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Alon Pinkas is Interviewed about Gaza Ceasefire Talks; Strikes Against Cartels; Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) is Interviewed about National Guard Sent to Chicago; Zach Bryan Song Controversy. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired October 07, 2025 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[06:30:00]
CARI CHAMPION, HOST, "NAKED SPORTS WITH CARI CHAMPION" PODCAST: Measured and -- and as a coach, I'm -- I think that's what he -- where he should live, in a much more measured place. But at the time, and I don't know if your viewers or you were able to see his funeral, the people who turned out, it was really, truly a moment that spoke to how loved he was. The Commanders, the Washington Commanders' quarterback, Jayden Daniels was there. It was a huge event. And people wanted to take time out to say he was loved by all, just like the coach said.
So, I think, yes, to your point, there is a bit of a frenzy here on social media and what people are now seeing according to that new surveillance video. But I want to go with coach. I do believe there should be a moment in which we should be measured. But from all things right now and what they're saying in the community and what is being reported, it looked as if the accident in particular had nothing to do with it. It was mischaracterized.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Cari Champion, I want to thank you for being with us.
CHAMPION: Thank you so much for having me.
CORNISH: And if you're watching and you or anyone you know are struggling with thoughts of suicide, there is help available. You can call the suicide hotline at 988.
Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, exclusive reporting only here, the classified opinion from the Trump administration justifying lethal strikes on cartels.
Plus, a helicopter crashes onto a California highway. How bystanders helped free one of the people who had been trapped.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:36:04]
CORNISH: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.
It's half past the hour. And here's what's happening right now.
Three people somehow survived this crash of a medical helicopter on a California highway last night. Only a pilot, nurse and paramedic were on board at the time. There were no patients. A fire captain and a group of bystanders had to lift part of the chopper to free a person who had been trapped. All three are now in critical condition.
In just a few hours, Attorney General Pam Bondi will be in the hot seat. She will sit before the Senate Judiciary Committee for the first time since her confirmation hearing. And she's sure to face questions about her department's decision to target the president's political enemies. People like James Comey, and her switch up on the Epstein files.
Today marks two years since the Hamas attack on Israel, 1,200 people died and more than 250 hostages captured. Twenty of them are still believed to be alive. And it's what began the ensuing war in Gaza, with Israeli forces killing more than 66,000 Palestinians since that time. That's according to Gaza's health ministry.
Right now, talks to finalize a Gaza ceasefire deal are underway in Egypt. Delegations from Hamas and Israel are present for indirect negotiations. An official told CNN the discussions are expected to take a few days, with mediator teams from the U.S., Qatar, Egypt and Turkey on site.
Smoke rises over Gaza this morning, in the meantime, as Israeli airstrikes continue. This is despite those negotiations. President Trump said Monday that Hamas is making important concessions as negotiators work towards a final agreement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We have just about every nation working on this deal and trying to get it done. Something that you could say 3.000 years, if you look at it in certain ways, or you could say centuries. But this is a deal that, incredibly, everyone just came together. They all came together.
No, Israel's been great. I think we're doing very well. And I think Hamas has been agreeing to things that are very important.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now is the former Israeli consul general for New York, Ambassador Alon Pinkas.
Good morning. Thanks for being with us.
ALON PINKAS, FORMER ISRAELI CONSUL GENERAL FOR NEW YORK: Good morning, Audie. Good to be with you.
CORNISH: So, you've heard in the introduction, I described a couple different things, right, discussions, negotiations, debate, a starting point. And the president paints it with such a rosy picture. What's your assessment of where things stand right now? PINKAS: Well, there are two thing -- there are two ways of looking at
it, Audie. One is to dissect this document, find flaws and deficiencies and ambiguities in every one of the 20 points in it and say, this can't work. This is unimplementable, not viable.
The other way of looking at it is to say, this is the best shot everyone has. And this is the only plan that's on the table. And this is the only game in town. And if either side or both sides screw this up, it's on them and not on President Trump. And if you look at the document --
CORNISH: You --
PINKAS: Please, go ahead.
