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NFL Season Kicks Off; Iran Threatens to Expand Hormuz Restriction Zone; Supreme Court Rejects GOP Map in Missouri; Trump Promises Cash If Republicans Win Midterms; Trump Administration Targets Mail-In Voting. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired September 10, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

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[10:33:12]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now: new details this morning on the deadly Amazon cargo plane crash in Miami. Investigators say moments before the plane overshot the runway, one of the pilots warned the plane was going too fast. The NTSB is investigating the crash. Five people were killed when the jet slammed into a cleaning cruise van.

The widow of the man driving that van has now filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the pilots, Amazon, and the jet's operator. The suit claims multiple concurrent failures led to the crash. Two other families are also considering legal action.

Well, the White House has pulled a Tetris-style video game called "Build the Wall" from its Web site after an online warning from Tetris. The game appeared last week and let users stack bricks to hold off a -- quote -- "zombie border siege." Tetris posted on Instagram that it was not involved in the game's creation, adding: "We take copyright infringement very seriously."

And a wild video out of Atlanta. Have you seen this? The legs dangling from an interstate overpass. His car somehow got lodged up there between two concrete beams. Investigators haven't said what caused the wreck or how the car possibly ended up there. And it's important to note that the driver was apparently able to get out of the car without help and walked away without serious injuries. Wow.

With just weeks to go before the midterms, President Trump's crusade against election fraud is deploying a new weapon in the Commerce Department, historically known for mundane economic tasks. The department under Trump ally Howard Lutnick is working to help reshape the country's election system.

Commerce officials have recently disputed Census Bureau findings of noncitizen voting and pushed the Postal Service to adopt strict new rules for mail-in ballots.

[10:35:00] So let's go live now to our Gabe Cohen to help better understand how the department is being used in this unusual way -- Gabe.

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is, Pamela.

What we found is that Secretary Lutnick and his department have really been at the center of some key initiatives that this administration has either discussed or even pursued as part of its election agenda.

Take, for example, those strict new mail ballot rules from the Postal Service that we're expecting the Supreme Court to rule on any day now. Well, those tie back to this March executive order that President Trump signed with one Cabinet member at his side, and that was Howard Lutnick.

And sources tell me that Lutnick and his team were actually the architects behind that order and the directives that were included in it, directives that right now have election officials across the country extremely concerned about how it could affect the midterms.

We also have that explosive Census Bureau report that was touted by the president just last month that claimed to find more than 20,000 noncitizens had voted in the 2020 presidential election. Well, what we have learned from our reporting from sources is that the Commerce Department had actually inserted a group of partisan analysts who did that analysis, who did that report, put together that report that was put out last month.

And it was actually Lutnick and his team who were really the driving force behind it. And, by the way, those analysts are still inside the Census Bureau, and they're working on the 2030 census that we know the administration is trying to upend and overhaul.

And then there is this issue of voting machines, and that, Pamela, might be the next shoe-to-drop, because right now there are a lot of Trump allies, including some senior folks in the administration, who are pushing Secretary Lutnick to effectively ban most voting machines by claiming that they are a national security threat because they include components made by China.

And as part of his authorities over the Commerce Department, he has some control over supply chains. He's getting a lot of pressure on that front. And as part of our story, we have uncovered these e-mails showing that activists have been talking to folks inside the administration for the better part of a year, and recently spoke with Secretary Lutnick himself about this issue.

BROWN: Wow.

All right, Gabe Cohen, really important reporting there. Thank you so much.

Well, last night, at the first ever Republican Midterm Convention, President Trump made a stunning promise to send $5,000 checks to every adult American. But there is a catch. Republicans have to keep control of Congress after the midterm elections. President Trump also said this:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Maybe more important even than the Trump dividend, please pretend that I'm running and get out and vote on November 3 or sooner.

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Trump's pitch to voters comes as multiple polls give the president low marks on the economy.

So let's discuss all of this with former communications director for Vice President Kamala Harris Ashley Etienne and former National Republican Senatorial Committee aide Liam Donovan.

Liam, how exactly would this work? I mean, the president is promising $5,000 checks to every American, only if they win the midterms. He could -- if this was possible, why doesn't he just do it right now?

LIAM DONOVAN, FORMER NATIONAL REPUBLICAN SENATORIAL COMMITTEE AIDE: I think it would be possible if they have the alignment of the House and the Senate. The reconciliation process allows us to do this on the fast track. And so you certainly could.

I don't think they have the alignment right now. This is not something that's been fully socialized with the party, but it's certainly giving some sort of incentive for people to run on. I think we will have to see if that's adopted by the House and Senate candidates that are out there on the trail.

This seems like a trial balloon, but it's absolutely possible. This is something they could do as soon as they have the political will.

BROWN: Ashley.

