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One World with Zain Asher

White House: Strike in Qatar "Does Not Advance Israel or America's Goals"; Israel Faces Growing Backlash Over Unprecedented Qatar Strike; 400 Russian Drones Were Deployed Against Ukraine Overnight; Families of Hostages React to Israeli Strike in Qatar; Protesters Demonstrate Amid Political Crisis; First Phase of Ticket Sales Begin. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired September 10, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

ZAIN ASHER, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: Israel is facing global anger over its attack on Hamas leadership in Qatar.

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN HOST, ONE WORLD: "One World" starts right now. New details are emerging on how much the Americans knew about Israel's brazen

attack. We're live in Doha with the latest.

ASHER: Plus, for the first time, Poland was forced to shoot down Russian drones in its own airspace. We'll speak to the Former U.S. Ambassador to

Poland this hour.

GOLODRYGA: And get your browsers open and be ready to hit that refresh button. FIFA Men's World Cup tickets go on presale today. Hello everyone,

live from New York. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

ASHER: And I'm Zain Asher. You are watching "One World". As Israel faces widespread global condemnation for its unprecedented -- there may be more

to come.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, earlier on social media, Israel Katz warned that Israel's enemies aren't safe anywhere, and there's no place that they can hide.

Israel's ambassador to the United States is expressing similar sentiments, during an interview with Fox News, he vowed, if any Hamas targets in Doha

were missed, then quote, we'll get them next time.

ASHER: Yeah, it appears to be in direct contradiction to what the White House is saying on Tuesday, the press secretary said that President Trump

had assured Qatar that an attack like that would not happen again on their soil. Hamas has said Tuesday's Israeli strike killed five of its members,

but not its negotiation delegation the intended targets.

The Qatari Prime Minister, meantime, is describing the strike as state terrorism, and he's reserving the right to respond.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MOHAMMED BIN ABDULRAHMAN BIN JASSIM AL-THANI, QATARI PRIME MINISTER: We're talking about an intermediary country officially hosting negotiations 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)

GOLODRYGA: The U.S. President, who said that he was not notified of the attack in time to intervene, is expected to make a statement later today,

but earlier, Donald Trump issued this rare rebuke of Israel.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: He's 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)

ASHER: President Trump speaking there. Let's bring in CNN's Nic Robertson joining us, live now from Doha. So, Nic, obviously, so many issues at

stake. Number one, obviously the fact that you have the hostage negotiations, and what this means for that, whether it delays it or

completely derails it, then that's the issue of U.S. diplomatic credibility. Walk us through that, Nic.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yeah, Khalil al-Hayya, the Hamas negotiator here based in Doha, was the principal target of those

Israeli strikes. Hamas has not listed him among the dead. There isn't. There has not been so far, sort of credible proof of life.

But there's no reason to indicate at the moment that he is, in fact, dead. What Hamas is saying publicly is that no one's talking about a ceasefire at

the moment. So, in terms of a ceasefire, you have an outraged and upset interlocutor in terms of Qatar that is drawing strong support from other

countries in the Gulf.

The President of the UAE has been here today. There's been strong language in terms of support for Qatar from the Saudi Crown Prince as well. But the

sort of core question that you mentioned there of President Trump's credibility. Will all these countries I just mentioned in the Gulf here a

key partners and allies of the United States.

And typically, they have looked to the United States to, if you will, have a powerful and strong enough relationship with the Israeli Prime Minister

to avoid any such strike on their sovereign territory as exactly that happened yesterday. So, I think there's a level of concern about, what does

this mean for U.S. diplomacy in the region?

Certainly, it's going to make countries here pause and say, how reliable is this particular White House. How reliable can President Trump really be?

But it -- but more deeply, it raises that question of, what is his relationship with Prime Minister Netanyahu, if he can't exert a stronger

level of pressure.

[11:05:00]

And there will also ask the questions, really, how could the United States and not have had greater awareness of Israel's planned strikes? How could

they not have had visibility in this region of where the planes were flying? And one analyst with privy information, has suggested that the

flight path would have flown over Syria with refueling in Iraqi airspace, down into the Gulf, perhaps the strikes taken with longer range missiles

from international waters.

But how would the United States have not have had visibility in this region, where it has so many bases, to have seen these aircraft moving in a

timelier fashion? So, I think it raises all these questions, but to the core issue of hostage negotiations in Gaza, they really do seem on hold at

the moment.

