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CNN International: Judge Orders Trump To Restore White house Access To CNN, MS NOW, POLITICO; Trump Rolls Out The Red Carpet For China's Xi Jinping; Netanyahu, Abbas Set For High-Stakes UNGA Speeches; Aired 4:00-4:30a ET

Aired September 24, 2026 - 04:00   ET

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

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[04:00:29]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Polo Sandoval live in New York.

And we do begin this hour with breaking news. A federal judge, just hours ago, ordered the Trump administration to immediately reinstate White House access to three media outlets, including CNN.

According to that late night ruling, Judge Timothy Kelly found the revocation of reporters as press badges that was done without, quote, constitutionally adequate due process. And he also took issue with the president's claim that past reporting by CNN, MS NOW and "POLITICO" raised national security concerns.

Judge Kelly said that nothing in the record, prior to the lawsuit by the outlet, suggested that the revocation of passes was motivated by national security concerns.

And the judge also pointed out that Trump himself had initially said that he was banning the group over, quote, alleged lack of truthfulness and negative reporting. So, that's key.

The lawyer representing the news outlets called the judge's decision a quote, strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process, and the rule of law.

CNN reached out to the White House and the Department of Justice for comment, and we are still waiting to hear back at this hour.

CNN's chief media analyst Brian Stelter has been following developments through the night and files this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes. Reporters for MS NOW, "POLITICO," and CNN should be able to return to work at the White House when the sun comes up in Washington this morning. That's because this federal judge has intervened in President Trump's media ban and issued what's called a temporary restraining order, directing the White House to restore access right away.

This ruling is on procedural grounds and it's in effect for two weeks. That's the temporary part of a temporary restraining order. So, this could be just the beginning of a longer court fight about reporters' rights. Or the White House could take the loss and move on and pick some other fight somewhere else. We've certainly seen that from President Trump before.

So, it's unclear exactly what will happen next, but let's talk about what this ruling says. This is from Judge Timothy Kelly, a Trump- appointee who was assigned to this case back on Monday when CNN, MS NOW, and "POLITICO" filed a lawsuit charging violations of the First and Fifth Amendments.

Kelly held a hearing on Wednesday afternoon and he issued this ruling around 1:00 A.M. Eastern Time on Thursday. He wrote that the banned news outlets have shown quote, "A likelihood of success, at least on their Fifth Amendment procedural due process claim."

That refers to the abrupt nature of the ban. There was no notice, no chance to contest it, no way to appeal right away. Badges were simply deactivated. The judge cited past cases, past precedent in D.C., while explaining that, quote, "The general rule is that individuals must receive notice and an opportunity to be heard before the government deprives them of a constitutionally protected interest."

Now, Trump's Justice Department tried to argue that these are extraordinary circumstances because the banned outlets somehow endangered national security, but the judge says he is skeptical of that claim. He's skeptical that safeguarding national security is the actual motivation here.

And as lawyers for the banned news outlets pointed out, Trump did not mention national security at all when he announced the ban last Friday. He was simply complaining about negative news coverage at the time.

And maybe that's why Trump did signal ahead of the hearing on Wednesday that he knew he would probably lose in this court. He said the other day, quote, "I think we have a right to clean out fake news."

So, he might keep trying at this. He might try to implement bans in other ways. He might target other news outlets. But at least for the moment, the affected reporters should be able to get back to work, which is all they want to do. They just want to be able to be on the White House grounds, to speak with sources, to question the president when he's willing to take questions, and to continue reporting and holding the White House accountable.

Ted Boutrous is the lead counsel for CNN, MS NOW, and "POLITICO." He told me in a statement overnight, quote, "This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process, and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court's swift action."

And when White House correspondents wake up and learn this news in the coming hours, I think they'll probably say the same thing.

Brian Stelter, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SANDOVAL: It's quite likely they were woken up with this news. Joining me now is Adam Rose, Deputy Director of Advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation. Adam, good to see you again. Thank you so much for staying with us.

[04:05:03]

ADAM ROSE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVOCACY, FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: Well, good morning, good afternoon, and good evening wherever people may be watching from.

