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CNN This Morning

Trump Campaigns In Ohio, Touts "Golden Age" Of America; Trump Posts GOP Lawmaker's Phone Number Amid Spat Over Daylight Saving Time; Tennessee Prisons Chief To Resign After Failed Execution; Heavy Rain Bringing Gulf Coast Flood Threat; Japan Demands Answers After U.S. Marine Arrested On Suspicion Of Murder In Okinawa; Debris Found In Search For Missing Medical Jet; Trump Stumps For Republicans In Deep- Red Alabama. Trump Posts GOP Senator's Number; Olivia Dean Accused of Copying Bill Withers' "Just the Two of Us"; Data Shows Double-Digit Drop in Americans Hosting Dinner Parties. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired October 04, 2026 - 07:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:57]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Welcome back to CNN This Morning. Here is what you need to know, President Trump back on the campaign trail. Last night he was in Ohio. He's trying to shore up support for Republicans as the party is facing mounting challenges ahead of the midterms. The key themes he hit on and what we heard from people who were there at that speech.

There are also new details in the botched execution of Christa Pike. The head of the Tennessee prison system has now resigned.

But we're learning more about what happened also in the terrifying moments of that cockpit attack on a Flydubai flight. You'll hear from the hero pilot about what it took for him to fight off the attack by his co-pilot.

And new this morning, a U.S. Marine has been arrested on suspicion of murdering a Japanese woman at a hotel in Okinawa. Japan's Prime Minister is now demanding action from the U.S. We've got new details just ahead on CNN This Morning.

It is a brand new week and I'm glad you're starting it with me, Sunday, October 4th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

We're starting this hour with the sprint to the midterm elections. We're 30 days now from the Election Day. President Trump plans to campaign in at least 17 states this month. He hit the trail last night with a rally in Ohio and he urged supporters once again to vote like he is on the ballot.

Also reupped his promise to give every American adult $5,000 if the GOP holds the House and Senate. That idea has been panned by a lot of Republican lawmakers since the President first brought it up last month. The President also tied to what he called the Golden Age of the economy.

Here's CNN's Alayna Treene.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Donald Trump had a clear message for his supporters in Vandalia, Ohio on Saturday, which was essentially to pretend that he is on the ballot in November's midterm elections. It's really the same message we've heard him deliver multiple times throughout every single state and district that he's visited ahead of the midterm elections.

And that's because his advisers have told him the one thing that they believe he can change ahead of the midterms is to drive turnout among Republicans, particularly Republicans who are his fiercest supporters, the type of people who were in the room at this rally on Saturday night and convince them on an election day when typically they might not otherwise do so.

But look, the President, for his part, also stayed pretty on message. He only very briefly touched on the Iran war. He didn't at all talk about the presidential ballroom or his projects across D.C. And he told really this message of get out the vote and spoke a lot about the different candidates who are in Ohio that he was stumping for, specifically Senator Jon Husted, who is vying to hold on to the seat that the Vice President JD Vance, had vacated when he took on the role in the White House.

And this is really what his advisers want him to be focusing on, even though at times in recent weeks, he hasn't really talked about that. Now the President spoke for roughly 90 minutes. You could tell that he was enjoying the type of feedback he was getting from the crowd.

But I will tell you I spoke with a number of voters before the President took the stage on Saturday, many who said that they had voted for the President, actually all of them I should argue, who voted for the President both in 2016, again in 2020, and then also in 2024.

But they acknowledged to me that when it comes to some of those key issues, things like the Iran war, things like the economy, gas prices, they aren't necessarily happy with the President's handling of it. Now you had some people who said they believe that the President is doing things behind the scenes that perhaps voters don't know about, but others who argued he needs to move away from foreign wars, he needs to do more to try and lower gas prices.

And this has really been an issue as well that I hear in my conversations with the President's advisers, that they want the President to try to focus on and try to convince voters to still vote for Republicans in November so that he can get his more -- more of his agenda item done.

[07:05:02]

So, look, this is one of many stops we're going to see the President doing, of course, in the next 30 days before the midterm elections. And one as well that really is in a battleground, where he is -- recognizes that the senator running in Ohio is in a very tight race with the Democrat and his opponent. And this is one of the ways that the President believes he's able to help Republicans ahead of November 3rd.

Alayna Treene, CNN, Vandalia, Ohio.

