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CNN This Morning

Pope Leo: Early-Stage Nodule Detected In Lung, Will Undergo Surgery; Trump Tells TN Supporters To "Vote Like I'm On The Ballot"; Major Houthi Attack On Saudi Airport Kills At Least 12, Including U.S. Citizen; Trump Says Ukraine Should Get A New Leader; Sanders Campaigns For Troy Jackson In Maine; Army Leaders Caught Off Guard By Hegseth's Order On Public Execution. Army Leaders Caught Off Guard by Hegseth's Order on Public Execution; Pope Leo to Undergo Surgery; New York and Pennsylvania Deal with Measles Outbreaks. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 11, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:35]

RENE MARSH, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here's what you need to know today. Both parties are taking their campaign message directly to the voters ahead of the midterms. What we're hearing from President Trump and Democratic candidates trying to unseat longtime Republican incumbents.

At least 12 people are dead after Iranian-backed militants struck an airport in Saudi Arabia's capital. The U.S. is now warning its citizens against traveling there. The very latest coming up in a live report.

And there's new CNN reporting on the Pentagon's plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter. It turns out Army leaders were surprised by the plan. We'll talk to someone who has witnessed that kind of execution.

Plus, the measles outbreak in Pennsylvania is now the deadliest in more than three decades. A doctor who's been treating patients in the state is here with a look at what he's seeing. That's all coming up this hour on CNN This Morning.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

MARSH: It is Sunday, October 11. Thanks so much for joining us this morning. I'm Rene Marsh in for Victor Blackwell.

We are following breaking news out of the Vatican. Pope Leo announced just a short time ago that doctors detected a very early-stage nodule in his lung.

CNN's Christopher Lamb joins me now by phone. Christopher, this is all just breaking this morning, but what can you tell us so far?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pope Leo announcing from the balcony of St. Peter's that he is going to have surgery for a localized nodule that was discovered by doctors on his lung. He's saying that it was detected at a very early stage and is well-defined, but the doctors have advised surgery and that is going to happen in the coming days.

Now, a Vatican spokesman clarified that this procedure is going to be scheduled early next week and that the Pope is likely to stay in hospital for around one week. Now, you know, this news came as a surprise because Pope Leo is 71, which is relatively young for a Pope.

He is seen as being in relatively good health. He stays active. He plays tennis. He's also someone who likes to keep a bit of a work-life balance. He works very, very hard, but he does take a day off on a Tuesday at the papal retreat in Castel Gandolfo, which is just outside of Rome.

So this is obviously something that has come as a big surprise to lots of people. The Pope does have a -- an action-packed schedule coming up in the coming weeks. He is due to be going to Latin America from the 6th to the 17th of November, where he'll visit Uruguay, Argentina and Peru.

A very, very important visit, not least because Peru is the place where he served as a missionary and as a bishop for a number of years, and that is a highly anticipated visit. So it is obviously important for Leo to be able to come through this and to carry out these engagements.

But, you know, the Pope telling everyone from the balcony, overlooking St Peter's, explaining today, on Sunday, that this nodule has been found in his lung during checkups and surgery is going to take place to remove it in the coming days.

MARSH: Christopher Lamb, thank you. We've got more on this coming up later this morning.

President Trump's red state campaign swing made a second stop in Tennessee on Saturday, and it sounded just like his first visit just two weeks ago. The President again claiming that the U.S. economy is in a golden age while urging his supporters to show up on November 3rd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And in this election, I'm asking you to, do me a favor, pretend. Just pretend that I'm running. Because you know when I run, we get 48 percent more votes. 48 percent, and in a way we are running. So pretend that I'm running and go out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:05:16]

MARSH: The President also predicted a 1920-style depression if Democrats take control of Congress in November, and he asked for patience on the war with Iran. CNN's Steve Contorno has more.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: President Donald Trump appeared on Saturday in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he called the Iran war a detour, downplayed high gas prices, insisted polls showing that he is unpopular are rigged, and repeated his promise, his controversial promise to give $5,000 to every American if Republicans hold the House and Senate this fall.

