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CNN This Morning

Witness: Explosion Felt "Like A Vehicle Drove Through Our House"; FBI, ATF Join Probe Into Tennessee Explosives Plant Blast; Travelers Could See Airport Delays Over Holiday Weekend; How ICE Raids Turned Parts Of Los Angeles Into Ghost Towns; Gaza Ceasefire Holding, Israeli Forces Pulling Back; Deepfake Scams Target Employees With Fake Executive Videos. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 11, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

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[07:00:33]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS DAVIS, SHERIFF, HUMPHREYS COUNTY, TENNESSEE: And it's hell. It's hell on us. It's hell on everybody involved.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, a devastating scene out of Tennessee. A massive explosion ripped through an explosives plant. 18 people still missing. We're live on the scene.

Also, thousands of federal workers are waking up unemployed. The Trump administration fired 4,000 of them yesterday. The union representing them is here to respond.

Also, there are new details on the plan to end the war between Israel and Hamas. Thousands of Palestinians are now heading back into Gaza City. What happens next in this plan? That's coming up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are looking at probably winds of somewhere 40 to 50 miles an hour.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: A major storm building off the East Coast. Flooding and dangerous winds are on the way from the Carolinas up through New England. Your forecast is straight ahead.

All right. We are beginning in Tennessee this morning. Thanks for joining me. It's October 11th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

18 people feared dead or missing after an enormous blast, devastated and explosives manufacturing plant in Tennessee. The plant is located just about an hour southwest of Nashville. It was felt though as far as 15 miles away. Here is how one woman who lives nearby described that explosion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

FELICITY HOWELL, RESIDENT: There was a huge boom, and the house shook very like hard. It honestly felt like a vehicle drove through our house. That's what I thought whenever it happened. But then, we found out it was the explosion that was about 10 miles down the road.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Investigators from several agencies, including the FBI, are assisting in the response, and officials say it could be a few days before they really find out what caused the explosion.

CNN's Isabel Rosales joins us now from McEwen, Tennessee. What have you learned overnight?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning to you.

The sheriff of Humphreys County, Chris Davis, is urging patience. One of the big questions here is, what happened to these workers? The cause of this explosion, however, is unknown, and he is saying that it could take days, as you mentioned, for investigators to piece together what happened to these workers.

And what we saw throughout the day in all of these press conference was a very visibly emotional, distraught. Sheriff who revealed that he actually knows very intimately three of the families involved in this explosion.

The new details that we're getting here overnight is from a source, a law enforcement source familiar with this matter, is that they are actually using cell towers right now to try to triangulate information and to get an accounting of who exactly was in that building. So, very much still an active investigation here as they piece this together.

One of the most stark images, Victor, I think, were the before and after the Google Earth images showing this campus of buildings, right? And then, the after image, showing one building totally devastated.

Aerial footage also shows what appears to be like a dirt mound and debris scattered all over the place. You mentioned how folks were woken up by the explosion very early in the morning, and this debris field was actually scattered across half a square mile, showing just the force of this explosion at a facility that carried military grade explosives. Things like TNT, C4, RDX.

Here is what else the sheriff had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVIS: It's hell. It's hell on us. It's hell on everybody involved.

We don't know what caused the explosion. I can tell you, when I say debris, I'm talking about a very large building that an explosion happened in, that the debris has went basically across a square -- a half a square mile of location.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: And there were three people that were treated with minor injuries due to this explosion. It's not clear how close they were to the origin of that blast. Two of those people have been released from medical care. One is still receiving treatment.

I did also find it interesting, Victor, that we spoke to a Texas-based similar explosives plant company, and that, president said that this company behind me, Accurate Energetic Systems is well known in the industry.

[07:05:01]

And that very similar companies, depending on the quantity of explosives that they have, have enough force to, as he said, "destroy a small town." Victor.

BLACKWELL: Wow. And I'm sure a lot of those companies are now doubling down and looking over their security and safety issues there. Isabel Rosales for us in McEwen, thanks so much.

