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Vatican Says Pope Leo's Recovery After Surgery Is Proceeding as Expected; Trump's Job Approval Hits New Low of 36 Percent in Fox News Poll; Zelenskyy Vows to Resume Strikes on Russian Refineries; Local Lawmakers Seek Audit of District Attorney's Office in Cornell Case; Cornell Faculty Senate Begins Vote of No-Confidence; Ukraine Out of Patriot Defense Missiles as Trump Feud Boils Over. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 15, 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]

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: -- actually know who his client was until he saw the Pope coming out on the balcony after his election. So whilst there's a lot of concern for Leo, there is a lot of hope that he can recover, but we've got to wait to see what the final test results show. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": All right. Christopher, we will be looking for those results. So important to know what is ahead for him.

And a new hour of "CNN News Central" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": President Trump's approval rating hitting a new low as inflation keeps going up. How the president's polling problem could impact his ability to campaign for Republican candidates with Election Day just 19 days away. And Ukraine's president vowing to resume strikes on Russia's critical energy infrastructure. Though Volodymyr Zelenskyy is facing another big problem, his military is running out of a critical defense weapon.

And a 28-year long odyssey, a walk through deserts, frozen tundra, face offs with polar bears and kidnappers. That journey nearly at an end as we talk to the man who is walking around the world. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to "CNN News Central."

We start this hour with the midterms. Election Day just 19 days away and President Trump is saying that he's ready to go back to Texas if needed to boost Senate candidate, Ken Paxton. The president moments ago acknowledging that Paxton is, quote, "a little bit controversial." He also said he's been the best attorney general the country's seen in many years.

The president's latest pitch coming as his own polling is slumping. Trump's job approval is now plunged to 36 percent in Fox News polling and on the issue that voters say they care most about, his numbers are even worse. CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us at the White House with more.

Alayna, what are you hearing?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, look, despite, Boris, all of the money that is being poured into these races, you mentioned Texas and how the president moments ago said that he would return to the state if he needed. Well, Texas is one of those cases where there is so much money being spent. There are ads every day blitzing the airwaves and not just in Texas, but across the country and a lot of these battlegrounds.

And of course, this aggressive travel we've seen the president do. Despite all of that, his poll numbers are still showing that he and Republicans have a lot to worry about ahead of the midterms, which are now less than three weeks away. You mentioned that overall approval rating of those polled in this Fox News poll saying only 36 percent of them approving of his job performance.

That is the lowest approval rating that the president has gotten across his two terms in office in a Fox News national poll. So let that sink in there, just how underwater he is with voters. And then you get into the issues. This is really what I think underscores kind of the alarm bells that we know have been going off for Republicans, but also people here at the White House.

The economy, only 29 percent of those polled said that they approve of how the president is handling that. Inflation, only 22 percent say they approve of Trump's handling of that. On border security, 50 percent say they approve. And on foreign policy, only 35 percent say they approve of the job he's doing there. Look, these are some of the key issues we know from voters that they argue is what is going to drive them to the polls on Election Day. Really, the economy and inflation being the primary ones there.

And this all comes as well after we just got another bad Inflation Report. This is the second kind of disappointing Inflation Report for the White House in two days now, in two days in a row. The latest one saying that wholesale U.S. inflation soared in September to its highest level in four years. So not great news for this president.

Now I will say, Boris, in a lot of the conversations I'm having with Republicans, with some of the Republican committees, with people here at the White House, members of the president's political operation, a lot of them, or really a majority of them, will try to dismiss these polls.

They'll try to argue that, you know, polls have been wrong in the past. You can't stake -- put too much at stake in these. But when you look at the money, you look at the resources, the time, the energy that is being spent in a lot of these races -- let's go back to Texas, where Trump just said he'll return to if he needs to. That would be a fourth stop in just one month.

I mean, these are states and places where Republicans shouldn't be playing, that, you know, states that shouldn't be on the map. And so I think that just gives you a sense of what to expect in the next few weeks. Trump, for his part, he'll be in Georgia tomorrow, Kentucky Saturday, Kansas Monday, North Carolina Tuesday. A lot more travel for him as well.

So you'll continue to see that frenetic pace as he tries to bridge this enthusiasm gap before November 3rd.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene, live for us at the White House. Thank you for the update. Brianna?

KEILAR: Today, the race for control of Congress takes center stage in Michigan, with polls showing the state Senate race in a dead heat. Vice President, J.D. Vance and Democratic Congresswoman, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez are both stumping for their party's candidates.

