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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
Isaias Makes Landfall As A Cat 2 Hurricane Near Destin, Florida; Trump Says, Absolutely Approved Execution To Be Live- Streamed; DHS Chief Defends ICE, Blasts Mayor Zohran Mamdani (D-New York City, NY) After New York Shooting; NYC Backlash Erupts After ICE Agent Shoots Man During Arrest; ICE Arrests Will Continue Despite Recent Shooting in NYC. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired October 09, 2026 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Good evening. I'm Abby Phillip in New York.
And we begin with our breaking news tonight. Hurricane Isaias has made his landfall near Destin, Florida tonight, and millions of people along the Gulf Coast are bracing for the Category 2 storm that will bring high winds and that reach speeds of 105 miles an hour.
The state emergency services have issued warnings in parts of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia as well, and officials are warning that up to nine feet of storm surge are possible, and more than half a million locations are already reporting power outages in the area. What makes matters worse, more than 1.7 million people are under a tornado watch tonight as well.
Our teams are standing by in Alabama and Florida, as the CNN Weather Center also stands by for us as well.
First, let's go to Rafael Romo, who's in Pensacola, Florida. Rafael tell us what you're seeing where you are there.
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Abby. Well, the conditions are rapidly getting better, better here. I can still hear the rumble of the wind, but we have, for the time being, no more rain here where we are. We're in Pensacola. But let me tell you, it's been really interesting to see the change in direction of the winds as the hurricane was approaching and then when it made landfall. And there's lots of debris behind me because for the last two, three hours, those winds were very, very powerful.
Now, yes, the hurricane is now a Category 2. It's weakening as we speak, but the damage has already been done, Abby, because in Escambia County alone, where we are, 120,000 customers have lost power. If we're talking about the entire Gulf region, we're talking about more than half a million people without power.
But, again, the fears of surge that it was going to reach as as high as nine feet, it appears that's not going to be the case. That's great for this area because there's plenty of devastation already, and this is not yet over, Abby. PHILLIP: All right, Rafael. We'll stick with you and check back in with you as the night progresses.
Let's go now to Isabel Rosales in the Gulf Shores of Alabama. So, Isabel, where you are right now is where the storm is headed. How are the wind conditions right now that we've made landfall?
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. We are, Abby, just to the west of where this eye wall was. It moved further northeast to our neighbors there in Pensacola Beach, and Destin, obviously, where it made landfall not that long ago. But like Rafael, the conditions have dramatically improved here in the last couple of hours because if you would've caught me a few hours ago, you would've seen that rain coming sideways, pounding me in the face to the point where that it hurt. The gusts were reaching peaks of 60 miles per hour.
But since this thing has moved further northeast, we're to the west, it truly does seem like here in Gulf Shores we have dodged the worst out of the storm, which is great news for power outages too. We were anticipating that that could be a really bad deal for the people here in the morning once the sun came up. But the power outages, that should help with that.
Having said that, Baldwin County, where I'm at in Alabama, has experienced the highest number of outages. 50 percent of households here in Baldwin County do not have power right now, which is the worst in the state of Alabama.
And I'll leave you with this, Abby. Shortly before landfall for Hurricane Isaias, President Donald Trump approved a request from the governor here, Kay Ivey, to do an emergency declaration here for Baldwin County, where I'm at right now, Escambia, where Rafael was talking about, and Mobile County. So, that should absolutely help free up resources, money for recovery, for fixing things, bringing back lights and all of that.
But for now, Abby, the worst of the storm thankfully dodged here where I'm standing in Gulf Shores.
PHILLIP: That is good news for those folks where you are. Isabel, thank you very much.
And let's go to Melissa Nord in the CNN weather center. Melissa, what is the radar showing us in terms of where the storm is headed now?
MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, it's onshore at this point, Abby, and because it's been cut off from that warm water of the Gulf, we're seeing the winds come down.
[22:05:03]
This is expected with every landfalling hurricane, now a Category 1, winds of 85 miles per hour. Gusts, though, are still possibly in excess, well in excess, of 100 miles per hour, and it's in that northern eyewall where we're seeing those highest gusts. Peak gusts at landfall, Santa Rosa Sound, 116 mile per hour wind gusts there. We also gusted well over 90 miles per hour in Pensacola where Rafael was, and that's when we saw a lot of the power flickering, those lights flickering earlier.
At the moment, it's this I-10 corridor and just north in that Panhandle of Florida region near Crestview where the core of the winds are. The eye itself moving onshore as well, and the peak storm surge where the water's being pushed on the coastline, that's just east of landfall. So, out near Panama City and Panama City Beach, that's where the peak of the storm surge is at the moment, those current storm surge numbers over five feet above normal sea level.
But from here, it moves inland, and, Abby, that's going to mean these hurricane force winds and tropical storm force winds, the tropical storm winds go as far north as Northern Alabama first thing tomorrow morning.
