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CNN This Morning

Trump Embarks On Rally Blitz, Hoping To Energize GOP Voters; Suspect Attempted To Carry Out A Terrorist Act By Attacking The Captain; Justice Department Asks Court To Let Trump Reinstate White House Press Ban; 49ers Owner Jed York Suspended After Prostitution Sting Arrest; NY's Governor Appoints Special Prosecutor In Cornell Frat Rape Investigation; Trump Administration Ramps Up Taxpayer-Funded Ads. Trump Admin Unveils More Taxpayer-Funded Campaign Ads; Christa Pike on Ventilator After Surviving 2 Lethal Injections; Texas Hit with Several Days of Heavy Rain and Flooding. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired October 03, 2026 - 06:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:00:27]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to CNN This Morning. Here's what's new. President Trump ramps up his midterm blitz. He's heading to Ohio today after trips to deep red states. His message to the voters, he wants them to vote like he's on the ballot.

Plus, new details about the pilot suspected of attacking a captain on board a Flydubai flight. Ahead, what investigators are now learning.

Also, New York Governor Kathy Hochul says she wants the truth. She's now announced state Attorney General Letitia James is taking over a special prosecutor role in a case alleging gang rape at Cornell University.

Also later, the latest jobs report shows a hiring slowdown. We'll break down what that signals about the state of the U.S. economy.

Saturday, October 3rd. Good to have you. I'm Victor Blackwell. President Trump is back on the campaign trail this weekend. In last night's rally in Mobile, Alabama, the president urged the audience to show up in November and he repeated the phrase he often says in his stump speeches to pretend he is on the ballot.

Trump's red state swing started Thursday with stops in Texas and Oklahoma. During his rally, the president addressed why he is spending this final month before the midterms in concern conservative strongholds.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S PRESIDENT: They said, look, they said, why are you going to Alabama? Why are you going to Oklahoma? Why are you going to Texas? But you know, especially in the last two in Texas because we have to win that race. Ken Paxton has to win. But here you're going to win your races. But in the case of Oklahoma

and Alabama, I'm here to say hello, I love you and I'm coming really as a sign of respect.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now we head to Ohio today to continue its push for Republicans on the ballot. CNN's Arlette Saenz is in Mobile for more from last night's rally.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump campaigned here in ruby red, Alabama, as he is looking to turn out Republican voters heading into the midterm elections. The president has cited some of the Republican struggles in this campaign as being based on a messaging problem, believing that he needs to be out there front and center to remind voters of what they have accomplished in office. That is why he is starting this midterm campaign blitz for the month of October.

And CNN has learned that the Trump administration has actually created more ads as part of its taxpayer funded ad campaign to promote the President and his policies. That is something that has drawn criticism from Democrats and Republicans alike. But for President Trump, he is trying to turn out base Republican voters who don't typically vote in these elections. And that is part of the message that he had in Alabama on Friday. Take a listen.

TRUMP: I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. Here's what happens when I'm not on the ballot, we don't do well. We have 44 percent or 48 percent less people. When I'm on the ballot, we kill everybody. But you must get out and vote for Republicans and all Trump candidates.

SAENZ: This all comes as there is real anxiety within the Republican Party about their ability to not just hold the House, but also the Senate as there are a number of close competitive races on the Senate battleground across the country.

Just earlier on Friday, one of the biggest GOP super PACs, the Senate Leadership Fund, announced that they were pausing advertisements in the state of North Carolina. That is a state where the Democratic candidate, Governor former Governor Roy Cooper, has a strong lead over the Republican candidate, candidate Michael Whatley. Instead, that group will now be spending millions of dollars to try to shore up the incumbent senator in Kansas, a state that many had not initially predicted would be on the Senate map this cycle.

Republicans right now are facing some real headwinds heading into November's elections. President Donald Trump's approval rating is lower than they would like. There is also a lot of voter frustration about the state of the economy with rising costs and high gas prices. And that is one of the challenging dynamics for Republicans running in these critical battleground races.

