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Displaced Palestinians Describe Intensifying IDF Operations; At Least One Detainee Killed In ICE Facility Shooting; Donald Trump Says Climate Change "Greatest Con Job Ever"; China Pledges to Reduce Climate Pollution by 10 Percent; 6.3 Million Viewers Tune in to Return of Jimmy Kimmel Live; Rihanna Welcomes Third Child With A$AP Rocky; Security Camera Captures Suspects Robbing Jewelry Store. Aired 2-2:45a ET
Aired September 25, 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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[02:00:33]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London.
Coming up this hour, a peace plan for Gaza. The U.S. President hopes to get it done, but Israel's assault on Gaza City shows no sign of slowing down.
Too weak to stop Russia. Ukraine's president slams the United Nations and its general assembly, a member of parliament joins me from Kyiv.
And as Jimmy Kimmel smashes T.V. ratings, the U.S. President Trump makes new threats to get him canceled.
ANNOUNCER: Live from London. This is CNN NEWSROOM with Christina Macfarlane.
MACFARLANE: In the coming hours, the Palestinian Authority President is expected to deliver a prerecorded speech to world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly. The Trump administration refused to grant Mahmoud Abbas a visa to travel to New York for the U.N. meeting. His remarks will come just days after a number of Western countries formally declared their recognition of a Palestinian state.
It's part of an effort to revive a two-state solution and provide a pathway to peace. The Trump administration is hopeful for a breakthrough in the Gaza war, after proposing a 21 point peace plan to regional leaders. The U.S. plan calls for a permanent cease fire and the release of all hostages, and offers a framework for how Gaza can be governed without Hamas, and it includes a proposal for Israel to gradually withdraw from the enclave.
Well, regional leaders endorsed large parts of the plan, but made suggestions on provisions they wanted to -- want added to it. Their points include increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and that there would be no annexation of the West Bank by Israel. They also want to address Israel's illegal settlements.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: And we're here to see if we can get the hostages back and get the war over and get back to life. Life in the Middle East.
It has gone on too long, and we want it to end, and we want to get those hostages back too.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Meanwhile, Palestinians fleeing Gaza City described intensifying Israeli military operations in the area. Israel is pushing its ground offensive deeper into what have been the enclave's most populated city. Hospitals report 92 people were killed throughout Gaza on Wednesday, including 55 people in Gaza City alone.
CNN's Oren Lieberman reports.
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OREN LIEBERMAN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Even as a number of world leaders at the U.N. General Assembly talk about the importance of bringing a cease fire to Gaza that would end the war after nearly two years, Israel is continuing to press its assault on Gaza City. The Israeli military chief saying forces will push deeper into the city itself and carry out larger strikes targeting what it sees as one of Hamas last remaining strongholds.
But we see what's unfolding as a result of these strikes, Gaza hospitals say nearly a hundred have been killed on Wednesday, more -- most of those in northern Gaza.
Shortly after one in the morning, Gaza Civil Defense says an Israeli strike killed 22 people, including nine children, in the Firas Market in the Old City of Gaza City, and we have seen the results of that strike.
Israel's military says they were targeting two Hamas terrorists in that strike, but they did not name who they were targeting or specify the two people that they were targeting in that strike. They also say that they are aware of reports regarding casualties, but their numbers dude on the line with what we're seeing reported from Gaza's civil defense.
Meanwhile, a drone launched from Yemen struck the Israeli city of Eilat in southern Israel on Wednesday, resulting in at least 22 injuries, according to Israel's emergency responders, including two seriously injured as a result of shrapnel from that strike.
Israel has intercepted most of the drones and ballistic missiles launched from the Iran backed Houthis, but we have seen several in recent weeks pierce Israel's aerial defense and carry out strikes in Israel.
So, that continues to escalate between Israel and the Houthis.
Oren Lieberman, CNN in Jerusalem.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Italy and Spain are sending ships to help a flotilla that was trying to deliver aid to Gaza when activists say some of their vessels were targeted by drones. Volunteers with the Global Sumud Flotilla claim the attacks are part of a sustained campaign of intimidation by Israel.
