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FBI Leading the Investigation on Michigan Church Shooting; Mayor Adams Drops Out of NYC Mayoral Race; President Trump to Meet with Congressional Leaders on Looming Government Shutdown; Hurricane Humberto Pulls Tropical Storm Imelda Away from the U.S.; President Trump Claims Ceasefire is Near, to Meet with Prime Minister Netanyahu; Historic Citadel Reopens In Aleppo After Restoration; Lawmakers In Standoff As Midnight Tuesday Deadline Looms; Trump's Contentious History With Investigative Agency; North Carolina Struggles To Recover From Hurricane Helene. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired September 29, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

[02:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BEN HUNTE, CNN HOST: Hello wherever you are in the world. You are now in the "CNN Newsroom" with me Ben Hunte in Washington and it is so good to have you with me. Coming up on the show, searching for answers and the motive yet again. At least four people are dead in a church shooting in Michigan.

Running out of time, Democrats and Republicans are deadlocked over how to keep the U.S. government funded beyond this week.

And as pressure mounts for an end to the war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister heads to the White House.

Welcome. The FBI is now leading the investigation into a deadly church attack in the U.S. state of Michigan where investigators are calling an act of violence there. Police say a man crashed his car into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Grand Blanc Township, where hundreds of people were attending Sunday services. The suspect then opened fire with an assault rifle and used gasoline to deliberately set fire to the building.

At least four people are dead. Eight others are wounded, including children. As many as seven are still unaccounted for. Police say they killed the shooter within minutes of responding. The officials are praising the church members who rushed to protect each other.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM RENYE, GRAND BLANC, MICHIGAN POLICE DEPARTMENT CHIEF: I'd also like to acknowledge the heroism of not only the first responders, but the people who were inside that church at the time. They were shielding the children who are also present within the church, moving them to safety. Just hundreds of people just practicing their faith.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: The gunman has been identified as a 40-year-old U.S. Marine veteran of the Iraq war. CNN's Leigh Waldman begins our coverage from the scene.

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Unfortunately, the death toll continues to rise here in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan, after a gunman drove into the front doors of the Church of Jesus Christ Latter-day Saints, opened fire, and then used an accelerant and set that church on fire. You can see just how busy this scene is still behind us with first responders going down this road, continuing to search through the rubble of that church.

We're hearing from first responders that they have not been able to clear the entire property yet because it is so large and the church itself is deemed a total loss. It's extensive efforts, but they also spoke about the heroism of first responders responding within 30 seconds of that first 911 call and taking out the gunman less than 10 minutes later in the back parking lot of that chapel there.

We also know that they're responding to the place where they believe that he lived, working on getting search warrants to search through his digital footprint. The FBI is calling this an act of targeted violence saying although that the gunman is dead, they are still working to determine a motive. It's important to them to determine a motive.

We also heard that there was acts of heroism from the people inside of that church. Hundreds of people inside of the church shielding their children with their own bodies, trying to keep them safe. We're expecting to get much more information on Monday. Hoping to hear more about the recovery efforts as they search through this property. Leigh Waldman, CNN, Grand Blanc, Michigan.

HUNTE: Sunday's church attack is part of a broader pattern of gun violence in America. The Gun Violence Archive reports that at least 324 mass shootings have happened so far this year, defining mass shootings as incidents in which four or more people are shot, not including the gunman. The church attack came less than 24 hours after a gunman opened fire at Waterfront Bar in Southport, North Carolina, killing three and injuring at least eight others.

Let's keep talking about it. Donell Harvin serves as faculty in Georgetown University's Emergency and Disaster Management Master's Program and the Applied Intelligence Master's Program. He's also a former D.C. Chief of Homeland Security and Intelligence. Donell, thanks so much for being with me. How are you doing?

DONELL HARVIN, GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY EMERGENCY AND DISASTER MANAGEMENT MASTERS PROGRAM: Good, Ben. How are you?

HUNTE: I'm good, I'm good. Here we are again, though. Every single week, there seems to be several serious shooting incidents. Does anything stand out to you about the scale and the nature of this one and what unfolded in Michigan?

