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Quest Means Business
Passengers Arrive in Israel After "Attempted Terrorist" Attack; Reuters: FTC Opens Probe into A.I. Firms Amid Safety Concerns; U.K. Media: Suspect in Allege Air Base Plot Called Police. Trump Unveils $200 Billion of South Korean Investments in the U.S.; Trump Announces Last U.S. Forces are Leaving Iraq; Pilot Stabbed at Flydubai Flight Headed to Israel; Hundreds Detained as Student Protests in France Turn Violent; Inside South Africa's Film Industry. Aired 4-5p ET
Aired September 30, 2026 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:11]
LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: U.S. markets are ending the day lower despite softer than expected inflation data. Those are the markets
and these are the main events.
A hero's welcome for the man who Israeli authorities believe subdued a pilot trying to crash a flydubai plane bound for Tel Aviv.
U.S. regulators are reportedly launching an investigation into OpenAI and Anthropic over the potential dangers posed by their products.
And French officials say hundreds are being detained and dozens injured as protests over the country's education continue.
Flydubai Live from Atlanta. It is Wednesday, September 30th, I am Lynda Kincaid, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
First, our breaking news tonight, we are learning how passengers aboard a flydubai flight were able to stop what Israel is calling an attempted
terrorist attack.
The alleged assailant, one of their own pilots. Officials say this man you see here is a hero. He and other passengers managed to get into the cockpit
after one pilot stabbed the other and apparently tried to crash the plane.
Yaniv Hayun says he put the pilot in a chokehold and then grabbed the plane's controls.
And this is a video from inside that aircraft as the plane was shaking. Passengers began to realize something was terribly wrong. The jet plummeted
more than 5,000 meters in less than two minutes.
You can see what looks like blood on one passenger after they got into the cockpit and subdued the attacker.
We have more video from the scene, but a warning it is graphic.
This video of the pilot who was stabbed. The Israeli Prime Minister says he is from India and a true hero. Next to him is the other pilot who allegedly
attacked him and he is under guard.
The aircraft was diverted to Saudi Arabia where it made an emergency landing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We are here on the plane right now. We have taken control of the terrorists. We are about to land.
Anyone who hears me, we need help. We are landing in Tabuk, probably in the Saudi Arabia area. An unknown and unfamiliar area.
Everyone on the plane is healthy and whole except for the pilot. We need help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Richard Quest joins me now.
Good to have you with us, Richard.
So this was an absolute nightmare scenario. According to the Israeli Prime Minister, one pilot attacked the other and then attempted to crash this
plane. Thankfully, the plane landed safely. All the passengers accounted for.
But ultimately, Richard, what went right in those critical moments to prevent a catastrophe?
RICHARD QUEST, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST, "QUEST MEANS BUSINESS": Well, we have first of all, the scenario where one pilot attacks the other pilot and
then attempts to put the plane into some sort of dive. For the passengers on board, it would have been very frightening, disconcerting, really
terrifying, although the plane -- the plane would have been descending at two or three or four times faster and steeper than normal.
And then you have what we believe, according to -- from what the Israeli Prime Minister tells us, that the captain managed to open the cockpit, and
that's when the other passengers came in and were able to assist and to grab the assailant.
Now, that is truly significant because we know cockpit doors are hardened. There are various procedures to prevent people from getting in. There are
various lock overrides that prevent people from getting in. So, if the captain had not been able to open the cockpit door, then this might have
had a very different ending.
Luckily, next thing you come on to, there are two pilots who are, as they say, deadheading or they are on duty-off duty, they are positioning to run
another flight for flydubai. They happen to be on the plane. They are in a position to then take over the aircraft and bring it into land.
But significantly to note, there was damage to the aircraft. The rudder on the tail fin had been ripped off, which is an indication of the enormous
forces that the aircraft would have gone through as it was sharply descending.
Putting it bluntly, Lynda, this was the closest absolutely, in terms of nefarious activity you would ever want to get. It was a calamity only
minutes away.
[16:05:00]
KINKADE: It certainly was. Very, very thankful that every passenger survived. Of course, you know, I have to ask you, Richard, about the impact
for flydubai and other operators working in the Middle East in the aviation industry in general given the significance of this incident?
QUEST: Oh, we don't need to be shy about this in any shape or form. The reality is someone has to fly the plane. And that was the same in Egypt Air
all those years ago that crashed. It was the same with Lubbock in German Wings who crashed the aircraft and it seems the same here.
