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Former Prince Andrew Stakes Legal Action Over Epstein-Related Arrest; Trump Departs White House to Campaign in Nebraska; Worker at Russian Plague Lab Dies of Unknown Infection; Tennessee Corrections Chief Steps Down After Botched Executions; OpenAI Safety Leader Resigns. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 05, 2026 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: I have to say, it's clearly caught the rest of the family off guard because we've had a royal source speaking to us today saying Mountbatten-Windsor's legal defense is a matter for him and his lawyers. They're trying to distance themselves. We have no role in determining the strategy or actions. They don't want to interfere in the case.

And in terms of funding, they are saying they're basically not paying for it. He'll have to use his private funds. So they are distancing themselves as much as possible on the King's side.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah. Really significant that they're pointing out that they're not paying for this challenge. Max Foster, thank you so much for the update from London.

A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Playing defense, President Trump soon heading to deep red Nebraska, his latest stop to boost Republicans in competitive contests that are typically conservative strongholds.

And a mystery death of a Russian worker in a plague lab triggers quarantines and hospital closings. How the Trump administration is responding.

And just days after the failed execution of Christa Pike in Tennessee, we're learning new details about the outgoing prison chief's history of execution missteps.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

The midterm elections are just 29 days out, so soon and yet so far away. And President Trump is ready to keep the rally train going. First stop, Nebraska state that he carried by more than 20 points in 2024. And the red state tour doesn't stop there. He's got stops in Texas and Alabama on deck as well.

What's happening in Texas, a key indicator of why some Republicans are pretty rattled right now. New York Times-Sienna polling finding Democrat James Talarico has a six-point advantage over Republican Ken Paxton.

CNN's Kristen Holmes is live for the White House with more on the president's plans this week. Kristen?

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Brianna, it's clear that the White House, the administration, President Trump himself, are all playing defense right now.

Some of the states you mentioned, Texas, he also went to Oklahoma. He already went to Alabama and is going back. These are all very red states and they're states that at this point in the midterm cycle, usually Republicans would have written off as a sure thing.

Now they're bringing out President Trump to try and hold on to that conservative base. What you hear today is President Trump is going to be appearing next to Senator Pete Ricketts in a race that really at one point was considered not competitive at all, that it was going to be a shoe-in for Ricketts. Now you have Ricketts saying that he's there to help him with the race.

And the idea behind this is President Trump going into these ruby red districts and making sure that people go out and vote. When you talk to various people on the campaign, part of the political operation, they don't see necessarily people shifting towards Democrats, but they say they don't want the couch to win. And you heard President Trump kind of trying to beg people to go out and vote in a video over the weekend.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If your state has early voting, do not wait, go out and vote. Vote early, vote by mail or vote in person on Election Day, November 3rd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: Vote by mail. One of the things President Trump has argued against since 2020, saying it's rife with fraud, saying he wants to get away from it. He wants to get rid of any voting by mail. We obviously know it has happened with the Postal Service and DHS and the Supreme Court.

President Trump has said don't vote by mail under any circumstances for months, despite the fact that he himself votes by mail. But you can see the desperation there. And I do want to show you one recent poll that kind of gives you an idea of why President Trump is pleading with these conservative voters.

This is a poll of Latino voters who, by the way, helped carry President Trump to the presidency, to the White House back in 2024. This is his current approval among Latino voters. Approve, 27 percent. Disapprove, 69 percent. This is the same group of voters that gave him a four-point edge in 2024 when it came to handling the economy.

The other thing to look at is this doesn't just stick to President Trump. It also goes across to control of Congress. So it's party affiliation overall. Asking these Latino voters what their preference was for control of Congress, Democratic control, 59 percent. That is a huge gap there. Again, this is just a microcosm of what we are seeing across the country as people are really struggling.

They're struggling with the way President Trump is handling the economy, the economy overall, and they don't believe that his policies are helping them.

KEILAR: Yeah, we'll see if this campaign rally tour he's on does help those candidates. Kristen Holmes, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Just into CNN, we've received this photo of the Russian researcher whose death has triggered fears of the plague. This 28- year-old worker at a lab that studies the plague and other infectious diseases reportedly died of an illness of unknown origin.

[14:05:00]

Let's go live to CNN's Fred Pleitgen from Berlin. Fred, what are the details?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, a pneumonia of unknown origins, what the Russian authorities are saying. And of course, the people down in that region where all this happened are quite concerned about all this.

