When we remove the answers and examine just the questions on talk shows, the interviewer or network bias shines through. Margaret Brennan scored an interview with French President Emmanuel Macron this week, and some of their conversation centered on what she calls, “Israel’s war against Hamas.” The label suggests that Israel is the aggressor and Hamas is a victim.

Packaged around the interview is a report showing the difficult conditions in Gaza, but no Israeli perspective.  

Brennan notes that, despite opposition from the U.S. and Israel, Macron has said France will recognize Palestinian statehood and asked what he thought about the Trump Administration’s criticism of that move.

Here are just the questions from Face The Nation.

Introduction

I’m Margaret Brennan in Washington.

And this week on Face the Nation: As world leaders gather in New York for the United Nations General Assembly, we will talk exclusively with two of them.

Plus, the Federal Reserve cuts interest rates by a quarter-point. What does that signal for the economy?

With Russia and Israel intensifying their offensive efforts in both the war in Ukraine and the Israel-Hamas conflict, we will preview a crucial week ahead, as President Trump heads to his first U.N. meeting of his second term.

French President Emmanuel Macron tells us why France and other U.S. allies will recognize Palestinian statehood, despite strong opposition from the U.S. and Israel.

Plus, we traveled to Syria for an upcoming 60 Minutes piece and spoke to the country’s new president, Ahmed al-Sharaa. He will be the first Syrian president to address the U.N. in nearly 60 years. We will tell you why he’s such a controversial figure.

Finally, former White House economic adviser Gary Cohn will join us to talk about the cooling labor market, tariffs and more.

It’s all just ahead on Face the Nation.

French President Emmanuel Macron

Good morning, and welcome to Face the Nation.

Most of our conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron was about his plan to end the war in Gaza. You will see that in our next half-hour.

When we spoke with him Thursday at the Elysee Palace in Paris, we asked him about NATO scrambling jets for the first time in the alliance’s history to shoot down Russian drones that had crossed into Poland and Romania. The day after we spoke, three Russian warplanes crossed into Estonia too.

(To Macron)

President Trump was asked about the incident in Poland 10 days ago.

(video clip)

Do you believe that these incursions could have been a mistake, as President Trump has suggested?

NATO says they’re still investigating. They are not as certain as you seem to be… that Russia did this intentionally.

And you don’t see any evidence of Russian interest? I mean, it’s been more than a…

It’s now more than a month since that Alaska Summit, that big risk you said President Trump took. When he’s been asked, so why not put sanctions or secondary tariffs on Russia, he points back here at Europe and the consumption of Russian oil and gas that still takes place.

I know Hungary and Slovakia, for example, continue to use it.

What’s the delay on the sanctions or tariffs then?

The U.S. has not contributed fighter jets to that new effort that was just recently announced after the drone incursions. The supreme allied commander is an American.

But does that signal something to you, does that concern you that the United States isn’t more muscular here?

Brennan Questions Syrian President, Ahmed Al-Sharaa

A year ago, if Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa had tried to come to New York, he would have risked being arrested. The U.S. had a $10 million bounty on him because of his past connections to the Islamic State and al Qaeda.

Al-Sharaa turned against those groups years ago.

(Video clip)

In December, he led the rebel forces that toppled Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad, who used bombs and chemical weapons against his own people.

(Brennan Voice over with video clips)

Last week, I went to Syria and spoke with al-Sharaa for 60 Minutes. He accused the Assad regime of destroying entire communities and displacing 14 million people. He said foreign investment is desperately needed to rebuild.

In June, President Trump temporarily waived some economic sanctions to help Syria recover. But Congress, the U.N. and European nations would have to permanently lift more sanctions to draw long-term investment.

On Capitol Hill and in foreign capitals, there are people who don’t trust Ahmed al-Sharaa. In New York, he hopes to reintroduce Syria to the world and perhaps spend more time with President Trump.

(Brennan questions Ahmed al-Sharaa)

Do you want to meet again with President Trump when you’re standing on U.S. soil?

Many of the officials that I spoke to about you describe you as a pragmatist. Other skeptics say that you change to meet what you need to be in that moment and that’s important to understand who you are and the direction you’re taking Syria in.

Are you saying that you are just a completely changed man?

You believe the world failed Syria and now the world should help rebuild it?

(Brennan Back in Studio)

More of my interview with President al-Sharaa will appear on the new season of 60 Minutes.

And regarding that Russian incursion into Estonia on Friday, President Trump said this morning he would help Poland and the Baltic countries if Russia continues with its escalation.

Up next, former White House Economic Council Director Gary Cohn will join us.

Stay with us.

Former White House economic adviser Gary Cohn

We turn now to a look at the U.S. economy.

Gary Cohn was the head of the White House National Economic Council in the first Trump administration.

Good morning. Great to have you back.

So, it finally happened. The Federal Reserve lowered interest rates by a quarter-point, which was expected. So, rates are now in this range of 4 to 4.25 percent, lowest level since 2022.

The president had said all this was overdue. What changes now?

So, when rates go lower, money gets cheaper to borrow, essentially.

But what does it actually mean for consumers?

So, one of the other things the Fed highlighted here is that the labor market is – quote – “really cooling off.” That’s what Fed Chair Powell says.

The administration, the treasury secretary says, data is bad. They’re not seeing that in the jobs numbers.

So, which is it? What’s happening here?

But when you ask the administration about this point, they will say, well, productivity is going to increase, and there are these technological shifts that are happening, so this data is distorted.

Are you speaking specifically about tech, or are you saying across the board?

So the president signed an executive order on Friday that I want to ask you about, because you have this role at IBM and some insight into tech.