ASHER: All right, Nic Robertson, live for us there. Thank you so much.

GOLODRYGA: Ibrahim Fraihat is an Associate Professor of International Conflict Resolution at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, and that's

where he joins us now live. Ibrahim, thank you so much for joining us now. You say that these strikes show that Prime Minister Netanyahu is not

serious about negotiations and bringing this war to an end right now.

The prime minister yesterday, taking full credit, saying that Israel acted on its own here unilaterally -- was over. This was in response to Monday's

attack in the West Bank killing four Israelis that Hamas took responsibility for. Why, in your view, do you think that he is opposed so

adamantly to these ceasefire talks right now, especially at a time when the United States just presented a new proposal?

IBRAHIM FRAIHAT, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AT DOHA INSTITUTE FOR GRADUATE STUDIES: Yeah, thank you for this question. For a very obvious reason, one

is that if you are seriously interested in a ceasefire or a peace deal, you don't go bomb the mediator, which is what Prime Minister Netanyahu did,

actually, he bombed the mediator.

This is not something known even in the literature of conflict resolution or international relations. You don't go bomb the mediator or even kill the

negotiators the enemy, as what Prime Minister Netanyahu admitted of trying to do. So that's one, the second important reason is that we have a

proposal on the table by President Trump that was just released two days ago, before the attack on the possible ceasefire and a deal that was made

by President Trump.

And Hamas leaders were meeting to negotiate with this and to discuss and proper and engage with it the way of what we had of the statements made

after the proposal. So even before receiving or a response to the President Trump proposal, you go and bomb the negotiators.

That's not even -- also that's not even known in international relations at all. Of that you try to kill the negotiator while they're negotiating a

peace deal on the table, no matter how enemy or how bad this enemy is. So that's this we have this evidence that president -- Prime Minister

Netanyahu, is basically trying to sabotage any possible ceasefire for the war in Gaza, which signals actually two important objectives that he's

trying to reach.

One is that he's interested in continuing this war to keep and to maintain his own government and his own political alliance with the right -- far

right in Israel, and also for much bigger reasons that he made it so clear that he's trying to redraw the political map of the Middle East.

So that's where things are going. For these two reasons, what serves his own political agenda is a continuation of the war, not a ceasefire, not a

successful peace proposal that's presented by President Trump.

ASHER: You know, I want to just expand on something that you said that I thought was really interesting. I mean, this idea of Qatar's role as a

mediator. I mean, it's had this really sort of interesting role as this go to mediator since the 1990s playing such a key part in the peace process is

just in terms of the conflicts in Afghanistan and Sudan in Yemen.

In fact, it played a really important role, just in terms of Israeli interests in the release of Gilad Shalit back in 2011 that was the sort of

really famous Israeli hostage. And then obviously it has these rare diplomatic channels with Hamas. It's hosted Hamas' political office since,

I think, 2012 in Doha.

And so how does this jeopardize Qatar's role as a mediator, as a really important mediator, at least in terms of this war going forward, do you

think?

FRAIHAT: Thank you. That's a very good question.

[11:10:00]

And I think there are so many things that need to be reevaluated in light of this latest strike that we've seen by the Israeli government. Qatar has

a very long history of mediation, as you said, in Afghanistan, in Yemen. And actually, in this particular conflict, the first hostage swap between

Israel and Hamas was actually primarily negotiate, mediated by Qatar.

So though there isn't a successful mediation in ending the war, but there were some small successes in terms of prisoner's exchange on that level.

So, there has been this. Now the other thing is that the presence of Hamas leaders in Doha, as stated by Former CIA Director General Petraeus, that

this came at the as a result of the -- there is a request of the U.S. Administration, as per General Petraeus, that that's we as Qatar co-host

Hamas and Taliban.

For, obviously, for mediation reasons, which was very successful in the case of Afghanistan, mediating in that between the U.S. and Afghanistan.

And this continuing now mediation between Israel and Hamas, where Qatar is playing a key role in this and helping the United States as well.

So, after this attack, Qatar, I think will need to be reevaluating so many things, and primarily the U.S. Administration will have to answer so many

questions because of all the long relationship and collaboration between Qatar and the U.S. and now ending with this kind of giving a green light

for Israel to bomb and the mediator to bomb a U.S. strategic ally, Qatar in mediation and in so many other ways.