New THIS MORNING, we are learning the scope of those federal layoffs during the government shutdown. The reduction in force affects more than 4,000 workers across seven departments. You see him here. Most of them are at the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Treasury as well. That information is right out of a lawsuit filed by workers unions.

Now, this shutdown is on track to extend into next week. The Senate is not scheduled to hold any votes until Tuesday, and the House is out of session.

And for the first time in recent history, a large number of active- duty military services will miss a paycheck if this is not resolved by Wednesday.

Now, the rest of the U.S. is also feeling the effects of the shutdown. It's heavily impacting air travel. The FAA says 12 of its facilities were short staffed yesterday, caused some delays. That's likely to continue into the holiday weekend.

The American Federation of Government Employees is the biggest federal employee union. It represents more than 800,000 workers, including TSA agents. The secretary treasurer for the TSA's executive board. Johnny Jones joins us now.

Johnny, good morning to you. And this is -- I imagine, your first conversation since the announcement of the breadth of those layoffs. What's the reaction?

JOHNNY JONES, SECRETARY-TREASURER OF AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES, TSA: Well, it's a little confusing. Mostly employees don't know exactly what's going on. Some people can't access their e-mails. They are being rifted. So, that's the information we're kind of receiving.

Now, in our department, we haven't had any that I'm aware of at the department. I mean, the Transportation Security Administration that, that I'm aware of, but the other agencies, like HUD and Department of Education, definitely taking some hits.

BLACKWELL: Yes, your workers are also -- members are taking hits because that first paycheck was yesterday, the first impact of the shutdown. If this goes on, they won't get one in two weeks. But what are you hearing from them about, about this shutdown as it goes on?

JONES: Well, first of all, yes, I look at my paycheck, it was about 50 percent light because of all the way the deductions work and your final pay goes in. So, a lot of the impacts by looking at myself, the employees are definitely going to be struggling.

It's hard to prepare when you only have a few days-notice to be like, well, hey, you are only going to have a paycheck and you're not going to receive any more paychecks going forward. So, the conversations that we're having right now are, what are we going to pay? How are we going to pay it? What is going to be the priority, and how long we're going to be able to stay and stay afloat and be able to physically drive to work?

BLACKWELL: Now, there is been an increase of sick calls or people calling out sick from the air traffic controllers, and we've seen the impact on air travel delays across the country. Have you also seen an increase among TSA workers calling in sick during the shutdown?

JONES: Well, first of all, we didn't that -- we don't condone anybody calling out sick, because of that or anything of like, it's not a sick out or organized in any way.

But what happens is people call out because they physically cannot come to work. So, when people -- it's more of a general term calling out sick, but in reality, the majority of people that are missing is going to be because they don't have the financial means to continue to go to work.

And also like to remind people that the TSA officers took an oath to uphold the Constitution United States, and we would really love to see our Congress and senators and the executive branch remember that they took the oath to uphold the Constitution of the United States and do their job so we can receive our paycheck on a regular basis.

We're the only country in the world where you can -- or any place, pretty much. And I've ever heard of that force people to go to work without being paid. That reminds me of somebody building the pyramids back in the about 4,000 years ago.

BLACKWELL: Well, those would be slaves. Is that what you're saying?

JONES: Correct. Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. Like, only people that can be forced to go to work without being paid. Sure, you're going to get paid when we -- when we reopen. But that's not -- that's not the -- that's on what a gas cards are -- that's now what the gas station is going to take. That's not what the child care is going to take, and that's not what your mortgage company is going to take.

BLACKWELL: And so, just so I'm clear here, you're equating the essential workers, TSA, because, as you were speaking for today, to slaves.

JONES: Yes, because we are being forced to go to work, to work, knowing you're going to get paid at some point, but you're not -- you don't know how long it's going to be. And last time, we missed two pay cycles, and that was a traumatic and very effect -- it impacted the employees dramatically.

[07:10:07]

BLACKWELL: All right. Johnny Jones, thank you.