The question is why he decided to choose to deliver this message in Tennessee, a state that is not expected to be much of a factor in determining who controls Congress next year, but Trump said that he wanted to give Republicans here a chance to see him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't actually have to be in Tennessee, because Bill Hagerty is going to win. Marsha is going to win. You better win, Marsha. She took a little risk. She decided to leave the Senate, but she's great. She's going to win.

These guys are all going to win. These congressmen are phenomenal. So I'm saying, what the hell am I doing in Tennessee? And in a way, I'm here because you want to reward the places that have automatically treated you well.

But I said, you know, sometimes it's nice to go to a place where you don't have to be, but you're there to say thank you to the great people that elected you three separate times in record time. That's what I'm here for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CONTORNO: Trump's stop in deeply red Tennessee continues a tour of Republican states that has also included Oklahoma and Alabama. GOP officials say that they expect the President to campaign in more competitive battleground states in the weeks ahead.

Trump's message to voters here with just 24 days until the election was, "vote as though I am on the ballot," saying that if you don't vote and Republicans lose, they will blame me.

Steve Contorno, CNN, Clarksville, Tennessee.

MARSH: This morning we have learned that a U.S. citizen is one of the 12 people killed in a major attack on a Saudi airport. Yemen's Houthi militants hit Riyadh's international airport Saturday with a missile strike. In addition to the 12 deaths, the Saudi civil aviation body says that more than 300 people were wounded in the attack.

Now, this is the third attack on the international airport in one week by the Iran-backed rebel group.

We want to go straight to CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson. Nic, at this hour, is there anything else that we are learning about this missile strike? NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: We know that there's going to be knock-on effects. The airport itself will be closed for the remainder of the day. It's not clear if that closure will extend. It certainly scared some international airlines off from flying into Riyadh airport.

Riyadh is a multi-terminal airport, a major hub in Saudi Arabia. It attracts flights from all over the world. The terminal itself has had development and extended in recent years. So it's a prized piece of sort of architecture and real estate for the Saudi leadership. And this is something that the Houthis recognize.

We heard from the Houthi leader just a couple of days ago vowing to continue strikes at airports. As you say, third attack King Khalid International Airport in the week. All of those attacks deadly. Nine on -- killed on -- 12 rather killed on Saturday. Three were killed on Wednesday. One earlier in the week as well.

So this is, you know, putting a huge amount of pressure on the Saudi leadership. It's not clear how they'll respond. What they are doing in Yemen is trying to take out the launcher systems, try to take out with airstrikes the storage of these weapon systems that the Houthis are using.

But we've heard Secretary of State Marco Rubio talk about this. You know, describing the Houthis as terrorists, a dangerous escalation is also what we're hearing from European officials, Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission President has said that puts the region into a potentially dangerous spiral of escalation at this time.

What is becoming clear at the moment is that this tension and fight between the Yemen internationally recognized Yemeni government inside of Yemen backed by Saudi Arabia against the Houthis that they vowed to push the Houthis out of control of Yemen. Just a week ago, is really expanding into Saudi Arabia with deadly consequences as we're seeing.

[07:10:25]

MARSH: Nic Robertson reporting live for us this morning. Nic, thank you.

There are new developments in Russia's war on Ukraine. This morning, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted in part on X, quote, "Ukraine will be ready to stop striking Russian oil refineries if Russia stops striking our energy infrastructure." He added that efforts to de-escalate must be, quote, "reciprocal and backed by real guarantees."

It's in response to President Trump lashing out at Zelenskyy yesterday after Zelenskyy criticized Trump's newly announced diesel deal with Russia. Trump said as part of the deal, Russia would provide 300,000 tons of diesel fuel immediately and another 500,000 tons in November. Trump said Ukraine should get a new leader after Zelenskyy criticized the deal as, quote, "weak."

The U.S. Energy Information Administration says that that would amount to about a day and a half of U.S. demand.

Well, the final sprint is on for both Republicans and Democrats. The midterms are less than a month away, and the candidates are making their closing arguments to voters. We'll take a look at which message is actually breaking through.

And as we go to break, here's a live look at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Good morning, ATL.

