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The Situation Room
Flotilla Loaded with Humanitarian Aid Heads to Gaza; Israel Intensifying Strikes in Gaza City; Putin Talks Ukraine War with Other World Leaders in China; 35,000 Ukrainian Children Kidnapped by Russia; Cars Stranded in Texas Floodwaters. Aired 10:30-11a ET
Aired September 01, 2025 - 10:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[10:30:00]
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening right now, a flotilla of ships loaded with humanitarian aid is preparing to head to Gaza. Activist Greta Thunberg is leading it. The ships tried to leave earlier, but were turned back by a storm. This is the latest attempt to break the Israeli blockade of Gaza by sea. Actress and activist Susan Sarandon, along with "Game of Thrones" actor Liam Cunningham are also with the ships. Cunningham said he was doing it for a Palestinian girl who would ask that a certain song be played at her funeral if she was killed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIAM CUNNINGHAM, ACTOR AND ACTIVIST: What sort of a world have we slid into? What sort of a human hole have we found herself in when children, beautiful angels like that at five or six years old are making their own funeral arrangements?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Cunningham said the girl was killed last week. Let's go to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem. Jeremy, what is the Israeli government saying about this attempt to break the blockade?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we have heard the Israeli government repeatedly threaten to stop these various flotilla attempts to aimed at Gaza, something that has happened numerous times before. And once again, they would thwart those flotillas from actually reaching Gaza, intercepting them in international waters, as has happened in the past, and ultimately detaining and deporting the members of that flotilla. But this time, Israel's National Security Minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, is threatening to arrest and detain these members of the flotilla, including specifically Greta Thunberg for longer periods of time.
We do -- you know, for now that seems to be a proposal and not something that is actually set to move forward. But as this is happening, we are watching as the Israeli military is already beginning to ramp up its attacks on Gaza City in preparation for what would likely be full-scale assault and invasion of that city. Thousands of Palestinians have already begun to flee Gaza City as the artillery, shelling, and bombardment of that city has intensified in recent days. 135 people have been killed in Gaza City since Friday, according to hospital officials, but that is just a sliver of what is expected to happen in the future should this full-scale assault actually move forward.
Interestingly, Israel's top general, Eyal Zamir, urging the Israeli government last night during a cabinet meeting not to move forward with this full-scale assault, and instead to take this temporary ceasefire and hostage release deal that Hamas has agreed to and that is on the table. But the Israeli Prime Minister seems intent on moving forward with this all-out assault saying he's no longer interested in partial deals and will only accept a deal that secures the release of all the hostages, something that he clearly seems to want to attempt through military means. Pam.
BROWN: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Jerusalem, thank you so much. And just ahead, a frantic search for survivors after an earthquake shatters Eastern Afghanistan, leaving hundreds of people dead.
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[10:35:00]
BROWN: Breaking news, Vladimir Putin says he reached, quote, "understandings" that open the path to peace in Ukraine at last month's summit with President Trump. He made those comments today at the Global Summit in China. And Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Modi, and other world leaders are also at that summit. Trump is not there, but his influence clearly is being felt. Xi made a veiled swipe at the U.S. criticizing, quote, "bullying practices" and casting his country as a new leader of world governance. And despite Putin alluding to peace, Russia hit Ukraine with more drone attacks over the weekend.
Joining us now is Nathaniel Raymond of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, which tracks Russian war crimes against Ukrainian children. Hi, Nathaniel. Nice to see you. So, I want to just start with the, these Ukrainian children who are in Russia. When Ukraine's president and other leaders met in D.C. last month, Trump posted on social media that he discussed the massive worldwide problem of missing children with the European Commission president, calling it, quote, "a subject at the top of all lists that the world will work together to solve." Does that give you hope?
[10:40:00]
NATHANIEL RAYMOND, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, YALE HUMANITARIAN RESEARCH LAB: Well, it's better than them not talking about it, but the scale of the problem, Pamela, needs to be understood. At least we estimate at Yale Humanitarian Research Lab at least 35,000 children from Ukraine have been abducted by Russia's forces since the start of the full-scale invasion, and we believe they're spread out, in many cases, in reeducation camps over 3,500 miles from the Black Sea to the Eastern Pacific. So, while I appreciate the president's words, we have the single largest kidnapping events since World War II on our hands.
BROWN: Tell us more about these reeducation camps and sort of what these children are going through. They were taken from their families in Ukraine, they are now in Russia.
