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U.S. Removes Bombers From U.K. Fairford Base Amid Terrorism Concerns; 30 Days Until The Midterm Elections; Inside Democrats' Efforts To Secure Election Day; Arkansas Town At The Center Of America's Missile Production; Plague Fears After Russia Lab Researcher Dies; Kyiv Bridge Slammed By Drone As Germany's Chancellor Arrives In The City; Americans' Trust In Media Up Slightly From Record Low; Documentary On Meta's Mark Zuckerberg And Facebook; Interview With Representative Jonathan Jackson (D-IL). Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 04, 2026 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:01:26]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the CNN NEWSROOM, everyone. I'm Omar Jimenez in New York.

We are following breaking news this evening as the U.S. military moves all long-range Air Force bombers out of the United Kingdom. Those bombers are now back at their home stations in the United States. And it comes a week after the British government arrested several people in connection with an alleged Iranian plot to target the U.K. air base, where they had been stationed. The Royal Air Force bases in Fairford, that's what we're talking about here.

CNN military analyst and retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton joins us now.

So we were talking about it a little bit earlier, but can you just characterize for us the significance of this action here?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Omar, absolutely. There were 12 B-1 bombers that were deployed to RAF Fairford, which is that forward operating base that has been used against Iran and in the Iraq war. And the decision was made to move these aircraft away from RAF Fairford back to their home stations in the continental United States because of threats that were seen through intelligence and law enforcement channels to be credible against RAF Fairford, the installation, but particularly against these aircraft.

And as we're showing here, the B-1 bomber is the aircraft in question. This particular aircraft, as well as B-52s like this one, and the B-1s again, they are critical to our ability to project power. And B-1, for example, is a long range bomber. It is has been designed to carry ordnance a long distance in many cases an intercontinental distance. And one of the things that we do is to pre-position these aircraft in locations like the United Kingdom, so that they get there -- get to their target area, which in this case was the Middle East in a quicker time than they would if they had to come from the United States itself.

So what this redeployment of these aircraft does, Omar, is it takes these aircraft back out of England, moves them back to the United States, and it also makes it longer if these aircraft are going to be used in any future efforts in the Middle East, any future combat operations in the Middle East. It will take longer for them to get there just because of the geography, the geographic distance involved.

JIMENEZ: How much of a -- how much under threat have these forward operating locations and bases been for the United States throughout this Iran war?

LEIGHTON: Well, we've been under some degree of threat. It was considered a safe area up until recently, but bases in the U.K. have often been under surveillance. And Iranian sleeper cells are active in the United Kingdom. These sleeper cells are basically intelligence gathering efforts by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps and other elements of the Iranian regime. And what they do is they can collect both intelligence as well as conduct potential sabotage operations.

And the big fear in this particular case was that they would actually be conducting some kind of sabotage operation, which would have been directed not just against the base itself, but against these aircraft because they can be seen directly from the perimeter of the base. You can see these B-1s when they're deployed there. And it's not a big distance from a perimeter road to actually strike these aircraft with, you know, an RPG or anything like that. So I think they took a prudent course of action in this particular case to bring these aircraft out of potential harm's way.

[18:05:10]

JIMENEZ: Colonel Cedric Leighton, really appreciate your perspective on this breaking news story. Thanks for being here.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Omar. Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, tonight, we've only got 30 days to go until the pivotal midterm elections and President Trump's popularity is threatening to cast a long shadow. Already, more than a million ballots have been cast. But a new poll out today shows the president losing critical support among Latinos, which was a bloc that helped propel him to the White House two years ago.

The NBC-Telemundo poll shows Latino voters say they want Democrats to control -- to win control of Congress. Excuse me. And by a wide margin. And among all Americans, CNN's polling tracker shows President Trump's average approval rating at 34 percent, with voters saying the economy is their top issue. And that could be a real issue for Republicans because an AP poll out this week shows Americans overwhelmingly disapprove of President Trump's handling of the cost of living issue, by 82 percent disapprove to 17 percent approve.

Meanwhile, though, this morning, National Economic Council director Kevin Hassett pushed back, saying the Trump economy is, quote, "booming." Joining us now is CNN correspondent Julia Benbrook.