[06:05:02]

For the president's part, he is hoping that getting out there on the trail will help drive out Republican voters. He was in Alabama on Friday. On Saturday, he will be campaigning in Ohio with another incumbent senator who is facing a very tough challenge. But there is concern among some Republicans that the president will be too much of a drag on the ticket and that is something Democrats are betting on heading into November. Arlette Saenz, CNN, Mobile, Alabama.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: We have new details on the Flydubai incident where a pilot is accused of attacking a colleague on board a flight headed to Tel Aviv. Saudi state media says the suspect is an Omani citizen named Hammam al-Hammami. Emirati authorities are investigating the incident because the aircraft is registered in their country.

Now UAE state media quoting a top official, calls the incident an attempted terrorist attack. CNN's Nic Robertson joins me now live from Jerusalem with the latest. Nic, what more is the UAE? What are those officials saying about this attack?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, the whole suspicion of whether or not this was a terrorist type event has sort of been the narrative that's been moving in this direction. Yesterday you had the attorney general in the UAE saying that they were investigating whether it was a terrorist act, how much planning there was, what direction did it get? So what connections might there have been?

Now, of course we have the name from the Saudi media of the pilot and we now have the attorney general saying it was a terrorist act. Indeed, he goes on to explain a little bit about how the attack took place. He says that the -- that the pilot in this attack took the crash axe, which is held on board the aircraft in case of an emergency to kind of break out of the aircraft in a crash scenario, use that axe that was on board the aircraft to attack the captain who as we know just survived, managed to manage to open the cockpit door as he was sort of passing out from loss of blood.

So we're getting a clearer picture now about the language that officials are using about this event. We know yesterday Prime Minister Netanyahu in Hebrew called the attacker, this pilot, a terrorist. And he described this as a sort of a 9/11 scale attack where he was trying to bring down the aircraft with everyone on board.

So this is -- this is the picture we have. This is an ongoing criminal investigation in the UAE. So there are limits obviously on what can, what we can report. It's very clear from similar types of investigations in the past in all sorts of jurisdictions that one of the things investigators will be looking into will be, you know, the friends of this person, you know, what sort of things he might have been posting, you know, online.

So at the moment, what officials are giving is a pretty clear indication of the direction they're headed in this prosecution. And that is terrorist act.

BLACKWELL: Yes, answers are coming, but still a lot more questions. Let me ask you about these stranded Israelis who now have arrived at Ben Gurion Airport. This is the first repatriation flight from Dubai. What are we hearing from them?

ROBERTSON: Yes, they were obviously concerned about being caught out in Dubai, not able to get home. Dubai has really become this sort of big transit stop for a lot of Israelis and others coming out of Israel headed towards Asia, for example, or other destinations. There's because of all the attacks that have been going on in and around Israel over the past couple of years, not so many international carriers have been flying here. Flydubai has become a real sort of important leg on the journey for Israelis getting -- getting out to the rest of the world to go on holiday, see family and therefore for those coming back.

So, when Flydubai suspended their flights because of this incident two days ago, that effectively put many Israelis sort of in a situation where they're now stuck in Dubai not knowing if they're going to be able to get home, not get home. And that three and a half hour flight they were able to take last night because Israel sent aircraft to help them get home. Here is a sense of the relief of one of those passengers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROTEM HABA, FLYDUBAI PASSENGER: Was like that you don't have idea when you come back to Israel because there are no flights. Yesterday, they let us know that it's going to be like few flights. We refresh the website all the time and then we just take some places on the plane and arrive in Israel.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERTSON: And there's a real expectation among Israeli citizens here that they're going to be asking questions how could an Omani pilot be flying their aircraft? There's a number of reasons for that. Israel's intelligence -- intelligence security services have a view and give, you know, permissions, if you will, for -- for pilots flying into Israel.

[06:10:06]

That's something they do with, at an airline to airline level. And this clearly fell outside of that. That's the perception here in Israel right now, anyway.

BLACKWELL: Nic Robertson reporting for us. Nic, thanks so much. An NFL owner has been sidelined. The league now has suspended the 49ers owner for his arrest in a prostitution sting.

We'll tell you how long he'll be out and the huge fine that came with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. KATHY HOCHUL (D) NEW YORK: I want the truth. I think every parent in the States, every New Yorker wants the truth in this case.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: New York's governor has now laid out the next steps in the alleged rape case at Cornell University.

