Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Life Threatening Injuries in U.K. Train Stabbing Attack; Trump Doubles Down, Urges GOP Leaders to End Filibuster; Dodgers Win Championship, Beat Blue Jays in Game Seven. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 02, 2025 - 03:30   ET

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

[03:00:00]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world. You are now in the CNN Newsroom with me, Ben Hunte, in Atlanta, and it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, an investigation is underway in the U.K. after nearly a dozen people are stabbed on a commuter train. The latest on the attack coming up.

Millions of Americans now anxiously awaiting food assistance amid a government shutdown, as the political finger pointing in Washington continues.

And back-to-back after a winner takes all game seven, baseball crowns a repeat World Series champion.

Welcome. British Counterterrorism Police are investigating a stabbing attack on a London-bound passenger train on Saturday evening on one of the U.K.'s busiest rail routes. At least ten people were hospitalized, nine with life-threatening injuries. Two people have been arrested and major travel disruptions reported with all rail lines blocked.

One witness described seeing a man with a large knife. Another said she thought it was just a Halloween prank until she saw an injured and bleeding man running through the train.

CNN Reporter Barbie Latza Nadeau joins us now live with more. Barbie, thanks so much for being with me. What is the latest that you are hearing about this awful incident?

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: Yes. You know, it really is awful. Investigators are still cautioning against speculating on the motive and any of the details around the incident. Two people, of course, have been arrested, and as you mentioned, so many people on that train thought it was a Halloween prank just because of the nature of it.

But once you saw the amount of blood of these victims, many, as you said, nine in life-threatening condition, it became very clear that this was just yet another knife attack in the U.K.

Let's listen to what one of those eyewitnesses had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OLLY FOSTER, STABBING WITNESS: And I got my stuff and I was running. And everyone was really pushing behind this really panicking. And at this point I was kind of asking questions, like what's going on? What's happening? Like who is it? And they were like a guy's just stabbing everyone back there. And then I put my hand on this chair, like just trying to push myself forward, and then I look at my hand and it's covered in blood, and then I look at the chair and there's blood all over the chair. And then I look ahead and there's blood all on the chairs, and I'm thinking, okay, this is pretty serious.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NADEAU: And, you know, Ben, when you listen to that, it's just really a harrowing incident and no one really quite understood what was going on, how many people there might have been. Two people have been arrested so far. They're still looking into what may have caused this. Ben?

HUNTE: And just last year, the prime minister launched a new coalition to tackle knife crime in the U.K. What more can you tell us about that coalition and the progress that's being made to combat these knife crimes?

NADEAU: Yes. You know, like in the United States, you have the gun violence issue. In the U.K., this knife violence issue has really become a problem. And they're looking at with this coalition, a lot of things that are very similar to gun violence in the sense that they're looking at the purchase and sale of knives, knives of this caliber that are being used in these sorts of attacks, and also looking at the sort of suspects and if there's some sort of motivation out there that is causing especially young people to take part in these violence.

But it's a very complex issue because knives are much easier to buy, of course, than guns. But, you know, consequences like this, you know, you're looking at checking systems to see if people are carrying knives on public transportation, but it really does leave a lot of people vulnerable, and it really is a question. And in terms of what this coalition is looking at is what's motivating people to carry out these violent attacks. Ben?

HUNTE: Well, Barbie Latza Nadeau in Rome, thank you for the latest and speak to you again very soon.

Glenn Schoen is a security management consultant and a security and terrorism expert. He joins us now from The Hague in the Netherlands. Thank you so much for being with me, Glenn.

When we talk about public transport security, what can realistically be done to protect passengers on open systems, like trains, without disrupting our daily lives?

GLENN SCHOEN, SECURITY MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT: Well, I think on the one hand, of course, government itself can do a lot if we think about the policing effort. We can't put a police officer on every train, but, certainly, having a heightened posture and awareness around stations where people exit and egress from rail systems on rail themselves, other than once in a while, a uniformed officer, you could interchange that with undercover officers.

