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High Inflation Endures; DOJ Targets Minnesota Judges; Chaos on Flydubai Flight. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 30, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:05]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A suspected mid-flight hijacking attempt. Israeli officials say they think the co-pilot tried to take over an Israel-bound plane and crash it after stabbing its captain. We have new details on how passengers stepped in to help stop it.

Plus, a shakeup at the Pentagon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth getting ready to deliver a major address to service members, announcing a plan to slash senior officer ranks. How that could impact the nation's military.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: And surrounded by poison plastics. A new investigation reveals just how exposed we are every day and what the health hazards could be.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SANCHEZ: We have breaking news on the suspected attempt to hijack a Flydubai flight heading to Tel Aviv. Just a short time ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the jet was approaching Israel when one of the pilots stabbed the other pilot in an apparent plot to crash the plane. Passengers and crew members then stormed the cockpit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are here on the plane right now. We have taken control of the terrorist. We are about to land. Anyone who hears me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, probably in the Saudi Arabia area, an unknown and unfamiliar area.

Everyone on the plane is healthy and whole, except for the pilot. We need help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: This terrifying incident plunged the plane more than 17,000 feet in just two minutes, with at least 160 passengers on board. They were clapping as the plane made an emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Many of them are now back in Tel Aviv, arriving just minutes ago and describing a traumatic experience. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The most terrifying moment in this flight was when the pilot lost his control and the plane was falling down something about six kilometers.

And then I felt that I'm losing it, and I'm going to lose all my family. My wife was beside me. My little boy was also beside me. And I -- I -- how to tell it -- I was separating from them, and that's all. It was very, very terrifying.

There was a group of young people, and they fought with the second pilot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: Let's go live to Ben-Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv with CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

Jeremy, what are you learning about the incident?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, I have been here at Ben-Gurion Airport, where passengers from that Flydubai flight have been arriving over the course of the last half-hour or so.

I have been speaking with many of the passengers as they have been getting off the flight. They described the terrifying moment when suddenly the plane started to spin and then begin to nosedive at a rate of some 14,000 feet over the course of just 37 seconds.

And then many of them talked about seeing people rushing towards the cockpit. What followed was a scuffle to try and subdue one of the pilots, who apparently stabbed the other pilot. What you're hearing behind me are people who are shouting and welcoming the passengers on board.

But I do want to show you this new video that we just got in showing the aftermath of that altercation after passengers rushed into the cockpit and managed to subdue the pilot who had attacked the other pilot. On the ground, you can see both pilots bloodied. One of them appears to have been restrained.

Both of them are on the ground, clearly in need of medical attention. And what you hear from the men in that video, some of the Israeli passengers, is talking about one of the pilots having attacked the other one and the fact that they then rushed into the cockpit and were able to get that plane back up and to avoid it from crashing into the ground.

Now, the Israeli prime minister has also spoken today about all of this. He said that that's exactly what happened. He called it a very serious security incident, and he praised the heroism of the Israeli passengers who managed to subdue this assailant.

Now, we also have moments from inside that plane as everything was going very wrong. And I want you to listen to at least a few seconds of this audio.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:05:19]

DIAMOND: And you can hear the anxiety in that video, as passengers are asking what is happening.

And that's what so many people here have been telling me. They really had very little information as this was all happening, especially those people who are in the middle or towards the back of the plane.

What's also still unknown, not only to the passengers on board, but to Israeli authorities, is what exactly were the motivations, the motives of this pilot who stabbed the captain of the plane and apparently tried to crash it into the ground?

We know that Israeli officials suspect potential terrorist motivations, but none of that has been confirmed as of yet -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond for us in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.

KEILAR: We're joined now by CNN transportation analyst Mary Schiavo and former head of homeland security and intelligence in Washington, D.C., Donell Harvin. Donell is also a member of the faculty with Georgetown University's Emergency and Disaster Management Program.

Mary, according to Prime Minister Netanyahu, passengers believe the co-pilot tried to sabotage the aircraft systems and crash the plane after stabbing his colleague. What evidence would investors find of that in this case then?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: Well, first of all, they're going to find tremendous evidence just in the other passengers, the passengers who rushed the cockpit, and, of course, the pilot miraculously on board able to recover that flight.

And from looking at radar that's readily available in public sources. At one point, that plane was making a dive like this, 63 degrees. So it was amazing that they could do it. And, of course, we will have the cockpit voice recording, very important.

