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Asian Markets in the Red Amid A.I. Concerns and Inflation; Vatican Updates on Pope Leo's Condition Post-Operation. Aired 3:30-4a ET
Aired October 15, 2026 - 03:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:30:00]
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CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome, I'm Christina Macfarlane here in London, ahead on "CNN Newsroom."
Ukraine's President says he will resume attacks on Russian refineries, citing a dangerous withdrawal of U.S. intelligence sharing.
The Vatican provides an update on Pope Leo's condition after lung surgery. We'll go live to Rome to find out how he's doing.
And later, a shocking find. Five baby orangutans abandoned in eastern India, possibly part of the $20 billion global trade in endangered animals.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from London, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Christina Macfarlane.
MACFARLANE: Those stories and more in a minute, but we begin with exclusive CNN reporting on possible future U.S. steps in Iran.
Multiple U.S. officials say the White House is now considering using the largest non-nuclear bomb in the U.S. arsenal. They say the so- called mother of all bombs could be used to hit energy infrastructure and nuclear sites. But there are questions now about whether the move would achieve the U.S.'s strategic objectives or turn the tide of the war.
One source says President Donald Trump has ordered the military to develop additional strike options, including using this weapon. But that source says the phasing of the order indicates the administration may declare victory and pull out of the war after those strikes.
As the White House ponders its next steps, we're getting word of a second ship sinking near the Strait of Hormuz in two days. Video verified by CNN shows the Singaporean cargo ship GFS Pride taking on water before sinking on Tuesday. Iran's state media claim the vessel hit a sea mine while using an unauthorized route through the waterway.
But experts say a drone strike is far more likely. The ship's crew members were safely evacuated. Well, this satellite image appears to show scattered containers and a
small oil slick after that vessel went down. The International Maritime Organization says the merchant ship Cape Dao registered in Antigua and Barbados sank on Wednesday.
The vessel was struck by a projectile last month, killing one of its crew members. A maritime tracking group says Iran has hit at least 18 ships over the past two weeks.
Yemen's Houthi rebels are bound to keep up their attacks on Saudi airports and oil facilities in the coming days. The Iran-backed militia have been trading fresh strikes with the Saudi military.
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YAHYA SAREE, HOUTHI MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The Yemeni Armed Forces carried out, with God's help, a major military operation targeting Aramco in Tehran in the eastern area, King Khaled International Airport and Aramco Refinery in Riyadh, using a large number of ballistic and cruise missiles as well as drones. The strikes were accurate, by God's grace, causing destruction and fires at the targeted sites.
The Yemeni Armed Forces confirmed that their operations deep inside Saudi territory will continue in the coming days by targeting the Saudi enemy's airports and oil facilities and its consequences on it will be severe, God willing.
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MACFARLANE: Yemen's internationally recognized government says it won't negotiate with Houthi rebels or agree to a ceasefire, but will instead press ahead with its Dawn of Yemen offensive. The country's foreign minister said there can be no lasting peace as long as the Iran-backed Houthis still have weapons.
The World Food Program warns the renewed fighting and shifting frontlines are preventing some 800,000 people from getting humanitarian assistance. The agency warns more than 18 million Yemenis face acute food security.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells the "Financial Times" that his country plans to resume strikes on Russia's oil refineries. He also spoke out about what he called a dangerous withdrawal of U.S. intelligence sharing, and the comments come amid growing tensions between Zelenskyy and President Trump. As the Ukrainian president says, he felt betrayed of the U.S. deal to buy Russian diesel.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: It's a pity that we are losing, we are a losing strong partner. So this is my opinion.
PIERS MORGAN, HOST, "UNCENSORED": You think you're losing America?
[03:35:01] ZELNSKYY: Yes. But not because of us. We can't be weak, otherwise we can't survive.
That's why it's painful. When President Trump chooses one side, not our side, but we are okay that he's in the middle, but if you're in the middle, you have to stay in the middle.
Not on the wrong side. This is not right side of history.
