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CNN International: World Leaders Attend UNGA Amid Wars In Middle East, Ukraine; Zelensky Arrives In New York, Plans To Meet With Trump; Video Shows Strike Impact In Southwestern Yemen. Aired 4:30-5a ET
Aired September 22, 2026 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR: The ongoing U.S. war with Iran and Russia's war on Ukraine. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is in New York for the General Assembly. He says Ukraine is pushing to strengthen its air defenses and says, "A new drone deal is also ready to be signed."
Mr. Zelenskyy is set to meet with several world leaders, including the U.S. president, of course, and on Monday, Donald Trump renewed his calls for Russia's war in Ukraine to end. He says one reason is because Russia has, "lost control of its diesel oil industry." This comes a day after Ukraine launched a major drone attack on the Moscow region, damaging one of Russia's largest oil refineries.
Mr. Zelenskyy says Ukraine is targeting facilities that bring in quote billions of dollars to fuel Russia's war machine, but Mr. Trump says it's causing a diesel shortage at a time when the U.S. war with Iran is already spiking global prices, and last week he asked Ukraine to stop.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've asked President Zelenskyy not to hit the diesel plants, refineries.
REPORTER: Is it potentially that?
TRUMP: Because that's what's driving it up.
REPORTER: Is it potentially --
TRUMP: Wait a minute. The diesel is being driven up by the fact that it's having a hard time coming out of Russia, and that's a case that hurts the world. We got to stop it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Discussions on Russia's war with Ukraine are just one of a wide array of topics on the schedule for the UN General Assembly. In the coming hours, the general debate session and other high-level briefings are set to begin. Here's what we're keeping an eye on. We're expecting a meeting today between Venezuela's Interim President Delcy Rodriguez and President Trump. This will actually be the first time that they are meeting in person, following the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.
President Trump will also take part in a signing ceremony for a new security agreement with Greenland and Denmark. The president says it gives the U.S. "permanent control over Greenland's security, and it bars any adversary from establishing military bases on the island."
Artificial intelligence is also high on the agenda, especially for outgoing UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. China is a key player in that industry, but it is unknown if Chinese leader Xi Jinping will make time to appear at that summit. He's due to meet with President Trump this week in Washington. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent stressed the importance of the U.S. and China being on the same page about A.I.
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SCOTT BESSENT, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We think that just -- just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the -- the number one and the number two A.I. powers in the world very important.
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ABDELAZIZ: To preview this meeting between the U.S. and China, we have Kayla Blomquist. She is Co-Founder and Executive Director of the Oxford China Policy Lab. Thank you so much for being on with us today. Honestly, I'm just going to start with the most obvious question here, which is, can we actually expect anything meaningful to come out of this meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping?
KAYLA BLOMQUIST, CO-FOUNDER & EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, OXFORD CHINA POLICY LAB: Well, thank you so much for having me, and it's really interesting timing just before their meeting directly because there have actually been talks already underway between the U.S. Treasury Secretary and the Chinese Vice Premier, among others, that started on Sunday in New York, and actually, there were some productive discussions with some forward movement.
Essentially, both sides have now agreed to continue talks on A.I. and its risks and governance in ways that don't necessarily rise to the occasion of what some are calling for -- for a slowdown, a pause, or other more extreme measures to get on top of these risks. However, it is better than nothing to agree to keep talking.
The U.S. side has reported that they have requested more formal information sharing on incident reporting from A.I. incidents. The Chinese side has not necessarily reported the same thing on their end, but the agreement to continue having formal dialog on the topics is something, and it will be interesting to keep an eye on throughout the week.
Hopefully, we can see more high-level kind of from leader-to-leader agreement to formalize those -- those lines of communication, which hopefully then would actually be very concrete in the -- the ways that certain you know risks and their incidents are documented, quantified, and lead to further gathering of evidence that will then lead to tangible policy on both fronts, domestically and internationally.
