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One World with Zain Asher
Vice President JD Vance to Hold WH Press Briefing; U.S. Escorted Vessels Through Strait During Strikes; USS Abraham Lincoln Covered in Rust After Marathon Deployment; Rescuers Search for 5,000 Plus in Nepal; Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem Dies at 92; Trump to Campaign Cross-Country for Republicans; NY Temporarily Bans A.I. Use in Some Classrooms. Aired 1- 2p ET
Aired September 03, 2026 - 13:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[13:00:00]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Live from CNN's world headquarters in Atlanta, I'm Lynda Kinkade, and you are watching One World.
Well, any moment now, U.S. Vice President J.D. Vance is set to hold the White House's first press briefing in more than 40 days. We'll bring you
that live as soon as it happens. You can see their reporters standing by. Vance will speak in place of the press secretary. The role remains vacant
after the departure of Karoline Leavitt last month. There are plenty of issues that reporters will likely press him on, including the war with Iran
and the upcoming midterm elections. And, of course, immigration.
CNN's Kevin Liptak joins me now live at the White House. Kevin, everyone's standing by to listen to J.D. Vance's press briefing. Of course, the vice
president did not want the war in Iran, yet has been tasked with leading negotiations to end it. And, of course, the long-term stability of the
Middle East surely relies on getting a deal. What can we expect to hear from the vice president today?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: The president's view of how that is going to go forward, I think, will be very front of mind. You know,
Vice President Vance, as you point out, he objected to the war back in February when the president was debating with his advisers. He eventually
got on board once the war had begun, but then was tasked with leading negotiations with the Iranians. But that has been on hold for quite some
time now. The president has directed his team to cut off all discussions with the Iranians until he thinks they are more willing to reach a deal
that he can sign off on.
The president has also been very dismissive of that memorandum of understanding that Vance led the negotiations on. And so, he is, I think,
caught in the middle in some ways. And it is clear, I think, that many of the president's advisers, many of his allies, both in and out of the White
House, really just want to put this war on the back burner, at least until the midterm elections. They would very much like it to kind of recede into
the background as Republicans start to go to voters and as voters express more and more dissatisfaction with how this conflict has gone. So, how he
balances that from the podium today, I think, will be interesting to hear.
There's another episode in Washington this week that relates directly to the vice president, which was the resignation of the Army Secretary Dan
Driscoll. He and Vice President Vance were very close. They were classmates at Yale Law School. And it will be interesting if Vance is asked about that
resignation because what we understand preceded it was some real concerns on the part of Dan Driscoll about the state of the Pentagon.
It isn't something of a state of turmoil as the Defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, either fires or blocks the promotions of various officers, both in
the Army but also the other services. And he had, I think, grown frustrated with what he saw as the secretary sort of reaching down into the officer
corps to meddle in ways that is unusual for the civilian head of the military. And so, if Vance is asked about that today, I think his answers
could be potentially very, very interesting.
But clearly, the Iran war still, in a lot of ways, shadowing this administration six months on in ways that I think the president and the
vice president just didn't anticipate at the beginning of the conflict. So, how he addresses all of that today will be very, very important.
KINKADE: Yes. We will be coming to that live as it happens. Kevin Liptak, outside the White House. Thanks so much for standing by.
We are going to stay on this story. I want to welcome Toluse Olorunnipa. He is a staff writer at The Atlantic and joins us now live from Washington.
Good to see you.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: It's good to see you as well.
KINKADE: So, the Iran war has entered its seven-month period and, of course, the latest U.S. strikes seems to be a changing strategy. In terms
of the press briefing that is about to take place, how do you think J.D. Vance will justify the continuation of this war?
[13:05:00]
OLORUNNIPA: It will be a difficult, rhetorical, gymnastic performance that we're going to probably need to see from him in order for him to answer
these questions based on his past opposition to these kinds of wars. But he's a pretty adroit and adept communicator. He's able to sort of wiggle
his way out of answering questions.
And so, I believe that he will try to justify this war by saying that the president is keeping Americans safe and keeping Iran from having a nuclear
weapon, that American service members are also being protected and not having boots on the ground or being in a forever war like we saw in the
Middle East during the early 2000s, in which he was someone that was deployed at the time.
And so, I do think he'll try to draw a contrast between those kinds of wars and what we're doing now with the U.S. military and the U.S. economic power
and really try to focus on some of the economic pressure that the treasury secretary and other parts of the administration are trying to put on Iran
and focus less on the fact that we are starting to see a ramping up of kinetic strikes.
We are seeing the U.S. get back involved in tit-for-tat military operations with the Iranians. And that's not where the president said this was going
to go when this first started. He did not say this was going to take months and months on end. He said it was going to be a brief excursion.
And so, the vice president will need to answer for some of those discrepancies, but I imagine that he will try to focus on the positive
message that he believes that he can put forward and then shift back to what he would rather be talking about, which is the policy agenda, the
efforts by this administration to focus on, you know, whether it's immigration or the cost of living or tax cuts, to focus on the things that
they say that they've done and focus less on this war, which has bogged this administration down for the past six months plus.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly. Yes, as you point out, rightly so, that will be the big question of whether we are seeing a change in strategy in Iran, because
Washington now seems to be focused on efforts to chip away at the leverage that Tehran holds, especially in the crucial Strait of Hormuz.
