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Isa Soares Tonight
Trump Gives Iran Ultimatum To Either Strike A Deal Or Face Annihilation; President Trump Expresses Renewed Confidence That The Russia- Ukraine War Will Conclude Soon; U.K. Offers Saudi Arabia Air-Refueling Assistance To Help Repel Houthi Attacks; Experts Warn Diesel Export Ban Could Hurt The U.S. Economy; Americans Disagree With Trump On Iran; Protests After ICE Wounds Venezuelan Delivery Driver. Aired 2-3p ET
Aired September 22, 2026 - 14:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:00:00]
CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: A very warm welcome to the show, everyone, I'm Christina Macfarlane in for Isa Soares. Tonight, strike
a deal or a quick annihilation. That's the major decision U.S. President Donald Trump says he has to make on Iran as global leaders gather in New
York for the world's biggest week of diplomacy.
Also high on the agenda, Ukraine, the U.S. leader oozing confidence in ending Russia's war in Ukraine as he meets President Zelenskyy on the
sidelines.
And the U.K. offers Saudi Arabia air-refueling assistance to help repel Houthi attacks. But is the move purely symbolic? I'll discuss with a former
chair of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee. That, and much more just ahead.
But first, billing himself as the ultimate peacemaker. U.S. President Donald Trump addressed the U.N. General Assembly today, threatening to
quickly annihilate Iran if it doesn't make a deal. Mr. Trump said he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon, calling on other U.N. states to
help isolate Iran economically, to force it back to the negotiating table.
He said he believes Iran will make a deal to end the war after the U.S. Midterm elections in November, but warns it will pay a massive price, if
not.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far
greater country than it ever was before? Maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East, or even the world.
Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Mr. Trump's wide-ranging speech also touched on Cuba, which he called a failed state that will fall, as well as new U.S. military bases in
Greenland, Mexican drug cartels, the future of artificial intelligence, and much more.
After he left the podium, he began a series of meetings on the sidelines with world leaders, including British Prime Minister Andy Burnham. Well,
President Trump only briefly mentioned Gaza in reference to his post-war Board of Peace and getting Israeli hostages back home.
But other speakers had searing remarks about the fate of Palestinians. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called Gaza the most inhumane and
shameful concentration camp of our time. He also said it's the world's largest graveyard for children, noting that 70,000 Palestinians have been
killed in Israeli attacks there in less than three years.
But Jim Sciutto is -- has been at the United Nations for us all day today in the -- in New York, and Fred Pleitgen is following developments for us
in Berlin. Jim, to you first, and the speech by the U.S. President --
JIM SCIUTTO, CNN CHIEF U.S. SECURITY ANALYST: Yes --
MACFARLANE: Made earlier today. I mean, this seemed to be a speech where he appeared to stick more or less to the script. But once again, we heard this
kind of carrot-and-stick approach to Iran re-issuing his threat to annihilate Iran and then hedging by saying he was confident Iran would make
a deal after the Midterm elections. So, what did you make of all of his rhetoric today?
SCIUTTO: Listen, you know, as you say, carrot-and-stick, and a fairly aggressive stick, right? To use that language again, which we have heard
before of threatening to annihilate the Islamic Republic, send it to hell.
It recalls those terms he used several weeks ago, talking about bombing Iran back into the stone ages. As aggressive as that language is, that
threat, we should note he's made that threat before, not followed through.
And in fact, it has -- seemed to be in the region of looking for a way out of the war. So, the real question is, does that threat carry the same bite?
[14:05:00]
Does that application of military pressure to push Iran to the negotiating table, which is, you know, the carrot part of that equation.
Does it still work? And it certainly hasn't in recent weeks. Iran resisting that pressure largely. The administration has been placing its hopes more
recently on this economic blockade to basically starve the regime of financing by stopping it from exporting oil.
And perhaps, that might have more success over time. But once again, the administration is facing that split within the Iranian leadership itself.
You have the Iranian President here at the UNGA, the Foreign Minister Araghchi, and you have Secretary of State Marco Rubio saying that U.S.
officials would be willing to meet with them.
But if they were, if such a meeting were to happen, would that bring negotiations home? If hardliners in Iran stand in the way of negotiations
or concessions? We don't know. So, you know, once again, you have this hostile language without any strong sense that it will change the dynamic
any more than it's done in the past, and that, that's ultimately the President's frustration.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and as you point out, where we have been before. Jim, stay with us. Fred --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
MACFARLANE: I believe the President has just been meeting a few minutes ago, for a bilat with President Zelenskyy, which is now wrapped, I think. I
think we heard the President say that he and Zelenskyy were figuring out a solution to end the war, which seems to be a big focus. Can you just bring
us up-to-date on what else was said?
FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Certainly, is a renewed big focus. You're absolutely right. The two leaders met just a
couple of minutes ago, and there are certain things that are obviously very important to the United States.
And you can see that this conflict, the one that President Trump actually said that he wanted to solve, as he put it in the early stages of his
Presidency, has really come to the front of the President's agenda once again.
And the U.S. really ramping up those efforts to try and end that conflict. Also, because the stakes have become so very high. There's two things that
are really at play here. The way that, that war is unfolding right now is you have both the Ukrainians and the Russians essentially in a long-
distance war, hitting each other's critical infrastructure.
In many cases, oil and gas infrastructure, energy infrastructure, the Ukrainians, of course, we've been talking about this, Christina, really
suffering from those long-distance Russian airstrikes with those jet- powered drones, whereas the Russians are losing a lot of refineries and a lot of other infrastructure to long distance Ukrainian drone strikes.
And one of the things that the President has said is that he believes that the high price, especially of diesel fuel in the United States is in part
due to those long-distance Ukrainian strikes. And for the Ukrainians, it really is a high-stakes meeting today.
They, of course, want more help with air defense from the United States. They want more interceptors, very hard to come by at this point in time,
especially after the United States has been using so many of those in the Iran war.
But they also, of course, really want the United States to stay engaged in that process. One of the things that I know the Ukrainians are looking at
very carefully in that speech from the U.S. President at the -- at the UNGA, was the fact that the President did hint at the fact that he has that
new tariff authority to try and maybe put some pressure on the Russians if a solution isn't in the cards in the not-too-distant future.
Again, right now, the efforts to try and get diplomacy going once again, have been ramped up by the President's negotiators, at the same time, of
course, it remains a very difficult situation as the Russians, for their part, for instance, continue to prod that line that they have been since
the war started, that they want to achieve as they put it, all of the goals of their special military operation, as they still call it, before ending
the fighting with Ukraine. Christina.
MACFARLANE: Yes, Fred, thank you for now. Jim, just one last one with you, I mean, as we look ahead to what's expected today, there will be some high
stakes, U.S.-Arab diplomacy later when Donald Trump holds a bilat with GCC nations.
Now, these are countries who, of course, have very much borne the fallout and been on the frontline of the Iran war. What will you be watching for in
that meeting as the sort of Houthi attacks continue to escalate against Saudi Arabia?
SCIUTTO: Yes, and it's part of this challenge he's facing with the Iran war, right? He wants to -- he wants to end it. He wants to get Iran to the
negotiating table. But in fact, while resisting negotiations on those hard issues, in effect, it's expanding the war right to another front via its
allies, the Houthis blocking another pathway to get oil particularly from Saudi Arabia to the world market.
And that concerns not just U.S. allies, Gulf allies such as Saudi Arabia in the region, but the President himself, because he's highly attuned to the
price, to the oil prices, the price of diesel fuel, the price of gas here in the U.S.
[14:10:00]
So, it's a frustration. We know that U.S. allies in the region want more help from the U.S. militarily, but it's not clear this President wants to
get further involved militarily in the region. In fact, I think quite the opposite is true based on his statement.
So, does he offer substantive additional help to the Saudis to help answer that Houthi threat? To what degree and to what degree can the U.S. military
deliver that? I think it's a -- it's a big question, and it -- I think it feeds into broader concerns from U.S. gulf allies about just American power
in the region, right?
It already proved to have holes in it in terms of defending gulf allies from Iranian attacks. And now we're seeing -- you know, it has not quite
achieved its goal of reopening all those shipping lanes as well. So, it's a -- it's yet another challenge for the President here at the UNGA, and we'll
see if they can make some diplomatic progress.
MACFARLANE: All right, we will be watching carefully. Jim Sciutto there --
SCIUTTO: Yes --
MACFARLANE: Live for us from the UNGA, appreciate your reporting --
SCIUTTO: Thanks --
MACFARLANE: Thanks. Well, Kurt Volker is joining us now from Washington. He's the former U.S. Ambassador to NATO and the former U.S. Special
Representative for Ukraine Negotiations. He's now a distinguished fellow at the Center for European Policy Analysis and a Senior Advisor to the
Atlantic Council.
Thank you for joining us. I want to ask you immediately about, you know, the -- some of the rhetoric we've had coming out of this bilat between
President Zelenskyy and President Trump on this renewed push for diplomacy.
I mean, Zelenskyy clearly sees that there is momentum for diplomacy at this moment. And we know that earlier this month, of course, Kushner and Witkoff
made that trip to Russia, to Ukraine. And now, we're hearing President Trump saying that Zelenskyy and I are figuring out a solution to end the
war. Do you see genuine momentum in this moment for that?
