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CNN This Morning

Today, Biden to Address United Nations at 10:00 A.M ET; Trump Shares Post Attacking Liberal Jews Who Did Not Support Him Amid Celebration of Rosh Hashanah; New Video Shows Americans Freed from Iran Arrive in U.S. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired September 19, 2023 - 07:00   ET

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

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: As Poppy was just noting, Ohio State Buckeye, right?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Poppy was noting that?

MATTINGLY: Yes.

SCHOLES: Good.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: As I was just noting.

MATTINGLY: She was just saying. Thanks, buddy. We appreciate it.

SCHOLES: All right.

MATTINGLY: All right. CNN This Morning continues right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Biden steps back onto the world stage, addressing the General Assembly at the United Nations.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We'll hear from Zelenskyy addressing the U.N. General Assembly for the first time.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What will the United States of America do when Putin reaches the Baltic States? He will.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five American hostages wrongly detained inside Iran for years touched down on U.S. soil.

SEN. MITCH MCCONNELL (R-KY): Incentivizing Tehran's bad behavior has left Americans less secure.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Five Americans are coming home to their family. Every American should be celebrating that right now.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump trying to put the nail on Florida Governor Ron DeSantis' campaign coffin over a six-week abortion ban.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER U.S. PRESIDENT: I think what he did is a terrible thing and a terrible mistake. GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): All pro-lifers should know he's preparing to fell you out.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The race in Iowa is a furious one for second place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: So happy to bring you the images we are about to show you. This is breaking news. It is brand new video. Look at this. This is the first we're seeing of five Americans freed from prison in Iran, finally landing moments ago on U.S. soil, Emad Shargi, Morad Tahbaz and Siamak Namazi, along with two other Americans who have not publicly been named, their request. They all arrived right near Washington, D.C., moments ago flying from Tehran to Qatar, stopping there, then on to the U.S.

They were released as part of a wider deal that includes the United States unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian funds. These freed Americans will have the option to participate in a Department of Defense program to help them acclimate back to life.

Remember, Namazi was behind bars in Evin Prison for almost eight years. We're going to be speaking with his uncle straight ahead.

MATTINGLY: Separate the policy and the politics for a minute and families being reunited, it's a good day. It's a good day.

Well, just hours from now, President Biden is set to speak on the world stage at the United Nations and it comes at a moment of global crisis or crises. There's a brutal grinding war in Ukraine with no end in sight, catastrophic climate disasters around the world, the Earth just had its hottest summer on record and there's a growing migrant crisis, just to name a few. But several key world leaders won't even be there at the U.N.

Russia, China, France, the UK, their leaders are sitting this one out. It's casting doubt about how much can actually be accomplished this week.

CNN Chief National Security Correspondent and Anchor Jim Sciutto with us in the studio. Jim, thank you for being here. We're going to walk through the issues that Biden is likely to tackle in this speech today.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Big picture, he's going to make a pitch for democracy, in effect, and that's the dividing line that the Biden administration sees. And they're not alone in that. You have the U.S., its allies in the west and the east aligned against Russia and China and Iran and North Korea in places like Ukraine, of course, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, but also concerns about Chinese aspirations for Taiwan, Iran's various aggression in the region there.

He's going to say, we need to stand for this. We've successfully stood for it in Ukraine. And here are the other ways we're trying to do that, that this is a defining battle. That's going to be his pitch. And he's going to say, of course, there's a heck of a lot more work to do.

HARLOW: So, President Zelenskyy of Ukraine is here. He's not only meeting with Biden, he's meeting with congressional leaders. I thought this exchange between Scott Pelley of 60 Minutes and Zelenskyy in this piece that aired Sunday night was really telling in terms of what does the U.S. do in terms of further support. Let's listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: He's waiting for the United States to become less stable. He thinks that's going to happen during the U.S. election. He'll be looking for instability in Europe and the United States of America. He will use the risk of using nuclear weapons to fuel that instability. He will keep on threatening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: I think it was notable that Zelenskyy didn't say yes directly when he was asked about this level of aid continuing from the U.S.

