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The Situation Room

AI's Impact on Jobs?; Interview With Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL); Trump Weighs Attack on Houthis. Aired 10:30a-11a ET

Aired October 12, 2026 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:01]

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: So, U.S. support, what does that look like?

Well, we know the United States is already providing over 100 intelligence officers who are trying to help the Saudis provide detailed information about what the Houthis have on the ground, where their troop concentrations are, most importantly, where are their rocket launchers, where are their missile launchers, where else -- what sort of storage facilities do they have for some of those systems, and how can they be defeated?

So, ramping up the sort of level and frequency of intelligence assessment coming from the United States will be beneficial. Could the United States Air Force join the Saudis in those strikes? The Saudis have up-tempoed their strikes to try to secure more territory on the ground inside of Yemen.

But as we have witnessed earlier this year, with the United States and Israel both striking hard at Iran for over a month, it is difficult in this -- in these environments, mountainous environments, where the forces in those countries hide their weapons systems away, it's hard to defeat them conclusively.

So the Saudis are really in a hard place right now. They are building an international coalition. They are considering ground force movement into inside of Yemen to back up airstrikes. But what would -- what would U.S. support look like? It would look like a very positive Signal for the Saudis right now -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Yes, this war could escalate dramatically very, very soon.

Nic Robertson, thank you very, very much.

Coming up: counting down to the midterm elections here in the United States. We will be joined by Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, as voters will head to the polls in just about three weeks. The roadblocks Democrats could face from the White House if they pull off major wins.

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[10:36:10] BLITZER: Happening now: Sources tell CNN the Trump administration is warning Ukraine that the U.S. potentially could suspend intelligence sharing with Ukraine and European purchases of U.S. weapons if, if Kyiv does not halt its strikes on Russian energy facilities, that according to two European officials.

President Trump has blamed Ukraine strikes on Russian refineries for contributing to higher diesel prices in the United States.

Let's talk about that and more with Democratic Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi of Illinois.

Congressman, thanks very much for joining us.

REP. RAJA KRISHNAMOORTHI (D-IL): Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: A European official tells CNN the intelligence sharing and weapons purchases are vital to Ukraine and its war against Russia. But what do you make of this threat right now to a U.S. ally?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, I think that it would just hurt our national security. It would embolden Putin to continue to pursue his illegal and criminal invasion and attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure and on civilians.

I think that essentially at this point we should be trying to get the parties to the negotiating table. And the way to do that is to use our leverage with regard to Putin and put pressure on Putin, rather than on Zelenskyy. So this is very counterproductive to ending this war.

BLITZER: As you know, President Trump also announced that Russia and Ukraine had agreed to what he called an energy cease-fire. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, said he did not know anything about this so-called cease-fire when it was announced and that Russia has already violated it, if in fact it exists.

Ukraine is targeting Russian energy facilities to damage the Kremlin's war machine. Is the White House interfering with Ukraine's ability to defend itself?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes.

And I think that there is no cease-fire. In fact, right after this so- called cease-fire was proclaimed, the Russians immediately attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure. At the end of the day, I think, again, the president is trying to distract attention from the Iran war, which is the real cause of $6 gas and $7 diesel.

The American people want that illegal and unconstitutional war to end right now. And whatever Trump is doing to try to distract attention from the Iran war is not working to really resolve the underlying crisis there. And I think that it's going to prolong economic problems for the American people.

BLITZER: Republican Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick says he will introduce a bipartisan bill to try to stop the deal. Would you support that move?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Yes.

Look, this deal has three big problems. One, it's illegal. It's against American law to import Russian fuel and basically fuel their war machine in Ukraine. Secondly, this deal is completely ineffective if it exists.

The amount of diesel that the Russians would release to the United States is less than one day's worth of diesel consumption in the United States. It's not enough to move prices downward, even if it existed.

And then, third, again, it does not deal with the underlying problem, which is the Iran war. The Iran war is what has caused prices to skyrocket, oil prices to skyrocket beyond $100 a barrel, and that in turn is causing a cascade of problems.

I mean, people are paying much higher prices for groceries. They're paying much higher prices for everything, from health care, to education, to rent. And unless and until you deal with that crisis, ending the Iran war, nothing else is going to matter.

[10:40:10]

BLITZER: I also want to ask you, Congressman, about Kimberly Guilfoyle, the embattled U.S. ambassador to Greece. CNN has learned that President Trump is actually considering firing her after a string of reports accusing her of misconduct.

Would you like to see Kimberly Guilfoyle removed from her post as the U.S. ambassador to Greece?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Well, that would be the first in a number of moves that the Trump administration needs to make to end the corruption that's pervasive in this administration.

But it really starts with Trump, right? I mean, at this point, Trump and the Trump family are kind of the impetus. And when they practice corruption, everyone else beneath them says, well, if they can do it, why not me?

