Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Ghaith al-Omari is Interviewed about the Gaza Plan; Americans Support for Israel Declines; Rep. Chris Deluzio (D-PA) is Interviewed about a Government Shutdown; New York Mayoral Race. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired September 30, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:34:08]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning. Nice to have you with us here on a Tuesday. I'm Erica Hill. It's 6.33 here on the East Coast. Here's a look at what's happening right now.

Lawmakers have until midnight tonight to get a deal to avoid a government shutdown. After a meeting, though, with House and Senate leadership at the White House, that deal looking less likely.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): We are not going to support a partisan Republican spending bill that continues to gut the health care of everyday Americans. Period. Full stop. This is a Republican-caused health care crisis.

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have disagreements about health care policy, but you don't shut the government down. You don't use your policy disagreements as leverage to not pay our troops.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Democrats want a deal to cover Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of the year. The White House says any deal could only come, though, after Democrats agree to keep the government running.

YouTube agreeing to settle with President Trump after he was suspended from the platform following January 6th and the insurrection.

[06:35:05]

The company will pay out $24.5 million. On Truth Social, the president calling this a massive victory against censorship.

A rare one-two punch for Bermuda. Tropical Storm Imelda and Hurricane Humberto brewing in the Atlantic and headed for the island. Imelda is expected to strengthen to a hurricane today. The storms are expected to miss the U.S., but could still cause dangerous surf, rip currents and coastal flooding along the East Coast. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he agrees with

President Trump's plan to end the war in Gaza. A main point of that plan calls for an immediate ceasefire and the return of all Israeli hostages. The key question at this hour, will Hamas get on board? Israel is already warning of major consequences if not.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: If Hamas rejects you plan, Mr. President, or if they supposedly accept it and then -- then basically do everything to counter it, then Israel will finish the job by itself. This can be done the easy way, or it can be done the hard way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining us now to discuss Ghaith al-Omari. He's a senior fellow at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

It's good to have you with us this morning.

You have said you are cautiously optimistic at this point about the plan. Why?

GHAITH AL-OMARI, SENIOR FELLOW, THE WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: All right. Thank you, Erica.

I mean the emphasis is on cautious. And I say this because, you know, there are so many things can go wrong. So many -- it's a fluid situation. It's a volatile situation on the ground. So many actors have an interest in making things go wrong. All of that said, I have not seen, in the two years of the war, so much international momentum around this. Arab countries are completely on board, including some of the backers of Hamas, like Qatar, Turkey, not an Arab country, but a Middle Eastern Muslim country. Russia today actually came out and said they're in support. So, there's a lot of momentum. And Hamas finds itself very isolated and under a lot of pressure.

HILL: You know, Hamas finds itself isolated. So, that growing pressure on Hamas to have all of these other -- certainly within the region, especially, not just western allies, but to have that added pressure.

Steve Witkoff is pretty confident that this is going to work out. I just want to play a little bit of what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: We have a lot of support for the plan. A lot of buy in. Do we have some details to work out? Yes. But, you know, you know President Trump as well as I do, with that indomitable spirit of his, everyone's going to be pushed by him. And I think we're going to -- we're going to get to the finish line.

I'd say, I'm very optimistic. That's what I would say.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Very optimistic. We talked about the pressure. But the reality is, this was presented without the buy-in from Hamas. So, until Hamas is on board, we don't have a deal. And we heard the warning from Prime Minister Netanyahu. Does that give you pause in this moment?

AL-OMARI: Oh, absolutely. I mean, it gives me pause on a number of fronts. First of all, Hamas has had a track -- a track record of basically saying no to previous deals. And, you know, we think they act in a rational way. They act -- they have their own calculations. That's one. But also Hamas is a fragmented organization in some ways. Those who might agree, the political leadership that's based in Qatar, might not actually have sway on the military leadership on the ground, the folks who are actually holding the hostages. There are smaller factions. So, these are all problems that can go wrong.

But also there are diplomatic problems that can go wrong. We started seeing this yesterday. Yesterday, Prime Minister Netanyahu, he gave a televised speech to his own public in which he minimized his concessions and played up what he got. And we saw an Arab statement that did exactly the same. So, without a sustained U.S. leadership, things can go off the rails. And frankly, as of yet, we have not really seen this administration, let's say, to sustained in the way that they engage some of these diplomatic initiatives. We see a one and done, and that's actually not how you run something like this.