[02:05:03]
The group has been trying to get aid into Gaza using ships sailing from ports across the Mediterranean. The boats were days away from reaching the enclave when the latest reports attacked -- reported attacks occurred on Tuesday.
Israel's foreign minister says the country would take necessary measures to stop the latest flotilla from reaching Gaza, but would be willing to transfer the aid through the Ashkelon port. It accuses organizers of refusing the offer.
Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa is calling for the remaining international sanctions on his country to be lifted. He spoke at the U.N. General Assembly on Wednesday.
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AHMED HUSSEIN AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We restructured civil and military institutions, dissolving all previous formations. Through intensive diplomatic activities, Syria restored its international relations and forged regional and global partnerships and achieved the gradual lifting of most sanctions, and we call now for the complete lifting of sanctions, so that they no longer shackle the Syrian people.
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MACFARLANE: The Syrian leader, a former jihadists who once had $10 million bounty on his head, also met President Donald Trump during reception hosted on the sidelines of the event.
Meanwhile, Israel announced for the first time on Wednesday that it's in talks with Syria after repeated Israeli cross border strikes. The U.S. is pushing for a de-escalation agreement between the two countries as the first step towards peace.
Now, to somber warnings from Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy told the United Nations that international institutions like the U.N. are weak, and so, Russia's war in his country is still ongoing. He also says we're living through the most destructive arms race in human history, adding that powerful friends aren't enough. One also needs weapons. Perhaps his strongest warning, though, was centered on Russia.
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VOLODYMYR Zelenskyy, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: So, Ukraine's main message is this, do not let war become part of the norm. Russia very much wants to make war the new normal, and this is exactly what we must resist, not allowing killings and Russian occupation to become something the world can simply turn a blind eye to. There must be no normalization of Russia's war or of Russia's brazenness to wage it.
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MACFARLANE: Russia's foreign ministry says that during talks on the sidelines of the summit, Sergey Lavrov told the U.S. Secretary of State that Ukraine's approach to the war is only prolonging it. The U.S. State Department says Marco Rubio urged Russia to take meaningful steps to end the fighting.
Oleksandr Merezhko is the chair of the Ukrainian parliament foreign affairs committee, and he joins me now live from Kyiv. Thank you so much for your time this morning.
It was a pretty damning assessment from your president yesterday in New York of the U.N.'s abilities to be effective in Ukraine's ongoing fight. And Zelenskyy speech really spelt out the risks posed by Russia, but that seemed to be in opposition to what we had heard from Donald Trump earlier in the week, comments that Russia is a paper tiger and in big economic trouble. What is your response to that assessment by Donald Trump? Was he wrong?
OLEKSANDR MEREZHKO, CHAIR OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Well, first of all, I'm glad that finally, the president of the United States has recognized the role and importance of Ukraine.
Virtually he mean -- he means that this statement that he believes that the war is winnable, that Ukraine can win the war. But to do that, we need more support from our European partners, and, of course, from the United States.
As for paper tiger, yes, Russia, right now is a paper tiger, but for very simple reason, during 3.5 years of the full scale invasion, it was Ukrainian army which turned one of the biggest armies in Europe, Russian army, into a paper tiger.
MACFARLANE: You say he's a paper tiger, but then your president came out yesterday saying that you are in desperate need of more arms, not less and more friends, not less.
Donald Trump, of course, is given one of the strongest statements of support, I guess, as you -- as you mentioned this week, but it was also a pivot from his previous position, and one that seems to minimize the U.S.'s role in Ukraine's ongoing war, not increase its support for it at a time when your president is calling for more arms. How worried are you about the fact that Donald Trump may be disengaging from the fight, given the comments we heard from him this week?
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MEREZHKO: Yes, unfortunately, of course, we have some concerns that President Trump might walk away from this important for European security and American security issue.
But at the same time, it doesn't mean that we should stop making diplomatic political efforts trying to persuade President Trump, at least to follow through on his previously made promises with regard to severe consequences against Russia and Russian allies, which provide lifeline to Russia and which allows Russia to wage war against Ukraine, but not only against Ukraine, because Putin, he's waging war against the West, and the leader of the west of the United States. So, in the final analysis, it's a war also against the United States.