BLACKWELL: One thing on the President's wish list this year, he wants Daylight Saving Time to become permanent, a more changing of the clocks. And he lashed out at a fellow Republican, Senator Tom Cotton of Arkansas yesterday, and accused him of holding up a bill that would end clock changing. He even posted Cotton's cell phone number on social media and urged everyone to call the senator and pressure him.

The House already passed a legislation to establish year-round Daylight Saving Time this year, and the Senate has yet to act. Critics say the switch could have economic consequences, especially for farmers who would have to work around later sunrises. Standard time is set to take effect November 1st. That means you got to move that clock back one hour.

The head of Tennessee's prison system is resigning. This is the first major staff shakeup since Christa Pike's failed execution left her unconscious on a ventilator at a hospital. It was Tennessee's second failed execution since May.

CNN's Rafael Romo has the story. Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Victor, good morning. It's been three days since Christa Pike survived Tennessee's attempt to execute her via lethal injection on Wednesday, and there are still many unanswered questions about how something like this could have happened. In a statement, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee announced the head of Tennessee's prison system is resigning.

In the same statement issued Saturday, Tennessee Department of Correction Commissioner Frank Strada said that stepping down is, quote, "in the best interest of Tennesseans." As for Christa Pike, she remains unconscious in a Nashville area hospital where she's intubated and on a ventilator.

Pike's attorney said Friday that she is receiving lifesaving care after being injected with two ostensibly fatal doses of pentobarbital. In a statement, Pike's attorneys reacted to the announcement, saying that "The resignation of Commissioner Strada is justified, but it does nothing to help Christa now. What happened to her Wednesday reflects a systemic failure that goes far beyond any one person."

Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, a Republican, announced the day after the state tried to kill her, a thorough and comprehensive review of Pike's case will be done by a third party.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. BILL LEE (R), TENNESSEE: That investigation will be thorough and it's going to take time. And therefore, the last scheduled execution for this year will not take place. Tennesseans deserve a justice system that's fair, that's consistent, that is faithfully administered.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Governor Lee also announced he has halted the execution of death row inmate Gary Sutton, which was scheduled for December. Pike, who was set to become the first woman executed in Tennessee in 200 years, was originally sentenced to death after being convicted of the 1995 murder of 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer.

Randy Spivey, one of Pike's attorneys, said the governor's call for a review of the execution protocol doesn't go far enough. He called for Lee to commute her sentence, saying Pike has endured punishment, quote, "greater than any other person in the history of the American death penalty."

Victor, now back to you.

BLACKWELL: All right, Rafael, thanks so much.

Check weather now. We're tracking rounds of heavy rain that will bring the chance of flooding across parts of the South. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar joins me now.

This rain has been the headline in regions all the country. I guess it's now our turn.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And it's days. It's going to be days because that front is just not really going to move all that much. So for some of these areas, this is going to be three, if not even four days total of rain. Thankfully, each individual day is not expected to produce that much. But when you add them all up, you could be looking at 4, 6, even 8 inches total in some of these locations.

Right now, as a look at the current radar, you can see we've got some showers and even a couple thunderstorms, maybe a few rumbles of thunder that right there along the coastal Carolinas. But the bulk of the heavy rain is really kind of focused in on the Gulf Coast. That's where you've got some heavy rain showers around Pensacola, Panama City. You also have some just offshore of Houston.

The Gulf Coast is really going to be where the heaviest rain remains today. But anywhere across the southeast or southern Texas has that potential for flooding. In fact, the highest potential for flooding is extreme South Texas.

You're talking Corpus Christi down around Brownsville. But again, Atlanta, Birmingham, Charlotte, any of these other areas of Columbia, I mean, could have the potential for some flooding today as more of those showers and thunderstorms really developed late this afternoon.

So, yes, you have some ongoing showers this morning, but you'll notice as we progress late into the day, especially say about 4 or 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Look at all of this fill in, especially across areas of Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina.

[07:10:10]

I mean, look at this. Nearly the entire state of Georgia has some form of rain by the time we get to about 5, 6 o'clock tonight. So again, it's going to fill in late this afternoon. That will continue through the evening as the system slowly makes its way off to the east. But in turn, this also means a lot of these same places are going to have some rain tomorrow morning as we start our morning commute.

BLACKWELL: All right, we're in it for a couple of days. Allison, thank you.

We're following a developing story. A U. S. Marine arrested and charged with murder in Japan. We'll tell you what we're learning in the early stages of this investigation.

Plus, Cornell University faces a growing backlash over its handling of a student's alleged gang rape. Now we're hearing from the school's president.

And holiday travelers could face the highest air fares in a decade. Those stories and more after the break.

