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Trump Heads to Texas as GOP Fights to Hold Senate Seat; Fed Charge Man in Alleged Plot to Attack Mall of America; Christa Pike's Attorneys Appear in Court After Botched Execution; Israel Mark Three Years Since October 7th Attacks; Israel to Hold First National Elections Since 10/7 Attack This Month. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 07, 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]

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: -- warnings from Burry before. And it's famously very hard to time anything in the market, right? Alan Greenspan warned of a rational exuberance years before the dot-com bubble actually imploded.

Big picture though, Boris, when you think about it, the fact that the Fed has been hiking interest rates, the fact that bond rates have gone up so much, that the war continues, that we've had this energy spike, it's pretty incredible that the stock market has performed as well as it has.

We've seen double-digit percentage gains for the Dow and the S&P. And so, so far, the stock market has proved to be remarkably resilient. Back to you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Yeah. A lot riding on artificial intelligence. Matt Egan, thank you so much. A new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": A growing revolt as more Republicans break with President Trump. We'll look at the GOP candidates now distancing themselves from the president just weeks before the midterm elections.

And plot foiled, investigators say they stopped an 18-year-old from committing a terror attack on the Mall of America in Minnesota.

SANCHEZ: And a key hearing just took place in the case of Christa Pike. She's the convicted murderer whose execution was botched. We have the latest from inside the courtroom as we follow these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

KEILAR: Everything is bigger in Texas, including the political tension. Soon President Trump hits the trail as two top GOP Senate candidates distance themselves from his midterm message.

First, there's Ken Paxton in Texas. Trump will be speaking there tonight after leaked audio obtained by Axios finds Paxton recently saying this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN PAXTON, (R) TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: It's not tariffs. It's the war, it's gas prices, it's diesel. When it's over $6 a gallon for diesel, I mean it's -- put money, they have a lot of trucks that are diesel. People are feeling the pinch.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: And then there's Michigan, Mike Rogers dropping a new ad and a new message for voters and President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROGERS, (R) MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Alayna Treene is live at the White House where the president was just asked about Ken Paxton. Alayna, what was his message?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, look, the president was asked specifically if he has any regrets about Ken Paxton. I'd remind our viewers that Paxton is really the GOP nominee for that Senate seat in Texas because of President Trump.

He was the one who got involved and pushed Paxton over the finish line in that very tight primary against the incumbent, Republican John Cornyn. I want you to listen, though, to what the president said in response to that question.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you have any regrets about endorsing Ken Paxton?

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, no, no. He was a great attorney general. I think he'll be a great Senator. Ken Paxton was great. He was considered the best or certainly one of the few bests, but the best attorney general in the whole country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, look, the reason I think this is an interesting answer and a fair question from this reporter is, first of all, the president is going to San Antonio tonight to again try and boost Paxton, who is in a very tight race against James Talarico, the Democrat running against him. And this is Texas we're talking about.

And this visit to San Antonio tonight is the third visit that Trump has made to Texas in just a month alone. If we were, you know, six months ago, if you were telling Republicans that this is how the president would be spending his time, which is 27 days until the midterm, going to Texas, but also just to lay out some of the other red states he's been to in the last week, you have Oklahoma, Alabama, Nebraska. They would be very surprised.

This is not typically where you see a Republican leader spending their resources. The thing about Paxton as well, and you played that leaked audio that Axios had obtained. What's interesting about that audio is it's actually something that's not surprising to a lot of Republicans. That is something that Paxton, he wasn't saying it out loud, of course, that was private and this audio was leaked. But that is what a lot of Republicans are saying across the country.

It's the same thing I'm hearing, Brianna, in my conversations with people even at the White House, even on the president's own political operation, that the Iran War, gas prices, those are the things that are really dragging down Republicans across the country.

And so, look, the president's arguing he doesn't have regrets about Paxton, but there's a reason he's spending so much time there. And there's also a reason that so many Republicans are very worried about that race.

