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Former FBI Director Indicted on Federal Charges; Netanyahu to Address at the U.N. General Assembly; Top Hamas Official Speaks to CNN. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired September 26, 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]

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom."

An unprecedented indictment. Former FBI Director James Comey reacts to being indicted on federal charges. We'll have details and the escalating concerns that the Trump administration is going after its political opponents.

Israel's Prime Minister is set to address the United Nations today. We'll look at the significance of Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks as international pressure grows to end the war in Gaza.

And a sign of hope for patients suffering from Huntington's disease. We'll have details on the promising results of an experimental gene therapy.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: Former FBI Director James Comey is vowing to fight back as he becomes the latest target of U.S. President Donald Trump's efforts to prosecute his perceived enemies.

Comey was indicted by a federal grand jury on Thursday on two criminal charges, giving false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. Comey posted his response to the indictment in a video statement on his Instagram account. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: My family and I have known for years that there are costs to standing up to Donald Trump. My heart is broken for the Department of Justice, but I have great confidence in the federal judicial system and I'm innocent. So let's have a trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Comey is expected to be arraigned on October 9th. We get more now from CNN's Evan Perez. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SR. U.S. JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: A federal grand jury indicted former FBI Director James Comey on two felony counts of making a false statement to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

The historic indictment marks an escalation in President Donald Trump's push to use the Justice Department to prosecute his political enemies. The grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, approved the two felony counts after newly-installed U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan made the presentation herself. The grand jury rejected a third count for a separate alleged false statement.

Now it's unusual for U.S. attorneys to present cases to the grand jury themselves, usually, career lawyers in the office do this, but we know that prosecutors in the office had raised concerns about the strength of this case.

Comey is a longtime adversary of the President and is now the first senior government official to face federal charges in one of Trump's largest grievances, which is the investigation surrounding the 2016 presidential election. Just last weekend, the President posted on social media urging Pam Bondi, the Attorney General, to take action against Comey and other political enemies.

Now Trump celebrated the indictment on his social media platform, saying, "Justice in America. One of the worst human beings this country has ever been exposed to is James Comey, the corrupt head of the FBI."

Comey could face up to five years in prison if he's convicted, the Justice Department says. Both charges relate to his September 30, 2020 testimony to the Senate Judiciary Committee. Comey testified that he did not authorize someone at the FBI to be an anonymous source for news sources, according to the Justice Department.

Now according to the indictment, that statement was false. Comey responded to the indictment in an Instagram video, saying, "Let's have a trial. Keep the faith."

And Attorney General Bondi said in a post on X, "No one is above the law. Today's indictment reflects the Justice Department's commitment to holding those who abuse positions of power accountable for misleading the American people."

Evan Perez, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: CNN senior legal analyst Elie Honig says the indictment against James Comey is flawed and is going to fail. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELIE HONIG, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: When Donald Trump put up his social media post over the weekend, it was a line that was crossed. We had a President directly ordering DOJ to indict one of his political opponents.

Then we saw other indicators that there might be problems with this indictment. The fact that it went nearly to the end of the five-year statute of limitations on an area that's been looked at exhaustively and nobody has seen fit to charge it.

The fact that the sitting U.S. attorney who Donald Trump put in place, an experienced prosecutor, had problems with the case. The reported fact that Todd Blanche had problems with this case. I was willing to give it, keep an open mind, and give it the benefit of the doubt.

And when this indictment came out, this thing is decrepit.

[03:05:00]

This thing is, I don't think, going to reach a jury. And if it does, I think they're going to reject it. It all comes down to this allegation that Jim Comey lied when he said that he had not authorized a leak.

And what this does is it pits Jim Comey's word on the one hand against Andy McCabe's word on the other hand. The government is going to have to prove that Andy McCabe is telling the truth beyond a reasonable doubt. This isn't just a he said, he said; they're going to have to carry their burden beyond a reasonable doubt.

And I also want to add, it's possible that neither of them was lying, because this is going to get in the weeds for a minute, but I'm going to show you why this indictment is going to fail.