CNN has reached out to a couple of them. All this happened in a place called Shelekhov, which is actually near the Mongolian border. And this lab that we're talking about was actually founded in the 1930s to combat the plague, but also deals with other infectious diseases.

And the Russian authorities, Boris, at this point in time, are saying that there's no indication that she actually died of the plague. I want to read to you a quote from Russia's Agency for Infectious Diseases. They say, quote, "No microorganisms associated with the employee's professional duties were detected in samples taken from the patient." That's that agency.

However, the governor of the neighboring state, which is called Buryatia, came out and said that this patient possibly died of the plague. And the head of Russia's Infectious Disease Agency also immediately went down to the region.

Now, there are measures that are in place, anti-epidemic measures, the Russians call them. A lot of them quarantine measures, trying to isolate anybody who had contact with this patient, but then also actually locking down some of the hospitals in that region. We have also heard from the Kremlin on all of this.

They said they didn't want to comment directly, but they warned against believing what they call are rumors and speculation. The World Health Organization also, at this point in time, believes that the risk is low. However, folks there in the area, of course, feeling somewhat nervous about this situation, especially as these anti- epidemic measures still very much in place, Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Fred, what is the U.S. government saying?

PLEITGEN: Yeah, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, obviously, he came out. He was asked about all of this. First of all, the Center for Disease Control is saying that they are monitoring the situation. They've urged the Russians to come forward and be very straightforward about any information. The Secretary of State came out, and he said that, obviously, the United States is watching all this. They're getting information from the Russians as well.

He said that for the U.S., this is a cause for focus, but not yet a cause for concern. So right now, it seems as though everybody is trying to take a step back, look at the situation. They believe the risk at this point is not very high.

But at the same time, of course, precautions still very much in place.

SANCHEZ: Yeah, no doubt. Fred Pleitgen from Berlin, thank you so much.

Still to come, CNN is learning new details about the Tennessee prison chief who resigned following the failed execution of Christa Pike, what we discovered about past execution missteps under his watch.

Plus, as the Supreme Court kicks off a new term, justices leaping straight into several high-profile critical cases we'll discuss. And why did open A.I. safety leader just resign his post? This comes as concerns grow over the rapidly developing technology.

Stay with CNN. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:12:36]

KEILAR: Tennessee's head of corrections is resigning after the botched execution of Christa Pike last week. Pike was given two doses of a drug meant to kill her. She survived and is now in the hospital on a ventilator, unconscious.

CNN has learned that Tennessee Correction Commissioner Frank Strada had a history of execution missteps before this. Pike is the second person this year that Tennessee officials have failed to execute after problems with I.V. injections. In Strada's previous role as an official in Arizona's prison system, he oversaw three executions that administrators and observers raised concerns over.

Lawyers say all three had issues with establishing I.V. lines to administer the lethal drug. Let's talk about this now with Cameron Sexton. He's the Republican speaker for the Tennessee House of Representatives.

Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for being with us. What do you believe should happen to Christa Pike now?

REP. CAMERON SEXTON, (R) SPEAKER, TENNESSEE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Well, I think it's in the court system, but I think in my opinion is she was sentenced to death. And so we need to continue that when we get the ability to go through the process to learn exactly what happened, but it needs to be executed.

KEILAR: Do you have concerns that she won't be legally competent to be executed?

SEXTON: Well, I don't think so. I mean, I think the courts decided that she was legally competent when she stood trial. This is just a continuation of the -- continuation of what the jury and the judge selected her to do, which was the death sentence.

Now, you know, the court will make that determination. I'm sure her attorney will be soon in the state of Tennessee, and we'll know here shortly on what they say.

KEILAR: What if she remains unconscious? Do you think that she should be executed when she's in a state of being unconscious?

SEXTON: Well, I mean, I think so. I mean, you're carrying out the duties. I think when you look at the procedure and what happened is, we're having in Tennessee an issue with people who are not eating or drinking fluids, so it's hard to find veins.

Also, I think something no one's talking about is the Anesthesia Association does not allow their physicians to help in these instances, in executions, but they do allow them with Planned Parenthood to help in those endeavors.

And so I think there's a bigger examination for this as well.

KEILAR: What if Christa Pike regains consciousness, but has no or only limited awareness? Do you think that she should be executed?

[14:15:00]

SEXTON: Well, she was competent to stand trial. She was competent during the trial. She's been competent since she's been jail, so --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: No, I hear you, but I'm asking about the state -- I'm asking about the state in which she would be executed. So if she had limited consciousness or minimal consciousness, what if she suffered brain damage? Should she be executed in that state?

