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Connect the World
Trump's New Press Secretary to Hold First Briefing; Protests Enter Fourth Week as Government Eyes Budget Cuts; Hackers Heat Supermarket Fridges, Spoiling Food and Causing Fires; Sailors Missing After Drone Strike Sinks Ship Near Bulgaria; Trump Holds Rally in Ohio as Voters Rank Economy Top Issue; New Press Secretary Holds First White House Press Briefing. Aired 9-10a ET
Aired October 13, 2026 - 09:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[09:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
PAULA NEWTON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: And you are looking at live pictures of the White House briefing room where President Trump's new press
secretary is set to hold her very first briefing shortly. It's 09:00 a.m. in Washington. It's also 09:00 a.m. right here in New York.
I'm Paula Newton, and this is "Connect the World". Also coming up, France's student and labor unions are taking to the streets as the National Assembly
begins debating the 2027 budget. Pope Leo has now arrived at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, where he is expected to undergo treatment.
And we are just 30 minutes away from the start of trading on Wall Street. If you take a look at futures, there quite mixed. In fact, the DOW putting
in quite a solid performance there in futures. We'll see if it lasts in the next 30 minutes. But we do begin in France, facing new protests today over
conditions in its schools, just as the government is trying to cut costs.
The nationwide movement has entered its fourth week. Protesters are demanding urgent action to address teacher shortages, a lack of funding,
and crumbling schools. Now, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg joined those demonstrations. She praised French students and teachers for standing up to
the government, which coincidentally, as we were just saying, is opening debate on budget cuts for 2027.
CNN's Paris Bureau Chief Saskya Vandoorne joins us now live from those protests. Saskya, there's been a lot of conversation about whether or not
the momentum can be kept up on these protests, what are you seeing at this hour?
SASKYA VANDOORNE, CNN PARIS BUREAU CHIEF: Well, Paula, the momentum is still very much there today. We're expecting up to 200,000 protesters
across France. That's not as many as last Tuesday when we saw 250,000 protesters, but it's still a very high number, and it's not just high
school students that are taking to the streets.
You've got trade unions, teachers, university students, and as you said, Paula, Swedish activist Greta Thunberg, who was outside Paris in front of a
high school earlier today. Now, at the heart of this movement is a feeling among young people that the French education system has failed them, that
they've somehow been forgotten.
So, they're asking for more teachers, they're asking for fewer students in classes, and they're asking for billions more in funding. Last week, the
government did start making some concessions. The French Education Minister announced that there would be 3,000 substitute teachers deployed this week.
But for many students here, they say that this doesn't go nearly far enough, Paula. Now I'm joined by university student Clara. Clara, why do
you think people keep turning out every week here?
CLARA MARTINET, PROTESTER: Because of the inequality around the country, some high schools have terrible situations, rats leaking ceilings, not
enough teachers. This has to stop. It has been going on for way too long. We need to do something, and we need to keep turning out to show our
discontent and hopefully turn the tide.
VANDOORNE: And what do you think about these 3,000 substitute teachers who are being deployed across France?
MARTINET: Not enough. It's not enough, and it's a cover up. Some, for example, English teachers are being sent away miles away, and they're
forced to teach another subject. It just doesn't make any sense. The conditions are very blurry. There's no indication whatsoever. It's a mess.
It's a mess.
VANDOORNE: We've seen extreme levels of violence as well during these protests. Do you think that has galvanized support for the movement?
MARTINET: Definitely. I think the world needs to see that the French police are mutilating, assaulting kids, high school student, 14, 15-year-old, who
are now going to be disabled for life because of this form of violence, and this is intolerable, and this needs to stop. This needs to -- this needs to
stop.
VANDOORNE: And so, Clara, are you going to keep coming out? And it is another protest plan on Saturday.
MARTINET: Yes, absolutely. We need to make our voices heard more and more, and keep turning out. Yeah,
VANDOORNE: Thank you so much, Clara. Paula.
NEWTON: Saska will continue to keep an eye on that, especially to see the effect it does have on those political and budgetary deliberations in
France. Saskya Vandoorne, on the streets with those protesters, appreciate it. Now we do stay in France, and you will want to listen to this next
story.
[09:05:00]
Officials are investigating a cyberattack after hackers raised the temperature of fridges and freezers at hundreds of supermarkets, sending
them as high as 50 degrees Celsius. Of course, it spoiled food and even sparked fires. Intermarche is one of the affected stores. CEO Thierry
Cotillard told French news channel BFMTV that the attack caused losses in the tens of millions of euros nationwide, and that was just in one day.
The prime minister's office says France is working with European counterparts because other countries could also be affected. Joining me now
is Moreno Carullo. He is the Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Nozomi Networks. Good to have you on the program because we have a lot of
questions.
I want to start with the fact that the French Prime Minister, no less, has said that those other countries could be affected. So, we're not looking at
any kind of an isolated attack. What do you think they're looking into now in terms of the risk? Could it be that AI assisted in this?
And what can you tell us about the kind of actors that are normally responsible for this?
MORENO CARULLO, CO-FOUNDER & CHIEF TECHNICAL OFFICER OF NOZOMI NETWORKS: Absolutely. So, first of all, we need to understand how these components
work, right? So, these are components. There is physical hardware that deals with the refrigeration, and there is software, and the software is
able to control that hardware.
