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Abdul El-Sayed Holds Town Hall As Dem Tries To Win Michigan; "No Kings" Anti-Trump Movement Shifts Focus To Rally Voters To Polls; Immigration Taxes Center Stage In Texas House Seat Battle; Trump Fires White House Press Secretary After Five Days; No Major TV Pool Coverage Of Trump This Weekend; Massive Violent Protests Rock France; Trump, DOJ Escalate Fight Over Alleged Non-Citizen Voters; Representative Ilhan Omar Challenges Legality Of Trump Admin's Search Of Her Home; Pope Leo Leaves Hospital After Surgery. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired October 17, 2026 - 15:00   ET

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

[15:00:20]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

And with just over two weeks until election day, the race to win control of the House and Senate is ramping up as both parties blitz the campaign trail to boost candidates and push voters to the polls.

Today, President Trump continues his campaign tour of ruby red states with a rally in northern Kentucky. He plans to stump in several conservative strongholds in the week ahead to rally the base for Republicans. Democrats are also out in full force today as the party grows more confident about taking control of Congress in November.

All this happening as thousands of No Kings voter rallies are taking place across the country today. The anti-Trump movement is now shifting its focus to promoting mass voter turnout for the midterm elections.

We've got a team of correspondents on the campaign trail at these rallies. Let's begin with Gloria Pazmino in Michigan, where Abdul El- Sayed is holding a town hall in a state which will be key for control of the Senate.

Gloria, bring us up to speed.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. This is going to be a decisive race here in Michigan, Fred, and Abdul El-Sayed just wrapped up his town hall. He took questions from the crowd, and it's very interesting to hear voters talk about the issues that they are concerned about. Right? We heard questions today about health care, about funding cuts to education, people asking about disability rights.

You really get a sense of what's on voters' minds when you come to these town halls and you hear them speak. El-Sayed also just, you know, delivering his stump speech, talking about why he's in this race, also attacking President Trump and the Republican Party, talking about the fact that they have been attacking El-Sayed over his name, his faith, his background, he says, because they don't want to talk about the real issues of this race. Affordability, the high cost of gas, the high cost of living, the high cost of food.

That's what El-Sayed has been telling voters as he crisscrosses the state. We have been following him over the past few days. He was up in the northern peninsula of Michigan earlier this week, campaigning in a very Republican part of the state. And today he's here in Midland County. We're about two hours north of Detroit, and he is going to be making several stops in this area.

I want you to take a listen to this one exchange between El-Sayed and a voter, a teacher, a third grade teacher who asked him what he would do about gun control, especially in light that we just had yet another school shooting in Oregon just a few days ago. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: And so the question we need to be asking is, are there some guns that are built just to kill as many people as possible? And do we really think that those guns ought to be just publicly available? Do we think that there are places where we don't want guns, like in schools?

Do we think that people who have shown a penchant to use or to do violence, or maybe on the cusp of doing violence, should have some distance between that moment and when they might get a gun? Do we think that perhaps it's important for us to secure our kids more than it is to secure our guns?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: You know, part of his answer was also about how he has met a lot of Second Amendment supporters throughout his campaign here in Michigan. And he said to people here today that even supporters of the Second Amendment want to see gun control. He said it's not about taking guns away from people who maybe want to use them to hunt or for recreation. He said he believes those people should be allowed to have that choice, but he said that he believes the solution should be rooted in regulating exactly what guns are available and to whom they are available -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Gloria Pazmino in Michigan, thanks so much.

Let's go to Georgia now, and Rafael Romo, where one of the No Kings events still underway?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred. We have moved since we last spoke last hour, and we are now at the Cobb government -- East Cobb Government Center, where we have a handful of people. And the reason why we only have a handful is because behind them there is a very numerous group, probably hundreds of people who participated in today's No Kings rally.

Now, what's significant here in Georgia is that already more than three quarters of a million people have voted since voting started on Tuesday. [15:05:04]

And let me do this very unscientific poll. Guys, if I can ask you, raise your hand if you have already voted. Let me see a show of hands.

Do you see that, Fred? Here in this group, everybody has already voted. And that's the story that we're hearing. Now people are very excited, very engaged. We even have Uncle Sam here with us. Take a look at this full costume.

If I may ask you, Uncle Sam, why was it important for you to be out here today talking to these people, encouraging voters to exercise their right to vote?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's important because, you know, we all have a vote in our democracy. It's really important to reinforce that at this time. I believe in my community and making great decisions for us as a whole. And so I definitely encourage everybody who can vote to come out and vote today or up until October 30th. And if you can't do early voting, come out November 3rd.

