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White House Officials Say No Plans for Trump-Putin Summit in Near Future; Florida Ag Issues Criminal Subpoenas to Roblox Over Child Safety; Chess Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky Dead at 29; Sanae Takaichi Elected as Japan's First Female Prime Minister; George Springer's Heroics Catapult Blue Jays Into World Series; Plane With Cracked Windscreen May Have Hit Weather Balloon. Aired 1:30-2p ET
Aired October 21, 2025 - 13:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:31:59]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump's hopes for a quick meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on ending the Ukraine war may be on hold. Again, last week, Trump touted plans to quickly set up a summit with Putin in Budapest, Hungary. But now, a White House official says there are no plans for a summit between Trump and Putin in the immediate future. Sources familiar with the matter now tell CNN an expected pre-meeting, the meeting before the summit between Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov has also been postponed.
I'm joined now by Beth Sanner, a former Deputy Director of National Intelligence, also a CNN National Security Analyst. In responding to that announcement about the postponement, Beth, the Kremlin, I believe said that you can't postpone something that doesn't have a date attached to it. What does this tell you about where things are headed following the phone call with Putin last week and the meeting with Zelenskyy?
BETH SANNER, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST AND FORMER DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: Right. So we're on a rollercoaster, right? And has is got a lot of ups and downs. But, Putin's not on a rollercoaster. He's on a train --
(LAUGH)
SANNER: -- and it's a steady train and it does not deviate from its path. And I think that that's what we really have to get our heads around, is that basically no matter what, where we are in the cycle, that train and what he wants, and that destination has not changed throughout this entire thing. We are in the same place that we were with Russia at the beginning of the Trump administration. The only thing that's changed is that they're bombing the, you know what?
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
SANNER: -- out of Ukraine at a level that's many times higher than it was before inauguration. SANCHEZ: And that is significant. Doesn't this lend more credibility to the argument that the only thing Putin is going to respond to is force or the threat of force, given that that call last week only happened because President Trump said he might deliver some Tomahawks to Kyiv, which now he has kind of walked away from?
SANNER: So I think that in a way, maybe the framing there is a little bit off in part, the Tomahawks forced Putin to pick up the phone and get them turned off. Would the threat of Tomahawks actually have changed the train that Putin's on?
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
SANNER: Probably not. Right? So, what forces Putin to capitulate is not -- there is no silver bullet that will do that. It is a process that requires concerted pressure across all of these things, from economics to military. And we've delivered almost no military equipment to Ukraine this year despite this startup of this new process of getting the Europeans to buy equipment. So yeah, we need more, but like we should also kind of modulate ourselves and our expectations. There will not be Tomahawks peace.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. I wonder what you make of the president's approach here. Is this embarrassing for the White House, you think?
[13:35:00]
Because before this, there was supposed to be this trilateral or two bilateral meetings. This was after Alaska, which was two months ago now, the summit between Trump and Putin. Do you get the sense that the president, his advisers realize that Putin effectively through these moves is just stringing the White House along?
SANNER: So I mean, the president acknowledged during this last --
SANCHEZ: Right.
SANNER: -- go around that, yeah, Putin probably is trying to string things along. So then the question is, what do you do about that, right? So I think that he understands it. It's not that, and I also think that you actually have to have negotiations with the perpetrator in order to get something done. Right? But, like, this is just something that is going to take a long time. And this idea that coming out of Gaza, you're all hepped (ph) up on this success and you're just going to all of a sudden bring out your magic wand and change things, that is not realistic. OK?
So this is just not something that we're going to be able to turn around quickly, and we're going to have to take a much more concerted effort at this. The Europeans here are doing their part. They're going to meet on Thursday, they're going to take that money, that's the Russian sovereign debt, $163 billion and they're going to turn it into a loan to Ukraine to fund this war and to keep them afloat. And particularly with these attacks on Ukraine energy, they need that money. I'm hearing that the United States might not be behind that effort now, after we push them to do this sort of thing and to put pressure on Russia. OK, now we're not going to put pressure on Russia. So, we have to decide, I think you need to fight and talk at the same time.
