Return to Transcripts main page
One World with Zain Asher
Israel To Hold First National Vote Since October 7 Hamas Attack; Lula DA Silva Wins Historic Fourth Term, Beating Bolsonaro; Midterm Battle Enters Final Stretch With Eight Days To Go; 400,000 Plus People Protest Across France, 1,000 Detained; A.I. Giant Anthropic Files For Historic IPO; Great Ideas For Your Halloween Costume; Aired 12-1p ET
Aired October 26, 2026 - 12:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:29]
ZAIN ASHER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Coming to you live from New York, I'm Zain Asher. You are watching the second hour of "One World."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's the most important election for us ever. Go out and vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Will Benjamin Netanyahu stay in power? Voters in Israel will have their say in a pivotal election that is just hours away.
Also ahead, shock and awe. Markets react to the Brazilian election results, even the experts didn't expect.
And fast -- and later, rather, fasten your seatbelt. CNN's Battleground Road Trip has officially kicked off this hour. We are live for you in
Pennsylvania.
All right. In just 13 hours from now, voters in Israel head to the polls for one of the most consequential elections in the nation's history. They
face a tough choice. Keep the country's longest-serving prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his right-wing coalition in power, or steer the
country in a different direction, essentially taking a gamble. This is Israel's first election since the Hamas led October 7 attacks.
And in many ways, the polls are a referendum on Netanyahu himself. Thousands of Israelis rallied in Tel Aviv over the weekend calling for an
independent inquiry into the failures surrounding that deadly attack three years ago that triggered Israel's war in Gaza and the broader regional
conflict as well.
Netanyahu's main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot of the centrist Yashar Party was among opposition leaders who attended the rally.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live now from Jerusalem. So, Jeremy, a lot of people have been raising their eyebrows about some of Netanyahu's, shall we
say, scare tactics in the run up to the election, including an A.I.- generated image of a nuclear explosion over Israel, intimating that he is the only person who can keep Israel safe.
And also this idea that if an opposition leader were to come into power, it would be the end of the Jewish state. Just walk us through what's been the
reaction to some of Netanyahu's tactics here.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that the Israeli prime minister is pulling every scare tactic out of the book in
the final days to this election, reprising his efforts to portray himself to Israelis once again as Mr. Security.
At his closing rally last night, Gadi Eisenkot, Netanyahu's chief rival, warned voters not to fall for these tactics. And in fact, Eisenkot has made
quite clear that he is prepared to defend Israel's security. It has been his life's mission as Israel's former chief of staff, but all of that on
the line in tomorrow's elections.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (voice-over): The candidates are making their final rounds. Campaign ads hang from buildings and over highways. One of the most
consequential elections in Israel's history, now just days away.
For the first time since the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and the three years of war that followed, Israelis are heading to the ballot box facing a
stark choice, to keep Benjamin Netanyahu in power or set the country on a new path. That path is being forged by Gadi Eisenkot, once Israel's top
general under Netanyahu, he's now the candidate best positioned to unseat him.
According to the latest polling, Eisenkot's newly formed Yashar Party is projected to win 23 seats, overtaking Netanyahu's Likud, now polling at 19
seats, down from the 32 it currently holds.
But the 120-seat Knesset needs a 61-seat coalition to form a majority government. The change bloc parties led by Eisenkot are projected to win 55
seats, while Netanyahu's right-wing governing coalition would win 51. The Arab political parties are on track for 14 seats.
Those parties also want to see Netanyahu ousted, but the majority of Israelis oppose including them in a governing coalition.
In recent polling, a majority of Israelis say it's October 7th that will be front of mind as they vote, the first opportunity they've had to hold
Netanyahu accountable for the colossal security failure that took place on his watch.
The Israeli prime minister has repeatedly refused to take responsibility, rejecting calls to establish a state commission of inquiry akin to the
U.S.'s 9/11 commission. Netanyahu has instead tried to turn voters' attention to how he responded.
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: They all ganged up on us to wipe us off the face of the earth. We delivered crippling blows to all of
them.
[12:05:04]
DIAMOND: With a commitment to finish the job in Iran, President Trump endorsed Netanyahu, promising he will never let you down.
DONALD TRUMP, UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: I think you're going to have a tremendous victory, actually.
DIAMOND (voice-over): But in an election that centers on Israel's longest- serving prime minister, who is still on trial for corruption and denies the allegations, Eisenkot cuts a stark contrast as a relative newcomer to
politics and one vowing accountability.
GADI EISENKOT, YASHAR PARTY LEADER (through text translation): Almost three years after the failure, Netanyahu and his government are still running
away from the truth and almost three years without a state commission of inquiry.
DIAMOND (voice-over): Eisenkot left the opposition to join Israel's war cabinet after October 7th. Two months later, his son was killed in combat
in Gaza.