[03:05:11]

You could certainly increase the surveillance of platforms so we can react faster when something happens. And, naturally, individuals themselves, think about it, what you could do to be slightly more resilient, would you pull the alarm or not? What's the advice on that? Would you have an app perhaps that could alert the police sooner? Could you get some training in first aid perhaps, or even carry some things with you, like an umbrella that you could use for personal protection?

HUNTE: We are almost certainly going to see security being tightened at stations across the U.K. today. In your view, are those measures mostly reassurance or can they actually help to prevent another attack?

SCHOEN: I think they can probably actually help. And remember that much of Europe right now, Ben, is in a very forward posture. We're looking at terrorism because, of course, on 13 November is the ten- year anniversary of the big ISIS attacks in Paris. So, much of Europe already is looking ahead at this date, a week-and-a-half from now. There will be probably extra warnings and alerts in the next week, week-and-a-half to come. And in the U.K., with this unfortunate incident, of course, right now, we're looking very much at transport, but I'm -- it's probable we'll see other alerts and warnings in other public venues as well.

But, certainly, these kinds of actions, increasing the policing power, increasing the monitoring, can certainly help to spot these things early, and they have in the past already proven valuable.

HUNTE: We haven't yet heard about a possible motive, but coming one month after a Manchester synagogue attack, could something like this lead to the national threat level going up?

SCHOEN: Certainly. I think at the moment, it is a severe, which is essentially a sort of medium rating. It could happen, maybe, yes, maybe, no. It certainly could go up from that substantial, I'm sorry, to a severe level because of this.

And, again, I mentioned the timeframe. You yourself said it. We just had an incident 2 October, just a month ago in the U.K., a very serious incident outside of Manchester. Now, again, a serious incident, it looks like. We can't jump to conclusions, but the possibility certainly is there.

I think authorities will be looking at this, and at the same time, we have to realize this is taxing British policing and intelligence capability at the moment, because not only is the threat that is sort of the largest volume here, extremist Islamism a concern, but so is right wing extremism and so is Russian hybrid warfare activity. So, it's a busy time for British authorities right now.

HUNTE: Considering this incident did occur on a packed train, are you surprised that there haven't been any fatalities reported yet? SCHOEN: Yes. And I'm delighted, of course, to hear that and let's hope everybody survives. But it sounds very grave in terms of several people's injuries here. So, I'm hopeful we're not going to get sad news in the course of today that somebody might have passed away after all.

HUNTE: Gosh. What do you think this incident tells us about this evolving threat picture we're seeing in Europe right now, particularly when it comes to attacks on everyday public spaces like this?

SCHOEN: Well, I think we're going to have to hear in the next few hours, hopefully, from British authorities, whether or not their early investigation is indicating that this was indeed intentional terrorism. At that point, we would know, yes, this apparently is part of scheming, plotting. And we want to know to what extent. Is this really, literally being guided or encouraged? In other words, can we expect more incidents like this perhaps on rail and maybe not just in the U.K.?

Much will depend on the early investigation here to give us direction. It may still be an aberrant incident, not necessarily related to terrorism, but right now, I'm afraid all the indications do point that way.

HUNTE: Okay. Well, there's still a lot that we're going to learn over the next few hours. But for now, security and terrorism expert, Glenn Schoen in The Hague, thank you so much. I appreciate it.

SCHOEN: Thank you, Ben.

HUNTE: Tensions keep escalating in the Caribbean where the U.S. has carried out yet another strike on an alleged drug trafficking vessel. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted a video of the strike on social media claiming the vessel was smuggling drugs, but provided no evidence. Hegseth also said that three male, quote, narco-terrorists were killed during the strike.

This comes as the U.S. is continuing to bolster its firepower in the region, sparking tensions with Venezuela and its president, Nicolas Maduro.

[03:10:02]

This marks the 15th known strike on alleged drug boats by the U.S. military killing at least 64 people.

