Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Debris From Missing Medical Jet Found Near Nantucket; Cornell President Breaks His Silence; Trump Campaigns For Republicans In Ohio; Russia Targets Kyiv Amid Visit By German Chancellor. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired October 04, 2026 - 05:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:00:26]

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's get straight to our headlines: President Trump rallies Republicans in Ohio, a state that's recently been reliably red, but now key races are in play heading into those midterms. We're on the ground there with the very latest.

A significant amount of oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz amid the war with Iran, but consumers are not seeing gas prices go down. We're going to look at why that is.

Plus, Jane Doe's attorney and Cornell students react after the university's president breaks his silence on how the school handled that alleged gang-rape case.

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

ABDELAZIZ: Midterms that will determine the control of Congress are now just a month away, and President Donald Trump has spent his weekend stumping four red state Republicans. On Saturday, he was in Ohio, a state he won by more than 10 points in 2024, but the Republican Senate candidate there is trailing the Democrats significantly, and the GOP is increasingly worried about a blue wave. At the rally, Trump once again promised to give Americans money if Republicans keep control of Congress.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), U.S. PRESIDENT: If Republicans win the House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, I am going to give all adult citizens in the United States, because we're making so much money with the tariffs and other things, $5,000 to every adult.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Now, CNN White House Correspondent Alayna Treene was there in Ohio and has more on that president's rally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump had a clear message for his supporters in Vandalia, Ohio on Saturday, which was essentially to pretend that he is on the ballot in November's midterm elections. It's really the same message we've heard him deliver multiple times throughout every single state and district that he's visited ahead of the midterm elections.

And that's because his advisers have told him the one thing that they believe he can change ahead of the midterms is to drive turnout among Republicans, particularly Republicans who are his fiercest supporters, the type of people who were in the room at this rally on Saturday night and convince them on an election day when typically they might not otherwise do so.

But look, the President, for his part, also stayed pretty on message. He only very briefly touched on the Iran war. He didn't at all talk about the presidential ballroom or his projects across D.C. And he told really this message of get out the vote and spoke a lot about the different candidates who are in Ohio that he was stumping for, specifically Senator Jon Husted, who is vying to hold on to the seat that the Vice President J.D. Vance, had vacated when he took on the role in the White House.

And this is really what his advisers want him to be focusing on, even though at times in recent weeks, he hasn't really talked about that. Now the President spoke for roughly 90 minutes. You could tell that he was enjoying the type of feedback he was getting from the crowd.

But I will tell you I spoke with a number of voters before the President took the stage on Saturday, many who said that they had voted for the President, actually all of them I should argue, who voted for the President both in 2016, again in 2020, and then also in 2024.

But they acknowledged to me that when it comes to some of those key issues, things like the Iran war, things like the economy, gas prices, they aren't necessarily happy with the President's handling of it. Now you had some people who said they believe that the President is doing things behind the scenes that perhaps voters don't know about, but others who argued he needs to move away from foreign wars, he needs to do more to try and lower gas prices.

And this has really been an issue as well that I hear in my conversations with the President's advisers, that they want the President to try to focus on and try to convince voters to still vote for Republicans in November so that he can get his more -- more of his agenda item done.

So, look, this is one of many stops we're going to see the President doing, of course, in the next 30 days before the midterm elections. And one as well that really is in a battleground, where he is -- recognizes that the senator running in Ohio is in a very tight race with the Democrat and his opponent. And this is one of the ways that the President believes he's able to help Republicans ahead of November 3rd.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Vandalia, Ohio.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:05:02]