EISENKOT (through text translation): I promise to you that we will do everything to be worthy in contributing to the right decisions for those
who have sacrificed.
DIAMOND (voice-over): That story has struck a chord with many Israelis.
DIAMOND: Gadi Eisenkot is far from the most charismatic candidate in this campaign, especially when you compare him to Benjamin Netanyahu. But people
here say that they are drawn to his message, that he is honest and that he's the man to unify this divided country.
DIAMOND (voice-over): That drew this former Netanyahu voter to Eisenkot's campaign.
YIGAL PEDAEL, EISENKOT VOTER: I think it's the time to unite all the people in Israel together. This is the time.
BOAZ HERMAN, EISENKOT VOTER: What Eisenkot bring is a feeling of solidarity. If Israel want to exist, want to be united again and to -- and
-- and -- and to -- to keep its brotherhood here as a society, Bibi has to go.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND: Now, the final polls before tomorrow's elections show Eisenkot's coalition cobbling together somewhere between 52 and 56 seats. That is not
enough to get to that 61-seat majority threshold.
And so unless he is willing to bring in the -- as some of the Arab parties into his governing coalition, which for now he is not, that means that he
will fall short of a majority government.
However, Gadi Eisenkot has indicated that he is prepared to form a minority government if necessary. And he potentially could, if indeed his coalition
comes away with the best chance of forming the next government. He could try and form that minority government.
It would be a way to avoid repeat elections to avoid Benjamin Netanyahu staying in power as a caretaker prime minister of a transitional
government. And Eisenkot says that's something he's willing to do to get Netanyahu out of office. Zain.
ASHER: All right. Jeremy Diamond, live for us there. Thank you.
All right. It is a tense but certainly stunning victory in Latin America's largest country. And it's one that is not only defying a regional trend to
the right, but could end up serving as a powerful counterweight to U.S. President Donald Trump.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(CHANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and his supporters celebrated after he secured a real surprise fourth-term victory
in the second round of voting on Sunday. The 80-year-old leftist leader defeated his right-wing rival in a bitterly fought campaign. And he
credited the nation's youngest voters for their contribution.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUIZ INACIO LULA DA SILVA, BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I thank the people who coordinated our campaign and the parties that joined
us. But I wanted to thank the Brazilian people for the generosity they have shown me for so long.
And in the second round, I want to thank Brazil's young people for their generosity in taking to the streets. They took to the streets to defend
democracy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Meantime, Senator Flavio Bolsonaro is refusing to concede defeat and says the election should be annulled. His father, former president Jair
Bolsonaro, is currently under house arrest for plotting a coup after losing the last election back in 2022.
Brazilian financial markets are feeling the shock of Lula da Silva's win. Brazil's stock market dropped at the open, the Bovespa there down 14
percent. It actually led to a break. It was falling so sharply that they actually stopped trading for at least 30 minutes.
CNN Brazil's Priscila Yazbek joins us live now to discuss all things market. I mean, for the markets, this was a surprise. I mean, a lot of
people thought that Flavio Bolsonaro was going to manage to win here. That was not the case. Lula winning does raised some questions over economic
policy. What does it mean for government spending? You know, are his policies going to be market friendly or not? Just give us your take on
that.
PRISCILA YAZBEK, BRASIL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Zain, exactly this. So, they had an expectation and this was a huge reversal in these expectations. So, now
Brazil's main index is plummeting. It's down more than 40 percent -- 14 percent. And earlier, it was -- it fell more than 10 percent triggering the
circuit breaker, because Lula's win made like a sell-off after this reversion of expectations.
[12:10:20]
This reflects a sharp reversal because investors had priced in a victory for Flavio Bolsonaro that is a right-wing senator and the eldest son of
former president Jair Bolsonaro. And he has campaigned promising taxes cuts but also cutting public spending.
And Lula, on the other hand, has campaign promising to expand social programs, and he has a more gradual approach to fiscal adjustments. So, the
market sees Flavio Bolsonaro as a more fiscally conservative candidate.
And also, Brazil's currency, the real, has also weakened sharply. We saw that the U.S. dollar rose from 4.90 reais on Friday to as high as 5.50
reais cents this morning, an increase of almost 10 percent.
And the question now is whether Lula can reassure the investors. I talked to economists this morning, and they told me that the market could recover
this initial loss and -- as soon as the immediate shock fades.
But Lula still will have huge problems to attack as the public debt and the public spending is rising. We have a debt that is today in 83 percent of
the GDP, which is a ratio that is smaller than the U.S. ratio, but it's a big ratio for an emerging country.
And so some investors now are looking for a reassure message from Lula's administration, similar to what he'd done -- he has done in 2002 when he
wrote a letter to the market to reassure that he would be concerned about public spending and he would made a government talking to the economists
and the markets and he wouldn't expand the social programs irresponsibly.