KEILAR: Yeah. And Alayna, the president was also asked about Vladimir Putin. He noted it was his birthday and also that they'll be speaking soon.

TREENE: Yes, we -- look, we actually had checked in with some people at the White House about whether or not they have a call scheduled. As of now, we have not learned that there's going to be a call scheduled. Of course, the president could always just pick up the phone and call up the Russian President, Vladimir Putin himself.

[14:05:00]

But what was interesting was this call would be about what's happening in Russia with this lab worker getting sick from what they're calling the plague. Now, he was asked specifically by reporters in the room, the president was, just moments ago if whether or not what is happening with this he feels is similar to the response he was getting from China at the start of the Corona virus pandemic.

Now, the president argued he believes that this is different. He said that he's been assured from Russia that this is going to be contained, that there's not much more to be worried about. But he also said he's not really getting much information. He said, like China, Russia is not giving us a lot of information on what's happening.

So I think there's still a lot more details we need to learn. And, of course, the president saying he hopes to speak to President Putin about this. We'll wait and see whether or not that actually happens.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly. Alayna Treene, thank you so much. Boris?

SANCHEZ: President Trump's trade war against Canada becoming an increasingly hot-button issue in Maine's tight Senate race. During last night's debate, Democratic challenger Troy Jackson again accused Senator Susan Collins of failing to push back against the president's tariffs. Watch this exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN COLLINS, (R) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: Troy mocked it, but I was successful in getting concrete, pulp and road salt removed from the tariff list.

TROY JACKSON, (D) MAINE SENATE CANDIDATE: I didn't mock the fact that she got road salt back. I mocked the fact that what about everything else? We can't eat road salt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN Chief National Affairs Correspondent, Jeff Zeleny joins us now. Jeff, Senator Collins also repeated that she did not expect President Trump to be joining her for an event in Maine anytime soon. Between that, the ad you saw from Mike Rogers, what does this tell you about Trump's standing in the Republican Party right now among these folks seeking reelection?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: I mean, Boris, it's clear less than a month out now before the midterms, where early voting is underway, it's every man and woman for themselves. There's no doubt about it. I mean, the White House has effectively conveyed that message, I'm told, to Republicans. Do what you need to do to survive.

And we've seen other instances of that, like on the Iran War, for example. Ashley Hinton in Iowa, she distanced herself. She has a debate this evening. I'm sure that will be front and center. Mike Rogers was actually the first Senate candidate to distance himself from the Iran War, but this trade issue really gets to the heart of what is the central issue of this campaign, and that's affordability and cost.

But I think the exchange we heard there a second ago from Troy Jackson in Maine from last night, you can't eat rock salt, I think Maine voters are going to hear that again and again and again, probably in ads and things, because it kind of sums up the whole picture here.

But overall, the question is, we know that President Trump is injecting himself even more into the campaign, going to San Antonio again tonight, trying to prop up Ken Paxton. Democrats don't know if it's not going to be successful. They wonder if he's able to sort of fire up some of these voters.

So of all the unknowns in the final month here, I would put the money, a huge Republican advantage. That gives Democrats anxiety. They're not sure if Trump can fire up the voters, but the central issue that this is playing out on the economy and affordability is a big worry on the Republican side, that they think that regardless of what they're doing, the president is not really helping them out here.

So it's fascinating to watch.

SANCHEZ: Would you -- just given polling, it appears that Republicans are in trouble, but how much weight should we put into that polling? It would not be the first time that we would see some perhaps different results than we expected on election night just based on polling.

ZELENY: Without a doubt. I mean, you and I both covered the president in his first term in office. The polling was not always right. A big question on polling is, are these Trump voters in rural America, are they responding to polls or not? I'm very skeptical of polls at this point.

There's no doubt about it. I mean, some obviously are much better than others, but look at the other metrics here in terms of spending. So are Republicans among the ropes here? There's no doubt about it.

I mean, in the House particularly, but the Senate, it is still a margin of error race here. Democrats have to pick up four Republican- held Senate seats. That's not an easy thing to do, and win their own. So look, this is still a jump ball for the final month of this campaign, so don't count anything until we actually count those votes on November 3rd.

