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Quest Means Business
Oil Prices Rise as Isaias Threatens Facilities in the Gulf; Trump Awards Elon Musk the National Medal of Science; U.S. Navy Orders $200 Million of Blackbeard Hypersonic Missiles. U.S. Ambassador to Greece Allegedly Asked a Trump Donor for $100K; Russian Strike Sets Public Buses on Fire, Kills 33; Polling Shows Trump's Approval Rating Dips in Iowa and Ohio; CNN, Other Outlets Back in Court Today to Fight White House Ban. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired October 08, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:13]
JIM SCIUTTO CNN HOST: The Dow is closing out the session relatively flat, but that's not the full picture. The S&P and NASDAQ closed with some
sizable losses as tech stocks were dragged down by concerns about A.I. profits.
Those are the markets, and these are the main events.
Oil prices are rising again as a major hurricane threatens U.S. crude production at perhaps the worst possible moment.
More than 30 people are killed as Russia strikes two busses in Kramatorsk. I am going to speak to a Ukrainian lawmaker and President Trump is handing
out awards to America's highest science and technology leaders, including Elon Musk and Jensen Huang.
Live from Washington. It is Thursday, October 8th. I am Jim Sciutto, in for Richard Quest, and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
Tonight, oil prices are rising as the first Atlantic hurricane of the season threatens production along the U.S. Gulf Coast. Brent and WTI crude
spiked more than five percent in today's trading. They have since pulled back a bit from the peak.
Chevron and shell are shutting down some offshore facilities and relocating workers ahead of the arrival of that right there, Hurricane Isaias.
Regulators say about two-thirds of Gulf production has been shut down. The storm is forecast to strengthen before making landfall on Saturday.
Parts of Alabama and Florida have already issued evacuation orders. Derek Van Dam and Isabel Rosales are with me.
Isabel, first tell me what you're seeing from the coastline there.
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, hi, Jim. So we are in Alabama. This is the Gulf of Mexico right here. We are in the Gulf Shores area. This
coastal resort community of 18,000 people, and right now, it looks gorgeous out here because we are still about 24 hours out from the peak impacts of
Hurricane Isaias.
But even now, you can still feel that wind picking up. You can see how choppy the Gulf waters are as we turn the camera that way, you can see that
this is what folks are doing while they can enjoying the beach, but there are two double red flags flying in all of the beaches here, indicating that
it is illegal to go in the water.
And that is what we are seeing from the community here, taking steps to protect people property, the beach, the infrastructure. They've also taken
away the stands for lifeguards to make sure that is not a flying projectile and to also protect them, shutting down public facilities as well at noon
today to make sure that those employees have time to go back and fortify their own homes.
I want you to listen now to a nearby county, Mobile County, what their head of emergency management is telling people, listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE EVANS, DIRECTOR, MOBILE COUNTY, ALABAMA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT: The time to prepare like we are going to get the worst case scenario for our
community and get your business in order. Get your home in order. Take care of your loved ones, get the things you need, and then if it doesn't happen
to be as bad as we thought, well, then, hey, that's always a good thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: And to add a level of complexity to all of this with Hurricane Isaias, I mentioned that there is typically 18,000 people here in the Gulf
Shores. That number actually has tripled to over 50,000 people because they were supposed to be enjoying the Annual National Shrimp Festival through
this weekend. So there is a bunch of visitors here through all of these hotels.
I was speaking with the Mayor, Robert Craft, who is telling visitors, please go home, leave right now. He is worried that this will bog down the
roads, the highways. If people make a last minute decision to leave out of here. That's the extent of his authority.
But Jim, he is also pushing, the governor, Kay Ivey, to issue a mandatory evacuation order not just to nonresidents, but people also in low lying
areas, coastal areas. He says that he believes some of the hesitancy here is that folks who have travel insurance might be waiting it out, because
they need that mandatory order in order to get money back from their insurance.
So he is pushing the governor's office to please issue a mandatory evacuation order -- Jim.
SCIUTTO: Well, if he does, let's hope they listen.
Isabel Rosales, thanks so much.
Our Derek Van Dam at the Weather Center. Derek, tell us what we know, I suppose, about how strong this will be, but also where it will hit because
beyond the danger to human, to civilians along there, there is of course, the danger to oil production capacity.
[16:05:08]
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Yes, and at a time when Americans and worldwide consumers are so conscious of the price of gasoline, petrol,
right, with everything going on around the world now with American refineries at threat because of an incoming hurricane, authorities are
taking note of this, and they are obviously putting in the precautionary measures, but this is a really bad timed event considering everything that
is going on.
Let me animate this for you because we have roughly 2.7 billion barrels per day. That's roughly 14 percent of America's refining capacity near or
in the projected path of Hurricane Isaias. This is the Northern Gulf and you can see the oil and natural gas wells dotted across this area, many of
which are just to the west of the projected path. But you can see many of them are still right near the center of the projected storm.
