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The Situation Room
Trump Hits Campaign Trail; Video of Luigi Mangione Arrest Released; Job Market Slowing?. Aired 10:30a-11a ET
Aired October 02, 2026 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Breaking news: The job market here in the United States appears to be cooling off, with new data showing only 29,000 positions added in September. And that's short of the 90,000 that economists expected and far below the 133,000 job jobs added in August.
And with barely a month before the midterm elections, the unemployment rate inched up to 4.2 percent.
CNN business senior reporter David Goldman is joining us right now.
So, what do these numbers, David, tell us about who's hiring and who's not?
DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, well, this is an OK number. We shouldn't make too much out of it; 44,000 is around where we have been on average. So it's a little bit less than that, not too much.
Now, we did lose 60,000 jobs that we thought we had created over the last two months. Turns out we didn't, and so that is pretty disappointing, Wolf. But 4.2 percent unemployment, that could actually mean something positive for the economy. It means people are entering the labor force.
And there is some evidence that we have that there is some growth, and particularly in sectors that are affected by AI, right? All those data centers mean more construction jobs, more trades, more manufacturing. And this is something that we have seen that's fairly positive.
Now, it does have some downsides, AI, too. It's been really rocking the financial world and particularly insurance. We have lost 90,000 insurance jobs over the course of the last year because of automation, because of AI.
This is something I really want to highlight. Seven percent is the new unemployment rate for black Americans. That jump that we saw from 6 percent to 7 percent was the highest we saw since COVID. If you erase COVID, and we all wish we could, it would have been the highest since 2012.
So this is something that could potentially be a canary in the coal mine. And another thing to focus on is what is going on with our paychecks, 3 percent growth. That is far less than 3.4 percent, Wolf. Inflation is eating our paychecks.
BLITZER: All right, David Goldman reporting for us, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, Wolf, coming up: We're hearing from the hero Flydubai captain for the first time, as new video shows the moments passengers took action to save him and everyone on that flight.
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SMIT MACHCHHAR, FLYDUBAI PILOT (through translator): I was doing this for my life, but, at the same time, I knew that I cannot let everybody else die.
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(CHEERING)
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BLITZER: Happening now, we're learning more and more about the terrifying moments aboard that Flydubai flight and the courage that brought the plane in for a safe emergency landing.
Here is the celebrated landing just minutes after passengers stormed the cockpit to rescue the flight and the captain, who allegedly was attacked by his co-pilot.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go out. Go out. Take him out.
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daniel, come here for a minute.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He is a pilot. Let him in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: Passengers pull the co-pilot out of the cockpit and restrain him and give medical aid to the severely wounded captain. That rescue was only possible because he somehow managed to unlock the cockpit door. That captain from India described the ordeal to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Listen.
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MACHCHHAR (through translator): Sir, I have been flying planes for the last 17 years. And I have been a captain for the last 11 years. And even if I shut my eyes, I know what is happening in the plane.
And when I was on the ground, I realized that the aircraft was falling down. And I knew, in that moment, one last push, Smit. Just do it. The door is right there. And even at that time, he was beating me up. And then I just opened it, sir, and then everybody came.
And everybody else also played an equal role in this. I was telling, sir, that I was doing this for my life, but, at the same time, I knew that I cannot let everybody else die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson is over at Ben-Gurion Airport just outside Tel Aviv in Israel.
Nic, it's just remarkable how the courage of that captain and the passengers who actually got involved saved so many people.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes.
Could any of us ever imagine being in that situation where you are aware of what's happening around you, but you're so weak because you have been attacked, you just don't -- not even sure if you can move, yet summoning, summoning up the courage, the will, the struggle to get that door open, knowing, as well, as he says there, it's not just about his life that's on the line, but everyone on board the plane?
He has enough knowledge of what's happening, feels the plane in that dive, has to find a way to help. And, of course, him unlocking the door does break -- break the ability of what we have heard from the prime minister here, Benjamin Netanyahu, saying that this co-pilot, the other pilot on board actually wanted to crash the plane with everyone on board of it.
He said he was jihadist-trained. That's what Prime Minister Netanyahu says, that he wanted a sort of a 9/11-type event. Not clear if Prime Minister Netanyahu means that the other pilot, the attacker, had a target in mind to fly into in Israel, but very clear that he wanted to crash that plane and bring everyone down.
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And here you have this pilot. Now we actually get to hear his words just how weak he was. And that we know as well from the dentist who treated him when he was pulled out of that melee, pulled out of the cockpit. He had bled out so much, being attacked by an axe, apparently, that he was -- his blood pressure was dropping. He was close to dying. So this is why people are calling him a hero.
He said that this was his dream job. I think people had described the pilot as a jovial man, a family man, a father with two young children prior to this. Now they're going to describe him as a hero. And we have heard that from officials of all countries, Wolf.
