Return to Transcripts main page
What We Know with Max Foster
French PM Resigns After Less Than A Month On The Job; Indirect Israel-Hamas Talks Underway In Egypt; Illinois & Chicago Sue Trump Administration Over National Guard Troops; No End In Sight On Day Six Of U.S. Government Shutdown; Putin Warns U.S. About Supplying Ukraine With Tomahawk Missiles; Supreme Court Will Not Hear Appeal From Ghislaine Maxwell; "The Life Of A Showgirl" Tops Album Charts, Box Office. Aired 3-4p ET
Aired October 06, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[15:00:30]
MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: A full blown political crisis in France.
This is WHAT WE KNOW.
As Sebastien Lecornu is now the shortest serving prime minister since the fifth republic began. He stepped down just hours. After unveiling the new
cabinet in less than two years, France has had five different prime ministers so far. Seven have held that title under French President
Emmanuel Macron.
Right now, here are the options on the table. President Macron could name a new prime minister respond to growing calls for a snap parliamentary
election, or even resign, which is a possibility he has repeatedly rejected. Of course, France is now plunging further into political crisis.
Melissa Bell is in Paris tracking the fallout.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another French prime minister steps down this time after just 27 days in office and
only hours after naming his government, parts of which appeared unhappy from the start.
SEBASTIEN LECORNU, RESIGNING AS FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The very principle of building a compromise between political parties is to
be able to combine green lines and take into account a certain number of red lines, but we cannot be at both extremes.
BELL (voice-over): Sebastien Lecornu becomes the fourth French prime minister to fail to build a stable majority, since the June 2024
dissolution of parliament. A staunch ally of President Emmanuel Macron, he took office after Francois Bayrou was ousted by lawmakers in September.
Before him, Michel Barnier had also lost the confidence of parliament and much for the same reasons.
MICHEL BARNIER, RESIGNED AS FRENCH PM IN 2024: We proposed a budget, a difficult budget where everything was difficult to reduce our deficit. This
deficit did not disappear by the magic of a no confidence vote.
BELL (voice-over): After just three months in office, Barnier had been the shortest serving prime minister in the history of the fifth republic. Now
he's been beaten by Lecornu, who served just days rather than months, with the pressure on President Macron to call another parliamentary election
growing.
MARINE LE PEN, FRENCH NATIONAL RALLY PARTY (through translator): I'm calling on him to dissolve the national assembly because we've reached the
end of the road and there is no solution, and therefore, the only wise decision in these circumstances is to return to the polls and for the
French to give direction to the country.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BELL (on camera): Those calls from the far right, growing all the more insistent that polls suggest that the party would do even better in a snap
election today than it did in 2024. The problem for president macron is that with this latest resignation, he's fast running out of any other
options.
Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.
FOSTER: Right now, in Egypt, indirect talks are ongoing between the Israeli and Palestinian officials on a possible ceasefire deal. Those
negotiations are being held in the city of Sharm el-Sheikh. The U.S.-backed peace plan calls for the release of the remaining Israeli hostages and an
end to Israel's military operations in Gaza. Tuesday marks two years since the deadly Hamas massacre in Israel that began the war.
CNN's global affairs analyst Barak Ravid says he's spoken to U.S. President Donald Trump and his closest advisors over the past few days, and he
believes the chances of a deal are better than ever.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BARAK RAVID, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Donald Trump is completely adamant on getting a deal in the coming days. And he will do anything in
his power to make it happen. That's what I learned from talking to him directly over the last few days, and from talking to all of his closest
advisers. He does not take as an option collapse of those talks, and that that will end with no deal.
I don't think Donald Trump and his team will allow either of the negotiators from the from both sides to leave Egypt without a deal. This is
why I think there is a bigger chance than ever before that this will get done in the coming days.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us live from Jerusalem.
I mean, there's so much hope right now, isn't there on all sides for some sort of deal? What do you understand to be the focus of those discussions?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Max, on the eve of that horrendous attack that happened two years ago, we are now witnessing a lot
of hope in this region about the possibility of ending the war that began two years ago and securing the release of those hostages who were taken on
that day. The Israeli prime minister has dispatched an Israeli delegation to Sharm el-Sheikh, where they are meeting tonight for indirect
negotiations with the Hamas delegation, mediated, of course, by Egypt and Qatar.