So, Julia, what more are we hearing from the White House on the economy and 30 days out from the midterms here?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Well, those polls that you pointed out clearly show that Americans are concerned about the cost of living and the overall state of the economy right now. President Donald Trump and members of his administration are working to tamp down those concerns. In fact, in an interview earlier today with CNN's Jake Tapper, White House economic adviser Kevin Hassett said that he believes that Americans are not looking at the whole picture, that things are better than what Americans are feeling right now.

But this comes as Trump is out on the campaign trail, making his case to voters. Of course, Republicans have control of the White House, the Senate and the House right now. But if any of that changes, it leads to a big dynamic shift here in Washington.

Trump's schedule started out with appearances in Oklahoma and in Alabama, and there were questions, you know, why spend time in those just historically red states? He said that he wanted to go and thank them, that he wanted to show gratitude for the sweeping victories that have been delivered to him.

Last night he was in Ohio. A GOP official tells us that those Oklahoma and Alabama appearances are really outliers, that he will be spending time in more battleground states. And while he was in Ohio, he was speaking just outside of Dayton. He delivered a familiar message. He told voters that he wants them to pretend like he is on the ballot. He really wants to focus in on turnout. And Republicans hope that that message still resonates as Trump's approval rating is now at an all- time low. But take a listen to what he shared.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So I'm just saying, we win when I'm on the ballot and I've never really done this certainly to this extent. I don't think anybody has. I don't think any of the president has certainly. But I'm really in to win it. We want to win the midterms if we can. We want to win the midterms. And we have great people. So if you don't mind, please pretend that I'm on the ballot.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And there in Ohio, there is a key Senate race to watch, one that will play a big role in the balance of power between Republican Senator Jon Husted and former Democratic Senator Sherrod Brown. A recent "New York Times"-Siena poll showed them in a neck-and-neck race. So Trump, he's been out on the campaign trail, and we expect him to consistently do that throughout this next month. He's headed to Nebraska tomorrow and Texas on Wednesday -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Julia Benbrook, really appreciate the reporting.

We've also got new reporting tonight on how Democrats are preparing for so-called doomsday scenarios on election day. We're talking about they're creating possible playbooks to be ready in case of a number of hypothetical situations that could include anything like President Trump deploying Homeland Security agents to the polls or federal officials seizing ballots if the White House claims a foreign adversary compromised voting systems.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is bringing together real legal experts and officials to brainstorm these kinds of scenarios. Capitol Hill Democrats also set up a new election protection task force in the Senate and launched a bipartisan plan to send congressional observers to polling places.

So I want to bring in Republican election lawyer and CNN contributor Ben Ginsberg, who joins us now.

And, Ben, I just want to start by getting your reaction to this effort. Have you ever seen political parties or groups prepare for possible interference by the U.S. government?

BEN GINSBERG, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: No, that's pretty unique, but it's consistent with the unprecedented nature of the rhetoric that's come out of the administration.

[18:10:03]

Look, I'm convinced having traveled around the country that this election is going to be accurate, safe and secure. But because of the rhetoric, I think it's natural to prepare for all the scenarios that vivid minds come up with this time of year.

JIMENEZ: Are there any parts of the voting process that you're especially watching that might be vulnerable, either to outright interference or at the very least, vulnerable for legal challenges?

GINSBERG: Well, legal challenges can spring from anywhere.

JIMENEZ: Sure.

GINSBERG: So I think we've seen a lot of frivolous cases in the past few years. So there will be -- there will be litigation. One thing that the heightened rhetoric has done is made election officials, I think, much more prepared, much more transparent in their operations, but also much more prepared for all these scenarios that that could come about. So again, if you're a voter contemplating voting, you should absolutely do it because things will be secure and your vote will be counted accurately.

JIMENEZ: And you know, to your point, there are so -- we likely will see lawsuits and legal challenges in various ways. Some of it is built into the current system that we have. The question, though, of course, is whether that actually succeeds in court. Some of these challenges. But in terms of some of what the Democrats to this point have talked about, preparing for these scenarios, whether it's deploying Homeland Security agents to the polls, federal officials seizing ballots if the White House claims a foreign adversary compromised voting systems.

I mean, what are the legal remedies in place for some of those types of situations?