I mentioned earlier that J.D. Vance was personally responsible for leading negotiations with Iranian officials earlier in the war, but those talks
have now effectively stalled. What do you think we'll hear from him with regards to reigniting those talks to end the war sooner?
OLORUNNIPA: I don't expect there will be much momentum toward talks at this point. It seems that even after the vice president traveled all the
way to the region to have face-to-face discussions with the Iranians earlier this year, that there's not a sense of trust. There's not a sense
that both sides are working in good faith. There's not a sense that they're close to a deal that they can both abide by for the coming months on end.
And so, they're in this stalemate where there's not really much going on in terms of talks, but neither side wants to go back into a full-scale war,
and so they're just kind of trying to figure out how to work their leverage, how to extract some kind of advantage by using smaller-scale
military operations and hoping that maybe the status quo will change.
And so, I don't expect the vice president to talk much about pushing the Iranians back to the negotiating table. I expect him to denigrate the
Iranians as not trustworthy, as people that you can't really negotiate with because they don't stick to their word, and try to justify the fact that he
was, as you said, in charge of those negotiations at one point. Those negotiations have broken down, and so I think he'll try to point the finger
across the table at the Iranians and say it's their fault that things have broken down, so that he does not bear the responsibility for the failure of
those talks and for the fact that we are still in this war, six months in, and the talks do not seem to be taking place.
So, I do expect him to shift the blame for that to the Iranians and then to really not spend much time raising Americans' hopes that talks and
negotiations and an end to this war will be happening anytime soon because it's been month after month of disappointment where it seems like things
are getting close to a resolution, it seems like the talks are getting ready to reach an agreement, and then either an agreement is reached and it
quickly falls apart, or the president pulls away from the agreement and goes back to the war footing that he's been on.
And so, I think the vice president is smart enough to know that the American people realize that that's what's been happening for the last six
months. And so, I don't expect him to indicate that talks are in the offing anytime soon, but I do expect him to shift blame and say that the reason
that we're in this predicament is because of the Iranians and not because of the Trump administration.
[13:10:00]
KINKADE: Yes, no doubt. Toluse Olorunnipa, we will chat again at the other side of this press briefing and take it live when it happens. Appreciate
your analysis. Thanks for being with us.
Well, as we were just discussing, Washington now seems to be focused on efforts to chip away at the leverage that Tehran holds in the crucial
Strait of Hormuz. Two U.S. officials say the military escorted 40 commercial vessels carrying some 18 million barrels of oil through the
Strait on Tuesday. Now, that is the most oil transiting through that waterway since the war began. President Trump insists the strategy is
working. Here's what he said on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We've controlled and we are controlling the Hormuz Strait. We are bringing lots of boats out every day with millions of
barrels of oil. We are, for the most part, doing it without trouble. Every once in a while, they shoot a drone and we knock it down. But we have
control, very strong control.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: The USS Abraham Lincoln has pulled into port in Thailand after nearly 300 days at sea. Video of the aircraft carrier has prompted shock
over the amount of rust covering it from bow to stern. Now, the ship left its home port of San Diego last November. Rust is not the only problem
associated with its marathon deployment. There have been concerns over the mental health of the crew on board.
CNN Senior National Security Reporter Zach Cohen joins us now from Washington, D.C. Zach, good to have you with us. So, many concerns over
just how long that deployment was in the Middle East. What are your sources telling you about the state of that vessel and, more importantly, the state
of the crew?
ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Lynda, in some ways, in a literal sense, you would expect to see rust on an aircraft
carrier that has spent 286 days at sea, especially one like the Abraham Lincoln that has participated in a high tempo of combat operations and
blockade operations against Iran since it was deployed from San Diego to the Middle East last November.
And look, in a metaphorical way, though, as well, it is sort of capturing what we've reported about the state of the ship and the crew and one that
has been really rife with problems. From the ship's standpoint, it has suffered a lot of technical difficulties. It's had supply issues. And that
has, based on the sources we've talked to, impacted the crew's morale, at least one sailor during the deployment trying to jump overboard, even, from
the ship.
And this is something that we've also heard the president of the United States, Donald Trump, really try to downplay as those reports start to
emerge once the Abraham Lincoln was replaced by another U.S. aircraft carrier and headed to Thailand for its first port call in months.
President Donald Trump had said previously that he thought the Abraham Lincoln had not been deployed long enough when he was faced with questions
about the state of the ship and its crew. And we obviously know that he is very concerned about the public image of not just the U.S. Navy but also
the U.S. military writ large. His former Navy secretary actually previously said that the president would wake him up in the middle of the night with
phone calls talking about rust on the ship and how that was a bad look for the U.S. Navy.
But ultimately, at the end of the day, the crew on the Lincoln and the ship itself will get some much-needed rest and repair here in Thailand. They'll
be in port for about seven days, where this rust removal will be one of the things, potentially, that could start happening while it's docked, and
that's because you cannot remove rust on a Navy ship like this while it's at sea, in particular, particularly while it's conducting combat
operations.
It's also not a very pleasant job for U.S. Navy officers who usually at the lower levels are forced to rappel down from the sides of the ship and scrub
the rust off manually, and it takes a long time. Experts say that the Abraham Lincoln probably has about 30 days of repairs and maintenance ahead
of it before it will be back to looking like it looked before its deployment.
