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The Situation Room

Mortgage Rates Rise; OpenAI Employee Firings Under Scrutiny; USS Abraham Lincoln Returns Home; Pete Hegseth Announces Public Execution; ICE Shoots Man in New York City. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired October 09, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Now, like I said, Mullin going after the mayor and other city administrators, calling their sanctuary city policies -- calling out their sanctuary city policies, also some of the things the mayor was saying, calling it shameful.

The mayor has not yet responded to what Mullin was saying earlier today, but I do want you to hear from the mayor and what he was saying last night. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY: For the past two hours, I have been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot.

Those negotiations were unsuccessful. Just moments ago, ICE put the man in an unmarked vehicle and whisked him away. Let me say this plainly. What happened today was an outrage.

This city wants ICE out. We want ICE out of our city, ICE out of our schools, ICE out of our hospitals, ICE out of our streets, ICE away from our kids. We want that because we want to keep the city safe. We do not need them to do so. All they do is terrorize the city.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GINGRAS: Now, Mullin saying, in those negotiations with the mayor, they offered to let Belgal go into the custody of the NYPD, but that would not be agreed to by Mamdani.

So it'll be interesting to hear what he has to say on that. Another thing authorities -- or administrators, rather, are calling for is the release of the body camera footage.

Wolf, I could tell you we have just seen some NYPD officers go into shops around here to try to get their own surveillance footage. Of course, though, this is now a federal investigation or continues to be a federal investigation, Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: All right, Brynn Gingras, on the scene for us reporting, thank you very much -- Pamela. PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: All right, Wolf, coming up here in THE

SITUATION ROOM: now walking with assistance. Inmate Christa Pike's attorney says she is making improvements after a failed execution.

We're going to have more details on this just ahead.

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[10:36:20]

BROWN: Happening now: Inmate Christa Pike is now walking with assistance after surviving a failed execution. Her lawyer says that she's also regaining movement in her arms, but is having trouble with concentration, as well as memory. Pike and her boyfriend brutally murdered 19-year-old Colleen Slemmer in 1995.

And two men were arrested after breaking into an air base in the United Kingdom that was also used by the United States. British counterterrorism police are now investigating after two Latvian men were found inside the base. This comes just weeks after a suspected plot targeting another British air base used by the U.S.

And this year's Nobel Peace Prize goes to human rights pioneer Navi Pillay. The South African lawyer fought against apartheid and recently led the United Nations' commission that concluded Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza. Israel rejects those claims and called her when -- quote -- "grotesque."

Here's how she reacted to winning the prize.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NAVI PILLAY, NOBEL PEACE PRIZE WINNER: I don't know about this. So my question is, is it true?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not April Fools'.

PILLAY: Yes. No, they called me. Christoph called me out now to tell me. And I said, it must be a joke.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: She also said she was deeply honored and grateful to receive the award -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Also new this morning. The Pentagon says it will livestream the military's first firing squad execution in decades. The public will be allowed to watch the 2009 Fort Hood mass shooting killer being put to death.

The defense Secretary, Pete Hegseth, vowed this week to carry out Nidal Hasan's execution at the same base in Texas where he murdered 13 people. The Defense Department set Nidal's execution to take place December 3, December 3 at Fort Hood.

Let's go live to CNN senior national security reporter Haley Britzky, who's here with me in THE SITUATION ROOM.

Haley, what more have you learned about this?

HALEY BRITZKY, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Wolf.

So this was just announced earlier this week that this would be a death by firing squad, as requested by Secretary Hegseth. And Hegseth said in an interview that was released just yesterday that it would be public, saying that he wanted people to be able to watch this, to know the consequences of what Nidal Hasan had done in 2009.

A Pentagon official also confirming it will be livestreamed. So there's a lot we don't know. We don't know how it will be livestreamed or where. There are Army regulations, Wolf, that specify who can witness an execution. And it specifies in the regulations that minors cannot, anyone under 18.