So this is a big deal, and they are taking precautions. They have obviously put some evacuations on those oil rigs as well. So we will have to see what
happens. Time will tell because right now there is a battle going on quite literally in the Gulf. And what I mean by that is there is a lot of upper
level wind shear, strong winds and dry air that's trying to disorganize Hurricane Isaias.
So people, even though there are evacuation orders in place, you heard it from the mayor, from Mobile just a moment ago, talking about we have to
plan for the worst, but hope for the best and this is the only outcome that we can hope for at this moment in time, because as we analyze this in real
time, we've noticed, Jim, that there has been a recent influx in some more organization here across the center of the storm.
We don't want to see that, but a little glimmer of hope is that we have not noticed the extreme or rapid intensification. So that is good news. But
regardless, this storm is still going to come in as a very powerful Category 2 hurricane at this stage, as what is completely forecast by the
National Hurricane Center and it is going to be racing northward as it does so.
I mean, you can see the tropical storm watches extend far north of Montgomery, Alabama. So, if people haven't left those mandatory evacuation
zones, the time is now to leave because this storm, as it races northward, will bring rainfall by midday tomorrow and then the winds pick up and the
surge component to this and the tornado threat is very real, especially on this right front quadrant.
Remember, for our viewers internationally, we have hurricanes in the Northern Hemisphere. They've got a counterclockwise rotation around them.
So it is that right front quadrant that creates the difficult conditions. We call that the dirty side of a hurricane, and what that is going to do
with all the winds that I've been talking about, the wind shear, it is going to produce the potential for rotating supercell thunderstorms.
That means tornadoes are possible across these areas tomorrow, and look how it expands northward into places like Atlanta and Montgomery and Macon. Not
to mention, it is pushing up a lot of water from the Gulf. This is a very shallow part of the ocean, and so it doesn't take much to push this water
up into normally dry land. We could see five to seven feet. That's above my height, right? I am five foot ten. That is a significant amount of water in
areas that would normally be dry.
And Jim, this is a lot of detail here, but this is important stuff because we expect the wind field to be expanding on Isaias' final approach late
tomorrow night and into early Saturday morning.
What that means is that impacts will be felt well outside of the center. So not just here, where hurricane force gusts are, but look at east of that
Panama City. We are expecting tropical storm force winds. Apalachicola, Port Saint Joe, these areas that are very popular tourist destinations,
there is a lot of rain with this. So inland localized flooding, that's a possibility.
We have flood watches in place for several states as far north as Nashville, Tennessee. That gives you an idea of how quickly this storm is
going to race northward and bring its moisture and its rain shield along with it.
So, Jim, I might have been rambling there, but there is a lot to hash out with this storm.
SCIUTTO: Derek Van Dam, thanks so much.
Also, putting pressure on oil markets, a rising number of attacks on tankers attempting to travel through the Strait of Hormuz. A new report
from Kepler says that 10 tankers were struck in the Strait of Hormuz last week through Sunday, well above the previous high for a week of six.
Kepler Data shows just seven vessels traveled through the strait on Tuesday. That's the lowest number in one day since late July.
Joining us now, Tom Sharpe, retired Royal Navy Commander and senior advisor at CORVUS.
Tom, good to have you. because the administration here was beginning to claim victory on the Strait, saying that it had reopened it and returned
the throughput of oil to nearly the levels prior to the war. This would seem to indicate that the battle is not quite won.
COMMANDER TOM SHARPE (RET) ROYAL NAVY AND SENIOR ADVISOR AT QORVIS: No it is not, and I think won or lost or victory or defeat. These are not helpful
terms when it comes to discussing warfare in general, frankly, but particularly the Strait.
[16:10:10]
I would say that since the 28th of February, Iran has been achieving more of their end states than the U.S. has in terms of the strategic effect they
want to have in the region.
I do think that has now flipped. This latest policy of running very large crewed carriers through the Strait. AIS off, sometimes dark and sometimes
during daylight, but essentially shuttling large quantities of oil out, taking that risk, paying that insurance risk and then transferring it ship
to ship to reputable carriers who then go on their way. This is a new tactic.
Iran is trying to strike it furiously, but having only limited -- they are hitting a lot, but they are not causing any sort of crippling damage. So it
is a shift.
Meanwhile, the U.S. blockade on Iranian exports is pretty much a hundred percent and it is really crushing the Iranian economy. So I would say the
first, almost the first time since this started, it has now advantaged U.S., but that does not mean they are winning.
SCIUTTO: Now, to establish that advantage, however big, it is quite a costly operation, is it not? In terms of the number of U.S. Naval forces
that have to be involved, and this somewhat complicated process of at-sea transfer of the oil from one ship to another, it is not an easy thing to
maintain, is it?