So, and hosting the U.S. military base allude -- Qatar. So, this something that the U.S. Administration, I think the Trump Administration, will have

to answer so many questions about the future of this relationship and how this can be fixed, this kind of relationship that is being damaged as a

result of this development.

GOLODRYGA: Who has more at stake here in terms of that relationship that you're speaking of Qatar or the United States. Obviously, the two are

allies that have worked together in terms of the United States having its largest air base there, and as you have noted, that Hamas, leadership based

there, was viewed as an opportunity for Qatar to mediate in ways that the United States and both Israel could not.

So, if this really does fray relations, who stands to lose more here, the United States or Qatar? How is that being viewed internally?

FRAIHAT: Thank you. That's a very important question. I think to answer your question. They both need each other, and this is how the way it worked

in the past, with other U.S. Administrations. But however, we have to not - - we have to reframe the question a little bit more.

It's not just about Qatar and the U.S. It's about Gulf relations and the United States, Gulf states, the GCC countries have been very strategic

allies for decades with the U.S. Even, you know, goes back to during the Cold War with the Soviet Union. So, they have been always having this very

strong relationship.

But recently, the past few years, actually, this, you know, this relationship started to suffer, to struggle on that level, and that's the

way it's seen by the Gulf states, including Qatar, that there is a betrayal from the U.S. Administration of not helping their allies in during times of

security.

And here it's very important to mention an example during the Saudi Emirati war with the Houthis in Yemen, and when the Houthis attacked Aramco, the

oil facilities in Saudi Arabia, also the U.S. Administration failed to provide security for Saudi Arabia. So, there is something.

There are now things on the record. It's not only about allowing Israel to attack Qatar, but also not protecting Saudi Arabia when it was attacked by

the Houthis on its major oil facilities. So, this relationship has now been a question by being the sole security provider that the Gulf states used

the United States in the past.

[11:15:00]

Now this has been a question whether with these incidents, it's really where to maintain it on a sole security provider level or diversification

of the security relations. So, I think it's a lose-lose relationship. What's happening now with these kinds of developments? Qatar being bombed,

the U.S. Administration now being questioned as a serious ally, not only by Qatar, but also with the rest of the Gulf states and the rest of the region

and other allies in the world.

How reliable can the U.S. Administration be, when all the services that Qatar has provided to the United States in the past, and then it's allowing

it, you know, for this without to be attacked, without any protection?

GOLODRYGA: Yeah.

FRAIHAT: So that's why I think the U.S. Administration has to answer so many questions about its role, its reliability, it's the possibility of

partnerships, and unfortunately, it does not look good at all to the U.S., unless it's it provides very serious and convincing reasons, which I don't

see any, because this is has been, this is how it's been questioned by many here in the region, that the U.S. is failing its allies.

It's not the first incident. It's just adding to the record of betrayal and failure to protect and deliver security to the Gulf regions, as it is

expected to --

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, and the not to mention that this strike happened just days after the president himself had warned that more pressure would have to be

applied on Hamas to bring a ceasefire about and release the hostages. A lot of questions, important ones that you raised there. Ibrahim Fraihat, thank

you so much for your time.

ASHER: Thank you. Right, the fallout from the drones being shot down is likely to be widespread. Coming up, we'll look at how it might affect the

war in Ukraine and NATO's next -- story after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:20:00]

ASHER: Right, Poland's Prime Minister says his country is the closest it's been to open conflict since World War Two. This after NATO fighter jet shot

down Russian drones, it says entered Polish airspace. Scorched earth shows where the drones hit the ground.

GOLODRYGA: Yeah, according to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, there were 19 intrusions in all, and many of the drones came into Polish airspace from

neighboring Belarus, an ally of Russia. He said that he's activated NATO's article four, which sets the stage for consultations with NATO allies.

Tusk also adds that it's the first time Russian drones have been shot down over a NATO member state's territory after a meeting with Poland's National

Security Bureau, Tusk said his country is ready to repel what Poland is calling Russia's Act of Aggression.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TUSK, POLISH PRIME MINISTER: We are most likely dealing with a large-scale provocation, but at the same time, we're in consultation with

our allies. I am in constant contact with the NATO Secretary General. This is so that we can respond to this type of threat as effectively as we did

tonight.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ASHER: Nick Paton Walsh is following the story. He filed this report.