Obviously, that's hard to police when it is livestreamed in that fashion. So how the Pentagon will deal with that is still a question. It's raising a lot of concerns. It's gotten bipartisan pushback. Joe Kent, the former director of the National Counterterrorism Center under President Trump, said that it was beneath the dignity and decency of our nation and said it gives terrorist free propaganda that they will use to radicalize and recruit more terrorists.

And then Senator Thom Tillis, who's obviously become an outspoken critic of Secretary Hegseth, called it beyond disgusting and likened it to what happens in Iran and under the Taliban, saying it should not be happening in America.

So there are a lot of concerns here, a lot of questions. Just a few moments ago, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops also condemned this move, calling it a barbaric promotion of death. So, we haven't heard more details of how this will be carried out, but certainly it's something that the secretary is committed to.

[10:40:00]

BLITZER: And he was affiliated, I take it, with some terrorist organizations. And, as he was shooting, killing all these people at Fort Hood, he was screaming out various pro-terrorist lines, right?

BRITZKY: Yes, that's right.

I mean, he was convicted of 13 counts of murder, 32 counts of attempted murder, said he was targeting soldiers who would soon be deploying to Afghanistan engaging in what he called an illegal war. And so there's not a lot of concern necessarily about the death sentence itself, but the fact of how it will be carried out and the very public nature of it is what's causing concern.

BLITZER: And the concern is that various terrorist groups will use the video that will be streamed for propaganda purposes to go ahead and kill more Americans.

BRITZKY: That's right.

BLITZER: All right, Haley, thank you very, very much.

Haley Britzky reporting -- Pamela.

BROWN: All right, Wolf, happening now: back home with their families here in San Diego. Service members on the USS Lincoln officially docked near Coronado, California, to cap the second longest navy aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War, a harrowing 322-day deployment for roughly 5,000 sailors.

And it was an emotional reunion for these families, Wolf. I saw it firsthand, including what the captain says was 122 new dads meeting their babies for the first time. I caught up with one sailor as he prepared to hold his 10-month-old daughter who he had only seen in pictures.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Finally home.

BROWN (voice-over): Mixed in the emotion on this Navy pier are 122 sailors who have never met their children.

JOEY MONTEMARANO, U.S. NAVY: The only person my daughter knows is my wife right now.

BROWN: Joey Montemarano's daughter, Madeline Grace (ph), was born while he was away at sea. These images are all he knows of his 10- month-old child.

(on camera): What are you going to do, you think, when you see them?

MONTEMARANO: Probably cry a little bit, probably try to hold back the tears while I kiss my wife, hug my wife, and meet this baby that I have never met before that I can't wait to -- can't wait to meet and interact with.

BROWN (voice-over): We met Joey and many more of the roughly 5,000 sailors at sea on the USS Lincoln as they headed into port. Most admit their returning home changed.

AJANAE KELLY, SAILOR, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: This is the hardest one I have to -- had to deal with. So I feel like, if I could do this one, I could do anything.

BROWN: It's the end of a harrowing 322-day deployment that faced scrutiny over the living conditions on board and low morale that included attempted suicides.

LUIS MORAN, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: The man overboard, that was a crazy day.

BROWN: Many confirmed the uncertainty around the extended deployment brought mental challenges.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just thinking about my family and things going on back home that you can't control.

MORAN: I would go to prayer service with the chaplains, and that would help out a lot.

BROWN: Others we met confirmed food supplies ran low at times.

BARRY USERY, SAILOR, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: I was in cargo for a while, the people that bring the food up. And I was in there during the tough times. Not a lot of food was being brung up. But, as we progressed, it got better.

CAPT. DAN KEELER, COMMANDING OFFICER, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: It was stressed, but we never shut anything down.

BROWN: Captain Dan Keeler, commanding officer of the Lincoln, tells CNN supplies were mainly affected when support ships under threat from Iran were forced to alter their movement in the region.

