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Captain On Flydubai Attack: I Could Not Let Everybody Else Die; UAE Probing Whether Flydubai Attack Linked To Terrorist Activity; Nonprofit On A Mission To Save Senior Dogs; Markets Rise As Job Growth Falls Short Of Expectations; Public Confidence In Economy Weak Despite Strong Markets. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 02, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Flydubai captain Smit Machchhar is now speaking out after being attacked by his co-pilot during a flight to Israel on Wednesday. His heroic split-second decisions are being credited with saving everyone on board that plane. The captain is now hospitalized in Abu Dhabi, and he spoke about the ordeal during a video call with the prime minister of India.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMIT MACHCHHAR, FLYDUBAI CAPTAIN (through translator): Sir, I've been flying planes for the last 17 years and I've been a captain for the last 11 years. And even if I shut my eyes, I know what is happening in the plane. And when I was on the ground, I realized that the aircraft was falling down and I knew in that moment, one last push, 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)

SANCHEZ: The co-pilot right now is also in the United Arab Emirates. The attorney general there now opening an investigation into any possible terrorist activity.

[15:35:00]

Let's dig into this investigation with Donell Harvin. He's the former head of Homeland Security and Intelligence for Washington, D.C. Also a member of the faculty with Georgetown University's Emergency and Disaster Management Program. Donell, thanks for being with us.

So the suspected attacker is alive, and he was initially arrested and interrogated by the Saudis. We know that Israel's national security minister wants him extradited to Israel. The UAE has jurisdiction because of the aircraft being registered in that country, and he is an Omani national. So I wonder how you think this investigation and his interrogation is going to be shaped by the fact that so many governments are involved.

DONELL HARVIN, FORMER HEAD OF HOMELAND SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE, WASHINGTON DC: Well, generally, it's where the crime committed. So it would happen, obviously, in the country that the airspace of that particular country. I think what's really important is that these countries really come together to do a joint investigation.

There may be intelligence that Israel has that some of these other countries don't have, particularly if he's a non-state actor, if he's aligned with a terrorist group. Israel has very good intelligence that they could lend, or their country of origin. So I really think they need to get together.

At the end of the day, the prosecution will probably happen over the airspace where it occurred, but that's some negotiation that will happen behind the scenes.

SANCHEZ: How are you reading the terrorist label that's been ascribed to his actions? In other words, at which point, what indicator will tell you this was definitely an attempt at terrorism?

HARVIN: Yes, it's not always clear-cut. The authorities may not be declaring that. They may have intelligence that suggests it is, but they want to do a thorough investigation.

It's never a good thing to come out ahead of an investigation and say it was an act of terrorism. We've seen that on our own soil with Alex Pretti and Rene Good. And so I think that unless Israel had some definitive intelligence suggesting it was an act of terrorism, they should probably reveal that.

Maybe they have. The point of the matter is, once you do that, if he is affiliated, if he's not a lone actor, any affiliated individuals with him, maybe those who helped with the plot, maybe those who supplied resources or some type of material support, they may go underground. So, you know, it's good to have an investigation that's open.

And this may not be an individual lone actor, and if so, we want to get all the individuals that were a part of this conspiracy.

SANCHEZ: So Flydubai temporarily suspended flights to and from Israel as the investigation continues. Do you see that as a necessary precaution?

HARVIN: Certainly. And we were just talking about this in class yesterday, Boris. The insider threat is the most difficult threat to detect and to mitigate.

And at the end of the day, this exposes an insider threat problem that Flydubai has. Regardless of what the individual's motivations were, this individual's worked for them for eight months. I'm sure there's a vetting process. They probably need time to re-go through their vetting process. And maybe other countries or companies may be helping with that. And so this is an opportunity to take a long look at how they vet people, how they onboard people, and clearly, as we see with the current geopolitical strife and conflicts, some flights are more dangerous than others to participate in, in terms of who's flying those flights and what the threat is.

And so they may be looking at that. It's a good call.

