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Hero Captain from Flydubai Flight Gives New Interview from Hospital Bed; Trump Heads to Kansas as Key Senate Race Tightens; Trump Slams Ukraine President Zelenskyy, Blames Him for Causalities. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 19, 2026 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The Flydubai pilot who was attacked by his co-pilot is recalling how a routine journey turned into a fight for survival. Captain Smit Machchhar has been hailed as a hero after thwarting what the UAE attorney general has said was an attempted suicide attack.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: In a new interview, Machchhar talks about what he was thinking as the attack took place in the cockpit.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SMIT MACHCHHAR, HERO CAPTAIN FROM FLYDUBAI FLIGHT: To be honest, I was not very sure that I'll make it out alive from this. Did I give up? No.

I can 100 percent tell you I did not give up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now. So, Pete, what more are you hearing from the pilot?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, first I have to show you, this is the crash axe on board a Boeing 737 used in an emergency that authorities in the UAE say the first officer used to attack Captain Smit Machchhar. It weighs about two and a half pounds, about two feet long. It's there to break down parts of the airplane in case you need to get out in an emergency, obviously not to attack your fellow pilot.

This incredible new interview really lays out what Captain Machchhar felt as he was being attacked using this axe.

[15:35:00]

He said the first blow, he thought the plane was actually crashing in behind him, that something actually went wrong with the airplane itself. Only during subsequent blows did he realize that he was being attacked. This interview done by The National, which is an English- language Emirati outlet. And he tells this reporter that this was really an incredible presence of mind, that he was able to unbuckle his seatbelt as he was being attacked, held up his arm to protect some of his head, and then also begin to open the cockpit door and yell out to other crew members on board to come to his aid. I want you to listen now to this soundbite in which he describes this sort of sequence here and the help that came to his aid.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MACHCHHAR: Immediately my hand went to the knob which opens the seat, the door, and screaming for my colleagues, screaming his name. I did hear the cockpit door opening, and there was some screaming conversation happened between my colleague and the guy.

The amount of control that I had, I did my best to do what I did. And the others, which when it came on their hand, did what they were supposed to do and saved the day.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: That effort was critical, and it was able to get passengers and other crew members into the cockpit to stop this horrifying dive of 16,000 feet in only about 30 seconds. Emirati authorities say Hammam al-Hammami was the co-pilot of this flight, tried to intentionally crash this airplane. He was going to go to Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv in an attack inspired by 9-11.

Obviously, all of these actions, including that of Captain Smit Machchhar, thwarted this whole thing. But, you know, clearly this is quite incredible. It weighs about two and a half pounds, pretty sharp there on the front, and then there's this sort of pickaxe portion of the back that is obviously quite blunt.

And so you can see that this could do a lot of damage to somebody on board. This is always in the airplane, so the point is for an emergency not necessarily to be attacked by this. It's too bad that this turned into a real weapon.

SANCHEZ: Yes, it is. It's kind of scary.

MUNTEAN: Yes, very much so.

SANCHEZ: We're lucky that he's OK and that he was able to open that cockpit door, get this thing away.

KEILAR: Yes, this is crazy that this was used as a weapon.

MUNTEAN: I brought some weird things on set in my day here at CNN. I feel like this is one of the strangest ones, and it's quite, I mean, it's really sharp.

KEILAR: We're trying to figure out, I don't know how you survive that on either side of this.

MUNTEAN: Yes, me neither.

KEILAR: This is so sharp, and this is so -- I mean, this is devastating.

MUNTEAN: And you see in some of the other videos that were shared online just how bloodied he was and some of the other folks who came into the airplane how obviously bloodied they were too by this. So this really sort of brings up this whole question about how to properly protect the cockpit. Is the cockpit door too fortified to make it so that somebody couldn't rush in in case they needed help like this?

Some really sort of big secondary bounce questions here as we sort of try to figure out and piece this incident together.

KEILAR: Yes, that really puts it into perspective.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

KEILAR: So thank you for sharing.

MUNTEAN: Anytime.

KEILAR: Pete Muntean, appreciate it.

Ahead, Trump is headlining midterm rallies every day this week, but are voters going to get back on board amid his record low approval ratings? We'll talk about that next.

[15:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: This just into CNN. President Trump speaking to reporters before heading to Kansas to rally Republican voters. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm the one that got him there. I'm the one that's winning. I'm the one that's doing the rallies and taking people into a winning position.

As an example, we're up in Texas. We weren't. We're up in Alaska.

We weren't. We're up. Everybody, every place that I've gone to, we're up.

My rallies are having a huge impact and a positive impact on the Republican Party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: A newly calculated CNN poll of polls finds the president's approval rating now stands at 34 percent. And when it comes to the choice for Congress, Democrats lead Republicans 54 to 45 percent. Let's talk about some politics now with former DNC communications director Xochitl Hinojosa.

We should note that she is the sister of Texas Democratic governor nominee Gina Hinojosa. We're also joined by Rick Tyler. He served as a spokesperson for Ted Cruz's presidential campaign.

