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WH: "Unilaterally Bombing Inside Qatar Does Not Advance Israel's Or America's Goal," But Eliminating Hamas Is "Is a Worthy Goal"; WH: Trump "Disagrees With The Location" Of Israel's Attack In Qatar, Passed On His Thoughts To Israeli PM Netanyahu; Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) Discusses About Israel Strike On Hamas In Doha, Qatar; RFK Jr. Releases "Make Our Children Healthy Again" Report. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired September 09, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

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[15:01:29]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Breaking news, Israel attacks Hamas negotiators in Doha, Qatar. Officials there are calling it a criminal assault. The White House says the strike goes against the President's objectives in the region, and serious concerns are being raised about what it could mean for Israeli hostages.

Plus, record revision, U.S. job growth was just revised down by nearly one million jobs. The White House says it shows President Trump inherited a much worse economy than what was reported.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Boris Sanchez President Trump administration releasing its Make Our Children Healthy Again report, the four factors they say are behind a rise in chronic childhood disease and what they plan to do about it.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: Right now, we're following some new developments after Israel launched an attack targeting Hamas senior leadership and negotiators in Qatar. In its first comment since the attack, the White House says the strikes run counter to President Trump's goal of achieving peace in Gaza. Here's more from White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: This morning, the Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which very unfortunately was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar. Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace, does not advance Israel or America's goals.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: CNN National Security Correspondent Kylie Atwood joining us now.

Kylie, really interesting. You hear Karoline Leavitt there distancing the U.S. from Israel, even as how it was notified about what was happening.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, saying that the Trump administration found out about this this morning from the U.S. Military. And then when asked in this briefing if it was the Israelis who gave the U.S. Military a tip that it was coming, she didn't answer that question. So, what we don't know is if the Israelis told the U.S. Military or if it was gathered on movements in the region that the U.S. Military picked up. We'll continue reporting on that point.

But when it comes to this strike that was carried out, this dramatic strike on the grounds of a U.S. ally in Doha, she neither criticized it nor completely condoned it. As you guys played in that clip there, she said that to the Trump administration's perspective, this attack doesn't advance the U.S. goals or the Israeli goals, but also that eliminating Hamas is a worthy goal and that Trump wants peace.

It's clear that the White House is trying to hold on to any possibility of advancing efforts to try and strike a deal to end the war in Gaza. But realistically, after this moment today, just how likely that is remains a very open question, particularly after we're hearing from Hamas that there were five members of Hamas who were killed in this strike. Among them was the chief negotiator's son.

So, imagining that chief negotiator, who is still alive today, coming back to the table more willing to make a deal is very hard to imagine.

KEILAR: Yes, certainly. And we should note, Qatari officials have just said that they are soon going to hold a press availability, so we'll be looking for that to see what they say. It will be very interesting.

Kylie, thank you so much for that.

Let's go now to CNN's Jeremy Diamond, who is in Jerusalem.

[15:05:04]

Jeremy, what's Israel saying now?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we heard from the Israeli prime minister tonight. In fact, it was at a U.S. embassy event, and the prime minister said that he had promised in the early days of the war that he would strike at all Hamas leaders who he felt were responsible for perpetrating the October 7th massacre on Israel. And he said that today he kept that promise.

That may have been somewhat of a premature victory lap from the Israeli prime minister, though, as we have now heard from Hamas directly, insisting that this Israeli effort to kill its leaders in the Qatari capital of Doha has failed. Hamas saying that five individuals, including the son of Hamas' chief negotiator, were killed in this strike, but that none of Hamas' senior leaders, who were the targets of the strike, including that chief negotiator, Khalil al- Hayya, had been killed in this Israeli strike.

That doesn't mean that the potential damage to negotiations going forward hasn't been done. Of course, the question was, how does Israel keep negotiating once it's killed the chief negotiator going forward? Now, the question will shift instead to what the impact will be on that chief negotiator, on the negotiations between these two sides, and critically, to the role that Qatar, which has been the key mediator in these negotiations for nearly two years now, how will they continue to be involved? Will they continue to be involved now that their sovereignty has been violated in this way by the Israeli government?

Now, it's important to note that Qatar is, of course, a key U.S. ally. Israel insisted that it acted alone. It did, however, notify the United States, who then notified the Qataris ahead of this. But there's no question that this is a strike that's going to have far- reaching implications, even if, indeed, it was a failure, as Hamas is stating that it was. Brianna.