You know, journalists work around the clock 24 hours a day to bring people the news and keep them informed. And whether those journalists are early in their shift on the East Coast, maybe toasting with their coffee or here on the West Coast, maybe lifting a nightcap. I think we're all toasting this ruling tonight. Or this morning.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I know. And to your point it's great to be having this conversation live right now as we continue to wait for the White House to respond as of 4:05 A.M. here on the East Coast, nothing quite yet as well as the Department of Justice, so, let's -- let's get this conversation going.

As -- as you just heard a little while ago and as you know well this order stating that the -- the access to the White House for reporters from these outlets, CNN included, must be reinstated. My question is, how that happens logistically, how soon we could see that happen?

ROSE: Well, it's an excellent question because, you know, the judge is expecting this to be immediate. And, you know, it's 4:00 in the morning there, so we're not expecting, you know, Donald Trump to be responding to this personally. Though, check Truth Social, maybe he's posting there.

You know, if you think about that Secret Service, they're working around the clock. And I'm sure that CNN journalists are probably showing up any minute if they haven't already, along with MS NOW and "POLITICO," and hopefully getting those hard cards back.

But what actually happens from there? All sorts of other questions will persist in the days and weeks ahead. For example, does this mean that they'll be able to access the briefing room? But what about the Oval Office? What about Air Force One? What about other parts of the White House area?

So, those will be questions as this is continually litigated, because you have to keep in mind, this is just a temporary restraining order.

SANDOVAL: Right. And -- and we do obviously expect or at least say an appeal is likely. Why don't if we get to that stage, Adam, what kind of argument you think that the judge should be prepared for and also, you know, attorneys for the plaintiffs in this?

ROSE: So, one of the fascinating things about this ruling is that if you just control F, command F, whatever system you're using, and you search for the words First Amendment, they don't appear.

The judge issued this temporary restraining order based on due process. That's how chaotic this implementation was at the White House when Trump did go on Truth Social, where I should mention he's trying to charge people $1.2 million a year to get early access to his posts that could include journalists. So, the whole thing is very grifty.

Now, he goes on there, puts this out, doesn't give any people any real explanation other than things like, well, he thinks they're negative or he's questioning, you know, their -- their truthfulness. Guess what? That doesn't hold up in court because that's based on the content of their coverage. It's not an issue of their security. It's not an issue of, you know, this person is a danger or threat to the president or their family.

So, when that happens, it pretty much exposes the fact that he just doesn't like this reporting. Maybe doesn't like the questions that he's facing. And so after that, you have to recognize that then you come to a point where letters come out from the White House trying to backtrack and explain some justification.

In -- in this case, one of those major justifications ostensibly was national security. The problem is this is often the Don who cries wolf, whether it's trombones or windmills, he said all sorts of ridiculous things are national security issues.

In this case, the judge looked closely at it and said, well, wait a minute. Some of the reporting cited by the administration as harming national security is years old. One of the reporters had her hard pass renewed after publishing one of the stories the government cited as violating national security.

Several of the stories cited as harming national security were written by journalists who don't even have hard passes. And then ultimately, the court recognized there's not even precedent for applying the laws prohibiting disclosure of classified information to reporters.

So, these are the imminent legal arguments and as they relate to due process. But then you also have to look at, well, what about First Amendment arguments if it even gets there? The reality is that it's going to be an even bigger clobbering that the White House legal team faces if they really want to go that route.

SANDOVAL: And as you and I discussed in the last hour, this is all far from over, clearly, not only with the potential for appeal, but also this president that has made very clear that he's willing to go after the access of reporters who he disagrees with.

So, I -- I wonder if you can leave us with what your lasting impression or what you hope will be the lasting impression when it comes to White House reporters as an institution. At the beginning of this week, we saw something remarkable that we've seen before, which is these outlets banding together, basically sending the message that if CNN or MS NOW or "POLITICO" doesn't have an access, well, then we will won't publish our photos or audio or we won't take their spot.

ROSE: I hope people are heartened seeing the unity of the press corps on this. You know, when Trump talks about the press being negative, that's by design. That's why the First Amendment was written. It was so that the press, as the fourth state, could hold the executive branch and all the other branches accountable. And that's what they're supposed to do.