RAYMOND: Some were taken from their families, some were taken from institutional homes inside Ukraine, and others were taken directly off the battlefield in places like Mariupol when their parents, in many cases, were killed by artillery strikes. For these kids, when they go to the reeducation camps, for those that aren't directly sent into adoption and fostering, in the camps, it really -- the experience differs by age group.
For younger kids, there's one camp called Camp Teddy Bear where they learn to only speak Russian and to sing patriotic songs such as the Russian National anthem. But it's a darker story for older children, particularly boys between the ages of 13 and 17 were often sent to compulsory military training, including, in some cases, paratrooper school, shooting ranges, and military vehicle operation training.
BROWN: Wow. Well, as you know, before that larger summit in Washington, we talked about President Trump met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska and hand delivered a note, this was from First Lady Melania Trump calling on Russia to protect the innocence of children. How do you view the first lady's influence on this matter?
RAYMOND: It's the single most important step taken by the Trump administration on the issue of Ukraine's abducted children since our team's funding was cut and we were eventually reinstated by the secretary of state for a temporary contract. Since that point, the first lady's move is the most important substantive act by the Trump administration.
And I really want to point out something here. It's been the first lady and actually Evangelical Christians who have really been pushing the Republican Party to make this a core issue, as we've seen both in the House and Senate Republicans supporting the return of the children unanimously in many cases.
BROWN: Do you believe a message like that from the first lady could have an impact on Putin?
RAYMOND: It doesn't hurt. But at the end of the day, Putin only understands one thing, which is consequences. And at this point, the United States has backed off in the Trump administration from all the consequences that were put in place by the previous administration, whether we're talking sanctions, monitoring, accountability, programming. The Trump administration as we saw, we were told to stand down and then we would defund. And so, basically, a letter is great, but consequences with actual strength behind the matter more.
BROWN: What are the challenges your organization is facing right now given the funding cuts?
RAYMOND: How much time do you have, Pamela? It's from personnel to cybersecurity, the data acquisition. Losing U.S. government support being now outside the State Department cost us more than just money, it cost us critical technical support from multiple government agencies, which was required for our team to operate safely inside Russian cyberspace. And so, what you have to understand here is that this is not charity work, this is professional evidence gathering against a hostile government, about children who have been kidnapped. And so, we had to access and we continue to access Russian national adoption databases. You have to understand Russian security services are not sitting idly by while we do that. And so, being at low power right now means our work got a lot harder.
BROWN: Sorry to hear that. Nathaniel Raymond, thank you so much. Your work is very important. We really appreciate you coming on to shine the spotlight on it.
RAYMOND: Thank you for having me.
BROWN: Coming up right here in the Situation Room, heavy rains in Texas flood streets and strand drivers. How much rain places like Houston and San Antonio got in just a matter of hours, up next.
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[10:45:00]
BROWN: New this morning, one person is dead and three others injured after two small planes collided in flight Sunday in Colorado. Look at this, video showing the debris. The FAA says both pilots were trying to land at the small airport northeast of Denver. Emergency workers described the scene as they rushed first responders there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All units responding to the airport have reported to be two planes that crashed. One party is still trapped inside. Two miles north of the airport for possibly two aircraft collisions in the air, currently see black smoke. Are seeing active flames at this time, unknown injuries. Do believe there's one person trapped in one of the planes going to the Fort Morgan airport, approximately two miles.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BROWN: Two people were aboard each plane, both the FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board are investigating. And new this morning, parts of Texas are cleaning up after storms triggered flash floods across Houston, San Antonio, and Dallas.
[10:50:00]
You're looking at video of stranded drivers and flooded vehicles in Houston. Storms dumped up to half a foot of rain, swamping parts of the interstate, parts of Central Texas, including Austin and Kirk County, remain under a flood watch.
And new this morning, as of today, most public schools across Texas are now required to display the 10 Commandments in every classroom. The new state law is going into effect despite a legal showdown. A federal judge is temporarily blocking the legislation in 11 school districts while it remains in effect for the rest of Texas.
The state's attorney general, Ken Paxton, appealed that ruling. He says that, quote, "The woke radical seeking to erase our nation's history will be defeated. I will not back down from defending the virtues and values that built this country." There's no timeline set for an appeals court to decide if the law violates the constitution.
Joining us now is Rabbi Mara Nathan with Temple Beth-El in San Antonio. Rabbi, thank you for your time. So, your family is one of 16 opposing the 10 Commandments law. Why do you oppose it?
