Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

Jared Kushner Facing Scrutiny Over Business Ties; Flydubai Captain Speaks Out; Underwhelming Jobs Report?; New York Investigates Cornell University Rape Allegations. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 02, 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]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:00:29]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Search for the truth. New York's governor appoints Letitia James as special prosecutor to investigate the alleged gang rape at Cornell University, Governor Hochul vowing: "I will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug."

And September slowdown, a disappointing final jobs report ahead of the midterm elections, not the economic snapshot the Republicans needed. We're following the numbers.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: And hear from the hero, the Flydubai captain making his first public remarks since being attacked mid-flight. What he's saying about those terrifying moments inside the cockpit.

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

KEILAR: The alleged rape case at Cornell University is now a state criminal investigation.

Today, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced that she's appointed state Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to lead a new investigation. The governor adding she would not allow anyone to -- quote -- "sweep this case under the rug."

The governor pointed to new reporting that she says raises serious questions about Cornell's actions and on the local district attorney's decision to not file charges after the 2024 incident. That's when the accuser, a 20-year-old sophomore at the time, said she was raped, according to her lawsuit, and reported Title IX documents.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D-NY): Think about that. In what world would the police learn from a victim that she'd been literally gang-raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the district attorney? In what world does the district attorney not even interview her or anyone else involved? (END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Also today, new reporting from "The New York Times" and CNN gives more details on what the accused men say happened.

CNN's Brynn Gingras is with us now at the latest here.

Brynn, what happens now to the investigation that the Tompkins County DA was conducting and how is he responding?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, you know what, Brianna, I mean, the governor just really being direct in what she was saying in this news conference. And, quite frankly, I think it's what a lot of people have been asking for is, someone, get to the bottom of this because so much information has been coming out.

She basically said she lost confidence in the district attorney, but also in Cornell University, believing that there were just a number of failures really across the board. So, basically, what's going to happen here is the attorney general, Letitia James, basically just pushes aside the Tompkins County district attorney.

He no only has jurisdiction over this case. And, basically, the A.G. now can conduct her own interviews, her own thorough investigation, convene a grand jury and bring charges if she deems necessary. So it's certainly going to get interesting and more developments to come on that.

As far as the Tompkins County district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, we did reach out to him to get comment about his thoughts about the A.G. taking over this investigation. He said he is in favor of it. And he basically said that no one -- I'm sorry.

He said: "It became clear that we were not provided the full picture by the university. The focus has been and should continue to be on the victims. My office will cooperate fully with the attorney general," again, there sort of putting more blame on the university.

And, of course, if you go to the university, they put the blame back on him. So, hopefully, the attorney general able to get some clearer picture of what happened here.

KEILAR: And turning now to these new reports on what the accused students say happened, what are the details there?

GINGRAS: Yes, so, remember, Brianna, this was part of the Title IX investigation paperwork that "The New York Times" was able to obtain. And we knew at the time they were able to do a lot of thorough interviews, some of which included the interviews of the fraternity brothers who were accused in that civil lawsuit that was filed by Jane Doe.

And according to "The Times," they basically said their accounts differ, sometimes contradict each other, and were very contrary to what we have heard Jane Doe express happened to her that night inside the fraternity. Four fraternity members said it was consensual. Three actually deny

any sexual contact across the board. There was some who were saying that it appeared Jane Doe wasn't intoxicated, that she wasn't slurring her words. At one point, one even told investigators he believed he was a victim of sexual misconduct because he was too incapacitated to consent to oral sex that was happening to him.

[13:05:02]

So, certainly differing accounts there of what we're hearing from their side. We have reached out to their attorneys to get comments. Only two have responded to us throughout this entire time, basically saying that they were not responsible for what is being alleged of them.

KEILAR: And CNN spoke to Jane Doe's attorney, Brynn. What is he saying about these details?

GINGRAS: Yes, so we talked to him after the attorney general was appointed this case.

And we did ask about Jane Doe as this case has gone out there, I mean, wondering how she is. He did say that she's actually not doing that well. She's had sort of a siege on social media, people really trying to out her, but, on the flip side, she also has received a lot of support.

But I do want you to hear from him as well about, now that these accounts are out from "The New York Times" of what these men are saying, here's what he had to say in response to that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS GIUFFRA, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: I have handled hundreds of these cases. There's one of two responses, A, didn't happen, or, B, it was consensual. That's the way it always is. It's never, C, I raped somebody.

