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U.S.-Ukraine Alliance in Shambles; Houthis Attack Yemeni President Palace; Albania's Anti-Government Protests Continue; Boost of Economy in Ivory Coast; Pope Leo's Health; Haiti in Crisis. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired October 16, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello from Hong Kong, I'm Will Ripley, and this is "CNN Newsroom." The U.S.-Ukraine alliance is in shambles. Trust is evaporating. And now, Ukraine's president faces a crucial test as he tries to rally European allies.

Albania's leader is refusing to resign despite violent clashes between students and police and accusations of trying to silence critics. And we're live in Rome for the latest on Pope Leo's shocking lung cancer diagnosis. What's next in his post-surgery recovery?

RIPLEY: Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is in Brussels right now ahead of his expected meeting with E.U. leaders. He's looking to shore up European support as Kyiv's relations with the U.S. continue to deteriorate.

This comes as Reuters reports that the order to limit the Starshield satellite service for Ukraine came from inside the White House. The news agency cites three officials, but does not say who exactly made the decision. A U.S. official told Reuters President Trump made no such request.

The Starshield service, used for Ukraine's drone operations and other military purposes, was abruptly limited this week. Ukraine says now the service has been at least partially restored.

Meanwhile, a source exclusively tells CNN Ukraine has run out of Patriot missile interceptors. They are among the few weapons that can shoot down Russian ballistic missiles. The source also says almost all of the ballistic missiles in Russia's latest strike got through because Ukraine lacked the interceptors.

Russian President Vladimir Putin says recent Ukrainian strikes on Russian oil refineries didn't cause much damage. Moscow says Kyiv attempted a large-scale attack on a refinery southeast of Moscow Thursday morning. Zelenskyy had paused such strikes for three days amid pressure from Washington.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE: The diesel deal, I don't want to be involved. If he attacks us, we will respond. This is our rule. Don't involve to some diesel deals. If you ask us to help with this situation, of course, we are likely partners, we will help, but we are asking you to energy ceasefire. If not energy ceasefire, it doesn't depend on you. OK. The question is, can you give me missiles for Patriot, because when I will not attack them, because you asked me not to attack them, they will attack me. It is fair if you will give me with what to defense.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Zelenskyy is not a good guy for us to deal with. Biden gave him hundreds of billions of dollars. Billions and billions of dollars.

ROB FINNERTY, NEWS ANCHOR AND HOST, NEWSMAX: Have you lost faith in him?

TRUMP: Well, I think they're going to end up with a settlement of some kind. They're not going to do it with him. He doesn't want to settle. He says he wants to settle, but he doesn't. No, I'm not a big fan of Zelenskyy. They've destroyed that country.

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RIPLEY: A camera caught Russia's latest strike near Ukraine's third largest city. The video shows the moment a Russian drone hit a supermarket in the Odessa region. Four people died. It also caused a major fire.

In the last hour, I spoke with Oleksiy Sorokin, the deputy chief editor at the Kyiv Independent, about Ukraine's war effort and the role the Starshield service plays in it.

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OLEKSIY SOROKIN, CO-FOUNDER AND DEPUTY CHIEF EDITOR, KYIV INDEPENDENT: The ballistic attacks on Kyiv were happening on Monday, on Tuesday, and yesterday night. And if this continues, then, basically, any target in Kyiv is defenseless and Russia can do whatever it wants, unfortunately.

RIPLEY: How do people on the ground there feel that President Zelenskyy is handling all of these?

SOROKIN: Well, that's the tricky part, right? Because, obviously, I heard a lot of negative comments from people abroad about Zelenskyy's recent pushback, because a lot of people say that you have to act differently when you're around Trump. But in Ukraine, for example, people support Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy had a lot of problems in domestic politics.

[03:05:00] Domestically, there's issues with him. But his foreign politics is supported by Ukrainians. We actually at the Kyiv Independent had a video recently asking people on the streets of Kyiv what they think about the recent situation with Trump, and I can assure you nobody was on Trump's side.

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RIPLEY: Now, to one of the most high-profile attacks yet on Yemen's government in its military campaign against the Houthis. The rebels, backed by Iran, have carried out a deadly attack on Yemen's presidential palace. That compound serves as the headquarters for the country's internationally-recognized government. At least five people died and 16 others were wounded.

