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CNN Poll Puts Trump Approval at Record Low of 32 Percent; Trump Envoy Witkoff Thanks Putin for Freeing American; Witkoff Meets Putin for Talks on Ending Conflict with Ukraine; Israeli Settler Violence Ramps Up in West Bank Villages; Pope Leo Holds First General Audience Since Cancer Surgery. Aired 9-9:45a ET

Aired October 21, 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)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Well, you're looking at live pictures from the White House on the day a new CNN poll puts President

Trump's approval rating at a record low of 32 percent, less than two weeks out from the midterm elections.

It is 09:00 a.m. Wednesday, the 21st of October in Washington. 05:00 p.m. here in Abu Dhabi. I'm Becky Anderson from our Middle East programming

headquarters. You're watching "Connect the World". Also coming up, Russia has released 74-year-old American Stephen Hubbard after more than four

years in prison.

Blessing babies and greeting members of the public, Pope Leo has held his first general audience since his lung cancer surgery. And we are just about

30 minutes from the start of trade on Wall Street. And if futures are any indication, expect a slightly higher open at the bottom of the hour, 09:30

U.S. time, of course.

Well, breaking news then, U.S. President Donald Trump says Russia has released a 74-year-old American man, who the U.S. says was wrongly

detained. Stephen Hubbard had been accused of fighting for Ukraine and held for more than four years. Now, news of his release came during U.S. Special

Envoy Steve Witkoff's latest visit to Russia.

Witkoff met for three hours with Russian President Vladimir Putin today in St. Petersburg, he thanked Putin for approving the release of Hubbard. Have

a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: First of all, I want to thank you very much. The president sends his thanks. A whole nation sends their thanks

because of Stephen Hubbard. Because of you, he's going home to his family.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, Matthew Chance is live for us in Moscow this hour. And Matthew, what more can you tell us firstly about the release of Stephen

Hubbard and why it may be happening now?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, I mean, look this release was announced ahead of the actual sit-down meeting with

President Putin and President Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff. This is a 74- year-old man who's been in captivity here in Russia in a penal colony for the best part of the past four years, and he's had quite acute health

problems.

He was captured in 2022 when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and he was accused of and pleaded guilty to fighting for the

Ukrainian security forces or defense forces. His family have subsequently said he would never have done that. But nevertheless, this has been a sort

of ongoing sort of saw in the relationship between Washington and Moscow.

And President Trump absolutely lauded the release. I mean, Witkoff thanked Putin face to face, but Trump, on his social media platform, really lauded

the release as well, saying that you know, out of respect for him, basically, that the United States didn't have to swap anyone in return,

didn't have to give anything in return.

I'm not sure that's quite how President Putin sees it. Probably President Putin sees this as a gesture that basically steals the narrative. And so,

the outcome of the substantive talks inside St. Petersburg about how to end the Ukraine war, kind of will be overshadowed by it because it's not --

because Witkoff has gone to St. Petersburg apparently with proposals, new proposals trying to find a way out of the conflict.

But you know everything Russia has said so far indicates they are unwilling to compromise, Becky.

ANDERSON: Is there any detail on any of what Steve Witkoff may have suggested or delivered at that meeting?

CHANCE: There's not, unfortunately. In fact, over the next few minutes, where we're waiting for Putin's presidential aide to come out and give us a

readout of exactly what was discussed in the meeting, or at least the Russian take on what was discussed in the meeting. We'll have a bit more

clarity then.

Certainly, that Witkoff comes from a meeting with Zelenskyy in the Norwegian capital just yesterday. European officials were there, NATO

officials were there as well, and they've all been hammering out various sort of potential options to sort of put on the table for Putin to see what

he might go for, to see if he might be ready to compromise, particularly after the things that President Trump has done.

[09:05:00]

The very turbulent events of the past couple of weeks, where Trump has lifted sanctions on, for instance, Russian diesel exports, suspended the

implementation of a very tough law in the United States that could have imposed further sanctions on Russia as well, even calling for President

Zelenskyy to step aside and allow for another Ukrainian leader.

There may have been an expectation in the White House that that would have sort of encouraged Putin to compromise. But as I say, at the moment we've

seen no sign of that. We'll wait to see what the presidential aid, the Kremlin aid, has to say over the next few minutes, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah. All right. Meantime, thank you, Matthew. Deadly Russian attacks then against Ukraine show no sign of letting up. Even as diplomatic

efforts to end the war clearly continue in the Kharkiv region. At least two people were killed and 11 others wounded in a Russian drone attack on a

residential area, according to Ukrainian authorities there.

