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Rescue And Recovery Underway In Isaias' Aftermath; Zelenskyy Blasts "Weak" Trump Deal With Putin On Diesel Supply; Trump Campaigns In Tennessee To Boost GOP Support; Several Killed In Pennsylvania Mass Shooting; Trump, Vance React To Guilfoyle Quid Pro Quo Allegations; Probe: Alleged FlyDubai Hijacker Inspired By 9/11 Attacks; Delta CEO On A.I., Rising Airfares And Customer Loyalty; Want To Predict Lyme Disease Risk? Count The Acorns. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired October 10, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:46]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. I'm Brianna Keilar and you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

Breaking news. We're following a trail of destruction in Florida and Alabama as what is left of Isaias now pushes inland with millions still in its dangerous path.

This morning, hundreds of thousands of people are without power. The storm made landfall on the Florida Panhandle as a Category 2 hurricane. Winds over 100 miles an hour, you see, ripping the roof off of this hotel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STORM MCCREE, HOTEL GUEST: It ripped the roof off and everything almost immediately. So as soon as it picked up, everything just came apart.

I don't even know how to describe it. So, you know, I've been in a lot of storms and the howling and the whistling and stuff like that. You know, the normal attributes you get with a hurricane. But this had like a growl to it. It almost had like a roar.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Now, with rescue operations ongoing, we're learning of at least one death. And that was caused by a falling tree in Escambia County, Florida. One person also died in Alabama after a tree fell onto a home there. Uprooted trees in some areas are leaving roads completely impassable.

Meteorologist Melissa Nord is in the CNN Weather Center, tracking what's left of Isaias. And Melissa, as the recovery and the cleanup efforts begin, there are still threats that remain. I think we need to remind people of those. MELISSA NORD, AMS METEOROLOGIST: There absolutely are. The good news

is, though, that the backside of this system, Brianna, is fairly dry, had a lot of dry air and wind shear getting in there.

So right near landfall, we do not have any rain falling at this time. All the moisture associated with the remnants of Isaias pushing northeastward up through Tennessee, Georgia into the Carolinas as well. And that will be the focal point for what's to come today with additional rainfall.

But in the meantime, those winds at landfall, 105 miles per hour officially. But we had some wind gusts at weather stations reported in upwards of 115 miles per hour. So that's, you know, in that Category 3 range of some of the max wind gusts that we had.

And this is the result of that. These are the power outages. This map is continuously being updated and it shows you the percentage of customers without power in each county.

And really what to take away from this is nearly in fall, just east of landfall on the dirty side of the system, we have over 80 percent of some of those counties completely without power at this point.

A lot of rain spreading to the east. So the actual center of where the circulation still is, that's over here in northern Alabama. But we've got on the eastern side of this system, enhanced moisture thanks to kind of fetch off the Atlantic.

So its pulling in a lot more moisture. We're going to have these little tiny embedded cells that we'll watch for a brief spin-up tornado, and also just lots of gusty ambient winds around today.

These are all the wind alerts on the map. A lot of these wind gusts and some of those bigger cities are going to be around 40 miles an hour or so at peak.

But in the eastern-facing slopes of the Appalachian Mountains, right in here, we could see some of those higher wind gusts that are pushing 50, 55 miles per hour.

Also, a lot of rainfall enhanced on the eastern slopes of the mountains. Big picture. There's going to be a lot of rain totals that will be across the Carolinas, eastern Georgia that could be 2 to 4 inches. But those east facing slopes where we saw big impacts from Helene -- again, different storm, different scenario -- they could see rainfall up to ten inches.

So flash flooding a possibility throughout the day. Level three out of four risk of excessive rainfall, Brianna.

KEILAR: Three out of four. All right. We'll keep an eye on that. Melissa, thank you.

In the meantime, rescue and recovery operations are underway in Florida in the aftermath of Isaias. Florida's coastal bridges and major roadways are now open. But the damage from the storm is very apparent. And the governor warns the threat of flooding isn't over.

CNN's Rafael Romo is in Pensacola in the Florida Panhandle.

[11:04:43]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It moved through the area very quickly, but Hurricane Isaias was a massive, powerful storm that left a trail of damage here in the Gulf Coast region and specifically where we are in the city of Pensacola, Florida.

Take a look at what you can see behind me. A lot of branches from trees that fell over during the storm. And then something even more dangerous a light pole and a live downed power line on this part of the street.

