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Father Who Killed Oregon School Shooter Speaks Out; Trump DOJ Sues to Block Alaska Senate Results if GOP Incumbent Loses; Trump Rallies in Florida, 11 Days Before Midterm Election; How to Protect Yourself from AI-Powered Cyberattacks. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 23, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAYLUB GIAMANCO, STOPPED SCHOOL SHOOTER: ... And I looked at him and I shot him two more times to make sure that he couldn't move because I was afraid of him shooting anybody else.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Giamanco is being hailed as a hero, but he says he's struggled with what he witnessed and what he had to do and the feeling that he still could have done more.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIAMANCO: I called my mom and I told her, you know, I called her and I was like, mom, I just, I just had to take the life of what I think might be a child because he went into my daughter's school with a gun. And, you know, she was just like, OK, baby, calm down. You know, you did the right thing.

You're a hero. You saved lives. And then I just kind of broke down at that point.

And I was just like, you know, I didn't save everybody. I didn't get them all. And I kind of just broke at that point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Three children and one teacher were killed in the attack. And Giamanco says he wants to speak to the victims' families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GIAMANCO: I really did want to speak with the families and the victims and just cry with them and hold them. I want to apologize for not saving their babies. That's probably the biggest thing for me right now because the gratitude for saving people's children is awesome but there was ones that I didn't save and that's probably the hardest thing for me right now.

And so, yes, there's a little bit of like fear of seeing these families because I do feel like I failed them. But I do want to meet them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Early voting begins tomorrow in Alaska, but the Trump administration is already disputing the potential results in the state. Today, DOJ filing a preemptive lawsuit against Alaska seeking to block the certification of the Senate race. But that's only if the Republican incumbent loses.

President Trump asked about it while campaigning today in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any thoughts on the Alaska lawsuit?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm the one that said do it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN's Gabe Cohen is following this for us. All right, he said he's the one who said do it. What's DOJ arguing here?

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and it's not really surprising because the president is one of many Republicans who have been complaining for months about the fact that on this ballot for the Senate race in Alaska, there are two candidates named Dan Sullivan. There is Dan S. Sullivan, the incumbent Trump-backed Republican, and then Dan J. Sullivan, this retired teacher who the polling indicates has zero chance to win the election.

But Republicans have argued that his entire candidacy is really designed to create voter confusion and tip the scales for the Democratic candidate, Mary Peltola, who very well might flip that seat if the polling is right and give the Democrats a massive win in Alaska. And so now we've seen this lawsuit from the Justice Department that is really striking because they are preemptively trying to block the state of Alaska from certifying the results of that race if Mary Peltola wins.

And if there is this scenario where Dan J. Sullivan maybe got enough votes, where if all of those -- and that's the other Dan Sullivan, to be clear -- that if all those votes had gone to the incumbent Sullivan, if he would have had a chance to win, then they don't want the results certified. Instead, they want there to be some sort of investigation into whether or not those votes were correctly cast, that maybe voters were confused and they were submitting them for the wrong Dan Sullivan.

Now, there are a couple problems or issues with all this. One is I have no idea what that investigation would look like, and I've talked to experts who said, I don't know how you go back after the fact and try to analyze if votes were correctly -- who they really intended to vote for. There's also the issue of potential federal overreach here that the executive branch, the president, really doesn't have any authority over election administration.

And then there's the issue that this has already been litigated by the state. State leaders, top election officials there, tried to get this other Dan Sullivan removed from the ballot months ago, echoing Trump's concerns that he's this fraudulent candidate. But the state Supreme Court in Alaska ruled on this in June and said Dan J. Sullivan could stay on the ballot, that it wasn't enough, that officials believe that he's only doing this to try to confuse voters.

And so they ruled on it. Now the Justice Department, just a week and a half before the election, trying to force its way in and block certification.

KEILAR: Senator Dan Sullivan is identified as the senator or the incumbent -- is identified that way on the ballot?

COHEN: Correct. And that was sort of the compromise from the Supreme Court, where they said you have to differentiate between the two on the ballot. And if you look, you can see Dan S. Sullivan clearly labeled as a registered Republican and the incumbent, whereas Daniel J. Sullivan just listed by his full name.

KEILAR: All right. Gabe, thank you so much for taking us through that. Appreciate it.

Let's talk more now about the midterm elections. We're joined by Democratic strategist James Carville. James, what is your reaction to the president saying he ordered this Alaska DOJ lawsuit and the fact that this has been filed before the election?

JAMES CARVILLE, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: So this is a cockamamie, idiotic thing I've ever heard. He ever heard of butterfly ballots? Doesn't he live in Palm Beach County?

[15:40:00]

I mean, this has happened before. I worked for Bob Casey. He used to run a guy against Bob Casey all the time.

We had to run as the real Bob Casey. The Alaska Supreme Court has decided this. They put it on the ballot that he's the senator. I mean, you know, I know a lot of people in Alaska.