So, back in 2002, in his first term, this made the investors and the market calm down. So, I talked to some investors, to some economists, and they
expect that Lula could do the same right now to send a message to the market to calm down the turmoil that could lead to pressure on prices and
also inflation.
And this could jeopardize the promises Lula has made. So, Lula has made promises to keep the rising of wage, the minimum wage above inflation and
other promises. And if the prices are pressured and also the interest rate, this could make Lula's social process -- promises, sorry, harder to
deliver.
Priscila, thank you for that. Yes, I mean, part of the problem is that investors had completely priced in a different outcome. So, markets will
likely calm down once everybody gets over the shock as you -- as you said.
Priscila Yazbek, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
All right. Despite Lula's decisive victory, Brazil remains a deeply divided country and a leftist leader will be facing a very conservative Congress.
Here's part of my conversation with the director of the Latin America program at Chatham House, Chris Sabatini. We talked the last hour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER SABATINI, DIRECTOR, LATIN AMERICA PROGRAMME, CHATHAM HOUSE: What was really instrumental is Lula completely changed his campaign
between the first round and the second round. He brought in influencers. Janones is a -- is a congressperson who's from the PT, the Workers' Party,
who's very popular. They created a WhatsApp group called Lula's Army.
He really, if you will, sort of took a page from a lot of these insurgent right-wing candidates that have been cropping up in places like Colombia
and elsewhere and Javier Milei in -- in Argentina, and was able to capitalize on that, but you're right, it's a deeply polarized country.
What we're seeing right now is the case of Flavio Bolsonaro calling for the annulment of the elections, you know.
And -- and the -- the problem with that too is that the judge who allowed for the extension by two hours of the balloting, as you mentioned, is a
Lula supporter. He was Lula's personal lawyer. And the Supreme Court has come under a lot of criticism for being too politicized.
So, this judicial system is under a lot of duress right now. You've got, you know, now two Bolsonaros that have called the elections fraudulent.
Their supporters are already mobilizing. And, of course, as you mentioned, the conservatives have a majority in both houses of Congress, which will
make basically Lula's job in terms of trying to deliver some fiscal responsibility, consolidate the tax regime, which he had started, but had
sort of gone off the rails a little bit on that.
[12:15:07]
Attacking those major economic issues that are front and center for many Brazilians is going to be very difficult in this divided society as well as
the divided legislature.
ASHER: You bring up such an important point about the legislature and also the fact that Flavio Bolsonaro is set to contest these results.
Just in terms of the wave, the sort of right-wing wave we've seen across Latin America, obviously, Brazil is holding down the fort for the leftists,
but we've seen seven straight wins, seven straight wins in just 18 months by right-wing leaders in -- in -- over the continent.
Just -- just walk us through what this means -- what this win by Lula means for President Trump. Obviously, their relationship is famously fraught,
Chris.
SABATINI: Yes. So, first of all, as of just a few minutes ago, the U.S. had still not recognized Lula's victory. While the prime minister of Canada,
even a lot of the presidents in Latin America that are part of that sort of Trumpist wing or alliance, if you will, presidents in Ecuador, Peru, Chile,
not the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, they also congratulated Lula on the victory.
So, I think we're also seeing a little bit of space growing between a lot of these right-wing candidates that -- that -- that Trump had openly
supported. I mean, endorsing them via social media, meeting multiple times with the sons of -- of Jair Bolsonaro to plan for the candidacy.
We're looking at a real sort of change and Lula stands alone. And this is - - this would have been a huge victory for Donald Trump.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. We are a little over a week away until election day in the United States. The midterm elections are eight days away. And the
stakes, let me tell you, could not be higher. Around 30 million ballots have already been cast in early voting, an election that will determine the
balance of power in Congress.
President Trump is expected to hit the campaign trail again later today, looking to shore up Republican support in Mississippi.
But over the weekend, the battle was for Michigan, as President Trump and former President Barack Obama held rallies in the swing state. The Senate
race there is one of the most closely watched races in the country. Trump and Obama seize the moment to throw punches at one another.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER UNITED STATES PRESIDENT: After 10 years of chaos and cruelty and corruption and incompetence, you get to say enough is enough.
What's up with the gold? I mean, he's got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a cheesecake factory.
TRUMP: You know, I saw Barack Hussein Obama was in Michigan and the place was empty.
Obama got the Nobel Prize about two weeks after he got into office and he had no idea why he got it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Pennsylvania for us with more on what candidates are saying to voters in the run-up to these elections.
You know, Omar, as a Brit, I sort of look at Pennsylvania as a mini version of the United States because it's got everything. It's got, you know, urban
center. It's got large cities. It's got a diverse population. It's got farm country. It's got manufacturing. I mean, help me out here. It's got
basically everything.