SANCHEZ: Yeah. Speaking of Gaza, I did want to ask you about -- I did want to ask you about the insistence from the White House and others based on this 20-point plan that there would be a sort of international intermediary security force that would be sent to Gaza. The president insisted on social media that there are allies in the region that are just lining up to go. A reporting indicates that that is not the case. Which is closer to the truth?
SANNER: There's some countries not in the region who probably are willing to send troops, but I do think that it's going to take a lot of pressure because there's a lot of who wants to go in and forcibly disarm Hamas? Nobody, only people that want do that is Israel. And we're trying to keep them from not doing that. That's why J.D. Vance is there today.
SANCHEZ: That is a good point. Beth Sanner, always great to get your perspective. Thanks for being with us.
SANNER: Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Still plenty more news to come on "News Central." One of the most popular kids gaming platforms accused of being a "breeding ground for predators." What parents should know about Roblox, next.
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[13:42:40]
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Roblox is again facing accusations that it's a breeding ground for predators. Florida Attorney General, James Uthmeier announced yesterday, he's issuing new subpoenas to Roblox, which is one of the most popular gaming platforms for kids. Uthmeier filed civil subpoenas in the spring, but he says these new subpoenas will now investigate potential criminal activity.
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JAMES UTHMEIER, (R) ATTORNEY GENERAL, FLORIDA: Roblox profited off of our kids while exposing them to the most dangerous of harms. They enabled our kids to be abused. These criminal subpoenas will enable us to gather more information for our prosecutors about the criminal activity taking place on Roblox platform, as well as evidence on the predators that are out there and the victims that are abused.
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KEILAR: Now, Roblox is denying Florida's claims that it allows sharing images and video in chats. A spokesman said, "Attorney General Uthmeier's claims about Roblox are false. And the suggestion that illicit image sharing is happening on Roblox demonstrates a lack of understanding of our platform's functionality." And Roblox points to the platform's youth safety features, including age restricted content, parent controls and A.I. voice and text monitoring to allow content moderation. Let's talk to someone who can tell us what that all means. Cybersecurity expert Ben Gillenwater, who is the creator of "Family IT Guy."
Ben, it's great to have you on. I know so many parents are curious about this and whether their kids should be using this platform. So first off, let's just get the facts on what's actually happening on Roblox. How are predators allegedly exploiting it?
BEN GILLENWATER, CYBERSECURITY EXPERT & CREATOR OF "THE FAMILY IT GUY": Yeah, hi, Brianna. Thanks for having me. So predators are currently exploiting Roblox in two ways. The primary mechanism is via the online chat function that exists in most of the games, and that is where predators hunt for kids, is via online chat. And our history shows us -- our recent history shows us that Roblox is one of the primary hunting grounds.
The second feature is via the games themselves, where even if chat is turned off, the games enable anonymous communication with strangers and predators even -- predators create games on Roblox to have kids play them so that they can contact them.
[13:45:00]
KEILAR: OK, so when you have Roblox saying that Florida doesn't understand the functionality of its platform, what does that mean?
GILLENWATER: That means that Roblox is trying to fool us into focusing on the wrong things. So, it's important to think about the principles that underlie the platform itself and focus on the fact that Roblox is primarily free to play. Anytime that something doesn't cost money, but they're giving value back, that means there is an exchange happening and in this case, it's the exchange of our time and attention.
And so, Roblox is creating parental control features as a crisis PR move instead of addressing the underlying problem, which is that their business model requires maximum engagement and maximum time from their players, regardless of age, so that they can sell them more Robux.
KEILAR: OK. So, and that was actually my next question was about their business model. If it's about maximizing traffic, do the controls get in the way of that? Are the controls incentivized for Roblox to pursue? Explain that.