Right now, a powerful storm is moving up the East Coast. Areas from the Carolinas to New England, could see wind gusts up to 60 miles an hour and several inches of rain. New Jersey's acting governor has declared a state of emergency and is urging people to avoid driving.

CNN's Allison Chinchar is tracking the storm for us.

Allison, we see these videos of people testing the water, driving through what they think is maybe six inches, turns out to be two feet. Look at this.

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BLACKWELL: And then, they are stuck.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: But I would also like to point out six inches. If you've got a low-lying car, we're not talking SUVs, but if you've just got, like, a standard sedan --

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: Yes.

CHINCHAR: Six inches is enough to pick that car up and float it down the road. So, you know, it may seem like it's not that much water to you, but water is very strong, especially in large volumes like that. And that's going to be the key thing with this next particular storm, is we're talking about a large volume of water that's going to inundate a lot of these areas.

Here is a look at the live radar, so you can see where that heavy rain is really starting to push into areas of the coastal Carolinas. This is also where we have the greatest threat for the excessive rainfall for today.

Now, by tomorrow, that shifts a little bit farther up to the north and east, as the system itself will slide up and down the Eastern Seaboard.

So, here you can see through the afternoon hours and then overnight tonight into early Sunday. And again, look at all of that moisture spreading into the mid-Atlantic, into the Northeast. It's very slow moving. Now, that means it's going to take its time as it goes up the coast, but it also means it has a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of rain.

One of the longer-term concerns is going to be a lot of the rivers, especially the ones right there along the coast. All of these purple dots indicate a river gage that is forecast, not yet there, but forecast to get to major flood stage over the next several days, winds are also going to be strong.

You'll notice for today, most of these areas felt 30 to 40 mile per hour gusts. But as we head into tonight and into tomorrow, you start to see those numbers taking up 50, 55, even 60 miles per hour. Combine that with the saturated ground, it doesn't take much to bring down some trees and some power lines with some of those stronger wind gusts.

We are also looking at the tides. The higher tides for a lot of these areas, especially Sunday and Monday, it's going to be right around that lunchtime time frame of noon to 1:00. This is where we're going to see that combination of a lot of that water surging in along the coastline, plus you also have the high tide. You've got a high volume of water, some of these areas that could end up getting awfully close to record levels.

BLACKWELL: All right, Allison. Thank you so much.

President Trump says that he spoke with Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado, calling her very nice during their phone conversation.

President Trump said that Machado told him she accepted the prize in his honor, and he went on to say that he didn't ask her to hand it over. The Nobel Committee awarded Machado this year's prize for her fight to bring democracy to Venezuela.

Trump has said that he believes he deserves the honor.

President Trump is threatening to double tariffs on China. More than double. He says he will impose a new 100 percent rate on top of what's already in place starting November 1st. That would actually be triple. It's 30 percent now, could go up to 130.

Trump made the announcement after China expanded export controls on rare earth minerals. Still, the president says a meeting with China's president could still happen later this month.

The U.S. has approved plans for Qatar to build an Air Force facility at an Air Force base in Idaho. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says that Qatari fight -- fighter jets and pilots will train alongside U.S. forces to strengthen cooperation and readiness.

The deal follows a new U.S. security guarantee for Qatar. Pentagon officials stress that the site will not be Qatari owned, but part of a joint training effort between the two countries.

Still to come, thousands of Palestinians are returning to Northern Gaza now that the Israeli military says a cease fire is now in effect and holding.

Also, a T.V. station employee was detained by federal agents in Chicago. We have details of that incident ahead.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Nazi!

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[07:18:56]

BLACKWELL: This morning, fear is spreading across parts of Los Angeles after a wave of ICE raids turned neighborhoods into ghost towns. Families are staying indoors. Businesses are shuttered. Even U.S. citizens say they are being detained and questioned simply because of the way they look.

CNN's Veronica Miracle spoke with one man who says he was born in California yet still ended up behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, where exactly were you arrested?

JAVIER RAMIREZ, UNITED STATES CITIZEN ARRESTED THEN RELEASED BY ICE: One of them pretty much points me out, like, hey, get him. He is Mexican. That's why they threw me down to the ground on this side.

