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The Situation Room

Hegseth Orders Hundreds of Senior Military Officers to Virginia; Netanyahu Defends Israel's Military Efforts; 100 Percent Tariff on Some Imported Drugs is Coming Oct. 1. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 26, 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]

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Sabrina, you heard very clearly the president and the vice president, J.D. Vance, attempting to downplay this very unusual in-person meeting of hundreds of senior military officials being told come to Quantico, Virginia, for this meeting. They don't know what the meeting is about. What's your reaction to this Hegseth order?

SABRIAN SINGH, CNN POLLICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER DEPUTY PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY: Well, it's highly unusual. We've not seen -- through many Secretaries of Defense over the years, from Gates to Panetta under Secretary Austin, we've never seen a meeting like this convened. And what Hegseth is doing is basically pulling back from one to four stars, that's approximately 800 people all around the world from their different missions and combatant commands to Virginia for a meeting that no one knows what it's about.

On top of that, it's the day of the shutdown, September 30th, and it's going to be an incredibly costly meeting to have all these people literally drop everything that they're doing to come to Virginia for something that we don't even know.

BLITZER: There are secure ways to have a virtual conference call with these military officers without forcing them to come all the way to Quantico, Virginia.

SINGH: Absolutely. I mean, Secretary Hegseth and all the combatant commands and their deputy commanders and other generals or admirals under them all have access to secure video conferencing. This could certainly be done virtually or remote. I mean, again, you're pulling people from priority theaters like the Indo-Pacific or European Command to come back for a meeting that we really have no details on. And something like you said could not only be done virtually, but would save taxpayers money instead of flying everyone in for something that we just have no details on.

BLITZER: And we have no information on what this meeting is going to be all about. We shall see when it unfolds. On the same day that the meeting is supposed to take place in Quantico, a deadline is in place for Pentagon reporters to sign a pledge demanded by Secretary Hegseth, saying reporters with a Pentagon credential not obtain or use unauthorized material in their reporting, even if the information is totally unclassified and reporters can lose their credentials and access to the Pentagon if they violate this. News agencies are gearing up for a major legal battle. This is a subject close to my heart. I'm a former Pentagon correspondent.

We're not supposed to be stenographers for the U.S. military. The only thing that they want, this current administration, is for reporters to report what's out there in formal, public Pentagon press releases and not do any serious reporting on subjects that the Pentagon doesn't necessarily want the American people to know about. This is outrageous.

SINGH: I think you captured it just so pointedly. It's not only outrageous, it's deeply concerning. I mean, freedom of the press is what distinguishes the United States from other countries around the world who try and choke information off from the press. And you know that building.

The press, I mean, while you can have contentious relationships sometimes, and certainly when I was there, we disagreed on stories, but press have free reign of the Pentagon and can go to any single floor and ask the questions because the Pentagon and the Department of Defense is so big, you need that type of access. And so, to really choke off information, it's going to be -- it's going to come at the detriment to Secretary Hegseth. I don't think any news organization or serious reporter is going to sign this pledge because at the end of the day, you're not going to be able to report just on information just given to you by the Pentagon.

You know, you know this CNN has done incredible reporting and exposed stories to the public's eye, whether it was on Iraq and weapons of mass destruction to the withdrawal of Afghanistan. And we didn't always see eye to eye, but it's important that the public have the facts.

BLITZER: Certainly important. And I don't think any serious journalist would ever sign a document like that promising to report only what the Pentagon says you can report publicly. It's really outrageous. All right. Sabrina, thank you very much for your service. Thanks for coming in today.

Also coming up, the clock is now ticking on the Southeast as the next tropical threat looms. What happens next? It all depends on a hurricane currently spitting in the Atlantic. We'll update you on that. We'll be right back.

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[10:35:00]

BLITZER: Following the breaking news. The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, wrapping up his speech at the United Nations General Assembly just a little while ago. A slew of delegates actually walked out in protest just as he was beginning his remarks. Netanyahu strongly defending Israel's controversial military efforts across the Middle East. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: But I'm sure there are people in New York, or in London, or in Melbourne, and elsewhere, who are probably thinking, what does all of this have to do with me? And the answer is, everything. Because our enemies are your enemies.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And joining us now, the former Israeli Consul General in New York, Ambassador Alon Pinkas, Ambassador, thank you so much for joining us. I know you're also a senior advisor to the former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. First of all, what did you make of what you heard from Prime Minister Netanyahu today?

ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL IN NEW YORK AND FORMER ADVISER, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER EHUD BARAK: Well, you know, it was predictable. It was expected. It was his -- him going through the -- you know, the motions, you know, on brand. I'm the savior of Jewish civilization. I am the protector of the West. Your enemies are my enemies. You have to understand why I'm fighting this war. I don't understand why you're reneged on your support. You know, the type of cliches, I'm sorry to say, that he uses habitually in all his speeches, but particularly he likes that form, the U.N. General Assembly.

[10:40:00]

BLITZER: You predicted earlier in this war in Gaza that Israel could end up, in the end, occupying Gaza. Do you still think that's the case, even as President Trump says that right now they're, quote, "very close" to a peace deal?

PINKAS: Well, that's a good question, because I think that given what Trump has said, President Trump has said in the last 48 hours, that makes his meeting with Netanyahu on Monday critical, because what Netanyahu is saying at the U.N. and in Israel is completely inconsistent or irreconcilable with what he's going to hear from President Trump. And so, that's a big question.

Now, I made three predictions. I was right on two and dead wrong on one. I thought that Israel would end up isolated because of a protracted war. That is true. I think that Israel, de facto, is occupying the Gaza Strip, 75 percent, at least, of both territory and population. Whether that changes in the next few weeks, I don't know. And the one I got terribly wrong, I'm not the only one, but that's no comfort, is that I didn't think Netanyahu, with his 70 percent disapproval rating in Israel, would survive the calamity of October 7th, yet he did. So, I'm wrong on this, and here he is speaking at the U.N.