Jim Comey said, I did not authorize the leak. Andy McCabe said, I authorized the leak and told Jim Comey about it the day after. Those could both be true.

In other words, Jim Comey could have said, I didn't authorize the leak in advance. If he learns about it after, that's not necessarily authorizing it. So, it's possible that neither of them is lying.

This indictment is indecipherable, it's a mess. I'd be shocked if it gets to a jury and if a jury ends up convicting beyond a reasonable doubt.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The top Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives is responding. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries says, in part, quote, Donald Trump and his sick offense in the Department of Justice are completely and totally out of control and have viciously weaponized the criminal justice system against their perceived adversaries.

The U.S. President has announced sweeping new tariffs on many household products. Some of the items now facing 50 percent tariffs are imported kitchen cabinets and certain kinds of furniture, previous tariffs had already caused the cost of furnishings to rise considerably over the past year.

Now, following the announcements, stocks for companies like Wayfair and Williams & Sonoma tumbled on Wall Street. President Trump also announced a 25 percent tariff on heavy trucks and some imported pharmaceuticals will be subject to a whopping 100 percent tariff in just a few days.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will address the United Nations today, but it remains to be seen what kind of reception he'll get. CNN's Jerusalem Bureau Chief Oren Liebermann explains.

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OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on Friday morning in what will be quite a remarkable moment. A world leader in New York speaking at the U.N. who has an arrest warrant out for him from the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity because of the ongoing military campaign in Gaza, charges that Israel and Netanyahu have vehemently denied.

Netanyahu is expected to blast a number of countries that have recognized a state of Palestine throughout the week, both at the General Assembly itself and before at a French-Saudi summit to support a two-state solution. Netanyahu and Israel have said that recognizing a Palestinian state under current conditions only emboldens Hamas, and yet France and other countries have made it clear that their vision for a Palestinian state does not include Hamas governance in Gaza.

In fact, it calls on Hamas to disarm and give up the power it has in the besieged territory. Netanyahu has vowed a response, but he has said that response will only come on Monday, and that perhaps is the critical part of Netanyahu's visit, because that's when he will meet President Donald Trump at the White House. It is Trump who will set the limits and green light whatever Israel's response looks like to those countries recognizing a state of Palestine, and that's why that meeting is critical.

Meanwhile, Trump also, or the Trump administration, I should say, met with a number of Arab states and leaders to talk about the Trump administration's 21-point plan for the end of the war in Gaza, which calls for the release of the remaining hostages, a comprehensive end of the war, and a governance structure that rules out Hamas and has Arab states participating.

From regional sources, there was broad agreement on most of the points there. Arab states also asked for more humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, a red line on annexation of any parts of the occupied West Bank, and maintaining the status quo in Jerusalem.

But crucially, broad agreement on an outline of what that would look like, U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff said there might be a breakthrough in the coming days. There is good reason to be skeptical because of the number of times we have heard that. But the General Assembly has brought the attention, at least to some extent, back to Gaza. Meanwhile, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas spoke earlier on Thursday, where he condemned Israel's ongoing campaign in Gaza that's left more than 65,000 Palestinians dead, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. But he also condemned Hamas' attack on October 7, called for a release of the hostages, and he, too, said Hamas has no role in the future governance of Gaza.

Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: President Abbas is thanking the countries that are now recognizing a Palestinian state. He spoke remotely to the U.N. General Assembly, as the U.S. wouldn't approve visas for Palestinian diplomats. Here's a bit more of what he said.

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MAHNOUD ABBAS, PALESTINIAN AUTHORITY PRESIDENT (through translator): We want a modern civilian state that is free of violence, weapons and extremism, one that respects law, human rights, and invests in people, development, technology and education, not in wars and conflict.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Meanwhile, Hamas is rejecting Abbas' claim that it will have no role in a future Palestinian state. Hamas said that would be an infringement on the rights of the Palestinian people to choose who governs them.

But U.S. President Donald Trump is striking an optimistic tone about a peace deal in Gaza. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We had a very good meeting with the representatives of the most powerful countries in the Middle East, and I think we're going to be close to a deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The White House wants Turkey to get more involved in peace efforts in Ukraine. Still ahead, President Trump makes a pitch for a new peacemaking role as his Turkish counterpart comes to the White House.