SANCHEZ: That's a great point. Donell Harvin, appreciate you sharing the expertise.

HARVIN: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: When we come back, the U.S. economy adding fewer jobs than expected. We're going to break down the last jobs report before the midterm elections.

But first, a look at this week's CNN hero and how her nonprofit is helping senior dogs find loving forever homes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SHERRI FRANKLIN, FOUNDER, MUTTVILLE: Watching these old dogs spend their last weeks in a cold, hard, loud shelter made me realize that we need to give these dogs an opportunity to get the love and to give the love that they still have left.

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Sherri Franklin's passion for senior dogs inspired her to found Muttville in 2007, a rescue dedicated to saving older dogs from shelters and helping them find loving forever homes.

FRANKLIN: Shulo's got a new mommy because he's getting adopted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need somebody to hug.

FRANKLIN: And he needs you to hug him, so thank you.

FRANKLIN (voice-over): They have changed people's lives with their gratitude, with their tenderness.

COOPER (voice-over): She was recognized as a CNN hero in 2016, an honor she credits with giving senior dogs a voice and helping her expand her mission.

[15:40:00]

FRANKLIN: Thanks to the exposure and the credibility, we have been able to save over 13,500 senior dogs at Muttville. We've even opened a whole new community center here in San Francisco.

COOPER (voice-over): Muttville's new 18,000-square-foot facility is a thoughtfully designed cage-free shelter. Every detail supports senior dogs, from acoustic floors that absorb sound to ramps and soft surfaces. And all furniture is donated or secondhand.

FRANKLIN: We wanted to make something really different. We wanted to make something that people would enjoy coming to, not the scary animal shelter that you're used to. A place where dogs can also relax and enjoy.

Our adoptions are through the roof, our dogs are happy, and all the humans that are in our community are also just thrilled to be a part of this.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[15:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Happening now, we're minutes away from the closing bell on Wall Street. The major markets all trading higher to end the week, but that's just one piece of the economic picture.

SANCHEZ: And we've got another snapshot today. The new jobs report shows hiring slowed sharply in September, employers adding just 29,000 jobs, well below expectations. The unemployment rate ticking up slightly to 4.2 percent.

Joining us now is Caleb Silver, editor-in-chief of Invesopedia.com and chief business editor for People, Inc. Thank you so much for being with us, Caleb. What is this jobs report telling you? Do you think the economy is perhaps less hot than we thought?

CALEB SILVER, EDITOR IN CHIEF, INVESTOPEDIA.COM: Yes, I think it's telling us that the labor market is not as strong as we thought, but it's not really as weak as a lot of it feels to a lot of people given consumer sentiment. Yes, this number was way under expectations, and yes, July and August job gains were revised lower by 60,000, so those big job gains we saw back in August were not as big as we thought. The unemployment rate ticking up a little bit is just a sign of people entering or not entering the workforce, so we're kind of in this stasis stage right now.

Not a lot of hiring and not a lot of firing at a time where you're seeing inflation continuing to rise here in the prospect for higher interest rates.

KEILAR: And Caleb, White House economic advisor Kevin Hassett noted that the biggest one-month increase in Black unemployment since early COVID in 2020 was, quote, definitely cause for concern that they would study. Explain why that is such a warning sign and what they need to be looking for here.

SILVER: Yes, you want to see employment rising for all ethnic groups and for all age groups, and that's not what we're seeing right now. What we did see in this jobs report, and really for the past several months, is actually more women entering the workforce than men. We see a higher unemployment rate for men of color continuing to rise here, and that is really a sign of what kinds of jobs are out there. The job gains have been in health care and social assistance. We saw some slight job gains in manufacturing, some slight job gains in construction, but you're not seeing higher-paying jobs adding to the payrolls here. We haven't seen a lot of layoffs yet, but everyone's sort of bracing for that.

There are jobs out there, but wage growth has not been that strong either, and that's something to focus on as well. Wage growth is now not outpacing inflation, so prices are rising more than our paychecks.

