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Netanyahu Says Flydubai Co-Pilot Underwent Radical Islamist Indoctrination; Investigators Search for Motive After Suspected Hijacking Attempt; Early Voting Data Shows Emerging Signs of Democratic Advantage; Opposition to Data Centers Emerges as Key Issue in Michigan Race. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 01, 2026 - 13:30   ET

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

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[13:30:25]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": More now on our top story, the apparent attempted hijacking of a Flydubai jet bound for Israel. And Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu says the co-pilot who is from Oman struck the captain with an axe. The prime minister also says the suspect who was subdued by passengers and crew members underwent radical Islamic indoctrination. Here's more from Netanyahu.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The reserve pilots who were in the passenger area came in, stabilized the airplane. It was difficult because it was in a nosedive. It was just dropping. Those pilots managed to prevent a 9/11 disaster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": CNN Senior National Security Analyst, Juliette Kayyem, and CNN Safety Analyst, David Soucie are with us. David, first to you, there's apparently an axe in the cockpit. Now, we don't know if that is what was used, but there are already questions raised about this possibility before we learned that the weapon used was an axe. Help us understand why that is kept in the cockpit.

DAVID SOUCIE, CNN SAFETY ANALYST: Well, the reason that the axe is in the cockpit is in the event of an accident and not being able to get out of the cockpit, it's there to be able to break through either the fuselage itself or the window itself to be able to escape the cockpit area. So it is a requirement by the manufacturer and by the FAA to have that in the cockpit.

KEILAR: Yeah, and I wonder, David, if this is going to raise questions about the use of this in the future, or if this is just kind of a freak instance.

SOUCIE: Yeah, I think it will. There's a lot of things that will be brought up after this, one of them, namely, is the video used in the cockpit. The NTSB has been requesting that since 2000, and they've never done that. There's no video in the cockpit.

The cockpit voice recorder doesn't always give the investigators what they need to figure out what actually happened in that cockpit. So that would have been useful here. And certainly that conversation is going to be brought up again at this point.

KEILAR: Juliette, what other questions do you have as we're hearing the prime minister saying the co-pilot underwent radical Islamist indoctrination?

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So we don't know what briefings Netanyahu has gotten about the pilot. And obviously, all of us will look at this in terms of an investigation and begin with the theory that this was terrorism, simply because of who was the passengers and the flight itself. But we are careful about what sort of terrorism or radicalization means, because it can mean a lot of things.

Is this a so-called lone wolf, a man who radicalized himself online, no relationship to either another terrorist group or a state sponsor of terrorism? Was he aligned with others? And who are those others? So there'll be an investigation, family, friends, digital footprint. And the third is, of course, was this state sponsored?

Now, Netanyahu has said things like Iran, said things about Islamic terrorism. He may be right, but we don't -- we simply don't know that yet. And that's why you're not really hearing people involved with the investigation disclose this. And that's just something you don't want to -- you want -- you want the right fix here, right?

Like, in other words, what, in fact, happened? Was it was it a radicalization that wasn't picked up by family and friends or the airlines, or was it state sponsored? So that's why people like me are sort of laying out a variety of ways that the investigation will continue without a predetermined conclusion at this stage.

SANCHEZ: David, obviously, given a horrific situation, it could have gone much worse. But things ultimately turned out well, in large part because of passengers, including one who was able to level out the plane by pulling back the handles because he watched the show called "Air Crash Investigation." Talk to us about the layers of intervention and security here and just how unique and almost miraculous this is.

SOUCIE: Well, it all starts with the fact that the pilot that was injured still had the mindset and the wherewithal to get to the door and open the door. Had that door not been opened, we most definitely would have been looking at a massacre of those people and a murder of all of those people at this point.

So the fact that that pilot was able to get to the door, open the door and allow others to come in and assist, and that there were people brave enough to step up to what was needed and make sure that it was stopped. So it is truly a miracle from the beginning.

[13:35:00] But it did take a lot of bravery and initiative from people that were on the airplane to make this happen. But yeah, pulling an airplane out of a dive like that is even something that professional pilots would have a hard time with. Think about that, airplane flying almost straight down at probably over 600 or 700 miles an hour. To try to be able to pull that out of that dive is a very, very difficult thing to do.

