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Trump Warns "There Will Be Others" After Comey Indictment; Protesters Tear-Gassed Outside ICE Facility Near Chicago; "Frozen In Time": One Year After Hurricane Helene; Netanyahu Takes Unapologetic Stance In Fiery U.N. Speech; Hegseth Expected To Speak On "Warrior Ethos" To Top Brass; WH Tells Agencies To Prep For Mass Firings In Event Of Shutdown. Aired 5-6a ET

Aired September 27, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

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[05:00:31]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is CNN Newsroom.

President Trump warns there will be others as former FBI Director James Comey prepares to fight his federal indictment. Immigration officials in the Midwest ramping up activity amid fierce backlash. What we know about the ongoing protests.

Plus, it's been one year since Hurricane Helene pummeled North Carolina. We'll take a look at rebuilding efforts as two new storms churn in the Atlantic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Kim Brunhuber.

BRUNHUBER: President Trump says he expects more of his opponents will be prosecuted following the indictment of former FBI Director James Comey.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now that James Comey has been indicted, who is the next person on your list in this retribution campaign?

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not a list, but I think there'll be others. I mean, they're corrupt. These -- these were corrupt radical left Democrats because Comey essentially was a -- he's worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: On Thursday, Comey was charged with making false statements and obstruction of a congressional proceeding, which he denies. According to officials and people involved in the case, the alleged leak to the media that underscores Comey's indictment appears to be related to the 2016 investigation of Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server, not the separate probe of Donald Trump and Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

CNN's Alayna Treene has more on what Trump is saying about his perceived enemies.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Donald Trump on Friday continued celebrating the indictment of his former FBI Director James Comey, but he argued that it was brought against him not for revenge, but for justice. One of the most notable things the President said on Friday when he told reporters that Comey is likely not the only person that will likely face some type of prosecution from his Justice Department.

When he was pressed by CNN's Kevin Liptak about whether there are others on his list that could face potential retribution from the Trump administration, this was his response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, on James Comey, now that James Comey has been indicted, who is the next person on your list in this retribution campaign?

TRUMP: It's not a list, but I think there'll be others. I mean, they're corrupt. These -- these were corrupt radical left Democrats because Comey essentially was a -- he's worse than a Democrat. I would say the Democrats are better than Comey. But, no, there'll be others. Look, it was -- that's my opinion. They weaponized the Justice Department like nobody in history. What they've done is terrible. And so I would -- I hope there -- frankly, I hope there are others, because you can't let this happen to a country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: Now, I caught up with several White House officials in the hours after the Comey indictment, and they essentially told me one that, yes, they are likely to be not only other investigations of some of the President's political opponents, but also potentially other charges brought against them. Some of the names that came up are the same names we saw the President post about over the weekend when he wrote a message directly to his attorney general, Pam Bondi, calling on her to look into people like Senator Adam Schiff of California, a Democrat, as well as New York Attorney General Letitia James, both of them widely known enemies, in some sense, of President Donald Trump's.

Now, one thing I think that is really important to keep in mind through all of this is the context of why this is happening. And in my conversations with people here at the White House and in the building behind me, they've told me essentially that the President has been lamenting the fact for months now, really, that he was prosecuted when he was in the between his two terms. When he was out office, he faced several indictments. And then, of course, there's still that lingering resentment from what he faced during his first term, specifically with the two impeachments brought against him. And so, really, behind closed doors, he's told those, close them, that he believes others deserve to be held accountable and to face this like he did. Now, of course, White House officials argue that this isn't just personal for the president, which of course it is.

But he does believe that there was a sense of wrong doing and that, like he said on Friday, that this is some sort of justice. I think a key thing, of course, to watch for is what could happen next. In my conversations with people throughout the broader Trump administration, they said one of the reasons that they saw the signs that this was likely to happen quickly, the Comey indictment was when he placed Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney of his and, of course, a -- a very strong Trump ally, someone who's considered in that building as a loyalist.

[05:05:19]

When he placed her as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, that was a sign that this was likely to come. So we're still waiting to see whether or not a judge -- the judge and the jury in this trial and in this case will agree with the President and the Trump administration. But this could be just one of many potential cases we see against others like Comey.

