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Iranian and Ukrainian Leaders to Speak Before U.N. General Assembly Today; DOJ Gives Opinion Ahead of Today's Hearing on Barring CNN and Two Other Media Outlets at the White House. Aired 3-3:45a ET

Aired September 23, 2026 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to our viewers around the world, I'm Polo Sandoval, live in New York, and ahead here on "CNN Newsroom."

Leaders of two nations currently engaged in separate wars, getting ready to address the United Nations in the coming hours, but will diplomacy prevail for Iran and Ukraine?

And the Department of Justice filing an 11th hour opinion ahead of today's court hearing on President Trump's media ban. Why the DOJ argues that keeping some outlets out of the White House complex is a matter of national security.

And a lot has changed since Chinese leader Xi Jinping last state visit to the U.S. more than a decade ago, most of it in Beijing's favor. We'll preview the Chinese leader's upcoming trip to Washington.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from New York, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Polo Sandoval.

SANDOVAL: Right now, the leaders of two nations currently at war are in the coming hours, and it's likely to make for a day of headline- making speeches at the United Nations here in New York. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is set to speak in the morning, and after Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian gives his speech from the podium.

And that comes the day after President Zelenskyy's meeting with his U.S. counterpart. Mr. Zelenskyy says he got no concrete answer about whether the U.S. will offer more interceptors to protect against any future Russian attacks. President Trump reiterated his common refrain that he thinks Ukraine and Russia will make a deal to end the war, but he offered no details about this potential agreement.

Iran's President is here in New York already, and President Trump's special envoy says that the U.S. and Iranian delegations engaged in so-called lengthy talks through mediators on the sidelines of the UNGA on Tuesday. Well meanwhile, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is warning the U.S. against any new attacks on the country. State media is reporting that the IRGC spokesperson says that Washington would gain, quote, nothing but failure if they did. And this comes as President Trump says that he is weighing two critical options regarding Iran.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran, or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?

But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Let's look ahead now at future UNGA developments and go live to CNN's Leila Gharagozlou, who's following those developments from Doha. Leila, it's good to see you.

I was speaking to a political scientist yesterday, Benjamin Radd, who reminded us that Iran's constitution says that it's the supreme leader who ultimately makes any sort of war-related decision. So if that's the case, then, you know, in the hours ahead, what are we likely to hear from Iran's President that might help, you know, reengage these peace talks?

LEILA GHARAGOZLOU, CNN PRODUCER: Hi, Polo. Yes, so it is the supreme leader who essentially has all decision-making power ultimately in Iran.

But, of course, with the assassination of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, things have changed, and it's unlikely that Mojtaba Khamenei, the new supreme leader, is going to have the same scope of power that we saw with the previous supreme leader. So we're going to have to watch what comes out of Tehran very closely.

Now, when it comes to what Masoud Pezeshkian could say, he's likely to reiterate what he's been saying over the last seven months, which is that Iran wants to make a deal, but they don't trust the U.S. ultimately when it comes to being able to keep a deal on the table, and echoing what the IRGC has said, that if the U.S. hits Iran, they will hit back harder.

Now, as you said, the IRGC spokesperson did make comments yesterday. He said that there are new targets and new weapons that could be used if the U.S. escalates this. So we have to see how things play out over the next couple of days.

Now, I do think it's really extraordinary that we saw the U.S. President come to the podium and essentially say that he could send back this country to hell on a global stage before the United Nations. So this is a very extraordinary UNGA that we're seeing. [03:05:04]

And Pezeshkian might even address the comments that we heard from President Trump. So we're going to have to see what happens between those two. But obviously, on the sidelines, we're also seeing the talks that have happened between Witkoff and Aragchi, the Iranian foreign minister.

So there are incremental moves going forward. A lot of different things at play. The other thing that I think is important to mention is that today, September 23rd, is when that airline ban comes in.

The airline sanctions that Scott Bessent, Secretary of Treasury, announced just a couple of weeks ago and then brought back up earlier this week on CNBC. So all Iranian airliners, civilian airliners, are sanctioned. They're not going to be able to fly or land in different countries starting today.

This is going to be very significant. So a lot of different moving parts, Polo.

SANDOVAL Yes, absolutely. Leila Gharagozlu, thank you so much for that live reporting from Doha.

