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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Trump Says, Hostage May Be Released Monday or Tuesday; DOJ Indicts New York Attorney General Who Defeated Trump in Court; Senate Fails to Advance Two Competing Bills to Fund Government in Seventh Round of Votes. Judge Temporarily Blocks National Guard Deployment In Illinois; Texas Court Halts Execution Of Death Row Inmate In Shaken Baby Case. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired October 09, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to the lead. I'm Dick Tapper. We are following breaking news on multiple fronts today. New York Attorney General Letitia James has been indicted this afternoon as President Donald Trump's Justice Department continues to pursue charges against Mr. Trump's political adversaries. Remember, James campaigned on promises to investigate Donald Trump in 2018 and ultimately won a civil fraud case against Donald Trump and his adult sons and his real estate business in 2022 and 2023. We'll have much more on that story just ahead.
But we'll begin this hour with our World Lead, Israel's full cabinet of 25 ministers are meeting right now before they take a final vote on the ceasefire proposal from President Trump. The ministers include the entire Israeli security cabinet, which already approved the plan if the vote passes in a simple majority. As expected, a ceasefire will officially begin.
This marks the very first crucial step of a larger plan to withdraw Israeli troops from the decimated Gaza Strip to agreed upon lines within 24 hours, shown here on a map released by President Trump last week. Then Hamas, which is labeled a terrorist group by both Israel and the U.S., will release all 48 remaining living and killed hostages within 72 hours. That means that the 20 who are believed to still be alive could be hugging their loved ones as soon as Monday or Tuesday, according to President Trump. In turn, Israel will then begin the release of hundreds of Palestinian prisoners and detainees, along with 1,700 Gaza residents in custody.
This truly historic moment is rooted in President Trump's 20-point ceasefire plan that was first presented along with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's support just last week, September 29th at the White House, just ten days ago. Shortly after that, Friday, October 3rd. Hamas said it agreed to enter negotiations to return all Israeli hostages, that's point four of Trump's 20-point plan, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners they said, which is point five of Trump's plan.
To understand how we got here, it's worth rewinding just a few weeks. On September 9th, Israel bombed Hamas targets in Qatar's bustling capital of Doha. This prompted Arab countries' leaders that Trump is close with to reach out to him, to urge him to end the conflict as soon as possible. Trump publicly distanced himself from that attack. He had Netanyahu personally apologized to the leader of Qatar.
Then came the United Nations General Assembly, the September 22nd and 23rd meetings proved crucial in turning the tide. Listen to us Secretary of State Marco Rubio praising Trump's efforts in today's cabinet meeting.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MARCO RUBIO, SECRETARY OF STATE: You convened a historic meeting, not simply of Arab countries, but of Muslim majority countries from around the world, including Indonesia, was there, Pakistan was there, and created this coalition behind this plant.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Also that week for the U.N. General Assembly, western countries, such as the U.K. and Canada and France and Belgium declared their support for a Palestinian state. Prime Minister Netanyahu at the U.N. gave a speech talking about how many enemies of Israel the IDF had killed. And some observers thought that week in total demonstrated how isolated Israel and to a degree the United States was on this issue.
Trump pushed Netanyahu behind the scenes to accept a plan that Netanyahu had seemed reluctant to embrace. Trump and his team working hard secured the help not only of allies such as Qatar, but Turkey's Erdogan to pressure Hamas.
News of this deal was announced first by President Trump on social media that was met with cheers in Gaza and Tel Aviv. It is worth noting that these first five points of the 20-point plan, while significantly ushering in a ceasefire and hostage release, they are an incredible achievement echoed by Netanyahu, who posted this A.I.- generated image of President Trump saying, quote, give Trump the Nobel Peace Prize. He deserves it, and there is much to praise.
The ceasefire is expected to be agreed to in mere hours, but the day after phase, the day after phase one has not yet begun. A lot of work remains for the overall peace plan, all 20 points. Parties to the agreement wonder how much of the rest of Trump's 20-point plan can become a reality given how impossible it's been to get, for example, Hamas, a terrorist group, to agree to lay down arms? That's point six of the plan.
Today, the head of the Palestinian Mission to the U.K. also questioned Netanyahu's willingness to see the end of the deal all the way through.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AMBASSADOR HUSAM ZOMLOT, HEAD OF THE PALESTINIAN MISSION TO THE U.K.: Netanyahu is simply maneuvering and he's just waiting for another opportunity for a loophole somewhere to come back to this. I don't see him taking a decision to end the entire war and to withdraw his forces.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: There is plenty of skepticism, of course, on all parties' parts. Other questions remain what happens after the IDF withdraws, what would an international stabilization force even look like, and much more.
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As is said in the region, trust in God, but tie your camel.
