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Trump 'Unhappy' About Israeli Strike in Qatar; Poland: Russian Drones Shot Down after Violating Airspace; Democratic Leaders Reluctant to Endorse Mamdani; NBA Investigating Kawhi Leonard, Clippers Endorsement Deal. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: -- presale draw starts at 11 a.m. Eastern today for qualifying Visa cardholders.

[06:00:07]

Tickets start at 60 bucks for group stage matches, but those prices could rise. FIFA says it's using a dynamic pricing system, which means tickets will be more expensive for matches in higher demand.

Thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Israel attacks Hamas deep inside Qatar. Was the White House left in the dark? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I was very unhappy about the way that went down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Outrage in the Middle East. Has Israel gone completely rogue?

Developing right now, Russian drones shot down over Poland. How will NATO respond?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: And we're trying to make a policy that is going to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: RFK Jr. unveils his plan to make America healthy again. Some of his own supporters are sick about it.

And call it a rare event. Donald Trump at a D.C. steakhouse. Why protesters showed up to bust his chops.

And he's pulling away in the polls. So, why won't any top Democrats endorse the Democratic frontrunner for the New York City mayor's race? And a $48 million scandal rocking the NBA. The former tech CEO accused

of paying a basketball star for a no-show job.

It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. Here is a live look at the U.S. Capitol. People here just waking up. But good morning to you. Thanks for being with us.

It's Wednesday, September 10th. And I'm Audie Cornish. And I want to talk about what we are reporting on right now out of the Middle East, after military strikes by Israel against Hamas occurred inside the territory of a U.S. ally.

Israeli warplanes dropped ten bombs on the Qatari capital, aimed at taking out Hamas leaders. Hamas says six people were killed.

Qatar lashed out in response. The country's prime minister declared the strikes state terrorism by Israel.

And the U.S. was kept in the dark about the attack up until the moment it unfolded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect. And we've got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy about the way that went down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Israel's prime minister says the operation was entirely carried out by Israeli forces alone and vowed to target Hamas wherever they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YECHIEL LEITER, ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE U.S.: If we didn't get them this time, we'll get them the next time. So, right now, we may be subject to a little bit of criticism. They'll get over it.

And Israel is being changed for the better. The region is being changed for the better as we remove these enemies of peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining me now for more, CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, live in Doha.

Good morning, Nic. I just want to start with the reaction from the city as the scope of these attacks kind of come into focus.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes. It's an absolute shock, because the last thing they would expect is that an ally of the United States would be attacked by an ally -- another ally of the United States, particularly when Qatar plays such a leading role in negotiations, be it with the Taliban in the past, with Hamas now, and in other areas supporting the United States; has a massive U.S. airbase here inside of Qatar. This is not what they would expect.

And that gets to the anger that was shown by the prime minister last night, calling this state terrorism in a press conference. That kind of language coming from the prime minister shows the diplomatic anger and the diplomatic rift that's being created here.

He said this is being done by a rogue player; that it should be clear to everyone now, the image of who is the bully in the region. That was the prime minister's words.

So, relations really strained. Huge support from European countries, from Asia, but more importantly, from this region here. The Saudi crown prince talking about Qatar and giving its support as a sisterly nation.

It was just a few years ago there were rifts between these two countries. Today, he is saying that -- that Saudi Arabia will give Qatar whatever support it needs on however it wants to respond. That is very, very strong language.

We also understand now that talks were underway, from officials with knowledge of the talks, with Hamas on Monday. They'd gone late into the night, Monday night into -- into Tuesday; that there had been phone conversations related to these talks with President Trump's latest proposal being discussed with Israeli officials on the phone.

[06:05:11]

Hamas's response was expected last night. Of course, the strike came before that.

This clearly has a detrimental impact on those -- on those peace talks related to Gaza. But I think is -- is having a much broader chilling impact in this region right now.

CORNISH: I have to ask, because we are also hearing from the family members of the hostages. Right? And talking about what kind of jeopardy this might put them in. I want to play this one for you.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UDI GOREN, COUSIN OF DECEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE: I'm horrified at the idea that, when we finally had an American-led deal that could have led to the release of all hostages, this is the action that took place.

I have no regret in seeing these people punished. They are all a part of the people that massacred, planned what happened on October 7th. However, the only way that my cousin, Tal, will be back for burial is by a negotiated deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, I can imagine all that is in question now, given that these talks, as you said, were being mediated by Qatar. ROBERTSON: It does. Qatar has sort of been through some slings and

arrows, verbal, from Israel in the past. This is at a quantifiably different level: a strike on their sovereign territory.