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[07:15:41]

BLACKWELL: New this morning, Japan is demanding answers after a U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery in Okinawa. Police say a 39-year-old woman was found unresponsive in a hotel room happened yesterday, pronounced dead at the scene. A 20-year-old Marine stationed on the island was taken into custody. Now the case is drawing attention because Okinawa host a large U.S. Military presence.

With me now is CNN's Clare Sebastian. Clare, bring us up to date on what we've learned so far.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, what we know, Victor, from Okinawa police, as you say, is that they have a 20-year-old U.S. Marine in custody on suspicion of robbery and murder. He was arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning, just 24 hours or less than 24 hours after the body of a 39-year-old woman was found in the early hours of Saturday morning in a hotel room in Naha City, which is the capital of Okinawa Prefecture.

Now, police say that they have CCTV footage or that this footage exists, which shows a man appearing, apparently, according to police to be a foreign national with a shaved head arriving with this woman at the hotel and then later leaving without her. But with what appeared to be her belongings, which police tell us were later found discarded. So that is what we're hearing about evidence at this point.

A bit of context Okinawa Island, a small Japanese territory in the Pacific host to a very large U.S. Military presence. And this has the potential to revive old tensions around this. There were huge protests on the island in 1995 after three U.S. servicemen were jailed for the abduction and rape of a 12-year-old girl.

There have been a string of cases since then repeated calls and protests from locals to reduce the U.S. military presence there. So we got a really strong response from the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, this morning, saying, "The occurrence," she said, "of such an extremely brutal and heinous incident is a matter of profound regret. And as the government of Japan, we have lodged," she said, "a strong protest with the U.S. side, while firmly demanding maximum cooperation with the investigation."

Now, the U.S. Marine Corps also put out a statement saying, "We are actively cooperating with Japanese authorities in response to allegations of serious criminal actions by a marine assigned to the III Marine Expeditionary Force."

So look, an active investigation early stages, but a case that has the potential for political fallout between the U.S. and its key ally in the Pacific. Victor?

BLACKWELL: Just the start there. Clare Sebastian, thanks so much.

Headlines for you now, the president of Cornell University is speaking out for the first time about the alleged 2024 gang rape in a fraternity house on campus. He called the case a defining moment in the school's history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL KOTLIKOFF, CORNELL UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT: I believe, we, as an administration, and, we, as a community must do better. We must do everything we can to prevent what happened to Jane Doe and everyone before her and anyone after her from ever happening again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The Cornell's president also said he supports New York Governor Kathy Hochul's decision to hand the investigation over to the state's attorney general and that he welcomes an independent investigation.

A tragic discovery off the coast of Nantucket. The Coast Guard has found debris from that missing medical transport jet. Six people were on board when the plane, which was headed from Boston from Bermuda, four of the passengers, two of the pilots and the medical staff are Canadian, while the remaining two passengers are Bermudian flight. FlightAware data shows that the jet flew an altitude of 24,000 feet over an hour before plunging 13,000 feet in just two minutes.

The Flydubai captain who's being called a hero says that one thing was on his mind as he fought off an attack from his co-pilot, he couldn't let everyone on board die. In his first public comments, the captain says that his colleagues said he needed to step aside to pray before he hit him in the head repeatedly. An investigation is happening now into how the attacker, who is a citizen of Oman, which does not recognize Israel, was permitted to serve on a flight to Tel Aviv. Still ahead, an unlikely surrogate in a new ad for Texas Republican candidate Ken Paxton. How his estranged wife is backing her husband and what she is not saying in the ad.

[07:20:09]

And pop singer Olivia Dean is accused of copying R&B legend Bill Withers. We'll hear the song that lawyers say is a rip off of his hit, "Just the Two of Us."

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BLACKWELL: President Trump rallied supporters in deep-red Alabama last week. He's going to be there again this week. He's spending the critical time before the midterms in a GOP stronghold that underscores the massive uphill battle Republicans face nationwide. It's confronting dismal poll numbers.

[07:25:03]

Trump stumped for candidates like Tommy Tuberville. He framed the campaign stop is paying respect to his most loyal base. He said to be back for the University of Alabama's football game against Georgia.

With me now the morning round up, JaQuitta Williams, Journalist, Trial Attorney, Cody Randall and Comedian Rachel LaForce. Welcome to you all.

Let me play first what the President said about why he is in a state that he won by 30 points in 2024 and Tommy Tuberville is running in what Cook Political Report says is a solid Republican race. Here's the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: 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: Hello, and I love you.

