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Markle Responds to Allegations Against Her Father; Polls on Rural Voters; One-on-One with Microsoft A.I. CEO. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired October 23, 2026 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

STEPHEN MOORE, FORMER TRUMP ECONOMIC ADVISER: We have the low -- the lowest crime rate in the United States in 50 years. We could -- we have the most investment coming into the country in history. We have the highest stock market that we've ever had. And so, family wealth has increased. There's so many trends that are going in a positive direction and yet people are in a bad mood. I can't explain that, except for the fact that gas prices are high and nobody likes to pay a lot to fill up their tank.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: And I will say that it's been a problem over presidencies too. The same thing was happening, you know, for some different reasons with the Biden administration. But this may be one reason why. And, you know, if you look over here, because inflation, which is the red line, is outpacing wage growth here. That is something that people tend to feel fairly directly. And that was the case during the entire Biden administration, largely, and also right here at this point during the Trump administration.

Stephen Moore, thanks so much for being with us. I really appreciate your insight on this.

Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, thank you, John.

Ahead, breaking this morning, Meghan Markle responding to allegations being leveled at her father. Authorities are investigating accusations that images of child sex abuse were found at his home. What the duchess is saying this morning about her estranged father.

That story more, ahead.

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[09:35:28]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning. Meghan Markle is speaking out now about an investigation into child sexual abuse images allegedly found at the home of her estranged father. The duchess of Sussex now revealing that she heard about these disturbing allegations against Thomas Markle eight years ago.

CNN's Anna Stewart is in London with much more on this. Anna, what is known, and, I guess, what are the big questions still

here?

ANNA STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Lots of questions remain. This story broke last night in "The Sun" newspaper. Thomas Markle's son, also called Thomas Markle Jr., he says that he found in his father's house hundreds, if not thousands of images of child sex abuse. This was the house in the Philippines. He says he found them in storage boxes, on computer hard drives, on an old phone. He says he had no choice but to alert officials there, and CNN has spoken to the Philippines justice department. They say they are currently investigating this.

His son also alerted the us FBI hotline, the U.S. National Center for Exploited and Missing Children and state police in Pennsylvania, which is where his father was then living. His father, we believe, is currently in a rehab facility in Florida.

Thomas Markle has denied the allegations, speaking to "The Daily Mail" newspaper, CNN has been unable to get a hold of Thomas Markle or his son or Samantha Markle, the other sister, who says these allegations are untrue.

Then we get to what we've heard from Meghan, the duchess of Sussex, who said, "I am deeply distressed at the news that has come to light in the last 24 hours. And my thoughts are with any children who may have been harmed."

And as you say, she also said she received a letter back in 2018. We believe it was a few months after she married Prince Harry. And she says this was from a unit of the met police. And in that letter, allegations were made against her father, but she doesn't say exactly what those allegations were. But she said she was given assurances that those allegations were being investigated.

Now, she says that this is the reason she became estranged from her father, adding in a statement today, "I hope it can now be understood that despite certain media publication's distortion over the years, any distance from my father and my choice to not allow him to have contact with our was for one reason, to protect them." She hopes justice will be served, and she says that her thoughts are very much on the safety and protection of innocent children.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Oh, my goodness. All of this so sad.

Anna, thank you very much for bringing us this update.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, we check in on rural voters. The common assumption is they largely support President Trump. But what are the odds that things like his trade war and the Iran War are turning them off this election? Harry Enten has the numbers for you ahead.

And a fast-moving river triggering multiple evacuations in southern California. We'll show you a high-flying water rescue.

Those stories and more, ahead.

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[09:42:50]

BERMAN: All right, President Trump was just in Iowa. And one of the biggest shifts we've seen in terms of support for the president has come within a voting group that is one of the hardest for me to say out loud, that's rural voters. Rural voters. There have been big shifts among rural voters and their support for the president.

With us now is CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Huera Jera (ph), yes.

BERMAN: It's hard. It's a lot of r's.

ENTEN It's hard. It's hard. It's very, very hard. But the numbers here are extremely easy to understand.

