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Isa Soares Tonight
Israel Strikes Hamas Leadership In Qatar; Netanyahu Cites Israel Acted "Wholly Independently" In Attack On Doha; Macron Appoints Sebastien Lecornu As New French PM; Israel Targets Hamas Leadership In Qatar Strike; Qatar Refutes U.S. Claim It Was Warned Of Israeli Strike; WH to Support Use Of Handwriting Expert To Prove Trump Didn't Sign Epstein Letter. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 09, 2025 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Point he was making, Quija(ph), the President is saying in fact, is that these crimes will be
made up and reported as a crime to undermine the great work that the federal taskforce is doing to reduce crime in Washington D.C. And I think
the President has every reason to believe that, given the efforts of many reporters in this room who actively seek to undermine the President and
what he's doing in our nation's capital.
We all know that deep inside, you all agree with this because you all live here, and I'm sure you are very grateful for the administration's efforts
to make the city, which we all reside in, much safer for ourselves and our families. Michael(ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you Karoline. Florida Congressman Randy Fine is calling for judges to face consequences if the violent repeat offenders
they released go on to commit new crimes. Is that something the President supports?
LEAVITT: Just saw something I've heard the President discuss, you can ask him yourself next time you have the opportunity to. How is that?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, one more question. On Thursday, President Trump will head to the Pentagon and also to New York City in honor of the
24th anniversary of 9/11. Has the President expressed any interest on creating or having congressmen create a new 9/11 commission to answer some
of the ongoing questions many Americans have about that day.
LEAVITT: I again have not heard the President discuss that. You're welcome to ask him yourself, but I do know he very much looks forward to going to
both the Pentagon and the Yankees game in New York City on Thursday to commemorate the 24th anniversary. As you know, the President is a New
Yorker at heart, he loves the city very much. It is his home. And you'll hear more about that on Thursday when the President speaks on this himself.
Kelly(ph)?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, thank you. I wanted to ask you a question about the President speaking yesterday before the religious Liberty
Commission. As you know, he's created the White House Faith Office, the taskforce on anti-Christian bias. And yesterday, he talked about the
importance of the Bible in America and the importance of prayer in America.
Some people have criticized him for that in stating that he's espousing Christian nationalism. Yet, the President has called on the American people
to band together in praying for this nation, for people of all faiths. How important is that to the Trump administration? And are there guidelines for
implementing that?
LEAVITT: Well, last time I checked, it's not just Christians who pray, it's people of all faiths who pray. And that's what the President wants to
protect the religious freedom for Americans of all faiths. And he spoke about that yesterday, and that's why he was very proud and excited to
announce this new initiative.
Pray America, encouraging all Americans to pray for our country in the goodness of our country, leading up to America's 250th birthday next year.
Why don't we take some from the sides. Elizabeth(ph), go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you, Karoline, I have two questions --
LEAVITT: Sure --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: First, on prayer again. Is the Trump administration looking for the forthcoming prayer guidelines to challenge existing court
precedent on the right to pray in public schools?
LEAVITT: Well, the President spoke about that yesterday, and some of the changes we are making to ensure that the religious liberties of America's
students and our youth are respected in public schools. In fact, he had a young student and invited him on stage to share his story about how when
this young boy spoke about biological and biblical truth in his classroom, he faced consequences for that.
And how Americans of faith should not be facing consequences for expressing their religious freedom and their religious views. Not in any public school
in America should that be happening. You heard the President talk about that yesterday. Sure.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Karoline, thank you so much. Regarding Israel attacking Doha beside a phone call, what was President Trump's involvement
in the attack, if anything?
LEAVITT: Look, I don't have anything more to read out for you on this other than the very lengthy and thorough statement that I have shared repeatedly
now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline?
LEAVITT: Sure. Go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. After the Supreme Court ruling yesterday on the ICE raids in Los Angeles, some particularly non-white U.S. citizens are
saying that they're going to begin carrying their U.S. passports with them at all times. What is the White House's response to Americans who are
concerned about being swept up as others have been already in these enforcement actions?
LEAVITT: They should not be concerned because this administration is focused on the detention and deportation of illegal alien criminals who
broke our nation's immigration laws. And the Supreme Court upheld the Trump administration's right to stop individuals in Los Angeles to briefly
question them regarding their legal status, because the law allows this, and this has been the practice of the federal government for decades.
And the Immigration and Nationality Act states that immigration officers can briefly stop an individual to question them about their immigration
status if the officer has reasonable suspicion that the individual is illegally present in the United States, and reasonable suspicion is not
just based on race, it's based on a totality of the circumstances to review.
And I will tell you, I spoke to our border czar about this, this morning. When ICE goes out to conduct a targeted operation to deport illegal
criminals from our community, they are doing so with intelligence. They are doing so with law enforcement sources. They are doing so in most cases with
the backing of local law enforcement, who know exactly where these illegal alien criminals and drug traffickers and drug dealers are hiding in plain
sight in American communities.