You are seeing images of an explosive fire at a variety goods store in Mexico's northern state of Sonora. The state's governor says at least 23 people have been killed, including 6 children and 11 others injured. Sonora's public security agency says the fire was not related to any attack or intentional act of violence, but they did not provide further details. CNN has contacted city and state officials and requested more information.

Millions of Americans who rely on food stamps are now facing delays to their benefits amid the weeks-long government shutdown. President Trump is making a new call for Senate Republicans to scrap the filibuster, a 60-vote threshold for passing legislation. Some Republican leaders have pushed back on the idea, but Trump says it's the only way to end the shutdown.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries is slamming the Trump administration for not using emergency funds to help cover the cost of SNAP benefits, even after two federal judges ordered the White House to do it.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has more.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: As this government shutdown drags on, there are several key dates that have a major impact, and one of those was this weekend, as the funding for the Supplemental Nutrition assistance Program, or SNAP, lapsed.

On Friday, though, two federal judges ruled that the Trump administration would need to tap into billions of dollars in an emergency fund to at least partially cover the foods stamp benefits in November. Those rulings reject an argument made by the Department of Agriculture that it could not use a contingency fund in order to cover this.

Here were comments from the head of that department, Secretary Brooke Rollins, before the ruling.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKE ROLLINS, U.S. SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE: So, there is a contingency fund at USDA, but that contingency fund, by the way, doesn't even cover, I think, half of the $9.2 billion that would be required for November SNAP, but it is only allowed to flow if the underlying program is funded. It's called a contingency fund. And by law, contingency fund can only flow when the underlying fund is flowing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: And as you hear her point out there, that fund alone is not enough to cover this. The agency says there's about $5.3 billion remaining in it, and funding SNAP for a month is usually somewhere between $8 billion and $9 billion.

President Donald Trump did respond to these rulings. He said that the government lawyers do not believe they have the legal authority to pay SNAP with the money available, adding this, quote, therefore, I have instructed our lawyers to ask the court to clarify how we can legally fund SNAP as soon as possible.

Even with these rulings, millions of Americans will likely still experience delays as it will take time to get that money flowing again.

Traveling with the president in Florida, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

HUNTE: Food banks are seeing an uptick in demand amid a rising need for food assistance. The CEO of the charity, Feeding America, is warning that the lapse in SNAP funding could be devastating for families across the country. Here's what she told CNN earlier.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLAIRE BABINEAUX-FONTENOT, CEO, FEEDING AMERICA: Just within the last week, we've seen significant increases in demand. Over 70 percent of food banks are saying that, month-over-month, they're seeing increases already. We know that the fastest growing group who are turning to food banks and the charitable food system for help, even before the shutdown, were people who didn't qualify for federal assistance.

We know people who do qualify for federal nutrition programs often need food banks and pantries across the country in order to supplement because it doesn't actually stretch as far as they need. And what they were getting with SNAP for every one meal that the charitable food system can provide, SNAP has been providing nine.

We were, before the shutdown, experiencing the highest rates of food insecurity in a very, very long time, in fact, higher than at any point during the pandemic. Now, on top of that, you have the shutdown and its implications. On top of that, you have the fact that these SNAP benefits have been suspended.

I don't often use terms like this because it's not often true. The potential is absolutely devastating, cataclysmic, in fact, for the whole nation, not only people experiencing hunger.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[03:15:00]

HUNTE: Donald Trump says he ordered the Pentagon to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria. The president accuses Nigeria of allowing what he calls the mass slaughter of Christians in the country. Nigeria denies this and says that both Christians and Muslims have been victimized by radical Islamists operating there. Despite that, Trump threatened to go into the country with, quote, guns blazing.

Russia is claiming more success in the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk, where street battles are underway for its control. Moscow says it has killed 11 of the Ukrainian Special Forces that landed there to prop up the city's defenses. Russia also says some Ukrainian troops are surrounded near the railway station, but Kyiv denies those claims saying it's improving its tactical positions.

Elsewhere, this video shows Ukraine trying to take out a Russian attack drone in midair. You can see a Ukrainian defensive drone chasing a Russian UAV as it heads towards its target. Ukrainians say their drones have to come within two meters of Russian ones before exploding to destroy them.