NICK PATON WALSH, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Behind me, here is a meeting of what's called the E5 top European defense

officials. The Polish Defense Minister meant to be had to rush back to deal with the crisis in his own country.

The French Defense Minister actually now the prime minister, but still a message here of unity they're trying to give out. The UK Defense Secretary

John Healey, calling this a new level of hostility from Russian President Vladimir Putin. And saying that the actions taken by NATO jets, Dutch

aircraft scrambled to intercept these drones marks the first defensive action of its kind since Russia invaded Ukraine.

What we know is that during the night, 19 intrusions were recorded by Poland into their airspace. That may not mean 19 separate drones, but

certainly four of them shot down, according some initial Polish official reports, and indeed, damage done to civilian infrastructure from that

debris falling.

Extraordinary to see some of the video, the noises we've come accustomed to hearing over Ukraine now, now over NATO territory. Russia's Ministry of

Defense referred to for answer on this by the Kremlin have said they did not intend to target Polish sites. That's not the same as saying they

didn't intend to send drones into Polish airspace, but they're also saying they're open to dialog with Poland on this matter.

Polish airspace closed during the bid to counter these drones. Extraordinary to even imagine, frankly, this moment of NATO's eastern flank

security being in doubt this far into Russia's invasion of Poland. A significant escalation by Moscow, whether they tried to suggest this was

potentially a navigational error or the result of GPS jamming or something, as they may do in the days ahead, clearly a designed move here to test

NATO's response.

So far, when I stepped out of here, we have not heard of concrete measures potentially from NATO to respond to this, or the UK Defense Minister did

say they would be instructing UK forces to look at ways of bolstering Poland's air defenses.

But a real moment of test here, certainly for the White House as well. I should remind everybody that on Sunday, when asked after the her pretty

horrific record assault against Kyiv. President Trump, was asked if he was ready for the next wave of sanctions against Russia.

He said he was. He said he talked to Vladimir Putin very soon. He said Indeed that European leaders were going to D.C. to talk with him about

that. None of that has happened now on Wednesday, and he said those visits would occur by Tuesday. So, a lot of questions now as to Trump's response,

whether there will be a unified NATO response, including the U.S., to this extraordinary, unprecedented violation of Poland's airspace.

I should point out there are many concerned that this may just be the beginning, that Russia may be trying to test and see what pushback it gets

from NATO, from trying something like this, and then may again, try to violate Poland or other eastern NATO members as airspace.

And indeed, I should also point everybody that this was part, it seems, these drones launched as part of another substantial attack against

Ukraine. 400 drones launched that same night. The fact that some of them straight into NATO airspace a remarkable sense that the Kremlin feels

buoyed, feels potentially after the summit in Tianjin that it had in the beginning of this month, that it has increased support from China and

possibly India.

[11:25:00]

And certainly, we've seen over the past 48 hours, with 24 pensioners killed in a single strike in Donetsk by a Russian aerial bomb. Moscow upping its

aggression rather than the opposite.

ASHER: Many thanks to Nick Paton Walsh for that report. Let's get some more perspective on this. Let's bring in the Former U.S. Ambassador to Poland

and Sweden, Mark Brzezinski. It's a pleasure to have you on the show. Certainly, the perfect person to talk to about all of this.

So, here's the thing, Russia saying this was an accident. Most experts believe that this was possibly intentional to some degree. We know that

Article IV was triggered. That triggers consultations, but not necessarily a military reaction, when it comes to NATO's response, given that Vladimir

Putin only seems to understand the language of aggression, what is the right response by NATO here, do you think?

MARK BRZEZINSKI, FORMER U.S. AMBASSADOR TO POLAND & SWEDEN: It's hard to avoid the conclusion that there is a degree of mission creep on Putin's

part, as he continuously spreads this conflict to the west. And you remember that for President Joe Biden, the worry about expanding the war

was the fundamental worry.

And it looks, frankly, like President Putin, step by step, is doing that. It's hard to believe that 19 incursions, you know, multiple drone attacks

on Poland last night were a, quote, accident in 2022 when I was ambassador here in Poland, and two Polish citizens were killed by an errant missile

that came in from the east.