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And the men and women of ICE are doing everything they can to not only follow the law, but to enforce the law. And it's about time that has
happened, because we had four years of an administration who completely ignored and evaded our nation's very clear administration, immigration laws
and the Supreme Court has reaffirmed that. OK?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Karoline. One of the other documents released by the House Oversight Committee contained a photo of Jeffrey Epstein holding an
oversize check that was made out to him -- in the check to -- from the President for $22,000 for a fully depreciated woman. I wondered if the
President has any recollection of that or what you guys make of that photo that was included in those documents?
LEAVITT: Did you see the signature on that check? It is not Donald Trump's signature. It is absolutely not, the President did not sign that check.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But does he recognize the woman?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline --
LEAVITT: Go ahead -- no --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: On New York's -- on the New York City election --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Does he consider --
LEAVITT: Well, I'll take both of you, go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think so. First, is the President considering offering Mayor Eric Adams a job? If so, why? And does he think Curtis Sliwa is a
serious candidate for New York City mayor?
LEAVITT: Look, the President has made it quite clear, he wants this race to move forward in New York City. He does not want a communist to be running
New York City. But as for weighing in on other individual candidates, I'll leave that to the President to do himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Karoline, and then following up on Reagan's question, you know, many of these high -- highest crime cities in America are led by
black mayors, including the three that you mentioned, Jackson, Memphis, Birmingham. So, given that, what's your response from the two criticism
from the left that Trump is targeting black mayors? Isn't he just trying to protect black people?
LEAVITT: The President is trying to protect all Americans from crime, and he wants to make all of our cities in America safe. And the fact is, the
most dangerous cities in America are run by Democrats, overwhelmingly. And according to the FBI crime statistics, 19 of the top 20 cities with the
highest murder rate are run by Democrats.
And these high crime, Democrat-run cities are driving up the crime states - - crime stats and otherwise safe red states. So, of course, he wants to address this problem. He's made that quite clear.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, Mike Johnson, who came out and said that the President was an FBI informant. Do you know what he meant by that? If it's
not true?
LEAVITT: I can affirm that is not true. I think the speaker was referring to the fact that President Trump kicked Jeffrey Epstein out of his Mar-a-
Lago property for reasons the President has already discussed. John?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, thank you, Karoline.
ISA SOARES, HOST, ISA SOARES TONIGHT: A very good evening, everyone, I'm Isa Soares, welcome to the show. We have been following, of course,
breaking news. We've been listening in for the past 35 minutes or so to the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, who has been taking questions
on the economic numbers, on jobs, on Epstein documents.
But critically, on those strikes by Israel in Qatar against Hamas officials. This is what she said. We'll go to the very latest. But this is
what Karoline Leavitt had to say. She read out a statement and stuck very much to that statement. She said the Trump administration was notified by
the U.S. military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which was very unfortunately was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar.
He went on to say, and we'll play this for you as well, unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the U.S. that is
working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace. There's not advance, she said, Israel or America's goals. However, eliminating
Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal.
She went on to say that the President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of
this attack. And this, of course, coming, as we have learned just in the last few minutes, in fact, that Hamas tells us that five people were
killed, but none were on the Hamas leadership team.
What we have seen is Israel dramatically expand its war on Hamas with this unprecedented strike far beyond, of course, the confines of Gaza. Israel
targeted Hamas leadership today in Qatar. Of course, there are key mediators, you know, in the ceasefire efforts have been Hamas saying the
negotiating team, as I was just telling you last few minutes, survived the assassination attempt.
But it says the son of his chief negotiator was among five Hamas members killed. Two Israeli sources say this attack was months in the making. Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Israel executed it alone. Have a listen.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER, ISRAEL: On this day, as in previous days, Israel acted wholly independently, wholly independently, and we take
full responsibility for this action. And this action can open the door to an end of the war.
End of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the principles, the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate
release of all our hostages, which have been held in the dungeons of Gaza for 700 days. If President Trump's proposal is accepted, the war can end
immediately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And the White House Press Secretary in the last few moments says President Trump was given advance notice of the strike in Qatar, a critical
U.S. ally. A top Qatari diplomat in Washington says Israel's attack was clearly designed to undermine peace efforts. The White House Press
Secretary spoke to reporters just in the last ten minutes or so. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LEAVITT: This morning, the Trump administration was notified by the United States military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which very unfortunately
was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar. Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar, a sovereign nation and close ally of the United
States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace does not advance Israel or America's goals.