[02:05:00]

HARVIN: Certainly, and what we track is generally that a lot of these assailants learn from each other. They particularly learn from the first response of previous assailants. But what makes this one unique is the tactics, techniques, and procedures that were used. This is what we would call a hybrid attack. You know, generally, you see a vehicle ramming or arson use, particularly against the House of Worship or a mass shooting. This individual seemed brought all three of those together really effectively, unfortunately, and that's what we see today. It's a horrible, horrible scene.

HUNTE: It is. Officials say that this was a targeted act of violence. Can you just break down what investigators mean by that and what are they likely looking at to determine who or what was the target?

HARVIN: Yeah, so that's a real technical term that we use in homeland security and counterterrorism. And that means that this individual had intent on attacking a particular individual or group. Now, the investigation is still ongoing, so we don't know if this individual had some type of grievance, particularly with this church or someone in this church. But it seems like it wasn't happenstance, right? It's not like someone just woke up one day and decided to commit a random act of violence. This is targeted and they believe specifically to this church.

HUNTE: The shooter was also a Marine veteran, which is so sad to read. How much weight will investigators put on his military background in trying to understand the potential motive?

HARVIN: Well, you know, we always talk about motives and from the parishioner's standpoint, from the public standpoint, it becomes an academic type of discussion when we have so many of these, as you said before, almost weekly, but what that allows officials to do is look back and see if there was any mental health or physical health or any type of issues that occurred while they were service members or subsequent. Once you leave the service, military service, you get, you know, services from the Veterans Administration, what we call the VA.

And so if there was some type of red flags that potentially were missed, they'll be able to kind of dig down deep and see that. Whereas a normal citizen, if you and I had problems, they may not have access to that, or we may not have access to the health insurance or health coverage that these veterans do. So they'll be able to look at that as well.

HUNTE: We know that the FBI is now leading on this. What does that signal about the kind of investigation that we're going to see?

HARVIN: But that's really important because, you know, these type of investigations for this scene, and once again, this is still ongoing. As you mentioned in the lead in, there are several individuals that are unaccounted for. They may have just not have been there that day and they're still kind of figuring out, their family members still looking for them. Or unfortunately, they may still be in the remains of that, the rubble of that church. What this allows the state and local, is to really focus on the local

aspect of this investigation, talking with individuals that are local. And it allows the federal authorities to come and bring the weight on the resources to look outside of the state or locality, particularly that digital footprint that you had mentioned in the lead-in, as well as any other associated members, and to see if there's some type of larger conspiracy of group that this individual may have been part of.

HUNTE: We have now had three mass shootings in just a few hours of each other, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas. What should communities and local authorities be doing right now nationwide to prepare for and prevent this kind of violence.

HARVIN: As we know, and many of your international viewers know, we're awash with guns, unfortunately, here in the United States. We have more guns than human beings. And that's just a sobering statistic. You know, I've worked with houses of worship for many, many years and what we do is we harden them. Unfortunately, houses of worship like this are the softest of softest targets. And so, which means that they're welcoming, they generally don't have security presence, certainly people who aren't armed are patrolling houses of worship.

But we work with them to harden those locations, to really have someone at the doors, maybe start locking the doors. But you know, a lot of those measures wouldn't have helped with this individual. I mean, once again, he set this place on fire. He rammed into the building to cause chaos. It's really, really difficult when you have someone that's that bent on killing people.

HUNTE: Learned a lot from that. Donell Harvin, thank you so much. Appreciate that. Speak to you soon.

HARVIN: Thank you.

HUNTE: New York City Mayor, Eric Adams, has suspended his bid for re- election. This is the latest twist in the city's mayoral race. Adams once described himself as the future of the Democratic Party, but his time in office has been hit with a stream of corruption and scandals. Here's part of his announcement from over the weekend.