So this is par for the course, what I have heard throughout my career. I would expect nothing different.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: You know, and he added to that, Brianna, the fact that none of this was consensual in his eyes, considering the fact that, when his client, Jane Doe, got to that fraternity house, she was incredibly intoxicated.

There's no way that she could have actually consented to everything or anything at that point. Certainly, we know from some of the paperwork it does appear that she had said, originally, at least, that she was OK with some of what was happening to her, but definitely not on other parts.

So, again, this is going to get interesting in the next couple of days, weeks, maybe even months, as we learn more details, with the A.G. now taking the lead on this investigation.

KEILAR: Yes, Brynn, thank you so much.

And to you, our viewers, we know this is a very difficult topic. So if you or anyone you know is struggling after a sexual assault, you can call a 24-hour hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE. You can also get help and resources at RAINN.org. That's R-A-I-N-N -- two N's there -- .org. -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Today, President Trump's midterm campaign push heads to Alabama. It's the second day of the president's red state blitz as he tries to boost lagging Republican enthusiasm down the final stretch. He's set the headline rallies in Ohio tomorrow and Nebraska then on Monday.

The economy has already been a tough sell for Republicans, and today's job numbers just made it harder. The final jobs report before the midterms shows the nation added just 29,000 jobs last month, much less than anticipated. The unemployment rate in the U.S. ticked up to 4.2 percent.

Let's discuss with Douglas Holtz-Eakin. He served as chief economic adviser -- chief economist, I should say, on President George W. Bush's Council of Economic Advisers.

Doug, thank you so much for being with us.

DOUGLAS HOLTZ-EAKIN, FORMER CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE DIRECTOR: Sure.

SANCHEZ: It is a low-hire, low-fire labor market, and there are structural shifts that we're seeing expressed in this report. Help us understand how you're seeing the American labor market.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, I think one of the important pieces of context is that the labor force isn't growing very fast. There's far less immigration than we used to have. The Baby Boomers are departing the labor force. We have had low fertility.

So we don't really need 200,000 jobs anymore to keep the unemployment rate down. The number we need is very low, and this will do that. So when I get the report now, I don't look at the jobs number. I look at what people are earning.

And average hourly earnings in this report rose only at an annual rate of 1.6 percent. We have got inflation at 3.4. So that's people falling behind as they're working. And that's been true for all of the reports in 2026. It's the Achilles' heel of this particular economy.

So I think this is a softish report. It's held down especially by the loss of 13,000 jobs at the local government level. I don't really understand that. But I think the real weakness here is, it's not the jobs number. It's the earnings. We need to have people making more money and outpacing inflation.

SANCHEZ: To your point, wage growth slowed for the fourth month in a row and inflation is on the rise. Do you think that's why we're seeing consumers saving the least since 2022?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: I think it's an important part of the story.

I mean, a mystery to me, at least, has been the fact that our aggregate numbers for household spending and personal consumption expenditures were really good in the second quarter, even though we have had this very slow real wage growth, negative, in fact.

So the way you -- we resolve that is, people aren't saving anymore. And one of the reasons I think we get the polling that says "I'm stressed" is, they know they're not saving. They're using all their money just to make ends meet, and that makes people feel very insecure.

SANCHEZ: To the point about making ends meet, red and blue states are taking action to combat high gas and diesel prices, either reducing or suspending their state's gas taxes, also boosting red-dyed diesel to help truckers.

People are spending a lot more on energy than they were before the war with Iran. Do you think these efforts are going to make a dent?

[13:10:06]

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Oh, certainly, from a political point of view, it's far too late. The midterms are less than a month away.

So it might help a little bit down the road, but you really can't substitute for having global oil prices be lowered. That's the foundation on which all these pricing problems are built, and it's going to take months for that to resolve.

SANCHEZ: There was also an interesting data point that I wanted to ask you about when it comes to black unemployment. The White House economic adviser, Kevin Hassett, said that the biggest one-month increase in black unemployment since 2020 in this report was definitely a cause for concern that the White House would study.

What do you expect they might find?

HOLTZ-EAKIN: There's no real way to interpret one month's data. So, do I want them to take a look? Absolutely. Do I have a suspicion as to what's going on? No.