Alayna Treene, CNN, the White House.

BRUNHUBER: Jeffrey Toobin, a former federal prosecutor, spoke to CNN about the implications of President Trump using his power to seek the political prosecution of his opponents. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEFFREY TOOBIN, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: I think it's worth reflecting on how the power to prosecute is the most profound power that the government has. This isn't about, like, deciding who gets a federal contract. This isn't about barring someone from being a lawyer or -- or a contractor for the government. This is about the government deciding who goes to prison or who might go to prison. And the fact that it is now being directed from the very top who's going to be prosecuted. And this in a -- in a process that is in complete violation of how the Justice Department has supposed to work since the 1970s, is a profound and scary thing.

And -- and I just think that's -- that's a worthwhile frame for the -- for the moment we're -- we're considering right now. I think each criminal case has to be considered on its own merits or lack thereof. I mean, there were two federal cases against -- against President -- President Trump. There was his attempt to overturn for the first time in American history, an American presidential election. The other case involved his retention of classified information, classified documents, in the face of repeated, repeated attempts to get it back.

I -- I think the merits of those cases, which of course never went to trial because Trump was elected president, are very different from this extremely thin indictment that's presented against Jim Comey that, you know, the -- the facts of, which at least as far as I'm aware, are -- are going to be very hard to prove beyond a reasonable doubt.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to decide whether the President can end birthright citizenship. He signed an executive order to do just that earlier this year. But the 14th Amendment confers automatic citizenship on virtually anyone born on U.S. soil. In an appeal to the nation's highest court, the administration claims this notion is mistaken and has resulted in destructive consequences. This will be the second time this issue has gone before the Supreme Court recently. The judges handed down a decision back in June, but that dealt with a procedural issue.

A new video shows an ICE agent dropping his gun during a chaotic arrest in Maryland. We just want to warn you what you're about to see may be disturbing. So in the video, you can see the ICE agent fumble his weapon. He then appears to point the gun at bystanders as the person behind him assisting in the arrest pulls their weapon as well. According to the Department of Homeland Security, the man who was arrested had multiple weapons and drugs on him.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says the Justice Department agents will be deployed to help protect ICE authorities and facilities. The announcement comes after protests outside ICE facilities have led to protesters being tear-gassed as well as a recent shooting in an ICE compound in Dallas, Texas. CNN's Whitney Wild reports from the facility in Illinois where hours earlier protesters clashed with officers.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: We are outside the Broadview, Illinois, ICE facility here where earlier today there were dozens, if not hundreds of people protesting. ICE shooting pepper balls at protesters on two sides of the building throughout the morning. As the day went on, the protesters began to disperse and those pepper balls stopped coming from ICE.

But out here several hours afterward, you can still feel some of that -- that munition in the air and it's actually causing people to cough and sneeze again, several hours after ICE actually deployed those pepper balls at protesters. Meanwhile, there are videos so circulating on social media that have a lot of people concerned. And the first is a video that shows a man in Iowa who appears to be in the grasp of plainclothes federal agents and then slips from the agent's grasp, runs into a grocery store where plainclothes officers tackle that man.

[05:10:07]

They say that he was the target of a intelligence driven investigation, that he was under investigation for fraud. His fiance says that he was a father of a baby, that he was wearing ankle monitor so that he could be tracked by ICE, and that he was regularly checking in with ICE. Meanwhile, in New York, another video that is raising a lot of concern and actually has an ICE agent relieved of his duties for now is a where, excuse me, as I said, it's still, there's still some of that munition in the air. In New York, an agent is seen on video grabbing a woman who is pleading with him after her husband was detained.

He shoves her down the hallway several steps and actually at one moment sort of crashes on top of her as she's shoved to the ground. DHS released a statement today saying that agent's actions were highly unacceptable, saying that the conduct in this video is unacceptable and beneath the men and women of ICE, adding that the agency is conducting a full investigation. There is no update at this time on the man who was detained case.

Whitney Wild, CNN, Broadview, Illinois.