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[07:16:29]

MARSH: With just over three weeks to go before the midterms, the heavy hitters are on the trail in search of votes. President Trump headlined his second rally in two weeks Saturday in deep red Tennessee. He once again offered every adult American $5,000 if the GOP holds Congress, and pleaded with supporters to pretend he's on the ballot on November 3rd.

Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, rallied for Democratic Senate candidate Troy Jackson in Maine. That race could be the key to Democratic hopes of flipping the upper chamber.

Liz Goodwin joins us. She is the national political reporter for The Washington Post. Thanks so much for joining us, Liz.

I want to start with Tennessee because, I mean, why did he go twice? And why such a laser focus on these deep red states just three weeks out from Election Day?

LIZ GOODWIN, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, WASHINGTON POST: Yes, I think the Tennessee stop is -- the focus there is a bit baffling because, you know, the congressional races are not super swingy. In this environment, you never know. There could be a surprise. But there's a little bit of a wonder I have in my mind if President Trump kind of likes going to some places where he is seeing his, you know, most diehard supporters and he's feeling embraced by them.

This rally nominally was -- is aimed at Marsha Blackburn, who's running for governor there, and Matt Van Epps, who's someone he endorsed in a special election, and it did end up being a bit of a race and he won. But electorally, this is a bit strange because there are deep red states where Republicans are very worried about their Senate races and other big races, but Tennessee isn't one of them.

MARSH: Well, Bernie Sanders, he was in Maine on Saturday stumping for Troy Jackson, and I want you to take a listen at what he told the crowd.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: No, I know that there are people in Maine who like Susan Collins, that's fine. There are many people in Maine who may have a disagreement with Troy on this or that issue, that's fine. But if you want to hold Donald Trump and his disastrous policies accountable, the only way we do that is by electing a Democratic Senate and this election here in Maine could mean all of the difference.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: So Liz, what do you think? Is that the right message? Is he the right messenger?

GOODWIN: It's interesting. So Bernie Sanders is, you know, even though Maine does have this history of electing Republicans like Susan Collins, even though it's a blue state, Bernie Sanders is pretty popular there. He is not a toxic brand in Maine, despite being like a populist lefty and having a reputation of being more to the left.

So I think he's a pretty effective messenger for Troy Jackson in the state. And the other thing about Jackson is he is replacing Graham Platner after, you know, all of that went down over the summer, and Platner is a very good speaker. He excites the crowd despite all of his baggage, and Jackson has struggled to do that. So I think having Sanders out for him and energizing those core supporters who used to be so excited for Platner does make sense for Jackson in this moment.

[07:20:01]

MARSH: All right. Well, let's move down south to South Carolina, that Senate race where Darline Graham, she is struggling against the Democratic nominee, Dr. Annie Andrews. Could it be that a Graham loses South Carolina for Republicans?

GOODWIN: I mean, it's so hard to imagine because it's just been such a dynasty there, a force there, but this is on the map now. South Carolina Senate race is on the map, and the candidate the Democrats have, Dr. Annie Andrews, Republicans even, you know, concede she's run a good campaign.

She is out there. She is -- she has a nice, you know, personal story. She's moderating some of her past positions, trying to appeal to voters in the middle there, and Senator Graham, Senator Darline Graham, she's just so new. She's so new to this.

They have -- they face off in a debate tonight, she and Annie Andrews. And during the primary, there was one debate where Senator Graham did have kind of a faux pas mishap during it on the issue of Taiwan and China because she is just so new. So I think there's a concern there that, you know, anything could happen this year.

There's a lot of voters who are traditionally Republican voters who don't seem excited. Democrats seem more excited. So Republicans do have their eye on this race, and the main super PAC for Senate Republicans is infusing that state with a few million dollars, which shows they're serious about it.

MARSH: All right. Three weeks ago, we're going to be watching all these states. Liz Goodwin, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

GOODWIN: Thanks for having me.

MARSH: Well, make sure you tune in tonight for a special edition of NewsNight with Abby Philip, Midterms 2026 Countdown to Election Night. It begins tonight at 8:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN and streaming live within all-access subscription.