SCIUTTO: He's aware of the politics here that you have opposition from the Republican Party, some not exhaustion, I don't think that's the word, but declining interest and support from the American people. So, he's conscious that it won't be as easy to get that support from now going forward. It's not going to disappear.

But he also, as he said there, is worried and he's not alone. I speak to officials in Europe, many of our allies who look at this election as defining. They are concerned, and concern is not the strongest word I've heard over there, about the possibility of Trump returning and what that means for the U.S. position in the world, membership in NATO, support for Ukraine, support for Taiwan. So, he's not alone in looking at that election.

[07:05:01]

By the way, as you know, it's CNN's reporting that Vladimir Putin is waiting for the election too and hoping that he might get a friendlier person in office, or at least that's his perception.

HARLOW: I mean, everyone will remember, Jim, you were there. You were in Ukraine when Russia invaded. And to think of where we are now and to think of Zelenskyy coming again to the United States and to the global stage to make the case, it's just stunning, as their offensive continues, the spring offensive continues, but very slowly.

SCIUTTO: It is. And I think step out for some perspective. Of course, in the early days of the war, the expectation was they were going to lose, right, that Russia was going to --

HARLOW: Take even weeks, days?

SCIUTTO: Days, three days to get Kyiv, right? That didn't happen. So, perspective-wise, it's been a remarkable defense of the country and Ukraine still stands, right? And NATO stands together with Ukraine, and NATO has expanded. That's a big picture. But the fact is the counteroffensive has not met expectations, neither western expectations nor Ukrainian expectations. It's making some progress.

But when I speak to officials here in the U.S. and Europe, what they will say privately is, they don't expect Ukraine to win this war anytime soon, right? And what they'll say even more quietly is that Ukraine is basically fighting for bargaining position right now, that they find it probably too much of a stretch to imagine Ukraine gets back all the territory Russia has taken. They're not going to say that to Zelenskyy.

HARLOW: In fact, Zelenskyy says the opposite. He says, and Crimea.

SCIUTTO: He does. But when you speak privately to U.S. officials, they don't look at that as an achievable goal, at least this year, next year, perhaps beyond.

HARLOW: Jim, thank you. Join us back at the table. We'll continue this discussion. Phil?

MATTINGLY: All right. As you guys come back to the table, I want to bring in Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour and CNN Chief Political Correspondent, Anchor of Inside Politics, Dana Bash.

Christiane, you had this very stark interview with U.N. Secretary General Antonio Guterres. But before we get to that, I want to talk about your reaction to the sound from Zelenskyy.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes. Well, look, the sound is really interesting and it shows that he's got his real ear to the ground of American politics and politics around NATO who are trying to help him. The fact of the matter is that the Congress still supports aid to Ukraine, both Houses, majorities, okay, big deal. Obviously, people get tired.

The other fact of the matter is that it is true that you can see the map, Russia occupies still quite a lot there. But, unfortunately, Ukraine, despite all the help that it has had with Biden's leadership and the other allies coming together, it's not enough and it's not soon enough. They have no air cover to conduct this counteroffensive in a way that any other military would be expected to conduct a counteroffensive. The United States never goes on the ground without having claimed air superiority before it does that.

How do you expect the Ukrainians to push forward with all this fancy new technology that they have without having some cover? That's a problem.

The other issue is that it's not enough. Even the secretary general and many of the international leaders who I speak to, will not say that now is the time to negotiate, because they know it's not. There's no parity on the ground, there's no, you know, ability for Ukraine to actually negotiate. Putin shows absolutely no sign of wanting to negotiate. And the secretary general of NATO, who I'm going to be speaking to today, has already said this is bound to go on for a long time.

So, if the west wants Ukraine to win, the very simple equation is they're going to have to beef up what they give Ukraine in order for it to win, or in order for it to make enough of a dent to tell Putin a story that is different than the one he expects.

HARLOW: Is there, Dana, sort of an autopsy, if you will, internally in the administration and among members of Congress, to why did we wait? Because almost everything Zelenskyy has asked for, the United States has ended up giving, just about six months after he has asked for it.