BRUNHUBER: Crowds gathered outside federal court in Des Moines, Iowa, to protest the arrests by immigration agents of the superintendent of the state's largest school district.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CROWD: No peace, no justice. No peace, no justice. No peace --

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Superintendent Ian Roberts is an educator with decades of experience and a former Olympic athlete. He was arrested in a so targeted enforcement operation. Roberts entered the U.S. on a student visa in 1999. He was born in Guyana and grew up in New York. The Department of Homeland Security described him as a criminal alien. He once faced a gun charge related to a hunting rifle. Roberts was given a final removal order by an immigration judge in May 2024. The school board has a meeting on Saturday to discuss the matter.

It's a busy week ahead in the tropics where two storms are rapidly developing. Forecasters are tracking potential Tropical Cyclone Nine near the Bahamas. It's expected to strengthen and become Tropical Storm Imelda this weekend and could reach hurricane strength with the potential to impact the southeastern U.S. with heavy rains and flooding early next week.

Meanwhile, in the central Atlantic, Hurricane Humberto is intensifying into a Category 4 storm with reports it may grow even stronger over the weekend. Now, it isn't a direct threat to the U.S. but it could bring dangerous surf and high winds to Bermuda next week.

One year after Hurricane Helene tore through the Southeast, slamming states from Florida to North Carolina, a community caught in the path of the catastrophic storm faces an uphill battle to recovery. CNN's Isabel Rosales has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not often you get to see the remnants of a storm like this a year later. AMY CANTRELL, BELOVED COMMUNITY CO-FOUNDER: Yes, so this -- this is one of the -- the houses that you can still walk inside. It's really frozen in time.

ROSALES (voice-over): Among the damp wood and abandoned belongings, a visceral reminder of what Helene took in minutes. These walls mark the survival of the family, but the loss of a place they once called their little Eden.

CANTRELL: The water was pouring in and going higher and higher, and so they feared for their lives that they might drown. And so he grabbed a flashlight and a putty knife and he started hacking through the ceiling right here.

ROSALES (voice-over): Recovery is far from over. And hard hit Swannanoa just outside Asheville with many families still struggling in mountain country.

ROSALES: A year later, what is the need here in this community?

CANTRELL: The need is vast. You know, we still have people that are in temporary shelter and many people lost their jobs. Businesses were gone. They kind of went through.

ROSALES (voice-over): Amy Cantrell and Ponkho Bermejo tell me there's a full blown housing crisis. With tens of thousands of people still displaced. Beloved Asheville is among the nonprofits racing to close that gap, building 120 homes and counting. Just a few feet from where the Mills family home drifted --

CANTRELL: They said it felt like they were inside a boat.

ROSALES (voice-over): -- off its foundation.

CANTRELL: You know, they're just floating inside their house.

ROSALES (voice-over): Rests their new Eden built above the waterline of Helene.

PONKHO BERMEJO, BELOVED COMMUNITY CO-FOUNDER: And we are in a deep connection now in these Appalachian Mountains and we are stronger than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got some pretty serious --

ROSALES (voice-over): From the heart of Biltmore Village in Asheville.

JOE SCULLY, CORNER KITCHEN CO-OWNER: How do we fix this?

ROSALES (voice-over): Joe Scully has been documenting the tireless comeback story of Corner Kitchen, 10 months, more than 300 days through the seasons until this moment.

SCULLY: Open after 10 months closed.

ROSALES (voice-over): The hometown restaurant now a welcome home back. SCULLY: And then when we actually started to get like people in who's actually a little scary.

ROSALES: Yes, you got the jitters?

SCULLY: A little.

[05:14:58]

ROSALES (voice-over): This fall, the stakes are higher than ever as visitors pour into high country to take in the changing foliage. In western North Carolina the next few months could make or break a small business.

SCULLY: It's a possible reality that people will not be able to make it if they don't have the guests and the tourists to come for this next three month period.

ROSALES (voice-over): A Chamber of Commerce survey of mostly small businesses found 90 percent of respondents who project a revenue loss. And nearly 45 percent report a moderate to significant risk of closure.

SCULLY: This could be two chicken salads all day.

ROSALES (voice-over): The Corner Kitchen back from the brink and buzzing with sound. And this stark reminder of just how high the flood waters climbed.

ROSALES: Why rebuild in a place that's flooded before?