SHARPE: No, it is not. Ship to ship transfers are not straightforward. You're talking about massive ships that are coming right up alongside each
other and pumping fuel between them, you know, at various times of year, that is going to be more and more difficult depending on the sea state. So
there is the environmental risk there.
And then when it comes to the U.S. enforcing this blockade, they are down to one carrier. At one point, it looked like they were going to be three
U.S. aircraft carriers there. Now, there is just the one, the Washington because they are not really striking at the moment.
They are preparing to strike sanction, blockade runners and they are clearly running an awful lot of autonomous vessels and aircraft, which is
very classified. I would be very interested to see how that plays out, but this autonomy is providing some of the assurance that's allowing these mid
tankers, if you like, as the VLCCs that are shuttling the fuel out, it is giving them the overwatch that they need to try and keep themselves safe.
As we know, it is not entirely working, but it is part of this package. So that isn't as intensive as the really heavy strikes. Let's say back in
March, they had two carriers there. I think, in fact, the Ford was in the Eastern Mediterranean, so they had three. It is nothing like that weight of
effort. So, it is sustainable. And I suspect, you know, they will have in mind keeping one carrier there now for some considerable time, no matter
which way this goes, if it does suddenly escalate again around the midterms, just after.
SCIUTTO: So to your point, the president -- the President has quite remarkably telegraphed to his adversary that he will not attack it for
another month until after the midterms, with an explicit reference to, I suppose, a political stake in that decision to delay it and any costs of it
till after the midterms.
What is the effect of that? I mean, does the region look at that as just a pause? And then the war is going to start again?
SHARPE: Yes. We are definitely in an operational pause right now. The withdrawal of the of the B-1s out of RAF Fairford in the U.K., that was
made into a huge sort of sob story that was only partially true. There was a plot, but essentially we are in an operational pause. Like I say, the USS
Bush is in Thailand. It is not clear if she is going to be coming back. So, we are in an operational pause. Now, when does that restart?
And one thing I think we can be sure of is that Iran will seek to exploit that pause, and we are already seeing it. They're picking up. They're
picking up. They want to bully Trump into taking action prior to the vote, I suspect, and get that oil price to spike one more time. They will be
pulling every string they can to try and achieve that. So whilst they are hitting a lot of ships and it doesn't seem to be causing a huge amount of
damage, sooner or later it will.
And then the President has this conundrum, having said no strikes until after the midterms. What if they do something catastrophic in the meantime
and he now has to take action? He has backed himself into, I am afraid, yet another corner.
SCIUTTO: Commander Tom Sharpe, we appreciate you joining.
SHARPE: Thank you.
SCIUTTO: Well, the Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis, another front of this war says it "intercepted and destroyed" two
ballistic missiles headed towards Riyadh. Missiles launched by the Houthis. This comes as several explosions were heard in the Saudi capital today,
including at the city's international airport.
This video shows a plane there on fire with visible damage, not clear what that was caused by. Nic Robertson has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the Saudi-led coalition spokesperson said that they had intercepted Houthi ballistic
missiles over Riyadh earlier in the day. They had intercepted two of them.
[16:15:10]
The Houthis said that they were successful in targeting the international airport, and they had caused damage and images and video that have emerged
later in the day appear to show a Saudia, Saudi national airline carrier plane on the ground that appears to have been impacted, damaged, broken
completely by one of these missiles.
The Houthis continue to try to target this very important airport for the Saudi government between King Khalid International Airport there in Riyadh
and the other airport in Jeddah, these are the main hubs.
But this is an important airport. It is symbolically important for the Saudis. Of course, they are on the world stage doing a huge amount of
business, trying to attract investment to the country. So, anything that takes down the airport, which appears to have been what happened today, if
you look at the departure board there this evening, most of the flights are canceled.
There were dozens upon dozens of flights either canceled or delayed through the day. They do have some departures running, but a lot of international
flights appear to have been canceled as well.
So the Houthis are making a point, it appears to strike back at the Saudis at vulnerable civilian infrastructure, as the Saudis support the
internationally recognized Yemeni government inside Yemen. That has just vowed over the past weekend to rid the country of the Houthis.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Our Nic Robertson there. When we return, America's Top Science and Technology Honors, we will tell you who President Trump presented medals to
and what The White House is saying about this new batch of recipients.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: President Trump has awarded America's highest Science and Technology Honors to a group of top tech executives.
SpaceX's CEO, Elon Musk was presented with the National Medal of Science.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: First, we honor an industrial titan, a brilliant engineer, and one of the greatest
technology founders to ever live. His name is Elon Musk.
Quite honestly, there is nobody like him.