PHILLIP: All right. Melissa Nord, thank you very much.
We'll go back to the Gulf Coast shortly, but, first, the news today. The president says that he has approved the live-streaming of a Pentagon execution. That's the first state-sanctioned public execution in this country in 90 years. Former U.S. Army Major and Psychiatrist Nidal Hasan was convicted of killing 13 people and wounding 32 others at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas in 2009. His execution is now scheduled for December 3rd.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, DEFENSE SECRETARY: He's going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we'll make sure that people are able to watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that this is -- there's serious consequences for these types of things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: That announcement has been met with bipartisan backlash. Republican lawmakers have called it a mistake, and they've asked Hegseth to rethink the decision. Senator Thom Tillis called it disgusting and the kind of thing dictatorships do. Senator John Curtis said that executions as a form of entertainment erode civilization. Congressman Austin Scott says, live-streaming executions is what jihadists do, and America is better than that.
But despite all of that pushback, President Trump is standing by his decision.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: He killed 13, 14 people, badly wounded 20-some odd people, and he's totally nuts. So, I really don't care how he goes, as long as he goes.
REPORTER: Will you personally authorize or approve the execution, the live-stream execution of the -- TRUMP: Did I approve?
REPORTER: Did you --
TRUMP: Absolutely, I do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: PHILLIP: In a statement, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops called the decision a barbaric promotion of culture -- of a culture of death, and asked the government to reconsider. J.D. Vance, who is Catholic, was asked how his faith meshes with the Pentagon's announcement, and here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Well, first of all, I've seen his announcements. I don't know that's actually going to happen. Let's sort of see what -- I think it's going to happen in December when he's executed. But what I try to remind people is, look, this is a guy who committed, in my view, the worst terrorist attack on American soil outside of 9/11. The people that he was meant to treat, the Army soldiers that he was meant to treat for mental illness and other problems, he took them at their most vulnerable and gunned down these people where they lived.
Look, if it's ultimately live-streamed, I'm not going to be watching it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Before we open it up to the table here, we invite you at home to join the debate. Go to cnn.com/abby, weigh in there.
Joe, what do you make of this?
JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN LEADER, NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL: A couple of things. You know, I think first and foremost, we could all take Vice President Vance's advice, and if we don't want to watch it, we don't have to tune into it. I suspect most people will probably say they're not going to watch it, but actually tune in.
I am personally fine with it. Unfortunately, every September, every single year, I watched people falling out of buildings in the 9/11 Memorial. I watched the buildings collapse knowing that there were a dozen or so people that I knew who lost their life in that instance.
So, if you're looking for me to find sympathy or some empathy for anyone who is -- doesn't want to watch this, I say to them, don't watch it. But those of us who do or would find closure in seeing the first terrorist executed, I mean, Timothy McVeigh was executed, I think, in June of 2001, right before 9/11.
So, this is the first execution of someone convicted of a terrorist act, and it was, as the vice president pointed out, probably the worst one outside of 9/11, 30-something people injured, 13 killed. So, if it helps bring closure to the families, I'm for it.
[22:10:03]
VAN LATHAN, PODCAST CO-HOST, HIGHER LEARNING: What do you -- what -- but the family's one thing. Look, I'm not a death penalty guy, but I'm wondering, like what do -- what is everybody else supposed to get out of it?
BORELLI: Again, if you want to watch it and get closure, if you want to see the consequences of terrorism, it's there for you. You can go right now on YouTube or the History Channel and see the U.S. Army executing people in the aftermath of World War II. It's not like we're prudish to this sort of videos.
LATHAN: Well, we are.
BORELLI: It's not like we are prudish to things. We watched Charlie Kirk a year ago get shot and the news media ran it on a loop, okay? So, I'm not prudish about this.
LATHAN: The American government.
PHILLIP: That that's an overstatement. The media did not run that video.
LATHAN: So, it wasn't run --
PHILLIP: I mean, I can tell you because I was working that day.
LATHAN: And there are a bunch of people that I'm sure like alluded to the brutality of that on Twitter, it's disgusting to do that. This is the American government. Like this is us sort of culturally codifying like watching somebody die, like completely, yes.
CORBIN TRENT, HOST, A FIGHT WORTH HAVING: I mean, right, that's the thing. And that's why I think, you know, I'm with you, I'm not a big death penalty guy either, and that's actually why I'm kind of in favor of it, though. Because I think that if we are going to sanction state murder, if we are going to put people to death, and we're going to do it as a nation and we're going to make that choice, that we're going to kill this person for that crime, I think it's good to be confronted with that.
And there is no nice way to do that. You know, we see -- my home state of Tennessee showed recently that the injections sure are not that, right? They're not working good at all --
LAUREN A. WRIGHT, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY POLITICAL SCIENTIST: But don't you think it's barbaric to live-stream it?
