Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Trump Kicks Off Midterm Campaign Push In Dallas This Week; Trump's Super PAC Begins Spending On Midterm Races. U.S. Envoys Arrive In Kyiv For Talks After Moscow Visit; Germany's Far-Right AFD Party Poised For Power; Hawaii Bracing For Effects From Hurricane Lowell; Labor Day Weekend Drivers Facing High Gas Prices; Doctors Step In To Fill Void Left By CDC On Vaccines; Homelessness To Housing: Tiny Homes Change Lives. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired September 06, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:35]

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what's new today. First up, U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Trump's son- in-law Jared Kushner are expected to arrive in Kyiv soon for their first visit to Ukraine. It follows their visit to Moscow to meet with Putin yesterday. But will there actually be progress towards ending that war?

We're going to bring you their arrival when it happens. Plus, President Trump is rallying Republicans this week in Texas for the midterm elections. We now have the list of who will be speaking and who won't. Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh. Watch out, watch out, watch out, watch out. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God.

Oh my God. Watch out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: We've got new video of the moment. A Colorado murder suspect who was supposed to be on house arrest allegedly tried to leave the scene of a car accident. The new legal trouble he's in now. And of course, it is a hot holiday weekend for so many out there. We've got the forecast for who is in store for a steamy Labor Day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

FREEMAN: Good morning to you all. Welcome on in. It is Sunday, September 6th. Thank you so much for joining us on this Labor Day weekend. Victor Blackwell is off.

I'm Danny Freeman in New York.

We begin this morning with breaking news. We're watching for the imminent arrival of President Trump's envoys to Ukraine. Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner are expected in Kyiv for their first visit since Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The second leg of their trip follows yesterday's visit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. They met for three hours at the Kremlin.

Kushner and Witkoff are making this whirlwind trip to both countries to try to negotiate a peaceful end to the four and a half year war. Now for more on this, let's go to CNN's Eleni Giokos. What are we expecting out of this meeting today?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, as you say, Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, is set to arrive in Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital within this hour. And we're watching that very closely because this follows, as you say, intensive talks with President Vladimir Putin of Russia. Now, what we believe to be happening right now is sort of ideas as well as a potential momentum being built when it comes to diplomacy. Something that has failed over the past year even after the United States had put together a 28-point plan.

Now, from what we understand, the overall assumption here is that lines of diplomacy is opening once again. But we haven't heard any kind of communique or official outline of what that entails. The United States says that those are going to come out in the next few weeks. But positive response from the Kremlin saying that they were very substantive and very useful and also the White House saying the same thing.

Now, in terms of where the Ukrainians stand right now, and this is very important, they say that air defenses are depleting and this creates a massive vulnerability for them as we're seeing intensive strikes towards Ukraine. And also Ukraine has been hitting deeper and farther into Russia. What is important to also note here is you've got both sides agreeing to three days of no strikes towards each other's capital city. So no strikes on Kyiv as well as Moscow to facilitate these talks. An analyst I spoke to earlier said that it is showing very much a confidence building exercise that is emerging here, that it is possible to pause strikes on capital cities, importantly, during an ongoing hot war that is occurring.

The big contention points is for Russia, Ukraine joining NATO. The other big issue depends on what happens on the land in Ukraine, which is currently occupied by Russia. That has been one of the major sticking points in terms of finding a way forward and which side, Danny, is going to make concessions going forward.

FREEMAN: And so many just hoping for a diplomatic end to this war. Eleni Giokos, thank you so much for that reporting. And of course, all eyes on Ukraine later on this morning.

All right. We're also keeping an eye on this story. More retaliation possible after the U.S. military says it struck three Iranian oil tankers. This all happened on Saturday after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard launched ballistic missiles towards two U.S. navy warships. This new escalation is raising concerns about a heightened shipping war in the Gulf.

[06:05:05]

U.S. Central Command claims the Iranian tankers were part of a multi- billion dollar shadow network that funds the Iranian military and its proxies. CNN's Oren Liebermann is tracking these developments. He joins us live now from Jerusalem.