Operators use these refrigerators to do their work, right? They need to operate them remotely. However, if a bad guy is able to reach the control
deck, is able to send these commands and do whatever they want, and this command can be sent due to a vulnerability, for example, so some kind of
software flow that allow to do this kind of operation, even though people are not authorized, right?
So, how is possible that such vulnerabilities are found? Well, in the past, very high-skilled people were required to find this kind of
vulnerabilities. These days, AI progress allow even less skilled professionals to find these vulnerabilities and exploit them on a scale.
So, when it comes to countries or other companies that may be affected, looking at this specific vendor, maybe we find also other countries like
South Africa, Portugal, Belgium, and Poland.
But it's not just this vendor, it's not just this vertical. Companies should be aware of the risk they have. Should monitor the assets they have
in their network to be able to proactively protect these devices.
NEWTON: You know, we're looking at the video just of these emptied refrigerators and freezers as you're speaking. It is hard to believe this
happened. I want to go back to this concept of the ransom of it.
CARULLO: Yeah.
NEWTON: Do you believe that it was money at this point in time, and do you believe it could be more serious than that? Especially because you know so
many people and companies, businesses hold off on paying the ransom. That's what authorities tell them to do.
CARULLO: Right. So, ransom is a possibility. However, the kind of attack, the fact that it spread, may indicate another form of attack. Let's go back
to the AI, you know, capabilities we have today. It's cheaper, it's easier to do to perform this kind of attacks. It can be easy to think that some
conformal activists, just to show and protest.
May do something like that, because you know the level of access to this kind of attacks has been lowered, maybe that is one or some other form of
you know demonstration of the capabilities these attackers may have. So, in the future, something else may come as a consequence of these --
NEWTON: So, we don't want to -- we don't have a lot of time left, but I do have to ask you. You noted in August that AI had brought what you call a
genuine inflection point in cybersecurity. I mean, just yesterday, Anthropic warned that AI models could, within months, possibly self-
replicate on our home devices.
You know, our smart fridges, our stoves, our TV box.
CARULLO: Right.
NEWTON: Are we entering a new era of cyber risk here?
CARULLO: We are entering a new era, absolutely. If it's going to be that fast, I don't know because the capabilities required to run AI models are,
let's say, non-trivial. But maybe in 2, 3, 5 years, that kind of attack would be very, very possible. So, the level of defense must be high, not
just on retailers, but at our homes, in industries, and so forth.
NEWTON: OK, noted. I have no idea how we're going to get there, but we should keep talking about it just to see what kind of preventative
measures, like you said, even households need to incorporate now.
[09:10:00]
I want to thank you for your insights. Thanks so much.
CARULLO: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now a fire tour through the oldest covered food market in Paris in the earlier hours of Monday. The Mayor of Central Paris says the historic
Enfants Rouges market has been quote totally destroyed. Now, here we can see firefighters battling the blaze, which broke out at about 03:00 a.m.
Several hours later, they were still trying to get the smoldering ruins under control. The cause of that fire is still unknown. Now the market, of
course, was a popular destination with tourists. It dates back to 1615 in the reign of Louis XIII. The unusual name Enfants Rouges, meaning red
children, came from a nearby orphanage where children wore red clothes.
Rescue crews in Ukraine are pulling bodies from rubble after Russia launched a barrage of overnight strikes. Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy says Russia has attacked 19 regions in the last two days alone, includes residential buildings, and he says Russia has violated the so-
called Trump -- president's so-called energy ceasefire.
Meantime, President Trump has indicated that neither side explicitly signed off before it was announced.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: They agree. You know why? Because I said you agree. That's why. They agreed because I said
they agreed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: OK, he said they agreed. All of this as Mr. Trump fends his controversial deal to supply markets with Russian diesel fuel in an attempt
to bring prices down ahead of the fast-approaching U.S. midterm elections. CNN's Nada Bashir has been following the story. She joins us now from
London.
We had the social media post from the president. We certainly had his comments there. Where do we stand now in terms of ceasefires possible?
Because if you listen to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, there is no such ceasefire in place.
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, just looking at events which have transpired in the last few hours, that doesn't certainly seem to be the
case. We've been hearing from the Ukrainian President himself taking to social media just in the last few hours, highlighting the ramping up of
Russian attacks across Ukrainian territory, including targeting civilian infrastructure.
We have overnight seen yet more civilian fatalities, according to the Ukrainian President, who said that a number of regions in Ukraine were
targeted by Russian jet-powered drones and ballistic missiles, and of course, this follows that announcement from the Ukrainian President on
Monday, stating that Russia had already violated the purported terms of this so-called energy ceasefire announced by the U.S. President on Sunday,
targeting a Ukrainian power plant in Kharkiv.
But despite this, the messaging that we have been hearing from the Ukrainian President is that Ukraine intends to stick to this agreement, to
this deal, despite the fact that also, of course, it appears, according to the U.S. President, that neither side explicitly signed on to any sort of
agreement, but rather this was an announcement from the U.S. President himself.