JAQUITTA WILLIAMS, JOURNALIST: And I love you --

BLACKWELL: And so why do you think the President's in Alabama twice in 10 days?

CODY RANDALL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEY: Because it's the only place where people will still cheer for him.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

RANDALL: The reason why you preach to acquire is so you could hear them sing. And this man loves to hear people sing about how great he is. The fact that he has to go to Alabama or Oklahoma or Texas to get crowds to show up and tell him how great he is.

If you have to go to your biggest strongholds to get people to, like, appreciate you, that says less about his popularity and more about his personality that he just can't find anybody that likes him enough to go anywhere else.

WILLIAMS: I also think he thinks he's in trouble. Like he doesn't want to say it but I think maybe that base and because he won, he may be questioning whether or not he could -- the Republicans can pull it out again. So he wants to kind of, you know, the flames. But I don't I don't think he's as confident.

RACHEL LAFORCE, COMEDIAN: No, not to cut you up, but you're right. It's like the flames. It's like all that's there. It's like --

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, yes.

LAFORCE: -- try to heat the --

WILLIAMS: Yes, yes, yes.

LAFORCE: Right? Like the fire going.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LAFORCE: It's -- yes.

RANDALL: What I think such a thing is --

LAFORCE: Quite telling.

RANDALL: -- that he goes on to say, like, well, of course, we're going to win in Texas. We got to win in Texas. The fact that today we're talking about, maybe you couldn't possibly win in Texas when three years ago that, like, 18 months, two years ago, no one would ever think that anybody would Republican would run in Texas.

LAFORCE: Yes.

WILLIAMS: We all know we were in trouble when he talked about $5,000 and we have yet to see the $5,000. He had brought that up again. But let's be clear. The man, the Republican Party is running scared. Bottom line.

BLACKWELL: Control room, I'm calling an audible here. We're going to jump to Texas and this new ad that has come out from a conservative pack that features Angela Paxton, this is the estranged wife of the Republican Senate nominee, Ken Paxton.

I want you to listen to what she says and what she does not say in this ad. Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANGELA PAXTON, ESTRANGED WIFE OF KEN PAXTON: Either we hold every Republican seat or we hand the future of Texas to the other team. That's why I'm voting for the Republican ticket on November 3rd.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The Republican ticket. She won't even say her husband's name.

WILLIAMS: His name.

LAFORCE: Yikes.

BLACKWELL: What's it worth if she can't say his name?

WILLIAMS: That says a lot.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: I don't like this man, but I'm going to at least support the Republican Party. But you can't say the man that you've been married to for umpteen years, you don't want to say his name. Then if you can't say his name, then why do we want to give you our vote when you don't --

RANDALL: I'm actually be proud (ph) of her because she didn't say his name and I don't want to say his name. I don't want to hear his name. Listen, sometimes you say it best when you say nothing at all. And that is if you can't say the name of your husband, the father of your children, but you want me to go vote for him -- now I don't vote in Texas -- but the implication there is good, don't say his name. I don't want to hear his name.

WILLIAMS: No, but just --

RANDALL: Nobody wants it.

WILLIAMS: You're screaming out loud.

LAFORCE: But I'm --

WILLIAMS: If you can't say his name.

LAFORCE: I mean, it's so telling. We could do a full hour on it. I mean, but I would also say, like, is it going to make a difference --

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LAFORCE: -- like that? That's like that -- I mean, not -- I know I'm the comedian, it's supposed to be funny, but it's quite sad, you know?

BLACKWELL: But there's also the question of people who are low information voters who were just kind of checking in. LAFORCE: Right.

BLACKWELL: Well, then Google. Well, what's going on between Angela Paxton --

WILLIAMS: Right.

BLACKWELL: -- and Ken Paxton.

LAFORCE: That part.

BLACKWELL: And learn more than they would have if she just stayed off air altogether. I don't know that there were many people waiting for her to weigh in on this race.

RANDALL: That's what I'm saying is like she's drawing attention to it. Like she says it best if you just said nothing at all. Like we would assume that you're going to support your husband or whatever's going on. But when you get on TV and you go, hi, I'm not telling you my name and I'm not telling you why I'm giving this message, but I'm voting for these people.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

RANDALL: It's like, what aren't you saying? And why aren't you saying it?

LAFORCE: I don't know. It must have been pretty bad.

