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Trump Signs Executive Order Aimed At Lowering Diesel Prices; Plague Concerns In Russia After Lab Worker Dies; Trump Approves Firing Squad Execution For Fort Hood Shooter. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 06, 2026 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:31:10]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A new move from the White House now to try to bring down near record diesel fuel prices. While on stage in Nebraska last night the president signed an executive order that would waive restrictions on a type of diesel -- cheaper red dye diesel used in tractors and industrial equipment.

Since the war with Iran began, diesel prices have just soared and have also -- this has also been amplified by Ukraine's attacks on Russian refineries.

The price of diesel this morning $6.32. It hit a record high last month.

And CNN's Matt Egan is now here for us. So what are you learning and hearing, Matt, about this move by the White House? What it can -- what it could or maybe could not do to bring down the price of diesel.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Kate. Well look, I mean, the good news is that help is on the way for truckers who are struggling from high diesel prices. I think the bad news though is this help -- it's pretty modest and it's arriving pretty late too.

So this executive order -- it amounts to a tax holiday -- a pre- election tax holiday. The order instructs the IRS to waive penalties on dyed diesel for highway use. Again, dyed diesel. It's the same as regular diesel, it's just untaxed for off-road use like on tractors. They dye it red to make it obvious if it's being used on highways.

So this order is in effect until the end of the year. The catch, though, is that the tax payments -- they're -- they don't go away completely. They're not forgiven; they are deferred. However, it instructs officials to explore tax forgiveness. It also instructs officials in the administration to encourage states to adopt similar policies and at least 10 states already have, including Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama as well.

So this is helpful for truckers because it means that this federal tax, right, 24.4 cents per gallon -- that means until the end of the year, it's essentially going away. It's not being enforced. And it means that for the state tax -- the state tax is 35.5 on average -- it really varies. But if you put it together, that amounts to almost 60 cents per gallon, right?

So in states that are doing this tax holiday, if you layer that on top of the federal move, you're looking at about a 10 percent discount off the price for diesel, right, if it's above $6.00 a gallon. That's not nothing. It's not really a gamechanger either. Let's say you have an 18-wheeler. It's costing almost $1,600 at current prices to fill up.

BOLDUAN: Wow.

EGAN: If you have a state holiday on top of the federal one, you're looking at about $150 of savings per fill up. Again, not nothing, but it's not really a gamechanger either.

I talked to someone who runs a trucking company in New Jersey and a fuel supplier, and he told me this is really more of a band-aid than it is a long-term solution. And again, he said it's coming kind of late here because as this chart shows, we're looking at just a historic year when it comes to diesel, right?

Diesel prices, even though they've backed off just a bit from record highs --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

EGAN: -- they've still skyrocketed almost 80 percent on a year, easily on track for the biggest annual gain since AAA started tracking back in 2000, which I think brings me to the last point here, which is that this move, it does nothing to solve the underlying problem, which is this global refinery shortage, right?

Refineries in the Middle East damaged by war. Refineries in Russia damaged. China's holding back its exports and letting truckers use dyed diesel doesn't solve any of those problems.

BOLDUAN: Here we go. It's good to see you, Matt. Thank you for laying that --

EGAN: Thank you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: -- out and explaining it for us -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. It is not just control of Congress up for grabs in the fast approaching midterm elections four weeks from today. There are also several governors' seats -- governor's mansions in critical battleground states.

[07:35:00]

In Ohio, a new poll shows Democrat Amy Acton up by about six over Republican Vivek Ramaswamy. In Wisconsin, a bit tighter. No clear leader between the Democrat David Crowley and Republican Tom Tiffany. And in Georgia, pretty tight between billionaire Republican Rick Jackson. He's ahead of Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms in that race, but obviously no clear leader there. So those two will meet for their first and only confirmed debate tonight.

With us now is Tia Mitchell a Washington bureau chief for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. A matter of parochial interest for you in Georgia.

Look, we often overlook governors' races when we're talking about midterms or national elections. But governors are often -- you know, that's the bench for national politics. They often end up running for president or other things. So it is something that bears watching.

What's the vibe in Georgia around your hometown paper?