However, we have been hearing from Zelenskyy, as I mentioned, taking to social media just in the last few hours, saying, in his words, that Ukraine
has not carried out strikes on Russian oil refineries or the energy sector in general for the last two days since President Trump made that
announcement.
And despite the fact that we have seen that Russian attack on Kharkiv targeting a Ukrainian power plant, Ukraine intends to abide by this deal so
long as Russia does in the future. Now, whether or not this actually transpires in real terms, whether we see any sort of respect for both sides
in terms of the energy sector, that remains to be seen.
The Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has so far declined to comment on this matter, and has said that in the meantime contacts are still ongoing
with U.S. counterparts. But of course, President Trump himself has also been pressed by reporters and questioned on this Russian attack on
Ukraine's power plant in Kharkiv.
He hasn't explicitly made any direct comments on this, but has said and reiterated that it is his wish to see President Putin and President
Zelenskyy coming together for direct talks to bring an end to the war overall. But of course, as you mentioned, Paula, this all comes just days
after that controversial announcement from the U.S. President and President Putin on an agreement signed by both sides to supply markets with Russian
diesel.
This has not only drawn back a force, bipartisan backlash in the United States, but we have also been hearing from President Zelenskyy, not issuing
a statement directly, but saying in his latest statement that Ukraine, while ready for reciprocal measures to come to some sort of ceasefire
agreement, also does not want to see any sort of action taken by international partners, namely the United States, showing direct or
indirect support for Russia, and that this would work against any sort of peaceful resolution.
[09:15:00]
NEWTON: Right, and as you point out, though, as of now, Ukraine, you know, really holding fast to the White House demands that it not target those
refineries or energy facilities in Russia. Nada Bashir for us in London, thanks so much. Now, officials say several sailors are missing after a
drone strike sunk a vessel off Bulgaria's coast.
Bulgarian officials say it was one of two attacks on merchant vessels in the Black Sea. The country's president and prime minister condemned the
attacks, indicating they were likely linked to Russia. This video shows the path of the second vessel just before it was attacked in the Black Sea.
The Ukrainian-owned vessel called Chelsea 3 was struck by three drones. All 15 crew members were rescued and safely transported to a Bulgarian port.
Bulgaria's Prime Minister says he has informed NATO allies. Now we are keeping a very close eye on Pope Leo. The 14th this hour, a short time ago,
he checked into a hospital in Rome for surgery.
Doctors plan to remove a lung nodule discovered during a recent health check. The nodule was caught early, which can make it easier, of course, to
treat. He's expected to remain in hospital for at least a week as he recovers. For more on all of this, we want to bring in CNN's Stefano
Pozzebon from Rome.
Good to see you and have you on this story. You know, Pope Leo is downplaying the gravity of this surgery, and it seems that the Vatican is
being quite transparent about what is going on? But what more are they telling you specifically about the recovery here?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, the recovery officially from the Vatican. The recovery time is expected, Paula, to be around seven days.
However, we know that Pope Leo has cleared his schedule until at least October 20th to give himself enough time to get fully recover.
However, he's expected to spend at least a week here at the Gemelli Hospital, which is just a stone throw from the Vatican City and from St.
Peter's Square. Yes, there has been unusual transparency about his condition. Especially, what was unusual is that the pope made the
announcement himself, taking the faithful by surprise when he announced that he was going under the surgeon for the -- to remove this nodule from
his lung.
He made the announcement on Sunday morning. That's unusual coming from the pope himself. But even here, there was a very serene and chill atmosphere
as he checked into the hospital a couple of hours ago, he waved to the crowd. One thing that perhaps most people don't understand is that this is
one of the major and largest hospitals in Rome that every day treats hundreds and hundreds of patients.
So, the hospital is operating as normal. They just have a very, very famous patient Moore staying with them for a week, Paula.
NEWTON: Yeah, as you point out, a specialty hospital where they will have everything they need in order to assess what's going on after the surgery.
I have to say, by papal standards, you and I both know Pope Leo is not just young, right? He works out, he plays tennis.
Is there any indication beyond the fact that he's taking a couple of weeks off, that this will change anything in the months to come for him.
POZZEBON: At least that's not what the Vatican is sharing or allowed to come out of this. Like one of the reasons why we understand that Pope Leo
himself made the decision to get this operation sooner rather than later and get it done with is that he is really keen to maintain the schedule for
his South American trip, which he will see him travel to Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru between the 6th and the 17th of November.
So, in about a month time, Leo wanted to go, really wants to go back to Peru, where he spent more than two decades as a missionary and a bishop,
and of course the reason to have this operation soon is that the longer the recovery time, the more in full force he will be in strength he will be to
do that trip on schedule.
Another thing that I didn't expect was seeing the pope himself jumping out of an SUV. He came here on a Ford Black SUV, quite different from the
popemobile that we used to see him moving around St. Peter Square in weeks past, Paula.
NEWTON: Perhaps keeping with his American heritage, as is his working out.
POZZEBON: Ford, exactly, yes, Ford --
NEWTON: his tennis, and his transparency about this operation. Stefano, grateful to have you there at the hospital. Appreciate it. And you are
watching "Connect the World". Still to come for us. The Houthis continue to target Saudi Arabia. We will have more details on that next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[09:20:00]
NEWTON: Focusing now on developments in the Middle East, where Saudi Arabia says it's planning what it calls a special operation in Yemen's capital,
Riyadh's main airport will also remain closed, though, until further notice. This all comes after Riyadh said it intercepted and destroyed three
Houthi ballistic missiles on Monday.