And officials tell us that this is just an example of what they're seeing across the region, because there are many power lines that have been down.

As a matter of fact, I was noticing earlier that this side of the street has lost power, while the other side of the street still has power.

And that is the challenge for authorities to go through. Cities like Pensacola trying to figure out what parts of the city need attention, need to have linemen go through those utilities and fix what has been broken.

Escambia County has reported one fatality. That happened due to a downed tree. At one point, as many as more than 800,000 customers had lost power, especially during the peak hours of the hurricane. That number has been coming down over the last few hours, and it's expected to get better.

But once again, the entire region is reeling after the hurricane. And the cleanup process, as you can see, is going to take a long time.

I was showing you the bigger problems, but take a look at this debris on the street. This is going to take weeks and weeks to clean up because like the parking lot behind me, the street here, when you travel around the region, you see that replicated by thousands of times.

So the cleanup effort barely beginning here in the coast of the Gulf where I am.

Rafael Romo reporting from Pensacola, Florida.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Rafael for that.

In Alabama, at least one death has now been reported. And that's a person who was believed trapped in their home. As Isaias lashed the state with heavy rain and wind.

Crews are working to restore power to hundreds of thousands of people across Alabama and clear away downed trees.

Jeremy Burkett is the director of the Alabama law enforcement agency's Department of Public Safety. He's also a state trooper.

Jeremy, thank you for being with us.

Can you first give us whatever information you can share about this person who has passed away in the circumstances there?

JEREMY BURKETT, DIRECTOR, ALABAMA LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY'S DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY: So we're really working to kind of make a clear determination on that. Of course, that's some information that's just coming out literally as I'm getting on this call right now.

So I will say this, there has been the loss of life in the southern part of our state during the time that the storm occurred. Now we're continuing to work with our local partners to really understand and be able to attribute the loss of life and make sure that it's actually in correlation with the storm.

So -- but I will also say that that number is going to be relatively low from the -- from the standpoint of loss of life in the state of Alabama relative to Hurricane Isaias, that's a low number.

Now, we also always acknowledge that any loss of life is tragic.

KEILAR: No. Certainly.

And I think also right now, a lot of folks there are focused on making sure that number stays very low or that there are no more.

KEILAR: Can you talk about the dangers that are still out there right now that people need to know about, so that they can stay out of harm's way?

BURKETT: Well, one of the things that we see can be an issue during these times, and y'all are talking about it earlier, is the residual flooding that takes place, especially along some of your low-lying areas, some of your more rural areas, some of your rural roadways where you do have large creeks and rivers. As that water continues to wash down, it washes over the roadway.

You know, for us, it's really simple. We call it the golden rule when it comes to flooding. We simply tell everyone to turn around and don't drown.

And for the most part, the citizens of the state of Alabama have done a really good job of heeding the warning, taking this thing very serious, because for us, unfortunately, there is a commonality.

We're very used to experiencing severe weather. We're very used to living through these hurricanes. So we do have a presence of mind to be able to know how to keep ourselves safe. And, and we really appreciate the citizens being able to do that.

[11:09:42]

BURKETT: But we -- right now, we're just encouraging, unless you have an absolute emergency to be out on the roadways, everybody just stay at home. Let the crews that have been out -- and they have done an extremely good job. Even me, I've been out early this morning in a part of the state that's referred to as the wiregrass.

So kind of that southeastern corner that's just north of Florida, what we refer to as the Panhandle area, which as the storm kind of shifted, there was a lot of impact there, a strong storm surge. And for us, that was the majority of the damage.

So we do -- we have a lot of debris, a lot of downed trees. There's a lot of power outages but I can say again, just because we've got some really good utility crews, really good utility companies that are used to this, they had a lot of the power on before the sun even come up.

In the very building that I'm standing in now, because I'm actually in Enterprise, Alabama, that's in Coffee County, kind of the heart of the wiregrass. The power wasn't even on in this building this morning, and it's back on now.

So they've done an outstanding job working with a whole host of first responders, not just the troopers. You've got the local sheriff's departments and the police departments out there getting these roadways back open, which is huge.

And just what you said earlier, that's where we see the issues because people get out there, whether it be flooding on the roadway or running into downed trees or something like that.

That's where we see the kind of the aftermath where there's that potential for people to be injured or subsequently lose their life.