CNN's Leila Gharagozlou is with me now live from Abu Dhabi. It's good to see you again, Leila. So, the Houthis are now striking sensitive targets in Yemen, also in Saudi Arabia. What are they capable of militarily and where do you see this going?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Yes. So, in terms of their military capability, we've really seen the Houthis go from a guerrilla force into an asymmetric military power. They've really increased their capabilities over the last couple of years, and we're really seeing them flex that strength in this reignited conflict.

Now, the Saudi coalition spokesperson, Major General Turki Al-Maliki, said that they had acquired advanced technologies from regional countries. Now, oftentimes, that means Iran. Iran has denied giving the Houthis any weapons but that, obviously, doesn't keep them from being smuggled in and things like that. He also went on to say that this was the first terrorist group to possess ballistic missiles, offensive and suicide drones, and booby-trapped fast boats. So, this is a very different Houthi force than what we saw prior to that 2022 ceasefire.

Now, in terms of where this is going to go, it's unclear because neither side at this point seems to want to de-escalate. The Iranians earlier this week suggested brokering some sort of political solution and talks. The Houthis have rejected that. They even said that they'd rejected talks a few times over. So, it's unclear whether there is a diplomatic solution at this point for either side.

Now, obviously, this has been a conflict that has gone on for far longer than this particular instance, but analysts and experts have said that this was always going to reignite because it remained unresolved due to that ceasefire really being just a truce. So, until things really resolve, until there's a way out, it's unlikely that either side is going to back down.

Now, another thing I want to note, when it comes to the Houthis' military capabilities, we've seen them really increase in their fighting power. Back in 2015, when Saudi Arabia initially intervened in Yemen, it was about 30,000 Houthi fighters. In 2024, the U.N. put out a report saying that that had increased to 350,000 Houthi fighters. So, they're gaining more support, gaining more fighters, and really becoming the force that we're seeing inflict quite a lot of damage on Saudi Arabia now, Will.

RIPLEY: All right, Leila, appreciate that update. A lot to follow there, and I know you'll be doing it in the coming hours. I appreciate you joining us very much from Abu Dhabi.

An investigation is now underway, and a community in the U.S. state of Oregon is in mourning after a deadly school shooting. Police say three children, ages 5, 8, and 11, and one teacher were killed. The community gathered to remember them at a candlelight vigil. Another child and teacher were also injured in the shooting and taken to the hospital.

Police say the shooter was a 16-year-old armed with a long gun. He forced his way into Silver Rail Elementary School in Bend, Oregon by shooting at locked doors. A community member saw the teen and followed him, then fatally shot him before officers arrived. It's not yet clear whether the shooter had any connection to the school or what his motive was, and police have not publicly identified him yet.

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TINA KOTEK, GOVERNOR OF OREGON: I want to start by thanking and praising the quick thinking and courage of the Silver Rail Elementary School staff, parents, and first responders who rushed to the scene this afternoon. And to the community member who heroically intervened to stop further loss of life, your actions carry a heavy emotional burden, and I just want you to know that my thoughts are with you as well.

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RIPLEY: Funerals are underway for the victims of a roof collapse in Pakistan that killed 34 school children and a teacher. The roof collapsed in heavy rainfall. That happened the previous night, and it caused the school's two-storey building to become unstable. The children who died ranged in age from 6 to 14. Around 50 students were injured in the collapse. Pakistan's president is calling for a comprehensive investigation.

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You're watching "CNN Newsroom." We're live in Hong Kong. Still to come, anger in Albania. Student protesters taken to the streets. The prime minister being accused of silencing critics, even facing calls to resign.

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RIPLEY: In Albania's capital, Tirana, there is disruption. Thousands of student-led protesters taking to the streets. The marches are driven by anger over corruption and education costs.

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There's also outrage over a proposed luxury development on Albania's southern coast, backed by Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner.

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RIPLEY: Rigels Lenja is a journalist who serves as an executive board member of the Association of Professional Journalists of Albania, and he joins me now from Paris. Rigels, thanks for being here. I know these protests have been happening for months. So, why the violence and why now?

RIGELS LENJA, JOURNALIST, EXECUTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL JOURNALISTS OF ALBANIA: Thank you very much for having me, first. Second, as you pointed out, clearly, it has been 135 days of the Flamingo movement. The people have gone to the streets, predominantly very peaceful. The government has watched them from the prime ministry or in other ways and gone all the way down, do exactly the opposite what the people are asking in the streets.