So somebody has to fly the plane. Now, how do you balance that with what happened in 9/11, where you want to make it almost impossible to get into
the cockpit if you're not there, but at the same time, guard against one of those men or women in the cockpit being the bad actor, if you will, and
that's going to be the -- that's always going to be the issue here.
I think what we've got and what has happened here for flydubai, the question is, what security vetting did they have of this pilot? Why was
this -- how much -- who knew? What did they know? When did they know it?
But flydubai, Emirates, Etihad -- these three Gulf carriers are now major, major aviation carriers to Israel. They are, I mean, after El Al, arguably
the long haul carriers of Israel. So they are very much part of the infrastructure, and that's why I am expecting to see extremely close
cooperation between Israel and the UAE in determining how this happened? How did this pilot get into the cockpit? How could it have been prevented?
And you move forward from there.
KINKADE: Richard Quest, great to have you with us from Johannesburg. We are going to stay on this story because, as Richard pointed out, this is
raising a lot of questions about how a pilot, the person responsible for flight safety could carry out such an attack.
Investigators will likely interview the crew, the off duty pilots and the passengers. They will also want to go over the assailant's medical history
and training.
Well, my next guest is the author of "Violence in the Skies: A History of Aircraft Hijacking and Bombing." Philip Baum is also the editor of Aviation
Security International, and he joins me now tonight from London.
Thanks for your time.
PHILIP BAUM, AUTHOR AND EDITOR OF AVIATION SECURITY INTERNATIONAL: Hi. Good evening.
KINKADE: So, Philip, if the reports are true that one pilot attacked the captain and then appeared to try to crash this plane, it certainly exposes
a fundamental vulnerability here. How do you protect a passenger jet from the very person trusted to fly it?
BAUM: Well, it is probably the greatest problem that the industry faces. Indeed, only a week ago today, I was in The Hague speaking at the European
Association for Aviation Psychology about this very topic, about the insider threat to civil aviation not only posed by pilots and crew members,
but by all those that work within the industry, and I was looking at the issue both from the perspective of mental health, which might be one of the
motivations here or one of the causes here, and from the perspective of the terrorist threat or the bad actor that is working within the system with a
certain ideology.
And it is the issue, the insider threat is what keeps airport and airline security managers awake at night, because we know that there have been a
litany of different criminal actions that have taken place airside and on board aircraft.
And we have, as Richard Quest mentioned earlier, had a number of suicidal pilots that, you know, even if we look at the post 9/11 period, we've
actually had probably more losses of life on board civilian aircraft because of aircraft assisted suicide, pilot suicide than we have because of
terrorism.
So, we really need to look at not only our recruiting methods, that's one thing, but how we monitor people after they've been employed, how we
encourage a reporting culture so that people actually report concerns about fellow employees and that's something we should all be doing anyway.
KINKADE: Yes, absolutely.
Certainly the Israeli officials have already spoken about, you know, toughening restrictions and improving the vetting mechanisms that you speak
of. But in terms of the security layers already in place to prevent, you know, a pilot attacking another and potentially bringing down a plane, just
speak to what already exists in that vetting process.
BAUM: Well, obviously you have the background checks that are carried out by any employer and they are particularly stringent within the aviation
community. Those background checks will vary from state to state and indeed from company to company.
[16:10:05]
There will be pre-employment screening, counterterrorism checks that will be carried out in some countries. Then there will be medical screening,
psychological assessments. And once somebody has been employed, those assessments should be ongoing. It doesn't stop the day that the person
gains employment.
And what I will be really interested to find out was, what did people say that were on the same training course as this individual? How did they feel
about that individual? What about the people he had flown with over the last week? Over the last couple of months? What were the indicators that
were there -- the behavioral indicators if there were any at all?
So, I would be really interested to see how the airline processes that, and of course, how much will be shared, we don't know.
KINKADE: Of course, we don't know yet what weapon was used in this violent attack. Can you speak to what screening takes place for pilots and crew
members, compared to what passengers go through?
BAUM: Well, often the screening is the same as for passengers, and I know a lot of aircrew get very frustrated that they are subjected to exactly the
same security controls as their fellow passengers. The reality is they have the controls of the aircraft at their hands.
The reality is there is a crash ax available on board the aircraft. So I personally have never been somebody that has been a great supporter of
searching every pilot and every flight attendant for a little knife or liquids, aerosols or gels.
I think we should be focusing much more on their behaviors and identifying concerns there, because people within the industry can target the industry
in other ways. They don't need to take a bomb or a weapon onto an aircraft.