GILLENWATER: They are. And that's actually why Roblox doesn't build real parental controls. They build parental controls that seem like they might be effective, if we're not paying close enough attention. The parental controls that they should build would respect family and parental authority. Like, for example, a white list feature where parents can actually go in and review the games in advance and then add them to a list that says these games are approved for my kids. Roblox does not have that. That is the primary mechanism that we can use to assess their platform. If they have a white list feature, they're trying to keep kids safe. If they don't, they're not. KEILAR: So if a parent asked you, "Hey Ben, should I have my kids on Roblox? Should I allow them to be on it?" What do you say to them?
GILLENWATER: I would say absolutely not. Roblox is a platform that was designed for adults. It is not safe for kids. It's where kids come in contact with predators and it's where kids come in contact with inappropriate content. For example, I registered as an eight-year-old and played the game so I could see myself and I got to play a game called "Public Bathroom" where I got to walk into this big open area with a pool with beds around the edges and people humping each other on the beds and making very adult noises.
And then I got to walk into the bathroom component where there was people sharing shower stalls and sharing bathroom stalls, and going in and out with each other and humping each other in the bathroom. And this, Roblox had this game marked as approved for me as an eight-year- old with maximum parental controls turned on. So, the stuff that they're announcing are just band-aids over a giant gaping wound and they're not actually addressing the core problems.
KEILAR: So, what needs to be done to address that? I mean, if -- you are saying that Roblox is not adequately policing itself. What is the role for regulation, for Congress, which I mean, quite frankly, Congress has struggled to address a number of social media platforms in a way that keeps kids safe even as they've shown a desire to do that. There's been a difficulty in doing that. What needs to be done in your opinion?
GILLENWATER: I think what needs to be done is maximum education for kids and maximum education for parents because Roblox is one example of many that -- of places that are dangerous for kids on the internet. And there's going to be more in the future. There always will be. And so, we need to prepare ourselves and our families with education and with awareness, so that we all go in eyes wide open and that we're not distracted by the allure of something that seems free and fun, when in fact it's actually very expensive for mental and physical health and very dangerous.
KEILAR: Ben, it is great to speak with you and get your insights on this. Ben Gillenwater, really appreciate it.
GILLENWATER: You're welcome. Thanks for having me.
KEILAR: Boris?
SANCHEZ: Now to some of the other headlines we are watching this hour. Chess grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky, who attracted tons of followers online, has died at the age of 29. The Charlotte Chess Center made the announcement yesterday on behalf of his family. The cause and location of his death have not yet been disclosed. Naroditsky started learning chess at six and earned the title of Grandmaster, the highest title awarded by the International Chess Federation, before his senior year of high school. He built a huge following by streaming his games and strategies with more than 800,000 subscribers on Twitch and YouTube.
[13:50:00]
Also, a landmark moment for Japan, the country just electing its first female prime minister. 64-year-old Sanae Takaichi is a hard-line conservative. She has proposed big spending and cutting taxes as Japan grapples with high inflation and the cost of living. She also has to tackle the country's declining birth rate, a shrinking workforce, and a swelling elderly population. She's Japan's fourth prime minister since Shinzo Abe stepped down in 2020. And like Abe, she opposes same- sex marriage and allowing married couples to use separate surnames. And the Toronto Blue Jays on their way to their First World Series
since 1993. Thanks to that dramatic three-run homer from George Springer in last night's Game 7 against Seattle in the American League Championship series. The Jays now face the National League champion, L.A. Dodgers, seeking back to back titles, their third World Series victory potentially in the past six years. Game 1 is Friday in Toronto.
So, investigators believe they now know what cracked the cockpit windshield of a United Airlines flight while it was traveling some 30,000 feet in the air. We have that story coming up for you in just a moment.