The Kremlin was the first to the podium to say that this was an accident. It was not from them. It was an accident deployed by the Ukrainians. This

time, the Russians did not exactly deny that they were behind this. And so, you know, this is a step-by-step escalation, at a time when President Trump

and I applaud him for doing this.

When President Trump is trying to bring the Russians and Ukrainians together, it looks like Putin is simply not keeping his word, and, you

know, creating a context in which peace and a ceasefire can be found.

GOLODRYGA: So, ambassador, given everything you just laid out, how fine is the line now between deterrence and escalation at this point? NATO members

seem to agree that this is Vladimir Putin testing the resolve of NATO allies. But with that response now from NATO also comes a significant risk.

BRZEZINSKI: Well, look, these are, you know, armed drones coming into NATO territory. Thank goodness no one was hurt or killed in Poland yesterday,

because Poland is a NATO ally. Is a NATO alliance member, and it would have triggered Article V, in which, technically an attack on one is an attack on

all.

And the response would have been technical as well. We don't want this horrific conflict in Ukraine, which has claimed over 1 million casualties

to spread, but that's precisely what these incursions can trigger. And so, I think it's important to answer the previous question that NATO make an

extremely clarified response to Putin that this was not OK.

That there will be consequences, and those consequences are just threats that they happen now in the form of sanctions, in the form of some kind of

joint cooperation between the NATO countries to create bulwarks against drone attacks and drone incursions from Russia, something should be done to

visibly convey, to Putin that there will be consequences when these things happen. And this is step one of those.

ASHER: Is this the kind of thing that will at least trigger a greater increase in European defense spending at the very least?

BRZEZINSKI: That's a great question. And I think even a couple weeks ago, after the Trump, Putin meeting in Alaska, there was a focusing of the minds

among European leadership that Ukraine is not just an American problem, it's actually a European problem, and the Europeans are going to have to

cooperate develop a security strategy, and begin to deploy resources, meaning money, to pay for security and ultimately the rebuilding of

Ukraine.

I think this will for what happened last night in Poland. A NATO Pact country and EU country will further concentrate the minds of the Europeans

that it's if the Europeans will have to collectively engage on this and develop probably a European unified response to address this. But I'm

hopeful, based on what happened last couple of weeks, that the European leaders are up for it.

[11:30:00]

GOLODRYGA: Is this not though ambassador, Putin once again thumbing his nose at President Trump, specifically. It was the president who had just

welcomed the Prime Minister last week at the White House. And you also now have Europeans, rightly so expressing alarm.

Will that message only be delivered to Vladimir Putin now, as sharply as you say it should, if it comes from President Trump, though?

BRZEZINSKI: My worry is that President Putin doesn't -- isn't really interested in peace, frankly. My worry is that he is a KGB agent who has

resolved he does not want to be seen by his people and by himself as losing to a fellow Slavic country, and that he will continue the war despite

horrific casualty numbers already, because he wants all of Ukraine and maybe even to destabilize the eastern part of NATO that used to be within

the Former Soviet Bloc.

When the Former Soviet Bloc broke up, 26 countries emerged, as you know, some of them have joined the west very successfully, and some have stumbled

along. And what we have now is Putin, attacking the weaker ones, but turning greater attention, per the incursion in Poland last night, to the

more successful Former Warsaw Pact countries that are part of the west, maybe in an effort to try to destabilize them.

ASHER: Right, Mark Brzezinski, appreciate your perspective. Thank you so much.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you, ambassador. Still to come for us. Did the Israeli strike in Qatar jeopardizes the diplomatic path towards ending the war in

Gaza and freeing the hostages still held in the enclave. We'll go live to Jerusalem.

ASHER: Plus, political unrest rocks France. Protesters expressed their anger on the streets as the country gets a brand-new prime minister. We

have a live report from Paris, ahead.

[11:35:00]

ASHER: Hello, welcome back to "One World". I'm Zain Asher.

GOLODRYGA: And I'm Bianna Golodryga, here are some of the headlines we're watching today. A senior Hamas official tells CNN that no one is talking

about a Gaza ceasefire after Israel's unprecedented attack in Doha. It could happen on Tuesday, as a diplomat says Hamas was due to give its

response to a U.S. backed truce proposal.

Israel is facing growing backlash for the strike that Hamas says killed five members but did not take out its intended targets.

