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Trump, Zelenskyy Fingerpointing on Starshield's Access; France Brace for Another Wave of Weekend Protests. Aired 3-3:45a ET
Aired October 23, 2026 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[03:00:00]
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IVAN WATSON, CNN ANCHOR AND SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hello and welcome, I'm Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, ahead here on CNN Newsroom.
Has Elon Musk restored Ukraine's Starlink access? Donald Trump says yes, President Zelenskyy says no, as Kyiv and Moscow continue to trade attacks.
The Houthis claim new attacks on Saudi Arabia, as the U.S. State Department orders diplomats and their families to leave, a live report from the region coming up.
And the latest out of France, as the country prepares for another round of massive demonstrations amid some of the worst rioting there in years.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Hong Kong, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Ivan Watson.
WATSON: Hi there, we begin with new questions and conflicting claims about a critical satellite service used by Ukraine's military.
Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the StarShield service had been slowed down, but it remains unclear who ordered the restrictions. In an interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour Thursday, Zelenskyy said the service is still not fully operational. His interview aired after President Donald Trump said that Elon Musk had restored the service.
Starshield is a military-grade version of Musk's StarLink satellite network, and here's how Trump responded when asked whether he had urged Musk to lift the restrictions.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called doesn't make any difference. I guess the bottom line, he put it back.
J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I think that fundamentally Elon Musk runs a private corporation, and I think it's completely understandable that he doesn't want to get in the middle of what is a war between two state actors without the United States government effectively directing him on what to do. So I don't think this is about Elon. I think it's fundamentally what is America's policy in Ukraine and Russia going to be.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: In his interview with CNN, Zelenskyy said his disagreements with Trump are not personal. This is what he said when Christiane asked him who's responsible for slowing down Starshield.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Who do you think did it?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: I don't know, it can be. I mean, technically, it can do, I think, SpaceX, but the decision comes by themselves or from some institutions. I don't know.
It does -- It's not clear for me, but technically, it can do only one opening.
AMANPOUR: Is it up to speed?
I don't understand. Is it up to -- is it back up to speed or not?
ZELENSKYY: No, we had enough speed to destroy Iranian shahed's 400, 500 kilometers per hour. Yes, it's more than 300 miles. Now we had maximum 100 miles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Meanwhile, we're getting word of new strikes across Ukraine in recent hours. Ukraine says Russia launched more than 170 drones overnight, hitting at least 19 locations.
Two people were injured in the city of Sumy, where residential areas were struck. Rescue workers are at the scene of those attacks. Russia says it hit railway and port infrastructure used by Ukraine's military.
The Iran-backed Houthis in Yemen say they have launched fresh strikes on several key locations in Saudi Arabia. The group claims it attacked the Saudi defense ministry in Riyadh on Thursday, along with Saudi Aramco oil facilities and the King Fahd International Airport in Dammam. Saudi authorities say two people were killed in the airport attack, no word yet from Saudi officials about the other strikes.
Meanwhile, the U.S. State Department issuing new security alerts, warning Americans to be aware of potential attacks on Saudi airports. Non-essential embassy staff have also been ordered out of the Saudi capital. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched a series of deadly strikes on the Riyadh International Airport in recent days.
CNN's Paula Hancocks is following all of this live from Abu Dhabi. Good to see you, Paula.
I guess one big question for me is, in this kind of missile war that we're seeing, where are Saudi Arabia's missile defenses? Are we hearing about any of these projectiles from Yemen, from the Houthis, being intercepted before hitting any of these important targets?
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PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's a good question, Ivan. And what we're hearing at this point from Saudi Arabia, they say that on Wednesday and Thursday, they did intercept at least 16 drones.
Now, they don't qualify exactly how many were fired or how many did manage to get through. But we know that there are some that are having a very deadly impact in Saudi Arabia.
On Wednesday, for example, two killed at an airport, two killed at an oil field, both in the eastern area of the country. And on Thursday, the Houthi rebels claiming responsibility for both of those attacks. So we are seeing, certainly in recent weeks, an increase in the Houthi attacks.
But also we're hearing that the Saudi coalition, which is, of course, the Yemeni internationally recognized government, the military backed by Saudi Arabia, that they are really trying to repel the Houthi rebels. But it is a very deadly situation in Saudi Arabia at this point.