MIRACLE (voice over): Javier Ramirez says he was carrying his U.S. passport the moment federal agents entered his family tow yard in a suburb of Los Angeles. Even then, Ramirez says agents violently arrested him.

RAMIREZ: If it wasn't for the cameras, something else would have happened, pretty much.

MIRACLE: What did they say that you did?

RAMIREZ: They said, I bit and spit on a federal agent, and that's totally false, because you can see clearly in the cameras that I'm not doing anything.

MIRACLE (voice over): Ramirez is a U.S. citizen, born in San Bernardino, California, and he was the only person from the tow yard taken into custody by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

[07:20:07]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is an American citizen, bro. Come on.

MIRACLE: So, they accused you of doing something you didn't do. You are a U.S. citizen. How does it feel to have to go through this whole process?

RAMIREZ: It's scary. It's scary because you don't even know what's going on.

MIRACLE (voice over): Ramirez spent four days behind bars, accused of assaulting, resisting or impeding an officer. He was released and the charge was dropped.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The whole experience, in general, was very traumatic.

Ramirez's attorneys say he is one of five U.S. citizens in Los Angeles who filed tort claims against the federal government. All of them claim in separate incidents, they were racially profiled by ICE agents.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE).

MIRACLE (voice over): Across California and the country, some U.S. citizens say they are living in fear. Scared of being targeted by ICE because of the color of their skin.

One top border official, Gregory Bovino, openly spoke about these tactics to a radio reporter in Chicago, saying, intelligence informs where they look for undocumented individuals. And went on to say --

GREGORY BOVINO, COMMANDER, BORDER PATROL: Then, obviously, the particular characteristics of an individual, how they look.

How do they look compared to say, you. What's your name, again?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chip.

BOVINO: Chip?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Chip.

BOVINO: You or other folks, how do they appear in relation to what you or other people look like?

MIRACLE (voice over): In a recent ruling, the Supreme Court says this practice can continue, while the legal process unfolds. In another case.

ICE agents can stop people at least partially based on their apparent race or whether they can speak English as it contributes to reasonable suspicion when considered with other important factors. That's according to an opinion by conservative Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Governor J.B. Pritzker, says these types of detentions are happening in Illinois.

GOV. JAY ROBERT PRITZKER (D-IL): Bovino even admitted on the record that they are making arrests based on how you look. That's the baseline. They are not targeting violent criminals or gang members. They are arresting Tamale vendors.

MIRACLE (voice over): In a new interview with CNN, Bovino denies the use of racial profiling, and says it's a combination of factors that can lead to an arrest.

BOVINO: Perhaps you look scared, perhaps your demeanor changes, perhaps you're gripping the steering wheel so tightly that I can see the whites of your knuckles. There is a myriad of factors.

MIRACLE (voice over): In Los Angeles, where immigration officials have been targeting scores of businesses since June, many U.S. citizens who are not white, tell me they are terrified, like activist Francisco Moreno.

FRANCISCO MORENO, ACTIVIST: I carry my passport card. I am U.S. citizen, I am Mexican citizen, but now I don't feel, you know, comfortable without this on my -- on my wallet.

We don't feel safe. America at this point is not the dream for the immigrants.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MIRACLE (on camera): We reached out to the DHS about Javier Ramirez, and they said in a statement that they detained him for interference and released him when they determined he was a U.S. citizen with no outstanding warrants.

Well, Ramirez says he still hasn't gotten his passport back from ICE and that he now carries around two copies of his birth certificate in case he is ever questioned again.

Veronica Miracle, CNN, Los Angeles.

BLACKWELL: All right. Veronica, thank you for that.

Hostage families are waiting and praying for their loved ones to come home. The latest on the cease fire in Gaza, that's next.

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[07:27:57]

BLACKWELL: The Israeli military says that cease fire now in effect in Gaza is holding. Let's show you live pictures now of the Israeli Gaza border, where for the first time in months, there are no visible signs of smoke. Israeli troops are expected to pull back from their positions in accordance with the cease fire deal. Thousands of Palestinians are walking toward northern Gaza, hoping to return to their homes to see what's left.

