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CNN Headlines: Gulf Coast Residents Race To Get Ready For Hurricane Isaias; USS Abraham Lincoln Heads Home To San Diego Today; Russia Says No Epidemic Risk As WHO Pushes For Transparency. Aired 5:30-6a ET
Aired October 08, 2026 - 05:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[05:31:05]
BRAD SMITH, CNN ANCHOR: It is half past the hour. Let's hit the refresh button on our top stories.
President Donald Trump made this third campaign stop in Texas in less than a month yesterday even as the Senate candidate there, Ken Paxton, privately questions his political capital. In leaked audio obtained by Axios Paxton told donors that the Iran war and high gas prices are hurting his campaign. It's a closer than expected race in a state that hasn't picked a Democrat statewide since 1994.
Cornell students held a seven-hour sit-in on campus Wednesday in solidarity with Jane Doe. Her lawyer says that she's faced death threats, doxing, and a swatting incident. University officials also confirmed two students named in the civil lawsuit remain enrolled and are attending classes.
And Isaias rapidly intensified overnight into a hurricane and is threatening the U.S. Gulf Coast. Residents taking the threat very seriously, clearing out store shelves and lining up for gas here in Mobile, Alabama.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God, I've been in line about 10 minutes and from what I see I may be another 20 minutes here. It is -- I didn't realize Sam's was this packed. I probably would have went somewhere else. But I'm going to stick it out here in line and just make sure I get this good gas. I love Sam's gas.
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SMITH: Meteorologist Chris Warren joins us now with a brand new update in from the National Hurricane Center. Chris, what is the latest now?
CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Well, right now Brad, this is an 80- mile-per-hour hurricane and that is if you went to bed last night early, it was a tropical storm. The night before that a depression. It wasn't even a tropical storm yet, so this is developing very quickly. Gusts at 100 miles an hour. Hurricane conditions are expected. That's what the red is -- hurricane warnings.
It does show this strengthening to a category two, but only one mile an hour away from being a major hurricane -- a category three hurricane as it approaches the coast sometime during the day on Friday. We are expecting between 8:00 in the morning tomorrow to 8:00 in the evening tropical storm winds to approach the coast and start impacting the coast. So you need to get your stuff done today or get out of there today if that was your plan.
And here's the peak storm surge forecast. Five to seven feet possible in orange above normally dry ground somewhere in there. And you can see the storm still has time to get stronger and that is the anticipation. Basically, the more little circles you have here, the stronger the storm is. And this yellow, orange, and red and even some pink colors -- that's the heavy rain as it moves onshore. At 6:00 on Friday still going, so we're looking at most of the daylight hours on Friday.
And going to be pretty nasty along a lot of the Gulf Coast there in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. Rain will spread well away from the center, so keep that in mind Friday and into the first part of the weekend. Also, Brad, on top of all of that, tornadoes are possible with this system tomorrow and overnight into Saturday.
SMITH: Yeah. It sounds like I'm reading a book or playing Legos inside this weekend.
WARREN: Yeah.
SMITH: Meteorologist Chris Warren, thank you.
Keep it here with CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS for continuing coverage as we track this storm. And now would also be a great time to download the CNN weather app so you can stay weather aware wherever you are. Just head to cnn.com/cnnweather.
All right, we return back to this top story. President Trump campaigning in Texas. In the Lone Star State Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton is locked in a tight race against Democrat James Talarico. It's his third trip, Trump's, to the state in less than a month. No surprise there. It's because a recent New York Times-Siena poll has Talarico up by six points, while a Fox News survey shows no clear leader.
In private, at least, Paxton is seemingly blaming the president for his struggles, according to audio obtained by Axios. Take a listen.
05:35:00]
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KEN PAXTON, (R) TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: So many of the factors in this federal race are uncontrollable. I don't make the decisions, and I don't -- you know, I don't know what goes -- I don't know what's behind some of the decisions. I've never been in a race where I felt less control over the, like, campaign and, like, what issues are going to matter, because it's all coming, you know, from D.C., and I don't control the message or what we're doing or -- and I can't -- I have no -- I don't have the ability to change anything, so I have to live with whatever I've got.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: President Trump was forced to stop his speech again and again during the rally in San Antonio, as an uncommonly large number of protesters disrupted the event. Police escorted at least 12 protesters out of the venue during the president's remarks.