Oren, what can you tell us?

OREN LIEBERMANN, JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Danny, what we're seeing now over the course of the past week or so and these most recent strikes is a resumption of open conflict between the U.S. and Iran with several rounds of attacks and strikes going back and forth. Now, of course, this isn't the level that we saw at the beginning of the war in late February and early March, but this is the first round of strikes we've seen now in several weeks with open threats and rhetoric from both the U.S. and Iran for this to continue. In this latest round of strikes, Iran carried out attacks and launched missiles at two U.S. navy warships operating in and around the Strait of Hormuz. And the U.S. retaliated by taking out three empty Iranian tankers.

Again, the threat to continue this remains. But what this is really all about is who controls the Strait of Hormuz. The U.S. navy blockade has effectively cut off most, if not all of Iran's ability to export oil. And the U.S. has its own operation, tankers traveling with their transponders off at night with U.S. navy escorts to try to get through the Strait of Hormuz. Now that has allowed a certain amount, a limited amount of oil to go through one of the world's most critical waterways.

Of course, it's far off pre-war levels, but it shows that tension over who controls the strait itself. Iran is trying to exert its own forces, its own ability to threaten not only tankers but also U.S. navy warships themselves using drones and ballistic missiles. Meanwhile, the U.S. is using its power to try to keep the strait open as much as possible.

Now, in the background of all this is the bigger picture. Vice President JD Vance refusing to call this a war while suggesting that there's no timeline for this to end. So he seems to be suggesting this could be a forever conflict. Now the question is, where does this go from here? Iran and the U.S. have both shown that there isn't an apparent step in the immediate future where they'll get to concessions, negotiations and either a return to the memorandum of understanding or some other sort of negotiated agreement.

Oman and others have tried to work in the background to get them on the same page, but we don't see and haven't seen a recent breakthrough there and so you have these continued back and forth strikes with a serious risk of a greater escalation that involves more of the region here, Danny. FREEMAN: Yes. And again to your point, again, the vice president again not calling it a war earlier this week. And then of course, these exchanges happening over the weekend.

Oren Liebermann, thank you so much as always for your reporting. Good to see you.

All right, let's go to some other headlines we're watching this morning. New video shows the tense moments after a Colorado murder suspect, Barry Morphew, who was on a three million dollar bond, allegedly crashed into two vehicles and then left the scene. Take a look at the exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need your insurance. Do you not have insurance?

BARRY MORPHEW, MURDER SUSPECT ACCUSED OF HIT-AND-RUN: No, I don't. I don't.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have insurance?

MORPHEW: No. There's no damage there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't trust that --

MORPHEW: I won't give you --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- there's not internal damage, though.

MORPHEW: There's not.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't trust that there's none.

MORPHEW: I will give you money. And if there is not, if --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't feel comfortable doing that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: So the woman who recorded the video says Morphew tried to rub scratches off of a car and told her he didn't have insurance. She says he insisted there was no damage, as you just heard, and offered her $300. She refuses, saying there could be damage she can't see. Well, then as Morphew allegedly tries to leave, another driver steps in front of his truck, apparently to stop him. Moments later, Morphew backs up and then drives away.

He's not been charged in the alleged hit and run, but authorities say he did violate the terms of his house arrest while he, again, awaits trial in a murder case.

To this now in Los Angeles, police say more than 700 people gathered overnight for an illegal street takeover, prompting a major operation involving more than 150 officers. LAPD says 66 people were arrested, 570 citations were issued. An additional 128 citations were issued for juveniles who were out past the city's 10:00 p.m. curfew.

Did you hear about this? The Big Ten Conference is defending a controversial call during last night's Michigan -- Western Michigan football game in Ann Arbor. The referees ruled there was still one second on the clock after that failed Hail Mary attempt by Michigan, giving the Wolverines another chance to stave off a massive upset. Well, they made the most of that second chance as this Hail Mary to the end zone was indeed complete, giving Michigan the win 13-12 in its season opener. The Wolverines were a 27.5-point favorite going into the game.