OK, Rick, so Trump carried Kansas by about 16 points just two years ago, 25 to 30 points to hear him tell it just moments ago there. But it was 16. This race is really neck and neck, which it kind of has no business being.

But I wonder, do you think that Trump can help get some of those voters in rural areas and his folks out for Marshall?

RICK TYLER, FORMER SPOKESPERSON, TED CRUZ PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGN: I don't know. Texas is home to a very large Canadian company, which is affected very dramatically by the tariffs.

KEILAR: Can't Kansas. Sorry, did I say Texas? I might have said Texas.

TYLER: Kansas.

KEILAR: Kansas.

TYLER: I'm sorry. Yes, same place.

KEILAR: OK.

TYLER: The bombardier is in Kansas about a thousand jobs. Farmers are in Kansas, too, and they have been hurt dramatically by Trump's policies. So I think Trump going does reminds them. Look, this tour has less to do about helping Republicans win. I call it the don't blame me tour by Trump, because that's all he seems to be worried about.

You know, in in in the political world and consultants are very keen on this is the optics of winning.

[15:45:00]

You have to look like you're winning, even when you're not winning, to look like a winning team, which brings in the optics of inevitability. And right now, the Republicans have the optics of losing everywhere and the Democrats have the optics of winning. And I don't know what's going to reverse that in the next two weeks and two days.

SANCHEZ: So she the opponent to Roger Marshall is Adam Hamilton. He's out with a new video directly appealing to Trump voters, saying that if he makes it to Washington, he's not going to answer to any party. He notes that he was a Republican most of his life.

Democrats are banking on moderates like him across the map to win the Senate. That would mean that there would be a big tent, right? A lot of widespread views among Democrats in the Senate and in Congress.

How hard is it going to be to keep that coalition together and to actually govern? XOCHITL HINOJOSA, FORMER DNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, the goal is ultimately to win. And if you're Hakeem Jeffries and you're Chuck Schumer, you're going to give these elect -- or these candidates the space to do what they have to do in order to appeal in their state. I think one thing Democrats have done well this time around that Republicans haven't done well is that they've recruited candidates that appeal to these moderate voters that appeal to Republicans.

You have this sort of James Talarico's and others who are appealing and bringing Republicans to their side. And Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries will also have to realize that if they want to keep the House and the Senate, they're going to have to appeal and let those leaders take positions and take votes that would allow them. And sometimes potentially go on the side of Republicans if they want to keep their seats.

You have to remember that six years from now, if there is a Democratic president, it'll be the first Democratic midterm after the president is elected. Is that right? No, they will.

It'll be. Yes. Well, if there is a Democratic president, it'll be one where there is a Democratic leader.

And if that is the case, then it'll be very hard for Democrats to hold on to the Senate and to hold on to the House. We know that this flips back and forth. So regardless, we need our Democratic leadership to give them that space and to let them caucus however they want to caucus.

SANCHEZ: Rick, something that has struck me about a lot of interviews that our reporters have been doing at these Trump rallies, when they're specifically asked who they blame for high gas prices, for a myriad of issues facing the economy. And this is actually something that was found from Republican operatives that conducted a focus group in the Midwest as well. A lot of these voters point to, quote, corrupt politicians and billionaires.

They're reticent to actually put the blame on the Trump administration. Is there a lesson there for Republicans in maybe adjusting the way that they're running their races?

TYLER: I think the lesson is that people do think the government is corrupt and that this economy or this government is working for somebody, but it's not working for them. People who are who go to work every day and expect that you make a decent living, and you can afford to raise a family. And that's been harder and harder.

So, look, Trump is thinking that he's going to go out there and, in a sense, he's doing exactly what he should be doing, which is actually motivating the base, because there is no other place to go. His problem is he keeps nationalizing the election when he needs to let the Republicans make this a choice election. I counted 11 stories this week that Trump was directly involved in that are negative for Republicans.

Eleven different stories that are negative for Republicans. They're all distractions that keep the Republican candidates from saying what this election is actually about. Instead, they keep having to explain whatever it is.

The Greek ambassador, the five day press secretary, gas prices, this horrible deal with Russia, Ukraine, Iran. I mean, just on and on and on and on. So I look at it's I think it's baked in.

It's not going to be a good night for Republicans. And what Republicans or Democrats should be thinking about doing is when I can remember there were stable governing majorities, they weren't Republican majorities, they were Democratic majorities, and they lasted for 60 years. And no party since 1994 has figured out how to be a stable governing majority.

And I don't think moderate is the right term. I think it's just instead of just being on a team, no matter what your leader, your party says, it is what are the commonsense solutions that keep Americans free and prosperous? And there's a lot of bipartisan things that can be done.

But instead, one party proposes and the other one just reflexively rejects it. And we are not going to get out of that cycle until somebody decides to exert leadership.

SANCHEZ: Rick and Xochitl, we have to leave the conversation there. We'll do it again very soon. Thanks so much.

Still ahead, growing tension between Washington and Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says that once again his country received no warning from its partners as Russia launched a ballistic missile attack. The details next.