GINSBERG: Well, there are legal remedies and there are -- there are political remedies as well. If all of a sudden there were troops at polling places, it would be a manna for Democrat get-out-the-vote activity. So I don't think the administration would be foolish enough to go down that path. But of course, in every state, there are the opportunity to litigate something that you believe is wrong with the law. There are recounts in every state law. There are contests if you think there are fraud and irregularities.

So if in fact there is something that a candidate perceives as being unfair or wrong or inaccurate in the process, there are remedies for taking care of that. And of course, the final safeguard is the certificate of election from a state which is the official sign that an election has been done right and there can be discussions over the certification as well.

JIMENEZ: And to your point, I mean, we have seen secretaries of state across the country very much placing emphasis on making sure these elections go off in the way that they know how to operate them well. And to that point, I wonder what you believe voters should know about the security of U.S. elections right now.

GINSBERG: Well, I believe U.S. elections are secure. There's been no evidence that's been developed that has shown that they're not secure, including in all those contests, recounts and litigation we've been -- we've been talking about. So there are lots of allegations, but allegations are not evidence. And that's what's important to remember.

If somebody thinks a voting system isn't secure in an election, again, you can go back and recount all the ballots. You can go and contest what you think were unfair procedures. And so far, none of those cases nor any of the allegations have been backed up by specific evidence that there's any security problems with the elections.

JIMENEZ: Ben Ginsberg, 30 days out to the midterms. Appreciate the time and perspective. Thanks for being here.

GINSBERG: Thanks, Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, some American missile makers are being told to speed up their assembly lines. CNN visits the small southern town at the heart of the weapons shortage.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:19:03]

JIMENEZ: From Ukraine to the Middle East and all across the globe, the U.S. and its allies are locked in conflict. And one of the biggest challenges in those conflicts is having enough weapons. Things like missiles, warheads, and rocket launch systems.

And there's a small town not too far from the Arkansas-Louisiana border that is at the heart of rebuilding the nation's depleted missile arsenal.

CNN's senior enterprise reporter Isabelle Khurshudyan joins us now.

So what are defense companies doing to produce more weapons faster?

ISABELLE KHURSHUDYAN, CNN SENIOR ENTERPRISE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there's a lot of demand on them right now. As you mentioned, these wars abroad have really drained some U.S. missile stocks. So the companies have to hire more workers. In Camden, where several of the largest contractors have factories, the workforce is expected to increase by 50 percent. That's going to add shifts to the production line.

The contractors also say they're going to automate a lot of parts of that production line to make things go even faster. Ultimately, the biggest bottleneck, it's still this complicated supply chain. You may not know that one missile, it's got thousands of line items under it.

[18:20:04]

Those are all the raw materials and parts that go into it, and you need all of them. So if you have a single delay from a single supplier, it causes a big ripple effect. That's why the contractors, they say they're going to reduce their reliance on single suppliers, get backups. And ultimately, the goal is to increase production by three to four times across the board so that a missile that right now takes years to manufacture, you get that time down to months.

JIMENEZ: What did the employees at the factories in Camden, Arkansas, tell you about what it's like making missiles right now?

KHURSHUDYAN: Yes, they say it's really intense and they're working a lot. I mean, even some salaried engineers who aren't getting paid overtime necessarily, they're working more than 70 hours a week in most cases. So, you know, they're concerned about burnout. They say that they understand that this is important. And there might be a bigger strain on the workforce right now. And they're hoping the company is going to hire more people. And some of that strain is going to go down.

They see new faces every week, but still there's job openings across every department. So that kind of gives you a sense of how much of a hiring surge there is in Camden right now.

JIMENEZ: How is -- I mean, look, we're talking about small town here in Arkansas, and yet it's this hub of defense production. How is the town handling that?

KHURSHUDYAN: Yes, Omar, this is a town of 10,000 people. Roughly 4,000 people work at these defense companies. So the town, people I spoke to there, they see this defense industrial boom as an opportunity for the town to experience a boom. The problem is the town is dealing with a lot of issues that a lot of places in rural America are dealing with right now. The hospital is navigating bankruptcy.

People describe the school district as not the best, and there's a lack of affordable housing. In fact, there's really not enough housing to accommodate a lot of the people who work at these factories. So most people they're commuting from about an hour away. In most cases, they don't actually live in the town. And, you know, that's something that the people in the town want to change. They want people to be spending their money there, and they see this as an opportunity to really change the town's fortunes.