BLACKWELL: One thing that the President is focused on is the extension of Daylight Saving Time. And so the President yesterday posted several posts on social media calling for the extension, making Daylight Saving Time permanent and posted Arkansas Senator Ken -- Tom Cotton, I should say, Tom Cotton's cell phone number.

[07:30:00]

Call this senator and pressure him to pass this bill. The voicemail eventually was full and then it was unavailable. Why is this the fight of October when the Republicans are facing this uphill climb?

JAQUITTA WILLIAMS, JOURNALIST: I never understand the hill he wants to die on. I never understand. I have no idea. I'm just as baffled. You got something?

CODY RANDALL, GEORGIA TRIAL ATTORNEY AND PARTNER, THE RANDALL LAW FIRM: Listen, this is a topic -- like they think it's something that they can do. It seems simple. Most people are tired of changing clocks. It seems like a universally accepted idea. We've put forth a couple of bills. They pass it a few times. Georgia even talked about stopping, getting rid of the changing of the clocks, right. He thinks it's a non-divisive issue. This isn't a political or partisan line issue, and it's a win. It's something that we passed. This Congress has not done anything.

BLACKWELL: Well, this Congress isn't even in session after the election. So, to pressure them now, they're not going to get it passed before the election happens. And what about the kids that have to stand out on the bus stop in the dark when, you know, it's 7:45, 8:45 and the sun's still not up?

RACHEL LAFORCE, COMEDIAN: Yes, that's it's brutal. I mean, I will say we got to decide. We do. It's like my whole life it's been this. Are we all going to be on the same time or are we not? But also, yes, the amount of things that we're facing right now. And that's one to even draw issue to between that and Alabama and everything else, it's like, yes, my man's tired.

BLACKWELL: November 1st. You got to roll that clock back. Legislation is not passing before the election. All right. Stay with us everybody. We've got a lot more to talk about, including what nobody asked for, this, candy corn pizza. Tombstone is rolling out what they call the official pizza of Halloween. All the viral stories that are going to fill your algorithm up after the break.

And remember, if you're heading out, you can stream my show from anywhere in the U.S. Right from the CNN app. You can also go to cnn.com/watch.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:35:00]

BLACKWELL: All right. Time for the viral stories that will be filling your algorithm. Grammy-winning British pop star Olivia Dean's management company is facing a major copyright lawsuit over her song "I've Seen It." Now, publishers for the late Bill Withers claim that the track copies the melodies of his 1981 classic, "Just the Two of Us." California filing says there are striking similarities between the two tracks. The lawsuit does not target Dean herself, but her label, Capital Records, its parent company, Universal Music Group. Both companies have not responded yet to the lawsuit.

The panel is back now. All right. I'm going to play snippets of both songs. First, you're going to hear "I've Seen It" released in 2025. And then right after it, 1981's "Just the Two of Us." Tell us what you think. Let's play it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: What do you think?

WILLIAMS: You can definitely hear it. Hers is slowed down just to taste, but you can definitely hear it.

RANDALL: Whenever I hear about these lawsuits, they're like, your music sounds like mine. And then they play the clips and I'm like, I don't see it. In this one, when you play that second clip, the first little melody, like I'm singing the lyrics to the other song before she comes on. I'm like, those aren't the lyrics. What are you doing?

LAFORCE: But that's the thing, if they would have known -- people sample things all the time. Why wouldn't -- and like to sample -- I mean, that is a classic song. Everyone knows that song, which I think they said that in there that they couldn't prove that they had heard it. I'm like, they haven't heard one of the most classic songs of the '80s?

BLACKWELL: In 45 years? Here's the thing. I don't know how people write original songs anymore.

WILLIAMS: I don't either.

BLACKWELL: I mean, how do you with the same notes and the same chords come up with something that someone cannot claim? That's exactly what I did 45 years ago.

RANDALL: I don't want to be cynical here, right. But this is an independent artist putting something out on like TikTok music or like self-published on Spotify. It's coming from a major label. And when you hear those similarities between the two, I can't help but wonder, was this not intentional? Did they know it sounded that way? Did they know they were going to get sued and not like list someone as publishing so that we would be sitting here right now on air talking about how they sound similar? And then now we're talking about Ms. Dean live on the TV.

BLACKWELL: I don't know. She was a big star before this. And maybe she's losing some money. Well, she's not being sued, but the company might lose some money because of this. But we'll see where this goes.

Let's talk about the holiday season and what so many people are thinking about the cost of travel. Hopper says that this will be the most expensive travel season of the last 10 years. Let's put up the numbers. Roundtrip domestic airfare for Thanksgiving, averaging $402, up 31 percent. Roundtrip domestic airfare for Christmas, $452.