CNN's Jeremy Diamond is on the ground in Tel Aviv where the civilian celebrations have already begun.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice over): From celebratory dancing in the streets of Gaza to tears of joy in Tel Aviv's Hostage Square, Israelis and Palestinians have waited two agonizing years for this moment. A ceasefire agreement has been struck. All of the hostages will be released and the war in Gaza is coming to an end.
Amid celebrations, the Israeli cabinet convening to formally approve the deal, which will trigger an immediate ceasefire. Israeli troops will begin withdrawing from parts of Gaza while holding on to 53 percent of the strip, according to an Israeli official. Within 72 hours, humanitarian aid will surge into Gaza and the hostages will go free.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump, you have the best crowd in the world. What do you guys have to say to President Trump?
EVERYONE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You did it. Thank you. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You did amazing.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The hostages will come back. They're coming all coming back on Monday.
DIAMOND: Amid a full court press from the United States, a deal brokered in Egypt quickly rippled through the region. Whoever doesn't have internet and is not aware, the war is over, this journalist shouted in the streets of Northern Gaza. A ceasefire has been agreed. By daybreak, the news was everywhere. This feeling is the most beautiful feeling I have ever felt, this man says. Today, after two years of suffering, hunger and humiliation, we feel reborn. Today is a day of victory. Israel has yet to declare it, but mediators from Egypt and Qatar say this deal will lead to an end of the war. Hamas says, the U.S. also provided those assurances.
We have received guarantees from the mediating brothers and from the American administration all confirming that the war has ended permanently.
In Israel, a festive atmosphere awaits the hostages.
For two years, hostage swear has been filled with the sound of protests, but tonight, as you can hear behind me, it's nothing but celebration.
Michel Elus (ph) is among those celebrating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm familiar with all these kids by poster and now I will be able to meet them physically and I'm so excited for them.
DIAMOND: But for Elus, it's bittersweet. His son, Guy, is among 28 deceased hostages in Gaza.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I will get him by DNA, by bones. How can I recognize him? How can I be able to bury him without -- to recognize him? And I'm so afraid from this moment because it's kind of starting of recovery. I hope so.
DIAMOND: Adding to the uncertainty, Hamas doesn't know the location of all hostage bodies and Elus doesn't know if he'll ever get closure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
DIAMOND (on camera): And, Jake, the Israeli cabinet meeting to approve that agreement has been underway now for nearly three hours. There was a special appearance, in fact, during that meeting by the president's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and his special envoy, Steve Witkoff. Their presence in that meeting a clear indication of the difficult decisions that will lie ahead and the hard work that lies ahead as well in order to turn this agreement in order to ensure that this agreement truly does represent an end of the war all together. Jake?
TAPPER: All right. Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv, thank you so much.
Joining us now, Michael Oren, the former Israeli ambassador to the United States and Atlantic Council Senior Fellow Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, who grew up in Gaza and is an outspoken critic of both Hamas and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
Mr. Ambassador, how did he do it? How did President Trump do this? How did he get this done?
AMB. MICHAEL OREN, FORMER ISRAELI AMBASSADOR TO THE UNITED STATES: A combination, Jake, and it's always good to be with you, especially on this special day, very special emotional day, a combination of the use of hard power and we live in a tough neighborhood in the Middle East. And the fact that President Trump was willing to use power first against the Houthis, then against Iran, gave him tremendous leverage in our area, and a combination of personal relationships. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner have made personal relationships throughout this region.
And, you know, diplomacy's almost like anything else in life. It's 90 percent personal relationships. And to be able to take these disparate countries, Turkey, Qatar, who don't necessarily get along with Saudi Arabia and the UAE, certainly not getting along with us and put us all together to 20 points, which are very, very complex. Look, it took you ten minutes just to summarize them, right? Very complex, it addressed not just situation in Gaza but the conflict in general and the Middle East is an extraordinary, elegant piece of diplomacy.
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And it was really this combination of the use of power and personal relationships.
TAPPER: Ahmed, Hamas' chief negotiator says the group has received guarantees that the war is over and a permanent ceasefire will be implemented. But -- so that's points one through five. I'm looking at all 20 points. When we look ahead into the next part of the deal, and I think point six is Hamas has to lay down arms, do you anticipate there will be pushback from Hamas?
AHMED FOUAD ALKHATIB, SENIOR FELLOW, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Well, it's great to be back with you, Jake. I don't foresee Hamas cooperating on disarmament. I don't see them cooperating on the entry of an international security force. They want dominion. They want to reign, but not rule directly. And I think that's the concern that I and many in Gaza indeed have both for the longevity of the agreement and actually having this be a permanent end to the war, as well as for a new dawn, a new future for the coastal enclave, one in which we move away from the armed resistance narrative that brings war, death, destruction, isolation, blockades with it, and nation building and prosperity and connectivity.
And some of that is certainly going to be on Hamas, but I would argue that some of that has also been on Prime Minister Netanyahu and the strategy that he adopted throughout the last two years in preventing alternatives to the terror organization from entering the scene. And we're really going to be paying the price of that strategy for some time to come.