Qatar has, despite everything, remained committed to trying to find a path to peace. I think it's reasonable to expect that they will continue that.

But the diplomatic wrangling that will fall out from this, and the frustrations with the United States, because people in this region and, as well, the families of hostages, do look to President Trump. There's the U.S. President, the man, the head of the most powerful country, with the most diplomatic and military leverage available to have some restraining impact on Israel's prime minister.

And the sense in the region is that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acts first, then goes to the United States to explain his position.

Prosperous talks to release the hostages in Gaza will only, many people here think, work if President Trump leans in much more heavily to make it happen.

CORNISH: OK. CNN's international diplomatic editor, Nic Robertson, reporting for us. You're going to hear more from him today.

Now, I want to turn to a developing story out of Poland, where the military there shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace overnight.

Poland's prime minister says there were 19 violations of its airspace. It happened during a Russian attack on Ukraine. At least three drones were shot down. Officials there accuse Moscow of an act of aggression.

Now we're going to talk to CNN's senior international correspondent, Ben Wedeman, who's live from Rome. Ben, give us some context about what's going on here.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, these drones that entered the Polish territory were part of the nightly Russian bombardment on Ukraine.

But in this case, according to the Ukrainians, eight of those drones headed into Polish territory.

Now, of course, we heard Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, saying it was actually 19 drones. And these drones entered not from Russia, but via Belarus, which of course, is on the Eastern border, partly on the Eastern border of Poland.

Now, as a result of this, Poland had to close three of its airports, including the main international airport in Warsaw. Those airports have now reopened. The Polish authorities are now trying to find remains of any drones that were shot down.

It was not only the Polish Air Force involved in this effort to stop the drones, but also F-35s from the Dutch Air Force, as well. Now, as a result of this incident. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk

has invoked NATO Article IV. That article allows it to convene the top body of NATO, the North Atlantic Council, to discuss in an emergency setting, the violation of one of its member's territory or sovereignty.

So, certainly, this is being seen as a very serious and potentially dangerous development.

This comes just a few weeks after President Trump met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska, at the time, saying that perhaps this is the beginning of the end of the war. It appears that, since that summit, if anything, the situation has escalated further to this very dangerous point -- Audie.

[06:10:05]

OK. Ben Wedeman, thank you so much.

Now, coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, Zohran Mamdani is surging in the polls in the New York mayoral race. So why do so many Democrats seem reluctant to endorse him?

Plus, long on promises, short on action. Why the new "Make America Healthy Again" plan is falling short.

And new allegations in the Kawhi Leonard NBA salary cap scandal.

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[06:15:06]

CORNISH: Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani is riding high in the race for New York City mayor.

He's cruising ahead of Andrew Cuomo, the nearest challenger. So, you'd think that big-name Dems would be lining up to endorse him. Instead, we get this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): We met yesterday. We had a good meeting. We know each other well, and we're going to keep talking.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: What do you need to hear from him to get behind the nominee from your party?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Stay tuned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, here's Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, saying, "I find it hard to understand how the major Democratic leaders in New York state are not supporting the Democratic candidate."

So, joining me now in the group chat, Evan McMorris Santoro, national political reporter at "NOTUS"; former Pennsylvania congressman Charlie Dent; and CNN political commentator Sabrina Singh.

So, this has become part of the proxy conversation for whether or not top Democrats actually represent the maybe youth wing or activist wing or up and coming wing of the party, right, that Mamdani represents. Do endorsements matter?

CHARLIE DENT, FORMER PENNSYLVANIA CONGRESSMAN: Well, not typically, but they are expected after a primary election. In this case, you know, for -- for in New York City for the mayor's race.

But it's clear that a lot of these more establishment-oriented Democrats are extremely uncomfortable with Mamdani. They don't want to be associated with these Democratic socialists. And they think that wing of the party is -- is too extreme.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: And that's why they're hesitating to endorse him. And I understand why. You know, Republicans have had the same problem every time. You know, once in a while they'll nominate somebody way out in the fringe, and a lot of these --

CORNISH: Yes, but that person ended up being president twice.

DENT: Well, I mean --

CORNISH: I think there's a window of time where you start to think about it.

DENT: In my state, like, Doug Mastriano for governor, right?

CORNISH: Right.

DENT: I mean, like, it just -- people just didn't get on board.

CORNISH: But here's the thing. There's actually new -- a new Gallup poll out now that says for the -- basically, the first time, Democrats are the only partisan group to favor socialism over capitalism.