Over the past week, a series of Houthi attacks have killed at least 20 people and wounded hundreds of others. CNN's Nic Robertson has been
following the story for us for the last several days. So, the kingdom says it intercepted a fresh round of Houthi missiles.
We're wondering if that does put anyone's mind at ease at this point in time. The point is that the Houthis were still able to get those missiles
off. I'm wondering what more you're learning about what the Saudi Kingdom's next response might be here.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, look, the Saudis are really trying to work out how it is the Houthis managed to get so many
consecutive hits on King Khalid International Airport to the point of, as you just said, closing it down for the rest of the week.
So, their eyes are on the skies, and I think a lot of international aviation experts will be watching flight tracker systems, trying to see
what is happening inside Saudi airspace. You know, the other major airport in Saudi Arabia after Riyadh King Khalid International is the major airport
in Jeddah.
So, a lot of people will be watching that to see if flights get affected around there. But what we heard from the military command in Saudi today
was they took out three drones north of Riyadh. I mean that statement in itself is interesting and open to a variety of interpretations because
north of Riyadh is the opposite side that you would expect drones to come from on a direct trajectory, at least from the Houthis in Yemen.
The northern attacks have been typically more perpetrated by Iranian-backed groups in Iran, in Iraq rather. We have no idea if that's the case this
time. And then, of course, the three ballistic missiles intercepted yesterday, one over Riyadh and one over a major air base, military air base
town in the south of the country, not far from the border with Yemen.
Two ballistic missiles intercepted there last night. So yes, in some ways, you can say that the that the Saudis do seem to be better protecting Riyadh
because nothing's got through today, and there were interceptions yesterday, interceptions today, and the Saudis as well have been looking
for a way to respond, and we've heard from the Joint Command in Riyadh in the last hour or so issuing a warning, an evacuation request, as they're
framing it, for civilians for a location in near Sanaa, the capital of Yemen, that's Houthi controlled.
About seven miles west of there, there is a what appears to be a gas or oil storage facility, presumably used in the capital. It has a dozen or so
large tanks. It's in a sort of a rural area just outside of the capital. But the Saudis issuing a warning for civilians to stay away from there
because they plan a qualitative operation.
You know, the Houthis have also responded and warned again, as they have done in recent days, for in Saudi Arabia that Aramco facilities there,
indicating they could be targeted as they have targeted before, saying that civilians and workers should stay away from Aramco facilities.
[09:25:00]
So, it does appear as if the Saudis at the moment are framing a qualitative operation, as they frame it, a strike just outside the capital that could
be on the energy infrastructure under Houthi control in Yemen.
NEWTON: Nic, before I let you go, any indication here that President Trump is even thinking of intervening? He's rejected the idea before.
ROBERTSON: He has. He suggested over the weekend he would look at it. Last night he said that the Houthis were misbehaving. It's not good. He doesn't
seem to have come to conclusion yet if he's going to intervene. What that might look like, he could ramp up the support that the United States is
giving to Saudi Arabia already.
And the Saudis really want more intelligence, accurate intelligence, as many eyes and analysts, satellites as possible, scoping into Yemen to try
to figure out where it is the Houthis hide their launchers, ballistic missile drone systems, all of those that are targeting Saudi Arabia, it's a
very, very tough job.
That's why the Saudis would like help with it, but it's not clear what, if anything, President Trump is going to do over and above the support he's
already giving Saudi.
NEWTON: Yeah, no doubt the White House will get questions for that as we tee up the first briefing from the new White House Press Secretary. Nic
Robertson for us, really grateful to you for updating us on that story. And up next for us on "Connect the World", the start of trading and the
business headlines, including Donald Trump hitting the campaign trail in states where many voters are saying his policies are directly hurting their
bottom lines.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: And a warm welcome back. I'm Paula Newton in New York, and you are watching "Connect the World". These are the headlines this hour. Hackers
targeted hundreds of supermarkets across France, raising fridge and freezer temperatures as high as 50 degrees Celsius.
The attack spoiled food and even caused fires. Officials are investigating and working with European counterparts who might also be impacted. Ukraine
faced a barrage of strikes from Russia overnight, prompting urgent search and rescue operations to pull bodies out from the rubble.
And Kyiv accuses Moscow of violating President Trump's energy ceasefire, a ceasefire that Russia has not said if the country supports. Pope Leo the
14th has checked into a hospital in Rome for surgery. Doctors plan to remove a lung nodule discovered during a recent health check.
He's expected to remain in the hospital for at least a week. And you are looking at the stock exchange there.
[09:30:00]
We're about to go to the opening bell. We did already have some bank earnings, and that has given food for thought to many on Wall Street, as
some of those banks did in fact miss their earnings targets. We'll wait and see, though. The NASDAQ remains under pressure. A lot of people questioning
the AI trade there.
But right now, all eyes still on earnings season, which is now underway. You see there the DOW actually opening up almost better than a percent.