College football back with a fury. Speaking of which, so are those triple digit temperatures back with a fury. In Texas, first responders transported 13 people from a game at the University of Texas Stadium to local hospitals. Officials say at least three of those cases may have been heat related.

[06:10:07]

Despite temperatures that felt well over 100 degrees, many fans weren't letting though the heat ruin opening weekend. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey man, that's how it go, man. You got to keep it in the state, man. Started off bringing everybody together. It's always a good time.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Go Texas. Just overall. I hope both teams have fun.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I took the day off for this. I'm going to have fun, regardless. I'm going to make the best of it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: Oh man, Alison, they're so sweaty in those videos. Of course, not just Texas. We have seen meteorologist Allison Chinchar, of course with us to explain where all this heat is expected to stick around. What can you tell us?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And just like that man said, just make the best of it. And literally what that means is if you plan to be outdoors, just be smart about it. Make sure you stay hydrated. Make sure you wear those light colored clothing. If you plan to be out in the sunscreen, always the sunscreen.

So here's a look at what we're talking about, roughly 40 million people are under some type of heat alert. You've got the orange color, that's the heat advisory and then the extreme heat warnings that are up in the pink color here. A lot of these areas are looking at temperatures 10 to 15 degrees above average, 101 today in Dallas. Same thing in Oklahoma City. You're looking at 96 in Nashville, 95 in Atlanta.

The nice pleasant spot is actually going to be the Northeast. A lot of temperatures there into the 70s. Same thing for tomorrow. So both today and tomorrow, very pleasant conditions there. It's just really much of the central U.S. that's where we're really kind of focused on a lot of the heat.

Again, look at Little Rock, about 10 degrees above average for Monday, up to triple digits once we get back to Tuesday. So again, a lot of these areas here, Oklahoma City, Shreveport, Kansas City, all of those areas, looking at those temperatures well above average. And the heat itself is also fueling a lot of showers and thunderstorms not only across the central U.S. but in the southeast as well.

You've also got some rain showers out to the west right now, some showers sliding up towards the Las Vegas area and through Southern California. But the strongest thunderstorms we have are right now in the central portion of the country. Again, you can see this line starting to spread eastward through Kansas and Nebraska, moving out of Colorado. We are expecting to have more showers and thunderstorms today, including severe thunderstorms for this huge line that you see here targeting some of the strongest thunderstorms in the southeast.

FREEMAN: Oh, wow. Hoping that again, if it's not hot, then it might be wet for some of these spots. I don't envy you guys down south.

Allison Chinchar, thank you though, for the forecast. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up next, President Trump not on the ballot, but he is taking center stage in Texas to rally Republicans ahead of the midterms. We're going to have a preview of the GOP midterm convention this week. Plus, a surging far right party in Germany is drawing attention here in the United States and putting the spotlight on President Trump's influence abroad. We're going to take you live to Berlin where it is Election Day.

And a growing vaccine guidance gap. Why some doctors say Americans are getting mixed messages as cold and flu season begins. And then of course, as we go to break, here is a live look at where I live, Philadelphia. The airport there, Philly International, looking bright as the sun comes up. You're watching CNN This Morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:17:42]

FREEMAN: President Donald Trump is kicking off his midterm campaign push this week in Dallas. President Trump will be taking center stage at an unprecedented Republican midterm convention alongside Vice President JD Vance, some of his Cabinet secretaries and battleground candidates from across the country. Trump will speak both nights of the two day gathering starting on Wednesday. The goal for Republicans is clear fire up the president's base and drive voter turnout this November, even though Trump himself is not on the ballot. Joining me now is Meredith Lee Hill, a senior Congress reporter for Politico who's been covering the GOP.

Meredith, thank you so much for getting up early to talk through what's going to be very interesting week. Let's start here. We now have the speaker list. We have a better idea of what this is actually going to look like this week, this convention. Is this going to be the thing that turns around the GOP's otherwise difficult midterm outlook?

