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Trump Fires Katie Zacharia After Just Five Days As Press Secretary; Now: Trump Taking Campaign Blitz To Battleground Georgia; Police: 16-Year-Old Shooter Killed Before Officers Arrived; Mother of Shooter Tells CNN There Were No Warning Signs. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 16, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: An all-new episode of "The Detour with David Chang" airs Saturday night at 10 Eastern and Pacific and next day, with an all-access subscription.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

After just five days on the job, Press Secretary Katie Zacharia has been fired. What we're learning about her ouster.

Plus, Georgia on the President's mind. Trump is traveling to the Peach State to campaign for Congressman Mike Collins, who is trying to unseat Democratic incumbent Senator Jon Ossoff.

And a school shooter's mother speaking out. We are hearing from the mom of the 16-year-old who opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary in Oregon, killing three children and one adult.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

A whirlwind few days on the job ending in stunning fashion. After just five days as his new press secretary, President Trump has fired Katie Zacharia not too long after she was on TV saying this ...

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATIE ZACHARIA, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY: I'm standing here, and I was able to travel with him through all of the midterm convention or excuse me the midterm rallies, and I hope to be able to build the trust and confidence of everyone around me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: A short time later, though, Zacharia was nowhere to be seen as the President was leaving for a campaign rally in Georgia. The news of her firing dropping just minutes after he left. CNN's Kristen Holmes live for us now at the White House.

Kristen, you've been doing a lot of reporting on this, and you had asked the President, you're the one who asked that question about Zacharia as he was leaving. Talk to us about what he said and then how the news broke. KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what's so interesting about all of this is that we have seen a number of people be fired from Trump's orbit. And generally speaking, Donald Trump goes scorched earth on anyone that he is firing from any position.

That is not the case of what he did when he came out having already fired Zacharia, which we learned later, and was asked if he still had confidence in her. And he and I had a pretty lengthy exchange, which he seemed to genuinely believe that she was a kind person, a good person, but clearly had moved her -- her -- at least in his head at that point. But we know now that he -- she had actually been fired, but it seemed as though he had just moved her out of the role of press secretary. Listen to the full exchange.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I said to Katie, just two minutes ago, I said, Katie, you know, you don't have to do this if you don't want. She said, this is a lot tougher. I said, welcome to the world of Trump. I don't know. Let's see. I'm going to let her make that decision.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) ...

TRUMP: It's up. Yes. Look, she's been perceived a nice person. A great person. And she's been treated roughly. You know, I said, do you want to really live like this? I don't think they'll ever ease up. And, you know, Karoline did a very good job. I think Katie maybe would do. But Katie is off to a start that the news has been so nasty to her. I've never seen anything like it actually.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she considering?

TRUMP: And I said -- I said to her, honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HOLMES: So, I will tell you this, I spoke to a number of advisers, allies, White House officials after the firing. And they all said that President Trump still is -- believes in her, that he cares about her, that he respects her as a person, despite having fired her. one thing they did tell me is that she's actually having dinner her family that had moved from California to the to the -- to Washington, D.C. is having dinner with Vice President Vance and his family at the Vice President's residence later tonight. And that was used as evidence that she still maintains good standing within this administration.

KEILAR: Wait, Kristen, just to be clear, they have already moved?

HOLMES: It's unclear if they had moved all of their stuff. However, they were in the process of moving. At one point we heard Katie Zacharia during the briefing talk about how her husband was a saint for helping with the move and the kids it's unclear if they'd actually brought all of their stuff here but that was certainly the plan was that they were going to all uproot their lives in California and move to Washington, D.C.

KEILAR: All right Kristen thank you so much. Let's talk now with Stephanie Grisham who served as President Trump's press secretary for a time during his first term.

Stephanie, great to have you.

What's your reaction to how this unfolded today?

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: I'm not surprised. I mean she was clearly hired on the spot and there was no vetting and then, you know, she did have that rough start, so I'm not surprised that it happened this way, I'm also not surprised that he's blaming the press for this rather than admitting that maybe he just jumped the gun and hired somebody based off of a couple of TV appearances.

[15:05:03]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: And Stephanie there's been a lot of talk about the -- the lack of preparation time she was given but as someone else pointed out that's kind of how the President is. You either kind of sink or swim, and he puts you out there, and you either sink or swim.

What do you think about -- about that whole piece of it, how she was hired so quickly and put out to brief so quickly, and now here we are?

