Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

U.S. Government Runs Out of Funding and Shuts Down; U.S. Open to Discuss Hamas's Counterproposals; U.S. Officials Mull Sending Tomahawk Missiles to Ukraine; Storm System Drenches Coastal Communities in Eastern Spain; Hegseth, Trump Speak to America's Top Generals. Aired 12-12:45a ET

Aired October 01, 2025 - 00:00   ET

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

[00:02:07]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello. And a very warm welcome. I'm Paula Newton. It's now midnight here on the U.S. East Coast.

And for the first time in nearly seven years, the U.S. government shutting down after Republicans and Democrats in Congress failed to agree on a new funding proposal ahead of the midnight deadline, which lapsed just a few moments ago.

Now, some essential services will keep going, but many other parts of the federal government will freeze and become non-operational while lawmakers, they remain deadlocked in a battle of wills. And I have to tell you, there is no compromise in sight. Each side blames the other and each side appears convinced the American public will do the same.

Now, both Republicans and Democrats held last ditch funding votes on Tuesday, and both votes failed. One of the main sticking points, the Affordable Care Act subsidies due to expire later this year. Now Democrats are fighting to extend them, but Republicans are unwilling to negotiate and seem confident their opponents will eventually cave. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Democrats May have chosen to shut down the government tonight. But we can reopen it tomorrow. All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that's in front of us. And I hope, I really hope that some of them will join us to reopen the government, resume bipartisan appropriations work.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I'm concerned about Americans' health care. That's what we Democrats are concerned about. They're having real trouble. It's going to get a lot worse with this 114 percent increase. And we feel we're representing our constituents in the best way possible. But insisting that Republicans come to the table. We certainly are willing to have negotiations. There's no problem with that. But they've got to be bipartisan and they've got to have real input from both sides.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: We want to get straight to our Sunlen Serfaty who is in fact live for us in Washington at this hour.

I mean, Sunlen, look, you're a veteran of these negotiations, but this shutdown seems to be hitting differently. There weren't really any negotiations. Nothing going down to the wire. Given that, what can Americans expect in the coming days?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: You're absolutely right, Paula. That's such an astute observation because I can tell you up here in the halls of Capitol Hill, you know, the clock just struck to midnight, indicating that the government is shut down. They ran out of funding as we all anticipated, but there is no flurry of activity beyond reporters up here on Capitol Hill.

It is a ghost town. The negotiations are not happening. The Senate is adjourned. They will come back on Wednesday morning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and then we will see this very well signaled strategy from Senate Republicans.

[00:05:06]

Their goal here and they have signaled that they intend to keep holding a vote, a vote after a vote of their funding bill that failed last night here in the Senate. And that's essentially their strategy, not negotiations, not any back door meetings, not any conversations that they intend to just hold vote after vote.

And their strategy here is, in essence, to try to force Senate Democrats to come around. They only need eight Senate Democrats to vote with them on that clean funding bill that has no additions on it for seven weeks to continue funding. They need eight Democrats to vote. Last night, Tuesday night, they got three Democrats. So that, in essence, gives them a little bit of hope that they potentially might get five more Senate Democrats to give in and vote against their party and vote with Republicans.

And part of that calculus, Paula, is the very real pressure that now that the government is actually shut down and Americans start to see these critical services really expire and be affected, many Republicans are hopeful that that pressure will be too much to have Senate Democrats really give in here, but it's just remarkable, Paula, that this late in the game, no negotiations, no conversations, no clear path forward at all.

Definitely entrenched, both sides are very entrenched just as this government is shutting down tonight -- Paula.

NEWTON: Sunlen, grateful for you for being there, being one of the people there anyway on Capitol Hill, when a lot of the lawmakers seem to have given up.

Sunlen Serfaty for us in Capitol Hill. Appreciate it. I do want to bring in our CNN senior political analyst, Ron

Brownstein. He's also an opinion columnist at Bloomberg.