KURT VOLKER, DISTINGUISHED FELLOW, CENTER FOR EUROPEAN POLICY ANALYSIS & SENIOR ADVISOR, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: No, not really. And I've never believed
that Vladimir Putin will negotiate seriously. He wants to conquer Ukraine and subject it or subjugate it to the Russian Empire. So, he's not going to
negotiate.
What I do think is possible is that Putin can be brought to the point of needing and agreeing to a ceasefire. Ukraine is doing a remarkable job
right now of bringing the fight to Russia in ways that are affecting the Kremlin's finances, that people in Russia are seeing firsthand that this is
a real war going on.
It's affecting the military, logistics and military capabilities of Russia. So, Ukraine is having some great success. If we can put pressure on Putin's
finances even further through, for example, implementation of this Lindsey Graham's sanctions bill.
So, really dry up the Kremlin's finances, that could bring Putin to the point of a ceasefire. I think that's what Zelenskyy and Trump will be
talking about. Zelenskyy has been relentless in proposing a full-scale ceasefire, an air ceasefire, an energy ceasefire, and Putin has rejected
all of these. But if we can get some additional pressure on Putin, maybe we can get to a yes on a ceasefire.
MACFARLANE: And let's talk about the Lindsey Graham sanctions bill, because we did hear Donald Trump mention it today in his speech. This would enable
Donald Trump to impose a 100 percent tariffs on the top five countries buying oil and gas from Russia.
I mean, regardless of whether he follows through on that or not, how symbolic a move is this for Ukraine?
VOLKER: Well, it's symbolic in the sense that it shows very strong bipartisan support in the Senate and in the House for Ukraine. The bill
passed overwhelmingly in both chambers, and President Trump signed it into law. So, that's -- symbolically that's very good.
The tariffs themselves, I doubt that they will be fully implemented or if they are, I doubt that they will be fully effective. But there are also
other provisions in the law or in the President's existing authorities where he could use them to put more pressure on Putin.
For example, I think secondary sanctions on financial institutions that are involved in the -- in the transferring of money to the Kremlin based on oil
and gas sales. I think targeting those specifically would be a very good idea.
MACFARLANE: In recent weeks, we have seen Canada and European allies commit to air defense packages for Ukraine ahead of what is expected to be a very
difficult Winter. Do you expect that President Zelenskyy would have raised the issue of Patriot interceptor missiles again, with the President in his
bilateral just now? And is that something you know, we can expect the President to bring up again?
VOLKER: Yes, I think so. I think President Zelenskyy will indeed raise it. And President Trump promised this in Ankara. I think it's a good idea. It
was a good idea from the beginning. There are obviously some difficulties or complications in working it out.
But I think President Trump will approve a license for the production of the PAC-2 system in Ukraine or in a nearby country.
[14:15:00]
And the sooner we can do that, the better. Ukraine is already producing missiles and working on air defense missiles. If we give them the
components and the technology, I'm sure that they will move on this very quickly.
MACFARLANE: Yes, I wanted to just get your thoughts on this new drone deal that President Zelenskyy has talked about. He said it's ready to be signed,
but we don't know much about it. What could that be? And could this be a possible sort of quid pro quo, as it were, to sort of encourage the U.S.
administration to move towards Patriots?
VOLKER: Well, it's certainly a very good offer from President Zelenskyy, and should build more and more a sense of partnership between the United
States and Ukraine. As I understand it, what it can -- what it contains is the sale of a large number of drones to the United States.
But more importantly, transferring the know-how, how -- teaching the Americans how to use them effectively, both for launching attacks and for
defending against drone attacks. Right now, the U.S. only has very expensive means of knocking down drones that the Iranians may fire at our
forces in the gulf or our gulf allies or Israel.
So, to be learning from the Ukrainians some cheaper ways of dealing with those drone threats is very beneficial to the U.S., and as I said, if that
strengthens a sense of partnership between the two countries, maybe we can get some pressure on Putin to end the war as well, too.
MACFARLANE: Kurt Volker, always incredible to have your insight in a moment like this. Thank you very much for joining us.
VOLKER: Thank you, Christina.
MACFARLANE: Now, it's the first UN General Assembly for British Prime Minister Andy Burnham as he prepares to address delegates later today. The
British leader also held direct talks today with President Trump. It was their first face-to-face meeting after speaking on the phone.
Prime Minister Burnham said in the past when he was Manchester's mayor, that he would refuse to meet Mr. Trump. But the Prime Minister told
reporters today that he and the U.S. President now have established a good connection.