These meetings are really going to give us a better sense of whether all of this hope and optimism is indeed truly warranted at this moment, because
it's where we're going to find out, you know, how big the gaps really are between these two sides. But most importantly, how bridgeable those gaps
actually may or may not be. And we already can, you know, look ahead and see some of the potential obstacles to a deal that will need to be cleared
in order for this 20-point plan that the president has put forward to become a reality.
First among them will be the terms of the hostage release and the prisoners that Israel will be releasing in exchange. Some of the details will have to
be worked out in terms of the identities, for example, of the Palestinian prisoners who would be released in exchange for those 48 hostages. In
addition to that, you have the map of Israeli troop withdrawal within Gaza during and after that hostage release. The map that President Trump put
forward represents the deepest Israeli lines of control within the Gaza Strip, with Israeli troops as far as six and a half kilometers inside the
Gaza Strip, after that withdrawal takes place.
And you can bet that Hamas is going to take issue with that and going to be seeking changes. And then more broadly, of course, there is this issue of
disarmament, whether or not Hamas is willing to disarm, which is, of course, a red line for Israel, a precondition for any end of war scenario.
And so, you know, in -- as these talks begin, you know, we'll soon enough get a better sense of whether all of this hope and optimism is indeed
warranted. If these talks can gain the real traction in order to become a reality.
We know that the United States and Israel both are making quite clear in their public messaging that they believe this deal should be done within a
matter of days, and that they are stressing that they will not allow Hamas to engage in any stalling tactics or to drag this out. But that also raises
the question of whether Israel is going to have, you know, the patience and the willingness to engage in negotiations for longer than several days, if
that is required, and how willing they are to compromise on some of the aspects of this 20-point plan that have already been laid out and released
publicly by the White House.
FOSTER: Jeremy, thank you for the update.
Activist Greta Thunberg is denouncing the Israeli government, accusing it of genocide. Thunberg was amongst the 170 activists released from Israeli
prisons. They were part of a flotilla trying to bring aid to Gaza, which were intercepted by Israeli authorities last week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GRETA THUNBERG, ACTIVIST: Let me be very clear. There is a genocide going on in front of our very eyes. A livestreamed genocide on all of our phones.
No one has the privilege to say we are not aware of what's happening. No one in the future will be able to say, we did not know.
Under international law, states have a legal obligation to act to prevent and to stop a genocide from happening. That means ending complicity,
applying real pressure and ending arms transfers. We are not seeing that. We are not even seeing the bare minimum from our governments.
Our international systems are betraying Palestinians. They are not even able to prevent the worst war crimes from happening. And I will never, ever
comprehend how humans can be so evil.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, the Israeli government is rejecting the accusations of genocide. Israel has maintained that it's conducting the war in Gaza in
accordance with international law.
Now, to the major legal confrontation pitting the U.S. president against state and local authorities. The state of Illinois and Chicago are suing
the Trump administration over its deployment of National Guard troops to the city.
On Saturday, President Trump ordered 300 members of the Illinois National Guard to the city to protect a federal immigration facility that's been the
site of increasingly tense protests. The Illinois lawsuit comes after a federal judge blocked the White House and its efforts to deploy guard
troops to Portland, Oregon. That judge said protests in Portland did not rise to the level of a rebellion.
The White House disagrees.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: If you look at what has happened in Portland, Oregon, for more than 100 nights, I was talking to
our law enforcement team about it this morning for more than 100 days, night after night after night, the ICE facility has been really under siege
by these anarchists outside.
They have been disrespecting law enforcement. They've been inciting violence. We saw again, a guillotine rolled out in front of this federal
building.
[15:10:02]
And so, the president wants to ensure that our federal buildings and our assets are protected.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Kristen Holmes is at the White House.
I mean, this is a big test, isn't it? Particularly around Chicago. We're expecting them to make some sort of statement soon as well. Aren't we?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, just any moment, we're going to hear from the governor of Illinois who's going to
have a press conference as this is all moving forward. But when it comes to Portland, when it comes to Chicago, the White House is not backing down. In
fact, Stephen Miller was just on our air deputy chief of staff pushing back on any assertion that any of this is too much, saying that these were all
about riots.
And of course, I will remind you that in the case of Oregon, the judge there said at one point, Portland did not pose a danger of rebellion, that
what they were describing as going on was not what was actually happening on the ground, which is what we've heard from sources as well.
What we've heard inside the White House, however, is that they believe this is a winning issue for them. When they talk about crime, they talk about
crime, particularly in Democratic cities. And there's a number of reasons for that.
They believe overall that this is something that they can latch on to and then say it's Democrats who don't want to fight crime, and they're going to
cities that do, of course, in fact, have some crime level, not the level that we're hearing them talk about. And then saying that Democrats don't
want any help in dealing with that crime.