Just walk us through.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Yes, I mean, I --
ASHER: Go ahead. Go ahead. I'll let you -- I'll let you continue. Go ahead.
JIMENEZ: Yes. I was just going to say, no, I think -- I think you laid out what -- what Pennsylvania is. I think you can just say it simply is a big
state. It's got a lot --
ASHER: OK. Yes.
JIMENEZ: -- a wide range of people, a wide range of industries.
ASHER: Got everything.
JIMENEZ: But, yes, sorry. Finish your question.
ASHER: My question was, when you have such different population and different groups in that -- in this particular state, one of the most
interesting things is that they don't always, obviously, they're not always aligned in terms of what they want. And obviously, from one election cycle
to the next, what they want in the candidate can actually change. So, walk us through that.
JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. So, that's part of why we're doing this road trip, not just across Pennsylvania, but Ohio and Michigan as well, because depending
on where you go in the state, the interests could be completely different.
One thing that has seemed to be the same, even coming from Philadelphia, where we just were, has been cost of living. And one of the many, there's
really a few different House races in Pennsylvania that are very, very critical. And one of them is happening in the suburbs of Philadelphia,
where we are now, a place called Bucks County is the county, but the district is House district one.
And one of the people running in that race is Mr. Bob Harvie here. He's running to unseat the multiple-term incumbent Congressman Brian
Fitzpatrick, who's a Republican. Bob Harvie running as a Democrat here.
So, you're a Bucks County Commissioner. That's sort of your most recent position coming in here. How would you describe the -- the -- the issues
that are top of mind for voters in this particular district?
BOB HARVIE, DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE FOR U.S. HOUSE: Well, you've -- you've kind of alluded to it already. It's the two things; it's cost and it's
corruption. The number one thing is cost of living.
[12:20:04]
And what we're hearing really increasingly over the past few weeks is a lot of people in this area, in fact, a lot of the homes that are around here
use heating oil to heat their homes. And the first shipment of heating oil hit people just a couple weeks ago.
And especially because we have a lot of seniors who live in these homes or older homes, that cost, that huge increase, I'm hearing 70 percent
increase, you know, doubling from last year for some people, that's hitting them right now on top of fuel bills, on top of healthcare, on top of food,
everything else. So, that's just massive for them because it's every day.
But also the corruption. You know, people just feel like this government doesn't work for them anymore. And if they're just the people who live in
this area, there's retired steel workers. Well, this is a blue collar areas where I was born and raised in this part of the county.
But we have to do things like, you know, overturn citizens united. We've got to do things like, you know, outlaw gerrymandering, get the money out
of politics, all that stuff, the stuff we have to do.
JIMENEZ: And just for -- we've got about a minute left in the -- in the T.V. hit this, but this is a place where the elections have been so
incredibly tight. I mean, you just look at the last presidential cycle, the difference between President Trump and Kamala Harris, I believe it was a
few hundred votes or so in this county out of the hundreds of thousands of votes that were cast, by the way.
And you -- you are someone who has been elected to Bucks County Commissioner during that period. What do you feel was the key to getting
you into that position, at a time where I think it's fair to say Americans are polarized in -- in all different directions?
HARVIE: Well, yes, I've been elected twice now county commissioner in the past seven years. This is a shipment of signs coming in for the campaign.
JIMENEZ: Big truck.
HARVIE: Because we have -- right, we have -- we have people that want signs from this -- this campaign, but they want to know, you know, what I've
done, obviously, as a county commissioner, the fact that I'm from here, born and raised in this -- in this county, which makes up 90 percent of the
district, but it is about talking to people. It's about getting out there and showing them who you are and showing that you're fighting for them.
JIMENEZ: And, obviously, he's trying to unseat a multiple-time incumbent. So, he is fighting an uphill battle. But with the approval rating of the
president saying the way that it is right now, lot of the opportunities that Democrats see in some of these highly contested congressional
districts or that with views of those in power, which has been majority Republicans to this point, as low as they've ever been, according to polls,
that may be where Democrats can see an opportunity as prices have spiked tied to the war and others.
But again, work to do in these days leading up to election day, eight days out, Zain. And this isn't the only district that could shift the balance of
power, a few that we're going to be watching just in Pennsylvania alone.
ASHER: Yes, and obviously cost of living is the -- probably the most important issue facing various races across the country.
Omar Jimenez, live for us there. Thank you so much.
Joining us live now is --
JIMENEZ: Of course. Thank you.
ASHER: -- Toluse Olorunnipa, friend and fellow Nigerian. He's a staff writer for "The Atlantic." Always good to see you.
Tolu, my question to you is, are these midterms essentially a referendum on Donald Trump himself? Or is it just majoritally about the economy? Your
thoughts on that.
TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: I would have to say it's -- it's one and the same. Donald Trump has had a big impact on the economy and
people are conflating both their aversion to him and his presidency and some of the things that he's done with the presidency, some of the
corruption charges that he's been facing, as well as the -- the idea that he's not thinking about their own pocketbooks, that he's instead focused on
getting himself a new jet or creating places to put his name within Washington, D.C., like the Kennedy Center, and not focus on the fact that
gas prices are high, the -- the cost of living is still astronomical for so many people.
And there is a, sort of a decision by a lot of voters that they can't take it all. They can't take the fact that the president is doing what he's
doing with the presidency at a time when the economy is in the shape that it's in -- that it's in for so many people.
And so maybe if the economy was in better shape, the president would get a pass on some of the things that he's doing with the presidency. For a lot
of voters, they are struggling with the fact that not only are their pocketbooks struggling, but the president himself is -- is handling the
presidency in a way that they find distasteful.
And so this is a referendum on Donald Trump and his presidency, but it's also mostly about the economy and the fact that people still can't afford
the general cost of living in America right now.
ASHER: You bring up corruption. I mean, obviously, there is a laundry list of the various ways in which this administration has tried to
disenfranchise voters.
But I think one of the most egregious examples is what we've seen in Alaska, where you have -- just to sort of explain to our international
audience, you have two people on the ballot who essentially have the same name, Dan Sullivan. And Republicans have essentially said that if the
Republican loses, they will make an attempt to block certification.
So, ordinary voters, ordinary American voters, see that, and they think what?
OLORUNNIPA: Well, you see this as a continuation of what the president has been doing for the last six years, at least, and maybe even the last
decade, which is sowing doubt in our institution of electoral politics, the elections that are run locally, run by the states, and -- and causing
people to challenge or question whether or not our elections are trustworthy.
[12:25:16]
This has already been litigated within the Alaska state judicial system. The Supreme Court of Alaska has already said that it's OK for these two
people with the same name to be on the ballot. And there's nothing for anyone to do to try to challenge whether their results are -- are -- are
free and fair as a result of that.
But because the president has so much distrust for the way elections work in America, he has caused his Justice Department to try to interfere with
the voting system in Alaska and basically tell the Alaskans that they should not certify the win of anyone other than the Republican candidate.
And that obviously is causing voters to -- to question whether or not their state will be interfered with by the federal government, whether or not the
White House will try to nullify the vote based on these suspicious claims that people are -- are confused by the ballot because there are two people
with the same name on the ballot, even though, you know, one is going to be clearly identified as the incumbent, as a Republican in the race, the other
is not an incumbent. It's not going to be identified as such.
But because the president has all of these conspiracy theories about voting, he has led his Justice Department to interfering with the -- the
free and fair vote in -- in Alaska.
Now, we'll have to wait and see what the results are. But the president already made clear that if his chosen candidate does not win, that he's
going to have his Justice Department try to investigate the -- the race and potentially nullify or block the certification before it can happen before
a Democrat could potentially be sent from Alaska to the U.S. Senate.
ASHER: Yes, it's brazen because it is preemptive. You know, essentially saying, if my chosen candidate does not win, I will block the result. I
mean, it's incredible.
Tolu, we have to leave it there. We'll be talking about this into next week and, of course, beyond when we get the results. Thank you so much for being
with us.
All right. Still to come here on "One World," the city of light was the city of protest, yet again. After the break, we'll look at the aftermath of
the ongoing demonstrations in Paris.
And Anthropic has what could be one of the largest stock market debuts in U.S. history. We'll unpack what it all means for Wall Street later on this
hour.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. More than a thousand people were detained in another wave of widespread protests across France this weekend.
[12:30:05]
Thousands of police in riot gear were deployed across the country as protesters loudly add their grievances against the high cost of living, a
housing crisis, and a lack of education funding. The protests were not marred by the scale of violence seen during the protests the previous
weekend, but they -- there were indeed some clashes.
And all more than 400,000 people took to the streets across France, while other European cities also saw protests as well.
Melissa Bell has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: French authorities congratulating themselves for what they believe was a successful police
operation over the course of the weekend. Nothing like the sorts of clashes and looting that we'd seen on October 17th.
Still, more than 400,000 people turned out to protest, suggesting that this movement is far from over. And there were, as there always are in these
kinds of protests, clashes and tear gas at the end of it.
Simply, they managed to ensure it didn't happen from the very beginning and throughout the day, partly because of the police presence, partly also
because the entire parts of Paris, like here around the Elysee Palace, were cordoned off to people who couldn't prove that they lived there.
As you can see, still a massive police presence. The fear that this is likely to continue, another protest being called for next Saturday, another
massive strike and protest for the 5th of November.