President Trump weighed in on the cease fire. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it will help. They are all tired of the fighting. Don't forget, you had October 7th, which was a horrible day, 1,200 people killed, but Hamas has lost 58,000 people. That's big retribution.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Let's go live now to Tel Aviv and bring in CNN's Jeremy Diamond. What are you hearing about the hostage release and the situation in Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, as you know, Victor, we are now within that 72-hour countdown until the hostages must be released by Hamas. The latest possible date, Monday at noon. But it appears that this is, perhaps, going to happen earlier than that.

We understand that, according to a source familiar with the matter, that the hostages could be released overnight Sunday into Monday. That is a possibility. Is not yet a firm thing, and the timing could slide.

But we have been told for several days now, in fact, since this deal happened, that the hostages could be released as early as this weekend.

And indeed, Israelis across the country here are eagerly awaiting their return, and no one more, perhaps than the families of those hostages, not only the 20 living hostages, but also the families of deceased hostages, who are hoping that their loved ones will be among those released, although, again, it appears that not all of the deceased hostages will be released immediately due to Hamas not knowing the location of all of those bodies.

Now, we also have been watching as Palestinians, thousands of them have been returning to their homes in northern Gaza and in Gaza City on the road -- this coastal road in Gaza that was used just weeks earlier for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to flee from advancing Israeli troops in Gaza City.

[07:30:14]

They are now going back north. And on that road, we saw quite an upbeat mood. People were hopeful that their homes might still be standing, happy to get received the news of the cease fire, and eager to get back to their homes. But upon arriving there, for so many of them, they found nothing but rubble and devastation.

We have heard from the stories of so many Palestinians who returned to find very little left of their homes. And of course, it is a reminder of how much is going to need to happen over the coming weeks, months, and even years, in order to rebuild the Gaza Strip and in order to ensure, as well, of course, that the cease fire is actually resulting in an end of the war altogether. Victor.

BLACKWELL: Jeremy, President Trump is expected to be in the region on Monday. What can you tell us about his plans and what to expect from that visit?

DIAMOND: Yes, that's right. President Trump is indeed expected to come here to Israel as well as fly to Egypt on Monday. His visit here, seems like it will likely coincide with the release of those Israeli hostages, or come shortly thereafter, allowing the president, perhaps, an opportunity to welcome back some of those hostages, whose release he was obviously instrumental in securing, with many Israelis in particular, crediting President Trump's efforts for reaching this agreement, the cease fire deal that is securing the release of all of the remaining Israeli hostages in Gaza.

The president is also expected to address Israel's parliament, the Knesset on Monday, and then, he will go to Egypt for what appears is going to be quite an international summit to talk about Gaza's future. Not only various Arab countries who've been involved in the mediation efforts here, but also several European countries set to participate.

And then, the president will also have a formal signing ceremony for the cease fire agreement between Israel and Hamas. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Jeremy Diamond for us there in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, thank you.

A senior Hamas official says the hostage and prisoner exchange is expected to start on Monday. As we said, at the same time, the president is expected to be in the region, as Jeremy detailed.

Aaron David Miller joins us. He is a senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and a former State Department Middle East negotiator.

Aaron, good to see you again. Let's lean on that experience, that negotiating experience.

Based on what you're seeing now, is there anything that you think that you see interrupts the exchange of the hostages for those prisoners and the start of the flow of aid into Gaza?

AARON DAVID MILLER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I mean, there are always the last two cease fires. Victor, thanks for having me.

Always contained difficulties in terms of implementation. But I would expect, given the fact that the president of the United States is arriving on Monday, first in Israel, then to Egypt, the thing that is in contention now, I think, are the names of Palestinian prisoners to be released.

