Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Israel Condemns the Brazen Strike Targeting Hamas' Leader in Qatar; Poland Shots Down Russian Drones, Accusing Moscow of an Act of Aggression; Apple Bares New Models and Products at a Launch Event. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson in Doha in Qatar. We're following two major stories.

Condemnation from world leaders after an Israeli strike targeting Hamas leadership here in Qatar's capital. We'll discuss how the attack could impact the ongoing Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas.

CHURCH: And NATO jets were sent scrambling after Russian drones entered Polish airspace in what is potentially a major provocation for Europe.

And we begin with that developing story out of Poland. The military there is accusing Moscow of quote, an act of aggression, after Polish forces shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace. Prime Minister Donald Tusk said Polish airspace was violated by a huge number of drones. And he said he was in constant communication with NATO Secretary General and Poland's allies.

Earlier, Polish and NATO jets were scrambled after reports from Ukraine's air force that Russian drones were headed toward the country's airspace. The Polish military thanked NATO member the Netherlands for contributing fighter jets to defensive operations overnight. During the incident, Polish authorities shut down several major airports, including Warsaw International.

Joining me now with the latest is CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman, live from Rome. So Ben, what more are you learning about this?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand from the Ukrainian Air Force that overnight, more than 400 drones and 43 missiles were fired by the Russians into Ukraine. And one of those -- eight of those drones, according to the Ukrainian air force, entered Polish territory. Now, we're seeing unconfirmed reports that one of those drones crashed onto a building in eastern Ukraine, causing damage, but no casualties in that instance.

But certainly what we're seeing is that Poland is clearly in a heightened state of alert after this incident, which Kaja Kallas, the chief European foreign policy official, says is the most serious violation of European airspace by the Russians since the war. The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine began back in February of 2022.

And as you mentioned, of course, it wasn't just the Polish air force that was involved in trying to stop these drones from gaining, going further into Polish territory, but also the Dutch air force using F-35 fighters was also involved. We don't know if the Dutch actually managed to shoot down any drones, but this is clearly a very serious incident. And of course, Poland, being a NATO country, is under NATO's Article 5, which means that an attack on one member state is considered an attack on all.

Now, we understand that President Trump has been briefed on the situation. Now, it was only, I believe, it's 25 days ago that President Trump met with President Putin in Alaska. The hope then was that somehow that would lead to a ceasefire in Ukraine.

But what we've seen certainly since then is that the Russians, if anything, have intensified their bellicose activity in Ukraine. Over the weekend, we saw the most intense Russian drone attack on Ukraine, with more than 800 Iranian-designed Shahed drones being used against targets in Ukraine.

So, certainly, this incident is added to a long list of other incidents that would indicate that that meeting, that summit in Alaska was a waste of time. Rosemary?

CHURCH: Our thanks to Ben Wedeman bringing us that live report, I appreciate it.

Let's go back to Becky Anderson now in Doha, covering the other big story.

[03:05:03]

ANDERSON: Well, here in Doha, thank you, Rosemary, there is tremendous shock and anger over the brazen Israeli assault on Qatari soil. Qatar, of course, a key mediator in the Israel-Hamas war, as well as a key strategic U.S. ally.

The series of Israeli strikes targeted senior Hamas leadership. Hamas says five of its members and a security official were killed, but that the attack failed to assassinate the delegation in charge of negotiating a Gaza ceasefire.

Israel's ambassador to the U.S. telling Fox News, if we didn't get them this time, we'll get them next time, which suggests more attacks could be imminent. But the White House says President Trump assured the Qataris that, quote, "such a thing will not happen again on their soil."

Well Israel's military chief has accused Hamas of repeatedly sabotaging ceasefire negotiations. The Qatari Prime Minister says it's Israel that's sabotaging opportunities for peace, he says the airstrike can only be described as state terrorism carried out by a rogue player and called Israel a bully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER (through translator): We're talking about an intermediary country officially hosting negotiations for official mediation and in the presence of delegations from the country that sent these rockets to attack the negotiating delegation from the other side. By what ethical standards is this acceptable? This can only be called treachery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, President Trump has been trying to distance himself from the strike here and suggesting, as I said, that this is something that he is absolutely not happy with.

