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Pope Leo Recovers After a Successful Operation, Prognosis Expect to be Good as per Experts; Saudis Hit Energy Infrastructure Used by Houthis. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired October 14, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome, I'm Christina Macfarlane live here in London, ahead on "CNN Newsroom."

Experts say Pope Leo's prognosis should be good after recovering from lung cancer surgery.

Houthi rebels struck Saudi Arabia's energy infrastructure after one of their fuel depots was targeted.

And later an injured owl gets some help from police in Texas who say being a state trooper is a hoot.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Christina Macfarlane.

MACFARLANE: The Vatican says Pope Leo is recovering in hospital after undergoing a successful surgery to remove a growth that was determined to be lung cancer. The 71-year-old pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung removed during a 90-minute procedure on Tuesday. All of his public events have been cancelled for the next week as he recovers.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon has been tracking this and joins me now from Rome. Stefano, I understand you have just in the last few minutes had an update from the Vatican on the Pope's condition. So what can you tell us?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Christina, we heard from the Holy See about 10-15 minutes ago, more or less, that Pope Leo has had a peaceful night and they will give us further information later on today. We know that Leo is recovering after his successful operation at his room on the 10th floor of this hospital just behind my back, which is, by the way, right where the sun is right now. So if you call back in the afternoon, you will actually be able to see the Pope's bedroom here at the Gemelli Hospital in the outskirts of Rome.

Of course, a lot of concern here is about what happens next. He is due to travel to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru between the 6th and the 17th of November. Will that trip go ahead as planned? There was a lot of speculation before the surgery took place. Now, with this diagnosis of lung cancer, of course, a lot of eyes will be seeing whether that trip remains on schedule.

We spoke with a surgeon about that possibility. Here is what he told us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. GIUSEPPE CARDILLO, THORACIC SURGEON (through translator): Flying after surgery? Of course that's possible, although not immediately after the operation. We have to let at least one or two weeks pass after the procedure.

We need to ensure that the patient's lung and the affected area of the chest is fully expanded so that they can fly without any concerns. Given that there are no contraindications, of course I'd recommend spending at least the first 10 to 15 days at home and then having an x-ray confirm that the lung is still expanding properly. After that, the patient can safely resume flying.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

POZZEBON: So, well, the schedule is quite tight, but right now the trip to South America remains on the agenda. At the same time, Pope Leo has cleared all of his engagements through October 20 to allow himself the longest possible recovery time just ahead of that trip to where he served more than two decades as a missionary and a bishop. Christina?

MACFARLANE: Yes, well, glad to hear that trip can still go ahead. But, I mean, all of this has been a bit of a shock, Stefano, to Catholics around the world. Given the Pope's age and his supposed fitness.

POZZEBON: Yes, I mean, we're talking about a youthful 71-year-old man who we know spends his Tuesdays, especially Tuesdays, the day that he takes off from his public engagement.

He goes to Castel Gandolfo, which is a beautiful summer residence about 40 kilometers south of Rome. There he has a tennis court where we know he likes to play tennis, but also there's a swimming pool. And he exercises regularly.

Of course, this came out of the blue. Those were the words of the Secretary of State of the Holy See, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, who yesterday said that this came out, of course, as a shock and a surprise, but perhaps they've just been able to get past this bump on the road. Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, well, we will, of course, continue to follow it closely. Stefano Pozzebon there, live from Rome. Thank you.

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And be sure to tune in next hour when I'll be joined by a cancer expert to discuss the Pope's diagnosis and prognosis.

Now, the latest strikes between Saudi Arabia and Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis have claimed major energy infrastructure on both sides. The headquarters of Saudi state oil giant Aramco appears to have been hit on Tuesday.

Authorities say the strike caused unlimited fire, but it's unclear if it was due to a direct hit or falling debris. Those strikes came just hours after the kingdom attacked a key fuel depot, which it claims is being used by Houthi rebels.

Let's bring in Leila Gharagozlou for us, who is live from Abu Dhabi. So, Leila, can you just talk to us about how serious the damage was here on Aramco and also on that oil depot in Yemen?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes, so as you said, the Houthis have hit the Saudi Aramco headquarters. Now, Saudi authorities say that there were no injuries and the damage was limited. There was a limited fire as well.

But as far as we know, it's unclear whether it was from debris that fell from the attack or from a direct hit itself. So still very contained.