I'm not sure that's finalized. That could create a problem, but I would expect that by Monday, 20 live hostages, and 26 of those who tragically, sadly are not alive will, in fact, return. The Israelis have already undertaken the first phase of their withdrawal, still leaving Israel in control of roughly 53 percent of Gaza. So, I'm thinking Victor, and I usually default to the negative when it comes to Israeli Palestinian stuff, that the first phase of this agreement is likely to be implemented relatively smoothly.

BLACKWELL: All right. So, let's talk about that defaulting to the negative, because I read your opinion piece in The New York Times, where you detail all of what you call the flaws and the pitfalls of this 20-point plan. And one of the things you write here is that one of the flaws is the plan, your words, like so many U.S. initiatives before it, is tailor made to address Israeli needs and requirements. Expound that.

MILLER: I mean, first of all, it's true mostly -- most Arab Israeli negotiations, we tend to favor the Israelis, particularly when it comes to security needs and requirements. And this does that as well.

Understandably, the hostages are now front loaded. They will return. The Israeli withdrawal is by no means guaranteed. It's conditional, and it's conditional on two elements, frankly, that have yet to be even conceptually framed out, an international stabilization force on one hand, and the decommissioning, Victor, the demilitarization of Hamas' weapons.

And to tunnel infrastructure, which Hamas has used very effectively, half the -- half the length of the U.S. New York subway system.

[07:35:07]

All of this, it seems to me, creates a real incentive for the Israelis to follow through on theirs, but on their end of the bargain. But tremendous difficulties. We haven't even talked about the creation of International Peace board chaired by the president, which is supposedly to include Palestinians, which, since you can't have elections, these will be appointed Palestinians and how much authority and legitimacy they'll have. And finally, there is a nod only in a vaguest of terms to well, a political rise in two state solution.

So, I think, frankly, one of the reasons Benjamin Netanyahu presiding over the most right-wing government in Israel's history could accept this, is because it really is tailor made to meet his needs and requirements.

BLACKWELL: Yes, you mentioned this international stabilization force, and I imagine that will be top of mind as the president goes to meet with world leaders in Egypt. Who is at the front of the line to do that, to go into Gaza, to then choose the vetted Palestinians to create a force and lead the disarmament of Hamas. Who does that? And how realistic is it?

MILLER: I mean, it could work, but it's going to require presidential leadership. I mean, full stop. Everyone else's participation, the Europeans, the Arabs, Muslim countries, important, but it's Donald Trump got this agreement. Without him, frankly, you and I would still be having a very different kind of conversation.

Really, it's going to require American leadership, constant pressure, as well as providing incentives in order to make this thing work. That's the long and short of it.

BLACKWELL: Now, if you say it's American leadership, there are going to be 200 forces heading over in -- to Israel. Does this also require in this international stabilization force, American forces in Gaza? Or is that going to be left to the Arab states?

MILLER: Not a bridge too far. Those 200 Americans which CENTCOM had -- will deploy. Actually, I think their plans are already made for their arrival, will be stationed an Israeli air base that's far (PH) relatively close to Gaza. No, there'll be no deployment of American forces.

BLACKWELL: OK. All right. Aaron David Miller.

(CROSSTALK)

MILLER: -- Gaza.

BLACKWELL: Thank you very much for the clarity there.

All right, we'll talk more about this in the next hour of "FIRST OF ALL" Ruwa Romman, the first Palestinian American lawmaker elected in Georgia, among many guests.

I will also get into the government shutdown, and this so-called All American halftime show is being planned in response to bad bunny selection as the Super Bowl halftime performer. A lot coming up in the next hour.

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[07:42:48]

BLACKWELL: Hackers are now using video deep fakes to pose as top business executives, and then, they trick company employees into sending money or sharing passwords or some other sensitive information.

CNN technology reporter Clare Duffy has more. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAMISHAH MARUF, CNN BUSINESS PM BREAKING NEWS WRITER: Wow, that looks a lot like Clare. I can't -- it's a little bit creepy.

CLARE DUFFY, CNN BUSINESS AND TECH WRITER: There is a new type of A.I. scam that's increasingly targeting businesses and eventually, maybe anybody.