HILL: And so, in terms of when you talk about a one and done, there's a lot of excitement is the wrong word, but I would say energy certainly around the announcement yesterday and hope from -- on a number of levels. But to your point, there is the question of, could there be a sustained, continued push, specifically on Israel, from President Trump and how important that will be.

AL-OMARI: Not only on Israel, by the way. I mean, you know, to build an international coalition, to coordinate between Arab countries that have different agendas, usually this kind of stuff is done by, you know, the State Department, by our intelligence community, by some of our military leaders. Today, many of these institutions are weakened. Many of these institutions are demoralized. And, honestly, underutilized.

So, unless we have a whole of government approach to this, that basically does not rely on the president coming in every day, at every juncture, you can see how the bandwidth will disappear. You can see how things can go off the rail.

So, I'm hopeful.

[06:40:00]

People in the region are hopeful. People in Gaza that I talk to, by the way, are hopeful. But cautiously so, because the past has not been a good guide so far.

HILL: Yes. We'll certainly be watching. Great to have you with us this morning. Thank you, Ghaith. AL-OMARI: Thank you.

HILL: Well, as we approach the second anniversary of the October 7th terror attack on Israel by Hamas, people in the U.S. are increasingly not on board. What does that mean? Well, this is -- we say that based on a new poll from "The New York Times," a "New York Times"/Sienna poll, which finds a majority of Americans don't approve of the conflict in Gaza. The amount of people who think Israel is intentionally killing civilians there. That number is just about doubled in the last two years, as you can see.

So, what is behind the shift? Well, it is what has been unfolding over the last two years. Here's just a look at some of the headlines. The U.N. warns famine could spread to all of Gaza in just a few weeks. Dozens of Palestinians killed over the last several days, including health care workers. There are also, of course, reports about the Gaza health ministry reporting on the death toll, which now stands at more than 66,000.

Despite the backlash mounting against Israel, the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, is standing firm, and he said he's willing to go it alone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: So, here's another message to those western leaders. Israel will not allow you to shove a terrorist state down our throats. We will not commit national suicide because you don't have the guts to face down a hostile media and anti- Semitic mobs demanding Israel's blood.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The group chat is back.

Diving in a little bit closer into some of these numbers in the poll, 51 percent of Americans say they oppose providing additional economic and military support to Israel, 39 percent say they approve.

When we look at the change, right, in support, Jeff, that we've seen over the last couple of years, what does it tell you about the shift?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: It's extraordinary. Really a stunning reversal from October 7th, largely because of Democrat support falling for this. I mean that specifically has fallen some 30 points or so. In the Democratic Party now, Democrat -- Democratic partizans simply do not support the U.S. continued support for economic and military support for Israel. So, what that means going forward into, at least for domestic politics here, it has completely upended the -- this issue in domestic politics.

So, this is going to be one of the central focus in some of the Senate primaries next year. Michigan is one example. But also in the Democratic presidential primary. This is going to be unlike anything we have seen before because it's absolutely upside down compared to the competitive races in years past. HILL: It really became -- and we saw it in 2024, and I know you have

plenty (ph) of this, but even just anecdotally in conversations that I had with multiple people throughout that cycle --

ZELENY: Sure.

HILL: It became --

ZELENY: Among young voters.

HILL: Among young voters, but also older voters.

ZELENY: Sure.

HILL: It became a single issue for them in terms of who they would vote for based on the politics of what has shifted. How do you navigate that? How do the parties navigate that moving forward, Chuck?

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: It's different in different elections. In the primary, to Jeff's point, it will be a huge thing in the Michigan Senate primary this year. But also something here that folks aren't talking about it, and I wrote it this morning in some of my talking points, is, the right and on the Republican side is that you've seen this mantra now over -- since Donald Trump's been elected, about America first and stop spending any money overseas, period. Not saying that Republicans are running away from this issue. But you see a sliding of that within their own rank and file because they want to see more money, in their terms, spent in America. And then when you see women and children being killed, no matter who you are and what party you're belonging to, it's something that's really soured. I think that's the biggest part of this is, there's more -- you can see it more on your phones every day on social media.

HILL: Part of that, too, is -- I mean you talk about the humanitarian crisis, right, which you're alluding to the issues that arose with this effort to change the way humanitarian aid is distributed and the U.S. role in that. How damaging do you believe that was?

BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Listen, I think all the images coming out of Israel are damaging, whether it was the humanitarian aid or not. But let's be clear, that humanitarian aid that had been in the past was actually causing problems. So, Israel and the U.S. trying to come up with a new process, you know, it was -- it was sloppy. Very sloppy. It led to more deaths.