Their meeting comes as the U.K. agrees to offer limited military support to Saudi Arabia. The Prime Minister says Britain's Air Force will provide air-
to-air refueling for Saudi planes to counter Houthi attacks from Yemen.
Well, Lord Peter Ricketts is the former chair of Britain's Joint Intelligence Committee and a former British ambassador to France. Thank you
so much for joining us. This bilat has been taking place between the two leaders, I think about wrapped about 20 minutes ago.
And this -- speaking of the -- I mean, the Saudi deal, I mean, this is the first time -- this is the Prime Minister's first military deployment since
taking charge. Why is the U.K. stepping up to do this now, and how carefully timed is this ahead of that one-on-one meeting with the
President?
PETER RICKETTS, MEMBER OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS OF THE UNITED KINGDOM: Well, Christina, you're right. I mean, he's still a very new Prime Minister. This
is the first time he's had to make a decision on deploying military forces. I mean, in a way, it was a small gesture.
It's a single air tanker plane. On the other hand, it does show Andy Burnham is willing to help gulf allies when they ask. And I think part of
the background, maybe Saudi frustration that the Americans have not been able to come forward and help them in this new front of the Houthis taking
control of some of the key strategic areas around the Red Sea access to the Indian Ocean.
And that's something that Britain can help with. I suspect the timing was mainly because the Saudis asked for it, but it falls quite conveniently
just at the time when Andy Burnham's meeting on with Trump, and he can show that the U.K. in a small way, is contributing to help gulf allies at a time
of acute security problems.
Notable that the President didn't refer to the Houthi issue at all in his General Assembly statement, but it is nonetheless something that is
concerning everyone, because if the Houthis tighten their grip on that Bab al-Mandab access to the Indian Ocean, that further chokes off supplies of
energy to all our countries and therefore puts upward pressure on inflation and energy prices and all the rest of it. So, this is a small British
gesture, but also an indication of willingness to help.
MACFARLANE: And I'm just reading a few of the lines that are coming out of that bilat not long ago, the U.S. President saying relations with the U.K.
are now more on the up than they were under Keir Starmer as prime minister.
And of course, we know how angry Donald Trump was when Keir Starmer didn't offer early military assistance in his war with Iran. There's been a lot of
news commentary, I think, here in the U.K. as to how Burnham will handle Donald Trump, given Keir Starmer's efforts sort of backfired on him after
he took a more complacent -- well, fawning approach, I think some have called it. What do you think Burnham's approach will have been?
[14:20:00]
RICKETTS: Well, first of all, Andy Burnham is a natural people person. I think he's got good people skills, and he is very relaxed and self-
confident in the way he approaches things. That was apparent in the clip with the President.
I'm sure he will have studied carefully how to approach issues in a way which is going to get a positive echo from the President while standing up
for issues that are important to the U.K. And he seems to have managed that.
And all we have is to judge his press conference. But I thought the President was remarkably, you know, in a good mood, keen to avoid open
quarrels with the new Prime Minister, as you say, making a favorable comparison between him and Keir Starmer, which is quite tough on Keir
Starmer, who had two difficult years navigating relations with Donald Trump.
Nonetheless, it's a good start. I think Andy Burnham will be pleased; the press tried their best to find ways of sowing division between them. They
asked about immigration. They asked about the recent U.K. decision to impose sanctions on exports from Israeli settlements.
President didn't rise to either of those baits. They asked about the Chagos Islands and they got a -- you know, an angry or at least a negative
response from the President over that. But overall, I think Andy Burnham will be pleased with this.
It lays the groundwork for continuing to work with Donald Trump, just as he also has to work to get closer to the European Union and build on the
Coalition of the Willing of Europeans, Canadians and others that is doing so much to help Ukraine. But I think it will be --
MACFARLANE: Yes --
RICKETTS: Regarded in the Burnham --
MACFARLANE: I mean --
RICKETTS: Camp as, you know, a good first outing.
MACFARLANE: I would -- I would tend to agree with you. I think the only point of pushback was on the Chagos Islands from President Trump, where he
sort of criticized the U.K.'s plan to hand sovereignty of the Chagos Islands to Mauritius.
Of course, those islands are home to a joint U.S. military base. I mean, how carefully does the Prime Minister need -- given how quickly that
unraveled for Keir Starmer? How carefully does the Prime Minister need to step in this issue in terms of not making it a personal -- you know,
escalating it to a personal confrontation with the President?
RICKETTS: I'm sure he's been doing some careful study of previous British Prime Ministers and Donald Trump, and has learned that the best way to
handle things is to be firm when you need to in private, but to avoid open public quarrels.