And in Moscow, a top Kremlin aide says there's no need for the U.S. and Russian leaders to meet, at least not right now. That's from a Russian state news agency. President Donald Trump abruptly canceled his planned talks of Vladimir Putin last month saying, that it'd be, quote, a waste of time.

Harvard police are asking for help identifying two people who may have been involved in an intentional explosion at the university. Police released these photos on Saturday. They show two masked people leaving the school's medical building in the middle of the night after a fire alarm was activated.

Investigators say there was an explosion on the building's fourth floor. No injuries were reported. The FBI says it's assisting university police.

HUNTE: A storybook ending in game seven of baseball's full classic. The Los Angeles Dodgers are celebrating yet another World Series victory after defeating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 in a nail-biter. L.A. ended the game and secured the comeback win with this spectacular double play.

They grabbed the lead in the 11th inning with this solo hallmark from Will Smith. It happened after Miguel Rojas sent the match into extra innings with just two outs left. He hit a solo home run at the top of the ninth. It's L.A.'s second championship in as many years. Star pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto was named World Series MVP.

The Blue Jays could hardly believe how their early lead slipped away. The Jays last won the series 32 years ago.

Back in Los Angeles, fans are already commemorating the victory. They're flocking to stores to buy T-shirts that read, L.A. Dodgers 2025 World Series Champions.

Okay. Still to come, Jamaica is struggling to recover from the devastation of Hurricane Melissa. How aid agencies are trying to help, that's coming up next. See you in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. A devastating landslide in Kenya has killed at least 21 people with 30 others missing. It happened in the Western Rift Valley region where more than 1,000 homes have been destroyed. Heavy rains battered the area in the days leading up to the landslide. Roads remain cut off as the government attempts rescue operations despite more rain.

New before and after video of Jamaica is showing the extent of damage from Hurricane Melissa, the most powerful storm to directly hit the island since 1988. The footage shows a thriving island on the left side and a devastated landscape on the right. Buildings are caved in and the vegetation in the background is gone.

The forecast AccuWeather has estimated the storm caused up to $52 billion in damage. Jamaica confirmed at least 19 deaths on Friday, but that number is expected to rise. Many people are still without power and basic necessities. Brian Bogart is the World Food Programme's Caribbean director, and he is joining us from Kingston, Jamaica. Brian, thank you so much for being here. How are you doing at the moment?

BRIAN BOGART, COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR CARRIBEAN MULTI-COUNTRY OFFICE, WFP: I'm doing okay. Thank you.

HUNTE: Good. It is really good to see you. It has been a few days now since Hurricane Melissa tore across Jamaica. Can you just give us an idea this morning of where relief efforts currently stand and which areas are still hardest to reach for you?

BOGART: I mean, I think, right now the focus of the relief effort really is getting supply into the country and securing assistance that is available locally. And that effort is underway. We have a lot of supports coming in from a range of partners, governments around the world, including the United States really stepping up and delivering against what is a very significant level of need here in Jamaica after Hurricane Melissa.

Currently, some of the biggest challenges are getting to hard to reach areas in Western Jamaica. Efforts have been underway to clear roads of debris to find ways to reach populations that may be cut off because bridges have been damaged or there are power lines that are down. And that effort is currently really generating results because we're able to actually begin getting to people in these areas to understand what their needs are and what the priorities are for delivering assistance.

HUNTE: Can you tell us a bit about how you are getting those supplies to people? Because we know that supplies are being brought in to help thousands of people in need, but roads are blocked infrastructure is damaged. How are you getting to those individuals?

BOGART: Well, there are a number of means for reaching areas, and particularly those areas that are hardest to reach, including the deployment of helicopter assets. There are significant amounts of trucking companies that are offering support to the relief effort that is making governments in particular is really leading the response and making their assets available to transport relief supplies from where they're arriving in country to those areas that are hardest to reach and where people are most in need.