ABDELAZIZ: Now, before President Trump left for Ohio, he said a major decision is being made on the war with Iran and hinted that it might involve resuming military operations against Tehran. President Trump also added that Iran is, quote, "virtually giving up any plans to acquire nuclear weapons." On Friday, "Axios" reported that the president's top national security aides met secretly at Camp David to discuss U.S. options on Iran and the escalating Saudi-Houthi conflict in Yemen. Iran, for its part, is preparing for the worst-case scenario. A new military training center opened in the capital, Tehran, on Saturday. The goal? To prepare citizens to confront U.S. and Israeli forces in the event of a ground attack.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI KOWSARI, DEPUTY FOR TRAINING, BASIJ ORGANIZATION (through translator): Civil defense is an important issue that we must pay attention to among people from different walks of life. So if, God forbid, the enemy makes another miscalculation and launches another attack, our people will be completely united in confronting it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: As the U.S. and Iran disagree over whether the Strait of Hormuz is actually open or not, the latest data shows that oil output has bounced back, but it's still below pre-war levels. Gulf oil producers, with considerable help from the U.S. Navy, have been able to get crude oil through the critical waterway. The recent increase in crude oil and petroleum output through the Strait of Hormuz, however, is still not being reflected at the pump. This is according to AAA's figures. The U.S. national average price of gasoline before the war was just under $3 per gallon, and as of Saturday, it was up to $4.38 a gallon. It's dropped by just one cent today.

Meanwhile, President Trump announced that Europe has agreed to release a massive amount of their diesel oil reserves. This agreement comes after days of pressure put on by the U.S. in an effort to mitigate those surging fuel prices ahead of the November midterm elections. The escalating hostilities between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis could further complicate an already strained global energy crisis.

The rebel group is claiming responsibility for an attack on an Aramco facility in the Saudi capital, Riyadh. The Houthis say they used ballistic missiles and drones in Saturday's attack, their latest assault targeting Saudi's energy infrastructure.

I want to bring in now from Abu Dhabi, Noureldeen AlHammoury. He is the Chief Market Strategist at Equiti Group.

Good morning to you. Thank you so much for joining us to help us really break this down.

NOURELDEEN ALHAMMOURY, CHIEF MARKET STRATEGIST, EQUITI GROUP: Good morning.

ABDELAZIZ: So, as we reported there, for consumers, prices at the pump are still painfully high. Yet we see that exports from the Middle East have been recovering. More oil is moving through the Strait of Hormuz. Saudi Arabia's east-west pipeline is back in operation. Why is this not translating into cheaper gas prices at the pump?

ALHAMMOURY: Good morning again and thank you for having me. Well, because the first thing, consumers basically don't put crude oil in their cars. They put gasoline and they put diesel in them.

Crude flows have recovered dramatically, I would say, but also refined product flows have not. And I think we just basically see perhaps the clearest evidence of these distinctions. If the energy market had truly normalized simply because Hormuz traffic recovered, which is also questionable, why did the United States just push to Europe and the rest of the G7 to release emergency diesel stockpiles?

The G7 has now agreed to release about 100 million barrels of oil and fuel products, but with a substantial amount of diesel being released immediately. That tells you, at least, policymakers themselves recognize that the problem has shifted from simply getting crude through Hormuz to getting enough refined fuel products into the global market. So, Europe also itself says that diesel supply is currently stable, but prices remain high because the global market remains tight.

So, getting crude out of the Gulf is step one. Refining it, transporting the product, and getting the gasoline and diesel to consumers is a problem that we have not solved yet. In fact, also the emergency diesel release answers the question for us, which is Hormuz may be moving more crude, but if the fuel market were truly back to normal, governments wouldn't be announcing any or the opening of their emergency stockpiles.

ABDELAZIZ: So, you're saying it hasn't solved the problem yet, just having these crude oil reserves go up. So, how do you solve the problem then?

[05:10:04]

ALHAMMOURY: I mean, there's a lot of -- lot of points that needs to go into the same time, or at the same time, in order for us to solve this equation. First, you'll have to end the war. Currently, at least for the time being, we're talking about all the continuous statements by the White House that we are going to restart the war by the -- before the midterms election or after the midterms elections. These kind of comments doesn't help the oil market.