ROMO: Wonderful. Thank you, Uncle Sam.

And that's been the message, Fred. That is the message. And if you can see the group that I was telling you about, they just made their way here. You can see that's the beginning of the line. Those are hundreds upon hundreds of people who have marched for about two miles to come here to the East Cobb Government Center polling place, where they are -- it's one of the many locations here in Georgia that are open today.

You can see all of these people making their arrival, some of them wearing No Kings t-shirts. Many have other signs. Many against President Trump. And many others are just saying, you know, it's time for you to exercise your right to vote. Show up either today, early voting, or on November 3rd for the midterm elections. So that's the situation here in East Cobb County, Georgia.

Fred, now back to you.

WHITFIELD: And we're only 17 days away from voting day, even though the majority of the people behind you raised their hands, they've already taken advantage of early voting. But I wonder, too, while it started out as a No Kings rally, they did shift the focus to try to get people a little bit more excited about voting.

ROMO: Yes, and that's a great point, Fred, because I've been talking to people and what they say is, no matter what you think you need to exercise your right to vote. Yes, you can --

WHITFIELD: I'm sorry about that. Lost that signal there in Marietta, Georgia. We'll check back with Rafael later on.

All right. How about we go to south Texas and see what the signal is like? Good signal. There's Carolina Peguero.

OK. Democrats are, you know, trying to turn that red border district blue, just like many Democrats are trying to turn the whole state blue. But let's just focus on where you are and what has that, you know, challenge been like?

CAROLINA PEGUERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's very crucial races going on here in southern Texas, Fred. And while in other states, like in Georgia, there's already early voting, here early voting starts on Monday. So many of the candidates, Republican and Democrat, are making those last stops to get their supporters, urging them to go out and vote early, and also on November 3rd.

We here are in District 15 in McAllen, where I've been here for about a week. I've spoken to pretty much everybody around here in the valley, from local business owners, small business owners, construction workers, construction owners. And the sentiment is basically the same. The concerns here, of course, are the economy, affordability, high diesel prices, the workforce of maintaining the jobs and also the border enforcement control.

And here there has been an uptick in ICE raids. And a lot of students that are in the University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley, are concerned for themselves and for their parents.

I want you to take a listen also to the candidates that are running for this district, which are already elected Republican Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz and also the Democrat candidate, Tejano Mexican singer Bobby Pulido, who has a lead in this race. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MONICA DE LA CRUZ (R-TX): Down here in south Texas, we are a commonsense community. We believe in south Texas that we can have a secure border, and we can also have commonsense immigration reform. As you know, enforcement, it is a directive that comes from the White House. Legislation comes from myself and others in Congress. That's why I have co-sponsored the most comprehensive bipartisan piece of legislation, the Dignity Act, that will help with the very complex immigration system.

[15:10:02]

BOBBY PULIDO (D), TEXAS 15TH CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT CANDIDATE: Look, all these policies that they sold us on, they sold us on the idea that if you got rid of undocumented people, life would get better for everybody. It's not true. It is -- immigration is economic. Remember that. It's economic here. We need to fix this issue because people are being used as a political football going from one thing to -- one extreme to the exit. We can't have that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PEGUERO: And earlier this week, I was able to attend a rally for Congresswoman Monica De La Cruz, who was supported by Speaker Mike Johnson. And they say they don't believe in the polls. They are expecting and urging voters to turn out like they did for President Donald Trump in the 2024 election. While polls from the latest ones that we've heard from the University of Southern Texas are saying that the Democrats overall in the major three district races in the south here are leading overall with the 48 percent of Latino voters.

Once again, early voting starts on Monday.

WHITFIELD: All right. Carolina Peguero, thank you so much for all that in south Texas. And thanks to all of our correspondents across the map.

All right. Still to come, a shocking exit from the White House, new press secretary Katie Zacharia lasting just a few days on the job. What it will mean about what's in store for the rest of the Trump administration. And Pope Leo back at home, the latest on his discharge after four days after lung cancer surgery, and what it means for Sunday's traditional blessing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:15]

WHITFIELD: President Trump has removed Katie Zacharia as White House press secretary after just five days on the job. Zacharia had faced a barrage of questions about whether she was right for the position after a rocky first press briefing. There was also mounting scrutiny over her background, including whether she had passed the bar exam, despite the president referring to her as an attorney.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And I said, I said to her honestly, if I were you, I'd reconsider. You think about it, but I would reconsider. She has suffered over the last few days, and I'm not saying, you know, I mean, maybe it's not for her, but I said, you want to be happy in life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter is joining us right now.

