Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

WSJ: Guilfoyle Pushed Donor To Wire $100,000 To AMEX Account; Legal Loophole Could Shape How Cornell Rape Case Is Prosecuted; WHO Pushes For Transparency On Plague Lab Death. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 08, 2026 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:30:47]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Just out this morning brand new CNN polls, and they show President Trump and Republicans in trouble in two deep red states just weeks away from the midterm.

Let's go to Ohio -- the Ohio Senate race. Democrat Sherrod Brown leads Republican Jon Husted by six points there. This battle has become one of the best chances that Democrats have to flip a Senate seat this year and it could be Brown's big comeback after losing his seat in 2024.

Now to Iowa, another state the president won by double digits a couple of years ago. The Senate race there is basically in a dead heat. No clear leader between Republican Ashley Hinson and Democrat Josh Turek. Iowa hasn't elected a Democrat, by the way, to the Senate in 18 years. And remember, Democrats need a net gain of four seats to get control of the Senate In Iowa, Trump's approval rating. is at 41 percent. That's a state he won by 13 points in 2024.

In Iowa, another state -- sorry, in Ohio -- let's go there -- another state he won by double digits, his approval is even lower, just 36 percent.

And those are your new numbers.

And with all that on the line, President Trump is headed to Texas for the third time in less than a month. The president campaigning for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton, who is facing a closer than expected race in that deep red state.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House for us. Alayna , what is the president going to be saying again? I mean, this is the third time.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Right. Look, and I want to get into what you're saying about the polls too, because one thing I've been hearing a lot in my conversations and this is also something you hear publicly from the president and some of his top advisors, Sara, is this idea that, you know, they try to dismiss the polls -- numbers that you just walked through -- arguing they've been wrong in the past. But one thing that's hard to dismiss is the money that is being spent.

When you look at where Republican super PACs are spending their money, they are flooding the airwaves in these once safe states and pulling their money from some of the tougher races that they argue kind of look like tough causes.

You mentioned Texas, where the president was last night. Republicans have been forced to spend over $100 million on Ken Paxton's Senate race -- a tight race against the Democrat there, James Talarico.

And during the past week, if you just look at another key resource, of course, is time where the president is actually spending his time. He's been in a number of red states in the past week. We mentioned Texas, but also Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Nebraska. He's going to fly to Alabama once again on Saturday for the Georgia-Alabama football game.

But I do want to get into what you were mentioning about Texas, because the president was there last night in San Antonio trying to boost Ken Paxton there, who's really, like I said, in this dead heat with Tallerico. This was his second time to Texas in just one week and his third time in one month.

And it's the same type of message we're hearing from the president in a lot of these other states that he's going, which is all about turnout. That is the strategy that they have for the president. They're really, if you -- and you look at the money as well, all of it shows that they're really not spending their time trying to persuade new voters. It's all about getting the loyalists to the polls on election day.

But one question, of course, in all of this is, is Trump's message also helping into these states. And one message that received a lot of controversy on Monday was what he talked about Iran and how they could potentially take out cities like Los Angeles and San Diego. He tried to clarify those remarks while in San Antonio last night. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: If you want to see trauma, you want to see problems -- and I said it the other day -- let them hit a missile into San Diego or Los Angeles on the way. Let them hit. You want to see a horror show? You want to see problems? Let them hit San Diego. Let them hit Los Angeles and you want to see some bad things happen. You want to see a country that would be in freefall.

We're not going to let that happen. We protect our cities. We protect our country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: OK. So that was still very confusing, but I can tell you from those remarks, what he's trying to say is that gas prices, which are obviously incredibly high across the country right now, are a small price to pay for ensuring that Iran does not have the ability to take out cities in America. But when he says it like that, it's been continuing. And we saw this in the aftermath of his comments last night where he was trying to clean it up on -- from Monday, continuing to draw backlash for what he's saying.

