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Trump Seen with "Kennedy Center Demolished' Sign, Judge Steps In; Trump: Rising Gas Prices 'Inexpensive Price to Pay' for War; RFK Jr. to Anti-Vaxxers: You Have a 'Friend at the White House'. Aired 6- 6:30a ET

Aired September 18, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: -- flames shooting out of a Mexican-bound plane just moments after taking off.

[06:00:06]

The pilot of the Airbus immediately reported engine failure and then turned around and circled the airport before landing safely. And no one, thankfully, was hurt.

But investigators are looking into exactly what happened. We'll continue to keep you updated there, plus much more.

That does it, though, for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: So, today in the group chat, this photo sparking fears that Trump will have the Kennedy Center demolished. How far would the president go to exact revenge for a name snub?

Plus, RFK Jr. promises anti-vaxxers a friend at the White House amid a deadly measles outbreak. Are Dems' worst fears about his vaccine stance coming true?

And a Florida Republican turns on Trump with a new ad claiming Hispanic voters feel betrayed by him. Will her gamble pay off?

And Trump calls rising gas prices an inexpensive price to pay for the Iran War. Will skyrocketing diesel prices be the GOP's real midterm Achilles heel?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all trying to save, you know, as many pennies as we can. Everything's been kind of just going up and up and up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Here is where we begin.

The idea of demolishing the Kennedy Center altogether, is that the next step for the president? He was spotted holding this sign. And if you can peek through the window there, it says, quote, "Kennedy Center demolished" on Air Force One.

So, is this just trolling or is the White House seriously considering it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: For the Trump administration, for me to get involved and to take that on, long-term, and to carry it, or to raise money to carry it, I think that the Trump administration should certainly have recognition.

Because, frankly, if we don't do that, it's going to close. It will end up being ripped down. It's in very, very bad shape.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the administration now says the Kennedy Center needs to be closed altogether due to, quote, "structural deterioration."

A judge has stepped in, because he says the Kennedy Center must provide at least 30 days' notice before any major changes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. JOYCE BEATTY (D-OH): This president is so unpredictable. This is another one of his vanity projects, and he'll do anything to get attention. He's throwing a tantrum now, because he lost in court. We were victorious, because the law is on our side, and we're not going to stop.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. Today in the group chat, we've got Isaac Dovere, CNN senior reporter; Tiana Lowe Doescher, economics columnist at "The Washington Examiner"; and Maria Cardona, CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist.

So good morning, everybody. Thank you for being here.

First, I just wanted to tally all the projects going around the nation's capital, whether the things that are already underway or torn apart. Your Rose Garden, the helipad, the Lafayette Square sidewalks, the White House ballroom, which famously that demolition moved rather quickly.

And then you've got things like the Reflecting Pool, the -- the president's Walk of Fame, the triumphal arch.

I want to draw your attention to the numbers here: 100 million, 40 million, 257 million. I mean, pretty soon, you're talking about real money.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: Pretty soon. And all of this coming, obviously, at a time that Americans are feeling a real economic crunch and are wondering. And when I travel the country, talking to voters all over the place,

whether they're in Massachusetts or Texas, what they keep saying is it feels like prices keep going up, and nobody cares about it. Nobody cares about how much money we're paying for all these things, whether they're Republicans or Democrats or whatever else.

And this is a lot of money that is going into a lot of projects here that are all in Washington. And none of them having real relevance for people's lives. It is nice to have Washington look nice, but all of them are essentially optional projects. None of them needed to happen, and the president has pursued them.

So, you've got John Thune in the Senate saying, Look, I'd be surprised if this actually happened. Although I think people probably thought that about the White House ballroom before the wrecking balls came in.

DOVERE: They thought that about the White House ballroom, in part because the president said that he would not knock down the East Wing several times. And then he did.

CORNISH: So, he said out loud, I'm not going to do it. OK.

So, here we are again. Want to remind people the Kennedy Center is actually a memorial to a slain president. This is what the courts have said. It's not a random concert hall that we don't care about.

Jack Schlossberg, obviously child of the Kennedy, said this: "JFK's legacy is unbreakable. The moon, the Civil Rights Act, the Cuban missile crisis, and the arts. Trump is a broken band in nose-dive decline.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIANA LOWE DOESCHER, ECONOMICS COLUMNIST, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER": Look, I don't think that elections are made or broken based on Trump spending a rounding error of the federal budget of a $2 trillion deficit on these random D.C. projects.

I don't understand why Democrats didn't want Trump spending all of his time and energy on this, right? If you imagine from the beginning of Trump two, if you just said, all right, make D.C. Beautiful again, and that's your whole project. It kind of could have been done.

So, I don't want to -- there, of all the projects, they are not all created equally, right? Nobody needed a triumphal arch.