KINKADE: Thankfully, there were other qualified pilots on board and this plane was able to land safely. I mean, how crucial was that? And is that --
is it common to have other pilots seated as passengers on an international flight?
BAUM: Well, it is reasonably common. I mean, this is a relatively short haul flight, so you wouldn't have guaranteed that there would have been
additional or deadheading crew members on board. So yes, we were incredibly lucky.
I hate to think what would have happened had they not been on that flight, but it is not the routine. There is no requirement for them to be there,
and I think that what we have seen is a combination of luck and pure heroism, pure heroism from the perspective of the captain of the aircraft,
who, despite being assaulted, it appears, managed to open that flight deck door because if that door had remained locked, then as with German Wings,
as with Mozambique Airlines, possibly the same as with China Eastern as the same with Ethiopian Airlines, with a hijack situation that it really could
have been disastrous.
So, there was pure heroism from the captain, pure heroism from the backup crew who were not planning on operating the flight and had to jump into the
seats and land that aircraft with -- and just spring into action and pure heroism from the perspective of the passengers who really did an incredible
job.
And, you know, after 9/11, we spoke about United Airlines Flight 93 and that "let's roll" mentality. What we saw today was that "let's roll"
mentality and fortunately today, it paid off for everybody.
KINKADE: Yes, thankfully it did.
Philip Baum, great to have you on the program. Thanks for your time.
BAUM: My pleasure.
KINKADE: Well, still to come, U.S. regulators may be getting involved in the debate about A.I. safety. The Federal Trade Commission is reportedly
launching a probe into some of the industry's top firms. We will discuss next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:16:32]
KINKADE: The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is reportedly launching a probe into top A.I. firms amid growing safety concerns. Reuters reports, the
investigation will look into companies including OpenAI and Anthropic. This is the first us probe into rogue A.I. agents, after a number of incidents
have stoked fears about their potential to advance beyond human control.
Our Hadas Gold is following the developments and joins us live from New York. Good to see you.
So A.I. executives wanted government regulation. Now they're going to be part of this government probe. How will this investigation unfold? And what
exactly is the agency looking for?
HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Well, this investigation, if it actually plays out, as has been reported, is part of actually the Trump
administration's approach to A.I. regulation, which is that the existing laws in place are sufficient for keeping A.I. in check and keeping it safe.
And so what the FTC is reportedly supposed to be doing is they plan to request information, possibly subpoena some of these companies, and are
going to be looking at whether they have violated the laws when it comes to things like consumer protection, deceptive practices.
We've actually seen this playbook already used in certain states like Florida, whose Attorney General sued OpenAI and specifically in that case,
they are focusing on sort of the product liability laws that already exist.
In Florida, they accuse OpenAI of creating a product that was deceptively designed, that was unsafe in the same way as if you were to sell a
defective battery that blows up in people's faces when you knew that it had the possibility of doing that, this is sort of the theory behind going --
using these laws that already exist, and that's something we've heard from the FTC chair, Andrew Ferguson, who has said that there shouldn't be a rush
to create new government regulations when we do have existing laws on the books that can help regulate these companies in the ways that we already
have.
And actually, that FTC chair was at the meeting that you see right there on screen at The White House yesterday between these top tech executives and
the upper echelons of government, he was around the table there as well, where they talked about having this self-policing, self-auditing
evaluations in place that, as President Trump called it, would be morally binding and not binding in any way by the government enforcement in anyway.
KINKADE: All right, Hadas Gold, just quickly, you know, how could this investigation force A.I. companies to slow down potentially, how quickly
they release these autonomous agents given that they could face the repercussions and be held liable for any impact?
GOLD: Well, listen, I think if the FTC does find that they or rules that they had deceptively designed these products or that they were pushing out
products that they knew were going to be unsafe, then that could cause a slowdown in terms of then maybe the A.I. companies would take some more
time in developing their products and really ensure that they are completely and 100 percent okay.
Now, there is a lot of sort of legal gray areas here when it comes to these A.I. products, because it is not as simple as a product that you sell on
the shelf and then somebody takes home because these this is software, this is constantly being updated and changed, and you know, one answer you get
from one A.I., two hours later, you might get a different answer from that same A.I. system.
So, it is more in line with, you know, social media networks than necessarily something that you buy off the shelf. But we are seeing, you
know, in real time, the government trying to figure out and catch up with this rapidly evolving technology.
