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Hong Kong and China Brace for Typhoon; Trump to Address U.N.; Jimmy Kimmel Returns; New York Area Swatting Probe; Supreme Court Looks at Presidential Limits. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired September 23, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:01]

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kate.

Yes, Hong Kong is bracing for what could be a very, very powerful typhoon. In fact, in the past 30 minutes or so that we've been here, we've felt the winds really pick up and intensify.

And right now, I'm in a place called Hong Kong Harbor, which is a tourist hotspot. And usually at this time of day we would see it pretty crowded with runners and just people milling about, enjoying their night. But as you can see, it is eerily empty. I mean there is hardly a soul around me. And that is because a lot of people are taking what the government has advised to heart, and that is to stay inside, hunker down and avoid the worst of this storm.

Now, Hong Kong has also erected a number of police tapes, and also flood barriers here, for example, to make sure that people actually don't get too close to the sea. And that is because the Hong Kong observatory, which is the city's weather forecaster, has warned that we could see storm surges of up to four meters in height.

Now, of course, if you are really close to the sea and you get caught up in a sea surge like that, that could be very dangerous. In fact, earlier on Tuesday we know that a family of three got caught in one and actually fell into the sea. Now, we know that two people are receiving medical attention.

But again, Kate, Hong Kong bracing for what could be a very powerful storm. And we're beginning to see the beginnings of that.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, seeing some of those gusts heading in right now.

Hanako, thank you so much, in Hong Kong for us this hour.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

President Trump taking the microphone, delivering this hour his first remarks to the U.N. since his re-election. The message he plans to send to the world ahead of his meeting with Ukraine's president, Zelenskyy. And Jimmy Kimmel returns to late night tonight. What is he going to say? And why are not all ABC stations going to be airing that comeback?

And a hidden web of spies, hackers and organized crime uncovered. Hundreds of servers discovered by the Secret Service that could cripple New York City's cell system.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the opening of the United Nations' 80th General Assembly. Today, President Trump set to address the General Assembly. His first return to the U.N. since his re- election. The White House has said the president will speak about his accomplishments and touch on how global institutions have significantly decayed the world order. He acted on that message by refusing to fund the U.N. On top of that, President Trump has pulled the U.S. out of U.N. agencies, including the human rights council, UNESCO, and the World Health Organization. And still, of course, in the background of all of that, two major ongoing wars, Russia's war on Ukraine and Israel's ongoing military operation in Gaza.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is at the U.N. at the moment for us watching all this and waiting to hear from the president, as well as many others.

Jim, what are you expecting today? It seems a bit like Trump versus the world.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, that's not inaccurate, Sara. As I listen to plans for Trump's own speech, but also his senior advisers on the airwaves earlier this morning, such as Marco Rubio, secretary of state, the message seems to be that not just America first, right, but America on its lone. America as the indispensable nation. America under Trump, specifically, as the only nation that can get things done.

And Trump, as he speaks from the podium later this hour, is going to claim successes from that approach. He's going to claim, as he often does, that he ended seven wars. Although when you look at the facts, one of those wars is Congo. That war is still going. India and Pakistan certainly don't give him the credit he takes for ending their border clash a number of weeks ago. And to your point, has not ended the two most engulfing wars, right, in Ukraine and Gaza, and also ongoing questions as to whether these trade wars are going to have economic effects. But regardless, the message will be, we can do it and no one can do it better than us, under me, President Trump.

One fisher among the U.S. and other nations here, certainly recognition of a Palestinian state. Now more than 145 nations have recognized. The U.S. and Israel increasingly on an island.

But another one is this. And that is, as you see these drone attacks and air incursions over Europe expand. You had the drones over Poland, you had fighter jets over Estonia, and now you have these drones over airports in northern Europe, you are hearing from European leaders and America's NATO allies, this is Russia.

[09:05:04]

There is no doubt it's Russia. And this is a deliberate challenge to NATO. They are even saying now, some of you -- some of America's NATO allies, that they might shoot down Russian aircraft if they were to again breach NATO airspace.

But we heard from Marco Rubio earlier today. No, we're not going to shoot down these jets unless we are attacked. You know, one of those continuing fissures between the U.S. and its allies as to how serious the Russia threat is. We'll see if the president addresses that in his speech. But I'll tell you, when I speak to European officials here, they see Russia deliberately challenging the NATO alliance. Will -- will the president back that alliance up? We'll be listening.

