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Israel Officials: U.S. Puts Forward New Ceasefire Principles; Trump Says He Will Speak to Putin 'Very Soon'; Erin Patterson Sentenced to Life in Prison for Death Cap Mushroom Killings; Fugitive Father Presumed Dead after Shootout in New Zealand; Democrats Say Trump's Crackdowns are Politically Motivated. Aired 12-12:45a ET
Aired September 08, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR: Hi, I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York. And here's what's ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM.
[00:00:31]
President Donald Trump issuing what he says is his final warning to Hamas. Details on the latest U.S.-led proposal to end the war in Gaza.
An Australian woman convicted of triple murder by way of toxic mushrooms in a case that garnered global headlines. She's learning her punishment.
And after threatening for weeks now to send National Guard troops to Chicago to crack down on crime, according to the president, Donald Trump announcing when he will be making that decision.
ANNOUNCER: Live from New York, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Polo Sandoval.
SANDOVAL: Let's begin with efforts to resolve two long-standing conflicts and the U.S. president's increasing patience with both.
President Donald Trump says that he's, as he put it, not happy after Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the war in Ukraine. And he says it's time to get a peace deal done.
Well, he's also issued what he says is his last warning to Hamas to accept a hostage and ceasefire deal that would end the war in Gaza.
We'll have much more on Ukraine in just a moment. But first, we begin with Gaza and a new effort to bring an end to the war and also a start to immediate negotiations.
Two Israeli officials now saying that those details are in new ceasefire principles put forward by the United States. One Israeli official says that those principles call for Hamas to release all hostages being held in Gaza on day one of a ceasefire, and for Israel to halt its assault on Gaza City.
If accepted, President Trump would ensure a ceasefire hold as long as negotiations continue. Mr. Trump had this to say about the prospect of a deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think -- I think we're going to have a deal on Gaza very soon. It's a hell of a problem.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What gives you that --
TRUMP: Again, it's a problem we want to solve for the Middle East, for Israel, for -- for everybody. But it's -- it's a problem we're going to get done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And the renewed push for a deal comes as Israel strikes, they hit several sites in Gaza City on Sunday. Health officials say at least 41 people were killed.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is said to be considering Mr. Trump's proposal, says his military is now deepening the operation inside and around Gaza City.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We are destroying terror infrastructures. We are destroying incriminated terror towers. And we have set up another humanitarian area to allow the civilian population in Gaza to leave for a safe place and receive humanitarian aid there.
About 100,000 people have left Gaza so far. Hamas is trying to do everything so they won't leave, so they would stay there and act as a human shield for it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: CNN's Jeremy Diamond following developments from Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, a new American ceasefire and hostage release proposal aims to get all of the hostages back home and ultimately end the war in Gaza.
DIAMOND (voice-over): The United States has put a new proposal on the table, calling on Hamas to release all of the 48 remaining hostages held in Gaza on day one of this proposal in exchange for a ceasefire and Israel halting its latest assault on Gaza City.
Both sides would then enter into negotiations to end the war, and President Trump would guarantee that a ceasefire would hold as long as negotiations to end the war continue.
DIAMOND: Now, this is significant, because this is the first U.S. proposal since the United States withdrew from the ceasefire and hostage release negotiations in late July. DIAMOND (voice-over): And on social media, President Trump has posted,
saying, "The Israelis have accepted my terms. It is time for Hamas to accept, as well. I have warned Hamas about the consequences of not accepting. This is my last warning. There will not be another one."
Now, the Israelis, for their part, have not confirmed that they have actually agreed to this proposal. But we did hear from the Israeli prime minister's office, and they said that Israel is, quote, "seriously considering" President Trump's proposal and that they said that it appears that Hamas will continue in its refusal.
[00:05:16]
DIAMOND: It is important to note here that this proposal -- under this proposal, Hamas would essentially be giving up all of its leverage up front, relying only on assurances from the United States that a ceasefire --
DIAMOND (voice-over): -- would hold as long as these negotiations to end the war actually continue.
But Israel would not have to commit to an end of the war up front, which could ultimately become somewhat of an impasse here.