CORNISH: No, no, I was just going to ask, you were former Israeli consul general for New York at one point. I mean, help me understand the politics for Netanyahu. Is -- does this feel like the only game in town with him? Is -- he's not moving into a ceasefire mode right now.
PINKAS: Oh, no. No, no, he's not. And I'm happy you raised this because it's the most important issue. There is no ceasefire, and you would expect a ceasefire on two levels. One, because Trump twice asked Israel to stop the bombardments, and Israel did not, in complete defiance of the president's request.
[06:40:03]
And the second is perhaps a more intangible, and that is goodwill. If you plan to implement in good faith a 20-point -- a problematic but nonetheless a 20-point workable plan, you know, logic says common sense dictates that you begin with a ceasefire. If you are shot at, by all means, shoot back. But at least announce even a unilateral ceasefire, even if it is not stipulated in the agreement. And there is no ceasefire.
And so, as for Mr. Netanyahu, look, he -- look, Audie, he did not want this agreement. He was cornered into it by President Trump, who became disillusioned with him, impatient with him and tired with his excuses and manipulations and stalling.
I think that the inflection point, the point where Trump really lost his nerve, was the Israeli attack on Qatar on -- on September 9th. That failed attack against the U.S. ally, supposedly a country with which the Trump family and its orbit have a lot of business dealings, and Israel never apologized, never bothered to explain itself. And that, I think, made the difference. But the question now is, how committed will Trump remain?
CORNISH: One last question. We focused so much on Netanyahu, but what about people in Israel? Are they war weary? Are they -- I've heard very --that Trump is very popular with the domestic population there. So, are they aligning with Trump here about trying to bring this to a close or the hardliners with Netanyahu?
PINKAS: Oh, 100 percent they are aligned with Trump. I mean the sympathy for Trump is because people intuitively or, you know, viscerally understand that he is at least trying to free the hostages while Netanyahu hasn't, at least for the nine months that Trump has been in the White House. You see inconsistent polls that 70 percent, almost 70 percent, seven zero, support the end of the war and a hostage deal. Netanyahu is extraordinarily unpopular, and people hedged their bets on -- on Trump remaining committed and engaged.
As for the general mood, it's dejection, it's still devastation, it's still agony. Look, Israel lost 2,000 people, Audie, that's the equivalent of the U.S. losing 70,000 people. That's -- that's more than the number of casualties in the Vietnam War, which was 58,000. So, this is a very devastating period for -- it has been a very devastating period for Israel. And people want this to end.
CORNISH: OK, Ambassador Alon Pinkas, thank you so much for your time.
PINKAS: Thank you. Audie.
CORNISH: Now, the Trump administration wants the power to designate drug traffickers, big and small, as enemy combatants and have them summarily killed without legal review. CNN has learned of a classified Justice Department memo that reportedly argues that the president is allowed to authorize deadly force against a broad range of cartels. Sources tell CNN the memo even suggests an expansive list of targets that goes well beyond the groups that the administration has already labeled as foreign terrorist organizations. Already, more than a dozen people labeled drug traffickers have been killed in U.S. attacks against small boats in the Caribbean.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: There are no boats in the water anymore. You can't find any. We're having a hard time finding them. They're not coming in by sea anymore. So, now we'll have to start looking about the land, because they'll be forced to go by land. And let me tell you right now, that's not going to work out well for them either.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And when asked to address this last month, FBI Director Kash Patel said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. LINDSEY GRAHAM (R-SC): We're blowing boats out of the water in the Caribbean because they're connected to international narco terrorist groups. Is that correct?
KASH PATEL, FBI DIRECTOR: Yes, that mission is being led by the Department of Defense, sir.
GRAHAM: OK. What legal authority do we have to do that?
PATEL: Sir, I would defer the questions on legal authority to the attorney general and the department. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: So, that's what we're talking about today, that legal authority, right? Because once someone -- you're smiling. Is it because of his response, right? He's not jumping in on that.
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Right. And you can see that -- look, count this Democrat in. You want to stop -- keeping drugs out of the kid's hands every day. I'm all about that.