[02:09:54]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ERIC ADAMS, NEW YORCK CITY MAYOR: I cannot continue my re-election campaign. The constant media speculation about my future, and the campaign finance board's decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: It's not entirely clear how Adams leaving the race will affect other candidates. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani took a large victory in June's primary over former governor Andrew Cuomo. But some of Adams' supporters may flock to Cuomo, who's now an independent candidate.

U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly set to meet with top congressional leaders in the coming hours. They're all hoping to reach a deal to avoid a possible government shutdown. Lawmakers have until midnight on Tuesday to work out all of those kinks, but neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to budge at this moment. The president previously canceled a meeting with Democratic lawmakers trying to reach an agreement.

House Speaker Mike Johnson says one of the president's and therefore Republicans top priorities is preventing a disruption in pay to military service members. But Democrats refusing to make a deal unless Republicans capitulate and add more subsidies for the Affordable Care Act. Larry Sabato is the Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry and the Center for Politics recently published a new work titled "Campaign of Chaos: Trump, Biden, Harris and the 2024 American Election." Thanks for being with me, Larry. How are you doing?

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER OFR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: I'm doing just great, thank you.

HUNTE: Amazing. Thank you for being here. Let's kick off with this growing possibility of a government shutdown. We've already seen some threats from the Trump administration around layoffs. How could a shutdown hand Trump even more power and what would it mean for the months ahead?

SABATO: Trump has already made clear, as has his associate in the budget office, that they will use this opportunity to slash government spending and employment. After all, Trump and the Republican Party generally are not in love with government. And so I don't think they'll have any problem at all slashing and cutting spending and pleasing themselves by eliminating parts of the government that Republicans don't like anyway, social spending and so on. So for Trump, this will be an adventure that will be rather joyful.

HUNTE: Right. Well, let's look at New York now. After all of the speculation, Eric Adams has said he won't run for re-election. How significant is that moment? What does it mean for Democrats nationally? And does it point to a wider instability within the party?

SABATO: Mayor Adams was very weak politically. He was in the single digits, which is incredible for an incumbent, and he will be the first one-term mayor since the early 1990s. As far as where his votes go, some of them won't vote at all, probably, but others will be inclined to go more to former governor Cuomo than to the Democratic nominee, Zohran Mamdani. Mamdani is still a favorite though.

I would still bet that he wins. Probably the official Republican nominee would have to drop out and endorse Cuomo before Cuomo gets into territory that would permit him potentially to win. And I wouldn't bet on him even then.

HUNTE: Wow. Good to know. Let's turn to Portland. Trump is still threatening to send federal forces into the city even though state and local leaders don't actually want or allegedly need them. What do you make of the political calculations and the tensions that are at play here?

SABATO: I'm convinced that Donald Trump is trying to make the American people see this as a normal function of government, sending troops into places that the president claims are in turmoil. Now, the truth is that Portland is not currently. It has been in various circumstances since 2020. But he was originally targeting Chicago, and he found out that the mayor and the governor in Illinois were strongly opposed, and his staff told him it would be too much trouble to send the troops into Chicago.

I don't know that he's going to fare much better in Portland, but again, remember, he's done this in several places already. He probably will target other democratically controlled cities and he's trying to get us used to the idea that this is normal when it is not normal. This is very contrary to the American tradition. We don't use American troops against Americans in American territory.

HUNTE: And speaking of things that don't seem too normal at the moment, the Justice Department were actively watching Trump trying to use it against his political enemies, right? We've also had developments involving James Comey and Christopher Wray. How do you see their role in this bigger fight over whether institutions can withstand Trump's pressure?

[02:15:04]

SABATO: Everyone ought to be concerned about this, because not only did Trump pick out a former FBI director, Comey, for selective prosecution. There's no question this is selective prosecution, which may get the case thrown out before it even gets to a jury. But what's really disturbing is this weekend he expanded it to yet another former FBI director, a Republican FBI director, I might add, Christopher Wray, based on the completely false premise that somehow Wray sent several hundred FBI agents into the Capitol on January 6th to stir things up, to generate the actual insurrection based on their decision to cause Trump trouble.

