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CNN Headlines: Hurricane Isaias Rapidly Intensifies, Threatens Gulf Coast; CNN Poll: Tight Senate Race In Iowa Despite Low Approval For Trump; Trump Urges Texas Voters To Turn Out For Ken Paxton; Attorney Says Jane Doe Is Getting Death Threats As Cornell Students Stage Sit-In. Aired 5-5:30a ET
Aired October 08, 2026 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[05:00:23]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: Isaias quickly strengthens into the Atlantic's first hurricane of the season, and now it's headed for the Gulf Coast. We're tracking the storms path and expected landfall.
Plus --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUDENTS: It ends here! It ends here! One in three! One in three! It could be me! It could be me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Cornell University students staged a seven-hour sit-in protesting the alleged gang rape on campus. And it comes as Jane Doe's lawyer says she is now getting death threats.
And midterm countdown. President Trump back in Texas and campaigning for Ken Paxton, with the midterms quickly approaching. What he said about Democrat James Talarico, who's locked in a tight race with Paxton.
Good morning, everyone. I'm Brad Smith. This is CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. Glad that you're with us today.
Let's get started.
We begin with new developments in the tropics and the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. Isaias rapidly intensified overnight into a hurricane and is threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast. Residents are taking the threat very seriously and clearing out store shelves here in Pensacola, Florida. They're also lining up to fill up.
Look at the backup at this BJ's gas station yesterday. Similar scenes also playing out across the Gulf Coast. Heavier traffic expected today, and officials are warning that today is the last full day to get ready for the storm.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SHERIFF ANTHONY LOWERY, BALDWIN COUNTY, ALABAMA: We do have the ability to handle this and we're prepared for it, but we will reach a window. We will reach a window where we cannot respond to calls. Once the winds pick up too much or those roads become flooded, we will not be able to respond to some of these calls for emergencies. So people need to be prepared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: An interesting moment in the Oval Office yesterday, as President Trump was caught off guard when asked if the storm would interrupt his plans to go to the Alabama Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa this weekend, saying he hadn't heard about a hurricane. He said, we'll see, and then added that he wanted people to stay safe.
Well, helping people stay safe is meteorologist Chris Warren joining us now with a brand new update in from the National Hurricane Center. What's the latest here, Chris?
CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, you know, two days ago, not even a tropical storm. Now waking up this morning, it is a hurricane, the first of the season for the Atlantic basin. And it's going to be the first hurricane landfall as well this season.
Here it is, 80 mile per hour winds gusting to 100 miles an hour, moving east northeast. Hurricane warnings up here in red, hurricane conditions are expected and conditions will be going downhill in a big way tomorrow, by tomorrow afternoon and tomorrow evening on Friday. Now that 110 right there, that's one mile an hour away from being a major hurricane, a category three hurricane.
So this still has the potential of getting there. And as it gets closer to shore, we'll start to see the heavy rain, the wind, the storm surge, the earliest likely arrival time of some of the winds, tropical storm winds, when you're going to want to be inside, be off the roads is by somewhere between during the day -- 8:00 in the morning on Friday, 8:00 p.m. on Friday. So by the afternoon and evening hours, things are going to get pretty nasty along the Gulf Coast. Here's that storm surge in some areas, about five to seven feet above normally dry ground.
And here it is still has time and room to develop and get stronger as it approaches the coast over these very warm waters. There you go. That's Friday afternoon. This is 6:00 on Friday. So over five hours parts of the coast will be getting pounded as this moves inland.
And also, Brad, looking at a severe weather threat with the possibility for tornadoes continuing during the overnight hours Friday into Saturday.
SMITH: All right. Meteorologist Chris Warren, were going to be checking back in with you later. Lots of fast moving developments here, clearly.
Keep it right here with CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS for continuing coverage as we track the storm. Just in to CNN this morning. Brand new polling out of Iowa shows a
razor tight race for Senate with no clear leader. The Republican candidate is ahead by a hair.
But Iowa appears to be turning on President Donald Trump. His approval rating is 17 points underwater there, even though he won the state by 13 points two years ago.
In a poll of likely Iowa voters, Republican Ashley Hinson holds a narrow two-point advantage over Democratic nominee Josh Turek within the margin of error. In last night's debate, Hinson cast herself as independent minded and willing to break with Trump, while Turek put the focus on drawing in independents and moderate Republicans.
And here's what he said about impeaching the president if his party wins control of Congress.
[05:05:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOSH TUREK (D), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: I have no interest in looking at impeachment. I think that we need to look forward, not back. My full intention is to go out there and to work on policy that is going to benefit everyday Iowans.
ASHLEY HINSON (R), IOWA SENATE CANDIDATE: I'll be President Trump's ally when it is important for Iowa, but I will push back on him. He knows this because I talked to him regularly on things that are wrong for our state.