[16:20:10]
KINKADE: Hadas Gold joining us from New York, good to have you with us. Thanks so much.
Well, British Prime Minister Andy Burnham says there are strong indications Iran was involved in the alleged plot targeting a U.K. air base over the
weekend.
Now, the base has been used by the U.S. in its operations against Iran. Meantime, British media are reporting it was one of the suspects who called
emergency services to alert authorities.
CNN' Nic Robertson has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So these new details that are emerging are intriguing, really getting to grips with how much the
police knew and when they knew it.
We've heard from the head of the British Counterterrorism updating their previous statements definitively now saying that they didn't find any
explosives in those three vehicles, saying they did find quantities of petrol, of gasoline in the vehicles, and also going on to sort of reiterate
why these five men have been released on these strict bail conditions, saying that this was a decision, looking at all the factors based on
experience, it does seem there that potentially pushing back against this criticism, apparent criticism coming from President Trump in the United
States, that he wouldn't have released the men the way that the British Police have.
So there is that, but there is also now being reported in the British media that the police had a phone call from one of the suspects at 12:45 A.M. on
the Sunday morning, indicating that these vehicles were on their way towards this base and this sort of fits in or perhaps helps explain what
we've been hearing from local residents that they were seeing incredibly high levels of security around the base.
One local resident saying at 5:00 P.M. when they were walking their dog, very close to the perimeter of the base, that they were met by armed
security forces who told them to go home and shut their doors and close the windows, and this is completely unusual, they said.
Another person at 8:00 P.M. that evening, a local resident was on their way home with their family, again, stopped by armed officers told to not go
down that road. So there is a -- it is creating an image that there was a high level of expectation around the base that something was going to
happen on the Saturday evening into the Sunday early hours.
And now the British media reporting that the police say they were aware -- made aware by a call to the police hotline, a 999 call made aware that
these vehicles were on the way in that direction towards the base. Of course, the farmer who called in the alert to the police at 1:40 A.M. that
morning when she found the three vehicles blocking the way to her farm, those three white vans blocking the way to her farm, and then after that,
saw what she thought were eight to 10 people running away from the area.
She raised the alarm, called the police, and she said, you know, within about ten minutes or so, the whole area, the village was swarming with
police, and that sort of big operation that was subsequently seen unfolded.
But these new details really sort of leaning into an impression created that the police had some advance knowledge, even if it was only at 12:45
A.M. in the morning and why potentially they didn't go in in greater force to try to prevent something happening, of course, you know, there have been
examples in the past in Northern Ireland, for example, with the IRA there that the police would receive calls to lure them in to a situation and then
be attacked. So obviously, you know, the potential there for the police to have reasons to be cautious.
But these details really now sort of getting under the skin of what is still essentially a developing story and with investigations still ongoing.
Nic Robertson, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, the British Prime Minister claims Iran may have been involved. Andy Burnham says he would not make such claims lightly and says
he is confident with how security forces are handling the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDY BURNHAM, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: There are strong indications that Iran played a part in what happened over the weekend at RAF Fairford, but
of course, it remains an ongoing, complex and serious police investigation.
And of course, we are working closely with our colleagues in the United States of America.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: John Miller joins me now from New York.
John, I want to get your reaction to that claim by the British Prime Minister that Iran may be involved in this incident in the U.K., especially
given that the suspects were released very quickly. What is your take on this?
[16:25:07]
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: Well, I think if you look at this in the stages it came in, prior to these arrests,
there was rumbling in the Intelligence Community in Great Britain that there was a plot afoot and that they could be struck at any time.
There are similar rumblings across Europe, so that' logical. Number two, the idea that a woman saw these vehicles lined up in her private road that
leads to her house, basically her driveway, and said, what are these guys doing here in the middle of the night -- was the instant tip.
But number three, the idea that one of the coconspirators had called it in to police ahead of time, as I am just telling you, this is what is going on
from inside the plot makes it far richer. Now, I've asked all of my contacts in the Intelligence Community on both sides of the pond about
that, and nobody has said to me anything like, I am waving you off that because it is not true.
So that's something else to be considered.
KINKADE: John, I want to also ask you about the flydubai incident, the Israeli Prime Minister saying that one pilot attacked another, tried to
bring down that passenger jet. The pilot is now under arrest. What is your take on how this could have possibly happened? And what do you make of the
vetting that happens with regards to pilots flying these passenger jets?