In Kyiv, at least two more people killed in drone attacks, according to Ukraine's State Emergency Service. Ukraine's air force says the overnight

assault involved cruise missiles and 186 drones, with at least 150, they say, intercepted. CNN's Clare Sebastian, following this story for us.

We have seen, you know, increased strikes, not least with ballistic cruise missiles, on these major cities, including Kyiv. What do we know about

these additional drone strikes at this point?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, Becky, the context here is that the Kremlin, in the lead-up to these talks today in St. Petersburg,

reiterated their stance that they are not in favor of any temporary ceasefire. They only want a final settlement. So, I think, look, we're

going to continue to see more of this.

They want to keep up the military pressure on Ukraine, not give them any chance to regroup or even negotiate without the threat of violence and air

strikes hanging over them, so we saw not only these residential buildings hit in Kyiv, residential houses in Kharkiv, but also energy strikes remain

a key pillar of Moscow's strategy right now.

Energy infrastructure was hit in four regions, according to Ukraine's Prime Minister. There was also another cargo ship in the Black Sea that is very

much a rising front in this war. NATO is this week saying it's deploying additional assets to the Black Sea as shipping comes increasingly under

fire there.

That of course directly impacts the Ukrainian economy. There, so again, look, we're going to see more of this. Russia has openly talked ahead of

this winter about ramping up strikes on energy. And that is why, of course, Ukraine's defenses are front and center, and why the last week or so has

been so difficult.

We heard Zelenskyy speaking on Fox News this morning, saying that intelligence sharing from the U.S. That's the early warnings they get

specifically for ballistic missiles. That is now switched back on. I should note that the U.S. denied it was switched off in the first place, at least

not intentionally, but they are still having trouble.

He said with Starlink, where the speeds are still limited. He is going to speak again. He already spoke to Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, on

Tuesday. He hopes to speak to him again at some point in the next day or so. And he said that he has promised to work with his team to get that

switch back on.

But I think a bleak moment for Ukraine, where not only is it facing this rising aggression from Russia, but it's having to work with its most

powerful ally, the U.S. to simply get back to the point where it was about a week ago in terms of its defenses, Becky.

ANDERSON: Yeah, Clare, it's good to have you. Thank you. Clare Sebastian, on the story out of London for you today. The fierce fight for control of

the U.S. Congress entering its final stretch, of course, and with less than two weeks to go until the midterms, new CNN polling shows Democrats pulling

further ahead.

The poll conducted by SSRS shows Democrats with a 10-point advantage over Republicans nationwide, and that is among registered voters who were asked

which party they would choose in their own district. It is the biggest gap since 2020, when Donald Trump lost his bid for re-election.

Well, the November 3rd vote appears to be shaping up as a referendum on President Trump. His approval rating has hit another low. 32 percent is the

number, and when it comes to the economy and inflation, that number sinks even lower. Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak joining us now.

We just got a snapshot of this new poll, Kevin. Democrats pulling further ahead nationally. There are some nuances, though, in this polling. Just

walk us through what we have on these results, please.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and I think you know the headline is that there is a real hunger for change. The poll found 8 in

10 voters want to change things up in Washington, and they see this midterm election and they see their vote in the election as the opportunity to do

that.

[09:10:00]

Now, you mentioned that 10-point advantage in what we call. The generic congressional ballot for Democrats, and just digging into that a little

further, it is driven in large part by you know the traditional pillars of the Democratic Party, black voters, women voters, Latino voters.

But you also see an enormous advantage among independents. Democrats have a 15-point advantage among independents in that generic ballot, and also

among those who say they're extremely motivated to vote, that number was up 18 points for Democrats. And so, this is all, I think, what if you're a

Democrat, you want to see two weeks out before the midterm elections.

Now, this is, as you said, clearly shaping up to be a referendum on Trump. The poll bears that out 6 and 10 voters say that Trump is a factor in their

decision. That is actually what Donald Trump is asking voters to do to say pretend that I'm on the ballot. I think the issue for him is that up by a

margin of two to one in this poll.

Voters say it's in opposition to Trump as they consider him as part of their selection, and when you look at how voters track his handling of all

of the issues, there is no single issue where he has majority support. The top issue for him is voting and elections. 41 percent say they approve of

how he's handling of that.

But when you look at the issues that are most important to voters, which are inflation and the economy, those are where he's doing the worst. 27

percent say they approve of his handling of the economy. 23 percent say they approve of his handling of inflation. And when you look at whether

people say economic conditions are good, only 26 percent say that they believe economic conditions are good.