So that's part of the reason that they're not going to back down on any of these issues moving forward. And that's what we heard today in the press
briefing. And it's also what we heard just moments ago from Stephen Miller talking to our Boris Sanchez on air.
FOSTER: Okay. And in terms of next steps, legally, where does it go from here? Because it feels like an endless process. But the White House is
willing to go all the way, clearly.
HOLMES: They're willing to go all the way. And that's really where it goes from here. You're going to see appeal after appeal. They're going to have
pushback. We know that one of the things to keep in mind here is that at least in Portland, the two judges that in two days stopped these national
guard troops from coming into the city. They were both Trump appointed judges.
So the pushback here is still happening, even though the people that were actually pushing back on the legal side were appointed by the president
himself. So that's not going to stop them any time soon. We've heard scathing insult after insult from the White House about these judges being
wrong, not being in the correct legal authority. So, they are clearly trying to push this as far as they possibly can.
FOSTER: Okay, Kristen, thank you so much.
Now today is day six of the U.S. government shutdown in Washington with no end in sight. The Senate returns to Capitol Hill this week while the House
is still out of session. The House speaker has made it clear he'll bring everyone back if Senate Democrats, quote, turn the lights back on and
approve the Republicans House-passed bill.
But so far, Democrats aren't budging. And as the shutdown enters its second week, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt suggested on Monday that
firings of federal workers are still on the table.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: We are $37 trillion in debt, and the government is not receiving any cash. So, someone has to look at the balance sheet and be good stewards
of the American taxpayer dollar. And layoffs are an unfortunate consequence of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Our Manu Raju is on Capitol Hill.
This is the sort of language we're hearing last week, wasn't it? Is anything shifting?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No. In fact, it's almost getting worse. And the concern is that this could drag on for some time.
Remember the longest government shutdown, Max, in the U.S. government and U.S. history was back in 2018, into 2019. That was 35 days. Will this get
that long? Will this go even longer? It's really what people here in Washington are girding for.
Remember, Democrats are saying that they will not support what Republicans are pushing for, which is a straight extension of government funding to
reopen the government up until November 21st, with no strings attached, no conditions whatsoever.
Democrats have leverage because in the United States Senate, you need 60 votes to pass. Legislation has broken down 53-47. Republicans are in
control. One Republican has voted against this plan, meaning eight Democratic votes are needed.
So far, just three Democrats have voted yes, and the Senate Democratic leader has said that he will vote against this because they say that they
want to extend subsidies for people's health care insurance under the program, the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Those subsidies
are set to expire at year's end. The Democrats say if they are not dealt with now, people's health care premiums will increase. They also want to
reverse Medicaid cuts. That's the health care program for the disabled and low income individuals in the United States. They want those Medicaid cuts
that were enacted as part of Donald Trump's signature domestic policy legislation, known as the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act. They want those cuts
reversed as part of this as well.
Republicans say no way. They say on the Obamacare subsidies issue, they want to negotiate that later, reopen the government first, negotiate later.
So as a result, there are absolutely no negotiations happening. In fact, the United States House, which already passed that bill to keep the
government open until November 21st, they're not even in session. The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, said he is not planning to bring the
house back until the Senate acts.
[15:15:00]
And Senate Democrats say that they are going to vote against this time and time again.
And tonight, we expect the fifth time Democrats in the Senate to block that Republican bill, which leads back to where we are square one Nowhere. And
concerns among so many Americans about where this is headed, with hundreds of thousands of employees furloughed, many could be fired based on the
threats from the White House and government services, many of them suspended as well.
The question is, what side will blink first? Will there be any movement? But at the moment, today, no movement at all -- Max.
FOSTER: Okay, Manu. Thank you.
Ukraine overnight launched what appears to be one of its biggest attacks on Russia's infrastructure since the war began. It involved hundreds of drones
that knocked out power in some Russian regions and hit a Russian weapons depot as well. Russia claims it shot down more than 250 of the Ukrainian
drones. The attack came in response to Moscow's strikes on Ukraine over the weekend, including a missile and drone attack in Lviv, where local
officials say five people were killed on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin has a warning for the U.S. if Washington supplies Ukraine with Tomahawk missiles. Putin says that will
lead to the destruction of relations between the superpowers.
