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ICE Shoots Man in New York City; Trump Campaigns in New York; Hurricane Isaias Targets Gulf Coast. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 09, 2026 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

DANA BASH, CNN HOST: My colleague Erin Burnett is going to moderate this town hall on Wednesday at 8:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN and streaming live on All Access.

Thanks so much for joining INSIDE POLITICS Today.

"CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Landfall looming. Gulf Coast states bracing for massive winds, dangerous storm surge, and potential widespread flooding, as Isaias could hit the coast as a Category 3 hurricane.

Plus: The final push is on. Candidates in three critical Senate races making their pitch to voters during a trio of heated debates.

And a controversial shooting in New York after ICE agents open fire, injuring a driver they were targeting with a 5-year-old in the back seat. Ahead, what the Department of Homeland Security is saying about the shooting, as we follow these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

SANCHEZ: We start this afternoon with breaking news, millions of Americans bracing for Isaias, the Category 3 hurricane just hours away from landfall. And forecasters now say it is no longer expected to weaken before it hits tonight.

For many, the time for evacuating is now over. Places like Panama City Beach have already been feeling the impacts of the outer bands for hours. Right now, life-threatening storm surge and 120 mile-an-hour winds are the main concerns as several states of emergency are now in effect.

Let's go live to Gulf Shores, Alabama, with CNN's Isabel Rosales, where the rain, we can see, is starting to come down.

Isabel, what does it look like where you are?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, when I was talking at your show just yesterday, we heard from the mayor here of Gulf Shores, Robert Craft, saying to us that he was hopeful that people were going to take this storm seriously since they hadn't seen anything like this since Hurricane Sally back in 2020.

Well, I can tell you today it appears that they are indeed taking this seriously. I mean, even in this hotel along the Gulf here, along the beach, you can see that they have been working like busy bees night and day to tape down, strap down anything that could be a flying projectile, umbrellas, chairs.

And even, as we go this way, we thought we would bring you to the beach, but this is what we encountered over here. They have closed the boardwalks. You can see that this has been zip-tied down. You can see this lock in place. The other boardwalk over there, they actually drilled in wooden planks to prevent any people, any of these hotel guests from going out into the beach, for their own safety.

Now, even yesterday around this time, you could see stragglers out in the beach. It wasn't a ghost town. They were still enjoying what they could under the umbrellas with a little bit of sunshine, but it is a much different story today.

Look at this, not a soul out there that we can see. And as you look into the Gulf, look at those waves. This is Hurricane Isaias rapidly approaching the Gulf right now. Expecting up to nine feet of storm surge and possibly 15 inches of rain for the coast.

And, Boris, as I come on your show right now, it's just -- I just got off the phone with the city of Gulf Shores, and they told me that the two bridges in and out of this area, this coastal resort town, have been shut down. They told me and warned folks that that could happen as soon as winds rich reached a sustained wind of 45 miles per hour, that they have to shut that down for safety.

They don't want people out on the roads. And, indeed, just this minute, those bridges have been shut down. This is the critical moment where city officials were telling people, we wanted you to make this move to evacuate before this point. But now we want you off the roads.

I spoke with a city official who also told me that the time to prepare is now closed, as he told me. It is time to find your permanent place to hunker down.

And I will leave you with this, Boris. A curfew is now in effect here for Gulf Shores, 7:00 p.m. central time to 7:00 a.m. in the morning. Clearly, they don't want people out here. They understand this could be dangerous.

SANCHEZ: Yes, not a good idea to be out there in those conditions.

Isabel Rosales, you and your crew, please stay safe.

Let's go now to the CNN Weather Center, where Allison Chinchar is tracking the latest, as Hurricane Isaias is just now hours from making landfall.

So the National Hurricane Center is updating the storm's location every hour. Where is it now, Allison?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right.

So it's roughly about 160 miles just to the south of Pensacola, Florida, that landfall still expected about nine to 10 hours from now, sustained winds still 120 miles per hour, gusting up to 150 miles per hour.

[13:05:00]

So, again, we are really starting to see things ramp up along the coast. You're starting to get heavier rainbands. Those winds are starting to increase. The storm surge is starting to spread inland and along the coast as well.

Now, because that storm has intensified over the last six to 12 hours, you may have noticed a few changes on the storm surge list. The orange area you see here, the Pensacola through Panama City area, had been five to seven. It has now increased up to six to nine feet to account for that stronger storm, even the yellow areas increasing by about a foot or two again, just because of how this storm has strengthened.

Lots of heavy rain really starting to fill in across Panama City, Tallahassee, and it will continue to do so not just for Florida, but also Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi. A lot of these areas are really going to start to see more of those rainbands spread inland as we go through the coming hours.