Now, on the other hand, Saudi also hit a fuel depot in Yemen. That also was damaged. However, the Houthi-controlled Yemen state oil says that none of their fuel supplies or reserves were impacted by that because the depot didn't have any of those products in it.

So not too much damage on either end. However, the Saudi-led coalition has also said that they intercepted a number of missiles yesterday and drones. Those did injure four people in Saudi Arabia due to falling debris.

So there is still damage happening, there is a civilian toll to this. Obviously, we saw those attacks over the weekend that left upwards of 20 people dead and hundreds of others injured. The Yemeni Houthis have also said that there have been injuries and fatalities due to the Saudi attacks.

Now, of course, this has always been a civilian conflict that we've seen. As we talked about yesterday, it has been a decades-long conflict. There has been a massive humanitarian catastrophe in Yemen due to that.

And now we're seeing also a very large civilian impact on Saudi Arabia with these increasingly intensifying attacks from the Houthis. So civilians really at the forefront of this. Just a couple of days ago, the U.N. also said that already existing humanitarian crisis in Yemen has exacerbated and there has been a cholera outbreak and about 200,000 people have been displaced.

So a lot of damage going on beyond just the physical damage that we're seeing on these key infrastructure sites. But, of course, those are going to be really one to watch given their impacts on the oil markets and the shipping markets as well. MACFARLANE: And then there was any sense that the Saudi strikes on oil

and energy infrastructure were in retaliation for the attack on the Riyadh airport? Or are we still sort of waiting for a more, I don't know, decisive response from Saudi Arabia on that?

GHARAGOZLOU: So it's unclear if we're waiting for another type of response. However, the Saudi authorities have said that the field depot was being used for support by the Houthis on strikes on Saudi Arabia.

Now, they didn't specify whether this was specific to those airport strikes or just the strikes in general. So we could expect to see something else come from Saudi Arabia in response to those attacks. It's unclear at the moment, Christina.

MACFARLANE: All right, Leila, we appreciate the update there from Abu Dhabi. Thank you.

And we are also following developments out of Ukraine this hour where authorities say Russian missiles have hit energy facilities, including in the capital. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says the massive attack has left more than 600,000 people without power. This was the scene in Kyiv just one day earlier in what President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called a, quote, "particularly vile attack on civilian infrastructure."

Air alerts sounded in the capital only after several explosions had already ripped through the city. Zelenskyy says he had not received any notice from allies warning of a Russian attack.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Yesterday, unfortunately, there was a ballistic missile strike on Kyiv.

There was no warning from our partners about that strike. Usually such warnings are provided and they are very important. They help our defense.

There were five ballistic missiles. In fact, our armed forces detected them only seconds before impact. Our military and intelligence services must cooperate at the highest level.

And from our side, everything necessary is being done. We expect the same level of cooperation from our partners.

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MACFARLANE: Well, Zelenskyy says Ukraine has not targeted Russian refineries since Donald Trump's surprise Sunday announcement of an energy ceasefire in the U.S., the President addressed questions over whether the U.S. is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) PETER DOOCY, FOX NEWS WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Have we stopped sharing intel with Ukraine?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: No, we haven't. We helped them. But we're really helping them get to a final answer. We want the war ended, Peter.

We are helping them and we are sharing intel. We want the war to end. So we're working with them and with Russia on getting the war to end.

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MACFARLANE: Well there's much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom," French student protests are demanding more financial investment in schools, as the government struggles to contain a ballooning budget crisis. We'll look at the wider impacts of France's debt woes next.

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back.

French students say the images of clashes with police, like the ones you're seeing here, do not define their protest movement. Students marched in cities across France again on Tuesday, continuing their demand for better funded schools and more teachers. Most of the protesters were peaceful, but some fringe protest groups lit fires, vandalized property and clashed with police.

Anger is also growing over France's public debt crisis. A new government report has found that pension payments are taking up nearly a third of some French ministries' budgets, hampering the ability to pay for education and other social services. The overall financial situation is threatening to spill over into the rest of Europe too.

Earlier, the President of the European Central Bank spoke out about that at the CNN Global Perspectives event in Bangkok. Take a listen.