TUREK: When you put together One Big, Beautiful Bill, as it's called, you're going to have a handful of things that I actually am in favor of. I've said that and I've been open about it.
HINSON: You trashed the president during the primary, and now you're doing ads saying you're going to work with him. It's a tale of two Tureks.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: There are three more Senate debates on tap for the day ahead. Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Mike Collins in Georgia. Also up in Michigan, you got Democrat Abdul El-Sayed and Republican Mike Rogers, plus a second debate between Democrat Troy Jackson and Republican Susan Collins in Maine.
Well, choosing Texas for his next campaign stop as President Trump campaigned in Texas on Wednesday for ken Paxton, who's locked in a tight senate race with Democrat James Talarico, his third stop in the state in less than a month. No Democrat has won a statewide race there since 1994, and it comes amid new reporting from Axios about an audio recording of Paxton saying the Iraq war and high gas prices are hurting his campaign.
The GOP is pouring millions of dollars into the state, which Trump won by more than 13 points in 2024. He urged voters to get behind Paxton and reject Talarico
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So you need to go and vote for ken Paxton for U.S. Senate. If you get elected on job performance, you're going to have a blowout because there's nobody like him, right? Even Ted Cruz agrees.
Vote for Ken. Get him in there. It's so important. It's vital. And I think you will. I think it's -- there's no way you vote for the other guy.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Today, the president is back in Washington. And before heading to New York tomorrow, where he'll campaign for the Republican candidate for governor there, Bruce Blakeman, facing off against incumbent Democrat Kathy Hochul on November 3rd.
Let's stay in New York for a second. Students at Cornell university held a seven hour sit in on Wednesday to protest the school's handling of the alleged gang rape involving a former student known as Jane Doe.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STUDENTS: It ends here! It ends here! One in three! One in three! It could be me! It could be me!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Jane Doe has filed a lawsuit claiming she was sexually assaulted by several fraternity members in 2024. Her lawyer says she's now been receiving death threats. He also shared audio of a harassing phone call with CNN, and our Gloria Pazmino has more of the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- I can hear you. I can like, can hear you breathing, and instead of speaking up, you're just sitting there quiet.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A chilling phone call, just one of the many threats sent to Jane Doe, and a swatting incident where Doe's attorney says police drew guns on her family and a friend. Doe's attorney tells CNN he is concerned for her and her family's safety.
THOMAS GIUFFRA, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: Just before I got on with you, somebody called her, made a threat to shoot up her house, shoot her, her mother, her father. She's calling the police as we speak now.
PAZMINO (voice-over): This as calls grow for the Cornell University president to resign over the administration's response to sexual assault allegations by Doe in October 2024.
ARIANA KIM, FACULTY SENATE MEMBER, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: There are layers of concerns that need to be addressed, and I think the only way to begin that process is to see resignations and a turnover in our upper administration.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Faculty and Cornell administrators met during a Tuesday virtual staff meeting. In audio obtained by CNN, school officials acknowledge tensions are running high and emotions are raw.
MICHAEL KOTLIKOFF, PRESIDENT, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: This is just an enormously difficult time for our community. We all recognize it. A lot of serious questions and important questions that we need to answer.
PAZMINO (voice-over): For more than an hour, administrators read from prepared remarks and vetted questions.
President Michael Kotlikoff addressing concerns about Greek life and party culture on campus.
KOTLIKOFF: This is obviously absolutely horrendous and inexcusable situation that occurred in a fraternity as part of a fraternity party. But I have to make the point that this doesn't only occur in fraternities. They worry about pushing this into the shadows into houses which we don't know, which are private houses which have parties in which things can occur beyond our purview.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Faculty members raised concerns about two accused students who remain on campus.
KAVITA BALA, PROVOST, CORNELL UNIVERSITY: We have our multiple vice provosts are working with the faculty who are running the classes that have two of the respondents in the classroom, and they're working on figuring out the dynamics.
[05:10:00]
PAZMINO (voice-over): As two separate investigations into the school get underway, video obtained by ABC News shows an interview between a Chi Phi member not involved in the alleged assault, but who was in the house that night, being interviewed by Cornell Police.
CHI PHI MEMBER: There is a consensual act that took place (AUDIO DELETED) and that's -- yeah, that's really what the general rumor that was going around was that it was a, yeah, it was a consensual thing.
CORNELL POLICE: In college, I wouldn't have been like, oh, that was a sick consensual act last night, right? Like, I guess, where -- how do they know it was consensual?
CHI PHI MEMBER: I mean, I can't recall exactly what was said but, yeah, I mean, they -- they said that they had sex with her, I guess.