TAPPER: Mr. Ambassador, you talked about President Trump's use of hard power, but I also wonder how much Israel strikes against Hamas targets in Qatar, in Doha, had an impact on making Arab leaders think we have to stop this now. Israel is now attacking us.
OREN: Definitely. And, you know, Netanyahu apologized. It's not the first time he's apologized to a Middle Eastern leader. He apologized to Erdogan several years ago for another operation. But, yes, Arab leaders said, wait a minute, this can't be contained in Gaza. And they know full well what begins with Israel, Palestine doesn't stay in Israel, Palestine. It becomes protests in Riyadh, protests in Cairo. And the Arab world, frankly, was fed up with Hamas. They started this war. They brought incredible destruction and instability to the Middle East, enough, enough. And there was tremendous pressure put on Hamas. There's a lot of talk in this country about the pressure put on Netanyahu.
In fact, the matter is that 20 points are pretty pro-Israel and they meet all of Israel's basic war aims. There are some very abstract requirements about the future about discussing a pathway to a Palestinian state and some type of involvement in the Palestinian Authority and post-war Gaza governance. But other than that, there were not many requirements other than releasing these terrorist prisoners from our jails, which are always part of any deal.
So, ultimately, it was really the Muslim and Arab world saying, enough is enough. We've got to end this thing.
TAPPER: Ahmed, you talked about your hopes for what happens to Gaza now, and, you know, from your mouth to God's ears. Here's what President Trump had to say today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're going to create something where people can live. You can't live right now in Gaza. Every -- you know, the place is a -- it's a horrible situation. Nobody's ever seen anything like it. So, yes, we're going to create better conditions for the people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, the 20-point plan, as you know, includes an economic plan to rebuild and energize Gaza, establish an economic zone. No one will be forced to leave Gaza. Are the people of Gaza -- what do you hear? Are they optimistic about what actually can come once this rubble is removed?
ALKHATIB: There's certainly excitement about the prospects of a future. I mean, first and foremost, the bomb started -- stopped falling, rather, that's the number one priority. Then we can surge in humanitarian aid in the short-term and slow down the malnutrition and the hunger crisis. Then, certainly, if there's sustained enthusiasm and focus into Gaza and its future beyond the first phase and the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners, then, absolutely, the plan, as presented by President Trump and his team, has immense potential for transforming Gaza and rebuilding it. And, hopefully, that is coupled with Arab enthusiasm and interest and pressure on Hamas, but interest in not just rebuilding Gaza but rejuvenating it and transforming it into a city of the future.
TAPPER: Inshallah. Ambassador Michael Oren and Ahmed Fouad Alkhatib, thanks to both of you.
More breaking news this hour, yet another political adversary of President Trump finds herself indicted. The latest on the charges against New York Attorney General Letitia James is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: Breaking news in our Law and Justice Lead, a brand new video statement from New York's Democratic Attorney General Letitia James, a political adversary of President Trump who brought charges against him in 2022, she was just indicted by the Justice Department.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: These charges are baseless.
I'm a proud woman of faith and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today, I'm not fearful. I'm fearless.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN Anchor and Chief White House Correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Kaitlan, what is the Trump administration saying about these charges, which came from the Eastern District of New York's -- I'm sorry, Eastern District of Virginia's U.S. attorney?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. No comment officially from the president yet, Jake, but obviously this is exactly what he called on the attorney general, Pam Bondi, to do in that post from not that long ago, September 20th, where he said, and what The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday was, he believed, a private message to Pam Bondi, that he believed that James Comey, Letitia James, and Adam Schiff needed to be prosecuted.
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And now here we are, just about 20 days since that post, Jake, and we have seen two of those names come under indictment by the same handpicked U.S. attorney that the president has installed there in the Eastern District of Virginia, which is Lindsey Halligan, someone who was previously his personal defense attorney before he was back inside the White House for his second term, also worked here in the White House Counsel's Office before taking this job after the U.S. attorney, Eric Siebert, was removed from his role.
And so now we have seen two of those three names indicted here, and which is a pretty brief indictment, as you read this, Jake, when you look at the -- what exactly it is that Letitia James is being accused of. And so, obviously, politically, this is something that the president very much wanted to see happen.
I do think it's notable, Jake, that this is coming, as, you know, the president is in the middle of touting this huge, groundbreaking, potentially Middle East peace deal that he is seeking right now, as they're hoping to see the hostages start to be released early next week, and he's planning to travel there. Now, obviously, this is another major headline that is competing with that one that the White House has spent the day touting.
TAPPER: Yes. It's interesting because he had such great news to talk about today, and this is kind of crowding it out a bit.
On the potential ceasefire front in Gaza, President Trump said he wanted to travel to the Middle East soon. Do we know anything more about those possible plans?