TRENT: I think it's barbaric to do -- no, I don't think it's any more barbaric to do the live-streaming than it is to do the killing.
WRIGHT: Right. I think the live-streaming is the main problem here because it puts us on a parallel footing with these autocracies who do these barbaric public executions. That's not what we -- (CROSSTALKS)
WRIGHT: Even in World War II, Nazi war criminals executed at Nuremberg, that did not happen in public.
So, I think, you know, it was --
BORELLI: You can go on YouTube now and watch the U.S. Army using a firing squad to kill --
WRIGHT: I know. I'm talking about the organized platforming and live streaming of this, which Pete Hegseth thinks is a deterrent.
BORELLI: It was actually -- in 1945, they were broadcast on news reels. Again, you can still watch the news reels today.
LATHAN: But 1945, the U.S. government like had segregated bathrooms. Like we can't like use --
Several governments have made that choice -- even in World War II, Also, it wasn't -- I mean, it -- you just -- I just want to point it out it was done on news reels. It wasn't sort of broadcast to the whole world simultaneously.
BORELLI: I mean, what other media was larger than news reels in 1945?
PHILLIP: Well, I mean, I think -- well, sure, but I think that that's -- there's actually a substantive difference between the reach of what was happening in 1945 and what's happening now, and there are also questions about the legality of this all. There are regulations in the Army that, that might preclude this. The Army Regulation 190-55 specifies that the types of people permitted to witness a military execution, it also bars minors from watching the punishment. Now, the Army provost marshal general could waive these provisions as long as it doesn't violate other laws.
But it strikes me that there is a re- reason that they have prohibitions in the first place because for many years in this country, the United States has had a position that public executions are what the Taliban does. It's what Iran does. It's what -- not even autocracies, but just barbaric or entities on the --
WRIGHT: Yes, and it'll make a martyr possibly of this terrorist.
DEJA FOXX (D), FORMER U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE, ARIZONA: This is exactly what I was thinking. You know, this puts us in league with places like Saudi Arabia, Iran, North Korea, and the United States in 2026, which are the places which would have televised or live-streamed executions.
And what I'm thinking about is, one, where exactly would this run? Where are we going to be seeing this? Because it would blow the terms and conditions of basically every social media site, and then, yes, be reaching -- but just in the nature of creating this content, reaching an entire generation of young people who are going to be raised thinking that the United States government can and should be able to create this kind of violent scare tactic.
And I think that's part of what Donald Trump is doing here. I think he's making himself a bit of a --
PHILLIP: Joe mentioned the families of this terror attack, and I just want to play, we have some sound from a survivor of the Fort Hood terror attack and his response to this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. ALONZO LUNSFORD, FORT HOOD SURVIVOR: It's not something that you should view for entertainment purposes. To show the whole thing without it being censored for the general public, I really don't -- me personally, I don't agree with that, but it's not about my personal belief.
My biggest thing is the effect as far as looking at it for the general public, for our young future leaders. What kind of message would it send to them?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And, I mean, Joe, do you want to respond to that?
BORELLI: Look, I think you kind of alluded to this. This is a very unique execution. It is the first execution of someone since 9/11 who's been accused of some terroristic acts.
[22:15:03]
The death penalty isn't a fun thing, and I think America should be, in some ways, confronted with that and given the opportunity to view this. It is an unpleasant thing. It's not something that should be entertainment.
But, you know, just the other day we saw a lot of people repost, including myself, October 7th videos. No one was doing it for entertainment purposes. It was to bear witness to a significant event. This is not in the same light, but it's also something that some people want to witness and be able to. And if they, again -- if it gives you closure to see that, that's fine with me.
FOXX: Well, what, how do you square somebody like J.D. Vance then saying, I won't be watching it?
BORELLI: He shouldn't be, because we have the option.
FOXX: Either he's weak in the sense that he's not standing up to Donald Trump because this is wrong, and it shows that Pete Hegseth is insane, and Donald Trump is trying to make a dictator of himself. I just -- I don't know how you can square that even people within his administration --
BORELLI: When you turn on the T.V. and they say there's, you know, nudity, violence, and cursing, you have the option of turning it off. I mean, you have the option of not watching those shows. FOXX: And in a feed, though, in a feed, you're scrolling on your social media, you don't get to pick the next thing that comes up right after, right? I mean, I witnessed, you're right, the assassination of Charlie Kirk. It was the first thing on my feed when I opened my phone. I didn't actually have a choice. I've witnessed the state murdering people, masked ICE agents murdering people in our street, very much against my will, and I think that this is different in that it is the U.S. government sanctioning an execution in real time.
TRENT: But doesn't that make it more important for us to see it and come to terms with what it is that we're doing as a state, as a country, as a people and decide, do we want to put people to death for this? Is that a conversation we want to have?