Now, we know that the U.S. has been helping with intelligence sharing, with targeting as well, but nothing beyond that. We do know that France is helping to protect one of its Red Sea oil export hubs. We heard from the U.K. on Tuesday that they're going to be sending fighter jets to help defend Saudi Arabia.
But as of now, we have not heard from the U.S. President Donald Trump that he will be offering more help to Saudi Arabia. Now, of course, when it comes to Trump, we are hearing more hints that he may decide to reignite the war against Iran after the midterm elections that he has said that this war will be determined one way or the other. We are hearing persistent hints that there will be more military action to come.
We've heard some pushback in the past 24 hours from the Iranian side on state television, for example. We have heard Iran touting its drone capabilities, also issuing new footage showing the capabilities that they have. We have heard from the Iranian army commander-in-chief that Iran has reached significant levels of maturity in drone technology and unmanned systems, saying that they are now in a better position to be able to fight back against the United States.
This, they say, in direct response to President Trump suggesting that they are planning to fight back against Iran once again in a military sense after the midterm elections, or at least that is very much on the table and plans are being drawn up continually.
We also heard from the Iranian, Iran's top security official, saying that if there is a war, there are particular things that they have now decided that they will target. Cables, data centers, A.I. intelligence facilities, saying that if the U.S. does decide to go back to war, then these in the region -- in this Gulf region, will become within range, Ivan.
WATSON: All right, CNN's Paula Hancocks in Abu Dhabi on all of the ominous events taking place across that region. Thank you so very much, Paula.
To France now. The French government is expected to announce today security measures for major protests planned for Saturday. President Emmanuel Macron is set to meet this hour with defense officials as authorities brace for more unrest.
Officials have temporarily banned some protests in major cities following some of the worst rioting in years. Parts of Paris and other cities are under curfew. France's interior minister says more than 2700 people have been detained since last Saturday, and French courts have convicted and sentenced 217 people to prison.
Meanwhile, a student-led protest group marched peacefully through Paris Thursday after a court suspended a police ban on their demonstration. France's main student union is calling for more protests on Saturday, and one of the country's largest trade unions says it plans to join. After meeting with his security council on Thursday, President Macron announced that only protests affiliated with a trade union would be allowed to proceed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): Any requests to demonstrate or gather, especially those made by individuals or groups lacking the legitimacy to do so, will be prohibited by the prefects. Now is not the time. Our priority is a return to calm.
Everywhere, trade unions may submit requests to hold demonstrations. These will be reviewed by the prefects in accordance with the law. However, alternative routes will be proposed to protect our city centers, specifically our businesses and public buildings.
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WATSON: And in Serbia, student-led protests have evolved into a political movement ahead of Sunday's parliamentary elections.
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Tens of thousands of supporters gathered in Belgrade Thursday for a final campaign rally. The movement emerged after a deadly canopy collapse at a train station in 2024, and now the group is backing a list of 250 candidates, including actors, farmers, professors, and even a rapper. The election could pose the greatest challenge to former President Aleksandar Vucic and his Serbian Progressive Party.
And now, less than two weeks before the U.S. midterm elections, new data shows more than 20 million Americans have already voted. My ballot is in the mail right now.
And that's only going to ramp up as early in-person voting begins or expands in four big states this weekend - Florida, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York.
Meanwhile, backlash to that incendiary campaign ad in Ohio is now spreading far beyond the state's borders. But that did not stop President Trump from once again defending the spot during a campaign stop in Iowa and depicting it as a gift. Even though the ad deals with a troubling family dynamic and discussions of child sexual abuse.
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TRUMP: It's like a big story about, he must take that ad down immediately, he must -- no. The mother is calling the daughter a terrible person and a liar. Everybody should be so lucky.
Why would you shield somebody from that? Why would we do that? So I told him, leave it up and look upstairs and say, thank you God very much, I appreciate it.
But that's a hot story today. They want him to take down an ad. I only wish I could have had an ad like that against somebody.
But as it turned out, we didn't need it.
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WATSON: But many other prominent Republicans are speaking out against the spot in Ohio as well as Iowa. CNN's Kevin Liptak has further details on the President's visit to Sioux City.