Even yesterday, even after they basically announced the release of -- or pushed Europe to release some of their crude reserves, the market did not actually even go down. I mean, have a look at where the oil prices closed. But I think you need three things to happen together. First, crude prices needs to decline. Second, refinery capacity and refined product flows needs to recover. And third, the geopolitical premium insurance and also war risk needs to come down.

Now, how do you get all these done right from the beginning? You need to start by going back to diplomacy, end the war, and come up with an actual reliable agreement to end this war. That would actually benefit everybody.

Otherwise, you're going to keep on just going within the same close circle, whether if the war ends today, well, there will be an attack somewhere, at least not just only for when it comes to the Strait of Hormuz, but as you mentioned, Saudi Arabia got attacked multiple times. The export got disrupted multiple times.

ABDELAZIZ: Noureldeen AlHammoury there, giving us that analysis and that insight that, as you say, until the conflict ends, we are not going to see the relief in prices that people are expecting, even if there is an increase when it comes to the supply of crude oil and the release of reserves. Thank you so much for your insights there.

We're also learning new details about the co-pilot that was suspected of attacking another pilot on board the Flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv.

Sources tell CNN the co-pilot, an Omani citizen named Hamam Al-Hammami was removed from a previous job at Oman's national airline last year. It was reportedly over concerns because of his extremist views.

Meanwhile, there is growing confusion in Israel over how the suspect was able to serve as a pilot on a flight to Tel Aviv, especially given the country's strict security measures.

Our Senior Investigative Reporter, Tamara Qiblawi, has the story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIONS REPORTER AND WRITER (voice over): This is the bloody aftermath of the Flydubai cockpit attack that nearly downed a plane en route to Israel. CNN can reveal the identity of the co-pilot, the alleged attacker, Hamam al-Hammami, an Omani national whose views were so extreme, our source says, that he was removed from a position with Oman Air before joining Flydubai.

Hammami appeared to have posted two social media videos. The first post is a compilation of videos showing multiple planes belonging to El Al, Israel's national carrier, both on the tarmac and in the sky. We geo-located one of these videos to Dubai. It was filmed in 2023 from inside the cockpit of an Oman Air flight from Dubai to Muscat.

You can see here that date and flight number tracks with Hammami's time at Oman Air. The video ends with a tribute to Al-Qaeda's former leader, Ayman al-Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's successor, as well as the suicide bomber who killed nine people at a CIA outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. The second video he posted is A.I. generated. It shows Islam's three holiest sites from the sky. The videos appeared on LinkedIn and Instagram nine hours after the incident, well after Hammami was detained. We don't know if the posts were scheduled in advance or if they were published by someone else. CNN has reached out to LinkedIn and Meta for comment.

We looked at earlier posts, more than 3,000 tweets from a deleted account bearing his name. They were published between 2021 and 2022.

These portray a murkier mindset, one obsessed with women. Nearly half the posts reference women, including this one. The post brags about putting women through, quote/unquote, "slut tests." In other posts, he refers to them as, quote/unquote, "banging machines."

Now, it's still too early to tell what the possible motives were, but the findings raise many questions. Namely, how did Hammami pass his security checks, and how did he end up flying a plane on one of the world's most sensitive routes?

These are questions security officials in the region will be asking as they try to understand what happened.

Tamara Qiblawi, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[05:15:01]

ABDELAZIZ: To learn more about this suspect and the investigation, I want to bring in now CNN's Oren Liebermann live from Jerusalem. You heard, of course, Tamara Qiblawi asking this question. I think we're all asking this question. How did this pilot get hired by Flydubai, given that profile that she just had in her story there?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: And how was he on a flight to Tel Aviv? How was this not flagged by Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, its Ministry of Transportation, which has a division, a security division, that's supposed to vet not only the passengers, but also the flight crew, the pilots. How did this even begin?