KEILAR: All right. Jeremy Diamond, thank you. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Joining us now to discuss is Republican Congressman from Nebraska Don Bacon. He serves on the House Armed Services Committee.

Congressman Bacon, thank you so much for being with us.

What is your reaction to this Israeli attack in Qatar?

REP. DON BACON (R-NE): Well, I hate to see the escalation. I've lived in Doha. I flew out of Doha during the invasion of Iraq. And we've worked very closely with our Qatari friends with Iraq and Afghanistan. But, you know, that said, this is total war. Israel was attacked on 7 October, 1,200 people murdered, massacred. And Hamas still has hostages from that day almost two years ago. And Israel's going to kill, when they can and where they can, every Hamas leader until they lay down their arms and give up the hostages. And that's just a fact of life.

If we were in the Israeli shoes, most of us would likely do the same thing. They still have hostages in Gaza that they're holding from almost two years ago. And so, this is war. I hate to see it. I hate to see it involve an ally of ours as well.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, if Israel has eliminated Hamas negotiators and they've angered the mediators in Qatar, does that not potentially endanger the lives of the hostages that are still being held in Gaza?

BACON: Well, those lives have been endangered every day for two years. Some of them were killed. There's approximately 20 that are left. There is a threat, but there's a threat of doing nothing and having these poor hostages stay there for another year, two years. We don't know who - how long. The Israelis want to end this. And the best way is to take the war to Hamas. And eventually you're going to have to convince them this war is unwinnable, release the hostages.

But in the meantime, Israel is going to continue to go after Hamas leadership wherever they're at, anywhere in the world. And if we were in their shoes, we would likely do the very same thing while they hold these hostages. It's ugly. I don't like it, but it's reality.

SANCHEZ: Is this effectively the end of negotiations for a ceasefire and hostage exchange deal?

BACON: It may be, but we've been - they've been negotiating for two years. And we just saw recently, Hamas rejected all the proposals coming from America. So, I - my take is Hamas has been playing along Israel and the United States, meanwhile, still holding approximately 20 hostages. And so, I don't think there's a really good ending here, other than Israel is going to keep taking the war to these Hamas leadership until they give up these hostages.

If Hamas was willing to make the peace and negotiate, they would have already done it. But this has been going on for two years, roughly.

SANCHEZ: Yes. On the broader view for Israel's plans, it's moving ahead with this planned takeover of Gaza City.

[15:09:58]

It's also apparently considering annexing parts of the West Bank, it's something that the United Arab Emirates have said would effectively dissolve the Abraham Accords, that the first Trump administration negotiated. What do you think is the U.S. role in all of this? How far do you think President Trump should let Netanyahu go with his plans?

BACON: You know, the President offered a pretty good peace plan four years ago, in his first administration. Again, it was rejected by the Palestinians. And so, we've got to find Palestinian leaders who are willing to make peace with Israel, who's willing to say, yes, Israel can exist as a Jewish state. And if that - if we find someone like that, we will end up having a two-state solution.

But right now, there's no leadership in the Palestinian areas that are willing to make peace with Israel, or at least make peace with the Jewish state of Israel. And so, that's the quandary. If we could find leaders that really want peace, I think that peace could occur. And that's - and we need to be finding leadership as part of the role of the United States that's willing to do that. But until - right now, nobody will acknowledge Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state from the Palestinian side and that's a problem.

And that's a problem that I don't see how Israel could cross that bridge and make something good out of it.

SANCHEZ: I guess the counterargument, or a skeptic, might say that it will likely be impossible for there to be some Palestinian voice that would agree to Israel's demands when the IDF is accused of war crimes, when there's a number of international organizations that have declared what's happening in Gaza to be a famine, when 10s of thousands of civilians have reportedly been killed. I mean, aren't you skeptical that some alternative to Hamas is going to be found in the immediate future? BACON: Well, I keep thinking it gets worse. It keeps escalating on

both sides. Talk about war crimes. You watch the tapes on 7th of October, and that's what's fueling all of this with the 1,200 Israelis that were murdered, raped, tortured. We saw it. And I would point out that the Israelis have - there's long lines of food trucks trying to get into Gaza, but how to get that food to the refugees, and how to do it without the Hamas being the intermediary.

What we do know, Hamas is eating pretty well, but they're preventing the food from getting to the people. We also know the hostages that Hamas have, they're starving to death. That food's not getting to them at all. This is a tough war. It's a total war. It started on 7th of October, maybe some would say beforehand. But until Hamas releases those hostages, there will be no peace.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I also want to ask you about another bit of foreign policy, specifically in Europe. The administration has planned to halt security assistance to certain European allies, specifically Baltic states that border Russia. What is your response to that? Why are these funds being cut?