GRISHAM: I think that he got used to Karoline Leavitt being -- and she was -- she was very good press secretary for this president, I think. And I think he got so used to that. And she did make it seem pretty easy. So, I believe he probably saw Katie on TV a few times and figured she could go out there and handle it, because he does -- he does equate what the press secretary does with just being on TV. He doesn't understand, I think, even though he's done it a bunch, but what it's like to go out there to talk to a bunch of legitimate press and the legitimate press corps.

So, I imagine he did throw her out there. She probably should have said, "I'm not ready." I don't know that that would have mattered. She may have said that, actually, but it didn't go well. And then to see her, you know, do the interview with Sean, and then to do the interview this morning on Fox, those didn't -- those were a little rough as well.

So, it didn't surprise me what happened. But, you know, maybe in a year she's going to look back and say, "Thank goodness this happened to me." I know that I never stepped behind that podium, but I'm very proud of that now. I'm very proud of that.

So perhaps in a year, when things are looking a little crazier than usual, she'll -- she'll be happy that this happened. It was a blessing in disguise.

KEILAR: So, are you saying that he maybe doesn't have an understanding of how difficult it is to be in that role behind that podium? GRISHAM: I think that he -- I mean, he's obviously been behind that podium a million times, and he just tells people to be quiet, you're lying, that type of a thing. I don't think he understands, from our perspective, from just a regular person's perspective, what it is like. It's daunting to go into that room and to talk to reporters who -- who aren't giving you softball questions.

So, I think, in his mind, it's super easy. You don't need to prepare, because, at the very least, you just tell a lie. It doesn't matter what you say. He said that to me all the time: "It doesn't matter what you say, Stephanie. As long as you say it enough, people will believe you."

So, in his mind, it's so easy, and I think he just sent her out there thinking, this will be no problem.

DEAN: And you -- you'd said you thought Karoline was a great press secretary for this president, kind of underscoring he's a unique guy to work for. And to your point, what you're just saying, you're saying that he would say to you, "It doesn't matter if it's true or not, just -- just say it." What kind of person does he look for? What is -- what matters to him as he likely will look for someone else to fill this role?

GRISHAM: Yes, when -- when they're behind that podium, they are performing for an audience of one, and it is him. In a traditional White House, you go out there and you give the American people and the -- the press corps the best news, the best information that you have, the most honest news that you have in that moment. With this president, it's -- it's quite different.

And so, for -- for anybody who's going to be behind the podium, you are expected to say whatever he tells you to say, whether it's correct or not. I think that Caroline was very good at threading that needle and -- and doing what he wanted while still trying to give the best information out to the press corps.

So, this is just not a traditional White House. And I would say he also -- he speaks to the press so often, and people are always like, he's the most accessible president in history. I think he is. It doesn't mean he's the most honest.

And so, he often speaks to the press himself via the cameras or via social media, and he gets out ahead of his own people or contradicts his own people. And that makes the job of a press secretary very, very hard. So that's -- that's kind of the distinction I'm making between the Trump White House and a more traditional White House.

DEAN: Okay.

KEILAR: This is such a crucial time, Stephanie: a war, the midterms just around the corner, and now a press secretary come and gone so quick. How are you seeing the moment that this White House is in?

GRISHAM: Look, the -- the people in Trump's orbit are used to absolute chaos. So even though, to the rest of us, this is -- this is craziness, they're in there, you know, it's another day, I would imagine. And again, you've got a president who speaks to the press all the time, so it's not like it's going to be a big gaping hole until they find somebody else to -- to fill the job, if they do.

And with the midterms coming up, you know, I'm not sure who's -- I -- I (INAUDIBLE) before I did this, who would want to do the job? He's about to be a lame duck president, and my prediction is that he's going to do crazier things than he's already been doing. And I just can't imagine someone wanting to fill this role in this time. But who knows? We'll see.

KEILAR: All right, Stephanie Grisham, thank you so much.

Still to come, the mother of the Bend, Oregon, school shooter is speaking out. What she told CNN about her son and her message to the families of those who died.

[15:10:06]

DEAN: Plus, just 18 days before Election Day, Republican candidates are being outraced by their Democratic opponents in some of the country's most competitive races.

And later, a new Tesla takes flight, sort of. The company unveiling what it says is a flying car, but can it get off the ground outside the showroom? That and much more coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:14:54]

KEILAR: Turning back now to our breaking news: Katie Zacharia officially out as White House press secretary after just five days.

DEAN: Sources telling CNN President Trump was embarrassed by the media coverage of Zacharia's briefing Tuesday, and that when he asked aides about her, she had a few allies willing to defend her performance.

