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North Carolina Continues Hurricane Recovery Efforts; Senior Hamas Official Speaks Out; Trump Reversal on Ukraine. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired September 26, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

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WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: This week, President Trump met with his Ukrainian counterpart over at the United Nations and delivered what appears to be a head-spinning reversal, the president saying he believes Ukraine can't continue and win back the territory illegally seized by Russia.

Let's discuss this and more with CNN military analyst the retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton.

Colonel, thanks so much for joining U.S.

President Trump has, of course, long insisted that Ukraine would have to surrender some territory to make peace with Russia. What do you believe is behind the president's apparent reversal right now, and do you believe it will stick?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, Wolf, good morning.

I think one of the things that might be behind this reversal is the performance of the Ukrainian troops on the battlefield. And what I mean by that is that they're not achieving major victories in terms of the east or the northeastern part, but what they are doing is, they're holding their own, and they're inflicting massive casualties on the Russians, say, according to some estimates, over a million killed and wounded Russian soldiers.

So that's way above what the Ukrainians are suffering in this war, which, of course, is also considerable. And it looks like President Trump is also looking at the economic impact of Ukrainian strikes against Russian infrastructure, especially the oil and gas infrastructure. That I think does hit home with him.

So he sees that Ukraine is not rolling over. It is not easily conquerable. And he basically sees that the Russian forces are, in essence, incompetent in terms of moving forward. They have captured about 20 percent of Ukraine's territory, but they haven't gone much beyond that.

And they have lost a lot since their initial incursion back in February of 2022.

BLITZER: Yes, good point.

I also want to ask you, colonel, about this rather mysterious order from the defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, summoning hundreds of top U.S. generals and admirals to an in-person meeting in Quantico, Virginia, this coming Tuesday. The senior military officers will be coming from around the world, but none seem to know why.

They don't know what the purpose of this meeting is. What do you make of it?

LEIGHTON: Yes, it's highly unusual, Wolf.

Now, I have been in some meetings at the Pentagon which were -- or in the military which were highly unusual and kind of ill-considered on the part of the people leading them, but they were definitely not at the level of the secretary of defense.

Now, it is true that, in the past, there have been gatherings of combatant commanders, but, in those cases -- these are the four-star generals that command the theater commands around the world for the U.S. In those cases, the agenda is set. People know what exactly is being talked about.

One of the possibilities that Secretary Hegseth might be broaching with his generals is the fact that there is a new national defense strategy that's coming out, and that national defense strategy is very homeland- and Western Hemisphere-focused. That's a big change from the previous national defense strategies, which have looked at China as being the main threat and Russia being another threat.

So the current or at least the future national defense strategy will probably still list those two countries as threats, but the emphasis apparently will be on the homeland, and there may be an effort to reorganize the way the combatant commands are structured as part of this. But that's speculation. We don't know for a fact that that is actually happening, but that is at least one possibility, that Secretary Hegseth could be calling this meeting for that purpose in part.

BLITZER: Colonel Cedric Leighton, as usual, thank you very, very much.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Wolf.

BLITZER: And just ahead: A senior Hamas official tells our Jeremy Diamond the October 7 attacks created a golden moment for the terror group, even as Israel's retribution leads to death and starvation for a lot of people of Gaza.

We will be right back.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: What gives you the right to decide that Palestinian women and children should be sacrificed on the altar of your resistance?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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BLITZER: Now to a SITUATION ROOM special report.

Israel's recent move to strike Hamas' leaders in Qatar was met with widespread global frustration, especially after it became clear the attack failed to take out its targets. Qatar is a key U.S. strategic ally in the cease-fire talks.

CNN Jerusalem correspondent Jeremy Diamond challenged a senior leader of Hamas who nearly escaped that strike in Doha about the suffering of Palestinians and the state of the remaining hostages in Gaza.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (voice-over): Nearly two years after Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, Gaza has paid a massive price, the devastation rivaled only by the suffering of its people.

Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Hundreds of thousands are displaced and homeless. Israeli attacks are only intensifying.

(on camera): Do you accept any responsibility for triggering so much death and destruction?

GHAZI HAMAD, SENIOR HAMAS OFFICIAL: The history did not begin on October 7. We spent 78 years under the occupation, under humiliation, under oppression, under repression, under killing, under displacement. Now why the world is so focused on October 7?

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DIAMOND (voice-over): Ghazi Hamad is a senior Hamas official, sitting for his first U.S. TV interview in months.

(on camera): But, before October 7, Israel had never unleashed this level of death and destruction on Gaza before. How can you look at me with a straight face and tell me that you accept no responsibility whatsoever for what has happened in the two years since?

(CROSSTALK)

HAMAD: Look, what was the -- what is the option is left for the Palestinians to do? First time that Palestinians have shown sacrifice in the Israel-Palestinian conflict?