These negotiations to end the war in Gaza will likely be extremely contentious. Israel is insisting on maximalist terms to end the war, including, of course, the release of all of the hostages.
But beyond that, they want to see Hamas out of power in Gaza. And they also critically want to see Hamas completely disarmed, which has been a red line for Hamas, the militant group inside of the Gaza Strip.
It's important to note that previously, we were talking about temporary deals for only some of the hostages, and even under those terms, Hamas would be getting, you know, the withdrawal of Israeli troops from certain parts of the Gaza Strip. That is not something that we're seeing here yet.
DIAMOND: But there are a lot more details still to be revealed. And also, clearly, that this proposal would likely be subject to negotiation itself. We will see whether it can jump-start the process once again of trying to get some of those hostages home and ultimately ending this war in Gaza.
Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: And Hamas issued a statement late Sunday, saying that it received, through mediators, some ideas from the U.S. administration.
It said it welcomes any move that helps end the fighting and expressed its immediate readiness to sit at the negotiating -- negotiating table and discuss the release of all Israeli hostages.
Hamas said it wants a clear Israeli commitment to end the war in exchange.
Well, President Trump says that he will be speaking with Russia's Vladimir Putin very soon, he said. This comes as the president grows more and more frustrated with the lack of progress toward achieving peace in Ukraine.
Well, he's now signaling that the U.S. is ready to move on the second phase of sanctions against Russia as Moscow's war rages on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When do you plan to speak to President Putin next? And what will --
TRUMP: Over the next couple of days. Look, we're going to get it done. The Russia/Ukraine situation, we're going to get it done. I have confidence we're going to get it done.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And this weekend, a sign that things are only getting worse. Russia launched its largest aerial assault of the war early Sunday. It deployed more than 800 drones, striking a government building in Kyiv for the first time.
President Trump's Ukraine envoy said that this massive attack is not a sign that Russia wants to end the war. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy now calling on his allies to take action against Moscow.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Clearly, Russia is trying to inflict pain on Ukraine with even more brazen attacks. This is a clear sign that Putin is testing the world: whether they will accept or tolerate this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: So, what could all of this mean? Let's get some analysis now from Kyiv and Oleksandr Merezhko. He heads the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Ukrainian Parliament.
Oleksandr, it's so good to have you back on the program.
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, CHAIRMAN, FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Thank you for inviting me.
SANDOVAL: Of course. So, going to what we just discussed a little while ago, that -- that specific strike on a Ukrainian government building, a first, do you think there's a message that Vladimir Putin is trying to send not just Ukraine, but beyond?
MEREZHKO: Well, it's definitely a message. It's a very clear signal, first of all, not only to Ukraine, because. He's been terrorized -- trying to terrorize us into submission for years. But it's a very clear signal to President Trump himself and to the
United States, to European partners. It's a clear signal that Putin has absolutely no intention to sit at the table of negotiations and to negotiate in earnest; that it's a very clear rejection of all initiatives with regard to peace plan or ceasefire proposals put forward earlier by President Trump.
SANDOVAL: Also, what do you make of the timing in all of this, of this latest strike? I mean, it was less than a week ago that we saw the Russian president standing side by side with his Chinese counterpart. And at one point, even Vladimir Putin pointing his finger at the West for this war.
[00:10:07]
Could it be a coincidence?
MEREZHKO: It's no coincidence, because we can notice, and we can see very easily that each time when the Kremlin dictator, Putin, had meetings with Chinese leader Xi, there were some escalation, or the war started. So, we can see it. And it's no coincidence.
I unfortunately suspect that the Chinese leader might have greenlighted the new escalation on the Putin's part. So. to me, it's very obvious.
SANDOVAL: And obvious is definitely a way to describe some of what we heard from the Trump administration responding to it, saying that it's a sign that Russia does not want to end the war. So, there's that.
But then also saying that they plan to essentially float the idea again of sanctions. Do you think that the White House, do you think that President Trump needs to respond with something more? And -- and what response do you think is appropriate?
MEREZHKO: Well, there are several important moves or steps which should be taken by the current administration of American president and by our European partners.