All right, Brian, what more are we learning about the circumstances of this firing?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: It's unusual to see the president letting someone down so easy as he's done with Katie Zacharia, praising her in public, saying he just wants her to have a good life and have a more pleasant job in the administration. No one knows what that job will be yet, but a source close to Trump tells me he really does like her personally. It's just obvious, he concluded she was the wrong fit for the job.

And that's a reflection of the president, of his hiring choices, of his rash decision making. It came all within one week. Her hiring and then her firing. Our CNN colleagues report that the president concluded that she was, well, that she simply was not ready for prime time, and that advisers around the White House concluded she was woefully unprepared and lacking basic skills to do the job. It started with that Tuesday briefing, but then her interviews on FOX News were also underwhelming. The president called them tough, and that has led to some speculation that maybe those FOX News interviewers were trying to sink her press secretary position, knowing that she was not the president's best messenger.

You know, that's ultimately what this comes down to. The president wants to have strong messengers out there in the field at this moment, ahead of the midterm elections. And he apparently feels he does not have many of those right now. And now that press secretary job once again vacant.

WHITFIELD: Strong messenger, those are good words to put together because that does kind of sum things up because there has been quite the litany and styles of Trump White House press secretary. I mean, Sean Spicer, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Anthony Scaramucci, Karoline Leavitt. So perhaps a common thread is, as Scaramucci, you know, put it a few days ago, you know, you got to be a defender of the president first in a voracious kind of way.

I mean, that is a tough prerequisite in a job that looked and acted very differently in other administrations Republican and Democrat.

STELTER: Yes. This job used to be about representing the United States on the global stage and showing that the entire government was open for business, ready and willing to take questions. Trump has really completely changed the role, in part by having press secretaries briefed the press less often and by having them be much more aggressive when they do. And that all comes down to the president's own prerogative of how he wants it to be constructed.

I think in some ways we should just face the fact that being a Trump press secretary is basically impossible, and some are able to pull it off for longer than others. But look at what the president said yesterday at a rally. He said that we've removed transgender mutilation insanity from our schools, but we have five states where your child goes to school as Tim and comes back as Tammy three or four days later. It's true, he insisted, even though it's not true.

And so if you're the press secretary and you get asked, where are those five states, and how does that happen? And does it actually happen the way the president claims? And to be able to have to defend some of the president's claims, it's just almost impossible. And I think at the end of the day, that's a dynamic that the press secretary would face. It's a dynamic the press constantly struggles with about how much and how to fact check the president.

And it's a reminder that even though a spokesperson matters, the president's own words matter the most, by far.

[15:20:05]

WHITFIELD: Right. And then shifting gears just a little bit, still dealing with the White House, but CNN again pulled from weekend pool duty. You know, so much for respecting the tenor of the court orders. I mean, so is this the way it's just going to be in perpetuity?

STELTER: Yes. This is part of a never-ending campaign. The way I describe it is he wants to replace the press with his own unreality, and he's unable to do that, but he's going to keep trying. So this federal judge reaffirmed his order, saying, you can't ban CNN, Politico and MS NOW from the White House. But there is ongoing separate litigation involving the Associated Press about whether Trump can kick out certain reporters from the Oval Office and Air Force One.

So it seems the White House now testing that and keeping CNN off the plane this weekend, which does make it harder to cover all of his events and rallies. As viewers have seen, we are still doing that nonetheless. We're finding ways to be there and to cover these events. But it does mean there's no pool to TV coverage of the president's trips this weekend, and that ultimately hurts the public.

This is not about the five major networks that make up the pool. It's about the public that relies on that footage and that information that comes from the pool. But we're going to continue to see this, and that's what press freedom groups have emphasized this week, even though that federal judge made a ruling saying the president is simply violating the First Amendment, trying to ban news outlets, those press freedom groups also warned he's going to keep trying to do this in various ways.

And as CNN boss Mark Thompson said on air earlier this week, many, many presidents all throughout history have had their own gripes, their own grievances with the press. What has to remain consistent is the press corps' vigilance and its own affirmation of its rights. And he said, we're going to continue to fight for our rights all the way to the end.

WHITFIELD: Very important. All right, Brian Stelter, thank you so much.