We'll see if it can hold on to those gains, though, because as I said, the bank earnings not impressing anyone so far, but it is a debut there for the
earnings season yet to begin.
OK, you don't have to remind anyone in this country. Exactly three weeks until the U.S. midterms, and President Trump heads to Alaska today, hoping
to energize voters with polls looking grim for his party. And it comes off -- comes fresh off a stop in Ohio on Monday, a state Trump won by double
digits in 2024, but one where Democrats now see a potential opening.
The president again urged voters to pretend he's on the ballot, even as some Republicans worry, he's a drag on the party. And polling suggests
those concerns may be well founded, with more than three quarters of likely Ohio voters saying the president's policies have increased their cost of
living and nearly half putting the economy as their top issue.
We want to discuss all of this with CNN Politics Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson. He joins us now from Washington. Grateful to have you here as we
are in the down to the wire time for these midterms. We look at the dissatisfaction over the economy and the cost of living.
I am wondering, though, because you've warned us so many times. Polls tighten in the last few weeks of any kind of a midterm. Doesn't matter what
the president does here. He doesn't seem able to improve what is top of mind, and that is inflation and principally energy prices.
STEPHEN COLLINSON, CNN POLITICS SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, it's almost I think a classic case of a president being elected on an issue which was the cost
of living, and then completely forgetting why he was elected and going off and doing all sorts of other things.
I think the problem for Trump is very deep on this issue. Firstly, because people and the polls tell us this blame him for making their circumstances
worse. They're not just angry about the economy, which you often see in elections. They're specifically linking that to Trump's policies, prime
among them the Iran war.
The second one is the concern for Republicans in this election, as in all mid-term elections in the Trump era, is that the kind of low propensity
voters that the president gets out in presidential elections don't tend to turn up for Republicans when he's not on the ballot, and I think the
economic issue plays directly into this.
Most of Trump's voters are outside the cities, the far suburbs, and rural areas. Those are places in the United States where it's almost impossible
to live without driving a lot. So, if you're seeing the price of gasoline double over the course of this year in some of those states, that is a
massive extra cost that you're incurring.
And I think that helps to explain some of the dampened enthusiasm for the Republicans in this election.
NEWTON: Yeah, it is a cardinal sin in the United States, in North America in general, to raise your fuel costs that way, and they're starting to see
inflation. That's why the president wanted to bring in this diesel or do something to help the diesel market. Stephen, I have to ask you about Ohio
specifically.
You know, I remember speaking to Ohio voters in 2024, and I was kind of startled because independents or those that might even lean Democrat
thought no way, no how, not this time. A lot of it resting on immigration. Do you see Ohio as a bellwether? I mean, clearly the Republican Party is
behind there, and that's why the president went to Ohio yesterday.
COLLINSON: Yeah, and Ohio is a pretty fascinating state for decades, it was perhaps the number one swing state in presidential elections. It was very
important to President George W. Bush's two election victories, for example. And many Democrats believed that over the last decade or so, it
had trended away from them and had ceased to be a swing state.
Trump made it very, very solid red countries. You mentioned he won there by double digits last time around, but the economic issues there are so dire.
I think that it's come back to being a bellwether, as you say. Look at the issues. Agriculture is a big issue in Ohio. The tariffs have hurt that.
The trade war with Canada has also hurt a lot of the import-export economy in Ohio.
[09:35:00]
Costs of energy are also, a big issue, affordability, and all of these are hitting the Republicans. Sherrod Brown, who is the Democratic candidate for
Senate, who is leading, is a former senator, and he lost his seat in the 2024 election when Trump swept through Ohio. The fact that now he's looking
for a return to the Senate and that the issues in Ohio have come back to his issue, which has for decades been affordability.
I think tells you a lot about the shift in American politics and the anger of voters who, it seems, every two years take it out on whoever is in
power, because the people who win these elections seem absolutely incapable of addressing the key issues, which is you know high energy prices, high
grocery prices, the cost of healthcare, and just the high expenditure you need to have a normal middle class life these days in the United States.
NEWTON: Stephen, as you're speaking, we have a live shot there of the press briefing room. We do expect the White House to -- this is her first
briefing, in fact, Katie Zacharia, and we will see exactly the kind of posture she takes. She has been a Fox commentator at times. She is true
blue, or I should say true red MAGA, as many people in her party are saying.
What will be her task though ahead in the next three weeks, because as you point out, it is pivotal at this point for Republicans, who I think
arguably anyone could say are behind at this point in time.
COLLINSON: I think that, and she's taking office at a difficult time, not just with a midterm election coming along in three weeks, as you say, but
this standoff between the press and the White House over access to the White House pool and Air Force One, which includes CNN, which is currently
in litigation.
What President Trump wants from a White House Press Secretary is different from what most presidents have wanted. It's not about conveying the angle
of the day, pushing policies necessarily, telling the world what the United States thinks about key global issues. It's about having a scrum with the
press, causing confrontations, viral moments that can go on conservative news and buck up conservative voters.
So, I think that's what we're going to see. Perhaps not in her first briefing, but as her briefings go along. She's been put there by Donald
Trump to praise him personally on television, and to push this kind of performative circus like politics, which he has used. You know, unlike any
other president, it's almost like social media on TV, if you like, in the press sector is over the Trump Administration.