And then the flight data recorders will show if the pilot who did the attack and put the plane in the dive pulled back the engines, which would make sense because otherwise, at that kind of a dive, the passengers would have been pulling one to three g's, and then on recovery, when the nose comes back up, two to four. They couldn't have moved around as they did.

So, so much evidence already, but this is a hugely important international investigation for security going forward, huge.

SANCHEZ: Donell, what's your reaction to hearing that, at least according to Israeli officials, this was an attempted hijacking?

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER D.C. CHIEF OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE: Yes, well, the there's another narrative out there that the airline saying it's still being investigated.

Boris, there's a spectrum of issues. I don't think that the motive right now is important. It could be something as benign as workplace violence all the way up to a terrorist issue.

I think the big issue that we should be concerned is, is that this pilot got on a plane with a knife. This is clearly intentional. Now, we have been all in airports where flight crew get preferential treatment. They may go in front of us, they may have their own line, but they're still getting screened.

And so this is a huge concern. Post-9/11, we have spent globally a lot of time and resources in making sure that cockpit is hardened from a threat that comes from the cabin. The Germanwings flight clash that happened in 2015 showed us that sometimes that threat can actually be inside the cockpit.

SANCHEZ: Mary, I wonder, to that point from Donell, Israel has some of the most stringent aviation security protocols on the planet. So how could something like this get through?

SCHIAVO: Well, and it depends what they were allowed to do on flights that they control.

I mean, they have been the gold standard for security. When I was inspector general, we studied them, and then when I litigated the 9/11/01 for 12 years, we looked at them. But, remember, there's also a flight axe in the cockpit.

So while I -- I immediately thought a knife, how did he get a knife through security, well, flight crew have the special lanes and they don't get as much security, but there's also weapons within the cockpit, like the flight axe and other things.

And also, I mean, I agree completely. We have been so worried about securing the cockpit from the passengers, when in Germanwings, maybe in Egypt Airway back in 1999, and certainly in this one, it was the passengers -- and on Flight 93 on 9/11 -- it was the passengers that held some hope of stopping it.

So we do have to look very carefully at what we're going to do with secondary barriers, additional barrier to the cockpit, which is on tap to be required in new aircraft by the FAA.

KEILAR: And, Donell, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin says there's currently no threat to the U.S. How do officials rule that out?

HARVIN: You know, that's probably -- a quick answer, they're still, I'm sure, going through not only domestic, but international intelligence. I can guarantee you that our foreign intelligence workers are working closely with the authorities overseas.

[13:10:08]

And so that may be a preliminary determination. But, once again, I think all aviation airline and airline carriers need to really look at how we are protecting not only the crew, but the passengers for the crew. It's amazing that the passengers were actually even able to get inside the cockpit to avert this.

If you think back once again to the Germanwings flight, this -- the co-pilot locked out the pilot, and no one was able -- not even the pilot was able to get him because he was physically barred from doing so. So this is a real, real near miss. Many people could have been -- the entire flight could have been lost, in fact, on this.

SANCHEZ: Yes, important perspective to keep in mind as we learn more.

Donell Harvin, Mary Schiavo, thank you so much.

Still to come: Attorney General Todd Blanche announcing the Justice Department has filed a complaint against nearly all federal judges in Minnesota. We will explain why.

Plus, more spending, less savings, new numbers showing how Americans are trying to keep up with higher prices.

KEILAR: And, later: risky rescue, a driver saved from surging floodwaters as the Southwest deals with excessive rainfall.

We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:15:24]

SANCHEZ: President Trump's Justice Department is now taking its fight with the federal judiciary to a new level.

KEILAR: That's right. In an extraordinary move, Attorney General Todd Blanche says the DOJ has filed a judicial misconduct complaint against nearly all the federal judges in Minnesota.

CNN senior justice correspondent Evan Perez is with us now on this.

OK, that's a lot of justices. What is the DOJ alleging here?

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the Justice Department says that the judges who sat for an interview with "The New York Times" that was published in the last few weeks, that they violated the rules of conduct, the code of conduct for judges by doing that and by levying criticisms at the Justice Department, against the Homeland Security Department.

All of this, of course, is the backdrop of the immigration surge that happened earlier this year in Minneapolis and some of the problems that resulted. One of the issues that the judges have raised is the violation or ignoring court orders, which is -- has been a big concern, and they viewed it as an attack on democracy. Listen to the attorney general responding to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: This is a flagrant violation, in the department's view, of the code of judicial conduct. The comments are not only overtly political, itself a violation, but also concern matters pending before these judges or still on the appellate process, a separate violation.