And a country music star made a public statement against Robert Kraft on his own turf. We'll show you Zach Bryan's message from the stage at Gillette Stadium.

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[06:15:34]

BLACKWELL: A federal judge will hear arguments next week in a fight over who gets access to the White House. The Justice Department is asking the court to let President Trump reinstate his ban on CNN, MS NOW and Politico while the lawsuit moves forward. The administration says the outlets published reporting that could harm national security. The news organizations called the ban a violation of the First Amendment and say reporters were denied access without due process. The judge is expected to decide whether the outlets can keep their White House access while the case plays out.

A federal judge has temporarily stopped the Trump administration from moving forward with a border wall project in Texas Big Bend region. The ruling puts construction on hold while a lawsuit moves forward. The project is part of the administration's $46 billion effort to expand barriers, roads and surveillance technology along the southern border.

Opponents argue that the rugged, remote terrain in Big Bend already discourages illegal crossings, and they say the government sidestepped environmental and other regulations to fast track construction. The decision comes just weeks after the first wall panels went up in that area.

San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York is suspended by the NFL after his arrest earlier this year in an Ohio prostitution sting. The league says that York will sit out six games, pay a half million dollar fine for violating its personal conduct policy.

The punishment stems from New York's arrest. From York's arrest, I should say, after police said that he tried to pay for sex with a woman he believed was a prostitute. He later pleaded no contest to reduce charges. York says that he accepts the league's decision and takes full responsibility. He'll be eligible to return later this month.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul has appointed a special prosecutor to investigate allegations of a gang rape at Cornell University's fraternity house in 2024. Now the governor says she is deeply disturbed by the original investigation that was conducted by the Cornell police. Now she's appointed New York State Attorney General Letitia James to take over the case.

CNN's Jason Carroll has details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HOCHUL: What we learned yesterday raised even more troubling questions about what was done and not done after this young woman came forward.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): New York's governor visibly angry as she stood next to the state's attorney general focusing her ire on the Tompkins County District attorney And the Cornell Police Department.

HOCHUL: In what world would the police learn from a victim that she'd been literally gang raped while intoxicated by five men in a fraternity house and not elevate those allegations to the District Attorney?

CARROLL (voice-over): Governor Kathy Hochul referred to crucial statements Jane Doe allegedly made to Cornell police in 2024, a New York Times report showed. According to a university internal investigation, Jane Doe allegedly told campus police, I can say with 100 percent confidence I was raped. That allegation was not included in what university police handed over to the district attorney.

HOCHUL: Them sending a partial record over is, in my judgment, a failure.

CARROLL (voice-over): Attorney General Letitia James, now leading the investigation.

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK STATE ATTORNEY GENERAL: Every New Yorker deserves to know that when they report a crime, it will be investigated fully and fairly, that they will be seen and heard. That is the promise of our justice system. I stand ready to lead a process guided by the facts and the law.

CARROLL (voice-over): According to the New York Times report, there were about 120 pages of Jane Doe's interviews with Cornell police and the school's Title IX office. The Tompkins County district attorney telling CNN earlier this week he received a six-page statement which did not include her explicit rape allegation.

The DA says he supports the governor's decision, saying it has become clear that we were not provided the full picture by the university.

THOMAS GIUFFRA, ATTORNEY FOR JANE DOE: She clearly said I was 100 percent raped. She clearly says she was hit and there was violence utilized. All that was sanitized out of the six-page police report. I think there was a lot of protection of the university and its reputation.

[06:20:00]

And I don't like the word cover up, but it feels like a cover up was going on. CARROLL: Some students here telling us they welcomed the attorney

general taking over the investigation. Many still critical of the university's response, saying there has not been enough transparency, accusing the university's president of not publicly addressing the issue enough.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think administration needs to talk to our students, not just handle it and let our students have to do it. Our students are the ones who have to conduct the town hall to be heard and understood. We whereas they get to just like leave, go home and send out an FAQ with no type of real explanation about our disciplinary process.

CARROLL (voice-over): The administration at Cornell have released written statements since the alleged assault two years ago, including one on Tuesday saying in part the events that took place on our campus in 2024 were appalling then and remain so now.