MEREDITH LEE HILL, SENIOR CONGRESS REPORTER, POLITICO: Well, Republicans are certainly hoping so. Obviously they're battling a lot of headwinds trying to keep their majorities high gas prices, the war in Iran. Those are all things that they're hoping to effectively put behind them this coming week and really focus on projecting GOP unity, but also get a lot of these GOP challengers on the stage and try to fundraise in order to basically blunt a lot of these Democratic attacks that they're going to see in fewer than 60 days ahead of the midterms.

FREEMAN: Now, Meredith, you've been covering the build up to the midterms for the GOP a ton and a recent article that you wrote caught my eye because it tackles the reality for some of these campaigns that they actually don't want the president campaigning or stumping for them because he's too toxic. We'll put this up. "We've told them he cannot come," senior Republican working on a competitive House race told you, quote, "Candidly he would not be helpful here. I do not believe they would send him without our OK. And if they did, we probably wouldn't campaign with him."

I guess, Meredith, my question is, do you think the president will go to some of these swing districts even if he's maybe not wanted?

HILL: I don't think so. I think some of those battleground Republicans that we've spoken with have been very clear with the White House that they are in an especially vulnerable position right now. And with the president's approval rating sagging at this point, obviously things like the war in Iran and battling high gas prices, they are looking to distance themselves somewhat from the president and they would prefer that he basically not visit at this point ahead of the midterms. That is different than some of their colleagues. Obviously we've talked to others who are still trying to walk this line, basically trying to embrace the president.

[06:20:18]

They're very eager. He is -- has said that he is expected to shell out a lot of money to help them in the coming weeks. And they are really excited and interested in getting some of that financial support. And so a lot of their colleagues are having to walk this line, trying to put some distance between them and the president, but also in trying to hear their voter concerns, but then also really trying to embrace the president at times as he's looking to dole out these resources.

FREEMAN: Well, let's talk about some of these resources because President Trump's Super PAC MAGA Inc. just dropped $10 million into the Texas Senate race to help Ken Paxton. In their first attack ad, this is interesting, they're going straight right after Democrat James Talarico on the economy. I want you to take a listen to this ad.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: James Talarico supported a trillion dollar tax hike, higher property taxes and higher taxes on Social Security.

Talarico higher taxes. Paxton lower taxes. A clear choice.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: OK. So you heard it right there economy rising cost of living consistently ranked obviously as a huge concern for voters and at the center of this ad. But it's interesting because of course Republicans control all the levers in D.C. right now. Is this going to be a winning message for Republicans considering how much power they currently have?

HILL: I think it'll be a mixed message probably from Republicans. They're really looking to focus on their efforts last summer, especially as large -- as a part of a large, you know, tax cut bill. But really what voters are focused on are a lot of these pocketbook issues that we keep seeing come up both in internal kind of polling that Republicans themselves are getting, but also just what we're hearing from voters. And so that's something that they know is a pain point they're trying to address, act like they're trying to hear voters' concerns and work on it. But it is certainly it is a pain point for them right now that they're trying to push back onto Democrats.

Obviously Democrats in Texas are pushing very hard on things like cost of living and that's part of the battle there in an obviously incredibly red state.

FREEMAN: Yes, it's going to be very interesting, again, as we said, unprecedented midterm convention.

Meredith Lee Hill, thank you so much for getting up early and breaking it all down for us this morning. Appreciate it.

And later on this morning, speaking of Texas, Texas gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa will join senior CNN's Dana Bash live on "State of the Union." That's going to begin at 9:00 right here on CNN after CNN This Morning.

All right, we're following breaking news right now in Ukraine. President Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner just arrived in Kyiv. We have a live breaking news update coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:27:38]

FREEMAN: We're following breaking news in Ukraine. Just moments ago, President Trump's envoys have arrived in Kyiv. Steve Witkoff and Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner are set to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. They're hoping to jumpstart efforts to settle the Russia Ukraine war. You see both men exiting the train right there again, just moments ago.