CNN's Clare Sebastian has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was a striking shift from Russian President Vladimir Putin, not because we didn't already know that
western supplies of long-range weapons are a red line for Russia. In fact, we heard very similar rhetoric from Putin last year when the Biden
administration gave Ukraine limited permission to use U.S. made ATACMS missiles to strike Russian soil.
But it's a departure from a tightly held policy among Russian officials since Trump took office of avoiding direct criticism of him or his
policies.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): You just mentioned the president of the United States. There were questions related to, let's
say, the discussion of problems with the supply of new weapons systems, including long range, high precision systems, Tomahawks. I have already
said that this will lead to the destruction of our relations, or at least the positive trends that have emerged in these relations.
SEBASTIAN: So this was Putin really threatening to walk away from Trump's efforts to repair relations, something that, of course, has brought huge
benefits to Russia, allowing it to sidestep new U.S. sanctions and burnish Putin's global image.
Why are they doing this? Well, Tomahawks would be a major step up in firepower for Ukraine missiles with at least five times the range of the
ATACMS and capable of carrying much larger payloads than Ukraine's long range drones. If, of course, permission were granted to use them on Russian
soil, then they would add another layer of complexity to Russia's ability to move troops and weapons into Ukraine through its own territory.
Now, there is no guarantee Tomahawks will be delivered at this point, but it would be a very strong signal that the U.S. is not governed by a fear of
Russian red lines and is not set on a policy of appeasement towards Moscow, and that could change Russia's calculus on this war.
Clare Sebastian, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Coming up, appeal rejected. Jeffrey Epsteins former girlfriend and accomplice fails in her bid to overturn a 20-year prison sentence.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:21:24]
FOSTER: The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from Jeffrey Epstein's accomplice, Ghislaine Maxwell. She is serving 20 years in federal
prison for carrying out a years-long scheme with Epstein to groom and sexually abuse underage girls. Maxwell asked the court to overturn her
conviction, arguing she was shielded from prosecution.
CNN's Joan Biskupic joins us now.
Joan, so this was based on the idea that, you know, the initial prosecution was wrong and that there was some sort of deal that was done that had
protected her. And this deal was between Epstein and the government effectively, wasn't it?
JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: That's right, Max. It was between the deal you're referring to was signed by Jeffrey Epstein and
officials down in the southern district of Florida right before he pled guilty in 2008. And what it was supposed to cover was, you know, Epstein
and potential coconspirators down the road. The question was whether that deal should have had an impact on the case of Ghislaine Maxwell up in New
York. Then she, her trial and then conviction and sentencing in 2022.
She said this should not have taken place because of this prior deal. But, you know, there's -- just so you know, there's a lot of conflict among
lower court judges on this issue. Irrespective of this contentious battle with Ghislaine Maxwell and all the controversy over Jeffrey Epstein, that
there really is a controversy over whether, you know, these non-prosecution deals should extend beyond the district where they're enforced. And that
was what she was. That was what her lawyers were arguing, is that this is an important case for the justices to take up, not just for her, but for
clarity in the criminal defense field.
But I should tell you, she -- the Supreme Court rejected it completely out of hand. Just gave a one sentence order that said denied. There was no
recorded vote, no -- no explanation.
And I would bet that it was one of, you know, the hundreds of cases the justices didn't even discuss because what happens is, you know, literally
hundreds and hundreds of petitions are filed over the summer, most of them the justices don't talk about in their conference. The week before they
open. And today was the big open, just because they don't find them to have merit.
So, I think it was not -- it was not unexpected, to tell you the truth, that this would just be in the pile of rejects. And I think what she was
hoping was that not only the justices would bail her out in some way, but, feel that this was an important question in the criminal. Criminal law area
and several defense lawyers who are not connected with her case had urged the justices to take it up.
And one final point I'd make, and you know this very well, is that Ms. Maxwell is trying to negotiate with the Trump administration over some sort
of pardon or clemency and has already met with top Trump officials. So that -- that avenue may still remain open to her. But the Supreme Court shut
down any path that she would have with the country's highest court.
FOSTER: And interestingly, there were people who are very concerned about Epstein who wanted this case to go ahead because it might have potentially
release more information, more evidence that could be useful to understand how Epstein operated. Would that have been the case, or is that just
speculation?
FOSTER: Probably not in the Supreme Court venue because, you know, there are so many other investigations of exactly, you know, what were in his
logs, the Epstein tapes to so many other things that you have, you know, on the Hill and investigation.
[15:25:12]
You have lots of outside advocates trying to get information about the original negotiations down in Florida. But the discrete question that the
justices were being asked to take up is just how far does a non-prosecution deal extend?