So, there are now essentially two parts to this story. One is, rightfully so, hailing the pilot, the Indian national, as a hero. And we saw Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speak with him on the phone. Here is a short clip of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMIT MACHCHHAR, FLYDUBAI CAPTAIN: I had that one last fight left in me, that, you know, call it personal or call it for people, but let's say I did it, that if I don't do it, I'm going to die. And that's when I pushed against everything I gave, everything that I had, and just went for the door and opened the door, and thankfully people were waiting to bounce back, took over the control.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIEBERMANN: And it's not just Netanyahu here. India's leader, Narendra Modi, spoke with the pilot. And we saw earlier today, video from the Crown Prince of Dubai, visiting the pilot as he recovers there in the hospital.

So again, rightly so, the pilot, for his actions, for his quick thinking, even as he was under attack, of being able to open the doors so passengers could get in to overpower the pilot suspect here, all of that is being hailed as an act of heroism. But there is now another side to this, and those are the questions about how this ever could have happened in the first place. And that gets exactly at what Tamara Qiblawi was looking at there.

Given the red flags here, the switches between airlines, the reasons sources say he was let go of those airlines, or didn't get a pilot job, his social media history, how did it ever get to the point where this pilot was on a flight to Tel Aviv? Especially as an Omani national, Oman and Israel do not have diplomatic relations. And all we're seeing right now at this point is passing the buck without anybody coming forward here and saying, yes, this was the responsibility of this group.

The tax authority of all government organizations in Israel says they did have the names of the pilots in advance. The transportation ministry, meanwhile, says they didn't have the names and refuses to answer any further questions.

Now, it's worth pointing out, Salma, that about a decade ago, as we were doing a story here on Israeli airport security, we visited the office outside of the airport that looks at not only the passenger list, but also the flight crew and the pilots.

It is exactly this that they were supposed to look at. So, again, this is the key question. Now, how did this ever happen to begin with?

ABDELAZIZ: Passing the buck there with no one taking responsibility, but I'm sure that investigation will point fingers at some point.

Oren Liebermann in Jerusalem, thank you so much for those details.

The U.S. Coast Guard has found debris from a medical transport jet that went missing on Saturday with six people on board. It was located off the coast of Nantucket, Massachusetts, an island that's located about 30 miles south of Cape Cod. The air ambulance was flying from Bermuda to Boston, and officials say the two pilots and two medical staff were Canadian. The two others on board were a patient and their family member who were from Bermuda.

According to FlightAware data, the plane was flying at an altitude of 24,000 feet before it plunged 13,000 feet over the course of just two minutes. An air traffic control audio captured the moments before the FAA lost contact with that plane.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CONTROLLER: Roger, you said you're' coming in blind. Is that what you said?

OK, you declared an emergency or no?

OK. Yeah, you're coming in a little weak, so you're -- I didn't hear what your response was if you were declaring an emergency or not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: We have some breaking news for you this hour. We're following reports of Russian strikes on Ukraine's capital, Kyiv, and some dramatic video has just come to CNN. This was the moment a Russian airstrike hit the North Bridge in Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted on "X" that overnight Russia launched 135 attack drones, more than 50 of them jet-powered.

He noted that the main targets included critical infrastructure, such as this bridge, and it comes as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in a show of support for Ukraine. We're going to have more and a live report for you shortly on those events in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, there is so much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom." Cornell University faces a growing backlash over its handling of a student's alleged gang rape. Now the school's president is finally speaking out.

[05:20:09]

And new fallout from Tennessee's latest failed execution as the state's prison chief steps down amid the controversy. That story and so much more right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. Cornell University's president is speaking out for the first time about the school's handling of a student's alleged rape case at a fraternity party in 2024. He called the allegations, quote, "deeply disturbing" and says the university must do better to prevent sexual violence.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KOTLIKOFF, CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: You have my commitment that this will not be a moment that passes. We are listening. We are learning. We are committed to communicating more openly. And where we can do better, we will. That is our responsibility and is one I take personally. This is a defining moment in Cornell's history. We must lead the way. We owe it to Jane Doe and to survivors of assault to get this right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:25:03]

ABDELAZIZ: In his statement, Kotlikoff also said Cornell will be bringing in an outside law firm to independently review the university's handling of the case and is backing the New York governor's decision to turn the criminal investigation over to State Attorney General Letitia James. The attorney for the woman who made the allegations Jane Doe responded to the president's remarks saying in part, quote, "Today we watched and listened to President Kotlikoff's statement. We are hopeful that his statement is backed up by meaningful reforms that lead to real change for the sake of the students at Cornell. We are hopeful, but we are also wary."