SANCHEZ: Yes, and to that point, it's the fourth month in a row in which wage growth has slowed, and American savings rate is at a four- year low. What does that say about the status of the average American household and its financial health?

SILVER: Our balance sheets are stretched. People are having a very hard time making it paycheck to paycheck. That's always been the case, but it's been more extreme over the past few months because of rising energy prices.

When energy prices go up, and I'm talking about gasoline, obviously, but diesel prices, which impacts the entire supply chain, you really feel it at every turn. You feel it in the grocery store. You feel it if you're buying airline tickets to go visit family over the holidays.

You feel it in your health care costs. So rising prices when your wages aren't going up that much, that's what people feel is the affordability gap that continues to widen month after month.

KEILAR: Yes, and help us with the disconnect and understanding it that so many Americans are feeling. You've got the stock market that's hitting record highs recently. Unemployment is low.

Job growth has improved since last year. But Americans are overwhelmingly saying that they feel bad about the economy, right, that they're experiencing it in a very bad way. What does it take to close that gap?

SILVER: Well, the job market and the labor market and the economy and the stock market are all very different things. The stock market has been rising close to record highs yet again here because of all the enthusiasm and all the spending around AI. When you look inside the stock market, the top 500 stocks, the S&P 500, only about 10 percent to 15 percent of them are actually continuing to rise.

So it's being driven higher by tech stocks, by AI stocks. Very different from the real feel of the economy. The real feel of the economy is not even in GDP or inflation numbers.

We don't walk around saying that's 3 percent higher, that's 4 percent higher. We walk around saying I'm having trouble making it to the end of the month. I'm having trouble making it to the end of the week with how much I'm making and how much things are costing.

Big disconnect there. I only expect that to widen because corporate profits are continuing to grow, especially for tech and AI as this build-out continues. A lot of money being spent there, and that's also driving up inflation for everybody else.

When all that money is being devoted to that type of capital expenditures, you see less money available, and that's why you see interest rates also rising. Everything from credit card APRs to mortgage rates continuing to rise week after week, month after month.

[15:50:00]

SANCHEZ: On that note about how much of the economy is riding on tech and AI, this latest data also shows that finance and information, the two sectors of the economy that have embraced AI the most, they're continuing to employ fewer and fewer humans. I mean, is that the fingerprints of AI disrupting the job market? Is that a sign of what is to come?

SILVER: Yes, I think that's part of that, and when you look at how many job cuts you can attribute and employers have attributed to AI, they only say about 3 percent to 4 percent. But when you look broadly at the companies that are laying people off and some of these job losses in finance and some other areas in tech, it's really because of that and because companies are trying to do more with less in general and keep those gross margins really strong. That's helped their stock price rise to record highs, so it's all kind of connected.

Meanwhile, folks that are working and making the median income are having trouble, again, making it week in, week out, paying the rent, filling up the grocery cart, filling up the gas tank. These prices continue to rise, while all the spend and all the money seems to be concentrated in AI and tech in the stock market and also in spending in general.

KEILAR: Caleb Silver, great to have you and your expertise on this. Thank you.

SILVER: Thank you.

KEILAR: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. The U.S. Coast Guard says it intercepted a ship illegally carrying fuel to Cuba last month. The Coast Guard boarded the ship in the Caribbean Sea, saying it was believed to be using quote, dark fleet tactics to secretly avoid detection.

The Trump administration has effectively imposed a fuel blockade on the communist-run island since January, worsening the country's energy crisis. Cuba has suffered at least eight nationwide blackouts since March.

And former NFL star Tony Romo is out at CBS Sports after nine years. Today, the network announced that the former Dallas Cowboys quarterback will not be returning to his role as an analyst after his arrest for drunk driving over the summer. Romo confirmed that in a statement, saying quote, "I'm going to use this time to take a break, something I've never done before, and focus on my health and my family before moving on to my next opportunity."