The issue that French authorities have is that the political moment they were in with the far right and the far left benefiting from the movement
and the polls looking ahead to next year's election, continues to feed the movement even as right now. For the time being, nothing suggests it is out
of breath.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: Ukraine says full access to both Starlink and Starshield has now been restored. The two systems are vital to battlefield operations for
Ukraine. Elon Musk, who SpaceX operates the Starlink satellite system, weighed in on the disruptions to service, saying Ukraine's military had
violated Starlink's terms of service, using it for offensive drone strikes.
He says that loophole has now been closed. Ukraine strongly disputed Musk's claims. It's unclear who ordered a slowdown in the Starshield system. Last
week, Musk claimed the Trump administration had control of the military- grade system.
All right. Still to come here on "One World."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RABBI JOSH WEINBERG, UNION FOR REFORM JUDAISM: We're in a deep crisis right now and so we need everyone to exercise their right to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Israeli voters go to the polls Tuesday. Just ahead, I'll be talking to the Israel correspondent for "The Economist" about voter sentiment and
what's at stake.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:35:44]
ASHER: All right. It's election eve in Israel. Tuesday's vote is seen as the country's most important in years. With one day to go, Israeli media
reporting a, quote, unprecedented confrontation over Iran between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the IDF.
Netanyahu's main challenger, Gadi Eisenkot, of the centrist Yashar Party rallied thousands of supporters in Tel Aviv ahead of Tuesday's vote, the
first national election since the Hamas-led attack on October 7th, 2023.
The latest polls show neither candidate's party has a clear path to victory.
Rabbi Josh Weinberg of -- of the Union for Reform Judaism has headed to Israel from New York to vote in tomorrow's election. He criticized Benjamin
Netanyahu's government for not holding an official inquiry into the October 7th attacks.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WEINBERG: He needs to take responsibility and accountability for the events of October 7th. The fact that three years after, more than three years
afterwards, there's no official state inquiry into -- into the worst day in Israeli history ever is just unimaginable.
We're in a deep crisis right now, and so we need everyone to exercise their right to vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right. Time now for The Exchange. I want to bring in Anshel Pfeffer, the Israel correspondent for "The Economist" and author of the
book, "Bibi: The Turbulent Life and Times of Benjamin Netanyahu." Anshel, thank you so much for being with us.
And Rabbi Josh Wienberg, who I -- who we just aired there, is not the only one. You're having tens of thousands of expats headed back to Israel to
vote in -- in these elections. And part of the reason is, of course, accountability.
I want to ask you a question about Israel's reputation and standing on the international stage, especially after October 7th, obviously, its
reputation has taken a hit. Does that change for the better if Netanyahu is no longer prime minister, if Gary Eisenkot ends up being in charge instead?
ANSHEL PFEFFER, ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT, THE ECONOMIST: Well, I think that Netanyahu as being such a greater than -- greater than life figure has,
just by his own -- by his own showmanship, has -- has -- has drawn so much attention and so much criticism of Israel and its policies that just by the
-- the virtue of changing the figure at the head to someone much more understated, someone who doesn't kind of hog the limelight in the way that
Netanyahu does. I think that will, at least for a short while, change the tone of the criticism.
I think there will be many governments in the West who are going to be waiting to see and will give sort of a period of grace to this new
government. At the same time, that won't be very long one and there will be very tough questions awaiting whoever is Israel's next prime minister.
There is, of course, and as I touched on the issue of, yes, accountability, the issue as to whether or not, you know, the right security measures were
in place. I mean, obviously, there's -- there's questions over whether or not Netanyahu was warned, particularly by the UAE. Prior to October 7th,
did he fail to act on those warnings?
And then there is the issue of whether or not ordinary Israelis genuinely feel safer after October 7th, as in after the sort of three years of war
with Gaza, against Hezbollah, the war in Iran that has been launched alongside the United States. Do Israelis genuinely feel safer now than
prior to October 7th?
PFEFFER: Well, the polls certainly show that -- that there is a greater feeling of safety because Israelis have seen how, despite the downfall on
October 7th, the way that their security forces just weren't there in that morning when Hamas pulled over the border and carried out its massacre.
They've seen the Israeli army come back and -- and fighting Gaza and achieve the victory with Hezbollah in Lebanon and the war -- the wars now,
plural, in Iran, that has boosted the Israelis' confidence in their army and their intelligence services.
But what we haven't seen is a return of confidence in Israeli leadership. And I think one of the most interesting things that we've been seeing is
for three years now, literally from the first polls since October 7 until now, is that level of confidence that Israel -- Israelis have had in the
army, despite the army's failure on October 7, despite the intelligence services failure to anticipate October 7. That level of confidence has been
higher and has gone higher over the past three years that hasn't been replicated by a similar level of confidence in Benjamin Netanyahu.