CNN caught up with some Cornell students on campus to get their take on the president's statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AVA FARKASH, SENIOR AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: They're basically just saying, like, we want to foster a place where sexual assault is not tolerated and where victims feel safe to come forward. It was already supposed to be that anyways. This is nothing -- this is nothing new.

MAX TROIANO, JUNIOR AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: It was a start when it comes to acknowledging the mistakes that the administration has made in the past. But I don't think that I would describe it as any more than a start. It was very little mention of what concrete steps are going to be taken.

LIAM, FRESHMAN AT CORNELL UNIVERSITY: At the end of the day, it is still just words. I think the university actually has to show, like, a certain amount of action instead of just emails and videos.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Outrage on Cornell's campus continues to ramp up. This banner displayed at a residence reads, "Protect Students, Not Rapists" and called for the school administration to resign. Student groups are demanding accountability and they say they're planning protests on Monday.

Now to Tennessee, where the governor has announced that the state's prisons chief will resign. This is following that failed execution of a death row inmate on Wednesday. This is Tennessee's second failed execution since May.

Frank Strada took over the department in 2023. This is after serving as a top prison official in Arizona. But during his tenure there, he oversaw several executions that were marred by complications. CNN's Rafael Romo has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been three days since Christa Pike survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her via lethal injection on Wednesday, and there are still many unanswered questions about how something like this could have happened. In a statement, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the head of Tennessee's prison system is resigning.

In the same statement issued Saturday, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada said that stepping down is, quote, "in the best interest of Tennesseans." As for Christa Pike, she remains unconscious in a Nashville area hospital where she's intubated and on a ventilator.

Pike's attorney said Friday that she is receiving lifesaving care after being injected with two ostensibly fatal doses of pentobarbital. In a statement, Pike's attorneys reacted to the announcement, saying that "The resignation of Commissioner Strada is justified, but it does nothing to help Christa now. What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person."

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, announced the day after the state tried to kill her, a thorough and comprehensive review of Pike's case will be done by a third party.

GOV. BILL LEE (R-TN): That investigation will be thorough and it's going to take time. And therefore, the last scheduled execution for this year will not take place. Tennesseans deserve a justice system that's fair, that's consistent, that is faithfully administered.

ROMO: Governor Lee also announced he has halted the execution of death row inmate Gary Sutton, which was scheduled for December. Pike, who was set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years, was originally sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Randy Spivey, one of Pike's attorneys, said the governor's call for a review of the execution protocol doesn't go far enough. He called for Lee to commute her sentence, saying Pike has endured punishment, quote, "greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty."

Rafael Romo, CNN Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Still to come this hour, suddenly the Republicans cannot take Ohio for granted anymore. We'll get the latest on why the state is in play for the midterms just ahead.

And President Trump is so frustrated with a fellow Republican that he posted the senator's cell phone number on social media. We'll tell you why when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:33:07]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's take a look at today's top stories: The U.S. Coast Guard has found debris from a medical transport jet that went missing on Saturday morning. It was found off the coast of Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. Officials have been using boats, planes, and helicopters to search that area. The air ambulance was flying from Bermuda to Boston when it lost contact with the FAA. Cornell University's president is speaking out amid growing outrage

over a student's alleged gang rape at a 2024 fraternity party. He says the university must do better to prevent sexual violence and pledged greater transparency, including an independent review to examine how the school handled that case.

