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Hidden Spy Network Discovered?; Jimmy Kimmel Returns to Air; Trump and Zelenskyy Set to Meet. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired September 23, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

[13:00:00]

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Face-to-face on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly, this hour, President Trump sitting down with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as his patience with Russia runs out.

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN HOST: Plus: back on air. Jimmy Kimmel returns to late night just a few hours from now, but not everywhere. And this fight is far from over.

Plus: It all started with a hoax threat that led investigators to uncover a powerful, hidden electronic maze that could take down New York City's cell service. But that's not all officials think this operation was built for.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KEILAR: We're watching an important moment on the sidelines of the U.N., where any moment President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are set to meet. The two leaders are searching for a pathway to peace and an end to Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine.

But their talks come after Trump blasted European nations directly on stage at the U.N. and said the U.S. will not punish Moscow with new sanctions until other leaders stop buying Russian energy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil. But, inexcusably, even NATO countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products, which, as you know, I found out about two weeks ago and I wasn't happy.

Think of it. They're funding the war against themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: The president also used his platform to lash out at the U.N. itself while airing a series of grievances, everything from migration to clean energy and even his own failed bid to renovate U.N. buildings years ago.

CNN's Jim Sciutto is live for us at the United Nations.

Jim, let's start with this meeting with Zelenskyy, so important that we're watching as it's about to happen here. Given everything we heard from the president today, how do you see the talks going?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, unless Trump tells Zelenskyy something new in that meeting, U.S. policy hasn't moved forward, because Trump repeated in his speech to the U.N. that, yes, he is ready, he says, though he's said it before, to impose new penalties on Russia, but only if Europe stops buying Russian oil.

Now, to be clear, we should note the three nations in Europe who buy the most Russian oil are nations whose leaders are quite close to Trump. And that's Slovakia, Hungary, Viktor Orban, and Turkey. And one could presume that, given those relationships, Trump could certainly put pressure on those countries, because the rest of Europe over the last three years has greatly reduced its dependence and its purchases of Russian energy, both natural gas and oil.

So unless Trump says, we have a plan for this or once they do it, I will commit myself to X and Y as relates to Russia, we are really back where we were yesterday, right, which is Trump saying, I'm going to do it, but only if they do so first, which, by the way, was a new condition only set in recent weeks, because, prior to that, Trump said he was going to do it, and he said multiple times he was going to do it within two weeks, and it just didn't happen.

So let's see if Zelenskyy comes out of there with some revelation about a new U.S. step, but we haven't seen it yet.

KEILAR: How is his message being received there, Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KEILAR: I mean, he really just came out swinging at the U.N. and member nations.

SCIUTTO: You know, Brianna, this was not a normal U.N. speech. We could say that with confidence.

It read and sounded more like a MAGA stump speech than a speech to the assembled world, because it was a lot of greatest hits of Trump. He doesn't like windmills. We know that. He attacked the U.N. itself. He took credit for great reductions in migration into this country. And then he said to U.S. allies in Europe, your countries are going to hell -- those are his words, not mine -- if they don't do the same as he did.

But he went even further, right? I mean, he attacked not just renewable energy, but climate science, calling it the biggest con put on the world before. And, as he did so, he said, listen, I'm always right, in effect.

[13:05:08] Have a listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I'm really good at predicting things, you know? They actually said during the campaign -- they had a hat, the bestselling hat, "Trump Was Right About Everything."

And I don't say that in a braggadocios way, but it's true. I have been right about everything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Right about everything.

And I just think that, as we have seen that confidence play out in actual U.S. policies in this country, for instance, his comments about Tylenol yesterday, roots of autism, we're seeing it play out in the world sphere as well. This is what is driving Trump's decision-making abroad, including this terrorist policy which he's imposed on the world.

This is a very confident U.S. leader, but one that, in the U.N. and among the assembled nations here, it runs contrary to years-old and sometimes decades-old policies.

KEILAR: Yes. And at a time, as you mentioned, the autism announcement...