They're hoping the defense firms will actually invest in this town a little bit more, make it a better place to live, and that will then help these defense companies be able to hire more people to live in the town.

JIMENEZ: Isabelle Khurshudyan, great reporting out of this town here in Arkansas. Appreciate you being here.

KHURSHUDYAN: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, new concerns over a plague after a researcher at a Russian lab dies. We're going to tell you what we know coming up.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:21:55]

JIMENEZ: Earlier today in Kyiv, we want to show you this video of the moment a major bridge was slammed by a Russian drone. You can see the impact there and the explosion as cars are actively going by. The city's mayor says two people were hurt, and the attack came as Germany's chancellor, Friedrich Merz, arrived in the city to the sounds of air sirens and explosions.

Now his trip was planned to show support for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. But I want to bring in CNN correspondent Clare Sebastian, who has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was the fourth day in a row that Russia has attacked the bridges in Kyiv. This the northern bridge, one of the key arteries linking the left and the right banks of the city across the Dnipro River. CNN verified this footage, showing a direct hit on the bridge.

No casualties were reported, but there was significant damage to the roadway. You can see in this video taken from a car on the bridge, the sort of burning wreckage as a result of this attack. Now, this happened shortly after the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in Kyiv in a visit to pledge support. He promised an almost $1.5 billion support package for Ukraine.

And later on, as he and President Zelenskyy surveyed the damage of another recent Russian attack on the prized academy of sciences in Kyiv. Take a listen to what happened. (VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: The latest air raid sirens sounding a taste of Kyiv's new normal over the past month, as Russia has escalated its air war.

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I am simply astonished by this animalistic desire to escalate the situation every day. So Putin is counting on a constant escalation. He really wants that. Cutting off bridges. Is that terror? And cutting off the left from the right banks. What's the difference? It's an unquestionable collapse. The Russians want our people to leave the big cities.

SEBASTIAN: President Zelenskyy warned this weekend that Russia's new doctrine, he said, going into winter was to step up attacks on civilian infrastructure even further. Schools, roads, hospitals, logistics, all he said an attempt to try and force Ukrainians to flee Kyiv and other cities to abandon essentially their homes. And in response, he said Ukraine would also be doubling down on its policy of deep strikes on Russian energy targets, the economic engine, of course, of Russia's war.

Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

JIMENEZ: Clare Sebastian, appreciate it.

Meanwhile, a researcher in Russia is dead. The question, though, is why? But where is also raising suspicious because -- suspicions because this mysterious death happened at the Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia. That's from Russian state media TASS. A suspected dangerous infection was released as a result of a laboratory accident in Siberia, and the lab worker who died was diagnosed with pneumonia of, quote, "unknown origin." And nearly 200 people are under observation right now at a nearby hospital.

The head of the neighboring republic said the victim, a 28-year-old woman, died, quote, "possibly from the plague."

[18:30:05]

So I want to bring in Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at Columbia's Mailman School of Public Health.

Angela, how concerned should we be here?

ANGELA RASMUSSEN, VIROLOGIST, COLUMBIA MAILMAN SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH: So I don't think that most people actually need to be particularly concerned about this because while pneumonic plague is really, really deadly, it has about a case fatality rate of 71 percent, it's not actually very transmissible. And the Irkutsk area, this whole entire region of Siberia and Mongolia, is actually plagued with endemic plague in much of the wildlife there.

So that's actually why they have a research institute there. They're very used to dealing with this. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean that the secrecy about this has been great, but it actually isn't terribly unusual for plague cases to happen in this region. What is more unusual is that it happened from apparently a laboratory accident.

JIMENEZ: So if it is to be -- discovered to be the plague here, would factors like the changing weather or colder temperatures impact some of the spreading ability that you're describing a little bit there? Or I just wonder how you're looking at this story moving forward.

RASMUSSEN: Yes. So, I mean, this is one of those things where on the surface, I think to a lot of people, it reminds them a lot of COVID and of, you know, a pathogen that spreads by the respiratory route could be potentially very deadly or maybe even like the Hantavirus outbreak that happened earlier. You know, it's very scary to think of these respiratory viruses -- respiratory pathogens that are going to spread and do what COVID did to the world.

