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D.A. Says He Backs Appointing Special Prosecutor In Cornell Case; NY Gov. Appoints NY Atty. Gen. To Investigate Alleged Rape At Cornell; Christa Pike's Attorneys Say She Is On A Ventilator And Unconscious After Surviving Lethal Injections; Sources: Trump Expected To Name Intel Chief Jay Clayton As A.I. Czar. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 02, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: But then we are also seeing people say no and a growing number of platforms rolling out either blocking A.I.-generated content altogether or rolling out the ability for people to sort of filter out A.I.-generated content. And so, I think that is a major question going forward, how are platforms going to deal with this.

And I think coming back to this documentary, it is also really important to look at Mark Zuckerberg influence on our lives in the social media era, given that he really is trying to be a major leader in this next era of technology.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right. And I've been corrected that there is a poke button, Claire. I've been told there is.

DUFFY: It's still there.

KEILAR: It's still there. The things you learn. So, you know, Clare, maybe I'll just send ...

DUFFY: Have you to logged off of Facebook then, Brianna?

KEILAR: I'm not on it all the time. I've got to be honest. But clearly I should get back on and, you know, we'll see.

DUFFY: You can poke me.

KEILAR: Or not. Clare, thank you.

DUFFY: Thank you.

KEILAR: Be sure to tune in, "Zuckerberg: Facebook and The Cost of Connection" premieres Sunday at 9 P.M. Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN, and streaming the next day with an all-access subscription. And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The attorney for Jane Doe says she is under siege, as New York's governor says she wants to find the truth about the gang-rape allegations at a Cornell University fraternity.

Plus, speaking out from his hospital bed, the pilot hailed a hero for stopping a suspected hijacking attempt, recounting the harrowing moments after his co-pilot attacked him.

And later, sources say President Trump has zeroed in on who will become his A.I. czar, an announcement that could come as soon as today, as we follow these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

The alleged rape case at Cornell University is now a state criminal investigation. Today, New York Governor Kathy Hochul announced the appointment of State Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to lead a new investigation. The governor pointed to new reporting that she says raises serious questions about Cornell's actions and 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 that reported Title IX documents. Both the Tompkins County D.A. and Cornell University say they support the appointment of the special prosecutor. CNN's Gloria Pazmino was at the governor's news conference today.

So, Gloria, bring us up to speed on what exactly this means for the case.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the most important thing that we should highlight, Boris, is the fact that Tompkins County District Attorney Matthew Van Houten is essentially now out of this investigation. He no longer has any authority over the investigative process. That is officially being taken over by the State Attorney General Letitia James.

And what that means is now her office has the power and the authority to conduct interviews, to collect evidence, to look over investigations, to look over any reports that may have been gathered. And if they decide to, they can present that evidence to a grand jury.

So, it's a significant development that Governor Kathy Hochul said she made the decision to appoint Letitia James as special prosecutor because she believed that what's been revealed over the last few days simply showed that there wasn't really accountability. She felt that this D.A. in Tompkins County, Matthew Van Houten, had -- had lost the faith of the public and certainly the faith of the governor. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D) NEW YORK: No institution gets to protect its -- its reputation at the expense of a young person seeking justice. No public official gets to look the other way when the system breaks down and fails our young people.

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: I know that you want answers. I do, too. A comprehensive investigation of this nature takes time, but my office is committed to seeing it through.

(END VIDEO CLIP) PAZMINO: Boris, I think that last part from the attorney general is important, right? There's so much scrutiny. There's such a focus on this case right now. There's so many people calling for accountability. But the reality is that as this new investigation by the attorney general is launched, she's going to take some time to gather evidence. And I think it might be a while before we find out a final outcome.

Also importantly, I asked the Governor today if she believed that the president of Cornell University should step down. She stopped short of saying he should do that. She said that she does not have enough information. But certainly the university under a lot of scrutiny and criticism here over this case.