SANCHEZ: And Juliette, the UAE is investigating whether the violence was linked to terrorist activity. I wonder how, when investigators piece together any connection to terrorism, that works given the fact that there are so many nations looking into this that don't have diplomatic relations.

KAYYEM: That's exactly right. And I mean, there is a question about why -- the pilot has not been identified formally, but given his nationality, was he an authorized pilot into Israel? Because look, as David knows, the standards for aviation safety and security are set by sort of international norms. You can't just have a random person opening up an airline or claiming themselves to be a pilot.

That's a floor. Each country then puts layers on, depending on what they want for their airline, pilot safety and security, what the manufacturers require. So all of that is part of a very complicated safety and security regulatory system.

Here in the United States, the Senate just passed legislation, and it needs to be addressed by the House to support pilot mental health needs so that there's not a stigma or pilots are not harmed or stigmatized by their employers if they seek the kind of help that they need given what a risky profession it is. And so, each country is addressing this differently. The investigation, as we know, will likely be led by the UAE with international support.

Israel has said that it will also support. The most important thing I will say, though, is who is the co-pilot? And then who did he know? Who did he talk to? And was he alone in this radicalization or this violence? Or was he part of a larger group or part of a state? And we don't know the answer to that yet.

SANCHEZ: And Juliette Kayyem, David Soucie, thank you so much.

Still to come, the A.I. arms race becoming a major issue in the midterm elections, especially true for Michigan's 7th congressional district and the battle there. We're going to speak with one of the candidates in that race during our new segment, Swing Seat Spotlight. Stay with us.

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KEILAR: 33 days until the midterm elections and today CNN is launching its early vote tracker. Our new data showing nearly 800,000 Americans have already voted in at least 30 states. The numbers also show signs of a Democratic advantage so far. Right now, Virginia is leading the nation in the early vote count. CNN's Tom Foreman is at a polling place in Fairfax, Virginia. So Tom, what are we seeing so far in terms of who is casting ballots?

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we're seeing in Virginia is more people are casting early ballots here than anywhere else in the country right now. If you look inside the voting center behind me here, they have been hopping all day with a really steady flow of people going inside to cast early votes. Occasionally, small lines of people waiting there.

And when I spoke to a few of the voters to say why are you casting early votes, some of them had very specific concerns about possible disruptions on Election Day. Listen.

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FOREMAN: And why do you vote early all the time?

WILLIAM WESTON, VIRGINIA VOTER: To avoid the circus and I'm concerned about on Election Day that there might be some unwelcome people there.

TAWANDA TURNER BROWN, VIRGINIA VOTER: I think in this particular election, it's really going to be powerful that folks take it seriously and don't sit at home and come out and vote. I don't want to risk the day of election when there could be shenanigans going on and the stress and pressure of that.

So you know, I came out early because I really want to make a statement that it's really important and then I go back and I tell my family members, you need to do this. It's really important this time. It's always important, but particularly this time.

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FOREMAN: Now amid those concerns, yes, there are very clear trends happening out there. Take a look at some of the states. Basically what you're seeing is in -- especially in some key states, where both the governor is up and the Senator is up, you can see that the Democrats are, at this point, people who have Democratic leanings are outpacing the people who have more Republican leanings.

That is that enthusiasm gap that we've been talking about for months in the polls. It does appear to be showing up right now. Does that mean that they are going to play it all the way out until the election that way? Well, no, because there are many other things that could be involved.

Republicans could be dissuaded by President Trump falsely claiming there are all these flaws in mail-in voting, so maybe they show up later. Maybe Democrats are trying to avoid Election Day. Maybe some are going to flock to it. But right now, right now in this very early stage, the Democrats do appear to have an edge and there's a lot of enthusiasm on that side. Brianna?

KEILAR: Yeah. We'll keep watching to see how it shapes up. Tom Foreman, thank you so much. Boris?

[13:45:00]

SANCHEZ: As early voting kicks off, we are monitoring a few key races that could decide the balance of power in Congress. We want to take a closer look at those contests and the issues that will make the difference. Today, we're looking at Michigan's 7th congressional district, where one of the top issues for voters is data centers.