COLLINS: The White House hasn't made it official, Jake, but we've been talking to officials. They have been trying to stand up a trip. Obviously, it's a lot of planning that goes into any presidential travel, but this is very much something that President Trump wants to be able to be in the Middle East for given the huge role that he played in this and his top aides, including Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who, as we saw, have been in Egypt as those negotiations have been playing out over the last 72 hours or so.
And, Jake, one big question in addition to what we are expecting to see in the coming days, which is the release of the hostages, the release of those Palestinian prisoners that are being held in Israel, in addition to the ceasefire, the stopping of hostilities between Israel and Hamas. One thing that we are learning from senior U.S. officials is that about 200 U.S. troops are expected to be sent to the Middle East as part of -- they are going to be helping monitor this ceasefire deal. It's not just them. We're told that other players from other countries are going to be involved in this.
But we're trying to get an understanding of exactly how this is going to play out. I mean, you can look at Gaza and see what's happened there. The IDF is supposed to be pulling back to this agreed upon line that the two sides had already discussed as part of that 20-point peace plan that the president introduced. And we're also told, Jake, that CENTCOM is going to have a role in this.
And so that's one thing that we're going to be watching closely in the coming days in terms of what that looks like, this civil military coordination, to basically ensure that this ceasefire stays in place and also what happens with Gaza going forward in terms of disarming Hamas, governing Gaza, all the really difficult issues that come in addition to the release of those hostages and the stopping of the attacks in Gaza.
TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. I appreciate it, Kaitlan, of course, is going to have much more coming up on The Source with Kaitlan Collins, including an interview with Democratic Senator Ruben Gallego of Arizona. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.
President Trump today threatened to cut some federal programs that are popular with Democrats if the government shutdown does not end soon. I'm going to get a reaction from a Democratic member of Congress to that threat, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill remain deeply deadlocked over how to reopen or whether to reopen the government shutdown -- government as the shutdown stretches into its ninth day.
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Today, the U.S. Senate rejected two motions to fund the government. This was for the seventh time.
How exactly might the shutdown end? We have a perspective from both a Republican lawmaker and a Democratic lawmaker. First to Delaware's Congresswoman Sarah McBride. Congresswoman, thanks for joining us.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer is taking a lot of heat from Republicans after he told Punchbowl News this about the shutdown, quote, every day gets better for us, unquote. He's talking about the politics of this all. What did you think of that statement, every day gets better for us?
REP. SARAH MCBRIDE (D-DE): Well, I think what Leader Schumer was referring to was the growing public support for Democrats and Republicans to come together to fix this healthcare crisis and to reopen government. The overwhelming majority of Americans wants to work together, want Republicans to come to the negotiating table so that we can extend the ACA tax credits and reopen government.
We are in this position because Republicans have refused to come to the table to work with us over the last several months, and because of their refusal to collaborate with us, put on their big boy pants and negotiate. Thousands of my constituents are receiving furloughs who work for the federal government, and thousands more are receiving letters notifying them of skyrocketing premiums.
We can do both of these things and the public wants us to do, and I think that's what Leader Schumer was referring to.
TAPPER: Well, what the Republicans say is that it's actually Democrats in the Senate refusing to vote for a clean continuing resolution to keep the government open, and which is, you know, how we've covered shutdowns in the past, when the opposing party, the minority party, refuses to join into forming the 60 votes. That's the party that's refusing to pass government funding. This is just a seven-week funding bill. And the Republicans also say that this stuff about the, you know, the issues having to do with the Obamacare premiums are a legitimate issue, and that it's not for Democrats to demand something, that you need to negotiate.
Yesterday, I had on Katherine Clark your -- the House Democratic leader, and she said -- or whip, rather. She said that she seemed to suggest that there hadn't been any overtures by House Democrats to Republicans to get the four or five votes to support Obamacare premiums. Shouldn't Democrats be doing that, just getting the bills -- getting the votes lined up so you can incredibly say to the American people, we have the votes to pass an extension of Obamacare premiums and, you know, just let the speaker bring it up for a vote?
MCBRIDE: Well, what's clear is the speaker won't bring it up for a vote. We can't trust them to bring this up for a vote out of goodwill or good intentions. We cannot trust that they will abide by any deal that's done by a handshake. We need this all to be done together because Republicans have kicked the can down the road already, and they clearly are unwilling to solve this healthcare crisis because it's of their own choosing. They created this crisis in order to raid Americans healthcare so that they can pay partially for the tax breaks for their billionaire donors that they passed in July.
And so, look, if Republicans wanted us to just abide by their word, then they wouldn't have conducted themselves over the last several months in a way that shows us time and time again that they cannot be trusted when it comes to their goodwill and their good intentions and when they have clearly tried to make this healthcare crisis worse. We need a deal on this, and they need to come to the table.
