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Rick Ross Arrested On Domestic Violence Charges; Topo Chico Mineral Waters Returning To Store Shelves; Newly Unsealed Footage Shows Luigi Mangione's Arrest; Trump Campaigns In Alabama on Heels Of Underwhelming Jobs Report; New York Governor Appoints New York Attorney General To Investigate Alleged Rape At Cornell; Flydubai Captain's Dream Job Turns Him Into A Hero; Christa Pike In Critical Condition After Surviving Lethal Injection. Aired 2-2:30p ET
Aired October 02, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": He's facing one count of battery by strangulation and one count of battery. The charges come days after his former girlfriend accused him of physically assaulting her and posted a photo of herself with a busted lip. Ross has pleaded not guilty and his lawyer says he is being falsely accused. His arraignment is set for October 22nd.
And the Topo Chico shortage is coming to an end. The brand's signature mineral water sold in glass bottles has largely been unavailable since February after problems at its facility in Mexico forced owner Coca- Cola to temporarily stop orders. Now, Topo Chico tells CNN it is beginning to a phased return to store shelves in Texas with plans to expand to more states in 2027. Good news for lovers of ranch water everywhere and just lovers of Topo Chico.
A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump heading to Ruby Red, Alabama with just one month left until the midterms. Can the president boost voter turnout among his base even as his approval numbers hit all-time lows?
Plus, New York Governor, Kathy Hochul demanding answers as she appoints a special prosecutor to investigate an alleged gang rape at Cornell University that is igniting outrage from students and the community.
And first on CNN, newly unsealed footage showing the moment that Luigi Mangione is arrested inside a McDonald's following the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare's CEO.
We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here with "CNN News Central."
KEILAR: Bama bound, with just 32 days until the midterm elections, President Trump is taking his campaign tour of deep red states to Alabama and his closing arguments to voters on the economy just got a little tougher to sell. The final Jobs Report before Election Day shows the nation added only 29,000 jobs in September. That was much less than anticipated. The unemployment rate, it rose to 4.2 percent and wages in the U.S. slowed for the fourth month in a row.
CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for us at the White House and is tracking all of this. Kristen, how's the White House reacting to these new jobs numbers?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, certainly the officials that I've spoken to know that it's not good and particularly when it comes to that black unemployment rate, which we saw its biggest increase over a month long period since 2020. And experts say that this could be an indication of more things coming down the pike. You see right there it went from six to seven percent.
On top of that, we actually heard directly from the Director of the National Economic Council who addressed that specifically. Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEVIN HASSETT, WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF THE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: It's definitely a cause for concern and it's something that we're studying very closely. It's -- if you look at like the poverty data, they went radically in the opposite direction. And so, you know, our hope, we're going to watch closely, we're going to study closely what the cause of this was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Now, this is just a huge concern when it comes to the economy, the number one voting issue for Americans across the country. And you're seeing it in the way that Americans are responding to President Trump and to Republicans. President Trump is spending his final blitz in the midterm starting with states that he won by enormous percentages, Oklahoma, Texas, Alabama.
And at the same time, you're seeing real distances and issues that are facing Republican candidates across the country, a lot of it having to do with President Trump and the handling of the economy. One thing to point out specifically that happened earlier today is North Carolina, the Senate race for the Republican candidate, Michael Whatley. The Senate leadership fund pulled out all of their funding that they were putting into advertising there as he has just consistently trailed in the polls.
And I have been told that that was something that was going to potentially happen. They were going to wait until Trump went, which he did, see if they moved the needle at all. But it's just going to show you, they're trying to allocate their resources and really stop the bleeding when it comes to some of these races, even in Republican states.
KEILAR: Yeah. Kristen Holmes, live at the White House, thank you. Boris?
SANCHEZ: From civil lawsuit to criminal case, the allegations of a gang rape at Cornell University are now being investigated by a special prosecutor. New York Governor, Kathy Hochul today appointed State Attorney General, Letitia James, to take over the case from the local district attorney. The governor said that new reports raise serious questions as to why he did not file charges after the 2024 incident involving a sophomore known in her recently filed lawsuit as Jane Doe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. KATHY HOCHUL, (D-NY): No public official gets a look the other way when the system breaks down and fails our young people. And as governor, I will not allow anyone to sweep this case under the rug.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: The D.A. today said he supports a special prosecutor saying that his office was not given, quote, "a full picture by the university."
[14:05:00]
Jane Doe's attorney told CNN exclusively today that he's thrilled the special prosecutor is now on the case. He also said he believes his client did not consent to any sexual activity that night because of her level of intoxication.
According to her 2024 statement to Cornell Police obtained by CNN, the accuser said that she was, quote, "pretty OK with aspects of the initial encounter but did not consent later in the night."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS GUIFFRA, JANE DOE'S ATTORNEY: I don't think it was ever consensual. She showed up at the Chi Phi House heavily intoxicated. There were there was testimony not just from the people involved in that, the assault, but there was a lot of testimony from people who were around that time saw her that day and by all accounts, she was completely, completely intoxicated. She couldn't consent to anything
So I don't think she ever consented and was incapable of consenting because of the level of intoxication and the fact that she was plied with drugs. She couldn't consent to anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANCHEZ: CNN's Gloria Pazmino was at the governor's news conference. So Gloria, what more did the governor and the attorney general say?
