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Benjamin Netanyahu Vows Harsh Response After Jerusalem Shooting; Thai Supreme Court Rules Thaksin Shinawatra Will Go To Jail; French Prime Minister Ousted By Fractured Parliament Amid Debt Crisis; Shock And Confusion In South Korea Over Raid On Hyundai Plant; Protests in Nepal Over Social Media Ban, Corruption; Banksy Mural Shows Judge With Gavel Looming Over Protester; Italy Pays Last Respects to Giorgio Armani; Czech Police Arrest Phantom Race Car Driver. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired September 09, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:35]

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world, and to everyone streaming us on CNN Max, I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, Israel is escalating military operations in Gaza as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu issues an ominous new message.

The French government collapses again, how a disagreement over the budget threw the country into political chaos.

South Korea's top diplomat heads to the U.S. as an immigration raid on a plant that employed hundreds of South Korean nationals threatens to strain ties between the longtime allies.

And after a years long game of cat and mouse check, police finally arrest a mysterious race car driver who'd been putting the pedal to the metal.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning residents of Gaza City to, "Get out", as the Israeli military assault intensifies.

On Monday, air strikes again targeted high rise towers in the densely populated area as the Israeli military moves forward with plans to occupy Gaza's largest city. One building that collapsed after a strike had housed the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. The group says its office had previously been raided by the Israel Defense Forces and was even used as a military base during previous operations.

Israel, though, says it's targeting buildings because of the presence of Hamas infrastructure. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): I promised you a few days ago that we will take down the terror towers in Gaza, and this is exactly what we are doing. In the past couple of days, 50 such towers were taken down by the Air Force. Now, all this is only an introduction, the sifter to the powerful main act, which is a ground maneuver of our forces who are now assembling and organizing into Gaza City. And this is why I say to the residents of Gaza, I take this opportunity. Listen carefully. You have been warned, leave now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Amid the intensifying assault, Qatar's Prime Minister is pressing Hamas to "Respond positively to a new cease fire proposal put forward by the U.S." Israel has said it's giving the proposal serious consideration.

Meantime, Israel's defense minister is warning of the most severe consequences after the deadliest attack in Jerusalem in more than two years. At least six people were killed Monday when two gunmen opened fire on a busy bus stop, and now we're learning more about the attackers and how Israel is responding.

CNN's Jeffrey -- Jeremy Diamond reports from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Amid pops of gunfire, this crowded Jerusalem bus stop is thrown into chaos, sending terrified Israelis running for their lives. Israeli authorities say two Palestinian gunmen opened fire here, killing at least six people during rush hour. More than a dozen others were wounded in what authorities called a terrorist attack.

ELAZAR TOLEDANO, WITNESS (through translator): Suddenly, I started hearing a burst of gunfire. At first, small, and then it intensified. People were looking at each other, trying to understand what was happening, but no one understood. Only maybe after two or three seconds, someone suddenly shouted, attack! And people started running.

DIAMOND: This bus was damaged when the Israeli police say two terrorists opened fire on this crowded bus station in Jerusalem. You can see some of the bullet holes that are still left in this bus. What authorities say is the deadliest terrorist attack in Israel in nearly a year.

FADI DEKAIDEK, MAGEN DAVID ADOM: It was so hard to see all the people laying down in the street and the blood bleeding.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Police are hailing an off-duty soldier and several armed civilians for returning fire almost immediately killing the shooters.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who vowing Israel will deliver a harsh response and won't be deterred. NETANYAHU (through translator): These murders, these attacks on all fronts, do not weaken our resolve. They only increase our determination to complete the missions we've taken upon ourselves.

[02:05:07]

DIAMOND (voice-over): Within hours, Israeli security forces began raiding several Palestinian villages in the occupied West Bank that were home to the attackers. Israeli police also arrested a resident of east Jerusalem for suspected involvement in the attack. In Jerusalem, six families have joined this region's long list of mourners.

But at this bus stop, shards of glass are swept up, blood is washed away, and people return to their daily lives.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: A dramatic turn of events in Thailand, where the Supreme Court has sentenced former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to one year behind bars. The top court ruled that his prolonged hospital stint was unlawful and will not count as time served. The influential billionaire had returned home back in 2023 after 15 years of self- imposed exile, but spent only hours in jail before being transferred to a hospital.

