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Meeting In Moscow; Iran And U.S. Trade Strikes; Race to Rescue. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired September 06, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

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SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello and welcome. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Let's get straight into those headlines. U.S. envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner meeting with Vladimir Putin in Moscow. Details on their next stop as they try to bring an end to that conflict in Ukraine.

The U.S. and Iran trading retaliatory strikes as the tit-for-tat exchanges threaten to escalate the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf.

And 11 days after devastating floods buried parts of Nepal, rescue workers are furiously hoping to find more survivors.

U.S. Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are expected to visit the Ukrainian capital. This will be their first visit to the Ukrainian to discuss ending the war with Russia. And it comes a day after they held similar talks in Moscow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Now, a White House official said both sides discussed, quote, substantive plans for next steps, which will be announced in the coming weeks. And Kremlin officials also hailed the trip as useful and an important peacemaking visit.

Now, Putin struck a warm tone with negotiators during those three-hour talks, but acknowledged that they will face a tall order. Earlier, he ordered Russia to stop striking the Ukrainian capital for three days to coincide with the envoys' visit.

CNN's Julia Benbrook has more on Washington's diplomatic push and the challenges it faces.

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner met at the Kremlin with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday. We have reached out to the White House for more details on that, but we do know that the meetings lasted for roughly three hours, and that the main area of focus was bringing this now years- long conflict to an end.

Moscow is expected to be the first stop of this trip. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that the two are expected to visit Kyiv next, and the visit to the Ukrainian capital would mark the first for the envoys as the country has faced a barrage of Russian missiles in recent weeks. It also comes as Ukraine has been pleading with the United States for more Patriot missiles to intercept those attacks.

Now, President Donald Trump, he is spending his weekend here in New Jersey at one of his properties nearby. But he did speak about this trip last week from the Oval Office, and he said that he is sending great negotiators to essentially see what they can get done here.

He did, though, at the same time, acknowledge the complicated nature of these discussions. And that is notable because when he started his second term, he said repeatedly that this conflict would be easy to bring to an end, and that it would come to an end very quickly after he started this term. He is now saying that he and his team have an idea for peace as these discussions take place. Take a listen.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: No, we have an idea for peace. Look, I said late wars. Most of them were supposed to be, in my opinion, more difficult than Russia-Ukraine. There's a personality problem in Russia-Ukraine. You have President Zelenskyy and President Putin. They truly hate each other. Do you know what hate is? They have serious hate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Previous attempts at reaching a lasting agreement to end Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine stalled last winter after multiple rounds of talks mediated by the United States. Those talks failed to reach a breakthrough over topics including territory and security guarantees.

Traveling with the President in New Jersey, Julia Benbrook, CNN.

ABDELAZIZ: Now to Iran, where yet another exchange of hostilities is threatening to expand the conflict beyond the Persian Gulf after the U.S. military says that it struck three Iranian crude oil tankers. This was on Saturday. Those attacks were retaliation for a ballistic missile attack aimed at two U.S. Navy warships.

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Now, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is threatening to intensify strikes against the U.S. military vessels in the region.

CNN's Eleni Giokos joins us live from Dubai with the latest. Good morning to you, Eleni.

First of all, I mean, it's extraordinary that just yesterday the White House was trying to downplay this war, and now the U.S. military is saying it struck three Iranian tankers. Why did they carry out this attack, Eleni? And how has Iran responded so far? ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've seen is a major escalation in the maritime conflict, Salma, and importantly, what we're seeing here is this was in retaliation to ballistic missiles fired towards two U.S. Navy warships. No damage reported. All personnel are safe, but the United States since targets three Iranian tankers.

I want to take you through all of these. The first, the Downy, which was just off Kharg Island. Kharg Island accounts for 90 percent of Iran's oil exports. That was disabled. The crew, according to Iranian state media, evacuated safely. The second, the Downy, and you can see very precise targeting here on this tanker as well, the crew evacuating and importantly, this one disabled.

Now, I want to talk about the Kylo. The Kylo was in the Gulf of Oman. This initially was disabled according to CENTCOM, and then a few hours ago, CENTCOM releasing very dramatic footage of the Kylo sinking. This is a tanker as well. It was not laden with any crude, which is important, but you can see it there sinking.

And this, of course, is, you know, creating quite a few concerns in terms of the new policy by the United States, a ship for a ship, a tanker for a tanker. The U.S. defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, posting on X, he says, it is simple. If Iran shoots at U.S. ships, we will destroy and sink their oil tankers, and they have to -- all they have to do is stop shooting at U.S. Navy. Iran's oil tanker fleet is defenseless. Iran has no navy or air force. Our planes, ships, and subs can strike them all.

Now, Iran's foreign minister strongly condemning the U.S. actions, and that's in a statement on Saturday, calling the attacks illegal as well as aggressive and saying it's a clear violation of the U.N. Charter.

Now, speaking to Marisks, which is a marine services company, they say that this has now escalated the risk threat in the waterways to extreme, and that is because of the new policy of a ship for a ship, and they explain it this way. They basically say that what we're seeing is the importance of the, the ship for ship, the -- whatever we see, it could further trigger more strikes against Iranian vessels.

Iran will then start targeting merchant vessels even further that are linked to the United States or even escorted and assisted to get through the Strait of Hormuz a-and importantly, this could escalate things further.

Now, ship owners are basically advised to proceed with caution in transiting the Strait of Hormuz because it seems that the rules of engagement have now changed. We have not seen a response by Iran as yet, but they have promised to do so. Salma?

ABDELAZIZ: Eleni Giokos there in Dubai with the latest for us, and very important to note here that negotiations have essentially stalled, which is why the fears of escalation are ever higher. Thank you so much.

The U.S. ambassador to Israel says violent settlers in the West Bank are damaging the country's reputation. Mike Huckabee's comments came during his visit to the occupied territory this weekend as he addressed those mounting attacks against Palestinians.

Our Jeremy Diamond has the latest.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Amid a sharp rise in Israeli settler attacks here in the occupied West Bank, the U.S. ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, came to this Palestinian-American home to meet with local residents and hear their stories of the violence that they have been facing.

I'm here in Turmus Ayya, a, a community, a Palestinian community, where about 80 percent of residents also have American citizenship. And the U.S. ambassador heard firsthand from some of those residents about individuals who've been killed, homes that have been burned i- in Israeli settler attacks. The U.S. ambassador, he has criticized Israeli settler attacks, condemned them as terrorist and criminal acts, but at the same time, he also supports Israeli settlement activity in the West Bank at large.

I pressed the U.S. ambassador on why, if he believes that these settler attacks need to be brought to an end, why he hasn't leveraged the enormous financial, military, and political support that the United States provides to Israel to bring a real end to these attacks.

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MIKE HUCKABEE, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO ISRAEL: How do you know I'm not?

DIAMOND: Well, because the attacks are continuing, sir.

HUCKABEE: Yes, but I think it's important for you to know that I think I've taken as strong and as public a stand as anyone has regarding the lawless behavior of a very small minority, and that's why I'm here today to do that very thing.

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DIAMOND: Do you feel like the Israeli authorities are doing all they can, sir, to confront this settler terrorism, as you call it?

HUCKABE: I don't know. I mean, I would like to think that they are going to take all of our concerns very seriously, and that they will look at it.

DIAMOND: But are you demanding Israeli authorities do more?

HUCKABEE: Well, I don't have the right to demand anything. I'm certainly requesting.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DIAMOND: But many of the Palestinian American residents here didn't really buy the ambassador's explanation, nor did they come away convinced that anything is really going to change in terms of these settler attacks following the ambassador's visit. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YASRI ALQAM, TURMUS AYYA MUNICIPALITY: United States does have the power to pressure Israel to at least arrest these settlers which are known to the authorities. They can identify them one by one, arrest them if they want to. We think we touched his heart, and I think if it were in his power, he would try to do something.

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DIAMOND: The situation here in the West Bank is truly getting worse by the day. The United Nations is recording an average of six Israeli settler attacks a day on Palestinian communities here. More than 1,000 Palestinians have been injured so far this year in settler attacks, and at least 23 Palestinians killed by those same attacks.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Turmus Ayya, the West Bank.

ABDELAZIZ: It is now day 11 since those devastating floods buried entire communities along the border between Nepal and China. But thousands of families are still on edge, not knowing if their missing loved ones are dead or alive. Their hopes grew after two more people were rescued on Saturday. This included a Chinese man who was trapped inside a flooded tunnel. He now says he was actually able to see the flashlights of rescuers for days, but they simply could not hear his cries for help.

The other survivor is a 63-year-old Nepali woman who was stranded in the wreckage of a four-story building. Officials say that her family had already begun preparing her funeral. She suffered a severe leg injury and will soon undergo surgery, but close to 1,400 other people are confirmed dead so far, and more than 5,000 are still missing.

Nepali officials are now asking for DNA samples from relatives of hydropower workers who are still unaccounted for. Officials say that rescue efforts will continue for at least a few more days.

CNN is working to bring you a better picture of the sheer scale of the devastation. Right now, our Simone McCarthy is on the Chinese side of the border on a very rare trip that was organized by the government.

Now, we want to maintain that CNN maintains full editorial control of the coverage, but this is what she witnessed so far.

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SIMONE MCCARTHY, CNN SENIOR CHINA REPORTER: CNN has just reached the disaster zone on the China side of the China-Nepal border after devastating flooding and landslides hit that area late last month. We're a part of a group of just a handful of foreign media that have been given access into this area.

Now, driving in here, the road is completely destroyed. For the past couple of miles leading in, there's gravel coating the road. We see emergency workers lining this area, a lot of heavy machinery trying to rebuild the road. Clearly, the barriers that were once separating this road from this river, which is quite raging right now, were washed away, and so there's these temporary barriers here all, all lining back on the road.

Now, getting access into this area where we're headed next, the Gyirong Port which was a hard-hit land border crossing, basically the first place to have impact from that landslide and flooding, was incredibly difficult as a result of this road being washed out by that disaster. It was basically a week into the disaster that the road was actually reopened just a few days ago, enabling many more rescue workers to actually enter that area where we're about to head next.

Simone McCarthy, CNN, Gyirong Port.

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ABDELAZIZ: Now, the death toll from two explosions that rocked a Bolivian military base on Friday has grown to at least three people, but things could get much worse. The Defense Ministry reports that 14 people are missing and at least 81 others were injured, including two that are in serious condition.

A cabinet minister said the base near the capital La Paz stored pyrotechnic material. However, the cause of those explosions is not yet known, and family members of missing soldiers are, as you can imagine, in distress and demanding answers.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE).

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ABDELAZIZ: A Greek fighter jet has crashed during a popular air show near Athens. Officials say that two pilots were killed. Now, a huge plume of smoke marked the crash site on Saturday. The F-4 Phantom was apparently making a turn just a few meters above the ground before it went down and erupted into a fireball, as you can see there. Messages on loudspeakers urged spectators to leave the area. There were no reports of injuries.

11 firefighting aircraft and helicopters were called in when the flames from the crash spread into a wooded area nearby. You can see them there. The jet was participating in the annual Athens Flying Week, which attracts military and civilian aviation teams from dozens of countries.

We have so much more news for you to come here on CNN Newsroom, including Germans heading to the polls for a crucial state election that could put the far-right AFD party in power. The details are just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) Voting is now underway in key regional races in Eastern Germany that could put the far right in charge of a state government.

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This would be the first time since World War II. The Alternative for Germany party is seeking a win in the eastern state of Saxon-Anhalt. It faced hurdles to more mainstream success, including being blacklisted by a so-called firewall agreement by all the other parties to keep it out of power.

But AFD could get around that if it wins an outright majority. Early results are expected shortly after polls close later today.

And here in England, hundreds of masked anti-immigration protesters blocked roads that were leading to Britain's busiest ferry port in Dover, England. The far-right demonstration on Saturday caused a six- kilometer-long traffic jam. The protesters were chanting, stop the boats. This is a slogan that refers to migrants that are crossing the English Channel.

The British government condemned the disruption, saying it went, quote, well beyond peaceful protest. Access to the Port of Dover has since been restored.

Now to the U.S., where a 21-year-old Iranian woman has been detained by immigration officials for more than a year. She is now facing deportation to a nation where she has no ties or support. The young woman fled Iran after converting to Christianity and says she could face serious threats if she returned to her home country. But as CNN's Rafael Romo explains, being dropped off in the Central African Republic is also very terrifying.

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The detained Iranian woman asked CNN not to reveal her name out of fear that her family in her home country may face persecution, and also because she's afraid that she may face retribution from immigration authorities here in the U.S.

According to her attorney, the 21-year-old woman has been held for 14 months by Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia, located south of Atlanta. Last month, she received a document stating that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security intends to deport her to the Central African Republic, a war- torn country she has no ties to.

I don't know from where the order came that they needed to send me to the Central African Republic, and I had to sign a paper, the Iranian woman told me over the phone, and I was so shocked, so shocked. I was scared and I kept telling them that I wouldn't know what to do in that country. This is making me crazy, she said.

Her attorney, Martin Rosenbluth, told me his client entered the country legally through the Mexican border in 2024, but won what is known as a withholding of removal case, which used to mean she could stay in the country. Rosenbluth also told me her arrest at her apartment here in Atlanta in June of last year was completely unnecessary because she had been fully compliant with immigration authorities.

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MARTIN ROSENBLUTH, IMMIGRATION ATTORNEY: They handcuffed her, they shackled her, and they took her to the Stewart Detention Center in Lumpkin, Georgia. And there was no need for it. She was fully cooperating. And she's 20 years old. I mean, she's a child. She's a kid. And they arrested her in this brutal manner and took her to the Stewart Detention Center.

ROMO: Did she have a criminal background?

ROSENBLUTH: No, sir, nothing at all. And, again, I know -- I've said this, but, I mean, she was fully cooperating with ICE. She was doing everything she was supposed to.

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ROMO: During our telephone interview, I asked the Iranian woman why she fled Iran in the first place, and she told me the following, quote, I left Iran because I converted to Christianity. I was born a Muslim and I converted to Christianity, and we had some problems with the IRGC, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, so I had to leave the country.

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ROSENBLUTH: She converted to Christianity from Islam, and in Iran, that is a death sentence. So, I mean, she came here because she didn't have any choice. I mean, she came here because she was in fear of her life, that she would be killed by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard.

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ROMO: Rosenbluth said they are trying to block ICE from sending her to the Central African Republic even though she won her asylum case and proved it was unsafe for her to go back to Iran.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told CNN the following, if an illegal alien chooses to file a claim in court refusing to go to their home country, we are required by law to find a safe and secure nation for them to go to. To be clear, a pending application does not confer legal status in the United States.

According to Rosenbluth, an immigration judge has granted a stay of removal and a motion to reconsider, which means his client cannot be deported before September 17 when she's scheduled to have a hearing.

Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

ABDELAZIZ: A powerful Category 4 hurricane is churning towards Hawaii, where a state of emergency is now in effect.

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Hurricane Lowell has been fluctuating between a Category 4 and 5 storm. On Saturday, its winds reached up to 150 miles an hour. That's about 250 kilometers an hour.

Now, it is expected to turn north in the coming hours, putting Hawaii's western islands in its potential path early this week.

Our Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has this forecast for us.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It feels like deja vu all over again, talking about yet again another system that could impact Hawaii. This is Hurricane Lowell. It is well south of the islands right now, but it's expected to make that sharp turn to the right or the north and bringing impacts to the islands here in about the next 24 to 36 hours.

Now, we mention the deja vu factor here because this is the third storm in just as many weeks. Now, we had Lala that came first. That was the one that brought very heavy rainfall across the Big Island. Some flooding, high surf occurred with that. The second one was Moke. This one stayed a little bit farther south of the islands and then just kind of continued its trek out to the west.

Lowell is taking a similar path up to now, but we expect the storm to continue to slide off to the north once it makes that rightward turn.

Now, the real question is, how quickly does it make that turn? That's really what's going to be the biggest factor in how much of an impact the western islands of Hawaii end up getting from this particular storm.

Now, the reason why we've had so many storms back-to-back is because of the extremely warm temperatures that are in the Pacific. Now, we've already started to see the impacts from El Nino across this region, warming those waters even more, but as more and more storms kind of come through here, we all know warm water is fuel for hurricanes and tropical systems, and that's why we continue to see a lot of these storms continue to develop.

Now, this particular one, more of the models are finally starting to come into a little bit better agreement with this particular storm about when it's going to make that sharp turn off to the right or north and really kind of mainly focus over the extreme western portion of Hawaii.

Now, this doesn't mean they won't get any impacts. In fact, Kauai and much of Kauai County is still expected to have some heavy rainfall, very high surf, and the potential for some mudslides and landslides.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. Quest's World of Wonder is up next.

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(QUEST'S WORLD OF WONDER)

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