What would a shutdown or shutdown negotiation be without you, Ron? I want to thank you. But I'm going to start with the tough question. Right? What breaks this impasse? I don't see it. Each party seems convinced that they do have something to gain politically from this shutdown.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, eventually the government will reopen, right? I mean, we've had shutdowns before. We haven't had one in a while. And eventually the parties find a way toward some face-saving solution usually. You know, for Democrats, they face enormous pressure from their own voters who feel that the congressional Democrats have been weak and ineffective in resisting Trump across a broad range of issues.

To me, it is striking, not surprising, but still striking that they are centering this shutdown on health care. A very traditional issue, which is one of the few where the public says in polls they still trust Democrats more than Republicans. At a time when Trump is rolling through so many other constitutional safeguards, they are focusing on a very traditional kitchen table issue, one where there is significant impact heading down the road from decisions that Republicans have made, and one where, as I say, the public does side with them and thus they feel they are, Paula, on pretty sure ground, at least at the outset.

NEWTON: Yes, and we'll see how long that lasts. I mean, Ron, look, you wrote this week that health care will be the critical fault line in American politics for months to come. But the argument over just the facts has been astounding. You know, President Trump and Republican leaders say Democrats want to give undocumented migrants free health care. You know, Democrats are hitting back saying, look, that is a lie. But do you see a danger here for the Democrats in terms of how long they might keep this up?

BROWNSTEIN: Well, yes, I mean, so, you know, what we're basically, we're relitigating part of the battle of the one big beautiful bill and then extending it forward. I mean, the two central Democratic demands are to extend the enhanced tax breaks that were passed under Biden for people to buy coverage under the Affordable Care Act. And if those are not extended, the estimates are four to five million people are going to lose coverage, another 20 million are going to face substantially higher premiums.

And then at the same time, they want to undo some of the cuts that were made in the one big, beautiful bill to Medicaid, which could result in another 11 million people losing health care. And that is the most that would be the biggest coverage loss of any statute ever passed. So, you know, again, that's an idea that's pretty unpopular with the public. Tony Fabrizio, who was Trump's principal pollster in 2024, has published several memos arguing that these, you know, these are policies that do not have broad support, not only among swing voters, but even among Trump voters. So Democrats go into this feeling like they are in a strong position

and inevitably, sooner or later, though, the practical consequences of, you know, shutting down the government become too onerous for both sides. And I think they find a way to climb out.

One thing to keep in mind, Paula, is that there are Republicans who would like to get out from this impending increase in the affordable -- excuse me, impending increase in premiums and an end to the ACA subsidy, you know, subsidies going away so there may be Republicans looking for a way to resolve this as well.

[00:10:12]

NEWTON: Yes. And that's such a good point, right, because that is one of the few things out of that bill in terms of cuts that will hit their constituents almost immediately. Right? It will hit in the next few months.

BROWNSTEIN: Yes.

NEWTON: I want to ask you, though, how long do you see this lasting? I know it's very difficult to say. We're just a few minutes into it, but, you know, the last time was pretty painful. Well, over a month. And right now, at this hour, there are federal employees that are being ordered to work with zero pay.

BROWNSTEIN: I think given everything else that is going on with Trump, I mean, you know, speaking to the military on Tuesday and telling them to prepare to fight the enemy within. The pressure on networks to, you know, fire talk show hosts, sending the National Guard into more cities, the openly vindictive prosecution, firing prosecutors who would not, you know, execute his orders to indict specific people that he -- that he, you know, demanded that they, that they target.

Given all of that, I mean, the pressure on Democrats to draw a line somewhere, I think is overwhelming. And I would be surprised if this ends quickly. I mean, as I say, Democrats have chosen to focus on health care rather than all of these other issues where you could make a case that the threat to the country is actually more urgent, but the fact that they are fighting, I think, is just kind of essential to their relations with their own voters.

And I would be surprised if they climb off this ledge, you know, very quickly. Sooner or later, it always ends. But I think Democrats have to show that they are willing to stand up to Trump.