And a brutal conflict that's triggered what aid agencies are calling the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Sudan's address to the United Nations puts the spotlight on the country's brutal civil war. We'll have more on that story coming up, please do stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: The conflicts in Ukraine and Gaza have been major topics at the U.N. General Assembly, but on Thursday, a different war was in the spotlight.

Sudan is in the midst of a brutal conflict that's raged since April 2023. The World Food Program says it's created the world's largest humanitarian crisis. Earlier this year, it said 25 million people face extreme hunger.

Two weeks ago, the U.S., United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt called for a three-month humanitarian truce, followed by a permanent ceasefire. On Thursday, Sudan's transitional Prime Minister slammed sanctions placed on his country while speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMIL EL-TAYEB IDRI, TRANSITIONAL PRIME MINISTER OF SUDAN (through translator): We are concerned over the political exploitation of human rights and their use as a means to pressure our country without considering the economic aspects of human rights that are affected by these unilateral sanctions and measures.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: I want to get more now from Alan Boswell. He's been watching the conflict closely as the Horn of Africa director at the International Crisis Group. Thanks so much for being here with us again.

We just heard there Sudan's prime minister telling the U.N. that sanctions are being used to pressure his country without considering their economic impact. What's your take on that claim? Are the sanctions actually helping or hurting ordinary Sudanese people?

ALAN BOSWELL, HORN OF AFRICA DIRECTOR, INTERNATIONAL CRISIS GROUP: Well I would say that the war right now is the main factor really hurting the Sudanese people. The sanctions, of course, don't help, but the reality is that at the moment, the world's largest humanitarian crisis in the world is in Sudan. It's primarily because of this war.

One of the interesting things from the Prime Minister's remarks, who's the Prime Minister underneath the Sudanese army, which is one of the warring parties, is that he did use the word peace, but basically offered no olive branch or willingness to enter peace talks to actually end the war.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's vital here because this has been going on for so long and so far we haven't seen any glimmer of progress really. The prime minister said more than 150,000 people have died in the civil war. We keep hearing at the U.N. countries talking about international support for peace, but what concrete action have you actually seen from the global community beyond statements and meetings? BOSWELL: Well Sudan is often mentioned by people as up there with

conflicts with Ukraine and Gaza, but if you compare it to either of those two conflicts, I mean, frankly, there has been mostly crickets from the international community towards this war, which is still, you know, it's two years old, but that shouldn't be old enough really for there to be the sort of fatigue that you often feel with this war.

So we have seen some new diplomatic push in the last few months, mostly from the United States, and you mentioned that, and that's a push for an immediate humanitarian truce, but that has yet to be implemented and there's no progress towards that on the ground yet. So, I mean, I don't want to say it's hopeless. I think this is a very important moment to push for peace.

If they don't push for peace now, unfortunately we're seeing the Sudan basically start to fragment into different areas of rival areas of control with competing parallel governments. So it is very important, but the international community thus far has not stepped up.

BRUNHUBER: Alright, so the international community pushing for peace, presumably, you know, hoping to do things to help, but it seems other countries are also doing maybe more harm than good. There's been a lot of finger-pointing about outside actors making things worse in Sudan. So who are the key players here and what role are they playing in fanning the flames of the civil war?

BOSWELL: Yes, well, this is not just a war between Sudanese anymore. There are a lot of outside countries that are now deeply involved in this war. There are a number of countries which sell weapons and provide diplomatic support to the Sudanese army.

Egypt, for instance, is a major backer of the Sudanese army. And then on the other side, it's widely understood that the United Arab Emirates is the main backer of the RSF.

[03:20:00]

And the level of support flowing into Sudan and level of weaponry has made this an incredibly intense war and has really risked the broader stability of the Horn of Africa region overall. And it's driving a lot of tensions among regional countries who feel that this war has frankly spun out of control. But they are struggling to narrow the differences among the outside actors, to even begin to push the Sudanese themselves towards peace talks.

