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Israel Strike Targets Hamas Leadership In Qatar; Poland: Drones Violating Airspace Have Been Shot Down; Job Growth Through March Much Weaker Than Previous Estimates. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:23]

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN breaking news.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C.

It is Wednesday, September 10th.

And we are following multiple developing stories, including out of Poland, where Polish forces shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace.

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Becky Anderson, coming to you live from the Qatari capital of Doha, where there is tremendous anger over what has been described as a brazen Israeli assault in Doha. Qatar is, of course, a key mediator in the Gaza ceasefire talks, as well as a critical U.S. ally.

The series of Israeli strikes Tuesday targeted senior Hamas leadership here. Hamas says five of its members and a Qatari security official were killed, but that the attack failed to assassinate the delegation in charge of negotiating a Gaza ceasefire.

Israel's ambassador to the U.S. telling Fox News, quote, "If we didn't get them this time, we'll get them next time, which seems to suggest more attacks could be imminent."

But the White House says President Trump assured the Qataris that such a thing will not happen again on their soil, end quote.

Meanwhile, the Qatari prime minister says the airstrike can only be described as state terrorism carried out by a rogue player, and he called Israel a bully.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN AL THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: We are talking about an intermediary country, officially hosting a for official mediation. And in the presence of delegations from the country that sent these rockets to attack the negotiating delegation from the other side. By what ethical standards is this acceptable? This can only be called treachery.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, President Trump did not explicitly condemn the attack, but he said he's not thrilled about the situation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I was very unhappy about it, very unhappy about every aspect. And we got to get the hostages back. But I was very unhappy about the way that went down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum in Israel say family members of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are following the developments here in Doha with deep concern and heavy anxiety. The mother of one Israeli hostage says this strike serves as a death sentence for her son, adding Netanyahu, quote, essentially executed him.

The Israeli prime minister says Hamas could end the war immediately.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: This action can open the door to an end of the war -- end of the war in Gaza. Israel has accepted the principles the proposal put forward by President Trump to end the war, beginning with the immediate release of all our hostages, which have been held in the dungeons of Gaza for 700 days. If President Trump's proposal is accepted, the war can end immediately.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: We're going to get you to CNN's Jerusalem bureau chief, Oren Liebermann.

You just heard the Israeli prime minister speaking there. You know, just about 20 hours on from this targeted strike, this precision strike, as Israel has described it, on a residence here in Doha, not far from where I am standing now, housing or hosting Hamas leadership.

Oren, what do you make of what you just heard?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: Well, it's worth pointing out that that comment, that statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was made only hours after the attempted assassination of Hamas's negotiating team, and it was the first mention by an Israeli official publicly that Israel had accepted the Trump proposal to end the war. So, it's not like they announced they'd accepted Trump's proposal, waited for Hamas response, didn't get it, and then chose to act.

They went after the negotiating team before even acknowledging or saying publicly that that they had accepted the proposal. Meanwhile, whether it advances negotiations or brings the end of the war closer as Israel claims, that is hard to believe. And that's because we've heard it before. When Israel targeted other senior Hamas leaders both in and outside of Gaza. I'm thinking specifically of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar and Mohammed Sinwar. Israel said their deaths would bring the war closer to an end, and that simply has not been the case.

And that's why we saw families of the hostages, frankly furious about these strikes.

[05:05:04]

And it's not just here. There was a proposal that was on the table from Qatar and from Egypt that would have brought about a 60-day ceasefire, the release of about half the hostages. And that would have led to negotiations that was virtually identical to a proposal that Israel had accepted the month before. And yet, Israel never even acknowledged that proposal in any serious way.

They were angry first about the lack of a response to that. And now this decision to what in all likelihood blows up the nascent U.S. effort to advance ceasefire negotiations to get to an end of the war. And that's why you're seeing that anger and the questions over what was the intent here.