Let's keep the conversation going when it comes to UNGA and head over to Robin Niblett. Robin is the warden of the New College at Oxford, he's also a distinguished fellow and former director at Chatham House, also the author of "After America." He joins me now from London.

Robin, thank you so much for joining us.

ROBIN NIBLETT, WARDEN, NEW COLLEGE, OXFORD, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW AND FORMER DIRECTOR, CHATHAM HOUSE, AND AUTHOR, "AFTER AMERICA": Pleasure, Polo. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Of course. So let's look ahead to some of these speeches that we expect. But also before we do that, I wonder if we could look back at that extraordinary moment that Leila was just talking about, President Trump renewing his threat to, quote, "annihilate Iran" during his UNGA remarks.

With the President being unable to produce a peaceful end to this conflict already over seven months in, do you think that he's willing to actually escalate the war?

NIBLETT: I think it's highly unlikely, not just because of the impacts that such an escalation would have on energy prices and the likely situation of the U.S. economy and gas prices there ahead of the midterms and more generally for the state of America. My reading of how President Trump uses these kinds of statements is as part of a negotiating leverage. So you've got comments about annihilation.

He doesn't really care about using terms like that at the U.N. General Assembly. Those kind of comments sitting alongside an announcement of a resumption of negotiations between his two key negotiators, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, with the Iranians. So I think the way he uses this phraseology is, I threaten to hit them with one hand and I reach out with the other hand to negotiate with them.

So it's very hard to predict exactly what President Trump is going to do. But right now my reading would be is this was a tactical statement rather than a true threat.

SANDOVAL: How do you think some of the world leaders in the room responded to what you describe as this tactical statement? Do you think they even consider it credible?

NIBLETT: Well, I'm sorry to say that I think after, you know, two years pretty much of Trumpian statements, I think people realize that he can bring the force of his military capability in America to bear, as they've done in Venezuela and obviously as they've done in Iran.

But there's always a large sort of pinch of salt and an appreciation that they're watching theater as much as they're watching diplomacy. And more broadly, I feel there's a kind of slightly surreal air to this U.N. General Assembly.

You know, you don't have President Xi attending. He is in fact going to be going to Washington, as you know, today for bilateral meetings with President Trump.

Obviously, you don't have President Putin there, you don't believe you have Indian leader Modi. You know, we've had the BRICS summit, Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa meeting just 10 days ago, talking about the future of global governance.

But this is one of many stages at the moment, I'm afraid, in a kind of splintering of global governance, in my opinion. And we also watched closely what happens during those sideline meetings.

SANDOVAL: As you know, Robin, one of those, President Trump's special envoy for peace apparently met with some of Iran's delegation indirectly through mediators for three hours and said that those talks were good, apparently. Do you expect the Israeli delegation, for example, to see this as Iran merely buying more time? Or could it be a legitimate effort at restarting peace talks?

NIBLETT: I think the Israeli government must appreciate that President Trump sees Israeli interests as one set of American interests, not always the dominant interests. I think the Israeli government of Bibi Netanyahu would like to have seen America and Israel press their military advantage and undertake more military operations which have not taken place.

They've seen the kind of deals that President Trump has been willing to do with other leaders, and I think they'll be watching these negotiations with a lot of trepidation and concern. The danger is that the Islamic regime, although severely weakened economically, could come out of this conflict more entrenched than it was before.

[03:10:06]

And the way I see it, with a new sort of front line of protection that runs down the Gulf rather than along the front line with Syria and Lebanon, which is kind of where the Iranians were trying to defend themselves from before. And when the Gulf is on the front line, America gets much more involved in protecting the status quo, because they want those energy exports to be coming out of the Strait of Hormuz as soon as possible.

SANDOVAL: Robin, in the last minute I have with you, maybe you could help us look forward to the remarks that we're expecting to hear today from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He obviously just recently said that Kyiv would be willing to halt those attacks on Russian energy infrastructure if the Kremlin would be able to do the same. So what are you expecting to hear during his UNGA address today?

NIBLETT: You know, President Zelenskyy's in a very difficult position. Obviously, he's talking to President Trump as he's on that stage. While they've been successful on the Ukrainian side with these deep strikes into Russian territory, clearly having a severe impact on Russian refining capacity and exports, they themselves are under absolute sustained attack, unlike anything they've seen since 2022.