There was speculation Thaksin might not show up to hear the verdict, but he was there in court and posted online that he accepted the ruling.

CNN's Marc Stewart is following this live from Beijing. He joins us now. Good to see you, Marc.

So, the court ruled the Thaksin Shinawatra's hospital stay doesn't count as jail time. So, what was the reasoning behind that decision?

MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right, Rosemary, there are a number of questions about whether or not this was necessarily a fair and just sentence for someone such as the former prime minister.

And back in June, two doctors were suspended by Thailand's Medical Council, saying that they issued documents that didn't necessary -- that contained false information, so it really called into question the legitimacy of this hospital stay as an appropriate sentence, and that led to this court hearing today, and indeed, he was sentenced to one year in jail.

He originally was had a much longer sentence. It was reduced by the king, and then after he had served time in the hospital, it was reduced, he was put on parole basically six months later.

There was a lot of speculation as to whether or not he would show up in court. In fact, he posted on social media that he was flying to Dubai to see some medical doctors, and that prompted a lot of speculation about whether or not he would return back to Thailand. We are hearing from our producer in Bangkok that when the sentence was

read, Thaksin listened calmly. He also released a statement on social media, saying in part that even though he lacks physical freedom. He still has the freedom of thought for the benefit of nation and people.

A number of supporters did show up in court today, and they were quite visible. We are told, he served for prime minister for many years, part of this very large political dynasty in Thailand.

But Rosemary, as you well know, there was a coup in 2006 and he left office. He was forced out of office. But again, the big headline is that former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will now be serving one year in jail in Bangkok stemming from a number of charges during his time in office, more than a decade ago, Rosemary.

CHURCH: Marc Stewart, many thanks, bringing us that live report from Beijing. Appreciate it.

France is facing yet another political crisis after lawmakers voted to oust Prime Minister Francois Bayrou in a landslide confidence vote on Monday. Bayrou had called the vote in a bid to push through his widely unpopular government savings plan.

Now, President Emmanuel Macron is left with dwindling options as the opposition seeks to further erode his centrist government.

CNN's Melissa Bell has the latest.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Another French Prime Minister ousted. 364 lawmakers voted out Francois Bayrou with 194 voting for the government, making him the fourth Prime Minister to lose office in 20 months, despite his pleas just moments before.

FRANCOIS BAYROU, FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): If we want to save the ship, the ship we and our children are on, we have to act immediately.

BELL (voice-over): Just weeks after announcing he wanted to slash 44 billion euros from the budget in 2026.

BAYROU (through translator): 5000 euros of additional debt per sector. We should call it by its name. It's a mortal danger.

BELL (voice-over): But France's parliament has had no majority ever since the French president Emmanuel Macron dissolved the assembly, triggering elections in 2024 that left his center party weakened, and the extremes, both left and right, much stronger.

[02:10:14]

Since then, two prime ministers have tried and failed relatively quickly to get the confidence of France's parliament. MICHEL BARNIER, FORMER FRENCH PRIME MINISTER (through translator): 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): Handing the poison chalice to Francois Bayrou, who's faced a far right and far left emboldened by the failures of the center to govern, ruling out any cooperation with him at all.

ANTOINE BRISTIELLE, DIRECTOR OF POLLING, JEAN-JAURES FOUNDATION: Yes, well, maybe in the -- in a regime crisis. So, it's really complicated. There is no real solution in the -- in the current context, with the way the French political parties are working together.

BELL: With this latest vote here the National Assembly, the French president is fast running out of options. He said that he will name a new prime minister in the next few days. The question whether he or she will have the numbers behind them to try and govern successfully in this with the clock ticking and the need to pass a new, smaller budget before the end of the year. And for now, no sense of who might be able to do that.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Still to come, details on South Korea's plan to repatriate hundreds of its citizens detained in an immigration raid in the U.S. last week. Back in just a moment.