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KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump came here to this deep red part of Iowa to rally his supporters behind the Senate and Governor's candidate here in this state, recognizing that they will need his supporters to turn out in big numbers if they are to win their closer than anticipated races in November. But it was the President's defense of that controversial ad airing three states over in Ohio that really captured a lot of attention.
The President vehemently defending Vivek Ramaswamy for airing this commercial that features his Democratic rival Amy Acton's estranged mother. The President recounting during his rally here in Iowa, receiving a call from Ramaswamy asking what to do amid this bipartisan backlash to the commercial.
And the President saying that he should hold firm, that he should keep the commercial up. And it reflects what I'm told behind the scenes was the President's frustration that so many Republicans were coming out to criticize this spot.
He said that it could potentially damage their ability to win the midterms. Of course, the President has long complained that he doesn't think Republicans stick together when they need to in the same way that Democrats do.
Now, it put him in something of an awkward position. One of the candidates that he was here trying to rally support behind, Ashley Hinson, who is the Senate candidate, had just earlier in the day said that the ad should come down and she called it ridiculous.
So clearly she is at odds with the President, as are a number of other Republicans in very tight races, including in Ohio, Jon Husted says that he wouldn't put that ad up. The state's Republican governor, Mike DeWine, also saying that the ad was out of bounds.
And so it's clear that not all Republicans are taking their direction from President Trump and from the White House on this particular issue. And you can already see how some of the battle lines are forming in what could become a Republican civil war over this very controversial commercial.
Now, the ad is running in Ohio, but the President raising it here in Iowa clearly makes it into a national issue. Ashley Hinson, the Senate candidate here, is walking a very fine line. She has one of the most difficult balancing acts of any Republican candidate in the country.
A lot of the President's policies are very unpopular here in Iowa, whether it's the tariffs that have made life difficult for farmers, ranchers also oppose the President's decision to import foreign beef, the war in Iran, also very unpopular. This is a state that lost two service members as part of the Iran conflict.
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And so Ashley Hinson, I think, really trying to walk a tightrope. And perhaps this issue with that ad in Ohio just contributes to some of that balancing act that she is facing as we get closer and closer to the midterm elections.
Kevin Liptak, Sioux City, Iowa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WATSON: Thanks Kevin.
There is so much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom," including a new warning from the World Health Organization as the Ebola outbreak spreads in Africa. The country is reporting new cases, that is coming up next.
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WATSON: Welcome back to CNN. I'm Ivan Watson, in Hong Kong.
A deadly earthquake has struck southwest China. Security camera footage captured the moments the magnitude seven quake hit with people running into the streets. The U.S. Geological Survey says it struck the Tibet region at around 10:30 p.m. local time. State media reports 16 people are dead and 65 people injured. A rescue
team has been dispatched to the quake's epicenter. More than 300 homes have collapsed and the extent of the damage is still being assessed.
A powerful typhoon is bearing down on Taiwan and has shut down much of the island. While the storm is not expected to make a direct landfall, it's still causing all sorts of disruptions. More than 600 flights have been canceled for the coming day, businesses and schools are shuttered across Taiwan.
Forecast models indicate the former super typhoon will skirt the northern part of the island before heading towards China and then southern Japan.
And now to a new warning from the World Health Organization. The agency is calling for vigilance as the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo is spreading. New cases have been reported in Kenya and Nigeria.
Officials say multiple patients traveled from the DRC and transited through Uganda before arriving in other countries. In the DRC, the virus has spread to an eighth province with more than 9000 confirmed cases and at least 4000 deaths as of Tuesday. World Health officials are calling for faster case detection, contact tracing and stronger surveillance at borders.
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DR. MOHAMMED JANABI, WHO REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR AFRICA: I strongly believe no country is safe until every country is prepared. So our focus now must be on action, early detection, rapid response and regional solidarity.
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WATSON: Okay, the intense heatwave that gripped Europe this summer led to the death of more than 50,000 people, that's according to a new analysis making this year's heat the region's deadliest on record. The findings show that two-thirds of those fatalities are directly attributed to climate change driven by fossil fuel pollution. This all comes just days after a U.N. report warned the world's chance of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius is no longer achievable.