Let's go right over to CNN's Eleni Giokos who's following all of this. Eleni, what's the latest as we watch these envoys arrive in Kyiv?

GIOKOS: Yes. Yes. Well, this is a significant moment. As you can see, they arrived by train. There you have Steve Witkoff as well as President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner arriving, meeting the Ukrainian delegation and a significant moment because this is the first time they have visited since the war started and a sign that diplomacy might just be on the cards, even though Russia and Ukraine are, according to analysts, worlds apart in terms of outcomes and how to end this.

What is very important to note here is that both sides have agreed to halt fighting, put down their guns for three days until Monday to allow for these conversations and this diplomatic visit. And this is after Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff embarked on a trip to Moscow. Three hour conversation with Putin. And from what we hear from the Kremlin is that the talks were encouraging. And important lately they say they were useful.

They said the representatives had prepared seriously for this trip and that Kushner as well as Witkoff had offered a whole series of considerations regarding possible paths to a settlement. The White House saying that they discussed substantive plans for next steps.

Now, here in Kyiv, as we're seeing these images coming through, negotiations, discussions, diplomatic options will be discussed with the Ukrainians. President Zelenskyy a short time ago posting on social media that he is ready for talks and importantly that they want to find a diplomatic off ramp as well.

We have seen efforts by the United States over the past year to try and bring the two sides together. The sticking points have been Ukraine joining NATO and the others include the territory currently held by Russia and which side is planning to make concessions, which side is willing for concessions down the line to bring some kind of diplomacy on the cards.

[06:30:10]

For Zelensky's part as well, he plans to bring up the vulnerabilities in terms of Ukraine's depleting air defense systems and what this means. As we've seen intense fighting, intense strikes into Ukraine over the past few weeks and then importantly Russia as well. Ukraine has been striking deep inside Russia, targeting industrial facilities as well.

We're monitoring these conversations and we're not sure whether we'll get an official communique after this, but we know the United States has signaled that they will put out a formal plan in the next couple of weeks.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Eleni, thank you so much for breaking that all down with us again. A historic moment as these envoys arrived for the first time in Ukraine since this war.

Thank you again for your reporting. We'll keep back with you as the morning develops.

All right, staying in Europe for a moment. A state in Germany could soon have far-right leaders for the first time since World War II. Weekend elections in eastern Germany could result in a win for the right-wing AfD party. If that happens and they're not shot out by other parties, it could be the first far-right state government in Germany since the end of the era.

CNN's Frederik Pleitgen joins us live from Berlin. Fred, good to see you.

Tell us, why should we in the U.S. be watching these results closely?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Danny. On the face of it, it is a very small German state. They actually only have about I think about 2.1 million people living there.

So even here in Germany, it's not a massive state, but certainly German leaders are watching this with a lot of trepidation because it could be the first time in Germany with, of course, its history, its very troubling history, to have a far-right governor here in place for the first time since World War II. So that itself is something that here in this country, many people are looking at.

As far as the AfD itself is concerned, I actually followed them a little bit on the campaign trail, and they do feel that they're very close to the MAGA movement in the United States.

One of the things that their Ulrich Siegmund, also told me is he felt that the America First policies of the Trump administration could also be a role model for themselves in that state. They want to be very tough on immigration. Of course, that's something difficult to do on a state level because a lot of that is done by the federal government.

But it's one of the things that we hear again and again, that the conservative approach, and especially the approach of the MAGA movement, is definitely something that they also see as a potential role model for themselves. And it's also something that the main candidate said when he was on the campaign trail.

Let's just listen in really quickly to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ULRICH SIEGMUND, AFD FRONT-RUNNER, SAXONY-ANHALT (through translation): And of course, we will also take on government responsibility with a simple majority. That is quite clear. And why is that? Because we and the AfD stick together. Because we simply do not have the same sort of situation as in the CDU. And because we know that our beautiful fatherland does not have much time left. That every day counts. It will take a long time to rebuild what they have been destroying here for over 20 or 30 years.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

PLEITGEN: And Danny, on an international level, one of the other things that folks here in Germany are looking at as well is, you know, we just had that segment about Ukraine before we went on air here. And certainly Germany right now, one of the main sponsors of the Ukrainian government, both militarily and financially, the AfD is very close to Russia, very close to the Kremlin. And they say they completely want to cut any military and financial aid to Ukraine as well, Danny.