RABBI MARA NATHAN, PLAINTIFF IN LAWSUIT AGAINST TEXAS 10 COMMANDMENTS LAW AND TEMPLE BETH-EL: Well, I oppose the law on two fronts. First, the listing of the 10 Commandments that are part of the law don't reflect Jewish tradition. And second, and probably even more importantly, I don't believe, nor does my family believe, that religion belongs in our public schools. So, the posting of these 10 Commandments, there is a direct statement by our state that Christianity is the religion of our state and any student who isn't Christian or isn't even Protestant is going to feel othered, is going to feel left out and excluded from what is seen as a main perspective of the state.
BROWN: So, how do you feel now that this law is in effect in nearly all Texas public schools, besides those 11 districts affected by your lawsuit?
NATHAN: Well, of course I am grateful that my child is not going to have to deal with these 10 Commandments up, but having heard from so many people across the state who are distressed that they're seeing the 10 Commandments already up in their classrooms, I am deeply concerned and I am also just very frustrated that our state especially keeps moving forward with this statewide Christian doctrine, the idea that our state is explicitly and maybe even exclusively Christian, which is not.
BROWN: If teachers were to find workarounds, like displaying information on other world religions next to the required 10 Commandments poster, would that be enough to make you feel like your cause is being heard?
NATHAN: Well, I'm not an attorney. So, I'm not really clear on all the nuances of the laws, but my understanding is that the law expressly prohibits that kind of posting. It's very clear that the 10 Commandments very large, very conspicuous in every classroom, kindergarten through 12th grade, is what the law is requiring, specifically to show that these commandments, which obviously are instructions, right, commandment, instruction, are meant for everybody regardless of whether they are Christian or Jewish or no faith at all.
BROWN: So, how do you respond specifically to the attorney general and others in the state who argue that the 10 Commandments simply represent the values that the United States is built on, so they argue it is appropriate for them to be posted in each public-school classroom? They say it's just going back to, you know, what influenced the country. NATHAN: Well, I'm not an attorney, again, I'm not a constitutionalist, but I'm pretty sure that the Constitution has nothing specific about the 10 Commandments in it. And of course, the First Amendment really is explicit about making sure that no one feels like they are being pressured to observe one religion over another. So, I disagree. I don't think that the 10 Commandments are part of our Texas or national history other than the fact that there are those who observe different faiths that have them as part of their faith traditions.
BROWN: Right. And the proponents of this, arguably, the bible played a big role. And therefore, that is why -- and according to this law, it requires a specific Protestant version of the 10 Commandments and mandates a 16 by 20-inch minimum poster in all classrooms. If ultimately the attorney general prevails and the 10 Commandments are required to be posted in every single Texas public school, even the 11 school districts that currently do not have to, what will you do? Do you plan to move your child to a different school?
NATHAN: I think if that unfortunately does occur, we'll have to think about what our next steps are for our child. But right now, my main concern is taking care of my own family, taking care of the families in my congregation, and also being there as a support for Jewish and non-Jewish people who have reached out to me to figure out what they can do to commiserate, to share their worries and concerns.
[10:55:00]
So, I'm going to leave the other part to the lawyers, but I'm going to keep doing my work as the rabbi and also as a mom to support my own family and the greater community.
BROWN: Tell us more about what the students are saying to you about this.
NATHAN: So, at least in Alamo Heights, which is my school district, the posters were not up. So, we haven't had to deal with it explicitly in our school. But I think children, particularly Jewish children in San Antonio often are a significant minority in their classrooms, maybe one of one or two kids in their entire grade who are Jewish. And so, they're already feeling like they're in a space that is mainly Christian. They sometimes have to explain themselves or explain their faith or ask awkward questions about why they don't celebrate Christmas, for instance. So, having one more mainline Christian thing in their faces is -- just makes them uncomfortable.
And even if it's not something that is being spoken out loud in the classroom, the fact that it's there all day, every day that's there showing them that's what their school stands for. And I know that my child is concerned and their friends are concerned too.
BROWN: All right. Rabbi Mara Nathan, thank you so much for your time. We'll see how this all plays out.
NATHAN: Yes, absolutely. Thanks for focusing on the story, Pamela. Appreciate it. BROWN: Absolutely. We're going to stay on it. And coming up after the break, ding dong ditch prank turns deadly. This is so sad. What we're learning after the break.
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