We recognize that these reports have raised difficult and understandable questions about how Cornell responds to allegations of sexual misconduct on campus. We visited the university president's office today but were unable to meet him and he did not respond to our multiple calls requesting an interview.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Jason Carroll, thank you for that. Next hour we're going to dig deeper into this case with former judge and assistant district attorney Clinton Rucker. So stay with us for that.

A close call in rising floodwaters the moment first responders in Texas pulled a stranded driver to safety. We have that video. Danger there is not over. We'll have more on the flood threat that shifts to the east today.

And as we go to break, a live look at the skies over New York City. Good morning. We'll be right back.

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[06:26:07]

BLACKWELL: President Trump continued his red state campaign swing Friday in Mobile, Alabama. Got just a month until the midterm elections. The president's rallying his base in order to shore up lacking enthusiasm for the GOP.

Now, despite Trump's approval rating being at an all-time low, he says he wants his supporters to pretend that he's on the ballot.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm asking you to pretend that I'm on the ballot. Here's what happens. When I'm not on the ballot, we don't do well. We have 44 percent or 48 percent less people. When I'm on the ballot, we kill everybody. So just close your eyes and pretend I'm on the ballot. But in a way, I am on the ballot because we have to win.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: With me now, the White House reporter for USA Today, Joey Garrison. Joey, good to have you back on the show. So, the President says that he went to Mobile, Alabama, he won Alabama by 30 points in 2024 to say thank you. That's kind of, you know, last two weeks of a two term administration activity to say thank you.

Is there another explanation for why the President's hitting these red states in this tight moment for Republicans ahead of the midterms?

JOYE GARRISON, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, USA TODAY: Well, look, the White House needs places for Trump to go where he is popular. And you know that Alabama remains one of the states where he is most popular. He announced also he's going to be returning to Alabama next weekend for the Alabama-Georgia college football game.

Now he is today President Trump that is planning to go to Ohio. That's really going to be, I think, his first trip to a more contested battleground state here during this home stretch. But I think it's an incredibly risky strategy Republicans are banking on here. Really the idea behind Trump going to these -- some of these battleground states and for holding that midterm convention last week is to energize his most loyal MAGA supporters who they're afraid to aren't going to show up to the polls during a midterm election.

But the whole reason right now that Republicans are floundering in a lot of these more traditionally conservative states is because Trump is an anchor right now on the party and his approval rating is in the low 30s, mid-30s according to many polls.

So, you know, they're trying to kind of straddle a line here by getting his, getting that enthusiasm among the base through by putting Trump out there. But they don't want the negative consequence either.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Ken Paxton, according to the New York Times, told some supporters that midterm convention, he saw his numbers drop after that happened in Texas. All right, so let me get your thoughts on this. The White House has now, we've learned, produced 13 of these taxpayer funded pro Trump ads. We saw one earlier that used Love Me as a track. Here is one of the latest ads.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on June 14, 1946, God looked down on his plan paradise and said, I need a caretaker. So God gave us Trump. God had to have somebody willing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Now, the opposition to this is bipartisan. Let's play some of the reaction from Republicans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN TUNE (R) MAJORITY LEADER: You like the message, but it shouldn't be paid for with taxpayer dollars.

SEN. JOHN KENNEDY (R-LA): I don't think any public official, including President Trump or Kristi Noem or John Kennedy, should spend public money on private ads for themselves.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What are your thoughts on that? Is it appropriate?

SEN. JOHN CORNYN (R-TX): No, it's not even a close question.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[06:30:00]

BLACKWELL: Now, Congress is out until after the election. Question is, is anybody going to do anything about this? What's the likelihood?

GARRISON: Well, I mean, it's seeming increasingly like -- unlikely that anything is going to happen. And I think the Trump administration is essentially daring anyone to do anything. I mean, it's -- you know, this idea that these are, quote, "public service announcements" like the White House as argued is just absurd.

You know, they're promoting Trump. And again, it's part of that strategy to try to get Trump supporters out to the Midterms. I mean, it clearly violates federal law that prohibits government funds appropriated by Congress to pay for political advertising.

The White House actually took, it appears to be a $20 million contract from DHS to pay for this. And, you know, but it apparently -- from reports was all ordered by President Trump. And right now, you know, it doesn't -- outside of a judge with some litigation, rule-ordering that these can't run, I don't see how they're going to stop here, now about a month away from November 3rd.