SCULLY: It's too precious not to try.

ROSALES: There are events throughout the weekend to mark the anniversary. For this community, it's a time of reflection for what they've lost, but also a time of celebration for the progress that's been made here. With all of that, there's also a heightened sense of awareness here, especially in light of what's expected to be Tropical Storm Imelda developing in the tropics that has people here understandably on edge. But I'll leave you with this. The Mills family, the one behind this home where I'm standing right now, they're expected to get the keys to their brand new home by Thanksgiving.

Isabel Rosales, CNN, Swannanoa in North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: U.S. and Israeli leaders appear to be far apart about next steps in Gaza. Coming up, two opposing messages about the future of the war as the leaders prepare to meet face to face. Stay with us.

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[05:20:36]

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. and Israeli leaders are set to meet on Monday, but there appears to be daylight between their ideas about what to do in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a fiery speech at the U.N. General assembly pledging that his military will finish the job. He also had a direct message to the militants who are still holding Israeli hostages in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: Lay down your arms. Let my people go. Free the hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Trump says his latest peace plan has a good chance to work. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think we have maybe a deal on Gaza, very close to a deal on Gaza. I think it's a deal that will get the hostages back. It's going to be a deal that will end the war. It's going to be a deal which -- it's going to be peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Netanyahu took some political flak at home for his speech. Some hostage families accused him of trying to rewrite history because he didn't mention deceased hostages in his address. While Israel's top opposition leader called Netanyahu tired and whining. For more, Larry Madowo joins us from Nairobi. So, Larry, before we get to Monday's meeting between the two leaders, walk us through what Netanyahu had to say at the U.N. and the reaction.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Kim, Prime Minister Netanyahu was his characteristic fiery, defiant self in the speech to the U.N. General Assembly. But you saw the isolation internationally that Israel is facing right now with a lot of delegates walking out before this speech. I'll spend the past week reporting in New York and speaking to delegates and speaking to diplomats from around the world. And my sense was that Israel has lost a lot of the world, not just the Arab or African states, but much more with this recognition of the Palestinian state by France and Canada and the U.K. and Australia and New Zealand, a lot of other European countries, there is a groundswell building here. And that's what you saw reflected in this walkout by many of these delegates.

Prime Minister Netanyahu especially essentially speaking to almost an empty auditorium there, but he had an audience not just in Israel, around the world, but also in Gaza City, where he had loudspeakers mounted so people could hear him. He this is his response to the recognition of the Palestinian state.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NETANYAHU: My opposition to a Palestinian state is not simply my policies or my government's policy, it's the policy of the state and people of the state of Israel. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MADOWO: So that's his position that is at odds with a lot of the international community. But he has not lost fully President Trump. They're due to meet on Monday. And ahead of that meeting, President Trump and the U.S. have put out what they're calling a 21 point plan for peace in the Gaza Strip, which would include the handover back of all the hostages, that 20 who are believed to be still alive and the remaining who are deceased. It would be involving a phase out of power back to the Palestinian Authority. It's believed that this would not include any kind of leadership role for Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

But there is still some daylight between the positions of Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Donald Trump and the Americans. Even though President Trump says a deal is very close. Part of this would include handing over and releasing the hostages within 48 hours of this deal coming into effect. But there still needs to be sold essentially to the Arab states, to the rest of the international community to see how they can arrive at something which everybody agrees on their war needs to end, the hostages need to be released and a way to begin rebuilding the Gaza Strip. Kim?

BRUNHUBER: All right. Appreciate that. Larry Madowo, thanks so much.

Germany is investigating several recent drone sightings in its northernmost state for possible sabotage or espionage. Now it comes as European countries are on high alert after Russian drones crossed into Polish and Romanian airspace earlier this month. NATO jets responded by downing the drones. Ukraine says Russia sent the drones into Polish airspace deliberately to test the alliance's response and step up pressure on the West. Right now the port city of Hamburg is hosting large scale army drills that include drone defense. Red Storm Bravo is aimed at increasing coordination between military and civilian emergency services.