Aside from the fact on top of the comments themselves, the comments are not even true and blatantly false.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And, look, I mean, it without a doubt, it's very unusual for judges to sit for interviews, on-the-record interviews, certainly in this circumstance, but it also kind of gives you a sense of the concern that is in the judiciary.

It's not limited to Minnesota. This is a problem around the country. Judges believe the department and Homeland Security are acting in ways that flout the law and ignoring them. And, also, we are seeing juries that are not believing what the Justice Department is saying.

So there's lack of -- a loss of faith in the department and in DHS.

SANCHEZ: And, Evan, Blanche himself is facing questions about his appearances at political rallies. What is he saying in response?

PEREZ: Right.

I think, in reaction to this, the question that came from reporters in the room was simply, well, what about you and the conduct that you have exhibited? Listen to his response about him appearing at some political rallies, what he says it in his personal capacity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BLANCHE: So I am allowed to go and support administrative priorities in my personal capacity. And, again, I don't -- I can't speak to what -- to what other attorneys generals have done or not done. I'm not -- I'm not judged by what they have done and what I have done.

There's been attorney generals who were blatantly partisan and never spoke at a single rally. Is that right? Of course not. Of course not. So you can't -- I mean, it's easy to compare, but I will tell you that everything I do is not only lawful, but approved by ethics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEREZ: And I should note that we have raised this issue with the department, with Blanche. And here's the issue.

When you're attorney general, you're never not attorney general. Just because you're showing up at a rally, right, you're an attorney general 24/7. And so what they have said it previously is that he is appearing in his personal capacity, but that doesn't exist.

And so that's one reason why, under tradition at the department since the Nixon years and some of the excesses of the department, that they have had this rule, which is don't appear at things that are overtly political, because it does raise the question of whether the department is acting in an unbiased way, right, in an independent fashion.

And so that's the answer you heard from him just now.

SANCHEZ: Evan Perez, thank you so much for the reporting.

Still ahead: New numbers confirm what many are already feeling. Inflation remains stubbornly high, not the only worrying trend that stands out in a new report. We will break down the numbers next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:23:38]

KEILAR: New numbers show Americans are dipping into their savings by the most in about four years as high prices squeeze budgets, the personal savings rate falling to 4.1 percent in August, down from 4.6 percent in July. That's the lowest since November of 2022, when inflation was near a four-decade high.

The report shows strong consumer spending helping keep the economy strong.

CNN's David Goldman is here to take us through all of this.

So, David, what are the biggest takeaways from the new numbers here?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, people really hate inflation. That's why I have a size 90 font behind me.

And I think that the key thing with this report is the trend. We know inflation is a problem, but here we can see that gas prices are making it more expensive for people to live. Now, this is a key point, because what happens when prices go higher?

Well, to your point from earlier, you need to dip into your savings, and this is not a trend that we like to see. People need to buy just basic things, groceries, gas, to get around, and how are they doing it? They're putting it on their credit card or they're taking it out of their savings.

Brianna, this is why people hate the economy so much.

KEILAR: And you have some new reporting that Iran has actually lost considerable leverage in the Strait of Hormuz. What's going on and is it likely to impact gas prices?

[13:25:06]

GOLDMAN: Yes, this is related, right? I mean, we have seen these oil prices continue to go higher, but

that's not the full story. Transits have actually started to come back to normal. We're back to 13.1 million transits across the Strait of Hormuz. That is 76 percent of where we were before the war.

But that's not even it, because we are back -- if you account all the pipelines and all the other ways around the strait, 98 percent of the Middle Eastern oil that we had before the war is now getting out. That is good news.

But look at this. Petroleum products, right? We don't fill our cars with crude oil. We fill our cars with gas and diesel, and that isn't close to back to normal. And that is only part of the story too, because you also need to get these big oil tankers out. It costs $150 million to insure one of these things.

If you want to build one, it's only $135 million. That tells you everything you need to know about the security in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran continues to bombard ships that are transiting with attacks, 68 of them during the course of the war, and that is why we continue to see gas prices well above $4, diesel prices well above $6.

That's the story. That's why we have inflation, Brianna.

KEILAR: Yes, that's going to last for a while.

Size 90 font. Thanks to you, David Goldman, for taking us through that.

GOLDMAN: Any time.

KEILAR: Appreciate it. Inflation watch. Thank you.

Happening now, President Trump holding an event at the White House, these live pictures coming to us. He's marking Hispanic Heritage Month, the celebration coming at a time when polling shows Latino voters may be souring on the president over his deportation policies -- what this could mean ahead of the midterm elections next.

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