[15:05:04]

SANCHEZ: And Gloria, there is some new reporting from CNN and The New York Times on the accused men, their accounts of what happened that night. Tell us about that.

PAZMINO: Yes, and I -- I think what we have learned over the past few days as -- as we've been poring over the documents that are available and the documents we have been able to get our hands on, you really see a complicated picture of what went on that night. And you see some of what these accused students told university investigators during the Title IX investigation, right?

You hear them in documents detailing the events of that night. And you can see that there are varying versions of the events. They often contradict each other. There's also even one of the students who claims that he was sexually assaulted because he could not have given consent because of his level of intoxication, something that Jane Doe's attorney today totally dismissed as ludicrous.

But I think it shows us that this Title IX investigative process was difficult, that there hasn't been a whole lot of transparency, and I think that there's a lot more to learn about what happened during those investigations.

SANCHEZ: Gloria Pazmino, thank you for keeping us up to date with that story. Brianna?

KEILAR: All right, let's talk about this now with CNN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson. He's a criminal defense attorney and a former prosecutor.

Joey, I just wonder what you think about this appointment of Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor. What makes it better for her to be doing this, and what are perhaps some reasons that it -- it may not be a good idea to have her take this role?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yes, Brianna, good afternoon to you.

I think it's a significant development and a necessary development with regard to this case. When a prosecutor, no matter what the prosecutor, in terms of their office where it's located, you have an absolute obligation to vet the particular claim.

Vetting a claim means you do, at a minimum, your due diligence. Nobody's professing that these seven are guilty, they should rot in jail. That's a separate issue, and that'll be an issue for a trier fact if it gets that far, if it gets that far.

But at a bare minimum, when a young woman goes to a local police, in this case the Cornell police, and makes some types of accusations, you would expect that the police would do their job, and then you as a prosecutor would do yours. And that means that you just don't take a transcript which apparently, or excuse me, wasn't revealed to them. I mean, I guess they got a partial transcript or a partial statement. It means that you determine what exactly did this young woman say.

You evaluate with the police department. You ask for further evidence and information. You gather other witnesses. You speak to the complainant herself, so that you can hear and see the demeanor, the comportment, what specifically the claims are. You look at other witnesses. You do your job.

And so, to the extent that that did not happen, and that there was apparently follow-up from this police department, and then the prosecutor just said, based upon what they received from the police, which was a watered-down version of a statement, hey, we're just not going to prosecute, unacceptable.

And so therefore, you have the governor stepping in saying that I have a problem here. And why is the governor right here in my estimation?

In order for these investigations to play out, they have to be, and they hundred percent have public confidence behind them. You have to know that every stone was unturned. And after that, if there's nothing to see here, then that's fine. In the event there's a lot to see here, that's when you get to criminal prosecution.

And so, with the appointment of the attorney general, it'll be an independent investigation. There's not any ties to Cornell University. There's no one who can say, hey, will Cornell really bury this? They control the police department because it's part of Cornell, and the local D.A. may be beholden to Cornell. That's out.

And so, you would expect and anticipate that this prosecutor, the attorney general and her staff, will just do their job and let the facts lead to wherever the facts may. And so, I see this as a positive development. I don't see a downside associated with it, and I think that ultimately the Attorney General will either determine and make an announcement months from now, because of the investigation takes time, that we've vetted it, and either there -- we believe there to be a crime, or we believe there to be no crime, but at least we may be able to trust what exactly the determination is made by the attorney general in New York.

KEILAR: So, Jane Doe's attorney told CNN this morning he doesn't think that she ever consented and was incapable of consenting because of the level of intoxication and the fact that she was plied with drugs, that she couldn't consent to anything. Let's listen to what New York Governor Kathy Hochul said about

intoxication and consent this morning.

[15:10:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HOCHUL: This case has also exposed another problem we need to address, a gap in state law. If someone is too intoxicated to consent, it should not matter whether they chose to use drugs or alcohol. Voluntary intoxication is not a license for sexual assault or gang rape, period.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Can you talk about this gap in state law that she's referencing here? How significant is it?

