00:01Tennessee tried twice to execute her. She survived both times.
00:05She was still breathing at the end, was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around at
00:11one point.
00:11Now the governor is halting execution statewide. Plus, a flight to Israel plunges thousands of feet after violence erupts in
00:19the cockpit.
00:20How the plane gets down safely with both pilots injured.
00:23And Ken Paxton caught on tape saying that midterm convention hurt his campaign.
00:29What he said privately and how Trump is responding.
00:33The stories that matter, the facts you can trust from across the country to around the world.
00:42This is unbiased updates from straight arrow.
00:46Hey everybody, I'm Christian Bryant. Hope your Thursday is off to a great start.
00:50Let's get you caught up and ready for the day ahead. Tennessee tried twice to execute Krista Pike last night.
00:56She survived both attempts.
00:58And this morning, the governor has halted executions in the state and wants to know what went wrong.
01:0350-year-old convicted murderer Krista Pike is alive and in the hospital this morning after the state administered two
01:10doses of Pintobarbital and still could not execute her.
01:14And that was the end of an already chaotic day.
01:16Just an hour before Pike was originally scheduled to die, a federal appeals court stopped the execution.
01:23Hours later, the Supreme Court cleared the way for it to go forward.
01:27Then came an execution that witnesses say was like nothing they'd seen before.
01:32A warning, some of this is difficult to hear.
01:35Basically, all I have to say is they went through two rounds and she was still breathing at the end.
01:40It was very ragged. She lifted her head up and was looking around at one point.
01:45She said that there was a spot that was burning and hurting and asked if that was normal.
01:54None of it was normal. I covered all the executions last year and most of the ones this year.
02:01We haven't seen anything like it.
02:02And this isn't Tennessee's first failed execution this year.
02:06In May, the state called off another after the execution team spent more than an hour trying and failing to
02:13establish an IV line.
02:14Now, Governor Bill Lee has called off the state's only remaining execution this year and ordered a review to determine
02:21what happened.
02:22And there's a big question for that review.
02:25Tennessee's protocol provides for a second set of drugs if the first doesn't kill the inmate.
02:30It doesn't say what to do if the inmate is still alive after the second.
02:34The Tennessee Department of Corrections says it followed every step of its execution protocol.
02:41The passengers from that Fly Dubai flight are back in Israel this morning after a mid-air attack that sent
02:47their plane into a terrifying dive.
02:49Israeli officials say the co-pilot stabbed the captain then tried to crash the plane.
02:55Video from inside the cabin shows the aftermath.
02:57Injured men on the floor, blood on their clothes, as passengers and crew rushed to help.
03:03The plane was headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv with more than 170 people on board when it suddenly dropped
03:09thousands of feet.
03:10Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the co-pilot stabbed the captain and apparently tried to bring the plane down.
03:17That's when passengers and crew forced their way into the cockpit and overpowered him.
03:22Here's how a passenger described how it all went down.
03:25After two hours, we were crossing the Jordanian border and suddenly the aircraft started to fall down like a massive
03:36turbulence.
03:37Then we saw that in front of, we were sitting on the back and we saw some people running for
03:43the front.
03:44Apparently one of the pilots stabbed the other one and they were fighting I don't know what.
03:50And a crew member and passenger took over, got into the cockpit and took over the pilots.
04:00And the third pilot that was outside the cockpit got in and took over the control.
04:05One of the passengers who helped subdue the co-pilot says four of them worked together to get control of
04:11the situation.
04:12Netanyahu met him after the group arrived back in Israel, still wearing the blood-stained shirt from the flight.
04:18Flight tracking data shows just how violent that descent was.
04:23The plane fell from about 33,000 feet to 17,000 feet in roughly a minute before the crew recovered
04:30and diverted to Tabuk, Saudi Arabia.
04:32Both pilots were taken to the hospital.
04:35The captain, who was seriously injured, is being credited with fighting back and helping open the cockpit door so others
04:41could get inside.