Are people, though, still going to fill these planes, still going to travel or do you think people are going to hold back?

LAFORCE: I think the good news is if you don't like your family, you have a built in excuse.

BLACKWELL: Yes, yes.

LAFORCE: I mean, that's -- listen, it's going to hurt a lot of good people that want to get to their families. But there's a lot of people going, it's working out, you know. So, there's that element.

[07:40:00]

WILLIAMS: You usually think that if you don't fly, you can drive. But now, with driving and gas being what it is, I think a lot of people are just like, I want to stay home. Not that you won't want to, but you won't have a choice, but to do so. Just traveling around your city is difficult. So, you're talking about a five-hour, three-hour, I got to get on the plane.

BLACKWELL: And that's a price for one person.

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. If we're talking about family --

BLACKWELL: Spouse and kids, it's thousands of dollars.

RANDALL: This isn't just the holiday travel. Travel's been crazy for the last year or so since gas priced everything up. See, for those of us who do love our family, it is expensive to travel, right? I split my time between Atlanta and Los Angeles, where my husband and I live, and I have to go back and forth once a month and I travel for work. My clients are everywhere. And what used to be a $400 or $500 flight is now a $900 flight, two or three times a month traveling around. It's not just the holidays. That's just when everyone else is going to feel it.

LAFORCE: Which is crazy to me that, again, going back to Trump, that we're not talking about what a great time to be commenting on gas prices in whatever way that they're able to finagle and do that, rather than being like, let's talk about, you know, time.

WILLIAMS: And the bottom line, too, if you're going to go somewhere, you better be starting to book it now.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

LAFORCE: Yes.

WILLIAMS: Because the closer you get to it --

RANDALL: I have my flights booked out, at least back and forth between California and places where I know I have clients, all the way through February because that's the --

WILLIAMS: But you can economically do it. We're talking about people --

RANDALL: That's what I'm saying.

WILLIAMS: -- who don't have the money to do it who want to --

RANDALL: I have to do it because I can't afford booking a flight two weeks in advance when it's going to be $2,000, when now it's like $700.

WILLIAMS: Cody, you spend a lot of time --

BLACKWELL: All right.

WILLIAMS: Let's move on.

BLACKWELL: OK. Now, we talked about spending time with families for the holidays. We've also seen this interesting article. This actually came from one of my producers from the Atlantic. The title is, "Why Americans Stop Throwing Dinner Parties." Apparently, we're socializing less.

Here's from the right. In the past 30 years, according to a polling group, Americans have seen double-digit declines in practically every measure of socializing. Less playing cards, attending sporting events, going to the bar, volunteering, working on community projects. Now, there might be a lot of variables that influence this, but do you think we're losing much? Because we are going to the gym. We are going to other events.

WILLIAMS: We are a lot less socialized. I think COVID did something to us that we haven't been able to get out of. A lot of us spend our time here, and as long as we're entertained right here, we're fine. It takes more of an intention to get out, to say hello, to have people come over to your house. And then even when you do have people, what to say? I don't think we're as comfortable talking.

LAFORCE: I think that's it. It's that people don't know what to say. Being in our phones all the time, being told what to believe, right. I always say, the world is loud, your answers are quiet. When we're just constantly being fed, and it's like division, everybody's divided, you're scared to talk to your neighbors. You're scared to have people over.

RANDALL: I think it's that you have too many things that you can do by yourself is the issue, right?

LAFORCE: Also, true.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

RANDALL: You can sit at home, and you can scroll on your phone. You can get on websites, and YouTube, and Facebook, and all these things. You can watch every streaming service out there. You don't actually need that connection.

Like I remember when I was younger, I would want to go to a friend's house to do the same thing I was doing at home, right. Like why do you want to come here and do it? Because I sit at home and do it, I sit at home. And if I go to your place, I went out. Now, I can just do these things by myself.

BLACKWELL: One of the variables they talk about in this, right, is intensive parenting. Like to be a parent now, I have friends who have kids, and there's badminton practice, and all the sports, and the clubs.

LAFORCE: We're doing too much. I got two kids.

BLACKWELL: 35 years ago.

LAFORCE: Yes, and it wasn't like that. And now, -- I have friends with three kids that are in sports, and it's like, I'll see you in 2028.

BLACKWELL: Right. I mean --

LAFORCE: You're never going to see them.

BLACKWELL: The travel teams are driving an hour for these kids to play table tennis? Nothing against table tennis.