BRUNHUBER: We only have a minute left, but you talked about this sort of war fatigue. We have the wars in Ukraine and Gaza going on, so most of us are probably not following this war all that closely. Can you just, with our time left, give us sort of a reality check on what's actually happening on the ground right now in Sudan?

BOSWELL: Sure, thanks for that question. You have a terrible humanitarian catastrophe happening in a particular city called Al- Fasher, which is the capital of North Darfur in Western Sudan, this is a city that has been mostly under siege for over a year, conditions that we've rarely seen in the modern era. You have active famine in that area.

And then in much of the rest of the country, you also have very active famine zones, frankly. Oftentimes there hasn't been the data for the U.N. to declare the famine in all the locations, but there have been a number of areas declared. And humanitarian aid is often not meeting those in need.

Both warring sides at various points have blocked it, but also the aid cuts from the outside world have also been very severe. So it is a catastrophe affecting tens of millions of people, and neither the diplomatic nor the humanitarian response from the outside world has really been sufficient to really make things any less worse yet.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, a dire catastrophe, as you say, that shouldn't be forgotten. I really appreciate you putting a spotlight on it. Alan Boswell, thank you so much.

BOSWELL: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: U.S. President Donald Trump wants Turkey to use its influence to try to end the war in Ukraine. He hosted Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the White House on Thursday and said this about his possible peacemaking role.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I can tell you that President Erdogan is very respected by both of them. Everybody respects Erdogan. They really respect Erdogan, I do.

And I think he could have a big influence if he wants to. Right now he's very neutral, he likes being neutral. So do I like being neutral.

But he's somebody that if he got involved, the best thing he could do is not buy oil and gas from Russia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: As Nic Robertson explains, Erdogan came with his own list of priorities, which includes some high-tech U.S. weapons.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Trump has leverage over Erdogan right now. Erdogan comes into this meeting and President Trump spoke about it, wanting F-35s, wanting F-16s, wanting other goods from the United States, Patriot defensive missile systems was another one on the list there.

Erdogan was very close to getting or at least on track for F-35s back in 2019. And that went off the rails because he bought a Russian-made surface-to-air missile defense system, the S-400. And he was part of a group of countries who were actually helping in the development of F- 35s.

Now, he comes back to the table with Trump and Trump is saying this is on the table again. So in those terms, there is some form of leverage that President Trump has there over Turkey on the oil. But it's not clear that that's something that is realistic for Turkey to sign up to right now.

Perhaps the President's going to look for commitments for a reduction over time. Not clear.

I thought it was very interesting just to sort of digress slightly into Syria, telling Erdogan, who was sitting there right next to him, who he'd called tough and opinionated, in positive terms, actually, then going on to say, and you were the one that essentially should take credit for overthrowing Assad in Syria and installing al-Sharaa and saying that these people were your surrogates. I would be totally fascinated to hear what Erdogan has to say about that. Because at the time, at the end of last year, that was sort of the assumption of what was happening.

Again, inside details on that scant President Trump laying some of them bare, it seems.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Russia's foreign minister is suggesting that his country, not Ukraine, is the victim of the conflict with Kyiv. Sergey Lavrov accused NATO and the European Union of declaring what he called a real war on Moscow and that they're conducting it by supporting Ukraine.

Lavrov spoke on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly on Thursday. He's made similar comments before, but contrary to what Lavrov said, it was Russia that launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 after amassing troops on their border for months.

[03:25:05]

Among other things, the Kremlin said its goal was to denazify Ukraine, which actually has a president who's Jewish, Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

BRUNHUBER: CNN speaks with a top Hamas official in Qatar. Just ahead, why he calls the October 7th attacks on Israel a golden moment for the Palestinian cause.

Plus, new details about what may have motivated the gunmen who opened fire on an ICE facility in Texas. Stay with us.

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[03:30:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber, let's check some of today's top stories.

Former FBI Director James Comey vows to fight his indictment on two criminal charges. He's accused of making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. It relates to his testimony five years ago about Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Comey says he's innocent and welcomes a trial.