SANCHEZ: Jeff Zeleny, appreciate the analysis. Thanks so much.

ZELENY: You bet.

SANCHEZ: Some Breaking News to CNN right now. Federal investigators have filed criminal charges against an 18-year-old man who was allegedly plotting an attack at the Mall of America in Minnesota. CNN's Whitney Wild is following the latest for us. So Whitney, what are you learning?

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we're learning more about this case. As you pointed out, he's 18 years old. He turned 18 in April. This investigation stretches all the way back to December 2024, when this man was just about 16 years old. And the FBI, in a 23-page affidavit, is describing in detail this two-year investigation.

[14:10:00]

And what they say is that the bulk of the evidence came from messages that this man exchanged with a confidential human source. The FBI and the U.S. Attorney's Office didn't describe the confidential human source, didn't say how they came upon this person, but the messages here, and there are hundreds of them, really detail over several months how this man began to express in more and more detail how radicalized he was becoming.

He said in several of the messages that he had hoped to join foreign terrorist organizations. He was shopping for them, basically. He was interested in al-Shabaab. He eventually decided to carry out a terrorist attack in the name of ISIS. He had hoped to travel to Somalia to join one of these foreign terrorist organizations, and he had talked several times about how he was going to do it.

His plan was to purchase an AK-47 and try to inflict as much mass casualty as he could, eventually deciding to target the Mall of America. Here's more from the FBI special agent in charge describing these messages. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTOPHER DOTSON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, MINNEAPOLIS FIELD OFFICE: The messages this defendant allegedly sent to others were chilling. They document the idolization of ideologically motivated violence, a callous disregard for the sanctity of human life, a blind hatred of people of other faiths, and a cold commitment to carrying out his vision of violence in our community.

According to court documents, Mohamud pledged his allegiance to ISIS leaders and claimed to have joined ISIS over a year ago. Mohamud allegedly sought martyrdom in carrying out his plans to murder innocent civilians.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Boris, the messages also show that he was drawing inspiration and he admired other terrorist attacks, including a terrorist attack in New Orleans in January 2025. Why Mall of America? It was not just because that was where he could, he hoped to kill as many as 30 to 60 people, but also saying in a message because it was owned by Jews. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Wow, Whitney Wild, thank you so much for bringing us that Breaking News.

Still to come, a death row inmate now conscious and speaking a week after surviving two botched lethal injections. We'll take you live to Nashville with an update from today's court hearing.

Plus, Israel marking a somber occasion. A look at the memorials and protests taking place across the country on the three-year anniversary of the October 7th attacks by Hamas.

And the Gulf Coast could see its first hurricane of the season. Your forecast is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:17:15]

KEILAR: We have Breaking News. A hearing has just wrapped up in the case of Christa Pike, the Tennessee death row inmate who survived a botched execution. Her attorneys are asking a judge to order the preservation of evidence from that execution attempt.

CNN's Ryan Young was inside the courtroom. He's with us now. Ryan, walk us through what happened.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Brianna, this lasted for a little more than 90 minutes. You could really see sort of the frustration from Christa Pike's attorneys. They're basically saying they want all of the evidence preserved because they believe the state so far hasn't been completely open with them. So that was a part of the conversation going back and forth. The judge did agree to preserve all the sort of evidence in this case so far. But what was really astonishing was the talk about Christa Pike's condition. I mean, I think all of us were sort of astounded about what we were hearing. Apparently on Sunday, they believed that she was brain dead and they thought they were going to have to pull her off life support.

And then all of a sudden she woke up. We just finished that news conference less than 10 minutes ago. Take a listen to one of the attorneys talk about the moment where Christa Pike woke up for the first time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RANDY SPIVEY, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTA PIKE: I was not in the room when she woke up, so I don't want to speculate too much. Our understanding was the first thing she said was, where am I and who are you? There's still a lot of cognitive confusion, and so I will say that.