A hyperscale data center proposed in the city of Mason could more than double the city's tax revenue, according to local reports. But as we've seen across the country, the project is drawing backlash and opposition. A recent city council meeting was standing room only as the Lansing State Journal reports one attendee warned local officials, quote, "voters in November are going to have you packing your bags on your way out."

Our next guest represents Michigan's 7th district. Congressman Tom Barrett is running for a second term and he joins us now. Congressman, thank you so much for being with us.

Do you want this data center in your district?

REP. TOM BARRETT, (R-MI): Well, I can tell you, Boris, that I've been consistent across the board about data center development, starting all the way back to when I was a state lawmaker here in Michigan, voting consistently against the tax incentives and corporate welfare benefits that these data centers get long before any project was even proposed in my district, in Mason or any other community in the area that I represent.

I've also introduced at the federal level, legislation that would prohibit the federal government from influencing or overriding the decisions of local residents. To me, this has to be a decision that rests ultimately with the people who live in the community where these data center developers are looking to build and looking to locate. And they have to take into consideration the totality of what the effects of that is going to be.

People have concerns about utility rates. We voted, of course, for the Ratepayer Protection Act in the House of Representatives just a little less than a month ago. That's a starting point, but it's not an end point of what I think we need to look at. People have also asked questions, rightfully, about water consumption and environmental impact, noise concerns. There's a very obnoxiously loud data center that's operating in southwest Michigan today that has really drawn reasonable concerns from people about what effect that would have in their community.

And then what happens if down the road from now, these data center developers move out because the technology changes and they no longer need to locate in small Midwestern towns like the ones I represent and they change where they're located? What is the community going to do to reclaim that property or put it back into productive use?

Michigan, of course, has a long history of having a manufacturing base and a manufacturing presence, but our state has a lot of left-behind auto manufacturing plants that are very hard to get back online and very hard to get back into productive use. And we just don't want to see the same thing happen with data center development.

That decision has to rest with the local community, though.

SANCHEZ: So to that point, if it is in your district, I hear you on the sensitivity around environmental issues and the noise and making sure that those companies are responding to that community for the long term. But I wonder if you, living in that district, representing that district, support the idea of having this data center in Mason.

BARRETT: Well, I'm very clear with voters. I don't live in the city of Mason. Sure, I do represent that community, but it is not for me to decide on their behalf. We shouldn't be making local zoning decisions for people who do live in that community hundreds of miles away, 600 miles away in Washington, D.C. This is a decision that has to be made and protected for the residents who live there. It would be inappropriate for me as a member of Congress to tell them how to make that decision for that community.

I live in my district. I come back and forth every week that I travel to Washington, vote on behalf of my district, and then come back to my district again. But I live a half hour or 35-minute drive away from Mason. I shouldn't be the one deciding on their behalf.

SANCHEZ: Understood.

BARRETT: They should be deciding for their community.

SANCHEZ: I want to pull on the thread regarding corporate welfare, what you've described as corporate welfare, specifically the opposition to tax breaks and NDAs for big tech trying to build these data centers. You voted for the Big Beautiful Bill, and so I want to ask you about a couple of provisions in there because according to the accounting firm BDO, which gives tax advice to data center developers, they tell their clients --

BARRETT: Sorry, your question cut out. I apologize. Your question cut out.

SANCHEZ: No worries, no worries.

It's regarding provisions in the Big Beautiful Bill and something that the accounting firm BDO, which gives tax advice to its clients, including data center developers, has told them about the Big Beautiful Bill. It says that they allow them to recoup costs related to the development and adoption of new tools, systems, and processes, including writing off some energy costs and the full cost of their equipment right away. That means that the Big Beautiful Bill allows tax breaks, potentially in the tens of billions of dollars, for these companies to build data centers.

So how do you square your vote for the BBB with your opposition to corporate welfare?

[13:50:00]

BARRETT: Well, because when we voted for the tax reforms that we undertook, they were not driven to give those to data center developers, no different than if somebody building a data center or having a job inside of it is working overtime wages. And we passed, obviously, the reforms that had no taxes on their overtime wages. That was not done specifically for data centers or people who work there. That was done in a broad economic way.

