Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

CNN International: Authorities Investigate Motive Behind Flydubai Attack; Passengers Describe Brush With Death On Flydubai Flight; Tennessee Inmate In Critical Condition After Botched Execution; Letitia James To Oversee Probe Of Cornell Rape Allegations. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired October 02, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:33]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers all around the world, I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. Let's go to our headlines.

Investigators work to determine a motive in the Flydubai attack and we are now hearing from that hero pilot. We're live in Dubai with the latest.

Protesters across Spain are demanding government action on the housing crisis ahead of a key vote. I'm going to talk to a spokesperson for the group organizing those protests about what is at stake.

Plus, the fallout from the failed execution attempt of a Tennessee death row inmate and what could come next.

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: Let's start with what are the very first public remarks from the pilot of a Flydubai flight since Wednesday's horrific midair incident. In a video call with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the pilot said he was fighting for his life after being attacked by his co-pilot, but he also said he simply could not let everyone else on the plane die.

The pilot, who is from India, is now recovering in the United Arab Emirates. Meanwhile, CNN has also obtained new footage that shows passengers rushing into the cockpit to subdue that co-pilot while one crew member can be heard calling for a doctor.

Another man shouts that they need a pilot. The co-pilot is now accused of attacking and injuring the captain on this flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv. The plane plunged some 17,000 feet before the passengers managed to take down the suspect. Another flight crew that were on board as passengers landed the plane safely.

Investigators are still looking into the motive behind this very dramatic incident.

For more, we're joined now by Eleni Giokos, who is in Dubai, where the flight departed from. Good morning, Eleni.

So, we're hearing from this hero pilot for the first time in a video call with the Indian Prime Minister. What has he said? And what are you learning?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, incredible. I mean, firstly, it's just absolutely extraordinary as we're getting a lot more of the footage and now for the first time hearing from the hero pilot.

And this is such a pivotal moment because we know that he's -- he was severely wounded. I want you to take a listen to what Smit Machchaar said to the Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi. Take a look at this video call. Really extraordinary detail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMIT MACHCHAAR, FLYDUBAI CAPTAIN (through translator): You are the hero pilot. And, sir, I've been flying planes for the last 17 years. And I've been a captain for the last 11 years. And even if I shut my eyes, I know what is happening in the plane.

And when I was on the ground, I realized that the aircraft was falling down. And I knew in that moment, one last push, Smit. Just do it. The door is right there. And even at that time, he was beating me up. And then I just opened it, sir, and then everybody came. And everybody else also played an equal role in this.

I was telling, sir, that I was doing this for my life, but at the same time, I knew that I cannot let everybody else die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Incredibly emotive messaging there, I have to say, listening to the Flydubai pilot, the heroism and, of course, making -- you know, taking decision in just a span of few seconds, knowing that his life was at risk and everyone else on the plane's life was at risk.

And you can see him with a bandage on his head just shows the extent of some of the injuries that he had to endure after being attacked by the co-pilot.

And, you know, this is how we're going to start seeing the investigation really being pieced together. The accounts from the pilot, the co-pilot, and interrogating him is going to be absolutely important as the UAE now starts this investigation.

And also the big questions, what was the motive? What really transpired in that cockpit? Those details really lie with the pilot that we've just heard from. And, of course, the cockpit recordings that is going to shed so much detail in terms of the moment when the plane plunged 17,400 feet in the span of two minutes, what the crew has to say about it. And, of course, a lot of the passenger accounts and the important images that we're seeing that was collected by the passengers and their experience, Salma, that is going to be absolutely pivotal.

[04:05:04]

Look, a lot of the information and the detail we've been getting has been from Israeli officials, has been from Israeli sources. We know Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that the Omani co-pilot was radicalized.

We know that the UAE is investigating whether he was linked to terrorist activity, whether there was prior planning or direction, who could have been involved, you know, whether this was a mental health issue, whether it was overall tied to some kind of wider network. So, a lot of unanswered questions right now.

The other big thing that, you know, security forces are going to be looking into why an Omani pilot flew into Israel, you know. And that kind of screening would happen not only in the UAE here, but also on the Israeli side as well.

This is an investigation that will be conducted together with the UAE and Israel. We know the preliminary investigation was conducted in Saudi Arabia with the UAE security on the ground there as well.

Now, both pilots in Abu Dhabi, so we're going to start seeing a lot more headway, perhaps a lot more detail around what happened in this harrowing experience for all the passengers on board.

Now, they return to Israel. They are back in Tel Aviv. And we know that flights are suspended from the UAE to Tel Aviv. We also understand that Israel is now going to be sending relief flights to get passengers that are stuck here back home.