And Denmark's foreign minister says his country has no plans to invoke NATO's Article 4 clause despite drone incursions that shut down traffic at several airports throughout Denmark this week. Article 4 states alliance members will consult together whenever in the opinion of any of them, the security of any member nation is threatened. Danish authorities say they can't definitively conclude who's behind the attacks, but that the action is familiar.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

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FINN BORCH ANDERSEN, DIRECTOR GENERAL, DANISH NATL. SECURITY AND INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (through translator): We are in a very serious security situation. There is no doubt about that. This applies throughout Europe. This also applies to Denmark. I would also like to repeat what Thomas has said, that we do not have information that allows us to name an actor, but we can say that this looks like a model of hybrid warfare that we have seen elsewhere in Europe.

I would like to remind you, as some of you of course know, that we assess that the risk of Russian espionage in Denmark is high. And we also assess that the risk of Russian sabotage in Denmark is high. We have seen this elsewhere in Europe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: There's been a lot of speculation about a mysterious meeting of America's top military officers next week. Well, now we're getting a picture of why Pete Hegseth called that urgent meeting and what he wants to tell the brass. We'll have details ahead.

And the White House warns federal agencies to plan for mass firings if Congress doesn't reach an agreement to avoid a government shutdown. We have details ahead here on CNN Newsroom. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Welcome back. I'm Kim Brunhuber. Let's check some of today's top stories. President Trump says he expects some of his other political opponents will be prosecuted. His comments come after the Justice Department indicted former FBI Director James Comey for allegedly making false statements and obstructing a congressional proceeding. CNN has learned the false statement charge appears to be related to the 2016 probe of Hillary Clinton's use of a private e-mail server.

[05:30:09]

The Trump administration is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in on the President's executive order seeking to end birthright citizenship. The 14th Amendment gives automatic citizenship to virtually anyone born in the U.S., but the Trump administration says that view is mistaken.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi says Justice Department agents will be deployed to help protect ICE agents and facilities, now this as protests continue outside ICE field offices including one on Friday where protesters were tear gassed at a facility near Chicago. Bondi is also directing the joint terrorism task force to investigate potential acts against ICE officials as domestic terrorism.

We're learning more about why Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth is ordering hundreds of America's top military officers to assemble in Virginia next week. People familiar with the meeting say he will lay out the Trump administration's new vision for the military. CNN's Natasha Bertrand has details.

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has called for his top military brass, hundreds of generals and admirals to gather at a military base in Virginia next week in order to deliver a speech, we're told, about the warrior ethos and his vision for the Department of Defense, which he now calls the Department of War, moving forward.

Now many of these generals and admirals had absolutely no idea why they were being summoned to Virginia on such short notice earlier this week when they received that order from Secretary Hegseth to travel to this military base and attend this event in person. But now we're told that this is part of a lecture that Secretary Hegseth wants to give to his senior most officers about the new standards for military readiness, fitness and grooming and essentially a new focus on what he describes as lethality that he expects all of these top generals and admirals to adhere to.

One defense official familiar with the planning described it as akin to leading all of the forces into the stable and whipping them into shape. And this defense official said that the message from Hegseth is going to be get on board or your career could be shortened. Now this gathering has raised a lot of concerns among these generals and admirals who in many cases have to travel from very long ways from around the world from their respective theaters of operation in order to attend this gathering. It's going to be very expensive.

It's going to also potentially be a security risk according to officials that we spoke to given the sheer number of military officials and their seniority and how many are going to be gathered in one place at a time. But we're told this is something that secretary Hegseth is planning. He informed the White House that he wanted to do this and in -- in a nod perhaps to how he would like to convey the optics of this.

He is also planning to record his remarks to this assembled gathering of top generals and later post it to his social media accounts which will then be amplified by the White House. So definitely an optics strategy as part of this. But ultimately Secretary Hegseth we're told he wants the chance to have an eye to eye conversation with these generals and really lay out what he believes should be the new standards within the Department of Defense moving forward.

Natasha Bertrand, CNN, in Washington.