But the images for two years now have been gruesome. It's become more unpopular in this country. It reminds me of the Iraq War. Over time, the longevity of the war, it just becomes unpopular and you see support collapse. And you see the support collapsing for Israel and the United States among Democrats. I suspect if this war continues, it will -- Chuck might be right, in a matter of time you'll see some collapse among Republicans. War is definitely unpopular.

HILL: There's also -- it's interesting to note too what we've seen and heard from political leaders. There is a big difference between not supporting the policies of Israel, the Israeli government, and not supporting Israelis, right? Or when we talk about the rise in anti- Semitism. And those things have been connected. We've seen this massive rise in anti-Semitism, not just in the United States, but in other areas around the world. That is a backlash to Israeli policies, which, again, don't represent the Israeli people or anyone who is of the Jewish faith.

[06:45:04]

ZELENY: Absolutely. And that's why there absolutely is a sentiment in this poll, people are not pleased with Netanyahu's government, obviously, so there are some dividing lines there.

I think what happens with this proposed peace plan yesterday is really going to determine public support going forward. If the Israeli government does not approve of this plan, that will sort of enhance the disagreement with Netanyahu. But he stands as one of the big reasons for the decline in support among Democrats, and perhaps even some Republicans.

HILL: All right.

Just ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, we're continuing a little countdown to the shutdown. Joining us next, Democratic Congressman Chris Deluzio is with us. His reaction to the blame game already underway.

Plus.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: I think the race is fundamentally the same as it was.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Zohran Mamdani reacting to Eric Adams dropping out of the New York City mayoral race, and why he thinks a vote for Andrew Cuomo is a vote for Donald Trump's agenda.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:30]

HILL: We are keeping an eye on the time. Don't worry. A little over 17 hours now, before the federal government could shut down. The last time that happened, of course, 2018, during the first Trump administration. That shutdown lasted 35 days at a cost to the American economy of some $8 billion according to a congressional report. So, the odds this morning of avoiding a shutdown, frankly, they're not great, with both sides dug in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: You don't put a gun to the American peoples' head and say, unless you do exactly what Senate and House Democrats want you to do, we're going to shut down your government.

So, I think we're headed to a shutdown, because the Democrats won't do the right thing. I hope they change their mind, but we're going to see.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: The vice president there, of course. That was following yesterday's meeting with congressional leaders at the White House.

Democrats acknowledging there are still, quote, large differences following those discussions, with one Senate Democrat actually warning that shutting down the government at this point is just too risky.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN FETTERMAN (D-PA): Right now it's like you're running the risk of plunging our nation into chaos. Millions and millions of lives will be upended. And now that's the kinds of message -- what kind of message does that send to our -- our country and to our allies and to our enemies?

The president has a lot of levers he could pull. This is one we could pull, but why would we -- you know, like, why would we pull that lever? Because that allows him to pull a lot more levers and make a lot of changes about the government that we can't -- that -- that -- that he can't do now. I mean, I think that would be -- that would be the ideal outcome for Project 2025.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: Joining me now to discuss, Congressman Chris Deluzio of Pennsylvania.

Congressman, nice to have you with us here on set today.

So, you just heard, of course, from the Democratic senator from your home state of Pennsylvania expressing his concerns.

REP. CHRIS DELUZIO (D-PA): Yes.

HILL: You posted over the weekend, and I'm quoting you here, "the shutdown would hurt working families, veterans, and our economy."

Is Senator Fetterman right here? Do you agree?

DELUZIO: Look, I think no one wants a shutdown. And it's crazy to me -- remember, I serve in the House -- in the minority as a Democrat. Republicans control the House, the Senate, the White House. They don't need our votes in the House. They haven't asked and frankly done anything to earn the support of Democrats. So, if Republicans want to shut the shut the government down, that's their choice. I think it's crazy. It will hurt a lot of people. It will hurt a lot of families in my district.

And we've been laying out a clear line as House Democrats, let's do something to bring down health care costs. Let's save health care. You've got expiring ACA subsidies coming up in a few months, notices going out perhaps as early as tomorrow, if Republicans don't take action on this. They ought to do something to defend health care, bring down health care costs, which are pounding families in western Pennsylvania and all over the country.