President Trump also threatening to fire two of his top political advisers with less than 30 days before the midterm elections. This follows a report in The New York Times that James Blair and Chris LaCivita were paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to go to the Balkans for work on behalf of a pro-Russian government. Now, Blair leads the president's super PAC, MAGA Inc., and he handles the president's midterm strategy. LaCivita also is a senior advisor at MAGA Inc. The president posted to social media saying this. "The two work as outside consultants" and do not work for him. And he added, if that work creates a conflict, he will "terminate them immediately."
Democratic leaders say that they're not just looking to regain control of the House during the midterms; they want to win big. And according to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, that includes winning in red states.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We have extraordinary opportunities in districts all across the country because we have extraordinary candidates who have allowed us as House Democrats to push deeper into so-called Trump territory.
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SMITH: Meanwhile, the Democratic National Committee is suing the Trump administration over its taxpayer funded TV ads. The complaint alleges the ads are illegal government sponsored propaganda personally directed by the president. A media tracking firm says $12 million have already been spent on them. The White House has defended the ads as public service announcements. Earlier this week, the president said he would start paying for them using money from his super PAC, but he hasn't committed to reimbursing those taxpayer dollars already spent on them.
Cornell University students staged a seven-hour sit-in on Wednesday. The demonstration was in response to the university's handling of sexual assault allegations on campus. The protest was part of what organizers called Zero Day. It's a campus-wide effort for Cornell to change how it addresses sexual violence. Organizers say the seven-hour sit-in was meant to symbolize the length of an alleged assault involving fraternity members and Jane Doe in 2024.
And CNN has learned that Jane Doe is now facing new threats. Her attorney says someone swatted her family and a friend, leading police to draw their guns. Doe has also received phone calls threatening to kill her, including this one obtained by CNN.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can hear you. I can, like, can hear you breathing. And instead of speaking out, you're just sitting there quiet.
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SMITH: Jane Doe's attorney, Thomas Giuffra, spoke with CNN last night.
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THOMAS GIUFFRA, JANE DOE'S ATTORNEY: She was absolutely home when she -- when it happened and she saw a multitude of heavily armed police with guns in her father's face, her brother's face, her friend's face. It could have been a significant tragedy. People could have been dead. Police officers would have to live with the trauma of knowing they killed innocent people.
This has gone too far. It's outrageous. I think there are people out there who are looking for attention. They're trying to get clicks. They're being completely irresponsible, completely irresponsible. You know, the Bible says You reap what you sow. If you sow hatred, you're going to reap hatred, and that's what's happening.
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SMITH: Cornell University officials confirmed two students named in Jane Doe's 2024 gang rape lawsuit remain enrolled and are attending classes. That's according to a recording of a virtual meeting held Wednesday and obtained by CNN. Some Cornell faculty members say that they're struggling to teach classes with the accused students in the room and have raised questions about how to support other students and faculty.
And if you or anyone you know is struggling after a sexual assault, you are not alone. Free, confidential 24/7 support is available online at RAINN.org -- RAINN with two N's -- or you can call 1-800-656-HOPE.
[05:40:00]
The USS Abraham Lincoln is nearly home after its record-setting deployment earlier this year. The carrier returns to San Diego later today after nearly 11 months at sea, including eight months without a port call. CNN reported two sailors jumped overboard. Crew members also told CNN morale was low during the deployment.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth used a visit to the Lincoln to push back on those claims.
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PETE HEGSETH, SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: There were a few folks in the media who tried to turn the USS Abraham Lincoln into some sort of a symbol -- a symbol of dysfunction or a symbol of low morale or a symbol of a failed mission. And when I look out at right here and when I talk to your leadership and I have had a chance to talk to a number of you, I know it's the exact opposite.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SMITH: There were also reports of issues with supplies and living conditions aboard the Lincoln. The ship had the second-longest Navy aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War.
CNN's Pamela Brown reported on concerns aboard the Lincoln earlier this year, and she was on board again for their last day at sea to get an update. Take a look.
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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT: There's been so much anticipation for this because this aircraft carrier set a modern day record for its deployment for the most consecutive days at sea.
And you can see right here behind me, they're starting to decorate here. You see some of the sailors up there. They're putting up banners and other types of decorations. They know their family members are waiting for them to come home.