NEWTON: OK. Yes. Ron, I'll say it again. I said at the top, say it again. What is political dysfunction without you, Ron, to weigh in here? We'll continue to hear from you. We heard from you early and now we will hear from you often.

Ron Brownstein, for us. Thanks so much. Appreciate it.

BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.

NEWTON: Now, the U.S. president says he's giving Hamas three to four days to respond to his Gaza peace plan. A source tells CNN the U.S. is willing to discuss Hamas's counter-proposal, but won't engage in lengthy negotiations with the militant group.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more now from Jerusalem.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that a lot of pressure is being brought to bear on Hamas to accept President Trump's new proposal to end the war in Gaza. But this is going to be a lot more complicated than just a yes or no from the Palestinian militant group.

President Trump says that he's giving Hamas three to four days to respond to his new 20-point proposal, which the Israeli prime minister said he is supportive of. Hamas officials are meeting with top level officials from Qatar, from Egypt, and from Turkey in an effort to get Hamas on board. But what all of my sources are telling me the expectation is, is that Hamas is going to have some changes that it is demanding to this proposal.

And that's because when you look at this 20-point plan, there are a number of provisions that either cross Hamas's red lines or that mark a kind of downgrade from Hamas's perspective from previous proposals. First among them, of course, is this question of disarmament. This proposal would require Hamas to be fully disarmed. Gaza to be demilitarized. Hamas has rejected that notion in the past.

There's also questions about the withdraw lines of Israeli troops and also the number of Palestinian prisoners that would be released in exchange for those 48 Israeli hostages. Keeping in mind, of course, that Hamas would be required to release all 48 hostages within three days of this proposal actually being agreed to. And of course, for Hamas, that is their leverage.

Now we will see what Hamas's response is. They have said that they just received the proposal and that they are going to be deliberating over it and then submitting a response. Now, if Hamas rejects this proposal, President Trump has made clear that he's basically going to give the Israelis carte blanche to continue pummeling Gaza with this lofty and so far unachievable goal of fully destroying Hamas.

But what's interesting is that even if Hamas rejects this plan, it does lay out a pathway for that alternative, a pathway for Israel to actually begin gradually handing over territory to an international security force. And this is the first time that we have ever seen the Israelis acknowledge, let alone agree to any kind of plan for postwar governance of Gaza and the handover of territory in the Gaza Strip to an international authority.

The United States so far has sounded quite an optimistic tone. We've heard from Steve Witkoff, President Trump's special envoy, who says that he believes that this is the moment to actually close all of this out.

[00:15:05] Of course beyond Hamas's approval of this deal, there are still questions here in Israel as well about the politics around all of this. The Israeli prime minister already facing fierce criticism from some of his right-wing allies who have said that they oppose this proposal. But so far, those right-wing allies like the finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, haven't gone quite as far as saying that they would leave the government over this. But that will certainly be something to keep an eye on.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Jerusalem.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Ukraine's president is urging allies to impose more sanctions on Russia to make it much more painful for Vladimir Putin to carry out his war.

Now, Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the rare daytime attack on the city of Dnipro Tuesday. One man was killed and 20 injured when Russian drones struck the city center as people were working or were in school. Local officials say the attack damaged medical facilities, office buildings, residential buildings and cars.

U.S. officials, meantime, are signaling that President Donald Trump may be prepared to send Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine. The long range missiles would amplify Ukraine's ability to strike deep in Russian territory, but that won't necessarily carve a straight path to victory.

CNN's Clare Sebastian explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are we giving them the Tomahawks?

KEITH KELLOGG, SPECIAL ENVOY TO UKRAINE: Well, that decision has not been made, but he's asked. I know that President Zelenskyy did, in fact, ask for them.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know that we're having conversations this very minute about that issue.

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what are Tomahawk missiles and why would this be such a big deal for Ukraine?

Tomahawk is a U.S. made cruise missiles usually launched from Navy ships or submarines, and if supplied, would be by far the longest range missiles the U.S. has sent to Ukraine. Though of course, under a new deal between the U.S. and NATO, European allies would be the ones paying for them.