[15:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Just moments ago, President Trump lashed out at Ukraine and downplayed Russia's role in helping Iran in the war with the U.S. That development happening as Ukraine's capital assesses the damage from a barrage of Russian attacks overnight, which hit several civilian targets. Ukraine's president says a drone strike on a public park killed six people, including three kids. He says once again his country got no warning from its partners about incoming attacks.

Over the weekend, Ukraine hit a key Russian oil terminal in St. Petersburg, one of its biggest drone strikes on Russia this year. This followed President Trump signing an executive order to suspend sanctions on Russia and to buy Russian diesel fuel. Let's discuss with William Taylor.

He's a former U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, also a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council. Ambassador, thank you so much for being with us. First, on the Trump administration waiving these sanctions, they argue that this is going to incentivize Russia to negotiate an end to the war.

Do you agree?

[15:55:00]

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: No. Boris, in order to incentivize Russia to negotiate the end, which is a good thing to do, you need to put pressure on them. You need to do the opposite. You don't give them gifts.

Waiving sanctions is a gift. The diesel fuel deal is a gift.

SANCHEZ: That's not the way to get Putin to the table. So how do you see that in the context of this spat between Trump and Zelenskyy, where Trump is now saying that he thinks that perhaps someone else should negotiate for Ukraine, essentially calling for a new Ukrainian leader?

TAYLOR: Boris, everybody knows that the Ukrainians decide their leader. Ukrainians are a democracy. Ukrainians are a democracy.

They choose their leader just like all other democracies do. Every time President Trump says something like that, or Elon Musk says something like that, more Ukrainians support Zelenskyy. And when they hear Trump say that his rating will go up.

SANCHEZ: Interesting. It's notable that the president initially, when the subject of Ukraine came up during his question and answer session there, he was asked about reports from CNN and others that Skyshield going down, this online service provided by Musk that helps Ukraine launch attacks and track what's going on in the battlefield, was turned off effectively by someone at the White House, though not directly by President Trump himself. He says that he doesn't know who ordered the interruption of Skyshield, though he would like to find out.

How do you see this back and forth going as you hear Zelenskyy say that there was no notice, no intelligence provided by the United States or other partners of incoming Russian missiles?

TAYLOR: So what we know is there was no alert. There was no information going to the Ukrainians. That means that someone made a decision.

There's one person in charge of this administration that most people will ask permission to do if they're going to make a decision like that. So I think it almost doesn't matter who it was. It's the responsibility of the president.

SANCHEZ: And when you hear Trump say that he would like to have a potential meeting between himself, Xi Jinping of China and Vladimir Putin of Russia to discuss denuclearization as a whole, but potentially specifically the war in Ukraine, do you think there could be a breakthrough there? What would a meeting like that entail?

TAYLOR: It would accomplish nothing. The Ukrainians have to be at the table to have any negotiation about the war in Ukraine. Ambassador Fried always says nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. And that has to be the case. If the three of them got together and had this conversation and came up to some agreement, the Ukrainians would likely turn it down. It would be meaningless.

SANCHEZ: As there is this spat between President Trump and Zelenskyy, and there is the question of Starshield being turned off, whether intelligence is being provided or not, is there anything other European allies can do that would fill the void left by Trump and the United States?

TAYLOR: The Ukrainians know that the Europeans can and are stepping up. The Europeans can't provide all that we do, all that the United States does. There are certain facilities, there are certain weapons systems like the Patriots that no one can produce other than the Americans.

However, the Europeans are stepping up with a lot. They've got some anti-ballistic missile weapons that aren't as good as the Patriots, but they are there. They're helping develop with the Ukrainians their own anti-ballistic missiles.

And some intelligence, like two-thirds of the intelligence is coming to Ukraine from places other than the United States. There's some key intelligence coming from the United States, which has to do with the warnings on these missile attacks. And that they're apparently only getting from us, but the other ones are coming.

SANCHEZ: So if this relaxation of sanctions and this back and forth with Zelenskyy does not incentivize Putin toward peace, do you think it emboldens him to seek more?

TAYLOR: It absolutely does. He will pocket any of these proposals, any of these offers, any of these gifts, not come to the table, expect more. I mean, he's talking about the possibility of getting Russian frozen assets back.

And maybe our negotiators are open to that or suggesting that, talking about maybe the Europeans should be buying Russian gas again. He'll go for more. He'll go for more each time you give him a gift.

He won't negotiate. If Mr. Witkoff thinks that these gifts are going to get President Putin to the table, so far, he's just wrong.

SANCHEZ: And quickly, before we go, we only have a few seconds. Is there anything Congress can do as we head toward the midterm elections?

TAYLOR: Put real pressure on the administration to support Ukraine in its time of need.

SANCHEZ: Ambassador William Taylor, I appreciate the perspective. Thanks for joining us.

TAYLOR: Thank you, Boris. Thank you, Boris.

SANCHEZ: We are so grateful that you joined us this afternoon. Brianna, I appreciate you being there and moral support.

KEILAR: I'm here to support you morally in your conversations.

SANCHEZ: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END