[14:05:00]

Vance is expected to headline a rally for Republicans, while Ocasio- Cortez is speaking at two events for Democrat Abdul el-Sayed. Here's her message from earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ, (D-NY): Once you elect one person like that, people will then catch on and people will start electing more people like that.

(APPLAUSE)

OCASIO-CORTEZ: There is a lot of money and a lot of interest in making sure that nobody can open their ears or their eyes to even this guy a shock.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Corbin Trent. He served as Communications Director for Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez. He's also host of the show, "A Fight Worth Having."

Corbin, thank you so much for being with us. We see AOC campaigning there for Abdul el-Sayed. What's her objective if you had to distill it down?

CORBIN TRENT, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ: Help win that race. Help get a majority in the Senate. I think that's the way I would distill it. She's also helped with Angie Nixon in Florida. You know, you're seeing basically everybody that's got a deep connection to the Democratic Party and high favorability showing up in Michigan, whether it's Barack Obama, Harris, or Alexandria.

I think that's a useful, super good thing, because it is going to be -- I think this election's going to come down to turnout, sort of whichever team scores the most points, I guess, wins the game is obvious. But I think what's driving the polls is a depression among Republican voters, more than Republican voters switching to Democrats.

But I think what's going to be really important for us as a party and as a nation is if the Democrats do take the House and the Senate, what we do with that trust that the American people have given us. And right now, you know, you were just talking in the previous segment about how low Trump's approval ratings is around all the policies that he's promoting.

But the thing that's nearly as bad in terms of favorability is the Democratic Party. It just happens to be less unpopular than Republican Party and Trump, right? So we've still got work to do as a party to prove that this is the party that should be in charge.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: OK, so it sounds like you see her sort of building the excitement, trying to up that turnout there. She did make a direct appeal to Republicans. I mean, you said it's not maybe necessarily about flipping Republicans, but she made a direct appeal to Republicans. She said she hoped they were in the room.

If that's you, I want to welcome you here, she said. I want to thank you for keeping an open mind and an open ear, stressing we're better together than we are apart. Is she the right messenger for that? Do you think Republicans are open to hearing from AOC?

TRENT: I think any American is going to have a lot of convincing to do to rebuild our trust in our government, to rebuild our trust in politicians.

Like one of the things that's also leading the polls as far as one thing that concerns people is corruption in our government. We have massive amounts of corruption, and right now, it's running sort of unchecked at an unparalleled rate, but it's been a problem for a long time. So I think, absolutely, people like Alexandria, people like Bernie, people like Barack Obama, Harris, anybody out there that can say, hey, we need to do something differently. We need to restore confidence in our government, in our elected officials, and then follow through with that, I think that's going to be the -- you know, everybody's heard the wind blow. The question is going to be what happens if we win?

Do we start holding people accountable? Do we start actually implementing policies that can reduce the burden on people as far as affordability goes, you know, or do we just increase interest rates and try to make poor people poorer? And I think that's what's going to come down to. You know, this election's coming up in a couple of weeks now. The question is what happens when the rubber meets the road in January? How do Democrats go about winning the hearts and minds back of the people that were Obama-Trump voters or Bernie-Trump voters?

You know, how do we win those people back? Like here in East Tennessee, you got Jerry Green running for governors. You got, in my district, Michaela Barnett running in Tennessee 2. You've got Marquita Bradshaw running for Tennessee Senate against, you know, against a wacko who is Marsha Blackburn, who's done some really incredible ads, I think, as far as just embarrassing herself.

And there is an opportunity for the Democrats to reclaim places like West Virginia, Tennessee, Texas. And I hope we don't mess that up. And I think we can. I think we can go forward, bringing people out like Alexandria, like Bernie, like Barack Obama, and then doing something for the American people when we take the Senate and the House back in January.

KEILAR: The question about what kind of Democrat can win, right, in some of these races. And The New York Times reported that it obtained an audio recording from a recent closed-door fundraiser that AOC attended. The Times quoting her as saying, "If Abdul can win in Michigan, anybody can win anywhere." And describing this particular race as part of a generational project for the progressive movement.

[14:10:00]

If he does win this seat, do you think a progressive is more likely to become the Democratic nominee in 2028? Do you think that that makes it more likely that AOC might be finding a window or a door there to walk through? How are you seeing this race?

TRENT: Sure. Yeah, I mean, I think that that changes the people's calculus of what they think is possible, the over (ph) to the window of who can win, for sure. But, you know, I really do think it comes down to which party shows up in the speakership, which party shows up in Senate Majority Leader if we get the majority.

