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Polish, NATO Jets Scrambled Amid Reports of Russian Drones; Israeli Strike Targets Hamas Leadership in Qatar; Nepal's Prime Minister Resigns Amid Deadly Protests; Macron Appoints Sebastien Lecornu as New French Prime Minister; Macron Appoints Sebastien Lecornu as New French PM; Apple Introduces New iPhone, Other Product Upgrades. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:00:21]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome. I'm Lynda Kinkade. This is CNN NEWSROOM.

Poland scrambles jets and shoots down Russian drones violating its airspace on route to strikes in Ukraine. Is this a turning point for NATO's response?

Also ahead, Donald Trump says he's not thrilled about Israel's strike in Qatar. Ahead, how the attack could impact the ongoing ceasefire negotiations with Hamas.

Plus, Nepal's prime minister resigns after violent protests erupt across the country. We'll have a live report.

ANNOUNCER: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Lynda Kinkade.

KINKADE: We begin with breaking news out of Poland, where the military says it shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace. Polish and NATO jets were scrambled after Ukraine's air force warned that drones were headed west towards one Polish city on Tuesday. That message posted to Telegram was later deleted.

During the incident, Polish authorities were forced to shut down several major airports, including Warsaw International, and urged its citizens to stay indoors. The exact number of Russian drones over Poland remains unclear.

Well, joining us now for more is CNN military analyst and retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Thanks so much for joining us.

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: You bet, Lynda. Always good to be with you.

KINKADE: So this marks the first time Poland has taken direct military action against airborne threats from Russia crossing into its territory since the war began. Just how significant is this moment? LEIGHTON: It's very significant, Lynda. One of the key aspects of this

is the fact that the Poles felt compelled to shoot down at least some of the drones. Now, we don't know, as you mentioned, how many drones or even where they actually fell in Polish territory. But it's pretty clear from some of the postings that we've seen from Polish government officials that drone fragments can be found on Polish territory. So the Polish authorities are looking for those drone fragments.

They've asked people to make sure that they stay away from those fragments, but that they inform the police that those fragments are there and that they can actually be located. So the Poles are obviously a frontline state. They're clearly sensitive to this kind of violation of their airspace. And it really marks the first time that there's been a concerted effort by the Russians to potentially take their drones into Polish airspace, but also a concerted effort by the Poles to respond with strength to these kinds of actions by -- purportedly by the Russians.

So it's a major change in the tenor of the basically frozen conflict that has existed between Poland and Russia up until this point.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly. This isn't the first airspace violation by Russian drones, but certainly the first time Poland has activated its air defenses, scrambled its fighter jets.

From a military perspective, what does this reveal about Poland's readiness to respond?

LEIGHTON: Well, what it looks like, at least right now, is that the Poles have a very heightened state of alert. And, you know, obviously they're alert phase has increased quite a bit because of the incursion of these drones. But the fact that they were able to respond so quickly indicates that they were already in a heightened state of alert, and that very fact is, I think, symptomatic of them being a frontline state basically because they border both Ukraine and Belarus.

Ukraine, of course, engaged in the war with Russia, Belarus, a Russian ally, and it also shows that with heightened tensions, there's an exercise that the Russians are going to be conducting with Belarus on -- starting on Friday. That is going to also cause the Poles to have heightened readiness, heightened readiness state and heightened alert state.

KINKADE: Yes.

LEIGHTON: They've closed the border with Belarus, and that also indicates that they have been looking at this for quite some time from an intelligence perspective and of course, from a force deployment perspective as well.

KINKADE: So what's your perspective on Russia's objective? Is it deliberately provoking NATO, testing its rules of engagement?

LEIGHTON: You know, when you look at the way the Russians have conducted these kinds of operations, you have to suspect that there is a deliberate approach that they're taking here and that deliberate approach in this case would very much be to test Polish defenses.

[00:05:08]

They want to see how quickly the Poles respond to these kinds of actions, what kinds of measures they take, you know, what kind of jets are they scrambling, how often from which airports, from which air bases. You know, what are their procedures for civilian responses to this, such as shutting down their civilian airports like the Warsaw Airport, as you mentioned. So they're looking at all of these things. They're trying to assess how quickly the Poles will respond to an incursion of this type.