FOXX: But do you also think that's the outcome, though? Because I am not sure what is going to happen.
TRENT: I think we should end the death penalty. I think it should be absolutely --
(CROSSTALKS)
LATHAN: I think that is -- I actually think that his point is actually sort of fascinating. I hadn't actually considered that. I do also think, though, that there is a different sort of danger that I'm looking at that is involved with the permission structure of the government to display this sort of brutality, and like where that starts and where that ends.
I am with you on the death penalty. I think like, if -- to your point, if you want to live-stream this, would you live-stream the conditions in Angola State Penitentiary in St. Francisville, Louisiana, 24/7 so Americans can see what their tax dollars --
FOXX: Or in our ICE detention facilities.
LATHAN: Would you be -- like would that be something that you would be into? Because if you open up that can of worms, then I think you're going to see that a lot of people would be appalled at some of the conditions that other human beings are living in under the sanction of the American government.
So, like I think that's a really interesting point that you're making, but at the same time, there's something about us, our government, putting a man to death for the public square to watch it. It says something about you.
TRENT: It reminds me a little bit -- what I would imagine is Walter Cronkite showing Vietnam, and that really rallying people to stop it. When they saw Americans and Vietnamese people being killed by the scores, they said, I do not want to be part of this.
PHILLIP: Well, what if it has the opposite --
WRIGHT: Yes, I think it has --
(CROSSTALKS)
PHILLIP: What if it has the opposite effect? Erick Erickson asks, or says, one thing is for sure, in the Middle East, they'll be passing out MP4 files of the Nidal Hasan execution to celebrate his martyrdom and recruit new terrorists. It will be a recruiting bonanza. He's not the only person saying that. A lot of the critics on both the left and the right suggest that actually when you carry out attacks like this, the whole point is for you to become a martyr, for you to become a symbol of terror.
TRENT: I mean, if we look at Iran, Gaza, the West Bank, you don't have to look far for inspiration to become a terrorist right now. There's plenty of reasons for people to see the actions that are being taken by the American government.
PHILLIP: But to be the first terrorist that the U.S. government has executed publicly?
TRENT: I just don't feel the same kind of shock and awe.
PHILLIP: I think that's actually giving -- putting him on a pedestal in a way.
BORELLI: I think that's a fair criticism. But people who would emulate a terrorist are the same people who -- you know that famous now phone call on October 7th, for example, where the guy said, I was killing Jews, dad, aren't you proud of me? I don't --
LATHAN: Do you think that --
(CROSSTALKS)
FOXX: Because I think you're going into some --
BORELLI: My point is, no, I'm not trying to feed into this, but I also don't care about the opinions of those people.
LATHAN: Well, that's not -- those aren't the opinions that we're --
PHILLIP: Shouldn't you care about squashing radical --
BORELLI: I don't think by not showing this, we're not going to squash --
PHILLIP: Radicalization?
BORELLI: I don't think we're not -- if we don't show this --
PHILLIP: I mean, I think that's the point that people are trying to make, is that we're working against our purposes here.
BORELLI: Suddenly a kid who's preparing to be a career in Hamas is not going to hang up their green hat tomorrow because we don't do this.
FOXX: No. Do you think they're going to hang up their hat because they saw somebody being publicly executed? I think most folks who are committing an extreme act of violence like that are not thinking they're going to make it out alive, right?
I'm not sure that the death penalty --
BORELLI: But my point, I don't think this particular video is going to inspire any new people.
FOXX: So then what's the --
TRENT: But is it going to deter anybody?
FOXX: Well, no, that is not the point. I'm saying that it's not going to deter anybody. It will inspire people.
BORELLI: I have no idea whether it will deter people. I just don't think some kid who's right now being brainwashed to join Hamas or Hezbollah, one or the other, organizations are not going to be deterred or encouraged by it.
[22:20:04]
LATHAN: Point taken. What about us? What about who we are? Like what about what we -- the slow descent into madness and dystopia that we have to endure every single day, when do we say stop? This is the president like -- with like live streaming somebody getting shot by a firing squad.
At some point, man, we have to kind of like look in the mirror and decide who we want to be. Forget about everybody else.
WRIGHT: Interesting point. Would you say the same about people being executed in federal prisons for violent crimes?
BORELLI: I anticipated this question. I actually wouldn't. I think this is a very unique thing when you have a terroristic act where essentially the victims were obviously those that were killed, but the victims, in general, in theory, I guess, were all Americans. This is someone who wanted to commit these crimes against all of America, and that's why the option should be there for the president.
WRIGHT: Well, I'm sure every serial killer would've liked to do more, too.
BORELLI: I suppose. Again, this is a unique situation.
TRENT: But if you look back at Tennessee --
PHILLIP: We got to leave it there.