Totally false. A number of investigations have already shown this. There's no indication that a single FBI agent was part of the insurrectionist crowd. So this is Donald Trump again trying to find a reason to suggest to Americans that January 6th was legitimate, when in fact it was the very first attempt since the Civil War by a president to conduct the coup d'etat.

HUNTE: When you put all of this together, let's talk, the shutdown, Adams, Portland, the battles over the FBI and the Justice Department. What does all of this tell you about the direction of American democracy right now?

SABATO: American democracy is greatly threatened and you would have to be blind not to see it. It's tremendously disturbing to people who have studied the decline of democracies and how democracies move into autocracies, authoritarianism. Donald Trump has put America very quickly on an authoritarian track. We are well down the authoritarian highway and there's no indication that this won't continue.

And let's remember, Donald Trump has only served eight plus months out of a four-year term, assuming it really turns out to be a four-year term. So we have a long time to go. And at this pace, it's difficult to see how many of the institutions that have upheld American democracy for over two centuries will survive.

HUNTE: Larry Sabato, thank you for now. Appreciate it.

SABATO: Thank you, Ben. I enjoyed it.

HUNTE: There are two major storms in the Atlantic Ocean right now. Tropical Storm Imelda's path continues to change as Hurricane Humberto reaches Category 4. Where they're headed, next.

Plus, Donald Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in the coming hours. The White House claims a Gaza peace deal is imminent, but Israeli officials tell CNN they are not so sure. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:20:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. It looks like the U.S. will be spared the brunt of Tropical Storm Imelda. It's now expected to strengthen and veer toward the powerful Hurricane Humberto. Humberto is a Category 4 hurricane and is predicted to stay far out in the Atlantic. While neither storm is expected to make landfall, they will affect the U.S. Meteorologist Chris Warren has more on the two storms for us.

CHRIS WARREN, METEOROLOGIST: We did see some dramatic improvements with the forecast in terms of what is expected to happen with both of the storms that we've been watching. So we often talk about how the forecast can change. I want to show you just how much the forecast changed from Friday to Sunday. Now, the National Hurricane Center issues these cones where the center of the storm is expected to go through the middle and then there's a variation based on historical errors or where it has gone in the past.

So, this was Friday at 5:00 and the storm was expected to go somewhere through here and then the forecast changed. It changed a little bit and notice the trend, and this is what we look for. When there's, you know, an event that we're looking at, a hurricane, a tropical storm days in advance, there are multiple forecasts. Sometimes it'll lock on and stay almost the same for several different forecasts.

In this case, the trend was our friend, both in terms of getting confidence in the forecast and the final outcome of what ultimately is expected to happen with this. And some of the forecast models coming into a better line to on Sunday showing them tightly put together. Sometimes it looks like wet spaghetti. We call them spaghetti models for a reason.

It looks like someone sometimes throws wet spaghetti right onto a plate and they kind of go all over the place. In this case, there is that agreement. You have the very strong storm, Umberto, and then Imelda. So a major hurricane helping to influence. We kind of see here that you get that look that they're kind of interacting a little bit and then the stronger one moving off and the other one kind of coming along with it.

And so while that is the overall forecast with the center, still a lot of moisture coming up close to the southeast coast (inaudible) going to help get some rain out of it. And you can see the forecast showing two to four inches with the heaviest of rain, that six plus going away from land when again, it was possible just a few days ago that it was going to be a big time rainmaker inland.

So, this trend is expected to hopefully hold and keep the rain just minimal at the coast where there could still be some flash flooding, but what is going to be dangerous possibly life threatening, these big storms generate a lot of rough surf, dangerous waves, and a very dangerous rip current risk.

HUNTE: Okay, U.S. President Donald Trump promises something special on Gaza ahead of his high stakes meeting with his Israeli counterpart. But sources say Netanyahu has reservations about the White House's ceasefire and post-war plan. All of the details just ahead. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:25:00]

HUNTE: Welcome back. U.S. President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu are set to discuss the war in Gaza in the coming hours. But the outlook on the high stakes meeting already appears divided. Mr. Trump took to social media on Sunday to say, in part, we have a real chance for greatness in the Middle East. All are on board for something special. First time ever, we will get it done.