Few Americans in history have done more to advance America's national interests than Elon.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Also a big donor, we should note to Donald Trump.
[16:20:10]
Other recipients include Google co-founder, Sergey Brin and NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang, and AMD CEO Lisa Su. The National Medal of Technology and
Innovation went to Dell founder, Michael Dell and the CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella.
The White House says the recipients are helping to ensure that the U.S. keeps leading the world in innovation.
Clare Duffy joins me now.
Clare Duffy -- Clare, good to have you.
Because, listen, a lot of these folks are quite close friends of the President as well.
CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS WRITER: That's exactly right. Look, you know, there is no discounting the fact that these leaders have absolutely made
revolutionary gains in the spaces like science and A.I., personal computing, semiconductors. These tech leaders have absolutely pushed these
industries forward.
But there is no ignoring the fact of the timing here. I think there are sort of two interesting things. One, is that Trump has been trying to paint
this rosier picture of A.I. and science and innovation, talking about the opportunities that lie ahead with A.I. amid these swirling safety concerns
around Artificial Intelligence, which, of course, the President has called a hoax.
He is trying to talk about the need for the U.S. to remain an international leader in science and innovation and sort of hammering home the fact that
these are the leaders who have helped America get to that place in the first place.
Now, as you mentioned, Jim, these are also folks who have all supported the President, either supported his policies or supported him financially.
Youve got, of course, Elon Musk was one of Trump's -- was really the biggest financial backer for the President ahead of the 2024 elections.
Sergey Brin has contributed to the RNC financially. Jensen Huang has donated to Trump's ballroom project. Michael Dell is one of the biggest
supporters of Trump's Trump Accounts Project.
So this is something that is like, you know, he is awarding his friends here who have all supported him although of course, these are all deserving
folks in their own right as well.
SCIUTTO: We understand, Mark Zuckerberg charmed Trump -- (AUDIO GAP)
DUFFY: Mark Zuckerberg wasn't among this group, because we have been doing some reporting along with our colleagues, Hadas Gold and Adam Cancryn,
about Zuckerberg's growing influence in Washington, D.C., and he really has become one of Trump's most trusted advisors on A.I.
A prime example of that, Jim, Zuckerberg was the one who first drafted the A.I. Safety Accord that top tech execs gathered at The White House to sign
last month about how they will self-police around these extreme A.I. safety risks. He also, Zuckerberg apparently called Trump to tell him not to start
an A.I. independent safety regulator, which is something that other executives in the industry have advocated for.
And of course, this is somewhat of a turnaround for Zuckerberg and Trump's relationship. You'll remember back in 2021, Zuckerberg suspended Trump from
his platforms after the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol that then led, a few years later to Trump, calling for Zuckerberg to spend time in
prison.
But Zuckerberg and Meta have been investing heavily in reviving this relationship with Trump, visiting Trump at The White House, donating to
projects like his White House ballroom project and that has gotten Zuckerberg back on Trump's good side and back in the President's ear when
it comes to key issues like A.I. policy.
SCIUTTO: Clare Duffy, thanks so much.
Well, the U.S. Navy says it is getting a $200 million weapons upgrade. It has placed an initial order for Castelion's Air Launched Hypersonic
Missiles. The Navy calls these Blackbeard missiles and says they will provide long range options against advanced air defenses.
The weapons production was accelerated by reforms included in the 2026 National Defense Authorization Act.
Castelion's CEO Bryon Hargis joins me now from the company's facility in Torrance, California.
Thanks so much for joining.
BRYON HARGIS, CEO, CASTELION: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So tell me what the innovation is here. Hyper-sonics have been talked about a lot, particularly because Russia has been using hypersonic
missiles to target Ukraine and concern that China has been getting a lead with this technology. So what does the Blackbeard do?
HARGIS: Well, hyper-sonics is really a category of weapon that goes extremely far. It gets there very quick because most targets these days are
mobile, and it is incredibly hard to defeat to shoot down on the way there. So that's why militaries want this type of weapon around the world, but the
real innovation that Castelion is bringing to this is the ability to produce it at extreme scale and at a cost that taxpayers can afford.
SCIUTTO: The U.S. has been worried not just about the technology level, but about the manufacturing capability. Right? With particular concern that
countries such as China can manufacture at such a large scale that the U.S. just can't compete with. And, of course, we've seen that exposed with the
shortage of air defense missiles and how hard it has been to replenish those stockpiles.
Is that happening as well in this country? And is your company able to meet that demand? Because that's, of course, a big question.
[16:25:09]
HARGIS: Well, that's exactly right. And I mean, one of the areas where the U.S. is behind, it is not in the technology of hyper-sonics. We've been
doing that for decades, and we have several systems that are fielded that have that type of capability; where we've really fallen behind is in
manufacturing. Defense manufacturing has suffered an extreme amount, I would say, of capital optimization, where we push things outside and we've
lost that ability to build at the prime level.