But ultimately, this is, too, raising a bigger concern about the U.S. Navy fleet, the carrier fleet in particular, as these deployments have really
been extended not just for the Lincoln but the USS Gerald Ford, which set the record for the longest Navy deployment in history until that was beaten
by the Abraham Lincoln. And obviously, the war with Iran and those combat operations around the Strait of Hormuz in particular, the blockade, which
requires significant amounts of Navy ships and firepower, those are still all ongoing and happening. So, there is a general strain on the force and
on the U.S. Navy in particular.
KINKADE: Zach Cohen for us in Washington, D.C., good to have you on the story. Thank you.
I want to turn to Nepal, where rescuers are desperately and carefully combing through mud and debris to find more than 5,000 people still missing
after last week's devastating flooding. At last update, the number of people confirmed killed has reached 1,259. Images of the staggering scale
of destruction are continuing to emerge.
[13:15:00]
You can see rows upon rows of homes in mud near the riverbank. And a local police chief says hope is fading for some 900 workers who were thought to
be trapped inside a hydropower tunnel. Hanako Montgomery reports from Kathmandu.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: More than a week on from the deadly flash floods, Nepal is still counting the number of those who died and
searching for thousands who remain missing. Authorities are desperately searching for survivors, particularly in hydropower tunnels where hundreds
remain unaccounted for, but it's unclear how many are still alive.
The rescue and recovery effort is being hampered by bad weather, destroyed roads and bridges, but also because the tunnels are filled with thick,
heavy mud from the floods. Prime Minister Balendra Shah says some of these operations can't safely continue until that mud has fully dried, and one
military officer has warned that that task could take months. That gives you a sense of the scale of what lies ahead.
And now, there's another growing concern that disasters of this magnitude could become more frequent due to climate change. Here's what the prime
minister had to say about this issue in parliament.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BALENDRA SHAH, NEPALI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): This is a serious signal that alongside climate change, the risks we must bear in the
Himalayan region are increasing. We must be aware of this, and the time has also come for us to present forcefully before the international community
the disasters we are suffering because of climate change.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MONTGOMERY: And new images continue to reveal the scale of the devastation. Drone footage shows the trail of destruction left by the
floods, and residents are digging mud out of their homes in some places, even as their entire village remains buried. And with bridges washed away,
rescue workers are building makeshift zip lines to reconnect communities cut off by the floods.
Thousands of families are also now mourning their lost loved ones. You can see here men shaving their heads as part of Hindu cremation rituals. And
for families who still haven't recovered a body, straw effigies are being burned, a symbolic farewell to loved ones they may never be able to bury.
Hanako Montgomery, CNN, Kathmandu, Nepal.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, still to come on One World, she was a journalist, a feminist icon, and a force for change. Just to have a look at the life and
legacy of Gloria Steinem.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
KINKADE: Well, jurors in the Lindsay Clancy murder trial are back for the sixth day of deliberations.
[13:20:00]
The case is possibly heading for a mistrial after they told the judge they could not reach a unanimous verdict on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The judge giving them final instructions, asking them to consider the reasonableness of all opinions. The panel has already spanned more than 30
hours considering whether Clancy is criminally responsible for the death of her three young children. The defense says she's not responsible because
she suffered from postpartum psychosis. The prosecution argues she acted intentionally, rationally and swiftly to kill her children. Clancy's
defense lawyer reacted to the possibility of the case ending in a mistrial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Some people say a second trial would favor the prosecution, what do you think about that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bring it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: CNN's Ivan Rodriguez is outside the court in Massachusetts and joins us live. So, Ivan, the jury's been deliberating for six days, twice
they've come back and said to the judge that they're deadlocked. How significant is that at this stage of the trial?
IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, it's really hard to get a sense of exactly what the jury's thinking, right? What we do know is that
they've been deliberating for nearly 34 hours in total and about four hours today.
Now, around 2:00 p.m. yesterday is when the jury sent that second note saying to the judge that they have not been able to reach that unanimous
verdict. We're approaching that hour, but again, it doesn't really mean much. We haven't heard anything so far from the jury today because they've
been deliberating and the judge has let them continue on with those deliberations.
I can tell you that outside of the courthouse, we are seeing a few supporters of Lindsay Clancy, obviously a lot of press. I had a chance as
well to go inside of the courthouse and go to the top floor where that courtroom is located. There's a lot of supporters inside of there as well
in the hallway. There are a few middle benches where people are sitting. Some journalists are there as well. Others are just reading a book, waiting
for that time to go by, waiting to see if we're able to hear anything.
Now, as you mentioned yesterday, when the jury sent that second note to the judge, the judge brought that jury in to the courtroom and read them the
instructions of Tuey-Rodriguez, which really gives the jury that final opportunity, those final instructions for them to come to a unanimous
decision if possible.
Now, we also know that if the jury comes back and says we're still unable to reach a verdict, a judge will typically go on and declare a mistrial and
that would completely open the door now to a future trial, potentially down the road, and this trial would potentially end now without any sort of
resolution. Obviously, from a judge's perspective, that's what they want to try to avoid. They want to try to avoid that mistrial.
They're hoping that these latest instructions that are really asking jurors, once again, to be open-minded to others' opinions, but steadfast in
what they believe as well. They're hoping that that final instruction might push the jury just a little bit to continue those deliberations and maybe
find a potential verdict there.
KINKADE: All right. Ivan Rodriguez, good to have you there on the case first. Thanks very much.
Gloria Steinem, the journalist and feminist who became a defining voice of the women's rights movement, has died at the age of 92. She spent decades
pushing for equality, from fairness for women in the workplace to abortion access and better sex education. Steinem died Wednesday in New York,
surrounded by loved ones. That's according to a statement on her Instagram account.
