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One World with Zain Asher
Trump Says U.S. Will Not Attack Iran Before Midterm Elections; Heavy Rain Sweeps Away Cars and Floods Buildings in Chile; Storm Takes Aim at Gulf Coast as a Category 3 Hurricane; Landfall Expected Friday Night on the Alabama-Florida Line; Georgia's Ossoff and Collins Face Off in Senate Debate; International Jurist Navi Pillay Awarded Nobel Peace Prize. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired October 09, 2026 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: All right, live from New York. I'm Zain Asher. Bianna is off today. You are watching "One World". Ahead on the
show, this is the states along the U.S. Gulf Coast are bracing for impact from a powerful hurricane with mandatory evacuations taking place.
Plus, Trump says the U.S. will not strike Iran before the midterm elections, and less than a month out from the midterm, Senate candidates
are taking the debate stage. All right, a new warning to Saudi Arabia from Iran-backed rebels in Yemen. The Houthis are vowing to continue attacks on
the kingdom after deadly strikes on the airport in Riyadh Thursday.
In this social media video, smoke and flames can be seen rising from King Khalid Airport. Aviation authorities say that three Saudi nationals were
killed, and several people of various nationalities were injured in two attacks. The Houthis also claimed attacks at another airport and a Saudi
airbase as well.
In recent weeks, Yemen's civil war has seen intense fighting along the Red Sea coast as Saudi-backed Yemeni government forces try to reverse the
latest Houthi gains. And in the United States, President Trump is vowing Washington will not launch any fresh attacks on Iran before the U.S.
midterm elections.
He made that pledge in a Truth Social post on Thursday, saying the U.S. is having what he called productive discussions with Iran and declaring the
U.S. will maintain its strategy of extreme economic pressure on Tehran. Let's go straight now to our Kevin Liptak joining us live now from the
White House.
So, the fact that the U.S. President is tying, you know, his military options in Iran to the midterm elections suggests that yes, he is very
aware of how much this war might end up costing him politically, also suggesting that his priority may not necessarily be national security, but
might actually be politics here.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, and it's an interesting turnabout in some ways because remember President Trump
repeatedly over the summer and into the fall said that he was not taking the midterms into account as he was plotting a way forward in Iran.
He said at one point that he didn't care about the midterms as it relates to the conflict in the Middle East. But now the president saying explicitly
that he doesn't plan new action before that vote in early November. Now, whether this is an attempt at misdirection and whether the president
actually has something else in the back of his mind, we don't know.
And certainly, you hear people around Washington suggesting that may be the case, just given the president's track record in the past, ruling out
action before then taking it, and so we'll have to see what the next three weeks portends. But I think it is clear that the president and his advisers
are aware that this is an unpopular war, that it has caused prices to rise in the United States.
And that doing anything that could aggravate that unpopularity or aggravate some of those cost pressures will be bad news for Republicans. But that's
not to say that they're not preparing for some type of action. We're told that officials at Central Command and at the Pentagon have, in fact,
prepared options for a resumption of major operations in Iran that the president could order up at any time.
You also see the U.S. continuing to send resources to the Gulf, including aircraft carriers, there's now thousands and thousands of U.S. troops sort
of afloat in the Gulf, and as they await more direction from Washington about what exactly will happen next. And so, the president backing off for
now on taking new action, but I don't think that necessarily means that the war is over and done with altogether.
You know, the president just said this week that the U.S. still had to finish off the conflict there, and so it's clear he thinks that there is
unfinished business to deal with in Iran. But at least publicly, he's saying that that will not happen before some of the political questions are
resolved here in the United States.
ASHER: Right, Kevin Liptak, live for us. Thank you for that. Right, the U.S. Homeland Security Secretary is speaking out about Thursday's shooting
by I.C.E. agents in New York. Federal negotiation agents shot and wounded a man from the Dominican Republic who had a child, five-year-old, in the back
seat.
The man is now in detention after getting medical treatment. The five-year- old boy, who was also in the car, was not physically harmed. At a news conference a short while ago, an I.C.E. official said the man, identified
as Oscar Belgal, drove his vehicle at the officers before it fired, refused orders to exit the car, and then weaponized it.
[11:05:00]
Listen to the Homeland Security Secretary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARKWAYNE MULLIN, SECRETARY OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY: We wasn't aware the child was in the car. I can tell you that, but do you know
who was Oscar? Oscar knew he had a child in his car. Oscar chose to accelerate at a high rate of speed, and ram two different vehicles as he
was -- as appears to be going towards officers.