FREEMAN: Fascinating story. Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for breaking it all down and for making it clear why many should care, not only in the U.S., but certainly, of course, in Germany as well. Thanks for your time.

To this now. Hawaii is bracing for Hurricane Lowell. The state is under an emergency declaration as the Category 3 storm approaches. And as officials track Lowell around the clock, hurricane hunters are flying directly into the hurricane to gather data that forecasters depend on.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOCLIP)

ROB MITCHELL, NOAA HURRICANE HUNTER: It makes it harder to fly from a flight director perspective because you really are watching the wind. We've got a small indication here. They've got a better indication in the back.

And so, she's really just giving us headings based on where that wind is coming from to the aircraft.

(END VIDEOCLIP)

FREEMAN: CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more on Lowell's track.

Allison, I'll tell you, I mean, those NOAA pilots and forecasters, they have nerves of steel to be in that.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Oh, absolutely. There's definitely not a job I could do. That is for sure.

Now, here's a look at Hurricane Lowell again. You can see it's already started to make that northward turn back toward the islands. The sustained winds right now, 125. That is a very high end Category 3 storm. But the wind gusts are still up around high end Category 4 storm. And these numbers are likely still expected to fluctuate here over the next 24 to 48 hours as the storm continues to make that northward turn just to the west of the island of Kauai.

So you still have some watches and in effect for some of these areas. Now, keep in mind, some of these islands are uninhabited, but Kauai Island has a pretty decent population. They could still end up seeing some very gusty winds, very heavy rain bands and the potential for some mud slides or even landslides.

[06:35:14] So here's a look at where the storm is expected to go. Starting Sunday, you'll start to get some of those really far outer bands. By the time we get to Monday, especially Monday afternoon local time in Hawaii. You're really going to start to see some of the closest bands that they are going to get. That's when it's going to make its closest approach to Kauai. Kauai County is late into the day Monday, and then by Tuesday we finally start to see it begin to shift away from the islands.

But again, it feels like deja vu, Danny. This is the third storm in as many weeks that has come very close to the island.

FREEMAN: Yes, and again, you don't think necessarily always of hurricanes and major storms like this with Hawaii, so we're thinking of all of them and hoping that they stay safe.

Allison Chinchar, thanks as always, appreciate it.

Alright, of course we have to talk about this. Millions of Americans are traveling this holiday weekend and many are being met with sticker shock at gas pumps. The national average for a gallon of gas now tops over $4 a gallon, according to AAA and the price for diesel is at a record high of $5.90 a gallon.

CNN's Leigh Waldman is following this, including what's behind the spike.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's the official end to summer and millions of Americans are feeling the heat from high gas prices as they travel this holiday weekend. Price is nearly $1 more than what Americans were paying this time last Labor Day weekend, and drivers are feeling the pain at the pump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh God have mercy. OK, too expensive as of right now.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I look for the cheaper ones. Yes, I have to. But yes, you have to try to cut, save a little here, save a little there.

WALDMAN (voice-over): The main contributor to record high prices is the Iran war, and on Saturday the U.S. military says it struck three Iranian crude oil carriers after Iran launched ballistic missiles toward U.S. Navy warships in the region. The U.S. warships were not hit.

These fresh exchanges threatened to heighten the conflict in the Persian Gulf as oil supplies remain snarled. On Friday, Vice President JD Vance said gas prices shouldn't be expected to drop anytime soon.

JD VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES: I'm not going to make a promise about when it's going to return to $3. What I will say is that we have to remember why are we doing this? Number one, it's so that Iran never has a nuclear weapon. And number two, what we're doing right now is protecting commercial shipping in order to ensure that we don't have a worldwide energy crisis.