I'm joined here by Paula Hancocks, who has been working our sources to understand, first and foremost, exactly what happened here at 3:46 yesterday, Tuesday afternoon.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So the first reports we got, Becky, were of eyewitnesses on the ground hearing explosions, a number of explosions. And we know that is when the Israelis struck an upscale neighborhood of Doha.

This is -- exactly, this is a residential neighborhood, it's a neighborhood where we know that there are expatriates living, there's a nursery there, there are a number of families living in this neighborhood. And they targeted one particular home where we understand from the Qataris, they said it was a residential building, which was housing members of Hamas.

So that was when the actual attack took place. There was obviously a lot of concern from residents, from civilians here, hearing these explosions, not knowing what had happened. And it was, it appeared to be a very fast attack, a very quick strike, Israel called it a precision strike but this was in the heart of a residential neighborhood.

ANDERSON: So as we understand it, five Palestinians or Hamas members killed in that strike, but the at least chief negotiator for Hamas, Khalil al-Khaya, not killed. As we understand it, others from that delegation also survived.

One Qatari official, sorry, one Qatari security guard killed there as well. And I've been told that his burial will be this afternoon.

Look, shock and anger here, as has been described here and around the region, as a treacherous, as shameful as a criminal act. How did this happen? How did Israel pull this off? What do we understand?

HANCOCKS: From Israel's side, they're saying it was a precise strike. They're saying that they used 10 fighter jets, F-35s, to strike this one particular area.

Now, we know that the Doha has significant air defense systems, it has the biggest U.S. military base in the Middle East stationed here, which of course came under attack from Iran back in June as a counter to U.S. strikes in Iran. But we know that it has a significant military protective umbrella through the United States. But the fact is, this was not detected.

And clearly, Israel used the means to make sure that it went under the radar. We will be learning more about that.

But it does raise the question of if Qatar, a key U.S. ally, the key mediator when it comes to the ceasefire hostage talks, is not immune from these kind of strikes from Israel. It's going to raise concerns elsewhere in the Gulf and elsewhere in the world.

[03:10:03]

ANDERSON: Of course, you know, host other bases, other U.S. bases, and they do that because they see the U.S. as a reliable guarantor of their security. So there will be big questions, not just here, but around the region about, you know, relations with the U.S. and what happens next, how this could have happened here.

Could we, as it were, leadership will think about around the region, could we be next? And those are the sort of things that we are hearing, particularly as we hear from the Israelis this morning, that if we didn't get them this time, they say we will kill them next time. Them, of course, being the Hamas senior leadership here.

Paula, thank you for joining us for the time being.

Well, for more, let's bring in H.A. Hellyer. He is a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense and Security Studies. He joins me live from Cairo.

Months in the making, this attack, as far as one official speaking to CNN has said, months in the making, 10 F-35s, long-range missiles used by these F-35s to go undetected by either Qatari air defenses or, one assumes, the U.S. base here. Although, as we understand it, once this mission had been launched, the U.S. got wind of it, they didn't get to the Qataris to warn them before this strike actually happened. The Qatari Prime Minister saying yesterday that the first communication they had from U.S. officials, H.A., was 10 minutes after this strike hit the residential building here in Qatar, where Hamas are hosted.

I just want to get your response in the first instance to what happened and the significance of this strike, and then we can talk about what we believe the consequences might be.

H.A. HELLYER, SR. ASSOCIATE FELLOW, ROYAL UNITED SERVICES INSTITUTE FOR DEFENSE AND SECURITY STUDIES: Well, thank you, Becky. Always a pleasure to be on the program.

There's a few things that I think still need to be answered, despite the fact that we've heard various quote-unquote "clarifications" over the last 24 hours.

The idea that the Israelis would strike a U.S. ally in the Gulf without coordinating with the Americans pretty far ahead of time, I think, deserves to be questioned. I think that we will see more clarifications about that over the coming days and weeks. I don't think the Israelis would have gone about this without feeling that they're back-covered by Washington.

In terms of what consequences this actually has and the ramifications of it, Qatar is a neutral nation when it comes to this war on Gaza by the Israelis. It's not allied with either the Israelis or with Hamas. It's an ally of Washington, D.C., and it also hosts a very substantial American military presence on its soil.

And yet it was still targeted. A Qatari security official was killed. A residential area was targeted by Israeli missiles.