And they can kind of assess them based on these, you know, these actions that they are witnessing on the part of the Polish government. They can then determine whether or not they have to change their efforts if they want to surprise Poland at some future point, or if they're just assessing it from an intelligence perspective. But clearly it has operational significance for the Russians. And I firmly believe that they're assessing this from an intelligence perspective. And they probably want to operationalize those findings at some point in the future.

KINKADE: Colonel Cedric Leighton, always great to get your analysis. Thanks so much for joining us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Lynda. Any time.

KINKADE: I want to turn now to the growing global condemnation of Israel's unprecedented attack in Doha, Qatar. The target of the strike was Hamas leaders negotiating a potential ceasefire in Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages. Hamas says the attack failed to take out its senior leadership, but did kill five members. We're told a Qatari security official was also killed in that attack.

Qatar is one of the closest allies of the U.S. in that Gulf region, and President Trump has been trying to distance himself from the strike, saying it was not his decision and that by the time he found out, it was too late to intervene.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect. And we've got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy about the way that went down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Qatar's prime minister was angry over that attack, denouncing it as state terrorism.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): The Israeli attack that took place today on Qatari soil can only be called state terrorism. This message says that there's a rogue player in this region. We believe that today we have reached a pivotal moment where there

must be a response from the entire region to such barbaric actions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: The Israeli prime minister has defended the strike, saying the days when the heads of terror enjoyed immunity anywhere are over. Hours later, Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel accepted a new U.S. ceasefire proposal and that the Doha attack could speed up the end of the war.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has our report from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Explosions rocked the Qatari capital. Israel has just tried to assassinate Hamas's political leadership. Brazen military strikes with far- reaching implications.

Israeli officials say Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya and several other senior Hamas officials were the targets, calling them, quote, "directly responsible for the October 7th massacre."

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: At the beginning of the war, I promised that Israel would reach those who perpetrated this horror, and today Israel and I have kept that promise.

DIAMOND: Hamas says Israel failed. Al-Hayya's son was killed, along with five others, including a Qatari security official but the group says Hamas's leaders all survived. Hamas says the strike shows Israel is trying to thwart American efforts to end the war.

TRUMP: I think we're going to have a deal on Gaza very soon.

DIAMOND: Attempting to kill al-Hayya, Hamas's chief negotiator, amid a renewed American push to reach a ceasefire and hostage release deal. A senior Hamas official said al-Hayya was targeted while discussing the latest American proposal.

Israel has targeted Hamas decision makers at critical junctures before. In May, it killed Hamas's de facto leader Mohammed Sinwar, one day after the group released an American hostage, Edan Alexander, in a gesture that was meant to spur on ceasefire talks. And now Israel has violated the sovereignty of a key mediator in those negotiations.

The Qatari government fuming, calling the Israeli attack a blatant violation of international law and one that, "clearly was designed to undermine the peace negotiations in which the United States and Qatar are collaborating closely."

The Israeli strike also drawing international condemnation from Europe to the Middle East. In Israel, hostage families who have demanded a ceasefire deal in recent weeks, said they felt, quote, "deep concern and heavy anxiety," fearing the 20 living hostages still held in Gaza will pay the price for this latest Israeli strike. [00:10:12]

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Adel Abdel Ghafar is the director of the Foreign Policy Program at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs and joins us now from Cairo.

Thanks so much for your time.

ADEL ABDEL GHAFAR, DIRECTOR, FOREIGN POLICY PROGRAM, MIDDLE EAST COUNCIL ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS: Thanks for having me.

KINKADE: So firstly, what's your reaction to Israel's unprecedented strike on Qatar targeting senior Hamas negotiators, and why would they do that now?

GHAFAR: Well, I think these attacks highlight how Israel is increasingly operating as a rogue state across the Middle East. It has bombed not only, of course, but Lebanon, Syria, Yemen, Iran and now Qatar. And the stated military objective of the strike, according to Israelis, is to take out the Hamas leadership. But Hamas leadership has survived.

I think they're also trying to stop and put an end to the ceasefire negotiations and Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to pursue this perpetual war. You know, if you recall also, when the Americans were engaged in discussions with the Iranians, again the Israelis also attacked. So I think the Israelis are really trying to thwart any efforts to de-escalate in the region. And that's why we've seen this international condemnation coming from across the world.