But the good news here for most people is that plague has been around for a very long time. It did cause a pandemic globally that occurred over centuries during the Middle Ages. So it's very transmissible in certain circumstances. But the pneumonic form of this -- of this bacteria is only acquired when you inhale enough of the bacteria to actually develop a lung infection in most cases.

So you really have to be exposed to a lot of it. And the good news is that somebody who has pneumonic plague, even though it's not going to go very well for them, they're not actually putting that much bacteria out into the environment for other people to inhale. So while it can be transmitted in a hospital and household settings, it's actually not like COVID in the sense that it just spreads rapidly through populations.

JIMENEZ: So to that point, I mean, just more generally speaking, what do we need to know about the plague itself?

RASMUSSEN: I mean, it is caused by a bacteria. And typically most of the cases of plague, you know, as I mentioned, this does seem to me like it was a laboratory acquired case simply because there was a report that this researcher had broken a vial or a test tube containing yersinia pestis, which is the name of the bacteria that causes plague. So what people need to know about it is this is a bacteria. It's usually transmitted to people not under those circumstances.

It's usually transmitted to people through contact with wild animals, and many of these animals can become infected, or it's transmitted by flea bites. And that was what caused the Black Death during the Middle Ages. Primarily, it was a lack of sanitation that allowed a lot of rats to be around, infected with plague. Fleas lived on those rats and then bit people and gave them bubonic plague, which is a different form of the same disease.

So really this comes mostly from animals in nature. And if people want to prevent or lower their risk, they just need to be careful about what kind of animals they're around. And in the United States, that's primarily rodents and prairie dogs in the west. So most of the cases have been in the Midwest or in the western states, and they're usually related to contact with prairie dogs or other types of burrowing or ground dwelling rodents.

JIMENEZ: Angela Rasmussen, really appreciate the perspective on this developing story. Thanks for being here.

RASMUSSEN: My pleasure. Any time.

JIMENEZ: All right. Meanwhile, a new poll shows just how much faith Americans have in the press. A hint, it's up from last year's record low. But, yes, we're talking up from a record low. We'll bring you those details. And then an all-new episode of the CNN Original Series "The Detour with David Chang" airs Saturday nights at 10:00 Eastern and Pacific Time, and the next day with an "All Access" subscription.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:39:12]

JIMENEZ: All right, here's something that really caught our attention this weekend. Trust in the media is actually rising. But hold on a second, because Gallup's latest poll shows that that rising number is 33 percent. One-third of Americans say they have a great deal or a fair amount of confidence in the media to report the news fully, accurately and fairly. But that is up from 28 percent last year.

So I want to bring in CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter, who joins us now.

Brian, look, we're still talking about a low number here. So a lot of work to be done. But how much is it a surprise to actually see a higher number here?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, I was really struck by this because these polls really only usually move in one direction. They're like a downward ski slope. So to see any movement upward is really a positive development.

[18:40:01]

And it speaks to a broader trend in American society with cratering, crumbling trust in institutions writ large. But within that reality, we are starting to see some rebuilding, even if it's relatively small. Gallup, for example, came out with a broader study back in July saying confidence in U.S. institutions remains near an all-time low, but in many cases, off of those rock bottom lows of a few years ago.

In this case, this new data about the media came out earlier this week. It barely gained any notice at all because, again, normally we're used to seeing only move downward. So the upward trend is intriguing. And it's only among Republicans. Among Democrats actually there is weakening trust in media. That may have to do with President Trump being in office and Democrats wanting tougher coverage of Trump. But among Republicans, we're seeing the highest numbers in about 10 years, even though those trust in media numbers are very low, as you said.

JIMENEZ: And to that point, I mean, look, media means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. And so when you talk about the uptick that comes from Republicans here, and again, still low confidence, but higher than we've seen since 2015, what do you think accounts for that?

STELTER: And two things I think are happening there. One is what you just said about the widening definition of media. If you have a Instagram or TikTok influencer or a Facebook blogger covering your community, making up for a local newspaper that shut down, you might feel a little bit more confident in the media because you're able to get more information about your community.