But also, when you're just blowing up boats out there, that could be coming from other countries, that's a good way (ph) in a slippery slope. I'm not going to get my friend Ashley in here on all the national security implications, but it seems like that's harry. And as a big brow (ph) man who takes a speedboat through the Caribbean sea a lot, it makes me very nervous.
ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER HOMELAND SECURITY OFFICIAL: But are you carrying drugs?
[06:45:00]
ROCHA: No, I'm not, but you don't know that. That's the point here.
DAVIS: Of course they know it. Of course they know it.
ROCHA: I --
DAVIS: There's intelligence that's supporting what they're doing.
ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE) just take the word that the president just knows which boats have drugs or not.
DAVIS: Well, (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: Well, can I raise something then, to your point, Ashley --
DAVIS: Yes.
CORNISH: You can play off of this.
Senator Rand Paul, Republican from Kentucky, he also raised questions about this in the past.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. RAND PAUL (R-KY): If he's (ph) already been killed, shouldn't somebody say who you were and what the evidence was that you're a drug dealer? And what is the evidence that you were coming to America?
I think these are important questions.
It would mean havoc.
Is the new Coast Guard policy off of Miami to shoot and ask questions later? (END VIDEO CLIP)
DAVIS: Well, I mean, yes. I mean, obviously, this has been something that Rand Paul's been talking about for the last couple weeks. I mean they -- they can arrest them and do it. But, I mean, I think that we do this all the time. I mean --
CORNISH: What? We do?
DAVIS: Of course we do. I mean --
ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: But -- but not in --
DAVIS: This -- in our CIA. I mean we're doing this --
CORNISH: Then why do they need to make a memo for it? This supersedes DOD, Justice. It's --
DAVIS: Well, I think because Congress -- because --
CORNISH: Because you need a legal justification.
DAVIS: Yes, because Congress is asking the questions, and that's why.
WOLF: Yes, but, you know, it kind of reminds me of what we were talking about earlier. You know, he wants to send -- Trump wants to send troops into cities that don't want them. He's essentially declared war on narco terrorists.
CORNISH: Yes.
WOLF: And, you know, we can say this --
DAVIS: We have a problem with that.
WOLF: Maybe this is a war that we -- if we don't have a problem with it, then just ask Congress to OK it and then -- then it's fine. I mean if it's that simple, then I don't understand why he wouldn't just follow what is essentially the -- the law and that, you know, the -- in -- in this form of government, the Congress is supposed to have some sort of input. And here they have essentially, from what I can tell, none. They could reassert themselves very easily, and they're choosing not to do that. But it does seem like, if it's that simple --
DAVIS: But when we do international operations all over the world through our CIA, like, let's not be naive here, do we have to go get congressional approval?
WOLF: If it's based on terrorism, then they have the, you know, the 9/11 authorization for the use of military force.
DAVIS: Correct. That's why they designated them terrorists.
CORNISH: But that's --
WOLF: Yes. CORNISH: What we're saying here is they're asking for more.
DAVIS: Yes.
CORNISH: They're asking for more. And one of --
WOLF: Well, he's also designated Antifa terrorist. So, are they going to start, you know --
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: That's true. No, that goes back to our earlier conversation at the beginning of, are we -- is there too many -- are there too many things that are being designated terrorism? I have no problem --
CORNISH: I think that's very nerve-racking to hear, right? Like, it's one thing to say this person could be a terrorist. But for an administration that is constantly calling what they say the radical left as domestic terrorists, well, then can you call them an enemy combatant? And will, then, what does that -- like -- and then and then of this is scary.
DAVIS: But -- but -- I understand that. I -- but I -- he has actually, I mean, the designation of the cartels is an official designation, just like al Qaeda was an official designation after 9/11.
CORNISH: Well, I do think it's interesting that you've got Rand Paul saying, OK, show me the evidence, which seems pretty basic, because that is something that is still -- we do send drug dealers to court, still, unless -- unless they think otherwise.