So, a lot of things happening as we're starting to learn a lot more detail. But this video call with Narendra Modi and I'm going to say his name again, Smit Machchhar, really an important moment as we -- as we get more detail and very emotive, I have to say, Salma.

ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely extraordinary, Eleni. And, yes, seeing the extent of the pilot's injuries, the head bandage, as you pointed out, it gives you a -- a -- a feeling of just the gravity of the crisis, the gravity of the situation.

GIOKOS: Yes.

ABDELAZIZ: Absolutely extraordinary to hear from him and see him telling that story that, as you say now, is unfolding across multiple strands in multiple countries.

CNN's Eleni Giokos with the latest from Dubai. Thank you.

One of the passengers who subdued the suspect says that because his young daughter was traveling with him, he could not go down without a fight. CNN's Jeremy Diamond spoke with him and his family.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It's hard to imagine, but this family just survived a dramatic brush with death. Twenty-four hours ago, they were aboard that harrowing Flydubai flight.

Tali was taking her six-year-old daughter to the bathroom. And she says she suddenly heard strange noises coming from the cockpit.

I mainly heard banging on the door, something you're not supposed to hear coming from the cockpit, noises, a man's raised voice. Suddenly, she says, the cockpit door flung open and she saw one of the pilots stabbing the other.

At that moment, I realized that was it. It was over. I couldn't imagine any way we were going to get out of there. I just screamed, they're stabbing the pilot, they're stabbing the pilot, help. I screamed and screamed.

That's when Tzvika, seen here in a bloodied white shirt, jumped into action, grabbing his daughter from the bathroom before rushing to subdue the attacker.

TZVIKA MANES, PASSENGER WHO SUBDUED SUSPECT: I heard my wife scream -- screaming and I heard my daughters screaming, we don't want to die. Father, we don't want to die. And this, you know, this is -- and I'm getting emotional right now as well.

When you hear that your daughters are crying for help, you do whatever you can to -- to help them. And that's -- that's what -- that's the -- the -- the trigger that pushed me to run.

DIAMOND: Do you -- do you describe it as instinct?

MANES: It's absolutely instinct. We were like jumping on him, three guys, and with hands. We were struggling with him.

DIAMOND: And I mean, this -- this must have all been happening so fast.

MANES: It's so fast and the -- the adrenaline is so high and I didn't know where -- I was covered with blood from fighting with him. I don't know maybe he was injured. I don't know how.

DIAMOND: It was his blood.

MANES: It was his blood, yes. I was covered with blood. You know, I have some bruises here that I -- I only, today, I just noticed that -- this is the adrenaline, you know.

When you are in this moment, you don't feel anything. You -- you -- you act, like, like actually a machine trying to solve, trying to control, trying to -- to be efficient as much as you can. DIAMOND: Tzvika is one of three passengers who rushed toward the cockpit and took down the co-pilot before he could crash the plane. But they only managed to get in, thanks to the quick thinking of the plane's captain, Smit Machchhar, who managed to open the cockpit door.

[04:10:13]

MANES: He's absolutely a hero. He's absolutely a hero. And due to his acts, we're sitting here today.

DIAMOND: Have you ever been in a situation like this before?

MANES: Never.

DIAMOND: Never?

MANES: Never. There were moments we thought this -- this is the end of our life. And I'm glad that we succeeded making the change.

DIAMOND: Tzvika's daughters are still processing their ordeal, but Millie's (ph) opinion is set on her father. He's a hero, she says, and I love him.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Now to England. Another man is now under arrest in connection with a suspected plot to target an air base. A 27-year-old British-Iranian dual national was arrested in London on Thursday. This is on suspicion of preparing a terrorist act at the Fairford base.

A second British national was questioned and two -- and police also searched two properties. A day earlier, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham said there are strong indications of Iranian involvement.

The base has been used by U.S. bombers to conduct strikes in Iran, but Tehran denies any role in the alleged plot.

And President Trump is issuing new threats to annihilate Iran. He says, peace may never be possible, even as mediators work to bring the U.S. and Iran back to that negotiating table.

The president is also defending how long the war has lasted. He says, his initial four to six-week estimate did not account for the time it would take to ensure Iran would never obtain a nuclear weapon.

In a "Time Magazine" interview, President Trump blamed the press for shaping public expectations despite repeatedly stating that timeline himself.

The Trump administration is also imposing new sanctions in an effort to ramp up economic pressure on Tehran. The penalties hit the country's two biggest automakers and also several key rail companies. They also target foreign auto parts suppliers, which the administration says helped Iran sidestep existing sanctions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned he will use all the weapons in his arsenal, including nuclear, if Russia's Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad comes under attack. It comes after NATO drills that took place nearby concerned Moscow.