Still ahead, there are questions about whether the Pentagon will go ahead with a plan to livestream the execution of the Fort Hood shooter. We are joined live by someone who has actually witnessed one. He called it a -- one of the most violent that he has seen.

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[07:26:41]

MARSH: Officials across the Pentagon and the Army were caught off guard by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's announcement that the firing squad execution of the Fort Hood mass shooter would be shown in public. That's according to three sources familiar with the matter.

Hegseth made the announcement in an interview on Wednesday, and it was the first time many in the Army and Pentagon had even heard about the idea. While the Pentagon confirms plans for a livestream, President Donald Trump says he has not yet made a final decision on the matter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: There are two thoughts. Don't show it and show it. Because, you know, by showing it, maybe other people won't be doing what he did. So I'll make a decision ultimately. I know what the military would like to do, but we'll make a decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: Well, joining me now is a reporter for the Associated Press, Jeffrey Collins. He actually witnessed the firing squad execution of Brad Sigmon back in March of 2025.

Jeffrey, good morning. Thanks for joining us. I mean, as someone who has witnessed lethal injection, the electric chair, and even firing squad executions, how does the reality of witnessing a firing squad differ from some of those other execution methods?

JEFFREY COLLINS, REPORTER, ASSOCIATED PRESS: The biggest difference between a lethal injection and the firing squad is just the firing squad is just much quicker and much more violent. A lethal injection, you know, it happens slowly. You know, the person kind of slowly ceases breathing.

The inmate, you know, whereas with the firing squad, it happens very quickly. You know, they put the hood over the inmate's head. Forty- five seconds later, without any warning, one, two, three, or anything like that, a shot's fired -- three shots, actually, in South Carolina. There were three volunteers. And, you know, it's just over that quickly. But it's also, like I said, a very violent kind of thing. MARSH: And I know you have witnessed that in 2025. I just wonder, after seeing that in person, how that has impacted you and just even the replaying of that, having witnessed that.

COLLINS: Well, it's, you know, part -- a big part, this is my job to be able to witness executions and tell the public what I see. You know, in the United States, executions aren't held in public. So oftentimes myself and two other media members are the only people that tell people what this looks like.

So, you know, the -- it's important to me to be able to see these, to be able to say, this is what it looks like. I've seen three firing squad executions, so I can compare one to the other. You know, if something seems wrong, I'm quickly able to discern that. And so, you know, I try to remember that it's that consistency and being able to tell people what I saw that's important.

MARSH: In a traditional witness room, your view is pretty controlled. You're through -- looking through a window and the shooters themselves, they are actually hidden behind a partition. But if there was a live stream of this sort of execution, what are some of the key details that a camera might miss or even highlight that the public might not even anticipate?

COLLINS: Well, again, you know, part of the situation with the firing squad is I can only look one place at a time as a human being. So, you know, there's questions about, you know, how is this just going to be like a camera set up just that just streams? Is it going to be, you know, multi-camera set up? Is it going to be somebody cutting between shots? I mean, there's, you know, when you're just witnessing it, it's done in a very, in a private kind of setting. It's done very sterile, you know, everything's set up. The inmates are already in place before the firing squad begins? You know, they're already strapped in when the curtain opens and the witnesses can begin to see.

So, you know, when -- and again, like I said, you look at so many different places because when the shots are fired, you're looking at the inmate, but you're also trying to look towards where the shooters are at, where you can't see, but you're trying to see what you might be able to see. Trying to look at witness reactions and things like that as a witness. I'm trying to see so many different things and what time it happens. I'm trying to keep that clock in my head too.

RENE MARSH, CNN ANCHOR: The defense officials, they have expressed deep concern over the psychological toll on service members who are actually ordered to carry out the execution. Based on your observation and even your reporting, how heavy of a burden is it for the personnel inside the chamber?

COLLINS: The -- what -- South Carolina, they -- everyone involved in an execution from helping out the media to making sure witnesses get where they need to go or volunteers. And the prison system makes a big deal out of that because they feel like being volunteers, they already kind of, they accept their role and they understand their role. And so, it lessens that psychological burden. But as you talk about witnesses themselves, especially, you know, I'll talk to defense attorneys or even families of victims. And, you know, it has an impact on everybody. I mean, I don't think that you can ever watch someone die in front of you and not have some kind of psychological impact. That's -- you know, we're human beings. So, you know, watching someone lose their life is always going to affect us in some way.