PAZMINO (voice-over): Protests have cropped up all over campus with students airing frustrations over what they say is a lack of response by the administration --
STUDENTS: It ends here! It ends here! PAZMINO (voice-over): -- including a seven-hour sit-in this afternoon
held in solidarity with Jane Doe.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
PAZMINO: I've just gotten off the phone with an attorney for one of the seven accused Cornell university students. He tells me that his client describes the sexual activity between him and Jane Doe as consensual. He describes her role as an active participant.
That same attorney filing an article 78 motion with the court to have New York state Attorney General Letitia James removed as special prosecutor from this case. They're citing James's statement on social media where she expressed support for the victim prior to her appointment as special prosecutor.
Gloria Pazmino, CNN, Ithaca, New York.
SMITH: All right. Thank you so much, Gloria.
Late Wednesday night, Ithaca's common council voted to temporarily stop new event and noise permits for Cornell and it's student groups through early November. The pause does not apply to constitutionally protected activity, including free exercise of religion, free speech and peaceful assembly.
Lots more to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. The U.S. government is trying to get answers from Russia about the worker who died of an apparent plague at the research facility in Russia.
What was really going on inside that lab? It remains a big question. We've got more on the other side. Plus, a tense exchange over the building of a proposed data center. It leads to a physical fight at a city council meeting. Details on that and much more.
You're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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[05:17:13]
SMITH: A judge ruled that the state of Tennessee must preserve all evidence related to the failed attempts to execute Christa Pike. This includes 911 calls and communications between any state officials, as well as physical evidence. One of her attorneys says Pike is angry and confused and aware that the state tried to execute her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RANDY SPIVEY, CHRISTA PIKE'S ATTORNEY: I was not in the room when she woke up, so I don't want to speculate too much. Our understanding was the first thing she said was, where am I and who are you? There's -- there's still a lot of cognitive confusion. And so I will say that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) SMITH: Pike was sentenced to death for killing a fellow classmate in 1995. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has suspended executions for the rest of the year and ordered an independent review.
Meanwhile, last night, Texas carried out the first execution in the U.S. since what happened in Tennessee. Jamaal Howard was put to death by lethal injection. A court denied attempts by his attorneys to stop the execution. The same drugs that were used for Christa Pike were used for Howard.
He was convicted of fatally shooting a woman during a store robbery in 2000. When asked if he had a final statement, Howard apologized to the victims family, who watched the execution. Texas has now put six people to death in 2026 and has two more executions planned before the end of the year.
New this morning, two sources telling CNN that ICE leadership told agents nationwide to increase immigration arrests by 1,000 more people daily. That would return to a previous goal of 3,000 daily arrests. A Homeland Security spokesperson said in a statement there are no quotas on arrests under President Trump and Secretary Mullin's leadership. ICE has been supercharged to find arrest and deport illegal aliens from the U.S. using every lawful tool available.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, a teenager is charged, suspected of planning a terror attack on the largest mall in America, details coming up.
And you know those taxpayer funded ads running that feature the presidents. Well, a lawsuit has been filed over them. And why one group is saying that they are illegal. We've got that story straight ahead.
Stay with us.
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[05:24:01]
SMITH: An 18-year-old Minnesota man has been charged with terrorism after federal officials say he planned a mass casualty attack on the Mall of America later this month in support of ISIS. Sheikhdoon Mohamud was arrested Tuesday after a 21-month investigation. During that time, the FBI says, Mohamud communicated with an undercover source on social media. He said he wanted to travel abroad and join a terrorist organization, and if that wasn't possible, he planned to commit a mass shooting in his home state of Minnesota on behalf of a terrorist group.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTOPHER DOTSON, FBI SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: According to court documents, Mohamud pledged his allegiance to ISIS leaders and claimed to have joined ISIS over a year ago. Mohamud allegedly sought martyrdom in carrying out his plans to murder innocent civilians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: Mohamud was arrested after officials say he bought an AK-47 rifle. He bought that and 200 rounds of ammunition from an undercover FBI employee. He's being held in custody until a detention hearing on October 19th.
Happening today, a judge will hear arguments over President Trump's attempt to ban CNN, MS NOW and "Politico" from the White House. The outlets are asking the Trump appointed judge to extend his earlier order, restoring their access. It's set to expire today.
The three outlets have long argued the white house ban is unconstitutional, but the Trump team claims it's justified on the grounds of national security.
A Memphis City Council meeting turned chaotic after lawmakers postponed a vote on a data center moratorium. CNN affiliate WMC reports more than 100 people showed up at city hall for the vote. That delay led to a fight breaking out in the lobby and tense exchanges among council members. Police were called to the scene, and a department spokesperson says no one was arrested and no one was harmed. The vote has now been set for October 20th.
A lot to keep tabs on there. Straight ahead on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, people living in the Gulf Coast states are preparing for what Hurricane Isaias could bring. The latest on the storms path, we've got that coming up.
Keep it right here. You're watching CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS.
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