So, I would expect that we're going to see a Trump-style briefing rather than a traditional White House Press Secretary briefing.
NEWTON: Yeah, it is, as you noted, a performance, and a lot of those answers are then repackaged by the White House and other MAGA channels for
maximum publicity on social media. Stephen, what about that issue? That is this, you know, a blue ripple? Is it a blue wave?
Do we trust the polls? I think most of us have kind of a healthy skepticism when we see any polls now. What do you think we're looking at? Because
there's certainly a lot of pollsters in the field. They all seem to be saying the same thing about the discontent, and yet so many of the polls
from deep red states are startling in terms of what they indicate about a Democratic advantage.
COLLINSON: Yeah, and it's these things are very difficult. First, because it's much harder to poll in the modern era. Secondly, a lot of the polls
you do see in states are not that necessarily reliable, and it's very difficult for pollsters to work out what the electorate is going to be.
So, you have some people arguing that Trump voters have consistently been under polled over the last 10 years. You have others saying that pollsters
are waiting their samples to make up for that, and they're not taking into account the fact that the Republican electorate is demoralized.
I think the best way to look at it is look where the election is being fought. Republicans are pouring money into Republican states where no one
thought, at least in the Senate races, that this would be a competitive election. Places like Ohio, but even more so, places like Kansas.
Republicans have already given up pretty much on the Senate seat in North Carolina, another place where Trump did very well, and Democrats have been
trying for nearly two decades to re-establish their foothold in elections to federal offices. So, you know, it's clear that Republicans know they're
in trouble, and they, in many ways, I think, have almost given up on their hopes of winning back the House.
[09:40:00]
They had such a narrow majority there, that even a swing of a few points would give it to the Democrats. So, I think that's the best place to work
out what's happening. And we have early vote as well coming in now in places like Ohio. It seems that Democrats are much more enthusiastic about
going to the polls this year than Republicans.
That is a sign, perhaps, that some of these polls have it right, but I think it's always best. You know, we've only got three weeks to go. Let's
just wait and see what happens.
NEWTON: Stephen, speaking of wait and see what happens, so the camera has been moving in the briefing room. I believe we have a warning that she will
be coming out soon. It's got to be a bit nerve wracking her first day on the job facing all the media that way. In terms of the Democrats and
perhaps any overconfidence that they might have, where do you think the Republicans can maybe make up a little ground in the next three weeks?
COLLINSON: Well, there are while we've been focusing a lot on these Senate races and Democrats only need a net gain of four seats to take the Senate.
There are some places where the Democrats clearly haven't shored up their hopes. Maine, for example, there were high expectations that they could
finally take Republican Senator Susan Collins' seat.
She is a real fighter and has a record of coming from behind in campaigns. That is still a too close to call race. In Michigan, the Democratic
candidate Abdul El-Sayed is progressive. He's regarded by Republicans as far too left wing for Michigan. Had they -- the Democratic electorate in
the primary chosen a more moderate candidate, that race could be over as well.
So, while Democrats believe that they're well positioned to win in places where no one thought they could, like Kansas or Texas, it would be deeply
ironic if, on election night, they actually lost some of the seats where they thought there are much better chance of winning.
So, and Democrats, they've spent the last two years traumatized by the loss in the election. The farcical really procedure that led up to Joe Biden
pulling out of the race and Kamala Harris taking over late in that election. So, I don't think many Democrats are well disposed to take a
victory lap right now.
There's a great deal of nervousness that the nightmare on polling night that they have experienced so often during the Trump era could happen again
on November the third.
NEWTON: There is also the money differential. We had you know news that Elon Musk has spent upwards of a quarter billion dollars again in these
midterms' races. He has a lot at stake for his business here. That goes without saying. Is there an indication that the Democrats can make up that
money deficit because it is significant in so many races.
COLLINSON: Yeah, there's no chance that they have that kind of money. The Republicans have much more, much better financial resources. Not just Musk.
Trump has a war chest still, probably with several 100 million dollars in it. The complication is late in a race. There's not that much more
advertising you can buy on TV because it's always reserved.
And if you are a super PAC, an organization that Musk is using to come in and buy advertising late in the year, the rates are much higher than it
would be for a normal campaign. So, there are some limits on what they can do. That said, Musk was quite effective in the 2024 election in putting
money into trying to drive out low propensity voters for Trump.
There are quite a few signs that he's trying to do the same thing in Texas, a state where he has a great deal of business interest, and I think your
point is a good one as well. What is in this for Musk? Well, he has no interest, I think, in a democratic Congress, which certainly would begin to
probe and investigate DOGE, his effort to eviscerate the federal government for President Trump early in his term.
All of the massive federal contracts that Musk's companies have, you know, he's basically a key part of the U.S. space program, for example. So, all
of this is an attempt, I think, to stop that Democratic Congress taking office next January, and what would be a tsunami of investigations, not
just against Trump, but all of the business interests --
NEWTON: And Stephen Collinson, we'll leave it there. Katie Zacharia is her first day of work. We'll listen in.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KATIE ZACHARIA, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I am so honored to work for President Trump and the American people as the new White House Press
Secretary, I want to thank President Trump for his trust that he has placed in me. I have wanted to work for him for a very long time.