Former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been paying tribute to her longtime friend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HILLARY CLINTON, FORMER U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE: She was not on the Supreme Court, but Roe v. Wade was part of her advocacy. She wasn't in
Congress, but Title IX, opening up opportunities to girls in sports and academics, was part of her legacy. She wasn't at NASA directing our space
program, but Sally Ride finally becoming the first woman astronaut was, you know, part of what she stood for. And you could go on and on, because the
list is probably endless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: We're joined now by CNN's Randi Kaye. Good to have you with us, Randi. So, Gloria Steinem was not just a journalist or an activist. She was
so much more. And she helped make women's equality a mainstream political issue. How is she being remembered today?
RANDI KAYE, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely. I mean, she's certainly going to be remembered as a feminist icon, an organizer, an
activist. As you said, she worked hard for women's equality. She tried to put an end to sexual harassment. She worked hard for women's reproductive
rights.
She was born in Toledo, Ohio, back in 1934. But after college, she moved to New York City, and I think that's where she really found her passion. She
worked as a young journalist. And this is what a lot of people remember about her. She wrote about and talked a lot about sexism that she says she
experienced then.
[13:25:00]
She said that one of the editors at Life magazine said to her that, we need a reporter, not a pretty girl. It was a very male-dominated industry at the
time. But the article that really catapulted her writing career and put her in this space was this article that she did. She went undercover, working
as a cocktail waitress in the New York Playboy Club. And she exposed low wages, she exposed lousy work conditions, and that really put her on the
map.
And then, of course, she founded, in 1972, she founded Ms. Magazine, and she went on to use that magazine to really help push her passions forward
and the issues that were important to her. And she explained why she started the magazine, Lynda. She said this, I realized, as a journalist,
that there really was nothing for women to read that was controlled by women.
And so, she was also very open and very active in the abortion space and trying to make sure that women had that right. She herself talked about an
abortion that she had in London at age 22. And then, of course, we saw her on the political scene after President Donald Trump was elected in 2017.
She helped organize and she spoke at the Women's March in Washington, D.C., and she told the crowd, we are united here for bodily integrity.
But it wasn't just the feminist rights that she will be remembered for, it was also her action in the civil rights arena. She actually was honored
with the presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013. And just one little fun note about her. In her late 80s, which was just in 2023, just a few years
back, she actually made a cameo appearance on the sequel to "Sex and the City." It's called "And Just Like That." She appeared on that as herself.
But as you said, she was 92 years old. No cause of death given, Lynda.
KINKADE: Such a trailblazer. And she famously, Randi, spent so much time of her life on the road speaking with young women and other activists. Why
do you think she remained so relevant to the generations that came to age long after she founded her movement?
KAYE: Yes, I think she wanted to make sure she was relevant. And so, that was a big part of it. But I think that women could just relate to her. She
was passionate. She shared her story. She was open about her own struggles, whether it was the sexism or the abortion that she went through back in
2022. And she talked openly about that and how she processed that. So, I just think that she was what you saw. And she worked so hard that I think
that women to this day, young and old, could really appreciate who she was.
KINKADE: All right. Randi Kaye for us in West Palm Beach, Florida, good to have you with us. Thank you.
KAYE: Thank you.
KINKADE: We are following, of course, the Lindsay Clancy murder trial. We've got plenty more news and we are keeping an eye on the JD Vance
briefing that is set to happen at any moment. We will go there live when it happens. We're going to take a short break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:30:00]
KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. U.S. President Trump is making plans to travel the country campaigning for Republicans ahead of the
midterm elections in November. He says in the coming months there will be no pleasure, no playing golf, just, in his words, work, fight and win.
Recently in South Carolina, the president urged voters to pretend his name is on the ballot in November. Trump's political operation rolled out a
midterm ad where it appears the main focus is himself. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is the toughest, most resilient person that I've ever met. And nothing was going to stop him from fighting so hard for the
country he loves.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: And our top priority will be to create a nation that is proud, prosperous and free.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, this happening as the U.S. Postal Service works on a plan to implement President Trump's executive order restricting mail-in ballots.
Those proposed rules are being challenged in court and are currently on hold. But election officials tell CNN it is simply too late for them to
even try to comply with the proposed regulations.
I want to bring back our guest, staff writer for The Atlantic, Toluse Olorunnipa, who joins us again live. Great to have you with us. So, you
know, it's about 60 days to the midterm elections. And Trump has said there's going to be no more golf, no more playtime. He is going to go to
the battleground states. Given his polling, is that what Republican candidates want?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, for any candidate that's in a tough, competitive general election, most of them would rather not be associated with a president
that's polling so poorly at this moment. They realize they're going to need independent votes in order to win in those competitive races. And Trump
right now is very unpopular, even toxic for independent voters, not only not even to speak of Democrats who are only going to be more animated if
the president is coming into their backyard to campaign and to talk about what he's doing to the country.
In the eyes of many Democrats, those are the kinds of things that will motivate them even more to turn out to vote. And midterm elections are
often a game of turnout and which side can get its base more animated, more excited. Democrats are already fired up. Having the president come to some
of these districts will only make that even more animated and more energized on the Democratic side.