MILLER: Well, there are a lot of vetting that goes into it, but there is also a history here. If you look at the crash of, Egypt Air Flight 990 in
1999, it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean, killing 217 people on board. That was a co-pilot who was depressed and resentful and trying to commit
suicide, who had taken out a lot of insurance and didn't mind killing everybody with him.
If you look at the German flight that crashed on a flight from Barcelona into the Swiss Alps, that was another individual who was told by his own
physician, you are not in any emotional flight to command an aircraft. He did not share that with his company and kept flying and that was what
authorities regard as another suicide type.
I say all of this just because we can't say this is such an anomaly that it has never happened before. On the other hand, we have to consider the
regional dynamics. What is going on with Iran, what is going on with the region, and all of those countries, who is assisting the United States, who
is not? And the idea that a pilot would try to take over the plane, that it would drop 14,000 zero feet in 29 seconds, that the other pilot and pilots
that came from the passenger compartment would have to fight him off strongly suggests they're going to have to search for those answers.
Now, where do you look? Number one, you get the cockpit voice recorder, the CVR, that's going to tell you a lot of things about what was said in the
cockpit, what wasn't, what was screamed about in those critical moments. There could obviously be clues in there.
But there is also the individual who allegedly tried to down the plane. And you know, that the Israelis and the Emiratis and the Saudis are going
through all of this. What does social media say? Did he leave a claim of responsibility behind? Is there a martyrdom video?
All of this can be found fairly quickly, but these are the building blocks of an investigation because right now they're searching for motive, not
what happened. They have a good idea what happened. They need to know why.
KINKADE: Yes, exactly, certainly a lot of questions to be answered.
Good to have you with us, John Miller from New York. Thank you.
And we've just got information that flydubai has suspended service to and from Israel. Now, it follows that apparent attempted hijacking on one of
its flight. We will have that story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:32:00]
KINKADE: Hello. I'm Lynda Kinkade.
There's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when we'll take you to the streets of France, where nationwide protests over the country, the state of
the country's education system have now turned violent. And one of America's richest men, Ken Griffin, tells CNN why he's making a historic $3
billion donation to Carnegie Mellon University. But before that, the headlines this hour.
Israel says the pilot of a flight from Dubai to Tel Aviv prevented a catastrophe after he was stabbed by a co-pilot midair. Passengers arrived
safely in Israel after the plane was diverted to Saudi Arabia. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Flydubai pilot fought back after being
stabbed and opened the cockpit door, allowing passengers and crew to overtake the attacker.
The British prime minister says there are strong indications Iran was involved in an alleged plot against an air base in England. Andy Burnham
says his government is closely working with U.S. officials, and will say more in due course. Iran has denied involvement. Five men were arrested on
suspicion of terrorism and then released on bail.
Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin is donating $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon University, the largest ever single gift from one person to a U.S.
university. He's donating the money in part to help build a new campus in Miami. The university said the new campus will focus around societal
challenges.
Moments ago, the Trump administration unveiled some of South Korea's plans to invest some $200 billion in the U.S. More than $50 billion is set to go
towards a natural gas pipeline in Alaska. The pipeline would run 1300 kilometers from the north slope to an LNG export facility near Anchorage.
The developer has lined up buyers in East Asia.
South Korea's investment is also set to go towards eight nuclear power plants and a massive power facility in Texas.
Kristen Holmes is at the White House following all the developments.
Kristen, good to have you with us. So President Trump speaking right now, starting with the U.S. troop withdrawal from Iraq, finally complete after
12 years there. What is the White House saying about the security assessment and the risk in the region now that U.S. troops are out?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, what they're saying right now and what we just heard from President Trump is this idea
that after 23 years and all the billions of dollars spent, that there was no need to have these troops in Iraq anymore.
The thing to really pinpoint here is that part of when President Trump was messaging this idea of getting the troops out of Afghanistan and getting
the troops out of Iraq, it was because he was talking about ending this kind of never-ending war in the Middle East. Yet we, the United States, are
still in a war with Iran and a war that President Trump himself started.
[16:35:06]
So it's kind of a juxtaposition here in how he originally had pitched this idea of getting these troops out, saying that the wars were over. He wanted
the troops to come home. But yet there are a whole new slew of troops who are currently in Iran or around Iran, part of the military blockade, the
naval blockade, and the Strait of Hormuz in neighboring bases in various countries all because of that war. So I think that's one thing to note
here.
Now, on the other part of this, which is this investment, this was all part of a trade deal between South Korea and the United States. Overall, the
investment level is supposed to go up to $350 billion. Today's announcement is just the first $200 billion. It's also going to be a reduction in
tariffs in those South Korean products. So that will be something that they'll talk about later.