KEELER: We served 14,000 to 16,000 meals a day, four times a day, so four meals a day. We never missed a meal, not for 10.5 months. There were some sacrifices made. Maybe there was only one protein option, instead of two, but there was always food.

BROWN (on camera): Some of the family members had a town hall with Navy leadership because they were really concerned about their loved ones on this ship. And they were getting pictures of toilets overflowing and mold. What do you say to that?

KEELER: What I will say to all the families is, they were all so amazing. You can't do what we just did without a lot of a support.

I think a lot of the reporting focused on some anecdotal things, because we looked into all this stuff, and there really were no systemic issues. It's a big ship. It's a floating city. We have -- a toilet gets clogged, it eventually gets fixed.

BROWN (voice-over): Keeler acknowledges there were five suicide attempts on Lincoln itself and three others on its support ships. He says anyone with mental health problems had access to treatment on this ship. The most severe cases were sent home.

KEELER: We had zero suicides. We had zero casualties on the ship. Every single sailor that left is coming home.

BROWN: And they're coming home awarded with a Presidential Unit Citation, the military's highest honor for a unit in battle.

ARIANA WESTFALL, AVIATION ORDNANCEMAN, USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN: It's going to be pretty cool to be able to wear that and tell everybody why I'm wearing it and what I did to wear it.

BROWN: On board, you could feel the anticipation as we pulled into port. Moments later, among this flood of emotion, Joey Montemarano, a father who served on a ship at war...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who's that? Is this your daddy?

BROWN: ... now with his daughter together in peace.

MONTEMARANO: She's perfect.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BROWN: It just gives you chills watching that reunion, Wolf. It was just extraordinary to watch that and to see this father meet his little baby girl for the first time and just be there with all that emotion, all that celebration.

[10:45:12]

It was -- it was just so special to witness that and to bring that to our viewers as well.

BLITZER: It really was. And I'm so, so happy that you were there. You were there earlier in the year aboard the U.S. aircraft carrier and that battle group in the Persian Gulf, and now you're -- you're back out there in California watching this reunion, the homecoming. It is so, so great.

Excellent work, as usual. Thank you very much, Pamela.

BROWN: Thank you.

And I also just want to note, it was also coming in -- and I think we might have some video of this. When we were coming in on the aircraft carrier, there was so much celebration. And you can see these boats here. These are people who were using their personal boats, Wolf, and they were playing songs, "God Bless America."

They had American flags on. They were basically escorting the aircraft carrier into the dock, and it was just so special to watch that and to see these sailors manning the rails here, witnessing that, feeling that welcoming from the crowd.

After such a demanding, historically demanding deployment, they really got the welcome that they deserved. It was a truly remarkable day for thousands of the service men and women who spent all those months at sea dealing with those extensions, wondering if they would even return this year.

Finally getting to do that was just -- it was just a great thing to be able to witness.

BLITZER: And, once again, excellent, excellent reporting from you over the course of their journey. Thanks very much for bringing us all these really powerful, very emotional stories.

And also, by the way, a very special thanks to the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln for their dedication and service. BROWN: Absolutely. And we were very appreciative to be able to go on

board that ship for a second time to do that coverage. So we are very appreciative of that.

We have some other news we're covering today, Wolf.

Coming up: With mortgage prices rising, is the American dream of owning a home still alive? We will "Make It Make Sense" ahead.

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[10:51:25]

BROWN: Well, new this morning: Safety researchers at OpenAI say their terminations are simply not adding up.

Three employees are speaking out after they say they were fired from the company under suspicious circumstances and are openly questioning their dismissals.

So let's go live now to CNN AI correspondent Hadas Gold for more.

What can you tell us about this, Hadas?

HADAS GOLD, CNN A.I. CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so all three of these employees worked on safety and alignment at OpenAI, and they say that they were all given different reasons for their firings.

But they believe that it was because that they were routinely raising safety concerns and were working closely with outside third-party safety groups like METR that were officially brought in by OpenAI to help investigate safety incidents, especially that incident where a swarm of OpenAI agents escaped their test environment and hacked into another AI company, Hugging Face.

