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Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones; Gaza Ceasefire Talks in Limbo; Israel Faces Growing Backlash Over Unprecedented Qatar strike. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 10, 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: Breaking news. CNN has learned that President Trump plans to speak with the Polish president today after the Russian drone incursion into Poland overnight. Poland says it shot down several Russian drones after 19 violations of its airspace. The Polish prime minister says his country is now closer to a conflict than at any point since World War II.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: This is all very, very alarming. And joining us now is Poland's deputy prime minister and the foreign minister, Radoslaw Sikorski. Minister, thank you so much for joining us. What is your message right now, the government of Poland's message that it wants to convey to the White House?

RADOSLAW SIROSKI, POLISH DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Well, our president visited Washington last week. I also saw Secretary Rubio last week. And we need to keep the number of American troops in Poland. We also need additional anti-aircraft assets to protect our airspace, which is NATO airspace and E.U. airspace. We would also appreciate it if the pressure on the aggressor, on Russia, was increased.

And, of course, Ukraine needs more help. Because we -- what we went through last night is, of course, just a fair reflection of what Ukraine is going through almost every night, with hundreds of drones and dozens of cruise and ballistic missiles hitting Ukrainian cities.

BROWN: You call this -- Poland calls this an act of aggression. Do you believe this would have happened if the U.S. had been putting more pressure on the aggressor?

SIKORSKI: I think Putin is mocking President Trump's peace efforts and testing NATO. We don't believe this was accidental, because previously, when one or two drones reached our airspace, they came from Ukraine. These drones, a part of them, came from Belarus. And therefore, this was likely planned. And it's also accompanied by a huge Russian disinformation campaign.

If you hear someone saying that this was a Ukrainian provocation, you can be sure that this is either Russian propaganda or someone parroting Russian propaganda.

BLITZER: As you know, Article 5 of the NATO Charter says that an attack on one NATO ally is, for all practical purposes, an attack on all NATO allies. So, what else do you want the U.S., a key NATO ally of Poland, to do right now?

SIKORSKI: We have not invoked Article 5, but we have invoked Article 4, which says that when a party to the treaty feels threatened, she may consult with allies about what to do. Turkey invoked it in the past and was reassured with extra Patriot batteries. This was in response to threats emanating from the Middle East. We also expect allies to back their words of solidarity with these. And we need more anti-aircraft assets, and we need a drone war on the border of NATO.

BROWN: Walk us through your thinking of invoking Article 4, which is just below Article 5. As Wolf noted, Article 5 would be an attack on one is not an attack on all. Walk us through why you stopped short of invoking Article 5.

SIKORSKI: The North Atlantic Council met this morning in Brussels, and our ambassador asked for consultations which may be conducted at a much higher level than those of ambassadors to NATO. And I expect both defense ministers and probably foreign ministers to be involved.

[10:35:00]

And we are of course grateful for the words of U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO, Mr. Whitaker, in confirming that every inch of NATO territory and I hope of NATO airspace will be defended.

BLITZER: Minister Sikorski, do you agree with your Prime Minister that Poland now, your country, Poland now is closest it's ever been since World War II to war?

SIKORSKI: Well, we've learned for 500 years that when Russia threatens us, we unfortunately have to take it deadly seriously. Because Russia has been conducting a cruel, illegal aggression against Ukraine. And we are a neighbor of Ukraine. And Russia has attacked us many times in the past.

But before that, it was hybrid. It was pushing refugees against our border. It was acts of arson. As you know, Russia also sends death squads to European countries. It was DDoS attacks on our computer networks. But this is kinetic.

BLITZER: One very quick question before I let you go, Minister. When you were in Washington last week, did you raise with the U.S. your concerns that Russia might launch drone and ballistic missile strikes against Poland?

SIKORSKI: Well, this is what NATO is for, for common defense against threats. Remember that Russia is also about to start a Zapad exercise, which has a very aggressive anti-NATO scenario. Yes, I spoke to Mr. Colby. I spoke to General Kellogg. I spoke to Kevin Hassett at the White House. And our president spoke to President Trump. So, we hope that the U.S. finally appreciates that Putin doesn't want a ceasefire. He doesn't seem to be prepared to go for peace. He needs to be deterred, and we need to change his calculus by imposing additional sanctions and by helping Ukraine.

BLITZER: Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, thank you so much for joining us. Good luck to you. Good luck to all the people of Poland. We appreciate what you're doing, and we will stay in close touch with you. And as we say in Polish, dziekuje, and we'll be right back.

SIKORSKI: Thanks. Bye.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Breaking news, international fears about Russia's war surpassing Ukraine's borders are growing after Poland says Russian drones violated its airspace 19 times, damaging a residential building in the country's east. President Trump will speak with the Polish president about this later today.

And joining us now to discuss this and more is House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Congresswoman, you heard our interview in the last block with the foreign minister of Poland, and what he said, that Poland is looking at this as an act of aggression by Russia. In his view, he thinks this is making a mockery of President Trump by Russia. What should the United States do, if anything, to respond to Russia here?