KINKADE: And President Trump distanced himself from the strike, saying he was not thrilled and that it doesn't serve U.S. or Israeli interests. He did order his team to warn Qatar that the alert reportedly came too late. You know, the strikes were already hitting Doha at the time. How do you assess the U.S. response, both in terms of timing and the tone?

GHAFAR: Well, I think the U.S. response highlights lots of questions on the U.S.'s reliability as a security partner. You know, the U.S. and Qatar have a long standing security relationship. And for the U.S. not to actually warn Qatar, this is a huge thing and highlights really how reliable is the U.S. as the security guarantor in the region.

I think President Trump wants to stop any disagreements or any potential issues with the Qataris. But from a Qatari perspective if you're relying on the U.S., you're a major ally partner of NATO and so on, how do you really trust the U.S. moving forward? And this also applies not only just for Qatar, but also across the GCC, where the U.S. has presence, you know.

I think across the Gulf, Gulf capitals are really rethinking and thinking about their future security arrangements, where the U.S. is no longer the main security partner and finding other partners, building domestic capabilities and so on. I think this attack will have far-reaching consequences because it's the first one on -- by the Israeli attack on GCC soil, and perhaps it won't be the last.

KINKADE: And big picture, what does this mean for the ceasefire negotiations and the negotiations to get the hostages home? I mean, could this strike fracture Qatar's role in those negotiations, or derail the wider regional diplomacy?

GHAFAR: Well, Lynda, this is, I think, a great question because ultimately there was -- there's a deal on the table, there's been a deal on the table since earlier in the year. And if the Israelis were really serious about getting their hostages back, they would be back home by now. But this really highlights that now the objective is not really the hostages. The hostages are put aside. They're trying to derail the talks and they're trying to pursue their maximalist aims in Gaza.

You know, we have more than 60,000 dead and destructions of schools, hospitals, roads. Attacks on journalists, the use of starvation as a tool of war. So as this genocide is unfolding in Gaza, it highlights how Israel is increasingly acting outside of norms and as a rogue state across the region.

KINKADE: And you have to wonder whether, not just this strike, but also the wider offensive, you know, that Netanyahu has launched on Gaza City to seize control, how that will further derail and jeopardize any sort of plan, any hope to get the remaining hostages home. What are your thoughts?

GHAFAR: Yes. I mean, the deal is there, and it seems that the Israelis do not want to have a deal. The Qataris have been getting a deal. The Egyptians as well, the international community supports an end to this carnage that's happening in Gaza. But it seems that from Netanyahu's perspective, he's really focused on his own political survival and this perpetual war. And he's also beholden to the right-wing of his government, who really want to take over Gaza.

You know, all of these plans are being floated where residents are supposed to, quote-unquote, "voluntarily leave" and the new riviera will be built and so on. So I think these are -- these are real. And if left to it, I think what the Israeli government wants to do is really push us out, which will amount as ethnic cleansing, the forced movement of people, which I think is unfolding in front of our own eyes right now and the international community is unable to stop it.

[00:15:00]

KINKADE: Yes. Adel Abdel Ghafar in Cairo, appreciate your analysis and perspective. Thank you very much.

GHAFAR: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well, anti-government protests in Nepal have sparked a political shakeup. The prime minister is out after the country's deadliest unrest in decades. We're going to have a live report next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Nepal's prime minister has resigned after the worst unrest the country has seen in decades. Health officials say at least 22 people were killed, hundreds more injured after security forces fired live ammunition, tear gas and water cannons at protesters in several cities.

[00:20:05]

The demonstrations, led by young people, were sparked by widespread corruption, economic uncertainties as well as the ban on social media platforms, which was seen as a form of censorship. That has since been reversed.

I want to go now live to Hong Kong and CNN's Kristie Lu Stout.

Good to have you with us, Kristie. So despite the prime minister's resignation, the unrest has intensified. What are the details?

KRISTIE LU STOUT, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, there is no letting up in Nepal, Lynda. Despite the prime minister's resignation in Nepal the protesters there remain angry and defiant. And Nepal is on fire. In fact, the young protesters in the country, they are setting fire on government buildings, including the parliament building, the Supreme Court as well as the former residence of the prime minister.