You know, I think that if it stays like Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer, and it's more of the same, people trying to claw back what we had when Trump won the second time, trying to get back to where we were then, then I think that does less for the American people's trust and faith in the Democratic Party as the solution.

My analysis is that voters have been going looking for transformative change. That's what drew them to Barack Obama in 2007. I think that's what drew them to Bernie Sanders. And I think that's what drew them to Donald Trump twice now, is that they they're looking for something substantially different than what's being delivered.

So, yes, I think Abdul winning in Michigan is going to go, you know, it's going to definitely take us in a step towards that direction. But what really matters is which Democratic Party shows up. Is it the Bill Clinton Democratic Party that shows up in Washington, or is it the FDR Democratic Party that shows up? And I think the FDR Democratic Party is the one that sent us on to generational majorities and supermajorities.

And the Bill Clinton Party is the one that sort of preceded, you know, thousands and thousands of losses across this country.

KEILAR: Corbin, it's great to speak with you. Thanks so much for being with us, Corbin Trent.

TRENT: Pleasure.

KEILAR: Still to come, Cornell University's president grilled by faculty over how the school has handled this alleged gang rape. We have the latest from that meeting and the push for a no-confidence vote ahead. Plus, Ukraine plans to hit Russian oil refineries again as President Zelenskyy's frustration with President Trump mounts. Then later, why President Trump's new diesel deal with Russia may not actually lower prices for Americans. We have that and much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:37]

SANCHEZ: There's now new fallout from the Cornell gang rape allegations. Local county lawmakers are expected to vote next week on a resolution authorizing an independent audit of the Tompkins County D.A.'s office. District Attorney, Matthew Van Houten declined to file criminal charges in 2024 after Jane Doe said she was attacked at a Cornell fraternity house. CNN has reached out to Van Houten for comment.

Meantime, Cornell's president also facing major scrutiny. The university's Faculty Senate has begun the process that could lead to a no-confidence vote in the school's leadership. Let's go to CNN National Correspondent, Jason Carroll for more on that.

Jason, walk us through the details in the reporting.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well yes, yesterday, there was a meeting about all of this, Boris. It was a contentious meeting and Cornell's President, Michael Kotlikoff was really on defense for most of it as it took place. He was responding to many of his critics who -- some of whom were there in the room, others who were there on zoom, again, very critical of his response to allegations that back in 2024, a woman identified as Jane Doe was gang raped by fraternity members.

Again, some of the faculty members expressing their outright anger towards this administration in terms of how they handled it. One faculty member saying his email inbox has been flooded with messages from alumni angry at this current administration. Again, this debate over whether or not the Faculty Senate should hold a no-confidence vote against Michael Kotlikoff. I want you to listen to one faculty member. It pretty much sums up how many of his critics felt during that meeting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NOAH TAMARKIN, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF ANTHROPOLOGY, CORNELL: A vote of no-confidence is the very least that we can do to support our students. This is a starting point, not an end point. This is the very first bar of how we start to stand with our students and for me, that's the most important thing. And I can't imagine voting no because voting no is to say, I stand against our students.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CARROLL: Now, Kotlikoff for his part in some ways as of late has tried to get out in front of this. He has apologized for the university's response in some ways. He also said this, he said if this university feels that they will solve this problem by replacing its president, that itself is not good for Cornell's reputation because I think it's not the right way you address situations like this.

Now, Cornell's Faculty Senate does not actually have the power to remove Cornell's president. That decision and ultimate power is left up to the Board of Trustees. But a no -confidence vote would most definitely be a stunning rebuke not only of Kotlikoff, but Cornell in general in terms of how it's handled itself in terms of handling this investigation and its response so far.

SANCHEZ: And in terms of policy at Cornell, the admissions department is also making changes in response to all of this.

CARROLL: Well, it's very clear, CNN has learned that there have already been some students and their parents who have decided not to attend Cornell. Already, the school must be aware of this. They've sent out a letter to school guidance counselors -- just this week, sending out this letter to guidance counselors saying in part that they -- that the allegations, first of all, are deeply disturbing, going on to say we recognize that this case has likely raised questions for you, your students and their families about how Cornell responds to sexual misconduct on campus.

[14:20:00]

We know that some of you may have mixed feelings about recommending Cornell to students now or in the future. Again, that letter going out to high school guidance counselors, that letter going out just this week.