There's much more to come here on "CNN Newsroom." Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have been growing more violent during the olive harvest. We will have the latest after this break.
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WATSON: Hello and welcome. I'm Ivan Watson, in Hong Kong. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
The U.S. and Ukrainian leaders are offering contradicting statements about the Starshield service in Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tells CNN the service has not been fully restored, and that's despite President Trump claiming that Elon Musk had restored the service. Trump declined to say whether he had urged Musk to lift the restrictions, Starshield is a military-grade version of Musk's Starlink satellite network.
Mr. Trump brought his U.S. midterm campaign blitz to Iowa on Thursday. He warned that his agenda would be destroyed if Democrats win the U.S. House and Senate while stumping for Republican Senate nominee Ashley Hinson. And he falsely claimed the 2020 election was stolen, which he said earned him the right to run again a third time.
The U.S. State Department is warning Americans to be aware of potential attacks on airports in Saudi Arabia. Non-essential embassy staff have also been ordered out of the Saudi capital. The Iran-backed Houthis have launched a series of deadly strikes on the Riyadh International Airport in recent days.
Palestinian officials say the latest Israeli attacks have killed at least three people in Gaza. A crowd gathered around the wreckage of a burning car in Gaza City, where one person was killed. Medics say a second strike killed a Palestinian man in the southern city of Khan Younis, and gunfire is blamed for the death of a woman near the Jabalia refugee camp.
The IDF says it struck a Hamas militant in Khan Younis, and it was checking other reports of further strikes. Israel has stepped up strikes on what it says are Hamas targets in recent weeks, accusing the group of rearming and launching attacks that violate the year-old ceasefire.
And meantime, in the West Bank, we're getting reports of a surge in Israeli settler violence against Palestinians ahead of next week's Israeli election.
Opinion polls show Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his pro- settler coalition could lose to opponents who have been more critical of settler violence. Palestinians, Israeli right groups, and the U.N. say Israeli settlers have intimidated Palestinians harvesting their olives in the occupied West Bank for decades. But this year, not only has violence increased sharply, theft has been widespread.
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On Wednesday, U.S. Democratic congressional candidate Brad Lander, who is Jewish, was detained by the Israeli military. Lander and about 90 volunteers from the Israeli organization Rabbis for Human Rights had joined Palestinian olive pickers and activists in the occupied West Bank.
He posted a photo of himself detained on a bus with other volunteers on social media. Lander won the Democratic primary for a U.S. House seat earlier this year, and he's expected to win the midterm election. Joining me now from Sydney, Australia, is journalist Antony
Loewenstein. He's the author of "The Palestine Laboratory, How Israel Exports the Technology of Occupation Around the World." Good to see you, Antony.
I wanted to ask, you know, we've got this U.S. congressional candidate detained. Just last week, a "Washington Post" reporter who was badly beaten by settlers, not to mention reports of violence against ordinary Palestinians. What does that tell you about the environment these days in the West Bank?
ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN, JOURNALIST AND AUTHOR, "THE PALESTINE LABORATORY": It's actually truly out of control. I was there a few months ago myself doing some reporting across the West Bank, and those incidents that you talked about, Brad Lander, Hardy Levine, the photojournalist from the "Washington Post," I'm glad that that got attention internationally.
The fact that either settlers attacked her in Heidi's case, or in Brad Lander's case, the Israeli military detained him for simply assisting Palestinian farmers to farm their olive groves. But the picture here is far wider. The picture is that the aim of not just the settlers, but the Israeli military and the Israeli state are really attempting to push off, ethnically cleanse, as many Palestinians from the West Bank as possible.
They say so, it's not an opinion. They literally state that as their goal.
And I think when often we talk in the international Western press about settler violence, that's undeniably true. It is violence, and it's often perpetrated by settlers, but it's also perpetrated by many in the Israeli military, which are backed by the Israeli state.
So this is a state project rather than a handful of radical juveniles, as Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, likes to say. So there's a couple of hundred juveniles, they're under control. It's complete nonsense, the facts on the ground show the opposite of that.