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KEILAR: ... European officials telling people to disregard what he said yesterday about it.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

KEILAR: Jim Sciutto live for us at the U.N., thank you so much.

And let's talk more about all of this now with former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine William Taylor. He's also a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council.

What should come out of this Trump-Zelenskyy sit-down?

WILLIAM TAYLOR, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO UKRAINE: So, Brianna, I think -- we have talked a lot about the sanctions and postponing and this kind of business.

The more important pressure that President Trump can put and indeed the Europeans can put on Putin is with arms, is with weapons. It's going to be to allow the Ukrainians to defend themselves on the battlefield, to push the Russians back on the battlefield, to go deep into Russia against military targets like they have been doing with their own weapons.

It's the weapons that are going to turn this tide. FREEMAN: Well, can we talk, though, about the main point, really,

that President Trump brought up during the speech, zeroing again, as you heard Jim Sciutto talk about, NATO countries buying Russian oil and gas.

What's the reality here? Is that really an effective -- I guess, is Trump saying this in good faith here?

TAYLOR: I think the answer may be yes, Danny. I think that is, the Russians fund -- Putin funds this war through sales of oil and gas.

Now, the big purchasers of oil and gas from Russia are China and India. But it is also true that there are some European nations, in particular Hungary and Slovakia, who buy Russian oil and gas as well. They continue.

However, as Jim pointed out, the Europeans more broadly have reduced dramatically their purchases. But it is certainly true that if you could cut off the flow of funds, of revenues from the sales of oil and gas to the Russian economy, that will hurt his ability to fight this war.

KEILAR: Have you seen him lean on Viktor Orban, lean on Slovakia, the sort of folks who are really buying a lot, to reduce?

TAYLOR: Brianna, that's exactly what he needs to do. And you're right. He's got the ability to do that. He's got -- he has some cards, as he says. That's -- those are cards he can play.

If he really wants to put the pressure on Putin, if he really wants to have the Europeans go down, which is a fair point, in their purchases of oil and gas, then he can say something to his allies, his friends.

FREEMAN: Ambassador, what are European allies and these NATO allies thinking right now? Because they have, for the better part of a month- and-a-half, been trying to pressure Trump to get tough on Putin.

And it still doesn't feel like it's happened, I mean, since certainly the Alaska meeting and the meetings after that.

TAYLOR: Danny, I think that the allies, the Europeans are doing two things. On the one hand, yes, they are trying to keep President Trump onside. They're trying to encourage him to do these things on the economic side, but also on the weapons side, as we just said.

But they're -- at the same time, they are taking steps to act themselves, to defend themselves, to provide the Ukrainians the kind of support that they, Europeans, can provide to the Ukrainians. So they have got to do two things at once. They would like to keep the support from the United States coming as much as it can, but they know they have to increase their support as well.

KEILAR: You have got to wonder if there isn't a big door opening on the weapons solution that you're outlining as you see these incursions, right, Poland, Russian drones, jets into NATO countries' airspace. I mean, you would -- this could be a response by NATO and the U.S. to

deal with what have really been some Russian poking the bear.

TAYLOR: Brianna, you're exactly right.

And all these incursions that you just described are making the case why the Europeans, in particular NATO, needs to be more aggressive in defending their own airspace and probably defending forward into Ukraine. They are talking about, probably today and tomorrow, the European allies, NATO allies are talking about shooting down Russian vehicles, Russian air vehicles, Russian drones coming in toward them across the Ukraine airspace.

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FREEMAN: Yes, a lot certainly to keep our eyes on as a consequential week continues on.

Thank you, Ambassador William Taylor. Appreciate your time, as always.

All right, still ahead: The show goes on, Jimmy Kimmel back on the air tonight after nearly a weeklong suspension, but not all ABC stations will broadcast his return.

Plus: A large network for spies, hackers and organized crime is uncovered in the U.S. Coming up ahead, we will tell you why officials think it was being used by foreign governments and criminals.