And so, the public outcry should be also towards this criminal, this thug, this gang banger, this possible murderer. The outrage should be with him
for endangering the five-year-old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: And we'll have a report in the next hour breaking down what exactly took place. Right, heavy rain sparked flash flooding and mudslides in
Chile's capital on Thursday. A torrent of water, mud, and rocks pushed through Santiago, sweeping away cars and flooding buildings.
A red alert was declared in 10 areas of the city. The Chilean capital sits at the foot of the Andes Mountains, and the heavy rain filled the city's
many mountain ravines, causing them to overflow. Singapore is now choking under some of the planet's worst pollution. Toxic smog from fires in nearby
Indonesia is blanketing the city state, just as it prepares for a packed weekend with a Formula One Grand Prix. CNN's Rhea Mogul reports.
RHEA MOGUL, CNN REPORTER: Part of the reason that we're seeing this heavy pollution in Singapore is because of these raging wildfires in Indonesia,
in particular on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo. Now, this happens every year when large areas of land are cleared to make way for commercial
plantations, including for things like palm oil.
And it has a devastating impact on the wildlife on those islands, Sumatra and Borneo are home to some of Southeast Asia's most critically endangered
species, including orangutans. But this year, in particular, the expected super El Nino has just exacerbated that blaze. And it's created this gust
of smog that's moving towards countries like Malaysia and of course Singapore.
Singapore is the most polluted major city in the world right now, and levels of pollution over there are very unhealthy. And what that's done,
it's created this noxious, thick, heavy smog that settled across the city, and it's cast this shadow over iconic skyscrapers and monuments, including
the Marina Bay Sands, which is currently, you know, just a shadow in the skyline.
It causes severe, you know, respiratory illness. It gets into your hair. You can taste it in your mouth. So, authorities say that they have things
in place in case things should go out of hand and get worse. As of now, it seems like the Formula One may go ahead as planned. The Formula One has
gone ahead in previous years, even though Singapore has experienced a lot of pollution.
What we could expect to see, however, is perhaps people wearing face masks or bringing face masks to the event they're no stranger to pollution in
that country. So, we could see people, you know, preparing themselves for in case they feel uncomfortable at the F1 this weekend.
ASHER: Right, turning now to Hurricane Isaias. It's now a major Category 3 storm, packing winds of up to 120 miles an hour as it barrels towards the
Gulf Coast. Forecasters are warning of potentially life-threatening conditions, including 15 inches of rain, as well as destructive storm surge
that could reach nine feet in some areas.
Widespread blackouts and even tornadoes are also possible. On its current track, it's expected to make landfall later on Friday at the Florida-
Alabama state line. States of emergency are in effect right now in parts of Florida, Alabama, and Georgia. Mandatory evacuations are underway in many
coastal cities, although the window to leave safely is quickly slamming shut.
Let's get the very latest from Meteorologist Allison Chinchar. So now it's a major Category 3 storm. Walk us through what the South East can expect.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yeah. So, the key thing is we've noticed this morning it's strengthening, and you can see that clearly here
on the visible satellite. What looks like all of those little bubbles popping up on the screen. That is all the convection, all the thunderstorms
that are developing around the storm, indicating that it is going through that strengthening process.
So, the sustained winds now 120 miles per hour, gusting up to 150 miles per hour. Still moving rather quickly, about 16 miles per hour to the north
northeast. It is expected to make landfall Friday evening local time on the western portion of the State of Florida.
Now, because the storm has strengthened, that also means an increase not only in winds but an increase in storm surge totals. So, the area you see
here in orange, that includes Pensacola, Panama City, down through Port St. Joe, that had been five to seven feet. That has now increased up to six to
nine feet, so you're starting to see some of those numbers tick up.
Even the yellow areas that kind of surround that peak location have also jumped by an extra one to two feet in locations. When we talk about the
storm itself, some of those outer bands have already begun across states like Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.
[11:10:00]
They are going to intensify. You're going to see them increase in terms of how much rain is starting to spread in, and also an increase in the winds
in the coming hours. Now, once we get to around landfall time tonight, yes, the worst of it is really going to be around that Alabama-Florida state
line.
But even areas well inland, portions like Montgomery, Birmingham, Atlanta, Macon, you're going to start to see an increase in some of those heavier
rain bands and very strong winds. This is not just going to be an impact along the coast. A lot of these surrounding states, excuse me, a lot of
these surrounding states are going to have a lot of these areas looking at the very heavy rain totals.
So, one thing to note, there is the flooding potential, yes, right there along the coast, but you're also going to have a lot of flooding in some of
the surrounding states that are well inland from some of these areas, including Charlotte, Atlanta, and around Columbia as well.