Because if you disagree with the President in public, you may get punched pretty hard on the nose in return. So, there with the Chagos Islands issue,
I mean, he heard what Trump said and agreed that yes, well, he'll think further about it.
In other words, played through the issue, avoided open disagreement while I'm sure not changing his position at all. I think the work will have to go
on to convince Donald Trump that actually the deal that's being offered is the best way of guaranteeing the strategic stability of the -- of that key
base.
I think part of the reason for Donald Trump's, you know, sunny mood when he saw Andy Burnham was the -- that successful signing agreement with the
Danes on the U.S.-Denmark updated treaty on Greenland, where I think effective diplomacy actually gave Donald Trump a ladder to walk down from
the very difficult, very disagreeable(ph) position he'd got in, threatening to occupy or annex Greenland.
In the end, it was possible to find a treaty which was beneficial for both sides. And I think Donald Trump could walk away from that feeling. He'd had
a success that probably improved the mood when he then saw Andy Burnham shortly afterwards. That diplomacy worked. And one of the striking things
to me from the --
MACFARLANE: Yes --
RICKETTS: Day, was that Trump has been pretty positive about NATO. We've had, you know, Mark Rutte got a shout-out in the speech to the General
Assembly, the Denmark-U.S. deal underpins NATO in the north, and of the alliance.
Altogether, NATO had a pretty good day. If we think back to the way that it was lambasted by the President two or three years ago.
MACFARLANE: Yes, and all in all, it's been a pretty different UNGA as well, I think comparative to last year's offense. But as you say, lord Ricketts,
it seems that the Prime Minister here has overcome his first big test. His second one will be to come tonight, of course, when he makes that keynote
speech, and we'll be watching out for that. But thank you very much for now for giving us your thoughts on all of this. Thank you
RICKETTS: Thanks.
MACFARLANE: Now, the price of diesel fuel remains a major concern. We'll tell you what some Republicans want President Trump to do to lower prices.
And later, who do you think is winning the U.S. war with Iran? Well, the results of a brand-new CNN poll may surprise you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:25:00]
MACFARLANE: Welcome back. Good news for consumers. Oil prices have fallen to their lowest levels in the past two weeks. This comes as reports suggest
the flow of oil in the Strait of Hormuz could ramp up soon. Let's take a quick look at the markets.
The price of Brent Crude, which is the global benchmark, has fallen below the $100 a barrel mark, although that has fluctuated a bit throughout the
day. Meanwhile, the U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate is hovering around $91 a barrel.
However, the price of diesel remains a major concern. Some Republicans are now calling on President Donald Trump to take drastic measures to lower the
price. Senator Chuck Grassley posted a message on X, telling the President to place an embargo on diesel exports, although experts say that would only
give temporary relief and would lead to long-term issues.
Diesel fuel is used for trucks, trains, tractors and ships. CNN's Matt Egan has more.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER (on camera): The experts are saying that it likely would not make diesel cheap again and that, in fact, it could
backfire. But look, as you mentioned, the President is facing pressure from his own party to do something to lower sky-high diesel prices.
Diesel is arguably the most important fuel on the planet, right? It's powering the trucks, trains, tractors, construction vehicles and the ships
at the heart of the modern economy. And yes, it must be tempting to do something with exports right now because every day, the U.S. sends over a
million barrels of diesel overseas at a time when diesel is at record highs.
Here, however, experts don't think that this would be a solution. Let me just take you through what this might look like. So, let's just say the
administration banned exports of diesel. Analysts do think that U.S. diesel prices would drop, but they think it would only be temporary, and that it
would be localized.
It would be specifically something that would happen in the Midwest and in the Gulf Coast, two regions that have a lot of refineries and would
suddenly have more diesel than they know what to do with. However, globally, foreign diesel prices would surge because they would lose access
to the U.S. diesel.
That's a problem not just for countries overseas. It's also a problem for the East Coast and the West Coast in the U.S., because those areas rely on
diesel imports. And then how would refineries react if they suddenly lost access to their overseas customers? Many of them would likely pull back.
They would process less fuel; less fuel means higher gas and diesel prices.
[14:30:01]
This explains why Bob McNally, a, a former George W. Bush energy advisor, he told me that this would be an authentic policy error, what he calls an
APE. He said, in fact, this would be the king of the APEs. Now, the White House has not embraced these calls from Republicans to ban exports.
A White House official telling me that a, an export ban or even just export restrictions are not being considered, although this official added they're
not being considered at this moment. And look, the pressure on the White House, it's not going to go away because we're looking at a truly historic
spike.