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CHRISTINE LAGARDE, PRESIDENT, EUROPEAN CENTRAL BANK: The first response to the current situation, which, as you said, applies across the world. The bond yield factor is not just specific to Europe, not specific to France, it's across the world.

Number one, there are particular circumstances that lead to some countries being more affected, France being a case in point. And for that one, the primary and first solution lies at home, in France. And it has to do with fiscal policies.

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MACFARLANE: Shahin Vallee is a Senior Associate Fellow in the German Council on Foreign Relations Europe Center and joins me now from Bangkok. Thank you so much for being with us. SHAHIN VALLEE, SENIOR ASSOCIATE FELLOW, EUROPE CENTER, GERMAN COUNCIL

ON FOREIGN RELATIONS: Thank you.

MACFARLANE: As Christine Lagarde alluded to there, how likely do you think it is that France's government will be able to solve this education crisis without addressing their fiscal spending, a massive public debt burden, which is now, I believe, at its highest level since 1946?

VALLEE: You know, we're just a few months away from a very important presidential election and then a general election. So I don't think it's so much for this particular government to answer this challenge.

It will be for the future ones. And I think the key question for France is can we get a new president elected and then can we get a new government that will actually have a mandate to deliver on this fiscal consolidation path. And I think the big problem, which is affecting in part the French government bond market, is that there is no obvious path to have a president and a governing majority that would have such a mandate.

France is still hotly debating what kind of fiscal policy it needs and there is no national consensus on the matter. And I think this is what's hurting us at the moment.

MACFARLANE: And before we discuss the elections and the sort of political ramifications around this, I mean, many analysts here are saying France is on the brink of a dangerous financial spiral. I mean, not only, obviously, is the public debt huge, but the borrowing costs have risen sharply recently as well.

France was once considered an oasis of sort of relative stability in Europe. So can you just explain how it has gotten to this point?

VALLEE: Well, the reality is that over the last few years, France has been an outlier with a relatively large fiscal deficit, larger than most euro area countries. And I think so long as interest rates were low and that the growth was, you know, standard by European standards, I think, you know, financial markets could ignore the consequences on debt dynamics.

We're now at a situation where the marginal cost of borrowing has increased sharply and debt has slowed down. So we have what economists call R minus G, the difference between the cost of borrowing and the difference between our growth rate is now such that with this sort of nominal deficit, we have an exploding debt trajectory.

And so I think it's not something that has occurred over the last year, but it's something that has built up over the last decade and which is now coming home to roost, largely because of external factors, the fact that global interest rates are moving, but this is affecting us more than other countries because we have a more precarious fiscal position.

And so I think that is demanding a national conversation around what kind of long-term fiscal consolidation plan France must put together. And that's a conversation that's very difficult to have in general, but even more difficult to have just a few months before an election.

MACFARLANE: Yes. And as to the sort of political solution that you're talking about there, I mean, we've seen, of course, prime ministers who have attempted to rein in public spending in recent years and have been quickly ousted.

[03:19:59]

So how do you think this is going to play out in the presidential elections on the right and the left in terms of what have we been hearing from Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Melenchon about promises in terms of spending?

VALLEE: What's very interesting is that Marine Le Pen has started to put on the table the idea of a constitutional debt break, in part inspired by the German constitutional debt break, the idea of imposing a minimum required fiscal adjustment each year and to enshrine this in the French constitution.

So there has been some interesting move on her part to show and to display fiscal orthodoxy. The problem is that she has not backed these promises by actual policies. She's still, for instance, demanding a pension reform that would essentially increase the cost of an already largely unsustainable pension system.

On the other hand, Jean-Luc Melenchon is even disputing the need for fiscal adjustment and he considers that actually the debt overhang that France suffers from can be dealt with through debt monetization. And so there is even a rejection on this part that there is a profound need for fiscal consolidation. And the reality is that this election is more likely going to be debated by these two leaders.

And so that, you know, I think illustrates very well the sort of tensions and debates that France is having over fiscal policy. And more importantly, you know, we will have a general election after this presidential election and it's not certain that this general election is going to deliver a governing majority for the new president. And so we may be in a difficult situation, very similar to the one we were in in 2024, where you have a president that doesn't have a governing majority and that makes fiscal plans even more difficult.

MACFARLANE: Yes, all of which means the stakes are extremely high for France's sort of fiscal future around these presidential elections, as you point out. Shahin Vallee, really great to have your thoughts on this and your insights this morning. Thank you.