I'm looking forward to working with each of you as well.
[09:45:00]
Especially as we are in the middle of the midterm blitz, with energy and excitement never seen before in the history of midterms, thanks to
President Trump. Just look no further than last night in Youngstown, Ohio, where President Trump delivered another blockbuster rally out on the trail.
The arena was overflowing with enthusiasm as thousands came out to support President Trump, as well as special guests Jake Paul and football legend
Jon Gruden. The president also announced the Department of War has officially selected Cleveland, Ohio, as the new home for the U.S. Navy's
submarine component repair center.
This massive, 46,000 square foot facility will manufacture, repair, and maintain key parts for virtually all new and existing submarines. This is
historic. Everyday Americans are showing up in droves to attend these rallies because of President Trump's America First agenda of lower taxes,
higher wages, and one of my favorites, secure borders.
But it doesn't stop there. President Trump is planning to hold rallies in Alaska, Arizona, Montana, where I will be with him, and Georgia, building
off of the incredible momentum generated over the last several days from his stops in Tennessee, New York, Texas, and Nebraska, he is an energetic
president.
Attendance is at record highs as enthusiastic, hardworking Americans are lining up and packing arenas to support President Trump and Republicans.
It's not hard to see why. President Trump is fighting and delivering for American workers every minute of every day.
Real wages are up 1.2 percent since President Trump took office, with average annual earnings outpacing inflation by $800. Under Biden, real
wages fell nearly 4 percent with the average private sector worker's annual purchasing power declining by nearly $3,000 annually.
President Trump is the first president in modern history to actually lower prescription drug prices, delivering the biggest drop in 63 years.
President Trump has created more than 1 million private sector jobs in his second term, including nearly 112,000 factory construction jobs, and 72,000
manufacturing jobs this year alone.
And thanks to President Trump, we are once again bringing back American energy dominance because energy security is national security. President
Trump secured the biggest oil deal in world history, delivering the U.S. majority control of more than 65 billion barrels of proven oil reserves in
Venezuela.
He had a historic one-day war, and now we are having a booming economy and a great relationship with Venezuela. The U.S. achieved record domestic oil
and gas production in 2025, and record crude and petroleum product exports in 2026. Building off of his historic boom in energy production in the
first 15 months of this administration, we have secured trillions of dollars in new investments.
Trillions of dollars, including 1.4 trillion dollars from the United Arab Emirates, 600 billion dollars from Apple, and 340 billion dollars from
Amazon. No other president could have gotten these deals done. Just weeks ago, President Trump announced that Masabi Metalics will build a massive
$15 billion steel complex in Iowa, the largest steel plant ever built in the United States.
This facility, a historic facility, will create 1,750 new permanent jobs, and support up to 6,000 construction jobs, and generate an estimated 95
billion dollars in economic output.
[09:50:00]
In addition, President Trump and Anduril announced Arsenal Two, the biggest American shipyard push since World War II in Maryland. This new facility
will create about 3,100 direct jobs and support more than 11,000 indirect jobs. President Trump also unveiled a South Korea energy investment package
of up to 200 billion dollars in the United States.
This is an amazing deal. This includes as much as 120 billion dollars to build 8 large-scale nuclear power plants. Something we've needed as the
United States, and something President Trump promised on the campaign trail, and something President Trump is delivering on, just like he
delivers on every promise.
In addition to that, we will be do there is $54 billion tied to the Alaska LNG pipeline and terminal to service the Pacific Rim and sell fuel to our
allies, as well as 22.3 billion dollars for a 6-gigawatt natural gas power facility in Texas. Not only is the Trump Administration bringing in
trillions of dollars to invest throughout the country, but we are also protecting your tax dollars by addressing fraud head-on.
Since taking office, the Trump Administration has uncovered over 260 billion dollars of fraud, stopped 72 billion dollars of fraud annually
through administrative actions, and recovered 58.9 billion dollars through indictments, settlements, and civil monetary penalties.
Above all, President Trump is working to secure the Western Hemisphere for centuries to come. President Trump signed an unprecedented agreement giving
the United States lasting control over security interests in Greenland. President Trump has used the power of tariffs to stop China from producing
fentanyl precursor chemicals.
The fentanyl killed many of our citizens, and he is hard at work in ensuring that, that won't happen. And here at home, fentanyl trafficking
across the southern border is down 56 percent, and fentanyl-linked deaths plunged 22 percent in a single year because of President Trump.
This is a president, an administration that is looking out for you, the American people and I'm thrilled to officially be part of this incredible
journey together. And with that, I will take your questions. Here in our new media seat, we have Nick Gilbertson from Breitbart.
NICK GILBERTSON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Katie. Welcome to the briefing room, and congrats on the new position. One of the things that
your predecessor Karoline Leavitt did is open this room up to more voices, not less. At Breitbart, that's something our Founder Andrew Breitbart
certainly believed in.
And whether that's adding this new media seat, adding new media voices to the pool. Can you tell us what you plan to do to continue to ensure that
new media voices continue to be heard here at the White House.