There is the potential for flooding, not just along the coast, but also for some of these states inland, because notice, by the time it becomes post-tropical, you still have a lot of that moisture, even though the tropical components of this system are going to lose strength pretty rapidly here.

In fact, by about 9:00 a.m. tomorrow, we no longer really have much of a tropical system. It's really just producing a lot of rain in these areas, even across areas of South and North Carolina, because it's pulling a lot of that moisture up into these states, fueling the potential for flooding in those areas, not just today, but Saturday and even going into Sunday.

So you will see here on the rainfall map lots of yellow and oranges, so widespread four to six inches. But notice you have got red. And look at some of the pink. The pink's not just in Florida. You also have some here along the coastal regions of the Carolinas, again, because of all of that moisture that it can pull up from the Atlantic Ocean.

So it's not out of the question for some of these areas to get six or even as much as a foot of rain before this system finally pushes out from some of these areas. Another concern we have talked about is going to be severe. So, waterspouts, tornadoes, those are also possible, mainly along the coastal regions here for the remainder of the day today.

But, Saturday, that spreads inland. Atlanta, Macon, Columbia, all of these areas have the potential for some of those severe thunderstorms as the moisture and the energy from that system continues to spread off to the north.

Now, we talked about landfall. It's not expected to weaken all that much by the time we get landfall. So what the storm is now, sure, it may deviate five- or 10-miles-per-hour difference, but in terms of impacts, you're not really going to notice much of a difference.

So, as she mentioned earlier, Isabel, the time to prepare is now over.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it is now over.

An easy thing to do to keep track of the storm too, even if you may not be watching CNN live, download the CNN Weather App. You see the Q.R. code right there on your screen.

Allison Chinchar from the Weather Center, thank you so much.

Still ahead: back out on the campaign trail, President Trump looking to rally Republicans in New York, as new polling shows his approval rating is at a second-term low.

And, later: The Pentagon now says the military's first firing squad execution since World War II will be livestreamed -- the details on their plans when we come back.

Stay with us.

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[13:12:20]

SANCHEZ: President Trump is capping off a busy week on the campaign trail tonight in Syracuse, New York. He will be looking to buoy Republicans who find themselves underwater in the solid blue state, the president continuing to put himself front and center despite sagging poll numbers.

Let's go live at the White House with CNN's Alayna Treene.

Alayna, this week, the president has visited several red states trying to shore up support for Republicans. Why turn his attention to New York now?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, not only New York, but clearly a blue state, also the president's home state, of course.

This rally, Boris, is really to bolster the campaign of Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman. He is the Republican nominee for governor of New York. Now, this is actually the president's third time to his home state of New York, despite actually registered Democrats outnumbering Republicans two to one in the state.

Perhaps that's why he's actually making that visit. Now, I will say, Blakeman, he did an interview with "The New York Times" where he said he's hoping that the president's visit will show voters that they have a close relationship, that once and -- if he's in office, I should say, that he would be able to pick up the phone and call the president.

So this is an instance where you actually have the candidate, the Republican candidate in a blue state, wanting the president to come and stomp for him. But there's also, of course, a catch-22 here. This is a big gamble. I mean, part of the strategy we know that the president and his team and many of the operatives who are working in his political operation have decided is that this is really all about turnout.

The president's presence in these places is all about driving voters to the polls on Election Day. They don't think that they're going to be able to be successful in trying to persuade new voters to show up for Republicans. It's all about driving out the base and the people who are already decided that they like the president and they like Republicans overall.

But in a place like New York, that could be difficult. And something I continue to hear my conversations -- even Trump advisers, Boris, will acknowledge this -- is that as much as Trump is a driver of turnout for Republicans, he's also a huge driver of enthusiasm among Democrats.

And from reading some of the reports in New York today, there are expected to be a lot of protests in Syracuse around the president's visit. Now, I will say as well, I was just in an event with the president this morning. He was doing an event in the East Room to mark Columbus Day, which is, of course, on Monday.

One thing that we heard from him there was, he was talking a lot about the projects that he has going on around D.C. Now, these are the type of issues we have been hearing that the president's advisers don't want him talking about, because a lot of Republican candidates don't want this to be what he is focusing on.

Listen to just how much time he spent on this issue, Boris.

[13:15:02]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They wanted to sue me because I was fixing the exterior of the White House. It hadn't been fixed in, like, 200 -- it was so bad. The ornamentation was falling down. The place was a mess. Now it's beautiful.

Two things they wanted at the White House. They wanted a great heliport, and they also wanted a ballroom for 150 years. We have done such a beautiful job on the monuments and the statues. It's so beautiful. We're building a military complex. It's a arc, a triumphal arc, they're called.