ASHER: Allison Chinchar, live for us. Thank you for that. Right, still ahead on "One World", the fight for Senate control is on display across the
U.S. as the midterms inch closer. Look at some of the fiery issues during the debates ahead.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: Right, personal insults were flying last night in Senate debates across the U.S. as the U.S. midterm clock is ticking. Thursday night
candidates in two pivotal races took the gloves off as the rising cost of living and President Trump's tariffs took center stage. Some candidates
traded sharp-tongued zingers on the debate stage as both Republicans and Democrats fight for Senate control.
Things got heated in Georgia when incumbent Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff and his Republican challenger, Congressman Mike Collins, faced off in their
first debate. While Ossoff tried to link Collins to the American President, Collins avoided mentioning Trump's name and appeared largely on the defense
during the hour-long debate.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. JON OSSOFF (D-GA): Our economy is being strangled by Donald Trump and Mike Collins' economic record. We're now almost 12 minutes into this
debate. We still haven't heard an explanation of how the tariffs are helping Georgia families.
REP. MIKE COLLINS (R-GA): Should be America first. We have bowed down to the rest of this world and took it from companies or countries charging us
tariffs over and over again. My opponent's a trust fund kid who's never had a job in his life. He doesn't understand that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, let's go straight now to our local impact segment.
[11:15:00]
Joining us live now is Editor-in-Chief for The Current GA, Margaret Coker and Rahul Bali, a Polish Reporter for Atlanta's WABE. Rahul, let me start
with you because we just saw there Jon Ossoff strategy of linking the U.S. President to Mike Collins in that. Mike Collins lags in the polls, though.
And his polling numbers are so dismal that Republicans are sort of shifting their attention away from this race. Did he hold his own last night? How
did he do?
RAHUL BALI, POLITICS REPORTER, WABE: I think most importantly, let's start with Congressman Collins, the Republican challenger. In when he was asked
directly, he did defend the president's policy on Iran, saying that it shouldn't get nuclear weapon. And he did defend the tariffs, calling them
fair for businesses in the United States.
And so, what you saw with Collins is not what you're seeing around the rest of the country, where you've seen other Republicans either drift away or
even separate themselves from the president. As for Senator Ossoff, who is who's the incumbent Democrat. What Democrats are seeing there is not only
the substance in going after the president and going after the administration, but the style, both on the stage and then also on social
media.
ASHER: Margaret, let me bring you in just to Rahul's point there. You know this idea of tariffs, obviously coming up, the war in Iran coming up, you
know a lot of Republicans are distant themselves from the U.S. President on this, trying not to even mention his name.
Trump says, pretend I'm on the ballot, and a lot of Republicans are like, well, no, because that would really hurt us. Just in terms of this idea of
tariffs, which, by the way, Jon Ossoff brought up a number of times, because Trump's economic record is really going to be key here in terms of
improving the Democrats' showings.
Talk to us about how those two issues-the war in Iran and also affordability, tariffs, rising prices-how that factored into the debate
yesterday.
MARGARET COKER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF FOR THE CURRENT GA: Yeah, so I am calling in from Savannah, which is where our container port is. We have the third
largest container port in the U.S. And so, Savannah is a hub of logistics companies, trucking companies, warehousing, and Mike Collins is the owner
of a trucking company.
What normal Georgians that we talk to every day tell us is that they cannot fill up their tanks without spending more than $100 because regular gas is
so expensive, and diesel, which is the kind of gas that trucks need in order to move goods around the state and around the nation, is also at its
highest record levels right now.
Mike Collins, though, took to the stage last night and doubled down on his association with Trump and Trump policies. Since he's been a U.S.
congressman, he's been -- he was first elected in 2022. He has been a MAGA first Republican in Georgia, which was a controversial thing then.
But it seems like now, when he is so far behind in the polls, he has nothing left to lose. If he's going to get more money injected into his
campaign over the next three weeks, he's basically had a 911 emergency call to the White House with his Trump first rhetoric last night, because only
President Trump and his political action committees can bring in some money that might help boost those polls in Collins' favor.
ASHER: And that's one of Jon Ossoff's points. This idea that Mike Collins is nothing more than a Trump yes man. But Margaret, since you brought up
the trucking company, Rahul, let me turn to you because the way Mike Collins positioned himself on the stage is, I'm just like you.
You know, I am the sort of American everyman. And by the way, this guy Jon Ossoff, he's a trust fund kid, and I think his trust fund is worth
somewhere between 1 to $5 million. However, what's interesting is that Mike Collins is actually rather wealthy. His trucking company is worth at least
$25 million.