STELTER: Good to see you. Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Straight ahead, violent demonstrations across France. Protesters say they are fed up with the high cost of living and poor conditions in the country's schools. We'll go there live for the latest.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:26:28]

WHITFIELD: All right, we have breaking news. There has been a wave of violent protests across France. Police fired tear gas as they battled demonstrators in the streets of Paris and other major French cities. In Lyon, the third largest city in France, protesters wearing masks set the tourism office on fire, and what began as student demonstrations over poor conditions in schools has now turned into a national crisis.

Trade unions and other activists have joined the protests. They want the government to address the high cost of living in France. The interior minister said more than half a million people took to the streets nationwide today. But on the margins of these protests, groups of rioters emerged. They were seen looting various businesses and public buildings, sometimes setting them on fire.

CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell in Paris.

Melissa, how is President Macron reacting to these protests?

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you've heard from him this evening, Fredricka, speaking to some of that looting and the damage that's been done. You can see it's pretty extensive. What he had to say was that anyone who was found to be involved in that damage to property or in the scuffles with police would be taken on with the full force of the law.

A lot of that violence that we saw, which was pretty extensive across the country and really started very early. That's when things that surprised us most. We cover a lot of these protests. The tear gas here was pretty thick even before the march got underway. Now what's left here is the debris, as you can see all around me, of a day of pretty extreme violence between the protesters and the police.

I think another thing that's noteworthy is the number of people that were on the streets of France today, 800,000, according to the unions, 550,000, according to the official government figures, Fredricka. That is a huge turnout, much bigger than what we saw during the Yellow Vest movement. It is a large turnout. We've had bigger ones during the pension reform, but still, that's a lot of people making their anger plain, as you say, about the cost of living, the cost of gas, about France's public sector and its welfare state.

But let me just show you around here. As you can see, the remnants on the streets of the scuffles with police, there's been a lot of damage to shops, looting, still carrying on around many parts of Paris and of France. And this, of course, will turn in now to a massive cleanup operation. But there has been so much anger expressed on the streets of France today. It's also important to remember that we're heading into an election cycle six months from a presidential election.

That is likely to see the far-right lead, which is leading the polls right now, make it to the second round. There are also talk of the far-left facing off with them. These extremes are dominating, really the political discourse at the moment. And there was a lot today in the protests about against the far-right. So I think it's important to note just that very political context in which we find ourselves now here in France with a great deal of anger on the streets of Paris and elsewhere -- Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: Yes. And Melissa, that's widespread damage. And is it the case that in that block that you just, you know, walked, you know, above some of those businesses are people's residences? So they must have been very frightened.

BELL: That's right. Apartments. We've watched firemen take out several fires with the fire threatening a lot of homes as well -- Fredricka.

[15:30:00]

WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. All right. Melissa Bell, keep us posted there from Paris. Thank you.

All right. Let's continue the conversation. Now with us is Lina Gras. She is a former national secretary at France's high school student union.

Thank you so much for being with us. I mean, what do you think when you look at how far these protests have spread and how, you know, they've also become very violent in some neighborhoods like what we just saw?

LINA GRAS, FORMER NATIONAL SECRETARY, UNION SYNDICALE LYCEENNE: Thank you for inviting me. I was on the streets today to protest, too, and I've been, and I've saw a lot of violences. We can see like images from Lyon. It was where I was living before. The tensions are really, really, really higher than we think. We've never seen that I think in France. But the people is hungry and the cost -- the high cost of living in France is turning people mad.

So everyone is violent, but the police is, too. We were like pacifists protesting on the Place de la Republique. And we were gassed with tear gas while we were doing nothing. So it's really complicated to be -- not to be biased when you are living this, when you are a pacifist.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So your intention as a student protester, you know, was for it to be a peaceful protest. And you're describing it's kind of evolved and you're actually accusing the police of kind of being the agitators at least in the circumstances where you were there. So then what were you hoping, you, among other student protesters, were you hoping your protests would help do or provoke or improve?

GRAS: We hope that the government will listen to us and that we -- and that they will give money for the youth because we are the future and they don't want to give money for our educations, for our condition of living. And it's really, it's really painful to see my country like this because I know it's really different in the United States, but in France, the public services are really a part of our culture. And it's really hard to see that they don't want to give money anymore for public services.

WHITFIELD: So do you think that because it's now become a violent, you know, protest and demonstrations that this might take away any potential progress that your peaceful demonstrations might have brought?

GRAS: I think they might have a reaction because when we're touching to their money and they will react, but they don't react when we are not touching to the material part of what they are seeing. So I think it can make us more heard by the government.