KEILAR: Yes, it is time maybe to hunker down until these linemen and these response crews can get all of that cleared up.

Colonel Jeremy Burkett, thank you so much for being with us and giving us a sense of the situation there. We appreciate it.

BURKETT: Thank you so much for the opportunity.

And coming up, new this morning, we're hearing from newly-appointed White House press secretary Katie Zacharia as President Trump heads to Tennessee today to rally voters.

[11:11:43]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Soon, President Trump heads to Tennessee to rally support for Republicans facing midterm headwinds. Last night, he made a campaign stop in Syracuse, New York but his focus shifted to not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The United States of America, represented by me as your president, should have received the Nobel Peace Prize, but didn't.

This is an indelible stain on the country of Norway, and those people that made such a disgraceful and embarrassing decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Before hitting the trail, President Trump was asked about Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelenskyy slamming his agreement on diesel fuel with Russia. Trump announcing he secured a deal with Vladimir Putin to supply markets with Russian diesel in an effort to lower energy costs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zelenskyy said you're weak because of it. He just criticized you --

TRUMP: He said that?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president, just said you're weak because of the deal.

TRUMP: Ok. Go ahead.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Zelenskyy said the diesel deal is a weak move by a strong president that will only prolong the war.

TRUMP: By a strong what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this emboldened -- by a strong partner -- that will only prolong the war.

TRUMP: Well, we are a strong partner.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will this embolden Putin?

TRUMP: Well, no. We need oil for the world. And this is diesel, which is what we need. So we're very happy to get it.

(CROSSTALK)

TRUMP: We're very happy to get it. Look, we need it.

KEILAR: Yes. That was Mike Tyson, by the way, if anyone was wondering, next to President Trump there.

We're joined now by retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, I'm just curious, as you were looking at this deal, just kind of spell it out for us, what it means that the president has brokered a deal on diesel with Russian president Vladimir Putin, as Ukraine had been seeking to pressure Russia by attacking its oil refineries, which was something that the president was upset with, because, of course, fuel prices are expensive here in the U.S. because of the Iran war.

It's a little bit complicated, but just explain to us what that means, that he's now with Russia on this.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, it's very disturbing for the Ukrainians certainly, Brianna. But one of the things that we have to keep in mind here is that when the president is looking at this -- President Trump is looking at this, he is clearly looking at this from the standpoint of electoral politics.

But what it means concretely for global oil markets may not be as much as he thinks it does, because what we're -- what we're looking at here is, in essence, Russia letting go of its reserves, allowing them to be exported. The diesel -- refined products coming out of Russia, which had been kept, you know, as part of an export ban. But because of oil shortages in Russia.

So what the Russians want to do, of course, is they want to have money to fuel their war effort. This is something that allows the Russians to get money for their oil. It, of course, goes directly against the Graham sanctions that were just signed into law. And it also goes into effect based on basically in a way that allows for the Russians to put this oil on the market.

But it's not going to have the impact in terms of lowering oil prices if the volume of oil is going to be a fairly low volume.

[11:19:51]

LEIGHTON: So, Brianna, what we're looking at here is a symbolic gesture that definitely supports President Putin and flies in the face of what Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians want to do when it comes to prosecuting the war and actually shortening the war.

KEILAR: Yes. How do you see the effect of this on the war? Will it prolong the war?

LEIGHTON: It will. It definitely will prolong the war. And I think one of the key things here is this. The Ukrainians have been targeting the Russian oil supply efforts quite a bit, you know, through their drone warfare and their ability to attack all of these different nodal points within the Russian oil refinery system.

So they've been fairly successful at doing that. In fact, they've reduced Russian oil production by over 50 percent in some cases.

And that in and of itself has created a huge issue for the Russians. It has created fuel shortages in Russia, and it forces the Russians to basically ration the kinds of oil supplies that they have to ration them away from civilian use and move them into military use.

Now, what this does is it won't alleviate the domestic issues for the Russians. But what it will do is it will allow the Russians to export their oil, gain some money for that.

And then if they gain that money and if things move forward according to their plan, they would then have more money to throw into the war effort, which would mean, you know, potentially more weapons that could be lobbed against the Ukrainians and potentially hiring more mercenaries, such as those from North Korea.