[03:25:03]

We've seen awful, heartbreaking scenes of people collecting river water or drinking coconut water just to survive. How urgent is the clean water situation right now and what's being done to address it?

BOGART: Well, obviously, in a disaster like this, clean water, food, shelter, these are critical needs that everyone needs in order to survive. And right now, I think there are multiple avenues for addressing the water shortages. Those include getting bottled water to people, including what's available locally on markets, but also trying to repair water infrastructure, and in certain cases, establishing water bladders, delivering water trucks into areas so that we can address the water needs at multiple levels. And there are partners in the United Nations system, as well as NGOs, who are working with the government to restore access to water as quickly as.

HUNTE: I do also want to talk about hospitals because there are so many hospitals in Jamaica that have been damaged or even destroyed. How are teams on the ground coordinating to create field hospitals and ensure that food and aid do reach those medical facilities quickly?

BOGART: I was on the ground in Black River within 36 hours of the all clear here in Jamaica. Some of your viewers may have seen images of Black River Hospital, which was damaged during the arrival of Hurricane Melissa in Jamaica. And you see images of patients who are in the hospital with wind and rain blowing into their quarters in the hospital. And currently, what we are looking at is trying to deliver refrigerated containers so that we can store medicines and make sure that the access to medicine is possible. We're also looking at establishing generator capacity so that they have electricity and are able to get those hospitals up and running as soon as possible.

Okay. We'll leave it there for now. But, Brian, thank you so much for joining us and we hope you stay safe and thank you for your team's work as well. We appreciate it.

BOGART: Super. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

HUNTE: Okay. Former U.S. President Barack Obama is stumping four Democrats in the final stretch before Election Day. Hear his closing message to voters when we return.

Plus, a campaign of optimism. How a Dutch party used an upbeat message to win an election and what the results could mean for the rest of Europe.

See you in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. I'm Ben Hein. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

British Counterterrorism Police are investigating a stabbing attack on a train late On Saturday. At least ten people are hospitalized, nine with life-threatening injuries. Two people have been arrested and a major incident has been declared. The rail company is reporting significant travel disruptions with all lines shut down.

Russia claims it has killed some of the Ukrainian Special Forces that recently landed in the city of Pokrovks. They were reportedly sent to bolster the city's defenses as street battles rage over its control. Ukraine is denying Russia's claim and says it's improving its tactical positions.

The U.S. government shutdown is entering day 33 and now critical food assistance for millions of Americans has been cut off. Two federal judges are ordering the Trump administration to tap into billions of dollars in emergency funds to at least partially cover food stamp benefits.

We are now just days away from election night in America and former President Barack Obama is back on the campaign trail holding rallies with the Democratic nominees for governor in Virginia and New Jersey too. He urged voters to break with President Trump.

CNN's Arlette Saenz has more for us.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former President Barack Obama worked to rally voters in the closing days of the election when he appeared with Democrat Mikie Sherill in Newark, New Jersey. This was his second of two campaign steps he made after he had earlier in the day appeared with a Democratic nominee for governor in Virginia, Abigail Spanberger.

The former president, used his speech as an attempt to not just talk up these Democratic nominees for governor, but also to criticize President Donald Trump and Republicans in Congress on things like the economy and their handling of the government shutdown.

But here in New Jersey, the former president told voters that they have a potential to send a message with their votes, not just in the Garden State, but across the country.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARACK OBAMA, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: At the same time that they're helping the wealthiest most powerful people in the country consolidate more wealth and more power, your bills are still going up. You're waiting longer at airports because there aren't enough air traffic controllers. The program that helps your kid with special needs just got gutted.

They are hoping you don't notice that. But the good news, the good news, good news, is there something you can do about it in New Jersey, right here, right now, because you've got a candidate for governor who's a proven fighter, who's got a track record of getting stuff done.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now the former president really served as the closer in this campaign. He still remains, the party's most sought after and popular Democratic surrogate.