And what you've seen in the last three years, particularly since October 7, 2023, this has obviously been going on long before that, but certainly it's accelerated since, is the arming far more weapons handed out by the Israeli government to settlers to try to institute much more violence against Palestinians and to make, as I saw myself in the West Bank, villagers who are no longer able to live on their land. This is Palestinians who've been there for generations. So it's actually turning pretty apocalyptic.
WATSON: Well, I mean, you mentioned that Prime Minister Netanyahu has tried to downplay the settler violence, but he also leads the most far right wing Israeli government in history. Do you see any signs whatsoever from him or any of his cabinet ministers that they seek to move away from implicitly or overtly supporting these actions on the ground in the West Bank?
LOEWENSTEIN: I mean, the short answer is no, it's not just not dismissing them. In fact, he's encouraging them by his policies, by the people in his cabinet, by, as I said, arming many of the settlers themselves by leading and directing an Israeli military that is not just involved in settler violence, but working alongside settlers to stop them farming their olive groves or assisting or standing by when people are assaulted or killed.
And I wish I could say that an Israeli election, which is happening next week, Netanyahu may lose. We don't know. He's the cat with nine lives.
So who knows what will happen there? But ultimately and sadly, the vast majority of likely alternatives to him as an Israeli Prime Minister have remarkably similar views.
Yes, they talk about trying to reduce settler violence, which is something that we all can support. But they still support the fact that there should be an expanding Jewish settler population in the West Bank, all of whom are there illegally under international law.
So if people are hoping that if Netanyahu loses the election and his coalition falters, that others will come up and change the policy, there'll be some cosmetic changes around the edges. I think that's likely. But the ultimate fact is the goal of not just the Israeli politicians, but many in the Israeli Jewish public, is to have a Palestine with as few Palestinians as possible.
This is what poll after poll has said. Our views that existed before October 7, but certainly much stronger since. And that's what worries many of us.
Will there be Palestinians left in Palestine in 20, 30, 40 years beyond a handful?
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I mean, this is what concerns me. I'm saying Israel is going to aim to kill all of them. But the idea of ethnically cleansing and removing them either to neighboring states or other nations who will take them, as Israel itself says, is their dream goal and that's deeply concerning.
WATSON: Quickly, Antony, Israel appears more isolated internationally than it's ever been. I mean, look, in the U.S., there is public opinion polls show less support for Israel than I think ever historically. Does that seem to concern the Israeli political elite?
LOEWENSTEIN: I mean, the short answer is yes, it does. Hugely, in fact, to the point where this year they're spending between $600 and $100 million and $1 billion on propaganda on so-called Hasbara, what is what they call explaining everything from buying bot farms to paying influencers to come over. They say the polls that we all see support for Israel has collapsed in much of the West.
But their solution, so to speak, is better P.R. or some kind of P.R., which is not going to work, especially with younger Americans, younger Jews on the left and the right. And although it's unlikely that Trump for the next two years of his presidency will change very much, it's possible and we can live in hope that future presidents and politicians on the Republican and Democratic side will no longer tolerate sending weapons to Israel or unlimited aid, so-called aid.
So there is a chance of a shift and that's happening from the ground up across the U.S. and much of the West. But so far at least, it's not helping much Palestinians on the ground in Palestine.
WATSON: All right. Antony Loewenstein, live from Sydney, thank you very much for sharing your perspective.
LOEWENSTEIN: Thank you.
WATSON: All right. Now, "CNN Newsroom" will return after a short break. Stay with CNN.
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[03:40:00]
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WATSON: Welcome back. Here are your business headlines.
Apple's first folding iPhone is officially available to buy as of today. Early reviews have praised the duo's design, including its barely visible crease but some have complained about the lack of a telephoto lens on the camera. The duo is seen as an early test for Apple's new CEO, John Ternus, formerly the company's hardware chief.
Drivers in the U.S. state of Michigan are getting a painful jolt at the pump. The state's average price for gasoline jumped $0.17 in one day to $4.61 a gallon, according to AAA. Analysts say the spike is driven by troubles at an Exxon refinery in Illinois.
Meta says it will appeal a $25 billion fine imposed by a judge in New Mexico. The ruling came after the company was found to have misled tens of millions of users about its privacy practices. The judge said that deception was at the core of Meta's business strategy.
All right, thanks for watching. I'm Ivan Watson, in Hong Kong. "World Sport" is coming up next.
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