So there are a lot of different issues here that are definitely moving in favor of the Russians. And that, of course, flies into the face of actions that most Americans would support when it comes to the Ukraine war.

KEILAR: Cedric, I want to ask you about CNN's new reporting that people across the Pentagon and the Army were caught off guard when Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced that the Fort Hood mass shooters execution will be made public.

I suspect you're not surprised that they were surprised, considering what a change it would be and what it would mean for something like this to be public.

LEIGHTON: Yes. Brianna, this is, you know, a very disturbing development, to be very frank about it. And the reaction has been quite interesting, both among active-duty military as well as among the retired military community.

No matter where people stand politically, they are basically coming out against this there. I've not seen a single voice in my community, at least, that has talked in favor of doing this in a public way even among people who support the death penalty.

So in this particular situation, you've got a, you know, obviously a person who has in essence admitted guilt the way he, you know, in his court martial.

And in this particular case, he is someone who is clearly guilty of the offense that he committed back in 2009.

The problem that you have is taking this public. In fact, the army regulation that governs this particular process forbids the witnessing of an execution by anyone under the age of 18.

If you live stream an event like this, the potential for someone under the age of 18 to see something like this is, of course, pretty high.

So the way they're going to do this, you know, is clearly, caught, as you mentioned, the Pentagon by surprise. And the fact that the Pentagon is looking at this in a, in a way that, you know, how do we, you know, basically how do we do this? They're questioning that.

And the way in which they're going to have to do something like this really flies in the face of their own regulations and the procedures that the military has instituted over the years.

In fact, the last time we executed anybody was back in 1961. And that, of course, was a completely different case. And it was not public.

KEILAR: Yes. Very different.

Colonel Cedric Leighton always great to speak with you. Thank you so much.

LEIGHT: You bet, Brianna.

KEILAR: Coming up, President Trump weighing in on the pay-to-play allegations surrounding U.S. ambassador to Greece Kimberly Guilfoyle. What he's saying, next.

[11:23:59]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: Taking a look at some of this morning's top stories.

Several people are dead after a mass shooting in Erie, Pennsylvania. Our affiliate WSEE reports nine people, including two children, are among the dead.

CNN has not independently confirmed that number, but according to witnesses, the suspect was seen firing a weapon before entering a house last night.

A SWAT team arrived and tried to get the man to surrender, but more shots were heard coming from inside the home.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHIEF RICK LORAH, ERIE POLICE: I want to be candid with our community. This is one of the most difficult and heartbreaking scenes our officers and investigators have ever encountered.

The loss of life is devastating and the circumstances we are working through are deeply disturbing.

At this time, we can confirm that the suspect is deceased. Based on the information currently available to us, there is no ongoing threat to the public.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Authorities say the suspected shooter died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. The identities of the victims have not been released, and there is no word on a possible motive.

A powerful 7.7 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Panama yesterday. It caused damage and minor injuries. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the quake's epicenter was in a sparsely-populated area about 120 miles from Panama City. When the quake hit, thousands of people were forced into the streets for safety.

[11:29:43]

KEILAR: A television program, as you see here, was live on air when the quake began, and it forced the hosts to run for cover.

You can see the television in the background, the overhead lights beginning to shake violently. And President Trump is calling on the Supreme Court to revive his

lawsuit against Hillary Clinton. The complaint against Clinton, the Democratic National Committee and dozens of others claims they conspired against him in the 2016 presidential campaign.

The suit was dismissed by a federal district court for being, quote, "frivolous". And the Court of Appeals upheld that decision in 2025. The high court will likely decide whether to hear this case before the end of the year.

And President Trump is weighing in on the pay-to-play allegations surrounding U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle. He called the accusations, quote, "too bad", but stopped short of saying whether she still has his support.

CNN's Betsy Klein has been following this story for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, over and over again, we have seen President Trump make clear that he is very unhappy when his allies appear to profit off their relationship with him. And it's unclear at this stage whether there are going to be consequences.

But these are very serious allegations of a quid pro quo between a top Trump ally who serves as U.S. ambassador to Greece and a former Trump donor.

This is Eric Deters. He's the former donor who ran for Congress in Kentucky. And he says that Kimberly Guilfoyle asked him to wire her $100,000 to pay off an American Express balance just six days before her confirmation hearings to be the ambassador to Greece.