CORNISH: Says the economics policy columnist. I want to ask about the money.

So, unnecessary expensive projects, some of which have flopped on the beach, like the Reflecting Pool --

DOESCHER: Yes.

CORNISH: -- where the contractor themselves and Jeanine Pirro have said, This was botched. DOESCHER: So, not all the projects are created equally. So, obviously,

the triumphal arch, like not necessary, right? That's just adding expenses. Some of these things are just adding expenses.

The Kennedy Center is a little bit -- is a little bit different, because even though the actual programing side of the Kennedy Center, which is privately funded, is solvent. The building has been falling apart for decades, and government accountability.

CORNISH: So, are you ready to demolish a memorial --

DOESCHER: Well, Audie, earlier this month --

CORNISH: I want to ask.

DOESCHER: I don't -- OK, I'm not a building contractor, right? But I do know that earlier this month, 150-pound waterlogged plaster fell from the ceiling 60 feet.

CORNISH: It did. Let me let Maria jump in, because the last time that happened was 1977. They did it without demolishing or even closing the building. Just want to put that out there. It's possible to do something without demolishing it.

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Absolutely. And here is what I think is sticking in people's minds. There's nothing stopping the Trump administration from fixing the Kennedy Center.

You know what is stopping it? Him demanding for him to put his name on it. That is insane.

That underscores the massive, egotistical nature of Donald Trump. His administration, his huge insecurity, because, oh my goodness, I can't do anything unless I put my name on it. That is -- that --

DOESCHER: Or keep on throwing that 30 to $40 million every single year.

CARDONA: It -- it doesn't matter, because he can fix it. What is stopping him from fixing it? He can't. He doesn't want to do it unless he puts his name on it.

CORNISH: Right.

CARDONA: And so, to -- to voters, that tells them this guy does not care about me. He only cares about himself.

DOVERE: Do you think that there's another piece of it here, which is the building has not been falling apart for decades. That's just not true.

I was a pretty regular patron at the Kennedy Center before all the things that were going on here that have made it hard to go see shows there. It was not the best theater. It was certainly not things falling apart.

DOESCHER: Have you ever been there in winter?

DOVERE: Yes.

DOESCHER: Because I was there this last winter. Have you ever walked down the corridor to that, like, Kennedy gallery?

DOVERE: Yes.

DOESCHER: It's freezing, because not only can they not afford to do proper heating, the heating itself doesn't.

DOVERE: That's not -- that's not falling apart, though.

CORNISH: I do want to be accurate about whether or not. Because what happens is the way Trump talks about Washington. It's as though it's Roman ruins.

CARDONA: Yes.

CORNISH: And everywhere we step is violence or a falling brick.

CARDONA: Yes.

CORNISH: It was not that. And I do think, if the president had not gone through the naming battle, we wouldn't be talking about it.

CARDONA: Exactly right.

CORNISH: Because we're not sure of his motives. That's what I'm trying to understand.

DOVERE: But it also comes back to the president was unhappy with the -- some of the shows that were there and some of that. And that's really what sparked all of this. And then he wanted his name on it. And all of --

CORNISH: And yes, so I think the name part is the part that we're asking. How far should we go to mitigate his concern about his name being on the building?

DOESCHER: I mean, OK.

CORNISH: He's not prioritized the health and wealth of the programing or the building.

CARDONA: Is this, like, a novel revelation to voters who are on year 11 of --

CORNISH: Well, we're about to find out, because later in the program, we're talking about the cost of living, which is coming up for both Republicans and Democrats as we near the midterms.

And so, when gas prices are up, and the president says, look, it's an inexpensive price to pay. How are you going to respond?

And then there's this Republican who plans to vote Democrat for the first time. You're looking at him. Why one candidate in Texas is forcing Karl Rove, of all people, to switch sides, at least for this race.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:14:07]

CORNISH: So, we're paying more at the pump. The president says, hey, it's worth it to fund the war with Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It's a very inexpensive price to pay for what we've done. Remember that. It's a little more. It's -- even if it was -- frankly, even if it was a lot more. But that's going to come tumbling down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: All right. He's talking about gas. But here's the thing. What about diesel? Because that powers pretty much everything else. Your trucks, your tractors, your freight trains, everything that transports the things you are buying in the store.

So, it's driving up costs. And right now, it costs more than $6 per gallon. This is the first time in history the costs have gone up more than 55 percent, specifically since the start of the war with Iran.

So, can Trump and Republicans convince voters ahead of the midterms that this hit to affordability benefits them?

The group chat is back. We have heard multiple arguments from the president. One, affordability is a hoax. That's one of his claims.