And I want to show you this drone video, which shows government residential complexes on fire. And in this video, we'll bring it up to you, you'll see protesters roaming about, the government complex on fire. Smoke rising from the scene of this area as well. And the protesters again, they are young, angry, defiant, openly defying the government imposed curfew. And they are also demanding change.

I want you to listen to one of them. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is very good for our country. Now I think like us, the youth will stand and develop -- will develop the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: Now these protests are being led by largely young people between the ages of 13 and 28, involving school children, university students, young working and unemployed people. This is why this is called the Gen Z protest. The initial trigger was that ban on social media. It was lifted on Monday by the government, but still, these protests intensified.

There is a widening list of grievances that these protesters have. Let's bring up the bullet list for you. And they include the grievance against government corruption, against the lack of economic opportunity, against the recent use of lethal force on the protesters and anger against so-called nepo kids. These are the entitled children of government officials. Social media, video and imagery showing them flaunting their wealth has angered these protests.

Now Nepal's army chief of staff has spoken out. He is calling for peace and calling for talks. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHOK RAJ SIGDEL, CHIEF OF STAFF NEPAL ARMY (through translator): What is of paramount interest to us? And it is our common duty is to ease the current difficult situation, protect the national heritage, public as well as private properties, common citizens, diplomatic missions and to give a sense of security to the public. Thus, in order to take the country out of this uncomfortable situation through peaceful measures, I would request the protesting group to cancel the plans to protest and call for talks.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

STOUT: This is the worst unrest that Nepal has seen in decades. Hundreds of people wounded, at least 22 people have been killed in the violent unrest. The international airport in Nepal has been closed. Travel advisories have been issued. In fact, according to the U.S. State Department, they are urging U.S. citizens to shelter in place until further notice.

Back to you.

KINKADE: All right. Kristie Lu Stout staying across it all for us from Hong Kong. Thanks very much.

Well, France has a new prime minister just one day after the government collapsed, and he faces an uphill battle in leading a government braced for nationwide unrest. We'll bring you the latest developments from Paris next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:28:23]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's take a look at today's top stories.

The Polish military is accusing Moscow of an act of aggression after shooting down Russian drones in its airspace. Authorities closed Warsaw International Airport and Polish and NATO aircraft were scrambled amid reports of Russian drones over the country. Poland's operational command is working to locate the weapons.

Israel launched an unprecedented attack on the capital of Qatar in a bid to target Hamas leadership. Qatar's prime minister called the strike state terrorism. Five Hamas members were killed, but not the key leaders. Israel's prime minister says the attack, quote, "can open the door to end the war in Gaza."

The activist group behind the Gaza aid flotilla says one of its main boats was struck by a drone at a Tunisian port on Monday night. Tunisia's National Guard disputes the claims that the vessel was attacked. However, video released by the activists show an object falling from the sky and exploding on impact with the boat. All six passengers and crew are safe.

Just a day after the French government collapsed yet again, President Emmanuel Macron has named his fifth prime minister in less than two years, who now faces the daunting task of seeing the country out of financial turmoil while leading a new government braced for mass protests.

Melissa Bell is in Paris with the latest on the political deadlock.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: France has a new prime minister. Sebastien Lecornu the outgoing defense minister has been appointed by the French president and tasked with trying to form a government. Sebastien Lecornu, just 39 years old, is considered a Macron loyalist. He had been drawn from the French traditional mainstream political right when he joined the ranks of Emmanuel Macron's party back in 2017.

He served as a minister throughout that first and second term. Now he becomes prime minister at a particularly daunting time, following the footsteps of Francois Bayrou and two other centrist prime ministers, who tried and failed to govern in relatively quick succession.

There had been hopes on the political left that the French president might choose someone from their ranks. In fact, no. Not just someone considered an ally. But, as I say, someone drawn from the political right.

So, it will be interesting to see whether he manages to cobble together the consensus within the mainstream right, left, center parties in France's National Assembly that he needs in order to push through what are expected to be some very difficult budget cuts.