REP. KATHERINE CLARK (D- MA), HOUSE DEMOCRATIC WHIP: Yes, we have to take this very seriously. We have had drones and other attacks come into Poland, but this is of a different measure, because this was 19 drones by all accounts, and really seems much more purposeful. And the split screen here is Donald Trump welcoming Putin onto American soil, literally rolling out the red carpet for him and getting nothing, no concessions, no closer to having peace and success for our ally, Ukraine.

And he has signaled over and over again that he believes Putin, that he is willing to work with him, he has a special relationship with him, and has been very critical of our NATO allies.

So, we are rapidly coming to a situation where as the United States we have to be clear about whose side we're on. We are part of NATO, and we have to be ready to come to Poland's defense and take a hard line with the dictator Putin.

BROWN: What do you think about the fact that Poland is invoking Article 4 rather than Article 5?

CLARK: Yes, well, we are the only NATO country that has ever invoked Article 5, and that is something that we should remember in those grim, horrible days after 9/11, that our allies stood with us against the real terror and loss of life that we faced as a country. So, Article 4 is putting everyone on notice. It is time for us to signal to Poland that we stand with them, and we will be a reliable ally and member of NATO with them.

BROWN: There's a lot going on in the geopolitics sphere. Also, the Israeli strike inside Qatar, I want to talk about that. Of course, Qatar is a key U.S. ally. This strike was meant to target Hamas leadership. Hamas says that key leaders were not killed in this strike. Is Israel going too far in its war with Hamas, in your view?

CLARK: You know, I think we need several things here. One, we need clear information from the Trump administration on when was the U.S. notified. Did we notify our ally, Qatar, who -- how was this --

BROWN: The U.S. says it -- it was notified just before and it was able to notify, but Qatar couldn't stop the attack.

[10:45:00]

CLARK: But Congress needs a clear line of communication with this administration, whether it is on this, whether it is on the boat that they destroyed, that was, you know, allegedly had a gang and drugs coming to the United States. But this lack of information, this lack of intelligence that is coming to Congress from this administration makes it very difficult for us to know what is really happening. And the story changes consistently as the day goes on with this administration. So, we need to take all these things seriously.

Obviously, Hamas is a terrorist organization that the world condemns. And -- but also, we have a large military base in Qatar. We have sailors throughout the world that depend on us abiding by international law for their safety. So, we need to have clear information from our own government about what we are doing, what intelligence we knew when, and what was the signals that we were sending to our allies, whether that is Poland or Qatar or Mexico.

BROWN: So, do you believe Israel went too far in its strike in Qatar? You know, I think we have to see what happens. Obviously, they feel that Hamas is an entity that they want to eradicate and take out of power. But this is a very different sort of incursion. When we are seeing as people are gathering to negotiate a ceasefire that we desperately need, to have them targeted is something that we have to learn more information about.

And as we are looking at the entirety of this situation, what is the endgame? We know that we have to remove Hamas from power. But we also have to be very aware of the humanitarian crisis that is going on and how we get that aid to people. We need to end this war. We need to make sure that Hamas is out of power. We need to get the hostages home. And we need to surge humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people. All of those things are mutual goals that we have. We have heard with this administration. So, let's get the real information and see how we can be most effective in ending this war in Gaza.

BROWN: Before we go, Congresswoman, I have to ask you about this Atlantic article with an excerpt from Kamala Harris' forthcoming book, where she writes about the 2024 presidential campaign. She says, it's Joe and Jill's decision. We all said that like a mantra. In retrospect, I think it was recklessness. The stakes were simply too high. This wasn't a choice that should have been left to an individual's ego and individual's ambition. It should have been more than a personal decision. Do you agree with her?

CLARK: You know, I look forward -- this is -- to reading what she wrote, to hearing her insights into it. But I'll tell you the lesson that we have learned from the 2024 election, and that is that most households in this country are unable to meet the basics. They are struggling under the crush of the cost of living in this country. And that is our focus as House Democrats.

And as we are rapidly coming up to the end of our fiscal year, which means a shutdown, if the majority, the Republicans in the House, the Senate, they own the White House, do not come up with a budget plan that is centered around the American people. We are there fighting against the crisis in health care that they have inflicted on the American people, with their cuts to Medicaid, to Medicare, to the ACA, and taking away those tax credits.

So, that is the lesson that we have learned from that election. And that is the fight that we are having in Congress today.

BROWN: So, tell us a little bit more about what Democrats are going to do with the budget fight. Because obviously what happened before, Democrats in the House were upset with Chuck Schumer in the Senate about how he handled that situation. How do you see this playing out this time around?

CLARK: You know, we are clear-eyed. We are on the side of the American people. And they are telling us 60 percent of households unable to afford the basics. That means people feel that the system is rigged against them because the system is rigged against them. And what we are seeing from Republicans is they talk a great game about let's protect Medicaid. They write letters to the speaker. They go home and say, I won't vote for it. But every single time, they put Donald Trump and what he wants over their own constituents.