MARSH: Yes. Well, Jeffrey Collins, thanks so much for joining us and sharing your insight.

COLLINS: Oh, you're welcome. Thanks for having me.

MARSH: And more on our breaking news now, Pope Leo announcing this morning that he'll undergo surgery to remove a nodule on his lung. Joining me now is Dhaval Desai. Doctors, thank you so much for joining us this morning for this breaking news.

The Pope is saying that this is a nodule that was discovered during a checkup. It is at an early stage. It is well-defined. Help us from where you sit, explain what this all means.

DR. DHAVAL DESAI, SENIOR PHYSICIAN, EMORY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Yes. Good morning. Thanks, Rene, for having me. So, lung nodules is something I encounter daily in practice that we often pick up in routine screening on CAT scans, imaging, and there are specific guidelines in terms of either how to follow them with repeat imaging, another CAT scan in six to 12 months, or if we need to intervene.

So, what I suspect has been happening without knowing too much of the personal details with Pope Leo, this is something perhaps that has been followed and or it's something new, but the appearance that they must be seeing on imaging is concerning enough that something has to be done. And what that something now is, is taking that nodule out with part of his lung and really looking at the pathology or sort of like a biopsy to see is this cancer.

MARSH: Right. And that was going to be my next question. I mean, we don't know. We haven't gotten any information about whether this is benign or not, but the fact that they are doing surgery, that question may be soon answered, whether this is benign or not. Is that right? Is that the regular process here? That is correct. That question.

DR. DESAI: Yes, that question will be answered very shortly after surgery. When the surgery is done, there's our expert thoracic surgeons who would remove this nodule, this area of concern within days or sooner, there will be a result. And after that, they can determine next steps. I will say, you know, sort of speculation at this point, but the fact that they are going in to do this, I think it's concerning enough that there could be something that that needs to be addressed, whether it's a malignancy infection or something else that simply they need an answer at this point.

MARSH: Right. And what does a surgery like this entail?

DR. DESAI: Yes. So, if it was just a biopsy, it can be done endoscopically. A surgery like this typically is a little more invasive where a part of his, you know, kind of cat thoracic cavity could be opened up. Sometimes it can be done robotically, too. But the recovery turnaround time is a few days from that. So, it's not a simple outpatient procedure. Hence, we're seeing the reports that he'll be in the hospital upwards of a few days. That is very appropriate. And most of the time, patients recover very well and they're ready to go on with their daily business within a few days.

MARSH: Yes. See, and that was my next question. I mean, he's 71 years old. He's in relatively good health. He's active. He plays tennis. He keeps a pretty busy schedule. They're saying that the hospital stay would be after surgery a few days. Can he quickly get back to his routine and the schedule that he had been keeping up prior to the surgery?

[07:35:00]

DR. DESAI: That's a good question. You know, pre-functioning, we always look at what is a patient doing before surgery? Are they more sedentary? Are they sickly? Are they bed-bound? Clearly, Pope Leo is not in that case. So, his pre-surgical functioning capacity is very high and that is all in his favor to get a successful healing. So, he may be a little bit more fatigued. He may not be fully up to part of doing such a busy schedule, but I would be very optimistic that he'd be at mass next Sunday if all goes well with surgery this week.

MARSH: And he has big travel coming up as well. So, Dr. Dhaval Desai, thank you so much for coming on and helping us understand this latest development. Thanks for joining us.

DR. DESAL: Thank you.

MARSH: And Pennsylvania is dealing with one of the largest measles outbreaks in decades. More than 1,000 cases have been reported. Five people are dead. One doctor says this will likely go on for months. He joins us next.