Well, Tomahawks can strike targets thousands of miles away. That's at least five times the range of the ATACMS missiles that the Biden administration long deliberated over sending to Ukraine. All of this is a red line for Russia, especially if the U.S. grants permission to use these missiles on Russian soil. And it's not clear how this would work in practice nor is it a silver bullet for Ukraine, which is already carrying out successful long range drone strikes on Russian soil. But it would send a strong signal that Trump's threats to Russia are not empty.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm very disappointed in Putin.

SEBASTIAN: And that the U.S. and NATO are no longer governed by a fear of Russian escalation. All of which could change the calculation in Moscow over how long they can drag out this war. But only if words translate to action.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Still to come for us, the deadly earthquake hits the Philippines, killing more than a dozen people. We'll show you some of the damage it's caused so far. Plus, heavy rain and widespread flooding devastate coastal communities in Eastern Spain. The latest after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:22:23]

NEWTON: -- roadways into muddy rivers, submerging dozens of vehicles on Tuesday.

Pau Mosquera has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PAU MOSQUERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: In Eastern Spain, many spent this Tuesday fixing their eyes on the sky, watching how the torrential rains were pouring over their towns. And actually, many of them were looking up worried, anxious, because they still have fresh in their minds the devastating flooding that struck Valencia almost a year ago and that claimed the life of 229 people in the region.

Fortunately, so far the authorities haven't reported any casualties. Nevertheless, they have decided to deploy the Spanish military unit responsible for intervening in natural disasters in the island of Ibiza. And why they decided so? Well, because much of the storms that affected the coastal area of Valencia during Monday moved overnight from Monday to Tuesday to the Balearic Islands, particularly to Ibiza and Formentera.

And such was the intensity of those rains that the Spanish weather agency decided to activate red warnings in both islands. So you can get an idea of those torrential rains, the effects that they had. They say that around 236 liters of water per square meter fell in the city of Ibiza during just 12 hours, and this equals half of the island's annual rainfall. This is a lot. And actually it's also terrifying the video that is coming from the neighbors of the different cities of both islands.

You can see how the roads are transformed into fast-moving rivers and the streets are covered completely by the water. So with this situation, many are wondering when will this episode of rains get to an end? In this sense, the experts from the Spanish weather agency say that we can expect from Wednesday and on to see how the weather goes stabilizing. But we can also expect some local rains, both in Alicante, in the south of Valencia, and in the islands of Ibiza and Formentera.

Pau Mosquera, CNN, Madrid.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

NEWTON: Up next for us, a new vision for the U.S. Military. The commander-in-chief joins the Defense secretary to address America's top brass. A look at some of the messages they delivered.

[00:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: -- laid out directives, slammed diversity, and bashed what he called, quote, "stupid rules of engagement." The Defense chief also said combat troops will have to meet the highest male standard and emphasize the importance of physical fitness.

[00:30:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE: Frankly, it's tiring to look out at combat formations, or really any formation, and see fat troops. Likewise, it's completely unacceptable to see fat generals and admirals in the halls of the Pentagon and leading commands around the country and the world. It's a bad look. It is bad. And it's not who we are.

So, whether you're an airborne Ranger or a chair-borne Ranger, a brand-new private or a four-star general, you need to meet the height and weight standards and pass your P.T. test.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, President Trump followed Hegseth with his own remarks, telling America's military brass that the U.S. is under invasion from within. He also suggested using U.S. cities as training grounds for troops.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: What they've done to San Francisco, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, they're very unsafe places. And we're going to straighten them out one by one. And this is going to be a major part for some of the people in this room.

And I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military. National Guard, but military.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Joining us now is Carrie Lee, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund and a former professor at the U.S. Army War College. Really good to have you with us.

Really have been quite the momentous hours for American leaders in the military. We heard President Trump talk about the threat from what he called the enemy within, and the use of American cities, as he put it, as a training ground for the military.

Can you tell us, how does this depart from the ethos of the American military through history?