Certainly, as you heard from Netanyahu, the Israel was aware of the U.S. effort. And where does it leave this? And I think that's where you see some of the U.S. anger and some of President Donald Trump saying he's very unhappy with this strike.

It's also worth noting here the incredibly late notification that Israel gave to the U.S. about the operation itself, knowing in all likelihood that the U.S. would immediately turn around and tell Qatar, a key U.S. ally in the region that hosts a tremendous U.S. military presence.

So that also gets at, at the anger over Israels attack on what is, frankly, a non-enemy state. And that is where this leaves us right now. It's unclear if the U.S. effort is salvageable at this point. Certainly, that will be an effort of the American administration. It will have to keep and keep an eye on that here, as, frankly, the war continues, and as we wait for the latest update from Hamas and from the Israelis on what the results of the strike were.

ANDERSON: Oren, thank you. Oren Liebermann is in Jerusalem.

And Hasan Alhasan is a senior fellow for Middle East policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He is with us from Manama in Bahrain.

It's good to get you on this morning and your perspective, given that you are here in this Arab Gulf region. Can you just explain the significance of Israel's action yesterday?

HASAN ALHASAN, SENIOR FELLOW, MIDDLE EAST POLICY, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: Yeah. Thanks, Becky. It's always a pleasure to be with you. Well, listen, I think that clearly, these attacks were intended and

engineered to disrupt and spoil the cease fire negotiations. And the Hamas leaders were convened in Doha, presumably to discuss President Trump's latest ceasefire proposal. They were reportedly being encouraged by the Qataris to accept it.

And so, I think bombing Hamas's leadership, just as they were gathered to discuss that very proposal bombing them in Qatar, which is obviously which has played a very important role in supporting the ceasefire negotiations and, ironically, has actually been instrumental in helping Israel and allowing Israel to obtain the release of many of its hostages by brokering a hostage in prisoner swaps with Hamas, I think is a clear message on the part of Israel and the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, that Israel is not really interested in the success of these mediation efforts.

I think beyond what Israel may be trying to achieve vis-a-vis Gaza, I think this attack is going to have repercussions for the way that the U.S. is seen not only in Qatar, but probably in the wider region. Meaning that if the White House's claims are true, that the U.S. only knew about this, rather late in the game, then at best, the U.S. would have been incapable and impotent to stop an Israeli attack on one of its closest partners in the region.

If, however, some of the reports that are being reported by the media that actually the United States may have tacitly approved or greenlit the operation, or even potentially actively facilitated this, then I think this will point to U.S. complicity. And I think that in that case, I think we're going to have a wider impact on the U.S.'s credibility as a defense and security partner in the wider region. But also, I think, writ large worldwide.

ANDERSON: Getting an end to the conflict in Gaza is very much the through line to hopes for safety, security, stability in this region, which we hear time and again is the sort of North Star for Gulf regions, and, of course, other countries around the Middle East.

I wonder what you make, then of the choice language that was used by so many in this region in the wake of those strikes yesterday, very quick condemnation, the use of terms like betrayal, treacherous, cowardly, criminal act that might further -- that could further escalate, the conflicts in this region and do significant damage to the prospect for peace and security going forward.

[05:10:21]

You and I, you know, speak to stakeholders around this region a lot. And to your point about, you know, how those leaders and those countries are feeling, particularly in the Arab Gulf, who are key U.S. allies who expect a sort of reliable security guarantee, who will be thinking the morning -- this morning to -- yesterday, Qatar, possibly today, us.

What are you hearing and what what's your sense of the atmospherics now in this region? And what do you expect to hear and happen next? ALHASAN: I think there is a broader pattern here of unrestrained Israeli military aggression throughout the region. It's not just limited to Qatar, although Qatar may be the latest victim of this, and we see this pattern of unrestrained Israeli military aggression in the occupied Palestinian territories in Gaza and the West Bank, where Israel is poised to annex and lay full military control over those territories. We see it with constant strikes and refusal to vacate southern Lebanon. We see it in Israels growing territorial occupation of parts of Syria.