However, eliminating Hamas, who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza, is a worthy goal. President Trump immediately directed
special envoy Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did. The President views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United
States, and feels very badly about the location of this attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, criticism of the Israeli attack is pouring in from around the world. The UAE calls it treacherous, while Turkey says it shows Israel does
not want peace and has adopted terrorism as a state policy. Israeli hostage families say they're following the developments in Qatar with heavy
anxiety, as you can imagine, fearing that their loved ones held in Gaza could be killed at any moment in retribution for the attack. The brother of
hostage Eyatar David spoke earlier to CNN.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ILLAY DAVID, BROTHER OF HOSTAGE EVYATAR DAVID: We're very worried, very worried. We don't know who will be now negotiating with Israel about the
remaining hostages. There are still hostages suffering there. I believe that taking military actions on Hamas leaders can wait. And right now, what
we need to be focused on is saving the hostages.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get -- bring in our Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond. And Jeremy, I understand from the team that you were also listening to the
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, from what you heard, and it's not clear at this stage, at what point the United States was involved
because she said and she was asked numerous times, although she did keep to the statement that she -- they were notified by the U.S. military, that
wasn't clear whether the U.S. military spotted it or was notified by the Israeli military, but that the Prime Minister -- the President only spoke
to the Prime Minister Netanyahu after the attack. Is there clarity on your end of how things unfolded here?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, it certainly sounded like the Karoline Leavitt; the White House Press Secretary was saying that
the U.S. learned of this impending attack only this morning. And indeed, that President Trump didn't speak with the Israeli Prime Minister until
after the attack, suggesting either a very short timeline of events or efforts by the White House to kind of insulate President Trump from this
Israeli decision to strike Hamas leaders on the soil of a major U.S. ally in the Middle East.
The White House Press Secretary did say two critical things. First of all, that she directed -- that President Trump directed Steve Witkoff, who has
been the key American negotiator in the ceasefire and hostage release talks to inform the Qataris, suggesting that he wanted Witkoff to preserve that
relationship for potential talks going forward.
But the most important thing was what she said at the end of that initial statement, where she said that President Trump assured the Qataris that
this will not happen again on their soil, and that it's especially relevant in light of the fact that we are now learning, according to Hamas, that
Israel failed in this assassination attempt, failed to kill the senior Hamas leaders that it was targeting in this strike, at least, according to
Hamas.
Hamas has just said that five people were killed in this strike, including the son of Hamas' leader and chief negotiator Khalil al-Hayya, but that
none of the Hamas leaders, including al-Hayya who had been targeted in the strike, were in fact killed. We do not yet know enough about the condition
of those Hamas leaders, whether they were also wounded in the strike, whether they could even be in serious condition.
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But according to Hamas, all of the senior Hamas leaders who had been targeted in this strike were not killed. And so, that raises the question
of, will Israel try again, especially in light of this statement from the White House that President Trump assured the Qataris that such an action
will not happen again on their soil.
SOARES: So, picking up on what you just said then, Jeremy, double-pronged question. What has been the response from this -- from what we're hearing
from Hamas that they did not kill the leadership there? And what response are you getting from the families of the 20 living hostages? Because as we
just played a little clip, you know, they're incredibly anxious at this moment, given of course, this attack, fearing retribution here, Jeremy.
DIAMOND: Yes, we heard quite quickly from the families of the hostages still held in Gaza that they were watching the news today with deep concern
and anxiety, uncertain about what this strike will mean for the future of negotiations. First, fearing, of course, that if Israel had killed Hamas'
chief negotiator and several other senior leaders, as was initially believed, then that -- then who, you know, would be left on the other side
to negotiate with Israel to end the war in Gaza and to release the remaining hostages being held there.
But also, of course, concern about this strike violating the sovereignty of Qatar, which has been the key mediator in these negotiations for nearly two
years now. Hamas, for its part in its statement, said that this Israeli strike is yet more evidence that the Israeli government led by Prime
Minister Netanyahu is not serious about reaching a ceasefire agreement, noting the timing of this strike coming just two days after the United
States put a new proposal on the table that would seek to release all of the hostages and enter into negotiations, a ceasefire that could ultimately
end the war in Gaza.
Interestingly, the Israeli Prime Minister, as he was taking somewhat of a perhaps premature victory lap here, was saying that he believed that this
could be an opening to end the war in Gaza. That, of course, remains to be seen, particularly after Israel tried to kill the chief negotiator on the
other side and violated the sovereignty --
SOARES: Yes --
DIAMOND: Of the key mediator involved in these negotiations. Isa?
SOARES: Yes, and Karoline Leavitt saying -- according to that statement, this serves as an opportunity for peace. We will explore exactly what
happens next. Jeremy, as always, thank you. Let me go to CNN's Kylie Atwood at the State Department. And Kylie, what is your sense? What are you
hearing about how this all unfolded? How much the U.S. knew, what point did know of what was happening there?
KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN U.S. SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, as far as we know, what was presented by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt is the greatest
detail in such that the U.S. military was notified that this was coming this morning. President Trump then told Steve Witkoff, his special envoy,
to alert the Qataris that it was coming.
There's obviously some more detail that we'll try and report out. But what's really critical here is, as you guys were discussing, you know, the
Trump administration is walking a very fine line. They're not completely condoning what Israel did, but they're also not completely criticizing it
either. They're saying that this strike doesn't advance the goals of the U.S. and Israel, but also saying that taking out Hamas is a worthy goal.