And, you know, a number of these Republican candidates are not trying to associate themselves with the president at this moment because a lot of the
things that he is doing, those things do not appear to be in alignment with what the American people are focused on. He's talking about, you know,
building up the White House and building a ballroom there and putting his name on different projects and renaming parts of the map. And a lot of
these vanity projects do not align with the fact that gas prices are $4 plus a gallon, grocery prices are still elevated, the affordability crisis
is still raging.
And so, for a number of these Republican voters, they would rather try to make a case directly to their voters without the distractions that come
with the president. But we'll have to wait and see as to whether or not the president actually follows through on his pledge to spend the last, you
know, 30, 35 days of this election traveling the country.
He is 80 years old. He has not spent a lot of his time on the road this presidency. And, you know, in the past, he's done like tele-rallies and
found ways to not have to travel. And so, I wouldn't be surprised if he does not make good on this promise to barnstorm the country and instead
finds other ways to try to show support for these candidates.
KINKADE: I mean, Americans don't forget. It was only a couple of years ago that Donald Trump was campaigning that he would improve the economy, bring
down the price of eggs.
[13:35:00]
A recent Pew survey found that six in 10 Americans say that Trump's economic policies have worsened economic conditions, you know, across the
country. What can the administration, what can Donald Trump do ahead of the midterms to change that perception?
OLORUNNIPA: It's very difficult. It's hard to tell people that they should feel differently about their own economic situation, about their own
budgets. Now, I do expect the president and those around him to talk about the tax cuts they passed last year, to talk about positive things happening
in the economy, including the stock market hitting record highs.
But people are not feeling like the economy is good for them. People are feeling like the costs are still high. Inflation is still out of control.
The prices of goods that were supposed to come down have continued to go up. And so, it's going to be a very difficult message for a president to
talk about his record without bragging and boasting and speaking in a way that's far out of touch with the reality that most Americans, most middle-
class Americans are experiencing.
And the fact that the president himself has gotten quite rich over the course of these past year plus in office, almost two years in office, that
reality is only going to be in more stark contrast when you hear from regular Americans who have not seen their windfalls. They have not seen
their finances improve during his presidency.
And so, he can talk about the great stock market. He can talk about how there's all this investment coming into the country. But a lot of that is
benefiting people that are already wealthy, people who have already made a ton of money or making more money off of that money. And he is in that
category. But for people who work for a living and people who are struggling to make ends meet, those metrics are not necessarily going to
make them feel better. It may even exacerbate the inequality that we have in our system and their understanding of how they are coming up on the
short end of that highly unequal system.
And so, this is a president that does not always speak in nuance. And, you know, when it comes to the economy, the case-shaped economy that we're in,
you kind of need a lot of nuance to be able to speak to people's anxieties while also talking about the positive things happening in the economy. This
is a president that likes to talk in superlatives. We're the best ever. We're hitting new record highs. We're getting trillions of dollars invested
into the country like never before. And I'm not sure that Republican candidates who want to be able to tell voters not only that they've done
things over the last two years that have helped them, but also that they feel their pain, I'm not sure if the president is the best messenger for
that kind of nuanced messaging.
KINKADE: I mean, the president also campaigned on the promise of America first, no more funding of foreign wars, and has since started the Iran war.
Do you believe that war is going to hurt Republicans at the midterms?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, Republicans believe that the war is hurting them in the midterms. It's part of the reason they barely talk about it when they have
public events. If they have public events, they realize that this war is driving up the cost of gas. It's part of the reason the gas is as high as
it is. It's driving up the cost for farmers and their diesel and their cost of being able to bring products to market. And that leads to higher costs
at the grocery store.
And so, there's a direct line between the war and the price issues and the price inflation that many people are feeling. And it's very easy for people
to make that connection, because shortly after the war was launched, gas prices shot up to $4. They have not come back down below $4. And so, people
clearly have a way to make a connection between the war, which does not seem to be going well, that does not seem to be going according to plan.
And the plan at the outset of this war was that it would take four to six weeks.
Six-plus months later, we're still in this war. We're still experiencing the high prices. That's on top of the tariffs that the president has put
on, the other administration's efforts that have not brought prices down, but instead made prices to go up.
And so, it's hard for the people running for office to be able to talk about this war without making people feel like the war is part of the
reason why their costs are high. And there's not a strong rationale for why we were in the war in the first place. There's not a strong message that we
are winning this war. You see the munitions of the country have been depleted. American service members have been killed. The ayatollah has been
killed as well, but his son is now in place, and the hardliners seem to be in charge of Iran. There's no sign of that country being, quote-unquote,
"liberated," the way the president indicated when he first started this war. And so, it seems like we're in a stalemate. The Strait of Hormuz
continues to be closed.
[13:40:00]
And so, the war is a net negative in a huge way for Republicans, for the president, and every poll that's been taken about this war shows that it's
unpopular, not only with Democrats, not only with Independents, but also with Republicans and America First Republicans who voted for this president
because he said he was going to keep the country out of wars.
And so, this is a really hard issue for Republicans that are running for office, and it's part of the reason you rarely see them talking about it
unless they're asked about it, because there's not much positive juice that they're going to get out of a war that has continued when they thought and
expected and hoped that it would be over long before the midterms. Now, it's pretty clear that this war will be ongoing by the time people are
showing up to vote, and that is a big challenge for Republicans who want to be talking about bringing costs down, not keeping costs inflated.