Mr. Putin said, nothing is off the table.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Can we be sure that these weapons of mass destruction will never be used? Of course not. We all know a famous saying, if a rifle hangs on a wall in a scene at the beginning of a show, it will most definitely be fired after all. We should keep it in mind and avoid it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, Kaliningrad is an exclave of around one million people that is sandwiched between NATO members Poland and Lithuania and is home to the Russian Baltic fleet. It was annexed by the Soviet Union from Germany after the Second World War.

Coming up next on "CNN Newsroom," a Tennessee inmate's survival of an execution attempt is renewing scrutiny of the death penalty. That story is ahead.

And the latest on the investigation into allegations of rape at Cornell University, what the governor of New York says she's going to do about it.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:15:39]

ABDELAZIZ: Tennessee death row inmate, Christa Pike, remains in critical condition and is receiving life-saving medical care. This is after surviving an execution attempt. Pike survived two lethal doses of pentobarbital on Wednesday night. She was sentenced to death for the 1995 murder of her classmate Colleen Slemmer.

During Pike's failed execution, witnesses say she showed signs of life for over an hour after the process began. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended executions in the state, pending an investigation. Now, Pike's lawyer is urging the governor to commute her sentence.

CNN's Karin Caifa has more for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KARIN CAIFA, CNN NEWSOURCE REPORTER (voice-over): Attorneys for the woman who survived a failed execution in Tennessee said she was alive Thursday afternoon and receiving hospital care.

RANDY SPIVEY, CHRISTA SPIKE'S ATTORNEY: What we have been told is that she is in -- she's in critical condition receiving life-saving care. That -- that is the extent that we have at the moment. CAIFA (voice-over): Media witnesses to Wednesday night's failed execution of convicted murderer Krista Gail Pike by the state of Tennessee called it unprecedented.

CATHERINE SWEENEY, WITNESS: I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year. We haven't seen anything like it.

CAIFA (voice-over): Now, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has halted the state's remaining execution this year. And on Thursday, he told reporters he's called for a third-party review of the process.

Lee said, quote, "I immediately took action to call for a thorough and comprehensive and third-party review and investigation."

50-year-old Pike was scheduled to die by lethal injection Wednesday morning for the 1995 murder of Colleen Slemmer, a crime she committed at age 18.

An appeals court delayed the execution until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that stay hours later.

Pike's attorneys say she was given two doses of pentobarbital. Witnesses say she was still alive and snoring loudly after the second dose. Some of the process, witnesses noted, was blocked from their view.

JOHN NORTH, WITNESS: There were moments when the blinds were down for us and there were moments when the blinds were up for us.

CAIFA (voice-over): The state does not have protocol for what happens if an inmate is alive after the second dose.

In Washington, I'm Karin Caifa.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: To discuss this disturbing case, joining me now is Deborah Denno. She's a professor at the Fordham University School of Law. Thank you so much for joining us.

[04:20:03]

I'm just going to start with the question that I think everyone is asking today, which is how did this happen? How can a lethal injection fail after drugs have been administered? And what evidence would establish whether the problem involved the drugs, the I.V. delivery, or something else?

DEBORAH DENNO, FOUNDING DIRECTOR, FORDHAM LAW SCHOOL'S NEUROSCIENCE AND LAW CENTER: Well, unfortunately, this happens a lot and it's been happened countless times. Lethal injection was first used in this country in 1982 from the very start, that very first execution. There have been light problems such as -- such as this one even though Christa Pike's problems were so much more -- more pronounced.

So, it's hard to unravel what exactly happened because there's so much secrecy involved in these executions. We may never know unless they started interviewing people, but there's so much protection for those people and those pharmaceutical companies, for example, that are involved in the execution.

ABDELAZIZ: It's -- it -- as you said, it's quite terrifying once you start reading about this, how common it is to see these botched executions, even though it was described as unprecedented.

Let's talk about the process that Governor Bill Lee has now initiated. He says he's going to pause executions for the rest of the year. He's ordered an independent review. What must that review establish before Tennessee would resume executions again? And could it find -- could its findings provide grounds to commute this sentence in this case?

DENNO: Anything could happen at this moment because this -- even though there have been botched executions and many of them, what happened to Christa Pike stands alone. The -- the particular kind of procedure and -- and -- and her result and the result of it.

So, with any kind of review, I would hope that -- that Governor Lee would be inviting neutral people to evaluate who was conducting this execution, what kinds of drugs were used, whether those drugs were expired or had degraded in any -- in any way.

Why wasn't there more care to evaluate beforehand all of these issues, including Christa Pike's medical condition? And why wasn't there any procedure, as there always should be, with what should be done if an inmate survives?

ABDELAZIZ: So, you're raising a lot of questions there. And my question to you would be, do you have comparable cases, in U.S. history, where someone has survived execution drugs when administered? And what might those cases tell us about how we can begin to answer these questions and what could happen next in Pike's case?