SIDNER: Yes, this is really important stuff. And it is so good to have you there for us so that we can learn exactly what's happened.

Thank you so much, Jim.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: All right, joining us right now, CNN chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, to talk more about this before you head on over there.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Yes.

BOLDUAN: Cristiane, let's talk about -- let's talk about Russia, Ukraine -- Russia, Ukraine, and then also Gaza.

Starting in Russia. You've got -- you've got President Trump. He's set to meet with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy today. You also have the secretary of state on the morning shows this morning saying -- making clear he's not ready to move on more sanctions against Russia until Europe moves first. What do you think -- what do you -- what should allies expect?

AMANPOUR: I think it's very confusing. And the way allies are looking at it is, the American president giving yet more time to Putin. Kind of reluctant to bring down the hammer on Putin, who is not only testing European NATO airspace right now, but has simply given Trump himself nothing after the Alaska summit. In fact, the opposite, has banded together with Xi and Kim Jong-un and all the rest of it, Putin, as a challenge.

BOLDUAN: Right. That's -- image of shoulder to shoulder all together.

AMANPOUR: Yes. So, there's a real turning point right now for NATO. That means for the United States as well. And that is, Putin's consistent testing of NATO.

Make no mistake about it, he's testing NATO to see, is NATO going to respond? It is unacceptable by the NATO allies who've said not one inch throughout this invasion of Ukraine. If Russia comes one inch into their territory, they're going to, you know, push them out, fight back, defend themselves. So, while he's saying, Rubio, that they may not, U.S., you know, forces shoot down Russian planes, NATO forces are saying it, individual countries are saying it, the prime minister of Poland has said if yet another flying object, as he said, comes into our airspace, make no mistake about it, we will warn them. And if they don't respond, we will shoot them down. And his foreign minister said, and if that happens, don't come here to the U.N. whining about it.

This Estonia breach, 12 minutes is huge. And these were fighter jets, not drones.

BOLDUAN: Right.

AMANPOUR: So, go back ten years almost exactly, November 2015, a Russian bomber, an SU bomber, entered for just about 17 seconds, we're told, Turkish airspace. Turkey is a NATO ally. Turkey warned them many times. And when they didn't turn around, before they even entered, shot them down. There wasn't a great, you know, third world war.

Russia understood, these are two illiberal autocrats who understood what was going on. And Russia didn't come back into their airspace. This is massively important, this issue. And somehow the United States has to be behind Europe, which already has sanctions on Russia, in order to, you know, to lay down at least the beginnings of some punitive measure that Trump keeps talking about against Putin.

BOLDUAN: But your historical example is so critical --

AMANPOUR: Yes, it is.

BOLDUAN: Because the response so far is dramatically different.

AMANPOUR: Correct.

BOLDUAN: The runway that has still been left for Putin in all.

AMANPOUR: Yes, it is very, very dangerous. As I say, this is a turning point as assessed by many in Europe, many in the NATO alliance, because Putin, ever since Alaska and even before --

BOLDUAN: Yes.

AMANPOUR: Has been testing the resolution and the resolve of not just any NATO allies but the United States. Clearly, the U.S. is the most powerful country in the world. And if it doesn't do, then it's going to, you know, Russia's going to say, well, the U.S. is not doing anything.

So, the issue today at the U.N. is, is Trump going to take that leadership role, or is he going to say that, you know, we're -- we're America first and on our own. It doesn't really affect us. We'll support you, but he doesn't say how. Or is he going to stand by, as he has done over Gaza, over Ukraine, and not finally, you know, pulled the kind of levers that only the U.S. have, the only leverage with a Netanyahu or a Putin really comes from the United States.

So, that's why this UNGA is very, very important.

BOLDUAN: Putting it -- laying the stakes out like that is really critical.

It's great to see you, Christine. Thank you so much.

AMANPOUR: Yes. Thank you.

BOLDUAN: Thank you.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, this morning, what will Jimmy Kimmel say when he returns to the air tonight? Disney has lifted his suspension six days since they pulled his show after pressure from the Trump administration. But Kimmel's comeback will not air everywhere. The conservative leaning Sinclair Broadcast Group, which owns dozens of ABC affiliates, says it will continue to preempt him.

[09:10:02]

With us now, CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter.