DAVIS: And from what I understand though, from those questions that he raised yesterday, is that, and going back to your point, is the international waters is a big differentiator here of where they're -- I mean so they can do it in international waters, which is not U.S. waters.
CORNISH: Yes. Well, this -- that clip of Paul was from September. So, it feels like this conversation has been bubbling up for a while.
DAVIS: Bubbling.
CORNISH: It will be interesting to see the reaction to the memo today in Washington.
You guys --
DAVIS: But the last thing Democrats want to do is start like --
ROCHA: Don't start poking me and tell me what Democrats are supposed to do.
DAVIS: So -- no. But what -- the last thing they're going to do is start -- OK, now we're -- we are saying there's no crime in our big cities. And now they're going to say, like, we should let -- ROCHA: (INAUDIBLE) international waters ain't that far from Key West. And I'm out in a speedboat there all the time. We should know for sure who we're blowing up.
CORNISH: OK.
DAVIS: I think we do.
CORNISH: Group chat, stay right there.
Next on CNN THIS MORNING, Texas National Guard troops on the move. I'm going to talk live to Democratic Congressman Jonathan Jackson, who represents part of Chicago, where those troops are headed.
Plus.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH BRYAN, MUSICIAN (singing): We got some bad news. The fading of a red, white and blue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Country music star Zach Bryan divides fans after he calls out ICE and a fading America.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:53:25]
CORNISH: Chicago is now bracing for the deployment of hundreds of National Guard troops, as President Trump looks to copy his Washington, D.C., playbook elsewhere. At least 300 Illinois National Guardsmen have been federalized and are being sent to the city after an executive order by President Trump. And the governor of Texas is offering up his National Guard to help, Illinois state and local leaders have actually filed a lawsuit objecting to federal troops on the streets of Chicago.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO: I think it's pretty clear, he wants to foment chaos, right? And what we have predicted all along, that he wanted to use federal agents as a pretext to the National Guard. But his ultimate goal, of course, is to occupy American cities.
It's incumbent upon all of us, and particularly the residents across this country, is to fight back. And if Congress is not going to hold this administration accountable, Chicago most certainly will.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss is Congressman Jonathan Jackson of Illinois.
Thank you for being here. I understand that in your district is where there were actually some
of these ICE actions. What's your response to people who say that the mayor is exacerbating the problem by saying police can't participate, saying that there are ICE free zones?
REP. JONATHAN JACKSON (D-IL): Well, thank you so much.
Technically, it was in Congresswoman Robin Kelly's district. This is the neighborhood that I've grown up in less than a mile from my home. And what we're seeing here is the president first said he was going after felons, and the reason he needed to ramp up this money for ICE, this $150 billion budget that was passed, which makes it the tenth largest military budget in the entire world, but he's going after families.
[06:55:06]
He's going after people that have -- that have no probable cause.
Now American citizens are being ensnarled in this here. Citizens in our neighborhood, residents in our neighborhood had long barreled guns pointed at their face. This is absolutely atrocious. And -- and it's creating a level of fear.
CORNISH: What's your response to people who look at whatever crime stats there are in Chicago, you know, take something like murders, and they say that this is justified?
JACKSON: Oh, no. What he should be doing is, there are 40,000 gun deaths a year in the United States of America. If this was genuine, he would be more interested in saying, how do we effectively deal with gun violence? How do we deal with gun manufacturers? The city of Chicago does not have one gun shop, does not have one gun range, does not have no African Americans sell any ammunition. How are these guns flooding our streets? That's what he should go to the root. Where are the gun manufacturers?
I do agree, one death is too many by gun violence. One death by violence is too many. We can agree on that. Now, why can't we be law -- lawmakers all come to the same table and continue to talk about what -- what programs work. By him deploying troops from Texas that do not know the region, and they're coming in here like they did in helicopters the other day, going -- going around the building in -- in a neighborhood that's 98 percent African Americans, that had a few Venezuelans in there. They were living peacefully. And who's been arrested and under what charges? What have they come forward with?