Vice President JD Vance was a bit more reserved when speaking to Fox News on Sunday. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED SATATES OF AMERICA: The president's been very clear. He actually wants Gaza to be controlled by the people who live there. He wants the West Bank to be controlled by the people who live there. And he wants the terrorist networks that are around the Israelis to be dismantled so they can no longer pose a threat to Israel, especially the innocent civilians who live in Israel. It's never easy, as we've learned in the Middle East over many years. This stuff comes and fits and starts, and it can take very weird turns. But I think the president has gotten us to a point where we're at the one-yard line. and all of us are very hopeful we can sort of punch through the end zone and accomplish a major, major thing for peace in the region.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Sources say the White House is bracing for Israeli opposition to certain elements of its 21-point peace plan. The proposal includes a permanent ceasefire, release of the remaining hostages, gradual Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, and a roadmap for the enclave without Hamas. Hamas said on Sunday that it had not received any new proposals for a ceasefire so far.

Bobby Ghosh is a geopolitics analyst and columnist. Thanks for being with me, Bobby. How you doing?

BOBBY GHOSH, GEOPOLITICS ANALYST & COLUMNIST: Very well, Ben.

HUNTE: Good to see you. Thanks for being here. Trump has been boasting about this plan. He's called it something special, implied that it could end the war in Gaza and said it could bring greatness in the Middle East. From your perspective, though, how realistic is all of that?

GHOSH: Well, we've heard this before. We've heard about breakthroughs and near breakthroughs.

And the most recent one was in as recently as July when there was a lot of optimism, particularly on the American side very early on that the deal was about to be struck and the Americans walked away and the Israelis walked away.

[02:30:10]

On that occasion, they blamed Hamas for being intransigent. So, I find it hard to be optimistic until we see the exact details of this 21- point plan that the president has been discussing. Until we hear from the Israelis that they have signed on to the plan, and until we've heard from Hamas that they've agreed with the plan, I think we should all hold our horses and try to -- try to hope for the best for the Palestinian people as well as for the Israelis.

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Netanyahu has allegedly already signaled that he won't accept parts of the plan, particularly anything that hints at Palestinian statehood.

How much of a problem does that pose for Trump's ambitions here?

GHOSH: Well, for Trump, this is a matter of some frustration. The two big peace deals that he promised throughout the campaign to become president. And since then, the war in Gaza and the war in Ukraine. And neither of those has been going particularly well. Recently, he's become increasingly frustrated on one side with Putin in Russia. And he's been quite frustrated with Netanyahu.

American officials have been for some time now, quietly been briefing journalists that they recognize that Netanyahu is as much to blame for the inability to get a deal as maybe Hamas is. And so, he would like -- the president would like very much for this problem to go away, for there to be a breakthrough, for him to be able to declare victory for himself. And then, to focus on the next thing.

But he found that very hard to achieve over and over again. This -- we've come to this place right to the edge and then back again. So, I think this is now a matter that's that has confounded Trump over and over again. He's trying one more time. And I think he's under quite a lot of pressure, particularly from America's Arab allies who have been quite shocked by Israel's attack against Hamas targets in Doha only a few weeks ago.

So, the president is under attack there from his -- from his allies in the Arab world to achieve some kind of breakthrough. So, it's what Trump himself wants. It's what his Arab allies wants. The question is, can he get Bibi to want the same things.?

HUNTE: This isn't the first time that we've seen Washington excited about a Gaza deal, only for things to collapse. Do you see anything different this time?

GHOSH: No, honestly, I can't, except for the fact that Trump is very keen to have this problem off the docket because he's got so many others to deal with. His eagerness seems to be genuine. But that's not enough for there to be a deal. You have to have Hamas agreeing to go along, and you have to have Netanyahu agreeing to go along. And then there's also, of course, the fact that Netanyahu himself has to deal with constituencies back home in Israel who are not interested in the in this deal at all, and who could topple his government if he were to agree to such a deal.