Next for us, Homeland Security fires back at Zohran Mamdani after an ICE shooting in New York City, and insists that arrests will not stop.
Plus, bipartisan outrage tonight after Donald Trump cuts a deal with Vladimir Putin to help gas prices. We'll discuss.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:25:00]
PHILLIP: Tensions are rising in New York City after a- an ICE officer shot and wounded 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, who they say tried to run them over with his car during an enforcement operation. Video from the NYPD shows the initial moment that ICE agents approach the vehicle, and as you can see here, an agent wearing plainclothes goes up to the car with a gun as the vehicle begins to reverse.
The agent then starts punching the window of the driver's side as the car begins to pull away. A second agent then points the gun at the driver's side window, but it doesn't appear that either agent fired at this point.
The NYPD also released this body camera footage showing officers responding to the scene just after the shooting. They say a five-year- old was in the backseat of the car at the time of the incident but was not injured.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting an outrage and criticized ICE.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-NEW YORK CITY, NY): We know that ICE is rotten to its core. Today's shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known, which is that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country, that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.
We know, and I have said this directly, whether to the president or to the public, ICE undermines public safety. It makes us less safe.
This is an agency that must be abolished.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: And here's how the DHS secretary, Markwayne Mullin, responded.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, DHS SECRETARY: His words are dangerous and incite hostility. It doesn't help.
He said that ICE is rotten to the core. Really? Men and women at ICE each day are enforcing the laws that he refuses to enforce.
He said he wants to abolish ICE. Well, Mayor, if you abolish ICE, who's going to take the criminals off the streets of your own town? Who's going to take the murderers and thieves and the gang bangers? Who's going to take them off the streets? Because you're not allowing NYPD officers to do it, and they want to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: Deja?
FOXX: I mean, we're talking about taking murderers and criminals off the street. Let's start with these ICE agents. Donald Trump has made his own personal gang that seems to be only accountable to him.
It's not a mistake that these shootings keep happening. They're putting plainclothes officers with guns and very little training or vetting into the most populous city in America right as school is being let out. This is by design that they're creating this kind of chaos and fear.
And I ask anybody at home watching, like what would you do if somebody came up to your car door where your child is in the backseat brandishing a gun and banging, dressed in plainclothes not announcing themselves?
That's a -- I think that's a fair question. I mean, Lauren --
WRIGHT: I mean, I think what Mamdani said was reckless and irresponsible.
PHILLIP: Sure. But it's not just the rhetoric. It's also what are the actual circumstances of this incident?
And I think part of the frustration in a lot of these communities is the approach. It's not the idea of arresting people who are criminals, it's how they are going about it.
WRIGHT: No, it is. They want to abolish ICE. They want to stop all of this. I mean, Deja just said these guys are murderers.
FOXX: And they are.
PHILLIP: Here's what I'm saying.
WRIGHT: So, what would you replace them with?
PHILLIP: I understand that there are many people --
WRIGHT: What would you replace them with?
PHILLIP: But, Lauren, hold on a second. I understand there are many people who want to abolish ICE, but I'm talking about just average Americans who are living in their communities in Minnesota, in New York, in Texas, in Florida, whatever.
Polling shows now a fairly sizable majority say they don't like the way that this administration is arresting illegal immigrants. Some of it is because of the approach. What do you make of the idea of plainclothes officers approaching a vehicle with guns, one of them at least had a long gun banging on the door, and then opening fire on the driver?
WRIGHT: I have issues with the implementation, and I've been critical of it, but I also think we need to look at the counterfactual. Before Mamdani put a stop to it, by the way, NYPD, in conjunction with ICE, they would not have made 180 human trafficking arrests.
[22:30:04]
They rescued 85 victims of human trafficking in 2024 alone, thirty of them were kids.
I mean, hey are saving people's lives. And not to have an organization like that taking violent illegal immigrants off the streets, I mean, Obama was deporting 25,000 people a month with ICE. I did not see the kind of outrage.
(CROSSTALK)
TRENT: Did you read the details of that case? The 30 kids? Those were runaways, mostly. These weren't kids sold into the sex trade.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: So you don't think they should have been rescued? Wait. So, okay. But how would they have been found?
(CROSSTALK)
TRENT: Of course I do, but the way it's portrayed is that there's these rings of sexual predators running all over the place --
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: I'm sorry, I think labor human trafficking and sexual human trafficking, I think it's all important and we need to get rid of these people. I can't believe we're having this conversation.
(CROSSTALK)
FOXX: But let's talk about who ICE is also impacting, which is that immigrant communities are less likely to report violent crimes within their communities, things like domestic violence, because they're scared of deportation, violent deportations. And so, what about those people?
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: So, let's just get rid of it. Let's axe it. That's your policy solution?
UNKNOWN: Is it?
LATHAN: I mean, it's not.
FOXX: They've only been around since 2003.