And we've also lost the supply chain and all of the supporting systems that feed into the ability to build these systems. Some of them are quite
mundane. You're talking machine shops, you're talking ball screws and rare earths to make magnets.
Castelion is focusing on building an entirely domestic supply chain to build all of that back, to be able to produce these at a scale that hasn't
been done in the United States yet.
SCIUTTO: So how can you do that all domestically, given the defense industries current dependance on rare earths, including rare earths sourced
from China?
HARGIS: Well, there are other ways to make magnets that don't involve neodymium, which is one of the rare earths that China has pretty much a
stranglehold on. We use -- we look for those types of alternatives. In some cases, they are a little bit more expensive, but we focus on bringing the
cost down at the system level. Even if some individual components that we can source in the U.S. or through friendly countries are slightly higher.
But what's more important is to build back that supply chain, to get the country to a spot where we can deter future conflicts.
SCIUTTO: There has been a lot of reporting about companies tied to members of the President's family or other close friends that are getting quite big
defense contracts.
For a company like yours, do you worry at all that the market is distorted by those personal connections driving some of the business and some of the
appropriations from Congress?
HARGIS: No, Castelion, really, we are trying to win on our merits, on having a good product that's very affordable, and then to go demonstrate
that, we do flight test all of the time. So I think in the long run, certainly the group and the companies that can pull together that supply
chain, that can demonstrate the missile, that can demonstrate whatever that they are building, they are going to win in the long run and that is where
America needs to be competitive.
So we have a very bright future in front of us.
SCIUTTO: Bryon Hargis, thanks so much for joining the program.
HARGIS: Thank you!
SCIUTTO: Well, "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that the U.S. Ambassador to Greece asked a political donor for $100,000.00 to pay off her
American Express bill. "The Journal" says that Kimberly Guilfoyle made that request before her Senate confirmation, and that she offered to provide the
donor access to top Trump administration officials. CNN has reached out to Guilfoyle Her lawyer told "The Journal" that she disputes the authenticity
of the messages backing up the story.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has refused to comment. Here is how Vice President J.D. Vance responded when asked if he had any reaction to a
U.S. government official asking someone to pay off debt in exchange for access to top administration officials.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE (R), VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I don't love that. But I -- you know, I don't know exactly who you're talking
about. I don't know the full details.
What I find with these stories is that you never want to comment in a purely abstract way, because a lot of times the details really matter and
the details and the context inform the reality of the situation. So of course, I don't like anybody selling access to another government official;
certainly, a high level government official.
But, you know, I assume you're talking about a specific case, and I can't say with confidence that the case you're talking about is actually
reflective of the way you're describing it.
No insult to you, by the way, but context really matters on this stuff. So I'd like to get the full story before offering a real opinion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SCIUTTO: Kevin Liptak is live in Washington.
I mean, the details of this story are dirty, and by the way, they are not an outlier, right? I mean, we've seen stories of a number of allegations,
at least of selling access. So, tell us what details you know, and what CNN has been able to confirm about this.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right, and what "The Journal" has reported is that Kimberly Guilfoyle and this donor, Eric
Deters, were having a text relationship. They had been communicating, and they had formed a personal relationship, and that once President Trump was
reelected, it became clear that that relationship was turning into one where Deters was looking to Guilfoyle to provide him access for certain
things into The White House, and in exchange for that, she seemed to believe that she was owed this $100,000.00 to pay off her American Express
bill.
Now, Deters said that he never paid it off. He told one other outlet today that he, in fact, just didn't have the money to do that at that point. But
also, he wasn't necessarily getting what he wanted out of Guilfoyle. He said at one point that he wanted her to get him on Tucker Carlson's
podcast. He said at another point that he wanted to get Guilfoyle to send lyrics that he had written for Kid Rock to that musician.
So there is a lot of sort of bizarre details in all of this, but bottom line is that according to the messages that "The Wall Street Journal"
actually obtained, there was this potential quid pro quo that was going on.
[16:30:49]
Now, at this point, it doesn't seem as if administration officials are putting too much distance between themselves and Guilfoyle, and Marco
Rubio, who was actually in Athens when this story broke, refused flatly to comment on it at all. Guilfoyle was kind of watching behind him as he was
asked about it, but in a lot of ways, it kind of overshadowed what he was doing in Greece, which was delivering this big speech about democracy.
Remember, Guilfoyle is someone who is pretty close to the Trump family. She dated Donald Trump, Jr. for several years. She was given this
ambassadorship after they had broken off their engagement.