In Paris, you have the Arc de Triomphe. We have one that blows it away. It's more beautiful, slightly larger, of course. We have to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TREENE: It's very much a fixation for President Donald Trump. I could tell, standing in the room with him there, just how much he wanted to talk about these projects, but, again, not something that I know a lot of his advisers want him spending time on.

They recognize that the key issue for voters ahead of these midterms -- they see the same polls that we're looking at, Boris -- are the economy and the cost of living and affordability overall, of course. And that's been something that the president has struggled to really message on in a lot of these different stops.

So we will see what he does tonight and whether or not his messaging is geared any differently toward a state that -- again, where registered Democrats outnumber Republicans two to one -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: The president is set to depart the White House in a matter of hours. We will see if he takes reporters' questions during the departure.

Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you so much.

Still ahead: Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin giving an update after ICE agents open fire and injure a man in New York while a 5-year-old was in the back seat of his car. We have got the details on this incident when we come back.

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[13:21:11]

SANCHEZ: Tempers are flaring in New York City where ICE officers shot and wounded a man they say tried to run them over during an enforcement operation in the Bronx. The NYPD released this bodycam footage showing its officers responding to the scene yesterday.

Local officials say there was a 5-year-old in the back seat of that car in the time of the shooting, which is compounding anger in the community. Today, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin saying the agents were unaware of the child's presence. He also defended their actions and criticized local leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARKWAYNE MULLIN, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: I want to make it very clear. Sanctuary politicians, they create an environment for criminal activity to thrive. We go after the worst of the worst every single day, every single day. Our goal is to get them off the streets.

If sanctuary politicians refuse to take care of their own streets, President Trump has made it very clear we will. This individual is a threat to our community.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Brynn Gingras is on the scene in New York with the latest.

And, Brynn, you have new details on a hearing in this case. What have you learned?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Boris.

So we are hearing from his attorney, who essentially has filed an emergency petition working to basically get Oscar Belgal out of ICE detention at this point. That hearing is going to take place at federal court at 3:30.

And in the paperwork, he essentially states that there was no valid warrant for his arrest, and says that to the government basically they should be prepared to discuss the petitioner's current location, his location when the petition was filed, and any circumstances justifying this requested TRO.

So that is all part of the paperwork our colleagues, of course, are going to be there, and we will bring you more information as soon as we get it from that court appearance.

But, yes, we have gotten some new video released by the NYPD today, who responded to the scene after all of this had taken place, after those seven shots had been fired at the car at Oscar Belgal. And why don't you just show some of this video and then I will talk to you more on the other end of it?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SHOUTING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: You can see sort of the chaotic scene that was unfolding as those NYPD officers arrived. You can see that person who was in sort of a construction vest with that big rifle up in the air. You could see Belgal, who is handcuffed on the ground, all this again showing what it looked like on the scene here where we are after the fact.

The big question is what happened leading up to those shots being fired, that arrest actually taking place. Those are still the big questions that we didn't get really answers to at this point when Secretary Mark Mullin had his news conference earlier this morning.

He did say there are body cameras from his agents, but they have not released that video. And, in that news conference, he essentially was treating jabs with the mayor here, Mamdani, about the words he had last night about this incident. We haven't really heard from the mayor since he's made sort of these accusations, calling -- at some point Mullin calling Mamdani shameful in what he was saying.

I do want you to hear, though, what Mamdani did say last night.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: For the past two hours, I have been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot.

Those negotiations were unsuccessful. Just moments ago, ICE put the man in an unmarked vehicle and whisked him away. Let me say this plainly. What happened today was an outrage. This city wants ICE out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[13:25:03]

GINGRAS: Now, Mullin earlier today fiercely defending the actions that they took against this person, talking about how he has a very lengthy criminal history.

Of course, we will wait to see if Mamdani makes any more comments, again, based on what Mullin said earlier today -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Brynn, where is the 5-year-old now?

GINGRAS: Yes, so we know that 5-year-old, who's believed to be his son, was in the car when this all unfolded, which is, of course, terrifying for this neighborhood, just the thought of that happening right down the street from them.

We understand that that 5-year-old was taken by family members and brought -- later found at a beauty salon in Yonkers, which isn't too far from where we are. But there was quite a bit of chaos, Boris, as you can imagine, when the NYPD, when other officers responded to the scene trying to find that 5-year-old, as, again, this was all still unfolding at that time.

SANCHEZ: Brynn Gingras, thank you for the update on that story.

Still ahead: Democrats seriously battling for seats that the president won by double digits two years ago. There is friction, though, among Democrats over whether to play it safe or to try to run up the margin in the midterms. Do they even have enough cash to try to do that?

CNN's new reporting is next.

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