WHITFIELD: Your intention as a student protester was to help bring improvements to some of the schools, right? To the educational system. Do you think that President Macron will -- can help bring that about? Do you think it's even possible right now?

GRAS: I hope so, I hope so, because it's a constitutional right in France to protest, to make our voices heard by the government. And I think it's really important that he hears them and he listens to us because we are the future, as I said, and we protested pacifically. And I think we deserve improvement in our educational system because we asked for more money peacefully.

WHITFIELD: Do you wish that, whether it was labor union representatives or other activist groups, do you wish they had not joined your student protests and kind of changed the way the demonstrations are looking?

GRAS: No. I'm really happy they joined us because it's really important that all the struggles are -- that we show that the struggle, all the struggles, are together and that we fight for all of the struggles at the same time.

[15:35:10]

We fight for the hospitals, we fight for the schools, we fight for more money for poor people. I think it's really important that everyone stay united.

WHITFIELD: Lina Gras, thank you so much for being with us from Paris.

GRAS: Thank you. Bye.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still to come, the latest on the investigation into the Justice Department's search of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's D.C. home. What authority does DOJ have? Where are the legal limits especially so close to midterms as Omar seeks reelection?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:40:33]

WHITFIELD: The fight over voting in California is escalating. The Trump administration is now threatening state election officials with criminal prosecution over claims that thousands of people on the voter rolls may not be citizens. The DOJ is also suing the state to try to block about 20,000 votes.

Joining us to discuss is CNN contributor and UCLA law professor Rick Hasen.

Great to see you. So in Los Angeles County, the U.S. Department of Justice provided officials there with a password-protected thumb drive claiming to contain a list of names the federal government believes are likely non-citizens who were sent ballots to participate in the November 3rd election. The county, along with the California secretary of state, are trying to determine how to proceed.

Can the DOJ legally compel California to comply as it wants?

RICK HASEN, PROFESSOR OF LAW AND POLITICAL SCIENCE, UCLA: Well, it's really unlikely. So the authority that the Department of Justice is pointing to is a federal law that says that it's a crime for non- citizens to vote in elections. It's a big stretch from that to what they're seeking in federal court, which is an order to set aside ballots from the names of these people that are on this list.

And, you know, there's a separate federal law called the National Voter Registration Act, which says states can't go through systematically purging voters in the 90 days before the election because they might make mistakes. We're already in the election period. The idea that the state is going to be able to do this now is really -- it's unlikely to even be possible, but also threatening with prosecution is just putting more pressure on these election officials who are already under the microscope and trying to run a free and fair election into November.

WHITFIELD: The California attorney general, Rob Bonta, called this another example of Trump spreading, his words, false conspiracy theories about voter fraud. Do you think this will be a disruption?

HASEN: Well, I think probably not, because, you know, the federal government has no authority over how elections are run. They're being run the way they've been run, which is through the counties. California gives the counties the power to run their elections. They're doing that. I think, you know, the data that the government, the federal government is relying on has been proven to be unreliable.

We know that they said there were 16,000 non-citizens in Nevada. When that was investigated that number went down to zero. And so really the risk here is a much greater risk of disenfranchising eligible voters than allowing a few non-citizen voters to be able to vote in this election.

WHITFIELD: All right. And now, shifting gears, weeks before election day, a sitting congresswoman's D.C. home is raided by federal immigration despite Justice Department's kind of 60-day rule defying something like this so close to voting day. I mean, who does this hurt most, Representative Ilhan Omar or the White House-slash-DOJ?

HASEN: Well, I can't speak to what the political fallout is going to be, but certainly this looks like it's breaking a number of different DOJ rules. First of all, as you said, DOJ has a practice of not going after people who are running for election right before the election because it could affect the election outcome. Second, they -- because it's a sitting member of Congress, there are special rules that are supposed to be followed to protect legislators' privileges which are protected in the Constitution.

Third, apparently the Justice Department didn't follow the rules that the judge had put in place when he allowed the search warrant to be issued to make sure that privilege was not violated. And it also looks like selective prosecution. They've been going after this congresswoman now in both Trump administrations. This does not look like a fair procedure at all.

WHITFIELD: And, you know, federal investigators, you know, have, I guess, an explanation may be immaterial, especially because of all the things that you just, you know, spelled out. But these investigators say what may be at issue is whether she or her father may have lied on government forms about her age to secure legal status and eventual U.S. citizenship. I mean, does that do potential harm just that that has been

characterized that way, even though the investigation, this investigation has not necessarily been concluded? And again, we don't even know what they may have obtained from her residence in this raid.