ASHER: Days of deadly Gen Z led clashes with police in Nepal, triggered by a social media ban and government corruption, toppled the prime minister

and left parliament and the Supreme Court in flames. It's unclear if a meeting between the movement, the army, and the president will actually

take place. In the backdrop of burning Kathmandu and protesters still roaming the streets.

GOLODRYGA: The U.S. Supreme Court is going to weigh in on the debate over Donald Trump sweeping tariffs. High Court agreed on Tuesday to hear a case

that argues Trump's tariffs are illegal because he did not get the approval of Congress. Tariffs will remain in place while awaiting a final decision

from the court.

ASHER: A verdict in the trial of Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is near after two of five Supreme Court judges already voted to convict

him. He's charged with plotting a coup to stay in power after losing his 2022 reelection bid, and inciting his supporters to attack Brazil's

Congress, Supreme Court and presidential palace.

Right the families of hostages' fear that the Israeli strike targeting Hamas and Qatar could put Gaza ceasefire deal further out of reach. The

Israeli government says that 47 hostages are still in Gaza. 20 are believed to be alive. The hostages and missing families' forums say they are

following the developments in Doha with a lot of concern and a lot of anxiety.

In a social media post, the forum said, quote, a grave fear now hangs over the price the hostages may pay. I want you to listen to one family member.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UDI GOREN, COUSIN OF DECEASED ISRAELI HOSTAGE: I'm horrified at the idea that when we finally had an American led deal that could have led to the

release of all hostages. This is the action that took place. I have no regret in seeing these people punished.

They are all a part of the people that massacred, that planned what happened on October 7th. However, the only way that my cousin Tal will be

back for burial is by a negotiated deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLODRYGA: CNN's Jeremy Diamond joins us now from Jerusalem. This really is a turning point in the war and the ceasefire hostage release negotiations,

Jeremy, not only because of the unprecedented nature of these attacks for the first time inside Qatar itself.

But also, from reports that there once again, were divisions among Israel and the IDF and the Mossad chiefs in terms of timing, as we heard from that

hostage family member. It's not as if anyone is crying for these Hamas leaders who Israel was targeting, but it's a matter of where things stood

in the negotiation process and what the fallout could be.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely and I think half of the uproar that we are hearing about this Israeli strike is specifically

about the timing. It is about the fact that Israel chose to try and take out the leaders of Hamas, who are in the midst of negotiations just two

days after the United States sent over their latest proposal for a comprehensive ceasefire.

And hostage release deal right as those leaders were sitting down to discuss that proposal, as they were just hours away from submitting their

response to the United States. And so that is clearly half of the uproar here. The other side of it, of course, is the fact that Israel took this

action against Hamas in Qatar.

Despite the fact that it was an agreement between the U.S., Israel and Qatar that led to Hamas establishing itself in the Qatari capital, that it

was seen as somewhat of a safe haven for those officials, in order to be able to conduct the kind of diplomacy that has been necessary and to have

that important back channel between Israel and Hamas via the Qatari government.

And so, you know, you have the uproar from Qatar. You have, of course, Hamas' uproar after its chief negotiator was targeted, but it seems not

actually killed in this strike. You have the United States that is also clearly upset, as we heard President Trump saying that he was not happy

about any aspect of this Israeli strike.

And so, when you put all of that together, what it does is it puts us in a place where it seems impossible to see these ceasefire and hostage deal

negotiations getting back on track, at least not in the short term. At the end of the day, you know, we will have to see whether Qatar chooses to

reprise its role as a mediator once things have cooled down here.

I can tell you, though, from some reporting I've been doing, that Israeli officials are very much in damage control mode.

[11:40:00]

I'm told that two senior Israeli officials have been in conversations with American and Qatari mediators in order to try and downplay their own role

in the lead up to this strike. Ron Dermer, Prime Minister Netanyahu's closest advisor, was with Steve Witkoff, the special envoy who is

negotiating all of this, the day before this strike, and didn't bring it up.

I'm told that Dermer said that he was not aware at the time about the specific plan for this strike. The decision was made the next morning, but

we know that there had already been planning meetings underway the day before as well, which Dermer would certainly have been in the loop for.

David Barnea, the Head of Israel's Mossad Intelligence Service also told the Qatari and the American mediators, I'm told, that he was not aware of

this strike until it actually happened. Again, also very hard to believe, given his role as the Head of the Mossad and the key back channel to the

Qataris, but it does suggest that these two officials who are intimately involved in these negotiations are trying to salvage their relationships.

