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CNN This Morning
Israel: Hero Pilot Opened Cockpit Door During Hijacking Attempt; Israel PM Says Alleged Attacker Is Being "Interrogated"; Ken Paxton Criticizes Trump's Dallas Convention; GOP Sen. Justice On ICE Crackdowns: "I Don't Know That We Need To Be Doing That Stuff; How Will ICE Crackdowns In Rural Towns Impact Midterms; Newsom Takes Notes From Clinton As "Project 2029" Takes Shape; Tinashe Gets Praise For New Album "Popstar". Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired October 01, 2026 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN HOST: An inmate is alive after not one but two execution attempts. We're going to find out what went wrong on Tennessee's death row.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
CORNISH: We are continuing to track the latest on the attempted hijacking of a Flydubai flight heading to Israel. Officials say the co-pilot allegedly tried to crash the plane after stabbing the plane's captain. And then that sent the flight into a nosedive. We are now learning more about the captain who is being hailed as a hero.
And Israel's foreign ministry says the captain was able to unlock the door after being stabbed, allowed passengers in to storm the cockpit and give him help.
[06:35:07]
Two reserve pilots were then able to save the plane from the nosedive before safely landing in Saudi Arabia. The alleged attacker is now being interrogated as investigators try to uncover a possible motive. CNN asks Israel's Prime Minister who might be responsible and if there were any warnings of a possible attack.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAEL PRIME MINISTER: No, not specifically. What we had is a lot of information streaming in that Iran's proxies in particular, Hezbollah and Hamas, were planning attacks against Israel and Israeli civilians abroad. But I can't tell you that we had any specific warning about this.
This is being interrogated right now. So we'll find out very soon if Iran had anything to do with it.
(END VIDEO CLIP) CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss is Oded Ailam, the former head of Mossad's Counterterrorism Division, which is Israel's intelligence agency. He's talking to us from Tel Aviv.
First, I want to start with a statement from Netanyahu. He mentioned Iran there, but right now, as of the reporting, there is no announced motive and nobody has claimed responsibility. Is that right?
ODED AILAM, FORMER MOSSAD COUNTERTERRORISM DIVISION DIRECTOR: This is the usual pattern in such cases. Nobody wants to take any sort of responsibility, especially when a failed operation. But nevertheless, the Iranians, of course, are the usual suspects. But in that case, I am not that certain that Iran is standing behind that certain case.
It looks more, and I have to be very cautious with what I'm saying, because right now the investigation is going on, and it looks more like the lone ranger operation, which means the co-pilot was inspired by Iran, inspired by the events, but not necessarily was Iran conducting this sort of operation because I see, at that point, no reason for Iran to take such extreme measures in their confrontation with the U.S. and Israel.
CORNISH: So what sorts of intelligence would agents be looking for now to try to piece together how this person ended up on this flight, you know, in the cockpit?
AILAM: The most significant information that right now all the authorities, and when I mean the authorities, it's the Saudis, it's the Emirates, and of course it's the Israelis that are working together, is to find out whether there are accomplices and to find out whether there are more of the same in order to foil it. It is the immediate task of everyone to make sure that there aren't any others.
Now, another thing that is very important is to try to trace and to follow the co-pilot's behavior and activity before the event in order to understand better, first of all, his motives, and of course the most important thing, is he affiliated with any sort of country or organization. This is the immediate task of the joint team, and of course the repercussions could be horrendous if he succeeded. So right now, it is very important to understand it better in order to eliminate and for future events like that.
CORNISH: OK. That's Oded Ailam. Thank you so much, sir. I appreciate you.
And next on CNN This Morning, Ken Paxton hits the campaign trail with President Trump after reports he blamed the President's convention for his sagging poll numbers.
Plus, West Virginia Senator Jim Justice calling on ICE to dial back its enforcement sweeps. Is he saying what some Republicans are thinking?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:43:27] CORNISH: So Texas Attorney General and Senate candidate Ken Paxton expected to join President Trump at an event in Texas today. And it's going to be the first face-to-face meeting between the two since there was leaked audio of Paxton complaining that that Republican midterm convention dubbed Trumpapalooza actually hurt him and other Republican candidates in the state.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN PAXTON (R), TEXAS SENATE CANDIDATE: So to be honest with you, the numbers -- when we did that convention -- it dropped our numbers. Everybody's numbers dropped. And right now, yes, not good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now we should say that Paxton's team did have to respond to all this and in a statement to CNN at least, Senior Adviser Nick Maddux called the Times story, quote, "manipulated nonsense." He went on to say that Paxton looks forward to closing strong alongside President Trump including when he comes to Texas this week.