President Trump at this point hasn't said anything about this publicly. But I think that when you talk to people who are in the White House orbit, they
seem to have reason to believe that this isn't necessarily going to cause the president to fire her, dismiss her, not necessarily, because he has a
great affinity for Kimberly Guilfoyle, but because she was privy to a lot of the Trump family's private affairs before she took this position.
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Kevin Liptak, thanks so much.
Coming up, some are describing it as Russia's deadliest attack on Ukraine this year. Ukrainians say a Russian strike hit two public buses, killing
dozens. I'll speak with the Ukrainian member of parliament about the increase in attacks on civilians.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:35:21]
SCIUTTO: Hello, I'm Jim Sciutto. There is more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when well tell you why new CNN polling could spell trouble for
Republicans running in the key states of Ohio and Iowa ahead of the midterm elections. And a U.S. judge is extending White House access for CNN, MS NOW
and Politico for now. We'll tell you about today's court hearing. Before that, the headlines this hour.
States along the U.S. Gulf Coast are bracing for the Atlantic's first hurricane of the year. Hurricane Isaias could strengthen to category three
before making landfall. Authorities have issued states of emergency in parts of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. They've also canceled some train
service and closed airports. The hurricane has shut down much of U.S. oil production in the Gulf. That's being reflected in oil prices.
President Trump presented America's top science and tech honors today to several friends and donors, including Elon Musk and other top tech
executives. Musk and the president have been on again, off again political allies. They are on again now. This award would appear to confirm that.
Houthis in Yemen are escalating attacks on Saudi Arabia, claiming responsibility for a strike on the international airport in Riyadh. Video
on social media geolocated by CNN shows that fire and smoke billowing. Another image shows a Saudi plane with visible damage. Saudi Arabia has yet
to comment on these reports and those videos.
Ukrainian officials say Russia's latest attack makes it clear that Moscow continues to target Ukrainian civilians. Authorities say a Russian strike
in Eastern Ukraine caused two public busses to explode and catch fire, killing at least 33 people. Ukrainians describing it as Russia's deadliest
attack this year.
Fred Pleitgen has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What happened is obviously very important in all of this. And this happened at 10:00 a.m. in
the morning in the town of Kramatorsk, with two municipal buses, as you put it, were hit by what appears to be a very large munition. That's one of the
things that we could see from some of the footage that was released.
It seems as though one of the busses was completely destroyed immediately by that munition, and the other one appears to have caught fire. As of
right now, 33 people have been confirmed to have been killed, and many, many more have been wounded. Certainly the work there of the crews
continues at this point in time, as this is definitely a very big incident that took place.
But the other thing that's also significant is where this took place. And this is in Kramatorsk as we've noted, and that's a place that's part of
that fortress belt that the Ukrainian military and the Ukrainians continue to hold in the Donetsk area of Ukraine, which is obviously one of the main
areas that the Russians have been trying to take.
Now, the Russians have been chipping away at that fortress belt, which also has three other towns in it. And certainly the front line has been moving
closer and closer to those towns. So if we look at a town like Kramatorsk a year and a half ago, or a year ago or so, that would have still been the
rear echelon in the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Now, that is pretty much the front line. And so it's well within the range of Russian drones. It's well within the range of missiles and aerial bombs.
And certainly life there has become a lot more difficult for the folks on the ground. The local authorities have immediately stopped all municipal
transport, and they're also urging people to actually leave Kramatorsk and go to safer areas of Ukraine as the fighting there moves closer and closer.
Again, the Russian military continuously chipping away at that fortress belt, and Kramatorsk is certainly one of the most important towns that the
Ukrainians still hold in that Donetsk area in the east of Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Joining me now is a member of the Ukrainian parliament, leader of the Holos Party, Kira Rudik.
Kira, it's good to have you back. Thanks so much for joining.
KIRA RUDIK, UKRAINIAN MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT: Hello, Jim, and thank you so much for having me.
SCIUTTO: I'm sorry it's under these circumstances because almost daily now we're seeing just devastating attacks on Ukrainian civilians. This is quite
a deliberate strategy, it appears, by Russia to ramp up such attacks. With what intent do you believe?
RUDIK: Russia is definitely raising the stakes. They are trying to kill as many people and pressure us into capitulation. They are preparing to do
more of this in winter, and we already see the results in Kyiv, where I live, where we started having energy outages at the beginning of October,
which is really bad.
[16:40:15]
And it's telling you that our energy system is hanging by a thread. Today we didn't have running water and there were some sewage issues in different
areas of Kyiv, and it's not even close to winter just yet. So they are trying to pressure us into capitulation.
Their strategy, Jim, did not change. What is really hurtful is that the West was so concentrated on Putin's red lines that almost forgot about
everybody else's, our red lines. So right now we are talking about Russia killing more than 30 people in the daylight and continue targeting schools,
hospitals, committing all kinds of war crimes. And it is becoming a new normal and happening at the same time when President Trump administration
is trying to discuss some economic advancements with Russia. And it's really, really hurtful because it feels surreal.