So, explain to us whether or not that "I'm just like you" strategy from Mike Collins actually worked last night. Do you think?
BALI: That's going to just depend on what the voters see. But when I'm on the campaign trail, it does seem to work with Republican voters. And going
back to Margaret's point, this is really about getting out here in Georgia at least his path is through getting the Republican base voters, including
those who support President Trump.
That seemingly is his only path versus the path of others here in the State of Georgia and statewide races, where you get your base out, and then you
also get a slice of independents and a slice of voters from the other side. This is really his path is to play that card, whether it's on the campaign
trail or on television, to get those voters out for him.
ASHER: Margaret, one of the things that came up quite a bit last night is race, of course, and Jon Ossoff essentially accused Mike Collins of hiring
half of the Third Reich, which is quite a scathing thing to say.
[11:20:00]
He talked about Mike Collins' history of hiring aides who have sort of questionable views on race, and I'm putting that very lightly, and also the
fact that Mike Collins has reposted some social media videos that seem to be very racist. So, just explain to us. I mean, obviously, Atlanta has a
very strong black population.
It leans obviously to the left. How will that factor of race play into voters' calculations.
COKER: Yeah, Georgia is home to a lot of majority Black towns. It's not just Atlanta. It's where I live in Savannah. It's down the coast for me in
Brunswick, in Albany, in western Georgia. You know, Georgian Black constituents come out to vote in very robust numbers.
And so, from an issue perspective, a wedge issue, the idea of Ossoff's team being able to galvanize that black vote across Georgia is going to be very
important for him, as he's also since he's been senator really tried to hew a line that is right down the middle. He wants to be someone who attracts
independent voters, and just within our own state.
You know, there has been such a civil war, non-violent civil war, I should say, between Republicans since the 2020 election. Mike Collins has been a
person that has embraced lots of the inflammatory Trump rhetoric when it comes to the way that you know the -- I think he and his faction of the
party view the rest of the electorate, but also how they view immigrants, how they view poor people.
You know, the inflammatory nature of his statements over the course of the four years has made you know sort of coming home to roost right now because
it's not just Jon Ossoff saying that this is unacceptable. A lot of Republicans are also saying it's unacceptable.
And I think that is one of the core reasons why, in a race where Georgians are very concerned about the cost of living, the culture war issues that
were very much in vogue for Mike Collins and you know his colleagues a couple of years ago really aren't playing well in Georgia right now.
ASHER: Interesting. And Rahul, just in terms of, I mean, you know, Georgia really played a major role in the 2020 election, and how could we forget
the famous line by the U.S. President? You know, find me X number of thousands of votes. And with the sort of 2020, you know, Trump being sort
of obsessed with overturning the results that led to Joe Biden's victory, it looks as though we have lost.
Do we have you still? OK, we have you. We have you back. How did that come up? No, don't worry. How did that come up last night? That the sort of 2020
election loss by the U.S. President and how he was very very determined to try to overturn it. OK, Rahul, you're actually muted.
We can't actually hear you. Can you unmute for us? Is that possible? This is live television, everyone. Can you unmute? OK -- don't worry.
COKER: I can --
ASHER: OK. Yes, Margaret. You go ahead. Did you hear my question?
COKER: I did. Thank you. So, the 2020 election, you know, it is a long six years ago, but in some, you know, a certain faction of our state Republican
Party, it actually feels like yesterday. There are still people who believe that the election was rigged, that President Biden did not win our state in
2020, and President Trump keeps this as a grievance, and he keeps coming back to a rally after rally across the U.S.
You know, Mike Collins has not -- did not say when he was challenged by Senator Ossoff last night, he did not say that the 2020 elections were
valid, and that is something that again it's become a wedge issue and a core group of Trump-backed MAGA voters in Georgia are going to love to have
heard that from Trump.
I'm sorry, excuse me, from Collins because they still believe in what Trump stands for. But there are very significant numbers of Republicans who don't
believe that, you know, and there are very prominent Republicans in Georgia who have broken from Trump for various reasons.
You know, you were talking about the war in Iran. This whole notion of America first, you know, a person that used to be a firebrand in our state,
Marjorie Taylor Greene, who was known as you know a Trump surrogate across the U.S. she broke with Trump over the issue of the war.
You know, so Mike Collins again, like he has a -- as a safe space where he knows that he can energize his base, which are very much pro-Trump right
now. But there's a large chunk of even those voters who even if they believe you know are skeptical about election security, they're still not
going to come out and vote for Mike Collins because there's other issues that are more concerning to them, like cost of living, data centers, other
things like that.