Now, of course, Guilfoyle is a person who is incredibly close to the Trump family. You may recall she was engaged to the president's son, Donald Trump Jr. for about four years and enjoys a very close relationship with that family. And after the breakup, she received that plum ambassadorship posting.

Now, according to these text messages that were provided to CNN by Deters, Guilfoyle writes, quote, "Honey, please, I need you to get this done today."

And she also appeared to be aware that this was improper. In another series of text messages, she said, quote, "It won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. That's all it will show. Please."

And then she later says she can get him in for a meeting on the matter that they had discussed.

Now, this is all raising eyebrows in Trump world. There are allies of both the president and his son, Donald Trump Jr., who say that this episode is embarrassing.

But Vice President JD Vance was asked about this and declined to -- or was withholding judgment for now. Listen.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Look, these are accusations. You don't take messages that people allegedly had between one person or another, or one person's story and say, oh, because of that Kimberly Guilfoyle is guilty.

I think that's absurd. Let's actually see what the facts are. Let's see what the truth is. And obviously, if there was something bad that happened, then people have to suffer consequences for it.

KLEIN: Deters ultimately did not wire Guilfoyle the money. He says he did not have the liquid assets at the time. And a lawyer for Ambassador Guilfoyle is disputing the authenticity of those text messages.

But Deters tells our colleague Jake Tapper there is, quote, "no question" it was a quid pro quo.

Betsy Klein, CNN at the White House

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Coming up, new details about the alleged FlyDubai hijacker. What investigators say prompted him to become a pilot. We'll have that next.

[11:33:17]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: This morning, a preliminary investigation finding the alleged FlyDubai hijacker was inspired by the September 11th attacks and planned to crash the plane into the Ben Gurion Airport in Israel.

He was stopped, of course, by the actions of the captain and several passengers who restrained him and took back control of the plane.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more from Tel Aviv.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes, really extraordinary new details revealed by the United Arab Emirates attorney general, revealing not only that this was a premeditated plot with a terrorist objective carried out by the co-pilot of that FlyDubai flight bound for Tel Aviv.

But also that this co-pilot was apparently inspired by the 9/11 attacks, not only inspired by them, but also that it pushed him into a career of aviation with the goal of ultimately trying to carry out some kind of an attack using an aircraft, very similar to what happened on September 11th, 2001.

And indeed, the UAE's attorney general says that the goal that this co-pilot had when he attacked the captain of that plane and tried to take control of that flight, was to fly that plane into Israel's Ben Gurion International Airport, flying it into the passenger terminal with the quote, "intention of causing the greatest number of casualties".

What we've also learned in this statement from the UAE's public prosecutor is that this pilot, Hamam al-Hammami, whose identity we've previously revealed, he made two previous flights to Tel Aviv to familiarize himself with the flight route and with the airport.

[11:39:40]

DIAMOND: Now that will raise new questions here in Israel as well, where there have already been questions about how this pilot, an Omani citizen, a country with whom Israel does not have any diplomatic relations, was able to get into a cockpit and fly into a country where he wouldn't even be granted entry at the border.

But now it's not only this one flight on September 30th, but apparently two previous flights before that allowed him to kind of plan out his attack, plan out the attack on his captain, and how he would ultimately hijack this plane and fly it into Ben Gurion Airport.

Now, of course, we know that he did not get that far, in large part thanks to the heroic actions of several of the Israeli passengers on board that flight.

There was also the fact that there were two other pilots who were supposed to fly the plane back to Dubai, who were on board and were able to land this plane safely -- this plane safely in Saudi Arabia.

Now, the UAE's attorney general says that all of this information was largely gleaned from a detailed confession that Hamam al-Hammami gave in the presence of an attorney.

So far, al-Hammami is saying that he acted alone. But the UAE is making very clear that this investigation is ongoing to verify that claim and to also better understand how he was hired at FlyDubai as a pilot, given the fact that he had previously been dismissed from a position at Oman Air over his extremist views.

So a lot more to still be -- to be investigated by the Emirati authorities. And we know that the Emirati authorities have also been in close coordination with the Israeli authorities over the course of this investigation.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Jeremy Diamond for that.

Coming up, CNN going one-on-one with Delta CEO Ed Bastian as rising fuel costs are driving up ticket prices.

[11:41:37]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: The head of Delta Air Lines says there's a place for A.I. in his business, and while it won't be flying planes, Delta CEO Ed Bastian says it will be solving problems and enhancing the customer experience.