[07:35:20]

But all to say the president continuing to hit the ground almost every day now trying to boost these Republicans just a couple days left to go until November 3, Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Alayna Treene. Thank you so much, live there for us from the White House -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, with us now, Congresswoman Madeleine Dean, a Democrat from Pennsylvania. Congresswoman, great to see you this morning.

Ohio is not too far from Pennsylvania, just across the border. A new poll out of there shows that Democrats do have a chance of flipping the Senate seat and also the governor's race there, and that about 75 percent of people polled say that Donald Trump's policies as president have actually increased prices since he's been in office.

My question to you is if Democrats win in four weeks minus two days, what will you do to reduce prices or inflation?

REP. MADELEINE DEAN (D-PA): Good morning, John. Good to be with you.

Seventy-five percent of folks in Iowa or Ohio are correct. I'm wondering what the other 25 are thinking because there is a direct correlation -- everybody sees it -- between high gas and high diesel prices as a result of the self-inflicted war by this president. And they also see that the tariff wars have caused everything else -- their groceries and everything else to go up.

What would Democrats do? We'd bring in the diplomats, end this war, and prices can come down. Gas prices will come down. We would end the chaotic tariff wars, reclaim our appropriation power of the purse under the Constitution, which the Republican majority has just handed over to this reckless, chaotic, unhinged administration.

BERMAN: The Wall Street Journal has a story today about the U.S. ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle, before she was confirmed. And inside this Wall Street Journal story, it reports that she was asking this donor to wire her money to get her to try to influence people who are going to be part of the Trump administration.

They put up some signal text messages that are purportedly from Guilfoyle that she was writing to this person. "Honey, please, I need you to get this done for me today," adding a prayer hands emoji and a PDF with bill payment instructions. "You could just send it here," she said. I think we have some pictures of this. "You could just send it here. It won't show up anywhere if you wire money to American Express. That's all that will show, please."

And then another message that said -- this was to a man named Eric -- "Eric, I really wish you would stop papering all these things. It's really dangerous and not helpful to you or me while you could simply just call me on Signal." She didn't want records of texts going back and forth here.

I should note that a response from Guilfoyle's team, a lawyer, said "the ambassador disputed the authenticity of the messages, but declined to provide specifics." He said, "She had been paid to speak at events before her nomination and was owed a balance for traveling and supporting these patriotic events."

This woman has been confirmed as ambassador to Greece. What do you think should happen with this new information?

DEAN: Well, I'm just learning it from you. I did hear some headlines, so I'll take a look at it.

But not surprising for this administration. The corruption is everywhere. This administration will be remembered for chaos, corruption, and cruelty. This is just one piece of the evidence. Probably not stunning, not shocking.

After all, take a look at Donald Trump Jr. and his wedding, much of it paid for by a Russian oligarch who attended the intimate wedding. We are seeing corruption right out in the open.

You know what else worries me? The corruption we haven't seen, which we will uncover, and we will hold people accountable.

Obviously, like so many others in this administration, she is not qualified to be ambassador to Greece, and she should be removed.

BERMAN: The ProPublica accounting of the Russian oligarch was that he paid for two parties following the wedding on this private island for Donald Trump Jr., which apparently Donald Trump Jr. at this point does not dispute.

I want to ask you, today is October 8. Yesterday, of course, was October 7, the third anniversary of the attacks in Israel by Hamas.

The mayor of New York City, Zohran Mamdani, put out a statement where he said, "This day is profoundly painful for so many New Yorkers. It marks three years since the horrific war crimes of October 7." And he went on to talk about the people that were killed in Israel. But then he said, "The suffering did not begin nor end that day and instead continued through the Israeli government's devastating ongoing genocide in Gaza in which it has killed more than 74,000 Palestinians, including more than 21,000 children."

[07:40:00]

And that went on more. Nowhere in this statement did he mention the word "Jews" or say anything about Jewish people specifically. And there are those in New York City and beyond who have criticized him for creating a both sides on the anniversary of October 7.