So, there's far too many -- too many ways this deal could go wrong for there to be much optimism at this stage.

HUNTE: Trump has shown frustration with Netanyahu in the past, but he's never really punished him or cut off support. Could this meeting change that dynamic at all?

GHOSH: I don't think so.

As you point out, although he has criticized Netanyahu in private and occasionally in public, he has not withdrawn American support, not American military support, not American diplomatic cover. And I don't see that changing.

And one of the very few things in this very divided country right now that is truly bipartisan. And we saw this under President Biden, and we are seeing this under President Trump, is clear, unequivocal support for Israel's position. And I can't see Trump backing away from that, no matter how frustrated he is, no matter how unhappy he is at the situation.

HUNTE: Okay. We'll leave it there. Bobby Ghosh, thank you for now. Appreciate it.

GHOSH: Anytime, Ben.

HUNTE: Meanwhile, Israel is ramping up its war effort in Gaza. The Israeli army could be seen firing towards Gaza near the border on Sunday. In Gaza City, IDF tanks moved deeper into residential districts. The Israeli military claims its air force struck 140 military targets across the enclave. Gaza health authorities say they haven't been able to respond to dozens of calls from people trapped in the rubble. Voters in Moldova have backed the current pro-Europe party of President Maia Sandu in the country's parliamentary elections, with more than 99 percent of votes counted. The ruling party of action and solidarity has exceeded 50 percent in the polling, and they are now expected to take more than 51 of the 101 seats in parliament. The pro- Russian opposition Patriotic Bloc won just over 24 percent, but they already have protested against the results, and they're calling for demonstrators to turn out in front of the parliament building later on Monday.

[02:35:07]

Okay. Still to come, Syria's historic Citadel reopens in Aleppo. How its restoration marks a turning point for the war-ravaged country, next. See you in about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HUNTE: Hello again.

People gathered in the heart of Aleppo to mark the reopening of Syria's historic Citadel. The UNESCO world heritage site suffered severe damage over the years with restoration efforts lasting months.

CNN's Polo Sandoval explains how the Citadel's reopening marks the symbolic recovery of a war-ravaged country.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): An ancient fortress on a hill, the Citadel in Aleppo. It's one of the most famous sites in Syria and one of the most enduring. The centuries old stronghold once again opened its gates to visitors over the weekend after months of restoration work to repair damage from the Syrian civil war and the 2023 earthquake.

MOUNIR AL-QASSQASS, HEAD OF ALEPPO'S ANTIQUITIES: We reopened the Aleppo Citadel after a long period of closure and neglect. The Citadel, like the people of Aleppo, has suffered extensive damage during the war and the revolution. Yet it remained steadfast, standing tall like the citizens of Aleppo.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): And to keep the UNESCO heritage site in good standing, workers repaired broken electricity and water lines and stabilized damaged columns and walls. Syria is trying to rebuild its economy and infrastructure after a nearly 14-year civil war. It ended last December after opposition forces launched a major offensive that toppled the regime of dictator Bashar al-Assad. The country recently signed investment contracts worth $1.5 billion to develop its tourism sector and rehabilitate historic areas, with at least some visitors impressed with the work already done at the Citadel.

ANDY LEI, U.S. TOURIST: I came to the citadel in particular today because it's a very special place in Aleppo.

[02:40:04] I've never been here before.

SANDOVAL (voice-over): After years of war and hardship, there are still many major challenges ahead in Syria. But like the restored citadel, it's a light in the darkness of what was and could be again.

Polo Sandoval, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Bad Bunny is going to the Super Bowl.

(MUSIC)

HUNTE: The NFL announced that the Puerto Rican superstar will headline the half time show for the Super Bowl LX. It's going to take place on February 8th in Santa Clara, California. The three-time Grammy winner recently wrapped up a two month residency in Puerto Rico, generating hundreds of millions of dollars in tourist revenue for the island. He has been outspoken about not touring in the U.S., specifically because of fears of immigration raids at his concerts.