And so, again, I think all of this ends, hopefully, or starts to end with the midterm elections, and that's why I think the American people need to put Democrats back in charge of Congress to put a check on this pervasive corruption that's really causing the American people a bevy of problems, including the Iran war, by the way, where the Trump administration's Jared Kushner is actively pursuing a policy for the Saudis at odds with what the American people want.

But it also extends to a number of other areas of the economy where the Trump administration is pocketing gains and the American people are paying the price.

BLITZER: Amidst all of this right now, Congressman, federal officers are carrying out a search at Congresswoman Ilhan Omar's D.C. area home as part of an ongoing federal criminal investigation.

First of all, do you know anything at all about this?

KRISHNAMOORTHI: No, but it looks highly suspicious.

Three weeks before Election Day, it looks like a political ploy. And on top of that, remember, the president has used really disgusting Islamophobic rhetoric against Ilhan Omar, which also leads one to believe that this is a pretext.

And so I'm very suspicious of what's happening here today. And, again, this is another indication of the DOJ and law enforcement and DHS being used as a political tool against the president's political enemies, which is also deeply disturbing.

BLITZER: Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi, as usual, thank you so much for joining us.

KRISHNAMOORTHI: Thank you so much, Wolf.

BLITZER: And happening now: A new report says AI could force some 11 million us workers into new careers by 2035, and that it could create more jobs than it kills. All this comes after a CNN poll found three- quarters of Americans have fears and concerns about AI's growth and development.

Here's what Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates said yesterday. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL GATES, FOUNDER, MICROSOFT: We really do need to make a decision as a society, how do we tax AI usage or robot usage and where do we want to make sure the human jobs are preserved?

The idea that you need to reserve things for humans may sound bizarre, but, in fact, we will get there, and then we will decide, politically, are there things that we think only humans should be allowed to do?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: CNN business senior reporter David Goldman is joining us right now to help us make -- make some sense out of all of this.

David, today's question, could AI actually create more jobs than it destroys?

DAVID GOLDMAN, CNN BUSINESS SENIOR REPORTER: It could, Wolf, but I think the question is, what kind of jobs are we talking about?

We all know that AI can automate a lot of our tasks, and that could cause us to lose about 36 million jobs over the next decade, according to this new study that you referenced from McKinsey.

But look at this. We could also create about 40 million jobs building out the infrastructure to support all of this. So what is it that we're really looking at? Well, 25 million workers, according to the study, will not need to leave their jobs in order to continue in the world that AI is taking over, basically. But 11 million will.

And by 2035, we might have 6.5 percent of the labor force displaced. Now, could they go somewhere? Yes, maybe, because, remember, the labor force itself is shrinking because people are getting older, and we're not replacing those workers with immigrants, and people are having fewer kids, and so we don't have a young labor force.

About six million workers over the course of the next six years are expected to drop out of the labor force. You can see it here. It's already happening. In 2030 -- in 2022, more than 39 percent of the work force was older than 55, and now it's under 37 percent.

[10:45:13]

So this is something that will continue to happen. Could those jobs that AI takes go into the jobs that people are leaving? Perhaps. But what kind of jobs are we talking about? Well, we have electricians, we have plumbers, we have construction workers. All of these are to build AI data centers.

Is that the kind of job that you want? Well, it might have to be, because of the 8,000 jobs, the 5 percent of all jobs that are posted on LinkedIn that are AI jobs, well, they're really just not entry- level jobs. Around 71 percent are for senior-level positions.

And what are we talking about there? We're talking about data analysts, machine learning scientists, AI engineers. This stuff is making my head explode. This isn't something that you can just get into. You need a lot of training for this. The kind of jobs that might be available are the ones that are going to build out the AI infrastructure to power all of this, Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, it makes my head explode as well.

(LAUGHTER)

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

And to our viewers, if you would like David to help you "Make It Make Sense," e-mail your question or questions or send us a selfie video of your question to MakeItMakeSense@CNN.com.

We will have more news right after a break.

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BLITZER: Happening now: President Trump is considering joining Saudi Arabia in strikes on Houthis in Yemen. The Iran-backed Houthis have struck Saudi Arabia multiple times in recent weeks, including deadly strikes on the Riyadh International Airport over the weekend.

[10:50:00]

New video shows the moments the devastating strike hit the airport. Just a word of caution that this video contains some graphic elements. You can see people were lined up to board their flights just moments before the strike. The blast also caused part of the ceiling to collapse.

With us now is CNN military analyst retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton and Sabrina Singh. She's a CNN global affairs commentator, former deputy Pentagon press secretary during the Biden administration.

Sabrina, let me start with you.

President Trump in the past has largely resisted Saudi requests for direct U.S. military intervention, but could it be different this time? It certainly could be different this time.

SABRINA SINGH, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS COMMENTATOR: I think Saudi is making the plea to this administration to get involved.