BLACKWELL: We've also learned now that the Senate Leadership Fund is pausing spending in the North Carolina Senate race. The money they were spending to support Michael Whatley, they're now shifting toward Kansas. Is this withdrawal from North Carolina a story mainly about the candidates in North Carolina because he's running against Roy Cooper, popular two-term governor, or is it about the national climate?

GARRISON: Well, I think it's the latter. I think it is about the national climate, though. I think Cooper is a very strong candidate, right? Running right now in North Carolina. I think we -- a lot of us are following these races, we're anticipating this.

And I think we're now wondering whether Georgia could be the -- could be the next one where Jon Ossoff, the incumbent senator, Democratic senator leads Collins in, you know -- and has led for a long time. And it's -- I think we're going to be watching how the spending perhaps changes there next.

But I think all this, you know, speaks to how Democrats are playing offense right now in states that should be safe Republican states. And I'm talking about places like Kansas and Alaska, Ohio, where Trump is going today. These are places where Republicans are trying to cling to, to prevent --

BLACKWELL: Yes --

GARRISON: A real blue tsunami that is looking like a real possibility. I think, you know, the House was always considered a strong shot to go Democrat, but I think now there's a better than 50- 50 chance for Senate right now to go Democratic as well.

BLACKWELL: Yes --

GARRISON: And so, you're seeing that with the way these -- the way this money is changing.

BLACKWELL: Joey Garrison of "USA Today", thanks so much. We have new reporting this morning after the failed state execution of Tennessee inmate Christa Pike. Pike survived two lethal injections on Wednesday, and now she's on a ventilator and is unconscious.

Pike's attorneys are now requesting that her death sentence be commuted, and that all evidence of the botched execution be preserved. Meantime, the state of Tennessee says it followed all the correct protocols, and the governor has promised to review by a third party. Ryan Young is with us now with more on Pike's condition and what happens next. Ryan?

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN YOUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Yes, the major question right now for Christa Pike, it remains what her condition is. Last time we talked to her lawyers, they told us she was in critical condition. We've been calling all day long to see if there's an update about what health state she is in right now.

We've also been calling the governor's office and anyone from the prison system who may step forward to sort of explain what they believe happened here. We know the governor, for his part, has decided to stop all executions for the rest of the year, and they're going to do a third-party investigation, not sure what the timeline on that is.

But going back to Christa Pike's condition and the fact that she was involved in that execution for almost an hour, you've got to think the chambers and the -- and the blinds to the chambers opened around 7:26. And then around 7:34, Pike said she felt like her arm was about to burst.

The witnesses who were in the room talked about a very chaotic scene, something that played out with her lawyers trying to call the governor's office, the state Supreme Court, not getting answers. Let's not forget, she also gave them a heads up that because she suffers from a condition where she has small veins, that they believe this was going to be really hard and excruciating for her to get through.

At one point, she was even pointing to where she thought they could find a vein. All this happening, and right in front of the witnesses. Take a listen to one of her lawyers talk about how this played out.

RANDY SPIVEY, ATTORNEY FOR CHRISTA PIKE: Christa's legal team told the state of Tennessee and the court that her medical conditions would cause her to suffer an agonizing death. The state and the court dismissed Christa's concerns.

[06:35:00]

The governor's call for an independent review does not go far enough. After having endured solitary confinement for more than 20 years, and a full attempt to kill her by lethal injection, Christa has endured punishment greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty.

YOUNG: Really, as the world tries to drill down on what happened here and what the next steps are, we're trying to do the same thing. This is obviously unprecedented. We're hoping that someone will hold a news conference from the state level to sort of explain how they plan to move forward.

But right now, we're just sitting on that statement from the governor's office as we make continued calls to her lawyer's office and the other officials who have been involved in this to see how this plays out. But a lot of people wondering what now happens to Christa Pike, 50, who is in critical condition after these two failed attempts. Ryan Young, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: The Gulf Coast is bracing for flooding this morning. Several inches of rain are expected across the southeast. Here's a preview of what could be coming after Texas was hit with several days of heavy rain and flooding.

This is San Antonio -- so, the man here climbed out of his truck after he was trapped in rising water. Here's what we have from our affiliate "KSAT".