So I think he'll be using this speech to try to get leverage actually with President Trump to try and get some more Patriot interceptors to try to block some of the missile attacks that have taken place against them. He knows that for America now, Iran and the conflict in Ukraine are becoming interlinked because the halting oil supplies from Russia are now mounting up alongside the halt of oil and gas supplies from the Gulf. So for them, for Zelenskyy, he's now playing three-level chess, I think, with President Trump.

SANDOVAL: Yes, and that last point, certainly speaking to how people around the world are directly feeling the impact of these conflicts. We will be watching together what will likely be another eventful day at the U.N. Robin Niblett, thank you so much for helping us preview that.

NIBLETT: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Well President Trump's trip to New York has not received the coverage that it normally would. That's because major T.V. networks are standing in solidarity with CNN amid the White House's media ban declining to replace the President's pool coverage. And we've just learned in the past few hours exactly how the Trump administration plans to defend that decision in court today.

A late-night filing from the Justice Department is arguing that the President can shut reporters out of the White House grounds or to protect national security. It reads in part, quote, "At the very least the government may control reporters' access to restricted Presidential areas, such as the Oval Office, even for viewpoint- discriminatory reasons."

It goes on to say, "The President has found that plaintiffs have engaged in a number of reporting incidents that have threatened national security. Such reporting directly raises national security concerns."

And this comes as the first lady appeared to break with the President's media ban, approving CNN as well as Politico's press credentials at a sidelined event at Tuesday's UNGA. CNN's Betsy Klein with more on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: This appears to be a symbolic break between the President and first lady on this issue of press freedom. President Trump over the weekend implementing that ban on CNN, M.S. NOW, and Politico amid what he deemed to be unfair coverage at the White House. First lady Melania Trump, however, appears to be taking a different approach here.

Now, the office of the first lady approved credentials for both CNN and Politico to cover an event she was hosting on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. This was part of her Fostering the Future Together coalition. It's aimed at bolstering resources for children with education and technology.

And she also appeared to take a different approach from the President on this issue of artificial intelligence. As the President is pushing to move full steam ahead, the first lady offering a more cautious tone on A.I. safety and responsibility for children.

Now, CNN's credential for this event was approved on Sunday, one day after the President's ban went into effect. Those three outlets, CNN, Politico, and M.S. NOW, have filed a First Amendment lawsuit and it is going to go to a hearing on Wednesday.

Now, the first lady is meticulously involved in the details around her public appearances and other events, including the substance of her remarks, the diplomatic message that she's choosing to send with her outfit choices, as well as a very fine attention to the minutia of her press releases. She is aware of the ban, according to a source familiar with the matter, and her office had discretion over whether it was going to approve the credentials of those two outlets.

Now, the decision to approve them really underscores the role that Melania Trump has played, independent of her husband and really doing things her way.

[03:15:07]

Now, she lives away from the White House most of the time. She keeps a very small inner circle, she also has a portfolio of initiatives that is very neatly tailored. However, she does remain one of her husband's most trusted and influential advisors.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Well, there's so much ahead here on this hour of "CNN Newsroom," including preparations for the arrival of Chinese leader Xi Jinping in Washington. We just talked a little bit about that. We'll keep the conversation going and more on the plans for his summit with President Trump.

And also, the very latest on a storm that may be uniquely named, but certainly posing a very serious threat, Mexico preparing for Hurricane Polo, rapidly growing just off the country's Pacific coast. We'll have details on this Category 5 storm in a moment. Stay with us.

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SANDOVAL: Well Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to arrive in Washington on Wednesday for a summit with President Donald Trump. It's unclear whether Xi will also appear at the U.N. General Assembly.

The leaders are expected to discuss artificial intelligence, trade, and national security. China's ambassador to the U.S. also warning that Taiwan and human rights are red lines that the U.S. should not cross.

And Xi's visit is drawing some criticism from some lawmakers who question the decision to host a Chinese leader at a state dinner amid these rising tensions between the two countries.

CNN's Ivan Watson joins me now live from Hong Kong. So, Ivan, help us preview this visit and also how China is characterizing what we could expect in the coming hours.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Sure. Well, we're expecting President Trump to personally greet Xi Jinping when he arrives in the U.S. at Joint Base Andrews, expected Wednesday evening at the tarmac. As for Xi Jinping, well, state media in China has put out this quote from him saying, quote, "we must make it work and never mess it up."

