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Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Speaks One-On-One With CNN's Amanpour; Witkoff To Putin: "You Are A Humanitarian"; School Shooting Survivor: No Chance To Protect The Children; Cybersecurity Flaw Forces Websites Worldwide To Shut Down. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 22, 2026 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:57]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Happening now, breaking news, overnight Russian strikes once again slam Ukraine just hours after the Kremlin agreed to resume peace talks. How Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is responding to fractured U.S. ties in a brand new one-on-one interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Plus, campaigns and crime. Millions of dollars spent on ads using the victims of violent crime and their families are not happy.

And website warning, what we now know about an issue affecting 70 percent of the entire internet.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin this hour with Russia's war on Ukraine. Growing frustration as the U.S. ally is shaken by yet another deadly night of Russian attacks just hours after Vladimir Putin agreed to resume peace talks next month with the U.S. mediating.

BROWN: And just a short time ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrapped his one-on-one interview with CNN Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour. Their discussion included Ukraine's vital relationship with the United States and the recent strains on that partnership.

Christiane Amanpour is live with us in London. We so appreciate you being here with us, Christiane. After this big interview, what stood out from you after talking with Zelenskyy?

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well what stood out is yet again Zelenskyy says yes. When the President of the United States says we need to do this or that, he always says yes, but it's always Putin who says no. So you've just said and you've just reported accurately what Putin did to Ukraine overnight. Zelenskyy told me today that they want to talk about a ceasefire, a stop of the killings, a freeze of the current front lines. But that isn't the big peace picture. That's just to stop the war while you then go into proper talks. So that's his position on that. It's not a new position, by the way.

The other thing he said, of course, I asked him about relationship with the United States, a very, very valuable and vital ally in this existential fight. Here's the Q&A.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Mr. President, obviously there's been a lot of spotlight on the latest eruption in your relationship with President Trump. He's blaming you. You're saying that he's on the wrong side of history with that diesel deal for Russia. Are you stepping back from that personal criticism? Have you been, you know, advised that this might not be the best way to be public about it since you need American help?

PRES. VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINE: We have our partners and it's United States. And we have -- we need to have strong relations with American administration, with Congress. And we need bipartisan support.

This all is very important because it's not about days, it's not about personalities. My attitude to Putin is very clear. I think that if we will lift sanctions, we will make him stronger. And that's why I'm like a President.

It's not something personal between me and President Trump. And of course, I'm against of any lifting of sanctions. I always said it to European partners, and I said it directly to American administration.

Of course, I know what I do. I have to strengthen me, my country, my people, my army, but not my enemy. That this is, I think, very clear and fair between us. That's why I know that if you give something to Putin, he will need everything. He will want everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AMANPOUR: Pamela, he also said, look, no matter who pushes us to try to give up sovereign territory, even territory that the Russians haven't yet occupied, we're not going to do it. We will freeze in place, we'll have a ceasefire, and then we'll talk about the rest of it. And we need absolute strong security guarantees so that Putin or whoever comes after him can never do this again.

[11:05:12]

He also talked about the intelligence and the Starlink rupture, saying intelligence is back, but the Starlink ability to move their drones fast in order to defend against incoming Russian ballistic missiles is still slow, much slower than it used to be.

And when I asked him who did it, Pamela, he said, well, there's only one company, he used the word company, i.e. SpaceX, that can do that. So that's still not back up to speed, and it's a vital defense mechanism.

BROWN: Just taking a step back, I mean, at this point, how damaged would you say the relationship is between Ukraine and the U.S.? And what would it take to repair it, Christiane?

AMANPOUR: You know, Pamela, it's really, really bad. This was the biggest eruption since the famous Oval Office dressing down that Trump gave, you know, Zelenskyy in his first three months of his 2.0 administration. The thing is that they both have this relationship. Trump, I think, just doesn't like Zelenskyy and acts out when Zelenskyy's not actually doing what the United States thinks it needs to do to end the war.

But the problem is that the President and his administration is trying to sort of give Putin incentives to come back to the table. But the problem with that is they're lifting the disincentives. So the usual diplomacy is carrot and stick.

You put down the stick and you say, here's the carrot if you play ball. This is the opposite. And some analysts have said it's absolutely unprecedented to see the United States turn from its ally, Ukraine, i.e., the victim in this case, towards the aggressor. It's a completely unprecedented American move in any kind of recorded memory.

So these are the sort of tactics. But you heard Zelenskyy. We need the United States. We will have a very difficult time surviving if we don't have American help. We need our European friends.

We pay for all this weaponry, he says right now. And we just need the help. And we're not going to surrender. But we will and we want to stop the killing if Putin agrees to.

As they've said all along, Pamela, every time the President asked -- has asked Ukraine for a ceasefire or a stop, even on energy facilities, they've done it. But the Russians have not met them in kind. In fact, they've done the opposite.

BROWN: Christiane Amanpour, thank you so much.

You can see her full interview with President Zelenskyy on CNN International and CNN All Access at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. And Christiane, I know we announced on this show earlier this week that you were leaving us at CNN next year. And I just want to note, while we have you, that it is such a loss for us.