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Boris. Well, the most important thing now that the special prosecutor has been appointed is the fact that the Tompkins County District Attorney, Matthew Van Houten will lose any sort of investigative oversight or power that he had over this investigation, which he said earlier this week that he was going to reopen.
Now the office of the state attorney general and the Attorney General, Letitia James will be running that investigation. That means that she's going to have the power to do interviews, collect evidence and potentially bring that before a grand jury.
But I want to pick up right where we left off with Jane Doe's attorney talking about this issue of consent because it's going to be critical to this case moving forward. And also today, during the governor's press conference, she announced that she is going to support a push here in New York to change the laws here in the state so that it is, essentially, easier for prosecutors to pursue cases of sexual assault in which a victim has become voluntarily intoxicated, right?
You hear the attorney of Jane Doe talking about how she showed up to the Chi Phi fraternity house already intoxicated and we know that Jane Doe in her statements talked about willingly drinking that night, and that she had been drinking prior to arriving. But the law here in New York as it is currently written makes it very difficult to pursue a case of sexual assault if the person willingly consumed drugs or alcohol, which is the case that we are seeing here with Jane Doe.
So the governor's support of changing that legislation is certainly significant considering that it's been years that sex crime survivors and advocates have been pushing for that change.
SANCHEZ: And Gloria CNN actually obtained a Snapchat photo of Jane Doe from that night. Tell us what you're learning about that.
PAZMINO: Yeah you know it's been clear from the beginning of this case that there is a whole lot of electronic evidence that is out there in the form of Snapchat messages, which we know about from Jane Doe's lawsuit. But now, we're also learning that among those messages, there is actually a photo of Jane Doe in this room where the alleged incident took place back in 2024 and I think the question it raises is the issue of evidence preservation.
How much of that evidence was saved, if at all, during this initial investigation by the D.A. in 2024 the one that he based his decision to not bring criminal charges. That is going to be a critical issue and something that Jane Doe's attorney spoke about with our Pamela Brown earlier today. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GUIFFRA: If they had gone in grabbed these phones, pulled the data, they could have found stuff. They could have found evidence. That's (inaudible) doing an investigation. Now that evidence is stale. It's difficult to get phone records. It's difficult to get records of texts. It's very challenging how that works. So I'm hoping that with Letitia James' investigation, she'll be able to get it because she'll have a lot more authority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PAZMINO: So a whole lot of finger pointing going on here between Cornell University, the district attorney. The district attorney saying I wasn't provided the full picture. The university saying we provided the documents that we had, and I think that's going to be one of the challenges for the attorney general as she takes over as special prosecutor of really untangling this web of who had what, when, and where, and what they did with that information. Boris?
SANCHEZ: Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much for the update.
[14:10:00]
And a reminder that there is help for those who need it. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is open 24 hours at 1-800-656-HOPE. You can also get assistance and resources from RAINN.ORG. That's RAINN with two Ns.
Still to come, CNN brings you newly unsealed video, police bodycam footage showing the moment Luigi Mangione was cornered inside a McDonald's and taken into custody.
Plus, he's been flying for 15 years and is now a hero for life, the Flydubai Captain recounting being attacked in the cockpit, how he fought for his life and wound up helping save everyone on board.
And an unbelievable story out of St. Louis, a man adopted as an infant learns his biological father is a rock star, a yacht rock star. That and much more, coming up on "CNN News Central."
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:15:26]
SANCHEZ: His arrest captured national attention, and now, newly unsealed footage shows the moments when Pennsylvania police took Luigi Mangione into custody five days after the fatal shooting of UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson, in New York.
CNN's Kara Scannell joins us now. Kara, this is the first time this footage has been seen outside of court. Take us through what it shows.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN REPORTER: Well, Boris, this is footage from eight different police officers' bodycam footage, and these officers are in Altoona, Pennsylvania, about 300 miles away from New York City. This was five days after Brian Thompson was gunned down on Midtown Manhattan, and it's when the moment when the officers respond to a 9- 1-1 call, they see Mangione, they approach him. They have the Aha moment that he is likely to be the CEO's shooter, and then they arrest him and bring him into custody.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just do me a favor. Go ahead and stand up. I want to pat you down. Stand up.
LUIGI MANGIONE, ACCUSED OF KILLING BRIAN THOMPSON: This is a jar of peanut butter by the way. You can see that, but I'm just letting you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, put your hands on the wall. I'm going to pat you down.
MANGIONE: Sure. SCANNELL (voice-over): Newly unsealed police bodycam footage first seen on CNN shows the moments Altoona, Pennsylvania police officers handcuffed Luigi Mangione and took him into custody, ending a five-day manhunt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just keep your hands on the wall, OK? Left hand first and your right hand back.