This sends a guarantee that those can't be relied upon. I think it's a lesson that many of the region, especially in the Gulf, have been learning probably for the last 10 years, but I think this really sends it home. And I think those nations will be wondering what they can do in order to deter future attacks, but also what sort of security architecture they need to now invest in instead of relying on a partner that hasn't been able to protect them, even from one of its own allies.

ANDERSON: Let's talk about the consequences. First and foremost, I mean, there are two big issues here, aren't there? There is where does this leave hostage and ceasefire negotiations?

And the second is, of course, what's the impact on this wider region, which includes the Arab Gulf nations, to your point, you know, there is real concern about security and defense here and whether or not these countries can rely on the U.S. going forward. Countries here and around the region who are this morning, according to those that I've spoken to, who are being very vocal about seeing Benjamin Netanyahu as the biggest threat to this region. I've heard that from a number of key stakeholders.

Let's talk about the ceasefire and hostage negotiations.

[03:15:06]

We know that the Qatari Prime Minister on Monday night late was with Khalil al-Hayya, the lead representative, the senior negotiator for Hamas here late into the night, putting an enormous amount of pressure on Hamas leadership to respond positively to a U.S. initiative, a new U.S. initiative promoted by Steve Witkoff at the back end of last week, which would have allowed for the release, were it to be agreed upon, allowed for the release of all the hostages and then negotiations to begin about ending this conflict -- this conflict in Gaza that's been going on now for 22 months.

And I have it on good authority that those talks went on late into the night and were to be picked up the following day yesterday early evening to get a response from Hamas, an official response to the key mediator on whether or not they would agree to this U.S. initiative. Before that could happen, Israel struck the residence where those negotiators were staying. Your thoughts?

HELLYER: So it's now been 23 months of this war on Gaza and there have been about 18 months of negotiations that have taken place at different points in order to get hostages out of Gaza and in a later stage of these negotiations, the sessions around how to end the war the day after and so on.

Israeli media has reported multiple times over the past year and a half how Benjamin Netanyahu and his government, but particularly the prime minister himself, sabotaged negotiations at multiple points during these processes. So the value of these negotiations and the genuineness of these negotiations has been in question for quite some time and I think that the strikes yesterday really send the message home that the Israelis are not interested in these negotiations except as a sideshow.

They struck the negotiation team of those that they were supposed to be negotiating with on the territory of the mediating partner. I don't think that anybody can take seriously that they would actually abide by any negotiations, any conclusions on the country. Netanyahu in particular has been changing the goalposts multiple times.

It's not about whether or not Hamas is a problem or isn't a problem, it's a massive problem, it's an odious organization and that's a given. But that's not the issue here. In the same way that when the United States was engaged in negotiations with Iran, again a very odious regime, the Israelis then struck Tehran.

The time of negotiations is a time when this sort of activity at the very least is supposed to be kept away in order to allow negotiations to proceed and then see what happens after they fail. I think that what has been abundantly clear, not simply to the Qataris, not simply to the Gulf, and frankly not simply even to the wider Middle East and Arab world region, is that the Israelis are operating under this impunity imperative where they feel that they can move ahead in addressing what they see as their short-term security needs without any fear of consequence operating in an environment of impunity.

And as long as that continues, the ramifications and the consequences for the region, but I think also more widely internationally for such rogue action, are very dire indeed.

ANDERSON: Yes, and H.A., your view is very much reflected by so many people that I have spoken to, not just over the last, what, 18, 20 hours, but over the last 23 months. It's good to have you, it's always good to have your analysis and insight, extremely important for us as we continue to cover this story.

From here, the precision attack by Israel on Hamas leadership here in a residence where they are hosted while negotiations were ongoing for a resolution to the hostages and ceasefire in Gaza. Good to have you. Rosemary, back to you.

[03:20:08] CHURCH: Thanks so much, Becky. We'll see you soon.

So, still to come, President Trump loses the latest core challenge in his effort to oust Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook. Hear why the judge has blocked the firing, for now.

Plus, another massive revision to the number of jobs added in the U.S. economy. We will take a look at the new estimates after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone.

A U.S. judge has blocked President Donald Trump's move to unseat Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.

[03:25:05]

The judge said Cook's claim of an unjust firing is valid, but that the issue brings up new legal questions that must be addressed. President Trump is trying to fire Cook for cause over allegations of fraud on a mortgage application completed before Cook was in her current role.