First of all, we should very clearly understand that the only way to deal with Putin is from the position of strength, and it seems like President Trump understands this. But unfortunately, we don't see concrete steps, concrete actions.
What should be done? First of all, we need serious sanctions, which were promised before by President Trump when he was talking about severe consequences. We need sanctions not only with regard to Russia, but also impose upon those countries like China, like India, Brazil, which buy Russian oil and gas.
But also, we need air defense systems. We need more weaponry for Ukraine to allow us to defend us more effectively, to defend our civilian population.
And also, I think it's high time to introduce no-fly zone over Ukraine to close the skies of Ukraine. It can be done. And it should be done, because we are talking about civilian population. And Putin is brutally killing civilians, and he's doing it deliberately.
SANDOVAL: Yes. Oleksandr Merezhko, live from Kyiv. We always appreciate your analysis and your perspective. Thank you.
MEREZHKO: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: Well, an Australian court has handed down sentencing in a case that has really gripped the world's attention. We have complete details ahead of Erin Patterson's sentencing. Remember, she was convicted of killing three people with death cap mushrooms.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:17:23]
SANDOVAL: Well, you may remember Erin Patterson. She's the Australian woman convicted of murdering three people with a meal that included death cap mushrooms.
Well, she's been sentenced to life in prison. The ruling from the supreme court in Melbourne means that she will be ineligible for parole for at least 33 years.
CNN's Mike Valerio takes us through the case.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIKE VALERIO, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): She murdered three people with toxic mushrooms. And Monday, a judge gave her three life sentences and 25 years behind bars for attempted murder.
JUSTICE CHRISTOPHER BEALE, SENTENCED ERIN PATTERSON: Your total effective sentence will be life imprisonment. And the period during which you will be ineligible for parole will be a very substantial one.
VALERIO (voice-over): An Australian court convicted Erin Patterson of killing three lunch guests with the world's most lethal mushrooms.
The guests were family members of her estranged husband: his mom, dad, aunt, and uncle. A jury found that in 2023, Patterson served them Beef Wellington, deliberately laced with death cap mushrooms, and convicted her on all counts in July of this year.
IAN WILKINSON, SURVIVED POISONING: I want to say thank you to the many people from across Australia and around the world who, through their prayers and messages of support, have encouraged us.
VALERIO (voice-over): The murderer's estranged husband was not at the table. He said he had an uncomfortable feeling about the lunch and changed his mind about going the night before.
His uncle, a pastor who led the table in prayer, survived after more than seven weeks in the hospital.
Patterson lied multiple times to police, saying, among other things, she never picked mushrooms in her life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that something you've done in the past? Foraging for mushrooms?
ERIN PATTERSON, CONVICTED MURDERER: Never.
VALERIO (voice-over): Her attorneys said she lied out of panic and that it was all a terrible accident. But her story did not add up.
Investigators wondered, while her lunch guests were dying, why she brought herself to the hospital for five minutes and then left.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're trying to understand why you're not that ill. So, you understand why we're interviewing you today?
PATTERSON: Yes, I do. But I'm sure you understand, too, that, like, I've never been in a situation like this before.
WILKINSON: We're thankful that, when things go wrong, there are good people and services, and systems available to help us recover.
VALERIO (voice-over): The case gripped Australia, generating multiple podcasts, books, and documentaries. Patterson has never apologized or accepted responsibility.
And as for where we go from here, she has until October to appeal.
[00:20:05]
Mike Valerio, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SANDOVAL: Well, after years on the run with his three children in the dense New Zealand wilderness, a fugitive father is believed to have been killed in a police shootout on Monday.
Officials presuming that the man is likely Tom Phillips. But a formal identification is still pending.
Phillips and his children, they vanished back in 2021. Despite widespread efforts to locate them, they had remained elusive, while likely living off the grid.
CNN's Marc Stewart joining us live from Beijing with the very latest. Following this case, very -- very closely, Marc. What is the current focus right now? We know that these latest developments, they've been unfolding for hours now.