DIAMOND: What gives you the right to decide that Palestinian women and children should be sacrificed on the altar of your resistance?

HAMAD: No, all the time we are sacrificing. We are fighting.

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND: But I'm asking you about the civilian deaths in Gaza.

HAMAD: No, no, look...

DIAMOND: And what gives you the right to decide it's a price worth paying, that child can die, it's OK, because it's in order to fulfill our resistance?

HAMAD: Well, as Hamas, we are fighting for the interests of the people. We don't want our people to be killed. Don't put the problem on the shoulder of Hamas. No, I think that...

DIAMOND: Again, sir...

HAMAD: Yes.

DIAMOND: ... when I speak with Israeli officials, I press them about what they are doing in Gaza.

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND: When I'm speaking with Hamas officials, I press them for your responsibility.

(voice-over): But some Palestinians have had enough.

"Our message to Hamas is, stop gambling with us," this man says. You are disconnected from reality, especially since the Hamas leadership is outside of Gaza.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want to send a message to Hamas. We talk to people, talk my people. Stop the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) war. We are dying here.

DIAMOND: But Hamad doesn't seem interested in hearing those voices.

HAMAD: I know. I have seen. I have seen...

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND (on camera): Please watch...

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND: This is not it. There's more.

HAMAD: I have seen this video. Yes. Yes. Yes.

DIAMOND: Sir, there is more.

HAMAD: I know people are suffering. There are some people blame Hamas.

(CROSSTALK)

DIAMOND: Why will you not listen to the voices of Palestinian people in Gaza?

HAMAD: Look, look, yes, yes, I know. This is -- but, look, this is not the whole story.

DIAMOND: These people who want Hamas to surrender, lay down its weapons, and leave the Gaza Strip, what do you say to them?

HAMAD: No, no, I think no one -- no one asks Hamas to surrender. We will never surrender. These people under abnormal circumstances. When you put him under target and killing and massacring, what do you expect for people to say?

DIAMOND (voice-over): Hamad is eager to tout what he calls the -- quote -- "benefits of October 7," in which Hamas killed nearly 1,200 people and kidnapped more than 250 others. He says it led to growing international support for the Palestinian cause.

HAMAD: What is the benefit of October 7 now? Now, in the world now, if you look to the General Assembly yesterday, when about 194 people opened their eyes and looked to the atrocity, the brutality of Israel, and all of them, they condemned Israel.

We waited for this moment for 77 years. I think this is a golden moment for the world to change the history. I think that now the world is changed. The history is changed now.

DIAMOND (on camera): In your view, 65,000 deaths is worth it in order to achieve what you've achieved?

HAMAD: Look, look, I know the price is so high, but I ask you again, what is the option?

DIAMOND: Was it worth it?

HAMAD: What is the option left to the Palestinians? You know what? We waited for a peaceful process, for a peaceful means since 1993, since Oslo agreement, until now.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The prospects for peace seem as far away as ever, two weeks after Israel tried to kill Hamad and other senior Hamas officials not far from where we sat down.

HAMAD: I think it is miracle, because the rockets are very close to us. We are under target, and it was a brutal attack on us. So, I think it was long and very strong message to us, and even to Qatari, that we are not interested in negotiation, we want to kill, we want to destroy, we want to assassinate. This is our own policy to handle the whole situation.

Everything now is frozen.

DIAMOND: Hamas' demands have also not shifted.

HAMAD: We insisted to go to the comprehensive deal to return all the hostages either alive or dead. And we said, frankly, we can return them in 24 hours. But Israel, they refused.

DIAMOND (on camera): Well, they have conditions for ending the war. They want Hamas to be out of power, and they want Hamas to disarm. Are you willing to abandon power in Gaza and lay down your weapons?

HAMAD: Look, Hamas is part of the Palestinian fabric. You cannot exclude Hamas, but, as I said again and again, regarding the ruling of Gaza, we are ready to be out of the ruling of Gaza. We have no problem with this. The arm of Hamas is a legitimate and legal weapons which used all the time against occupation. It is not a terrorist weapon.

DIAMOND: How does this war end? Because over the course of our conversation, I have seen very little that suggests any willingness on your part to compromise.

HAMAD: I think the war -- I think it is easy. I think Mr. Trump and the world could ask the -- Netanyahu in order to stop the war, to stop the genocide in Gaza.

DIAMOND: Do you have any confidence that he will do that?

HAMAD: I don't know. I think we tested them many times. But I think it is not easy to trust Mr. Trump or to trust the American administration. All the time, they put the glasses of Israel. They adopt the Israel position.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[11:45:13]

BLITZER: And Jeremy Diamond is joining us now live from Doha, Qatar.