MACFARLANE: Yes, in backing you to retake all of Ukraine, which is what President Trump said. It also reveals, really his view that the war should continue for Ukraine, which potentially is a problem for you. I mean, how realistic is it for you to retake all of Ukraine as he says?
MEREZHKO: It is realistic, but again, it depends on the adequate support, including contemporary, sophisticated weaponry for the United States. There are some kind of weapons which can be available only in the United States.
And also, we need security guarantees. I'm absolutely confident that it's inevitable that Ukraine will restore our territorial integrity in full, and we will return temporarily occupied territories. It needs collective efforts, it needs more weaponry, it needs certain patients.
But you know, in the final analysis, this is about international law, and international law will be restored one way or another, no matter how many years it might take.
MACFARLANE: Oleksandr Merezhko, we appreciate your thoughts this morning. Thank you.
MEREZHKO: Thank you.
MACFARLANE: OK, still to come, Republican officials blame the far left for a deadly shooting at an ICE facility in Texas. We'll bring you the latest on the investigation.
As studies show the majority of Americans agree climate change is real, but Donald Trump isn't one of them. Ahead, two noted climate advocates respond to his claim that it's all just a big con job.
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MACFARLANE: President Trump is blaming a deadly shooting in Texas on rhetoric from the radical left. At least one detainee at an immigration facility in Dallas was killed, and two more are in critical condition. But while the president's quick to point fingers, some Texas lawmakers
are calling for an end to divisive rhetoric. CNN's Ivan Rodriguez has the details.
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IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Christina, right behind me is the ICE facility where the shooting took place Wednesday morning, and we're learning a little bit more information from the Department of Homeland Security into the moments that led up to this deadly shooting.
We know, according to them, that a, "sniper" was on a nearby rooftop and was shooting indiscriminately, they say, not only into the ICE building here, but also into a van that was in a sally port, and that's where the victims were shot. We know that one of the detainees here was killed during that shooting. Two other detainees are currently in serious condition. We don't know much of details as to who those detainees are. What we do know is that one of them is a Mexican national, according to the Mexican government.
In terms of the shooter, we know that he was a 29-year-old man. He's a Dallas resident, and he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The FBI is investigating this as a targeted attack. We have also heard into this evening here, a little bit more from Secretary Kristi Noem from Homeland Security. She went on to say again that she believes that the shooter was against ICE agents based on the evidence that they have been able to gather here. She also says that the shooter wasn't specifically targeting any area of the building, and that there were bullet holes, again, all over the building here at this ICE facility.
In Dallas, Texas. I'm Ivan Rodriguez.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Police say drones are now gone from Denmark's Aalborg airport, which was forced to temporarily stop its operations on Wednesday. That was the second time this week that a Danish airport had to close because of drones in the area, police are still investigating reports of drone sightings near at least three other airfields on Wednesday and Thursday.
It's all happening after similar sightings closed airports in Oslo and Copenhagen earlier this week, the Danish Prime Minister noted similar suspected Russian drone incursions and airspace violations in Europe. Moscow denies any involvement.
Well, powerful floods and brutal hurricanes, devastating tornadoes. Scientists say climate change is making them worse, but the U.S. president disagrees. Reaction to his stunning claims next.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world, in my opinion. Climate change, no matter what happens you're involved in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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MACFARLANE: Tropical storm Humberto has formed in the Atlantic, and there might be another storm to come. Humberto is forecast to become a hurricane by the weekend, but it's unclear whether it poses a threat. Meteorologists are also watching a patch of thunderstorms near the Dominican Republic, they say it could become a tropical storm or depression in the coming days.
And on the other side of the planet, Typhoon Ragasa has been downgraded to a tropical storm as it moves through southern China. Two million people were forced to flee their homes before the storm reached southern China on Wednesday. Typhoon Ragasa toppled trees and smashed shop windows in China's tech hub of Shenzhen.
[02:25:02]
Taiwan is also cleaning up after the enormous storm that killed at least 14 people. Cars were tossed aside as Typhoon Ragasa sent flood waters ripping through this town on Tuesday, China is pledging to reduce its climate pollution by 10 percent over the next decade. The goal announced Wednesday fall short of the 30 percent the Biden administration was pushing for.