BRUNHUBER: With the October 1st deadline looming for a U.S. government shutdown, congressional Democrats are blasting their Republican counterparts for not doing more to end the political stalemate. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries accused Republicans, including President Trump, of leaving town as the clock's ticking.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: Four days away from a government shutdown, Democrats are here in the Capitol ready, willing and able to sit down with anyone at any time and at any place in order to find a bipartisan path forward to fund the government, avoid a reckless Republican shutdown, and deal with the health care crisis that Republicans have created in the United States of America. Four days away from a government shutdown and Republicans are on vacation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Republican leader Mike Johnson is reportedly planning to keep the house in recess next week. He apparently sees no point in bringing members back until Democrats drop their health care demands and agree to the short term funding bill. And President Trump also doesn't seem interested in working out a compromise. He canceled a meeting this week with Democratic leaders and has called their demands totally unreasonable.

In the office of management and budget reports, the federal White House is telling federal agencies to prepare for mass firings in case Congress doesn't reach a deal before the deadline. CNN's Marshall Cohen has details.

[05:35:01]

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: There are hundreds of thousands of federal employees whose livelihoods hang in the balance if the government shuts down this week. Talks between President Donald Trump and congressional Democrats seem to be at a standstill and the deadline is Tuesday night. Now, shutdowns are never fun, but unlike past years, this one might also lead to mass firings of federal workers.

The White House budget office has directed all federal agencies to use a potential shutdown to prepare sweeping new rounds of layoffs based on which programs might lose their funding. Now, that threat has sent a jolt of fear and anxiety throughout the federal workforce. We spoke to employees from more than 10 different federal agencies who said they were terrified about the possibility of losing their jobs.

Some are already cutting back their own spending in case they are fired or furloughed. One IRS employee told us that it's, "hard to do your job when you're scared." An air traffic controller from the FAA said this was causing a huge strain on his family. And one employee from the Department of Education, which -- which the Trump administration is trying to dismantle, they told us that they are being kept on their toes with little information coming from management about the possible shutdown.

Of course, it's not just federal employees. There are trickle-down effects, too, for the contractors. We spoke to Bonita Williams, a contractor who cleans at the State Department headquarters here in Washington, D.C. She has five kids, and she keenly remembers how past shutdowns took a toll on her family. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BONITA WILLIAMS, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT CONTRACT EMPLOYEE: You can't get, like, snacks and stuff after school. We got -- we got to stick to just plain food. No snacks, no juices and all the stuff they normally used to having when they come home. So, I'm not looking forward to that again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: We reached out to the White House for comment on these concerns from the federal employees. And a senior administration official told us, "it's unfortunate that Democrats have decided to instigate a government shutdown by opposing a clean government funding extension." The statement went on to accuse Democrats of making, "insane demands," like funding health care for undocumented immigrants. Remember, the deadline for a deal is Tuesday night at midnight.

Marshall Cohen, CNN, Washington.

BRUNHUBER: The broadcaster's boycott of "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" that affected dozens of T.V. stations in the U.S. is over. ABC reinstated the show on Tuesday after briefly suspending it over comments Kimmel had made about the assassination of Charlie Kirk. And now major T.V. station owners Sinclair and Nexstar have ended their boycott of the program. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister has details.

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: After less than a week of local station boycotts, Jimmy Kimmel will be back on the airwaves for all of America to see. Both Nexstar and Sinclair, the station groups that make up roughly 25 percent of the country's accessibility to watch "Jimmy Kimmel Live!", announced that after refusing to air Kimmel's show, they would reinstate the late night comedian.

One week ago, after Kimmel made controversial comments about Charlie Kirk's charged murderer, Trump's appointee at the FCC, Brendan Carr, made comments on a conservative podcast publicly threatening Disney and ABC to drop Kimmel's show.

Swiftly after, both Nexstar and Sinclair announced that they would preempt Kimmel on their stations. Sinclair announced that "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" would be back on its stations on Friday night, saying this in a lengthy statement. "Our objective throughout this process has been to ensure that programming remains accurate and engaging for the widest possible audience. We take seriously our responsibility as local broadcasters to provide programming that serves the interests of our communities, while also honoring our obligations to air national network programming."

Likely referring to affiliate agreements the station group has with Disney. The company also said it had received thoughtful feedback from viewers, advertisers and community leaders representing a wide range of perspectives and condemned all acts of violence, stating that respectful dialogue between differing voices remains so important.