(LAUGHTER)

ASHLEY ETIENNE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Whether or not you can do something and whether or not it's ethically the right thing to do are two different things. I mean, this amounts to some degree, I'm not a lawyer, but feels like a bribe to the American people to vote Republican.

That is where I would have a problem with this, and I would hope any Republican would have a problem or anyone of any political stripe would have a problem with the president suggesting he would pay people for their votes.

But the one thing I should say is the entire convention reeked of desperation, in my opinion. You have got a situation where you have got Donald Trump who's underwater in 47 states. He's got no plan on lowering costs, no plan to jump-start the economy,

no plan to end this war in Iran, all of them incredibly unpopular with the American people, and to the point at which you have got competitive Republicans that decided not to go to the convention because the president is such a drag on the ticket.

And then also you have got this huge enthusiasm gap, where Republican voters are not excited about Donald Trump and not excited about voting. So the whole thing just to me was -- reeked of desperation and really suggests that the president's deathly afraid of losing in November.

[10:40:00]

BROWN: And when you look at this promise in particular, the president has previously promised that Americans would get a cut from what Elon Musk did with DOGE, that there would be tariff refunds.

Vice President Vance seemed to indicate that's what he was talking about here. The president also made promises on the campaign trail before he was elected that he would lower prices, that he wouldn't get the U.S. and foreign entanglements.

How can Americans trust him on any issue right now, Liam?

DONOVAN: I think this is typical Donald Trump. I mean, he's out there trying to get the headline. We're talking about it the next day. That was always the question, I mean, was, what's coming out of this? What's the pull through on night one of the convention?

This is unprecedented. He gave him something to talk about. I think we're doing it right now. In terms of trust, if you are a Trump supporter, he has more trust than anyone else in this party. I think that's the key.

As Ashley said, Democrats are fired up. Donald Trump might not be on the ballot for Republicans. He is on the ballot as far as Democrats are concerned. They're voting like it.

So I think the president being able to tap into his support among the nontraditional Republican voters, those low-propensity voters that Republicans rely on, the only way that Republicans come through this environment with any solid night is by trying to address this asymmetry.

And I think he does have trust with a number of voters who aren't otherwise accessible to your typical Republicans. So this week is his time to tap into that.

BROWN: But is there risk as well because of his low approval ratings, telling people, pretend like I'm on the ballot? Is there a risk, particularly with the independents? There is no question that he has a base that is committed to him until the day they die, right?

But what about the independents or Republicans that aren't so happy with how his administration is? DONOVAN: I think that's baked in. I think you have to understand and be clear-eyed 50 days out from an election. If you're a Republican, you understand, if you look at the approval, if you look at the odd- year elections, the special elections, Democrats are fired up.

Independents are doing what they're going to do. You need to mobilize your base. That is how midterms work.

ETIENNE: Here's the reality. If the president is focused on mobilizing his base, he's got larger problems.

To your point about the headlines coming out of their first midterm convention is about the president bribing the American people to vote Republican, the other headline coming out of it was Senator Fetterman. I mean, that's a sad state of affairs.

When you have got your back against the wall, your elections are on the line, your, to some degree, accountability is on the line, it's -- you can he can smell it coming his direction. And the only thing that comes out of this thing is, you're going to bribe the American people and Fetterman?

I mean, it's a sad state of affairs for the president and also speaks to the fact that he does not have an agenda he can run on that he can mobilize the American people.

BROWN: Well, let's actually listen, because the Fetterman was video was a bit of a surprise, right? And earlier this morning, his former chief of staff was on "CNC," and I want to play a little bit of what he said about that video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ADAM JENTLESON, JOHN FETTERMAN CHIEF OF STAFF: I think that Senator Fetterman has sort of reached a point where he's just trying to do whatever he can do to get the most attention for the least amount of work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So what do you think about this?

ETIENNE: You know, you know I'm a strategist first and a Democrat second. And I was looking at this, trying to figure out, what was Fetterman's play, right? It does not benefit the Republican Party to have him address the convention and doesn't benefit him, especially on the heels of that horrible "Wall Street Journal" profile which says he doesn't like to work.

But I was digging deeper into the numbers and I found what I think might be a method to the madness. He's polling right now at 77 percent with Republicans in the state of Pennsylvania. That's actually higher than what where Donald Trump is actually polling. He's polling, again, 77 percent, 19 percent with Democrats.

So, if I look at that objectively, it says to me he actually knows his audience. And it's not Democrats. It's actually Republicans in his home state. And so, for me, it also fuels these rumors that he might be flipping parties, because if he's looking at the numbers, that's his audience.

BROWN: It's interesting that he released a statement after sort of doubling down on the fact that he's a Democrat.

ETIENNE: Which you should always be suspicious of, by the way.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: I put facts out, and then people can decide what they want to think about it.