But his appearance here in New Jersey did come after a wave of high- profile Democrats had lent their support to Sherrill campaigning for her in the state, including former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. Now, that's on the Democratic side.

On the Republican side, Sherrill's opponent, Jack Ciattarelli, has earned the endorsement of President Donald Trump, but he did not actually campaign here in the state for Ciatarrelli and said Trump held a teller rally for Ciattarelli in the closing weeks of the campaign. But this is one of the country's most closely watched governor's races this year. New Jersey is a state that former Vice President Kamala Harris won back in 2024, but it shifted to President Donald Trump, who narrowed his margin of loss to just six points.

[03:35:10]

So, this is one of the reasons why so many people are watching this race incredibly closely as these voters head to the polls on Tuesday.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Newark, New Jersey.

HUNTE: A Dutch centrist party is claiming an election victory after campaigning on a positive message that's been compared to Barack Obama's. Local media report that the D66 party won the most votes in Wednesday's general election. Its leader, Rob Jetten, is now on track to become the youngest prime minister in the Netherlands' history.

His campaign edged out the far right freedom party, known as PVV. Its leader, Geert Wilders, lost a lot of the support that had propelled him to victory just two years ago. Rob Jetten says that is because his hopeful message resonated more with voters.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROB JETTEN, DUTCH CENTRIST PARTY LEADER: I think we've now shown to also the rest of Europe and the world that it is possible to beat the populist movements if you campaign with a positive message for your country. And I'm very proud with this historic result for D66.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Despite the projected victory, the D66 party still has an uphill battle. It will need at least three coalition partners to reach a simple majority in the lower house.

Well, let's keep talking about it. Joining me now to discuss this is Kristof Jacobs. He's an associate professor at the Department of Political Science at Radboub University. Thank you so much for being with me. Kristof, how are you doing this morning?

KRISTOF JACOBS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, RADBOUD UNIVERSITY: Very well, thank you. Good morning from the Netherlands.

HUNTE: Good morning to you. This election has been described as a victory for optimism, Rob Jetten's message clearly connected with voters. What do you think made that positive tone so powerful in this political moment?

JACOBS: Yes, excellent question, indeed. So, there has always been a fertile soil for optimism in the Netherlands among the electorate. And for a long time it was Mark Rutte, the current secretary general of NATO, that embodied that optimism. But when he left, there was basically a vacuum. And what we saw was that the other parties were basically campaigning either on a doom and gloom message, like Geert Wilders, or a very serious campaign message like the Christian Democratic leader, Henri Bontenbal, who basically focused on decency. So, there was a gap in here and Rob Jetten basically filled that vacuum.

HUNTE: Jetten has been very open about being a gay man and we've seen plenty of viral posts featuring him and his partner everywhere. But what has his campaign itself? What were his -- what about that campaign? What were his key promises or did the personality and media moments end up mattering more than the policies?

JACOBS: I think we should not underestimate the personality of Jetten and the optimistic message. That was clearly something that resonated very well with voters. That said, obviously, they also had a very elaborate election campaign message focusing on five promises that they said they would get done. And those were very bold promises, like building ten new cities from scratch and basically investing in the healthiest generation that the Netherlands has ever seen.

All of these were very bold promises, and I think that most of the voters realized that they were very difficult to achieve. But nevertheless, just the mere fact that he was optimistic and said that, well, it is possible and we should at least aim for them, that resonated really well with the voters. So, the overall message of optimism, this, yes, we can attitude, that was something that clearly was very important in the heads of voters.

HUNTE: We also saw here at Geert Wilders' Freedom Party taking a hit in this election. And a reminder for our viewers that he previously called for a ban on mosques and the Koran in the Netherlands. Has there been a real shift away from the far right or just a reshuffling of where those votes (INAUDIBLE)?

JACOBS: Yes, excellent question, indeed. So, the immediate takeaway message may seem that the populist radical right lost this election. That is probably not the case. What you saw, rather, was a splintering of the radical right vote, whereby those radical right voters basically punished the radical right parties in government and instead mostly went to the radical right parties in opposition. So, what you now have is four radical right parties with a total split of the electoral vote of the radical right.