KINKADE: Well, the vice president, of course, who did not want this war, but was tasked with negotiating an end to it, is expected to speak outside
the White House or at the White House briefing room. He was expected there 40 minutes ago, still hasn't turned up yet, but we will keep an eye on
that. If you can stick around just in case he turns up this hour, we'd appreciate it. Thanks so much, Toluse Olorunnipa. Appreciate it.
Well, the use of generative A.I. will now be temporarily banned for New York public school students in eighth grade and younger. That's according
to a new initiative by Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who announced the move alongside the New York City school's chancellor. The year-long policy is
meant to protect critical thinking skills and improve dynamics between students and teachers.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: A big move as New York City students prepare to head back to school next week. This is going to be a one-year
moratorium on generative A.I. in the classroom for 2K through eighth grade students. That is around 600,000 students in the nation's largest public
school system.
High school students will have limited access to A.I. through a select set of software tools. They will also be receiving A.I. critical thinking
courses to teach them about the benefits, but also the risks, the downsides of this technology so that they're not just learning how to use it, but
really understanding the foundations of this technology. This policy also includes screen time limits by grade, really trying to cut down on the
amount of individual screen time that students have, especially younger students have in the classroom.
There will be carve-outs to this policy for students with disabilities, students who are learning English, but really all of this is aimed at
protecting students' critical thinking abilities, protecting the human relationships between students, between students and teachers.
And it's really interesting because it comes at a time when the narrative from Silicon Valley has been that students need to learn how to use this
technology early in order to succeed in a workforce where workers are increasingly expected to have A.I. skills. We have also seen A.I. companies
moving really quickly to roll out education tools, learning tools, invest in teacher trainings as they are trying to get this technology into
students' hands.
And I think what you're seeing from this policy and increasingly from parents across the country is that there are big questions about the value
that tech can have in the classroom, but also where it can potentially detract from student learning. And that is what I think New York City is
trying to do here, is walking that line between teaching older kids how to use this technology, protecting younger kids and the other types of
learning that might be important for them.
And we are already seeing other school districts looking to this as a model. Los Angeles' public school system very quickly announced a similar
moratorium on generative A.I. in the classroom for the upcoming year, and I expect that we will see more of this. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Our thanks to Clare. I want to go straight to the White House now, where vice president J.D. Vance is giving today's briefing. Listen in.
JD VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Out of business, which makes America's roads safer and also protects the jobs of American truckers. And so, if
you're an American trucker wondering why it is that the last administration facilitated illegal aliens driving semi-trucks on our roads, or if you're
an American who just shares a road with somebody who isn't properly qualified, we've made the roads safer. We've seen trucker wages go up by
7.5 percent. And that effort was obviously led by our anti-fraud task force, because so many of these people were engaged in effectively
fraudulent driving. They were getting these diplomas, these CDLs, through fraudulent means. We stopped that. We're very proud of it.
And I want to give a special shout out to Secretary Sean Duffy at the Transportation Department for helping us and facilitating that work. And it
goes into our broader effort, which is we're trying to make sure that your tax dollars and basic institutional trust is protected by your government.
Whether it's a guy who gets a commercial driver's license to drive on the road, or whether it's a person applying for Medicaid or Medicare benefits,
the people who get these things should be legally entitled and should qualify.
And for too long, we had a government that basically just gave out your money, the American taxpayers' money, to people who didn't qualify for it.
We've put a stop to that, having found, I think, north of $200 billion in fraud.
[13:45:00]
And we're going to keep, of course, working on that in the months and years to come.
The second thing I want to talk about a little bit is the Venezuela oil deal, which I know some of you will have questions on, but I think it's
just an amazing testament to what a smart foreign policy could look like and how it feeds back in to good outcomes for the American people.
So, as a lot of you know, and I think even some of the more liberal outlets in here had talked about, we had for a very long time the Biden
administration draining the Strategic Petroleum Reserve purely for the purpose of lowering gas and oil costs. There wasn't an international
crisis. There wasn't, you know, a foreign nation that was trying to disrupt world energy markets. There was just an administration that was trying to
juice gas prices for the midterms. And what that meant is for Americans, our Strategic Petroleum Reserve under the administration got
extraordinarily low.
Well, now we're using, of course, the successful Venezuela operation and some of the friendships and some of the relationships that developed in the
wake of that operation to create what is effectively a new 65 billion barrel of oil reserve for the United States of America. And the way that
that's going to work is that private companies, American companies can go in there, generate a lot of oil revenue.
Obviously, that's going to mean world oil markets get only more supplied that will lower costs for Americans. That means a lot of revenue is going
to go to the people of Venezuela. But also, thanks to the deal struck by Marco and Pete Hegseth and others in the administration, it actually sets
us up to where the American people will directly receive some of the royalties as well.
So, it's good for Venezuelans, it's good for anybody who's buying gas, and it's good for the American taxpayer as well. So, it's very much a win-win
thing. We're very proud of it. And I also just think that it gives supply stability in the energy market. I think if we've learned anything over the
last six months, but importantly, if we've learned anything over the last 40 years, it's that these things, the supply of critical minerals and
resources really matters. We had an administration for a very long time that underinvested in this stuff, and now we're trying to change that, and
we're doing so quite successfully.
A couple of other final points. So, for all the kids at home and their parents, importantly, today is, or I believe tomorrow, is the last day of
the Second Lady's Summer Reading Challenge. So, let me give a little plug for the Second Lady, who I think has done an amazing job. And we've had an
amazing outpouring of support, but you've got to return your Summer Reading Challenge stuff in by tomorrow. You can go to whitehouse.gov in order to do
that.