What are we talking about here? Well, just take a look at this. Hello. OK. Trump's net approval rating among rural voters. It was plus 23 points on the retrospective back in October of 2024. Look at where he is now with rural voters. Hello. We're talking about 18 points underwater or under the cornfields you might say. That is a shift, Johnny B., of, what, 41 points in the wrong direction. A group that has been a bedrock of Republican campaigns during the 21st century, and especially a bedrock for Donald John Trump. They have very much shifted against the president of the United States.

BERMAN: I feel like this is a question I've asked before. Why?.

ENTEN: Why? Why, why, why? Johnny B. has asked before, and it is because it is the same for many groups, but it is especially true for rural Americans.

Take a look at this. OK.

BERMAN: Oh.

ENTEN: Rural adults. Oh. Oh. Johnny B. says, oh, oh. I mean this is what we're talking about. Look at this. Versus Kamala Harris in 2024. Donald Trump was more trusted on the issue of inflation among rural adults by 37 percentage points.

Look at his net approval rating now. It is 35 points under water. I mean, oh my God, you just don't really see shifts like this.

What are we talking about here, Johnny B. We're talking about a 72- point shift in the wrong direction.

BERMAN: Yes.

ENTEN: Rural voters, rural Americans, very much running away from President Trump. This is not a field of dreams. This is a field of nightmares for the president of the United States.

BERMAN: Mirror image here. And does it have an impact on others?

ENTEN: Yes. OK. So, it is a mirror image here. It's basically the inverse. My goodness gracious, plus 37 to minus 35.

[09:45:01]

And this, to me, is what's so worrying if you're a Republican running for Congress. Yes, you are still leading with rural voters, but the margin has shrunk significantly.

What are we talking about? Rural voters for the U.S. generic ballot, plus 32 points in October of 2024. Look at this. In January of 2026, plus 30 points. Still basically holding. But now down to just plus 14 points. Of course, what happened here? Well, the Iran war started and the gas prices very much up -- went up a whole heck of a lot. And that's been hurting rural voters and rural states very, very hard.

BERMAN: And it's a reminder, you don't have to be underwater, but you need to be running up the margins among your key voting groups here.

ENTEN: Exactly right. Democrats are going to be carrying urban areas by a lot. They're carrying suburban areas. If Republicans aren't wiping the floor with Democrats in rural areas, they're in a whole lot of trouble.

BERMAN: Let's talk about some states where this might matter in the Senate race and the prediction markets. You know, Maine used to be one of the biggest potato growing states in the country.

ENTEN: I did not know that, Johnny B. But what I do know is it's still one of the most rural states in the country.

And we can take a look here. The chance that Troy Jackson, the Democrat, wins the Maine Senate race, look at this, it was 57 percent on October 9th according to the Kalshi prediction markets two weeks ago. Look at that. That chance is up. Now it's about two in three.

Look, it's not 100 percent. This race is still tight. But Troy Jackson, right now at least, the nominal favorite in large part because of Trump's collapse with rural voters.

BERMAN: Harry Enten, thank you very much.

ENTEN: Thank you, my friend.

BERMAN: We do have a lot of news this morning. We'll be right back.

ENTEN: Ra, ra (ph).

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[09:50:57]

SIDNER: On our radar for you this morning, the Los Angeles Fire Department rescuing three people from raging floodwaters. They were trapped when heavy rains sent muddy river water surging into a storm channel that's lined there with concrete. They were taken to the hospital and they're expected to be OK. A fourth person reported missing has since been found safe.

A renovation project in Wisconsin uncovered a little piece of history. A vintage Pepsi mural. Workers were removing old siding from a building when they discovered the mural hidden underneath. One local preservationist estimates the Pepsi logo dates to the late 1930s or the early 1950s. Not quite nailing down the date in that 20-year span.