And that's referencing the bilateral relationship between the U.S. and China, which Xi Jinping has described as the most important in the world between the world's two largest economies. The question of what they'll be discussing, well, a big issue is trade. Of course, last year, President Trump launched a trade war against China and Xi Jinping fought him to a truce, effectively, by limiting China's near export of rare earths and critical minerals so that they're enjoying a truce.

The Treasury Secretary from the U.S., Scott Bessent, met with Chinese counterparts and the U.S. trade representative in New York on Sunday. And he said that he had raised the possibility of creating guardrails for the U.S. and China when it comes to artificial intelligence. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, UNITED STATES TREASURY SECRETARY: We think that just like with any cross-border activity, that moving from opaque to more transparency between the number one and the number two A.I. powers in the world, very important.

(END VIDEO CLIP) WATSON: The thing is, the U.S. and China are very much in an A.I. race to develop this technology. And it's much more popular, according to polls, in China than it is in the U.S., where it's greeted with a lot of suspicion. So it's not clear how much the Chinese will be willing to adopt some of these suggestions of guardrails and regulations, since they already have some of their own in place.

There are other areas, of course, of discussion. We've heard from the U.S. trade representative talking about a board of trade identifying products where both sides could reduce tariffs to allow more trade that are not sensitive products.

U.S. officials have said that China has not followed through on previous pledges to purchase American agriculture and airplanes and hasn't released enough of those rare earths and critical minerals to American corporations. So there's a whole lot to discuss here. And then both leaders have some challenges at home.

The Chinese economy isn't growing at the rate that it was growing some ten years ago. There's high youth unemployment. But Xi Jinping is not facing the challenges and headwinds that President Trump is facing, notably low polls in surveys and an upcoming midterm election where it's really unclear what will happen.

In addition, Trump is mired in a Middle East war with no end in sight in Iran, and he would likely like some help from China when it comes to this, putting pressure on Iran. China is Iran's largest trading partner. Polo.

SANDOVAL: CNN's Ivan Watson with that live report from Hong Kong. Thank you so much, Ivan.

Let's talk weather now.

Hurricane Polo strengthening off the Pacific coast of Mexico, the Category 5 storm. It is one of the strongest storms that we've seen this year, at least this season, with wind gusts of some 180 miles per hour. CNN's Valeria Leon has more on the storm and also the preparations that are underway in Mexico right now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The storm is already being felt along Mexico's coast, and authorities are warning of flooding and landslides. In the state of Colima, the effects of the hurricane are already visible. Umbrellas flap under heavy winds along the empty beaches that are usually teeming with tourists this time of the year.

[03:25:05]

Navy search and rescue teams have been deployed to coastal areas with equipment ready if they are needed. The military has also mobilized to respond to the storm. Heavy rain has already flooded some streets in Colima, and with more rain expected, authorities are warning of landslides and flash flooding. President Claudia Sheinbaum is urging people in the affected states to keep up with protection updates. The U.S. Embassy has also issued a weather alert for Americans along Mexico's Pacific coast and on the Baja Peninsula, warning of heavy rain and dangerous ocean currents.

And with a storm that has intensified this quickly, conditions can change fast.

LEON: So for communities along the coast, every hour to prepare matters.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: And there's still much more ahead here in this hour of "CNN Newsroom." Iran's President, only hours away from speaking at the U.N. General Assembly. What we can expect to hear from him? We'll be right back.

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SANDOVAL: Hi, everybody. Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York, and these are today's top stories.

The Justice Department is responding to a lawsuit from CNN, M.S. NOW, and Politico after President Trump banned those media outlets from the White House. It says that the President can shut out reporters at will or to protect national security information. The media outlets are expected to ask the judge for their access to be restored during an emergency hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

President Trump appearing to be taking a friendlier tone about the deal with the prime ministers of Greenland and Denmark. That deal giving the U.S. quote "permanent control" over Greenland security but it's not clear exactly how much of it will differ from the decades-old pact that already allows a U.S. military presence in the territory. The prime ministers also praised the agreement, saying that it respects Greenland's right to self-determination.