So, we'll have to watch and see what this actually leads to, because, as Jeremy was saying there, Prime Minister Netanyahu tried to give the
indication that this strike could actually lead to some sort of a deal earlier today. But after what we've heard from Hamas, that there were five
members of the group that were killed, and the chief negotiator's son being among them, it's very hard to see how they would actually come back to the
table for any discussions.
Also, the fact that they are saying -- and I'll just read to you what the - - what Hamas said, "we hold the U.S. administration jointly responsible for this crime." So, they're not disassociating the United States from this,
even though the Trump administration at this time is making the case that they didn't have advance notice or advance support to Israel for this
strike before it occurred.
SOARES: Thank you very much Kylie Atwood there at the State Department. Let's broaden this conversation up and really get a sense of how the region
has been responding. And we know many Arab countries -- Nada is joining me here, really condemning in full force what has occurred. We've seen United
Arab Emirates saying a serious assault on international law.
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Egypt, its escalation undermines international efforts. Kuwait, its total support to Qatar and so forth. I wonder, though, Nada, if -- when they
listen to that statement from the White House Press Secretary, how would they read that? Because it's neither there neither or here, right?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, absolutely. And in fact, I think the context of Qatar being such an important ally to the --
SOARES: Yes --
BASHIR: United States, first and foremost, and also secondly, being such a key player in these ongoing ceasefire negotiations for months now is really
important to underscore, because, of course, for many of these nations that are, of course, concerned around regional security issues, but also have
deep concern and obviously public sentiment of concern for what is happening in Gaza.
There really is a sense of growing distrust in the role that the U.S. is playing and the Trump administration in particular is playing in these
negotiations, in these efforts to build peace. And we heard both Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu suggesting that this might be a window of
opportunity to revive those ceasefire discussions, despite, of course, this strike seemingly attempting to target Hamas' --
SOARES: How does that even --
BASHIR: Key negotiator.
SOARES: Do that. How do you even start reaching any sort of opportunity for peace or ceasefire following this? How can -- would anyone trust not just -
- not just the Israelis, but also the United States? It was the United States who asked the Qataris to be a broker -- to be the broker in these --
in these talks.
BASHIR: Absolutely. And I think what's important to underscore is that in this latest iteration of the ceasefire proposal that has been put forward
by the United States, that Israel is now saying it has accepted those principles put forward by the U.S.' call for the release of all hostages on
day one.
So, that essentially removes any sort of bargaining chip that Hamas would hold. In exchange, that would freeze Israel's attack on Gaza city, and
there would be a somewhat agreement of a ceasefire while negotiations are ongoing. But the only thing guaranteeing that, that ceasefire is held in
place according to those principles would be guarantees from the U.S. President himself.
So, now this really brings into question for Hamas, for the Qataris, for all those involved, particularly in the Middle East, concerned with this
regional security situation, is whether Trump is an honest broker and can be relied upon to actually guarantee a long-lasting ceasefire in the Gaza
Strip, so long as negotiations are ongoing.
And of course, this really brings into question whether there is -- whether there is any sense in having negotiations going forward. We know that Hamas
has said, as Jeremy mentioned, that for them, this indicates that Israel is not actually interested in pursuing a ceasefire at this stage.
SOARES: Yes, always, were there well intention from the beginning, or was this simply a ploy that is -- that is -- that's an important question.
Nada, as always, thank you very much indeed. Let's get more on this. I'm joined now by Fawaz Gerges; Professor of International Relations at the
LSE. He's also the author of the "Great Betrayal: The Struggle for Freedom and Democracy in the Middle East".
Fawaz, great to have you back on the show. I'm not sure whether you had the opportunity, Fawaz, to listen to what we heard in the last 20 minutes or so
from Karoline Leavitt; the White House Press Secretary. If you did, just give me your reaction.
FAWAZ GERGES, PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS & POLITICAL SCIENCE: Well, thanks for having me, Isa. Let me be
direct, because what you're going to hear from me is an entirely different narrative from what we have heard in the past half an hour or so.
Benjamin Netanyahu would not have attacked Qatar without a green light or a yellow light from Donald Trump. In fact, before Hamas said that the attack
failed, an Israeli official told one of the major media outlets in Israel that Benjamin Netanyahu did have a green light from Donald Trump. In fact,
in his press conference, Benjamin Netanyahu went out of his way now to distance Israel -- the United States from the attack.
Where he said we -- twice he repeated, we independently basically carried out the operation. This is an operation approved by Donald Trump. Make no
doubt about it. In fact, the statement by the spokesperson of the White House said, well, even though it was unfortunate that the attack -- taking
such a target was -- it was worth the risk, point one.
And we know, look here, Isa, let's not do around the bush. We know what Donald Trump did in Iran. We know that Donald Trump's word does not really
mean anything. And we know even in Gaza, Donald Trump has told Benjamin Netanyahu in many words, do what you have to do, finish the job, occupy
Gaza city.
So, the reality is -- and this is my really punch point is that, the White House is trying to walk back. It's really green light for Benjamin
Netanyahu because Benjamin Netanyahu had either a yellow light or green light from Donald Trump, otherwise he would not have dared to attack.