And I had soldiers that lived in that same area, and they said their PTSD had been triggered. That they felt like they were in Desert Storm when they saw all of these guns. It's trauma.
And the thing that really hurts me most is the effect it's going to have on a future generation of children. He is sowing distrust amongst our institutions. I want our children and neighbors to look up to law enforcement. This is an occupying force and it's wrong.
CORNISH: OK, that's Congressman Johnson.
Thank you so much for being with us.
JACKSON: Thank you.
CORNISH: Congressman Jackson. Apologies for that.
So, I want to turn to one more thing before we go. It's related. Zach Bryan taking some heat from MAGA fans over a song that's critical of ICE. Here's a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZACH BRYAN, MUSICIAN (singing): And ICE is gonna come, bust down your door. Try to build a house no one builds no more. But I got a telephone, kids are all scared and all alone. The bar stopped bumping, the rock stopped rolling, the middle fingers rising, and it won't stop showing. Got some bad news. The fading of the red, white and blue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, there's some out there praising these lyrics, but others are accusing him of pandering to the left. One post reads, "love your music, but can't stand your new messaging. Such a disappointment." In the past, Bryan has described himself as a total libertarian.
And the group chat is back to talk about it because there is a lot of folks in that libertarian column, out in the manosphere, et cetera, who are starting to raise questions. You're excited.
ROCHA: I am excited. I'm excited because I grew up in country music, singing in country clubs, bouncing in clubs. I've been around this music a long time. And this is not just some artist. This guy just had the largest ticketed sales of any concert ever. Over 100,000 people came, right? So, this is a big deal.
And country music is dominated -- it drives me crazy -- by Republicans and conservatives and American flag. That's also Democrats. This Democrat sitting here right now. But him included with somebody like the Dixie Chicks -- remember what we went through with the Dixie Chicks?
CORNISH: Right.
ROCHA: Or on the right side, the Oliver Anthony. This guy sounds like Oliver Anthony of Rich Men -- of "Rich Men North of Richmond." Remember all of that? Like this is cultural in a --
CORNISH: Well, what was striking to me, I don't know if we can put the lyrics up again, how is that line actually any different from what we heard from the congressman about young people and what they're seeing and kicking down doors?
ROCHA: Yes.
CORNISH: I mean this is bringing together two parts of the show I had not expected, Ashley.
DAVIS: No, I don't know who Zach Bryan is. I'm sorry. But he obviously is very popular. And I just --
ROCHA: And you're the Republican and I'm the Democrat.
DAVIS: Well, I don't listen to country music.
ROCHA: I'm just saying.
DAVIS: I like Ozzy Osborne.
CORNISH: But look, it says the middle ringers -- the middle fingers, right? Like, people are upset. This is not a song that says, crime being tackled. So glad it's happening. Something, something beer. That's not how this is playing out.
ROCHA: This is what people are missing. Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, all these, Folsom Prison, like, this is a long legacy of folks spitting in the eye of folks who they have all the power, of fighting back. Country music, rock music, whatever.
WOLF: Yes. I mean I'm sure earlier this week you were talking about Bad Bunny a lot.
CORNISH: Yes, we were.
WOLF: And, you know, this is kind of the equivalent on the country music side of that.
But it's interesting to see, you know, the -- the -- just the -- just the frustration in there and his, you know, the way he's reacting to all of this. But it's going to hit people in their Spotify playlists in a demographic that might otherwise be very, you know, pro-Trump.
[07:00:07]
CORNISH: Yes. And it's also playing on all the social media imagery people are seeing because for whatever the administration says about the mainstream media, it's social media and on the ground videos that is revealing a lot.
DAVIS: You know, I heard a story this week -- so my son goes to school in Maryland and he -- they are allowed to bring the American flag to their -- to football games. Other schools in D.C., other private schools in D.C. are not allowed to bring the American flag to their football games.
CORNISH: All right, you guys, thank you, in the group chat.
DAVIS: (INAUDIBLE).
CORNISH: Thank you so much for waking up with us. The headlines are next on "CNN NEWS CENTRAL."