MARC STEWART, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Right, Polo. The focus right now is on the safety and the well-being of these children, ages nine, ten and 12.
One of the children, a girl, has been found, but a boy and girl are still missing. A big reason for the urgency in all of this is the weather. The temperatures in this part of New Zealand are likely to drop to around 34 degrees Fahrenheit -- or Celsius overnight. Let me get these temperatures correct: 34 degrees Fahrenheit. It's 1 degree Celsius overnight.
This search is taking place in some very rugged, dense areas. Heavy forest. It makes it very difficult to see.
This latest saga, though, really unfolded overnight when someone spotted someone breaking into a farm supply store. Police were notified, and spike strips were -- were placed on the road to stop this ATV that was traveling through.
That is when this man, Thomas Phillip -- Phillips, after going over these strips, shot an officer, believed to be at close range, using a high-powered rifle. Another officer then showed up and shot back.
Let's listen to a deputy police commissioner.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JILL ROGERS, DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, NEW ZEALAND POLICE: There are a number of police staff who are actively looking for the children, which remains our No. 1 priority at this stage: to find those children, alongside supporting our injured colleague and his family (ph), and our other police staff.
And obviously, this is devastating news for Tom Phillips' family, as well, and is the outcome that nobody wanted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
STEWART: This is a drama that has been unfolding since 2021. It has gripped New Zealand. Whenever there is a morsel of news, it gets a lot of attention.
We are hearing from the children's mother, who is known as Cat. She said in a statement to CNN affiliate RNZ this morning that she is deeply relieved this ordeal has come to an end -- Polo.
SANDOVAL: I can only imagine. CNN's Marc Stewart with that live report from Beijing. Thanks, Marc.
Well, Donald Trump, he is threatening to send federal agents and national troops to some major U.S. cities. It's all part of his immigration crackdown. We'll be looking at the effects that it is having, straight ahead. You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:28:05]
SANDOVAL: Well, in the coming hours, South Korea's foreign minister will be heading to the U.S. as the two countries deal with the fallout of last week's massive immigration raid in the U.S. state of Georgia.
The U.S. and South Korea, they have been -- they have struck a deal to send roughly 300 workers home after they were detained by federal agents.
The workers were among 475 people detained on Thursday during a large- scale immigration raid at a plant jointly operated by South Korea- based companies Hyundai and LG Energy Solution.
Well, Donald Trump says that he will make a decision in the next couple of days about deploying troops and additional ICE agents to the city of Chicago.
The president said that Chicago is the, quote, "most dangerous city in the world."
Well, meanwhile, the White House launched a new immigration efforts [SIC] in the state of Massachusetts. The president also ordering federal agents and National Guard troops into Washington, D.C., last month.
Sunday, he falsely claimed that D.C. is now, quote, "a crime-free zone."
Now, each of the cities that Trump has targeted so far has large Democratic voter populations. He's not sending agents or troops to Republican areas that have higher crime rates.
White House border czar Tom Homan addressed the appearance of playing politics while speaking with CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOM HOMAN, TRUMP'S "BORDER CZAR": Absolutely. You can expect action in sanctuary cities across the country. President Trump's prioritized sanctuary cities, because sanctuary cities knowingly release illegal aliens, public safety threats to the streets every day. That's where the problem is.
We don't have that problem in Florida, where every sheriff and chief works for us, right? Or Texas.
So, we got to send additional resources to the problem areas, which are sanctuary cities.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: Let's bring in immigration attorney and CNN opinion writer Raul Reyes. He's also an immigration analyst and contributor for "USA Today."
Raul, thank you so much for joining us on the program.
RAUL REYES, CNN OPINION WRITER: Hey, there.
SANDOVAL: So, let's begin with what -- what could be behind this latest Trump immigration enforcement efforts.
DHS insisting that agents are simply targeting criminals in Massachusetts who are in the country illegally. Well, the state's governor, Maura Healey, responded with this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. MAURA HEALEY (D), MASSACHUSETTS: What we have seen from ICE and from the administration really isn't about public safety. It's about political theater. It's about a political power grab and an attempt to intimidate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SANDOVAL: And she certainly wouldn't be the first that calls all of this political theater. Do you agree with the governor, Raul?