What's your view of how he chose to commemorate it and what the right way is to do it? DEAN: Well, we chose to commemorate it also. I put out a statement about the three-year anniversary, the very sad anniversary.

I've had the chance to travel to Israel many times and sit before -- a couple of times before October the 7th and then several after. I've met with hostage families. I've met with hostages. I've met with loved ones who lost people in the horror that was Hamas' attack -- burning people alive, killing children, you know, taking hostage seniors, women, girls. Just horror, absolute horror.

But of course -- and what I said actually to Mr. Netanyahu just five weeks after the horrific attack when I was over there with a bipartisan CODEL was he will be judged by how he conducts the war. And, of course, I think it's unacceptable that the war is still going on. That there are still strikes in Gaza. That the West Bank is out of control with settler violence and outposts.

And so we have to take a look at both. What I hope and what most of us are fighting for is peace in the region and dignity for both peoples, for Palestinian people, and to end their suffering and their deprivation, and of course, for the safety, security, and dignity of Israel. Both peoples deserve that. Sadly, Mr. Netanyahu's coalition has stood in the way of that.

BERMAN: Congresswoman Madeliene Deed from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Thanks for being with us this morning -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning pressure is mounting still on Cornell University. It seems very few are satisfied with how it is responding now to calls for change after how they handled a former student's allegations that she was gang raped at a frat party back in 2024.

With a glaring spotlight on the school and the case brought by Jane Doe, we are learning about new threats she is facing. Her attorney says she's receiving death threats and was the target of a swatting incident just this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

THOMAS GIUFFRA, JANE DOE'S ATTORNEY: This person had called the police and said there was a shooting in progress, people were being slaughtered at Jane Doe's parents' house, the house she grew up in. Imagine one of those cops had killed her father, her brother, her friend, and they have to live with it. And this is where safety of -- police safety of innocent people is being sacrificed for unnecessary rhetoric.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Um-hum.

Another thing that this case has shined a spotlight on are New York sexual assault laws and where the line for consent is or should be legally drawn. The night of the alleged assault, Jane Doe had said she was drinking

and was also given ketamine. But the local district attorney has pointed to being constrained by New York's consent laws and has said that is why he could not bring charges against any of the men accused. Consider that -- it's broadly considered by many the voluntary intoxication loophole that we've seen in many states, something New York's governor now says needs changing.

And joining me now is Summer Willis, the driving force behind the Summer Willis Act, a law passed in Texas last year that helped to close that loophole there, meaning now a person could be too intoxicated to consent. This is after her own experience with sexual assault at UT Austin in 2014. Summer, thank you so much for being here.

Reading about how your experience really does seem to mirror what we have heard from Jane Doe and her story and what she is trying to say here is one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you. Your fight for change when it comes to the laws in Texas, it took years. The governor of New York has now thrown her support behind changing New York's sexual assault laws.

What is needed now?

SUMMER WILLIS, SURVIVOR AND ACTIVIST (via Webex by Cisco): People. The New York -- the coalition who's been working on this -- closing the intoxication loophole, has been trying to pass this bill for eight years in New York.

I was there two years ago at a press conference with them after we passed the Summer Willis Act in Texas, and it surprised a lot of people that we were able to pass this law in Texas but not in New York. But what I realized in Texas is that no one can do this alone. And if we want to support Jane Doe and all the Jane Does and the survivors out there, you need to pick up your phone and you need to call. We need to all come together as a community and create change together.

[07:45:00]

BOLDUAN: Summer, what do people need to understand about this? You have -- you have written that when you were pushing for this loophole to be closed, you described as a powerful -- a powerful man had said so, you know, now there can be no drunk sex, basically asking you that.

What are people need -- what do people need to understand about this -- as you've described yourself, this very big gray area, which is where most sexual assaults occur between, like, enthusiastic consent between two willing individuals and forcible aggressive physical force?