ETIENNE: When an elected official doubles down, always be suspicious.

(CROSSTALK)

DONOVAN: I would just agree with Ashley, just say that the headlines coming out of this midterm saying that a Democratic senator did come in and address this convention, I think that's a great thing. And I don't think that's desperation.

I think that's just a good signal if you're looking for validators that come from nontraditional backgrounds. And the other thing...

ETIENNE: But that validation doesn't do much for the president or the party, especially when he's introducing a senator who's not actually running. Like, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense, other than the fact that he's doing so well with Republicans on the ground, and that's his target audience.

(CROSSTALK)

DONOVAN: I think it's great for Trump and Republicans. I don't know that it's great for Fetterman or the Democratic Party. That's going to be a food fight in Pennsylvania.

But the interesting thing is Fetterman coming in validating Dave McCormick. Dave McCormick gave a great speech. If you're looking back at one speech you should take a look at, look at Dave McCormick. He's a rising star in this party. He had arrayed behind him the image of what the Republican Party in 2026 should be, a working-class coalition, the nontraditional coalition that propelled Donald Trump in 2024.

That's what they're trying to get back to. And bringing out John Fetterman, -- we were talking about this backstage -- the affect that John Fetterman has with the sweats, you might not like it, but he -- that is the image and what he was elected on in 2022 is something that the Republican Party needs to tap back into if they're going to win in 2026.

[10:45:17] DONOVAN: I think that was a good moment for Republicans, whether or not it's good for...

(CROSSTALK)

ETIENNE: Clearly, based on the numbers, it was good for him as well, if he's looking at his own polling in his own state.

BROWN: And apparently our Steve Contorno, who was there, said that actually he got a louder applause with that video than Dave McCormick did as he went out there, which was kind of interesting.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: All right, thank you so much, Liam Donovan, Ashley Etienne. Great to see you both. Appreciate that discussion.

And we have some breaking news actually just coming in right now. The Supreme Court has just struck down a Trump administration request to allow a Republican-friendly congressional map in Missouri that could have given the GOP an extra seat in the House.

So let's go live now to CNN's Joan Biskupic with all the details.

What was their argument here, Joan?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sure. Good to see you, Pamela.

This is one of many simmering controversies over there going on out in the states as we head toward the November midterms. This one involved Missouri, as you say, where the Republican-dominated legislature, under pressure from Donald Trump this summer, had gone in redistricted to try to give an advantage to Republicans in the state.

Right now, there are eight congressional districts. Six are Republican. Two are Democratic. And they drew a new map that would make it seven Republican to one Democrat. But the state Supreme Court in Missouri earlier found that they had violated state law by not allowing this to go to a referendum of the people of the voters, rather than just doing it through the legislature.

This case, Pamela, came up to the Supreme Court on Tuesday, where Justice Brett Kavanaugh rejected it, said -- did not give any explanation, but I believe it was very expected because this is a state law dispute. But then what happened right after that on Tuesday, Pamela, is that a federal district court judge in Missouri suddenly said, no, that new map is OK.

So you had dueling rulings. Do they use the old map, where it's 6-2, six Republicans, two Democratic seats, presumably with the voters, or this 7-1 map that, as I said, Donald Trump had pushed the Republican legislature to go for?

So we had these conflicting rulings out there, potential chaos for the Missouri voters. And what the Supreme Court did just this morning, just now, with no recorded vote, was to say that, no, they're not taking this appeal. They're essentially siding with those challenging the Republican-friendly district, and it will remain with the districts that were in place last cycle through this cycle, enabling probably six Democrats -- pardon me -- six Republicans and two Democrats.

This is all because Donald Trump and Republicans are trying to get an advantage for the U.S. House of Representatives, which is so narrowly tied right now in terms of control. Republicans just have a narrow grip on it -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Joan Biskupic, thank you so much.

We will be right back.

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[10:51:16]

BROWN: Happening now: Iran says it will expand its maritime restriction zone in the Persian Gulf region in an attempt to control a larger section of the critical waterway. The exact coordinates of the new zone are yet to be announced.

But President Trump says the Strait of Hormuz remains under U.S. control.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: And, by the way, oil will be going down as soon as we win the war with Iran, which is taking place right now.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: We will win it. We're winning it.

We control the Hormuz Strait. I think we should call the Hormuz Strait, we should call it the Trump Strait. I should get something out of this.

(CHEERING)

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: The Trump Strait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: All right, we're joined now by CNN global affairs commentator Sabrina Singh. She served as deputy Pentagon press secretary during the Biden administration.

Does President Trump's messaging reflect the reality right now? SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: It does not.

And, I mean, he acknowledged. He called it a war, and we have heard him go back and forth on him calling this an excursion, a conflict.

BROWN: Yes, right. And he admitted he hasn't won it yet.