U.S. President Donald Trump is campaigning for Republican candidates ahead of the midterms. The president spent Saturday at a rally in Ohio for Senator Jon Husted, who is now in a tight race with Democrat Sherrod Brown. Midterm elections are only a month away, and thanks to high gas prices and inflation, Republicans are at risk of possibly losing control of the House and Senate.

I want to go to Jo Ingles now. She is a senior reporter for Ohio's Public Media State House News Bureau. She joins us from Columbus, Ohio.

Thank you so much for coming to us very early in your morning, sort of in the middle of your night, to discuss what I understand is one of the most expensive and competitive Senate races in the country, this clash between Husted and Brown, which could determine control of the chambers.

What did Trump's message in Saturday night's rally tell you about the Republican strategy in Ohio, and do you think it persuaded undecided voters or energized his base?

[05:35:02]

JO INGLES, SENIOR REPORTER, STATEHOUSE NEWS BUREAU, OHIO PUBLIC MEDIA: Well, thank you for having me. The idea was for President Trump to come here and shore up support for Republican Senator Jon Husted, who went into office last year. He's been in office about a year and a half now.

And he was -- before that, he was the lieutenant governor in Ohio. He has a long political history at the statewide level. But a lot of people are really torn right now because the economy here in Ohio, a lot of people are not feeling any benefit from it. And they expected things to turn around after 2024. Now they see the gas price is high. They see their electricity bills are rising. They see the grocery prices are high.

And they're blaming, a lot of them are blaming Republicans for that. So, there's a loss of enthusiasm on that Republican side. And they were hoping that President Trump would come in and kind of shore that up.

ABDELAZIZ: So, let's talk about that, because Trump won by more than 55 percent, I believe, in 2024. But of course now we're starting to see cracks in that support. You mentioned some of the reasons, cost of living, concern about jobs. But tell me, is there something deeper here? And what message is going to resonate with those voters who feel so vulnerable economically right now?

INGLES: Well, that's the million-dollar question, what message will resonate. But I'll tell you right now that Sherrod Brown comes into this race very strong. He's a known commodity in Ohio. He has served Ohio and Washington, D.C. for more than two decades. So, he's not someone that people don't know. People do know him.

There was the hope that maybe things would get better coming out of the Biden administration. But Sherrod Brown, in 2024, he lost his race by three points.

Now, President Trump in 2024 won Ohio by 11 points. So, Sherrod Brown actually performed pretty well. Even though he lost, he performed pretty well in Ohio in 2024. Now you throw in all these other factors, and it makes somewhat of a difference.

So, I think, you know, that Sherrod Brown, what we hear on the campaign trail, economy, affordability, he's making a lot of pitches to people to return to the stability that, you know, they once felt like they had, you know, 10 years ago, 15 years ago, under Democratic control, and at least at the national level.

ABDELAZIZ: So, let's talk a little bit more about Sherrod Brown. You, of course, mentioned that he lost his own seat two years ago. How can he win back voters? And how crucial is flipping this seat to the wider hope that Democrats hold, of course, of taking control?

INGLES: It's crucial. This is a national race. A lot of worldwide money is coming into it. We don't even know how much this is going to -- it's probably going to be the most expensive Senate race we've seen in our lifetimes, at least. Well, ever.

And it's going to be a situation where Sherrod Brown is trying to tap into all of the problems that Ohioans are facing. He's talking about things on the campaign trail that are important to Ohioans. The affordability issue, he talks about that a lot.

He also is a friend of labor. He's talking to a lot of labor groups. He's talking to people about data centers, because data centers here in Ohio are not popular. We're seeing 21 local communities that have data centers on their ballot this November to try to rein in these data centers that seem to be popping up, proliferating all over the state.

A lot of people are seeing them. They're saying, absolutely no tax breaks, and we need to have rules and regulations around them that don't exist right now. So, Sherrod Brown has been talking about that. He's just out there everywhere kind of reminding people what it was like before the last couple of years, before they really had to deal with a lot of economic hardship.