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stay there -- oh my God. No, sir! Stay, they're coming, they're coming! The Fire Department is on their -- oh my God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Yes, he got out and then he was swept off his feet before first responders were able to reach him and pull him out. With me now, CNN meteorologist Melissa Nord. So, flood threats today --

MELISSA NORD, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes --

BLACKWELL: And really throughout the weekend.

NORD: Throughout the weekend. And it shifts east, it's amazing, Victor, because this flood threat partly stems from a hurricane that made landfall in the Pacific Ocean -- BLACKWELL: Wow --

NORD: Several days ago. So, a lot of deep moisture has made its way in through the southern plains. And now that flood threat shifts east. So, I'm more looking at the Gulf Coast for seeing the main flood threats today. You can see on the map right here; these are the rainfall totals since Monday.

So, a lot of those orange bullseyes in excess of 6 inches of rain. A lot of these places got kind of two months' worth of rain in a matter of three or four days or so. There is still some rain draped across the Hill Country and Texas this morning, and west of Dallas as well.

But it's going to be more moisture working off the gulf, lifting northward, that brings a bigger flood threat today, getting hung up in that stalled-out boundary. Look at this map. The available moisture map, those deep red and purple colors. That's deep tropical moisture.

We're talking rainfall rates that could be in excess of an inch an hour. And very quickly, that could lead to some isolated flash flooding. But the greatest risk through the weekend, the northern Gulf Coast, Louisiana, Mobile, Alabama, also into the western coastline of Florida there in the Panhandle.

We do have some flood watches in effect. Look at the future radar. You can see the rain amounts really picking up across the northern Gulf Coast by the end of the afternoon. Today, that moisture lifts northward and targets Georgia and the Carolinas as we head throughout tomorrow.

So, that could play some impacts on some games that are outside over the weekend, potential rainfall, isolated spots on the Gulf Coast could get well in excess of 6 inches of rainfall. Gulf Coast challenge, we've got that happening in Mobile, Alabama, 4 O'clock today unfortunately, does not look like a great forecast at Ladd- Peebles Stadium there.

Alabama A&M and Jackson State University taking on each other there. High chance of rain, but we will hope that some of the other games around the south, Victor, look a little bit better for rainfall this weekend.

BLACKWELL: All right, Melissa Nord, thanks so much. Hiring and firing. Let's get into the health of the economy. What the new jobs report reveals about where the job market is headed. And if you're heading out, remember I'm ready to roll.

Stream our show from anywhere in the U.S. right now from the CNN app. You can also go to CNN.com/watch. A live look here at Peaks Island, Maine. Good morning.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:40:00]

BLACKWELL: A couple of warning signs from the U.S. job market. Just 29,000 jobs were added in September, far fewer than expected. Unemployment climbed to 4.2 percent. This is not just one soft month, though. The government also revised August's job gains sharply lower.

So far this year, the economy has added an average of 68,000 jobs a month, and wage growth has slowed as inflation accelerated. That means Americans paychecks are losing even more ground. Politically, the timing matters because this is the final jobs report before voters' head to the polls for the Midterm elections.

Joining me now to discuss, Julia Fanzeres; U.S. economy reporter at "Bloomberg News". Julia, good to have you on the show. So, let's talk about how much this really means and what it suggests about the health of the job market. It is not just August and September, but does this suggest a trend is beginning in the U.S.?

JULIA FANZERES, U.S. ECONOMY REPORTER, BLOOMBERG NEWS: I think the initial reaction to the report was that it was below expectations. Twenty-nine thousand jobs, that's lower than a lot of economists were expecting. But if you look at it, you know, on a longer term, on the average, the trend continues to be that the labor market is stable, that on average in three months, the labor market has been adding 51,000 jobs.

[06:45:00]

And that's above the rate that a lot of economists see to keep the unemployment rate steady. So, it is in that low, high or low fire environment where employers are not necessarily adding a lot of headcounts, but they also don't want to take out or lay off people en masse, which can be a good thing if you have a job.

But if you're a new college graduate or if you've lost a job, it is a lot harder to penetrate the labor market now. So, looking ahead, it is showing that, that stability is still remaining, but that the labor market is not necessarily heating up or a cause for inflation for the Fed.