TAPPER: Congresswoman Sarah McBride, Democrat of Delaware, thank you so much. I appreciate your time.
And we do have some major breaking news in our World Lead for you. Israel's cabinet just approved President Trump's ceasefire deal, which means that the 20 living in 28 killed hostages being held currently in Gaza by the terrorist group, Hamas, will soon be released to Israel.
Let's get right to CNN's Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv. Jeremy, this is pretty big.
DIAMOND: Without a doubt, Jake. After two years, two long years of captivity for those 48 hostages, but also two years of agony for their families, the Israeli government has now approved this deal that was brokered and breached in an agreement between Israel and Hamas in the early hours of yesterday morning to secure the release of all 48 hostages, 20 of whom are believed to still be alive.
Now, the next steps in this process, we expect that a ceasefire will come into effect inside of the Gaza Strip. It's unclear if that ceasefire is already now in effect. But we had indeed been told previously that once the Israeli government approves this deal, a ceasefire would indeed take hold. We are waiting for confirmation on that from the Israeli military itself.
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But now what we will see is an appeals process through the Israeli Supreme Court for any individuals who want to oppose the release of some of the Palestinian prisoners who will be released from Israeli jails, including 250 of which are currently serving life sentences in Israeli prisons. Once that is complete, we will very quickly see the release of those hostages in Gaza.
The Israeli military is also now set to begin its withdrawal of troops from parts of the Gaza Strip to pre-agreed lines of control. And once that withdrawal is complete, there will be this 72-hour countdown until the hostages are released, or at least a maximum of 72 hours. It could happen before that full 72-hour period has elapsed.
We've heard President Trump, of course, saying that he believes that the hostages could come out on Monday. That is a date that we've heard as well. But officials here have also indicated there is a possibility this could happen as soon as Sunday. There's no question that is still a moving target, but a huge moment here, of course. We expected the Israeli cabinet to approve this deal, but to see it actually going through is going to deliver yet another in really what has been a series of sighs of relief for the families of those hostages.
TAPPER: And, Jeremy, U.S. officials telling CNN that 200 U.S. service members are being sent to Israel to support the ceasefire. What do the next few hours and days look like?
DIAMOND: Well, the next few hours and days, I mean, we will initially see the withdrawal of Israeli troops from parts of Gaza. They will move to lines, which we'll see, the Israeli military controlling still 53 percent of the Gaza Strip. And it's not clear, you know, what the timeline will be after that, after this hostage release and the release of Palestinian prisoners is completed.
How quickly after that will we actually see the Israeli military beginning to hand over territory to this, as of yet? Not fully created international security force, which is supposed to start taking over security authority of the Gaza Strip, but these 200 U.S. troops that will be sent on the ground to monitor the implementation of this plan. Again, that represents another step in moving towards this international security force.
We understand that CENTCOM is likely to have a significant role in the coordination and the implementation of the next phases of this agreement. And, again, we still need to see the details on what comes next, what the timeline is for all of this to happen. This issue of Hamas disarming, you know, we haven't actually seen the details of that, whether a final agreement has actually been reached on that front. And so these are nonetheless still delicate days.
Again, most of the parties to this agreement other than Israel have framed this as an end of the war in Gaza. Israel has not yet. And I think that's part of why we saw Jared Kushner, President Trump's son- in-law, as well as Steve Witkoff, the U.S. special envoy, in this cabinet meeting in the early hours of this morning here in Israel in order to show the prime minister that they're still standing alongside him in order to show those right wing governing allies of the prime minister that the United States has a big, big stake in what happens next, and also perhaps just a recognition of the kind of delicate politics that Netanyahu is going to face going forward in order to implement the next phases of President Trump's plan to end the war and bring all of the hostages home. Jake?
TAPPER: Yes, it's a 20-point plan and it seems as though points one to five are on track, which is fantastic, but there's a lot of work that still needs to be done.
Jeremy Diamond and Tel Aviv, Israel, thank you so much. We're going to take a quick break. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00] TAPPER: And we're back with some more breaking news in our National Lead, a federal judge has temporarily blocked the National Guard from deploying to Chicago, Illinois, as President Trump wants.
Let's get straight to CNN's Omar Jimenez right outside Chicago, in Broadview, Illinois, where there's an ICE facility. Omar, tell us what we know. What did this judge rule?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, the judge granted the temporary restraining order blocking the deployment of National Guard troops here in Illinois. And while this is an oral ruling here, she described it as a high level summary.
So, we haven't gotten her written decision just yet, but I'm going to take you through what she described as part of, again, that high level summary, as she described it. She cited previous California decisions where she described rebellion as deliberate, organized resistance openly opposing the government as a whole and said, I have seen no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois.
Judge April Perry said that the evidence demonstrates that a deployment of the National Guard may lead to civil unrest. She finds that deploying the National Guard will only add fuel to the fire that the defendants have started, in her characterization. The evidence has shown that National Guardsmen are not well-trained law enforcement officers, she also said.