Brian, I guess one of the questions is, what do we know about what Jimmy Kimmel is going to do tonight with this huge platform?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: He's probably going to have the biggest audience of his career, and he can say just about anything. In some ways, Kimmel's now the safest person on TV, you know, with the most freedom, the most autonomy, because ABC has actively, constructively chosen to bring him back on television despite President Trump's criticism, despite the FCC's threats, despite all of this attention in the past week.

Of course, some of that attention, some of that pressure, some of those cancellation campaigns may have helped ABC and Disney reach this decision. I think Disney's CEO, Bob Iger, and his lieutenants always wanted to find a way to get Kimmel back on. They just needed to figure out a way to do so with the participation of local ABC affiliated stations that are owned by other companies.

And as we've been talking about this morning, one of those big owners, Sinclair, is refusing to air the show tonight. But honestly, that may matter less than ever. Think about this, in the streaming era, when people want to watch Kimmel's show, they can find it online, on YouTube and elsewhere. So, even if it's not being broadcast by local stations, the message will get out, the monologue will get out, and Kimmel has a really unique moment tonight to talk about free speech in America, to talk about the Trump administration's pressure and, you know, hopefully to actually have some fun as well.

BERMAN: And again, at this point, what's known about the last six days or six and a half days since the decision to suspend him happened to the discussion to put him back on TV?

STELTER: Yes, very little is known. And, you know, I've been trying to -- to get inside that -- that bubble, that -- that small group of Disney executives that were making these decisions. They have been keeping very quiet. And Kimmel has not said a single word publicly. I think that speaks to the fact that he was actually somewhat in sync with these executives. He was recognizing the political environment and wanting to keep the show going. You know, he employs, on "Jimmy Kimmel Live," more than 200 people. He was quite concerned about their jobs going forward.

For now, the show will be back, and, you know, Kimmel's contract goes through next May. So, ABC will still have a decision point in the coming months about whether to keep this show going for the long term. But at least for now, I would argue, Kimmel has more power than ever.

At the same time, MAGA media influencers are decrying Disney, railing against the company. So, this free speech tug of war is far from over, John.

BERMAN: Yes, I mean, what a season. What a season on TV he could have now.

Brian Stelter, great to see you. Thank you very much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, just ahead, today, closing arguments will begin in the trial of the man accused of attempting to kill President Trump at his Florida golf course.

Also, don't drop the ball, people. More than 2,000 people in New Jersey right now to cement their place in the Guinness Book of World Records for playing the longest game of catch.

And lions and tigers and fat bears, oh my. The 11th annual fat bear contest is underway. There's even a fat bear bracket. The bears of Katmai National Park showing off their bellies just for you.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:17:43]

BOLDUAN: Breaking this morning, CNN has learned the Secret Service disrupted a plot that could have overwhelmed the cellular system for New York City right as the U.N. General Assembly is getting underway. It started as an investigation into fake swatting threats made against former and current Trump administration officials, but then very clearly became something much bigger.

CNN chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst John Miller has this reporting. He's here now.

John, what is going on here?

JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST: So, this started with, you know, swatting calls against White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, John Ratcliffe, the CIA director. And this was, you know, back in November when they were still, you know, in the confirmation process.

But when Sean Curran took over the Secret Service, he said, we've got to have a better way to investigate these. So, he set up the Advanced Threat Unit -- it's the Advanced Threat Mitigation Unit, and staffed it with computer sciences -- scientists, investigators, tech people, analysts. And they dug backwards and backwards and backwards. And this is the pivotal thing. Three weeks ago they found an apartment. And then another. And then a storage location. And then an empty office. And inside they found 300 servers with 100,000 SIM cards, each representing a different phone number, with the power to generate 300 million phone calls in 12 minutes, which could overwhelm and basically disable the New York cellular, you know, network. And it was not far from their mind that this could be done in tandem with some other attack by breaking communications at the same time, or the fact that the U.N. General Assembly was unfolding this week with 150 world leaders here.

So, they hit the places. They took them down. They disabled the system. But now the questions are, who was it for? Who built it? Who ran it? Who paid for it?

BOLDUAN: Yes.

MILLER: The communications that they discovered range from, and I -- I learned this from intelligence sources, because the director of national intelligence, homeland security investigations are now a part of this behind the Secret Service, you've got Mexican drug cartels talking to Chinese military people.