[06:15:06] But that's not what he's saying here. He's saying it's expensive, and it's worth it, because of the gains made in Iran. How do you counter that? How do candidates as Democrats go around countering that?

CARDONA: Seventy-five percent of the American people do not believe that we should have gone into Iran. That's how much the opposition to this war is. That, to me, should tell you everything, which is why Republicans are so concerned about these numbers going into the midterm elections.

And then when you have, when you can make a complete correlation about how much more voters are paying at the pump, not just with diesel, but that's a huge part of this. But when they actually go to try to fill up their tanks, and then you see billions of dollars being spent in Iran with not really any results.

There's no strategy coming out of it. There's no -- there's no focus, even, on why we went in there.

CORNISH: Yes. Putting up national average gas prices now, I want to note before the war, which means this was the gas price handed to the administration from the previous administration at $2.98 a gallon. Today, it is 4.47.

House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked, how do you campaign on this? This is what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): What our candidates are doing is they are on the -- the ground in their districts, talking to the people with authenticity and frankness.

Of course, gas prices are too high. When we get that thing resolved in the Strait of Hormuz, that will have a direct effect on that. And it will help to bring down grocery costs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOESCHER: OK. So, I just want to point out that Trump inherited an economy where real average weekly wages had fallen 4 percent. Right? Real median household income had fallen.

Gas prices were over $4 nationally before Trump took office. Right? So, he brought those numbers down.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOESCHER: You finally have the Census Bureau --

CORNISH: National average gas prices that we mentioned earlier. Before the war -- we're talking before the war and after the war, just so we have a frame of reference.

DOESCHER: Yes, yes, yes. Before the war.

CORNISH: Two-98. And then now it is 4.46.

DOESCHER: Yes. OK. So that -- so Trump, 2025 was a year of substantial economic progress, right? You had real median household income up almost 3 percent after taxes.

CORNISH: And put up diesel prices 3 percent. Yes.

DOESCHER: The poverty rate is at its lowest period. That's lowest amount ever, right? Ten percent. That's the lowest amount ever recorded.

I actually wish Trump had said from the get-go, there will be a real temporary financial cost to this war, because everyone understands that a fifth of all oil comes from the Persian Gulf, right?

There's going to be a disruption. The problem is that the only way through this war is through.

CORNISH: Right.

DOESCHER: You know? We want more kinetic action. CORNISH: Because people are responding to it. Just because I want you

to hear non-politicians. We've got a cattle producer, a Montana farmer, and a Missouri farmer.

And the day Trump took office, gas was $3.12 a gallon. So, the day inauguration -- again, that's not where it is now. Here's what the people who have to deal with diesel prices are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAURA COLLINS, MISSOURI FARMER: It's just -- it's massive. It's a massive cost on us. Of course, after the last two seasons, we're barely keeping our head above water. And then you tack all this extra weight onto our shoulders, and we're just sinking.

DAVID STEINBECKER, MISSOURI CATTLE PRODUCER: It's probably costing us, oh, North of $2,000 a day just in fuel.

JOHN TURNER, MONTANA FARMER: It used to cost $100 in diesel fuel, and now it costs $200 in diesel fuel. It hurts. I mean, it's -- it's impacting us significantly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Now, just because it hurts, it doesn't mean people are going to punish Trump for that. But here is Senator John Kennedy, Republican of Louisiana, talking about how he thinks this affects the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): This weekend I'm going to Kansas, Nebraska, and Iowa to -- to -- to help raise money and campaign for our very good candidates.

If you'd told me six months ago I was going to be having to spend my time in those three states, I wouldn't have believed you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does your travel --

KENNEDY: Those ought to be fat-guy layups for us. Now, we're going to win there. But -- but the races are close.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DOVERE: I think this is, again, cost for people all around the country, whether they're Republican or Democrat, young, old, whatever it is.

They got -- they -- whether or not it is fair to track this back to Donald Trump, a lot of people feel like the tariffs led to costs going up. Inflation led to costs going up.

And now gas prices led to not just gas prices going up, but then all the costs that come with it from the --

CORNISH: Yes. Like heating oil this summer is expected to be up 30 percent.

DOVERE: And just their -- groceries and all sorts of other goods. You cannot tell people they are not paying a lot more for things.

CORNISH: Yes.

DOVERE: You cannot tell people that they are not paying a lot more for gas.

CORNISH: Which didn't work for Biden.

DOVERE: Right. And this all reminds me of a conversation that I remember was going on in the fall of -- of 2021, in Joe Biden's first year. And then, of course, he struggled with the economy in a lot of ways.

[06:20:10]

But starting then, there was somebody in the Biden White House who said, we do not have a messaging problem. We have a "$5 gallon of gas" problem. That was the quote.