(CROSSTALK)
UNKNOWN: It's younger than --
(CROSSTALK) LATHAN: Well, I wouldn't --
(CROSSTALK)
FOXX (?): Well, you can still know about things, even if you're young.
LATHAN: What I would say is that like, you know, you watch what's happened, like American citizens being killed. When people see a lot of the stuff that's going on with ICE, they don't see what you guys are describing. They don't see illegal alien criminals. They see mother, kid, human being. That's what their eyes see.
And there's just no way to rationalize to most people that are watching the way ICE is doing what they're doing, that they should be out there doing it. There's just no way to rationalize it.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: But who's going to find the 250 people wanted for murder in New York right now?
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: But hold on. I know Lauren --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on a second, guys. Lauren, I think you answered your own question when you said earlier the Obama administration arrested and deported many, many people, millions of them. And they did so without these kinds of stories
WRIGHT: That's not true.
PHILLIP: -- being on the front pages. So --
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: That's not true. In 2016, in July 2016, Obama's ICE shot and killed someone in Mississippi. And they're all Mississippians. So they're not protesting the street about that.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Hold on a second. That is an example. And first of all, there were protests. I was, trust me, I covered Obama in that era. There were many protests. That's the first thing. The second thing is, it's about the frequency that these types of incidents are happening in this administration. And some of it is also the volume, right? They are not just -- they're not taking investigative steps that they would have taken before.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: They're training -- hold on a second. They're training people for less time. These are all facts. And they have asked for arrests to hit 3000 a day. So they are giving them quotas. So they are incentivizing behavior that is less safe for both the ICE agents and for the communities that they're working in.
BORELLI: You're missing a very important fact. Obviously, there's a shooting. There are incomplete videos that don't actually show the moment of the shooting.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: I would love to see a body camera video from the ICE officers who are supposed to be wearing them.
BORELLI: Yes, and hopefully they get them soon. I mean, President Trump's been supportive of. But you're missing the most important thing. This is someone who was previously arrested, convicted of a crime. He was arrested multiple times. He was most recently arrested in September of 2025 with an ICE detainer.
Now, all of these elected officials in New York, the majority of hem who were Democrats, have said we are not going to honor ICE detainers. This is a man who was already in custody, in handcuff. And at that moment, by court order, could have been handed over to ICE for his own hearing through the administrative judges that do immigration.
Instead, the NYPD, thanks to politicians in New York, let him go. So they are as culpable. In fact, we don't know what happened with the police officer. Maybe there's culpability, maybe there's not. But we do know there's culpability on the fact that New York City had this person.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: The ICE officer.
PHILLIP: The ICE officer.
BORELLI: We do know there's culpability on the city for letting go of this person who was already detained who had a valid ICE detainer.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: We also, I mean, I would also just say, we actually don't know the circumstances of what happened with that ICE detainer because we know that it --
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: It was the NYPD's policy --
PHILLIP: Well, listen.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: -- for the mayor, the city council, for everyone.
(CROSSTALK) PHILLIP: Hold on a second. This was in 2025. That was not under Mamdani.
BORELLI: I didn't say Mamdani. You said Mamdani.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: No, no, I'm just clarifying --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: I'm just clarifying that actually, the previous mayor was pretty friendly toward this administration and was actually quite cooperative with them. That's the first thing.
The second thing is that when we talk about ICE detainers, one thing to keep in mind is that even when there is a detainer, if the person needs to be released because they can no longer legally be held and ICE doesn't come get them in time, sometimes that's the reason that they get released. So we don't know what happened in that case.
[22:35:00]
I don't know, you don't know. So --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, you know, I mean, I'm just being --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, I'm just letting people know that when we were in Minnesota, this was often talked about as a reason why they weren't cooperating. When local officials said that in some cases, they can't just hold people until ICE has the time to come pick them up. That would be unconstitutional. So that's part of the problem with this whole system.
BORELLI: You think the problem is that ICE can't get there fast enough, not politicians, so we're not going to honor the --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, listen. I'm saying it's both.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Listen --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Actually, Joe, I'm not being dogmatic about this. I'm saying it's both. I'm saying it's both things. Both, local officials don't want to cooperate and also, the ICE detainer system is not a full system.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: That's all I'm saying. So, let's move on.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: Let me ask you a different way. You think there are so many criminals that ICE can't -- if there's so many criminals that ICE can't even keep up with the amount of people who were arrested by the NYPD, isn't that a bigger problem?
TRENT: It's a big country. It's a big country.
BORELLI: Isn't that a bigger problem? A lot of people get arrested who have ICE detainers and being let go.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: So many that ICE can't even keep up with them. Because that's (inaudible) premise.
FOXX: Coming to this country for a better life for you and your kids, that's really punishable by firing squad (inaudible) --
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: This was a guy who was a violent criminal, convicted, not accused, but then he was arrested subsequently for multiple crimes. And then he was detained by the NYPD. And then --
(CROSSTALK)
FOXX: In the street. In front of your five-year-old.