The U.S. President has announced sweeping new tariffs on many household products. Some of the items now facing 50 percent tariffs are imported kitchen cabinets and certain kinds of furniture. Donald Trump also announced tariffs on heavy truck imports and some pharmaceuticals.

The Israeli Prime Minister is set to address the U.N. General Assembly today. Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to be harshly critical of countries recognizing Palestinian statehood. He's scheduled to meet with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday.

A senior Hamas official is defending the October 7th attacks on Israel, saying they created a golden moment for the Palestinian cause. He spoke to CNN's Jeremy Diamond.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nearly two years after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, Gaza has paid a massive price. The devastation rivaled only by the suffering of its people.

Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands are displaced and homeless. Israeli attacks are only intensifying.

DIAMOND: Do you accept any responsibility for triggering so much death and destruction?

GHAZI HAMAD, SR. HAMAS OFFICIAL: The history did not begin on October 7th. We spent 78 years under occupation, under humiliation, under oppression, under repression, under killing, under displacement. Now why is the focus on October 7th?

DIAMOND (voice-over): Ghazi Hamad is a senior Hamas official, sitting for his first U.S. T.V. interview in months.

DIAMOND: But before October 7th, Israel had never unleashed this level of death and destruction on Gaza before. How can you look at me with a straight face and tell me that you accept no responsibility whatsoever for what has happened in the two years since?

HAMAD: What was -- what is the option is left for the Palestinians to do? First time the Palestinians have shown sacrifice in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict.

DIAMOND: What gives you the right to decide that Palestinian women and children should be sacrificed on the altar of your resistance?

HAMAD: No. All the time we are sacrificing, we are fighting.

DIAMOND: But I am asking you about the civilian deaths in Gaza and what gives you the right to decide It's a price worth paying. That child can die. It's okay. Because it's in order to fulfill our

resistance.

HAMAD: As Hamas, we are fighting for the interests of the people. We want our people to be killed.

Don't put the problem on the shoulders of Hamas. No, I think that.

DIAMOND: Sir, when I speak with Israeli officials, I press them about what they are doing in Gaza. When I'm speaking with Hamas officials, I press them for your responsibility.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But some Palestinians have had enough.

Our message to Hamas is stop gambling with us, this man says. You are disconnected from reality, especially since the Hamas leadership is outside of Gaza.

UNKNOWN: I want to send a message to Hamas. We talk to people, talk by people. Stop the (expletive) war, we are dying here.

DIAMOND (voice-over): But Hamad doesn't seem interested in hearing those voices.

HAMAD: I know. I have seen.

I have seen.

DIAMOND: This is not it. There's more.

HAMAD: I have seen this video. Yes.

DIAMOND: There is more.

HAMAD: I know people are suffering. There are some people blame Hamas.

DIAMOND: Why will you not listen to the voices of Palestinian people in Gaza?

HAMAD: Look, I know. This is not the whole story.

DIAMOND: These people who want Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons, and leave the Gaza Strip. What do you say to them?

HAMAD: No one asks Hamas to surrender. We will never surrender. These people are under abnormal circumstances.

We put them under target and killing and massacre. What do you expect for people to say?

DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamad is eager to tout what he calls the, quote, benefits of October 7th, in which Hamas killed nearly 1200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others. He says it led to growing international support for the Palestinian cause.

HAMAD: What is the benefit of October 7th now? (inaudible)

[03:34:59]

If you look at the General Assembly yesterday, about 194 people opened their eyes and looked at the atrocity, the brutality of Israel, and all of them condemned Israel. We waited for this moment for 77 years.

I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history. I think that now the world has changed. The history has changed now.

DIAMOND: In your view, 65,000 deaths is worth it in order to achieve what you've achieved.

HAMAD: Look, I know the price is so high. but I'm asking again, what is the option? What is the option left to the Palestinians? You know what?

We waited for a peaceful process, for a peaceful means, since 1993, since the Oslo Agreement, until now.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The prospects for peace seem as far away as ever, two weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamad and other senior Hamas officials not far from where we sat down.