China is the biggest emitter of global warming pollutants, but it's also the dominant player in renewable energy. Experts note China has already reached peak levels of planet warming pollution, and its numbers are starting to decline five years ahead of schedule.
As China takes steps to reduce its pollution levels, the U.S. president is sticking to his stance that global warming is a hoax. Speaking at the U.N., Donald Trump called the scientific consensus about climate change the greatest con job ever perpetrated on the world.
Well, CNN's Elex Michaelson sat down with former California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who are hosting a key climate event in New York this week, to get their reactions.
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FMR. GOV. ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER (R-CA): The bottom line is that he just never believed in it. And to me, I said to myself, OK, then I cannot really go and be on his team because I'm a big believer that we have to do something about reducing pollution and we have to do something about, you know, having people die, seven million people a year die. And so, I felt very strongly about what the way I was thinking, and I totally understand that not everyone has to think like me. But what is important is that we let people know, OK, so that's how our president feels, but that doesn't mean we should stop everything. Because so many people say, oh my God, if America doesn't move forward, then does it make any sense to move forward at all. It's nonsense because the fact of the matter is that every state in the United States has its own environmental laws.
TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: We got to focus on what we can actually do. And if you -- see, where I think we've been at risk in the climate argument is not in persuading people that there's a real problem, because I think most people accept they can see their --
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump doesn't.
BLAIR: Well -- but people are going to take different views of it. But one thing I think that's really important is to accept that a lot of the time we've been making this argument on climate, we've not been making in a way that's likely to persuade people.
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MACFARLANE: Joining me now is Peter Krull, partner and director of Sustainable Investing at Earth Equity Advisors. He is also the author of a new book, The Sustainable Investor. Peter, great to have you with us.
PETER KRULL, PARTNER AND DIRECTOR OF SUSTAINABLE INVESTING, EARTH EQUITY ADVISORS: Thank you so much. I'm excited to be here.
MACFARLANE: First off, Peter, I just wanted to get your response to Donald Trump's latest comments there on climate change.
KRULL: You know it's interesting when you hear him talking about climate and talking about, you know, the something that unfortunately doesn't know really much about when reality is 97 percent of climate scientists agree that climate change is happening and that it's primarily caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels.
I live in Asheville, North Carolina, where, you know, almost a year ago to the day, Hurricane Helene, which was a climate fueled storm, you know, devastated our area. And you know, according to the World Weather Attribution organization, the likelihood that it happened was dramatically increased due to climate change by a factor of 18. That is something that you really can't deny.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and it's true also, isn't it, Peter, that methods to counter climate change are improving. We heard Donald Trump talking there about climate -- investing in climate change measures is the path to economic ruin.
But, you know, I've read that some analysts say the opposite is actually true, that in some cases, renewables now produce electricity more affordably than fossil fuels.
KRULL: That is absolutely true. And you know, the economics really don't lie on this. And when you consider that, in 2024 the U.S. added 56 gigawatts of new power capacity, in general, 96 percent of which was either solar, wind or batteries.
And again, so it's simple economics. It's cheaper to install clean energy than it is to build a new fossil fuel or nuclear plant for that matter.
MACFARLANE: I think despite Donald Trump's comments, the most important announcement on climate change this week came from China. On Wednesday, they vowed for the first time to reduce their carbon emissions, I think by seven to 10 percent by 2035. I mean, China contributes 12 billion tons of CO2. Yes, that's actually double what the U.S. contributes. So, I just wonder how consequential you thought that announcement was.
[02:32:07]
.KRULL: Well, the reality is, we are dealing with an existential crisis in climate change and everybody has to be making -- contributing their part to the solution. I mean, that's what I talk about from an investment perspective all the time, is that we have to do what, SRI, sustainable, resilient and innovation. Those are the things that are actually going to push us to the point where, as soon as possible, 2035 is a decade away, but it's also in terms of this problem, not a very long time. And so, everybody needs to be doing their part.
MACFARLANE: And do you think this is enough from China? Do you think, in doing their part, given the role they play in the world economy?