BLITZER: A true hero, indeed. All right, Nic Robertson over at Ben- Gurion Airport.
Quick question, Nic. The Israelis who were on that flight to Tel Aviv, where you are right now, to Ben-Gurion Airport, they land -- they had that emergency landing in Saudi Arabia. Have they reached Israel yet?
ROBERTSON: Yes, they have reached -- most people have sort of been able to get home, reunite with their families, recount what happened, relive, unfortunately, the trauma, but also reconnect with their loved ones and have the whole families get some relief from that terrible, terrible trauma, Wolf.
BLITZER: All right, Nic Robertson reporting, thank you very, very much -- Pamela.
BROWN: All right, Wolf, coming up: a CNN exclusive, the moments after a notorious fugitive was found, newly unsealed bodycam video of Luigi Mangione's arrest.
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BROWN: Now to a CNN exclusive.
CNN has newly unsealed body camera footage of Luigi Mangione's arrest inside a Pennsylvania McDonald's. And it came just days after he shot and killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York City. The video also shows the moment an officer found a gun linked to the crime scene. Mangione pleaded guilty in August of federal charges and the killing.
CNN correspondent Kara Scannell takes us through the footage.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just do me a favor. Go ahead and stand up. I want to pat you down. Stand up.
LUIGI MANGIONE, DEFENDANT: This is a jar of peanut butter, by the way.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You can save that, but I'm just letting you know.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Just put your hands on the wall. I'm going to pat you down, make sure...
(CROSSTALK)
MANGIONE: Sure.
KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Newly unsealed police bodycam footage first seen on CNN shows the moments Altoona, Pennsylvania, police officers handcuffed Luigi Mangione and took him into custody, ending a five-day manhunt.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Keep your hands on the wall, OK? Left hand first. Bring your right hand back.
SCANNELL: A New York state judge unsealed the footage at the request of CNN after Mangione pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges and admitted to fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
The videos were played during a suppression hearing last December, but have not been publicly released until now. Officers responded to a 911 call on December 9, 2024, that the suspected New York City CEO shooter may be in a McDonald's restaurant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How you doing? Can you pull your mask down real quick for me?
MANGIONE: Yeah, sure.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I appreciate it. Thank you. OK.
SCANNELL: The officers immediately thought it was him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's 100 percent him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told you, man.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That shooter checked into a hostel with a fake I.D.
SCANNELL: Officers confront Mangione about a fake driver's license bearing the name Mark Rosario.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that your name, Mark Rosio, Rosaro?
MANGIONE: No, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Then what's your real name?
MANGIONE: Luigi.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Luigi? (INAUDIBLE) here? I will write it down. Give me the date of birth then too.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you spell your full name?
MANGIONE: L-U-I-G-I.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: L-U-I-G-I.
MANGIONE: Mangione, M-A-N-G-I-O-N-E.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you lying about your name?
MANGIONE: Clearly, I shouldn't have.
SCANNELL: A search reveals a gun magazine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, lookie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him, dude. It's (EXPLETIVE DELETED) him, 100 percent.
SCANNELL: About 10 minutes later, Mangione is taken to the police station. Mangione is asked to remove layers of clothing so he can be searched more thoroughly, while another officer unzips his backpack and finds a gun that authorities later link to the crime scene.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a (INAUDIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a weapon. So, you want me to clear it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let's just clear it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Clear it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Good. There's another magazine that was hidden in his underwear, in this underwear. (EXPLETIVE DELETED). Silencer.
SCANNELL: She also finds Mangione's handwritten notes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It looks like a journal.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bag it?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would.
SCANNELL: While a different officer ticks off the evidence, including a checklist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He has a handgun...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pretty cool.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... suppressor. His cell phone is in a Faraday bag. He has a checklist for today. Tomorrow, he's supposed to do an intel check-in and get a survival kit.
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SCANNELL: These videos were critical to the defense's argument to try to get some of this key evidence, including the gun and the diary, thrown out.
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The New York state judge, though, had ruled to allow that in. Mangione then ultimately pleaded guilty to federal stalking charges. The question of what happens with the state case is still up for debate. A judge is expected to make a decision on that later this year -- back to you guys.
BROWN: All right, Kara Scannell, thank you so much -- Wolf.
BLITZER: And here's what's coming up all new right at the top of the hour.
The attorney for the Tennessee inmate who survived two lethal injections is now calling on the governor to commute her death sentence. The latest on Christa Pike's condition, that's all new in the next hour.
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BLITZER: Happening now: A new report showing slower-than-expected job growth in September, it's a critical look at the U.S. economy just 32 days before the midterm elections, and it's the last jobs report before the November 3 Election Day.