[12:40:23]
And in a way, you've seen here a rallying around the flag effect, which usually in times of war in countries also translates into support for the
leader. And -- and Israel has been totally absent. And basically for the last three years, Netanyahu has been far behind in the polls. And that is a
situation going into the election tomorrow.
ASHER: You know, for those of us in the international community, it's easy to sort of assume that security is going to be high, if not number one, on
the list of Israelis who are voting in the election. I mean, that is the priority there for very, very obvious reasons.
But there are domestic issues that Israelis are trying to contend with as well; housing crisis, cost of living, the economy, whether or not Orthodox
Jews should be exempted from serving in the IDF, judicial overhaul.
What would you say was the biggest domestic issue, you know that that would be a major factor in these elections?
PFEFFER: Probably the -- probably the last one that you --
ASHER: Go ahead. Go ahead, Anshel.
PFEFFER: So, probably the last one that you mentioned because the Israeli - - it's probably the last one that you mentioned the Israeli economy has largely, so far, withstood the war in -- in pretty robust shape. So, that's
not an issue, obviously, the cost of living is high, that's always an issue, but it's not one of the major issues in the election.
But what you mentioned, the -- the exemption, the most blanket exemption that ultra-orthodox Israelis have from serving in -- in the military. And
the military now is still stretched over so many fronts, Gaza, Lebanon with Hezbollah, Syria, the -- the wars against Iran, the -- the growing violence
in the West Bank, all these are stretching the Israeli military and the reservists who are doing huge amounts of days of service every year since
October 7. That's a huge issue in Israel.
And it's not just the issue of military service. It's also the fact that many of the graduates from the schools, the Orthodox schools, don't have
the -- the tools to take part in the modern workforce. So, they're not also -- they're also not contributing to the economy.
And since they are Netanyahu's stalwart coalition partners and have basically been the recipients of billions and billions of shekels of
government funding under his government, that is a huge issue. And I think it's one -- it's one of the reasons why Netanyahu hasn't really managed to
come back in the polls.
ASHER: All right. Anshel Pfeffer, thank you so much. We'll see what happens tomorrow, but thank you so much for joining us on this very important
story. We appreciate it.
All right, a programming note for those of you at home. We are now streaming in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. You can watch "One World,"
access exclusive original programming, read unlimited articles and more on the CNN app. To learn more, visit cnn.com/allaccess. We'll be right back
with more news after this break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:45:47]
ASHER: All right. Let's take a look. Green across the board there. The Dow is up ever so slightly. You've also got the NASDAQ up about one percent.
And the S&P 500 up half of a percent. This is your business breakout.
All right. A.I. giant, Anthropic, has just filed to go public, marking what could be one of the largest U.S. stock market debuts in history. The
listing could reportedly be valued the company up to 200 -- two -- excuse me, $2 trillion. This comes amid warnings from the company's CEO that
advanced A.I. could pose an existential risk to humanity.
Meta has just now planned to raise up to $95 billion. The tech company will sell a portion of its shares in an aggressive campaign to invest into A.I.
expansion. Nvidia, Broadcom, and Advanced Micro Devices have expressed interest in buying up to $5 billion worth.
Elon Musk is casting doubt over a niche sub-industry of A.I. called neoclouds, causing stocks to sink this morning. Neoclouds rent computing
power to companies building A.I. technology, but Musk questions their future, saying neocloud companies will see a, quote, guppy-level death and
consolidation.
Let's get more now on the Anthropic filing for what potentially could be the biggest IPO ever. CNN's A.I. correspondent Hadas Gold joins us live
now.
Anthropic is warning about catastrophic risks from A.I. in its own IPO filing. Could those safety concerns become a liability for the company and
investors? It's hard to also believe that this company is only five years old, Hadas, as well.
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, only five years old. This is the S-1 everybody had been waiting for. And it's showing on the business side
things like breakneck growth and the massive commute commitments, but one quarter of this S-1 is dedicated to risk.
Now, every company, obviously, has to map out its risk factors in their S- 1. But what's unusual for Anthropic is just how much time they're spending on the risks and what these risks are about. They mentioned catastrophic or
existential risk to humanity. Zain, I have to say, they mentioned the word catastrophic 10 times in this S-1. It's kind of you're thinking like, well,
you're trying to get investors, but now you're talking about how your technology could kill everyone.
I'll read you a quote of what they put in this risk factor. They say, "Bad actors have already conducted high-profile cyberattacks using A.I.
capabilities to discover vulnerabilities, generate malware, and evade detection tools. Others risk associated with misuse include in the domain
of biology could result in even greater harm. A.I. deployed at scale also has the potential to concentrate power and wealth both within and between
countries in ways that could erode trust, harm society, and destabilize the geopolitical order."