CARRIE LEE, SENIOR FELLOW, GERMAN MARSHALL FUND: Well, thank you for having me. I have to say, this departs pretty significantly from how the American military really views its relationship with the American public.

Most service members do not join the military because they're interested in policing fellow Americans or using American cities as a training ground, so to speak.

It's because they want to go fight and win America's wars abroad. And they want to defend the country from foreign threats.

So, to have the president turn around and, in front of the entire senior officer corps and some of the most senior commanders in the United States military and say that we have a new mission. It is domestic in nature, and we're going to be combating the enemy within, which is a very loaded term.

This, I would expect, would grate against the -- the ethos that many of these senior officers grew up with and spent 30 and 40 years of service following.

NEWTON: Yes. And you made clear a lot of this is based in the law and in the Constitution. You also point out that this is part of a new defense strategy already articulated by the president, his defense secretary.

How does what we heard in the last few days change the American -- how the American military will engage, both at home and abroad? It's significant in military law, isn't it?

LEE: It could be. So, the American military, again, has historically operated predominantly overseas, particularly in the modern era.

The new national defense strategy is -- has been teased. We haven't seen it yet, but the expectation is that this could be the most significant departure in American foreign policy and the mission of the American military since at least the end of the Second World War.

NEWTON: I do want to add, as well, that the defense secretary called the rules of engagement, in fact, stupid, and that they would be -- and the American military would be discarding them. What does that mean in practice? LEE: This is probably one of the most troubling things about what the

secretary of defense, as well as what the president alluded to.

The laws of armed conflict are both domestic law. They're enshrined in UCMJ, the Uniform Code of Military Justice, as well as international law.

The Posse Comitatus Act of 1879 prohibits the military from doing domestic policing.

So, for both the secretary of defense and the president of the United States to tell, again, a room full of senior officers, hundreds of general and flag officers in the United States military who are actively commanding units, that they have no intention or respect for laws of armed conflict and for domestic law is deeply troubling, and I think really puts us on the slippery slope towards the potential for unlawful orders to be issued and other abuses of power.

NEWTON: OK. Carrie Lee, a senior fellow with the German Marshall Fund. We will leave it there. Thanks so much.

LEE: Thank you.

NEWTON: Now, the most watched film on Netflix, most watched of all time, could be coming to life at a South Korean theme park.

[00:35:04]

"KPop Demon Hunters" has fans lining up for hours for the experience. A look at the new attraction.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

NEWTON: A South Korean amusement park is bringing a hit Netflix movie to life with a brand-new attraction. Hundreds of fans are lining up every day for the new "KPop Demon Hunters" experience since it opened at the theme park Everland.

[00:40:03]

Visitors can play games and take photos against the backdrop of scenes from the animated film that has become -- get this -- Netflix's most watched movie of all time.

And like the movie, the theme park is wildly popular.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEE HYUNG KEE, EMPLOYEE, SAMSUNG C&T RESORT GROUP (through translator): We've created a space at this experimental exhibition where visitors can directly engage with things that they'd only seen on screens. We opened on Friday the 26th, and since then, there's consistently been a line with about a one to one-and-a-half-hour wait.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, the magic of chess, combined with the challenge of the Rubik's Cube in Budapest.

Fifty teams of elementary school students took part in the first tournament of a joint game called Rubik's Chess. The game was created by Erno Rubik, the inventor of Rubik's Cube, and Hungarian chess grandmaster Judit Polgar.

It involves one person playing chess, while the other works to solve the cube during randomly timed breaks.

Rubik warns young people are forgetting how to use their hands as they get caught up in using technology. I'm not exactly an aficionado in either.

Now, two women in Bolivia are keeping a tradition alive on the golf course. Martha Mamani and Nelicia Alejo both play and tend to the La Paz golf course, one of the world's highest-altitude courses.

They are part of a cultural group of indigenous women known as cholitas. They are combining their distinctive traditional attire and style with love of the game.

OK, I want to thank you for watching CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Paula Newton. I will be back with more news at the top of the hour, but stick around for WORLD SPORT. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:35]

(WORLD SPORT)