So, I think it's unlikely that this Supreme Court case would have opened up more information that would have been critical to the victims. There is a
chance of that. I don't want to say that it wouldn't have happened, but especially given the way the justices approached their role as narrowly as
possible on the actual legal question. And in this case, they didn't want to take that legal question, which, frankly, is important for other
criminal defendants nationwide.
FOSTER: Okay. It's fascinating. Joan, thank you so much for bringing us your insight on that.
BISKUPIC: Sure. Thank you.
FOSTER: Still to come, the resignation heard around the world. We'll dive into France's worsening political crisis as President Macron runs out of
options.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:30:05]
FOSTER: Returning then to our top story, French Prime Minister Sebastien Lecornu resigns after just 27 days in the job. The unexpected move
deepening the political gridlock in the country and its budget woes as well. Lecornu blamed a lack of compromise for his government's collapse.
French President Emmanuel Macron now faces growing calls for fresh elections. We don't know is -- is France ungovernable right now or can Mr.
Macron hold on to power?
Joining us now is Antonio Fatas, professor of economics at the French business school INSEAD.
Thank you so much for joining us. Just on the politics before we move on to the economics -- I mean, what's the feeling? Because the market seem to
fall when we heard this of this latest resignation, which you would accept. But, as I understand it, there's a real sense that that tactic that Macron
keeps using by appointing new prime ministers just isn't working anymore. The priority is sorting out the budget and the politicians just don't have
the leadership needed for that.
ANTONIO FATAS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, INSEAD: Yeah. I mean, I think the current strategy has failed. It is really, really difficult for me to
understand why is it that he appointed a prime minister that chose a government that was very much in line with the previous one, given what had
happened to the previous one? The fact that now this government has failed so fast. I think this news, for all the political parties in the
opposition, that Macron is very weak.
And I'm not sure this creates more opportunities to negotiate or the other way around, more opportunities to try to create more chaos and hopefully
count on a future election to win more votes.
So yeah, I think we're coming to a point where something else has to be done.
FOSTER: Yeah. So, there are various options. He could call elections, but he's unlikely to do that because hell wholesale lose them. He might be
impeached, but parliament can't seem to agree on that. And then he might have to appoint another prime minister.
But the options seem to be running out. And at the same time, the finances are just getting worse and worse and worse, aren't they?
FATAS: Yeah, I think I mean, he could obviously try to stretch it by appointing new prime minister, continue negotiations, but my sense is that
some of the political parties, certainly on the left, if he were to choose that option, I think you will see a large amount of social unrest that will
for sure freak out markets even more.
So, I think you could have interest rates on French government debt going up even more than what we've seen today. So, I'm not sure whether that
strategy will last. So, I'm thinking that maybe new elections, even if a few weeks or a few months ago we thought it would not happen. It might be
that that's the only option available in the near term.
FOSTER: And at the moment, the right would win that, wouldn't they? And that would mean a completely different kind of budget being presented to
parliament, which presumably the left would disagree to.
FATAS: Yeah. And that's where everyone is being strategic here. They all try to exactly do the calculations you were doing a second ago. But these
calculations are complex and it could be that out of a chaotic environment where the left goes to the street, maybe, maybe they're counting on a lot
of support for their votes and maybe reversing what the polls say.
Of course, the right wing is not going to help because they ahead in the polls, so they're just waiting for those elections to be called. I mean,
the real person who's in trouble here is Macron, who will not find, at least in the short term, support for any form of government unless --
unless he was very lucky. And the socialist party somehow felt that the best strategy for them would be to find a coalition with Macron and the
other parties of the center right.
FOSTER: Is there anyone he could choose to satisfy parliament right now as prime minister?
FATAS: I mean, I think more than someone, I think what he would need to be able to do is offer something to the Socialist Party, and it has to be
something that is very visible. That citizens feel the Socialist Party clearly score a win. It cannot be sort of some technical changes that we do
to the budget here and there.
It has to be something related to the pension reform taking a step back, which of course does not Macron wants to do, maybe deal with the wealth tax
that is being proposed by the socialist party. It has to be something of that magnitude with the right person. Of course, being the new candidate
for prime minister. But I think at this point, it's about some serious change in policies.
FOSTER: How much of this is a problem that the whole of the West is suffering because most western governments seem to be running out of money?
FATAS: I think what France is going through is not that different from other countries. I feel bad for Macron and a little bit sort of like the
spotlight on him as we speak. I think France has been a little bit unluckier than other countries. Growth has been weaker than people thought.