So, AAA has been tracking diesel prices going back to the year 2000, and there's really never been anything like this 83 percent surge so far this
year for prices for diesel. But the bottom line here is analysts are saying that while there's going to be pressure on the White House to take action,
an export ban likely would not fix things, and in fact, it could make matters worse. Back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Our thanks to Matt Egan there. Now, still to come tonight on the show, Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed victory in the war with Iran
but a new CNN poll finds most Americans disagree with him about that. A stunning poll and the numbers coming up
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
MACFARLANE: A brand-new CNN poll finds support for the war in Iran sinking to new lows. The poll shows widespread disapproval of how Donald Trump is
handling the conflict, and only a quarter of all Americans think he has a clear plan. It also finds that just 36 percent think the U.S. is even
winning the war, despite the fact that Mr. Trump has declared victory on dozens of occasions.
Our Julia Benbrook has been digging into these new poll findings. So, Julia, just break down these numbers in more detail for U.S., if you would.
JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and president Donald Trump, he wrapped not too long ago his speech at the United Nations General Assembly.
[14:35:00]
He's been meeting with multiple foreign leaders following that, but he focused in on the war in Iran for a decent part of that speech. And this is
a conflict that he said would be a brief excursion. He said it would last for a couple of weeks. It is now headed toward that seventh month mark. And
even though it's still ongoing, Trump works during this speech to paint himself as a peacemaker. He said at one point, while others have ignored
threats, I have confronted them.
He reiterated a point that he has made since this conflict started, that Iran cannot, under any circumstance, have access to a nuclear weapon. But
as you pointed out in that polling, a majority of Americans have said that they do not even think that the United States is winning this conflict as
it drags on.
Trump did say that he has a couple of different options here. He believes that an agreement in the conflict could come shortly after the midterm,
suggesting that Tehran is trying to put some pressure on him politically. The other option, though, further escalation.
After he said that there could be an agreement, he went on to say this, quote, "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?"
Although this speech was for a wide audience, a global audience, the timing of it is important to note because we are just weeks away from the
midterms. And that recent polling that you referenced, it shows that the majority of Americans do not approve of the way that he has handled this
conflict so far. In fact, those numbers have been going down.
This poll showed that just 26 percent approve at this time, and that is down from 33 percent in March. And a big portion of that drop is due to the
favorability in his own party, in the Republican Party. And so, as Trump going into the midterms tells people to pretend he is on the ballot to get
them out to vote, the question is, is that actually helpful for the Republicans that are trying to get elected right now?
MACFARLANE: Yes. And it was interesting to note as well that Trump is down 13 percentage points in Republican approval on this issue as well. So, all
very interesting, as you say that, Julia, heading into the midterms. Thank you.
And that new CNN poll also raises serious questions about American attitudes towards Israel. It finds a growing number of Americans now
classify Israel as a country that is unfriendly or even an enemy of the U.S., though Israel is nowhere near countries like Russia or China. But
look at the numbers compared to how Americans felt about Israel in March of 2025, the last time this question was asked. The poll found significant
movement in negative feelings about Israel from Republicans, especially from younger Americans.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is hitting back at New York City mayor after Zohran Mamdani told CNN he's an architect of genocide. Mr.
Netanyahu will head to New York later this week where he'll address the U.N. and he's under an arrest warrant by the International Criminal Court
for alleged war crimes. But the U.S. is not a member of the court and will not heed that warrant.
Mr. Netanyahu released a video accusing Mamdani of supporting Hamas and inciting riots against Jews. His remarks came after Mamdani said this to
CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D-NY): I have been clear about the way that I see the world and I always owe New Yorkers that honesty. And when it comes to
Benjamin Netanyahu, I have described him as I believe him to be a war criminal and an architect of a horrific genocide of the Palestinian people.
And I've also been honest with New Yorkers that New York City does not have the authority to carry out the ICC's warrant, which as you said has been
issued for Prime Minister Netanyahu. And that I do believe that that is something that should be honored because what we want to see, and we've
been talking about this today, is a faith in our politics, a faith in accountability.
You know, I recently met the mayor of The Hague here at U20, and the key thing he kept emphasizing to all of us was the importance of the rule of
law. And if the International Criminal Court deems someone worthy of an arrest because of a violation of those laws, then who are we to say that
anyone should be above that? And I think very clearly that everyone should be held accountable to it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: Now, protests have broken out in Texas after an immigration agent shot and wounded a Venezuelan delivery driver in Austin on Sunday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Help us build a movement that will drive ICE out of Austin and out of Texas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MACFARLANE: The shooting has sparked more outrage over ICE tactics. We have some video we're about to show you of the aftermath here, and we need to
warn you, this is graphic.