UNKNOWN: What I find odd is we --
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: -- and deliberately murder people.
(CROSSTALK)
TRENT: Joe, we've got --
BORELLI: This officer will be investigated. This officer --
TRENT: Like the last one?
BORELLI: No one is saying there shouldn't be an investigation. I wouldn't say that. No one should say that. The thing we know is that, the only fact we have right now is that this guy had an ICE detainer and he was let go.
(CROSSTALK)
FOXX: I think there's another factor that those ICE agents pulled a gun on a five-year-old. (CROSSTALK)
TRENT: If there's somebody that's actually violent, you've got this person that's violent, they've been sexually trafficking people, they've been raping people, they've been doing all these horrible things that Trump told us coming down the escalator that these people do, then why is it we would take them and then throw them away down to the seventh floor?
WRIGHT: I know why. Because of the policies where you're letting everyone out of jail on cash bail and because the police department's been gutted.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: And every NYPD officer you'll interview says they don't have enough colleagues to help them do their job.
(CROSSTALK)
LATHAN: The President has created an us versus them sort of rhetorical climate in this country where ICE has carte blanche from a whole political side of the people we share our communities with to go out and abuse people.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: Van, he won. He won because Biden --
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: -- fought immigration so badly.
LATHAN: And by the way, they're going to lose now.
FOXX (?): That's right.
LATHAN: And the reason why they're going to lose, one big reason is because you guys overestimated just how crazy the American public is.
(CROSSTALK)
WRIGHT: Actually, I think the reason that you're not going to get the Senate is because of these three abolished ICE candidates in three different states.
(CROSSTALK)
BORELLI: You think he should be (inaudible) --
PHILLIP: We got to go. Do you want to answer that?
LATHAN: No, no.
PHILLIP: Okay. All right. Next for us, the President strikes a controversial deal for diesel gas with Russia, and some members of his own party are calling the move morally bankrupt. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:42:47]
PHILLIP: President Trump says that he reached a deal with Vladimir Putin to increase the supply of diesel fuel as he seeks to lower energy costs ahead of the midterms. Trump says that the Russian leader agreed to immediately release more than 300,000 tons of diesel into global markets, with another 500,000 tons coming in November.
Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, called the move weak and said gifts to Putin will not bring peace. Allowing Russia to sell petroleum products is an investment in a war that must be ended, not prolonged.
When asked about the deal today, Trump had praise for Putin, but appeared to snub a reporter's question about Zelenskyy.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think you heard about the oil deal with Russia. That is a big deal. That is massive amounts of oil coming into our country, and I want to thank President Putin, to be honest with you.
UNKNOWN: Zelenskyy said you're weak because of it. He just criticized you.
TRUMP: Who said that?
UNKNOWN: Zelenskyy, Ukrainian president, just said you're weak because of the deal.
TRUMP: Go ahead.
UNKNOWN: (inaudible)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: You might remember last month that Trump signed a sweeping sanctions package that chokes off Russia's energy revenues that fuel its war with Ukraine. It was named after the late senator, Lindsey Graham, a top ally of the president.
This is quite a turnabout for the administration, and perfectly timed that Russia is really offering Trump a lifeline here.
TRENT: Except that it's about a half a day's diesel for us. We use somewhere between 300,000 and 600,000 tons of diesel fuel a day in America. So that's the crazy thing, is that it's not going to make a dent. It's not going to bring diesel 611 when I left Tennessee, you know, a week ago.
And unless it moves the market for a minute, it's going to be like this treasury when the treasury secretary upped the purchase of bonds, and then it was a blip, and then the bond market went right back to where it's going. I think diesel is going to do the same thing, because this is a blip. It's a drop in an ocean.
PHILLIP: And meanwhile, a P.R. win for Putin. They get to take all the revenues, and they get to undermine the U.S.'s sanctions regime against them, which Trump is basically flouting in order to do this.
[22:45:01]
BORELLI: It was definitely a 180. I'm not sure I entirely agree with it, but at the same time, it just puts us on par with Russia, Netherlands, Hungary, Turkey, all the NATO allies who presumably have more to risk by Russian invasion or Russian aggression, who have continued throughout this war to buy energy from Russia.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Which he criticized them for.
BORELLI: Which -- that's what I'm saying. It's a 180 in terms of rhetoric and policies so it's interesting.
PHILLIP: I mean, we --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: His aides, Marco Rubio, back in 2022 says, stop importing Russian oil. Start producing more American oil again. That's the plan. Apparently, it's not the plan.
BORELLI: It is a 180.