Last year, an exec at Ferrari was targeted by someone posing as the company's CEO. And a finance worker at a multinational company paid out $25 million to scammers that use deepfake recreations of the company's CFO.

So, I'm here in Silicon Valley to meet up with ethical hacker and social proof security CEO Rachel Tobac. She is going to walk me through how these scams work and how people can protect themselves.

Explain to us what we're going to see today.

RACHEL TOBAC, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, SOCIALPROOF SECURITY: So, you are going to see a demo of what it looks like when somebody uses a deepfake to try to trick somebody with your likeness.

DUFFY: OK.

TOBAC: And it's not too hard to make.

DUFFY: Ahead of our meeting, Rachel created a deepfake version of me, using software commonly used by hackers, pulling video and audio of me posted on YouTube.

It can be played back on something like a Zoom call, without the person on the other end realizing that it's a recording.

We have a colleague of mine in New York who is ready and waiting. She knows this is coming, because you are an ethical hacker. We didn't want to trick anybody here.

TOBAC: Right.

DUFFY: But talk about how this would actually happen in the wild, if she were there, unsuspecting, what would happen?

TOBAC: She would probably get a text message or an e-mail. Hey, I'm on the road. Can you jump on a call real quick? I need something.

So, it will look like it's coming from you. And when she gets on there, she sees you quickly ask for something like a wire transfer or a password or a code. And usually, these types of conversations are not lasting. They are short and they are sweet.

DUFFY: OK. All right. We have sent that e-mail.

TOBAC: You get it queued up.

DUFFY: And we'll see when she answers.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, thanks for jumping on so fast. Can you remind me of our password for our shared drive? I need it for an interview starting in 30 seconds.

[07:45:04]

MARUF: Wow, that looks a lot like Clare. The movements though are a little bit off, like, it definitely doesn't seem human. I have never seen Clare look this surprised. Also, she is usually very chill.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sorry, my connection is bad.

MARUF: OK, Clare.

Oh, this is a little bit creepy. DUFFY: All right. Can -- Misha, can you hear us on your end?

MARUF: Yes. I heard you guys laughing a little.

DUFFY: This is real -- this is real Clare, not deepfake Clare.

MARUF: Right.

DUFFY: What are your thoughts like if this had been our boss, Dave, calling you really quickly to ask you for something, do you feel like there would have been red flags going off? Or do you think that you might have been fooled?

MARUF: There definitely were red flags going off. I feel like your movements were very jerky. But yes, this is so realistic. It sounded exactly like you.

DUFFY: It does sort of look like I've had 17 cups of coffee, which could happen.

TOBAC: And you're probably seeing that I added in, like, little phrases for her to say, just to bolster the pretext a little bit that your connection is bad. You know, everything's going wrong. We need your help right now.

DUFFY: We need your help right now.

Well, and I can imagine that this is only going to get better, right?

TOBAC: Yes. I mean, this is where we're at right now in 2025. Give it a year.

DUFFY: So, this is mainly happening in a work setting, right? It's not necessarily like my husband is going to get a Zoom call request from deepfake me.

TOBAC: Right. I mean, it could. Right. If you are well known enough and your threat model is high enough, then, I'm pretty sure that an attacker would pretend to be you to anybody that trusts you. This is the type of thing that we see it right now in a business context, in a limited way, but it is pretty much hitting people who have a lot of authority at the company, asking somebody who really is supposed to do that task for that person of authority.

DUFFY: What can people do to make sure that they don't fall victim to something like this?

TOBAC: You and the people around you have to be politely paranoid. So, essentially verify that people are who they say they are before taking action on their sensitive request. So, before sending the wire transfer, giving a code, giving access to a password or a document, if you do that after the fact, because it felt weird, it's already too late.

(END VIDEOTAPE) DUFFY: And I think that's really good advice for so many things, as we enter this AI era, whether you are scrolling on social media or answering a Zoom call from your boss, we all need to slow down and make sure that we take that extra minute to verify that what we are looking at is real and not an A.I. deep fake.

Clare Duffy, CNN, New York.