WALDMAN (voice-over): I'm Leigh Waldman, reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: Leigh, thank you for that reporting.

Coming up next, after two measles associated deaths in Pennsylvania, there's growing concern over vaccination rates and new confusion surrounding federal vaccine guidance. We're going to discuss all of that next.

And if you're heading out, remember, you can stream our show from anywhere in the U.S., right from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/Watch.

And of course, we're taking a live look at beautiful St. Louis this morning. Love it. Be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:40]

FREEMAN: Pennsylvania is in the grips of a now deadly measles outbreak. There have been more than 500 confirmed cases in the state, and the Lancaster County coroner confirms two infant deaths were measles related.

The Trump administration, meanwhile, their stance on vaccines is leaving a lot of Americans in the dark. The CDC has not launched its usual fall information campaign, and there are no clear recommendations about flu, RSV, or COVID shots. So, doctor's associations are picking up the slack by releasing their own guidance.

Joining me now to discuss is Dr. Amesh Adalja. He is a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security and an infectious disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. Doctor, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Let's start with the Pennsylvania measles story. The Lancaster County coroner and the Pennsylvania Department of Health say unequivocally two measles associated deaths have occurred amid this outbreak, but as of this morning the CDC still has an asterisk by its count of deaths on its measles data page.

Can you help explain for our viewers what's going on here?

DR. AMESH ADALJA, SENIOR SCHOLAR, JOHNS HOPKINS CENTER FOR HEALTH SECURITY: What's going on is I think that you're seeing politics basically take over this operational response to a measles outbreak.

RFK Jr., who is the Secretary of Health and Human Services, who the CDC director answers to, has basically accused Pennsylvania of fabricating these deaths. And if that's what the leader of the department is saying, it's not surprising that the CDC would take this type of stance, but it's exactly the opposite of what they did when there were deaths in Texas and New Mexico last year, when those deaths were immediately listed on the CDC website, on the CDC tracker.

And usually CDC is going to defer to states, and they're going to be inclusive as possible because we're trying not to miss any deaths. We're trying to make sure we have a handle and understanding and situational awareness of this outbreak. So excluding those deaths is just them basically dismantling the entire apparatus of how the CDC works with state health departments.

FREEMAN: Doctor, I understand and take your point that you're concerned about politics bleeding into the science, but in your view, has there been, was there at any point during the course of the past couple of weeks when these measles-associated deaths came up. Were there any communications breakdown here as well, perhaps by the state or the feds, in order to accurately explain what was happening on the ground?

ADALJA: When I teach classes on public health communications, I'm going to use this whole incident as an example of what not to do, because what you had is the county government, the state government, and the federal government all saying different things. You had politics basically being engulfed by both the governor, as well as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

[06:45:17]

And what ended up happening is the state kind of withheld information using some statutory language that they were worried about patient privacy, and that created an information vacuum, an information vacuum that basically invited RFK Jr. and anti-vaccine groups that he controls and he influences to basically enter with engraved invitation and spread disinformation all throughout my state and make all of our jobs, jobs that are trying to actually deal with this record-breaking measles outbreak in Pennsylvania, much, much harder.

And this is just a lesson of when you don't -- when you're not transparent, when you're not clear, it invites disinformation. And that's precisely what we saw.

FREEMAN: Yes, I think that is well said that this is going to be an example of, again, public health communication lessons learned going forward for sure.

Doctor, we're also now heading into the fall virus season. What are your concerns about the lack of guidance currently from the CDC?

ADALJA: Well, since the CDC has basically been co-opted and taken over by RFK Jr. and he's installed a lot of his own cronies, he has basically forced the prior CDC director out, many of her colleagues left in solidarity. I'm not confident in the CDC's guidance process. ACIP, the Advisory Council on Immunization Practices, they are not a legitimate organization anymore. They can't even actually meet by court order.