ABDELAZIZ: If I may also ask you about the governor's race, because that's also quite close as well, what is making Democrat Amy Acton, despite the fact that her competitor has a substantial fundraising advantage, what is making her competitive in this race? And to you, do these two races show evidence of a broader shift away from the GOP on Ohio, or is this really just about individual candidates at this point? INGLES: You know, that's a really hard question to answer, if there is actually a shift away from the Republicans in Ohio. I don't know, but I do know that both of these races are close.

[05:40:05]

Amy Acton is the former health director in Ohio. She was the one in the early days of COVID who was putting out the orders. Now Governor DeWine, of course, was signing those orders. So, everything he says, you know, the buck stopped with him. But, you know, she was the one putting out the orders that shut down public places, that made the visitations at nursing homes difficult, shut down schools, businesses.

So, a lot of people blame her for that. But then there are also a lot of people who say thank you for doing that, because they felt like she took the right course of action when it was needed. So, it really has worked against her with some populations, but not others. She is a known commodity.

And Vivek Ramaswamy, of course he ran for president, he has not held a statewide office. He is somewhat new to the state. But that actually is a good thing, because right now not having someone with a large political background is a good thing in Ohio, because they want change.

ABDELAZIZ: Two very critical, very razor-thin races, one that could determine control of the Senate, which President Trump had won comfortably in Ohio just a couple of years ago, and all of it now shifting because of that cost-of-living crisis.

INGLES: Right.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much, Jo Ingles, for bringing us that analysis from Columbus, Ohio.

President Trump is taking aim at Arkansas Republican Senator Tom Cotton, accusing him of delaying a bill to make daylight savings times permanent. He posted the lawmaker's number on social media and then invited people to contact him. CNN's Julia Benbrook has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump, in a series of posts, railed against Senator Tom Cotton, accusing the Arkansas senator of holding up a bill that would make daylight saving time permanent. He encouraged people to call the senator and posted Cotton's direct cell phone number. Trump says that he believes that this issue would be a win and that Republicans need a win right now.

In his post, he said in part, "To the Great People of Arkansas, please let your Senator know it would be a GREAT Bipartisan WIN for the United States Senate, and for America, itself."

I asked the president why he decided to post Cotton's cell phone number. He did not answer that question directly. TRUMP: We want to get away from this ridiculous way and custom of every -- twice a year, turning your clocks back, turning your clocks forward, being late for dinner, being late for very important meetings. It's ridiculous, and if you look at the public, they agree. That's a 100 percent issue. Tom Cotton's holding it up. You know who wants it? The farmers want it. You know who wants it? Sports want it.

BENBROOK: Over the summer, the House did overwhelmingly support a measure that would establish year-round daylight-saving time nationwide. The Senate has not moved on the issue.

In a post over the weekend, Cotton detailed his opposition, writing, "No one likes changing the clock, me included, but Congress has enacted permanent daylight savings time multiple times before and repealed it each time, once Americans experienced absurdly late sunrises in the winter."

Cotton added, "Arkansans don't want their kids going to school in the pitch dark, and I will always put Arkansas first."

Cotton's voicemail box was full when CNN immediately tried that number. When we tried again, it did ring several times before it said that the wireless customer was not available. We have reached out to his team for comment.

Julia Benbrook, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Coming up next on "CNN Newsroom," Russia strikes a key transit point in the Ukrainian capital once again, just as the European leader arrives to offer his support. We'll have the latest in a live report for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:47:22]

ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. Let's go back to that breaking news we brought you earlier. Russian airstrikes have targeted Ukraine's capital in the past few hours. We're bringing you video of that strike in Kyiv's Northern Bridge. It is one of a pair of key bridges that cross over a river which splits the Ukrainian capital in two. The bridges have been targeted by Russian strikes in recent days, causing major travel disruptions in the capital.

Meanwhile, a European leader has arrived in Kyiv to show his support for Ukraine. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz arrived in the city a short time ago. He is traveling with the leaders of several German defense companies.