The order is going to impose a $100,000 one-time fee for visas granted to foreign workers, highly skilled workers, H-1B visas. “The Wall Street Journal” is reporting that this caused, like, a panic, because there wasn’t a lot of detail, at, like, Apple, and Google, and Microsoft.

Did it cause a panic at IBM?

I mean, what’s going on?

We’ll see. Gary Cohn, thank you for your insights, as always.

Israel-Gaza War

Brennan:  We turn now to another conflict that will be in the spotlight during U.N. week, Israel’s war against Hamas and the increasingly bleak outlook for its conclusion.

CBS Sunday Morning’s Seth Doane reports from Tel Aviv.

(Voiceover Reporter Seth Doane with video)

It’s an exodus with nearly nowhere to go. More than 400,000 people have fled Gaza City, vehicles piled high with belongings. Leaflets offer the warning to move, but provide no earthly options. Transport can cost thousands.

In its effort to destroy any refuge for Hamas, Israel has been leveling buildings. Its airstrikes are leaving kids dazed too.

“This is injustice,” this woman said. “We are tired. Every day, there is death.”

This war has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, half of them women and children, according to health authorities in Gaza. And a United Nations commission says Israel is committing genocide. But Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remains undeterred, likening Israel to a “Super Sparta” of the Middle East…

While also this past week Israel’s ultra-nationalist finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, spoke of economic advantages to come, saying Gaza offers a real estate bonanza, adding that they have already done the demolition phase.

The full extent of the suffering in Gaza is not something most Israelis see in the news here, yet, according to several recent polls, the majority of Israelis want the war to end and want the hostages returned home. As pressures mount from the outside, there are also protests coming from within.

Yotam Vilk, who penned an op-ed for The New York Times, was among about 150 Israeli Reservists to sign a letter in 2024 saying they’d refuse to report to serve.

Brennan in studio:

Our Seth Doane reporting from Tel Aviv.

We will be right back.

Programming Note

Brennan: Local authorities say that 100,000 people are expected in Glendale, Arizona, today for the memorial service of Charlie Kirk. President Trump, Vice President Vance, and other administration officials will pay tribute to the conservative activist. And security is at a high level, similar to what’s in place for the Super Bowl.

You can watch full coverage on our streaming channel, CBS News 24/7, starting at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

We will be right back with a lot more Face the Nation, so stay with us.

We’re back with a look at the diplomatic efforts to resolve the Gaza conflict. Most countries in the world recognize the right of Palestinians to their own state, with the U.S., Canada and France joining them this week. President Macron explained his decision[to recognize Palestine]. It’s a move the U.S. is opposed to.

More of Brennan Questioning Macron

But you are not making the release of the hostages a condition before recognition? That comes after?

So, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said this is a reckless decision. That’s the word he used. He said, “it gives Hamas little incentive to actually start diplomacy to release the hostages.”

Why do you disagree with that sequencing?

What is a failure?

But you just pointed to something that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu would say, well this is why we need to continue until we get rid of every Hamas member. You’re saying, you can’t kill that idea. You need to provide a different idea?

But since October 7th, popular support in Israel for a Palestinian state has also declined. Prime Minister Netanyahu has been opposed for a very, very long time. And now he says that, just look at those attacks that day. If you allow for any kind of Palestinian state, it will be a launchpad for terrorism. I mean that is his argument, that this shows you can’t allow for the safety and security of Israel if there are two states. Why is he wrong?

But that that’s it, right? You are talking about recognizing the Palestinian Authority, with some governance over the West Bank. Already was working with Israeli Security Forces. But Hamas came to power through the ballot box in the first place.

The leader is nearly 90 years old.

And they denounced the attack. They denounced October 7th.

Twenty months later.

Yes. But when you – I understand the argument you are making, but it has put you at direct odds with the Trump administration, who argue that your decision to make this recognition announcement, along with all these U.N. members, that it, in fact, kills the diplomacy they had underway. They said they were working to get, for example, the tax money from the Israelis to hand back over to the Palestinian Authority. That they were doing practical things on the ground to help Palestinians.

Secretary Rubio said that West Bank division you were talking about with the settlements, he drew a direct line to your recognition. Why do you think they’re blaming you for that?

Who will do that?

But you know Israel does not trust the United Nations at all.

Well, exactly on this point. When you say day after, that means when the war ends and some kind of rebuilding happens. What you’re talking about with the Trump administration is this idea of having Palestinians leave Gaza, by choice, they say, but some would say that is a step towards ethnic cleansing. In fact, an independent commission set up by the U.S. concluded Israel has a, quote, “intent to destroy Palestinians in Gaza as defined by the genocide convention.” Does France agree with that report?

So, you reject that report and that finding?

The final part of our interview, when we come back.

(Video)

France has one of the largest Muslim and Jewish populations in Europe. And there has been a significant rise in the number of anti-Semitic acts around the world. In France, it’s more than tripled recently.

The U.S. ambassador to France, Charles Kushner, the father of the son-in-law to the president of the United States, Jared’s father, he published an article, and I know you’ve – you’ve read it, saying France is not dealing with anti-Semitism in France. He said, “not a day passes without Jews assaulted in the streets, synagogues or schools defaced, or Jewish-owned businesses vandalized. Your own interior ministry reported anti-Semitic incidents, even at preschools.

Do you accept this criticism as – as genuine and valid?

Unacceptable statement?

But you know in the U.S. sometimes people hear criticism of Israel as anti-Semitic. And you are saying it’s different?

Has this hurt your relationship with the U.S.?

The complete interview is on our website and our YouTube page.

We’ll be back in a moment.

That’s it for us today. Thank you for watching. Until next week. For Face The Nation, I’m Margaret Brennan.