JACKSON: It's very significant, and just briefly, Brianna, before doing so, cases are driven by facts, and in any particular case, and there's no case I've ever seen, both as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney, where facts are not in dispute. Of course, you're going to have a disputed and hotly contested dispute about was -- there consent, was there not, what were the circumstances, was she lucid, was she under the influence of a drug or intoxicant, ketamine or something else, did she voluntarily consent to one, to two, to none, all of that is disputed, and that's fair, because that's what our system entails. And that's why ultimately if there's an indictment, you have a jury, and that jury can deliberate, and yell, and scream and take as long as they want to make a determination as to what happened.

However, getting into -- so facts are going to be in dispute, but the law should be something that's clear, and this is what the Governor is saying that's very significant. The Governor is saying, we have this law in New York, and it talks about being mentally incapacitated. And what does the law say?

The law says that you're mentally incapacitated when you involuntarily, that means you're given a drug, you're given an intoxication, an intoxicant, and as a result of that, you don't have the capacity because of what that drug or intoxicant does to you to consent, because you're given it, and that means it was involuntarily taken.

Well, the Governor says, why does the law say that? Does it matter whether you in fact took the drug or intoxicant voluntarily or involuntarily? Shouldn't the metric be whether or not the person or persons you were engaged with knew or had reason to know that you were not able to consent? Should it turn on whether or not I gave you something or you had something, or should it turn on what my knowledge was as to whether or not you were capable or incapable?

So, what the governor is saying is, listen, the legislature needs to fix this, and we need to squarely be focused in these prosecutions about whether somebody has the capacity or incapacity, not whether they got drugs and they took them or somebody gave it to them or they knew they were doing. Nonsense. And hopefully that's something that'll be fixed into the future.

KEILAR: All right, Joey Jackson, thank you so much for that expertise.

JACKSON: Of course.

KEILAR: And listen, we know that these are difficult topics that we're talking about around this story. We want to share resources for those who are impacted by sexual violence. You can call the 24-hour National Sexual Assault Hotline. That is 1-800-656-HOPE. Help is also available at rainn.org. RAINN there spelled with two Ns.

Still to come, lawyers for Christa Pike are calling for her death sentence to be commuted after she survived two doses of lethal drugs during a botched execution. But it's not the first time that lethal injections have not gone as planned.

Plus, we're hearing from that Flydubai pilot who was attacked by a suspected plane hijacker, his co-pilot. How he fought back and helped save more than a hundred lives.

Then later, a bleak jobs report, the U.S. economy adding just 29,000 jobs in September. We have that and much more coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:17:54]

SANCHEZ: This just in to CNN. We have a brand new statement from Christa Pike's legal team. She's the Tennessee inmate who survived two doses of a lethal injection. It says, in part, "Christa remains hospitalized following Wednesday night's failed execution attempt. She's critically ill, unconscious, intubated and receiving breathing assistance through a ventilator."

Her attorneys are also seeking an order to protect and preserve all evidence related to that night. Pike's failed execution, we should note, is the second one in Tennessee this year. CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell joins us now.

Meg, how often do these botched lethal injections occur? Why do they seem to be happening more often?

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris. So, a botched lethal injection really refers to any time something doesn't go according to the protocol. And so, what we have learned from data compiled by the Amherst College professor Austin Sarat and posted by the Death Penalty Information Center is that the rate of botched executions using the lethal injection method is about twice as high as it is for any other method of execution. It's about 7.2 percent. And that's data from 1890 to 2010.

And in talking with Sarat, he told me that that number -- that rate is actually ticking higher for lethal injection over the past 15 years, closer now to 8 percent. And there are a couple reasons for that. Something that's changed since around that time is that pharmaceutical companies came under tremendous pressure to stop supplying their drugs for use in executions. And they, by and large, have stopped doing that, trying to put restrictions on these really what they are, is medications being used to execute people.