This labor market's unlike anything we have studied for a long time. It is, as you said, a labor market where no one gets fired, but no one gets hired, and the wage dynamics aren't very vigorous. And we don't have the usual getting a big raise by finding a new job a phenomenon going on.

So how that breaks down along different demographic lines, we really don't know, and it'd be important to find out.

SANCHEZ: When it comes to the Fed, traders are now just seeing a 15 percent chance of a rate hike this month. That's actually down 10 points from just a day ago. What's your expectation? HOLTZ-EAKIN: Well, I think they will stay on hold. I'm not sure they

should, to be honest. I think the fact that core inflation that takes out those energy prices still is at 3 percent, and it's been at 3 percent for three years, it is overdue for the Fed to get inflation back in the box and to allow people's earnings not to get eroded by that inflation.

But they got a relatively soft inflation report, and now they have a weaker jobs report. That may be enough ammunition for them to say, we're going to wait and look at the next meeting.

SANCHEZ: And we will see what they do.

Doug Holtz-Eakin, thanks so much for joining us.

HOLTZ-EAKIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come: A top official in the Middle East is describing Flydubai's mid-flight incident as a dangerous terrorist act. Up next, what more we're learning about the alleged attacker.

Plus, Tennessee's governor calling for an investigation after convicted murderer Christa Pike survived two lethal injection attempts. We're going to speak with a reporter who's been covering the Pike case for decades and was in the room for the botched execution.

Stay with CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:16:53]

KEILAR: The Flydubai captain hailed a hero after being attacked by his co-pilot is speaking out for the first time. He's now recovering in Abu Dhabi after sustaining serious wounds during Wednesday's incident.

This is part of what the captain told the Indian prime minister during a video call from his hospital bed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMIT MACHCHHAR, FLYDUBAI PILOT (through translator): And when I was on the ground, I realized that the aircraft was falling down. And I knew, in that moment, one last push, Smit. Just do it. The door is right there. And even at that time, he was beating me up. And then I just opened it, sir, and then everybody came.

And everybody else also played an equal role in this. I was telling, sir, that I was doing this for my life, but, at the same time, I knew that I cannot let everybody else die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're also seeing dramatic new videos of what was just a chaotic scene inside the plane's cabin during the attack. Passengers and other crew members rushed the cockpit. They took down the attacker and regained control of the plane.

CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is at Ben-Gurion Airport in Israel, where the flight was headed before it was diverted to Saudi Arabia.

Nic, what more is this Captain Smit Machchhar saying at this point?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we really get to understand here just how bad the situation was, not just for him, but for everyone on board the aircraft, because he describes losing so much blood, being hit so many times, that he's collapsed, is down.

And because he's been flying planes so many years, he realizes that the plane is going down. So he has to make this huge one last effort to reach and unlock the cabin door, because, as we know, cabin doors these days all locked because nobody wants people to be able to get in and disturb the pilots.

But this is a reverse scenario, so he makes that huge effort, digs into his last reserves, manages to get the door open. And, as he said that, you heard him say it, he was not just thinking about himself. He was thinking about everyone else.

And, of course, that's where the video picks up, because that's when the door gets open. That's when the passengers can get in. That's when they can get him out and begin to treat him, but also get control, get in a choke hold the pilot that was actually doing the attacking and wrestle him out of there as well, so desperate moments and with such little time to spare as well.

KEILAR: And the suspect, Nic, is now in custody in the UAE. He's alive. I mean, he is there, presumably, to answer questions.

The attorney general there is opening an investigation to determine if he has links to terrorist activity. What's the latest there?

ROBERTSON: Yes, terrorist activity, and to see if -- or how long he'd been planning it, and if he had gotten any direction. Was there somebody else helping him?

And we have heard as well today again from the Israeli prime minister, remembering the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, said that he had spoken with the Emirati president, that Israel is going to be part of that investigation, part of that interrogation of this suspect.

[13:20:05]

We don't have details. We don't have a name for this person. We do know he was an Omani national, and, undoubtedly, intelligence agencies, both here and in the UAE, will be looking into his social media feeds. What sort of person was he?

They will be looking at who his friends were. What sort of people were they? Were they involved? Is there another immediate threat? Is the circle bigger than just this particular pilot? So that's what's going on. But the prime minister here has described the situation as being on a scale of a 9/11 event, that this attacking pilot wanted to take control of the aircraft and crash it into the ground with everyone on board.