But the judge said firing for cause is limited to actions taken in office. Cook's attorney praised the ruling, saying, quote, "allowing the President to unlawfully remove Governor Cook on unsubstantiated and vague allegations would endanger the stability of our financial system and undermine the rule of law."

The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear arguments in early November over President Trump's unprecedented global tariffs. His administration is appealing a lower court ruling which found many of those import tariffs were imposed unlawfully. Last month, a federal appeals court affirmed that the power to impose taxes and tariffs lies solely with Congress under the Constitution.

For now, the tariffs are staying in place while this moves through the courts. The government has argued that overturning the president's actions could force the U.S. to return up to a trillion dollars in tariffs already collected.

Job growth in the States was significantly weaker than initially estimated for the year ending in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S. economy added almost a million fewer jobs than previously thought. CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, jobs growth was much weaker than expected between April of 2024 and March of 2025. The number of jobs added to the U.S. economy in this period was 911,000 less than initially reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, that's an average of about 76,000 fewer jobs.

Now, this is an annual benchmark revision that we get every single year. This report, though, showed jobs mostly under President Biden with just three months of the Trump presidency.

Now, the largest revisions were in trade, transportation and utilities with 226,000 fewer jobs in that sector; Leisure and hospitality, 176,000 fewer jobs added; and professional and business services, 158,000 fewer jobs added.

Now, there are key reasons for downward revisions. One is a weaker than inferred job creation at new companies. Also, some sampling errors from declining survey responses from businesses to the BLS.

The response rate in 2019 was 59 percent. Compare that to this year, 2025, when response rates are 43 percent.

Also, this is a preliminary revision that looks now at unemployment quarterly tax filings, which are more specific than the surveys and the information that businesses are providing to the BLS. But in these tax filings, it would not show undocumented workers, so they are not counted.

Now, the final revision for the year will be in February of 2026, which will likely show a different number of jobs as the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects even more data. Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: International condemnation after Israel strikes Hamas in Doha. How the U.S., Qatar, and other countries are responding, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom." I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

Israel targeted Hamas leadership in an unprecedented attack on the capital of Qatar, a key mediator in Gaza ceasefire talks. Qatar's Prime Minister called the strike state terrorism. But Israel's Prime Minister says the attack, quote, "can open the door to an end the war in Gaza."

Poland is accusing Moscow of an act of aggression. That reaction after the military shot down Russian drones that had violated Polish airspace during a Russian attack on neighboring Ukraine. An operation has since been launched to recover the downed objects.

The U.S. Supreme Court has allowed the Trump administration to temporarily freeze billions in foreign aid payments. It puts on hold a lower court ruling that required officials to spend that money by the end of the month. At issue is $4 billion in foreign aid that was approved by Congress, but deemed wasteful by President Trump.

Alright, let's head back to Becky Anderson now in Doha. Becky. ANDERSON: Well, there is, Rosemary, growing international backlash to

Israel's attack on Hamas leadership here in Qatar, not very far away from where I am standing this morning. U.S. President Donald Trump says he's, quote, "very unhappy about every aspect of how Israel carried out the strike." The White House says the strike, quote, does not advance Israel or America's goals.

[03:35:03]

For many European, Arab, Asia Pacific leaders condemning the strike, saying it jeopardizes efforts to end the war.

Hamas says the strike killed five members but failed to assassinate the group's negotiating delegation who are hosted here in Qatar. A Qatari official, a security official, was also killed. One of the security detail at the residence, which was struck.

Israel's Prime Minister says the targets were directly responsible for the October the seventh attack. Benjamin Netanyahu described the strike as a peacemaking action.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: And this action can open the door to an end of the war -- end of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the principles, the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate release of all our hostages, which have been held in the dungeons of Gaza for 700 days.

If President Trump's proposal is accepted, the war can end immediately. We can begin once again to pursue the expansion of peace in our region for the benefit of all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, CNN's Nada Bashir is live in London. Benjamin Netanyahu describing what has happened here as it could open the door to the end of the war in Gaza. Well, Qatar, Prime Minister last night, taking a very different approach to this, calling Israel a rogue nation, calling it a bully, describing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as narcissistic and suggesting this is not a door opening to the end of the war, but sabotaging any attempt to end the war.