TIA MITCHELL, WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT, THE ATLANTA JOURNAL- CONSTITUTION: Yeah. And so -- and to your point John, another point is that governors in a swing state -- these races are often true toss-ups that let us know, you know, how the parties are doing. Let us know if Georgia truly is a purple state or if, you know, the Democrats statewide wins in recent years more have to do with, you know, a certain candidate being on the ballot.

So we're going to learn a lot from Georgia's governor's race, though the vibe, quite frankly, is that Keisha Lance Bottoms has some ground to make up, but not much ground, and so it's winnable, even though a lot of people think the odds-on favorite is Republican Rick Jackson. He just has so much money -- tens of millions of dollars of his own money because he is a billionaire. He spent on the race. He's flooded the TVs with ads in Metro Atlanta and really across Georgia.

So a lot of people are curious though, because he doesn't do a lot of media interviews. He doesn't speak off the cuff often. Tonight may be the only night that voters see Jackson speaking off the cuff. But I should note it's not really a true debate. It's more a town hall style where each of the candidates will be asked questions.

BERMAN: It's interesting because in Georgia, Jon Ossoff, the Democrat, is running for re-election there, and he seems to be running ahead of where Keisha Lance Bottoms is. And it does raise the question of whether voters in Georgia might split the ticket. You don't see that much split-ticket voting anymore.

MITCHELL: So, yes. So we do think there will be a number of Ossoff- Jackson voters because that's what the polls are showing us. Very similar to the dynamic four years ago where there were a fair number of voters who voted for Raphael Warnock for Senate, but they also voted for Republican Brian Kemp for governor who was up for re- election. The question is how many of those Ossoff-Jackson voters could there be this year? That will be the determining factor, not just in Keisha Lance Bottoms and whether she's victorious, but other Democrats down the ballot who are hoping that if Ossoff runs strong, they could also win statewide in Georgia.

BERMAN: One of the things that happens every two years is former President Barack Obama ultimately gets on the campaign trail for Democratic candidates. We learned he will be appearing in Michigan with the Democratic Senate candidate Abdul Al-Sayed.

What difference can he make with which voters and where? If Democrats want to maximize former President Obama, is it clear how?

MITCHELL: Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if he makes it down to Georgia right now. We know Kamala Harris is coming, but the question is, will Obama come as well with her or on a different day?

Obama helps with -- quite frankly, with a lot of Democratic voters and even voters in the center who, you know, he has a high approval rating, but he's particularly helpful with Black voters. I know you guys have been talking about that this morning where it comes to Michigan and Abdul El-Sayed. You know, Ossoff does really well with Black voters in Georgia, but again, if Democrats want to win statewide further down the ballot, they need strong Black voter turnout in Georgia. That's where Barack Obama could assist.

BERMAN: Tia Mitchell from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Great to have you here answering some of our questions this morning.

And if you out there have any questions about the midterms and beyond, join me for "OFFICE HOURS" tomorrow night at 7:00 p.m. This is a really special one because I have two political insiders, Alyssa Farah Griffin. You know her from "THE VIEW," but she was communications director for then-President Trump in the first administrations. and Chuck Rocha, who's a Democratic strategist working on James Talarico's campaign. If I were asking the questions, not you, asking about what it's like to be on the inside of the campaign. What do they see when they're involved in running for office?

Join us tomorrow night at 7:00, and you can send us questions anytime at cnn.com/officehours -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: There's snazzy jazz underneath.

BERMAN: I didn't know we had theme music now. I didn't know it was going to be like jazz.

SIDNER: Nice, John.

BERMAN: I mean, I wouldn't say we're swingers, but I said we are swinging.

[07:40:00]

SIDNER: Wow. All right. Well, that ended differently than I was expecting.

BERMAN: I'm going to go.

SIDNER: Good. That's good. Thank you, John.

All right. Dozens are under quarantine this morning after a researcher at a lab that studies the plague died from pneumonia of an unknown origin. Local officials are implementing anti-epidemic measures near the hospital where the worker was treated before she died. And the World Health Organization says they are in contact with Russian authorities now, and the White House is also closely monitoring the situation. Joining me now is Dr. Deb Houry. She is a senior fellow at Yale School

of Public Health.