Or have you seen any evidence out there that these so-called crime crackdowns or National Guard deployments are making communities any safer?
REYES: Well, it's very hard to see how these immigration, these large- scale deployments of the National Guard and these -- this increase in immigration enforcement actions are actually making communities safer.
What we do know from current statistics is about 70 percent of the people in immigration detention have no prior criminal record. Of those that do, most of them are for misdemeanors. traffic offenses, things like that.
So, rather than going after, as the president and others in the administration say, the so-called worst of the worst, ICE and DHS are just throwing out these very wide dragnets. And while it's an open question about whether it makes communities safer, what we do know is that it disrupts communities. It disrupts businesses. And it potentially separates families, as well.
SANDOVAL: And it's important context, not just the people who are being detained, but also these communities where we have seen, time and time again, in most cases, that crime stats and those numbers are actually on the decline, versus what we hear from --
REYES: Right.
SANDOVAL: -- coming from the White House.
What kind of reaction have you seen from the migrant community? Raul, you -- you speak to people every day. I mean, what seems to be the climate right now? Is it still this climate of fear? Is it worse?
REYES: Yes. The climate among the immigrant community and, I would say, the Latino community in many large cities, writ large, is -- is a lot of confusion and fear.
Because even people who may be here legally or may be here have their green card or some temporary protected status, lawful status, they are worried about how these crackdowns are going to play out.
And we see in the media that ICE and DHS, they're going after people who are, you know, looking for work as day laborers. They're going after people who -- they have, captured and brought into detention American citizens.
So, there's a great sense of fear, and it's really -- I have to say, it is not productive when we have our own government and the president treat [SIC] -- tweeting out and posting social media memes, almost making light of these arrests and these attentions -- these detentions that really result in life-altering consequences for very vulnerable people.
I have to say, I think most big city mayors would welcome the role of the federal government in fighting crime or helping -- assisting them, in certain ways, with law enforcement. But that takes cooperation, and that's not we're seeing -- what we're seeing from the Trump administration today.
SANDOVAL: Now, when you look at the operation just a few days ago in Georgia, I'm sure you were closely following the situation there at a Hyundai plant, where ICE ended up detaining hundreds of people.
Looking forward, looking ahead, do you expect more of these massive operations? Because essentially, it is an opportunity for the Trump administration to get some of those deportation and detention numbers up, isn't it?
REYES: Right, absolutely. And looking forward, I think -- I think it's safe to say that we will see more of these very large-scale workplace raids.
They were discontinued under the Biden administration, because they were really not productive in terms of bringing in violent offenders or people with true criminal records.
But the Trump administration has promised that we will s ee more of these. And look, I think most people would agree that it's not ideal for companies to be dependent on illegal workers and undocumented people working within this country.
But the reality is, is that our immigration system is so dysfunctional that there's virtually no pathway that people can adjust their status to become legal.
For employers, the government, the federal government offers a system called E-Verify, which the federal government itself says it's unreliable.
And then for foreign countries or these multinationals that are encouraged by the United States to invest within our borders, we have a huge problem, because our immigration setup is -- system is set up so that, even when these corporations want to bring in legal workers to train American workers, that process can take years with many variables.
[00:35:21]
So, we see companies like Hyundai that seems to have just bypassed some of these rules, possibly for expediency's sake.
SANDOVAL: Attorney Raul Reyes, thank you so much for your insight, as always.
REYES: Thank you.
SANDOVAL: And we're back in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[00:40:18]
SANDOVAL: This weekend, skywatchers around the world, they gathered to view a total lunar eclipse. It's also called a blood moon. In fact, this is the view that folks had in Switzerland.
This phenomenon occurs when sunlight is refracted and filters as it passes through the earth's atmosphere during a total eclipse, covering the moon's surface in that coppery red glow.
I would even say a little ominous, too, right?
I want to thank you so much for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. The news continues with my colleague Ben Hunte at the top of the hour. But first, here's WORLD SPORT.
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[00:45:33]
(WORLD SPORT)