SINGH: Exactly. Exactly.

And so we're in the seventh month right now. We have blown past the deadlines of this being a four-to-six-week conflict war. And now we're just looking at soaring oil and gas, oil and diesel prices for Americans, and, of course, the global economy has been upended. So I don't think this message is resonating, unfortunately, even as much as he wants to believe it.

BROWN: He also raised the possibility of taking further military action against Iran, and specifically said that he was aware of activity at another nuclear site known as Pickaxe Mountain.

So, I just wonder, does the U.S. -- do you think, first of all, it has the appetite to continue strikes and continue this, right, and then also the weaponry and ability to really take meaningful action against Pickaxe Mountain?

SINGH: I don't think this administration or Iran really wants to go back to a full-scale war. We do retain capabilities to strike some of these sites, like at Pickaxe Mountain, and we have done incredible damage to some of these sites at like Pickaxe and Natanz.

But it remains to be seen if that actually buried the -- successfully buried the nuclear capabilities that Iran still possesses. And, at the end of the day, the only way to address Iran's nuclear program is to get that material out of Iran, and that would mean boots on the ground.

So I think the U.S. could continue to conduct some of these strikes. They could sink the infrastructure a little bit deeper, collapse the mountain a bit more, but that also has potential catastrophic effects for the region.

So, yes, the U.S. can do it, but will they? I think that remains to be seen.

BROWN: And it was interesting too Trump saying that the war would end right after the midterms.

SINGH: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

SINGH: Well, I think he wants it to end, I would hope sooner than that, but it is interesting that he's like forecasting that it's going to end right after the midterms...

BROWN: Yes. SINGH: ... when the way this war is going to end is through

diplomacy.

BROWN: Yes.

SINGH: And so I do think that they're trying to get back to the diplomatic table, but it's going to take a lot of time too.

BROWN: All right, Sabrina Singh, thank you so much. Appreciate it. Great to have you on.

And here's what's coming up all new at the top of the hour.

Another A.I. model goes rogue. This time, it's Anthropic again. We will speak to Daniel Roher, the director of an A.I. doc who talked to leaders in the field. We will get his take. That's all new next hour.

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[10:57:33]

BROWN: All right, football fans rejoice. The NFL is officially back. The season kicked off at the Super Bowl rematch between the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots, but the rare Wednesday night matchup got off to a rough start for the defending champs.

So let's go live now to CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.

BROWN: The mood definitely changed in Seattle in just the first few minutes of the game, Andy.

SCHOLES: It certainly did, Pam, because it's never good when you lose your starting quarterback on the very first drive of the season.

But the Seahawks, they were able to weather the storm and then their awesome defense won the game for them last night. And Seattle, it was rocking as the Seahawks dropped their second Super Bowl championship banner before the game, but the fans quite worried early on because on the team's first drive, Sam Darnold here gets sacked.

He would leave the game and not return with a hip injury. Coach Mike Macdonald said after the game, the hip isn't broken, which is good news. But Darnold is set for an MRI later today.

Now, the Patriots led the game 10-3 in the fourth quarter. Backup quarterback Drew Lock here on fourth down hits Jaxon Smith-Njigba. He does the rest, 45 yards for the touchdown. The Seahawks would then take the lead on a field goal.

Patriots were driving to win the game, or, at worst, tie it in the final minute, but Drake Maye, a terrible decision, gets picked off by Josh Jobe. That was his third interception of the fourth quarter for Maye.

Seahawks, they hold on to win 13-10, and here was Maye after that rough fourth quarter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DRAKE MAYE, NEW ENGLAND PATRIOTS: Yes, lost patience and it cost us, I think just decisions that cost us the game on my part, on my end. And I have vowed to myself to be better and realize it's a long season, but at the same time you can't have those.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right, we got another big matchup tonight, as the Rams and 49ers are going to square off in the first ever regular season game in Australia. The game kicks off at 8:35 Eastern. It's going to be shown on Netflix.

Now, they are playing at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground, which holds more than 100,000 fans. Now, the Rams and 49ers, very different strategies when it came to traveling down under. The Niners got there a week ago to adjust to the time change. The Rams, meanwhile, got there yesterday.

Coach Sean McVay says they're trying to just keep everyone on that West Coast body clock, despite the 17-hour time difference for them. So we will see which strategy works, Pam.

And a funny wrinkle to the 49ers travel. The defensive coordinator, Raheem Morris, his birthday was September 3. They left San Francisco September 2. They got to Australia September 4. He completely missed his 50th birthday while traveling.

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: What the heck?

(LAUGHTER)

SCHOLES: Hopefully, they celebrated on the plane for him.

BROWN: I hope. I hope so.

All right, Andy Scholes, great to see you. Thanks so much.

SCHOLES: All right.