Interestingly, this is something that President Trump has wanted for so long. This idea of getting an investment into the Alaskan pipeline. They're
talking about energy dominance. They're talking about America First. This was something President Trump promised on the campaign trail. So now he is
using this deal with Korea to kind of get this done. Interestingly, he also mentioned this six-gigawatt power generation facility in Texas. Not a lot
of details on that.
But all of this to say that, you know, we are just weeks away from the midterms. President Trump is trying to deliver on some of the promises that
he himself made on the campaign trail. He's also trying to look at ways natural energy, power dominance that might lower prices in the United
States. The problem for President Trump is going to be that none of this is going to take place immediately, meaning that it's not going to have that
impact before those midterm elections.
KINKADE: Yes, which you point out, Kristen, just weeks away and he is looking for any wins, especially any economic wins, of course.
I also want to ask you about the government's push to change the use of the term artificial intelligence to super intelligence. Why is the White House
making that change?
HOLMES: Well, one of the things that I've heard from a number of President Trump's advisers is that they believe a lot of the critical focus on
artificial intelligence is the fact that these A.I. companies, they came in really quick. They didn't have the kind of lobbying firms and people in
place to try and sell A.I. the way it needed to be sold to both the U.S. government, but also to the American people.
So they're coming into this kind of late. So you have all these Trump advisers who are on the outside who are actually, many of them, advising
some of these companies. And it's a lot about marketing, trying to get away from this idea of artificial or fake and into this idea of super
intelligence the way they want to market this where it sounds honestly more sexy, something that sounds like something you'd want to be a part of
rather than artificial or fake.
It seems like a little too late in terms of rebranding here, just given the fact that the term A.I. is so prevalent. It's used all over the world to
talk about this specific form of intelligence. But anything they can do when you have President Trump talking about how he's not going to put
guardrails on this, how he's not going to slow it down, even with the warnings from the A.I. industry and those tech leaders, they have to try
and rebrand artificial intelligence as a whole to make it more palatable to the American public, who we have a new poll out that showed about 75
percent of Americans feel more angst, anxiety distrust of A.I. than they feel in terms of being hopeful or enthusiastic about A.I.
KINKADE: All right, Kristen Holmes, staying across quite a few developments for us outside the White House. Thanks so much.
HOLMES: Thank you.
KINKADE: Well, there is palpable relief in Israel tonight after the terrifying ordeal on that Flydubai plane. Passengers said they thought they
might not survive it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: What's happened with you? What's happened with your flight?
HAIM LAZAROVICH, PASSENGER: I tell you that the most terrifying moment in this flight was when the pilot lost his control and the plane was falling
down, something about six kilometers. And then I felt that I'm losing it. And I'm going to lose all my family. My wife was beside me. My little boy
was also beside me. And I -- how to tell it? I was separating from them. And that's all. It was very, very terrifying.
I sit in the front of the plane. There was -- yes, the -- there was a group of young people and they fought with the second pilot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, Flydubai flights to and from Israel will be temporarily suspended while an investigation into the mid-air incident continues.
That's according to a spokesperson for the airline.
[16:40:02]
Now, a short time ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met with one of the passengers who was able to get into the cockpit to help save the
plane from possible disaster. Yaniv Hayoun apologized for still being in his bloodstained clothing. Mr. Netanyahu hugged him and told him it was an
honor to meet him.
Sajjan Gohel Gol joins me now. He is the international security director for the Asia Pacific Foundation.
Good to have you with us.
SAJJAN M. GOHEL, INTERNATIONAL SECURITY DIRECTOR, ASIA-PACIFIC FOUNDATION: Good to talk to you, Lynda.
KINKADE: So the extraordinary allegation here is that the threat came from inside the cockpit, from someone trusted to fly this aircraft. If that
account is confirmed, what does that tell you about the security risk facing the aviation industry right now?
GOHEL: Well, Lynda, it's a remarkable incident, and we're very lucky that no one was killed because the pilot, the who got stabbed, Smit Machchhar,
he had the presence of mind, Indian pilot, to actively get out of the cockpit, alert the people in the plane who were then able to react. But
what we are seeing is the convergence of two previously separate aviation security problems.
