it would be hard for U.S. developers to keep up with those sort of safeguards. There's also the issue of A.I. chips and access to those.

I wonder if we could remind our viewers just how Washington is restricting China to access for some of these A.I. chips. Do you think that China could, during this upcoming summit, push to have some of those controls relaxed?

OLCOTT: So it's a bit difficult to keep track of all of the back and forth on this one. The ball is actually on China's court right now because the Trump administration has previously opened up the possibility for China to buy some of the H200 chips. That's an older NVIDIA series.

[03:19:54]

China actually hasn't allowed its companies to go ahead and buy those H200s because from their perspective, these older NVIDIA chips are about the same quality as some of the existing Chinese A.I. chips.

And Beijing's number one priority here is to actually develop a domestic ecosystem and to break Chinese reliance on American companies like NVIDIA. So really, it's trying to push forward some of the Chinese A.I. chips over NVIDIA. So for that reason, I think it's unlikely that we're going to get any reprieve on that front.

SANDOVAL: Eleanor Olcott with the "Financial Times," thank you so much for your reporting and for your time.

OLCOTT: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: And still much more ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including Iran's President, who highlighted a deadly U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school. He did so during his speech at the UNGA, why President Pezeshkian says that his country has been the victim of terrorism.

Plus, there are two key speeches to watch for at the UNGA today, what Benjamin Netanyahu and Mahmoud Abbas are expected to say. Stay with us.

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[03:25:00]

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back.

Iran's President using his U.N. address on Wednesday to send a very direct message to President Trump, Tehran will not back down. Massoud Pezeshkian accused the U.S. of, quote, "bullying," saying pressure and sanctions will only strengthen Iran's resistance and that Tehran would never bow, never bow its head or bend at the knee.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The United States President described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism. They bombed a school.

You see these children? These children perished under bombs. What's the President referring to that that attack at the start of the war?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And you see here as Iranian President, as the Iranian President highlighted the incident, the sole U.S. delegate in the room walked out. According to Iranian officials, at least 120 children and 26 teachers were among those killed at that school.

And we're also looking ahead to two major speeches at the United Nations General Assembly in the coming hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for one, is expected to use his address to defend Israel's military campaign in Gaza. Netanyahu's visit comes as he faces pressure at home ahead of his reelection fight next month and also conflicts in Lebanon and Iran. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also be addressing the UNGA,

likely by video, however, this after the Trump administration again denied visas to Palestinian officials. And this comes as the Trump-led Board of Peace says that rebuilding Gaza could cost more than $71 billion over the next decade.

CNN's Eleni Giokos is following all of those developments and more live from Dubai. So just give us a sense of what we expect to hear from Mahmoud Abbas, Benjamin Netanyahu, and really how that all ties together when it comes to these ongoing conflicts, Eleni.

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, it's the United Nations General Assembly in New York, day three. I mean, really consequential talks and on the sidelines. And then importantly, these speeches in the chamber today, we're looking out for Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian Authority President, likely to be addressing the chamber via pre-recorded video message because his visa was once again denied for stepping foot on U.S. soil.

He didn't attend the UNGA in 2025. The ban for him attending or arriving in the U.S. was extended. And of course, this means that we'll be hearing from him via video message.

And of course, there's been quite a lot of pushback around his physical participation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, he will be there in person. This is despite facing an ICC arrest warrant.

And we know that New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said that he can't enforce the arrest warrant. But he has made mention of this. And keeping in mind, there's actually U.N. immunity for any arrest warrants for any of the leaders.

So it's quite interesting in the shadows of all of this. It also is important to focus on what the main messaging will be. Benjamin Netanyahu likely to focus on what they're doing in Gaza, why they've rejected the latest Trump 15-point peace plan, what the next steps are.

As you say, facing very important elections at the end of October. His message is going to have to resonate not only internationally, but also domestically as well. Mahmoud Abbas likely to talk about next steps for Gaza, disarmament of Hamas and also the role of the Palestinian Authority going forward.

What is interesting to note is we've already seen a very sharp criticism towards Israel by Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa. He not only said this during his speech, but also on the sidelines at an Atlantic Council debate with Brett McGurk. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AHMED AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): But once when I visited him in the White House, I was I made a joke with him. And when he said about the Golan Heights, that it is has a sovereignty of Israel, I said, why don't you give New Jersey to the Israelis? You don't own Golan Heights to give it to them, but you own New Jersey.