Now, OpenAI disputes this. They say it's not because of safe -- of them raising safety concerns, but because of how the three handled sensitive internal information.

But this matters because it's not just about an employment dispute, but there is a sort of fear that's pervading in the industry that there might be an effort by these companies to try and dampen some of these safety concerns after we have seen this sort of wave of AI safety panic, and employees are concerned that they won't be able to speak out as much.

Now, the three that were fired have been posting extensively on social media, and one of them said that they were fired because they were told that they were talking essentially too much to third-party safety auditors. They said that it was implied that they were leaking some sort of company intellectual property. And they say that was not the case.

In fact, one of them was the official point of contact for one of these third-party groups within OpenAI. Now, OpenAI has said these firings have nothing to do with them raising safety concerns. They say that they actually agree with a lot of the concerns that are brought up around safety and recommendations that these three have had for the company.

They say in a statement: "Our investigation confirmed that these individuals mishandled sensitive information outside established company procedures, violating our policies and breaking the trust essential to our work."

The three of them penned a letter that they posted openly, and they also sent it to OpenAI leadership about their firings, including a list of recommendations for how to make sure that the work with these third-party groups continue.

OpenAI -- a research leader sent a memo to the entire company that was provided to me by OpenAI, where they say they actually agree with a lot of those recommendations, and OpenAI also says that they are continuing to work with these third party groups.

But there is a fear, these three say now, that there is a culture within the companies that now the employees will not speak up. This is what one of them posted on social media.

He wrote: "My former colleagues are telling me they are confused about what to believe. They also are afraid to speak and worry their personal phones will be searched for messages to us and third parties. I worry the pervading fear to speak up and engage with third parties will mean OpenAI will cut corners on safety behind closed doors."

I don't think the story is open, Pamela and Wolf. I -- or I don't think the story is closed yet. I think that we're still going to hear more from both these employees and from the company involved -- Pamela.

BROWN: Yes, I would not be surprised.

All right, Hadas Gold, thank you -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Also happening now: For homebuyers, the American dream is starting to look less like a haven and more like a high-interest tax.

New data from the Freddie Mac organization shows the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate climbed to 7.4 percent this week. It's the seventh straight week of rising rates, reaching the highest level in three years.

And with rising home prices and insurance costs, buying a house may be less affordable today than it was three years ago.

[10:55:05]

Let's go live right now to CNN business senior reporter David Goldman to "Make It Make Sense."

So, David, what kind of trickling effect will these increases have on the overall economy, first of all? DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: Yes, I mean, this is the problem, because everyone is just locked into their homes if they own a home and locked out of buying a home if they don't own a home.

You raised a really good point that 7.4 percent is only part of the story, right? Yes, it's the highest since November of 2023. But prices are higher than they are when -- than they were then. And tax and insurance, this doesn't account for all of that.

So let's put this into real dollars and try to make sense of this. So 2020, remember 2020? Not so fondly, probably, but for the mortgage market, it was actually a pretty good time to buy a home; $400 a month was the cost for every $100,000 that you were borrowing for a home.

Let's take a look at today, and, yikes, $690 for every $100,000. So what is going on here? Well, I am going to draw a very accurate chart here. This is to scale. And this is COVID. That happened when we had all of the interest rates coming all the way down to record lows.

But then remember inflation? That happened here and sent those rates back up. That's when, in 2023, we had those historically high mortgage rates. Inflation problem gets solved, kind of, but then we have the Iran war, and we are back up again.

That is why we have been on this roller coaster. So what does it mean for you and your home? Well, let's take an average -- or median $300,000 home. In 2020, you were paying $1,100 a month. That's $1,860 today. In February, that would have been $1,640, and that gives you a sense of what's going on in the market, Wolf.

BLITZER: Gives us a good sense.

All right, David Goldman, thank you very, very much.

And we will be right back with more news.

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