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[02:16:00]

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. A Korean Air flight will head to the U.S. as soon as Wednesday to bring home more than 300 South Korean citizens detained in an immigration raid last week. U.S. officials say the raid targeted illegal workers and those with visa violations at a Hyundai battery plant that's under construction here in Georgia.

South Korea says most of the workers were employed by subcontractors, not Hyundai, and that it's working with the U.S. government to eventually allow them to re-enter the country.

CNN's Mike Valerio filed this report earlier with reactions from South Korea.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The video released by ICE of South Koreans handcuffed, chains around their waist, causing unease and astonishment across South Korea.

Song Seok-ha acutely feels both of those emotions since he runs an American friendship booth in the heart of Seoul, calling for greater U.S.-South Korea ties. I was very, very disappointed, Song said of the ICE raids. This time, it seemed too extreme. I'm worried this might put a crack in the U.S.- South Korea alliance.

Only a block away, outside the U.S. embassy, the leader of South Korea's liberal Progressive Party, Kim Jae-yeon, holds a sign saying, "Investment forced, work visas denied, we condemn the robbery-like actions of the U.S."

KIM JAE-YEON, PROGRESSIVE PARTY LEADER (through translator): President Trump has pressured Korea to make more investments in the U.S., and the Korean government made such a pledge in good faith. This incident should have been resolved based on the trust built between the two countries.

VALERIO (voice-over): The president posted on Truth Social late Sunday, writing, quote, your investments are welcome and we encourage you to legally bring your very smart people. What we ask in return is that you hire and train American workers.

The feelings across South Korea are complicated. America is its most important ally, with nearly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed here, in part as a security guarantee against North Korea. But notably, South Korea's government has not reacted to the ICE raid with anger.

The country's foreign minister, leaving Monday night on an urgent trip to Washington, stressing that the government is acting quickly to bring its citizens home.

CHO HYUN, SOUTH KOREAN FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER (through translator): The Korean embassy in the U.S. and the consulate general in Atlanta have been instructed to take all necessary measures to resolve this issue swiftly.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's an honor to be with President Lee of South Korea.

VALERIO (voice-over): The raid happened less than two weeks after South Korea's president was in the Oval Office, hailing new investments his country could make in the American economy. Now, questions linger as to how Korean investment sentiment could be affected.

VALERIO: What are the ripple effects you see here?

CHO HEE-KYOUNG, PROFESSOR OF LAW, HONGIK UNIVERSITY: Obviously, they're going to have huge hesitation about investing in the U.S. if your employees are going to be treated like common criminals, people who are actually, you know, giving up, family life to go fly across the ocean.

VALERIO (voice-over): LG Energy Solution, Hyundai's partner in the Georgia electric vehicle and battery plant, confirmed with CNN it is suspending nearly all of its American business trips, telling employees in the U.S. now to either stay in their accommodations or come home immediately. The timetable for all 300-plus South Koreans to return home on a charter flight is still unclear. What is certain how quickly the largest ICE raid

of its kind has tested the strength and the trust of the U.S.-South Korea alliance.

Mike Valerio, CNN, Seoul.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Joining me now is Robert Kelly, a professor of political science at Pusan National University in South Korea, appreciate you being with us.

ROBERT KELLY, POLITICAL SCIENCE PROFESSOR, PUSAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY: Thank you for having me.

CHURCH: So, South Korea's foreign affairs minister is heading to Washington D.C. today to try to deal with the fallout from the massive immigration raid on the Hyundai battery plant in Georgia that employed hundreds of South Korean nationals. How will he solve this? What are some of the options available to him?

[02:20:15]

Well, I think what they really need to do is get Donald Trump's deal, if you will. That's the president's term for the relationship between the U.S. and South Korea. They need to get that down in writing. There was, and still is, legally, a trade treaty between the U.S. and South Korea, it goes back to 2018, the president himself brokered that, and this time around, in his second term, Donald Trump has simply ignored that. It's called the KORUS FTA.

And I think that's the real concern here in South Korea, on the South Koreans part, right? Which is to say there is a trade framework that's extant. The president has simply ignored that and insisted on these deals which are very vague, the terms are very loose. It's not quite clear. I think that's what you saw with the visa confusion for the workers in Georgia, right? It's like, what exactly are they allowed to do in the United States and whatnot? And I imagine that what the foreign minister will look for some kind of clarity on what exactly the rules are for this investment. If the Koreans are really going to put hundreds of billions of dollars into the U.S. economy, as the president insists, there have to be some rules. That's a great deal of money.