Jeremy, what else stood out most to you in this truly excellent, remarkable interview?

DIAMOND: Well, Wolf, I think overall it was really Ghazi Hamad's defiance, defiance despite nearly two years of war that have seen so much suffering for Palestinians in Gaza, his refusal to accept any share of responsibility for all of the death and destruction that was triggered by Hamas' October 7 attacks and the ensuing Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.

And also this is an interview that comes at a moment where a lot of people in this region will be looking for clues to see whether or not there is a potential off-ramp here to this war, whether there are any signs of potential concessions. And as I asked Ghazi Hamad about Hamas' negotiating positions, there seemed to be really no shift in those positions at all.

And so it offers very little window into any potential concessions that Hamas may make in the future. Even as we heard President Trump saying today that he believes a potential deal to end the war in Gaza might be close, there was certainly no indication of that in my interview with this senior Hamas official just yesterday -- Wolf.

BLITZER: All right, excellent work, Jeremy Diamond. Thank you very, very much.

And we will be right back.

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BLITZER: Happening now, we check on recovery efforts under way in North Carolina one year after Hurricane Helene devastated the western part of the state.

Among the huge number of homes and businesses that Helene destroyed was the headquarters of a food bank that helps people in some 16 counties in the state. But its CEO, Claire Neal, stayed focused on its mission and on rallying her community.

Watch this clip from last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLAIRE NEAL, CEO, MANNA FOODBANK: People have come together in unprecedented ways to support their neighbors. I have always loved Western North Carolina because this is a community that takes care of each other, that cares about each other. And we saw that in spades.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: I'm now so happy that Claire is joining us once again from Asheville, North Carolina.

Thanks so much, Claire. You're back. You're providing meals. These are some of the images from yesterday's food bank drive. Walk us through your rebuilding process now.

NEAL: Oh, it has been incredible. It's hard to believe that, a year ago, I was talking to you from one of our trucks because it was our only possession left.

When the floodwaters destroyed everything, we had to rebuild. And, right now, I'm so happy to be standing in our new warehouse, where we have been able to provide nearly 15 million meals to our neighbors in need since the hurricane. As you can see, we are still in that rebuilding process. We are getting this food bank ready so that we can continue to serve for generations to come.

BLITZER: We are all so grateful to you, Claire.

Moments ago, we heard from North Carolina Governor Josh Stein appealing for yet more support. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH STEIN (D-NC): And I'm grateful for every federal dollar that the state has received, but, to be frank, it isn't enough. I'm calling on Congress to pass a new $13.5 billion appropriation to send more support our way. The people of Western North Carolina deserve their fair share.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: So, Claire, do you feel you have received all the support needed to keep doing your really important critical, lifesaving work?

NEAL: Well, I will say we are so grateful for the funding that we have received, but what we are seeing right now, a year later, is that we have more people across Western North Carolina coming for emergency food assistance than have ever come in our 42-year history.

Yesterday, we had a distribution where we were able to provide meat and cheese and eggs and fresh produce, and it was a wonderful thing, but there is still so much need in this community. So I agree. I think we need to continue to see funding come to this region so we can continue our rebuilding process.

BLITZER: In the aftermath of the disaster a year ago, what's your message now to FEMA or to the federal government, for that matter?

NEAL: Please stand with Western North Carolina. Our neighbors, our communities need you. We need that support.

We have seen such a tremendous outpouring of care, concern. Our neighbors, our partners are all rallying, but nobody can replace the government. We need that government support to truly thrive.

BLITZER: And, finally, one year later, Claire, how can people who may be watching us right now still help your efforts?

NEAL: Well, I will say please consider donating to MANNA FoodBank. We have partners all across this region who do wonderful work.

I'd also say it's a beautiful time to be in Western North Carolina. It's leaf season here. We rely heavily on tourism in the region, and we love to see people come visit and know that, while you're here, you're supporting local businesses and helping us on our long road to recovery.

BLITZER: And we're also hearing from the governor that he says that nearly 100 percent of the roads have been repaired. Is that what you're seeing as well, Claire?

NEAL: We're seeing roads repaired, parks reopening. We're seeing people rebuilding.

I will say, we're marking this recovery not in weeks or months, but in years. It is a long process, but we're seeing a tremendous impact.

BLITZER: All right, well, we're so grateful to you and to all the folks who work with you.

Claire Neal, the CEO of MANNA FoodBank in Asheville, North Carolina, thanks so much for joining us.

[11:55:03]

NEAL: Thank you for having me.

BLITZER: And, to our viewers, thanks very much for joining us as well. We will see you back here Monday morning, every weekday morning 10:00 a.m. Eastern.

"INSIDE POLITICS," today with Manu Raju, starts right after a short break.

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