CNN Anchor and Chief National Affairs Analyst Kasie Hunt is joining us now.

Kasie, this is all just unraveled in the last hour and a half to two hours. What are -- what are you thinking as we're kind of getting all this information?

KASIE HUNT, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I mean, put it in the -- in the category of yet another massive distraction.

DEAN: Yes.

HUNT: Just about two weeks out from midterm elections that are likely to completely change the balance of power here in Washington. I mean, if you are a Republican running for reelection, the last thing you want is yet more evidence of chaos at the White House and, perhaps more importantly, a lack of focus on what voters are telling all of us that they care about right now, which is the fact that gas is too expensive, groceries are too expensive, they feel like they can't afford their lives.

I mean, I -- only 18 percent of people feel like they're better off now than they were two years ago, which, of course, in two weeks, I think we're going to learn a lot about what that means ...

DEAN: Yes.

HUNT: ... for the party that's been in power.

KEILAR: Yes. I mean, I guess the question is, does he really need a press secretary right now? Or is it really just about it -- well, he -- he could benefit from one who could answer questions to those issues that are so pertinent to voters right now. But does he really need one unless they can?

HUNT: I think it's just worth thinking about the way that Karoline Leavitt did her job, because she was widely viewed by both the reporters that she worked with and also aides in the White House as being really effective on the President's behalf. Now, that, of course, sometimes frustrates reporters if they feel like they're not getting the kinds of answers they needed, but it wasn't a situation where they felt like she didn't have credibility, right?

Our reporters in that briefing room knew she was in the room with the President. She was straightforward about what she had spoken with the President about. She was absolutely pugnacious. She was a bulldog on his behalf, and that, I think, benefits the White House, right, to have somebody that can play that role. And so, yes, it's -- any -- any way in which you're playing hurt before a critical time like this can't -- can't be good.

DEAN: Okay, and you mentioned critical time, because we are 18 days away from the midterms. The President's going to Georgia, this after he's been to a number of even more red states than Georgia, redder -- let's call it.

HUNT: I mean, Georgia's purple by any metric.

DEAN: Right, right. Yes. And like -- and -- and so, he's trying to, I think, likely salvage the gubernatorial race there. But it is remarkable that this is -- this is how he's going to close out this entire campaign season.

HUNT: There's -- the strategy that they've been using with the President is pretty clear, right? And in some ways, it also explains why he's gone back and forth in terms of arguing that he is on the ballot.

DEAN: Yes.

HUNT: When Donald Trump is on the ballot, there have been -- it's been clear that there have been people who otherwise don't vote who have showed up to vote for President Trump. They're low-propensity voters, is kind of the way that we talk about them in polling parlance.

He has been going to red states to try to remind those people that they should go to the polls this time. That has been the strategy that his team has implemented, and it helps explain not only which states he's going to, but where in those states, which markets he's picking, et cetera, et cetera.

The Georgia decision is a little bit different because there are so many voters in Georgia who don't like the President. His approval rating, of course, nationally is incredibly low. There are a lot of Republicans in Georgia that have been turned off by President Trump, and you've seen that in different sorts of examples.

You know, if you look at kind of the Republican officials who either refuse to go along with what he wanted them to go along with back in 2020, or who ran as very different Republicans, or who declined to run for the Senate -- like, look at Brian Kemp, right, who Republican leaders in Washington really wanted to be the person that was on the ballot there. And Trump was, in no small part, the reason why they couldn't convince a better candidate to run.

So, Georgia is not an environment where it's obvious that sending President Trump in and reminding everyone in Georgia that he's the President is a strategy that is going to help Republicans on the ballot there.

KEILAR: In those other states, though, even with his approval rating being what it is, there are still some people who adore him, right?

HUNT: There are. Yes.

KEILAR: And those are the folks that he's going for.

HUNT: Right.

KEILAR: So, how does that work?

HUNT: Well, I mean, that base -- and we've seen that base be very durable, right, over time -- this, like, 30 percent of people who are MAGA to the end. And again, I think you really have to think about them in terms of being people who are uniquely interested in Donald Trump. They may not be interested in politics at all otherwise. And, you know, we saw this a little bit too. You see it with charismatic leaders. I mean, you start with Barack Obama as well.

I mean, there are people that showed up to vote for Democrats when Barack Obama was on the ballot who otherwise, you know, we haven't seen or heard from really since.

KEILAR: Or just stay-at-home, yes.