ASHER: And Jeremy, as you mentioned, you know, it remains to be seen. You know, after the dust settles, whether or not Qatar will sort of reprise its

role as mediator. But in the meantime, obviously the hostage families are desperate. They are desperate for a viable path forward. Does that mean

that perhaps Egypt might step in instead of Qatar, perhaps?

DIAMOND: Well, the thing is, Egypt and Qatar have both played roles at its mediators. You know, depending on the situation the matter being discussed,

one country will sometimes take precedence over the other, but there's no question that the majority of the kind of high-level meetings have been

taking place in Doha in particular, because that is where Hamas has been based.

And so, it remains to be seen, you know, the extent to which the Egyptians will have to step up going forward. But I think for right now, it's less a

question of which countries will actually be mediating. It's more a question of the -- when can the trust that has been broken actually be

repaired in order to try and get back to the table.

Because, you know, the Qataris acted as -- have been acting as good faith mediators throughout this conflict and then they saw their sovereignty

violated and the officials who you know they were hosting on their territory attacked by the other party in these negotiations.

And so that's going to be something that's very difficult to move past. At the end of the day, though, there is the urgency of the war in Gaza, the

urgency of the plight of the 48 hostages still being held there. And so, one has to hope, just from a human perspective, that ultimately that is

what will win the day in terms of these parties getting back to the table and trying to find a pathway forward to end this war.

ASHER: All right, Jeremy Diamond live for us there. Thank you so much. We'll right back with more after the short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:45:00]

GOLODRYGA: It is nearly 06:00 p.m. in the evening, and protesters are still on the streets of Paris right now. Demonstrators have been blocking roads.

They've set fire to trash cans and chanted their opposition to French President Emmanuel Macron and the political class.

ASHER: And this video shows a Paris restaurant on fire before the blaze was actually cut down. One protester said she's on strike for both social and

economic reasons. Some 80,000 police officers were deployed across the nation, and nearly 300 people have been detained so far.

The pre planned demonstrations come the same day the country's new Prime Minister, Sebastien Lecornu takes office. CNN's Melissa Belgians is live

now from Paris. You've got these nationwide demonstrations, Melissa, against obviously, President Emmanuel Macron, budget cuts.

They've got other complaints as well, just in terms of austerity measures for the new prime minister, this is, of course, a baptism by fire. I mean,

walk us through what's happening on the ground there, Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right, on the very day that Sebastien Lecornu, the very latest centrist politician to be

handed the opportunity to try and form a government and push through these difficult budget cuts that will have to be pushed through by the end of the

year.

The idea of this austerity budget, even as he takes power in that handover at -- the seat of prime ministerial power here in Paris, from Francois

Bayrou. These are the scenes greeting him. Now this protest that we've seen across France day. This is the Place de la Republique where a lot of people

have congregated by the end of the afternoon here in Paris, but this has been a protest nationwide.

The idea to block the economy, to block the country as much as they could. It had been decided upon called for long before this latest political

crisis, and long before the fall of Francois Bayrou in that vote on Monday in the French Parliament. This had been originally at the call of far-right

groups that were calling for a day of action against President Macron and his policies.

But also, the idea of what's been going on over the course of the last few months, since June of 2024, when essentially, you've had this political

gridlock, you've had three prime ministers in a row now drawn from the center try and fail to govern, each of them trying to tackle the looming

debt crisis.

And that call for anger was to be expressed at that. So, it just so happens, of course, that on the very day it takes place, there is yet

another centrist prime minister preparing to try and tackle these very difficult questions parliamentary unity, the question of the country's

finances, how to cut French budget and get the streets, the people, the parliament to agree upon the austerity measures that the French center say

are so desperately needed.

And this is probably, well, this is certainly not the end of it. Today was an action that was under the title the slogan, Zain and Bianna, let us

block everything. But the likely big day of action is what we're going to see next week, next Wednesday, when the unions take to the streets as well

and try and block the country.

So, which you can expect, even as Sebastien Lecornu tries to gather together consensus, at least within the mainstream parties of France's

parliament, tries to get a discussion going on what kind of budget he can hope to get through by the end of the year. So that it should be in place

for 2026 is a lot more industrial action, popular protests aimed specifically at the French President himself.