Let's step back for a moment and just remind our viewers what happened here in Qatar at 3:46 Tuesday afternoon and how. And then we'll talk about what happens next.

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Becky, it certainly was an unprecedented attack, given the fact that Qatar has played such a crucial role in mediating ceasefire negotiations and discussions over the last few months between Israel and Hamas. It has been, of course, in this process, a key ally to the United States. And of course, it's important to remind our viewers that Qatar is a close ally of the U.S. and, of course, is home to the U.S.'s largest military base in the region. So clearly this has come as a shock. We've heard from Qatari officials

who have said that they were not notified in advance by their U.S. partners of any such plans for an attack by Israel on Doha.

And of course, this has come as a huge shock to not only the nation, but also to the region as a whole. And I think that sentiment that we heard yesterday from the Qatari prime minister around Israel being a rogue actor is certainly one that is felt quite widely in the region. And I think if we take a step back when it comes to those ceasefire negotiations and the remarks that we've heard from the likes of Qatari officials that this attack has now undermined those ceasefire discussions and negotiations, there really is a lot of questions around whether this really is an opportunity or a doorway to peace, as the Israeli Prime Minister has characterized it.

It's important to remind ourselves, of course, that there have been numerous iterations of this ceasefire agreement on the table without reaching any sort of breakthrough. The previous iteration, which had been put forward by Qatari and Egyptian mediators, had been agreed to by Hamas, but we never did hear a response from Israeli officials.

The Israeli Prime Minister had said at the time that he remained committed to his war goals. This latest iteration, which has been put forward by the United States, the first time we've seen the U.S. back on the table since they withdrew from ceasefire talks in late July, essentially took away all of Hamas' bargaining chips. It would ensure, according to the terms put forward on that proposal, that all hostages would be released on day one rather than a phased release that we'd seen in previous iterations.

With that in mind, it's unclear how Hamas now moves forward. As we've discussed, Becky, it was understood that the Qataris were putting pressure on Hamas as late as Monday evening to accept this latest deal, that there were positive discussions around this proposal. But given this latest attack, given the fact that the presumed target was Hamas' chief negotiator, it's really unclear how they move forward.

And of course, there are questions around the safety and security of the hostages held captive in Gaza and what this means for Israel's assault on Gaza City as well. Becky.

ANDERSON: Yes, Nada, thank you for that.

[03:39:58]

And Rosemary, just to sort of round this out, as we know that the Qatar Prime Minister was deep in discussion with and negotiation with the senior Hamas leadership here through Monday night, his negotiation team stayed on through the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

And as I understand it, they were due to meet once again with the Hamas negotiation team to get their response. And they've been putting a lot of pressure on Hamas to positively respond to this U.S. initiative, despite the fact, as Nada had suggested, that it effectively took away any bargaining chips that Hamas might have. I think everybody has got to that point at which they say this war

must end, these hostages must come back. This is the initiative on the table, this is what you need to sign up to. That was the pressure that Qatar as a lead negotiator, a lead mediator in these talks have been putting on Hamas and they were due to get their response later on Tuesday afternoon.

This attack, meantime, happening at 3:46 in the afternoon, 10 F-35s flying from Israel undetected by air defense systems here. As far as the U.S. is concerned, from the White House, we hear not a plan that they were told would be enacted, although U.S. officials tell us that this plan to attack Hamas leadership here has been months in the making.

And I have spoken to sources familiar with the matter here about how concerned Qatar might have been about the risks of hosting Hamas during what is such a difficult, complex and tense time, given that Israel, a number of Israeli officials have said they would go after Hamas leadership anywhere they are. I've been told that the risks were there, but Qatar had been given security guarantees and so they had continued to play a key role in mediation on and for the United States and, of course, indirectly with Israel.

So look, where does this leave those negotiations? We've been told that they aren't officially suspended, but certainly the Qatar Prime Minister in his press conference late last night suggesting that it's really not valid to have a discussion about talks at this point. This was just hours after the targeted attack on the residents here, so we don't know where this leaves talks.

Ultimately, we do not know where this leaves talks, but the Qatar Prime Minister very quick to point out that if Benjamin Netanyahu believes that this opens the door to peace, well the impression and the position from Qatar is very much the opposite. This is, as far as they are concerned, sabotage by a rogue state that the Qatar Prime Minister has described as a bully in the region.