All right. So, I showed you this right before we went to break, and this is what Tombstone now calls the official pizza of Halloween. It is candy corn pizza. Now, nobody asked for this. I think now that they've made it, nobody's still asking for it, but they say this is the sweet and savory creation that combines a zesty flavor with a holiday favorite that you didn't know you wanted. I still don't know if I want it.

WILLIAMS: I know I don't want it.

LAFORCE: Yes. I feel like I'm pretty clear on it.

WILLIAMS: That's an internal problem.

RANDALL: Victor, the last time I was here, you brought out food for us to try, and if they come around with a cart full of pizza, I am heading to the door.

BLACKWELL: They are not.

RANDALL: I do not want to try it, don't want to see it. I'm even sorry I heard about it.

BLACKWELL: It is not good.

WILLIAMS: And I don't like candy corn.

LAFORCE: No. Well, and that's the other thing. I think there was too much candy corn and too much Tombstone, and they're like, we got to sell both because nobody wants either. Let's just put them together and hope for the best.

WILLIAMS: And the price tag?

BLACKWELL: $1.31, including overnight shipping.

WILLIAMS: That's a problem.

RANDALL: Hey, you know what? I've changed my opinion on this, actually. No, I'm actually on board, because here's the thing. Have you seen the price of, like, candy these days? A king-size candy bar is $3. You're telling me I can get two pizzas for the price of, like, one king-size candy bar?

BLACKWELL: Yes.

WILLIAMS: I have an upset stomach.

RANDALL: If you come to my house this year during Halloween, bring a freezer bag. You'll get a Tombstone pizza.

LAFORCE: You'll get a Tombstone pizza. And you get a Tombstone. WILLIAMS: You'll get a Tombstone. I don't want a Tombstone.

LAFORCE: Yes, yes, yes.

BLACKWELL: Thank you, everybody. This was fun.

LAFORCE: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Look out for your Halloween candy corn pizza.

[07:45:00]

All right. Still ahead. Atlanta Braves, L.A. Dodgers faced off in a triple-digit heat game in one of the divisional series, we've got your highlights. And a new CNN flash doc looks at Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and his lasting impact. He -- has it connect to the world or help to widen the divide? Watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK ZUCKERBERG, CEO, META: The feeling that you get from it that it's a closed network. So, if you're on the Harvard Facebook or any school's Facebook, you're in a gated community.

SHEERA FRENKEL, TECHNOLOGY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: People were posting everything because it felt safe.

KATIE HARBATH, FORMER DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC POLICY FOR GLOBAL ELECTIONS, FACEBOOK: I don't remember what exactly posted first. I think it was something like, I'm trying out this new Facebook thing. Is anybody out there?

LISA EADICICCO, TECH EDITOR, CNN: You had your Facebook status.

EMILY DREYFUSS, CULTURE EDITOR, THE SAN FRANCISCO STANDARD: And it actually was in the third person.

EADICICCO: Lisa Eadicicco is, and I could put whatever I was doing at the time.

NEDRA GLOBAL TAWWAB, AUTHOR AND LICENSED THERAPIST: Oh, my gosh, you made a grilled cheese for lunch?

DREYFUSS: Emily is feeling sad. Emily is feeling happy. Facebook really gave you a window into people's lives.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: The all-new CNN flash doc, "Zuckerberg: Facebook and the Cost of Connection," premieres tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern and Pacific on CNN and tomorrow with an all-access subscription.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00] BLACKWELL: All right. Here's a look at your top stories. Japan is demanding answers this morning after a U.S. Marine was arrested on suspicion of murder and robbery in Okinawa. Police say a 39-year-old woman was found unresponsive in a hotel room yesterday and pronounced dead. A 20-year-old Marine stationed on the island was taken into custody.

Tomorrow, students at Cornell University will gather for a Justice for Survivors rally. This is during an outcry over the handling of a sexual assault case. Organizers want the alleged assaulters expelled or their degrees revoked. They also want mandatory sexual assault training for all students. A rally comes as Cornell's president broke his silence and he said the university must do better.

We're keeping an eye on extreme heat in the western U.S. Temperatures could get above 100 degrees. CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar is here. For how long?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, it's going to be a long- duration event. And look, even 100 degrees would be abnormal in July or August, let alone in October. You've got all of these heat alerts out, so the heat advisory here for Sacramento and San Francisco. And we also have the extreme heat warning for Los Angeles down through San Diego again.