And invariably, some will have a point of view. That's OK. The First Amendment protects that. You know, we like to think of journalists as being objective, and many are, and they do a wonderful job of that.

[04:10:06]

But even if they had strong viewpoints, that's not the reason to kick journalists out. So, when journalists unite, keep in mind that, you know, this had happened to Fox News as well under the Obama administration with the Treasury Department in trying to access that particular department.

The press corps banded together at that time. It was heartening to see then, it's heartening to see now. And so I hope that people keep in mind that the reason we have this First Amendment is to ensure and inform public.

The reason that we have an informed public is so that we can have a functioning democracy. And we don't have that if the press is not there to observe the president and to make sure to inform the public about basic things, you know.

I mean, look, this is an octogenarian who, you know, sometimes is rambling. Is this person fit to be president? You know, I'm not saying that he's not. I'm saying that these are the things that journalists must be there to address and understand and then help the people to decide for themselves.

SANDOVAL: Yes, the importance of maintaining that presence on the White House grounds.

Adam Rose, with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, thank you so much for all this valuable insight and -- and your analysis overnight.

ROSE: Thank you as always.

SANDOVAL: All right. Now, to a red carpet welcome that President Trump and -- and First Lady Melania Trump offered the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, as he arrived in the United States.

Unfortunately, we don't have any video to show you of the actual arrival. That's because this happened before this order was issued by the court. There was no pool coverage of President Trump's activities.

However, as you just heard, the ban has been rolled back, so it's likely that the coverage will certainly, at least we will see more coverage of the state visit in the -- in the coming hours.

And for the next two days, the leaders are expected to discuss the war with Iran, U.S. arms sales to Taiwan, and also the explosive growth of artificial intelligence.

And the U.S. Treasury secretary says the countries have extended their trade through January, their trade truce.

Let's bring in CNN's correspondent Mike Valerio who's following this visit from Beijing. From Beijing, I mean, what are people talking about? How are they watching for any potential developments out of Washington in the next couple of days, Mike?

MIKE VALERIO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Polo, first of all, I would say that definitely the pool development is within the discourse. People are well aware that Chinese state media are there and getting images of this visit that we are not able to show because of the pool blackout. And we're going to be waiting to see.

Certainly people in Beijing are very attuned to whether or not the president of the United States will -- will abide by this court's decision and allow pool coverage for the events that are about to unfold.

I would say the economic bucket, Polo, is the biggest thing in that trade truce being extended. Let's talk about three more points that we're looking at in the hours to come in terms of what these two sides could be talking about in the economic realm.

And first of all, I would say the biggest deliverable that's within the realm of realistic expectations is whether or not any other reciprocal tariffs could come down. We have an indication from the Ministry of Commerce here in Beijing, they are expecting that for tariffs on non-sensitive industries in the name of stabilizing this relationship to come down, to be announced that they're being lowered by the end of this summit.

Could Xi Jinping, China's leader, ask for more advanced U.S. chips? Ever since the Biden administration, the most advanced chips have been banned from sale to China by United States manufacturers.

And we're also looking for more specifics on the A.I. dialogue, Polo. You know, that was first promised a dialogue between the United States and China to try to figure out any kind of regulations or guardrails. That was first proposed and said it was going to be acted upon in May.

And Scott Bessent, the Treasury Secretary, said during remarks this weekend in New York that, yes, both China and the United States are going to meet in two months. But perhaps that is too long, a time span to wait since this A.I. storyline is quickly developing every single day.

Before we go, in terms of what we're looking forward to in the day's events, 10:00 A.M., that's when everything is going to start on the South Lawn of the White House when the two leaders will greet each other with the First Ladies. 10:15, Trump and Xi will make remarks inside the White House.

11:30, Eastern, that's when the Oval Office meeting is expected to take place. And then we have a little bit of an intermission. Not until the state dinner at 8:10, that's when the events pick up.

But it will be very interesting, again, with this judge's ruling, to see how much will be allowed, how much of this coverage are we going to see since the president has spent a lot of time building up the pomp and circumstance and yet so few of it, so little of it is being shown right now in the United States, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes, to your point, how much of this state visit we'll actually get to see is almost entirely dependent on how --

VALERIO: Yes.