HUNTE: Coalition talks now look incredibly complex with very different visions for how the next government could be built. What do you think are the main sticking points and who actually holds the leverage right now?

[03:40:00]

JACOBS: Yes. So, it's actually the party of former Prime Minister Mark Rutte with the current leader, Dilan Yesilgoz, VVD, a conservative liberal party, and they hold the key basically.

They themselves want right wing government, including, yes, in a 20 smaller radical right party. The problem is that, basically, that combination doesn't have a majority right now. They only have 75 seats and you need 76 to have a majority. Now, Rob Jetten himself wants to have a more centrist coalition, including the left wing party rulings (INAUDIBLE). However, the VVD during the campaign clearly said we don't want to govern with that party.

Now, there is this very small opportunity there because VVD said they didn't want to govern with Frans Timmermans, the leader of the GroenLinks-PvdA party.

Now, Timmermans already left the stage. He resigned. So, perhaps that could offer some opportunities for a government through the center rather than through the right.

HUNTE: Well, that is very complicated, isn't it? Wow.

Kristof Jacobs, thank you for breaking it down for us. We appreciate it. Speak to you again soon.

JACOBS: Thank you.

HUNTE: Okay. The world's two most polluted cities are trying to fight toxic smog. Ahead, what's causing these dangerous levels of air pollution and how it's affecting people's health?

See you in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Welcome back. Parts of Pakistan are dealing with hazardous environmental conditions. Dense, toxic smog has blanketed Lahore, the country's second largest city. Readings taken on Saturday show it's now the world's most polluted city. Hospitals are seeing a surge in patients, and many residents are worried about how the smoke could affect their health.

[03:45:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SOHAIL AHMED, LAHORE RESIDENT: Children are falling ill. My son is ill. My nephews are also sick. If it rains, the weather will be clear. Otherwise, this problem will persist. Every second person in a family is sick with a sore throat. The situation is worrisome.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Delhi in India is the second most polluted city in the world. The hazardous air pollution is an annual problem and blamed for more than 1 million deaths in South Asia in 2023. This week, Delhi tried making it rain to curb the smog.

CNN Meteorologist Chris Warren has more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice over): Each winter, a thick blanket of smog settles over parts of South Asia. The region is known as a global hotspot for air pollution due to things like vehicle emissions, industrial activities, and agricultural fires. Currently, IQAir reports that Lahore, Pakistan, is the most polluted major city in the world, followed by its eastern neighbor, Delhi, India.

The air quality index attributed fine particulate matter as the city's number one pollutant. Breathing in those particles can cause serious health issues. And hospitals in both areas have reported an uptake in emergency visits.

DR. RANDEEP GULERIA, PULMONOLOGIST IN DELHI: This worsening of the underlying condition if a person has asthma, COPD, is wheezing or is breathlessness is increasing. They're not able to breathe. Patients with heart disease, their breathlessness, again, is increasing. Heart failure is becoming more. And because of this, there is increasing emergency visits, doctor visits.

WARREN: Our affiliate, CNN News 18, reports that this week, Delhi's government launched a first of its kind cloud seeding operation. An aircraft flew into clouds and released silver iodide and salt-based compounds aiming to trigger rainfall. But, so far, officials say it hasn't worked due to insufficient moisture content in the clouds. They've also deployed water sprinklers around the city.

In Lahore, Pakistan, authorities are similarly trying to step in by using vehicles with extinguishers to patrol and put out agricultural burns, but citizens are still urging they do more.

SABIR HUSSAIN JUTT, LAHORE RESIDENT: The pollution in Lahore is primarily coming from these factories which burn dirty plastic and other waste. The iron factories on the other side are also contributing to the pollution. If these factories are closed, Lahore will become a clean city.

WARREN: The air quality was so bad on Monday that the Punjab school system shortened their hours to lower children's exposure time to pollution.