And just on a personal note, obviously, Usha has been very busy this summer. We now have a six-week-old baby who is happy and healthy. So,
honey, I love you. I'm very proud of you. And amazingly, you keep everything together despite the chaos and despite the craziness.
And speaking of chaos and craziness, I will now take questions from all of you. Let me start here with Nick, who I believe is in the new media chair.
Nick, what do you got for me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thanks, Mr. vice president. Today is the first White House press briefing since the departure of the great Karoline Leavitt. A
key part of her legacy, the defining part, was bringing more voices, not less, into this room. And that's something our founder, Andrew Breitbart,
certainly believed in. From the first briefing, she added this seat, the new media seat that I'm in today.
What does the president, what do you and what does the White House plan to do to continue that legacy and to empower new media?
VANCE: Sure. So, before I answer that question, let me just say a word about Karoline Leavitt, who is an amazing person, an amazing mom, was an
amazing colleague here at the White House, and was not just a person who stood up here and answered your questions and I think did so admirably, but
was also just an amazing part of the very cohesive team that we had working here in the West Wing. Just an amazing person.
She texted me this morning and wished me good luck because obviously going up against all of you is very, very dangerous business, but she's going to
do great in whatever she does next, and we're very grateful to her.
So, Caroline, if you're watching, which hopefully you're not, but if you're watching, thank you for your service, thank you for your friendship, and
thanks for doing a great job.
And yes, one of her legacies, one of her many legacies, I would say, is that she opened up this room to non-legacy media. And why does that matter?
I mean, if you look at one of the biggest transformations that have existed in this country over the last 20 or 30 years, it's the rise of digital
technology.
Now, that means a lot of different things for a lot of different people, but for this industry, what it's meant is that a lot of people have been
able to get access to information, have been able to get access to telling stories to the American people, not because they have a credential or not
because they have a connection, but because they have something interesting to say. And I would certainly put you in that category, Nick, and obviously
our friends at Breitbart, but for too long, this room and I think this city have tried to lock out non-legacy media. They've seen it as a threat to
themselves.
And we actually think that it's an amazing way to democratize access to information. You should not have to have a fancy credential or a lot of
money to tell a story to the American people.
[13:50:00]
And if you think of like the heart of the First Amendment is that all of us are allowed to speak. But if only some people are actually given a
microphone, if only some media outlets are actually given access, then it strikes not just at the heart of your ability to tell a story, it actually
makes it harder for people to get access to their First Amendment rights.
And, you know, with all due respect to all the people in this room, there were a lot of Americans who felt like they were not properly represented by
the information that was on the airwaves of the traditional media. So, we're going to stay committed to that legacy. We're going to build on that
legacy. And I think that you and a lot of other new media types should certainly expect to have a lot of access in the months and years to come,
just as the traditional media does.
And I do think -- not to brag on my boss too much, but I do think the president has set us about to be the most transparent administration in
history. And we have done that with flying colors. If you just look back to the last administration, I mean, even the Democrats in the room, and I know
you guys, if you're being honest, most of you are Democrats, you would have to admit that the level of access, the level of access to the president of
the United States, the vice president, the senior team here, it's just completely off the charts.
Now, why does the president do that? He doesn't do it just because he wants to or it's fun, though I think he definitely has a little bit of fun with
it. He does it because he believes that part of governing a constitutional republic is to make yourselves accessible to the American people. So, we do
that, and we're going to do that with non-traditional media. We'll continue to do it with traditional media, and that will certainly be a big part of
our approach as we continue to govern the country, and I think govern it well. Great. Peter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are we talking to you as the vice president or the press secretary?
VANCE: So, I'm not Marco. I have not yet accepted any additional jobs, though I guess the Fraud Task Force is my co-chair, is my second additional
job. It's funny, before I came out here, I was talking with the president in the Oval Office, and he said, be careful, I want you to do well, but if
you do too well, I might make you the press secretary. So, I've got to screw up a little bit because I'm busy enough as it is, but I'm very much
up here as the vice president of the United States.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do have a political one and then something a little bit more upbeat.
VANCE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First --
VANCE: Politics can be upbeat. It can be upbeat, Peter.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's almost Labor Day. Labor Day is traditionally the real kickoff for campaign season. Midterm voters are looking for somebody
to blame for high prices on things like gas, energy. Why shouldn't they blame Republicans?
VANCE: Well, I'd say a few things. First of all, if you look at how endemic inflation became during the Biden administration, and this is not
to cast blame because I don't really care who's to blame for it. I care about how to fix it, and that's what we've been working to do. So,
inflation under the last administration hit a record high of about 9.5 percent.
And it's funny, during the 2024 campaign, the president and I would say, this is the highest inflation in American history. And people would come
back and say, no, no, no, it's not the highest inflation in American history. It's just the highest inflation in the last 60 or the last 48
years. It's like, well, that's still very, very bad. So, what happened with that is that when prices get baked in like that, it takes a little bit of
time for us to undo some of the damage.
Now, you know, we have done a lot of things in order to build upon the great success of the first Trump administration and deliver wins for
working people. No taxes on Social Security, no taxes on tips, no taxes on overtime. We've seen $19 trillion of new investment come into the country,
but most of that is building new factories and new facilities. Those factories are being built. So, if you're a construction worker, that's
great, and obviously we love our construction workers. However, it takes time to build those factories and employ the rest of the workers, and then,
of course, to make the stuff that's going to be made at those factories.