[14:25:00]
Listen, Isa, Qatar has one of the largest American military bases, probably in the world, not just in the Middle East. Qatar is classified as a -- one
of the most important allies of the United States outside of NATO. Qatar is not --
SOARES: Yes --
GERGES: Just a tiny little thing --
SOARES: So, Fawaz --
GERGES: It's a critical, pivotal point of the United States.
SOARES: Given what you're saying, I mean, we heard the White House Press Secretary assuring Qataris that will not happen again. This is, of course,
this is a close U.S. ally, not just Israel, but Qatar is a very close U.S. ally. How much, then, given what you've just said, how much is U.S.
American credibility here destroyed from the Middle Eastern point of view?
GERGES: You know, Isa, please let's not talk about American credibility any longer. We are beyond that. Donald Trump is a man that -- who cannot be
trusted, who cannot be trusted not only by Middle Eastern allies, by European allies, as you know, his word does not mean anything, literally.
It does not mean any -- I mean, here is Donald Trump, his first visit outside of the United States --
SOARES: Yes --
GERGES: Was to the gulf. The United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and of course, Qatar. The Qataris promised to invest up to $1 trillion in the U.S.
economy. Here is Donald Trump knowing full well that Israel was going to attack Doha, the capital of Qatar, which has one of the largest American
military bases, violating the sovereignty of Qatar, humiliating Qatar and killing Hamas members who basically it was the United States, as you know,
who told Qatar to have the office of Hamas there.
And Hamas -- and Qatar has been playing a key role. The final point on this -- on this question is that what we are seeing today, what we have seen
today, is the end of the mediation effort. And forget about the so-called, you know, Trump's proposal. Trump's proposal is not even a proposal because
Trump proposal, everything that Hamas has to say is to accept the President's words.
It has to basically release all the hostages, and I hope it does regardless. But take President Trump's word for granted, because Donald
Trump is going to reassure Hamas that Benjamin Netanyahu is going to end the war. It is all out war. The gulf states now, Saudi Arabia, the United
Arab Emirates, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, all of them know they cannot trust Donald Trump, that Israel, for Benjamin Netanyahu is more important for
Donald Trump than the entire region itself, including Egypt and Jordan.
SOARES: Yes --
GERGES: So, this is really -- it's an attack on Qatar, Isa. This is really, basically it's a -- what we call a nail in the coffin of America's
strategic interests in the region.
SOARES: Fawaz, as always, great to get your insight. Good to see you, Fawaz. Thank you very much indeed. We'll continue to follow this breaking
news. We'll have much more ahead, including fresh developments we're getting in the last half hour or so from Paris on the political turmoil
there. We have heard from President Macron with the name -- potential of a new Prime Minister. We'll bring you that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:30:45]
SOARES: And breaking news from Paris now, just hours after Francois Bayrou has resigned. If you remember, France now has a new prime minister, very
busy hour tonight. This as the country plunges further into political paralysis. President Emmanuel Macron has appointed Defense Minister
Sebastien Lecornu to take on the role of prime minister. His fifth appointment in less than two years. Earlier, Mr. Bayrou submitted his
resignation after losing a confidence vote in Parliament on Monday.
Meanwhile, public trust in the political class has collapsed. Massive nationwide protests are planned for Wednesday. Our Melissa Bell joins me
now, live from Paris. So, Melissa, what do we know about Lecornu? And, you know, he was being handed quite openly this poison chalice. Can he do it?
MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Emmanuel Macron, in this appointment, has certainly gone for loyalty, Isa. This is
one of the very few ministers that have served in so many of his governments ever since he took power in 2017. And yet, he came from the
political right, through traditional French rights. So, this is another appointment of a centrist or just right of center politician.
And it'll be really interesting to see already a lot of the reactions, pretty negative from the far-right, from the far-left, as you'd expect. But
also, the reactions from the moderate left, with whom he will have to govern if there is any chance that he manages to put together a government
that can take on that question of how to get through the country's much needed budget cuts.
So, he has a daunting challenge. There will be a lot of disappointment on the left that the next prime minister was not chosen amongst their ranks.
There had been a lot of hope that he would. But this is a politician slightly to the right of even Francois Bayrou.
So, an interesting pick. Clearly, the French president believes this man can cobble together that group in the center of French politics,
traditional right, traditional left, in the center, to try and get those changes through. But as you say, the clock is ticking. We look ahead by the
end of the week to the question of whether one of the big ratings agencies might downgrade France, given those worries about its looming budget
crisis.
And then, of course, there's the street. Tomorrow we'll have this protest, industrial action as well, the plan for many of these protesters to block
the economy for the day. They're likely to be further angered by the name of this prime minister. A lot of them are believed to be from the left. And
then, there will be more strikes on the 18th of September.
So, there is a period of popular unrest coming up at a very difficult time for this. The new prime minister of France, Sebastien Lecornu, as he tries,
first of all, to cobble together a government that is sufficiently inclusive that he can make the changes he needs. And then try and push
through the budget that several have tried and failed to address before. Isa.