So as the definition of media expands, yes, people are maybe oftentimes stuck in their echo chambers or echo bubbles, but they are able to reach a wider variety of sources. That can be a good thing. I also think what we've seen in the last year or so are media outlets fighting for their rights. Think about the cases involving "The New York Times" and Disney and others defending against the Trump administration's attacks.

And I wonder if some of that might be making a difference as well. You know, on Tuesday, Disney's ABC is going to be in court with its First Amendment lawsuit against Trump administration. On Thursday, the lawyers for CNN, MS NOW and Politico are going to be in court trying to get longer term protection against Trump's efforts to ban those news outlets. So acting on those rights, defending First Amendment rights, the arguments in both cases boil down to the same thing. The press is there on behalf of the public, and maybe, just maybe, that message is getting through a little bit.

JIMENEZ: You know, as we monitor President Trump and everything that he's doing, he also lashed out at FOX News today, at "FOX and Friends" for, quote, "not covering our packed house and incredibly enthusiastic rally in Ohio last night."

What do you make of that?

STELTER: So revealing that the president is not even satisfied with how FOX News presents his presidency. He wants 100 percent sycophantic coverage all the time because the reality is he wants propaganda, not news. But this is so intriguing that he's picking a fight with FOX again just a few weeks before the midterms.

Here's what I've learned studying the cable news wars for a long, long time. If FOX thought Trump's rallies in Alabama and Ohio were going to be a big ratings magnet, then it would have aired Trump's rallies. This is a statement by FOX that it maybe doesn't think that having Trump on the air is the best thing for the Republican Party ahead of the midterms. So I would add this to that great debate that's going on about what's, you know, how the party is going to battle back against some of these Democratic challenges in the midterms.

So FOX avoiding Trump's rallies, there's something real there that's going on and apparently the president has noticed.

JIMENEZ: Brian Stelter, appreciate you taking the time. And you all can sign up for Brian's "Reliable Sources" e-mail at CNN.com/ReliableSources for that newsletter.

All right, also, an all-new CNN Flash Doc looks at the long-term impact of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg on social media and its effect on our culture and even how we interact with each other in our everyday lives, with testimony from Facebook insiders, journalists and whistleblowers like Frances Haugen who allege that Facebook bosses put profits over people. And the documentary begs the question, has Zuckerberg helped the world?

Here's CNN's Clare Duffy with more.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Omar. Rally interesting timing for this documentary given that this new social reckoning film about Meta and Mark Zuckerberg is set to release this upcoming week. That, of course, coming 16 years after the original "Social Network" movie came out. And this documentary really charts how Mark Zuckerberg's reputation has changed in that time.

I think when the "Social Network" came out, people were still kind of trying to figure out what to make of Mark Zuckerberg. He was looked at as this sort of quirky boy genius who had created this platform that I think more people saw as kind of lighthearted, fun place to be online at the time. I mean, I remember for me when Facebook first came out, it was all about posting prom photos and party photos. You got to see who was in a relationship with whom.

But since then, we have seen this company go through a series of crises, perhaps most notably the release of the Facebook papers by whistleblower Frances Haugen, which unleashed all of these revelations about issues on Meta's platforms with things like youth safety, election integrity, misinformation.

[18:45:02]

Take a look at a clip from the documentary that talks about that period in the company's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTURO BEJAR, FORMER SAFETY ENGINEER AND PRODUCT LEADER: Man, when the Facebook files broke, it was crazy. There was a great disturbance in the force. You could feel it all over the company.

KATIE HARBATH, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY FOR GLOBAL ELECTIONS, FACEBOOK: We had no idea who had leaked these documents.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our witness this morning is Frances Haugen.

FRANCES HAUGEN, FORMER CIVIC MISINFORMATION PRODUCT MANAGER, FACEBOOK: I'm here today because I believe Facebook's products harm children, stoke division and weaken our democracy. The company's leadership knows how to make Facebook and Instagram safer, but won't make the necessary changes because they have put their astronomical profits before people.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Miss Haugen, do you think your testimony --

HAUGEN: I wanted people to understand Facebook knew they were hurting kids. Fundamentally, how Facebook operated was the problem. If I didn't act, and I knew that I was one of the few people who could, I would always feel that I was responsible in some way for what happened.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: And Omar, I do think it's important to take a deep look at Mark Zuckerberg's influence on our lives and culture, not only because he continues to have a huge influence through his social media platforms, which are used by three and half billion people daily, but also because he is trying to take a leading role in the next big wave of technology, which is, of course, A.I.. Already five million people have downloaded Meta's A.I. agent Muse.