So, I guess my point is that because America's inflation problem wasn't created in a day, it was created by very bad policies of the Biden
administration, trillions of dollars of new spending that was going more to fraudsters than it was to the American people. It takes a little bit of
time to rebuild the foundation of America's middle-class economy. I think we've made incredible strides, but our argument to the American people is,
look, it's very simple. You don't even have to listen to what we say. Listen to what the Democrats have said.
If you think that inflation is a problem, if you think affordability is a problem, number one, we're doing everything that we can to bring down
prices. But what do the Democrats say? They say that they want to undo taxes. They want to increase taxes on Social Security and tips. If you're
worried about affordability, how is the Democrats' tax increase going to make your life more affordable?
One of the things I'm most proud of that the president has done is Trump Rx. If you look, we have almost 800 medications now that are part of Trump
Rx. This most significant reduction in prescription drug costs that we've seen in 60 years. And again, that's going to accelerate as this program
actually gets implemented. The Democrats did nothing.
So, while they're out there bragging that they're going to reverse the very policies that are making some of these prescription drugs more affordable,
we're saying we're going to double down on the policies that are going to make prescription drugs more affordable.
[13:55:00]
So, I think if you just listen to what the Democrats are saying, what they're telling you is that every inflation problem that you're worried
about today, they're going to make worse and they're going to undo our very good efforts to try to bring down the inflation and to make that reduction
in inflation sustainable.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I did just want to ask you, there have been reports about this, but I've not heard you talk much about it. You've lost a ton of
weight lately. How much sauerkraut do you eat in a day?
VANCE: Oh, my Lord. OK. So, when you're the vice president of the United States and one of the first questions at a press conference in the White
House is how much weight you've lost, you must have gotten very fat. That's one thing that I take from that question.
So, I'll tell you a little story, Peter. So, every Lent, I try to like, you know, I'm a devout Christian, I try to take it very seriously. So, I try to
do some kind of self-denial. And so, I was talking to my wife on Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras, and I was like, I think I'm going to give up sugar.
And I think I'm going to give up social media. OK. So, if I wanted to tweet something, I'd tell these guys to tweet something for me. And I'd, you
know, otherwise, try to stay off social media.
So, I call Bobby Kennedy. And I'm like, I know you're really into health. I'm thinking about giving up sugar. What do you think? And Bobby Kennedy
says, No, no, no, no, I've got something that's way better than that and way more intense. And basically, it's like, yes, I eat a lot of high
protein stuff, and I eat a lot of sauerkraut. And let's just say that if that was Fat Tuesday, Fat Wednesday never came. So, my advice to you is
that if you want to lose weight, call Bobby Kennedy. And if you want to enjoy what you eat, do not call Bobby Kennedy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, Mr. Vice President. On July 2nd, Treasury Secretary Bessent was asked when Americans could see $3 gas again. And he
said, maybe by Labor Day. Things haven't worked out that way. But do you have a new timetable for Americans on when they could expect lower gas
prices? And should they not expect to see $3 gas again until at least 2027?
VANCE: Well, in defense of Scott, he said, maybe by Labor Day, because we're talking about things that are inherently unpredictable. And I think
it's important, you know, I'm a strong believer that the American people are our fellow citizens, and we should speak with them honestly about these
things. And the fundamental reality is that the reason gas prices are so high right now is because the Iranians are shooting at commercial shipping.
Even, by the way, when they signed an agreement that said, we're going to stop shooting at commercial shipping, they almost immediately went back to
shooting at commercial shipping.
And I actually think that this drives home a couple of points. Number one, it's why things like the Venezuela oil deal are so important, is because
we've learned that we can't be over reliant on anybody for the world supply of energy and gas. It's one of the reasons why the president has pursued an
energy dominance agenda. Because yes, gas prices are higher in the United States, they're way worse everywhere else in the world, because of what the
president did, particularly during the first administration to make us more energy dominant.
I also think it drives home, frankly, the ridiculous atrophy that we saw in our European allies and their inability to actually do anything to help
keep world energy markets supplied. So, when the Iranians shoot at commercial shipping, obviously that means some ships don't want to go
through. A lot of ships have gone through. We've got about 15 million barrels out of the Strait of Hormuz just yesterday, despite the fact that
the Iranians continue to shoot.
What has anybody in the world done? Why is it incumbent upon the United States of America to be the only country in the world that can actually
ensure world energy markets continue to stay supplied? And the answer is because we're the only country that has the capability of doing it.
And so, what the president has said is we really have two options here. We can leave, and the entire world would be way worse off because there would
be no guaranteed access to oil and gas. By the way, the Gulf Arab countries are telling us that would be the worst thing in the world, or we can accept
the Iranians are going to shoot at ships like crazy people, and we're going to do what we have to do in order to ensure that their efforts don't lead
to a worldwide energy crisis.
Now, we've been quite successful up to this point. Gas, frankly, could have been much, much higher were it not for our efforts. But 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.
The only reason, the only reason we do not have a worldwide energy crisis is because of the leadership of the president, but also because of the fine
work of our military from Pete Hegseth on down.
But the Iranians are doing what the Iranians do. I think that they're losing their capabilities by the day. I think they're realizing, by the
way, that their control over the Strait of Hormuz is effectively gone, and it's a diminishing asset.
So, if you go back three months ago, how much --
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:00:00]
END