ASHER: Oh, Rahul, you're there. Rahul, are you back with us? Did I just hear your voice?
BALI: -- this about that?
ASHER: No, don't worry.
BALI: Yes.
ASHER: Do you want to -- we actually are going to wrap up now. But do you want to just respond to what Margaret said?
[11:25:00]
BALI: Yes. So, look, the big thing around data centers, and the thing I'm trying to figure out is Republicans are bringing up the idea that this is a
race against China, and then the other line that I'm starting to hear more is if a local community supports it, should data centers be allowed?
And my question is, what is the definition of local support? These are things that are being debated right now, both on national level here in the
U.S. and on the local level.
ASHER: Yeah, the data center debate is especially heated in Georgia.
BALI: Yes.
ASHER: Well, we'll see what happens in three weeks from now at those midterm elections. Rahul, thank you for coming back with us. and Margaret,
appreciate you both being here.
BALI: No problem.
ASHER: OK.
BALI: Thank you.
ASHER: This year's Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Navi Pillay, the 85-year-old South African lawyer fought apartheid before rising to
prominence on the international legal stage. The Nobel Committee praised Navi Pillay for being instrumental in ensuring that war crimes, crimes
against humanity, genocide are prosecuted.
She has served as a judge at some of the most important courts of international law, including the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda. She was also a U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, who gave her reaction from an event at the courts which hosted the Nuremberg trials
80 years ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NAVI PILLAY, JURIST AND FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR RWANDA: So that's how I appreciate your applause today. Thank
you so much. But being a lawyer and a judge, I still want to verify this --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: All right, still to come here on "One World". Most of the U.S. oil refineries are along the U.S. Gulf Coast, which is in the past, path rather
of Hurricane Isaias. Yes, we'll look at how that also might be affecting energy prices too, or rather will affect energy prices.
A controversial plan by the Pentagon, announced by the Defense Secretary, is drawing widespread condemnation. We'll have details on what that plan is
also after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
ASHER: All right. Welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher here in New York. Here are some of the headlines we are watching for you today. The
U.S. Gulf Coast is bracing for impact with Hurricane Isaias. Yes, the Category 3 storm is expected to weaken before it hits land near the
Florida-Alabama border later tonight.
Rain from the hurricanes out of bands is already lashing the coast from Louisiana to Florida. And the Department of Homeland Security in the U.S.
is defending the actions of I.C.E. agents a day after a man was shot and wounded in New York. A five-year-old, believed to be his son, who was in
the car with him, was not injured.
The DHS secretary is also slamming New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani for expressing outrage over the incident. And the Nobel Peace Prize has been
awarded to international jurist Navi Pillay for her tireless work ensuring that war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide are prosecuted.
Pillay has worked across the most important international courts as well as serving as U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, as well. President
Trump's envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to hold talks with Ukrainian officials in the U.S. Today, they'll once again discuss ways
to end Moscow's war in Kyiv.
President Zelenskyy, who will not be in attendance, says that he is counting on Ukraine's European allies to join those talks at some point.
All right, most of the U.S. oil refineries sit along the Gulf Coast, and that's bad news with a hurricane barreling towards them.
The refineries are already working at near capacity to try to offset the shortages from the wars in both Ukraine and Iran. Already major oil
companies like Shell and BP have evacuated non-essential workers and curtailed production. Even if Hurricane Isaias comes ashore as a Category 1
storm, it could actually take a week before the refineries are back to normal.
While Americans are weighing on who to vote for in the midterm elections, some are also thinking about who to bet on. CNN's Marshall Cohen reports on
the growing concerns surrounding prediction markets and the upcoming elections.
MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: We've talked a lot this year about betting on elections. It's more popular than ever in the U.S. because of
the legalization and expansion of prediction markets like Kalshi and Polymarket, and they have markets available to wager on every House seat,
all the Senate races, governors' races, and a lot more.
But the list gets a lot deeper as you kind of scroll down on these websites. There are some really granular and super specific markets about
the 2026 midterms on these platforms, and experts say as the markets get more and more specific, the risks of insider trading go up.
The folks at the Anti-Corruption Data Collective, which is a nonpartisan nonprofit, they call it knowable markets because for some of these markets
the answers are actually knowable in advance, which heightens the risk of insider trading. And they say that $20 million has been wagered in total
trading volume on these knowable markets, and that there are hundreds on Kalshi and Polymarket.
So, what am I talking about here? There are some examples we can look at. These are all active markets on Kalshi and Polymarket. Where will Vice
President -- What will Vice President J.D. Vance says today at his rally in Ohio? You can bet on what words will come out of his mouth.