You mentioned the insider threat inside the cockpit. And then we've also got the geopolitical risk outside. Of course, we still have to establish
the motive, but it can't be a coincidence as to where this plane was flying to. The whole dynamics in the Middle East. And you're looking at a
situation where you have terrorism concerns. There's concerns about missiles and drones, conflict zone, airspace. And this just demonstrates
the type of challenges now that the aviation industry is facing in and around the Middle East.
KINKADE: What we know so far is Israeli officials are saying this could be a potential terrorist attack, while Flydubai says the motive is still
unknown. What would investigators need to establish, to credibly call this terrorism?
GOHEL: Pilots already undergo background checks, medical, psychological screening. The mental health is deemed to be very important. They could be
having problems in their personal lives. And then also on top of that, sometimes gaps appear. So it's important to try and establish what this
pilot was doing in his private life prior to the attack.
Was he active on social media? Was he expressing views or hatred on a particular geopolitical issue? Because it doesn't look like something that
was just random. It seems that this was very much premeditated. And again, we're just very lucky that we're not talking about aviation disaster.
And keep in mind, Lynda, that we've just passed the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. This is soon after that 25th anniversary. And it's a reminder
that even 25 years later, as much as you make the cockpit secure, perhaps the insider threat dynamic is something that we're going to have to
reassess.
KINKADE: So how do intelligence agencies and investigators determine whether an incident like this was an individual acting alone, or whether
perhaps this is part of a wider extremist plot?
GOHEL: And this is one of the biggest problems now, Lynda, because we're moving away from the kind of top-down types of terrorism that we saw at one
time with the groups like ISIS or al Qaeda. You're seeing individuals that are getting radicalized partly through social media platforms, the
algorithms, the different forms of the dark Web, encrypted messaging apps, the forums, the gaming platforms, all of which brings them together with
other like-minded individuals.
There's a sharing of ideas. They become part of an ecosystem, and they express a lot of intolerance. Even things like misogyny that can act as a
contributor to radicalization. So this is a big challenge now for counterterrorism agencies because it's no longer about the large cells.
It's potentially about one individual that can actually get self- radicalized just by their activities online.
KINKADE: Sajjan Gohel, good to get your analysis. We appreciate your time today. Thank you.
GOHEL: Pleasure.
KINKADE: Well, still to come, students in France are protesting over conditions in their schools. We'll have a report on the violent
demonstrations and the police response.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:47:12]
KINKADE: Welcome back. Protests are growing across France. The students are demanding more resources and nationwide demonstrations over the
government's planned budget cuts.
Melissa Bell reports.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Fires and blockades at high schools as student protests spread across France,
growing more violent by the day. In this northern French city, the front door to the schools torched while in Paris, bikes and bins are used as
barricades as students protest over a lack of funding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We're also protesting the lack of staff and the poor state of the school.
BELL (voice-over): It's been a month since la rentree, as the start of the school year is known in France, but the anger goes back much further. It
was fueled and spread on social media with French students using platforms like TikTok to highlight the poor conditions in their schools.
At this school in Cervantes, Western France, they've been posting about structural issues since 2024. But they say they haven't seen any change.
This week, the situation escalated sharply when police officers on horseback stormed their school, one of several strongarmed efforts from
French police trying to bring the situation under control.
It's the sudden violence of these latest blockades that has taken many by surprise with more than 600 people taken in by police already, according to
France's Interior Ministry. In this high school in the Parisian suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, teachers tell us the violence has mainly come from the
police rather than the students.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And they are very violent. They came with shields, with also tear gas. They took out the students, even the mayor, who was in
the middle of the crowd.
BELL (voice-over): The blockades have also sparked a political storm, with the French president condemning the violent scenes during a visit to Spain.
EMMANUEL MACRON, FRENCH PRESIDENT (through translator): I think that the violence has above all, come from those who have pushed teachers and thrown
them to the ground, and those that pushed journalists and got mixed up with police who are just doing their job. High schools are there to be open and
to educate. They're not there to be blockaded or for bins to be burned.
BELL (voice-over): Tensions were further ignited by his prime minister, who accused the far-left political party, La France Insoumise, of being, quote,
"irresponsible and fanning the flames outside schools," an accusation rejected by the party's leader.
JEAN-LUC MELENCHON, LEADER, FRANCE UNBOWED (through translator): Frankly, this isn't the first time there's been a high school student movement in
France. But adults need to protect these young people.
BELL (voice-over): In Seine-Saint-Denis. The teachers we spoke to are standing by their students.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They are angry because I think that they feel abandoned by the state, by the government, and they are working and
studying in terrible conditions. And so they want to change in that.