But you will remember, last year, during operation -- during the operations against the Houthis that this administration launched, they were spending almost a billion dollars on those operations a day just to combat some of those Houthi capabilities.

And we are still seeing the Houthis have retained a vast number of capabilities and being able to expand out beyond their military targets, but really hitting economic targets, including that East-West Pipeline that we know Saudi has relied on moving oil out of the Strait of Hormuz across the country and up the Red Sea.

And we also know that this hit on this airport really hits at their economic priorities when it comes to trying to make Saudi feel the pain. I mean, there is a large conference that the crown prince had organized for this week.

And the fact that the Houthis have been able to disrupt global travel to Saudi, it's just another economic impact that Saudi and the rest of the world is going to feel if the Houthis continues these attacks. So, to answer your question, Wolf, I do think that the Trump administration feels a little bit more pressure to intervene, but will they?

I think that remains to be seen.

BLITZER: Colonel Leighton, if the U.S. were to join Saudi attacks on the Houthis in Yemen, what impact would that likely have?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, there'd be several impacts, Wolf.

Of course, one of them would be on the Houthis. They themselves would be subject to probably more bombing attacks like we have seen just recently where the Saudis attacked the Sanaa Airport in response to the attack on the Riyadh Airport. So that type of activity would continue.

And there would be more attacks against their headquarters, against their missile emplacements and things of that nature. I think an effort would also be made to go after any Houthi positions on Perim Island, which is near the -- or in the Bab al-Mandab Strait. So that would be one other area.

And the possibility also exists that both the U.S. and Saudi Arabia would try to alleviate pressure on the Yemeni city of Taiz, which is where the Houthis are trying to basically mount an offensive and capture that city. That would be the third largest city in Yemen, and that would open up the way to Aden, which is the capital of the officially recognized or internationally recognized government.

So those are the kinds of things that would happen. Now, on the U.S. side, Wolf, what would happen is that we would be stretched a bit thin, because we are, of course, mounting that blockade against the Iranians in the Persian Gulf, and that would, of course, be tested as far as the ability to continue that and then maintain operations against the Houthis.

So it would in essence be somewhat of a two-front effort on the Arabian Peninsula.

BLITZER: And, Colonel Leighton, I also want to move on to Russia and Ukraine right now, very dramatic developments unfolding.

President Trump declared over the weekend that both sides had agreed to what he called an energy cease-fire. Ukraine's President Zelenskyy said he was unaware of any such agreement before it was announced. Is any cease-fire likely to hold at this point?

LEIGHTON: I don't think so.

One of the key things that we are looking at here, Wolf, is that both the Russians and the Ukrainians have continued activity,the Ukrainians in response to Russian attacks on a major power plant in the Kharkiv area. So this type of effort to maintain a cease-fire is going to be really difficult in the Ukrainian situation.

And I think both sides, at least at the moment, do not appear to be willing to engage in the type of preparations and talks that would be necessary for a cease-fire to hold.

BLITZER: Sabrina, President Trump also called for President Zelenskyy of Ukraine to be replaced, replaced as Ukraine's president.

The U.S. is also threatening to withhold intelligence and weapons purchases if Ukraine continues attacking energy targets in Russia. Does Ukraine have to prepare to go it alone at some point in the near future?

SINGH: Well, I think the U.S. withholding intelligence sharing from Ukraine would be just a devastating setback, not only for Ukraine, but really for the U.S. and our Europeans partners' security.

[10:55:01]

That intelligence has led to battlefield gains for Ukraine. They have actually made incredible progress over these last few months. So I think turning off that spigot of intelligence would just be a misstep. But also just to the president's comments about, it's time for a

Ukraine to get a new president. I mean, the reality is that's up to Ukraine, and they can't hold elections right now when they're under constant bombardment of missiles and drone attacks.

And I think every time that the president says something critical about Ukraine, he underestimates how much that actually helps Zelenskyy's popularity in Ukraine. I mean, we have seen some of the polling. Ukraine -- President Zelenskyy does have the broad backing of his constituents in Ukraine.

And so the president saying that, it really gets at the heart of this issue. Why does he keep siding with Russia and Vladimir Putin, who has not made any serious steps towards a cease-fire or a peace negotiation, and yet every single time this administration has proposed some type of cease-fire or peace plan, President Zelenskyy has made progress toward that?

So, again, we're rewarding Putin and trying to exact costs on President Zelenskyy in Ukraine, and it really should be the other way around.

BLITZER: Important point.

Sabrina Singh, Cedric Leighton, to both of you, thank you very, very much.

And here's what's coming up right at the top of the hour.

Happening now: Federal officers are searching the D.C. area home of Democratic Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. What we're learning, stand by for that.

And under pressure in South Carolina -- a closer look at last night's debate between the Senate candidates.

And Pope Leo announces surgery to remove a lung nodule. We're live from Rome with the latest developments.

All that coming up in the next hour.

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