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[07:40:00]

MARSH: The surge in measles cases in the U.S. has resulted in a health crisis for two northeastern states. Last week, New York declared a statewide disaster emergency over its measles outbreak. It's the first such declaration by a U.S. state since the surge began. The state health department reports 108 total cases so far this year. Neighboring Pennsylvania is dealing with a fast-spreading outbreak. The Commonwealth's health department reports 1,136 cases, including 157 new cases in the last week. Five people have died there. Less than 1 percent of the cases have been people who were vaccinated.

Joining me now to discuss all of this is Dr. John Goldman, infectious disease specialist with the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Dr. Goldman, thank you so much for joining us. I know you've been practicing for decades now. How many measles cases have you personally treated since this outbreak has begun started? DR. JOHN GOLDMAN, INFECTIOUS DISEASE SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH MEDICAL CENTER: Since this outbreak has begun, our hospitals have treated dozens of cases. I've been in central Pennsylvania for 30 years and prior to last April, I had not seen a single measles case. In fact, the last measles case I had seen was in training in 1992. I had not seen a single case since then and we're seeing cases literally every day now.

MARSH: Oh, wow. And how are the hospitals handling this influx of cases?

DR. GOLDMAN: So, we fortunately, they're not coming in at such a rate that it's anywhere near overwhelming us. It's concentrated at our hospital in Lancaster County where most of the measles outbreaks are. We have increased our screening so we look for people who might have symptoms of measles.

If they do have symptoms of measles, we try to make sure they're masked and are escorted immediately to what's called a negative pressure room, a room that sucks the air out so that it doesn't go into the rest of the hospital. And really our emphasis has been on if we see a case, making sure that other patients in the hospital are not exposed.

MARSH: The thing that caught my attention is you said that you're starting to see new strains of measles as well. I'm wondering how physicians are handling that. I would imagine there are a lot of unknowns with this new strain and why are we seeing a new strain of measles now?

DR. GOLDMAN: So, it's not so much it's a new strain, it's a type of measles we hadn't seen before. Measles was endemic in the United States. When everyone got it as a kid, they got it, they were immune, and by the time they themselves were ready to have children, they wouldn't get measles.

Now, what we're seeing is since we have both an outbreak and a lot of people who are at the age which they'd have children who are not immune, we're seeing new neonatal measles, meaning measles when the mother, measles within the child when the mother is right after birth or during birth. So, we're seeing both congenital measles, measles transmitted directly to the fetus, and measles right after birth, neonatal measles within a couple of days of birth.

This was extremely uncommon in the United States prior to this outbreak. In fact, if you try to research it, there are very, very few cases, and the presentation is anything from being mild to a kid getting septic and getting extremely sick. And so, the way I'd like to put it is we're kind of learning on the fly. We haven't had an experience with this type of measles before, and so we're really learning as we go.

MARSH: And when you look at these cases as a whole, are you seeing a direct correlation between infection rates and the vaccination status of the person?

DR. GOLDMAN: So, we've had over a thousand cases of measles in Pennsylvania. One has been fully vaccinated.

[07:45:00]

Across the country, about three percent of patients who have gotten measles have been fully vaccinated, and about three percent have been received one dose. In fact, this is almost an epidemic of choice. People do not get measles if they have been vaccinated. If you choose not to be vaccinated, right now you're choosing to risk getting measles. And in communities where measles which are unvaccinated and which measles has gotten into that community, people who are unvaccinated almost certainly will get it.

MARSH: Dr. John Goldman, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

DR. GOLDMAN: Thank you.

MARSH: Well, next in sports, an SEC showdown goes down to the wire in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and Georgia in a thriller with a controversial finish. Coy has the highlights coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

MARSH: At least 12 people killed, including a U.S. citizen, in a Houthi attack on an airport in Saudi Arabia's capital. Hundreds more were injured. The strike by the Iran-backed militants is the deadliest attack against the U.S. ally in more than a decade.

President Trump suggested yesterday that Ukraine get a new leader. It came after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy criticized Trump's deal to export Russian diesel to the U.S. Zelenskyy has cast the agreement as, quote, investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.

The remnants of Hurricane Isaias are still sweeping across the eastern U.S., including tornado threats, strong winds, and a risk of flash flooding from northern Georgia to western Northern Carolina. Recovery efforts are underway, but hundreds of thousands of people remain without power across the southeast.

