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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Sources: Trump To Meet Top Congressional Leaders Today; Current New York City Mayor Eric Adams Suspends Reelection Bid; Europe Survives Strong USA Fightback To Win Ryder Cup. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired September 29, 2025 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: U.S. President Donald Trump is reportedly set to meet with top congressional leaders in the coming hours. They're hoping to reach a deal to avoid a possible government shutdown. Lawmakers have until midnight on Tuesday to work out the kinks but neither Republicans nor Democrats are willing to budge at the moment at least. The president previously canceled a meeting with Democratic lawmakers trying to reach an agreement.

Here is part of what is holding up a deal. Republicans want to make sure government funding doesn't run out and want to adopt a new bill to spend tens of millions of dollars on security for lawmakers and officials. Democrats say they won't vote to fund the government unless specific provisions are put in place around the Affordable Care Act. President Trump has called that unreasonable.

House Speaker Mike Johnson is in line with President Trump. Here is what he told our Jake Tapper about Democratic leaders.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: He wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people. It's fine to have partisan debates and squabbles but you don't hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover, and that's what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Camila DeChalus has more on the meeting between President Trump and congressional leaders in the coming hours.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA DECHALUS, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: There is a lot of momentum leading up to this meeting at the White House with President Trump and congressional leaders. Now just earlier, both Republicans and Democrats took to the Sunday shows to really lay out their terms for negotiating a spending bill before there is a potential government shutdown. Now Democrats on their end -- they're saying they're not going to back

any spending bill unless it includes a measure to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. And Republicans are arguing that Democrats are refusing to compromise and that these subsidies should be debated at a later date, not at this current moment.

Now one of the most telling moments that happened was when Jake Tapper pressed House Speaker Mike Johnson on if negotiations will actually take place.

JOHNSON: I'm not going to get in front of the president and tell you what he will do, but I've talked with him a couple of times -- even yesterday -- and I'm telling you where his head is. He wants to bring in the leaders to come in and act like leaders and do the right thing for the American people. It's fine to have partisan debates and squabbles but you don't hold the people hostage for their services to allow yourself political cover, and that's what Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries are doing right now.

DECHALUS: Now as you can see, Johnson wasn't willing to directly say what will or won't happen at that meeting.

Camila DeChalus, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: The man accused of killing Charlie Kirk will be in court today albeit virtually. Lawyers for Tyler Robinson are expected to schedule a preliminary hearing. Robinson faces seven criminal counts, including aggravated murder. He has yet to plea to state charges against him. Prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty if convicted.

Still ahead, one year after Hurricane Helene ripped through the U.S. southeast, a community still struggling to rebuild from that deadly devastation.

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[05:37:45]

ABEL: As the southeastern U.S. braces for gathering storms some states are still recovering from the hurricane that slammed into them a year ago. Hurricane Helene was one of the deadliest storms America has seen in decades, killing more than 200 people. And some areas in North Carolina were among the hardest hit. One of the communities is still facing an uphill battle to bounce back.

CNN's Isabel Rosales is there.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It's not often you get to see the remnants of a storm like this a year later.

AMY CANTRELL, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: Yeah. So this is one of the houses that you can still walk inside, and it's really frozen in time. ROSALES (voiceover): Among the damp wood and abandoned belongings this a reminder of what Helene took in minutes. These walls mark the survival of a family but the loss of a place they once called their "Little Eden."

CANTRELL: Water was pouring in and going higher and higher, and so they feared for their lives -- that they might drown. And so he grabbed a flashlight and a putty knife, and he started hacking through the ceiling right here.

ROSALES (voiceover): Recovery is far from over in hard-hit Swannanoa just outside Asheville with many families still struggling in mountain country.

ROSALES: A year later, what is the need here in this community?

CANTRELL: The need is vast, you know. We still have people that are in temporary shelter.

ROSALES: Yeah.

CANTRELL: And many people lost their jobs. Businesses were gone. They kind of went through.

ROSALES (voiceover): Amy Cantrell and Ponkho Bermejo tell me there's a full-blown housing crisis with tens of thousands of people still displaced. Beloved Asheville is among the nonprofits racing to close that gap, building 120 homes and counting.

Just a few feet from where the Mills family home drifted --

CANTRELL: And they said it felt like they were inside a boat.

ROSALES (voiceover): -- off its foundation --

CANTRELL: You know, they're just floating inside their house.

ROSALES (voiceover): -- rests their new Eden, built above the water line of Helene.

PONKHO BERMEJO, BELOVED ASHEVILLE: And we have a deep connection now in these Appalachian Mountains and we are stronger than ever.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got some pretty serious --

ROSALES (voiceover): From the heart of Biltmore Village in Nashville --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do we fix this?

ROSALES (voiceover): -- Joe Scully has been documenting the tireless comeback story of Corner Kitchen 10 months and more than 300 days through the seasons until this moment.