And tonight, game one of the World Series, in case you didn't know. Neither team has ever won a World Series. Both the Milwaukee Brewers and the Tampa Bay Rays are looking for an historic win. And fans are having to pay a very high price for this rare matchup. Last check on Ticketmaster, a standing room only ticket for game one cost you about $2,200. And to get a seat, well, those are going for somewhere around $2,500 and up.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Well, good thing we never sit down or something like that.

Last month a group of tech executives gathered at the White House and agreed to, remember what it was called, a morally binding deal to self-police. A pledge to make sure that A.I. advancement doesn't go rogue and, well, ruin everything. Some A.I. leaders and President Trump have said that they don't really think anything more is needed in terms of guardrails beyond that. In an interview, though, with CNN's Clare Duffy, Microsoft's A.I. CEO disagrees.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFA SULEMAN, MICROSOFT A.I. CEO: The airline industry doesn't self-regulate, like, nor does the food standards industry, or the car industry, or the oil industry or, you know, like, we can't be overbearing in regulation. Of course we can't. But, you know, it will ultimately need like, you know, some kind of regulation, if not this year, next year, the year after.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: Clare is here with us.

Clare, what is this vision for a humanist A.I. that he's talked about with you?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, he said he really thinks that we need regulation because he said that he is really concerned about this existential risk that A.I. could pose. But he said there is still plenty that we can do to control and prevent that. And this vision for humanist A.I. in many ways is very simple. He said that we need A.I. that acts in the service of humans. For example, doesn't deceive humans when you're talking to it, that you might be talking to another person rather than a bot, doesn't try to hide the actions that it's been taking, which is something that we've seen in some of these rogue A.I. instances in the past.

BOLDUAN: Right.

DUFFY: And he said that this may mean that we need to take a pause on A.I. development sometime within the next two to 10 years. And there will be -- will need to be industry and government agreement on how we do that.

BOLDUAN: Yes.

DUFFY: Another really interesting thing that he argued is that, in order to stay in control of this technology, it's really important that we don't treat it like it's conscious or that it is deserving of rights.

Take a listen to what he said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MUSTAFA SULEMAN, MICROSOFT A.I. CEO: We cannot have a situation where an A.I. can own assets. It can't be able to have a bank account, you know, or trade currency. Or if it can start to acquire its own resources, you know, it is definitely going to compete with human interests. And that isn't what we want. You know, as we said in the humanist A.I. code of conduct, we want a subordinate A.I., which works for humans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: And that piece is really interesting because we are hearing leaders at some other big A.I. companies, including at Anthropic, having these conversations about whether these computer programs might be conscious or deserving of welfare. He is saying that is very dangerous.

SIDNER: What's he saying in response to real deep concerns about jobs and A.I. taking jobs?

DUFFY: Yes, I mean, he said that is really real. He said, especially in certain industries, think of call centers, for example, where A.I. is already taking on significant human work. We are going to see significant, pretty drastic and fast transformation of those workplaces. Of course, he does agree that the new jobs will be created. But he said, in the meantime, we really need investment in upskilling and trying to figure out how we take care of people who lose their jobs because of ai.

So again, a call for action on behalf of the companies and also governments to work together to address this really transformational change that A.I. is already creating.

[09:55:07]

BERMAN: Is he wicked popular among the other A.I. people, like he -- because he's saying they want a -- he wants a pause, and the others are saying, no, no, no. DUFFY: Yes. I mean, I think what he -- what's really interesting to me

about Mustafa Suleman is that he believes that we still have a lot of control over this technology. Some of these A.I. leaders have said, look, this is sort of out of our hands. It's being created one way or another. And he says, no, we need to stay in control of this technology. That is possible. And that is our role as leaders in this industry.

BOLDUAN: Yes, key leaders on all fronts and coordination. So easy these days.

Clare, it is great to see you. Thank you so much.

SIDNER: Even A.I. can't solve that.

BOLDUAN: Will try.

You can hear more of this interview on CNN podcast "Terms of Service" with Clare Duffy. You can get it wherever you get your podcasts. Oh, look at her there.

SIDNER: Great shot.

All right, thank you so much for being here, Clare. And thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM" is up next. Happy Friday!

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