We've seen such unprovoked Israeli aggression in multiple parts of the region, including the war in Iran and so on. So, I think there is a broader pattern of brazen and unrestrained Israeli military aggression that I think is seen by everyone, including the Arab Gulf states, as a threat and destabilizing element for regional security.

Now, I think some of the wider repercussions here is that I think this might have a real discouraging effect on future mediation efforts, because if this is the kind of risk that comes with mediation, which is something that the Qataris have been highly active in trying to do and trying to broker a ceasefire and bring an end to the conflict and facilitate prisoner and hostage exchanges. Then I think this is the kind of risk that not many countries in the region will be willing to stomach in return for a mediating role.

So, I think this has repercussions far beyond the immediate impact on Qatar or on Qatari-GCC-U.S. relations. But I think this could really have a dampening effect on the appetite of countries to try and bring an end to conflict in their periphery.

Obviously, this is exactly anathema to everything that the GCC states, the Gulf states, have been trying to accomplish. They have tried in the past to broker various types of ceasefires and conflict resolution, be it through via with Iran and the United States, and to get them to agree to a way forward on the nuclear track. And this was obviously -- this was an Omani effort that was foiled by the surprise Israeli attack on Iran. The Omanis have also played a role in de- escalating U.S.-Houthi tensions, and the Qataris have been involved in trying to get Hamas and Israel to agree on a ceasefire.

Now, I think this is the kind of risk that may very much dampen and make it more difficult for countries in the region to involve themselves in such constructive diplomatic effort going forward.

ANDERSON: Thank you, Hasan.

And, Brian, you know, behind the scenes here over the last sort of 20 months, I've heard it said again and again that the Israeli action in defanging, the Iranian-backed proxies, Hezbollah, you know, the regime in Syria, the Houthis, to a degree you know, the taking out but not decimation of Hamas has been very convenient for these Gulf Arab nations.

Look, they are looking for de-escalation. They are looking for economic integration. They all have these big economic projects which won't work unless this region sees some peace and security. And it's been said to me a number of times by Israeli officials -- look, we've been doing the bidding. We've been doing the dirty work for these regional players.

And I think it would be fair to say that perhaps they are right. But at this point, the actions by -- the decisions being taken and the actions by the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and his very small cohort of supporters and colleagues is going beyond, I think, what this region had anticipated.

[05:15:07]

And I think that is why you are seeing such strong condemnation, such strong statements in support of Qatar and against Israel, led by this Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. And ill just close this out by reminding you and our viewers of how the Qatari prime minister described Benjamin Netanyahu at the press conference yesterday when he talked about Israel being the rogue state in this region, talked about it being a bully. He described the prime minister very simply as narcissistic -- Brian.

ABEL: Becky Anderson in Doha. We will see what happens next as tensions rise. Thank you.

Now, let's bring you up to speed on the latest developments out of Poland. The military there accusing Moscow of, quote, an act of aggression after Polish forces shot down Russian drones that violated its airspace.

Prime Minister Donald Tusk said this marked the first time Russian drones had been shot down over the territory of a NATO member state. He added the incursion in Poland involved a huge number of drones, and it took place during Moscow's attack on neighboring Ukraine.

Earlier, Polish and NATO jets were scrambled after reports from Ukraine's air force that Russian drones were headed toward the country's airspace. The Polish military thanked NATO member The Netherlands for contributing fighter jets to defensive operations overnight.

And joining me now with the latest on this is CNN senior international correspondent Ben Wedeman live from Rome.

And this is something that's new and different that Poland stepping in and NATO members stepping in as well here to defend Ukraine.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. Brian, according to Donald Tusk, the Polish prime minister, 19 Russian drones entered a Polish airspace overnight. We understand that they are now searching for drones that might have been shot down as a result of the action by Polish and Dutch F-35 fighters during that air incursion.