She has wanted to know what's happened, and she's asked about several people. She's asked about her team. She's asked about the victim's family. Like, she is -- I think she is angry and confused about everything right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yeah. Brianna, we were really trying to ascertain what state she is in right now and, of course, the attorney told me basically she is shackled with one arm to that bed, both legs to the gurney that she's on. We've also been told the reason why the state doesn't want to unshackle her is because apparently she has had escape attempts before.

But her attorney went on to say that one of her arms is actually sort of blown up like a balloon, and it looks like she suffered from the effects of that chemical going into her arm. So now, they hopefully will have more access to her. The judge was saying she basically wants her to have the same kind of access that she would have if she was in the prison facility.

So they'll have to schedule that ahead. They're hoping to talk to her more, but you can understand right now why there seems to be some hesitancy on both sides with how this will move forward. It's something that we're still digging into and trying to get comments from as many people as we can.

And we've reached out to the state officials to see how they plan to move forward now that this has all happened. Brianna?

KEILAR: Right, Ryan, unbelievable. Thank you so much for that update.

[14:20:00]

Still to come, hundreds of memorials and protests taking place across Israel today as the country marks three years since the October 7th attacks by Hamas. We are live from Tel Aviv next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Today, Israelis are marking the third year since Hamas launched its deadly October 7 terror attack against the country, the deadliest in Israel's history.

[14:25:00]

Multiple memorials, ceremonies and also protests took place across several cities. This commemoration was held at the site of the Nova Music Festival, where more than 350 people were killed during the 2023 attack. Displaced Gazans are also reflecting on the events of October 7th and the ensuing conflict that has ravaged their homeland. Many are calling it the worst three years of their lives.

CNN spoke with Israeli President, Isaac Herzog, who said that Israel remains a nation on alert with PTSD.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ISAAC HERZOG, ISRAELI PRESIDENT: And that is why it's a very big issue in our national discourse as we are going up to the elections on October 27th. We are now deliberating and dealing and speaking and, of course, agonizing and mourning today to remember and reminisce. And we're in a very solemn day where we think about what we've gone through and what the future should entail, including that the possibility of the enemy trying again and again because terrorists, unfortunately, never give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN Jerusalem Correspondent, Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Tel Aviv with more on today's events. And Jeremy, just weeks ahead of Israel's national elections, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is foreshadowing that more conflict could lie ahead.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, that's right, Boris. As we speak right now, there is a memorial ceremony underway here in Tel Aviv organized by the families of victims and survivors of that October 7th massacre, marking three years since that terrible day when more than 1,200 people were killed, mostly civilians, and 251 people were taken hostage.

But today also marks the first time -- the first anniversary of October 7th since there have been no more hostages in Gaza, living or dead. And that has also given more room for pushes for -- and demands for accountability about the security failures that led to that day of October 7th. A lot of that rhetoric has been aimed at the Israeli prime minister directly.

We have seen today, yes, commemoration and memorial ceremonies, but also protests against this current Israeli government and demanding that an independent state commission of inquiry be established to look into what happened three years ago. The Israeli prime minister has so far repeatedly refused to establish such a committee, insisting that he believes it would be biased. But those calls are growing louder, and they are also becoming a key feature of the current election campaign.

With elections just a few weeks away, Gadi Eisenkot, the primary opposition candidate running to replace the Israeli prime minister, he has said that his first duty in office, the first action he would take would be to establish such a commission of inquiry.

Now, of course, beyond that, October 7th also marks three years since that day's events triggered the war in Gaza, where more than 74,000 people were killed over the course of that war. And in fact, people are continuing to die in Gaza today as Israel continues to carry out near-daily airstrikes in Gaza. Some of those, the Israeli military says, are aimed at targeting and killing some of the perpetrators of that October 7th attack.

But many of those strikes also appear to be in violation of the current ceasefire agreement. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you.

Coming up, President Trump heading back to Texas, marking his fourth visit since late August. The former Chief of Staff for Vice President Mike Pence will join us to discuss next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)