Tax revenues have come short of what the government expected.
That has created a deficit which is certainly higher than other countries in Europe. But the situation is not that different. I think what makes
France situation so hard is that it's very difficult at this point to see a solution, to see a political solution, because otherwise one could imagine
a budget which might not be an ideal budget, that sort of puts the debt trajectory of France in a similar path that some other countries in Europe.
FOSTER: Professor Fatas, thank you so much for bringing us that. It's an impossible situation, isn't it? But we'll see what happens.
FATAS: Yeah, it is.
FOSTER: Now, it's the final moments of trade. On Wall Street, stocks relatively flat, actually. U.S. markets very close to finishing at an all-
time high, again, though. This is our business breakout. Brazil's government has asked his -- president rather has asked his U.S.
counterpart, Donald Trump, to lift the United States tariff on Brazilian goods. Luis Inacio Lula Da Silva held a phone call with Mr. Trump on
Monday. On Monday morning, the Brazilian government described the phone call as friendly.
OpenAI has announced a new partnership with chipmaker AMD. OpenAI is planning a new computing push at its data centers, which will now run
exclusively on AMD chips. Shares in AMD soared more than 30 percent.
Paramount has bought the newsletter startup the Free Press, and is installing its founder, Barry Weiss, as the top editor at CBS News. The
site is known for its focus on so-called anti-woke content and strong support for Israel. Weiss, who doesn't have any experience managing a TV
newsroom, will report directly to Paramount CEO David Ellison.
Now, Taylor Swift, in her showgirl era, has conquered both the album charts and the U.S. box office, incredibly.
(MUSIC)
FOSTER: Her 12th studio album, "The Life of a Showgirl", is sitting at number one on Apple Music. It also broke several Spotify records over the
weekend.
Meanwhile, the official release party of a showgirl raked in around $33 million at American cinemas, the only place where Swift's new album hasn't
achieved total domination is with critics. According to Metacritic, the album has an average score of 69 percent.
Lisa Respers France joins us now.
The critics are wrong, basically, aren't they? The numbers say it all.
LISA RESPERS FRANCE, CNN REPORTER: The numbers do say all. But I got to tell you, Max, some of her Swifties actually aren't loving this album
either. It feels almost like a little bit of a civil war has broken out among some of her fans, because some of them say that the writing is not up
to par. She's, of course, known as one of the premier songwriters in the industry.
Some people do not love the new music. They say it's not what they expected. They, you know, have had a lot of criticisms all over social
media. I've been listening to it the whole weekend.
But at the same time, Taylor Swift is an unstoppable force. This is a woman who literally can move economies. And, you know, some of the stats that you
rattled off super-duper impressive, not to mention the fact that, Max, this is a woman who sold over a million vinyl albums, like who is selling vinyl
like that in the age of streaming?
Absolutely no one, Max. So, you got to give Taylor Swift her props.
FOSTER: But that's what's interesting, isn't it? I think the vinyl is particularly interesting because it's the brand, isn't it? It's the person.
The person they identify with. Music isn't everything to do with that, is it? It's -- you can see why they want vinyl because they want that
connection to her. They want a physical thing. She's a brand that transcends music in many ways, and that's why the movie is doing well as
well, presumably.
FRANCE: Absolutely. And she's very smart to use the cinema in order to, you know, like further enhance her brand. Because when you're sitting there
and you're watching her talk about her music on the big screen, its super impressive. But it also feels very intimate, right? As you point out, the
vinyl is like something that people can hold.
That's the same thing with sitting in the movie theater and having Taylor say, oh, this song, you know, giving like a two minute introduction as to,
you know, this is why I wrote this song and this is what was happening behind the scenes. She's always had her superpower being that she connects
deeply with her fan base. And that's why the Swifties love her so much.
But that's also, Max, it was kind of shocking to see so many people be unhappy with this, because it feels like we've never been allowed to
criticize Taylor Swift before. So -- but here we are.
FOSTER: Yeah, we are. Lisa, thank you so much.
FRANCE: Thank you.
FOSTER: Still to come, tensions rise, both on the ground and in the courts as the legal standoff between the Trump administration and the state of
Illinois escalates.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:42:50]
FOSTER: Illinois's governor is accusing President Trump of intentionally stirring up violence in Chicago. It's the latest chapter in the showdown
between the Trump administration and the state of Illinois. As the president tries to deploy hundreds of federal troops to the streets of
Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS: Let me be clear: Donald Trump is using our service members as political props, and as pawns in his illegal effort
to militarize our nation's cities.