I was talking yesterday to students who joined both the last two days' protest of the students and the kids and the Flamingos before, and he said in clear words, the government look at my face, spit on my face, go all the way down, and tell me, you need to say thank you for me giving you the courtesy to spit on your face.

RIPLEY: What evidence is there of police reportedly targeting and assaulting journalists, particularly those who are critical of the prime minister?

LENJA: (INAUDIBLE) very, very concentrated and owned by only a few people. Those outlets who are critical of the government, the police, those journalists who are usually not subscribed to the government or to Edi Rama's view lines are predominantly targeted, beaten by the police. Their cameras and their phones taken away, which is completely illegal, because they need to be a judge for the journalist's phone to be taken away.

And if you look at the names of the journalists, they are predominantly people who usually are very critical or report what they see on the ground. So, those journalists who are a bit more friendly to the government, nothing happened to them.

RIPLEY: So, obviously, they want the prime minister to resign. He's not resigning. What happens if the prime minister doesn't resign? How does this get resolved? Can it be resolved peacefully?

LENJA: We need to -- I mean, these students -- these students, I -- they are not just students, they are also kids. There are also some people, sometimes 12, 13, 14 years old.

There are two ways how these things can go. First, the police need to deploy more violence to crush them, things that we usually see on the Russia when the people are thrown in the jail for 15 years. The second option is that the prime minister has to resign. It's very low option unless he gets some international pressure which, at the moment, I don't see because the pressure usually comes from the U.S. and the European Union. They haven't done it at this moment. I think the violence will continue. The prime minister has problems. Usually, it's not seen very clearly from outside. He has been way longer in power, 13 years as the prime minister, and also before, he was for 11 years mayor of the capital, Tirana. So, in the psychology of Mr. Rama, he has difficulty to understand himself when he doesn't have power.

So, usually clash with the young generation who want to see something. I believe something that goes beyond the personifications and sort of -- it's a very present prime minister in almost every sector of the country, from media to economy, as you mentioned, of the investments, going to the Flamingos beach, to education, to politics, to parliament. Everything is more or less controlled in one way or another by the prime minister or the people around him.

RIPLEY: Lots to keep an eye on in the coming days ahead. Journalist Rigels Lenja, thank you for your time. We'll keep checking back with you and see how things go. I appreciate it very much.

We're going to turn to the Ivory Coast now and the top global cocoa producer and exporter within Africa. As many people know, most raw beans are typically exported and processed abroad. But now, one company is building factories across West Africa to process these beans at home.

CNN's Victoria Rubadiri sees how this is creating value and boosting the local economy.

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VICTORIA RUBADIRI, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): These raw, bitter, earthy cocoa beans are destined for a sweet future. Soon, many beans like these will be going to a newly-built processing facility in the southwest port city of San Pedro, Cote d'Ivoire.

DOMINIQUE GBESSO, PROJECTS DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COCOA CORPORATION: We started in May 2025 for the erection of this plant. We have around 250 people working now on the project. By the end of this year, we are planning to finish with the installation of equipment.

RUBADIRI (voice-over): This $86 million processing facility will be the latest addition to the Atlantic Cocoa Corporation's portfolio.

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Expected to be operational next year, the company says it's strategically placed to be both close to farmers and the port, and will have capacity to process 64,000 metric tons of beans a year.

PIERRE QUATTARA GNINAHOPHIN, MANAGING DIRECTOR, ATLANTIC COCOA CORPORATION: You know that cocoa is exported mainly in Europe and in America, Asia. It means that it will bring back foreign currency.

RUBADIRI (voice-over): The Atlantic Cocoa Corporation or ACC currently manages two other processing facilities, one in Abidjan and another in Kribi, Cameroon. GNINAHOPHIN: From the cocoa beans, we are producing cocoa liquor, cocoa butter, cocoa cake, and also cocoa powder in Cameroon plants. This product will be shipped in Europe, USA, Asia, and partly in Africa.

RUBADIRI (voice-over): The company is optimistic as it looks for opportunities to become a cocoa powerhouse within the continent.

GNINAHOPHIN: In total, we will have 176,000 tons of beans grinding capacity per year. In the next 10 years, we are seeing ACC to be a real leader, I can say, in West Africa and also in Central Africa because we are willing to build more and more grinding facilities.

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RIPLEY: You're watching "CNN Newsroom" live from Hong Kong. Up next, we'll go live to Rome for an update on the pope's health following his treatment for lung cancer.