Also, will Ken Paxton and James Talarico debate in Texas. They are running for Senate. Are they going to debate by this Thursday? You can bet on that.
There's also markets on who Barack Obama will endorse. He's been on an endorsement spree this week. Who's next?
And then also which states will President Trump campaign in before now and November? The list really goes on, and the risks are very real. We have
already seen this year examples of six candidates betting on their own races, getting caught, and getting suspended by Kalshi.
And also, just a few months ago, the White House teleprompter operator was caught betting on what Trump would say at his speeches and rallies. So, the
risks are real, and the companies say that they take this very seriously. We reached out to both Kalshi and Polymarket.
Here is what the head of enforcement for Kalshi, Bobby DeNault, had to say quote, it may be simpler to prove insider trading in some of these cases,
because the material information is narrower and easier to identify. So, he's making the case that as the markets get more and more specific, it's
easier for the surveillance teams to catch any wrongdoing.
And then a spokesperson for Polymarket said, we use state-of-the-art surveillance and dedicated detections built for political markets, which
flag anomalous trading to our team.
[11:35:00]
And one last note for full disclosure, CNN has a partnership with Kalshi. We use their data to cover major events, including elections, but they
don't influence our coverage, and we don't trade on prediction markets. Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.
ASHER: All right, there's bipartisan outrage over a Pentagon plan to live stream the military's first firing squad execution since World War II.
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says he wants to make sure people are able to see the execution of Nidal Hasan. He's the former army psychiatrist who
gunned down 13 people at the military base in Fort Hood, Texas.
Back in 2009, Hegseth talked to a far-right podcaster aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln on Wednesday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: He's going to get a firing squad of soldiers, as it should be, and we'll make sure that people are able to
watch it, that it's public, because people need to understand that this is -- there's serious consequences for these types of things.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ASHER: Senior U.S. National Security Reporter Haley Britzky joins us live now from Washington. So, I mean, obviously, it's one thing, you know,
whether or not people agree or disagree with the death penalty, with capital punishment in general. It's another thing to actually want to see
it live streamed publicly.
Why is Defense Secretary, you know, focusing on this when there are so many other issues to focus on? Not least the war in Iran, obviously.
HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yeah, that's a great question, Zain. It's something that I think a lot of people are asking, and
exactly what you just said. I mean, we're the criticism that we're hearing is not about the death penalty itself, or even that Nidal Hasan deserves
the death penalty.
It seems that a lot of people agree that he does, given what happened in 2009 at Fort Hood when he killed 13 people. But the criticism is coming
from the very public nature of this execution that Secretary Hegseth is saying he wants to prioritize here. And so, the Pentagon confirmed
yesterday it will be live streamed.
Any further details have yet to come. We've asked things like, you know, how many soldiers will be participating? Where will this live stream be
shown? We haven't gotten answers on those questions yet, and so this, you know, something that we are seeing from not just Democrats but also
Republicans who are criticizing this.
Senator Tom Tillis saying that it was beyond disgusting. He's of course become an outspoken critic of Secretary Hegseth after voting to confirm him
previously, saying that it should not be happening in America. Joe Kent, the Former Director of the National Counterterrorism Center under President
Trump, who resigned several months ago, saying that public execution is beneath the dignity and decency of our nation, and that it gives terrorists
free propaganda they will use to radicalize and recruit more terrorists.
So that is a primary concern here as well, Zain. That publicizing this and live streaming this can then be taken by terror groups around the globe and
sort of repurposed and used for recruitment purposes and propaganda purposes. Senator Chris Murphy last night on CNN also got into this. Let's
give a listen to what he has to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHRIS MURPHY (D-CT): I mean that's disgusting. What is he mimicking? ISIS executions. I mean I understand that in this country we have the death
penalty, but public executions are medieval. It's frankly one of the things that we abhor about terrorist groups, and the fact that the United States
is doing it.
I just learned this. That is just absolutely extraordinary, galling. No matter whether you support or oppose the death penalty, public hangings and
executions that's what America has become. That's pretty extraordinary.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRITZKY: And something that I think to point out here, Zain, as well, army regulations on military executions. It specifies who can witness an
execution. People like a chaplain, if requested, the prisoners' council, a minimum of two media representatives. But it also specifies that minors,
people under 18 years old, cannot view the execution.
So that's obviously something that can't really be policed when you're live streaming it broadly like this. And you know, the army general who oversees
law enforcement is able to waive that regulation as long as it doesn't violate the law. But we've yet to get an answer on that as well of how the
Pentagon and the army plan to approach that, and if they plan to waive that regulation in order to live stream this.