One of the things this came down to, as she made a point to say as part of her oral ruling here, is that the court was left with having to make a, quote, credibility determination. And she called the assessments made by DHS as, quote, unreliable. And she even brought up Broadview here, this facility that we're outside of on the outskirts of Chicago, just outside the city limits. And she described how at one recent protest there were 200 protesters and there were a hundred state and local law enforcement officers on site, and that state and local law enforcement were able to maintain control. She also said that on October 5th, there were a few dozen protesters here, and DHS again did not have to intervene.
[18:45:00]
And so, clearly, she was going through a lot of the arguments that have been made, even laying out the definition of rebellion at points, trying to make that very clear.
Now, her written ruling, she said she's going to issue tomorrow. And she says this plaintiff motion has been granted in part. So, we are she said she's going to issue tomorrow. And she says this plaintiff motion has been granted in part. So, we are trying to see what the other part essentially is.
The overall headline that she made clear at the end was that the temporary restraining order was granted, blocking the deployment of National Guard here in Illinois. But again, what those next steps are, we are waiting to see. It is
likely, and I think its fair to say it is safe to say we are likely going to see an appeal effort by the Trump administration and similar fashion to what we saw in some of the lawsuits playing out on the West Coast.
But obviously, very significant marker put down by Judge April Perry here in the district court. And again, we will now have to wait to see what comes from a written decision. But she made things pretty clear in her oral ruling, which again, she described as a high-level summary, very detailed, though for a high-level summary, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: All right. Omar Jimenez near an ICE detention facility right outside Chicago.
Sticking with our politics lead, Democrats continue to stand behind their leaders, Chuck Schumer, Hakeem Jeffries. But Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson is taking heat from even some House Republicans for keeping the House in recess.
Here now is Republican Congressman Kevin Kiley from California.
Before we get to that, Congressman, I want to get your reaction to this judge blocking the national guard from being deployed in Chicago, Illinois and elsewhere in Illinois.
REP. KEVIN KILEY (R-CA): Well, clearly, the court decision needs to be respected. I expect there will be an appeal, and the issue will be litigated there. I mean, it's a novel legal issue. What I'd like to see is cooperation where the leaders in Chicago and Illinois welcome the help. And we actually have cooperation in order to keep Americans safe. So it's unfortunate this has had to wind up in court in the first place.
TAPPER: Do you think anything that President Trump is doing is based on the idea of cooperation? I mean, he could be trying to fund, the hiring of additional police in Chicago, but instead he's saying that the governor and the mayor of Chicago should be arrested and he's sending in troops against, into -- or trying to send in troops against their wishes.
KILEY: Yeah. Well, I certainly support hiring additional police officers. I do think when you look at what happened in D.C., that's a pretty compelling case study of the difference you can make and fewer of your citizens getting murdered and assaulted and robbed. And so, regardless of what the political leaders there think of the president's tone, I think that's a result they should want for their own citizens.
So, you know, I'd like to see them saying, is there a way we can work together in order to keep people in Chicago and Illinois safe? I think that that's in everyone's interest.
TAPPER: Yesterday. House Speaker Johnson suggested that he might keep the House in recess for a third straight week. You pushed back on social media. You said he shouldn't even think of doing that. We're also hearing from other Republicans, such as Congresswoman
Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who's blaming Republican leaders for the shutdown. What are you hearing from your constituents about who they blame for the shutdown?
KILEY: I think that, you know, our constituents probably just think everyone's to blame, in some sense. They've seen gridlock. And, you know, a lack of bipartisanship, excessive partisanship in Washington for a long time.
So, you know, these arguments being volleyed back and forth, probably hard for most people to really, you know, make heads or tails of. But what people do know is that the government is shut down, and that's the government that they're paying for.
And this is a massive institutional failure of Congress. Now, just to be clear, I voted for the bill that passed the House to keep the government open and to avoid a shutdown. I similarly voted for bills to keep the government open and avoid shutdowns during the Biden administration. This is sort of like the most basic job of Congress, but I do think it's very odd to cancel potentially three straight weeks of session now.
I mean, we were supposed to be in session even without a government shutdown, working on all the things congress is supposed to be doing, like passing the actual budget bills for this next year. And I think that it's especially important now that we have a shutdown, so that we're there, so that we can find whatever way we can to end it as soon as possible.
TAPPER: One of the reasons why Democrats say Speaker Johnson is continuing to have the House in recess is because a new Democrat was elected, and she will be the 218th signature on the discharge petition to release to force a vote on a bill that would force the Epstein files to be released. Do you think that's true?
KILEY: I don't know what the motivation is, but the new member should be sworn in. I don't understand what the issue, even here is. I mean, we were supposed to be in session last week and the week before she was elected from what I understand, she won the election. She's a new member of Congress, and so, she should be allowed to take her seat and represent her constituents. It's all the more reason why Congress itself should be back. And if even if we're not there, she can still be sworn in in a pro forma session.