DENNO: Yes. I mean, Christa Pike is number eight in a list of inmates who have survived their executions. This -- these what I call survivor inmates didn't start appearing until 2009. So, this -- this is one yet -- yet one more issue about lethal injection. It's -- it's actually getting much worse than it -- than it ever has been.

So in those cases, a number of those inmates ended up passing, dying in -- in prison, one of COVID, another one of cancer. In a couple of other instances, the inmates have been re -- reattempted execution.

In the case of Kenny Smith in Alabama, his first lethal injection execution was horribly botched. And then he was executed with nitrogen hypoxia. It was the first nitrogen hypoxia execution in the country. That went horribly.

So, this is somebody who experienced two terrible methods of execution and suffered as a result of that.

ABDELAZIZ: Deborah Denno from the Fordham University School of Law explaining what questions investigators are now going to dig into and what it could mean in this botched execution case. Thank you so much for that detail.

New details are also emerging into allegations of sexual assault at Cornell University. "The New York Times" reports the alleged victim told her roommates about the incident right after it happened and then grappled with it for days.

The contents of that report were corroborated to CNN by Jane Doe's attorney.

Separately, "The Times" reports this morning that the men involved in the incident denied any wrongdoing, with one telling investigators that he also was a victim of sexual misconduct. "The Times" says four of the fraternity members acknowledged having sexual contact with the woman, but they said their interactions were consensual and others denied participating in sexual encounters.

[04:25:01]

Meanwhile, New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she's appointing State Attorney General Letitia James, a special prosecutor in the investigation. Hochul says she has lost faith in the ability of the Tompkins County District Attorney to fairly oversee the case.

The university says it supports the decision, but students are calling for transparency and accountability from the school.

CNN's Jason Carroll has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We as a campus community stand with victims of sexual violence.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A public hearing at Cornell University where students reacted to the alleged sexual assault at the Chi Phi fraternity house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm also speaking as a college student. I was -- I was sexually assaulted almost two years ago.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jane Wang, a sophomore, shared her own experience.

JANE WANG, CORNELL SOPHOMORE: Hearing any story from, you know, another student here on campus that they've experienced something similar is so heart-breaking.

CARROLL (voice-over): Cornell continues to face scrutiny following a "New York Times" report that a crucial part of the school's internal investigation omitted Jane Doe's statement.

I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped. That allegation, not included in what the university handed over to the district attorney.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The common sentiment is that there's like a moral feeling.

LESLIE BAKER, CORNELL STUDENT: People are just like really frustrated that it -- it's taking a whole lawsuit for these people to be held accountable and that for the survivor to get the justice that she deserves.

CARROLL (voice-over): Students reacting to a "New York Times" report which revealed the school gathered more than 1,000 pages of materials from an internal investigation in 2024, which included a transcript of campus police interviews with Jane Doe, interviews with Chi Phi fraternity members accused of sexually assaulting her, along with emails and text messages.

"The Times" report says Jane Doe spoke for hours to a Cornell police investigator, as well as an investigator for the school's Title IX office.

According to "The Times," the transcript of their conversation stretches about 120 pages. The D.A. telling CNN Wednesday, "We never received it and still don't have it. It was not part of what Cornell provided to us. We got the six-page statement and nothing more except the Snapchat video."

The Snapchat was allegedly sent from Chi Phi members asking others to join in on the alleged assault.

Cornell's investigation also revealed Jane Doe documented her injuries. Two weeks after the 2024 incident, she went to an emergency room for a pelvic exam. She also went to the school's health clinic for treatment of a urinary tract infection, telling a doctor she had contracted the infection in a traumatic way.

The material reviewed by "The Times" showing Jane Doe went to police after she saw online comments about what happened to her that night at the Chi Phi house, saying members were gang banging.

Jane Doe saying, "That's kind of when I came to the realization that I had been gang raped, gang assaulted. Whatever you want to call it, that's what happened."

Cornell's investigation revealed Jane Doe planned to go back to the Chi Phi house the following week after the alleged assault for a Halloween party. Her attorney telling CNN, "It was all part of processing what had happened. She was still in the denial stage. She could not accept what happened to her."

Cornell declined to comment about the "Times" report. No one from the administration spoke at tonight's student assembly.

Jane Wang still has a message for them.

WANG: Future cases of sexual violence or sexual harassment on campus cannot only be treated with urgency when it's something that reaches national headlines or national news.

CARROLL (voice-over): Jason Carroll, CNN, Ithaca, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: We have so much more still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom." An elderly woman's rent increase of nearly 200 percent has sparked demonstrations across Spain. What activists are demanding from their government is coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)