And I believe that New Jersey is full of Democrats and they are not voting for Trump. So it will be good to give it to the Israelis.

[03:30:10]

So at least this is something that you own. But this President Trump doesn't own the Golan Heights.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: All right. So when it comes to the UNGA, it's not just about what happens in the chamber. It's also about some of these side meetings.

Interesting to see what the rhetoric is around Israel. And then importantly, the other thing we're looking for is not just a sharp criticism with words, but also physical protest in the form of walking out of speeches. You mentioned earlier that the only U.S. delegates at the Iranian President's speech walked out.

We also had Iran walking out of President Trump's speech, as well as the Cuban delegation last year when Benjamin Netanyahu was addressing the UNGA. There were dozens of people from various countries that walked out. We'll be looking out for that as well.

And I also have to mention on the sidelines, Trump's board of peace also meant that we're talking about reconstruction for Gaza that will cost $71.4 billion over a 10 year period. That is likely something that will continue as we hope that more diplomacy will happen between Iran and the U.S. and perhaps even taking that further between Ukraine and the Russians as well. So we're looking out for all these important lines as we wait to hear from global leaders, Polo.

SANDOVAL: We're watching closely. CNN's Eleni Giokos with that live report from Dubai and what we expect out of the UNGA today. Thank you so much, Eleni.

And a lot still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including a mystery about some components for top U.S. fighter jets, how they ended up in Hong Kong before they went missing.

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[03:35:00]

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SANDOVAL: And we'll go back to CNN where we're following breaking news out of Washington, where a federal judge has ordered the White House reinstate access to CNN, M.S. NOW and Politico. President Trump banned the media outlets just last week, saying that he didn't like their coverage. Well, he later said that the reporting was a threat to national security.

At least that was the argument from the Department of Justice. But the judge says that the ban was done without constitutionally adequate process. And we continue to wait for a response from the White House.

However, a lawyer representing the news outlets in this suit told CNN, quote, "This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press due to, I should say, due process and the rule of law." Now, we greatly appreciate the court's swift action, wrote that attorney.

Here's more now from CNN's senior political analyst, Ron Brownstein.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST, AND OPINION EDITOR, BLOOMBERG: The first amendment to the Constitution, I think it made it very hard for the administration to prevail on this, but I still think it was it has been so far an extremely revealing episode because Trump continues to test on almost an endless variety of fronts his ability to roll back what we have understood to be the traditional buttresses of the democratic system.

And so far, the courts have stopped most of these major attempts, whether it's from the, you know, to use the Postal Service to control mail balloting or this or attempts to get state voter rolls. But strikingly, along the way and again in this episode, virtually no congressional Republicans came out to oppose him.

There really is no cost to him from these repeated probes. And this is far from the last time we will see him try something like this, whether it's with the media or state voting rules or intimidating voting groups and so forth. As long as there is no consequence, I think he continues to press forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: It's still not clear when exactly CNN and the other media outlets will be allowed back into the White House or any potential other future restrictions, as well as when the pool coverage of the President will resume. We'll check back on the story a little later.

Meanwhile, the U.S. is now trying to track down some missing components for its most advanced fighter jet, the F-35. Australian officials are saying that the parts were mistakenly rerouted to Hong Kong earlier this year on their way to the U.S. for repairs. The incident is raising some concerns about China possibly getting access to U.S. military technology.

For more now, we go live to Ivan Watson, who joins me from Hong Kong. So, Ivan, we're used to having our purchases maybe either lost or rerouted, but potentially top secret aircraft components. I mean, this is quite shocking.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, components to what the manufacturer describes as the most lethal, survivable and connected fighter aircraft. That's the F-35 Lightning II stealth fighter, a fifth generation aircraft. So the mystery is what happened? What were these parts and how did they end up as Australian officials have conceded end up getting shipped mistakenly to Hong Kong? What we do know right now is that the Pentagon, the Australian

government, Lockheed Martin all seem to be in agreement that something happened, something went missing, but they're not telling us what parts exactly were shipped and what happened.