That number has been completely halved from eight years ago, the midterm elections in 2018. And so really, I think dire numbers for how the

president is seen among the voters on the issues that they care most about. Now, it's not as if Democrats in this poll necessarily are faring any

better in terms of their own perceptions among the American populace.

Only 35 percent had a favorable view of Democrats, so it's not as if the country is rallying around the president's opposition. But they clearly see

them as an alternative to the president at what is now a historic low in his own approval ratings over the course of his political career.

ANDERSON: Yeah, it's important stuff. Thank you. Well, you're watching "Connect the World". I'm Becky Anderson. Still to come, we're going to get

you to the West Bank, where Palestinians are living in fear as Israeli settler violence there, surges. More on that is after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

ANDERSON: Well, following the October 7th, 2023 attacks, Hamas attacks, Israel's government sought to legalized settlements in the occupied West

Bank, which were first built illegally as outposts, in an August meeting, Israel's Prime Minister said, quote, we have a vision.

This is our land, and it will remain ours, end quote. Well, no government has advanced settlement expansion as aggressively as Israel's current one.

And with that expansion comes a surge of violence. CNN's Jeremy Diamond with this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For more than two decades, these attacks have been an inescapable reality for Palestinians in

the towns of Qusra and Jalud. Israeli settlers, often descending from a hilltop outpost named Esh Kodesh, have broken windows, set homes on fire,

and beaten local residents.

BASHAR QARYOUTE, PALESTINIAN PARAMEDIC: You can't even describe the tragedies we've witnesses inside this ambulance. We've seen tragedies,

disasters, bodies, injured.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Bashar Qaryoute has been a medic here for 25 years, witnessing that settler violence up close.

DIAMOND: As we're driving through the town, I mean, it's like every 20 seconds or so, Bashar is stopping to point out yet another place where a

settler attack took place.

DIAMOND (voice-over): For as long as Bashar has driven his ambulance, Esh Kodesh has stood here illegally under both international and Israeli law.

But that changed in December when the Israeli government retroactively legalized it. Israel's Finance Minister, who directed the approval process,

was among the first to show up at the newly minted settlement, which is still considered illegal under international law.

But the violence didn't stop, it intensified. Esh Kodesh is one of 104 new settlements approved by the Israeli government since 2023. In just this

area alone, Esh Kodesh is one of six new settlements, five of which were previously illegal outposts. Settlers have established hundreds of these

outposts over the last three years, affecting dozens of Palestinian communities across the West Bank.

That's because where there are outposts, there is almost always violence. Attacks against Palestinians have surged, doubling in the last three years.

Mahmoud Tubasi is all too familiar with that reality.

DIAMOND: He says he watches this security camera, his two homes there 24 hours a day.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Three months ago, Israeli settlers forced him to flee the homes he built for his family.

DIAMOND: What would happen if you went back --

MAHMOUD TUBASI, VICTIM OF SETTLER ATTACKS: They would kill me.

DIAMOND (voice-over): That nearly happened last month after the Israeli military acted on a Supreme Court order to return the Tubasis to their

home. More than 100 settlers attacked, grilling stones and setting fires. Tubasi sees it as yet more evidence of the Israeli government's support for

violent settlers.

TUBASI: Why does the army have the power to stop Palestinians, but when it comes to these settlers, suddenly it has no power? No, the army has exactly

the same power. It simply does not want to stop them.

DIAMOND (voice-over): It is a cycle of impunity Tubasi first experienced 25 years ago, when he says he was shot by an Israeli settler near the Esh

Kodesh outpost.

TUBASI: Instead of imprisoning him, instead of restraining him, they legalized the settlement as a reward. This confirms that the government

encourages every settler to attack Palestinians.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Facts on the ground bear that out. A month after the government legalized Esh Kodesh, settlers established new illegal outposts,

and violence surged.

We saw firsthand how settlers besieged another home in the area. The Israeli military deployed troops, but failed to clear out the settlers. The

Israeli Prime Minister has condemned the violence, but he has also downplayed it.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: The settler violence thing is a tremendous hoax, not because there isn't settler, it's not settlers

actually. It's about 150, 200 juvenile delinquents who are doing this.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Netanyahu's government, the most-right wing in Israel's history, has emboldened the settlers, funneling more than $6

billion to settlements, including 450 million to support newly legalized outposts. His ministers of defense and national security have weakened law

enforcement of Jewish violence against Palestinians, with only 6 percent of cases leading to an indictment.