[04:35:00]
ABDELAZIZ: We've seen these sorts of -- of communication channels. We call them deconfliction channels in other conflicts as well, and it seems to be sort of what you are describing here. But I want to dig into this further. What would cross border cooperation actually look like, especially given that there is, of course, a very fierce competition between these two countries on A.I.
BLOMQUIST: It's very tricky, especially given the dual use nature of A.I. as a technology. You know, there are so many economic benefits, very you know every day uses. At the same time, there are military as well as other concerns, especially with down state actors that might have more malicious intent.
Of course, we've seen this year a huge rise in cyber capabilities from models such as Mythos, but not exclusively that one. There are also concerns around risks of you know biology, you know innovations and use of weaponization there. So there -- it's very dual use. It is also cross cutting across so many layers of the economy, layers of security. I think that in a way, the -- the discussions from -- from here on out need to be very wide ranging and have different segments within them that also move towards information collection on what are the risks that are manifesting.
But also, not in a backward looking way, what is coming. We cannot wait for some of these risks on the more extreme end to manifest before there is government action taken. Now that is different from other perhaps needs as the technology continues to take up even more rapid development, such as slow-down agreements that will be -- that would require verification mechanisms from both sides to see that the other side and the industry as well as military level is actually slowing down. There's a ways to go in terms of articulating.
ABDELAZIZ: So, let me let me very quickly let me very quickly just ask you what -- what would a successful summit look like? Give me a checklist at 1-2-3, if these things are accomplished, that is a job done.
BLOMQUIST: It'll be a successful summit if the talks from Sunday, agreeing for further formalized structured dialog, is reaffirmed at the highest levels of leadership, and really starting to spell out the details of that. We also want to see an absence of the adding fuel to the A.I. race fire, both on the rhetoric side and from the tangible action side on both the U.S. and Chinese fronts, and so the absence actually of this rhetoric and follow-on action is a success, and it's not a guarantee in the competitive environment that we're seeing.
So that would allow for continued fleshing out of what meaningful collaboration will look like as things unfold.
ABDELAZIZ: Kayla Blomquist, there on what to look for and what we don't want to see. Of course, that rhetoric you mentioned that inflammatory rhetoric in these meetings coming up between China and the U.S. where A.I. will be at the top of the agenda. Thank you.
BLOMQUIST: Thank you.
ABDELAZIZ: Coming up next on CNN Newsroom, tough choices. How people with chronic illnesses are coping with crippling pressure on Iran's health care system. The details when we come back.
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ABDELAZIZ: New video appears to show the moment of an airstrike on Yemen's southwestern coast. Video posted on social media shows people gathered at a rest stop off of a main road as a projectile hits the ground and causes a massive explosion. This took place some 300 kilometers south of the capital Sanaa.
It is not clear where the projectile came from or who fired it, but it comes as Iran-backed Houthi rebels carry out a major offensive in their war with the Saudi-backed government. The Houthi militants' latest campaign to capture territory is creating nothing but misery for Yemeni civilians. This is according to the United Nations.
Nearly 700 people have been killed and thousands injured in the latest advance, and more than 120,000 people have been displaced within the country. Many of them separated from their loved ones. One man explains how his family was scattered as they fled the Houthi's arrival, with three of his eight children now trapped in rebel- controlled territory.
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JAMEEL SALEM, DISPLACED YEMENI (through translator): Now we are here, and we don't have anything with us. And the strikes, the strikes are fierce above us. We left in the middle of the clashes; you barely managed to escape with your life. You couldn't carry a thing or take anything.
At the moment, I am worried about my children. I want to see them. I want to visit them. No school, nothing. They're deprived in every way. God willing, I'll visit them, but I don't have the means to get to them.
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ABDELAZIZ: Now, the UN says it is ramping up its response to this humanitarian crisis in Yemen. The World Food Program says it is hoping to reach hundreds of thousands of people with hot meals and critical food supplies, as more than half of the population face acute food insecurity. Yemen imports 90 percent of its food. This is according to the agency, and -- and all of that is dangerously impacted by the war and, of course, soaring energy prices.