They're smart people. This -- and by the way, we're going to see more of this. They're going to try to intervene because they're going to get beat in this election, and they're going to try to do everything they can to avoid it.

But I don't think it's going to work. And this is so transparent and so stupid. And you wonder if, like, Todd Blanche has any spine at all.

I mean, if you looked at past attorney generals and, you know, how courageous some of them have been, the whole thing is just -- it's so predictable. And by the way, we're going to have more of this. Just stand by.

KEILAR: On the flip side of this, you're watching Democrats looking pretty good here, right? I mean, if we look at the Cook Political Report, it feels like every few days we're talking about shifts in Democratic races. Do you worry that the inevitability vibes could be bad for Democrats and how voters might respond to that?

What do you think?

CARVILLE: Well, I worry -- so there are two ways to look at this. See, people say, yes, if you say you're going to win, people are just going to become lethargic or complacent, and they won't vote. Or other people say it excites people that if you think that their side's going to win, and it depresses turnout when they think their side's going to lose.

I agree with that. And you can't stop people from taking polls. You can't stop people from doing analysis.

You can't stop panel discussions on CNN. You can't stop interviewing voters. And, you know, the question is not inevitability.

Is this Republican experiment of $2 trillion deficits, wars, and corruption, is that what people want? And I don't think it is, and I think that's what they're going to vote on. I don't think inevitability is going to be a factor.

I think the corruption and the wars and the $2 trillion in deficit spending are going to be what people are motivated by, and I feel pretty good that they've caught on to it.

KEILAR: I wonder how you're looking at the Florida Senate race, as we are looking at a lot of races that I think, you know, months ago we didn't even think we'd be talking about, right? And you're seeing that things are actually, you know, a possibility there for the Democrat in the Senate seat, the governor's mansion. I mean, it would be potentially tough, but you're kind of seeing late money come in there, and initially not a lot of concentration by Democrats on the possibility that they could win there, as opposed to some other states.

Do you think that that was a mistake? How are you looking at that?

CARVILLE: Well, first of all, we probably got -- David Jolly's probably one of the three best candidates the entire cycle. And, of course, everybody says he's going to win, but the Democrats might probably want the Senate, or they'll say that Ossoff is going to win big in Georgia but could potentially Lance Bottoms win. There's a point where gravity takes over.

So I don't know what it is, but if David wins by X number, then we can win that Florida Senate seat. And if John wins by X number, then Lance Bottoms could win the governor's race. It's just not kind of voting like they used to be.

But, you know, who's to say? I'll tell you what's going to happen on election night. You're going to have the CNN research people are going to be trying to, who is this person?

We can't find them on Wikipedia. We're trying to wait a minute, give us a few minutes. And some people are going to win that we never heard of.

And that is typical. And if this, I don't know, wave or tsunami or ripple or whatever it is, but if it goes really big, you're going to win a lot of races that you didn't even anticipate. So who's to say?

But, you know, clearly the Florida is one of the more, if you win in Florida, you're like, you're at 58 Senate seats.

KEILAR: All right. So if you're looking at that and you end up with these folks, whose names you have to figure out how to pronounce on election night, winning and Democrats -- Democrats are in the role of having to govern and govern with Donald Trump in the White House. How do they do that?

How do they do that and show voters that they can deliver on what they want to deliver on when they've been at such odds with him?

CARVILLE: Well, first of all, Congress can't do anything. He can veto everything. What they need to do is pick out five things and vote on them that he won't sign.

First, you pass a package. The first day you come in, ban stock trades by members of Congress. I'm sorry.

[15:45:00]

That's low hanging fruit. Do it. Corruption is a huge issue out there. Show that you take it seriously.

Raise the minimum wage. Make it easier for employees to unionize. That's going to do more to get wages up than anything you can imagine. All right.

Get out of Iran like yesterday. Now if they can pass it, Trump won't sign it. But you can't govern a congressional party, in effect, can't govern if the executive has veto power and the judicial, the Supreme Court is rigged against you. But do everything you can to put them on the spot. Do everything you can to embarrass them.

And by the way, investigate the hell out of this corruption. This story is unbelievable that I was reading Vanity Fair, $700 billion. I mean, the corruption that we have in the executive branch right now is greater than all the corruption we've ever had combined in history in the exec.

And that's Congress's job to point that out. And I think they will.

KEILAR: James Carville, thanks for being here. We're getting so close to the midterms. It's great to speak with you.

All right, see you later.

CARVILLE: That's it. We'll see. Thank you, Brianne.

KEILAR: Thank you.

CARVILLE: See you later. Thank you.

KEILAR: See you later.

Governments and companies are racing to fix a software bug found by artificial intelligence. And most of the world's websites, most of them, the vast majority of them could be vulnerable. But what can you do to protect yourself? We have advice from cybersecurity experts next.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: It has been a frantic week for IT experts as many have been scrambling to update software after AI tools discovered a major flaw in a programming language that powers 70 percent of the world's websites. That flaw could have allowed access to sensitive information and in the age of artificial intelligence, cyber security experts say having good internet safety habits is more important than ever, of course. So what can you do to protect yourself?