SEXTON: In my opinion, the state of Tennessee needs to carry out the execution of Christa Pike for the horrendous and torturing murder that she did on Colleen back in the '90s. And that needs to be carried out in the state of Tennessee, regardless.

KEILAR: So if you're zooming out from this case specifically, I know you've called for reform and expanding alternatives for executions in Tennessee. What kind of alternatives do you want to see?

SEXTON: Well, I don't think we're going to close the books on anything. I mean, you go back and you look in 2000, the Democrats took out the use of the electric chair in the state of Tennessee. You looked at, it used to be a three-drug cocktail. Now it's a two drug. Not that that would have changed matters here because they couldn't find a vein, apparently, is what we're understanding.

But you need to put everything on the table, have conversations about it all. Some states have firing squads. Christa Pike asked to be hung and not given lethal injection, but we didn't have that as a mechanism. So I don't think we're going to limit what alternatives we may use.

I think we're going to look at all that as we look over the next several months to see what direction we want to go.

KEILAR: The three-drug cocktail. There's also been issues procuring those drugs. How do you get over those challenges if that's a route to pursue?

SEXTON: Well, it's the same cocktail, basically, that we use in veterinarian with pets. I mean, I've put down a lot of pets, my vet has, that I've had over the years using potassium chloride.

KEILAR: But can you speak to the procurement issue?

SEXTON: Yeah, I mean, I think the bigger issue is, is the pharmaceutical industry not wanting to have their drugs used. I think that's the bigger issue. There's plenty of drugs out there to use. It's just that the pharmaceutical industry does not want to, or the anti-death penalty people are trying to limit your capability to use those medications.

KEILAR: So Tennessee Correction Commissioner, Frank Strada, as I mentioned, he's now stepping down. He had a history of execution missteps in Arizona before he was hired in Tennessee. Did Governor Lee give Strada enough scrutiny when he was hired, given that record he had in Arizona?

SEXTON: Well, I don't know. I wasn't part of those conversations. I do know when we went through this last time, we have someone to come in independently and look at the process and procedures. Obviously, the governor's taking another look at that.

Now, we're going to start investigating it from the legislative side to see what issues there were, whether that's obtaining emails, other things, the training. Why did this happen? Why could they not find a vein? Why did they not put in a central line if they couldn't find a vein a day before? Those are all valid questions to ask.

KEILAR: Do you think there's enough training, not just for finding a vein, but just knowing if they've found a vein?

SEXTON: Well, I mean, I'm not a physician and I'm not in health care, but whenever I go to the doctor's office, they don't have a problem finding a vein and poking me. But I think the other issue is, look, you have people on death row. This is the second one where they have refused food and they have tried to dehydrate their body to make it very tough to find a vein or what you need.

That's why maybe you start looking at putting in a central line somewhere else a little earlier than the last meal or as they go in. But, you know, we're going to look at it. We're going to see, it's an issue, but if he had alternatives.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: So I just want to be clear. Do you think it's entirely because of the behavior of the inmates in these cases, or do you think there could be a training issue?

SEXTON: I mean, it could be both. I mean, both things could be right, right? You could have people who are trying not to be able to find a vein to take it off.

KEILAR: Do you have evidence to believe that was the case for Christa Pike, that she was purposely doing this?

SEXTON: Well, I do know that for the one before Christa Pike, that is absolutely what happened. And we're going to investigate on this one with Christa Pike.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: OK, but that's not Christa Pike.

SEXTON: Well, my understanding is, they had a hard time finding the vein. My understanding is she did not eat the last meal. And so we're going to take a look and someone can dehydrate their body. We'll take a look. But, you know, we're going to go back and investigate this and put in alternatives.

And maybe we keep lethal injection. Maybe we don't in the state of Tennessee and move in another direction. But all those things are on the table.

But, you know, other countries have an easier capability of putting people to death than what we do for some reason. And so we're going to evaluate that as well.

KEILAR: Have you spoken to Mae Martinez, the mother of Colleen Slemmer, who Christa Pike was part of this torture and killing of? What has she told you?

[14:20:00]

SEXTON: I haven't spoken to the family. My heart goes out to the family. This has been over 30 years. And one of the things we need to investigate in Tennessee is why did this take 30 years? We need to speed up this process. 30 years is way too long. 20 years is too long. 10 years is too long. I know the Supreme Court has allowed for a lot of different appeals. We're going to look at trying to speed that process up in the state of Tennessee, so that these families like her family does not have to go through three decades before they see justice and then get there and through some process that did not happen that they couldn't find a vein. They tried supposedly many times. We'll figure out how many times exactly. There's a lot of speculation.