All right, still to come on "CNN Newsroom." Two fishermen off of New York's Long Island get an unexpected visitor when a whale slams into their boat.

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. I'm Christina Macfarlane, in London. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

The Vatican says Pope Leo is recovering in hospital after successful surgery to remove a cancerous growth from the pontiff's lungs. Pope Leo had the lower lobe of his right lung removed during a 90-minute procedure on Tuesday, testing revealed evidence of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. A 71-year-old pontiff is not a smoker and otherwise appears to be in good health, staying relatively active by playing tennis and swimming.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis appeared to have hit the headquarters of Saudi state oil giant Aramco on Tuesday. Saudi authorities say the strike caused a limited fire, but it's unclear if it was caused by direct hit or falling debris. The Saudi-led coalition also said it had intercepted and destroyed three missiles and two drones targeting the capital region and the southern part of the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says his country received no warning from Western allies before Russia launched an attack on Kiev Tuesday. Air alerts sounded in the capital only after several explosions had already ripped through the city. Zelenskyy says five ballistic missiles targeted civilian infrastructure.

President Trump says the U.S. is still sharing intelligence with Ukraine. France says it has detained a suspected Russian shadow fleet tanker south of Reunion Island. The vessel, formerly named the Kaliningrad, now carries a flag from Benin. French President Emmanuel Macron says the ship is suspected of sailing under a false flag and helping Russia evade sanctions on oil exports, Russia denounced the move as an act of piracy.

A Ukrainian ex-military officer suspected of organizing the operation to blow up the Nord Stream gas pipeline goes on trial today in Germany. The suspect is accused of leading a group of Ukrainian agents that included divers and an explosive expert in the sabotage. The destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines four years ago cut off Western Europe from its main source of Russian natural gas.

Well tropical storm Trudy is forecast to become a hurricane later today and a major hurricane later this week. It formed around 350 miles or nearly 600 kilometers south of Mexico and is currently moving northwest towards the southern state of Oaxaca. However, it's currently too early to know if Trudy will make landfall.

Meanwhile, Mexico is still dealing with the impacts of two other storms. One of them, Hurricane Simon, has been battering the country's Pacific coast for days and the threat isn't over yet. CNN's Valeria Leon explains.

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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hurricane Simon and tropical storm Rachel have triggered severe flooding and left communities struggling with the damage. In Baja California, a young girl died following Rachel's landfall while 10 people remain missing. Governor Marina del Pilar says search and rescue operations are underway with military helicopters deployed to reach communities caught off by flood waters.

GOV. MARINA DEL PILAR, BAJA CALIFORNIA, MEXICO (through translator): The defense ministry helicopter is taking off to carry out rescue operations in a community located high up on this hill.

LEON (voice-over): The second death was reported in Guerrero where a 71-year-old woman was killed when a wall collapsed amid heavy rains associated with Simon, according to local authorities. Jalisco residents have been forced to leave their homes amid fears that the Maravasco River could overflow.

UNKNOWN (though translator): They say that if there is danger, we have to leave for a place where we can get support or help. I don't know, but we have to go. We can't stay like this because it is very dangerous.

LEON (voice-over): Meanwhile, authorities are closely monitoring Simon's path with the storm forecast to make landfall near Mazatlan in the state of Sinaloa.

UNKNOWN (through translator): Based on the report we received, indicating that it will make landfall as a Category 1 hurricane in Mazatlan, Sinaloa.

LEON (voice-over): More than 4000 members of Mexico's Army had been deployed under the country's emergency response plan, helping residents in affected communities and preparing for further flooding.

LEON: And regardless of where Simon makes landfall, communities along Mexico's Pacific coast remain at risk of torrential rain, flash flooding and dangerous coastal conditions.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

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MACFARLANE: Now two men out fishing off New York's Long Island coast caught a starting moment when a whale crashed into their boat.

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The fishermen say they noticed the whale off in the distance and stopped their boat, but the whale pushed the bait fish towards the boat and then suddenly the whale itself crashed through the boat's door, sending fish and water flying. They estimate it was a humpback whale, about 25 feet long. The fishermen say they've seen plenty of whales over the years, but never anything so big or so close as this.

Goodness. All right, still ahead here on "CNN Newsroom," a suspected breach of security at OpenAI. Why a former employee is now sitting in federal prison.