FOXX: I think we're in a moment where Trump is scrambling for a narrative win as the midterms get closer and it seems Republicans are on the run from him, because people are angry. Their gas is more expensive every single day, and he asked them to believe him when he says, we're going to make a difference. We're going to get more oil, and we're going to make oil, or we're going to produce oil right here at home.
Even just the other day, he said gas was a dollar something a gallon, which shows he's never pumped his own gas a day in his life. But he's scrambling for a narrative win at the expense of doing anything to actually alleviate the burden that's on American people as they sit down at their dinner table every night and try to make ends meet.
PHILLIP: All right, well, we'll take a pause here, and when we come back, we'll talk about what that actual burden looks like for Americans as we head into the midterms. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:51:06]
PHILLIP: Now, before we took a break, Joe was talking about this, and actually, you were saying that the President and this decision might not actually make a difference, and that's really important, because there is a P.R. element of this, which is that he's trying to let people know that he's doing something, even if it may not bring prices down.
Overall, 65 percent of Americans say he's responsible for the economic conditions that they're living in. That's up from 53 percent a year ago. He has to do something to change that.
LATHAN: It should be 100. Like, all of the shocks that we're seeing, the shipping shocks, two straits being shut down, all of this has to do with this war that he was not able to sufficiently make the case for to the American people. You can do one thing on a Monday or a Friday and say that you're going to help people out. They go to the gas station a couple of times a week, sometimes every day. They see it. They feel it.
The price of diesel affects everything else. The trucking goes up. The shipping costs, all that gets passed on to you. Like, they're not as stupid as he thinks that they are. There's a reason why this is happening, and he has not been able to make -- to create value for this war for the American people.
This is not the war effort of World War II or anything else, where people feel like there's some noble cause as to why they're putting themselves through something. They don't get it. And really, there's nothing to get.
PHILLIP: And I hear a lot from conservatives about the fact that the amount of oil coming through the Strait of Hormuz has more or less rebounded. But what they -- what you don't get when you see that --
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: Well, in terms of the quantity, right? But here's the -- here's the web of the situation. Look at how much more it costs to transport fuel through the Strait of Hormuz. It's now $1.56 up million per day to transport two barrels -- two million barrels of oil through the Strait of Hormuz.
It's an astronomical difference compared to before the war. That's why people aren't seeing a difference, and that's why you can't take a victory lap over the number of barrels, when the price is not going down.
WRIGHT: Yes. And I wonder if -- I think this deal with Russia is a disaster. I actually think it has a bad P.R. effect to be so inconsistent with your messaging with a hostile foreign entity. But if it got the prices down, would you say that's a good idea?
TRENT: I mean, I think it'd be a win for them politically.
WRIGHT: Yes --
TRENT: I don't think it'd be a (inaudible) --
(CROSSTALK) WRIGHT: It's also exactly, by the way, what Biden did, hat in hand, to Saudi Arabia in 2022, right before an election, asked them to increase production. They were torturing women activists and had just killed Jamal Khashoggi. No one got upset about that. I hated that. I hate this.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: I mean, Trump has done the same thing, too, with Saudi Arabia. I mean, he's relied on them to increase supply.
LATHAN: Our moral call on Saudi Arabia is bipartisan.
UNKNOWN: Oh, yes.
LATHAN: It's one of those bipartisan things that we do. Our moral call is on that. That's bipartisan.
(CROSSTALK)
PHILLIP: I'm not sure anybody owns that one. That's exactly right.
All right, everyone. Thank you very much for being here. Next, we're going to go back to the Gulf Coast, where Hurricane Isaias is making landfall right now. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:59:00]
PHILLIP: This week on "Have I Got News For You," comedians Rosebud Baker and Larry Wilmore join the usual crew. Here's a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROY WOOD JR.,COMEDIAN, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": Ossoff hit Collins hard over his ties to white nationalists, correct, Michael, including Collins' son-in-law, who is a neo-Nazi social media influencer.
(LAUGHTER)
WOOD JR.: Let's say it again. Collins' son-in-law is a neo-Nazi social media influencer. Amber, every organization needs a digital social strategy to have outreach. It's not unrealistic for this organization to also need to reach the youth.
AMBER RUFFIN, COMEDIAN, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": How easy is that guy's job?
(LAUGHTER)
WOOD JR.: Hey, you guys, get ready with me before we go to a march. Now, today, I'm wearing --
(LAUGHTER)
MICHAEL IAN BLACK, COMEDIAN, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU: Check out the look.
[23:00:00]
I've got my khakis. I've got my tiki torch.
WOOD JR.: Make sure you hate and subscribe.
(LAUGHTER)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
PHILLIP: You can catch the all-new episode Saturday at 9 P.M. on CNN and streaming the next day with an all-access subscription. Before you go, you can stream this show live or watch on-demand anytime with an all-access subscription. Scan the Q.R. code at the bottom of your screen or go to cnn.com slash watch to learn more.
Thank you very much for watching "NewsNight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