I guess first and foremost, when we hear the word plague, you know, it sends a shiver down your spine. How concerned should people be about this?

DR. DEB HOURY, SENIOR FELLOW, YALE SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, FORMER CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, CDC (via Webex by Cisco): You know, I think in general people should not be that concerned today. Plague happens even in the United States. There was a case last year in Arizona. One person died from it. About 40 people were exposed, but they were treated with antibiotics and did OK. It doesn't spread that easily.

I think what's concerning is we don't know if this is plague and we don't know all the details, so that's why I have some concern.

SIDNER: The information coming out of Russia is scant as to all of the details at this point. Look, when you hear plague, people think of bubonic plague that swept Europe in the 14th century and killed more than a third of the people in Europe, terrifyingly.

What is the difference between the bubonic plague and the pneumonic plague that was being studied in this lab?

HOURY: So there's three different types of plague and the pneumonic plague is the one that is most concerning because it can transmit from person to person when you're coughing and sneezing. So it's very deadly if you get it, but it's also treatable if addressed quickly with antibiotics. But that's why there's so much concern about this one is because it can spread person to person.

SIDNER: Can you give us some sense of what the symptoms would be of the pneumonic plague compared to, say, getting pneumonia?

HOURY: Unfortunately, there's a lot of overlap with the main difference being the severity and the -- really the onset -- like how quickly you get sick. And this is where I think just knowing what exposures a person had is where it's really key.

In this case, if you say I'm a lab worker that works with plagues, certainly that should be a red flag. But if you know there's been any exposures, you've been in areas with rodents that are in an area of the country that has plague, those are really good things to mention. But otherwise it's the onset, you know, quick symptoms, fevers, the shaking, severe coughing, similar pneumonia type symptoms. And X-rays will usually show a pretty diffuse pattern throughout the lungs of an infiltrator infection.

SIDNER: I do want to ask you about something because, you know, when we're talking about something that you're saying, look, it's not something to necessarily be quite concerned about right now, but there is a health emergency that is concerning right now. It's being declared here in New York and that's measles.

What is your message on this? HOURY: I'm very concerned about measles in the United States. We're about to tip 4,000 reported cases and we know that it's vastly underreported. We've had five deaths to date this year and many of the people who are infected with measles -- their immune systems will essentially be wiped out for two to three years, meaning they could get other infections and people can have meningitis. Just so many different complications from measles.

And it's treatable. We have a vaccine to prevent it so that people don't get sick from measles. It's really important that the secretary not take that break from infectious disease like he has said he is doing and really focus on this. Same thing with plague. We need to make sure that we are monitoring what is happening in the United States and worldwide and we are not prepared.

SIDNER: Dr. Deb Houry, that is a stark warning and letting people know just the fallout. If you get measles, it's not as simple as saying I survived it. There are many other health concerns afterwards and the one way to prevent it vaccination. Thank you so much for coming on and walking us through that -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: President Trump just approved the U.S. Army's first execution by firing squad since World War II. He gave that green light when it comes to the execution of Nidal Hasan, the former Army major who admitted to carrying out the nation's deadliest mass shooting at an American military base. Hasan carried out the massacre at Fort Hood in Texas. Thirteen people were killed and 32 others were wounded in that 2009 attack.

CNN's Brian Todd is tracking now. What happens from here, Brian? The president approves this execution by firing squad. Now what?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, they're going to set a time and date for that, Kate, and it's not clear whether that will be Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth setting the time and date or whether it will be the Army secretary setting the time and date. CNN has asked the Pentagon for some clarity on that, and we'll know more probably in the next few weeks or so.

[07:45:08]

But as Kate mentioned, this is an extraordinary case on many, many fronts. The Pentagon announced, as Kate mentioned, that Pete Hegseth had recommended the death penalty by firing squad for Nidal Hasan and that President Trump had approved it. This will be the first time that the Army will have executed a soldier since 1961 and the first time that an Army will have executed a soldier by firing squad since World War II, when Private Eddie Slovik faced the firing squad after being found guilty of desertion.

Hasan was a U.S. Army major and psychologist -- psychiatrist, excuse me. On November 5, 2009, he walked into a processing center at Fort Hood and opened fire, shooting and killing 13 people and wounding 32 others before being apprehended by military police. He was convicted of 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder and was sentenced to death.