So I'm glad to see organizations like the American Academy of Family Medicine, the Infectious Disease Society of America, which I'm a member of, the ACP, the AAP, all put out guidance and give clinicians, give people something to actually use moving forward, because the CDC process is really broken right now. And we used to get all our guidance from the CDC, but now I don't think that's going to be the case for some time.

So the professional organizations are really filling in and showing their expertise, showing their value to the population.

FREEMAN: Well, Dr. Amesh Adalja, thank you so much for breaking down not just what is coming up ahead of us, but also this ongoing challenge that Pennsylvania is facing, because the Commonwealth, there are parts of it that are sick right now with measles, and a lot of people are looking for the best information.

Thank you, Doctor, for joining us this morning and breaking it all down.

ADALJA: Thanks, Danny (ph).

FREEMAN: All right, we have a CNN exclusive ahead. In the next hour, our team got access to the disaster area in Tibet near the China-Nepal border.

We're going to show you the devastation from the wall of water, and the ongoing search for those is still missing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:52:13]

FREEMAN: This morning's top story is our breaking news in Kyiv.

President Trump's envoys have arrived in the Ukrainian capital. This marks Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner's first visit to the country. Moments ago, they were greeted by President Zelensky. They've made several trips to Russia and that includes yesterday's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

And the U.S. military says it destroyed three Iranian oil tankers with military strikes on Saturday after Iran's military launched missiles towards two U.S. Navy warships. The Pentagon claims the Iranian tankers were part of a multi-billion-dollar shadow network that funds Iran's military and its proxies.

And President Trump is going to be back on the campaign trail this week ahead of the midterms this November. Trump will speak both nights of an unprecedented Republican midterm convention taking place in Dallas on Wednesday.

And two months before the nation goes to the polls, join Kaitlan Collins for a look at the key races. Could Republicans hold the majority or will Democrats shift the balance of power? And what's being done to protect the vote?

"MIDTERMS 2026 COUNTDOWN TO ELECTION NIGHT" airs tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. Eastern right here on CNN. This week's CNN Hero is dedicated to tackling homelessness in Syracuse, New York. Andrew Lunetta is building tiny homes in his city offering unhoused people not only safe shelter, but stability, dignity and support as they rebuild their lives.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDREW LUNETTA, FOUNDER, A TINY HOME FOR GOOD: We take for granted the stability that a home affords us. If you were to just imagine doing anything without a house, like, oh, no, that's what I have to get first. That is where our tenants are coming from constantly.

The tiny home is a really, really solid model because it pairs this independent and also private living.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish people understood that the homeless population are still human. At any time, circumstances can change.

I was living at my husband's grave for eight months. My whole life was turned upside down when I finally got to the end of the rope and became out of my home. The only place that I felt was home for me was the cemetery where my husband was housed.

LUNETTA: In its simplest form, stable housing made it so Rhea (ph) no longer had to sleep in the cemetery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's so good to see you.

LUNETTA: The next step after that was long term case management supports to help her address the things that hopefully she's not going to have to deal with anymore.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm so proud of you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all helped me out.

LUNETTA: Oh, man.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You all got me focused.

LUNETTA: Where a tenant moves in, they don't necessarily understand that they're being housed by this organization that cares a whole lot about them.

[06:55:05]

Yes, dude, you've been knocking it out of the park.

So when all of a sudden we're knocking on their door, there's a little bit of like, well, this is different.

Hey, buddy, you want to walk?

But as time goes on, and I think that it's seen that we mean it, it's really pretty profound. Some of those changes, this wouldn't exist without the tenants.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're a great leader, sir.

Peace is now what I have. It's like freedom to just exhale, like your nervous system is now able to rest.

LUNETTA: Let's go get this toilet fixed, shall we?

I still don't love being called a landlord, but it is true. That's what we are. And I think that what this population needs is landlords who care. And it's absolutely what we do.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FREEMAN: And for more on Andrew's story, you can go to CNNHEROES.com.

And as we go to break, here's a live look at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta as the sun is just starting to peek out there. I love it.

Stay with us because another hour of "CNN This Morning" is coming up after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)