So here we are. Was the convention worth it for Texas Republicans? Was it worth it?
MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: No, no. I think Paxton's putting a lot more emphasis on a convention that no one remembers happened two weeks ago --
CORNISH: That's true.
DUBKE: -- or three weeks ago or four weeks ago.
CORNISH: We're going to show the readings (ph).
DUBKE: I mean --
CORNISH: There's a big reason why --
DUBKE: Well, NFL kickoff probably had something to do --
CORNISH: NFL kickoff, yes.
DUBKE: Yes, exactly. So he's putting way more emphasis on this convention than it deserves. I think this is more about Ken Paxton and his campaign than it is anything about the President.
MEGHAN HAYS, FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING: But it's not though. It's super humiliating for the President that he went down there and tried to save Paxton and now Paxton's flailing campaign and so he tries to blame the President.
[06:45:04]
Ken Paxton's not winning because he is corrupt. Ken Paxton is not liked in Texas and he's a corrupt politician and he's in bed with another corrupt politician in Donald Trump and the two of them can have a little corrupt convention down there in Texas today.
DUBKE: Look --
HAYS: It is --
DUBKE: -- every other Republican statewide on the ballot is winning their races --
HAYS: That's not true.
DUBKE: -- except Paxton.
HAYS: That's not true. Greg Abbott --
DUBKE: Abbott is up. In the latest polls, he's up.
HAYS: Greg Abbott put down in the nine polls. He's been either tied or down in the last nine polls with (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: Can I follow up with an idea that Meghan just said?
DUBKE: We should go back and fact check that.
HAYS: Yes.
CORNISH: Because you did say something that is significant there which is they had it in Texas on purpose. They had it in Dallas on purpose --
JASMINE WRIGHT, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON SUN: Yes.
CORNISH: -- to help. So if it didn't help, why were you even there?
WRIGHT: I mean, and you're going to see Trump there not just today but again and again and again as he tries to drag Paxton across the finish line here. But what Paxton said was not fundamentally different than what we had been talking to Republicans who were privately saying to us at the Washington Sun which was questioning why they were there and whether or not it was worth their time and also additionally worth their money which some candidates had to pay.
And so this is --
CORNISH: Because they were coming off their own campaign trails --
WRIGHT: Exactly.
CORNISH: -- to be seen there.
WRIGHT: So, like, obviously Paxton and the Trump aspect is interesting, slightly, you know, embarrassing or whatever.
CORNISH: Yes.
WRIGHT: But it is a real reflection of I think a lot of what Republican candidates felt like on the ground which is why are we here. And we did hear that time and time again. It's reflected in our reporting.
CORNISH: Well, the money is following right now. I think Politico was reporting that Paxton is launching a $20 million ad campaign starting on Friday. So this could turn out to be one of the most expensive races in history. We're talking $300 million for a state that shouldn't be competitive by measure of the last 40, 50 years of Republican dominance in the state.
DUBKE: Absolutely. And that's part of the problem with what's going on right now because this will become -- Texas is an incredibly expensive state --
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: -- to run a campaign in and that money that's going to Texas is not going to other states where it may be better spent. Iowa, Ohio, you know, other places.
HAYS: Because the President made a decision because he didn't like Cornyn and went with Paxton who is a corrupt candidate. And so now the U.S. are all having to pay the price. And it's horrible.
CORNISH: OK, I want to turn to something else where you're seeing some dissent from Republicans. This time it's Jim Justice of West Virginia. He's calling on the Trump administration to shift their tactics when it comes to immigration enforcement. And he's joining a growing chorus of anger and concern over an increasing number of low-profile raids that are taking place in rural communities ahead of the midterm.
So just to give you a sense of the numbers, ICE made more than 140,000 arrests from June through August. So that was just this summer, and it's a record. The difference from what you saw in the winter is the agency is not trying to publicize it the same way.
So you have the senator from West Virginia saying, quote, "Before you know it, you get people that get carried away in their job and whatever it may be, and all of a sudden, then you're dragging people away that have lived on your street corner for 15 years." And he says, "I don't know that we need to be doing that stuff."
The group chat is back. This comes on the heels of that ad from the Florida Republican Maria Salazar saying your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far.