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[13:56:16]
SANCHEZ: We're learning more about a mystery object that may have struck a United Airlines flight some 30,000 feet in the air. The plane was forced to divert from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City after the cockpit windshield suddenly cracked and injured one of the pilots. CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now at the Magic Wall to break things down for us. Pete, what have you learned?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the graphic midair scares is good, but it should have said "Pete Muntean's weird and wacky world of aviation."
(LAUGH)
MUNTEAN: This one --
SANCHEZ: Love that --
MUNTEAN: -- is a pretty strange one.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
MUNTEAN: And it has developed a lot of intrigue on X and on Reddit.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MUNTEAN: The fact that the windshield of this 737 Max 8 essentially cracked into the cockpit, creating a really big mess there, injured one of the pilots. This flight, United 1093 happened last Thursday. It was on its way from Denver, got over to Moab, Utah on its way to L.A. and turned and diverted to Salt Lake City because it seemed like this plane hit something up at 36,000 feet. It created so much speculation online. Was it a bird? Was it a drone? Was it part of another airplane ahead of it?
SANCHEZ: You know where this is going, Pete.
(LAUGH)
MUNTEAN: And now we know, at least according to the CEO of the company that makes these weather balloons --
SANCHEZ: Always weather balloons.
MUNTEAN: -- that it was one of these weather balloons.
SANCHEZ: Always weather balloons.
MUNTEAN: Now, how -- tell me how as a pilot would you see this? This is against a green background, but if you were up in 36,000 feet in blue sky, these things stay aloft for about four weeks at a time. How could you possibly avoid this? And so, this jet was going about 500 knots, a pretty blistering speed. And the payload on the bottom of this weather balloon, the sensor package weighs about 2.6 pounds. So we're talking about like a sack of onions or oranges, we're using grocery store terms here, or maybe like a few cans of soup.
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
MUNTEAN: So at that speed, it's a lot of force. And so it caused the windshield to cave in. I just want to point out that it is real testament to the design of these airplanes, the windshield there, that front pane at the --
SANCHEZ: Yeah.
MUNTEAN: -- the front of the 737 Max 8 is a few panes. There's glass that's heated, there's acrylic behind it. There's another pane of glass behind that. So, the airplane did not depressurize. It wasn't some big calamitous thing, although the pilots were clearly very confused about this. And now we have, at least according to the company that makes these, WindBorne Systems, a big clue here. They think that they know that it was one of their systems. And they also know that they filed these reports with the FAA to try and make it so that pilots can avoid these.
But clearly something went wrong. And so, kudos to them for trying to figure this out on their own to try and figure out where the miscommunication took place and how one of these airplanes could possibly hit a weather balloon.
SANCHEZ: Again, weather balloon, allegedly a weather balloon. A lot of people out there say it's extraterrestrial creatures.
(LAUGH)
MUNTEAN: There was this space junk theory too.
SANCHEZ: Right.
MUNTEAN: And with so many satellites orbiting Earth right now --
SANCHEZ: Right.
MUNTEAN: -- they come down. And so, the question was, could this have possibly been something re-entering the atmosphere or a meteor? That theory is at least for now, been put aside.
SANCHEZ: This makes a lot more sense. Occam's razor, right?
MUNTEAN: Yeah.
SANCHEZ: However, I'm surprised that it hasn't happened before because there's a lot of weather balloons out there.
MUNTEAN: Well, and I was reading their website, and so these weather balloons stay aloft for a really, really long time. They're trying to get more and better data to try and make it so that they can forecast more accurately. But the thinking was that one of these balloons would not get caught up in an airplane just because of the way the airflow goes around a plane. So, CEO Jonathan Dean of WindBorne Systems says, we're going to dig into it and make sure this doesn't happen again.
SANCHEZ: Pete Muntean, thank you so much for bringing that down for us and dispelling any myths --
(LAUGH)
MUNTEAN: A lot of mystery, yeah.
SANCHEZ: -- conspiracies you see online. Thanks so much, Pete. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.