BACON: For no good reason. It's not a wise policy. Me and a lot of Republicans are angry about this. We know that the Baltic states are some of our closest allies. No one likes America more than the Baltic states. They're spending more on defense per GDP than we are. They love freedom. They love democracy. Every single person in the Baltics, every one of their families, somebody that was shot by the Russians or sent to Siberia, they know the threat of Russia. We need to stand by them.

We know the undersecretary, Elbridge Colby, is behind this in the Pentagon. I reject it. He is leading the administration down a terrible path. It's going to be a black chapter in history if he has his way. When they read about Chamberlain in England appeasing Hitler and giving up Czechoslovakia, this is the equivalent of the decisions being made by folks in the Pentagon right now. We have to resist it.

The Republicans need to stand up and oppose this. And we want to tell the President that you're being ill-served by leaders within the DOD right now. So, I'm going to - we're going to fight and make the case for keeping funding for the Baltic Security Initiative, but also to ensure that our friends in Ukraine receive the weapons they need, that we do the sanctions against Russia. Ukraine's fighting for freedom, democracy, rule of law. This President better be on the right side, and he's not there yet. He needs to get on the right side. He's got people in his administration pulling the wrong way, and it's time for fellow Republicans like me to be calling these guys out.

SANCHEZ: Congressman, I also want to ask you about the Epstein birthday book, because you told my colleague Manu Raju that it's unlikely Trump's signature on that letter was forged, though you did say that anything is possible. If it is likely that this was Trump, and he's referenced in other parts of this book, would you support further congressional inquiry into this friendship between President Trump and Jeffrey Epstein?

[15:15:06]

BACON: Of course, I wasn't there who knows the truth? But this is what it appears to me, from being from the outside, a guy from Nebraska. The President had a relationship with Epstein, and what I understand is once he realized Mr. Epstein was doing terrible things with underage women, he kicked him out of Mar-a-Lago and broke that friendship off. I have no doubt that there was birthday cards. This is probably his card. I believe it's likely the case.

It doesn't mean the President was behind all this other nefarious activity, but I'm for all the information coming out in the open, everything. And by the way, the investigation is being done right now by our Oversight Committee. How did this get out? It wasn't because of the discharge petition, it was because the oversight committee is working this right now. I have had a personal conversation with the Chairman, Chairman Comer. I know he is dedicated to getting all the information out there. The only thing he wants to mask is the victims' names.

And so, I think he's going to do a good job on this. We don't need a discharge petition to do what we're already doing, and we're doing it right now. By the way, if we voted on a discharge petition, it still has to pass the Senate, and the President still has to sign it. We're taking action right now, and for - being transparent, get all the information and make it public.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Don Bacon, we have to leave the conversation there. Appreciate your time, sir.

BACON: Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Still to come, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has promised to make children healthy again, and he's now revealing how he plans to do it.

Plus, South Korea's president speaking out after an immigration raid in Georgia leaves hundreds of South Korean nationals detained. That and much more coming your way in just moments.

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SANCHEZ: Just days after a heated hearing on Capitol Hill, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is now revealing more of the Trump administration's plans to improve the health of American children. These are actually live images of the secretary right now who is calling these findings the, quote, "make our children healthy again report." And while it does include mentions of vaccines and ultra processed foods, it stops short of taking major action, at least for now.

Let's get more from CNN Medical Correspondent Meg Tirrell.

Meg, what's in this report? MEG TIRRELL, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, this follows on

the report that we got in May where the Trump administration and - led by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. laid out what they saw as the four key drivers of rising chronic disease rates in children. And they reiterated those now. They say their poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and chronic stress and what they call, quote, over medicalization.

Now, there are a lot of things in this report, recommendations to start new research initiatives, things like working with industry more, things like the dietary guidelines, which are going to be updated soon. And they hinted they may, you know, replace the membership on that advisory committee, as they've done with so many other advisory committees.

As you noted, there is a focus on familiar RFK Jr. topics like vaccines and fluoride, as well as ultra processed foods. But as you noted, there's a lot of focus on sort of research and forward-looking things and not a lot of immediate regulatory action.

SANCHEZ: So, Meg, what has been the response to this report so far?

TIRRELL: Well, there's been criticism. I mean, there was a draft of this that came out that we obtained a few weeks ago along with other folks. And there was reaction to that, that the report didn't go far enough on things like ultra processed foods and on pesticides. Pesticides in particular is a key focus of groups like the Environmental Working Group who're saying this does not go far enough, another thing that they're saying again today.