CHURCH: All right, many thanks to our Becky Anderson, I appreciate that.

Well, I want to return now to our top story out of Poland, where the military there has shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace. The Polish Prime Minister said, quote, "a huge number of drones flew over Poland during Russia's attack on neighboring Ukraine" and officials are now accusing Moscow of, quote, "an act of aggression."

Donald Tusk also confirmed he was in constant contact with the head of NATO, with the Netherlands scrambling its own jets to assist in defensive operations overnight. During that time, Polish authorities had shut down several major airports, including Warsaw International.

Joining me now from Warsaw is reporter Michal Sznajder with our Polish affiliate TVN. Michal, thanks for being with us. So, what is the latest on this incident that involved Russian drones violating Polish airspace before being shot down by Polish and NATO jets that scrambled to respond?

MICHAL SZNAJDER, REPORTER, TVN: Good morning, Rosemary.

The newest breaking news right now that we are receiving is that a second UAV has been found and it has been found in central Poland and that is a significant piece of information because it might be evidence that the drones had been sent from Belarus and this could confirm that this was indeed, as the Polish Prime Minister said, a large-scale provocation, a large-scale operation intended to perhaps question, to see, to test the defensive capabilities of Poland and the cooperation with NATO.

Donald Tusk said this was a large-scale provocation. He also said that the air defense systems, the decision procedures, the ally coordination, everything worked as it was supposed to work.

[03:45:03]

And also, the Polish experts are saying that Poland today sent a strong signal to Russia that our procedures work and there will be no more soft playing, as it is said in Poland. Those will be hard kills and Russia must take that into consideration.

CHURCH: And Michal, what is the feeling on the streets of Poland after this violation of Polish airspace by Russian drones? What are people saying about this?

SZNAJDER: We learned about this early in the morning today, so right now everyone is pretty much waking up or has woken up to this absolutely breaking news. TVN24, the network I work for, we are in breaking news mode. This is a significant thing.

Just to give you a glimpse into the atmosphere right now in Poland, we have a special text emergency system in Poland and just I, myself and pretty much everyone in Poland on their cell phones might have received this text saying that if you, due to the operations, keep safe right now that are taking place and especially let the authorities know about any sightings of drones. So if you see a drone, simply let the authorities know.

I would say that this is somehow connected to this feeling we've had for the past few years regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine, that something like that might happen. So there has been some sort of awareness.

Just before this live shot for your show, Rosemary, I checked the most recent data polling and I would say that the polls are split almost evenly in half. Almost 50 percent of Poles are concerned that there might be a Russian invasion of a NATO country shortly within the next few years. The other half not so concerned.

But as I speak to people, as I have been speaking with experts and other folks in the past few years, everyone was concerned that something like this is pretty much bound to happen.

CHURCH: Yes, certainly an unnerving day for people in Poland. Our thanks to Michal Sznajder joining us there, bringing us up to date with the latest information. I appreciate it.

Still to come, a new federal charge is filed against the man accused of stabbing a Ukrainian refugee to death on a train in North Carolina. We're back with that in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: The U.S. Justice Department has filed a federal charge against the man allegedly responsible for fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina. DeCarlos Brown has also been charged with first- degree murder by the state, he's accused of attacking 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, unprovoked, with a pocket knife inside a light rail train car. The DOJ has confirmed it will, quote, "seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence."

Apple looked to impress as the company rolled out its latest devices during the annual hardware event at its California headquarters. This year, CEO Tim Cook and Apple executives focused on innovation in design, introducing a new iPhone, improved AirPods and updated Apple Watches.

CNN's Clare Duffy has all the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: 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. 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 have one front camera, so fewer cameras than 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 whether they buy it remains to be seen, 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. 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 Ultra 3, its pro model of the Apple Watch.

And these new offerings are going to have new health features, including hypertension, high blood pressure alert, and a temperature detection feature. Health has been an area that Apple has really been investing in as a way to get consumers to buy new wearables and invest in services like Apple Fitness Plus that operate across its devices.

And then you have the Apple AirPods 3. This is the first time the 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.

[03:55:03]

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.

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

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Enjoy the rest of your day. "Early Start" with Brian Abel in Washington and Becky Anderson in Doha is up next, you're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)