SCIUTTO: Tell me your reaction to hear silence from President Trump as these attacks become daily. And to be frank, they've continued since the
very start of the full scale invasion, but they're getting worse. And Russia knows that Ukraine has a shortage of air defense missiles. When you
don't hear any protest or criticism from President Trump, what does that tell you?
RUDIK: Jim, but we hear protest and criticism by President Trump. But the criticism of Ukraine that we are targeting Russia's diesel facilities, and
he's blaming us on the diesel prices, which is not true and is -- the diesel prices are related to the war in Iran. And this is really painful.
And it seems like he wants to have -- to give Russia an opportunity to pressure Ukraine into capitulation, which is the opposite of what President
Trump was promising.
So many Ukrainian people had such high hopes when he came and said that he will be pushing for peace through strength. What is happening right now is
the opposite. It's attempt to pressure Ukraine into capitulation, and that anybody want to be remembered in history as someone who helped one of the
worst dictators in the world to get his way? Is it really something that American people want to have their leader acting on?
I really doubt that. And this is why we are right now knocking on all the doors. We are calling all the phones, trying to persuade U.S. senators,
congressmen and women to talk to President Trump and try to get him into actually imposing sanctions on Russia, rather than trying to find a way for
them to overpass them.
SCIUTTO: In the midst of this, beyond discussing business deals with Russia, you have new talk of peace talks, right, between U.S. and Ukrainian
negotiators, but also bringing Ukraine and Russia, and the U.S. to the negotiating table. Do you see any conditions for such talks? Any hope that
they would lead to anything that would be in Ukraine's interests?
RUDIK: Ukraine has claimed many times that we are ready for an unconditional ceasefire, that we are ready to stop because every single
step that we have taken since the beginning of full scale invasion had one intention, for Russia to stop killing us, for Russia to stop. I don't know.
And it doesn't seem that there is a path this way. It seems that Russia is really hurt by our attacks on their diesel facilities and on their other
energy facilities, and they probably, maybe susceptible to stopping attacking each other energy facilities.
But at the same time, such sort of deal will mean that they can still keep killing people. And this is not something that we can agree to and this is,
again, something absolutely surreal that is happening right now. And the whole world is watching this happening.
SCIUTTO: Does Ukraine have the ability to withstand this? Because you have growing attacks on civilians, you have a deliberate effort to turn the
lights off in Kyiv, right, to -- and to freeze out Ukrainians as the winter approaches. And you have the U.S. basically sitting this out. You have
Europe giving what help it can, but not the air defense missiles, they just don't seem to have them, that Ukraine needs. How does Ukraine survive the
winter?
[16:45:03]
RUDIK: Same way that we survived the previous winter and the winter before. No matter how hard it seemed and how hard it honestly was. And you
remember, Jim, we talked so many times about hurts and struggles, especially with the extremely low temperatures. We will try to do anything
possible and impossible to survive, no matter how hard it would be. I cannot imagine the cost. Ukrainian people and Ukrainian country will pay
for it, and we would really, really wish that stop.
But knowing and seeing what is happening to people at the occupied territories, we know that if Russia comes, that would be much worse. We are
also screaming about the humanitarian catastrophe that is happening in Olszewski right now that is temporarily occupied, where Russia created
artificial hunger amongst people because they closed all sorts of humanitarian aid coming in and out.
That may happen anywhere closer to Kyiv if Russia occupies that. So no matter how hard it is, being occupied by Russia will be much worse. And I
do not see Ukrainian people be willing to capitulate.
SCIUTTO: Kira Rudik, given where you are in Kyiv and the hour of the evening that it is right before the attacks tend to begin, thank you for
joining and we wish you a safe night.
RUDIK: Thank you. And glory to Ukraine.
SCIUTTO: Still coming up, politics here in the U.S.. CNN polling suggests Republicans face an uphill climb in what are traditionally safe states.
We'll break down what the new polling means ahead of the midterms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SCIUTTO: New CNN polling could spell trouble in the midterms for Republicans in the red states of Ohio and Iowa. President Trump won both
states by wide margins in 2024. Republicans currently hold both Senate seats in each state. However, the latest CNN poll shows the president's
approval rating stands at just 36 percent in Ohio among likely voters. In Iowa, a little bit better, but still well underwater at 41 percent. Again,
under likely voters. The main issues that they talk about the economy and high cost of living.
All right, Harry, you've been watching the numbers every day. What does this tell us about those Senate races, but also Democratic control of the
Senate?
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes, I think Ohio, Ohio, Ohio. Right?