BELL: The problem for authorities is that as these protests have spread and gotten more violent, and the political debate around them has intensified,
the students, like the ones behind me here at this school to the north of Paris in Saint-Denis insist that they will continue with their protests
until their demands are met.
[16:50:19]
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
KINKADE: Well, many big budget productions are turning to South Africa when they want to create hard-to-capture underwater scenes.
Our "Africa Inc." series Adefemi Akinsanya introduces us to a South African crew that has turned its passion for diving into a sought-after production
company.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ADEFEMI AKINSANYA, CNN HOST, AFRICA INC. (voice-over): Launched in 2000, Frog Squad has become one of the most sought after specialist crews in
global film. Formed by ex-Navy divers, they run marine operations and high- risk water stunts for blockbusters like "Tomb Raider," "The Terminal List," and HBO's "The White Lotus."
JIMMY FRASER, CO-FOUNDER, FROG SQUAD: So when the Frog Squad started, we only had one or two boats and a couple of sets of diving equipment each.
And as we grew, we started to service the camera department more. And then we found that the DOPs, even though they were sport divers and diving
qualified, they weren't like specialist divers. We're more like the specialist divers now that have started filming more. Whereas they were
camera people that used to get into the water, didn't particularly enjoy it because it's cold and unpleasant and long hours.
And it was our background, all of us being ex-Navy divers and commercial divers. We weren't -- we don't mind being in the water. So then we started
getting involved in the camera department. And then from there, we've invested more into the camera department and we've got tons of boats,
camera barges, like barges that open out specifically to take a techno crane on the water. So we've just grown and grown and grown, and we've got
a huge (INAUDIBLE).
AKINSANYA (voice-over): Beyond purpose-built water tanks, the Western Cape offers Hollywood an entire continent's worth of coastlines within driving
distance.
FRASER: So Cape Town is a good place to shoot water work because we can duck the weather and we can always find like a safe harbor. Location wise,
I think it's beautiful. You have this, you do get crystal clear water, and then we have such a diverse landscape and then up the west coast very flat
different, can look like the Greek isles.
AKINSANYA (voice-over): But even for specialized trades like this, a new frontier looms. Artificial intelligence.
FRASER: A.I. seems to have an impact. I'm not sure, but just because generally we have been quieter. So, and I'm not sure if that is the way
people film now or if A.I. is doing it, or if it's easier to do it in studio than to do it on location just because they can generate a marine
location and whether it might look false. But I think it'll get better. But yes, we hope it doesn't because obviously we want to keep working on
location and shooting on the ocean for real.
I think it is still really difficult to composite water elements in that. And so we might be lucky for a while longer.
(END OF VIDEOTAPE)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:55:52]
KINKADE: Hedge fund manager Ken Griffin has just announced a record gift towards higher education. He's offering $3 billion to Carnegie Mellon
University. It's the biggest gift ever donated by one person to a college or university.
Griffin spoke to CNN this morning from Carnegie Mellon's main campus in Pennsylvania. He said a university education is more important than ever in
the age of A.I.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KEN GRIFFIN, FOUNDER AND CEO, CITADEL: My son works at an A.I. startup in the valley. Fantastic role. And he took that job right out of high school.
He deferred going to Stanford for a year. After a few months, do you know what he had to say? I can't wait to go to Stanford because I'll learn the
skills that I'll need to have to be the person who can run a business like this, not just be an employee at this company.
Elon is brilliant, but the life skills that you need to really run a business, to really drive research and development, to really solve the big
challenges and big problems of our day, those are the skills taught at the great universities like Carnegie Mellon, like Stanford, like MIT, like
Harvard. And our country needs to get behind higher education.
The G.I. Bill unlocked decades of prosperity for America. Millions of people came back from the war, went to our universities and learned the
life skills that they needed to truly build the greatest country in the world. We need to re-embrace the value and importance of higher education,
and I am backing this team because I believe they have the passion, the mindset, and the urgency to take on the big problems and big challenges and
big opportunities that we face as a country.
Profitable, successful firms pay all their employees more. From the janitor to the person cooking in the kitchen to the secretaries, everybody in
successful companies, on average, are paid well above those who work for companies that are financially struggling. We need to create more Apples in
America, more Nvidias, more Googles. These are the companies where high- paying jobs are created across the entire campus of these companies. Again, from the kitchen to the office, the CEO.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KINKADE: Well, that is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Great to have your company. Stay with us. "THE LEAD WITH JAKE TAPPER" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