KEILAR: Also, revelations and regrets, former Vice President Kamala Harris reflecting on campaign missteps and behind-the-scenes tension at the Biden White House, as her new memoir drops today.

We will have that coming up on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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[13:15:22]

FREEMAN: After being sidelined for nearly a week, comedian and host Jimmy Kimmel is just hours away from returning to late night.

ABC pulled Kimmel's show following his comments in the aftermath of the Charlie Kirk murder. Its parent company, Disney, says that decision was to -- quote -- "avoid further inflaming a tense situation at an emotional moment for our country," deeming some of his remarks ill-timed and insensitive.

But Kimmel's big return is hitting some hurdles. Sinclair Broadcasting and Nexstar Media, two of the biggest owners of local TV stations, say they have no plans to resume airing the program.

CNN entertainment correspondent Elizabeth Wagmeister is in Los Angeles, where that show is taped.

Elizabeth, so Kimmel is expected to address the suspension in tonight's monologue. Tell me, what are your sources telling you about that?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Danny.

So, yes, my sources are saying that he will, of course, address the controversy in his monologue. And I had a source tell me last week that Jimmy Kimmel has really never been censored on his show. He has been free to say what he wants about President Trump. He has been free to share his political opinions and beliefs.

So there is no reason to think that tonight should be anything but that. Jimmy Kimmel is coming back, which means that Disney expects Jimmy to be Jimmy, Danny.

FREEMAN: Elizabeth, can you shed a little bit more light on to what caused Disney to make this decision?

WAGMEISTER: Yes, so, first, I have been saying from the get-go, based on my reporting, all the sources that I have spoken to have said they always were hopeful to find a plan -- a path, rather, forward for Jimmy Kimmel.

This was never a cancellation. This had nothing to do with ratings, despite what some on the right are saying. Jimmy Kimmel was never fired. This was exactly what Disney said in their statement yesterday, which is, they found some of Jimmy's comments to be insensitive and they did not want to further inflame the situation.

And when the FCC made threats towards ABC and Kimmel's show, while, when top executives at Disney, Bob Iger spoke with Kimmel, Kimmel said: I don't want to tone down my monologue tonight.

This was last week. That is when Disney said, OK, let's take a beat, we're going to take the show off the air, and let's figure out how to move forward. And they did.

Now, of course, the mounting pressure both from paying consumers who said, we are canceling our Hulu subscriptions, we are canceling our Disney+ subscriptions, and the Hollywood pressure, of course, factored in, Danny.

FREEMAN: OK, but there are still other players in this when you talk about pressure, especially what more can you tell us about Sinclair and Nexstar's decision for the moment to keep Kimmel off the air?

WAGMEISTER: Yes, so, for tonight, Nexstar and Sinclair station groups are not airing Kimmel's show. And those station groups cover roughly 25 percent of the country. So that means that one-fourth of the country will not have access to Kimmel's show live tonight on their local stations.

Now, both of those station groups are going to be airing local news programming instead, and they have said in their respective statements that they are going to keep the conversations ongoing with ABC. We see Sinclair right there saying that they are going to evaluate the show's potential return. So no doubt are these conversations continuing. Of course, ABC wants the show to be available to all of the country, but I do hear from my sources at Disney that they are committed to airing Kimmel's show, they are standing behind him with or without Nexstar and Sinclair. So this will keep airing even if they continue to hold it with their station groups.

FREEMAN: Yes. And, either way, I feel like that monologue is going to get a lot of plays on YouTube certainly by tomorrow morning.

Elizabeth Wagmeister...

WAGMEISTER: I would say.

(LAUGHTER)

FREEMAN: ... thank you so much, as always, for your great reporting. Appreciate you.

All right, still ahead: What started as an investigation into swatting threats turned into something much, much bigger. The Secret Service uncovers what they're calling a hidden electronic maze, one so powerful, it could have crippled New York City's cell system. We have the details coming up next.