SOARES: So -- and Macron loyalist doesn't seem like he's changing tact here, Melissa. What has been the reaction then? What have you been hearing
just in the last few moments, given the fact that, you know, many were hoping perhaps he wouldn't move away from, you know, not a centrist, maybe
someone from the right, maybe someone from the left here?
BELL: Many were looking for change. You're quite right. You hit upon an important point that so much of the popular anger that I mentioned a moment
ago, but also, the anger that was expressed with a lot of the heckling that we saw yesterday in the French parliament by lawmakers as they listened to
Francois Bayrou's last-ditch plea, a lot of that anger comes from the fact that there is a great deal of focus on Emmanuel Macron himself, on his
position so far, on his policy or suggested policy changes, on the way he's led the country since 2017.
And by choosing someone not only who jumped ship to join him in 2017, has served loyally ever since, rather than looking for some kind of departure,
it will be tested, as I say, in the next few days and weeks by lawmakers, but it will also, and you can expect this, be challenged by the street.
Isa.
SOARES: Yes, indeed. We shall be keeping an eye on those protests tomorrow. Melissa, as always, thank you very much indeed.
And back to our big breaking news that we have been following here on CNN for several hours now. Israel says it initiated, conducted and takes full
responsibility for a strike targeting the Hamas leadership in Qatar's capital earlier today.
[14:35:00]
Hamas says the son of its chief negotiator was among five Hamas members killed. Qatari officials call it a cowardly assault. Doha has been a key
mediator, as you know, in Gaza's ceasefire talks, maintaining direct channels with U.S., Israel and Hamas. Qatar is also one of America's
closest allies in the Middle East. The White House issued a carefully worded statement saying it was notified by the U.S. military before the
attack.
Our Kevin Liptack joins us now from the White House. And, Kevin, for those viewers who are just joining us, talk us through what we heard from
Karoline Leavitt, because she didn't really move from that statement. And even though journalists were pressing him for clarity, an idea of timeline,
she didn't give us much on that front.
KEVIN LIPTACK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: No. And it was a lengthy statement. And you're right, it was extremely carefully worded. But I do
think it did betray a degree of frustration. You know, she did ultimately come out and say that the president thinks that this action that Israel
took inside of Qatar does not advance Israel or America's goals. And I think any time you hear a White House spokesman putting any kind of
daylight between this building and Israel, it's the time to sort of sit up and take notice.
The other thing that I think she was very careful about was the degree of advance warning that the U.S. got. She was explicit that the White House
received word from the U.S. military that this was happening, essentially saying that there was no political channels communicating this ahead of
time. She was pressed on that repeatedly, repeatedly, eventually, she got around to saying that the military learned about this just before it
happened and that that is when they began to notify Qatar.
She said that Steve Witkoff, the president's foreign envoy, got on the phone with the Qataris to tell them that this was happening. But we
actually just heard from a Qatari official that when they got on the phone with Witkoff, the bombs were already falling. They could hear them in the
background as that conversation was happening.
And so, I think Leavitt had a couple of objectives here. One is to try and not to alienate Israel too much. That is sort of the objective of every
American president dating back several years. But also, to try and reassure the Qataris that this is not something that the president stands behind.
And she did say that the president had spoken to Netanyahu, she -- that he had spoken to the emir and the prime minister of Qatar, and he told the
Qataris that this was something that would not happen again on their soil.
But it's not exactly clear how he can provide that assurances. And the events of today, I think, just go to show that Israel is going to take
these actions, whether it has buy-in from the United States or not.
SOARES: Yes, but look, calling it unfortunate, what else did it say? Let me just get my notes. Unfortunate feels very badly about the location of this
attack. This won't be at all very well received, Kevin, from one of your biggest allies in the region, Qatar. How -- what does this do to U.S.-
Qatari relations here?
LIPTACK: Yes, I think that is why this statement was so carefully worded. The White House is very cognizant of the fact that this is a relationship
that it cannot afford to lose. You know, the Qataris have spent the last several months trying to cultivate President Trump. He was actually the
first sitting U.S. president to visit Qatar back in May, and it hosts thousands of American troops. The forward operating headquarters of CENTCOM
is at the Al Udeid Air Base. This is not something that the president is just going to write off because Netanyahu decided this was a good idea.
I think you're going to see a lot of effort in the coming days and weeks to try and assure the Qataris -- not only the Qataris but the Emiratis and the
Saudis, that these relationships are important to the U.S. and that the president, President Trump, has some degree of control over what the
Israelis are doing. I'm not sure that that's necessarily going to be received particularly well in these capitals.
You know, I don't know if any of the events today really provide them the assurances that they're looking for, that the president has sort of a
degree of control over what the Israelis are doing in all of this.
SOARES: Yes, the president is saying it serves as an opportunity for peace, of course. Very -- it seems that we're very far away from that. No peace
for the Palestinians, it seems. And certainly, at this point, as we heard from hostage families, none for them either. We'll stay across this. Thank
you very much, Kevin. Appreciate it.