04:42A replacement Fly Dubai plane finally brought the passengers to Tel Aviv more than 10 hours later, where families were
04:49waiting.
04:49What we still don't know this morning is why this happened.
04:54The suspected attacker was arrested in Saudi Arabia and authorities are investigating his motive.
04:59Fly Dubai says that part remains unknown and is warning against speculation while the investigation continues.
05:07Days after President Trump publicly rejected Iran's latest proposal to end the war, Tehran says it has now received his
05:14official answer.
05:15And as diplomacy stalls, Trump is again threatening to escalate.
05:20Iranian state media says Foreign Minister Abbas Arangchi presented the U.S. response to President Massoud Pazeshkin and his cabinet.
05:28Iran hasn't revealed what it says, but Trump already made his position public Saturday, rejecting Tehran's proposal to reopen the
05:36Strait of Hormuz and move toward ending the war.
05:39The plan called for the U.S. to lift its naval blockade, ease oil sanctions and meet other conditions in
05:46exchange.
05:47Arangchi delivered the response after returning from the U.N. General Assembly in New York.
05:52And we've now learned his trip ended earlier than planned, after Secretary of State Marco Rubio ordered the Iranian delegation
05:58to leave the U.S. by early Tuesday.
06:01Then, Wednesday, Trump was asked what happens next. His answer? Make a deal or possibly attack.
06:09Maybe you blow him up. Maybe you blow him up. We have to make that decision. We blow him up.
06:17We make a deal. But the time is coming. It's going to end very soon one way or the other.
06:22And as that war continues, the Pentagon is already looking at how the next one could be fought.
06:27Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has announced Project Meridian, a new effort to study the future of warfare, with Elon Musk
06:34and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich among those helping lead it.
06:38Project Meridian, the future of warfare, is not about developing new strategies or new policies. We already do that.
06:46Rather, its purpose is to creatively look to the future and identify the domains that we must conquer and capabilities
06:54we must master.
06:56We should have been thinking about Autonomous Warfare Command 10 years ago. We need to be looking forward into the
07:02future to achieve technological and military dominance on the battlefield for decades to come.
07:08Hegseth also announced a new four-star command to oversee the military's expansion of drone and autonomous warfare, part of
07:16what he's calling the fastest peacetime shift in modern military history.
07:20The last U.S. troops have now left Iraq, ending a 12-year military mission against ISIS and closing another
07:28chapter in more than two decades of American involvement there.
07:32The final troops and equipment pulled out of an air base in northern Iraq Wednesday.
07:36The Pentagon calls it an orderly departure and says Iraqi forces will now take the lead on the country's security,
07:44including what's left of ISIS and Iran-backed militias.
07:47The U.S. isn't leaving the region, though. Those forces have relocated to Jordan, where the counter-ISIS mission will
07:54continue with a focus on Syria.
07:56It's been a long time with very bad decision making that got us involved in this quagmire.
08:04In the first place, it was a quagmire. Many, many years it lasted. But soon that part of history will
08:13be over.
08:13This is a great day for America, and importantly, we leave with Iraq, having a wonderful new Prime Minister, Ali
08:21al-Zaidi. Fantastic guy, friend of mine.
08:26Iraq's Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi is calling the withdrawal the start of a new phase, with Iraqi forces now
08:32responsible for the fight against ISIS and security inside the country.
08:36Iraqi troops marked the departure with a military parade in Baghdad.
08:41But there is real concern in northern Iraq about what happens next.
08:45Kurdish officials say the region has faced more than a thousand drone and ballistic missile attacks during the U.S.
08:52war with Iran,
08:52and they're especially worried about losing American air defense systems.
08:57There's also the question of Iran-backed militias.
09:00Iraq planned to have those groups disarmed by the time the U.S. troops left.
09:03Some of the most powerful have refused, and that deadline is now June of next year.
09:09The timing here is hard to miss.