CHURCH: So, what impact do you think this issue is having on relations between these two longtime allies?

KELLY: Sure. So, I think the most obvious thing, and I think everybody's been pointing this out on Twitter and in your reporting and the rest, that this is obviously going to be a damper, not only on South Korean investment the United States, but all of these investment deals the president insists on, right? If you're Japan, if you're European Corporation, this is a big red flag, right? The president, I think, really needs to figure out a way to sort of

reconcile the ICE and the Commerce Department, right? We're going to bring all this investment into the U.S. ICE has got to permit it to operate, otherwise nobody's going to do it. I think that's the real issue.

Locally, the Korean response has been, I think, restrained. I mean, certainly it's upset, right? You know, the media is sort of universally opposed to this, is kind of shocked.

But I think Korean government's response has been pretty limited, because the Koreans really rely on the U.S. alliance. If the U.S. wasn't here, Korea's defense budget would go up substantially. And so, there's a sort of unwillingness to push this too much to jeopardize the larger importance of the security relationship.

But I think there's also a perception that that security relationship is being used as sort of asymmetric leverage to squeeze South Korea in a way that's inappropriate.

CHURCH: What do you think it is that President Trump is hoping to get from South Korea, and perhaps more specific to this factory, given the work done there? He is talking about American workers that they'll need to be trained, and that will take time. What do you think is going on here?

KELLY: Yes, so the training, I think, is really why these workers were in Georgia to begin with. And this is certainly what you've heard in the South Korean media here in the last few days, right, is that these Koreans were over there doing jobs the Americans cannot do.

And this really speaks to sort of, I think, two of the contradictions within Trump's coalition, within the Republican coalition, on the one hand, you have sort of the hard right MAGA, which just wants foreigners out of the United States. This is ICE, sort of like raiding farms and factories and workplaces and everything else.

On the other hand, you have within the Republican coalition the business community, which really wants this foreign investment. Trump, I think, is responding to pressure from them, right?

And reconciling these two is going to be very difficult, because I think the core of Trump's voters don't actually care, right? They see these as foreigners doing jobs that Americans should be doing, even if Americans aren't qualified to do them, and that's really what's driving this.

And so, Trump was really kind of caught between these two pressures, and I think this speaks to the incoherence of his administration that he can't reconcile and bring these various interests to heal.

CHURCH: And in the end, how careful will South Korea need to be to avoid offending President Trump as it sorts through this pretty delicate immigration situation?

KELLY: Yes, and I think that's why, ultimately, you haven't heard much from the South Korean government, right? Because they're concerned about the larger relationship, which is that South Korea really wants to keep the U.S. alliance is very popular here, something like 80 percent approval. South Korea is in a tough neighborhood. It lives next to Russia, North Korea and China. Those are all tyrannies with nuclear weapons, right? So, the U.S. alliance is really valuable.

South Korea also runs a substantial trade surplus with the United States, where its largest trading partner, and so jeopardizing that is really risky. This is why the South Koreans haven't really pushed back much on the tariffs.

But I mean, again, you know, at some point, you know, we're seeing this other U.S. allies too. At some point the president can sort of work asymmetry, right? He can sort of use American leverage and push U.S. allies. But at some point there's going to be pushed back.

And U.S. has already seen that with Canada, right? Where the U.S. relationship with Canada is really coming apart, which is just kind of shocking. And if the president insists on talking to South Korea, Japan, the Europeans in this way, he's going to break apart these alliance structures, right?

I think our partners will tolerate this for a while. But if it looks like the Trump administration is sort of using alliance relationships to sort of force economic gain at the -- for the president, then ultimately, they're going to start to pull back. And I think that's probably what the South Koreans going to be debating internally for the next decade or so. Are the Americans reliable, or are they going to freeze us? And if they're going to, then we should consider other opportunities and other arrangements.

[02:25:05]

CHURCH: Robert Kelly in Pusan, South Korea, many thanks for joining us. Appreciate it.