BLACKWELL: Let me talk about black unemployment, though, because it rose from 6 percent to 7 percent over one month. You set aside March and April of 2020 during the pandemic. It is the fastest or the largest single month increase in 14 years.

Black women specifically went from 5.9 percent unemployment to 7.3 percent. Is there a clear explanation of why black unemployment went in the opposite direction of all other racial demographics?

FANZERES: There is an explanation. Actually, the participation rate, or how many Black Americans wanted to participate in the labor force, also rose by close to 1 percent. So, you can't necessarily say that it was all driven by that.

But that's what economists say is a quote, unquote, "better explanation" for unemployment rising when more people want to be in the labor market. So, that is a huge reason why black unemployment rose. BLACKWELL: Gas and diesel prices still high. But off the record high for diesel, it's 6.36 this morning, 15 cents off the record in September. An unleaded regular $4.38 a gallon. G7 says it will release 100 million barrels of oil and diesel over the next couple of weeks. How much of an impact on prices should we expect, that will have?

FANZERES: It's going to have a minimal impact on prices. If you're looking at how much that actually impacts gasoline and oil, the markets are huge and it will only have a minimal impact. And it's only a band aid solution.

As the war continues, energy prices are likely to remain elevated because you don't have gas and barrels of oil readily relevant for refineries to refine.

BLACKWELL: Yes, the G7 countries expected this will have some impact. You suggest it will be minimal. We'll have to see just a little less than a month until election day. Julia Fanzeres, thank you so much for being with us. Ahead, in the next hour, we'll walk you through newly unsealed video that shows the moments authorities caught up with Luigi Mangione. This is days after he shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:00]

BLACKWELL: President Trump will be in Ohio today to rally support for Republican Senate candidate Jon Husted. The race is considered a critical battle against Democrat Sherrod Brown. A special prosecutor has been appointed to investigate an alleged gang rape at Cornell University frat house in 2024.

New York Governor Kathy Hochul says that she is deeply disturbed by the original investigation by the Cornell police, and she's named New York State Attorney General Letitia James to take over that case. Country music star Zach Bryan, he wore a "free Palestine" tee while performing at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, last night.

The stadium is owned by billionaire Robert Kraft, who you'll remember recently barred Macklemore from performing at the venue for making pro-Palestinian remarks on stage. Bryan is scheduled to perform in Foxborough again tonight.

Let's turn now to this week's CNN Hero Sherri Franklin's nonprofit, Mutville, has saved the lives of thousands of senior dogs. As CNN Heroes marks its 20th year, we are highlighting how far this 2016 honorees mission has come.

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SHERRI FRANKLIN, FOUNDER, MUTVILLE: Watching these old dogs spend their last weeks in a cold, hard, loud shelter made me realize that we need to give these dogs an opportunity to get the love and to give the love that they still have left. ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Sherri Franklin's passion for senior dogs inspired her to found Mutville in 2007, a rescue dedicated to saving older dogs from shelters and helping them find loving forever homes.

FRANKLIN: Chew Lowes(ph) got a new mommy because he's getting adopted.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yay!!!

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need somebody to hug.

FRANKLIN: And he needs you to hug him. So, they have changed people's lives with their gratitude, with their tenderness.

COOPER: She was recognized as a CNN Hero in 2016, an honor she credits with giving senior dogs a voice and helping her expand her mission.

FRANKLIN: Thanks to the exposure and the credibility, we have been able to save over 13,500 senior dogs at Mutville. We've even opened a whole new community center here in San Francisco.

[06:55:00]

COOPER: Mutville's new 18,000 square foot facility is a thoughtfully- designed cage free shelter. Every detail supports senior dogs from acoustic floors that absorb sound to ramps and soft surfaces, and all furniture is donated or second hand.

FRANKLIN: We wanted to make something really different. We wanted to make something that people would enjoy coming to, not the scary animal shelter that you're used to. A place where dogs can also relax and enjoy -- our adoptions are through the roof.

Our dogs are happy, and all the humans that are in our community are also just thrilled to be a part of this.

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BLACKWELL: Oh, great work, Sherri. To learn more about what she's doing, go to CNNHeroes.com, the new hour of CNN THIS MORNING continues after the break.

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