MOHAMMED NADEEM, PARENT: I'm glad schools are starting late, but the smog is getting worse and our kids are suffering. They should consider a second shift or extra holidays. These poor kids are struggling with sore throats, coughs and fevers. Please, let's take some action.

WARREN: And taking action could save lives. A new report from the State of Global Air found that in South Asia, more than a million people died from particulate matter pollution-related causes in 2023.

Meteorologist Chris Warren, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Next, clocks are falling back here in the U.S. and other parts of the world to standard time. So, how do Americans feel about the time change? These surprising statistics when we come back.

See you in a bit. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. Thousands marched through Argentina's capital on Saturday as Buenos Aires began its pride week celebration. This year's slogan was against hate and violence, more pride and unity. One report says hate crimes against Argentina's LGBTQ community in the first six months of this year, rose 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Advocates blame Argentine President Javier Milei's government for the increase.

Cape Town, South Africa was swarming with the undead on Saturday. Dozens of zombies and other creepy creatures took over the streets for the city's annual zombie walk. From chilling costumes to killer moves, the walk brought together the living and the undead for a very good cause. It raises funds for an animal rescue charity.

Goodbye daylight saving time. We have fallen back in the last couple of hours to standard time in large parts of North America and elsewhere in the world too. People are turning their clocks back an hour, as they do every year. Some people hate it. Others love it. But is daylight saving time good or bad? Our Harry Enten breaks down the numbers for us.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA REPORTER: Hey there. We've reached that point in the year in which we will fall back here in the United States. Of course, it is the end of daylight saving time, but how do Americans feel about changing the clocks twice a year? Well, it turns out that Americans' opinions have actually changed on the subject. What are we talking about here? Okay, the end of daylight saving time, we see that for the first time, a majority say we're done with it, we're kaput, no more.

In 1957, we were looking at 40 percent who wanted to end daylight saving time. That basically held in terms of the fact that most people were not for ending daylight saving time through the years. In 1990, only 21 percent. In 1999, we see a similar 23 percent. But then look here in 2025, for the first time ever, a majority, 54 percent say, yes, we want it to end, stop daylight saving time.

I will note that majority holds for Democrats and Republicans and across all age groups. That's a majority, a group of people that you rarely ever get to agree on something, but they do, in fact, agree on ending daylight saving time.

Now, of course, if we end daylight saving time, which time system do we want? Do we permanently want to fall back or do we permanently want to jump forward? Well, what do we see here? Okay, if we stop the current time system, we see later, sunsets be permanent, that is essentially permanent daylight saving time, that takes the cake at 56 percent. Compare that to earlier sunrise rises be permanent, that's essentially the system we're going to go to into now here in the fall, you see 42 percent, a pretty decent showing, but still behind the 56 percent, the majority who say later sunsets be permanent. Now, I will note that so-called morning people, they are more split on the issue. But as a morning person, sometimes myself, I say, oh, well, what we see as the clear majority here, 56 percent say later sunsets be permanent.

[03:55:05]

Now, here's the big question. If we do, in fact, see that the majority want to end daylight saving time, and we see the majority of Americans say that they want later sunsets to be permanent, why can't we, in fact, find the political will to actually end daylight saving time once and for all? Well, I think this question gives it away. Is changing the time, that is the clock, a disruption? What do we see? A major disruption. We see 13 percent of Americans who are absolutely sick of it, saying, no more, we want to toss it out the window. Then we get 28 percent of Americans who say, I don't really like it, but it's just a minor disruption.

And then we see the clear majority of Americans say, you know what? We may not like it, but at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter all that much. Nope, 55 percent say changing the clocks is not really a disruption.

So, what we see here is one of those interesting issues where the majority of Americans agree that they want to end daylight saving time, but at the end of the day, they say, you know what? It ain't that big of a deal. All I can say to you, my dear friend, is enjoy the extra hour of sleep. Back to you.

HUNTE: Or the extra hour of working at CNN.

Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. I will see you tomorrow. CNN Newsroom continues after this short break. Kim, over to you. Thank you so --

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:00:00]