Okay, if some of you, that's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me. I'm Ben Hunte.

For our international viewers, "WORLD SPORT" is up next. For our viewers in North America, I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM after this short break. See you in about.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[02:45:22]

HUNTE: Okay, let's have some more.

Now, one of the top stories that we're following. Washington lawmakers will try yet again to make a deal in the coming hours to avoid a complete government shutdown. They must have a plan in place by midnight on Tuesday. Democrats say they won't vote to fund the government unless specific provisions are put in place around the Affordable Care Act. And they're catching heat from Republicans for doing so.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), HOUSE MINORITY LEADER: Cancel the cuts, lower the cost, save health care so we can address the issues that really matter to the American people in an environment where the cost of living is too high, with the quality of life of everyday Americans has been undermined consistently since January 20th.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (D-SD), SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: This is not the time or the place to do this. This is a program that needs reform, but I think everybody is willing to sit down and talk about how to make that happen in a -- in a context where it should be discussed, not as -- as a hostage to keep the government open. (END VIDEO CLIP)

HJUNTE: CNN's Camila DeChalus has more on the meeting between President Trump and congressional leaders in the coming hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: There is a lot of momentum leading up to this meeting at the White House with President Trump and congressional leaders. Now, just earlier, both Republicans and Democrats took to the Sunday shows to really lay out their terms for negotiating a spending bill before there is a potential government shutdown.

Now, Democrats on their end, they're saying they're not going to back any spending bill unless it includes a measure to extend the Affordable Care Act subsidies. And Republicans are arguing the Democrats are refusing to compromise, and that these subsidies should be debated at a later date, not at this current moment.

Now, one of the most telling moments that happened was when Jake Tapper pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson on if negotiations will actually take place.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I'm not going to get in front of the president and tell you what, what he will do. But I talked with him, you know, a couple of times, even yesterday. And I'm telling you where his head is, he wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people. It's fine to have partisan debates and squabbles, but you don't hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover. And that's what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now.

DECHALUS: Now, as you can see, Johnson wasn't willing to directly say what will or won't happen at that meeting.

Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: The recent unprecedented indictment of former FBI Director James Comey has raised several eyebrows among Donald Trump's critics, who believe it's just the latest example of the U.S. President weaponizing the Justice Department to go after his political enemies. But Trump has long held grievances against the federal law enforcement agency, as CNN's Brian Todd reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Donald Trump's contentious relationship with the FBI dates back to before he became president.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Please, FBI, please go after Hillary. TODD (voice-over): Those provocative days of the 2016 campaign when

Trump was relentless in his badgering of the FBI to investigate his opponent's handling of her emails.

TRUMP: The FBI did not act. I have such respect for the FBI. I am so disappointed. How did they let that happen? She was so guilty.

TODD (voice-over): Then, from almost the moment he stepped in the White House, analysts say Trump seemed to view the FBI as his own personal instrument of power.

GARRETT GRAFF, FBI HISTORIAN: Donald Trump, you know, upended and tried to usurp the FBI in that spring of 2017. And that relationship has never been smooth since.

TRUMP: Oh, and there's James Comey. He's become more famous than me.

(LAUGHTER)

TODD (voice-over): Soon after taking office, Trump pressured then FBI Director James Comey to drop an investigation into former national security adviser Michael Flynn. That's according to Comey himself, who claimed that Trump put the squeeze on him personally.

JAMES COMEY, FORMER FBI DIRECTOR: I got the sense my job would be contingent upon how he felt I conducted myself and whether I demonstrated loyalty.

TODD (voice-over): Trump denied asking for Comey's loyalty, but ended up firing Comey, later saying he was frustrated over the ongoing Russia probe.

JULIAN ZELIZER, HISTORIAN, PRINCETON UNIVERSITY: He wanted that investigation shut down. He saw it as a political problem. And this was what Comey was up to.

TODD (voice-over): Throughout the Russia investigation. And afterward, Trump continued to berate the FBI for how that investigation played out.