Now Hasan had been radicalized and said that he was targeting U.S. Army soldiers who he was set to deploy with to Afghanistan in order to protect the Taliban and its leaders from the U.S. military.

Here's what the Pentagon had to say in a statement regarding this case. "Secretary of War Pete..." -- excuse me, "Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has recommended and President Donald J. Trump has approved death by U.S. Army firing squad for convicted terrorist Nadal Malik Hasan. The secretary of the Army will set the time and place of the execution. Judgment day for Hasan has finally come."

Again, it's possible that Pete Hegseth will set the time and place for the execution. Hegseth replied to that Pentagon post with one word saying, "justice."

Also, Kate, interesting here. Besides Hasan, three other soldiers are on death row at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. That's the Army's only maximum security prison according to the Army lawyer, which is a bulletin for JAG officers. All of those soldiers were convicted of murder.

And interestingly, the last two soldiers again who were executed by the U.S. Army had not been convicted of murder. Private Eddie Slovik in World War II had been convicted of desertion and Private John Bennett in 1961 had been convicted for the attempted murder and the rape of an 11-year-old Austrian girl. Those were the last two cases of an army executing its soldiers, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Brian Todd. Thank you so much, Brian, for that detail. Let's see what happens now.

Coming up for us, pushing back on extremism in both parties, but especially on the left. The new movement by a Democratic -- by Democratic mayors trying to move their party closer to the center of this election and beyond. What are they planning?

And how to get robots to retire? This existential question that is oh so very a sign of the times and the "Terminator" style answer that one robotics company came up with.

And for more of the stories you need to get your day going, my show, "5 THINGS WITH KATE BOLDUAN," is streaming on the CNN app and CNN All Access right now and every morning.

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[07:52:15]

BOLDUAN: There is new polling out today that basically confirms what you know, which is affordability, the cost of healthcare included, are the top issues for voters right now. The new data out from the Kaiser Family Foundation shows 62 percent of registered voters want candidates to talk about the cost of living.

No one hears that more than America's mayors. And this week, a new coalition of Democratic mayors is vowing to bridge the political divide. Fifteen Democratic mayors from cities in historically Republican states are joining forces and launching a movement, calling it the Blue Cities/Red States Coalition. The group says they are the center left alternative to both MAGA and Democratic socialists.

Leading the effort is the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio, and Mayor Justin Bibb is joining us right now. Mayor, thank you so much for being here.

I was taking a look at the Blue Cities/Red States website and the way you -- it's put on your site is that you all want to bring people closer together, finding common sense solutions. You will have to call me cynical. Yes, I have heard that tagline many times before for people trying to bring the country together.

What is the plan here then?

Oh, it looks like we have a technical glitch or as I like to say, I've stunned my interviewee into silence. Do we have them guys? All right. It looks like we need to rework that connection with Mayor Bibb. We're going to work on that right now.

Until then, I'm going to head over to Sara.

SIDNER: All right. First, we will bring you what's on our radar for you.

The deal of a lifetime at an estate sale. An oil painting bought for just 30 bucks at an estate sale has fetched more than $1.35 million. Yep, a million bucks at auction. It was confirmed to be the work of celebrated American surrealist Gertrude Abercrombie. The work hadn't been seen in public for 75 years. The artist never sold the painting but ended up giving it to a doctor as a gift.

An anonymous buyer purchased the work at an estate sale at the auction house and said that he discovered it tucked away in a dark corner near the garage, overlooked by every other buyer. Clearly, this anonymous buyer knew a little something about that work.

All right. In Italy, authorities pulled off what they're calling one of the country's biggest exotic animal seizures in years. Police found more than 370 live animals packed inside a car, including hundreds of tortoises and dozens -- oh, the poor things -- of parrots. Officials say many were protected species and were being transported in cramped conditions that caused some serious suffering for those animals. The animals have been moved to a facility where they are being cared for. It's awful.