The state of Illinois is going to use every lever at our disposal to resist this power grab and get Noem's thugs the hell out of Chicago.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: CNN security correspondent Josh Campbell joins us now from Los Angeles.
I mean, all these court cases going on, aren't they? But what's actually happening on the ground? What can the White House press ahead with? What's
the impact?
JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, this legal battle is really erupting between the Trump administration and these Democratic-led
state officials, as you mentioned. This is all over the question of whether the U.S. president can actually send in members of the military to the
streets of a city. What it comes down within the law is, is there some type of rebellion or serious violent action that the president is trying to
quell? That's what these courts are now going to be taking up.
As you mentioned there in Chicago, the officials filed a new federal lawsuit today trying to bar members of the National Guard from going into
the city of Chicago. As far as what is happening on the ground, we have seen at particularly one ICE detention facility, an immigration enforcement
facility. There have been protests for several weeks, some of them turning violent in the evening as some of the demonstrators will clash with law
enforcement over the Trump administration's surge in immigration enforcement across the country.
But officials are saying they don't think that that rises to the level to actually trying to bring in the U.S. military. The local officials there
are saying.
I'll shift gears here, too, to the city of Portland, in the state of Oregon, where a very similar situation is playing out, similar to what
we're seeing in Chicago. Just last night, this is really interesting. A federal judge who was previously appointed by Donald Trump actually issued
a temporary order barring the Trump administration from sending any military into Portland, Oregon.
[15:45:07]
And so, we're waiting to see how that will play out in the higher courts, as the Trump administration appeals.
And it's worth pointing out, too, that what we're hearing from law enforcement officials, many in Portland as well as Chicago, is that they
don't think that this type of military force is needed.
Our colleague Kaitlan Collins spoke with the city police chief in Portland. Here's what he had to say about the possible deployment of troops to his
city.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Do you believe having them there is necessary? Do you need them there?
BOB DAY, PORTLAND POLICE CHIEF: No. Just as you highlighted a moment ago. You know, we're talking about one city block in 145 square miles. Certainly
been some challenges down at the facility. We're not tolerating violence or vandalism, illegal behavior. But we also are huge proponents of free
speech. And for people to be able to travel freely and safely about the city.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMPBELL: So the easiest way to think about this is that there's obviously the legal battle that's playing out, but very much a political battle of
words as well, between the Democrats and the Trump administration officials. Again, everyone is waiting to see what the judges, what the
judiciary will actually do as far as these military deployments that will obviously pave the way for possible troops on the streets of the U.S., or
they may block them all together. We certainly waiting to see, Max.
FOSTER: Okay, Josh, thanks so much.
Still to come, rescue teams are racing to save hundreds still stranded near Mount Everest after a blizzard. But it could take several days to reach
them. I'll speak to an experienced mountain climber for you next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
FOSTER: Hundreds of climbers await rescue near Mount Everest after a blizzard struck close to the eastern face of the world's highest peak in
Tibet over the weekend, rescue teams have already guided some 350 hikers to safety. But an expedition leader says it could take up to a week for
rescuers to reach more than 200 people still stranded.
Will Ripley has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Freezing winds, chest high snow drifts, almost zero visibility, hundreds of trekkers caught in
really brutal conditions on Mount Everest right now. A powerful blizzard swept across the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Many people were stranded
outside for hours or even days, with temperatures plunging like that.
Hypothermia is a real risk. The storm buried trails. It cut off escape routes in a remote valley on the eastern flank of Everest.
[15:50:02]
The rescue effort has been slow. It's been dangerous that part of Everest is much harder to reach than the north face, which is also in Tibet, but it
has a paved road leading almost all the way to base camp.
Teams of villagers and emergency crews have been mobilized to dig through the deep snow and help guide people down the mountain by hand. All the
trekkers are now believed to be accounted for. Groups were being brought to safety in stages. Many are finally on lower ground.
They're getting warm meals, they're getting medical checks, and they're getting a chance to recover the blizzard hit during China's National Day
holiday, when trekking traffic peaks. October is usually one of the safest and most predictable months for trekking, cooler temperatures, clearer
skies and far less risk of heavy storms once the monsoon ends.
But this time, snow, rain, thunder and lightning all arrived at once. Further south in Nepal, the same weather system triggered deadly landslides
and flash floods. Roads and bridges were washed away and dozens of people died. Officials are still assessing the full impact of the storm on
Everest.