ASHER: Yeah, I mean, as you touched on, you know, we haven't really seen military executions in this country since World War II, and we haven't seen
public executions for at least 100 years. And not to mention the fact that it is on uncertain sort of shaky legal ground whether or not this can
actually go ahead, and you talk about the age restrictions as well.
Do we know what specifically prompted this?
BRITZKY: We don't yet. I mean, this is something that obviously it was requested by the secretary for there to be a firing squad execution. This
was approved by President Trump earlier this week.
[11:40:00]
It doesn't seem like there was a lot of detail nailed down about having it public like this. So, how much forethought went into this? How much
planning has already been done is really unclear. What led to this is very unclear. Secretary Hegseth saying, as we heard earlier, though, that he
believes that people should see the consequences of the kind of actions that Nidal Hasan undertook in 2009.
So, whether this has been long planned or something that the secretary decided recently he wanted to pursue, something we're definitely still
asking and hoping to get more answers on, Zain.
ASHER: All right, Haley Britzky, thank you for that. We'll be right back with more after the short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, abstract artist Julie Mehretu has garnered international recognition for her grand scale canvasses. The Ethiopian born artist is now
on a mission to create a space where African artists can thrive. Larry Madowo has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What brings you to Nairobi?
JULIE MEHRETU, CONTEMPORARY VISUAL ARTIST: We're here for this series of workshops that we've started to do as part of the Art Car project through
BMW. We're doing these workshops throughout the continent in five different cities, working on media arts, media and film.
And trying to really kind of interrogate that space in the kind of deeply mediated world we live in now. The work of this workshop is to be able to
create kind of a cross disciplinary, intergenerational conversation between countries and between artist space, so that we can amplify not just amplify
our voices.
But also invent new forms that are just as rigorous and as challenging, but also illuminating of different kinds of languages that we aren't even
understanding ourselves yet. That's the unknown kind of exploring that, that's what excites me the most, and the capability of that.
MADOWO: Do you see yourself as a change maker in the arts, and how has that then shaped the space you create for others?
MEHRETU: I think I'm aspirationally wanting to be a change maker. Any of us who engage in this world want to affect and create change, and I think
that's a motivation of my work. It's motivation of myself as an individual to make things more equitable, to make things more accessible.
MADOWO: Tell me why you thought this would be the best way to connect with the continent and bring this thing include artists from here.
[11:45:00]
MEHRETU: The African continent is this place that has always drawn me back? It's a place that I was born in. I've lived in different places, whether
it's in Zimbabwe or in Senegal, and I've traveled extensively throughout the continent. And so, there's this immense possibility of like what can
happen.
But also, what can happen with a Pan African kind of possibility, especially in the creative space, especially now that you don't need to
cross borders to actually communicate with one another and to work together, and so this became something that we wanted to further explore.
MADOWO: What do you want your legacy to have been when people look back on your career, the communities and platforms you built?
MEHRETU: I'm hoping to participate in a bigger collective of many makers and painters and creative artists and sculptors and you know video artists,
media artists, what filmmakers, musicians, that there's this other form of cultural reverberation that as a collective we're all a part of, and
hopefully that is creates space for more of that possibility, and I'm excited for what that future holds in a way.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ASHER: All right, a new experiment is set to take whiskey to new heights in 2028. The Scottish and Japanese engineers will send samples of whiskey to
space to see if zero gravity can change and even improve the aging process. The team will test whether extreme temperatures swings caused by 90-minute
orbits around the Earth could speed up maturation.
Over the five-year experiment, the scientist behind the project says the unusual process could produce some very bold flavors. For more on what to
expect from this unique project, the scientist at the center of the investigation. Dr. Gilles Bailet, joins us live now. Thank you so much for
being with us.
This is a fascinating story because instead of sending astronauts, we're sending whiskey to space. Explain why and what you hope we can learn from
the process.
GILLES BAILET, PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR OF THE WHISKY MAKING EXPERIMENT AT SPACE PUFFIN: So, whiskey is a very Scottish way to explore chemistry in
space, but the ambition is bigger. We want to be able to do really useful things for people on Earth using the capability of space.
ASHER: And just in terms of what it will uncover about the chemical mechanisms behind flavor development, what can you tell us about that
front?
[11:50:00]
BAILET: Yeah, so chemistry is a really complex process where you have a bunch of molecules which are produced up there, right? And the one we are
particularly interested about is the ethanol, this compound which makes the alcohol inside the whiskey, because it can be useful for being able to
extract flavors from the woods, but it can be also really useful to be able to purify drugs that we can only produce in space thanks to microgravity
and vacuum.