We can't say that, you know, you can have this, you know, tax change that we put into the tax code that changed for every single part of the economy. Again, no different than we had no taxes on overtime. If somebody works for a data center builder and works 50 or 60 or 70 hours a week and doesn't pay taxes on their overtime, that's not a direct incentive for data centers.

What I am talking about is when I was in the state legislature, there were specifically directed corporate welfare tax incentives specifically for data centers, for the purchases that they made, for computer equipment, for servers and for other things that went into the data center itself. That is what I've been in opposition to.

We make broad tax policy for the entire country all of the time. And how that is applied is agnostic to the industry that it's in.

SANCHEZ: Understood. So you would support the kind of effort that over two dozen of your House colleagues are backing, this new bill, the Reverse Big Ugly Tax Breaks for Data Centers Act. It would essentially carve out those data centers from the tax breaks in the Big Beautiful Bill. Would you support that kind of legislation?

BARRETT: Well, as I'm sure you can surmise, I have not had a chance to read the specifics of that particular bill. But my record on this is clear, having voted over five times in the state legislature in Michigan against these big tax incentives, voting against my own party even against these big tax incentives that these data centers have not taken advantage of, things that were put on steroids after the Democrats had unified control of state government after I left my position in the state legislature.

In fact, if you look at my record, there was an analysis done over the time that I was in the state legislature, categorizing votes of lawmakers over the last 20 years and found that I had voted against over 99 percent of the corporate welfare incentives that were passed while I was a member of the state legislature. This is something that I have really carved a path on.

Now, again, when we make tax policy, if we say we're going to set the tax code in a certain way and you know, the tax brackets are prescribed in law the way that they are, certainly that is done across the economy regardless of the industry in which they are located.

(CROSSTALK)

BARRETT: So that is what we are doing. I support a tax policy that is broadly based in as little as possible. (CROSSTALK)

SANCHEZ: We are almost out of time and I have one more question for you. You have these concerns not only about corporate welfare, but also what you've heard from your constituents who are concerned about these data centers. I wonder then what you would say to President Trump who argues that hesitation over these data centers are a Democratic hoax, that these concerns are overblown.

And also House Speaker, Mike Johnson, who says that a concern over data centers is a Chinese psyop. What's your message to them?

BARRETT: Well, clearly, you heard from my remarks today about the bills that I've introduced in Congress, listening to the folks that I represent, that would put me in a different position than that of President Trump relative to the idea that these local communities and local voices need to be heard on that decision. President Trump doesn't live in Mason, Michigan. I don't live in Mason, Michigan.

It has to be up for the residents of Mason to decide that for themselves or any other community that is being proposed for a data center. And I stand on their side to make that decision for themselves and weigh the trade-offs that they have for the development to come into their town and make the ultimate decision in the best interest of themselves and their neighbors.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Tom Barrett, we have to leave the conversation there. Just want to let you and our viewers know that we invited your Democratic opponent, William Lawrence, to join us. We look forward to hosting him if he accepts our invitation.

Congressman, thanks for the time.

BARRETT: Thank you for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course.

Still to come, protesters take to the side of President Trump's proposed Triumphal Arch, demanding the administration withdraw its plans. We have the latest on the demonstration when we come back.

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[13:58:56]

SANCHEZ: "The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper" returns this Sunday with a month-long embed inside a rural hospital in North Dakota, examining the workforce challenges facing the facility and the community it serves.

CNN's Ed Lavandera got a rare first-hand look at what it takes to keep a hospital running in a remote community. Here's a preview.

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DR. CATHY HOULE, FAMILY PHYSICIAN: We had a lady coming in by ambulance. She was found unresponsive at home.

What is the final number (ph) of this patient?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No response, ma'am. No response.

HOULE: We'll probably just admit her and keep her comfortable. (Inaudible) They called their priest in.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The demographics of the patients that you're dealing with, census information shows that Hettinger is 90 percent white.

HOULE: When I came here, it was probably 98 percent white. We have a very large elderly population.

I think it's deep and every time you use your hand, it's just going to open up. I might put one inside just to put that deep tissue together.

We have a large agricultural population, so farmers, ranchers (inaudible) --