Now, we have $5 gallon of gas, almost, in this country now. And the president saying repeatedly, It's OK. It's a small price to pay. It's not -- this -- he also said it would be a short, not war in Iran.

That was more than six months ago. People would like to know whether they support Donald Trump or not. It -- what I again, here as I travel the country, talking to people, is what is going to be done to help me. Life has gotten hard.

CORNISH: OK, stay with me. Because the president also wants Republicans to vote like he's on the ballot, right? They want this election to be about him and his performance.

However, you've got one example of a congresswoman, a Republican who says that's not going to work for her, because her district actually feels betrayed by Trump.

Plus, we're going to talk about RFK and his message to the antivax community. He's saying, you've got a friend in me still, and the White House. So, is that the right move in the middle of the worst measles outbreak in decades?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:39]

CORNISH: So, just a reminder, we are experiencing the deadliest measles outbreak in decades. It's getting worse. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., however, spent Thursday headlining an anti-vaccine conference in Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Let me be clear: you have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, the CDC reports 3294 confirmed measles cases. That is just this year. That spans 47 states and jurisdictions. And four deaths have been reported in Pennsylvania. The CDC has not even recognized them as measles related.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KENNEDY: You care about every child who dies from measles. They get headlines. We should care about the children -- shouldn't we, I'd ask you -- care about children who are dying or suffering or being injured by vaccine injuries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, obviously, he has been a vaccine skeptic almost his whole professional career. And it is, in a way, what helped him get into the White House. Right? The attempt to draw in that constituency of voters that has -- is always asking questions of the science community about vaccines.

Is he in danger with them? Is that why he had to go there and say, by the way, just trust me. We're still on board.

DOVERE: I mean, look, he's not a scientist. He's not a doctor. He's been saying a lot of things about vaccines for a lot of years that aren't based in science or medicine.

But he has obviously had a real political benefit from it, as you say.

Things for the anti-vax community have not been moving as quickly as they -- as some of them thought that they would. And so, yes, I mean, he --

CORNISH: Has some work to do.

DOVERE: He has some work to do. And yet, some of the things that already have happened out of the federal government have led to big concerns about what the -- the actual impact is on health around the country.

Josh Shapiro was on our air. The governor of Pennsylvania a couple days ago.

CORNISH: Can I play that for you?

DOVERE: For sure, please.

CORNISH: So, we should, just for context here, the governor, because of these deaths in Pennsylvania, has actually said to -- to the CDC, don't bother coming. We don't need you.

People are raising questions about whether that is wise, frankly, because it's still an emergency. Here's what he had to say about RFK and accusations that it is Shapiro who is politicizing the crisis.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): He is the one who has chosen to politicize it, because RFK is a politician. Actually, a failed politician. He's not a public health expert, and he is wholly unqualified to be in the position that he is in. And as a result of that, America is worse off. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: He's also, weirdly the most popular cabinet member at a whopping 42 percent.

DOESCHER: Because this country has annoying Kennedy delusion. And this is my thing with the Kennedys. We can't get rid of them.

It's like, this is not supposed to be a monarchy. We're not supposed to just have a family of people where it's like, oh, because your dad was attorney general, we care about this.

So, look, with Josh Shapiro, he needs to realize the reason why Kennedy is doing this is it's almost an extinction burst. Even though his influence nationwide has been vast, in D.C., he's losing. Right?

The head of the CDC, the head of the NIH, and now the probably-will- be-confirmed nominee, a surgeon general, are all very pro-vaccine.

So, that's why, if -- if RFK Jr. wants to have 2028 hopes, he has to still make nice and prove to the anti-vaxxers I'm doing my job.

Which is why I'm disappointed in Shapiro for not wanting the CDC to come in, because the CDC is now ran by someone that believes in vaccines. So, it's sort of a different circumstance.

CARDONA: But as secretary of Health and Human Services, RFK is the head of it all. And to me, what he is doing is going to be one of the most atrocious legacies of the Trump administration.

DOESCHER: Yes, I'm not going to -- yes.

CARDONA: Those -- those deaths are at their feet. The rise in measles in this country are at their feet. And the fact that -- that RFK Jr. is in this conference, saying that you have an anti-vaxxer friend in the White House --

CORNISH: Yes.

CARDONA: -- it's essentially what he said.

CORNISH: I don't.

CARDONA: Is so dangerous.

CORNISH: Then why would we want to empower the CDC?

CORNISH: -- point. The yearly measly [SIC] -- measles cases? We've shown this this week. But in 2024, we had 283 measles cases. So, as of January, under this administration and RFK, that number is

now at 3,294.

CARDONA: Yes.

CORNISH: If these were gun deaths in a city, we would be hearing about it.

CARDONA: Absolutely.

CORNISH: The flip side, however, Maria, is that --