TRUMP: These were dirty, filthy cops at the top of the FBI.

TODD (voice-over): Trump complained that text between two FBI employees investigating the Russia connection were biased against him.

TRUMP: Look at these horrible FBI people talking about, we got to get him out. Insurance policies.

TODD (voice-over): But one analyst says Donald Trump wasn't alone among presidents who believed the FBI should be beholden to them.

[02:50:04]

GRAFF: That is something that has long frustrated presidents going back to Nixon and Johnson and even John F. Kennedy, that the FBI was not necessarily loyal to them personally. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: As the U.S. Southeast braces for gathering storms, some states are still recovering from the hurricane that slammed into them one year ago.

Hurricane Helene was one of the deadliest storms in America in decades, killing more than 200 people. Some areas in the North Carolina mountains were among the hardest hit. One of those communities is still facing an uphill battle to bounce back.

CNN's Isabel Rosales has the latest for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's not often you get to see the remnants of a storm like this a year later.

AMY CANTRELL, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: Yeah. So, this -- this is one of the houses that you can still walk inside and 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 marked the survival of a family, but the loss of a place they once called their little Eden.

CANTRELL: The water was pouring in and going higher and higher, 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.

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, there's floating inside their house.

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

PONKHO BERMEJO, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: We are in a deep connection now in this Appalachian Mountains, and we are stronger than ever.

JOE SCULLY, THE CORNER KITCHEN: We've got some pretty serious --

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

SCULLY: How do we fix this?

ROSALES (voice-over): Joe Scully --

SCULLY: Was the wall between --

ROSALES (voice-over): -- 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 ten 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, it was actually a little scary.

ROSALES: Yeah. You got the jitters.

SCULLY: A little.

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 project a revenue loss and nearly 45 percent report a moderate to significant risk of closure.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's going to 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.

Why rebuild in a place that's flooded before?

SCULLY: It's too precious not to try.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ROSALES (on camera): 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, North Carolina.

HUNTE: Team USA staged a strong fightback in the final day of singles of the Ryder Cup. But in the end, Team Europe outlasted the Americans, winning 15 to 13.

CNN "WORLD SPORT's" Don Riddell reports from Bethpage Black in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: It has been an exhilarating day of Ryder Cup golf here at Bethpage Black in New York.

But for the victorious European team, it was absolutely excruciating. Needing only two and a half points to win a famous victory on U.S. soil, they might have thought it would be an easy afternoon, but the Americans had other ideas. Smarting from being totally outplayed over the first two days, they came out swinging, energizing the crowd with early points from Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. Bryson DeChambeau fought back from five holes down to post a morale boosting half, and suddenly, nothing seemed quite so sure.

[02:55:05]

The U.S. team, seemingly from nowhere, now on course to pull off the most remarkable comeback in all of sports history. But the Europeans got it done by the skin of their teeth. Shane Lowry won a half point to retain the cup. Another half from Tyrrell Hatton won it outright in the penultimate match. It is a famous European win by 15 points to 13, but this was a day of drama that was impossible to imagine before they teed off.

RORY MCILROY, TEAM EUROPE: I wanted to win an away Ryder Cup so badly. We hadn't done it in 13 years and I think, you know, there's a lot of us that experienced how bad whistling straits in 2021 and to come here and completely flip the script and to play the way we did over the first two days, America came out fighting today and they played great today. And -- but we had enough in the tank to get the job done.

JUSTIN ROSE, TEAM EUROPE: Honestly, when the people stay like people chanting, singing, it's late at night. Sun's gone down. To have people share this moment with us, you realize you're playing for a much bigger split. We know we are. We know we are. RIDDELL: So, it is a really famous victory for the Europeans, an

absolute heartbreaker for the Americans. Europe traveled over the Atlantic to pull it off. And you know what they say. The last mile is often the hardest. And they would certainly agree that was the case today.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: That's all I've got for you. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Washington, D.C.

Stay right there though. The news continues after this quick break. See you tomorrow.