HAMAD: I think it is a miracle, because the rockets are very close to us. We are under target, and it was a brutal attack on us. So I think it was a long and very strong message to us, and even to Qatari, that we are not interested in negotiation.

We want to kill, we want to destroy, we want to assassinate. This is our own policy to handle the whole situation. Everything now is frozen.

DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamas' demands have also not shifted.

HAMAD: We insisted to go to the comprehensive deal, to retain all the hostages, either alive or dead. And we said, frankly, we can return them in 24 hours. But the Israelis refused.

DIAMOND: Well, they have conditions for ending the war. They want Hamas to be out of power, and they want Hamas to disarm. Are you willing to abandon power in Gaza and lay down your weapons?

HAMAD: Hamas is part of the Palestinian fabric. You cannot exclude Hamas. But as I said again and again, regarding the ruling of Gaza, we are ready to be out of the ruling of Gaza, we have no problem with this.

The arm of Hamas is a legitimate and legal weapon, which is used all the time against occupation. It is not a terrorist weapon.

DIAMOND: How does this war end? Because over the course of our conversation, I've seen very little that suggests any willingness on your part to compromise.

HAMAD: I think it is easy. I think Mr. Trump and the world could ask Netanyahu in order to stop the war, to stop the genocide in Gaza.

DIAMOND: Do you have any confidence that he will do that? I don't know.

HAMAD: I think we tested him many times. But I think it is not easy to trust Mr. Trump or to trust the American administration. All the time they put the glasses of Israel, they adopt the Israeli position.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair is working with the Trump administration to try to bring an end to the war in Gaza. He was in New York this week, where he sat down with CNN's newest anchor Elex Michelson to talk about his efforts for peace. Here is part of their conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR: On the situation in the Middle East, we know that you recently met at the White House to talk about the situation in Gaza. What was the big takeaway from that meeting and where do you see that situation going forward?

TONY BLAIR, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Look, I think President Trump really wants to bring the war to an end. There is a huge amount of work going on to try and do that. And it will only happen if we have a solution that ends the war on the basis that protects Israel's security, but also gives some hope for the future for the Palestinians.

And everything is about how you put together those two objectives. So let's hope, because we really do need it to end.

MICHAELSON: What do you think is a realistic timeline for that?

BLAIR: I don't think you can be sure at the moment, but let's see. But people are working very hard on it, and the great thing is the President is completely committed to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: We're learning more about the man officials say shot three people at an ice facility in Dallas. Investigators say he left handwritten notes detailing his plan. CNN's Ed Lavandera has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SR. U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Inside the home of Joshua Yohn, investigators say they discovered written notes left by the gunman who carried out the deadly attack on the ICE field office in Dallas.

JOSEPH ROTHROCK, SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE, FBI DALLAS FIELD OFFICE: The clearest indication of motivation are his own words. He wanted to cause terror. He wanted to harm ICE personnel. LAVANDERA (voice-over): In the notes, investigators say the 29-year-

old gunman described ICE agents as, quote, "people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck," and also wrote, quote, "hopefully this will give ICE agents real terror to think, is there a sniper with A.P. rounds on that roof?"

The FBI says these writings outline an extensively planned targeted attack.

ROTHROCK: Yohn specifically intended to kill ICE agents.

NANCY E. LARSON, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS: The tragic irony for his evil plot here is that it was a detainee who was killed and two other detainees that were injured when he fired into the Sally port.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): One note they say taunted police with the, quote, "Good luck with the digital footprint," as they collected digital devices from his home.

[03:40:08]

LARSON: We take this to mean that he deleted evidence from his devices.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): But investigators were able to trace some of Yohn's actions before the day of the shooting.

ROTHROCK: He searched for information about the office building and how to track ICE agents' locations. He knew with a high likelihood ICE detainees would be transported that morning in the exact location where he was facing from his perch on a nearby rooftop.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Officials say he legally obtained an 8-mm bolt-action rifle just last month and was seen driving around the shooting scene at 3:00 a.m. with a ladder on his car, which they say he used to position himself atop a building adjacent to the ICE facility.

And from there, a few hours later, he opened fire.