WRIGHT: Yes, it comes on the heels of that. It's also come on a different topic, the heels of a multitude of Republicans saying that the Iran war needs to end in a more forceful way. Listen, I think that there is obviously the immigration aspect, which is that people have been concerned, that they're seeing folks who've been in their neighborhoods and environments for 20-plus years being taken off the streets, even though they are, you know, not criminal-like constituents.
CORNISH: Yes. So we've moved from --
WRIGHT: Right. CORNISH: -- criminal, felony. These are the people --
WRIGHT: Exactly.
CORNISH: -- we're going after to the criminality is in violating immigration orders for an expanded --
WRIGHT: Yes.
CORNISH: -- number of people who are here legally, and therefore they have to leave.
WRIGHT: And I also think that you're seeing that probably most importantly, that concern in polling, in surveys for when we're talking about the midterm elections. And so it's not just happening. I think people are seeing this and like, oh, my gosh, Jim Justice is having this kind of epiphany moment. It's also happening in the context of a midterm election.
CORNISH: Yes, I was going to ask how it's shifted the story also from cities. So before, it was like big bad Chicago. It's run by Democrats. It's bad, and therefore we're there, hammer. And now you've got your mains and your West Virginias and your places where people are seeing it. And it's sort of introduced it to the rural voters and communities that actually are pretty Republican.
HAYS: Well, they have quotas, right? We've all heard about the quotas that they've been given. So they have to find people somewhere. But it's interesting to me that all of a sudden these people have a backbone now that they're running for something else or running for reelection, that they're willing to speak out now. It's like, where were you when people were dying in the street.
CORNISH: But are they willing to speak out because they think the voters agree with that position?
HAYS: I think --
[06:50:03]
CORNISH: Because if you thought the voters thought, this is great, he's doing his job --
HAYS: That's right.
CORNISH: -- and this is what he promised --
WRIGHT: But I think we have evidence.
CORNISH: -- you wouldn't come out and say this.
WRIGHT: I think we have evidence to show that the voters agree with that position. That, yes, you want to remove criminal, illegal migrants from the interior of your country, but do you want to remove, outside of maybe coming here illegally or overstaying your visa, non- criminal migrants from the country that -- DUBKE: And that is the key difference.
WRIGHT: Right. Like that is like --
DUBKE: That is the key difference --
WRIGHT: Are these -- why are you removing people who do contribute to the niceness of my neighborhood versus removing people who don't?
DUBKE: And I think, to Meghan's point, 33 days out from a midterm election, you know, these are politicians. What do they do? They read polls. They try to figure out the vibe of the community. And I think the vibe of the community, whether it be rural or whether it be urban, is that we're all for getting rid of violent criminals. We're all for that.
But now you're going after a different group of individuals, wait a second, we didn't vote on that and or my community isn't happy about that. And I think that goes to Meghan's point.
CORNISH: Yes, it's interesting that but --
HAYS: If I have to win my election.
DUBKE: Because I have to win my election.
CORNISH: Yes, yes. That but has gotten louder each time.
DUBKE: Are we surprised politicians are doing things that are good for themselves? No.
HAYS: No, totally.
CORNISH: But can I give you an example, it's something that I think shifts public perception or at least can affect people. We're doing some reporting at CNN about the people who are like unaccompanied minors who are now having to appear in court by themselves, meaning you're a 7-year-old who is now in a court proceeding. You're a 13- year-old in a court proceeding.
And I think in the past, the conservative argument was, well, that's their parents' fault for bringing them here. But now I got to explain to my kids why a kid that looks their age is in a courtroom sketch.
HAYS: Yes, this is all about how we're doing it, right? This is inhumane. People are tired of the -- just the cruelty behind all of this. And these people are now -- these Republicans are standing up because the people in their community are pissed about it and they want to win their election. It's so transparent. And it's just -- it's so gross because there is a -- an actual policy of immigration and securing our borders that is important to the United States that most people do agree with.
But the way that they have been doing this, killing people in our streets, taking people out of their homes, waiting for people at schools when they're dropping their kids off, waiting at churches, nobody wanted that. And now these Republicans finally are speaking up 33 days before an election.
DUBKE: Here's what concerns me, and this is where I think the President actually in the last two years of his of his second term can really make a difference here.
CORNISH: Yes.
CORNISH: And to be clear, this is Texas, right? This state we were talking about.
DUBKE: No, no. No, absolutely. But we need immigration reform. We've been talking about for 20, 30, 40 years. Part one of immigration reform is closing the borders. Success. The President has done that. Part two is actually figuring out the next steps forward for these individuals that have lived on your street corner for 15 years.