CNN's Randi Kaye spoke with him about A.I., what's driving ticket prices, and more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RANDI KAYE, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: To have your voice with all that's going on in the world, I think it's really important.

Ed Bastian has been CEO of Delta Air Lines for ten years, and with the company for nearly 30 years.

ED BASTIAN, CEO, DELTA AIR LINES: The Wall Street community had declared us dead. They had us DOA, that we weren't going to make it.

KAYE: He has seen Delta through bankruptcy, restructuring, 9/11 and COVID. And today is dealing with the effects of the Iran War, energy shock and rising airfares.

KAYE: So, you have built Delta around this idea that taking care of employees ultimately takes care of customers.

BASTIAN: Take care of your people first, and then they will take care of your customers, who will reward you with loyalty and repeat business.

And that virtuous circle that goes around is really important in a high-touch business like we are.

KAYE: And you're building Delta now more around that premium customer.

BASTIAN: And I'd say today, over 60 percent of our revenues are not in our main cabin for the company. It's coming from the premium side. And that's growing double digits.

We're focused on the upper end of the k. And our consumer demographic we talk about has household earnings, a minimum of about $100,000 a year, which is not an elitist definition. That's over 40 percent of the households in the United States fits that definition.

Ninety-five percent of our revenues come from that demographic. And that demographic, if you look post-COVID, has accumulated enormous wealth.

KAYE: What are you seeing from customers who aren't at the top end of the k?

BASTIAN: We still see the -- those consumers spending and investing. It's younger folks. It's our Gen Zs, our Millennials that see Delta and travel as an aspirational brand.

KAYE: When you look at the Iran war, it certainly has sent gas prices higher, jet fuel prices higher, airline tickets higher. Which of your customers would you say are absorbing most of that increase? BASTIAN: I'd say they all are, across the board. We expect oil prices to be about $6 billion higher than they were a year ago.

KAYE: Wow.

BASTIAN: And that's a substantial shock to have. We're not meeting any resistance along the way. Consumers understand why prices are up.

KAYE: At some point, do you expect you would see resistance?

BASTIAN: We can see the holidays already. We can see kind of the first part of next year through advanced bookings. There's no slowdown in sight.

KAYE: Delta Air Lines began as a Georgia crop dusting operation in 1925. Last year, Delta celebrated its 100th anniversary, the first U.S. airline to do so.

BASTIAN: The promise of the next century of flight, to me, is exhilarating.

KAYE: We are walking under the Spirit of Delta airplane.

BASTIAN: Well, this is the airplane in 1982 that the employees of the company purchased and gave to the company. Three flight attendants took up a call to action to all of their colleagues and raised $35 million.

This is the very 767-200 that we ever flew. It was at the core of our relationship with our people.

It means everything to me. Sometimes I'll just come down to the museum and walk around. I'll kind of speak to the Spirit, I'll speak to the airplane, what do you think? It just helps me get settled on priorities.

KAYE: As Bastian looks ahead to the next century, that includes figuring out where A.I. fits into Delta's people first playbook.

[11:49:50]

BASTIAN: Our people will always be at the heart of whatever A.I. provides in terms of benefit.

KAYE: Is there any part of you that's worried that we're moving too fast with A.I.?

BASTIAN: Yes, of course, it does. When you hear the -- you hear the stories about what the A.I. inventors say it could do.

KAYE: How will A.I. change the Delta experience?

BASTIAN: I think it will make our people smarter, more efficient, being able to get answers to customers sooner, be able to solve tough problems because our company -- 100,000 people, 1,200 airplanes, 5,000 flights every day -- it's like a Rubik's cube, trying to always get the perfect answer and response.

KAYE: What about A.I. in the cockpit?

BASTIAN: There will never be less than two pilots in a Delta cockpit as long as I'm here. And I think that's going to stand true for a very long time.

You want to use the technology to make our pilots' jobs as easy as possible and as safe as possible.

KAYE: Bastian makes a point to stay directly connected to passengers.

KAYE: When I reached out to you for this interview, I was surprised to find that your email is publicly available. I'm guessing you get a tremendous amount of email.

BASTIAN: I get -- I get -- I get a lot, yes. I hear from everybody about everything every day. I mean, literally thousands a day.

KAYE: So, you actually respond to some?

BASTIAN: Oh, many, many, many. Many.