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RIPLEY: Pope Leo has been carrying out daily activities following his shocking diagnosis of lung cancer and surgery earlier this week. A spokesperson says the good news is that post-operation checks are showing positive results, and his doctors remain optimistic as they await further test results.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon joins me now live from Rome. Hey, Stefano, it's good to see you again. You know, you say the words lung cancer. That's obviously a very scary diagnosis. And this is a young pope. He's active. He's fit. So, what happens next?

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is actually, Will, the real question because, right now, let's go through the latest first, and the latest is that no news is good news. The Vatican did not publish a bulletin in the early hours of today, it's 9 a.m. here in Italy, and we know that that is because the recovery is proceeding as of schedule.

We knew, for example, yesterday, we learned that the pontiff, who is recovering on the 10th floor of this building just behind my back, was able to get up. He had some meetings. He was con-celebrating a mass and was eating regularly.

So, while on the short-term horizon the situation seems to be very much positive and with a normal recovery going ahead as scheduled, question now turns to what this means in the long term. You are right in saying that when we learned that Robert Prevost, who back then was only 69 years old, was elected as the leader of the Catholic Church, there was hope that he could have several years of travelling and intense schedule before, of course, slowing down like his predecessor had on the tail of their pontificate. Now, of course, we are waiting for the results of medical exams to determine whether the operation that the pontiff had back on Tuesday was successful in removing all of the tumor that had been identified, and we are also trying to learn and pierce together how the situation will be for him in the long term, whether he will be able to travel overseas, whether he will be able to take helicopters, for example, which is something that he was planning to do while travelling to South America next month in November.

So, while the short term is definitely positive, the short-term outcome is definitely positive, the questions now turn to what happens further down the line. Will?

RIPLEY: All eyes on that building behind you, Stefano, as Catholics around the world pray for the pope.

POZZEBON: Yes.

RIPLEY: We appreciate the update very, very much. Thank you so much for joining us.

The United Nations Security Council has renewed sanctions against individuals and groups fueling gang violence in Haiti. The U.N. says thousands of people have been killed or injured just in recent months. The political chaos has forced upcoming elections to be postponed indefinitely as the government battles to regain control.

Nick Paton Walsh reports from Port-au-Prince on a controversial mercenary group now entering the fray. And a warning, the video you are about to see contains material that could be harmful or even traumatizing to some of you.

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NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Haiti is so stifled and tormented by gangs.

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The fight against them has spread to hills outside the capital, Port- au-Prince.

UNKNOWN: We are in misery. Kenscoff is in misery. The bandits killed our families, our kids. We had to run away far from home.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Here in Kenscoff, they were pushed out but stormed back in again, killing and kidnapping dozens of locals in revenge.

We joined police on a days-long advance to reclaim tiny remote villages. We are blurring faces for security.

UNKNOWN: The guys are shooting. We cannot stay here. We are exposed.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): But as we move in with the police, the gangs use the fog and hills to keep shooting. PATON WALSH: You can see that debris barrier there. I mean, another way the gangs slow the police down. About seven or eight shots have kind of flown over us. We've heard the crack. It's a sign that the gangs are still really close by and don't want the police to feel comfortable down here. And there's another one.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): More barricades lie ahead. Locals eager on the road to get back to homes they've not seen for two years. The barricades dismantled and burned, so the gangs can't return and remake them.

PATON WALSH: It was an extraordinary scene of locals just flooding in to kind of reclaim their own streets after the gangs have been pushed out.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): A ritual praising the heavens overshadowed by ruin.

UNKNOWN: The gangs leave their youngest members behind while they run away.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): Hours earlier, two helicopters used a pause in the rain to land a police SWAT team in the hilltops. The helicopters are part of American security tycoon Erik Prince's operation here, bringing new capabilities and the experience of foreign ex-special forces, but not for free. And these are the first pictures of Prince's private security fighters in Haiti who led the push with specialized Haitian police in what's called the Task Force.

ERIK PRINCE, AMERICAN SECURITY TYCOON, FOUNDER OF VECTUS GLOBAL: I hear a lot of things about you. See up here?

PATON WALSH (voice-over): He tells the police where to position. Nobody has seen their operations in Haiti before. This drone footage shows gang members fleeing.

Erik Prince made his name and millions in Iraq with Blackwater, sullied and reprimanded over civilian casualties there. His ties to Blackwater long severed. He is now selling a new idea, that private security, mercenaries to their detractors, can tackle security or gang problems for failing states that can't.