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I don't know that there has been an autopsy of such yet. There probably will be. But, you know, there has been so much, and you both know this so well, so much hand-wringing about when you give Zelenskyy what he wants, how much is that going to poke the bear? How much is that going to make Putin say, I don't know, this is -- you know, you're putting your thumb on the scale. And then you're right, they end up doing it because the thumb is on the scale. I mean, this is something that the president says very clearly isn't just about Ukraine, the country, it's about the notion of democracy, full stop.

AMANPOUR: Can I just add just that, because it's so vital, because Putin has used this leverage to scare the bejesus out of everybody. So, you'll hear Biden, you'll hear --

HARLOW: Including Elon Musk.

AMANPOUR: Yes. We don't want to start World War III. Putin, most people believe, will not do this. The Chinese have basically told him that's a step too far and stop even the threats.

But Zelenskyy told me that you guys are all scared. I asked him, how come you're not scared of poking the bear? He said, because we live in this neighborhood, we know him, we know what it takes, and we have to keep going.

[07:10:04]

BASH: You mentioned World War III. I remember vividly Nancy Pelosi and others at the very beginning of the discussion of whether or not the polls -- can you -- I mean, excuse me, that the U.S. bases in the NATO areas can be used to transfer planes. Remember, that was the first big deal.

AMANPOUR: Yes, big deal, didn't happen.

BASH: And the answer was no, because it will cause World War III.

SCIUTTO: Well, each weapons system was, prior to the west sending it to Ukraine, viewed as a potential escalator, right? HIMARS was in that category. Tanks were in that category. And then, over time, the West sends them, and Russia, to your point, does not escalate. They don't drop a tactical nuclear weapon, et cetera.

So, there's a view, and you know this better than me, in Europe, among some, particularly in the east, that some in the West exaggerated that threat, right, the threat of Russia going ballistic at each step. And now you have F-16s, which were always a red line. They're like, oh, well, we're not going to go that far, but now it appears they are going to go. And then the question is, did you wait too long to truly enable Ukraine in this counteroffensive to gain the territory they need?

Now, when I speak to folks like General Milley and others in the military, the argument they will make, you know, to your point, Dana, is that we give them the weapons that they need and that they're capable of handling at the time. You can't just drop an F-16 in Ukraine and say, fly it. It takes weeks and months to train up.

HARLOW: Right, Jim, you know better than anyone. You can start training them on these things months prior so they're ready --

SCIUTTO: They probably should have started earlier. You know, one thing they talk about now is like that they have to teach the Ukrainian pilots English, you know, to work on the system. Many will speak it, but speak it to a level that they can handle the system and the training and that kind of stuff. And you're thinking, well, they could have started, you know, 18 months ago on these kinds of steps. So, there's certainly frustration.

AMANPOUR: But, you know, Biden and Zelenskyy together at the U.N. makes a very important double-headed whammy. You know, Biden, the only head of the Security Council, who's going to be there, it's an opportunity for him to really own this week. The others aren't going to be there.

HARLOW: That's a great point.

MATTINGLY: And Zelenskyy coming to Washington, who is critical for the aggression (ph).

AMANPOUR: And the U.N.

MATTINGLY: Both chambers do support as a majority. However, within the Republican conference in the House is a significant problem.

Dana, I want to ask you, because I think the Republican front runner looms over all of this, particularly on the world stage. Everyone is watching what's happening here. And the Republican frontrunner made Israel and aligning with Benjamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, and pushing forward on those issues a central part of what he did in office, even if it seemed more like he was just doing what advisers said was smart for him to do.

He has once again, on his social media account, basically tried to target a subset of American Jews, which I don't -- I've never understood. But I want to read it said, just a quick reminder, for liberal Jews who voted to destroy America and Israel because you believe in false narratives, let's hope you learn from your mistakes, make better choices moving forward, Happy New Year.