Yeah. Well, firstly, my predecessor Karoline Leavitt did an incredible job, and I completely agree with the choice of new media seat. We are absolutely
going to keep it, and we're going to expand on it to the extent possible. We love new media, and we want to be able to embrace it.
GILBERTSON: Absolutely. And then, just to follow up too, you did touch on presidential travel. The president's been all over the place, and he kind
of laid out his schedule over the next couple days. But is it only going to intensify here in the next couple of weeks up to midterms?
ZACHARIA: Absolutely, you can expect more of the midterm blitz. Just now, we've added Kentucky, and we have a few other stops as he goes down to
Florida, so it'll be Georgia, Kentucky, and Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Katie.
ZACHARIA: Hello. We will take Peter Doocy.
PETER DOOCY, SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Thanks, Katie.
ZACHARIA: Yes.
DOOCY: Nice to meet you. You're starting as White House Press Secretary three weeks before a midterm cycle. The President Trump himself says will
be very tough for Republicans.
ZACHARIA: Yes.
DOOCY: Is your job just to speak about White House matters, or is it to make things less tough for Republicans in the midterms?
ZACHARIA: Well, but Peter, I get to do what I was doing on the outside already, which was hoping to amplify, multiply, and expand upon President
Trump's incredible agenda for the American people. And what I hope to do in this position is to take that into an official capacity and only build on,
only amplify, and only multiply to the extent possible all of the wins he's making for Americans.
[09:55:00]
For Americans to understand how much has changed in this brief period of time? What he's been able to accomplish. My goal is to be able to
communicate that in complete tandem with the president, as he is his own best spokesperson, and will absolutely be leading the way as with that.
DOOCY: And I want to ask a policy question. Has the U.S. stopped sharing intel with Ukraine?
ZACHARIA: I'll have to get back to you on that.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Katie.
ZACHARIA: Elina Shirazi -- Elina Shirazi.
ELINA SHIRAZI, SENIOR POLITICAL REPORTER AT THE DAILY MAIL: Hi. Congrats on the job first of all.
ZACHARIA: Thank you.
SHIRAZI: And I have two questions for you.
ZACHARIA: Yeah.
SHIRAZI: -- I can. First of all, on Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Daily Mail has been reporting on her since last year. The president said yesterday to
reporters that he is considering firing her. Do you know a timeline for that, and also potentially who could be on the short list to replace her if
he does?
ZACHARIA: We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.
SHIRAZI: OK. Second question for you, if I may, a personal question. Your family is in California. Your husband. You have four children. I'm
wondering how you manage. How are you going to manage that? Karoline Leavitt left because she wanted to spend more time with her family, and
also, did she give you any advice on how to handle this job and the people in this room.
ZACHARIA: Well, first of all, I want to give my husband an amazing shout out. We have four kids, ranging from 12, 10, 8, and 6. Three of them are
boys, so we have a handful. And I adore my family. I love them. They are my priority. They -- I love being with my kids, the idea of not spending
evenings with my kids, kids are completely unacceptable.
So, my president, excuse me, my husband, that's a good one. My husband is out here, is out here for the week because we have two birthdays in our
family and we are very, very protective of celebrating births as a family, so he brought the entire crew out here. Blessed him, it's a lot, and we
will be moving out here.
And as far as your second question is, yes, Karoline has been an incredible support. She gave me great and wonderful feedback on how to balance. I
think this job is not one you necessarily balance, and I would love to share that in my career. I stayed home with my kids from 2014 to 2020 in
the process of having them, and then when I started working again, I was able to integrate them into my life.
There are many photos of which are not public of the kids and I at Fox Bureau, where they are sitting with me in the pod before it hit, so I
intend to, to the extent possible, include my family, include my kids in my work. Though my work will be demanding, they will always be a priority.
And I -- President Trump, is the most family-friendly president we've ever had. He has hired more women with families, and the fact that he knew I had
four kids and he knew that this job would be demanding, and still places trust in me. Shows that I know I'm capable of being able to step up to
that.
So, thank you for that question. In fact, I am going to end it because President Trump is heading out to Marine One for our historic trip to
Alaska, and we can ask him all of the questions out there. So, thank you so much.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: -- Thank you so much.
ZACHARIA: To the question on the president will be back on Thursday, and that's what I will answer. I'll leave it there -- He will answer those
questions out and bring my questions.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NEWTON: And you are watching the first press conference from Katie Zacharia. She is the new White House Press Secretary. She took questions
for only about six minutes, and was clearly off the top, though, giving thanks to the president for giving her this job and showing confidence in
her, and she touted what they consider to be achievements of the Trump Administration.
So far, I will note that she had a direct policy question and was asked, has the U.S. stopped sharing intelligence with Ukraine? And she said, I
have to get back to you on that one. She did, however, break news on Kimberly Guilfoyle, who is the U.S. Ambassador to Greece, who is under
pressure on allegations that she was taking money in order for access to the Trump Administration.
She said that they, meaning the Trump Administration, had asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign. I believe our Senior Politics Reporter Stephen
Collinson is with us now, and CNN Chief Media Analyst Brian Stelter. Brian, I am going to go first to you. I mean, look, this is a big job.
She was a little bit emotional off the top, a little bit unsure of herself. 100 percent. We give her grace for that.
END