What we don't know is -- and perhaps the prime minister does have insight on this, giving it a 9/11 comparison. That comparison potentially implies that the attacker wanted -- had a particular building that he wanted to fly this aircraft into.

So, the scale and scope of this are, what really was he planning? They will probably find that out. Was there anyone around him? They will probably be able to find that out as well. And, as Prime Minister Netanyahu here said, if someone has been helping him: We will take this back to them as well. There will be accountability.

KEILAR: All right, certainly so many questions still.

Nic Robertson, thank you so much for the report.

Still ahead: following the money. A CNN investigation reveals that, while Jared Kushner is taking the lead in negotiating a Mideast peace deal, his company has a major stake in a firm linked to Israel's military.

And a scary scene on I-95, at least a dozen people injured after a major pile-up. We have new details on what happened here ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:26:25]

SANCHEZ: A CNN investigation revealing Jared Kushner, tasked by President Trump to negotiate peace in Gaza, owns a company with a major stake in a firm link to Israel's military.

Kushner's private equity company, Affinity Partners, has held the largest stake in an Israeli firm backing businesses involved in Israel's military campaigns. And, as Kushner has acted as diplomat, his company has profited handsomely, in the hundreds of millions of dollars, from its investment in the Israeli firm.

CNN investigative correspondent Katie Polglase has the reporting.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATIE POLGLASE, CNN INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER (voice-over): Jared Kushner, President Trump's son-in-law, often seen acting as America's unofficial peace envoy to the Middle East.

JARED KUSHNER, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: Why can't the world be better? Why can't there be peace? Why can't there be more prosperity?

POLGLASE: But he's also a billionaire private investor.

KUSHNER: The fund's doing great, and we have got a great team, great portfolio.

POLGLASE: And a CNN investigation has now found that his firm Affinity Partners is the largest shareholder in an Israeli financial giant backing businesses that provide equipment to the Israeli military, equipment that has been used in Israel's wars in Gaza, Lebanon, and Iran, the same wars Trump sent Kushner to resolve.

His Israeli investment is the latest in a series of examples where Kushner has blurred the lines between business and politics. The dual rolls have drawn sharp criticism from some, but Kushner has wholeheartedly embraced it.

KUSHNER: When you get an Arab and Israeli together, and they start talking about a business opportunity, they forget about everything else.

POLGLASE: It all begins back in January 2021. President Trump leaves office. The next day, Kushner sets up a firm that would become Affinity Partners, with financial backing later coming from the Saudi state, and then later Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Fast-forward to July 2024, Affinity buys a stake in Israeli financial institution Phoenix Financial. Then, in January 2025, days before Trump returns to the White House, Affinity doubles its stake in Phoenix, making it the largest shareholder. By October 2025, Kushner is publicly involved in politics, standing in Tel Aviv celebrating the release of the hostages after weeks negotiating a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas.

(on camera): This is perhaps one of the most prominent moments when Kushner is performing both roles as a businessman and a diplomat at the same time. Here he is negotiating a peace deal for Gaza while also holding an investment in an Israeli company that is backing some of the very businesses linked to the war in Gaza.

And thanks to Israeli transparency laws, we can see what some of those businesses are.

(voice-over): CNN went through thousands of financial records, and amid the hundreds of companies Phoenix invests in, we identified at least nine supplying military equipment for Israel.

Affinity doesn't directly hold a stake in the nine companies CNN identified, but it does stand to reap rewards when Phoenix makes a profit from such investments. All nine companies saw their stock market value rise last year, and many said they have seen a material increase in business as a result of the war in Gaza.

Phoenix's shares in these companies are worth more than $456 million. One of the nine companies was Elbit Systems...

NARRATOR: The IDF also made operational use of the Lahav launchers.

POLGLASE: ... Israel's largest arms manufacturer.

We have previously traced Elbit's weapons to multiple Israeli strikes that have killed civilians. We also found Israel shipyards on Phoenix's books. They supply warships to the Israeli navy, ships that have repeatedly fired on Gaza. Further companies include one making gearboxes for Israeli tanks and another making electronic fuses for shells used in Gaza.

(on camera): An attorney for Kushner told us Kushner is not involved in Phoenix's decisions and where to invest.

(END VIDEOTAPE)