TAPPER: Congressman Kevin Kiley, Republican of California, thank you so much, sir. Appreciate your time.
Sticking with our politics lead, let's cue that election music.
(MUSIC)
TAPPER: Nice. Because in just a matter of hours, the one and only debate for governor in Virginia is going to get underway. Virginia's local stations from Hampton Roads and Richmond are going to hold the event on the left. Former U.S. congresswoman or current U.S. Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger, on the right, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears.
And there's one big shadow that's going to be hanging over the stage tonight, particularly over Spanberger's podium. And that's the controversy involving Democratic attorney general candidate Jay Jones. Leaked text messages from 2022 show Jones wishing violence on his political adversaries, including their children. The scandals breathing new life into the GOP's push in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
Liam Elkind is a Democrat running for Congress in New York. Joe Borelli is a Republican commentator and former NYC Council GOP leader.
Liam, what do you think? Do you think -- Spanberger has criticized Jay Jones' comments, but she hasn't called for him to drop out? Do you think she should?
LIAM ELKIND (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: I had not -- I'm going to be honest -- heard about this guy until I saw those texts.
TAPPER: Yeah.
ELKIND: I think they're disgusting. And even as a joke, we should be moving away from this violent political rhetoric that were seeing. I got to be honest, though, Jake, I'm not going to take lessons on civility from a party whose president has openly called for targeting his political opponents, who is literally prosecuting his political opponents after promising to do so for years, and has openly referred to his political opponents as vermin.
So, I'm sorry, but I'm not taking lessons on this from the Republican Party.
TAPPER: Joe, what do you think?
JOE BORELLI, REPUBLICAN COMMENTATOR: You know. Just two weeks ago, we had an awful assassination on Charlie Kirk, a conservative leader. The president was shot in the head. The president faced a second assassination just weeks after that.
And we saw, really, the United States coming together. And many politicians, including Democrats, prominent Democrats, said that this type of rhetoric, this type of violence has no place in our society. And how quickly that was pushed by the wayside when they have a candidate on the ballot in Virginia.
Spanberger was leading in the polls for quite some time, and it was pretty consistent that she was in the lead, and they needed some outside catalyst to change that. I think the Jay Jones scandal is going to be that catalyst that's going to give Winsome Earle-Sears a little bump.
TAPPER: So, a "Washington Post" poll shows that she still -- Spanberger holds a double digit lead over Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Sears.
What does she need to do, the lieutenant governor, to close that gap? BORELLI: Look, you know, polls --
TAPPER: In the debate tonight.
BORELLI: Right. Polls this time in four years ago had McAuliffe up, right? So, she's on a path that she still can win. She has to continue linking some of the national news to the race in Virginia. She has to tie in the Democrats shut down to how it's hurting, how it's hurting Democratic counties, Republican counties in the state of Virginia.
And I think she really has to double down on some of her social policies, her social issues that she's really been focusing on. Those were the issues. It was parent choice. It was DEI education. It was critical race theory.
Those are the things that actually got Glenn Youngkin elected in 2021.
TAPPER: So, there's also a governor's race in New Jersey. Republican, the Republican candidate is really -- has really tightened the race. In fact, I think it's pretty much a toss up at this point -- the congresswoman, Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, is the Democratic nominee.
So here is an excerpt from the debate in New Jersey last night. It really got personal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKIE SHERRILL (D), CANDIDATE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: He was paid to develop an app so that people who were addicted could more easily get access to opioids. And so, as he made millions, as these opioid companies made billions, tens of thousands of New Jerseyans died.
MODERATOR: Mr. Ciattarelli?
JACK CIATTARELLI (R), CANDIDATE FOR NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR: First of all, shame on you. Second of all --
SHERRILL: Shame on you, sir.
CIATTARELLI: Shame on you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So, a recent Fox News poll shows Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat, the woman on that stage, up eight points, but her tone is changing. She's being more aggressive, which does generally suggest that the race must be tightening.
ELKIND: Yeah, I'm not a political pundit. I caught a couple minutes of the debate. I thought she cleaned his clock and I thought he kind of Ciattarelli the bed.
TAPPER: What did you think?
BORELLI: Look, I'll start with an anecdote. I was in Princeton last weekend for my kids soccer game, and I saw Jack Ciattarelli signs. You'd never see Jack Ciattarelli or any Republican signs in Princeton, New Jersey.
And that's because there used to be 1.1 million more Democrats in New Jersey than Republicans. Thanks to President Trump, the leadership of the RNC, the leadership of the NJGOP, that has shrunk to 850,000.
Ciattarelli was well behind. Murphy was polling over 50 percent this time four years ago.
TAPPER: Yeah.
BORELLI: Mikie Sherrill hasn't had that. Signal poll out last week had the race narrowing to five points. I think it was seven a month before that.