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MACFARLANE: Well Zelenskyy is also speaking out about restrictions on the military-grade version of Elon Musk's Starlink, called StarShield. Ukrainian officials say those restrictions which caught them off guard are now disrupting operations. Musk took to social media to say StarShield systems are owned and controlled by the U.S. government, and that any limits are set by the U.S. military and President.
Well Zelenskyy is set to attend the E.U. summit in Brussels, which begins today, and ahead of that he met with British Prime Minister Andy Burnham at Downing Street on Wednesday, where he was greeted with a strong pledge of support.
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ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: What I have to do in my role is try and repair bridges so that the support comes back, and therefore I should, at this moment in time, be careful in terms of laying the ground to bring people back together.
That is the role I intend to play. It's the right role for me to play in this moment. I will listen to President Zelenskyy carefully, but he won't be going away from Britain today empty-handed.
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MACFARLANE: Tech-linked stocks have been hammered in Asian markets in the past few hours. A trading halt was triggered on South Korea's tech-heavy Kospi after the index fell 8 percent, and Japan's Nikkei sank more than 5 percent.
CNN correspondent Gage Goulding is joining me now live from Seoul. So, Gage, just explain what's driving this sharp sell-off and why A.I.- linked stocks are being hit so hard today.
GAGE GOULDING, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, an incredibly rough day for A.I.-driven stocks and the stock exchanges across Asia.
But to really understand this, we've got to go back to yesterday. In the U.S., the CPI numbers came out with a cost of goods increase of 3.7 percent, that's much higher, signifying that inflation is still on the rise. And that led to kind of a sell-off and nervousness amongst investors on the U.S. side, and that kind of trailed into today.
Two really big players here, though, is that higher than expected CPI and the concerns amongst A.I., the biggest players here in South Korea, taking a hit. Samsung down 9.48 percent at close, and S.K. Hynix down more than 6 percent. They rebounded from an 11 percent loss today, all of this happening today.
Shortly after the lunch hour, though, this is where it got interesting, is there were two different circuit breakers. And what that means is, essentially, after the market slides 5 percent, kind of an alarm bell goes off, and everybody takes a cooling period of about 20 minutes or so. And one triggered shortly after lunch, and the other one in KOSDAQ triggered shortly after that one.
So there's two different markets that had that circuit breaker go off, indicating that it was a very volatile market. And it is indeed, because this afternoon, around 2:30 p.m. local time, the South Korea Financial Services Commission convened in an emergency session where they discussed with related organizations and experts about market volatility.
And a lot of this is due to global rate hike expectations, reading here off the notes, and uncertainty over A.I. investment. And it's not just here in South Korea.
In Taiwan, they also saw a slip. The TAIEX falling 3.5 percent on the day at closing. But with that, though, it's interesting. TSMC, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the largest advanced chip maker in the world, they reported their sixth consecutive quarter of record profits, seeing a 69 percent surge.
But even they, with such a great quarter here, they saw a 2 percent slide as well. So across the board, a very tough day as the market just continues to react to what happened yesterday in the United States.
MACFARLANE: Yes, absolutely. As you say, hot on the heels of that rising U.S. inflation numbers just yesterday.
Gage, we'll continue to follow this. Thanks so much for now from Seoul.
Now, Pope Leo thanked fellow Catholics for their prayers in his first message after undergoing surgery for lung cancer in Rome. You are looking at live pictures here of the hospital in Rome where the pontiff is recovering.
The Vatican says the Pope spent a good day, a good night, rather, in the hospital and his recovery is proceeding as expected. The pontiff has canceled all his public appearances until October 20th as he undergoes treatment.
[03:39:59]
CNN's Stefano Pozzebon is joining us, as always, with the update from Rome. So Stefano, I understand we just heard from the Vatican in the last couple of hours. What are they saying today?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, exactly. They told us at around 8:30 local time, so 7:30 where you are in the U.K., that Pope Leo woke up after a peaceful night. He actually said a good night here in Italian and he had breakfast. And we are left wondering whether the American Pope here is a scrambled eggs and bacon type of person or maybe going local and having cappuccino for his breakfast.