Meaning you have more and more, especially young Democrats who look at capitalism unfavorably and are giving socialism a look. And so, there's a movement behind this conversation. It's just not just about New York.

EVAN MCMORRIS SANTORO, NATIONAL POLITICAL REPORTER, "NOTUS": Well, and this is the key to this whole issue in New York, right?

Is that when you define kind of what the fringe is, that number keeps getting larger and larger and larger when it comes to Democrats in New York City. Right?

If you look at these numbers, these latest poll numbers that Mamdani has in the head-to-heads, he's crushing these other opponents by, like, double digits in a three-way, four-way race. Right?

This is not a place. This is not a guy that is, like, had a few supporters.

CORNISH: Right.

SANTORO: He has a huge head of steam, you know, behind him. And the -- and the really challenging thing for me has been, watching this entire time, is that the Democratic establishment has nothing like this. They have no counter person, no interesting person that people love this -- as much as they love Mamdani.

He's bringing people in. He's bringing in new voters. And the fact that the Democratic Party can't seem to, like --

CORNISH: Embrace.

SANTORO: -- somehow get their hands around that --

CORNISH: Well, it may help that the president --

SANTORO: -- I think is kind of a big problem. I think it's a really big problem for them.

CORNISH: The president is calling him a 100 percent communist lunatic. Elise Stefanik saying it illustrates the current state of the Democratic Party, showcasing their leftward shift and radicalization.

They want to run against Mamdani in the midterms. They want this to be a national race. That's why I'm talking about this, instead of just thinking like, oh, it's just about the mayor's race.

SANTORO: But again, but again, just thinking about -- I'm sorry, just thinking about Trump. Right?

CORNISH: Yes.

SANTORO: There was a time that Hillary Clinton's campaign was like, we want Trump to be our opponent, right? There was a time that Democrats were trying to get these sort of extreme guys as their opponents.

CORNISH: Right.

SANTORO: They thought this was going to be a problem for them. And in fact, that lit a flame underneath a base and let that party expand and bring new people in. And I think that that's a challenge with this.

SABRINA SINGH, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: But I -- I think on that, though, 2016 -- having been on 2016 and then having been on 2020, there was a --

CORNISH: Working on those campaigns.

SINGH: Working on those campaigns. You know, we -- we lost the sentiment that that -- where the American people were in 2016. And then in 2024 with this reelection, again, you know, the American people, we lost that sentiment. We lost that connection of what they actually care about. And, you know, for -- and I served in that -- the Biden

administration. You know, we kept telling people the economy is working, because we saw the numbers going up, but people didn't feel it.

And at the end of the day, if you aren't being honest with the American people and saying, you know, you're hurting right now, we're going to keep working on it, which frankly, Donald Trump is pretty honest with that.

CORNISH: Yes. But the argument is that Mamdani's argument in New York about affordability --

SINGH: Yes.

CORNISH: -- is a winning argument. And for Republicans, they're able to say is it affordability or is it socialism/communism, and the end of capitalism as we know it? Right?

SINGH: Right.

CORNISH: Like, it's -- I think it's an argument. Democrats want to talk about the economy, but somehow, they can't embrace the way he's doing it.

SINGH: I think that's -- I think that's right. But Mamdani did focus like a laser on the issue of affordability.

But I think what's different here is he is one candidate representing a major city versus the Democratic Party at large, where you have more moderate candidates like Abigail Spanberger or Mikie Sherrill running and running more center left.

And I think that is more of a reflection --

CORNISH: Yes.

SINGH: -- of where the party is.

DENT: Yes, but -- but the thing is, though, that the Mamdani race is getting all the attention. And -- and Democratic image ratings are not where they need to be. They're pretty bad.

CORNISH: Yes.

DENT: They're lower than Republicans. And this is contributing to that. I get it that he's popular in New York. And by the way, all these people say --

CORNISH: Or online, as well.

DENT: -- getting -- getting Eric Adams out of the race. And all the people are saying, oh, if you get Adams out of the race, this will help the other. I don't buy that at all.

I bet a lot of Adams voters will end up voting for Mamdani is what's going to happen. But bottom line is, he is helping brand the Democrats in a way they would rather not be branded. It's quite simple.

CORNISH: OK. Well, stick around for more. Maybe endorsements. We're going to talk a lot more this hour. Stay with us.

After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, Kawhi Leonard and the L.A. Clippers in the middle of a salary scandal. So, a multimillion-dollar endorsement is at the center of it all.

Plus, Trump hit the town in D.C., promoting his takeover. His message to the city.