Previously, Sinclair said that ABC pulling Kimmel's show off the air wasn't enough. The company called on Kimmel to make a direct apology to Kirk's family, as well as a meaningful donation to Kirk's company, Turning Point USA. Neither happened.

Nexstar said in a statement that they are stewards of the public airwaves and noted that they made the decision to bring Kimmel's show back on their own accord without any external influence from government agencies or individuals. Likely referring to the FCC's, Carr, who last week applauded Kimmel's show being taken off the air by Disney, "as a local broadcaster, Nexstar remains committed to protecting the First Amendment while producing and airing local and national news that is fact-based and unbiased and, above all, broadcasting content that is in the best interest of the communities we serve," Nextstar said in their statement.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) [05:40:23]

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE!": Even though we're still being preempted in 60 American cities on Tuesday, we had our second highest rated show in almost 23 years on the air. From Tuesday night, has more than 21 million views just on YouTube alone. And I want to say we couldn't have done it without you, Mr. President. Thank you very much. Mr. President, we appreciate it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WAGMEISTER: Next week, Kimmel will surely have more to say. In fact, he's taking his show from Los Angeles to Brooklyn for the week, where his fellow late night host, Stephen Colbert, whose own show was canceled by CBS and Paramount, will be a guest on his show. Back to you.

BRUNHUBER: U.S. consumers aren't saving for a rainy day despite concerns about the economy. So ahead, Americans keep spending money even though they are worried about jobs and inflation. We'll have more on that story coming up. Stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: New reports are showing a diverging trend among U.S. consumers. They're souring on the economy, but keep spending money. University of Michigan says consumer confidence has fallen to some of the lowest levels since the 1950s. But personal consumption still climbed six-tenths of a percent last month, according to the Commerce Department. Now, consumers are shelling out money, even though they're concerned about inflation and the job market, and despite the fact that many prices are rising, which is all happening on the heels of new tariffs that President Trump announced this week.

So, to help us make sense of all this, we're joined by Erin McLaughlin, a senior economist at ESF Center, and she's in Weymouth, Massachusetts. Thank you so much for being here with us. So, I want to start with the -- this big picture. We're hearing a lot of mixed signals about the economy right now. On one hand, as I said, Americans still spending money. On the other hand, they're putting -- feeling pretty pessimistic.

[05:45:17]

I want to quote the senior economist at NerdWallet, who said you have to go back to the -- to the Great Recession to see economic vibes this bad. So, why are folks so down on the economy, but still opening up their wallets?

ERIN MCLAUGHLIN, SENIOR ECONOMIST, ESF CENTER: Well, it's very, very interesting. So, the unemployment rate is still fairly low. It has ticked up a little bit, but it's at 4.3 percent. And what we find is, as long as consumers have jobs and are earning healthy incomes, they tend to still spend. But what we are seeing is that they have an expectation that things are going to get worse. And that really results from a lot of consumers not yet feeling the full brunt of the tariffs yet, but they know they're coming.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, it's a -- it's a huge sort of elephant in the room, I guess. And there also seems to be an interesting split happening. Wealthy Americans with stock portfolios seem to be doing OK and keep spending, while lower and middle-income families are -- are sort of feeling squeezed. I mean, is this creating a dangerous imbalance in our economy?

MCLAUGHLIN: We are seeing an imbalance. In the Conference Board survey, we also found that younger consumers, who are often those that earn less of an income, are also having lower expectations and feeling more squeezed. And for middle and lower-income Americans and perhaps younger Americans, things are just so much more expensive than they used to be.

So even though, for example, they may not be in the market right now to buy a house, something as simple as just knowing that housing prices have gone up significantly and that in the future, prices are rising, causes them to have very different feelings and reactions than perhaps more settled and established older and higher-income individuals.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, on -- on that, the price is rising, I mean, the -- the Federal Reserve just got some new inflation numbers that weren't great. Prices rose more than expected in August. How does all this complicate things for the Fed, especially when they're also worried about, as you said, the job market starting to weaken?

MCLAUGHLIN: Right. So even though unemployment is still fairly low at 4.3 percent, what we are seeing is that job openings have declined substantially. So this really is the result of companies feeling very uncertain about tariffs, very uncertain about their future. So they're not hiring people at the rate they were before. They could also be thinking about A.I. and productivity and sort of reshuffling what they need.