That part, if the administration can work with Congress and get something done on that, that's like Nixon going to China --
CORNISH: Yes. I don't think they --
HAYS: They don't want to.
DUBKE: Well, I wish they would.
HAYS: I know.
DUBKE: Because it would be --
HAYS: You're right.
DUBKE: It is exactly what this country needs.
HAYS: We agree.
DUBKE: OK.
CORNISH: I think what happens is. --
DUBKE: Look at this, we're agreeing on everything.
CORNISH: No, everyone, like, the argument always goes in circles, right? It's like, well, I don't think it should happen this way, but reform is needed. And then I'm like, OK, well, that's a drawing of a teddy bear. Like, what are we doing?
WRIGHT: And also from the administration's perspective, they have been incredibly successful --
CORNISH: Yes.
WRIGHT: -- in closing down the border at now moving mass amounts of people out of this country who they feel --
CORNISH: Yes.
WRIGHT: -- that shouldn't be here legally.
CORNISH: At what point do you actually think that this should be left?
WRIGHT: And so why would they go through --
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: What you mean to?
CORNISH: What -- whether you done. At what point you do look in the public in the eye and say --
DUBKE: I hope so soon.
CORNISH: -- these numbers are huge, I'm doing my job, pledges --
DUBKE: We never closed the border. We have now. That's important.
HAYS: Do you know, it's impacting Texas.
WRIGHT: The multitude of people believe that there are 20 million plus people to remove from this country, I don't think 1--
CORNISH: You never meet it.
WRIGHT: -- 50,000 over the summer --
HAYS: The numbers are all inflated. But also, this is impacting Texas. Those people in the Valley are moving away from the Trump coalition and moving away from Republicans, and that really could cost them the election.
CORNISH: OK, I want to talk about the people who are eyeing all the way to 2028, right? We're talking about all the problems that some Republican candidates are having. But let's say you are a Gavin Newsom, and you're -- you know, he isn't saying he's running for President, he's not exactly ruling it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: I'm a doer, and I want to be an entrepreneur in my life in every way, shape, or form, in public policy, and to the extent it brings me down a path of running for president, we'll see.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, as he thinks about what comes next, one of the politicians he's been studying is Bill Clinton. Newsom tells Vanity Fair, "I watch videos of Clinton. I seek his counsel, his advice. I've been a student of his from day one."
He's also putting together a collection of policy ideas he calls Project 2029. Now, Clinton, of course, won the White House twice by building a coalition that reached well beyond the Democratic base. So did Barack Obama. Why does Newsom think he can win with Clinton's playbook?
[06:55:01]
The group chat is back. Meghan, I feel like you might have thoughts on this?
HAYS: I mean, Gavin Newsom has been a supporter of the Clintons from day one. He was a surrogate in the 2008 campaign for Hillary, so it's not surprising that he has an affinity for the Clintons over anybody else.
But I also think he understands that he comes from a state that is more liberal than the rest of the country and might be more to the left. And so I think that following the Clinton playbook of being able to capture Southern Democrats, working class, Midwesterners, I think is a playbook that he should follow.
CORNISH: Yes. I was about to say, the whole point --
DUBKE: It's never going to happen though.
HAYS: Oh, I'm not saying he's going to be successful --
DUBKE: Oh OK, yes.
HAYS: -- I'm just saying, like, here --
CORNISH: We're not skipping to success, Mike.
HAYS: I'm just saying that this is my thought process.
CORNISH: No. But it's interesting because Bill Clinton ran. His whole persona was, I'm not a blow-dried type California Democratic liberal.
WRIGHT: I've got a saxophone.
DUBKE: Exactly.
WRIGHT: I've got a saxophone.
DUBKE: Exactly.
CORNISH: You know, he's literally -- one of these things is not like the other.
DUBKE: Right.
CORNISH: But what can he take away from it that you think we'll see?
HAYS: I mean, I think that he's going to have to spend a lot of time in these states. But --
CORNISH: But what about having a plan, Project 2029? I mean, it's nice to hear someone say, here are the policies, this is what I'm thinking of.
DUBKE: Well, part of the -- well --
CORNISH: I don't know.
DUBKE: Well, no, no. One, Gavin Newsom seems to just steal things from everybody else. I'm glad he's such a doer that he had a clean desk when he was talking about that.
CORNISH: And that's in camera (ph). Yes.