So it's very clear that Cornell is feeling the pressure. Early admission is November 1st. And already, as we've just been learning here, some students deciding that Cornell will not be their choice this time.

SANCHEZ: Jason Carroll, thanks so much for the update.

So Ukraine's president is vowing to begin striking Russian oil refineries again. We've got details when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:25:00]

KEILAR: Ukraine's best weapon for defending itself against Russian ballistic missiles is no longer an option, at least for right now. Sources telling CNN, Ukraine has run out of U.S.-made Patriot defense missiles, something Ukrainian President Zelenskyy had been warning could happen for months as he pleaded with world leaders and U.S. officials for help.

SANCHEZ: The lack of Patriots comes amid relentless attacks from Russia. A new surveillance video from early this morning shows the moment a drone strike hit a supermarket in the Ukrainian seaport city of Odesa, injuring at least three people. All of this unfolding as President Zelenskyy finds himself in yet another clash with President Trump, this time over a U.S. deal with Russia to import its diesel fuel.

Joining us now is retired U.S. Army Major, Harrison Mann, also a former Defense Intelligence Agency official and Associate Campaign Director for "Win Without War."

Harrison, thank you so much for being with us. So Zelenskyy has repeatedly warned that Ukraine is running out of these Patriot interceptors. The interceptors are not only expensive, but they are in short supply globally. So, does this come down to President Trump essentially handing these over, even as the U.S. is facing its own shortages and the war with Iran?

MAJ. HARRISON MANN, U.S. ARMY (RET.): I think there's two factors at play here. There is a legitimate, genuine shortage of Patriot interceptors because we shot over a thousand of them during Trump's war on Iran. As of this summer, there were maybe about 800 left total in the entire U.S. military. So it's unclear that even if you wanted to, Trump could give a substantial number of Patriots to Ukraine.

On the other side, we have the feud that you alluded to, which is Trump does not really want to help Ukraine that much right now. It seems like he's trying to punish Zelenskyy for his strikes on Russian oil infrastructure, which have in turn driven up energy prices, which Trump is trying to bring down before midterms.

So specifically with the Patriots, I think there probably are not enough to go around. U.S. support altogether is being withheld. It looks like Trump tried to turn off Starlink or the military version, Starshield, which basically half the Ukrainian war effort depends on, including its drones. Turned it off for at least 24 hours and just came back up online and has withheld some advance notice about missile strikes, which allowed Russia to more easily strike infrastructure in Ukraine.

KEILAR: How do you see the U.S. objective in all of that? The threat to not share intelligence, the Starshield thing, whatever exactly the details of that are, the running out of Patriots, and yes, there's a shortage, but you know, how willing is the U.S. to really help here? What do you see right now?

MANN: I think Trump really just has his eye on the five-meter target, which is bringing down energy prices before midterms, and that has once again led his administration to take kind of desperate and ineffective steps. The diesel waiver for Russia is going to maybe supply half a day's U.S. consumption worth of diesel. It's not going to make a big impact on prices for farmers and other manufacturers that need it.

Maybe he's hoping it will influence traders and markets, but it's not really going to matter that much. But we've seen them do a lot of other desperate measures to try and bring down energy prices. Right now, especially because he can't really admit his own culpability in the Iran War, it's much easier to blame Ukraine and Zelenskyy for high energy prices. The administration has done that over and over again. And so he's using what leverage he has, which is quite substantial, over Ukraine, much higher than the leverage he has over Iran, to try and keep Zelenskyy from attacking Russian refineries. The problem here is that this has now driven Zelenskyy to a point of desperation where it seems like he's really adopted the Iranian strategy.

He originally started attacking refineries in Russia to try and debilitate the Russian war effort, but now he's basically threatened to attack them in reprisal for Trump withholding military support. I think it's a very risky strategy, but it shows that he feels like he doesn't really have anywhere else to turn.

SANCHEZ: That was my next question. Trump has insisted that the U.S. hasn't stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine. This was after CNN reported that he threatened to. And as you said, for some 24 hours, Ukraine was without important intelligence as Russian missiles were coming across the border.

So if this potentially makes Zelenskyy more desperate, more likely to go after other infrastructure targets aside from just refineries, I mean, what does that mean that Russia's response is going to be?

MANN: Zelenskyy is gambling, basically, with the fate of unprotected parts of his country. Because if Trump withholds Starlink, withholds early warning about missile strikes, we're going to see a repeat of what we saw this week, which is Russia taking advantage of that and striking Ukrainian infrastructure unopposed.

It looks like Zelenskyy has decided --