And good morning to St. Louis.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:25:27]

CORNISH: When is $176 million not enough? In major league sports, of course. Two-time NBA champion Kawhi Leonard is at the center of a growing investigation into an alleged salary cap scheme.

In his 2021 deal with the Clippers, allegations came to light claiming that the franchise owner, Steve Ballmer, struck a deal with Leonard to skirt the league's salary cap. We're talking to the tune of $28 million.

Now, according to reports, Leonard was paid all that money over four years in an endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt environmental company.

Joining me now to discuss Randall Williams, U.S. sports business reporter for Bloomberg. Randall, thanks for coming on. Help me figure this out.

RANDALL WILLIAMS, U.S. SPORTS BUSINESS REPORTER, BLOOMBERG: Yes. This is sort of crazy. What he's being accused of is that Steve Ballmer, essentially -- Steve Ballmer, and the Los Angeles Clippers, essentially orchestrated a deal that would allow him to be paid more without showing up.

So, in layman's terms, imagine if LeBron James was with Nike and he never did any commercials. He never went to campus in Portland. He never did anything with Nike, but he was paid, you know, a godawful amount of money.

That's what Kawhi Leonard and the Clippers are being accused of. And it is a very, very serious accusation and potentially crime, if he's found guilty.

CORNISH: Can you talk about why? I know that at one point, the NBA and commissioner Adam Silver were like, we don't want super teams. We want to make sure that everyone's got a fighting chance. So, some people can't spend all the money. He considers getting around the salary cap a cardinal sin, right?

WILLIAMS: Absolutely. I mean, if you look at the NBA right now, there's more parity than there's ever been over the course of its 80- year, nearly 80-year history.

And with that in mind, if there's cap circumvention, the cap system is set up so that players can be paid a specific amount. If players are being paid more than that, if teams are orchestrating those deals, that means that someone is basically given an advantage.

Because, look, in this case, Kawhi Leonard hit free agency. This deal was struck, and now he's being paid even more outside of the cap system from the Clippers.

If he was doing this on his own, and the Clippers introduced him to this company, and then the two parties, you know, went about their way and struck a deal, that'd be different. But it's three parties, and that's against collective bargaining rules.

CORNISH: Aha. But now there's a twist, because now people are going back and looking at his past contract demands. For instance, 2019 reports when he was a free agent that he actually went to, I think, it was the Toronto Raptors. Right?

His uncle, who acts as his manager, had a long list of demands: guaranteed sponsorship money, a share of another sports team, even trading another player.

The Raptors said no, because they're, like, this is against the rules. But now, how do these new allegations impact how the league looks at this?

WILLIAMS: I think when you're looking at this, it sounds like, based on these accusations, that Kawhi Leonard and his camp was going around searching for similar deals that he found with Ballmer and the Clippers and this now bankrupt company.

And with that in mind, I mean, he found the right suitor. The issue is now, he's in an investigation. And so, now the question is what will the NBA do if they find evidence that Ballmer, the Clippers, and Kawhi Leonard did circumvent the cap structure?

CORNISH: How big a deal is this? I don't know if the executives are talking. The other teams are starting to even the other players, right. You talked about parity.

WILLIAMS: Yes, everyone's talking about it. I mean, in regards to punishment, I think the punishment the last time, in 2000, I believe it was, around that time, was five first-round picks and a $3.5 million fine with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

Now we're 25 years past that time with a much bigger deal. I could very well see this being more than five -- five first-round picks and a much heftier fine.

Now the reality is Steve Ballmer is very, very rich.

CORNISH: Right. He's a tech co-founder.

WILLIAMS: Any fine, I imagine -- CORNISH: Exactly.

WILLIAMS: Exactly, exactly. So, I don't know that the fine is really going to hurt him, but those first-round picks will, because that essentially means the Clippers cannot draft young players in, you know, the top of -- the top of the first round.

CORNISH: Does it hurt Leonard and his reputation even with the fans?

WILLIAMS: I think, in some regard. But at the same time, Kawhi Leonard, he's probably the quietest and most private superstar, I would argue, in the world of sports ever. He does not do that many commercials. He hardly speaks at press conferences.

I think that when he does address this, potentially, at a media day or in a post-game press conference, he's probably not going to have much to say. So, I don't think we'll hear much from him. We'll hear from the NBA, though.

CORNISH: All right, Randall Williams, thanks for explaining it. Appreciate it.

WILLIAMS: Thank you for having me.

CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, staying put. The embattled Federal Reserve governor can stay on the job for now.

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