[09:20:00]

Bashar's colleague was shot and killed while driving this ambulance. He says no one was ever arrested, and the attacks continue.

QARYOUTE: It's terrible. Whenever I go out in the ambulance, I expect that I might not come back. I expect I won't return home.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Bashar says much of it can be traced back to the government's outpost legalization.

QARYOUTE: After that, the settlers in Esh Kodesh bared their fangs. Their ambitions grew significantly. Anyone who commits a crime is supposed to be

punished, but instead, they are rewarded for committing crimes, and this is a very dangerous precedent taking place in the Esh Kodesh area and this

entire area southeast of Nablus.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The cycle is now repeating itself across the West Bank. The settler playbook now well established. Jeremy Diamond, CNN,

Jalud, West Bank.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well U.S. Congressional Candidate Brad Lander says that he has been detained by the Israeli military in the West Bank. He says he was

picking olives with 90 other volunteers, aiming to protect Palestinian farmers there. Well, video shared by activist groups shows the moment that

Lander was loaded onto a bus by Israeli police.

Now this comes as Palestinian West Bank residents report a wave of settler attacks at the start of the olive harvest. Now CNN has reached out to the

Israeli military for comment on that. Well, today Pope Leo held his first general audience since undergoing lung cancer surgery last week.

Before the audience, he drove through St. Peter's Square, waving to crowds and blessing babies from the pope-mobile. 71-year-old says he is gradually

resuming his duties, and had been scheduled to go to Latin America next month. His surgeon says he could recover in time for the trip, although the

Vatican has not confirmed it.

During today's audience, Pope Leo thanked his supporters, and I want you just to have a listen to some of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POPE LEO XIV, HEAD OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH: The first thing I would like to say to you is thank you. Thank you for the support of your press. Thanks be

to God for His generosity. Let us all renew our trust in the goodness and mercy of God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: And CNN's Vatican Correspondent Christopher Lamb, following this for us from Rome, he joins us now, and certainly looking very well. And

there had been real concerns about his condition when it was when it was revealed. You've been saying, you know, he is a relatively young pontiff,

and the hope was that, of course, you know, this would be a long stretch.

What do we know about how he's doing after his surgery, and certainly how busy he's been?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I think the pope has been slowly getting back to work. He's had calls with world leaders such as

President Zelenskyy of Ukraine. He's been on the popemobile on Wednesday, circulating amongst the crowds for the first time since his surgery.

Wednesday was the longest public event that he's been part of or led since that hospitalization, and the pope is though taking time to recover. Of

course, it's just eight days since the surgery. And he does need a period of convalescence. But all the signs are that he's recovering well.

He is a relatively young pope. He is someone who keeps in good physical condition, but you know the wider context of all this is that the diagnosis

of lung cancer for Pope Leo came as a huge shock inside the Vatican, and people are still trying to work out exactly what it's all going to mean.

We don't know the long-term prognosis, and we don't know what the trip to Latin America may look like, or if it's definitely going to take place, the

signs are that the Vatican is planning for it to happen, and the surgeon who operated on Pope Leo said there's no reason why he can't do it.

However, there hasn't been official confirmation from the Vatican since the pope left hospital. And I suspect the pope himself is trying to weigh up

whether he can actually do this trip. It is one of the most grueling trips scheduled for a pope in recent years, but of course very important to Pope

Leo because it means going back to Peru, a country that he served as a missionary and a bishop in for many years.

ANDERSON: And let's just pause for a moment and take a moment to discuss this. It's a Latin American trip. It's next month, or certainly that was

what was scheduled. It includes Peru, Argentina, and Uruguay. Let's just you know explain what, you know, the enormity of a trip like that, and

whether, you know, realistically that is likely to happen at this point.

[09:25:00]

LAMB: Yes. Well, it is a big trip. I mean, it's around 14 flights, I think that he's going to take in total. He's obviously it's a long trip from Rome

to Uruguay, the first stop, and then he's due to take part in around 50 events and make about 36 speeches, so it is a huge amount.

And of course, there's going to be huge excitement when he goes to Peru, or if he goes to Peru, because you know there's a huge number of people who

know him from his time there, and he's going to go back to the part of the country where he served as a bishop in Chiclayo, where there's going to be

a lot of people wanting to see him.