[05:40:05]

JOE SCULLY, THE CORNER KITCHEN: We're open after 10 months closed.

ROSALES (voiceover): The hometown restaurant now a welcome home back.

SCULLY: And then when we actually started to get, like, people in it was actually a little scary.

ROSALES: Yeah? You got the jitters?

SCULLY: A little.

ROSALES (voiceover): This fall the stakes are higher than ever as visitors pour into High Country to take in the changing foliage. In western North Carolina the next few months could make or break a small business.

SCULLY: It's a possible reality that people will not be able to make it if they don't have the guests and the tourists to come for this next three-month period.

ROSALES (voiceover): A Chamber of Commerce survey of mostly small businesses found 90 percent of respondents project a revenue loss, and nearly 45 percent report a moderate to significant risk of closure.

The Corner Kitchen back from the brink and buzzing with sound, and this stark reminder of just how high the floodwaters climbed.

ROSALES: Why rebuild in a place that's flooded before?

SCULLY: It's too precious not to try.

ROSALES: There's also a heightened sense of awareness here, especially in light of what's expected to be Tropical Storm Imelda developing in the tropics that has people here understandably on edge.

But I'll leave you with this. The Mills Family -- the one behind this home where I'm standing right now -- they're expected to get the keys to their brand-new home by Thanksgiving.

Isabel Rosales, CNN, Swannanoa, North Carolina.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And as Isabel mentioned, Tropical Storm Imelda is forming right now in the Atlantic while Hurricane Humberto reaches category 4. We'll tell you where they are headed next.

Plus, New York Mayor Eric Adams ending his reelection bid, but who stands to benefit the most from it? Ahead, the candidates who could win over his supporters.

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[05:46:23]

ABEL: Welcome back. I'm Brian Abel. Here are some stories we are watching today. At least four people have been killed in an attack on a church in Michigan. Police say a 40-year-old Marine veteran drove his car into a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, began firing an assault rifle, and set the building on fire. Police killed the suspect soon after responding. At least eight people were wounded and as many as seven people are still unaccounted for.

Moldova's pro-Europe ruling party has won Sunday's Parliamentary election. With almost all votes counted they are on track to retain a majority. But the pro-Russia opposition is calling for a protest later today in front of the Parliament's building.

Portland and the state of Oregon have filed suit against President Donald Trump for deploying the National Guard to the city. The president says 200 troops are needed to protect an ICE facility from what he claims are "violent protests." In their lawsuit the city and state allege that the president has overreached his mandates.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has suspended his bid for reelection. It is the latest twist in the city's mayoral race. Adams once described himself as the future of the Democratic Party but his time in office has been hit with a stream of corruption scandals.

Here is part of his announcement from over the weekend.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR ERIC ADAMS (D), NEW YORK CITY: I cannot continue my reelection campaign. The constant media speculation about my future and the campaign finance board's decision to withhold millions of dollars have undermined my ability to raise the funds needed for a serious campaign.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: It's not entirely clear how Adams leaving the race will affect other candidates. Democratic candidate Zohran Mamdani took a large victory in June's primary over former Gov. Andrew Cuomo. And some of Adams' supporters may flock to Cuomo who is now an Independent candidate.

But Mamdani doesn't seem to be worried. Here is part of a video he released on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI, (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: And to Andrew Cuomo, you got your wish. You wanted Trump and your billionaire friends to help you clear the field. But don't forget you wanted me as your opponent in the primary too and we beat you by 13 points. Looking forward to doing it again on November 4. Hope you're well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Well, it looks like the U.S. will be spared the brunt of Tropical Storm Imelda. It's now expected to strengthen and veer toward the powerful Hurricane Humberto. Humberto is a category 4 hurricane currently and is predicted to stay far out in the Atlantic. While neither storm is expected to make landfall, they will affect the U.S.

Meteorologist Chris Warren has more on the two storms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: We did see some dramatic improvements with the forecast in terms of what is expected to happen with both of the storms that we've been watching.

So we often talk about how the forecast can change. I want to show you just how much the forecast changed from Friday to Sunday. Now, the National Hurricane Center issues these cones where the center of the storm is expected to go through. The middle and then there's a variation based on historical errors of where it has gone in the past.

So this was Friday at 5:00 and the storm was expected to go somewhere through here. And then the forecast changed -- it changed a little bit -- and notice the trend. And this is what we look for when there's an event that we're looking at -- a hurricane, a tropical storm days in advance there are multiple forecasts. Sometimes it will lock on and stay almost the same for several different forecasts.

[05:50:05]

In this case the trend was our friend both in terms of getting confidence in the forecast and the final outcome of what ultimately is expected to happen with this.