And I think just like we saw with social media, we are already starting to see how A.I. is changing and impacting the way that we communicate and relate to each other, both online and offline -- Omar.

JIMENEZ: All right, Clare Duffy, appreciate it.

And be sure to tune in, "ZUCKERBERG: FACEBOOK AND THE COST OF CONNECTION" premieres tonight at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific only on CNN and streaming tomorrow with an "All Access" subscription.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:29]

JIMENEZ: We want to get you to a developing story, which may be disturbing to some of our viewers. CNN affiliate WLS reports a 7-year- old girl was stabbed to death while walking down the street in a Chicago neighborhood, and it quotes bystanders as saying a woman approached the victim and displayed a sharp object before stabbing her in the back multiple times. And the report says bystanders quickly detained the suspect, but the child was taken to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Now, WLS says the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office identified the girl as 7-year-old Edimari Hernandez Chacon. Charges are pending. But I want to bring in Illinois Congressman Jonathan Jackson. He's also the son of the late Reverend Jesse Jackson.

Appreciate you taking the time. I just want to start with what are you hearing from the community on this.

REP. JONATHAN JACKSON (D-IL): Thank you, Omar. A great level of grief, hurt, there's pain. And our condolences go out to the Edimari family that this was a tragic incident. Unfortunately, this is a nationwide occurrence. This is an innocent child who deserves to be alive today. And we do know that the assailant has been apprehended. We thank the Chicago Police for having been dutiful. And we can only speculate at this moment that this person was deranged, that did this horrific action against this child.

JIMENEZ: Have you been able to speak to their family at all?

JACKSON: I have not spoken to the family. I've spoken with people in the law enforcement community that have the suspect in detention now.

JIMENEZ: District Alderman there in Chicago, Michelle Harris, was on earlier and said this area is sort of a mecca where people with mental health challenges go to find resources. Of course, again, we don't know the motive here. There's still a lot we need to learn. But how would you describe the neighborhood Chatham there in Chicago?

JACKSON: Jim, it's a very proud neighborhood, hard-working, people that have come here sacrificed great public servants, people that worked in private sector, great, solid, basic community. And it's a community now that's going to suffer from the cuts of this one big bill that was passed, H.R. 1 in 2025.

The city of Chicago has taken steps to try to recover over these last 30 years, if you will. We've had most of our mental health facilities closed under this administration. Mayor Brandon Johnson, he's opened three mental health facilities. We need more mental health facilities to be reopened. And this is a crisis that we shouldn't ask our police to have to intervene. I'm sure when we find out more about this assailant, we'll find out that there's going to be a history there, that this is totally mind boggling and mind blowing to know that someone could be that sick, that deranged, to take this sort of feeling out on a child.

So this child is totally innocent. It's the only thing that we know concretely. And what would make someone do this tells you that there's a crisis. This is a crisis happening nationwide. Under this one big bill the Medicaid cuts that are now going to go into place in December and January of 2027 is going to be horrific. We're looking at additional $88 million that have been cut by the federal government that went into grants that would help, that came to the Department of Justice, that was supposed to go into these neighborhoods.

If you were to call to the federal government now after what Mr. Musk has done and others in the name of government efficiency, they cut the substance abuse and mental health services. So there's been a 50 percent reduction in the workforce in that agency alone.

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So our professionals here are calling, asking. This is a problem that cannot be solved locally. Sure we have responsibility, but this is where the federal government has to step in when the local municipalities and the county cannot do even more. And so the federal government, by sending in a war abroad, and we have to make the direct connection, is costing people at home. We need more health providers. It's taken, on average, a few weeks up to six months for residents across the nation to see a mental health provider. JIMENEZ: Yes. Congressman Jonathan Jackson, really appreciate you

taking the time to be here. Thank you.

JACKSON: Thank you, Omar. See you soon.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

All right. We're going to continue to follow the breaking news as well as the Pentagon pulls out its long range bombers from a U.K. airbase. We'll bring you that latest next right here in the CNN NEWSROOM.

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