WILLIS: Yes, I think that's a great question. What I speak about often is that our moral and societal definition of consent does not meet the laws on the books. And so only one percent -- one percent of perpetrators actually face any criminal consequences. I think that's proof that what we have on the books is not working and that's why we changed it in Texas, and we need to change it in New York. And there's 23 states that either do not define or need redefinitions of this, which is what my foundation is trying to help work with.

But yes, it is confusing, but our laws make it very clear that only in very, very specific circumstances does someone's rape count? And as a survivor who was told that mine didn't count because I was voluntarily intoxicated lit the fuel of the fire that I needed to help change. And we need to do that in New York.

BOLDUAN: I played in the introduction also that Jane Doe has been receiving death threats. Her attorney says that they've had this swatting incident at her family home. And her attorney says he's now fearful for her safety and the safety of her family.

Just from the experience that you have lived and then very, you know, publicly your public advocacy in the years that have followed what you suffered, what do you think of when you -- when you hear that?

WILLIS: I heard that five minutes ago when I was watching CNN and I got chills all over my body and felt sick because as a survivor, I think the first thing we lose is our self-worth and we need a strong community around us and. And we need to come together and show Jane Doe we're with her because the reality is there are people that write messages all the time to survivors telling us we weren't assaulted to -- and all of these terrible messages.

So I believe in kindness and in standing in support and community. And so I recently shared a link where we can all come together and share kind words with Jane Doe because that's what I want to do for her to show that she's not alone.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, more kindness in many different ways would be very helpful in such a horrible, horrible moment right now.

Summer Willis, thank you very much for coming on. Your experience and what you fought for and what you've accomplished is quite something. Thank you -- John.

BERMAN: That's very true.

All right. New this morning federal officials have accused a Minnesota teenager of planning a terror attack at the Mall of America in Minnesota. According to court documents, the 18-year-old was allegedly planning use an AK-47 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition to carry out a mass shooting at the country's largest mall. Officials say the teenager appeared to admire other terror related killings, including the attack on Bondi Beach in Australia and the 2025 attack in New Orleans. Officials say he claimed to have joined ISIS a year ago and that they are charging him as a single actor. CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Ahead, new this morning, Russia is denying reports of a second illness linked to the death of a researcher at that lab that studies the plague. The World Health Organization is demanding more transparency from Russia in the case. We'll talk about that story in a bit.

And watch as a police dog made all the difference in finding a missing little boy who was just feet away from a busy road. Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:54:00]

SIDNER: This morning, the World Health Organization is pushing for more transparency from Russia following the recent death of a worker at a Siberian lab that studies the plague after reports of a second case of illness linked to that worker. Now, Russia's health watchdog has denied the reports of a second case.

Right now, though, the WHO says it's unable to provide a "full risk assessment" about the potential threat to the public, and it needs more information from Russia. Russia is claiming there is no epidemic risk here.

CNN's Fred Pleitgen is joining us now with more details. What are you learning from there this morning?

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Sara.

Well, we're learning that the Russians say that they're winding down some of those quarantine measures that have been in place. Of course, we were reporting about this after this lab worker died of pneumonia of an unknown cause, as the Russians said. And of course, she was working at that anti-plague lab.

The Russians essentially locked down a lot of the hospitals in that area. And the Russians say now they've essentially isolated the contact that this lab worker was in contact with and they've tested all of them and they say with that, they believe that there is no more public health risk.

[07:55:03]

I want to read you a bit of the statement that the agency that fights infectious diseases in Russia, Rospotrebnadzor, put out. And they say, "As of October 7, 2026, medical monitoring has been completed for over 90 percent of contacts. No health issues related to infectious disease were detected, and the results of nearly 5,000 laboratory tests revealed no dangerous pathogenic microorganisms." So that's what Russians are saying.

But you're absolutely right to point out the World Health Organization had a press conference late yesterday where they said they are asking for more transparency and more information from the Russians. They want to know what kind of testing was conducted.

They also, and this was very important to them, they said, want to know if this lab worker didn't die of pneumonic plague, what did she die of? The World Health Organization there asking Russia about testing results, cause contacts for -- of those who are under quarantine. The Russians, of course, saying no plague cases in that area and no high threat pathogens have been detected. That coming from the Russian Federation.