[10:55:02]
This news comes as the president is heading to Alabama later today after stops in Texas and Oklahoma, where he made this plea to voters. Listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: When I'm not on the ballot, people don't go and vote so much. Pretend I'm running, please. Just pretend, because I am on the ballot. And if we don't win, they will end up impeaching me.
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BLITZER: A quick note to our viewers: You can follow real-time early voting numbers at the bottom of your screen, along with business data, as we get closer and closer to Election Day.
Joining us now here in THE SITUATION ROOM is CNN Washington bureau chief and CNN political director David Chalian.
David, how do Republicans craft their message, given these latest jobs numbers?
DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Well, it depends on which Republicans, because the president has sort of been, when he talks about the economy, just talks it up in this rosy picture in a way that voters are not actually experiencing it.
By the way, we saw that kind of thing happen in the Biden administration too, where you're talking about certain statistics, but it's not -- you're not tapping into the experience that people are feeling every day. But Republican candidates on the ballot are trying to point to some of
the things they have done legislatively in this session, in this term to address some of those needs, like passing in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the no tax on tips, no tax on overtime.
But it just gets overwhelmed a lot by the president being a little dissonant and, instead of touting accomplishments, more just saying the economy is great, it's the best ever, and you should be so happy.
BLITZER: What do you make of President Trump's message in Oklahoma, Oklahoma last night, vote, so I won't be impeached?
CHALIAN: Yes, this is something he's been talking about for the better part of this midterm year, Wolf.
He is using that as a way to motivate and energize Republican voters, that they would want to come out of the woodwork to prevent him from experiencing a third impeachment as president. And he sees that as a tool to try to do that, because one of the things we see consistently in the polls is that the energy and enthusiasm is really on the Democratic side.
They are the most motivated voters out there. They can't wait to get to the polls and cast their ballot, Republicans a little less so. And I think, when you hear Donald Trump say something like, you got to make sure I don't get impeached again, that is aimed at trying to gin up some enthusiasm on the Republican side.
BLITZER: As you know, President Trump recently commented on how the midterm elections affect the party in power. Listen to this.
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TRUMP: For whatever reason -- I don't understand it. Nobody does. Nobody's been able to explain it. Whoever wins the presidency, Republican or Democrat, automatically does poorly in the midterms. I don't know why. You know that. But we shouldn't.
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BLITZER: So what is the data telling us right now, David, about how -- why this administration is facing an uphill climb? And is it strictly tied to President Trump's low approval numbers? And they're pretty low.
CHALIAN: Yes, they are.
We should say Donald Trump is right about what history shows us. I mean, if you look, in modern American political history, only two midterm elections, 1998 and 2002, did the president, the incumbent party that had the White House actually gain seats, right? Usually, there is a backlash against the incumbent president's party in these midterms.
To your point, I don't think it's strictly about Donald Trump's low approval ratings, though I think that is an enormous factor in this. I think it is also about the economic pessimism that Americans are
feeling right now and the sense -- what you hear from voters over and over again in focus groups, talking to sources who run these campaigns, there are -- there's just a wide swathe of voters out there who believe the folks in charge in Washington are not getting it.
They seem to be able to take care of themselves or an elite class, but they're not understanding the economic existence that they are dealing with on the ground in their daily lives. And that disconnect, I mean, that's not just a partisan thing, Wolf. That can have an impact against incumbents in both parties, this whole notion of just like, you guys in charge -- and the Republicans are in charge, so will suffer more on their side -- don't get what I'm going through in my life.
BLITZER: They're in charge of the House, the Senate, and the White House.
CHALIAN: Exactly.
BLITZER: At least for now.
CHALIAN: Yes.
BLITZER: David Chalian, thank you...
CHALIAN: Sure.
BLITZER: ... very, very much -- Pamela.
Actually, Pam -- before I go to, Pamela, I want to take a moment to congratulate Pamela Brown, my co-anchor, my very good friend, on a very exciting streaming series that's about to debut on CNN.com.
And it's called "BODY LANGUAGE BY CNN" and spotlights very important women's health issues and experiences. Watch this preview.
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BROWN: My body was telling me something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something is not right.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I couldn't get out of bed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My pain level is on a 10.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would go to a doctor and I would hear...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're just anxious.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's in your head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're just a hypochondriac.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And who would lie about that? BROWN: It was hard to be taken seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody had real answers for me.
BROWN: And I was afraid to talk to anyone about it. I didn't even know how to talk to my husband about it. I didn't know how to talk to my friends about it. I felt embarrassed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was ashamed to need help.
BROWN: And I can't imagine how many other women are out there feeling the exact same way that I did. And that's why I want to do this.
I'm Pamela Brown, and this is "BODY LANGUAGE BY CNN."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BLITZER: So, Pamela, this is obviously very, very personal for you.
BROWN: Yes.
BLITZER: I'm very proud of you. This is so important, not only to women, but to men as well.