You are truly a legend, an icon. You have been with CNN for 43 years. I have looked up to you since I was a little girl watching you with my mom, thinking, wow, that is such inspiring journalism. I want to do that one day. And I just want to note while you're here that we'll miss you a lot. But I hope you'll still keep coming on the show.

AMANPOUR: Yes. And it's so kind of you. And I appreciate you and Wolf's, you know, video mashup the other day. I really do.

BROWN: Of course.

AMANPOUR: It's very kind. And this is my home and has always been my home. And CNN and me, we're symbiotic. So, you know --

BROWN: Exactly.

AMANPOUR: -- there's other adventures down the road. Yes.

BROWN: For sure.

All right, Christiane, thank you so much. And we'll look forward to checking out your full interview with Zelenskyy. Wolf?

BLITZER: And I'm going to --

AMANPOUR: Thank you.

BLITZER: -- say exactly the same thing, Christiane. We're going to miss you big time. You and I have worked together on so many great international stories. And you've always been amazing and so impressive.

I wasn't a little boy when I started. I was already a big boy, but we have worked together. And I --

AMANPOUR: You're a bigger boy.

BLITZER: Yes. I'm grateful, grateful to you. Thank you so, so much.

AMANPOUR: Yes, and I'll keep bringing these important stories and important interviews because this is what matters --

BROWN: Thanks.

AMANPOUR: -- and this is what makes CNN stand out.

BLITZER: I totally agree.

AMANPOUR: And we'll keep doing it for certainly --

BLITZER: Yes.

AMANPOUR: -- the next several months.

BROWN: No one gives global perspective like you.

BLITZER: I totally agree. Yes.

BROWN: Thank you, Christiane.

AMANPOUR: Thank you both.

BLITZER: All right. We're going to miss Christiane for sure.

All right, I want to continue our conversation right now with Michael Fuchs, he was deputy assistant secretary of state during the Obama administration. Michael, thanks for joining us.

First of all, what struck out to you about Christiane's interview with President Zelenskyy? We just heard a little chunk of it.

MICHAEL FUCHS, SR. FELLOW, CENTER FOR AMERICAN PROGRESS: Well, I mean, Christiane, I think really put her finger on it there, which is that Zelenskyy is trying to communicate to, I think, President Trump and to the world, right, that for years now in the United States, when President Trump in particular has asked President Zelenskyy to do something, even if it is difficult for President Zelenskyy to do, he makes it clear that he's willing to do it, right?

He's not running to give up sovereignty, right? He is not wanting to stop attacks on Russia, right? He is defending the sovereignty and the people, right, of his country. And yet he makes it clear again and again that he is willing and he is open, right, to do what he thinks and what others think may be necessary to open a path, right, for a ceasefire, for peace talks.

[11:10:07]

And yet it is very clear again and again and again, and we are reminded by those images that you are showing right now on the screen, Putin's ceaseless attacks, that President Putin is the one who is not interested and not willing to stop the attacks and not willing to stop the aggression.

And so again, at the end of the day here, the question is, what can the United States and President Trump be doing, again, to support our partners in Ukraine in defending themselves, which is one of the best ways, again, to open up that path for a ceasefire, for peace?

BLITZER: Do you view, Michael, these proposed trilateral peace talks as a genuine effort to end the war, or are Russia and Ukraine just giving President Trump the optics that he wants?

FUCHS: Well, look, any conversations, obviously, between the parties here is useful, is potentially productive, right? That being said, my understanding is that these talks, at least the way that they're slated at the moment, are lower-level conversations. We've seen, again, President Putin not be interested in genuine, substantive, real, higher-level conversations with the Ukrainians about stopping the war, right, and what the future might be, a peaceful future.

And so again, I think that you are right. It's very possible that this is a fig leaf to show that the sides are interested in doing something to answer President Trump's call here. But again, the proof is in the pudding here. And again, as those images really just bring home to you, President Putin seems uninterested in stopping the ceaseless attacks on Ukrainians each day.

BLITZER: In their face-to-face meeting yesterday, the U.S. Special Envoy Steve Witkoff told Vladimir Putin that he is, quote, "a humanitarian" -- his word, a humanitarian. That's getting a lot of bipartisan blowback today here in Washington, drew a lot of sharp response from Ukraine's President, as well.

On social media, Volodymyr Zelenskyy posted, and I'm quoting him now, "Three waves of ballistic missiles have been launched at Kyiv by Russian so-called 'humanitarians' since yesterday evening," end quote. How do you explain this administration's approach to Putin, who launched this illegal war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people?

FUCHS: Well, I think the only way to really explain it is actually to go back a decade. And you see President Trump's relationship and, frankly, affinity for President Putin dating back, again, to the 2016 campaign, where we recall President Trump speaking positively about President Putin and asking for his help in the 2016 election. And you've seen him do that regularly over the last decade.

President Trump, as we know, likes to be seen as a powerful player on the world stage. He has an odd affinity for strong men like President Putin, President Xi of China. And at the same time, unfortunately, on the other side, we see going back many years to actually 2019 and President Trump's first impeachment trial, his disdain, unfortunately, for President Zelenskyy, right?