However, what is more important is that the therapy is going on as planned, Christina. And that is really important because we are left wondering whether that operation that allowed the doctors to remove the lower lobe of the right lung of the pontiff was able to remove every bit of the tumor that was identified and discovered in his thorax.
Basically now Leo is in this hospital just behind my back to do further tests, exams, blood tests, to make sure that no cancerous cell is remaining in his body. And he can resume active duty on October 20, which is the wish from the Vatican, especially with an eye to that important trip to South America next month, when he is due to travel to Uruguay, Argentina and then to Peru between the 6th and the 17th of November.
Also developing overnight, Christina, the U.S. President Donald Trump said that he wished Leo XIV a speedy recovery and that he is following his prognosis very closely. It was the first time that the U.S. President referred to Leo's condition since he was hospitalized here in Rome on Tuesday, but also since he announced to the world that he was coming under the knife last Sunday.
So good news here from Italy when it concerns the health of the pontiff. We will bring back to you whether the Vatican will give us a further update in the coming hours, Christina.
MACFARLANE: And we will look to that, Stefano. I think he might be a bit more of a cappuccino and croissant guy, but, you know, we're never going to know, are we?
POZZEEBON: As you would.
MACFARLANE: Thank you so much for that update there live from Rome. Thank you.
Now, a new bridge between China and North Korea has finally opened up. What the crossing could mean for the future ties between the two countries, that's coming up next.
Plus a look into the world of animal trafficking and why five baby orangutans were found abandoned in India.
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MACFARLANE: Ilhan Omar's D.C. area home was searched in an immigration fraud probe. Sources tell CNN that the search the Trump administration wanted was unusually aggressive and involved prolonged arguments with a judge. Multiple people familiar with the investigation say the judge went back and forth with prosecutors for days, ultimately limiting how they could access the Minnesota Democrats documents.
D.C. courts have traditionally upheld expansive protections around legislature work under the Constitution's speech or debate clause. On Monday's search was unusual because the DOJ generally avoids investigative activity that could affect an election within 60 days of Election Day. Omar has denied any wrongdoing and has not been charged with a crime.
Colombia's president is facing opposition on the streets just two months into his term. Opponents of the far-right leader Abelardo de la Esprilla rallied across the country on Wednesday to push back against his policies. That includes his plans for the minimum wage and new decree that tries to regulate protests.
Some analysts say the opposition held the rallies to set the stage for next year's regional elections.
Protesters clashed with police in Albania's capital on Wednesday as nationwide demonstrations over education issues and corruption turned violent, video shows protesters throwing stones and police using water cannons. Just a day before, police detained several protesters amid a similar demonstration. Albania is the latest of a growing number of countries to see a rise in student-led protests.
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Well members of India's opposition party students and youth groups marched in New Delhi on Wednesday speaking out over allegations of police brutality against protesters. They have been protesting nearly every day, calling for India's top election official to resign over changes to voter lists they say favor Prime Minister Narendra Modi's party. Have a listen.
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UNKNOWN: This protest will go longer, this will be stronger and Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign. Narendra Modi, he will have to be answerable to everything that is happening with the people of India. We are the people of India, we are the youth, we are the future of India, you cannot do these things with the future of India.
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MACFARLANE: A major flood swept through Istanbul on Wednesday after heavy rains across Turkey. This video shows the floodwaters were so powerful a woman fell while trying to cross the street and bystanders rushed to keep her from being swept away.
While other parts of the city floodwaters were so high that parked cars became submerged and only the top of vehicles could be seen. Floods were caused when a major creek in Istanbul overflowed after heavy rain causing roads to collapse in the districts in the city. There were no reports of serious injuries according to the Associated Press.
And in the U.S., severe weather sparked a huge tornado in West Texas on Wednesday. These are images from Fort Stockton in Pecos County. You can see the scale of the twister as it looms over homes, fields and businesses.
And an Air India flight from Frankfurt to Delhi was diverted to Jaipur International Airport on Wednesday following a hijack threat. Reports say the passengers left the plane safely and the flight was searched. The incident comes two weeks after an Indian pilot was stabbed by his co-pilot allegedly attempting to crash a FlyDubai plane from Dubai to Tel Aviv.