And so, that has caused states and the federal government to have to turn to alternative sources. And some experts say sometimes this can lead to drugs of questionable quality being used. We also know, Boris, that major medical groups, including the American Medical Association, the American Nurses Association and others, either oppose or outright prohibit their members from participating in executions.

[15:20:04]

The American Medical Association says in its code of ethics, quote, "An individual's opinion on capital punishment is the personal moral decision of the individual. However, as a member of a profession dedicated to preserving life, when there is hope of doing so, a physician must not participate in a legally authorized execution."

And so, what experts are -- are telling me about this is that you have a situation where you could have drugs that are of questionable quality. You could have people who are not necessarily as thoroughly medically trained doing the procedures. And so what one expert called it was a sort of Frankenstein version of what is a medical procedure ...

SANCHEZ: Wow.

TIRRELL: ... now being carried out and sort of ripe for issues. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Meg, we haven't yet heard exactly why this execution attempt failed. What do experts that you're speaking with say may have taken place?

TIRRELL: Right. So, if you look at the data on these botched executions over the last several decades, one of the most common reasons that they end up not working is the failure to be able to insert an IV, to be able to deliver the drugs. And so, you know, that didn't necessarily happen, but there could have been an administration problem, experts say.

We know that Pike's attorneys said that they had warned the court that she had a vein issue that could make it difficult to deliver the drugs in this way. It's also possible that, you know, this was set up, but they didn't get delivered through the veins themselves. They went into the tissue. So we really don't know. It could be an issue with the drugs themselves. We don't know that either.

And then, the third possibility I talked with an expert about is, you know, she noted human bodies are different and this is a single drug protocol, a pentobarbital, rather than a three drug protocol, which was originally used. And a lot of people have raised issues with that as well. And it's possible that, you know, one person reacts differently to this drug. SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much for giving us some perspective

on that story.

Still to come, President Trump expected to name his new artificial intelligence czar as early as today. We'll tell you who we're learning may be picked for that role as the government faces growing calls to impose guardrails on this new technology.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:49]

KEILAR: CNN has learned President Trump is expected to name Jay Clayton, who is the current Director of National Intelligence, as his new A.I. czar. The announcement could come as early as today, and the move comes just days after Trump hosted top A.I. and tech executives at the White House.

That meeting ended with the executives signing a new commitment to self-police their company's A.I. models. CNN A.I. Correspondent Hadas Gold is with us now.

Hadas, tell us what you're learning about this.

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Brianna, Jay Clayton has been floated as a potential name as this new A.I. czar for some time. But now we are hearing from our sources that this announcement is likely to happen and could happen as soon as today.

This position of A.I. czar has been empty since David Sacks left the administration because of limits on being a special government employee, although he still remains as a key Trump adviser.

Now, Clayton, as you noted, is currently the Director of National Intelligence because he has a long history with President Trump. He was the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, and he was also the head of the Security and Exchange Commission in Trump's first term. As far as we understand, he would stay on as Director of National Intelligence and will hold both titles at the same time. And he's already been involved in a lot of these discussions around A.I.

He was actually at that event at the White House earlier this week where those tech executives signed that White House accord on self- regulating themselves on A.I. And his position when it comes to A.I. regulation is very much in line with President Trump's, where he says we already have laws on the books for this. We don't need any more. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAY CLAYTON, DIRECTOR OF NATIONAL INTELLIGENCE: As the President so noted, we have consumer protection laws. We have product liability laws. We have the -- we have the DOJ. We have architectures for dealing with developments in all of the verticals, transportation, energy, financial services and the like to somehow say we should back away from this and let the rest of the world develop these models and implement these models.

I don't think anybody in that room, and I don't think any American should think that that's a good strategy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: We asked the White House for comment. They say any personnel announcement will be announced directly by the president. So, we'll wait and see. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right, Hadas, thank you so much.

The Flydubai pilot who fought off a suspected hijacker is speaking out. What he says happened inside the cockpit and how passengers help regain control of the plane next.

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