For more on all of this, we have CNN's Clare Sebastian joining us live from London now.

Good morning to you, Clare. So, what do you know about these latest strikes, but also these escalating attacks that are taking place with President Zelenskyy saying he's going to be hitting Russian oil refineries as they head into winter?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, so this extraordinary video this morning, Salma, of the drone hitting the Northern Bridge in Kyiv. As you say, that links the left and right banks of the city. Cutting these road and rail links would essentially sever the city in half. And this is now day four of attacks on the Northern and Southern bridges. Those are some of several bridges, which crossed this river.

We can see, I think, there's another video that emerged on social media. CNN has verified these videos showing people driving past the aftermath of this attack. You can see the roadway there, damaged. The mayor has talked about that this morning.

Extraordinarily, there are no casualties reported from this, though clearly this is part of a pattern that we're seeing in the capital of the trappings of daily life being affected. Be it data centers, be it warehouses, be it electricity and energy facilities, as we saw as part of the playbook through the last winter. This is a pattern that has been escalating.

And President Zelenskyy says this is now part of what Ukrainian intelligence believes is a new Russian doctrine going into this winter. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: But we know, and we saw documents, and we know that they allow them attack infrastructure. Yes, logistic. And especially to attack in the cities, in the villages everywhere, roads, schools, hospitals, to pressure people to leave the capital, leave different cities. Yes, and because this is the goal of the operation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:50:05]

SEBASTIAN: So look, we haven't seen these documents or this new doctrine that he claims exists, but we have seen a rising pattern of attacks day and night throughout the last five or six weeks or so. We've seen a broadening list of targets, most of it civilian infrastructure, schools, universities, hospitals, as I said, warehouses, data centers.

And that attack on the Northern Bridge this morning in Kyiv came just about an hour and a half or two hours after German Chancellor Merz stepped off the train in Kyiv, bringing with him a message of support. He's going to speak to President Zelenskyy today, potentially discuss drone and missile co-production, things like that. This will be existential for Ukraine going into this winter when they are facing this massive escalation in Russian attacks.

Chillingly, that visit comes just one day, Salma, after we heard from the Russian foreign ministry reiterating a warning they've made before and saying that foreign nationals and diplomatic personnel should leave Kyiv and refrain from coming to visit the city. They said responsibility for any possible adverse consequences lies entirely with those who choose to disregard this warning. No sign, of course, with Chancellor Merz arriving that anyone is heeding that warning, and I think that just matches the continuing resolve that we're seeing from the Ukrainian people, even as life there becomes more and more difficult, especially, of course, in the capital.

ABDELAZIZ: Clare Sebastian there on the escalating attacks by Russia on Ukraine, and that very dramatic video we were seeing this morning of a bridge strike. Thank you so much for bringing all of that to us.

We have more news straight ahead, please stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:55:33]

ABDELAZIZ: Thousands of people took part in the largest Pride celebration in France this weekend. They marched through the streets of Paris on Saturday, carrying rainbow flags and signs with messages of pride and support. The march usually takes place in June, but was postponed due to the extreme heat in Europe.

Hundreds of colorful hot air balloons dotted the sky over New Mexico over the annual Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta founded more than 50 years ago with just 13 balloons. The event has grown into the world's largest ballooning festival. It lasts nine days with more than 500 balloons scheduled to take flight.

Hundreds of pet lovers took over a square in Ecuador's capital for the annual Blessing of the Balloon. It's a blessing of animals that honors the patron saint of ecology and animals. Nearly 100 years ago, the World Animal Protection Organization named October 4th as Animal Day. This is this year's. On October 3rd, priests blessed dogs, cats, bunnies, and even roosters and pet fish during the tradition that's observed all across Latin America. Owners even brought the ashes of their beloved deceased pets to be blessed during the ceremony.

Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. For our viewers in North America, "CNN This Morning" is next. And for the rest of the world, it will be "Connecting Africa."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)