ASHER: Right. So, it's obviously, as expected, far bigger than whiskey. But it also will tell us a little bit more, or rather, distilleries here on
Earth will learn a little bit more about aging and fermentation, and their approach to that could change based on the experiments you can conduct in
space as well.
BAILET: So, I think that's complementary. You know, I'm from Scotland, and here we have centuries of experience doing the best alcohol in the world.
And so, we're actually learning a lot from them to be able to do way more in space, and that's what we are doing through many different projects in
our new startup Orbital Arrays, we are really trying to do things which are useful for society.
So, it might sound a bit gimmicky to do whiskey in space, but that's actually something really important for the future of pharmaceutical, but
also to be able to build spacecraft of the future that are not limited anymore by the size of the rockets.
ASHER: One of the things I find interesting is really how this experiment is going to be conducted. As I understand it, you're essentially sending
small whiskey samples and ingredients. So that will include water, yeast, cereals, some whiskey cask wood, and even an artificial tongue that could
actually taste some of the chemical changes. Walk us through that.
BAILET: Yeah, so it's actually really expensive to send things to space. It got like quite cheaper over the past few years, but it's still a really big
endeavor. And this is a project that we are funding thanks to our sponsor Alliance Associates and our own money. We are not using taxpayer money for
that, and so we need to be really efficient with what we are doing.
So, we're going to have some really tiny whiskey in it. So, it will be about 1/3 of a normal dram of whiskey, and we're going to try to measure as
much as possible. And we have some brilliant researchers here in Glasgow, which have been able to develop some new sensors, where basically some tiny
macroscopic dots of golds that can react to the molecules present in the whiskey to be able to understand what's happening, what kind of flavor are
developing.
If I'm able, for example, to develop end of ethanol, or if the whiskey going to taste good or bad without any humans involved into the loop,
without any astronauts.
ASHER: And you touched on this earlier, but I really want you to expand on it because this idea of just sort of understanding chemistry a little bit
more in microgravity could have an impact on bio manufacturing. Cancer treatments obviously could be impacted by this. Explain that.
BAILET: It's really fascinating, and I'm really passionate about that. And I would like more people to be aware of this. So, in space, you don't have
as much gravity, you have microgravity, almost nothing. So, you have some molecules which are quite big, which are called proteins, which form
compounds from many drugs, which are able to fold in a specific manner, which are not able to be done on Earth because of the gravity.
And because of the new shape of those proteins, it will have a different interaction with the human body. So that opens the door to a huge number of
new drugs for treating cancer in new ways, Alzheimer, Parkinson, and so that's really fascinating. There is a huge potential there.
And the big challenge is not so much to demonstrate that we can do that because it has already been done. We want to show that we can scale it up,
because the aim is not to produce drugs for 10 billionaires is to produce it for billions or millions of people here or now that actually need it
every day.
ASHER: That is fascinating and also obviously extremely important. But my final question to you is that you know normally in these sorts of
experiments they're done in the sort of controlled environments of the International Space Station, but this is different because you are actually
exposing the whiskey to the harsh conditions of space. Explain how that is done.
BAILET: So, you're totally right. Usually, we have to go through the really difficult and really complex environment of the space station, where the
time of astronaut is really precious and is really complex to actually get there. It might take years for you to get, you know, space actually inside
the space station to be able to do that.
What we are trying to do is to be able to increase the speed at which we go, to be able to test bunch of different drugs, and we are working with
some really fascinating company here in Scotland and the UK, like Mass Balance and Bio Orbits, which are at the forefront of this new drug
development.
[11:55:00]
We want them to be able to go to space as cheap as possible, to be able to return these life-saving drugs as fast as possible at a cost that would be
affordable for everybody.
ASHER: And finally, just in terms of the actual container, because you know oak barrels are too heavy to send to space, so you had to actually design
specific micro containers for this.
BAILET: Yes, so it's called microfluidics. So, imagine really tiny containers which are the size of the fingernail on your pinky, and within
that we'll be able to have our own culture of yeast to be able to produce ethanol from sugar, our own mini barrels where we're going to have whiskey
interacting with the roots.
And we're going to have dozens of those inside these tiny two-kilogram spacecrafts, the size of a milk carton, and we'll be able to get so much
data with such a small spacecraft. That's really a field of engineering which is fascinating, but a massive challenge for us engineers both in
Scotland and in Japan.
ASHER: All right. Gilles Bailet, thank you. Thank you. Fascinating story. Thank you so much for that. Right, stay with CNN. I'll have more "One
World" after the break. Don't go away.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