The reason why I don't want to just let this pass, as like Trump on social media being crazy because that's what Trump does on social media, is because I'm trying to think of the construct of if a Democratic lawmaker said that conservative Catholics were ruining the country because of their views if you're Catholic and vote Republican, you should -- you're ruining the country, people would freak out.

BASH: Yes.

MATTINGLY: And rightfully so.

BASH: And rightfully so. This is -- I'm going to borrow Christiane's favorite phrase to be truthful and not neutral here. There is nothing, nothing even close to appropriate about what he said. In fact, this is classic Trump trying to divide subsets of America, divide people who are already -- he sees that there are not just embers, but there are flames of division within the Jewish community and within American culture when it comes to Israel.

It is so incredibly dangerous. I did a whole hour on anti-Semitism, Growing in America. And a big part of it was according to expert after expert who looked at the research and looked at the threats and the timelines, Donald Trump saying things like this, pushing the door open a little bit, and white supremacists and people who have been feeling this way for a long time, shoving the door open.

And he knows full well that this kind of rhetoric is incredibly dangerous. And he just thinks that it's advantageous to him. And he does it.

AMANPOUR: And it's terribly dangerous from that political point of view and religious and cultural and social point of view, but also geostrategic, geopolitical malpractice. Donald Trump assisted by his buddy, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the crown prince of Saudi Arabia decided to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal and all that kind of stuff.

[07:15:01]

And now, you know, Benjamin Netanyahu is presiding over the assault on democracy in the one democratic state in the Middle East. These are really, really important things to put into context, and then to have this kind of stirring on top of everything else.

MATTINGLY: Well, it will be fascinating because President Biden will meet him on the sidelines --

AMANPOUR: Yes, and you're not to the White House notice. I don't know. Is he going to the White House, Netanyahu?

SCIUTTO: That's why when you speak to officials in Europe, as I know you do, and this is a word I heard from a senior administration official last week about their conversations with Europeans about the possible return of Trump, it's not a political statement, it's just how people are viewing this, the word is terrified. And that is because when you look at this divide, democracy versus authoritarianism, Trump on Ukraine, on Russia, on a whole host of issues, they see as a sea change coming if he were to be re-elected. That's how they see it.

MATTINGLY: This is a conversation writ large I think we could have for multiple hours.

BASH: I'm glad you brought that up.

MATTINGLY: We appreciate you guys coming in.

AMANPOUR: It's very important to bring that up.

MATTINGLY: Well, this just in, new video, we showed it at the start, we're going to continue to show it throughout the hour, the five Americans freed from prison in Iran finally arriving in U.S. soil. We'll speak to the uncle of one of the released detainees, coming up.

HARLOW: Meantime, The Wall Street Journal reporter imprisoned in Russia on baseless espionage charges will be back in court this morning fighting for his freedom. Our own Matthew Chance is there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

HARLOW: Just moments ago, look at that, five Americans returning to U.S. soil after spending years imprisoned in Iran. They were freed yesterday as part of a deal that includes unfreezing $6 billion in Iranian money and releasing five Iranians in U.S. custody.

The man you see there that embraced, Siamak Namazi, an Iranian- American businessman who was arrested in 2015. You see him as first hug to his son. He spent nearly eight years in prison, becoming Iran's longest-held American prisoner.

Earlier this year, he described his ordeal to our Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SIAMAK NAMAZI, EVIN PRISON, IRAN: I think the short answer is that I've always been made to feel that my very humanity has been taken away from me, not just my freedom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: You can hear the strain in his voice.

Joining me now in studio is his uncle, Hushang Namazi. Thank you for being here.

HUSHANG NAMAZI, UNCLE OF FREED AMERICAN SIAMAK NAMAZI: Thank you for having me.

HARLOW: The first time you're seeing those pictures of him on U.S. soil, what does it feel like? H. NAMAZI: Well, we're a big family and the whole family went through such a lot of ups and downs, knowing what he's going through in prison, eight years, subject to torture in the first two years. And then to finally see him come down the plane, it was, I mean, no words can describe it because, really, the whole family went through hell and praying for this moment. And, finally, it's arrived and they're also jubilant that the moment has come.