BLACKWELL: And you look at those images?

And new this morning, a Chicago T.V. station employee has been released without charges filed after being detained by federal agents. Video captured Border Patrol agents arresting Debbie Brockman yesterday. DHS says this, WGN employee was throwing objects at a car.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name? What's your name?

DEBBIE BROCKMAN YESTERDAY. PRODUCER, WGN-TV: Debbie Brockman. I worked for WGN. He is -- let them know.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I got you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: It's not clear if Brockman, who does not work for the news side of WGN, was working at the time of her arrest.

Journalist Kara Swisher and comedian Zainab Johnson, join in on the fun this week on, "HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU" tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, right here on CNN.

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[07:52:49]

BLACKWELL: Well, it was not easy, but the Mariners are now on to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2001.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes.

BLACKWELL: CNN sports anchor Andy Scholes is here, long night.

SCHOLES: Long, stressful night, Victor for all those fans there in Seattle. Game Five between the Mariners and Tigers is the longest winner-take-all game in Major League history. It's four hours and 58 minutes.

Now, the Tigers had their ace on the mound last night. Tarik Skubal, disproving once again in this one, why is the best picture in baseball. The reigning A.L. Cy Young Award winner at one point, struck out seven straight batters. That was a record.

And then, the sixth, Skubal, big at bat against Cal Raleigh, and he blows him away with 101-mile-per-hour fastball to end the inning. But that was it for him. He finished with 13 strikeouts. He was the most ever by pitcher in a winner-take-all game.

The Mariners so happy to see him go. They immediately tied the game the next inning on a Leo Rivas single to left. This game would stay tied at two all the way to the 15th inning, Seattle would load the bases and Jorge Polanco, the hero. Coming through with the walk off single. And then, the party was on.

Mariners win, 3-2 to advance the ALCS, where they will face the Toronto Blue Jays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CAL RALEIGH, CATCHER, SEATTLE MARINERS: I mean, well, I don't -- I don't know what to say to the fans. What a game. It took --

What a game, unbelievable. So happy for our guys and the fans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: And the ALCS between Seattle and Toronto, starts tomorrow. Tonight at 8:00 Eastern, Game Five between the Cubs and the Brewers. You can watch that one on TBS or stream it on HBO Max.

Las Vegas aces, meanwhile, are WNBA Champions for the third time in four years. MVP A'ja Wilson once again leading the way with 31 points, as Vegas completed the sweep of the Mercury.

The final from Game Four was 97 to 86 and what a run. This was by Coach Becky Hammond, Aces.

On August 2nd, they got blown out by 53 points. They were just 500 on the season. But they ended the regular season winning 16 games in a row, and now, they are champions.

Once again, Wilson, the first player in WNBA history to win MVP, finals MVP, and defensive player of the year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

A'JA WILSON, FINALS MVP: For us to be able to celebrate this is truly special. We worked our butts off to get to this point, and now, it's time to have some fun. But I wish I could take this credit, but this is God working. This guy, nothing to do with me. This is not about X's and O's.

[07:55:05]

This is from -- this is from what's inside.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: Yes. A'Ja Wilson is so good, Victor.

And you know, like I said, Aces were down bad in August, completely flipped the switch. I mean, proven they got the heart of the champion.

BLACKWELL: All right. Andy, thank you.

SCHOLES: All right.

BLACKWELL: Coming up on "FIRST OF ALL", it's top of the hour. Thousands of federal workers are getting fired. The government shutdown is dragging on. President Trump says his administration is focusing on, his words, jobs that are Democrat oriented. Well, the leader of the largest union representing federal workers is here to respond.

Plus, people in Gaza are making the journey to see what's left of their homes as the cease fire between Israel and Hamas holds. The Palestinian American candidate for governor in Georgia, Ruwa Romman is among my guests.

And later, Hispanic families in and Alabama County say they are alarmed by this ICE themed Halloween display. It's the identity of the couple that put it up. That's the big reason why.

Those conversations and more are coming up after a short break on "FIRST OF ALL".

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