This is precisely what had brought down his predecessor: the idea that money needs to be shaved off the 2026 budget, even as the clock ticks towards the end of the year, when that budget has to be approved by France's Parliament, and even with credit rating agencies like Fitch looking on Friday at whether or not to downgrade France in the face of this looming budget crisis.

BELL: Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Africa's largest hydroelectric dam has been officially inaugurated in Ethiopia, a project that is expected to provide the country with more electricity.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam runs along the Nile River, a crucial water source for neighboring countries, including Egypt and Sudan.

The development deepens a rift with Egypt, which has opposed the dam due to fears it could restrict its water supply. Ethiopia's prime minister assures Egypt that there is no threat.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABIY AHMED, ETHIOPIAN PRIME MINISTER (through translator): Ethiopia built the Renaissance Dam to prosper and to enlighten the region, never to hurt its brothers.

I would like to confirm to you, in front of the Ethiopian people, that we will never retain your fair share of the water at any point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Independent research shows that so far, no major disruptions to downstream flows have been recorded.

Well, it may be time to upgrade your iPhone. Just ahead, we'll take a look at Apple's latest offerings and whether the upgrades might help their bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:37:11]

KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Apple looked to impress as the company rolled out its latest devices during the annual hardware event at its California headquarters.

And this year, CEO Tim Cook and Apple executives focused on innovation in design, introducing a new iPhone, improved AirPods, and an updated Apple Watch.

CNN's Clare Duffy has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Apple was really under pressure to wow with these new releases. And that is, in part, because consumers have been slower to upgrade their devices in recent years, because the iPhone launches that we've seen in recent years have been more iterative than revolutionary.

DUFFY (voice-over): Also, facing pressure because Apple has fallen behind competitors like Google and Samsung when it comes to incorporating A.I. capabilities into its devices.

So, Apple really tried to focus in during this event on the fact that it is a leader in the hardware space, sort of setting A.I. to the side for now.

And that is perhaps most evident in the announcement of the iPhone Air, the latest addition to the iPhone family and the iPhone 17 lineup.

This is Apple's thinnest and lightest iPhone ever. It's about 5.5 millimeters thick, so about three millimeters thinner than your regular iPhone.

But Apple emphasized the fact that it will still have an all-day battery life, still be incredibly durable. And the iPhone Air will just have one rear camera, one front camera, so fewer cameras than, you know, another iPhone offering.

But analysts did say that they do think this could be a different enough option to get consumers to go back into Apple stores to check it out.

And, you know, whether they buy it remains to be seen.

DUFFY: But a good sign if consumers are interested to go and explore the new offerings.

I want to highlight a few other interesting announcements from today.

DUFFY (voice-over): There were three new Apple Watch, upgraded Apple Watch options, announced. The series 11 base model, the Apple Watch SE3, which is a lower priced model.

And the Ultra3, its pro model of the Apple watch.

And these new offerings are going to have new health features, including a hypertension, high blood pressure alert and a temperature detection feature.

Health has been an area that Apple has really been investing in --

DUFFY: -- as a way to get consumers to buy new wearables and invest in services like Apple Fitness Plus that operate across its devices.

DUFFY (voice-over): And then you have the Apple AirPods 3. This is the first time that pro version of the AirPods is getting an update in about three years.

And this is also going to have a new health feature, a heart rate detection that will help you gauge your workouts. Things like that.

And also, the AirPods 3 are getting live conversation translation so that you could, in real time, be speaking with someone who speaks a different language. And your AirPods will be translating that to English in your ear.

DUFFY: So, a couple of interesting options for Apple, but I think that the proof is really going to be in the pudding when these new devices go on sale on September 19.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[00:40:01]

KINKADE: Our thanks to Clare Duffy.

Well, a new exhibit in London is showcasing the career of music legend David Bowie.

The David Bowie Center at the V&A East Storehouse opens to the public on Saturday. It features 90,000 items from Bowie's archive.

They span Bowie's career not just as pioneering musician, but also as an actor, writer and designer.

Other items on display showcase unfinished projects that Bowie worked on before his death in 2016. Fans, students and researchers can view the collection by appointment.

Thanks for watching this edition of CNN NEWSROOM. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Great to have your company. Stay with us. WORLD SPORT is next.

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