LARSON: Gunshots sprayed the length of the building, the windows, and law enforcement vans that were in the Sally port area.

ROTHROCK: Agents from both ICE and the ATF put themselves in the line of fire to move individuals off the transportation vehicles in an attempt to protect and rescue those that were injured.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): No ICE officers were hit.

ROTHROCK: Based on our investigation to date, we believe Yohn acted alone. But I'll stress our investigation continues.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): Ed Lavendera, CNN, Dallas.

(END VIDEOTAPE) BRUNHUBER: A breakthrough in the fight against Huntington's disease. Just ahead, the promising results of a new therapy that could be a game-changer. Please stay with us.

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[03:45:00]

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BRUNHUBER: There may be new hope for those living with Huntington's disease. A new experimental gene therapy was found to slow its progression. The drugmaker Unicure announced the results of an early stage trial this week.

The company says patients who received a high dose of gene therapy saw disease progression slow by 75 percent after three years. The drugmaker says it plans to submit its data to the FDA for approval next year.

There is currently no treatment that can cure, stop, or reverse Huntington's disease. It's an inherited and progressive brain disorder caused by a genetic mutation, it triggers nerve cells in parts of the brain to gradually break down and die, leading to uncontrolled movements, emotional or behavioral problems, and loss of cognition.

Now here to discuss this medical breakthrough is Ed Wild. He's the associate director at University College London's Huntington's Disease Center. Thanks so much for being here with us, I really appreciate it.

You led part of the trial, so can you help us understand just how significant this breakthrough really is? What does a 75 percent slowing of the disease actually mean for patients and their families?

ED WILD, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR, HUNTINGTON'S DISEASE CENTER-UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON: This is unquestionably the biggest breakthrough we've ever had in Huntington's disease, and I do include the discovery of the gene that causes it in 1993. For the first time to show that we are able to slow the progression of the disease is incredible enough, but the fact that the slowing is 75 percent is beyond our wildest dreams. We're absolutely thrilled at this news, and we can't wait to make it a reality for patients and their families.

BRUNHUBER: After working with families for so long who've struggled with the disease, what's it like emotionally for you to finally see a treatment that actually works?

WILD: It's difficult to describe. I keep having to check the data to make sure that I'm not dreaming. I've worked in Huntington's disease for 20 years, so for me personally, it's an achievement of the kind that many scientists never get to see.

But the bigger impact really is for the families and patients, and many of whom after 20 years are among my best and closest friends. So this is phenomenal news for the world, but it also represents hope for many people that I hold dear personally. BRUNHUBER: Alright, I can hear the emotion in your voice there. This

hope revolves around a treatment that is pretty intensive, right? Brain surgery, some 12 to 18 hours worth.

Can you walk us through what patients actually go through and why it might be worth that extreme risk?

WILD: It's a gene therapy which does need to be administered by injection directly into the brain. The deep part of the brain called the striatum. And as you say, it takes about 12 to 18 hours for that to happen.

So to say it's a major undertaking would be an understatement. However, because it's a gene therapy, once it's active in the brain, it will stay active for the rest of the person's life.

So although it's a lot to go through, it only has to be done once. And that's all up front. And once the person has recovered from the surgery, they're then essentially treating themselves 24/7 for the rest of their lives.

And the size of the magnitude, 75 percent slowing. And by chemical evidence that we are rescuing neurons, it's well worth it and I think that the financial side will turn out to be worth it too because of the amount of money that will be saved that we're currently spending on healthcare for people who are sick with Huntington's disease.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that's a good point. You talk sort of in generalities about what's going on there. Can you explain to the layperson like myself sort of what the gene therapy actually does in the brain?

[03:50:06]

WILD: Yes, so one of the cruelest things about Huntington's is that it's a genetic disease. But that very difficult fact gives scientists a big advantage when it comes to developing treatments because it tells us exactly what we need to do in order to deflect the course of the disease.

In the case of Huntington's, a faulty gene encodes a harmful protein. And it's that protein inside our neurons which damages them and causes the symptoms of Huntington's disease and this gene therapy effectively is reprogramming the neurons to make less of that protein.