KRULL: They are doing much more than we're going to be doing, obviously, it looks like in the next few years. So, but no, I don't think everybody is doing as much as they can. But everybody is trying to balance out this idea that -- we can only do so much because of economics, but the reality is, is that from a long-term perspective, the faster we make this transition, the less that we're going to have to deal with from an infrastructure perspective. When Hurricane Helene hit Asheville, we had a failure of our transportation infrastructure. We had a failure of our utility infrastructure, and we had a failure of our communication infrastructure. That's going to be really expensive year after year after year --
MACFARLANE: Yeah.
KRULL: -- to have to fix. And spending time to actually make that work right, or spending the money to make that work right is probably something that we should all be considering from a long-term investment perspective.
MACFARLANE: I mean, there are so many fights on different levels here. And it was interesting, I think to hear former Prime Minister Tony Blair there saying, that you have to win the war of words as well as the sort of scientific and the economic war on climate change. And the misinformation war is a real problem, especially when you have a U.S. president who is a climate denier. I mean, how dangerous is it to have a president on watch right now, when you are obviously seeing climate fueled disasters happening on his watch --
KRULL: Yeah.
MACFARLANE: -- such as the California fires, right? Earlier this year.
KRULL: Right. Yeah, I think it is dangerous, but I also understand and I know that the clean energy transition, that train has left to station. And while he may slow it down some, it's not going to get stopped. And again, when -- I'm going to come back to the investment side of this. Year-to-date, you would think that the clean energy sector has underperformed tremendously because of the rhetoric and because of the bill that really cut subsidies.
But the reality is, is if we look at the iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, it's up about 34 percent year-to-date. The fossil fuel based energy sector SPDR is up about seven. And so, people still think -- investors still think that the climate transition is going to continue to move forward. And so I think the same way.
MACFARLANE: Well, it's good to end on that note, Peter. We appreciate your analysis. Thank you.
KRULL: Oh, absolutely. Thank you.
MACFARLANE: Now, a smash-and-grab robbery at a jewelry store in California. Details of the brazen theft and the latest on the investigation, after a quick break.
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MACFARLANE: Jimmy Kimmel's return to late-night television has set a new record for the show. ABC says about 6.3 million viewers tuned in to watch his first show back after the network pulled him off the air last week. That's more than three times Kimmel's typical viewership and that's just on traditional television. Across social media and streaming sites, the episode continues to rack up impressive numbers. His opening monologue calling attention to government threats to free speech has been viewed more than 15 million times on YouTube, making it the most viewed monologue of all time on the platform. Here's some of the highlights, if you missed it.
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JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST OF "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!" ABC NEWS: The mad red hatter wrote, I can't believe ABC fake news gave Jimmy Kimmel his job back."
(LAUGH)
You can't believe they gave me my job back. I can't believe we gave you your job back. This was his big closer. Let Jimmy Kimmel rot in his bad ratings, and he does no bad ratings. He has some of the worst ratings than any president has ever had.
(LAUGH) There are still a lot of people who think I should be pulled off the air for making fun of Donald Trump. So I want to explain that I talk about Trump more than anything because he's a bully. Donald Trump is an old-fashioned '80s movie style bully, taking your lunch money.
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Trump will not release the Epstein files, but we will be doing a thorough and complete investigation into who stopped his escalator.
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MACFARLANE: Now, Rihanna is celebrating the birth of her third child with rapper and entrepreneur, A$AP Rocky. Their daughter, Rocki Irish joins two brothers who were born in 2022 and '23. The 34-year-old singer revealed her pregnancy in May at the Met Gala in New York. She told British Vogue back in 2020 that her 10-year-plan included having three or four children. Good for her.
Now, police have detained several suspects after a brazen smash-and- grab robbery at a jewelry store in San Ramon, California.
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Security cameras' video shows about 20 mass people entering Heller Jewelers and smashing glasses on display cases on Monday afternoon. Police believe they stole an estimated $1 million worth of jewelry. Officials say several of the suspects were armed and at least one of them fired around through the front entrance of the store. No injuries were reported. The jewelry store is expected to reopen on Saturday.
And that'll do it for us for this hour. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London. I'll be back in 20 minutes with your headlines. Stay tuned for "World Sport" up next.
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