[14:40:00]
You're looking here at 28-year-old Wilber Garces Perez being placed in handcuffs. You can see his shirt is cut off to reveal a bleeding wound just
below his neck. An attorney representing him tells CNN Garce Perez was moved out of hospital to a detention center with a bullet still in his back
and without pain medication. He was shot in the back, and he was taken to the hospital. It was then moved back to a hospital before being returned to
detention.
CNN's Priscilla Alvarez has been covering this traumatic story. I mean, what is the status now, Priscilla? Bring us up to date on this.
PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been some success with the lawsuit that his attorney had filed to try to have him released
from detention and to block his deportation. And there is a hearing that is scheduled for next week. And the federal judge has ordered that he be
present for that hearing. In other words, he cannot be deported between now and then. That's according to his attorney.
But we are also learning from her about what transpired yesterday when he was again taken back to a hospital after being in detention. And what the
attorney said is that he had been transferred around 5:00 p.m. to the hospital, that he was given medications, that he was comfortable. And it
was unclear the reason behind his loss of movement, whether it was pain or whether there's paralysis. And he was discharged at midnight.
Since then, he again is back in detention. The bullet is still lodged in his back. And, according to the attorney, he is in isolation and has not
had communication privileges, typically in detention that happens with a tablet, where you can call your family or your attorney. She says that has
been limited. We also know that there are lawmakers, Texas lawmakers, who are planning to visit him tomorrow to try to learn more about his
condition.
But in addition to all of this, he said, we're also learning about the ICE officer. I'm told by my sources that he has been put on administrative
leave. That is standard procedure after incidents like this. But in addition to that, I am learning that he was a recent hire at ICE. He had
previously worked at another federal law enforcement agency. He was brought on to the agency being ICE last year. And he was not wearing his body
camera during the incident that happened over the weekend, where he discharged his weapon.
And that's going to raise a lot of questions from the outside, from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle that have pushed for ICE agents to be
wearing their body-worn cameras, which the department says they have been distributing over the last few weeks. But it's also, of course, going to be
a question in that investigation. There is an ongoing investigation being led by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance of the FBI.
MACFARLANE: All right. Well, we'll, of course, continue to follow it. Priscilla Alvarez, appreciate it. Thank you.
Now, on CNN's Culture and Lifestyle series, Seasons, hosted by Laura Jackson, we explore how luxury resale is booming. We'll be back after this
quick break to bring you that and more.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:45:00]
MACFARLANE: Well, we were talking just now about CNN's Culture and Lifestyle series, "Seasons," hosted by Laura Jackson, where she explores
how luxury resale is booming. And so, too, are sophisticated fakes. Laura goes inside the authentication center of resale platform, the RealReal, to
see if she can spot the difference between a real and a counterfeit handbag.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTER THOMPSON, DIRECTOR OF AUTHENTICATION: Can you spot the fake? Feel free to pick it up, look inside, feel it, smell it. I always recommend
smelling it. If you get a chemical smell, it's usually a bad sign.
LAURA JACKSON, HOST, "SEASONS": I would say this was the fake.
THOMPSON: Let's throw it in the machine and find out.
JACKSON (voice-over): Prices for designer goods have skyrocketed in recent years. And for many, buying pre-loved luxury is the only way to access
high-end fashion. At the authentication center of popular resale platform, the RealReal, there's one question on everyone's mind. Is this the real
thing?
THOMPSON: Our most counterfeited bags go in here.
JACKSON: What's the most counterfeited?
THOMPSON: It depends on the day. But your usual suspects, right? Like your, you know, Gucci, Louis Vuitton. Today, we're going to look at Hermes.
Here, we can see the construction of this handbag.
JACKSON: Wow.
THOMPSON: Yes. We're really paying attention to the feet. See how that's a very, very clean line? That's a really, really good sign.
JACKSON: OK.
THOMPSON: OK. All right. So, we're going to throw the other bag in, and we're going to see what it looks like. She's going to zoom in on those
feet. See those thread locks?
JACKSON: Fake.
THOMPSON: Bad, yes. That's just a cheap way to attach the feet. They probably threw some Loctite in there. So, if you gave it a twist, you
wouldn't be able to untwist it. See the H is very flat here. It doesn't have that roundness to it.
JACKSON (voice-over): In the U.S., over 40 percent of consumers say they bought pre-worn clothes or accessories in the past year, according to
research by Bain & Company, meaning the volume of items that consignment companies have to authenticate is growing fast.
JACKSON: How many bags are you putting in here a day?
THOMPSON: Multiples all day long.
JACKSON (voice-over): Occasionally, something truly special comes across the authenticator's desk.
JACKSON: She's got her own mannequin.