KAYE: Do you ever sit in coach?

BASTIAN: I do. I do. I want to make certain I'm seeing the product. I'm seeing all aspects of our business. I know our customers, when they see me back there, they are first puzzled. They're kind of curious why I'm back there.

KAYE: Exactly.

BASTIAN: But then they actually enjoy that I'm back there.

KAYE: Do they talk to you?

BASTIAN: Well, the --

KAYE: Your fellow customers?

BASTIAN: Oh, 100 percent. They talk to me wherever I am.

KAYE: Ed Bastian is one of the most recognizable CEOs in the country, and he's still writing Delta's next chapter.

BASTIAN: There's a whole other world waiting for the next generation.

KAYE: Speaking of future generations, the grandkids.

BASTIAN: Yes.

KAYE: Do they have -- do they have Medallion status yet?

BASTIAN: They're building it. I -- my older grandson, Myles, he'll turn four in December. He's already had like 50 flights. He loves traveling. And I love that. KAYE: Does Myles understand when the safety video comes on that that's his grandfather?

BASTIAN: He does. He does. He finds it pretty odd. And he calls me "big man". And he'll have half the plane saying big man's quiet -- tells everybody, quiet, listen to the big man.

KAYE: As others in the industry continue to chase Delta's playbook, Ed Bastian is focused on the future. He's excited about expanding their international destinations and one day, perhaps flying taxis.

Randi Kaye, CNN at the Delta Flight Museum in Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KEILAR: Our thanks to Randi for that report.

And ahead, an unlikely indicator on how severe the risk of Lyme disease will be this year. We're going to tell you what that is, next.

[11:52:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KEILAR: We do have some breaking news.

Inmate Christa Pike, the woman who survived an attempted execution, is now out of the hospital. Pike has been on death row for 30 years. Last month, she survived two massive doses of a drug that was supposed to kill her, and she's been recovering ever since.

The Death Penalty Information Center says Pike is the first person to survive after a lethal injection of the drugs. She has been moved back to prison.

And as we settle into the fall and head outside, maybe to enjoy some hot apple cider, some sweater weather.

A big reminder, it's also tick season, and it turns out there's a major indicator on how severe the risk of Lyme disease will be this year.

Here's CNN's Meg Tirrell.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Autumn in New York. Time for hiking, apple picking and ticks. They cause a wave of ER visits every September and October.

It turns out this is the best predictor of Lyme disease risk that we know about.

DR. RICHARD OSTFELD, SENIOR SCIENTIST, CARY INSTITUTE OF ECOSYSTEMS STUDIES: The acorns are a leading indicator of how bad our year is going to be for our exposure to tick-borne disease. TIRRELL: Dr. Richard Ostfeld and his team at the Cary Institute of

Ecosystems Studies have been researching Lyme disease for 35 years. It's one of the longest studies of its kind. And acorns are the key to one of the surprising things they've learned.

The bacteria that cause Lyme are primarily carried around by little critters like mice and chipmunks, and they love to eat acorns.

DR. OSTFELD: They may not look delicious, but to mice and chipmunks, they're really tasty. They have a long shelf life, so they can be stored late summer or fall like right now.

If the rodents have a large number of acorns cached to be able to eat, they don't have to run around as much over the winter. They're not as vulnerable to predators. And they start breeding earlier the next spring, and they make a lot of babies.

TIRRELL: A lot of rodent babies means more opportunities for the bloodsucking ticks that feed on rodents to pick up the Lyme causing bacteria.

DR. OSTFELD: The number of mice in the summer turns out to be critical for the blacklegged tick, because if there are a lot of mice, then these newly-hatched larval ticks that are active in August, September, they have their favorite food available in large supply.

When they feed on a mouse, they're very likely to survive that experience. Get a blood meal, and become a nymph.

TIRRELL: Then, if those nymphal ticks bite us and stay attached long enough, they can transmit the bacteria and they give us Lyme disease.

[11:59:48]

DR. OSTFELD: So more acorns means more mice the next summer. More mice means more infected nymphs two summers later.

TIRRELL: So how can you tell if it's a bumper season for acorns?

DR. OSTFELD: So we're seeing bigger acorn crops and more frequent acorn crops as the climate warms. So the warmer it is, the more quickly they can store enough carbon to produce acorns instead of just maintain themselves and grow.