[15:45:17]

HASEN: Yes. Well, I think your question points out the very reason why the DOJ has had this rule. They don't go after in public someone who is running for office because it could affect the election. So now people are wondering, is there a problem? Did she lie on some government form? And of course, that's not going to be resolved before the election. And ultimately what's going to happen is people are going to have to vote knowing that there's this cloud hanging over there, and it's all the product of DOJ.

And I think that's the through line that ties both of these things together. Both California and Ilhan Omar, it's the federal government being weaponized to try to interfere in the upcoming midterm elections.

WHITFIELD: All right, Rick Hasen, we'll leave it there for now. Thank you so much.

HASEN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: Still to come, Pope Leo home now. The latest on his discharge from the hospital just four days after lung cancer surgery, and what it means for Sunday's traditional blessing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:50:54]

WHITFIELD: All right. Pope Leo is back at the Vatican just four days after undergoing lung cancer surgery. Earlier, the 71-year-old walked out of Rome's Gemelli Hospital, waving at people, shaking hands with the well-wishers. Doctors discharged the Holy Father after reviewing x-rays and blood tests, and this is the first health scare since Leo was elected Pope last year.

CNN's Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb has more from Rome.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pope Leo looking well as he left the Gemelli Hospital discharged after doctors said that he could leave hospital following that lung surgery and cancer diagnosis. The Pope greeting well-wishers, waving at the crowd that had gathered to see him and greeting a young Ukrainian girl who had herself been treated for cancer in Italy.

Pope Leo trying to get back to work as soon as he can. He is in the Vatican and due to make his first public appearance on Sunday leading the Angelus in St. Peter's Square. Now, the big question that people are asking in the Vatican is will Pope Leo make this long and strenuous trip to Latin America scheduled from November 6th to the 17th? All the signs are, though, that the Vatican is saying we are going. And this is what the surgeon who treated Pope Leo had to say.

DR. STEFANO MARGARITORA, LEAD SURGEON (through translator): Since almost a week has already passed I believe that in another 10 days or so the Pope could be fully recovered. As for a long trip involving air travel in about three weeks, I would say there are no clinical reasons why such a trip should not go ahead.

LAMB: So Pope Leo essentially cleared for travel by his surgeon. He does really want to make this trip because it would mean a kind of homecoming to Peru, a country he served for many years as a missionary and a bishop. But for now, Pope Leo, back in the Vatican, taking up his duties again after that, lung cancer surgery.

Christopher Lamb, CNN, Rome.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Russia is getting new sanctions relief from the U.S.. Last night, President Trump signed an executive order to waive penalties on Russian fossil fuel sales. Those sanctions were just days away from taking effect. The sanctions had been passed under the Lindsey Graham Act just a month ago, which came not long after the U.S. senator's passing. The sanctions were intended to punish Russia for its war on Ukraine.

President Trump said relieving the sanctions served the national interests of the U.S. without offering any specifics.

All right. A man out fishing was killed in an alligator attack in Florida. Police say 71-year-old Steven Hamilton was at a lake near Orlando when a nearly 12-foot alligator struck. Rescuers struggled to reach him because other alligators were in the water. Hamilton's body was eventually recovered about two hours later. Local police had this warning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAPT. MICHAEL MASON, WINTER GARDEN POLICE: Always be aware of your surroundings. Always be safe. Local wildlife, respect it. Keep your distance. It looks like it's docile. It looks like your Florida emblem, but it can be dangerous.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Florida wildlife trappers did capture and kill the reptile. A joint investigation is underway. It's the second fatal alligator attack reported in Florida this year.

All right. Still to come, the midterm blitz, the president and other political heavyweights are crisscrossing the country with just over two weeks until election day.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:59:15]

WHITFIELD: "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" returns tonight with a new episode. Here's a sneak preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD JR., HOST, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU": Time for three facts about Georgia's Senator Jon Ossoff. Our facts are, he has to be swaddled in order to sleep. He was voted best hair in high school. He did a "Star Wars" parody with his a cappella group. Which one is the truth?

IAN MICHAEL BLACK, CO-CAPTAIN: "Star Wars" parody with his a cappella group. If it is the answer, we almost certainly have video of it, which I desperately want to see.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I would really like to see it.

AMBER RUFFIN, CO-CAPTAIN: A capella group. A capella group. A cappella group. A capella group.

WOOD: Jon Ossoff did a "Star Wars" a cappella group.

(CHEERS)

SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon. Obi Wan, come on. Shotgun.