This ship and its crew, they've really been pushed to the brink in this war. Of course, you know there's been reporting about low morale. There was a man overboard here just this last August and another attempted overboard earlier. And the conditions have really been in the spotlight as well with some of the sailors complaining of overflowing toilets and not having hot water, for example.
I've been talking to some of the sailors and they say the biggest issue is just the uncertainty of just having this deployment delayed so many times and so the fact that they're going to be home tomorrow to reunite with their family is just giving them so much hope and so much to look forward to.
In fact, we're already seeing some those reunions. Lieutenant Commander Jason Tross joined us, the media, on the Osprey to come here to the ship to surprise his daughter Hannah. It was her first deployment, and she told me that she was just -- didn't have words to talk about what it meant to her to see her father after being on this ship for her first deployment for so long. They both cried. It was very emotional. That's just a little preview of what's to come here.
And we also have been talking to sailors who've had some very important jobs here, like you, sir. Tell us your name and what your job has been here on board.
I'm ABE3 Lawson Tyler. My job here was working with the CAT crews in the waste and then handling our supply for our aviation department. BROWN: What's it been like on this deployment? What have been the biggest challenges for you?
TYLER: Definitely not getting, like, showers and stuff like that. Working all day and night and not being clean was definitely probably the hardest part. So I'm definitely looking forward to getting back and getting a hot shower.
BROWN: And you said that this was long overdue to be going home tomorrow.
TYLER: Oh definitely long overdue. Not knowing when we were going to come back definitely weighed heavily on us, both me and all the people that I know.
BROWN: What do you want Americans to know about your work out here and everyone else here on this ship and everything you've had to endure these last -- almost a year?
TYLER: That all of us are definitely resilient. Whether we want it -- want to be or not, we definitely push through and whether or not if you agree with why we're out here, I'm still proud of every person that that did it on this boat.
BROWN: Yeah.
TYLER: Uh, yeah.
BROWN: What is the feeling like right now just a day before seeing your family?
TYLER: Just honestly, all the tension coming off my shoulders. It's been feeling like carrying bags of bricks every day, trying to trudge up these stairwells and go back down them every day it's rough.
BROWN: It's a lot.
TYLER: Yeah.
BROWN: Even just being on here for a short time, I can understand that.
TYLER: Yeah.
BROWN: Well, thank you for all of the work you did, all of your service and sacrifice. Really, really, really appreciate it.
So you can just tell just from that one conversation, the tension is really lifting here on the ship. The flag operations are done, and everyone is ready to go home.
Pamela Brown, CNN, USS Abraham Lincoln.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SMITH: And a warm welcome home they will receive. Just a glimpse of what those crew members have been through.
Next on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, another country confirms someone has died from Ebola. The CDC says the virus has already claimed more than 4,000 lives this year. We've got the details on this latest case next.
[05:45:00]
And later, wreaking havoc at an airport. A man is in custody accused of stealing a vehicle on the tarmac, crashing it, and then trying to hijack a truck. Stay with CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. We've got the full story for you.
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SMITH: The Trump administration is pushing to get a clear answer from Russia about the death of a lab worker at an anti-plague research facility in Siberia. It comes after a Russian health watchdog announced yesterday there is no risk of an epidemic following that worker's death.
But global health experts, including the World Health Organization, are still urging caution and asking for more transparency from Moscow. World Health officials say they don't have enough information from Moscow to give an accurate risk assessment. Still, Russian authorities are lifting some public health restrictions.
[05:50:05]
CNN's Fred Pleitgen has more for us.
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FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Russians are saying that they're essentially starting to wind down some of those quarantine measures that we've seen in that town of Shelekhov, which of course is right next to Irkutsk near the Lake Baikal area. A lot of the hospitals in that area, of course, were under quarantine and they say that's because some of the extensive testing that they've done, especially with the people who were in contact with that lab technician who died of pneumonia of an unknown cause -- that those tests are wrapping up.
I want to read to you a bit of a statement that they put out. They said, "As of October 7, 2026, medical monitoring has been complete for 90 percent of contacts." Then they went on to say "No health issues related to infectious disease were detected, and the results of nearly 5,000 laboratory tests revealed no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms." So the Russians are essentially saying no plague was involved in all of this, no dangerous microorganisms.
However, the World Health Organization is saying, look, they still want answers. They still need more information. And the key question for them is, if this lab technician didn't die of the pneumonic plague, what did she die of?