DUBKE: Well, I'm just saying, he's like, 2029 is, you know, obviously, he's playing off of Project 2025.
CORNISH: You've heard of it.
DUBKE: So that's why I'm -- you've heard of it, and that's why I'm saying he's --
HAYS: We're all living it.
DUBKE: Here's -- exactly. Here's the thing, though. I mean, with him running, he is the definition that Republicans use to push back against liberal policies. We always talk about, do you really want to become a California? Clinton was from Arkansas. He had the shtick down. Gavin Newsom's never going to fill those shoes.
And, you know, it's -- he would be much better saying --
CORNISH: Well --
DUBKE: -- Barack Obama is his political hero --
CORNISH: Maybe.
DUBKE: -- than if he said Bill Clinton's my political hero.
CORNISH: I think -- I'm going to politically translate this and say, which version of the Democrat Party coalition do you think would turn out in 2028? Do you think it is a multicultural, slightly younger, still-with-white-voters one like Obama? Do you think it's the Clinton, Carville, we've got to get the heartland and make these work? You know what I mean? Like, there's still a decision going on about what coalition can be rebuilt.
WRIGHT: I -- you know, I'm not going to be a predictor. I probably think it's the former, but I think this will only be decided when you see Gavin Newsom with his shirt rolled up at the Jim Clyburn Fish Fry in South Carolina.
CORNISH: Fish Fry. Fish he caught, by the way. Fish he caught.
WRIGHT: I'm not sure about that.
CORNISH: Where have you been?
DUBKE: There were producers putting fish on those hooks. We know that happened. CORNISH: Listen, don't be getting me in trouble. OK, so tell me about your group chat.
WRIGHT: OK, my group chat is Tinashe's new album, "Popstar." It's amazing, and her story is amazing because, you know, she went through all these struggles with her former label, and she decided, I'm going to do it my way.
CORNISH: We love a come back.
WRIGHT: And it took some time --
CORNISH: Yes.
WRIGHT: -- and the album is perfect.
CORNISH: Yes, and you're also supposed to say the Washington Sun.
WRIGHT: Oh, yes, the Washington Sun. Go and subscribe. Formerly known as Notice, now we're the Sun. I'm the White House Correspondent, newsletter. OK.
DUBKE: OK. For -- we're talking things close to our heart, like the Washington Sun for you.
WRIGHT: Yes.
DUBKE: For me, this is an Easter egg that I discovered this morning on Google.
CORNISH: Yes.
DUBKE: If you type Buffalo Bills into Google on any browser, you will be able to play this game. Look in the lower right-hand corner. Try to hit the table. It's incredibly hard, but I plan on doing this on Sunday, so that's mine.
CORNISH: Love that for you.
DUBKE: I'm so happy.
CORNISH: Yes, Google animations are always for someone.
HAYS: My group chat is a plea to the new bosses here, the Paramount people to --
CORNISH: OK.
HAYS: -- please, please sign and renew "Lioness" Season 4. I am done with Season 3, and now we need Season 4, and it has not been renewed. So Paramount bosses, if you are listening, please do this.
CORNISH: There's a lot of, like, heartbreaking cancelations that have happened here and there.
HAYS: Yes. CORNISH: Mine was a show called "Ride or Die" with Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer. I think it was on Amazon, but you're just like, we watched, we supported, we said on social media, why are you canceling the show?
WRIGHT: And "Lioness" ended on a cliffhangers --
HAYS: Yes, it did.
WRIGHT: -- so unfortunately you're going to have to pay out my girl Zoe and get her back.
HAYS: Great, let's do it. Paramount, you got lots of money. Let's go.
CORNISH: Oh, my God.
HAYS: Come on, guys.
CORNISH: OK. One of the things that we are also looking ahead today is more serious. We are talking about that flight, that flight that was diverted from Israel into Saudi Arabia, and there's a couple details that are coming out now. The pilot has been speaking. You're going to be hearing him speaking with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. There's also an investigation ongoing into how that copilot ended up in the cockpit.
The other thing we've been talking about today is Texas, Senate race, governor's race, and whether or not Donald Trump is helping either. The other thing we've been talking about today is Texas, Senate race, governor's race, and whether or not Donald Trump is helping either. He's going back to the state today.
You're going to be seeing images of him out of the state, side by side with Ken Paxton, who, in leaked audio, revealed he's been a little disappointed. So stay with us for all of these headlines. I know you could choose to be anywhere, and I'm glad you're here with us.
I'm Audie Cornish.