BLITZER: I want to go through some specific ideas that are out there right now and get your reaction. There's reporting that the former British prime minister, Tony Blair, has been in serious discussions with U.S. authorities about possibly running a transitional authority in Gaza in the event of a real ceasefire. What do you make of that?

PINKAS: Well, you know, I haven't seen the paper. I've read the reports. This is commensurate with previous reports that he was part of a group that was not only developing but also advising Trump on this idea. If we go back to December 2023, Wolf, this is essentially the idea that the Biden administration came up with, and then again throughout 2024, of Hamas being removed politically, Israel withdrawing from Gaza, an inter-Arab force with the Palestinian Authority for both legal and legitimacy reasons, will come in, provide temporary governance for a few months, and it will be supported by an international consortium of sorts. Not the financial side, that's the Arab countries, but the political side.

This is where Tony Blair -- former Prime Minister Blair, comes in to provide the sort of technocratic interim provisional government. For that to happen, Wolf, Mr. Netanyahu, and that's what I said before, this contradicts diametrically everything he promised his coalition, everything he said to the Israeli public. He said we're here to stay. He said Israel will maintain a military presence. He said we will not withdraw.

If this plan that you're talking about is ever implemented, even in part, it requires that Israel withdraw, it requires an end of occupation, and it requires no Israeli military presence whatsoever in Gaza. So, I don't see that -- I don't see how you can round that.

BLITZER: Ambassador Alon Pinkas, thanks so much for joining us.

PINKAS: Thank you, Wolf. Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: And coming up, President Trump announcing new tariffs on everything from furniture to some imported medicine. What it could mean for your wallet, we have details. That's next.

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[10:45:00]

BLITZER: New this morning, a new survey shows Americans are growing more pessimistic about the U.S. economy. The latest figures from the University of Michigan show consumer sentiment fell again this month. CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich is joining us right now. Vanessa, you've looked at the numbers. We'll get to those consumer sentiment figures in just a moment. But first, I understand we have some new reporting about President Trump's latest tariffs. Explain how they will impact Americans.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Trump announcing on Truth Social last night sweeping tariffs across many different sectors. He says that on October 1st, tariffs are going to go into effect on cabinets and vanities, kitchen cabinets and vanities, 50 percent tariff. We import such a big amount of those items into the United States, 30 percent tariff on upholstered -- excuse me, unupholstered furniture. Already, Americans have been seeing potentially higher prices for furniture up 4 percent year over year already. So, that may add to it. And then heavy trucks coming into the United States, a 25 percent tariff there.

That is interesting, Wolf, because we import about 78 percent of heavy trucks from Mexico. And a large portion of those trucks are protected by USMCA. So, a little unclear about just what percentage of trucks are going to be hit with that high tariff. We know that manufacturers here in the United States who have been trying to manufacture here have been hit with aluminum tariffs and steel tariffs. So, this is a way for the president to presumably offset that. And then you just saw 100 percent tariff on pharmaceuticals coming into the United States.

Of course, we know that retailers have been absorbing the majority of the cost of these higher tariffs, but eventually they're going to have to make decisions about whether or not to pass those costs down to consumers.

[10:50:00]

And speaking of consumers, just this morning, consumer sentiment from the University of Michigan came in falling by 5.3 percent in the month of September, down 21 percent year-over-year. It's not that double- digit fall that we saw in April and May when the first tranche of tariffs were announced, but certainly, you can see that people are still feeling like the economy is not exactly working for them.

Also worth noting in this report, 44 percent of respondents unprompted said that they were still concerned about higher prices. Wolf, that is the highest percentage that we've seen in this report in a year.

BLITZER: Vanessa Yurkevich reporting for us. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: Happening now in the tropics, Umberto upgraded to a hurricane as it plows through the Atlantic. The storm is not on track to hit the U.S., but it is expected to affect the path of another cluster of storms that could turn into a major hurricane as soon as today. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar is tracking all of this for us. Allison, tell us about this tropical traffic jam.

[10:55:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, so you can see two different systems here on the map behind me. Humberto looking like the much more organized of the two on the map, but it's the more disorganized one that we're really keeping a much closer eye on.

Now, with both of these storms, they're going to end up going in the same place. That's because you have a high pressure here blocking them from going too far north. And this low-pressure system here associated with this very deep trough that are basically going to funnel both storms into a very narrow pathway. In doing so, you get what's called Fujiwara, where they can start to interact with each other. But the models don't entirely know what to do with this.

So, here's Humberto. Here is what will become future Imelda once it finally gets named. Now, the American model really just kind of has them doing their own thing. Yes, they go through the same narrow corridor, but they both go their own separate ways, one making landfall, the other one kind of heading towards Bermuda.

But the European model is a little bit different. This one kind of has Imelda making its way up towards the coast. But Umberto being the stronger and larger storm is able to interact and influence what will become Imelda, kind of pulling it back from making a true full landfall. So, we could end up getting a storm that makes landfall. We could end up getting one that just sits offshore and just kind of roams for a few days before finally going out to sea. So, there's a lot of uncertainty with this storm in particular. But what we do know is there will be a tremendous amount of rain dropped over the next week.

BLITZER: So, how concerned should folks on the east coast of the United States from Florida up to Maine, let's say, be right now?

CHINCHAR: I would be concerned mostly with the flooding impact. You're talking some of these areas that could get 10, 15, even as much as 20 inches of rain, depending on exactly where the track ends up going.

BLITZER: All right. Allison Chinchar, important information. We'll watch it together with you. Thank you very, very much. We'll be right back.

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[11:00:00]