KELLY: Thanks for having me.

CHURCH: Nepal is walking back its controversial social media ban. Just ahead, the latest on the deadly crackdown on protests that led to the government's decision. Back with that and more in just a moment.

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[02:30:00]

CHURCH: Protests continue in Nepal's capital, just one day after the government decided to lift a ban on about two dozen social media platforms. The decision came after the worst unrest the country has seen in decades. At least 19 people were killed on Monday, following a crackdown by security forces on the Gen Z led protests. Nepal's Prime Minister says he's deeply saddened by the events and blames, "infiltration by various vested interest groups" for the violence without elaborating further.

So let's go to CNN's Hanako Montgomery for the very latest. Good to see you, Hanako. So, walk us through what exactly triggered this unrest in Nepal.

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Rosemary. It's good to see you too. So, as you said, these government led protests -- these protests against the government were really triggered by a social media ban that was imposed by the government last week. This ban targeted really popular social media platforms like Facebook, WhatsApp, and YouTube.

Now, the government said that it had to impose this ban because it was trying to spread -- it was trying to stop the spread of fake news and of hate speech. It also said that these apps didn't properly register with the Nepali authorities, but critics argued that this social media ban is actually a form of censorship and that it infringes upon the people's freedom of speech.

But Rosemary, these protests that have broken out across Nepal are about a lot more than a social media ban which, as you said, has now been lifted. In fact, it also has to do with widespread frustration about government corruption, according to these protestors, and also a lack of economic opportunities. In fact, here's what one protestor said about why he was demonstrating on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Every corruption in the country, from the local level to federal level, all the Nepalese citizens are fed up of corruption. Every youth are going outside the country. So we want to protect our youth and make the country's economy better.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MONTGOMERY: And just to emphasize again here, Rosemary, many young people in Nepal, Gen Z in fact, who are helping lead these protests, feel as though there aren't enough job opportunities, enough economic opportunities for them to succeed within their own country. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Thanks to Hanako Montgomery for bringing us the very latest there. Appreciate it.

A Czech road racer eluded police for years. We will find out how they finally caught up with the phantom driver. That and more, after the break.

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[02:37:12]

CHURCH: British artist Banksy has struck again, this time with a new mural outside of London's high court. The painting shows a judge holding his gavel over a protester. Banksy has not commented on its meaning, but the work appeared following the arrest of nearly 900 demonstrators supporting the group Palestine Action on Saturday. This July, the U.K. declared Palestine Action a terror group after members broke into a Royal Air Force Base and damaged planes. The mural was later seen covered and protected by guards. The court says the artwork will be removed. Giorgio Armani was laid to rest Monday in a private funeral. Family, close friends and longtime colleagues gathered at a small church near his home village in northern Italy. Armani's loss has been felt nationwide with Milan declaring a day of mourning for the designer whose 50-year career defined Italian style. CNN's Barbie Latza Nadeau has more now from Rome.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN REPORTER: All across Italy, Armani stores like this one in Central Rome closed Monday afternoon out of respect for their Founder, Giorgio Armani, who died on September 4th. In the northern Italian town of Rivalta, a private funeral with around 20 people was held. His final resting place will be the family tomb alongside his parents and a brother. Over the weekend, around 16,000 people paid their final respects in Milan at the Armani Theater, where his coffin was covered with white flowers and surrounded by illuminated lanterns. All eyes now going forward on what is next for the storied brand without their beloved leader.

Barbie Latza Nadeau, CNN, Rome.

CHURCH: After a six-year chase, police in the Czech Republic say they have nabbed a driver known as The Phantom. You are looking at a Formula One-style race car illegally speeding around roads amid traffic. Police have been trying to catch the driver since 2019, but The Phantom always got away until now. On Sunday, police were alerted that the car was on the road. Several police patrols and a helicopter were dispatched and they managed to arrest the 51-year-old driver. Officials say he could get a fine of up to $500 and a driving ban of six months to a year.

Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Rosemary Church. "World Sport" is coming up next. Then, I'll be back at the top of the hour with more "CNN Newsroom." Do stay with us.

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[02:39:49]

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