SANDOVAL: -- soon the administration will respond to this ruling from the court.

VALERIO: Right.

SANDOVAL: Mike Valerio, as always, thank you so much for following those developments from Beijing.

VALERIO: Thanks, Polo.

SANDOVAL: And we're also looking ahead at two major speeches at the United Nations General Assembly in the coming hours. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he's expected to use his address to defend Israel's military campaign in Gaza.

[04:15:14]

And Netanyahu's visit comes as he faces some pressure at home ahead of his re-election fight for next month. And also conflicts in both Lebanon and Iran.

And Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will also be addressing the UNGA. However, the Trump administration has again refused Abbas a visa, so he will likely have to address the chamber via video.

And Iran's president used his U.N. address on Wednesday to send a direct message to President Donald Trump, Tehran will not back down. Masoud Pezeshkian accuses the U.S. of bullying, saying that pressure and sanctions will only strengthen Iran's resistance and that Tehran would never bow its head or bend at the knee, but the president also called for diplomacy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MASOUD PEZESHKIAN, IRANIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Iran must be understood by Mr. Trump and those who seek to bully us that we are ready for dialogue and diplomacy and negotiations without accepting the language of force.

(END VIDEO CLIP) SANDOVAL: Only a few minutes into Pezeshkian address, the sole U.S. delegate in the room, you see him there. Well, he picked up his items and then walked out of the chamber.

In the meantime, Secretary of State Marco Rubio says that the U.S.- Iran talks on the sidelines of the UNGA were a continuation of earlier conversations. However, no major breakthroughs to report.

CNN's Eleni Giokos is following all of these developments live from Dubai.

So, Eleni, it's good to see you again. Let's start with Prime Minister Netanyahu as he prepares to address the chamber. As he struggles with reputation, with the numbers back home, what does he actually stand to gain by addressing leaders from around the world?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And this is an important thing on the calendar, right, for global leaders and specifically for Benjamin Netanyahu, who has already gotten quite a lot of criticism from world leaders, including the French president Emmanuel Macron.

But importantly here, he's going to try and drive a message that's going to resonate domestically, that will resonate internationally as well. He's going to talk about plans for Gaza. He's going to justify a lot of what they've been doing in Gaza. And also, importantly, why they actually reject to the latest 15-point peace plan because it entails ensuring that Hamas completely gets rid of all its weaponry and then that Israel will eventually then move out of Gaza.

One thing that's very interesting, and you mentioned this, is that Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority, will not be there in person. His visa was again denied. He didn't attend the UNGA in 2025 and again is going to be delivering his message in the chamber via video.

And this is an important point to make because we know that Palestine, as a state, has been recognized by around 75 percent of the United Nations members. There has been a lot of pushback regarding him not actually being there in person.

But we know from his perspective, he's going to be talking about the Palestinian authorities' role going forward, the plans for Gaza, and also reiterating the point that Hamas also needs to get rid of weaponry, of ammunition, which is part of the original peace plan that, of course, has not been fully implemented.

The Board of Peace, the Trump Board of Peace meeting on the sidelines of the UNGA, Polo, and they were talking about $71.4 billion that will be needed in reconstruction over the next 10 years.

So, we're talking about an extraordinary number here, but no real plan in terms of where the funding is going to come from and importantly the support regionally. That's one thing to note here as we're seeing the UNGA underway and waiting for these two important speeches.

SANDOVAL: And, Eleni, I know you're also closely following Wednesday's remarks from the Iranian president, also in the same chamber.

It was interesting because the -- the tone and the balance that he tried to strike, where he basically doubled down on Iran's nuclear program, their missile defense systems, of course, their control over the Strait of Hormuz, but then he also called for diplomacy.

So, while he's doing that, what's happening in the Middle East when it comes to the actual conflict, are there any signs of any sort of reengaged efforts towards diplomacy?

GIOKOS: Well, during President Trump's speech, he made it very clear that the U.S. is sitting with sort of a stark decision that it needs to make, either annihilate Iran or look for a diplomatic off-ramp.