And still to come tonight, more breaking news out of Qatar, where, of course, Israeli forces, we've been reporting, have targeted Hamas
leadership. We'll take a look at what this means, in fact, for peace negotiations in Gaza. That is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:40:00]
SOARES: We are continuing to follow breaking news out of Qatar this hour. Israel has carried out what it calls a precise strike on Hamas leadership.
This video from social media looking at shows the moments after the attack. Listen to that. Qatar says Israel targeted residential buildings, housing
several members of the Hamas political bureau.
Top Qatari diplomat says Israel's attack will undermine peace negotiations for the war in Gaza. This attack also risks harming U.S. ties with Qatar,
as we were just discussing. U.S. officials have said that the Trump administration was notified before Israel launched the strike and that it
warned Qatar. But in the last few minutes, Qatar has refuted claims that it was warned by the United States.
I want to bring in Bilal Saab. He's the senior managing director of TRENDS US, an associate fellow with Chatham House. Bilal, good to see you. Let me
just read out what we are hearing, I'm just -- from the Qatari side on X, the statements being circulated about Qatar being informed of the attack in
advance are baseless. The communication received from one of the American officials came during the sound of explosions resulting from the Israeli
attack in Doha.
We're trying to get clarity from the White House. This seems to go against very much refuting the White House's claims. Just your reaction.
BILAL Y. SAAB, SENIOR MANAGING DIRECTOR, TRENDS US: This is also embarrassing. And frankly, I'm not even sure if it makes a difference.
Let's just say that the Qataris actually were informed, you know, in advance about this. What difference does it make?
You know, at this point, I'm sitting here. I'm trying to force myself to think about what possible good a strike like this could do. And the only
way to answer that, frankly, is by putting yourself in the shoes of the Israeli prime minister and his extremist coalition.
You know, a strike like this essentially extends the war, kills any chance virtually of a negotiated end to this conflict, and therefore, achieves
their own objective, which is staying in power. Contrast that with the Israeli national interest and even the American interest, which, by the
way, I don't need to tell you what it is. You just heard it from the White House, right? This goes against all objectives of the Americans, all the
interests of the Americans, and our very own relations with a very clearly dependable, close security partner in the Gulf.
And so, once you make that distinction between the two, the narrow political interests of the Israeli prime minister and the Israeli national
interest, then you start to understand why they came up with something, in my mind, that is so incredibly irrational and damaging to U.S. interests
and the relationship that we have with the Qataris.
SOARES: You asked, Bilal, what good does it do? The White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said, I'm quoting her here, "President Trump
believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace."
[14:45:00]
Where does that leave this moment for, you know, peace for Gaza, two-state solution, ceasefire, hostages? Does that -- does this complicate all
matters further, or does this completely put an end to that?
SAAB: Yes, I don't buy the argument of the White House. I mean, they have to put in some kind of, you know, a positive spin on this. Otherwise, it
becomes incredibly untenable and incredibly embarrassing for them. But how many times have we said that, oh, we can only eliminate these factions at
Hamas, then maybe that would sort of increase the likelihood of peace. This is not the first time you and I talk about this. We've been there several
times.
And at every juncture, it doesn't lead to the desired outcome. And, oh, by the way, Hamas finds it very easy to replace those individuals, be senior
commanders on the battlefield or now even easier, political officials. And, oh, by the way, nobody's also reporting that. I'm not even sure the strike
succeeded. I mean, did they actually kill all the intended targets?
SOARES: No, they did not. They did not.
SAAB: We don't even know that.
SOARES: They did not. We confirmed that at the top of the hour. They did not. We know that Israel called it, carried out a precise strike. But what
we do know is that they did not kill any of the senior leadership.
SAAB: And even if they did, Isa, I'm not sure that makes a difference.
SOARES: Right. So, where then -- how then does this evolve? Because I imagine here that Hamas will seek to retaliate, correct?
SAAB: I'm not sure how they're going to retaliate. That's not my number one concern. My number one concern is we have a lot of explaining to do to the
Qataris. I mean, this is, once again, our close -- one of our closest security partners in the region. They're playing a mediating role, for
God's sake, as a matter of fact, a helpful role that we just acknowledge with the White House statement. And so, we have a lot of explaining to do.
And then what is the next step after this? Are we still committed to the negotiated end to this conflict or are we now in line with the Israeli's,
quote/unquote, "eliminating" all of Hamas' leaders? Which, by the way, as you and I, you know, can agree on, is virtually impossible because this is
not just a movement. It's an idea in Israeli and Palestinian society.
SOARES: Where then, Bilal -- I mean, how damaged is American credibility, you think, in the region?
SAAB: American credibility has been damaged for some time now. This is just another hit, frankly. We will survive it because time heals everything. But
this is pretty bad right now. That's all I can say about this.