They go on to talk about how, you know, in addition to A.I. assisting bad actors, the misaligned behavior of A.I. agents, you know, going rogue,
hacking into other systems, talking about how A.I. has become harder to monitor, as it becomes even more advanced, talking about how A.I. can
manipulate humans.
Then they talk about how their models have even been shown to engage in things like blackmail while trying to preserve their own systems and
prevent being shut down.
And then there's the more traditional business risks that you get when it comes to their compute needs and the investment needs and things like that.
And they also go into the political environment. Obviously, Anthropic has had a bit of a rocky relationship with President Donald Trump's
administration and talk about how that can affect their business as well.
It's really stunning though to go through this nearly 100 pages of risk factors for their business. It's essentially shining, you know, big red
warning lights to investors, like, be aware of what you're doing.
But despite all of that, obviously, there's a lot of excitement about this. This could be the biggest IPO, even overshadowing SpaceX's IPO.
And then when you go into the numbers a little bit, you can see why. Their revenue has exploded more than 1,300 percent, 1,300 percent, in the first
six months, up to 16.29 billion up. This is up from 1.16 billion at the same time last year.
And the business adoption of Anthropic, according to them, has more than doubled in nine months.
Now, they do have an overall net loss of over $80 billion, although a fraction of that though was only -- was actually due to spending. So, you
can see why there's a lot of excitement in this business.
[12:50:59]
And Anthropic, in their S-1, I should note, also talks about all the amazing things that -- that this technology can do, the transformational
power that it has, and everything from medicine to businesses and beyond. And how they believe that the best way to move forward is to acknowledge
all of these risks and then manage them in the safest way possible.
And that's been Anthropic's entire, you know, MO since its creation by a bunch of former OpenAI employees who said, OpenAI isn't doing this in a
safe way. And so we're going to start our own company that we believe will be better and do it in the safest way possible. And that's the sales pitch
really.
ASHER: But it is an interesting dichotomy that you point out. You know, we want to become a publicly traded company. We want investors to buy our
shares, but the technology we've created might kill us all. Just letting you know.
GOLD: But I think it's going to be valuable enough. People will, you know, invest in it.
ASHER: Very interesting dichotomy. Hadas Gold, live for us there. Thank you so much.
All right. Still to come here on "One World."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why would I deceive you? There's no reason for me to do that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Our culture expert will give you some pointers on how to choose the best Halloween costume, that's next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right. Halloween is just five days away and visitors at Copenhagen's famed Tivoli Amusement Park are getting spooked. They've
turned pumpkins into witches and cyclops and many Jack-o-lanterns after it's all over. Elephants at the Copenhagen Zoo will get to feast on the
giant pumpkins.
Do you want a trick or a treat for Halloween? And the big question, of course, is what costume will you be wearing? CNN's culture reporter,
Scottie Andrew, has some ideas.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SCOTTIE ANDREW, CNN CULTURE REPORTER (voice-over): Elizabeth Holmes is fair game for a Halloween costume this year. Dolly is a little more complicated.
Let's cut right to it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I see you in these costumes this year, you should be ashamed of yourself.
ANDREW: If you're going to be topical, lean light. Most news of the day skews negative or controversial, and Halloween is the one day when we can
forget about that and focus on fun pop culture stuff.
So, if you too want to be Elizabeth Holmes and you can see everything, grab a frizzy blonde wig and go nuts. Why would I deceive you? There's no reason
for me to do that.
Remember to punch up. If you're going for caricature, don't make fun of marginalized groups. It's never funny. Celebrities and politicians are
usually OK, although the jury is still out on North West's Natalie Nunn costume.
Just consider the context, like, honoring Dolly this year with a big blonde bouffant and a push-up bra, fine. She was a drag inspiration for decades.
But doing Dolly is an undead monster, not the year.
[12:55:09]
Most people are going to dress up like fictional characters.
JULIA JENSON, INSTAGRAM COSTUME STAR: Come on. It's a joke. I'm just joking.
ANDREW: Google agrees with Instagram costume star, Julia Jenson. Nikki from Obsession is one of Google's top Halloween costumes this year.
JENSON: I don't think dressing up as Nikki and Bear is great because obviously of their dynamic and the abusive relationship. But I think as a
solo character, it's very empowering.
ANDREW: Halloween is supposed to be fun. Just be aware of the line between edgy and offensive. Get weird. Wear a costume so obscure that you have to
explain yourself to everyone all night. Wear a conversation starter. Just leave the fire starters at home.
It's so hard not to blink. How does she do it?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ASHER: She certainly nailed that Elizabeth Holmes impression.
All right. That does it for "One World." I'm Zain Asher. "Amanpour" is up next. You're watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[13:00:00]
END