Conditions do remain severe nature, of course, always calls the shots on the world's highest mountain. The weather decides when and how people come
down.
Will Ripley, CNN, Taipei.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: So, we want to know is why are so many people getting trapped near Everest?
Joining me now is Alan Arnette, a climber and mountaineering coach.
Thank you so much for joining us.
And just wanted to first mention the numbers, the sheer number of people up there, which might surprise some people.
ALAN ARNETTE, CLIMBER WHO HAS SUMMITED MT. EVEREST FOUR TIMES: Well, you know, they're actually not on Mount Everest proper. China actually caps the
number of people that get permits to Climb Everest, and they really only allow climbing in the spring. They cap it at 300 people.
So, the reports you're hearing of a thousand people stranded on Mount Everest is slightly inaccurate. It's more like 500 people near Mount
Everest.
FOSTER: And you know, what do you understand the situation to be? They were gathering somewhere, and then the storm came in?
ARNETTE: Well, they were trekking. It's very popular to go trek at this time of year. As your correspondent said that this is a national holiday
week in China, and there's a paved road from Beijing. Actually, there's a bullet train from Beijing to Lhasa and a paved road from Lhasa to that
Everest base camp area.
Now, beyond that, you have to actually climb the mountain itself and be a mountain climber in order to go up the mountain. These are simply people
that are enjoying hiking and trekking and camping in the area and taking in the astounding views of Mount Everest from the Tibet side.
FOSTER: Presumably they would have had to plan for an event like this. You know, the rescue team is going to be a hugely expensive operation, isn't
it? What's -- what's the usual plan?
ARNETTE: Yeah. You know, that's something that, because of the -- just the surprise nature of this, this event a lot of people, they were expecting to
have fairly mild temperatures and certainly not a blizzard or torrential rain. So, they probably were not as prepared as they would have been for
example, if they were actually going to go climb the mountain, if they're going to be trekking, then they can do it in lightweight clothing and not
really worry about hypothermia.
But in this case, they had temperatures well below zero Fahrenheit, extreme brutal winds. And so were getting reports of hypothermia, frostbite and
other cold related illnesses in health problems. So, in order to be prepared for that, you know, you've really got to understand, what mountain
terrain will bring.
And so that also goes the same thing for the for the rescue teams that they -- they're in the same peril. And a lot of these roads and bridges have
been washed out. And so that's why the 250 people, while accounted for, may not be, may not be able to reach them until the four or five feet of snow
melts.
FOSTER: Yeah, our thoughts are with them because as long it goes on as you say, the more difficult it is for them. But obviously, they're very well-
practiced in this, aren't they, in the area? How does a rescue operation work? Is it just an experienced climber goes up and leads people down? Or
how does it actually work?
ARNETTE: So, remember, they're like in the foothills. They're around 16,000 feet. Everest base camp on the north side is at 17,000 feet. So,
they're really not on the mountain proper. So, but they are in hilly terrain. And as I said, there's, you know, there's gullies and there's
rivers and streams and bridges that have been washed out.
So they've got to be able to navigate all of that. And then you complicate the entire situation by having three, four, five feet of fresh, heavy, wet
snow. And that's going to slow everything down. It'll make some of the roads impassable.
So they're going to have to use either machines. Normally, China does not allow helicopters to be used because of military considerations, but they
may use drones in order to locate everybody and then provide maybe drop food to them and some type of medical assistance until they can actually
physically reach them and then assist them to get to the connection points near the village of Tingri.
FOSTER: Yeah, it's a big mission, isn't it?
Alan Arnette, thank you for your insights on that one.
Finally, tonight, Paris may be suffering with political turmoil, but it still knows how to attract a celebrity or two. Meghan Markle, the duchess
of Sussex, made a surprise appearance at Paris fashion week over the weekend in her first visit to the event, she attended the Balenciaga show,
where she wore a white outfit, as you can see, with a cape, before changing to a black number later on. Both outfits were designed by that designer,
the new creative director there. Anne Hathaway, Kristin Scott Thomas, were amongst the other attendees.
And a legend in the literary world. Jilly Cooper has died at the age of 88. Her 1980s books, known for their sex and satire, became bestsellers here in
the U.K., selling millions of copies. Just last year, her novel rivals found a new host of fans after it was made into a series by Disney.
I'm Max Foster. That's WHAT WE KNOW.
"QUEST MEANS BUSINESS" is next.
END
TO ORDER VIDEOTAPES AND TRANSCRIPTS OF CNN INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMMING, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS