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CARK SKAU, ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: The IDP camps outside Aden that I visited are already overstretched. Our operations there are underfunded. You know, people are not eating enough. There is no healthcare, and these are the places where you now see tens of thousands of newly arrived people again with nothing and having had their -- their lives disrupted.
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ABDELAZIZ: U.S. sanctions, rampant inflation, and a collapsing economy are all crippling Iran's ability to treat people with chronic illnesses. Severe shortages and daily price increases are forcing many to cut doses or to self-medicate as President Trump ratchets up his maximum pressure campaign on Tehran. U.S. and Israeli airstrikes earlier this year damaged more than 40 pharmaceutical companies and suppliers. This is according to Iranian officials. CNN's Leila Gharagozlou has this report for us.
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LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: What is brave when you are dying? That's what a 55-year-old woman in Iran, recently diagnosed with cancer, told CNN. She is just one of millions of Iranians impacted by the shortage of medicine in the country. Unaffordable medication, shortages and under dosing. Some even unable to be treated for late- stage cancer. These are just some of the struggles ordinary Iranians told CNN they're facing.
[04:45:00]
So, how did Iran get here? The dire strait of the Iranian pharmaceutical industry is a result of a few factors. In late March, Israel struck the factory of a major Iranian pharmaceutical company Tofigh Daru, which is responsible for producing active ingredients found in anti-cancer drugs and anesthetics, claiming the company produced substances used for research and development of chemical weapons.
Iran's former foreign minister Javad Zarif identified the company in an X post, and in April, U.S.-Israeli strikes hit the Pasteur Institute, a pillar of Iran's public medical system focused on medical research and vaccine development. This, combined with the ongoing blockade and President Trump's sanctions, have decimated the industry.
The Head of the Food and Drug Administration in Iran, Mehdi Pir Salehi, addressed the rising prices and difficulties of war earlier this week.
MEHDI PIR SALEHI, HEAD, IRAN FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION (through translator): With the current economic situation, the shortages of vital medicines is as minimal as possible. But if they were in short supply before this war, then they are still in short supply. However, brand medications are nearly unavailable. GHARAGOZLOU: Iran's struggling insurance system plays another role in the growing problem. The system is nearly bankrupt due to mismanagement and the lack of oil revenue coming in because of the U.S. blockade on Iranian ports. While sanctions allow for some exemptions, the layered and complicated nature of Trump's maximum pressure sanctions have created its own problems, over compliance.
Eric Ferrari, Founder and Managing Shareholder of Ferrari and Associates is a lawyer who focuses on U.S. sanctions and national security law. He says this is one of the biggest issues when looking at the shortage of medication in Iran.
ERIC FERRARI, FOUNDER, FERRARI & ASSOCIATES: If you don't have banks to process transactions, transactions don't get done. So that's kind of the first level of it. The second level of it is if you don't have distributors that are willing to -- to sell the products, or you don't have manufacturers that are willing to let their products be sold, then it impairs the ability for that type of medicine or that type of item to flow into Iran, and it limits the access to it within Iran.
There's a lot of exemptions and guidance under the law that allows humanitarian relief to flow to Iran. The problem is you have private parties, financial institutions, distributors, manufacturers that have concerns about whether or not one, they're in full compliance with the law, just from kind of a structural perspective, but also whether the parties that they're dealing with in Iran or the parties that might be involved in processing the transactions in Iran, fall within sanctions programs.
When you take that and you marry it alongside these massive penalties that have been imposed upon banks and others for violating Iran sanctions, in particular, you have an environment in which financial institutions and others who are necessary to engage in this activity over comply with the law out of -- out of fear that they might not fall strictly within the letter of the law.