So for the Fed that has two mandates, one to keep inflation down at 2 percent and right now it's still sort of stuck core PCE at 2.9 percent. And on the other hand, to keep unemployment also down, there's a tension there. And so whether or not they'll lower rates, and we do believe they will continue to lower rates a bit, interest rates is really a question.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, so a lot of numbers there and so on. But I want to talk about something that -- that people can really -- can relate to, I guess. Starbucks just announced that they're closing 400 stores --

MCLAUGHLIN: Yes.

BRUNHUBER: -- and laying off nearly 900 workers. I mean, is this a canary in the coal mine for what we might see across other businesses that kind of sell things that people don't absolutely need?

MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely. Well, I mean, I needed coffee this morning.

BRUNHUBER: True, yes, yes. I might have phrased that differently. MCLAUGHLIN: Absolutely need coffee. Coffee prices actually reached an all-time high this month. And the reason, you know, that perhaps is not really the reason that Starbucks is sort of closing stores and reshuffling their business operations. But coffee is one example of where consumers are going to see price increases.

And, you know, a third of our coffee comes from Brazil, which is the highest tariff country at 50 percent. And coffee, we do not grow coffee here in the U.S. And so these pressures from things like tariffs, which are taxes paid by the importer, by the -- by the companies importing these goods, are definitely going to be felt.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We'll have to leave it there. I really appreciate it. Erin McLaughlin, thank you so much.

MCLAUGHLIN: Thank you.

[05:49:39]

BRUNHUBER: Well, polar bears have taken over an abandoned Soviet research base. We'll hear all about what's driving them off the ice and towards humans after the break.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, an unusual gathering of polar bears has been spotted at an abandoned Soviet research base in the Russian Arctic. Have a look at this. It's extraordinary drone footage shows a group of bears roaming through crumbling buildings, possibly using the abandoned island facility as a shelter.

Now, while seeing so many of the animals in one place may seem encouraging, experts say the species is far from thriving. Climate change and the loss of sea ice they rely on to hunt seals is stripping away the habitat polar bears need to survive. And it's a loss that's already reflected in shrinking populations across the Arctic.

Now, in other bear news, it's that time of year again when the biggest bears in Alaska go head to head for the heavyweight title. Yes, the annual fat bear week is down to the semifinals. This is fan favorite 128 Grazer. She's determined to defend her crown. The March Madness style bracket pits brown bears against each other with rounds of public voting. It's all aimed at deciding once and for all who is the fattest of them all.

And just look at this here, how much Grazer has grown in only a few months. Now, it's not all fun and games for the bears. This competition has real implications. The chunky bears are packing on the pounds for survival ahead of their winter hibernation. Now, earlier, I spoke to Matthew Johnson, a ranger at Katmai National Park. Here he is.

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[05:55:01] MATTHEW JOHNSON, RANGER, PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICER, KATMAI NATIONAL PARK: That means success for bears heading into the winter during the hibernation season, which is coming up. They lose a third of their body weight and -- and their breathing slows. Heart rate slows. They need that fat to survive. They don't eat or drink. And when they come out in the spring, they're still facing food shortages. That's not food that's readily available for them in the spring.

BRUNHUBER: Yes.

JOHNSON: So they face some hardship during the winter.

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BRUNHUBER: For the first time in more than two decades, Miriam Webster is doing a major rewrite of its collegiate dictionary. The new edition of the four and a half pound red linen covered reference book will include more than 5,000 new words and phrases. They include beast mode, cold brew, dad bod, cancel culture and ghost kitchen. And that one refers to commercial cooking spaces for hire, a phenomenon born out of the pandemic. The company's president calls the new edition a volume to cherish.

The Ryder Cup picks back up in just hours from now at the Bethpage Black in New York. Team Europe is heading into the weekend with a strong lead after dominating the first two sections. They finished the opening day three points ahead. And the last time Team Europe won on American soil was in 2012.

All right, that wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our viewers in North America, CNN This Morning is next. For the rest of the world, it's African Voices Changemakers.

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