[09:20:04]

You have hackers on there. You have human trafficking organizations. You have terrorists. So, what is it?

BOLDUAN: Yes, what is -- I mean, that -- that's a huge -- even short of that, just for (INAUDIBLE), what could be the impact of -- and I'm going to call it an attack, an attack like that in New York City or somewhere else?

MILLER: Well, the idea of disabling communications, particularly with world leaders in town. But the idea of disabling communications along with, and you pick your poison, an active shooter, a series of bombings, to be able to commit an attack and break essential communications for first responders, investigators, government officials, regular people, at the same time is something, going back to my days in the NYPD, we always feared --

BOLDUAN: Right.

MILLER: Either. But both at the same time would have been very serious. And then the question is, all right, so who's running this thing? Is it a foreign hostile power? Is it a government? Is it some criminal mastermind who designed a massive switchboard for criminals from organized crime to cyber criminals to spies to terrorists to use to communicate? Or was it supposed to be marshaled as one giant electronic weapon? All of those questions that are part of the ongoing Secret Service investigation with the intelligence community partners to figure out who is behind this. And, of course, Kate, where are the rest? Is there one in Washington? Is there one in L.A.? Is there one in Chicago? Or was this New York one particularly targeted for a specific time?

BOLDUAN: Very real questions. As you said, kind of the pivotal moment came just three weeks ago. And so, this is all happening very -- this investigation is still in real time. It's really unbelievable work by the Secret Service and great reporting, John. Thank you.

MILLER: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: All right, thank you, Kate.

Coming up, the Supreme Court agrees to hear a rush appeal over a precedent that limits whether a president can fire people at historically independent agencies. This as Trump has fired a Federal Trade Commission official and a Federal Reserve board member. The stakes could not be higher.

And clashes at an immigration raid. Federal agents in Chicago firing pepper balls at protesters outside an ICE facility.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:27:05]

SIDNER: This morning, a major test of presidential power after the Supreme Court let President Trump fire a Democratic member of the Federal Trade Commission. The latest in a string of firings, sparking a plethora of lawsuits against the Trump administration. And now the Supreme Court has decided to hear a rush appeal that will decide whether President Donald Trump, and presidents in general, act lawfully by firing board members the court itself once agreed were independent.

Here now to discuss, Steve Vladek, CNN Supreme Court analyst and professor at Georgetown University Law Center.

Thank you for being here this morning.

First, what does it tell you that the Supreme Court is willing to hear this appeal? Isn't simply taking that case up a statement in and of itself?

STEVE VLADEK, CNN SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Sara, it sure is. And it's not just that the court is taking the case up. It's that it is taking the case up very quickly, grant him something called certiorari before judgment, meaning it's leapfrogging the Federal Court of Appeals, something that used to be very rare, but also that the court is allowing President Trump to remove Rebecca Slaughter in the interim while all of this plays out. If the court had misgivings about this, if the court thought it actually might side with Slaughter, I don't think we would have seen either of those actions, let alone both of them.

SIDNER: If the court does rule in favor of Trump, and you have some sense, you just said there, they did allow him to fire her. Now they're looking at this appeal. So, if they go and say, look, this is perfectly fine for the Trump administration to get rid of who they don't want on independent agencies or what would have been independent agencies, would this set a precedent that would allow Trump to remove, for example, the Federal Reserve governor, Lisa Cook? What does it say about the other cases pending?

VLADEK: Yes. So, I think all we can say for sure is that so far the Supreme Court has shown at least some willingness to carve out the Federal Reserve. You know, whether for persuasive reasons or not. Probably because the justices are worried, to some degree, about the economic consequences of undermining the independence of our central bank.

Sara, of course, that calls into question the whole enterprise here. But that's why, in the case of Lisa Cook, President Trump has at least attempted to gin up an excuse for firing her. That this, you know, claim of mortgage fraud is meant actually to satisfy the statute that protects Lisa Cook's independence, as opposed to in the Slaughter case just ignoring that statute.

So, I think the real two questions here are, one, is the Supreme Court generally going to get rid of these kinds of independent protections? And I think the answer there is almost certainly, given what has happened to date in the Slaughter case.

[09:29:54]

But then, two, in the Lisa Cook case, where there's another emergency application pending, is the Supreme Court also going to let President Trump remove Lisa Cook for what certainly appear to be completely pretextual reasons in a context in which the court might --