Let's bring in CNN AI correspondent Hadas Gold. Hadas, I mean 70 percent of the world's websites? What do people need to be doing here?

HADAS GOLD, CNN AI CORRESPONDENT: It's important to know that this was not a hacking or a data breach. This is an architectural flaw in the backbone of a lot of the internet. It's like discovering that the concrete used in all of our bank vaults actually has a weakness that could be exploited by burglars.

So it's really on these websites and these company operators to update and patch their systems. But it's always a good time to go and clean up your cyber hygiene. So we're going to give you guys some tips on what you can do.

The number one thing right now is to make sure that all of your software on all of your devices, including your smart fridge and your smart hairbrush or whatever you have, is updated to the most latest software because that is where a lot of those fixes will then come trickling down to you. The second is, of course, always watch where you browse. Make sure that you're going to websites that you know, that you trust.

Check the URL, the web address. Make sure it actually says what you're typing in, that you're typing in Netflix and not Netfix. Make sure that you're going to where you understand and where you know, especially right now, a lot of these smaller companies and smaller websites might be a little bit slower when it comes to fixing this vulnerability comparing to the big sites like Google or Facebook or the like.

Also on your passwords, remember to use complicated passwords. Never reuse your passwords from site to site. And really, everybody should start going and using password managers.

A lot of your phones and devices like Apple and Google already offer essentially a password manager, something that will save all your passwords, create really complicated ones for you. Don't have to remember them. There's other services like 1Password and you can also start using what's known as a passkey.

Apple offers this a lot where it says you could use your pin or your face ID instead of having to type in your password. Those are all safer than using password 123 over and over and over again. Also, anywhere that offers two-factor authentication, take it, use it.

They can text you a code. They can call you a code. All of that adds another layer of protection.

And cybersecurity experts even say that if you are willing to go beyond the text code, there are authenticator apps that you can use from Google and others that are said to be even safer. Also, always monitor your accounts. You can freeze your credit.

And then also, this is an important one. If you are worried that somebody is going to, you know, use AI to hack a loved one's voice and try to call you and get information from you, create a family passcode. You know, something that you guys will all remember.

So if somebody calls you and says, hey, I forgot her credit card number. What's her credit card number again? Can you give it to me?

I've done that before to my husband. But you're not quite sure. First of all, always call them back.

And then you create a password. Say, hey, what's our password? Something silly, something funny, whatever.

Make sure that they are who they actually say they are -- Brianna.

KEILAR: I've got like my long list of things Hadas told me to do. What do I do to my fridge? I just update the correct.

GOLD: Make sure that the software is all updated to the latest software.

KEILAR: All right, Hadas, I'm on it.

We'll be right back.

[15:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Got to end with something fun for Friday, right? Game one of the World Series tonight. However it ends, history is going to be made here.

The Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays are both trying to win their first title. The Rays are hoping the third time's a charm. They have been to the series twice.

For the Brewers, this is their first appearance in 44 years. None of the players were even alive back then. CNN's Andy Scholes had a little fun with the team and asked some of the Brewers if they could recognize some iconic things from 1982.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Well, you're one of the youngest guys on the team, so I'm picking on you here. The last time Milwaukee was in the World Series was 1982. The world looked much different back in 1982.

I was going to show you some pictures. Can you tell me what that is right there?

[Speaker 24] I'm trying to get some context clues here. That looks like a garage door opener, but I know it's not. Thermostat.

SCHOLES: Pager. You're right, you're the first person to get it.

You know what that guy is right there?

[Speaker 24] Oh man, I have no idea.

SCHOLES: That's a pager.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A pager?

SCHOLES: Wow, one for one with confidence, I love it. What about that guy?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A tape player.

SCHOLES: Tape recorder. A tape recorder. A remote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Maybe some type of DVD or record player.

SCHOLES: That's a Walkman.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A Walkman! Hey, I was born in 1995, all right, I'm not super proud.

SCHOLES: Hey, I'm just saying, he didn't do too hot.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, I'm sure.

SCHOLES: All right, do you know who this is? What show this was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Back to the Future.

SCHOLES: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Grease. Oh, I know that. Is that David Hasselhoff? That looks like an old Batmobile or something.

SCHOLES: I feel like everybody knows this, but I don't know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was Knight Rider. My parents are going to kill me, yes.

SCHOLES: You got one out of three. That's the best score so far.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hall of Fame numbers right there.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: He doesn't know Knight Rider? Oh man, feeling old here. Andy Scholes, thank you for those flashbacks.

Game one is tonight in Milwaukee, and by the way, we are currently monitoring the Trump rally in Florida. He's down there in Fort Myers, where he is campaigning, trying to help the Republican gubernatorial candidate, Byron Donalds. He is in a tight race there in Florida with David Jolly, the former Republican congressman turned Democrat.

And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END