The World Health Organization, Sara, by the way, also saying that if Russia needs specialists, needs help, they stand ready to provide all of that. But again, right now, the Russians are saying situation in that area as they put it is stable, Sara.

SIDNER: I think what we're learning is there's still too many questions and not enough answers here. We will see what happens going forward.

Fred Pleitgen, thank you so much for your reporting there for us from Berlin -- John.

BERMAN: All right. In Maryland, officers and search dogs spent hours looking for a boy who had wandered away from his home. Ultimately, they found it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER 1: I got him! I got him! I got him!

POLICE OFFICER 2: He got him. He got him. I can't believe you got him.

POLICE OFFICER 1: What's up, buddy?

DISPATCHER: Where's he at?

POLICE OFFICER 1: I got him. I got him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: And when they did reach him, it was a good thing because he was just a few feet from a busy roadway.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

POLICE OFFICER 1: What's up, buddy? I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you. I got you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: Police say the boy is now doing well, which is terrific.

Kate, here's a question for you. Do you know when the Yankees play again?

BOLDUAN: Uh, no.

BERMAN: Never. Maybe never.

BOLDUAN: Wait, but baseball season goes on forever so they --

BERMAN: But not for the Yankees. BOLDUAN: Okie dokie. For a 17th straight season, the New York Yankees will not be World Series champions -- swept by the Rays last night, but not without controversy. Let's say it like the English, controversy.

CNN's Andy Scholes --

BERMAN: There you go.

BOLDUAN: -- is here with more. Yes, Andy, tell me more.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yeah, we had some controversy there, Kate, you know. Remember back at the start of the Yankees' dynasty back in the '90s, you know, in a postseason game against the Orioles? A young Yankees fan named Jeffrey Maier -- he reached over the fence and turned probably an out into a Derek Jeter home run. A very famous play in Yankees history. But they didn't have replay review back then. They do now.

And with the Yankees down two in the bottom of the six, Anthony Volpe was at the plate. He's going to send this one to left. Victor Mesa Jr. goes back to make a play on it, but a Yankees fan reaches over the fence and the ball then goes into the stands.

Now it was originally ruled a game-tying two-run home run, but the umpires would review it, and they determined it was fan interference. But Mesa, they say, would not have caught the ball. So Volpe gets a double and George Lombard Jr. was awarded home. So instead of it 4-4, the score is 4-3. Most believe that was the right call. Now the fan was escorted out of Yankee Stadium.

New York would then fail to score after that. They end up losing 4-3. The Rays complete the sweep to move on to the ALCS.

The Brewers, meanwhile, also moving on thanks to some more heroics. Bottom of the eighth, Padres down 2-1 for Manny Machado. He gets a hold of this one, but Garrett Mitchell robs the game-tying home run. Look at Machado. He thought he had homered. He was so excited he blew a bubble with his gum, but that bubble quickly burst as did the Padres postseason.

Brewers win game four 3-1 to advance to the NLCS. They will now meet the Dodgers in a rematch.

The Dodgers took care of the Braves last night. Andy Pages hitting out of the nine hole for L.A. coming through with the clutch hit of the night. Two outs, bases loaded in the seventh. Pages has the RBI single up the middle. It made it three to one. The Braves' offense just dismal once again. For the series, Atlanta was one for 23 with runners in scoring position. That's a 43 batting average, which is the worst in a postseason series since 1966.

And while the Braves were depressing, the Dream giving Atlanta fans up to cheer about. Game to a thriller against the Liberty. Marine Fauthoux burying a three here for New York to tie the game with 10 seconds left. Now Rhyne Howard had a chance to win it for Atlanta, and her floater right here is going to be about as close as going down as it gets, but it doesn't. So we go to overtime. In OT the Liberty were down three in the final seconds. They had a reset timeout, but Breanna Stewart said the refs told her they didn't.