HILL: Which they say they'll negotiate. But, right, first, they need to keep the government funded through November. You heard from the vice president, who said after the meeting, he actually said, and I'm quoting him here, "there were some ideas that the president thought were reasonable," but, of course, went on to say, you don't use those reasonable ideas as leverage to hold this government hostage.

When you hear, though, the vice president say there are some ideas that are reasonable, does that give you hope that there may still be some wiggle room today in the 17 hours that we have left?

DELUZIO: Maybe, but I come back to this again, Republicans have full control of the government. If Donald Trump and J.D. Vance are making the argument that they're not actually in charge, they're not running the show, that would be a newsflash to the American people and to us in Congress in the minority. They're in charge. They have the responsibility to govern.

And let's be clear about what they've been failing at, bringing down costs. People are getting pounded, pounded, because of the trade war, because of no action on health care. They're getting pounded by high costs. That's under Republican control in Washington. They are in charge. If they want to tap dance out of being in charge of this government, good luck. But it is their government right now. They ought to be making sure it doesn't shut down.

HILL: We know that is the message. We'll be watching to see what gets through.

I do also want to get you on a couple other topics.

DELUZIO: Sure.

HILL: So, specifically this meeting, obviously, that is happening today. Very important to you, as I know.

I was struck by some reporting in "The Washington Post" about the concern among military leaders when it comes to the Pentagon's national defense strategy, described by some as myopic. I was speaking earlier today with retired Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton, who's one of our military a analysts here. He told me he had similar concerns about this approach, that this should be a, quote, in his words, "a whole of government approach." And he's not seeing that from the strategy.

What do you make of what you know so far about this shift?

DELUZIO: Well, look, you can't just have the military be one part of this. It has to be a piece of it together with diplomacy, with the State Department, with things like USAID, which have been being dismantled. National power is more than just our guns and tanks and aircraft. It has to be all of it.

And look, calling all these generals and admirals in, every commander gets to give their prerogative to their brass. I can't imagine in World War II we would call back all of our generals and admirals and make sure our enemies knew about it. You don't choreograph this stuff ahead of time the exact moment that our adversaries know our senior leaders aren't going to be out in the battlefield or aren't going to be out there on a carrier strike group, or the combatant commander level.

[06:55:07]

I think it's foolish to telegraph this stuff to our adversaries who want to do us harm and will know that we'll have an absence of commanders out in the field.

HILL: So, are you saying that this meeting, in your view then, actually makes the United States weaker?

DELUZIO: I think it's foolish. I think to signal and make sure that all of our adversaries know what's happening, that you've recalled all these generals and admirals is a mistake, and it s telegraphing exactly what you're doing at a moment where commanders will be in transit.

These folks have secure comms. They can communicate with the Pentagon and the White House if they need to. I don't think it makes sense to have them all come back at one time and to make sure the whole world knows we're doing it.

HILL: Congressman, appreciate you coming in today.

DELUZIO: You bet.

HILL: Thank you.

New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani says Eric Adams dropping out of the race has a little something to do with President Trump. And speaking to CNN, Mamdani stressing he doesn't know if Mayor Adams was in a coordinated effort with the president, but he believes Trump's fingerprints are all over the election, saying it's all an effort to, in his view, boost Andrew Cuomo.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: New Yorkers are right now under attack from an authoritarian administration in Washington. Donald Trump has ushered through legislation that will throw them off their health care, take SNAP benefits away from them, all in service of the largest wealth transfer this country has seen.

Donald Trump is clearing the way for Andrew Cuomo because Donald Trump knows that Andrew Cuomo will clear the way for Trump's agenda. And New Yorkers are tired of that agenda.

(END VIDEO CLIP) HILL: The group chat is back. Boy, talk about a race that gets a lot of national attention, the one in New York City. So, in terms of Andrew Cuomo, not a Trump supporter. Certainly not. They've certainly had their moments. Donald Trump is really invested in this race, and he wants to make it a focal point. Is it helping?

LANZA: I would say he's investing for a race that the model that now exists for Democrats going forward, a Democratic socialist, is why we're invested. We won a campaign against Democratic socialists in every race across the country. So, from our standpoint, yes, Mamdani is likely going to win the New York governor -- the New York mayor's race. And we now have an image of what the future of the Democratic Party looks like, young socialists running the -- trying to run all over the country. And that's a bad -- that's a bad message for the Democrats.

HILL: You also have the president threatening to pull federal funds if he wins, which is a remarkable move, Chuck.