Then we will clear this up to make sure that we have the best path forward to handle these types of executions.

KEILAR: Speaker Cameron Sexton, thank you so much for being with us.

SEXTON: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, new polling showing voters increasingly disapprove of President Trump's handling of the economy. But do Democrats have a winning message just weeks before the midterms?

And a woman who was shot multiple times by Border Patrol in Chicago is now filing a civil lawsuit against the federal government. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:47]

SANCHEZ: We are just 29 days out from the midterms. And with the midterm blitz in full swing, we're digging through some new polling today, including this one from NBC News and Telemundo that finds more Latino voters, 48 percent to 27 percent, believe the Democratic Party would do a better job than the GOP of dealing with the economy.

Let's talk about this now with Ashley Davis, former White House Official under President George W. Bush, and Democratic Strategist, Joel Payne, who worked as a Senior Aide on Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign. All right, Ashley, it's really stunning when you look at the turn here for Latino voters.

Two years ago, they were giving Trump a four-point edge over Kamala Harris on handling the economy. Today, they give Democrats a 21-point advantage on the same question. And there's also, of course, immigration. But I just wonder, is that really the thing that is driving this flip-flop?

ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL UNDER PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: I think it's definitely the economy. I don't know in regards to what Latinos they actually polled because most of them believe in closing our border.

So I don't think it's the immigration issue as much -- let me back up and say, I do think they think it's time to, like, stop. The border is closed, and we've done a great job closing the border, but we need to make sure that ICE isn't continuing to do things that are wrong. Let's just leave it at that. However, the economy, whether it's gas prices and-and grocery prices, those are the two biggest things that they're talking about in regards to the economy. There's no secret going into this election, those are our two biggest issues. We're having a really hard time. Joel's looking at me out of the corner of his eye.

(LAUGH)

DAVIS: We're having a really hard time getting past that. Obviously, it's impacting all of our voters. And it's getting in the way of the messaging of some of the positive things that have been done. And will we be able to change that narrative now or not? Or is it too late? We don't know.

SANCHEZ: Joel, how would you grade Democrats' efforts during this cycle to regain some of those Latino voters, specifically Latino men that they lost in 2024?

JOEL PAYNE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, as often, it's complex, right? And these things contain multitudes. I also get a little anxious when we talk about Latino voters because, really, you should be talking about, like, country of origin, when you talk about people from the Latino diaspora, because I think the experiences and the regions in the country that they've migrated to are all different.

That said, one thing is pretty clear to me. The Trump economy is failing everybody.

(LAUGH)

PAYNE: And that's actually what that tells me, is that whether you are someone who identifies as Latino, depending on what country of origin you're from, whether you're somebody who's younger, who's older, someone who previously voted for Trump or maybe is considering voting for someone else in the future, the economy is not working for you.

And the fact that, that much directional change we've seen in that short period of time, I think that that's a pretty significant movement. And whether or not the poll is accurate directionally, I think it tells you something about where folks are.

DAVIS: But I'm not sure if we're failing everybody. I mean, 401(k)s, which impact most Americans, is up 14 percent. We have drug prices down three percent. There are good things that have happened. Like I said earlier, though, the gas prices and the groceries, which are what people deal with every day.

PAYNE: Yeah, when you're driving past the gas pump and it's five bucks a gallon and you get home and you get to check your 401(k), yeah, if you're lucky enough to do that, yeah, I guess it is a little better.

SANCHEZ: But that dynamic speaks to something that we were talking to Mark Preston about earlier, which is a similar challenge that Joe Biden faced when he was campaigning. You can say these economic indicators look great, but if people are feeling economic pain, they're not going to come out and vote for you.

DAVIS: No, right. I mean, I was sitting in this chair two years ago saying the opposite. But, yeah, he's exactly right. And you see Secretary Bessent saying it this weekend. You saw Kevin Hassett saying the same thing this weekend.

We can't tell people how they are feeling in regards to everyday expenses. So it's a tough message for us. But at the end of the day, I was saying to Joel earlier, we are officially in silly season, so we are all reacting, especially all of us that live in politics, to every poll that comes out.

At the end of the day, are people going to think that Republicans, not necessarily Trump, are better or not? And we'll see.

PAYNE: I think sometimes also the story really depends on which race you're talking about.

DAVIS: Exactly.

PAYNE: So in Texas in particular, one of the reasons why James Talarico won that primary against --