So, this race is coming together and I can tell you as a -- as a part time New Jersey resident and soccer dad, you could see it in the streets.
TAPPER: So, let's turn to the breaking news about Letitia James being indicted by the Eastern District of Virginia.
We should note that when she ran for attorney general, Letitia James, she put President Trump on notice. She said she would pursue every legal avenue to investigate him and to investigate his financial dealings.
[18:55:00]
Let's roll some of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETITIA JAMES (D), NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: We must do our job to ensure that the man currently occupying the Oval Office is held accountable to any and everything he has done to compromise our values and the trust and the safety of our state and our union.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Liam, does that language at all undermine when Democrats complain about her being indicted?
ELKIND: Look, I think this is a very clear instance, frankly, of promises made, promises kept. Donald Trump campaigned on targeting his political opponents. Now he's going to do a little dance and say he's not. It's clearly what he's doing.
We all see it. There was a prosecutor who declined to bring charges, so he replaced him with a stooge. Look, this is what the president is going to do.
And I got to say to anybody out there who is opposed to the 34-count convicted felon, I stand with you. I'm fighting for you. Lawyer up, because this is going to get a lot worse before it gets better. TAPPER: What do you think?
BORELLI: If we're playing who said it, right? Who said this one? People who lie to banks to get favorable mortgage rates hurt the working-class individuals. You know who said that, Tish James, right?
As you pointed out, Tish James ran for office before seeing any evidence, saying that we are going to get Donald Trump. And she pursued those charges. She found evidence -- she couldn't find criminal charges, but she brought civil charges in a case not too dissimilar to this one.
Is she guilty? I don't know, but I know that an Eastern District of Virginia grand jury, a place that's not known for Trump supporters. This is not a red part of the state of Virginia, they saw the evidence and they believed there was enough to indict her. That's where we stand now.
She'll have her day in court. But this is not someone who was -- who was the fair arbiter of justice herself.
TAPPER: Liam, Joe, thanks so much. Really appreciate your time.
In our law and justice lead and a major update of a story we've been covering for more than a year, death row inmate Robert Roberson who was convicted in a shaken baby death of his two-year-old daughter, he just had his execution stayed or stopped once again.
Today, the Texas appeals court sent Roberson's case back to trial court for new hearings, citing last year's decision to overturn a different shaken baby conviction due to evolving scientific evidence when it comes to shaken baby syndrome, as it was called.
CNN's Ed Lavandera is tracking this latest update.
Ed, tell us more about today's ruling.
ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, it's another dramatic ruling as Robert Roberson was just a week away from being executed here in the state of Texas. And this court ruling essentially moves his case back into a lower court, where prosecutors and defense attorneys will continue to fight over the medical evidence in this case.
State prosecutors say that Robert Roberson violently shook and abused his 2-year-old daughter, Nikki. His lawyers have been saying in many Republicans support this view here in Texas that Roberson and the doctors in that case misdiagnosed the symptoms that the young girl had.
We spent an hour with Robert Roberson yesterday afternoon. It would have been his last interview before the execution date. And this is what he told us.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: What do you want the people to know if this is your last chance to convince them?
ROBERT ROBERSON, DEATH ROW INMATE: That I'm actually innocent of -- that I didn't do it. You know, I'm actually innocent. I love my little girl, you know?
LAVANDERA: What do you want your story to mean for others who might be in similar situation as yours?
ROBERSON: My words of encouragement is to encourage them to keep fighting on if they're innocent, keep fighting for what's righteous and just and fair, you know?
LAVANDERA: So you talk about that at times you find yourself, you have like this righteous anger. But I also sense that you still are keeping hope.
ROBERSON: Yeah, I believe I got much hope. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.
LAVANDERA: I that hard to kind of hold on to as the days tick down?
ROBERSON: No, sir, because I know the truth. God knows the truth and stuff, you know? No matter what happens, you know, I'm going home to the free world. I'm going home to be with the Lord, right?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAVANDERA: And, Jake, it's hard to overstate just how much support Robert Roberson has garnered over the course of the last few years. In fact, the lead police detective who helped send Roberson to death row now believes he is innocent.
Obviously, his voice played a huge part in the defense attorney's efforts to try to spare his life. In fact, Roberson was telling us yesterday that he was preparing what he might say for his last statement once he got into the execution chamber. But now, his attorneys say that temporarily, they have won the battle and their fight continues in a courtroom. So that will continue to play out here in the state of Texas. It's not like Robert Roberson is going to walk out of prison a free man anytime soon.
But he did tell us if that day comes, what one of the first things he wants to do is eat barbecue and take a drive around his east Texas hometown -- Jake.
TAPPER: All right. The latest in the Robert Roberson case.
Ed Lavandera in Dallas, Texas, thank you so much, and thanks for staying on top of that story.
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