Fifteen million people are going to lose health care. Health care costs are going to go up for everyone. If the Republicans want to come to the table, if they want to have a bipartisan discussion on how we do better and meet this moment of crisis for the American people, we will be at that table with them.

[10:50:00]

BROWN: OK.

CLARK: If they are going to continue on the path they are of making everything more expensive, then they can pass this budget on their own.

BROWN: All right. House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark, thank you.

CLARK: Thank you.

BROWN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLITZER: Happening now, more outrage in the Middle East and in Washington as well after Israel launched airstrikes on Qatar targeting Hamas leadership. Listen to how President Trump is reacting after this unprecedented event. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I'm not thrilled. I'm not thrilled about it. I will say this, we want the hostages back. But we are not thrilled about the way that went down today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Joining us now, the Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, Danny Danon. He's also a former Israeli defense minister. Ambassador, thanks so much for joining us. You just heard the president of the United States criticize Israel. This is not what the U.S. wanted. This is not what Israel should have done. What do you say?

DANNY DANON, FORMER ISRAELI DEPUTY DEFENSE MINISTER AND ISRAEL AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED NATIONS: Israel brought justice to the doorsteps of Hamas' leadership in Qatar. The attack was not against Qatar or the people of Qatar. The attack was against the terrorists who orchestrated the attack on Israel on October 7th.

You know, I don't know if you showed the picture, but while Israelis were kidnapped, murdered, and raped, those leaders were celebrating in a hotel in Qatar. Not only that --

BLITZER: Were those leaders killed in this Israeli attack?

DANON: One minute, Wolf. Not only that. Two days ago, there was another terror attack in Jerusalem. Six Israelis were killed, were murdered. And Hamas, the same leadership in Qatar, took responsibility on the attack and praised the attack. So, we decided that enough is enough.

We don't know the result of the attack yet. I hope we got them. But if we didn't get all of them this time, we'll get them next time. There will be no sanctuary for terrorists. Not in the tunnels in Gaza. Not in Beirut. And not even in the luxury hotels in Doha.

[10:55:00]

BLITZER: So, if you didn't kill the Hamas leadership that was in Doha, Qatar, this time, and if they still remain there, you think Israel will launch an additional attack against Qatar?

DANON: I think we will continue in our efforts to find them. And I want to remind you what happened in Munich, you know, after the massacre during the Olympic Games. It took us a few years to get to them, but we got to all of those who planned the attack. The same will be with October 7th. We will find them, we will hunt them down, and we will make sure that they will pay the price.

BLITZER: But when Israel launched this strike against these targets in Doha, Qatar, was Israel aware that in -- right around Doha, Qatar, a major air base the -- and a major ground force military facility of the U.S. Military Central Command, and thousands of U.S. troops that are based there, potentially could be endangered? DANON: I will not go into the details, but I will tell you that we took precautions to make sure that civilians will not get hurt. We used specific ammunition, we have intelligence, and we made sure that we targeted the Hamas leaders who took part and planned the October 7th massacre.

BLITZER: But there's reporting now, and Hamas is saying this, the Qataris are saying this, that the child of one of the Hamas leaders was killed in this Israeli attack. The Hamas leader himself was not killed.

DANON: I don't know the details. I can tell you what we are focusing on. And I want to tell you one thing. You know, it's not only Israel which targets terrorists in different countries. You know, when France is taking operations in Mali, when the U.S., you know, tomorrow we're going to all take part in the 9/11 ceremonies all around the U.S., the U.S., you know, brought justice to Osama Bin Laden in Pakistan. So, when you hunt terrorists, you go after them. There is no sanctuary for terrorists.

BLITZER: And the fact that Qatar, at the request of both the United States and Israel, was engaged in trying to mediate, trying to come up with a ceasefire, some sort of peaceful arrangement, and the release of all of the Israeli hostages, was that not a factor in your decision?

DANON: I'm sure it was a factor. And we collaborated with Qatar on many other issues as well. But when it comes to hunting down terrorists, there is no place they can hide.

BLITZER: Even if they're hiding in a close U.S. ally, a strategic ally like Qatar?

DANON: Well, I think the question should be asked why they're hiding over there? And the lesson learned for the terrorists, you cannot hide. Maybe you can fly, maybe you can find a shelter for a short period of time, but at the end of the day, you will be brought to justice.

BLITZER: I just want to correct you on one thing. They weren't hiding. These Qatari officials who -- these Hamas officials who were negotiating some sort of ceasefire and hostage release deal, they were there openly. Everybody knew where they were. U.S. officials knew. Israeli officials knew. They weren't hiding.

DANON: I meant hiding that they stayed in Qatar. You know, they never left Doha. They found asylum in Doha. So, they thought that if they would stay there, they would be safe. That was their mistake. And I think it's a lesson not only to the terrorists from Hamas, you know, the people in Hezbollah, ISIS, you name them. They should know that at the end of the day, they will not be able to hide.

BLITZER: All right. Ambassador Danny Danon, thanks so much for coming in.

DANON: Thank you very much. BLITZER: And we'll have more news right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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