But look at all of these places that could set records today, tomorrow, Tuesday, Wednesday. Some of them even breaking records every single one of those days. That's all the dots you see here on the map. So, again, this isn't just 5 degrees above average. You're talking 10 or even 15 degrees above average in a lot of these places. Take Sacramento, for example. 84 is where they normally would be this time of year. 95 for the high today, triple digits both Monday and Tuesday. That could continue into Wednesday and Thursday as well. L.A. looking at the next three days in triple digits. Las Vegas, 10 degrees above normal. Same thing even for a place like Salt Lake City.

BLACKWELL: All right. Allison, thanks. The Dodgers were able to beat the Heat and the Braves in Game 1 of their Division Series. Andy Scholes with me now.

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Victor, props to all of those fans that went to this game at Dodger Stadium yesterday. You know, the temperature may have been 100 degrees, but when you're sitting in the stands like that all day, you might as well be sitting on the surface of the sun. This was the hottest postseason game since Game 1 of the 2017 World Series in L.A. between the Dodgers and the Astros, it reached 103 degrees at one point during the game.

But in the fourth inning, Teoscar Hernandez giving the fans something to take their mind off that Heat. He blasted a two-run home run. Then ace Tarik Skubal, he was just awesome in the game. He went six innings, gave up just two hits while striking out seven. Skubal, he thanked all of the fans who came to the game afterwards. As the Dodgers, they take Game 1 over the Braves, 5-3. Going to be hot again, as Allison mentioned, in Game 2. That's in 8:00 Eastern tonight. Now, there are some bad ways to lose a baseball game, but the potential game-winning home run, hitting the roof and turning into an out, it's got to be one of the worst. Top of the ninth, one-on for the Padres. Down by one, Ty France absolutely crushes this ball, but he hit it so high. It hits the roof and then drops right down to Jackson Chourio, who makes the catch for the second out of the inning. So, instead of the Padres taking a 4-3 lead, it's an out. They end up losing by one. That's pretty tough right there.

Elsewhere, Rays hosting the Yankees in Game 1 of their series, and Drew Rasmussen had himself a night. Rasmussen, he struck out 10 Yankees. He carried a no-hitter into the eighth inning, which is the latest a Yankees team has ever been no-hit into a postseason game. But in the eighth inning, Austin Wells comes up to the plate for the Yankees. He rips this one down the line to break up the no-hitter, but then he makes this really bad base-running decision, trying to stretch it into a triple. He gets thrown out. That was the Yankees' only hit. The Rays take the win of that series, 1-0.

The U.S. Men's National Team, meanwhile, was back in action, taking on Mexico on TNT in an international friendly. And youngster, Kevin Sullivan, with an awesome moment, stealing the keeper's pass, and then he's going to bury it from distance for his first-ever U.S. goal. The 17-year-old celebrating with his teammates. He's the youngest ever to score for the U.S. with that goal right there. Hopefully we hear lots from Sullivan in the years to come. U.S. beat Mexico in that one, 3-0.

[07:55:00]

And finally, college football. Harvard down 3 to Colgate, four seconds left. So, they've got to go for the old Hail Mary. Charlie Smith's pass is going to be well short, but Teigan Pelletier catches it. Look what he does. Laterals it to Nate Bailey whose then going to dive in to win the game for Harvard at the buzzer. It's the old Hail Mary hook and ladder, guys. Rarely see this executed. But you know what, if anyone's going to come up with a smart play and a smart finish like that, it'd be the kids from Harvard.

BLACKWELL: Well done. Andy, how are you on -- what's your view on candy corn?

SCHOLES: I'm not a candy corn fan whatsoever.

BLACKWELL: Blasphemy. I know you like it.

SCHOLES: Keep it away from me.

CHINCHAR: And the pumpkins.

BLACKWELL: OK. All right. So, what do you think about this, candy corn pizza?

CHINCHAR: I would give it a whirl.

BLACKWELL: Really?

CHINCHAR: I don't know if I'd like it, but I would try it.

SCHOLES: Just the texture. I'm not down with it.

BLACKWELL: I don't know. I'm suspicious of anything that's $1.31 including overnight shipping.

SCHOLES: You should be.

BLACKWELL: But, I mean, people are going to try it. It's the sweet, the savory. You've got your meat and your cheese.

SCHOLES: OK.

BLACKWELL: You're not into it at all.

SCHOLES: No, not candy corn. Not my thing.

BLACKWELL: Well, thank you for joining us this morning, for CNN This Morning Weekend. Inside Politics Sunday with Manu Raju is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:00:00]