GHARAGOZLOU: Iranian officials are continuing to try to import the necessary medication, including the flu vaccine as they head into winter months, looking to China and India to help alleviate the shortages. However, both the country's Health Minister and the head of its FDA have said imports from Europe specifically have been more difficult than ever. Leila Gharagozlou, CNN, Abu Dhabi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Still to come this hour, a collision in space has changed the look of our moon. Why scientists call it a once-in-a-lifetime event. Coming up next.
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[04:50:00]
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ABDELAZIZ: Welcome back. A new book by Princess Diana's brother Earl Spencer is set to be released today, entitled "Swan Song." The book features explosive claims about the People's Princess, her fraught marriage to now King Charles, and the aftermath of her death, including a perceived "lack of obvious care for Diana's children, Harry and William."
Earl Spencer also claims that on a call to his former brother-in-law, after learning of Diana's death, then Princess Charles sounded "giddily elated, like a lottery winner." Buckingham Palace has issued a rare and forceful denial of Earl Spencer's account, saying the King is mindful that "the pain of fraternal grief can cloud reason, affect judgment, and color memory."
Scientists say the moon has a relatively new battle scar. This is after a violent run-in with a space rock; they believe a comet or asteroid about the size of three to six-story building hit the moon surface two years ago. The impact left a crater 43 meters, or about 141 feet deep, and 222 meters, or 728 feet wide. Scientists say it is the largest newly formed crater they have ever found in the solar system.
And for the first time, the U.S. military has officially admitted that it has put weapons in space. This is according to the Air Force Secretary. It's a measure to maintain U.S. dominance not only in the air but in space and to deal with threats from hostile nations. CNN's Michael Yoshida has more on this curious case.
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MICHAEL YOSHIDA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Right now, it's not clear what's been deployed to Earth's orbit or when. But experts we spoke with say the acknowledgement itself is a big deal because for years countries have talked around this issue, but now with the U.S. saying it publicly, it could change how the U.S. and other countries approach security in space.
TROY MEINK, U.S. AIR FORCE SECRETARY: The United States now has on orbit space control weapons.
YOSHIDA: For the first time, the United States military saying publicly it has weapons in space.
DR. JESSICA WEST, SENIOR RESEARCHER, PROJECT PLOUGHSHARES: Fundamentally, the technology and anything in orbit didn't change this week. What changed is acknowledgement.
YOSHIDA: Security experts say military activity in space is not new. For years, the U.S. Russia, and China have accused each other of building capabilities that could threaten satellites, jam communications, interfere with GPS and more.
[04:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are seeing the space domain being more contested.
YOSHIDA: Some see the announcement as a warning to other countries; the U.S. can and will respond forcefully to threats in space.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is an opportunity for the United States to just remind people, the public, it's not just the Chinese that we're watching the Chinese and the Russians, and we are being comparable to them. We are meeting what they are doing.
YOSHIDA: Others worry saying it out loud could make weapons in space feel more normal and make escalation more likely.
THOMAS GONZALEZ ROBERTS, DIRECTOR, GEORGIA TECH'S ENGINEERING SPACE POLICY LABORATORY: When states invite one another for more demonstrations, more tests, part of a natural deterrence framework, we enter into a tricky pattern of a warmness to escalation.
YOSHIDA: And because so much of daily life now relies on satellites and other technology in space, what happens in orbit can have real consequences here on Earth.
WEST: Space is the highway of our world when it comes to essential services, critical infrastructure, the data that we use day to day, our economies. This is not a space where we want to see, you know, open armed confrontation.
YOSHIDA: And that's why those we spoke with say they hope more transparency in conversations and potentially more international rules or guardrails will follow this announcement by the United States in Washington. I'm Michael Yoshida.
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ABDELAZIZ: Now, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, Americans are drinking less alcohol. This is according to a new study in the Annals of Internal Medicine, drinking among Gen Z adults between the ages of 18 and 29 dropped by more than 5 percent, and heavy drinking among millennials ages 30 to 49 was down 17 percent. However, the study's author says rates of alcohol use are still higher than before the pandemic.
Thank you so much for watching. I'm Salma Abdelaziz. CNN Headline Express, that's coming up next.
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