SANCHEZ: And say hello to one of the newest and certainly the smallest member of Mexico's National Guard, Commando, a 13-month-old, 15-pound chihuahua. He typically goes along with the troops at community outreach events. He's also being trained, though, in search-and-rescue operations.

You see him going up and down that stairway there. He has his own tactical vest. It's custom-fitted.

Miniature protective glasses. Even that small camera mounted to his head. Officers recently rescued Commando in the northern border state of, guess where?

Chihuahua.

KEILAR: Chihuahua. OK, now, I looked it up. He's so cute.

He's 15 pounds. Chihuahuas are a little smaller. He's part chihuahua, I think.

I think he might be a chiweenie.

SANCHEZ: He's heavyweight chihuahua.

KEILAR: But look at those short, or he's a chorgie. I don't know. He's something.

He's got those short little --

SANCHEZ: He's looking for action.

KEILAR: -- look at those little legs. Oh, yes.

SANCHEZ: If you're a bad guy, if you're an evil doer, and that comes knocking down your door.

KEILAR: Wow.

SANCHEZ: Yes.

KEILAR: You are so scared. You're just like, yes, this is not my day. Commando.

Look at his face.

SANCHEZ: Serious to you, Commando.

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Just want to give you a quick heads up that President Trump is answering reporters' questions right now as he departs the White House for what will be a weekend tour and trying to promote his agenda right before the midterm elections. We're going to listen in to what the President says and bring you any new details as we get them. But in the meantime, Chef David Chang is on a cross-country food

journey with an all-new episode of "THE DETOUR" that premieres on Saturday.

KEILAR: This week, he hits the road from Sonoma to the Pacific with his close friend Chris Ying to challenge some preconceived ideas that he has of the Northern California food scene. Our Sara Sidner sat down with David Chang to talk about the episode and how traveling with a friend changed the dynamic of his trip.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: You jump in a car with your buddy, longtime friend.

DAVID CHANG, CELEBRITY CHEF: Yes, Chris Ying.

SIDNER: And you go to Northern California.

CHANG: I love San Francisco. I love the Bay Area, wine country. So many of my closest friends live there.

I think it's one of the most special places in the world to eat and to travel, great produce. And it was a no-brainer to go there.

SIDNER: There's an incredible array of food. But there is a down- homeness about that area as well because it's farmers who are doing --

CHANG: And winemakers that are doing it a little bit. Counter to what is in vogue right now.

SIDNER: It was, by the way, the first place I ever ate dim sum. My close friend Amber Lee took me to a dim sum restaurant. And she goes, I cannot believe, because I've eaten a lot of things from a lot of places. She goes, I cannot believe you've never had this.

And I have not stopped eating it.

CHANG: I feel like I've traveled Sonoma and Napa quite a bit. So part of this was going to places and challenging what I actually know. And my bias assumptions, like everything's the same thing.

I was wrong about everything. It was great hanging out with Chris. But California was fun.

And there was a lot of stories that we could have told, for sure.

SIDNER: Maybe I'm a weirdo. Do you ever put kimchi on it?

CHANG: You're an intuitive eater. You know what's up.

SIDNER: So California, how is this one different? Because you're with someone who knows you knows you. You could tell that.

CHANG: I always joke that the point of having friends is trying to make fun of each other. SIDNER: Yes, because they know you love them.

CHANG: Chris and I try to make fun of each other all day, every day, and try to get it under each other's skin. And that's what a road trip is. If you haven't been on a road trip with your friends, if you're not making fun of each other, it's not a road trip.

SIDNER: You're looking at your phone. Get off the phone. Don't let the algorithm tell you what to do.

[16:00:00]

CHANG: Have a conversation in real life, not on FaceTime, not on Zoom. And just have a different experience.

SIDNER: Because you might just find some joy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANCHEZ: These promotional segments always leave me hungry. Tune in tomorrow at 10 p.m. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

Thanks so much for joining us today. "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.