Here's something that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said just now in this press conference around trying to balance all of the interests going into a report like this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HHS SECRETARY: All of us are aligned. All of us are balancing complex issues. With many, many diverse stakeholders, we're looking at economic impacts and health impacts and environmental impacts. And we're trying to make a policy that is going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TIRRELL: Now, fielding some criticism that perhaps balancing all of those interests is leading to a bit of a watered-down policy, particularly when it comes to things like pesticides, guys.

SANCHEZ: Meg Tirrell, thank you so much. Brianna.

KEILAR: Let's talk about this now with Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez, a primary care pediatrician at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Doctor, thank you so much for being with us. This report states that HHS will assemble a working group of federal officials to evaluate SSRIs, Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor prescribing patterns. Those are common antidepressants specifically used among children. That's what they're going to be looking at here. What could that evaluation look like?

DR. EDITH BRACHO-SANCHEZ, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY IRVING MEDICAL CENTER: Brianna, I am so glad that there is a strategy being outlined, and I think that we all agree that we have to do something about mental health, including depression and anxiety in kids and teens in general. And that is what SSRIs are treating, right?

I do worry, however, that there are some contradictions here. We're talking about looking at prescription guidelines. We're talking about funding additional research at the same time that this administration is cutting research funding to many long-established career scientists that have looked into some of these problems.

[15:25:01]

So, I am not sure. We're not clear. I just finished reading the report. I have it right here. It doesn't say exactly how they are going to assess SSRIs. It doesn't say how they're going to assess other medications like ADHD medication. So, there's still a lot of questions here. And I worry about how exactly they're going to do this at the same time they're cutting research funding.

KEILAR: So, you're basically saying they're talking about doing stuff that they eliminated the funding to do.

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Correct. And I think that has been the concern of many of us ever since May when they first started talking about this is there's a lot of talk about things that they will do, not a lot of talk about how they're going to do it. And at the same time, they're contradicting themselves and cutting funding for research, cutting safety net programs like Medicaid and SNAP funding, which we know that benefits many families who need it. So, I don't know. Does that really make families healthy? I don't think so (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: So, the report notes what we already know, which is that HHS, NIH and CMS are studying the causes of autism. And Kennedy had previously promised some answers on the root causes in September. Do we know anything more about what exactly they'll study there?

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: We don't, Brianna. And we know that unfortunately, Secretary Kennedy has pointed to vaccines as a potential cause for autism. He has pointed to allegedly a report coming out soon. We have not yet seen this. But the talk is that there will be a report linking potentially Tylenol to autism. We have yet to see exactly what he's going to link and suggest as causes for autism.

In the meantime, the concern is that we continue to shed doubt, right, that we're casting doubt on vaccines, that we're casting doubt on medications that so far are believed to be safe in pregnancy, while we're trying to figure out exactly what his team is going to say about autism.

KEILAR: So, you've read through this. What did you think about the pesticide language in the report? BRACHO-SANCHEZ: I mean, Brianna, I have to tell you, I'm glad that

they're addressing pesticides. I'm glad that they're laying out some of this. I, again, agree with many experts who have already weighed in that it doesn't necessarily go far enough. But, again, I just - the big key takeaway for me is that we have a lot of common goals, right, this administration and many pediatricians. Of course, we want healthier food. Of course, we want to improve mental health. Of course, we want to improve breastfeeding rates, fertility rates. The question is how, how this is going to be done at the same time that we're cutting funding for safety net programs for research.

So, yes, I want to see some of this language go farther. And while we're talking about language, I also want to see some of the language on the food industry go farther. There's a lot of and I highlighted it right here. We're talking - just to give you an example, Brianna, we're talking about direct marketing of foods to children, um, right? And they're talking about we'll explore the development of potential industry guidelines. They're not saying we will develop industry guidelines for some of these things. They're talking about exploring the development of potential.

There's a lot of this type of language in this report. Brianna, I have more questions after reading it than I had before. That's my takeaway.

KEILAR: Yes, it's not what we'd call active language, right? It's sort of softened there. Dr. Edith Bracho-Sanchez ...

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Correct. Correct.

KEILAR: ... super helpful to get your perspective. Thank you so much.

BRACHO-SANCHEZ: Thank you.

KEILAR: Ahead, the story of Cuban-American - of a Cuban-American business owner working to change his community one cafecito at a time.

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