I want to listen into what one top WHO official had to say. DR. MARIA VAN KERKHOVE, DIRECTOR, WHO EPIDEMIC & PANDEMIC MANAGEMENT: What we have been told is that they had no case of plague registered in this area and that no high-threat pathogens were detected. So clearly, we would like more information to understand which laboratory tests were conducted and which pathogens were evaluated. And if this individual didn't die from plague, then how did she die?
PLEITGEN: So that's one of the questions that's still very much out there for the World Health Organization.
The World Health Organization also saying that they have experts and technicians ready in case the Russians need more help with all this. However, the Russian authorities have been saying that they are on top of the situation and that the situation in that town of Shelekhov where all this happened is, as they put it, stable.
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SMITH: Kenya has confirmed its first Ebola case, and it was a man who had traveled for weeks on the road and by air. Officials say he had been living in the Democratic Republic of Congo for seven years, and he started feeling sick a month ago. He had driven to Uganda and flew to Kenya over the weekend. Officials say he passed through an airport health screening there, but later he tested positive at a hospital where he died on Monday. Health officials are now tracing passengers and crew who may have been exposed on the flight.
Still to come on CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS, some Amazon Prime customers could be getting $200 refunds. We're going to explain why next.
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[05:57:05]
SMITH: In today's Money Express, some bad news for prospective home buyers. Mortgage rates have now jumped to the highest level in nearly three years.
Maribel Aber joins us from the Nasdaq MarketSite with more details. Maribel, say it ain't so.
MARIBEL ABER, CNN CORRESPONDENT, MONEY MATTERS: Brad, mortgage rates are climbing for the seventh straight week, reaching their highest level nearly three years. According to the Mortgage Bankers Association, the average 30-year fixed-rate mortgage hit 7.49 percent last week, the most since November of 2023. That's a full percentage point more than last year. And higher borrowing costs are taking a toll on demand with mortgage applications down two percent for the week and 15 percent from a year ago.
Hey, Amazon is starting sending refunds to customers as part of a multibillion dollar settlement with the Federal Trade Commission. The online retailer agreed last to pay $2.5 billion over allegations that it rolled millions of customers in Prime subscriptions without their consent and made it difficult to cancel. Well, Amazon denied any wrongdoing. Eligible Prime customers will receive refunds automatically, and there's no need to fill out a claim form.
Hershey's is adding a new disclaimer to its Reese's peanut butter pumpkins following lawsuits over the candy's appearance. In 2024, a Florida woman sued the company for $5 million, claiming the pumpkin- shaped Reese's didn't actually look like the pictures in the packaging. Well, a judge dismissed that lawsuit, and a second lawsuit met a similar fate. Now Hershey has added a new disclaimer saying a carving not on actual product to the packaging.
Brad, I'll take the snack any way it looks.
SMITH: Yeah, just make sure that it makes it onto my desk and then, of course, it's getting consumed.
Maribel Aber, thank you so much.
All right, now to some other stories that we are tracking today across country.
We start in Southern California. That's where a Delta passenger is accused of stealing a vehicle on the tarmac, crashing it, and then trying to hijack an airline truck before being arrested. Authorities say that the guy left through an access door at the airport, then stole a tug and then crashed into another vehicle. A tug is one of those cars that you see moving luggage trailers around the airfield. Officials say that he then tried to steal an American Airlines truck before he was arrested.
All right, let's take you to Maryland now. That's where police rescued a child with a disability who wandered half a mile away from his home. Twenty officers searched for hours Tuesday in the child's neighborhood, looking behind houses and into the woods. One officer and his canine partner found the boy just feet away from a busy road.
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POLICE OFFICER: I got him! I got him! I got him!
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SMITH: Police say this serves as a reminder, don't wait to report someone missing and consider using tracking devices on the clothes of vulnerable loved ones.
And in Atlanta, we are still obsessing over the zoo's new giant pandas. Here's your first look at Ping Ping, the male counterpart to Fu Shuang. The public can see them at the Atlanta Zoo starting November 6. That is opening day for the new giant panda habitat.
[06:00:00]
And we already know that this is one of my top Halloween costume ideas for couples. I'll give that one to you guys for free. You can steal that one. I don't mind. I've got some other ones in the background. I can't wait to see these pandas.
That does it for CNN HEADLINE EXPRESS. I'm Brad Smith. "CNN THIS MORNING WITH AUDIE CORNISH" starts right now.