And, of course, Masoud Pezeshkian coming in, and during his speech, we've heard that he actually had to rewrite some of his speech because of these threats from President Trump.

[04:20:07]

During his speech, he was showing up photographs of some of the children that were impacted during the Minab school strike in Iran and then also said that Iran is not going to bow down to the U.S.'s threats.

We also know that Iran and the United States were exchanging messages throughout the UNGA through Qatari mediators, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, saying that nothing has come to the fore in terms of a real breakthrough.

But I want you to listen to what on what -- some of what Pezeshkian had to say during this speech, which, of course, we saw the only U.S. delegates in the chamber walking out. I want you to listen in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PEZESHKIAN (through translator): The United States president described us as terrorists. We have been the victims of terrorism.

We will never bow our head or bend at the knee.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: For Iran's part, they're talking about the Strait of Hormuz being that flashpoints that they cannot agree to some of the U.S.' terms if the U.S. doesn't remove its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. And, of course, other points when it comes to nuclear enrichment, that Iran should still be allowed to focus on civilian enrichment for its civilian nuclear program, something, of course, the United States has pushed against for a very long time, Polo.

SANDOVAL: Yes. What a UNGA to follow this year. And then as you just point out, there are more speeches ahead, so more to look out for.

CNN's Eleni Giokos, as always, grateful for your reporting. Eleni, live from Dubai. I want to move on to another conflict now, specifically Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who says that Russia's attacks will continue unless Moscow faces more pressure.

Zelenskyy spoke after Ukraine said that at least two people were killed in overnight strikes on Kyiv. And three others were injured. Missile debris damaged the maternity hospital, but there are no reports of anybody hurt inside.

And officials also say that two more people were injured in strikes on Odesa. And the attacks came just a day after President Zelenskyy slammed his Russian counterpart at the U.N. General Assembly. He called Vladimir Putin Patient Zero, who spreads the idea of war and must be stopped. Zelenskyy also defended Ukraine's strikes on Russian energy infrastructure.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT: For the first time in Russia's history, we now hear that its pride, its oil industry, is running of fumes. But oil itself is not Ukraine's target, not our target, not gasoline or diesel, not factories or ports as such.

Our target is Russia's ability to finance this war to drag it out, to make it more brutal and more destructive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And as President Zelenskyy spoke in New York, a Russian strike hit the headquarters of his political party back in Kyiv. Two more people were killed there and -- and dozens injured in attacks on the Capitol during the day on Wednesday.

Despite Russia's war in Ukraine, President Putin has been invited to the G20 summit in Miami this December.

U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced the invitation on Wednesday, saying that it would give Putin an opportunity to engage with other world leaders, but one European Union official says that Putin stands to gain something else by getting that invitation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAJA KALLAS, E.U. FOREIGN AFFAIRS REPRESENTATIVE: It's very clear why Putin wants this. He wants to show that nothing to see here. You know, I'm a leader amongst the other world leaders. There's nothing wrong, but actually why -- why would the Western world want or the Americans want a person who has ordered killings of people in a situation where, you know, last two months have been the deadliest for Ukrainian civilians throughout this war?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: And there's so much more ahead in this hour of "CNN Newsroom," including new concerns over artificial intelligence. And all this after Australia's prime minister reports the first known case of rogue A.I. agents hacking a government network. We'll give you the details in a moment.

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[04:25:13]

SANDOVAL: And we are following breaking news out of Washington where a federal judge has ordered the White House to reinstate access to CNN, MS NOW and "POLITICO."

President Trump banned the media outlets just last week saying that he didn't like their coverage. Well, he later said that the reporting was a threat to national security. At least that was the argument from his Department of Justice.

But the judge, Timothy Kelly, says that the ban was done without constitutionally adequate due process. The lawyer -- the layer representing the news outlets telling this CNN, quote, "This is a strong ruling vindicating freedom of the press, due process, and the rule of law. We greatly appreciate the court's swift action."

We're still waiting to hear from the White House, from President Trump. And it's also not clear when CNN or the other news organizations will be allowed back into the White House. We'll keep you posted.

The leaders of two top A.I. companies went before the U.N. Security Council --