And even more anger at the idea that he has put in place yet another ally, yet another centrist. When there had been many calls for the left to be

given a chance.

ASHER: Right. Melissa Bell, live for us there. Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Right, soccer fans around the world are ready for next

year's World Cup. Can you figure out? It's quite complicated process. It's actually quite difficult to figure out how on earth to get tickets. We'll

explain after the break.

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[11:50:00]

ASHER: All right, if you've been waiting to buy your 2026 FIFA World Cup tickets, the first phase of pre sales started about 50 minutes ago.

GOLODRYGA: We will be waiting for --

ASHER: -- soccer fans --

GOLODRYGA: -- while the Men's World Cup kicks off on June 11th, next summer, and will be hosted in 16 cities across the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

It will also be the largest one ever, with 48 teams competing to lift the famous trophy with this being FIFA ticket sales are not without controversy

or complication.

So, let's bring in CNN "World Sports" Don Riddell live from Atlanta, one of the World Cup tournament cities where so many fans, including those that

work here, some of our own colleagues. I'm not going to name names, but there were some gripes this morning on the morning call as well. Don, why

does it have to be so difficult, and who stands to benefit here?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT: I don't know why it has to be so difficult, but I'll try and explain how it's going to work. And by the way, there are

three different phases of this ticket purchasing process. I'm not even going to go through phases two and three, you can have me back in October

to tackle those, but I'll tell you how it's going today.

So, as you say, the portal is opened for the first phase of ticket application. You need three things just to be able to be in the running.

You need to be over 18. You need to have a fee for identification, which is something you need to go online and get, and you need to be a visa card

holder.

So obviously, great business for visa. They're a sponsor of FIFA, and this is what they get back in return. Lots of people are going to be going out

getting themselves a visa card, just so they can have a chance to buy the tickets. And I say a chance, because you will register today.

You'll put your name in the hat, so to speak. But it won't be until the end of September that you find out if you've actually qualified for the chance

to purchase tickets, which you can then do on October the first. And then at the end of October, there'll be another phase and another way that you

can get tickets.

And by the way, all of this is happening before we even really know who's going to be playing in the tournament and where the games are going to be

played. We know that it's going to be played in 16 cities across three countries. There are going to be 104 games.

That's an increase of 40 since the last World Cup, because there are now 48 teams playing instead of the traditional 32. So, there's going to be lots

of opportunities, one would think, but we only know, I think 18 of the 48 teams, and we don't know where most of them are even going to be playing

their games.

So, at this point, I don't really know exactly what you're buying the tickets for, other than the chance to go and see some football in the World

Cup next year. The draw will be made on December the fifth, so we'll have a much clearer idea of the picture then. But even then, not every team will

have qualified.

Some of that is going to be resolved actually next year, closer to the tournament. So, I mentioned we've got 18 teams already qualified. One

that's very, very close is a really cool story. Cape Verde, they have done phenomenally well in their qualifying zone. They beat Cameroon, who were

the favorites to dominate their group yesterday with that amazing goal from Livramento.

[11:55:00]

The fans absolutely ecstatic. They invaded the pitch in a very polite and dignified way at the end. Cape Verde now just one win away, or three points

away from securing their first ever trip to the FIFA World Cup tournament. And if they make it, they're an island nation of just 550,000 people,

barely half a million people.

They would become the second smallest country to play in the World Cup. So, a really, really cool story there to keep an eye on qualifying. Ongoing at

the moment, it's all starting to feel very close.

ASHER: Cape Verde, listen, I'm proud of Cape Verde, but Nigeria, you know, Don, I'm really, oh, little bit disappointed, like for the Nigerians, if

they don't make it, that's not going to be good, especially because the Super Eagles have so much talent, right? They have so much talent.

RIDDELL: Yeah, African teams have always had a gripe that not enough of them get into the World Cup. But this is a bigger team, more teams from

every continent will get in, so there are more chances for every team, but you can't make everybody happy.

ASHER: So diplomatic, look at that --

GOLODRYGA: -- no, I don't think a lot of people are being diplomatic about Team USA's chances. Let's just be blunt about it. This year --

RIDDELL: At least they're in it --

GOLODRYGA: One of these days. But I saw, I looked on the calendar, December 5th is a Friday, so if you're not here, I'll know why today the draw. Don

Riddell, thanks so much.

ASHER: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Stay with us. I'll have more "One World" after the break.

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