And so if you combine those two together, President Trump obviously runs a very personality-driven foreign policy. He has an affinity for President Putin over the period of at least a decade. And again, he is not a big fan over many years of President Zelenskyy. And the unfortunate reality is that that we see driving a lot of the decisions that President Trump is making right now.

BLITZER: Unfortunate indeed.

Michael Fuchs, thanks very much for joining us. We appreciate it.

FUCHS: My pleasure.

BLITZER: And still ahead, how a mutation is now making this year's dominant flu strain even harder to detect. And websites shut down after AI found flaws that affect 70 percent of the Internet. What you need to know about this critical issue. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[11:18:55]

BROWN: She never had a chance to protect the children. That's how the teacher who survived last week's deadly shooting at Silver Rail Elementary in Bend, Oregon, described the horrific scene. Through a family statement, Becky Drury said that she was not able to get up, defend herself or protect her students after she was wounded by the gunmen.

Three children, five, eight and 11 years old and a teacher were killed when a 16-year-old attacked their school.

CNN's Leigh Waldman joins us now. So tell us, Leigh, what more did this teacher say and how is her recovery going?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, Becky Drury is coming out and saying this hero narrative that has been forced upon her, thrust upon her simply is not true. We know that this teacher, she's currently recovering from her injuries that she sustained in this shooting.

Her left hand was nearly severed. She was shot in her right arm as well. She's saying she didn't even have a moment to try to protect her children in her classroom. Let's take a look at part of this statement that we've received from a family representative now for Becky Drury.

[11:20:00]

In the statement, she wrote, "I turned to shut the door behind me, but the shooter was already there. Before I could do anything more, he shot me at close range and I fell to the ground. I did the only thing I could do, which was to pretend to be dead in the hope that he would not shoot me again."

So she reacted quickly, trying to shut that door, but unfortunately was not able to. Now, in the early days after this shooting at this elementary school happened there in Bend, Oregon, we heard from authorities a tale about a hero teacher who threw her phone at this 16-year-old gunman, tried to tackle this gunman, tried to protect the students in her classroom.

There's been other media reporting that Drury herself threw herself onto students to try and protect him. Now she is saying that simply is not true. She is emphasizing the importance of accurate reporting during this time period, because that will aid in her healing and the healing this entire community is going through.

It's been one week since this horrific shooting at this elementary school. And so now we're hearing from her and wishing her well in this long road to recovery that she's sure to be on.

BROWN: Her and the entire community, they're all just healing after that horrific shooting.

Leigh Waldman, thank you. Wolf?

BLITZER: And up next, websites around the world are scrambling right now to update their systems, thanks to a widespread security flaw, the bugs that one CEO warns could reach almost everywhere. People spend money online. We'll be right back.

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[11:26:15]

BLITZER: Happening now, some websites are starting to come back online this morning after they shut down to address some major security issues. Yesterday, the NSA and Europe's cybersecurity agency warned companies to take immediate action after artificial intelligence helped find critical flaws that affect 70 percent of the Internet.

CNN Business Tech Editor Lisa Eadicicco is joining us right now. Lisa, what more can you tell us about this cybersecurity flaw? LISA EADICICCO, CNN BUSINESS TECH EDITOR: Yes, Wolf, I think what makes this cybersecurity incident different than a lot of other ones we've seen is that this is really kind of highlighting an architecture issue that has been dormant on the web. So this has -- these flaws have existed for more than a decade, but researchers were only able to spot them now because they were using AI to do work that would have taken a team of researchers months to do in a matter of weeks.

So I think that's really one of the big takeaways here is, you know, for months and months, there have been a lot of concerns around the potential implications of AI in cybersecurity now that these more powerful models and agents exist. And this is one example of how researchers, I think, are using the technology to help find these kinds of exploits.

And what's interesting here is that even though this existed for years, why this was discoverable now is because this -- the amount of work it would have taken, which involves chaining multiple bugs together and things like that, would have taken that just so much work that it would have taken months and it wasn't practical to do just with human research alone.

So I think that is one one key takeaway here as well, is that this is really kind of illustrating how with both researchers and bad actors can do a lot more with AI now that they have these more sophisticated tools at their disposal.

BLITZER: Is there anything that regular Internet users like us, for example, need to do here?

EADICICCO: So that's the challenging question here, because unlike other cybersecurity incidents, this -- you know, this is not a data breach. This is not a new type of malware that's spreading. This is something that is impacting the architecture and infrastructure of the web. This is a coding language that's used across many, many websites, nearly 70 percent of the web.

So there isn't too much that the regular consumer can do. But I would say just keep in mind some of the best practices that you usually would when a cybersecurity incident happens. So, for example, keeping an eye on all of your accounts and making sure that there isn't any unauthorized activity, things like that, because what hackers can do because of this vulnerability is remotely execute code and things like that. So you want to keep an eye out for any suspicious activity, for sure.

BLITZER: All right, Lisa Eadicicco, thanks so much for your expertise. Appreciate it very, very much.

And just ahead, more than 18 million ballots already have been cast in the midterm elections here in the United States. Up next, we'll explore what the numbers could tell us about critical races and the potential control of Washington.

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