And some of the forecast models coming into better line too on Sunday, showing them tightly put together. Sometimes it looks like wet spaghetti. We call them spaghetti models for a reason. It looks like someone sometimes throws wet spaghetti right onto a plate and they kind of go all over the place. In this case there is that agreement.

You have the very strong storm Humberto and then Imelda. So a major hurricane helping to influence. And you can kind of see here you get that look. They're kind of interacted a little bit and then the stronger one moving off and the other one kind of coming along with it.

And so while that is the overall forecast with the center, still a lot of moisture coming up close to the southeast coast. A front is going to help get some rain out of it. And you can see the forecast showing two to four inches with the heaviest of rain. That's six-plus going away from land when again, it was possible just a few days ago that it was going to be a big-time rainmaker inland.

So this trend that is expected to hopefully hold and keep the rain just minimal at the coast, although there could still be some flash flooding. But what is going to be dangerous and possibly life- threatening -- these big storms generate a lot of rough surf, dangerous waves, and a very dangerous rip current risk.

(END VIDEOTAPE) ABEL: A Sunday night slugfest. The Packers and Cowboys take their rivalry to another level with an ending that is one for the record books.

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[05:56:05]

ABEL: "SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL" was an absolutely thriller between the Packers and Cowboys in Arlington, Texas. Green Bay, an early favorite to reach the Super Bowl, jumped out to a 13-0 lead, showing that they are, indeed, in contention. But Dallas came storming back with 16 unanswered points late in the first half. Both teams came out swinging after halftime though.

There were seven consecutive lead changes before the Packers hit that last-second game-tying field goal right there to send it into overtime. Dallas, in O.T., took a 3-point lead. But Green Bay -- they just kept hanging around eventually settling for another game-tying field goal -- this time with no time left.

Forty-40 the final score -- the second-highest scoring tie game in NFL history.

Another Sunday matchup featured two of the NFL's perennial powerhouses, the Chiefs and the Ravens. This one though did not live up to the hype. Baltimore -- they jumped out to an early 7-0 lead on this touchdown pass here from Lamar Jackson to Justice Hill. But after that it was all K.C.

Quarterback Patrick Mahomes throwing four touchdowns of the day. Jackson, meanwhile -- he was actually pulled in the third quarter with a hamstring injury. But by then the Ravens -- they were already cooked. The Chiefs win 37-20. Baltimore now 1-3 to start the season.

Well, Team USA -- they staged a strong comeback attempt in the final day of singles at the Ryder Cup. But in the end, it was Team Europe that outlasted the Americans.

CNN's Don Riddell reports from Bethpage Black in New York.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: It has been an exhilarating day of Ryder Cup golf here at Bethpage Black in New York, but for the victorious European team it was absolutely excruciating.

Leading only 2 1/2 points to win a famous victory on U.S. soil they might have thought it would be an easy afternoon, but the Americans had other ideas. Smarting from being totally outplayed over the first two days they came out swinging, energizing the crowd with early points from Cameron Young, Justin Thomas, Scottie Scheffler, and Xander Schauffele. Bryson DeChambeau fought back from five holes down to post a morale-boosting half and suddenly nothing seemed quite so sure. The U.S. team seemingly from nowhere now on course to pull off the

most remarkable comeback in all of sports history. But the Europeans got it done by the skin of their teeth. Shane Lowry won a half point to retain the cup and another half from Tyrrell Hatton won it outright in the penultimate match. It is a famous European win by 15 points to 13, but this was a day of drama that was impossible to imagine before they teed off.

RORY MCILROY, TEAM EUROPE: I wanted to win an away Ryder Cup so badly. We hadn't done it in 13 years. And I think, you know, there's a lot of us that experienced, like, bad whistling and straights felt in 2021. And to come here and completely flip the script and to play the way we did over the first two days.

Look, America came out fighting today and they played great today. And -- but we had enough in the tank to get the job done.

JUSTIN ROSE, TEAM EUROPE: Honestly, when the people stay -- like, people chanting and singing and the late-night sun has gone down, to have people share this moment with us you realize you were playing for a much bigger sphere. We know we are. We know we are.

RIDDELL: So it is a really famous victory for the Europeans and an absolute heartbreaker for the Americans. Europe traveled over the Atlantic to pull it off. And you know what they say -- the last mile is often the hardest. And they would certainly agree that was the case today.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: A rowdy tournament. Don, thank you.

[06:00:00]

And finally, in New Zealand's bird of the year competition a falcon has swooped in and flown away with the crown. The winner, the Karearea Falcon that can dive at speeds over 120 miles per hour -- yikes. Conservationists say just 5,000 to 8,000 remain in the wild.

In this year's competition each bird species had its very own campaign manager. And behind all the fun there is a serious cause -- raising awareness of New Zealand's threatened native birds. Congrats to the falcon.

Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. Erica Hill takes over with "CNN THIS MORNING" right now.