SOARES: Speak to -- just very briefly, speak to -- you know, we've heard condemnation, of course, from Jordan, Kuwait, UAE, and Egypt. Even the Arab
League of 22 members said, and I'm quoting here, "Israeli behavior has now gone beyond all established international norms and every principle of
international law." Where does this leave those countries and their relation to the United States? Where does this leave even the Abraham
Accords here, Bilal?
SAAB: Right. So, we also heard the Saudis issue a pretty strong condemnation. Good question. Does that make you feel warm inside about, you
know, normalizing ties with the Israelis or expanding the Abraham Accords? Absolutely not. And this is why I wanted to make that distinction between
the Israeli national interest, which is best served by cooling relations in the region and expanding the Abraham Accords and reaching some kind of a
settlement on Gaza, and then the narrow political interests of this cabinet, right?
So, we are farther and farther from any of those strategic objectives. And the sooner we, the United States, realize that, the better it is for
everybody, the better it is for the U.S. interests and for U.S. policy in the Middle East.
SOARES: Yes, I don't think any of us have felt warm or fuzzy for some time. Bilal, appreciate it. Good to see you. Thank you very much indeed. We are
going to take a short break. We'll see you on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
SOARES: We do have some more breaking news this time from Washington, D.C. The White House now saying it would support using a handwriting expert to
prove that it is not President Donald Trump's signature in Jeffrey Epstein's so-called birthday book. The book, this one you're looking at,
along with other documents, was given to Congress by the Epstein estate and released by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee. And it includes a
suggestive figure, as you can see there of a woman's silhouette, allegedly drawn and signed by Mr. Trump at the bottom, as reported by the Wall Street
Journal over the summer.
And while we can't say for sure at this point whether Mr. Trump did sign the birthday book, the signature, as you can see, appears to be very
similar to the one on the right, a letter to former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, from around that same period.
The president denies writing the letter and told NBC News today the Epstein birthday book is a dead issue. He has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
The White House press secretary had this to say just moments ago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Republicans and the Trump Department of Justice have done more in terms of transparency when it comes
to the Epstein case than any prior administration. And why are the Democrats all of a sudden caring about this? It's because they are
desperately trying to concoct a hoax to smear the president of the United States. We have seen this time and time again.
Ro Khanna and all of these other Democrats, they could have cared about those victims four years ago when Joe Biden was in office. They could have
pushed for transparency then. Unfortunately, the Democrats are using victims as political pawns to try to smear and to push a hoax against the
president of the United States.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Let's get more. Arlette Saenz as in Washington. So, fake news, not his signature. They're trying to bat this away at every moment. It doesn't
seem to be going away, Arlette. Now, suggestion that they will use handwriting expert to prove it.
ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Isa. The White House certainly had hoped that this Epstein controversy would die down. But the release of
parts of that birthday book yesterday really has just added more fuel to the fire.
What's been really interesting to see over the course of the past 24 hours since House Oversight Democrats released that photo of that letter that was
allegedly signed by President Trump is that we have seen countless Republicans fall in line to agree with the White House's denials about
these letters.
House Speaker Mike Johnson has said that he believes President Trump and the White House when they say that he did not sign on to this. House
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer earlier today said that he also believes what the White House is saying and he doesn't plan on
investigating any allegations that this might have been forged. There was at least one Republican congressman over on the House side, Tim Burchett of
Tennessee, who had said that he believed that there's a possibility that Donald Trump's signature on that letter might have been forged.
And so, for Republicans, they are really eager, the majority of them, to put this issue behind them. But Democrats have continued to press the issue
as they've said that there needs to be more transparency around the Epstein documents and everything that the government might know about that.
Now, some of the key questions going forward is what the investigations over in the House Oversight Committee will continue to look like.
[14:55:00]
There is also still that effort by a bipartisan duo, Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who want to force a vote on the House floor calling for the full
release of the Epstein files. That is currently two lawmakers short of the necessary 218 that they need in order to force that House floor vote. One
thing that Thomas Massie said a bit earlier today is that some upcoming special elections, including one today in Virginia, that could produce
potentially two Democratic seats and that might get them to that 218 number.
So, still a lot of questions about how this might play out. But for the White House's part, they continue to say it's a Democratic hoax and they're
trying to brush this aside, insisting that Trump did not sign that letter.
SOARES: We've got about 45 seconds left on the show, Arlette. What do Americans -- putting aside the politicians, what do Americans think about
this? President saying it's a dead issue. Is it?
SAENZ: Well, certainly, we've heard elements of President Trump's base arguing that they feel like there is more to the Epstein documents. But I
think that the White House is trying to put out as much as they can without trying to add more fuel to this conspiracy that had been brewing around
this issue. But certainly, it's something that within parts of President Trump's base that they're still very interested in going forward.
SOARES: Arlette, as always, appreciate it. Thank you very much indeed. And thank you for watching. It's been a very busy hour of news from Qatar to
Paris to Washington, D.C. Do stay right here, though. "What We Know" with Max Foster's up next. He'll have much more on that breaking news story out
of Qatar.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
END