HARLOW: Did you think this day might not come?

H. NAMAZI: Well, there were so many occasions when we thought that he's going to be released. And then our hopes were dashed. And, finally, we realized, no, there is no point in being happy that there's prospects of him being released until he's really out of the airspace of Iran. And this came about really for the whole family. It's the greatest news we could have expected.

HARLOW: Have you spoken to him? When he arrived with my sister-in- law, Effie (ph), his mother, it was a couple of hours after midnight. So, we said we're all going to give him space, because this will be the first time that the four of them are going to be together in eight years, have their first breakfast together in eight years.

And they are housed in a very nice area for two weeks. And I'm sure that Siamak will have to undergo some medical treatments for the first few days. And then we hope the family can go to Washington and link up with him the second week.

HARLOW: You know, we all know his name because of his ordeal, but you know the person. Can you just remind everyone what he is like as a human?

H. NAMAZI: Well, he's such a likable person. And to give you an example, when he was in prison, he would telephone all the uncles and aunts and siblings. And he was so resilient, instead of us trying to cheer him up, he was cheering us up.

HARLOW: Really?

H. NAMAZI: Knowing that what we are going through for him, we wanted to show that, look, don't worry. I'm good. I'm doing good.

HARLOW: Selfless?

H. NAMAZI: So, you can just imagine how resilient he is.

HARLOW: Yet he endured some of the most terrible, inhumane conditions in Tehran's notorious Evin Prison.

His lawyer was on CNN yesterday. And I want to play for you and for other people how his lawyer could finally speak openly about what those conditions were actually like. I want to warn people this is very hard to hear. But here's what he went through for eight years. Here it is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JARED GENSER, ATTORNEY FOR FREED AMERICAN SIAMAK NAMAZI: He was beaten. He was tased. He had electrodes connected to his genitals. And, you know, this is all bad enough. But, actually, the worst thing they did to him over that time was after his dad was detained. They showed him the video of him being detained.

And Siamak knew his father was clearly in the prison somewhere, not far from him, as it turned out. And about a month later, they came to him and said, we have some sad news for you. Your father just died. And we're really sorry, but you're not going to be allowed out to go to his funeral.

[07:25:01]

And they left him that way in the cell for a full week until they came and told him, well, actually, we were just joking about that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARLOW: Mental torture, physical torture, when you hear that.

H. NAMAZI: In fact, I heard him yesterday saying that, for the first time that they had told Siamak that his father had passed away and that they didn't tell him for a week, let him know for a week that his father was, and that they would not allow him to go to his father's memorial. It took a week for them to finally tell him, no, your father is alive.

And you can imagine the torture that you undergo when you know your father has passed, and you can't even attend his memorial.

HARLOW: Today brings so many emotions for you and your family, I know, but there are so many other families out there whose loved ones are detained, wrongfully detained overseas. Can you speak to them this morning with the hope that you now feel given Siamak's return?

H. NAMAZI: Well, there are still a lot of people detained in Iran and everywhere else. We never gave up hope. There was always -- we knew that a lot of efforts were being made for the release. It took a lot, three, during the Obama administration, Trump administration, and three administrations to finally get him released.

I see there's always hope, and it took a long time, but, finally, after eight years, the longest surviving hostage in Iran.

HARLOW: Yes. Hushang Namazi, thank you very much. I am so happy for you and your family. And I bet you can't wait to hug him.

H. NAMAZI: Thank you. And you're right. I can't wait to hug him and the whole family because his mother also was fantastic in saying, I will not leave Iran until I'm accompanying my son. And she stayed firmly by his side. And, finally, they were both able to get out.

HARLOW: Thank you.

H. NAMAZI: Thank you very much. HARLOW: Phil?

MATTINGLY: Great news. President Biden defending his age as experience in fiery remarks last night, we're going to tell you what he said.

And Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, attacking former President Trump for his abortion stance.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DESANTIS: I think all pro-lifers should know that he's preparing to sell you out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:00]