HUNT: Right? So, you know, it's a risky -- every -- every one of these strategies carries risk. And the President himself has also shown -- demonstrated that he wants to be the center of attention all the time. I mean, if you look at the ads that he was using government money to run during NFL games, all about him.

[15:20:00] Republican candidates in swing districts or these states like Alaska, and Ohio and Texas, this territory that should be really red, right, those candidates are not running ads with Trump in them, right? We know that from our analysis. There's very few Republican ads that have included the President, so he's running the campaign for himself.

I mean, we also hear this from voters, right? They're frustrated with the President for seeming to focus on himself, his legacy, the Kennedy Center, his name going on things, over the problems that they have. And so that is inherently the tension in him going to these places.

On the one hand, they might get some voters out that otherwise wouldn't go, but they also might remind people who don't like him that he's the president, and that could work against him.

KEILAR: Kasie, thanks for spending some time us.

DEAN: Good to see you.

HUNT: Good to see you, guys.

KEILAR: You have a -- you have a big interview coming up.

HUNT: I -- I do, yes. Please, everyone should -- would love to have you stick around after your great show, and we're going to talk to Pete Buttigieg ...

DEAN: Okay.

HUNT: ... who may be a 2028 candidate here in, I don't know, matter of weeks.

DEAN: Very soon. Yes, that's all we're going to start very soon.

KEILAR: All right. Or who knows, it could be -- it could be in 45 minutes when Kasie gets it out of him and tells us. Kasie, thank you so much.

HUNT: Thank you. Great to see you.

KEILAR: Yes, that's, of course, coming up on "The Arena with Kasie Hunt" at 4 P.M. Eastern. You can move the prompter up, because I already read through that part. There we go. Thank you.

All right, coming up, CNN talking to the mother of the 16-year-old who shot and killed three young students and the teacher at Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:53]

DEAN: New details are emerging on the latest deadly school shooting to traumatize a U.S. community. A source telling CNN investigators in Bend, Oregon, have interviewed the parents of the 16-year-old who opened fire at Silver Rail Elementary yesterday, killing three students and a teacher. We're told their home has been searched, and electronic devices have been confiscated.

Police say an armed bystander followed the teenager into the school and killed him before police officers arrived. We are expecting more information when officials hold a news conference in just a little bit. CNN's Nick Watt is there at the scene for us in Bend.

And, Nick, I know you spoke with the shooter's mother just a little bit ago. What did she tell you, and how is the community kind of pulling itself together today after this horrific, unimaginable attack?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, listen, the day after this, one thing is there's no noise. There's no noise of kids playing in the playground because the schools are closed. We're just seeing kids and their parents walking around in dazed silence.

Now, the mother of the shooter, we found her sitting on the balcony of her house, looking to mid-distance, crying, smoking a cigarette, clearly overwhelmed by what's happened. She said, "I miss my boy. I'm so sorry." We asked if she had any message for the parents of the kids who died. She said, "I'm so sorry. I wish there was something I could have done. I'm sorry for their loss."

She said that there were no warning flags, no sign that her son was going to do something like this. She described him as a good boy.

Now, I asked her also how he managed to get a hold of a gun. She said, "I can't comment on that," and walked back inside her apartment.

Now, one source is telling us that she, the mother, in fact purchased the gun, which is a Maverick 88 compact shotgun. It's kind of a beginner shotgun. Now, here in Oregon, if you're 16, as this shooter was, you can't buy that shotgun, but you can possess it legally for hunting, sport, et cetera. So, that is what the mother had to say to us.

Now, we've also heard from a source that the 16-year-old shooter was seen dropping the gun over the fence here at the school and then making his way in, Jessica.

DEAN: And, Nick, we're also getting new information about this bystander who stopped the attack. What are you learning about that?

WATT: Well, he saw the shooter go in and followed the shooter into the school. We now know he is a local man. He is a father. He has two daughters at this elementary school. And, listen, this whole shooting went down in about three minutes. From the time of the first 911 call, it was three minutes until the police got here. By the time police got here, you had three kids dead, aged five, eight, and eleven. You had a teacher dead, and you had that shooter dead, neutralized, killed by that father who followed him on to campus.

So this is horrific. Could it have been worse? Yes, maybe, Jessica. DEAN: Just underscoring: a five-year-old, an eight-year-old, an eleven-year-old, and an elementary school teacher, all dead in three minutes. Nick Watt, thank you so much for that reporting.

Ahead, an unusually high donation by a sitting member of the House: Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez giving Abdul El-Sayed $one million for his Senate campaign. We have the latest on that key race in Michigan next.

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