[03:40:09]

But it does appear that there was some kind of commercial shipper that was involved in moving these parts from Australia that were supposed to go back to the United States. Let's take a listen to what the Australian defense minister had to say about this this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RICHARD MARLES, AUSTRALIAN DEFENSE MINISTER: Well, we've been made aware in the proper course of events and we're obviously working with the United States and with Lockheed in terms of how we can assist in this investigation. But this is ultimately a matter for the U.S. and for Lockheed as its prime contractor and the contractor which is responsible for managing the global supply chain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: He went on to say that he does not believe that the parts that have gone missing from the fighter jet that they are sensitive. But again, we don't know exactly what they are. CNN's reached out to the Hong Kong government and the Chinese government.

They are not commenting on this at this time. It's important to know a little bit more about the F-35. This is manufactured by Lockheed Martin, but it is sold to some 20 countries around the world at different levels.

So it's not just the U.S. that has access to this. It's countries like Israel and Poland and of course, Australia, which has its own F-35 Lightning II jets. And also Australia hosts a facility that provides some of the supplies, the parts for this jet, which are shared to other countries that have the aircraft like Singapore or South Korea or Japan.

I think just as an outsider, it's a little striking to find out that according to the Defense Logistics Agency, that's a wing of the U.S. Department of Defense, they have conceded that they've used commercial shippers like UPS and FedEx in the past to ship some of the parts of what is supposed to be this top secret aircraft A bit surprising to hear that perhaps these are going through parcel services that you or I or other civilians might use, Polo.

So we're waiting to hear the results of an investigation. What went missing and how did it get redirected here to Hong Kong?

SANDOVAL: Yes, that's a tracking number you do not want to lose. But in all seriousness, I mean, this is absolutely incredible and revealing reporting. Ivan Watson, thank you so much for bringing us that from Hong Kong. Now to a new class of blood tests that could offer major advancements

in early cancer detection. Federal regulators just voted in favor of the blood tests that can detect more than 50 types of cancer in your bloodstream. But there are some limits to this test.

CNN chief medical correspondent Sanjay Gupta investigated this and also tried the test for himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. KATRINA FIRLIK, CANCER SURVIVOR: You automatically see this bright lump right here, kind of lighting up like a light bulb. This tumor was sitting there, not causing a problem. And what's funny is when I met my thoracic surgeon for the first time, he walked in, he shook my hand and he said, you might be the luckiest unlucky person.

Unlucky because I had the positive result, but lucky. He said he never sees tumors this small.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Katrina Firlik and I have been friends for years. She credits her luck to a blood test that aims to catch cancer at its earliest ages. They're known as liquid biopsies, multi-cancer early detection tests that can identify 50-plus cancers by searching for DNA fragments of the disease in your blood.

FIRLIK: I didn't have to live through any cancer crisis. I was able to intercept that crisis.

GUPTA: Many doctors do preach the gospel of early screening and the numbers sort of bear this out. Between 1975 and 2020, there were almost 5 million cancer deaths that were averted due to routine prevention and standard screenings.

The problem is this. Most diagnosed cancers do not have a recommended screening test. As a result, many of those cancers are caught later and they're harder to treat.

You're a friend. You're a fellow neurosurgeon as well. We're the same age.

Should I get this test? Do you think?

FIRLIK: Do you like the idea of catching cancer early?

GUPTA: I do like the idea of catching cancer early, but at the same time, I'm still not sure that I really need to be doing a test like this. And here's why.

These tests have what's known as a high positive predictive value. If it comes back positive, I likely have some form of cancer. But at the same time, if it comes back negative, I'm not really that confident that I don't have cancer.

DR. VERSHALEE SHUKLA, CO-FOUNDER, VINCERE CANCER CENTER: After doing this for over five years and almost 10,000 lipobiopsies, less than a dozen cancers detected.

GUPTA: So it's not picking up as many cancers as you would like?

SHUKLA: 100 percent it's not picking up cancers.

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Vershalee Shukla runs a cancer screening program for first responders in Arizona. Now, they are often younger than the 50 year and older population that these tests are designed for.

[03:45:09]

But studies also suggest firefighters have higher rates of cancers because of their jobs.

SHUKLA: We went out in one week, we drew 500 firefighters, we did all of their blood and not one came back positive. And no one wants to come in to get their cancer screenings because everyone had this sense of security.