Now, it was part of the usual overnight Russian bombardment of Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian air force, 415 drones were fired by the Russians in the direction of Ukraine. But according to the Ukrainians, eight of those drones entered Polish territory. Now, the Russians have yet to comment in detail on these claims. But certainly, what we are hearing is a storm of condemnation from European leaders over this incident.

Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said, describing this as a reckless and unprecedented violation of Poland and Europe's airspace by more than ten Russian drones. President Macron of France has also condemned this. So, this is being viewed by European leaders as a very serious violation of European airspace.

And certainly, it comes at a time when we are seeing that Russia is, if anything, intensifying its attacks on Ukraine over the weekend, for instance, between Saturday and Sunday, the Russians fired more than 800 drones at Ukraine. That represents the largest aerial attack on Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of in February of 2022. And it comes almost four weeks after President Trump met with President Putin in Alaska. And what was described as a historic summit that could lead to a cessation of this war.

But what we're seeing in the aftermath, and certainly what we're seeing overnight is, if anything, the situation is escalating even further to a very dangerous crossing point -- Brian.

ABEL: And, Ben, when Zelenskyy and European leaders were at the White House, I was reporting then the largest aerial assault by Russia. So, it does seem to continue to escalate from day to day.

Ben Wedeman in Rome for us, Ben, thank you.

Still to come, the global trade war goes to the U.S. Supreme Court. We'll tell you why they are set to weigh in on President Trump's tariffs. And incredible pictures from a port in California as containers plunge off a cargo ship.

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[05:24:10]

ABEL: The U.S. Supreme Court says it will hear arguments in early November over President Trump's unprecedented global tariffs. His administration is appealing a lower court ruling which found many of those import tariffs were imposed unlawfully.

Last month, a federal appeals court affirmed that the power to impose taxes and tariffs lies solely with Congress under the Constitution. For now, the tariffs are staying in place. However, while this moves through the courts, the government has argued that overturning the president's actions could force the U.S. to return up to $1 trillion in tariffs already collected.

And job growth in the United States was significantly weaker than initially estimated for the year ending in March. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S. economy added almost a million fewer jobs than previously thought.

[05:25:00]

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS REPORTER: Yeah, jobs growth was much weaker than expected between April of 2024 and March of 2025. The number of jobs added to the U.S. economy in this period was 911,000 less than initially reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. On a monthly basis, that's an average of about 76,000 fewer jobs.

Now, this is an annual benchmark revision that we get every single year. This report, though, showed jobs mostly under President Biden with just three months of the Trump presidency.

Now, the largest revisions were in trade, transportation and utilities with 226,000 fewer jobs in that sector; leisure and hospitality, 176,000 fewer jobs added; and professional and business services, 158,000 fewer jobs added.

Now, there are key reasons for downward revisions. One is a weaker than inferred job creation at new companies. Also, some sampling errors from declining survey responses from businesses to the BLS.

The response rate in 2019 was 59 percent. Compare that to this year, 2025, when response rates are 43 percent.

Also, this is a preliminary revision that looks now at unemployment quarterly tax filings, which are more specific than the surveys and the information that businesses are providing to the BLS. But in these tax filings, it would not show undocumented workers, so they are not counted.

Now, the final revision for the year will be in February of 2026, which will likely show a different number of jobs as the Bureau of Labor Statistics collects even more data.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you.

A rare and dangerous sight caught on camera on Tuesday. Dozens of containers falling off a massive cargo ship at the port of Long Beach in California. Look at that. Containers were seen plunging into the water while others fell on a barge docked alongside the ship. No injuries have been reported. Good news there.

The cargo ship had just arrived from China and was being unloaded. Some of the containers spilled their cargo with clothes and shoes seen floating in the water. Operations at the terminal were briefly halted to clean up this mess. Investigators are now trying to determine exactly what went wrong.

International condemnation after Israel strikes Hamas in Doha. How the U.S., Qatar and other countries are responding. Our coverage continues with Becky Anderson in Doha, next.

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