ROCHA: I think Eric Adams getting out of this race has little effect. I think that New York City is a different race than Arizona, than south Texas, where I'm from. And you've got to take the best parts of what he's did in this campaign and duplicate it. He had 50,000 people sign up to volunteer. When's the last time we had a Democrats that had folks excited to sign up to volunteer for anything? And this is coming from the Democrat. Like, you take the things that he has done that's good and you replicate them. Not everything in New York City is going to work in all the other races. So, Democrats should not just close the door all the time and figure out ways to move forward.

HILL: How are Democrats doing with their messaging in this race?

ZELENY: Look, Democrats are watching him with wonder in some respects of how he is really appealing, but also with worry --

HILL: Yes.

ZELENY: About what the potential of a mayor Mamdani next year is going to mean for the party.

But I'm wondering about President Trump. Of course he has -- he's calling him names and things. He's not a New Yorker anymore. So, for the first mayor's race, he can't vote in it. He's a resident of Florida. But, boy, he wants him to win because he wants that fight next year.

HILL: Yes.

ZELENY: Donald Trump kind of needs a new opponent and rival. He is talking about Joe Biden a lot. That sort of yesterday's news. So, I think that the White House, even though they're sort of campaigning against him, they wouldn't mind if they won, because that's a fight that Donald Trump doesn't mind picking.

HILL: All right, let's -- let's end the hour, shall we, with a little look at what is in the group chat. Jeff, I'm teeing you up first.

ZELENY: Well, look, I was out doing some just errands and shopping late last week over the weekend, and I saw Christmas trees up for the first time.

HILL: No. No.

ZELENY: So, as we turn the calendar to October tomorrow, too early for Christmas trees.

HILL: Yes.

ZELENY: Because Thanksgiving is one of the most underrated I think American holidays. Love Thanksgiving.

HILL: Yes.

ZELENY: So, let's put a hold on Christmas decorations. That's in my group chat.

HILL: Fully, fully on board in that group chat.

Chuck.

ROCHA: I'm going to tell you that it is an exciting time in America because its Fat Bear Week.

HILL: Oh, I love Fat Bear Week.

ROCHA: Katmai National Park up in Alaska. We're going to pick -- today is the finals for fat bears. If you do anything on the internet today, go look at some fat bears and you'll forget all about Democrats and Republicans fighting.

HILL: That is the best timeline cleanse of all today. Thank you for the reminder.

That's a tough act to follow, Bryan. Come on. What do you got?

LANZA: Yes, but I'm excited. I'm a Californian. Camp Pendleton. You know, growing up surfing in southern California. Some of the best waves were in Camp Pendleton. And surfers couldn't touch it. But my Donald Trump, this Trump administration, wants to open up Camp Pendleton to commercial development, which is going to give surfers access to probably some of the best surf in the United States, just in time for the Olympics in a couple years. So, I'm excited about Donald Trump opening up parts of Camp Pendleton.

ROCHA: I'll also like to throw a flag to all the producers on this news program. I was told I could talk about Bad Bunny, and we skipped it. So, I'm throwing in some Bad Bunny.

HILL: You're into Bad Bunny.

ROCHA: Also in the chat of the week is everybody in the Latino group chat is talking about Bad Bunny being at the Super Bowl.

LANZA: That's true. That is true.

HILL: I'm pretty excited about Bad Bunny at the Super Bowl.

ROCHA: It's going to be awesome. Number one streamed artist in the world.

HILL: Yes, he's kind of a big deal.

[07:00:00]

ROCHA: Big deal.

HILL: In case nobody noticed. Although a lot of pushback on the Bad Bunny yesterday. Some people are not happy.

ROCHA: It will be the first time we've had it in Spanish.

LANZA: There's always haters.

ROCHA: Oh, yes.

HILL: There are always haters. Are you happy about Bad Bunny?

LANZA: I am.

HILL: Yes.

LANZA: Listen, I'm always -- listen, I'm always eager for the halftime show, and I'm eager to be entertained. And he's a good entertainer.

ROCHA: People forget that the halftime show is not for the folks watching the football game, it's for everybody else who don't like football to go, I'm going to watch the halftime show.

LANZA: My wife -- my wife's watching.

HILL: Yes, I got my commercials, now I need my halftime show. I may or may not be one of those people.

Zeleny, halftime show, commercials, or the game?

ZELENY: Football. The game. Come on.

ROCHA: Let's do it.

HILL: Thank you all. Thank you all for being here. Thanks to all of you for joining me this morning. I'm Erica Hill. "CNN NEWS CENTRAL" starts right now.