The gene that causes the disease is still there, but less of the harmful protein is made. And that is how it protects neurons and we hope in time that that will allow neurons even to recover because they can start dealing with a backlog of harmful protein that they've been handling for 30 or 40 years.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, that would be the difference, I guess, between a treatment and a cure. We know people can carry the Huntington's gene for years before the symptoms actually appear. So could this treatment actually prevent the disease from really starting or manifesting, I guess, in the first place? WILD: Yes, it not only could, it should. This trial was done in people

with very early symptoms of what we call manifest Huntington's disease. So they have some problems with movements or thinking. But because the same basic problem, this rogue protein, is active throughout the life of someone with Huntington's disease, and someone can have a genetic test from the age of 18 onwards, I can easily see a very near future in which we are treating people long before they develop symptoms on the basis of the genetic test.

And if we can slow the progression of a disease that hasn't even emerged yet by 75 percent, we really could be in the territory of giving people decades of completely disease-free life that they would otherwise not have had. It's a remarkable thing to even be thinking about.

BRUNHUBER: Exactly remarkable, just life-changing for so many people.

Great, I have to say, to report on some good news on this program. I really appreciate you coming on to explain it to us. Ed Wild in London, thank you so much.

WILD: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: One million-year-old skull found in China has some scientists saying that humans are much older than previously thought. Researchers digitally reconstructed the skull and say it's from a group of early humans, they also say it means that humans existed 400,000 years earlier than previously thought. Their study appears in the latest edition of the journal "Science."

Amazon is accused of tricking its customers and now is on the hook for billions of dollars. We will have details on the historic settlement coming up after the break. Please stay with us.

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[03:55:00]

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BRUNHUBER: A deal to sell TikTok's U.S. assets to American investors inched closer to completion after Donald Trump signed an executive order. The sale isn't finalized yet, but the U.S. president told reporters that Chinese President Xi Jinping had greenlit the agreement. Once complete, U.S. tech giant Oracle will oversee TikTok's prized algorithm, the code that decides what videos to serve up to users.

President Trump tried to downplay fears that the algorithm will be tweaked to favor right-wing accounts. Here he is.

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TRUMP: If I could make it 100 percent mega, I would, but it's not going to work out that way, unfortunately. No, everyone's going to be treated fairly. Every group, every philosophy, every policy will be treated very fairly.

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BRUNHUBER: Among the other questions that remains is whether American users will have to download a separate TikTok USA app.

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission says Amazon has agreed to a $2.5 billion settlement after being accused of tricking customers into subscribing to the company's Prime membership. The settlement comes just a few days into the trial between the e-commerce powerhouse and the U.S. government. Here's CNN's Clare Duffy.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: 35 million Amazon customers will be getting refunds for their Prime subscription as part of this settlement. Now, this all dates back to a lawsuit that was filed by the FTC under the Biden administration back in 2023, accusing Amazon essentially of tricking customers into signing up for Prime subscriptions and then making it hard for them to cancel those subscriptions.

The settlement totals $2.5 billion. That is a billion dollars worth of civil penalties and then a billion and a half in these customer refunds.

Amazon, as part of this settlement, did not admit any wrongdoing, but the company will have to make a number of changes, including having to remove a no, I don't want free shipping button from the customer checkout process. It will also have to include clear and conspicuous disclosures about the terms of Prime subscriptions during the customer enrollment process. And then it's going to have to make it easier for customers to cancel their Prime subscriptions.

This is the largest civil penalty in a case involving an FTC rules disclosure. But for Amazon, this penalty, this fine of $2.5 billion, amounts to just about 5.6 percent of the Prime revenue that the company brought in last year. So this is a significant number, but for Amazon, at the end of the day, sort of a drop in the bucket. The company shares down just about a point and a half on Thursday in the wake of this news.

Back to you.

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BRUNHUBER: And that wraps this hour of "CNN Newsroom," I'm Kim Brunhuber. "Amampour" is coming up after a short break, then stay tuned for "Early start" with Danny Freeman beginning at 5:00 a.m. in New York, 10:00 a.m. in London.

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