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[13:23:55]

KEILAR: As world leaders visit New York for the U.N. General Assembly, CNN has learned about a plot that could have overwhelmed the city's cellular communications.

What began as an investigation into swatting by the Secret Service led them to a server farm. And it's one that could be remotely operated by foreign governments and criminals. And this could go far beyond swatting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MATT MCCOOL, SECRET SERVICE SPECIAL AGENT IN CHARGE: So, what we do know is that foreign governments and criminals located in the United States are using this network to run their organizations. That includes cartels, that includes human traffickers, that includes terrorists are on this network.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now Juliette Kayyem.

I mean, wow, Juliette, to this plot here. Talk to us about the capabilities of this server farm and how surprising this is.

JULIETTE KAYYEM, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: So, it seems like it's out of science fiction, but I think a lot of law enforcement agencies have been anticipating it. In fact, Secret Service has a designated unit at this stage to look at

this capacity and what is this capacity? It is un -- essentially unmanned interruptions of telecommunications systems within the United States. So what they found in New York could be extended anywhere. And it's essentially -- you're not following a culprit. You're just following pings as an investigator.

[13:25:20]

So this started off as swatting. We all know the dangers of swatting, pretending that someone's in harm's way, and then you send police. This started off as swatting, but now it has the capacity to overwhelm telecommunication systems. And who's doing it becomes that much harder, because, look, physical -- the traditional physical print of a human being no longer exists in these investigations.

KEILAR: So do you think agents will ever be able to pinpoint exactly who is behind the network?

KAYYEM: Yes, it's going to take a combination of things.

I mean, one is, look, we have incredible digital forensic capabilities, not just the United States. Lots of countries do. They share information. Organizations are. And I should say the private sector is -- this too, because they're interested in this, are sharing information to try to track the digital fingerprint.

Look, there's still humans involved. We are not in the brave new world yet. People talk. They leave hints. They send money. And that money is traceable. And so there are ways to infiltrate these groups. But what was found in New York was a capacity without a culprit right now.

And that is the scary thing, right, is that you just simply have something that can be incredibly disruptive to our critical infrastructure or our electronic ecosystems. And it's not like a bomb, right? It's something that is in the system. We have -- they play offense, and we continue to build our defenses. That's essentially the way it's going to work.

KEILAR: Juliette, the special agent in charge of the New York field office told CNN, basically, you have got to think of this as one of many networks across the country. You shouldn't be thinking about this in isolation, this is just sort of one thing happening in a vacuum.

What are the implications of that?

KAYYEM: So it's going to require two things. And I think that's absolutely right. The idea that this is just New York is just ridiculous. Look, I mean, we have critical infrastructure throughout the country.

We have bad agents, both foreign and domestic, who would seek to disrupt them. A lot of times, we're looking for meaning like geopolitics. But, sometimes, it is not that meaningful. It is people who can get into these systems, and they seek ransom, they seek money or they just seek disruption for disruption's sake. And so it is going to require lots of intelligence sharing. It's good

that the Secret Service is sort of leading this effort, because it's got a footprint throughout the United States, but it's obviously global. You have got foreign countries that are trying to do it, as well as foreign agents, maybe supported or not supported by their governments, who are seeking to do it.

And it's going to -- I will say one thing. It's going to require the private sector to get super serious both about protecting themselves, but also about disclosures; 70 to 80 percent of our critical infrastructure is owned by the private sector. When these things happen to them, they tend to not tell law enforcement. They will deal with it on their own.

It means we don't have good transparency as a government on what's going on. So you're starting to see changes within the private sector as well.

KEILAR: Yes, seems like it would help to know. It's a very good point that you make there.

KAYYEM: Yes, it would help.

(LAUGHTER)

KEILAR: Juliette Kayyem, thank you very much.

Still ahead: After a speech attacking the United Nations, President Trump says the U.S. is behind the organization 100 percent. We will see how his speech is being received, though, on the world stage next.

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