The President of Iran is in New York at this hour, ahead of the U.N. General Assembly speech that's scheduled for today. Masoud Pezeshkian's arrival came as the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps is warning the U.S. against launching new attacks. State media reporting, the IRGC spokesperson says that Washington would gain quote "nothing but failure if they did."

Meanwhile, President Trump's war with Iran is growing more unpopular among Americans each passing month. A new CNN poll is finding that almost two-thirds say that the U.S. is not winning this conflict and more believe that President Donald Trump isn't doing enough to end it. A source is telling CNN that President Trump has expressed to his advisers that he would like to meet with the Iranian delegation if the conditions are right, he said.

Meanwhile, President Trump's special envoy revealed the U.S. and Iranian delegations engaged in lengthy talks through mediators on the UNGA's sidelines on Tuesday. Those talks came as President Trump said that he's considering one of two options in the war with Iran.

Here they are.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: But I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran, or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness or generations?

But I believe we'll make a deal right after the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Acting Venezuelan President Delcy Rodriguez, also in New York, hailing her talks with President Trump as historic. Tuesday meeting was their first since the U.S. military captured and also deposed former President Nicolas Maduro. Rodriguez is expected to address the General Assembly today.

CNN has asked the White House whether President Trump plans to speak with Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

Still to come here on "CNN Newsroom," health warnings on social media that could prove more effective than simple screen time reminders. When we come back, a new study testing the idea and finds that some of those warnings may actually change how users are logging on.

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[03:35:00]

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SANDOVAL: You're up to speed on markets. Now to your business headlines.

President Trump's money managers made more than 1100 financial trades on his behalf in July alone, that's roughly 50 trades a day. It's also according to his latest financial disclosure that was released on Tuesday. The volume of the trading has deepened concerns about potential conflicts of interest.

Many transactions involve companies that Trump has either promoted on Truth Social or that actually do business with the government in industries that the administration helps regulate. The White House says that Trump's portfolio is independently managed.

Fitness equipment maker Peloton hoping to bring in new customers by launching its cheapest treadmill yet. How cheap? [03:40:03]

I want to show you the TreadFlex, it's expected to cost nearly $2,200, which is about $1,000 cheaper than the current lineup. Peloton says that the treadmill will be the company's first ever foldable device that contracts to roughly half its size. It hopes to spur sales that have slumped in recent years.

British Columbia is suing OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman over a deadly mass shooting at a school in a Canadian province earlier this year. The lawsuit is claiming that the tragedy could have been prevented if the tech company had warned police of the shooter's alarming conversations with ChatGPT. The province is alleging that the company promised reforms but that it never delivered on those, OpenAI says that it is committed to working with government and law enforcement officials.

So here's a question. Could a warning label actually make young people think twice before scrolling? Well, there's a new study that's finding that teenagers and young adults who saw warnings about the potential health harms of social media said that those messages discouraged them from wanting to use it.

Here's CNN's Ivan Rodriguez.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A new approach to protecting young people from potential social media dangers. Warnings designed to look like something you might actually see while using Instagram.

Researchers recruited more than 1000 people between the ages of 13 and 29. Roughly half teenagers and half adults and showed them 15 different messages on a mock Instagram page.

The messages warned about possible harms including depression and anxiety, negative body image, sleep disruption, addiction, and overall mental health harms. There was also a neutral control message and one suggesting a voluntary social media break.

DR. THOMAS ROBINSON, PROFESSOR OF CHILD HEALTH, STANFORD UNIVERSITY: How much does this message discourage you from wanting to use social media? And how much does this message increase your awareness of the harms of using social media?

All of the messages, the health harm messages, were rated more likely to discourage their social media use and increase their awareness of the harms.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): The strongest warnings focused on mental health warnings including depression and anxiety. Researchers also found that health warnings generally outperformed a simple screen time break message. The kind some platforms already use voluntarily.

But there is one key unanswered question. The study measured what participants thought the warnings would motivate them to do. Not what they actually did.

ROBINSON: We believe that these results suggest that we would see meaningful change. However, we haven't tested that yet. And that's the next step is to actually test it because we need to then test in a real world setting what happens when these messages are displayed when you open your social media.

RODRIGUEZ (voice-over): I'm Ivan Rodriguez reporting.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: Thank you so much for watching, I'm Polo Sandoval. "World Sport" is coming up next and I'll be right back with you at the top of the next hour with more news.

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