GUPTA: I think what the picture you're painting is someone goes gets the grail test comes back negative and they think, hey, I'm good to go. I don't need to get the colonoscopy or the additional screening tests.

SHUKLA: It took a lot of work on our part over the next 18 months to two years to get all those members to come in and get their colonoscopies or whole body MRIs. We ended up diagnosing another 14, 15 cancers.

DR. ALEX KRIST, FORMER CHAIRMAN, U.S. PREVENTIVE SERVICES TASK FORCE: But that's also something we need to measure. Like how much will that happen? Will people continue with usual cancer screening?

GUPTA (voice-over): Dr. Alex Krist used to chair the federal government's advisory group on screening recommendations. I asked him how a group like that would think about these tests today.

KRIST: When we're talking about cancer screening, we're looking at are you less likely to die from cancer? Will you live longer? But also, you know, could it improve your quality of life?

GUPTA (voice-over): It's a lot to mentally wrestle with as I take my own test. A negative finding does not mean I'm in the clear. It also doesn't mean that I should skip my routine cancer screenings.

Even the test makers say that. And importantly, we don't yet have the studies to prove whether or not these tests save lives. That will need a lot more people and a lot more time.

But then there is the story of Katrina.

FIRLIK: In my case, the benefit was that I needed the most minimal treatment. I found it at the earliest stage.

GUPTA: It's been pretty nerve wracking these past few weeks waiting for these results. I mean, here's the thing. There are over 600 FDA approved cancer treatments.

We can't take advantage of them if we don't know that we have cancer and find those cancers early enough. In my case, came back negative. No cancer signal detected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: That was Sanjay Gupta reporting.

And there's still much more ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," including A.I. leaders as they push for global cooperation on artificial intelligence, taking their case to the United Nations. More on that in a moment.

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[03:50:00]

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SANDOVAL: Hi, welcome back.

The leaders of two top A.I. companies went before the UN Security Council with one clear message. The industry needs international standards and cooperation. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei delivered remarks separately to the Wednesday, they urged world leaders to come together to manage the threats posed by developments in A.I. capabilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARIO AMODEI, ANTHROPIC CEO: I believe that this is the most important global security issue facing the world today. For all the differences of the people in this room, we must put aside those differences in order to confront this global opportunity and global threat that is being presented to us at the same time. No leader, no company, and no nation can manage this alone.

SAM ALTMAN, OPENAI CEO: It doesn't matter whether people put their risk of catastrophe at 10 percent or 1 percent or 12 percent or 0.1 percent, none of these levels are remotely acceptable. And we should not train models that we cannot make an extremely strong case that we'll be able to keep under human control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: That's Sam Altman, who also suggested that creating secure channels to share information between governments on emerging threats.

Meanwhile, Meta, giving its new personal A.I. agent, Muse, more capabilities and integrations, revving up massive interest in an already competitive market. CNN's Lisa Eadicicco has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: I've been using Meta's new Muse A.I. agent, and like a lot of tech companies, what Meta is really trying to do here is provide an A.I. agent that can actually do things on consumers' behalf, rather than just answering questions.

For example, it can browse the web, it uses its own virtual computer in the cloud to do that, and you can actually see what it's doing in the app and take control when you need to. It can also write emails, it can shop for you and make purchases, things along those lines. And in my time testing it, some of the things I've found it to be most useful for are tasks that require some combination of research, communicating with people, and then organizing information.

For example, I'm planning a trip with a close friend of mine next month, so I had Muse email her, ask her where she wants to go on this trip, and then take her responses and organize them into a Google Doc. And that's just one example.

Now, of course, Meta and Google do have a long lead when it comes to consumer adoption with their own A.I. agents, but Meta does seem to be off to a strong start so far. Muse is the number one app in Apple's App Store under free apps so far, so it seems like adoption could be ramping up.

But I do think that there are some potential obstacles here for Meta, I think one of them being consumer trust.

[03:54:58]

In order for Muse to be really useful, consumers have to be comfortable letting Meta access things like your email account, and your Google Docs, and your contacts, and your shipping details if you're shopping, and all of that kind of personal information. So I do think for some consumers that could be a bit of a barrier and a bit of an obstacle.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Lisa, thank you.

And thank you so much for watching, I'm Polo Sandoval, in New York. Another hour of coverage continues in a moment.

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