Plus, a wildlife photo that's truly a hoot. We'll have the story behind this, our selfie.

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[03:35:00]

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Here are your business headlines this hour.

President Trump's deeply unpopular war with Iran is impacting the wallets of Americans. Moody's Analytics estimates the war has cost about $265 billion since it started nearly eight months ago, that's about $2,000 in higher costs per American household. Fuel and energy prices have soared as the Strait of Hormuz remains paralyzed, and paychecks are not keeping up with higher consumer prices.

President Trump says Taiwan has agreed to buy 30 percent of the natural gas from a pipeline project in Alaska. The exact terms of the deal are not clear, but the U.S. Commerce Secretary says Taiwan has committed to investing nearly $4.5 billion in the pipeline's development. President Trump made the announcement at a campaign rally in Alaska on Tuesday.

Apple has announced its first major smart home device in nearly a decade. The HomeView is the first in a line of new devices aimed at making Apple's virtual assistant Siri more popular, it will include Siri A.I. and pull information from your connected devices to show relevant information. It's due out on November 13.

OpenAI says one of its employees, now a former employee, was arrested after allegedly hiding what's been called a sophisticated recording device in a company office. He's now in federal custody. CNN's Hadas Gold has details on what investigators found.

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HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: I'm told this is the first time this has ever happened at OpenAI. An employee arrested for allegedly planting a recording device and hiding it within OpenAI's offices. The employee arrested has been identified by the Department of Justice as 35-year-old Abdulrahman Alfozan, who is also a Saudi national.

He's been working as an engineer on OpenAI's product team since the summer of 2025. And according to both OpenAI and the Department of Justice, in late September, they believe he installed this secret recording device within the USB port of a television screen within an executive conference room in OpenAI San Francisco's offices.

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OpenAI says that they discovered this device just a couple of days later, and the Department of Justice said that he was arrested last week. OpenAI says that this device monitored audio, had advanced encryption, and a mechanism for transferring data designed to evade monitoring. They say they have evidence that he planned to plant more recording devices in other areas of OpenAI's offices. The Department of Justice also says that Alfozan used a productivity

tool to find information about OpenAI's meeting rooms, calendars, and where leadership is going to be, and that his wife's chatbot account was found to have submitted prompts about building an encrypted audio recording device.

OpenAI, in a statement, said that at this time, we have no indication of this individual inappropriately accessing or exfiltrating model rates, source code, or customer data. We take protecting our technology, data, and people seriously and as a matter of national importance. Alfozan is also a partner at a Saudi-based venture capital firm called Ra'ed.

We reached out to both Ra'ed and the Saudi embassy for comment and have not yet heard back. In a statement, U.S. Attorney Craig Misakian said the protection of U.S. technology and companies is a matter of national security, saying this arrest highlights our relentless efforts in partnership with the FBI to identify and prosecute those who seek to steal our technology, as alleged in the complaint.

Alfozan is currently in federal custody, he will make his first appearance before a judge next week. Back to you.

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MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Hadas for that.

Now, the 2026 Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition has announced its winner, after a record 65,000 entries. This powerful image of a female elephant carrying her dead calf took the top prize, titled "The Aftermath." Italian photographer Federico Veronesi captured the image while following a grieving herd in Namibia.

Other winners include a dung beetle pushing cargo twice its size, and a meeting place where elephants, zebras, and giraffes gathered at a watering hole. The winning images from more than a dozen categories go on display Friday at London's Natural History Museum.

And this next wildlife photo might not have won any trophies, but it still has plenty of character. CNN's Jeremy Roth has more on the owl selfie that went wild online.

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JEREMY ROTH, CNN PRODUCER AND WRITER (voice-over): Take a look at a fine-feathered friend that ended up going for a ride after Texas state troopers found it injured and stuck on a highway median near El Paso. They put the stranded owl in their patrol vehicle and, of course, snapped some social media-worthy pics before Texas Parks and Wildlife officials transported it to the El Paso Zoo where it is receiving medical care. The state's Department of Public Safety later shared the pics, saying being a Texas state trooper can be a hoot.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: I've got to love a tea for the end of the show. Thank you for watching, I'm Christina McFarlane. "World Sport" is coming up next and I'll be back at the top of the hour with more news. Stay with us.

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