SCANNELL (voice-over): A New York state judge unsealed the footage at the request of CNN after Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges and admitted to fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson.
The videos were played during a suppression hearing last December, but have not been publicly released until now.
Officers responded to a 9-1-1 call on December 9, 2024, that the suspected New York City CEO shooter may be in a McDonald's restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you doing? Can you pull down your mask down real quick for me?
MANGIONE: Yeah, sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate it. Thank you. OK.
SCANNELL (voice-over): The officers immediately thought it was him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's 100 percent him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told you, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That shooter checked into a hostel with a fake ID
SCANNELL (voice-over): Officers confront Mangione about a fake driver's license bearing the name, Mark Rosario.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that your name, Mark Rosio? Rosario?
MANGIONE: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then what's your real name?
MANGIONE: Luigi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luigi?
MANGIONE: Mangione.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'll write it down. Give me the date of birth then too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you spell your full name?
MANGIONE: L-U-I-G-I.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: L-U-I-G-I.
MANGIONE: Mangione, M-A-N-G-I-O-N-E.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why were you lying about your name?
MANGIONE: I clearly shouldn't have.
SCANNELL (voice-over): A search reveals a gun magazine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's [expletive] him, dude.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's [expletive] him, 100 percent.
SCANNELL (voice-over): About 10 minutes later, Mangione is taken to the police station.
Mangione is asked to remove layers of clothing so he can be searched more thoroughly, while another officer unzips his backpack and finds a gun that authorities later link to the crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a weapon. So you want me to clear it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's just clear it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clear it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's another magazine that was hidden in this underwear -- in this underwear. [Expletive], silencer.
SCANNELL (voice-over): She also finds Mangione's handwritten notes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like a journal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bag it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would.
SCANNELL (voice-over): While a different officer ticks off the evidence, including a checklist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a handgun, suppressor, his cell phone is in a Faraday bag. He has a checklist for today. Tomorrow, he's supposed to do an Intel check-in and get a survival kit.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCANNELL (on camera): Boris, Mangione has pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges, and he admitted to killing UnitedHealthcare CEO, Brian Thompson. He's expected to be sentenced in December. The big question is what happens to the state case. His lawyers are trying to get that thrown out on double jeopardy grounds, and we could have a decision on that by the end of the year.
SANCHEZ: Kara Scannell, thank you so much for bringing us that footage.
Coming up, a convicted killer's execution not going as planned. Her attorney now demanding answers, calling for a commutation. The details when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:24:38]
KEILAR: The attorney for a Tennessee death row inmate is calling for the governor to commute her sentence after this week's failed execution.
Christa Pike survived after being given two doses of a lethal drug cocktail. Her attorney saying Pike endured a punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty. Pike remains in critical condition.
[14:25:00]
CNN Senior National Correspondent, Ryan Young is with us now on this story. Ryan, do we know more about Pike's condition here?
RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, we've been calling on this all day long. Her lawyers have said that she's in critical condition, but we don't know what that status of that critical is. Is she responding? Has she been able to make any sort of movement after doctors got a hold of her? There's a big conversation about what happens next, and these phone calls are out right now at this point.
We've been in communication with her lawyers all afternoon. And when you think about what she went through and you put the timeline together, you think about the blinds opening at 7:26, and then all of a sudden people are in the area, you can see her, and then 7:34, you see her, Pike said her arm felt like it was about to burst, and then you see that timeline. Then look at 8:05, the blinds went down, stayed closed. You understand, for even the witnesses in this room, they were watching this play out, not understanding what was going on.
At the same time, her attorneys were trying to get in touch with the governor's office and the Supreme Court of Tennessee. All those calls were being unanswered. But listen to her attorneys talk about what they witnessed just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY SPIVEY, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTA PIKE: The state of Tennessee has shown us again that they are not capable of carrying out an execution consistent with basic human dignity. Last night was not just inefficient, it was cruel, and it was torturous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: Brianna, there have been a lot of questions, especially online. People are wondering why we're not talking to state officials and even asking them more questions. Look, the governor's office put out that statement that we showed just yesterday, talking about they've decided to suspend executions for the rest of the year. They've also talked about a third party coming in to do an investigation.
And for our part, we are making all those same phone calls, hoping that someone from the state steps forward to answer questions about exactly what happened here. And you see this, she survived two lethal doses, right? And if you think about this, it was 40 minutes after that first dose was administered.
So there are so many questions about this, even trying to figure out who decided to call the ambulance to the institution to even take her away. What does the rest of her life look like at this point? And then you think about the poor family that was there who had to watch this, the victim's family, having to go through this, enduring this all so long, and then having to watch all this go down. Just a lot of questions at this point.
KEILAR: Oh, yeah, so many. Ryan, thank you for the latest there.
Still to come, it was his dream job. Now, he's being hailed a hero after managing to unlock the cockpit door while being attacked by his co-pilot. We'll hear from that Flydubai captain from his hospital bed next.
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