[16:50:01]
Sherrod Brown, the Democrat, this is him right here. He is up in our CNN poll by six points. Let's make that six a little bit nicer. There we go. Up
by six points in Ohio. And what is so important to understand about Ohio, as Ohio goes so probably too will the United States Senate. You can kind of
see it right here. You know, this is actually a very good use for me of the prediction markets.
Chance that the Democrats win the Ohio Senate race, the United States Senate. You can see that Sherrod Brown's chances have been going up very
much consistent with what we see in our CNN poll from February 27th to now. Look at this, 63 percent chance. The same thing going on in the United
States Senate, 41 percent chance back on February 27th before the Iran war began. Look at that now, 63 percent, 63, 63. That is why the Ohio poll is
so important.
Now, the thing to me that's so notable is it's not just our CNN poll, right? I mean, just look at this, OK. Sherrod Brown's latest poll deficit,
the last one that he had, was all the way back in June. He has basically led in every single poll since then, or at least been tied, at least been
tied. So this is a very, very good news for Democrats.
But here's the question I keep asking myself over and over again, Jim, which is, are the polls actually going to be an accurate reflection of what
occurs when voters go into the ballot box and cast their votes? And for me in Ohio, I'm a little bit suspect. Why is that? Well, let's just take a
look. Gop, the GOP candidate outperform the Ohio Senate poll average from early October. That is the polls right now.
In 2016 it was by seven points, in 2018 eight points, 2022 by seven points. And when Sherrod Brown last ran in 2024 the Republican candidate, Bernie
Moreno did six points better in the final results than he did, what the polling showed right here. But the bottom line is this. You tell me who's
going to win Ohio, and I'll tell you who wins the United States Senate. And right now, it's advantage Sherrod Brown.
SCIUTTO: But let me ask you this, because to your point, that pattern you're pointing to there is not unique to Ohio, right? You have a lot of
GOP underperformance in the polls and overperformance in the only number that matters, right? The vote on election day. Should folks watching this
program, reading the same polls that you are every day, look at that and say, I don't know, I'm not convinced?
ENTEN: I would say that, you know what? I have a little bit of doubt. That's what I would say. But I would say this. Usually the biggest polling
errors occur when President Trump is on the ballot and he is not on the ballot this year. No matter how much he wishes he was on the ballot, he is
not on the ballot this year. And take a look at a state like Texas, right? James Talarico doing very well in that state, trying to be the first
Democratic senator elected since 1988 from the Lone Star State.
You go back to 2018, when Beto O'Rourke was running. He actually did better, better in the final result than what the polls indicated right now.
So this is true for Ohio. We'll see if it actually holds this historic trend. But I just got to say this. I'll end on this note. You'd rather be
ahead than behind. And right now Sherrod Brown is ahead. We'll just have to wait and see if this historic trend holds.
If it does, well, then maybe Sherrod Brown might not be the next senator from Ohio. But if it doesn't right now, the polls clearly show that Brown
is ahead.
SCIUTTO: All right, we'll keep watching. Harry Enten, thank you so much.
ENTEN: We will. See you.
SCIUTTO: After a lengthy hearing on Thursday, a federal judge has yet to make a long term ruling on President Trump's ban -- White House press ban.
We'll discuss what he's done so far next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:55:55]
SCIUTTO: A U.S. judge is briefly extending White House access for CNN, MS NOW and Politico while he considers a longer term ruling on the president's
press ban. The outlets' attorney argued the ban is subjective and President Trump likely, quote, "woke up on the wrong side of the bed" when he issued
it.
The Justice Department's lawyer says it is within the president's discretion to remove media from the White House.
Evan Perez is in Washington.
And Evan, basic question is what's taking the judge so long to rule on the merits here? Or is this about the timeline we'd expect?
EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I had the same question as you do, Jim, because the -- by the time we got to court
today, the two sides had already provided all the briefs. He did extend the temporary restraining order for another two days and says he's going to
rule by next Tuesday. But he also told the Justice Department that they faced an uphill climb on this.
And because, you know, clearly he's already ruled that they violated the due process rights of the news organizations. And he emphasized that that
remains the case. He also said that the president essentially made a decision, and then the Justice Department was, after the fact, trying to
figure out a way to explain it, why that was. And so we anticipate that this is going to end up with a -- with another injunction.
And then, of course, the question is, does the president, does the White House decide to continue appealing this and still continue to fight this
case on the First Amendment grounds or on the national security grounds, which again, the judge indicated were not really good arguments that were
being made right now?
SCIUTTO: Just briefly, if they did decide to appeal, which tends to be Trump's M.O., would it be likely that the TRO would stay in place in the
meantime?
PEREZ: Yes, we anticipate that it would stay in place until a higher court decides.
SCIUTTO: Got it. Evan Perez in Washington, thanks so much.
PEREZ: Thanks.
SCIUTTO: And that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Jim Sciutto. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