Post-tropical storm is soaking parts of the west. The storm is bringing high surf to parts of the California coast. Take a look at this video out of Long Beach. You can see those waves, huge waves, just crashing over a seawall, flooding beachfront homes.

A mandatory evacuation has been issued for homes along the beach until at least Tuesday. CNN's meteorologist Allison Chinchar is back now with me. Allison, this is a rare storm for out west.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it's impacting more than just southern California. You take a look. All of that moisture from what's left of Rachel is being pulled into the trough that's in the northern part of the country, and that's bringing all of that moisture all the way up into Montana. So, again, this is a far-reaching impact here. Obviously, the heaviest rain is going to be focused across areas of Southern California, Arizona, and into Nevada.

You can see we've got a couple of flash flood warnings here just because some of these places have been receiving rainfall for at least 24 hours, and it's continuing, so it is very likely we will continue to get more of those flood warnings as we go through the day today.

But as we mentioned, it's also pulling that moisture very far north, areas of Idaho and even into Montana, getting rain and snow that is being exacerbated by that moisture coming up from the remnants of Rachel. Here's all the flood watches that are in effect for today. So, these are the areas where we have the greatest risk of having that flood potential as more of that rain continues to spread into these areas.

The morning is going to be heaviest certainly for Southern California, but you'll really start to see more of the heavier showers begin to spread northward through the afternoon and especially into the evening hours of Sunday. So, Utah, Nevada, even farther north into Idaho really kind of become the targets tonight, and then especially as we head into Monday. This is the greatest risk for that excessive rainfall today. That does include Las Vegas, which could end up getting a couple inches out of this.

MARSH: Oh, thank you, Allison, for that. And one of the biggest rivalries in college football, Georgia, Alabama meeting in Tuscaloosa yesterday. And Coy Wire joins me now with those highlights. Hi, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Good morning, Rene. Number six, Alabama hosting number two, Georgia. The weather threatened the game, but it did not stop this heavyweight showdown. So much history in this matchup. Georgia hadn't beaten Alabama in a regular season since 2007.

No leading rusher, Nate Frazier, for Georgia, no problem. Dwight Phillips Jr. runs for 120 yards. And in late fourth quarter, Alabama's driving, right? And Georgia's KJ Bolden appears to interfere with the receiver. No flag, lots of controversy on this one. Next play, Bolden gets the sack. Alabama knocked out of field goal range. So, Georgia survives the controversy 20-17.

The Bulldogs are barking for that top spot, which is now wide open, because earlier in the day, Red River rivalry, a century-old grudge match where rankings go to die. Number one, Texas stunned by unranked Oklahoma. Arch Manning throws a pick six. And then he throws another costly interception late in this game. That crowd was rowdy. It was tie game, final seconds. Tate Sandell from 47 yards is money. Fun fact, his first college field goal also from 47 yards. Sooners win 27- 24, first Red River walk-off field goal since 2018.

And then another top-ten team going down, number 10, LSU, at unranked Kentucky. Overtime, Tigers quarterback Sam Leavitt runs it in. Had a couple turnovers in that game for the Tigers, though.

[07:55:00]

Kentucky would answer with a touchdown of its own. Kick the extra point. No, keep playing. Wildcats roll the dice. Go for two. Kenneth Minchey untouched. Ball game. Kentucky stuns LSU, 35-34. Fortune favors the bold, and the Wildcats went all in.

Finally, Cleveland. What a comeback. Down two games to none against the White Sox. The Guardians win three straight elimination games. Gavin Williams strikes out 12-11. And Jose Ramirez, he gets a pitch down by his ankles. Look at that. Sends it to the seats. Two-run homer. Cleveland pitchers combine for 21-K. It's a new postseason record for a nine-inning game. Guardians win two-nothing. They're headed to the ALCS, which starts on Monday at Tampa. Rene, they haven't won a title since 1948. That's the longest among MLB teams. That should be sweet.

MARTIN: It should be. Coy Wire, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

WIRE: You got it.

MARSH: And thank you for joining us for CNN This Morning this weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

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