[07:55:10]

All right. And a U.S. company planned a big sendoff party for robots past their prime. They programmed their decommissioned robots to jump off ledges so that eventually that's what happened -- plunging into a furnace of molten steel. Cue the "Terminator." Yep, he's giving the fiery farewell a thumbs up. The company says Arnold Schwarzenegger replied to its post looking for ideas on how to say goodbye to their retired robots with the words, "You should melt them." That was my best impression. You're welcome, America -- John.

All right, I just want to loop Sara Sidner performing Arnold Schwarzenegger.

All right, we have "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL," we've got playoff baseball, and we've got the very rare punishment for refs, something that I think a lot of people might get behind.

Let's do sports. Who is with us this morning? Andy Scholes. Good to see you, my friend.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, good to see you too, John.

You know, "MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" was a special one and I still get chills every time I see Steve Gleason block that punt for a touchdown in the Saints' return to the Superdome 20 years ago. You know that play -- it actually has a statue outside of the stadium. It was such a special night. It was known as the Dome coming back then.

And Gleason, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 -- he was on the field along with Drew Brees and others as they honored the 2006 team before the game. It was a great atmosphere there in New Orleans.

But Saints fans though not a lot to cheer about in this one against the Falcons. It was a B. Robinson night for Atlanta. Opening drive for the Falcons, Bijan Robinson gets loose and takes this one 59 yards for the touchdown. Bijan finished with 145 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Then his backup Brian Robinson, he scampered for 62 yards and three touchdowns.

The Falcons win big 45-24. They've scored 80 points over the past two weeks.

All right. In the postseason, meanwhile, the Yankees now on the brink of elimination after just a sloppy night against the Rays. The Yankees committing three errors in the first inning, setting a franchise record and tying the Major League Baseball record for errors in a postseason inning. They were still only down 1-0 after that terrible first inning, but another error by George Lombard Jr. in the fifth -- that led to two more runs for the Rays. And other than two Ben Rice's home runs, the Yankees generated no offense all night long.

They lose 5-2 and head back to New York, down 0-2. And teams down 0-2, they go on to lose 92 percent of the time in the division series.

All right. The White Sox, meanwhile, head back to Chicago up 2-0 after beating the Guardians 4-3 in game two of their series. The White Sox know going to have two chances to do something they haven't done since 1906. That's clinch a postseason series at home. Chicago hasn't been to the ALCS in 21 years.

And Berman, you know, I got a stat for you. No Major League team ever has lost a postseason series ever when the pope is one of their fans.

BERMAN: That's fantastic. That is a fantastic stat right there.

SCHOLES: Do we think it's a coincidence, I don't know.

BERMAN: I have to say it's the coolest thing ever.

Andy Scholes, thank you very much -- Kate.

SCHOLES: All right.

BOLDUAN: All right. So we believe that all of the technical glitches have been fixed. We will test that right now because we're going to talk again about -- with Mayor Bibb, the mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Mayor, thank you for your patience.

I want to talk about what I was mentioning before, your view and other -- more than a dozen Democratic mayors in traditionally Republican states are launching a new political operation. What you're doing is basically the goal is to act as a counterweight -- a counterbalance, if you will, to extremes on the right -- extreme MAGA right, and also extremes on the left or far left dysfunction, I believe, is how you have described it.

Talk to me about what the plan is here to do that -- to be successful in an effort that has limited success in the past.

MAYOR JUSTIN BIBB, (D) CLEVELAND, OHIO: Well, the plan is to really showcase what we've been doing year after year after year as Democratic mayors in red and purple states all across this country. Poll after poll shows that Americans largely agree with the Democrats' point of view on how we address the affordability crisis. But the biggest problem is they don't trust our ability to get the job done.

But you look at what the mayor of Atlanta has done, Andre Dickens, to solve the food crisis in Atlanta. Or what the Mayor of Tulsa has done -- Mayor Monroe Nichols has done to really close the racial wealth gap in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Or what we're doing in Cleveland, really leading the nation in terms of how we address the housing affordability crisis.

The work of Blue Cities/Red States is to showcase pragmatic results- oriented mayors who are fighting the good fight, working across the aisle to get the job done and solving the biggest problems facing the American people.

BOLDUAN: And the fact of the matter is, I've always said America's mayors are the ones who have to -- who have to get the job done.