A long-delayed bridge linking China to North Korea has officially opened according to Chinese state media. The two countries held a joint opening ceremony on Thursday for the new Yalu River Bridge.
China completed its side of the bridge in 2014. But North Korea had left its side unfinished for years amid souring relations following Pyongyang's nuclear testing and U.N. sanctions.
Authorities in India are investigating possible connections to animal trafficking after five baby orangutans were found abandoned last month. Thousands of kilometers from Indonesia. CNN's Rhea Mogul has details of how the global wildlife trade is affecting endangered species.
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RHEA MOGUL, CNN SOUTH ASIA REPORTER: A few weeks ago this image shocked India. Five baby orangutans were found in a forest in Odisha in eastern India. They were thousands of kilometers from home and they were all alone.
Authorities immediately suspected trafficking which raised the question who was behind it and how did these animals get here?
If you find the early morning orangutans in Balasore, in Orissa, there is no suspicion about trafficking. It is trafficking.
MOGUL: Our investigation showed that the story of these five baby orangutans is one of many in the incredibly lucrative and abusive wildlife trafficking trade.
You give me the money, I give you the animals, then. Yes, that's it.
MOGUL (voice-over): The rainforests of Sumatra and Borneo are the only places on earth where orangutans still live in the wild. But these ancient forests are also often the starting point of a global wildlife trafficking industry. One that rips these animals from their habitat and takes them to markets like these where they're sold as pets or advertised online in public groups on platforms like Facebook.
CNN spoke to several wildlife sellers online who offered to ship the animals across Asia. One seller said they could deliver a monkey to Mumbai within seven hours. Meta told CNN it will investigate the groups we found to be selling wild animals against their own policy.
After weeks of searching we tracked down a former wildlife trafficker whom we'll call "Budi" who was willing to tell us about the inner workings of the industry.
MOGUL: What role did you play in the wildlife trafficking trade?
BUDI, FORMER WILDLIFE TRAFFICKER: I do have a role as the seller. I'm just getting animals from Java and then the golden cat or and the gibbons from Sumatra.
MOGUL: What's the furthest country that you've sold an animal to online?
BUDI: The United States.
MOGUL (voice-over): "Budi" says he ran a network of poachers across Indonesia.
BUDI: The main factors that drive me is. Yes, it's easy money, right?
MOGUL (voice-over): He paints a picture of a well-oiled machine that he says funnels animals from the jungles of Indonesia to mansions in the gulf and private zoos in Asia. Lining the pockets of corrupt officials along the way.
LIONEL HACHEMIN, GLOBAL DIRECTOR OF WILDLIFE CRIMINAL PROGRAM, INTERNATIONAL FUND FOR ANIMAL WELFARE: Wildlife crime is an organized crime. Which means there is corruption at every stage like any other crimes that is happening. Drug, weapons trafficking, human trafficking.
MOGUL (voice-over): Investigators have been documenting these trafficking groups for years. Taking animals on a terrifying journey across several countries.
BUDI: Some of the animals is just died. Yes, many happens in the transportation, right? We just get rid of the sick and the deceased one.
[03:55:05]
MOGUL (voice-over): After years in the trafficking industry, "Budi" now works as an informant for a conservation NGO. Helping track down the very people he once worked with.
MOGUL: Were you surprised when these five orangutans were found in the forest in India?
BUDI: What makes me surprised is why these smugglers just leave the baby orangutans there, right? But I think some things maybe happened.
HACHEMIN: It's like if you had some drug traffickers just leaving 500 kilograms of cocaine in the middle of the forest in plain sight.
MOGUL (voice-over): A month into an investigation led by a special Indian task force, it's still unclear how these five animals ended up in India. Indonesia has requested the animals be returned to their rightful home.
For now, the babies are at a zoo in India. Learning the life skills their mothers should have taught them.
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MACFARLANE: Good to see him recovering.
And that is it for this hour. Thank you so much for your company, I'm Christina Macfarlane. I'll be back with more news after this quick break, stay with us.
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