DOMINIC HALAS, MASTER AUTHENTICATOR, VINTAGE THE REALREAL: She deserves it.
JACKSON: What is it? Talk me through it.
HALAS: Norma Kamali. Yes. This one's probably from the late '70s to early '80s. Really stunning piece. And I think this especially, this is a great
vintage piece because it can still be worn today. And part of how we define vintage here is its stylistic relevance.
JACKSON: Right.
HALAS: People still desire it and they're willing to pay quite a lot for it. It's a piece of fashion history. And I think it's only going to
increase in value.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Master authenticator. What a cool job. All right. Still to come tonight on the show, an aerial adventure. We will show you the very best
bird photos of the year. And if you think these images are amazing, wait until you see the photo that won the grand prize.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:50:00]
MACFARLANE: French football superstar Kylian Mbappe is opening up to CNN about his place in the football hierarchy. He says he thinks he has a
pretty good chance of winning his very first Ballon d'Or this year, the award that goes to the top footballer in the world. Mbappe also reflected
on his record-setting World Cup this summer. Here he is in conversation with CNN World Sports' Amanda Davies.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: What was the message as a team as you walked away from the World Cup?
KYLIAN MBAPPE, CAPTAIN, FRANCE MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM: That we were a great team, everybody saw. We are one of the best teams in the world, everybody
saw. But we have to work on the details to be the best team in the world. And I think also everybody saw this.
So, at the end of the day, it was an amazing experience for us because I think we gave pleasure to the fans all around the world. But we didn't
achieve what we wanted to achieve. But I cannot say it's a failure because it would be unfair for everything we did. But at the end of the day, the
details are really important when you want to be the very best.
DAVIES: And from a personal perspective, you walked away from the World Cup, three tournaments down as the record goal scorer in men's World Cup
history.
MBAPPE: It's something that I couldn't imagine, to be able to be the best scorer of the whole time of the World Cup, the competition, who saw all the
greatest players of all time, all the greatest athletes, all the greatest icons that I idolized when I was younger. And to be able to be this guy at
only 27, it's such -- it sounds surreal, but at the end of the day, it's part of history, part of the legacy that I want to build in the world of
football. And I want to still achieve many things in the World Cup and in every competition that I can play.
DAVIES: Zinedine has said he's not going to get involved in the Ballon d'Or debate. But the talking about it this year is serious. Everybody's got a
view. What do you think it should be judged on?
MBAPPE: I think when you talk about the Ballon d'Or, you talk about individual awards. So, it's individual performance. The guy who writes
history will show on the biggest scene that he's the best player in the world. So, at the end, for me, it always has to be the case. When you talk
about the Ballon d'Or, you give to one player. So, you give to the best player. And the guy who shows you that he's the best in every big
competition shows something.
DAVIES: Was there -- how much do you think about it? Is there a frustration you haven't won it yet?
MBAPPE: A frustration, no. Because as a competitor, you always want to win everything. So, at the end of the day, of course, you want to win it. Every
player wants to win it. But we have to wait. We have to wait. We have a few players in the race right now. We're going to see what's going to happen in
October. But I think it can be a good year for me.
DAVIES: How many more trophies are there that these new boots are going to help you achieve?
MBAPPE: I hope every trophy possible. I came for that also. Maybe I will score more goals with this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Seems like such a nice guy, doesn't he? Now, the saying goes that a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, you're about to see some
pictures that are worth thousands of dollars. The Bird Photographer of the Year Award has been handed out with some amazing images of our flying
friends. Isa Soares has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST (voice-over): Whether in the air or on the ground, birds make a great subject for photographers. The Bird Photographer of the
Year Awards honor the very best pictures taken of our feathered friends, with more than 24,000 pictures competing for the top prize.
This year's grand prize winner was actually the man behind this photo of a bird underwater. A northern gannet diving for fish.
[14:55:00]
Photographer Henley Spears from the United Kingdom took home more than $4,000 for this shot.
A 16-year-old photographer from the U.S. took the top youth prize for this image of an owl perfectly framed against the moon. A good photo often
involves a degree of luck, as the photographer who won the Bird in Flight Award admitted. He said this owl unexpectedly turned to look at him just as
he snapped the photo.
Same with the winner of the Conservation Award, who said this blue heron landed so close to him, he could only snap a headshot. The Bird
Photographer of the Year Awards are not just about honoring humans. The organization partners with the charity Birds on the Brain, to raise money
to protect bird habitats worldwide.
Isa Soares, CNN, London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MACFARLANE: Impeccable. And that is it for us -- from me and the team tonight, do stay with CNN. "What We Know" with Max Foster is up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[15:00:00]
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