09:12American troops are out of Iraq while the U.S. remains at war with Iran, which has long-backed armed
09:18groups inside Iraq.
09:20Ken Paxton has been one of President Trump's most loyal allies, and Trump has put his weight behind Paxton's Senate
09:27campaign in Texas.
09:28But in a new private recording, Paxton says one of Trump's big midterm events actually hurt him.
09:35In audio obtained by the New York Times, Paxton is asked about the impact of the RNC's midterm convention in
09:41Texas earlier in September.
09:43His answer was pretty direct.
09:45Quote,
09:46When we did that convention, it dropped our numbers.
09:49Everybody's numbers dropped.
09:51Paxton's campaign is pushing back hard, calling the Times reporting,
09:55manipulated nonsense, and saying its own latest polling shows his numbers have actually improved since the convention.
10:02And when Trump was asked about Paxton's comments Wednesday, he didn't exactly engage with the criticism.
10:07Instead, he defended the convention and pointed to its viewership.
10:12Well, I haven't heard that, but I can tell you that the convention was amazing, as you probably know.
10:17We had 107 million views.
10:19Think of it.
10:20We had over 100 million views, I think 107.
10:24The NFL had 25 million views.
10:27So we had four times what the NFL did.
10:30And, you know, it's possible that could be true.
10:33I don't know if it's possible, but other people were helped greatly.
10:36The convention dubbed Trumpapalooza was something new for the RNC.
10:41The party doesn't normally hold a national convention during a midterm year.
10:45And Paxton doesn't have much room to lose support.
10:48Several recent polls have shown Democrat James Tallarico ahead, including a mayor's poll last week that had him up six.
10:56Finally this morning, we're getting our first up-close look at one of Zoo Atlanta's new giant pandas as they
11:02settle into their new home.
11:04The zoo says Ping Ping and Fu Shuang — that's Fu Shuang right there, very busy with some bamboo —
11:10aren't quite ready to meet the public yet, but soon.
11:14America's two new sweethearts arrived Sunday aboard the FedEx Panda Express, part of a new agreement between Zoo Atlanta and
11:21the China Wildlife Conservation Association.
11:23Atlanta is now one of only three zoos in the U.S. with giant pandas, joining San Diego and the
11:30Smithsonian's National Zoo in Washington.
11:32China has long used these loans as a form of panda diplomacy, building ties with other countries and sometimes letting
11:40those agreements lapse when relations cool.
11:42But Atlanta's got these two for a while.
11:46Ping Ping and Fu Shuang are expected to call Zoo Atlanta home for the next 10 years.
11:52Before we head out, here's what we're tracking today.
11:54Just after 11 Eastern, four astronauts lift off aboard SpaceX's Dragon headed to the International Space Station for a long
12:03-duration science mission.
12:04At one, Vice President J.D. Vance campaigns in Lakeland, Florida, with the midterms now just weeks away.
12:11Then, President Trump heads to Texas, visiting a Peterbilt plant in Denton at four.
12:16And tonight, Trump headlines a midterm rally in Durant, Oklahoma.
12:20And hey, later today, a new episode of Offscript.
12:24It's our new podcast where we talk to the Straight Arrow reporters behind the stories.
12:28This week, politicians on both sides quietly rewriting their message just weeks before the midterms.
12:34And AI bots stealing real comedians' jokes.
12:38Yeah, not cool and not funny.
12:41I'll host Offscript later today on san.com and the Straight Arrow app.
12:45Do you have a question or comment for us at Unbiased Updates?
12:49Email me and the team, unbiasedupdates at san.com.
12:53We read them and we love hearing from you.
12:56Okay, folks, that's Unbiased Updates for this Thursday.
12:59We'll see you back here tomorrow on Friday for the Unbiased Updates team and all of us here at Straight
13:05Arrow.
13:05I'm Christian Bryant.
13:06Have a great one.
13:07We'll see you again soon.
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