And I think that's going to make it such an intense and extraordinary visit. I mean, I think what's on the agenda for the Vatican is possibly a

postponement. He certainly will want to go, but you know we just don't know at the moment. You know the surgeon said he could go, but then other people

say that you know such a demanding trip could be delayed, you know until he gets a bit better.

ANDERSON: Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. It's good to have you, Christopher. Really appreciate your time. Thank you very much indeed. Chris is out of

room for you today. Up next on "Connect the World" with me Becky Anderson, the start of the trading day on your business news headlines. Taking a very

short break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Welcome back. I'm Becky Anderson in Abu Dhabi, and you are watching "Connect the World". A source told CNN that U.S. Special Envoy

Steve Witkoff has left St. Petersburg, Russia, after talks with President Vladimir Putin on proposals to end the war in Ukraine and to laid the

groundwork for broader peace negotiations.

Steve Witkoff arrived in Russia after meeting with the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Norway. When as Witkoff met with Putin, U.S.

President Donald Trump announced that Russia has released a 74-year-old American man who the U.S. says was wrongfully detained.

Stephen Hubbard had been accused of fighting for Ukraine and held for more than four years. Pope Leo is gradually resuming his duties after his cancer

surgery last week. Earlier today, he held his first general audience since the surgery, making his way through St. Peter's Square.

He waved to crowds and he blessed babies before thanking his supporters for their prayers. Let's get you to Wall Street and the opening bell on Wall

Street just about to be rung.

[09:30:00]

Let's just pause for a moment. Let the team there have their moment, as it were, and they've gaveled it in. Start of the trading day. Let's see how

the DOW is starting its trade this Wednesday, the 21st of October, and as we suspected, given that this was the picture on the futures market, the

DOW slightly higher there.

Oil prices have been, of course, marching upwards in recent weeks. Bit of a pause on that. Let's take a look at how they are trading today, and that

will be helping investors no end, I should think, with the relatively positive start to the trading day. The British government is giving the

green light to a major new gas field in the North Sea.

It's a proposal that has faced pushback from environmental groups. Wednesday's announcement comes amid concerns over global energy security as

the conflict in the Middle East drags on. Officials say the Jackdaw Gas Field will start to supply gas to British homes and businesses from as

early as the end of this month.

Well CNN's Hanna Ziady has more details from London. That headline that that you know there could be gas supplied from that as early as next month

does seem quite remarkable. What do we know about this Jackdaw Gas Field and this project?

HANNA ZIADY, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, as you mentioned, in the North Sea, this major gas field about 150 miles east of Aberdeen in Scotland. The UK

government saying that at its peak it will increase domestic production by a modest 6 percent. So that production could come online quickly, but it

will be about enough to heat about 1.4 million homes or so.

Now the timing of this decision comes amid this deepening concern globally of about energy security, amid the war in the Middle East, amid rising oil

prices. And also, it also comes kind of against this backdrop of increasing climate concerns. The UK and Europe have just you know, experienced these

record-breaking temperatures in the summer, scorching hot summer.

And also, just today the U.N. issued a new climate report saying that the world is going to overshoot the Paris Climate Agreement's 1.5 degrees

Celsius warming target in the next few years. So just kind of underscoring the growing impact of climate change, almost as if to anticipate that UK

Prime Minister Andy Burnham framed the decision today as being a pragmatic one.

So that is very much the line that the UK government is taking, and I think we have some comments from Burnham just along the lines that this is kind

of a responsible way to maximize the UK's own existing energy reserves. Again, this huge focus on energy security.

Exactly what it's going to do for energy security and certainly for energy bills, which are a big concern in the UK, is perhaps more muted.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ZIADY: The UK is still going to rely overwhelmingly on fossil fuel imports, and prices, as you know, Becky, are set in a global market, and so you know

this won't become this sort of sudden, you know, cheap domestic source of energy because those oil and natural gas prices are set internationally.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ZIADY: So certainly, environmental groups, as you outlined, very critical of this decision.

ANDERSON: Yeah, and this is despite, of course, President Trump previously encouraging the British Prime Minister and others before him to approve

this deal to do more with the gas North Sea oil and gas assets. And Trump, you know, clearly pushing this in order, as he sees it, to lower energy

costs.

Costs that have gone significantly higher since the U.S. war with Iran and indeed the Russia-Ukraine war. We've talked here, and you've made the

point, and how much this will actually impact, you know, energy prices in the UK. And therefore, the cost of living is still sort of a question, and

it has drawn huge criticism from environmental campaign groups.

What can we expect from those campaign groups going forward? Because my sense is that this will not be the first new operation or sort of you know

reordered operation in the North Sea at this point.

ZIADY: No, indeed, and focus is now going to ship, shift rather to the Rosebank oil field, which is another project in the North Sea that the

government is considering, kind of giving the green light to. Just to say that Jackdaw and Rosebank had these licenses granted some years ago under

the conservative government.

[09:35:00]

They were then caught up in legal action brought in part by environmental groups, but the licenses were sort of already issued, and so the Labor

government has used that as because the Labor has actually pledged not to issue any new oil and gas drilling licenses, but these ones have already

been issued. They've just kind of been on pause.

ANDERSON: Yeah.

ZIADY: The government now needs to make a decision about Rosebank, and so I think environmental groups are going to be watching that very closely. We

had one environmental group in the UK kind of really criticizing this decision and saying that it would be irresponsible in the extreme.

That's uplift for the government to green light Rose Bank, you know, in light of what we're seeing with climate change. But as you outlined there,

Becky, President Donald Trump has been very positive on these projects, and in fact, you know, just a few months ago, he sort of tweeted about how this

could really reverse the UK's economic fortunes.

Now we know that's not true, but today again he posted on Truth Social, and I think we have that for the viewers. Just you know what great news this is

for the wealth and prosperity of the United Kingdom. He said the UK has started drilling in the North Sea, one of the greatest and most prosperous

areas of oil in the world.

They should go full blast. This will make the UK very wealthy again. As we mentioned, it's not going to bring down energy bills. On the wider economic

benefits, yes, there could be some boost to jobs in the North Sea and also to government tax revenues, but environmental groups questioning whether

those benefits do outweigh these climate concerns.

ANDERSON: Yeah, good to have you, Hanna. Thank you very much indeed. Hanna Ziady, there for you out of London. Let's get you up to speed on some of

the other stories that are on our radar right now. The Australian lawmaker hit by a car in an allegedly deliberate attack has now had both legs

amputated.

Helen Haines remains hospitalized in critical condition. The independent member of parliament was struck Monday on a road outside her electorate

office. Authorities have not established a motive. Well, a new U.N. report says the Earth is set to slip past the existing global warming limit of 1.5

degrees Celsius in the next few years.

That was the target set out in the Paris Climate Agreement, which the U.N. now says is unachievable. The report says the new goal is to make the

period of warming over shoot, as it's called, as limited as possible. I want to get you some sports news up next, a heavyweight battle in the

Champions League.

I want to tell you who came out on top of that on Tuesday night. More on that after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: Protesters in Brazil are accusing Meta of election interference.

[09:40:00]

They say its algorithm is flavoring or flavoring -- favoring Flavio Bolsonaro over incumbent President Lula da Silva ahead of the presidential

runoff this weekend. Now Meta denies those claims.

My colleague Janelle Olisea with a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JANELLE OLISEA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meta's denial of election interference did not stop protesters from waving giant Mark Zuckerberg

masks outside the company's headquarters in Sao Paulo, with just days before the country's presidential runoff election on October 25th, the

Current President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva claims Meta was using biased algorithms and restricting content that favored him, thus in favoring his

election rival Senator Flavio Bolsonaro.

Lula's party said some of his posts appeared without a share button and suffered reduced reach, filing a formal complaint in the country's superior

electoral court last week, alleging unequal treatment. Folha de S. Paulo, a local newspaper, reported seeing internal Meta messages showing employees

acknowledging those restrictions and algorithmic recommendations, boosting Lula's election challenger Bolsonaro's account, as well as his WhatsApp

channel.

Lula is one of Latin America's most prominent left-wing leaders and is Brazil's Current President, running for his fourth term. Right wing

Bolsonaro is an ally of U.S. President Donald Trump and is also the son of imprisoned Former President Jair Bolsonaro.

On Thursday, Brazil's top electoral court ruled in favor of Lula, though emphasized there was insufficient evidence to conclude that the company

deliberately manipulated content distribution. In its ruling, however, the court ordered that Meta must guarantee equal treatment and to not

unjustifiably limit both candidates' reach.

In a press release, Meta denied any political bias and said, quote, any suggestion that Meta favors one side is false. The company cited technical

failures in response to Lula's complaints.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Well, it's goals galore in the Champions League at the moment. It is remarkable, no surprise, if PSG against Barca delivered plenty of those.

With the two-time defending champions in the end. Coming out on top, that's "World Sport" after this short break. I am back with more "Connect the

World" in 15 minutes.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:45:00]

(WORLD SPORTS)

END