PRINCE: That's the bad part of it.

PATON WALSH: Yes.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): He was first sent to Haiti as a Navy SEAL 32 years ago. And now, he gave CNN his first interview and access to his operation here.

PRINCE: When we started, a police truck like the one we rode in here on, pretty much one of those was lost every week, attacked, ambushed, burned. The occupants slaughtered, butchered. That's done now because there's much better response with air support, drones, whatever, that prevents the police from being overmatched. That's really why we're here. PATON WALSH (voice-over): Over 2,000 drone strikes on varied targets in the past year, a task force source said here, on what they said was a gang Molotov cocktail factory. Prince wouldn't reveal his annual fee of likely tens of millions of dollars, but on top of that, he gets a tenth of any new customs revenue generated if his Lena (ph) operation ends smuggling and dozens of illegal border crossings.

PATON WALSH: Did you put a number on what your contract is worth in terms of what the Haitian government pay you?

PRINCE: The previous U.N. force is that our cost is one-sixth of what their annual camp cost was. So, it's a fraction of a fraction of a fraction.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): He had aimed to free up key roads within a year here, but hasn't, although the U.N. has said this year has seen the gang spread in the capital halted, even reversed.

PATON WALSH: You haven't killed any major gang leaders yet. Have there been challenges in some of the operations you're doing? Is not killing top leaders a part of your strategy?

PRINCE: Look, insurgencies are not defeated by taking out just leadership. I know there has been an obsession of that in the United States, but wars are won by taking significant numbers of enemy manpower off the battlefield. We are in the process of doing that and enabling sovereignty to resume.

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PATON WALSH (voice-over): To grasp the enormity of the collapse and daily trauma, we head to the once vibrant downtown of the capital. So long gang held swathes of it are now overgrown as though nature is tired of the violence and wants to take back control.

We patrol at dawn with the new U.N. mandated gang suppression force. Here are soldiers from Chad. First light when those who live under the gangs make their daily break for it, to head out to the rest of the world. On foot through rivers of sewage and trash to reach work or food. A body lies abandoned in the road, likely dumped there overnight.

We go back with them at dusk to see it all happen again for the home trip.

PATON WALSH: Talk about how desperate life must be here. To attempt this in the daylight must simply be terrifying. It's eerie being here inside an armored personnel carrier, but they're risking it out on the street here in the dark. Many of them carry what looks like food for their homes, things back into gang-held areas.

PATON WALSH (voice-over): The promise of a quick fix at a price that's still out of reach.

Nick Paton Walsh, CNN, Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

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RIPLEY: This is "CNN Newsroom" live from Hong Kong. We'll be right back.

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RIPLEY: These pictures from just moments ago as Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived at the European Council where he will meet with E.U. leaders. He's there to try to rally European support for Ukraine as Kyiv's relations with the U.S. took a turn for the worse in recent days.

It has been a very difficult situation in Kyiv, which is essentially now defensive after CNN reporting that the nation has run out of Patriot defense missiles. You also have a disruption to a vital military -- Ukraine military system that runs on Elon Musk's Starlink internet service.

So, Zelenskyy needs all the help he can get from his European allies with relations with the U.S. Pretty much the worst crisis in U.S.- Ukraine relations since last year's Oval Office meltdown.

We're going to continue to monitor the situation in Brussels and bring you updates as they come in.

Now, here are your business headlines on CNN. A global sell-off in semiconductor chip stocks had investors looking for safety in bonds and other sectors. Thursday marked the seventh straight day the index of chip stocks fell. It's down roughly 20 percent since a peak in June. Concerns about an A.I. bubble, lower earnings, and Chinese competition have alarmed investors.

The White House's new superintelligence force held a meeting on Thursday for the first time since its creation late last month. According to a readout of the meeting, the task force discussed the risks of artificial intelligence and the ways the government could improve its response to possible issues, among other items.

A major win for Coca-Cola in its long-running battle with Pepsi. Fast food chain KFC announced that it's now replacing Pepsi with Coke in all its U.S. stores. Pepsi had been KFC's soda partner for some four decades. The loss of KFC as a client could be a setback for Pepsi as it works to strengthen U.S. sales.

That does it for me on "CNN Newsroom" this hour. Thanks very much for joining us live from Hong Kong. I'm Will Ripley. "World Sport" is next.

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