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The Lead with Jake Tapper

All Hamas Hostages Released; President Trump And World Leaders Sign Ceasefire Deal; Uncertainty Over Hamas Control And Security; Three Dead As Nor'easter Batters East Coast; Devastating Typhoon Hits Alaska; Bipartisan Policy Group: Roughly 1.4M Federal Workers Furloughed Or Working Without Pay; Maya Rudolph And Joel Kim Booster Talk New Season Of Apple T.V. Show "Loot". Aired 5-6p ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Phil Mattingly in for Jake Tapper and the breaking news from the Middle East. Remarkable scenes in Israel and Egypt today. All 20 living hostages held in Gaza have been released, leading to emotional, tear-filled reunions. Eitan Avraham Mor's mother cried when she saw her 25-year-old son, who's working as a security guard at the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, 2023. Israeli media says he was last seen bringing others to safety before he was kidnapped by Hamas.

Evyatar David -- David was 22 when he was taken hostage. Hamas terrorists used him repeatedly in horrific propaganda videos. Today, Evyatar saw his friends for the first time. They shouted, Evyatar, you're a king. Twenty-eight-year-old twin brother, Ziv and Gali Berman traveled to an Israeli hospital together believed to have been separated over -- more than two years spent in terrorist captivity. The pair wore matching Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer jerseys as the helicopter flew over their team stadium.

Two-hundred and fifty Palestinian prisoners and more than 1,700 detainees from Gaza held by Israel without charge since the Hamas-led attacks on October 7, 2023, they've also been released. Detainees wept, overcome with emotion as they stepped foot back into Gaza. These reunions just before President Trump signed a ceasefire deal in Egypt flanked by leaders from across the region. Trump, hailing, quote, "Dawn of a new Middle East" and adding this --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: This was the granddaddy of them all and frankly, I thought this was probably going to be the toughest and maybe in many ways it was, but we had a lot of big talent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: But there are big questions that remain. Is the war in Gaza actually over? And what happens to the decimated Gaza Strip? Hamas also handed over four coffins with the remains of deceased hostages leaving about two dozen still unaccounted for. Remember, point four of the U.S. brokered ceasefire agreement states, quote, "within 72 hours of Israel publicly accepting this agreement, all hostages alive and deceased will be returned." That window started early Friday morning. Those 72 hours, they have since passed.

We will dive into the details of the ceasefire and what comes next for Gaza. But first, CNN's Jeremy Diamond brings us more from today's emotional reunions.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Two years of pent-up anguish unleashed in an instant. One after another, 20 newly freed hostages and their families hug, cry, kiss, scream and pray. Reveling in their new, almost unbelievable reality. Their nightmare is finally over. These moments were never guaranteed. When Bar Kupershtein was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival, his father was still paralyzed. He vowed he would embrace his son again on his own two feet.

For Einav Zangauker, who became an icon in the hostage family's protest movement, this is the culmination of a relentless fight. Israel's national nightmare is also now finally over. After 738 days, every single living hostage is now free. The open wounds that has been October 7th can now finally begin to heal.

For the hostages, the journey to freedom began in Red Cross vehicles flanked by masked Hamas militants. An Israeli convoy completed the trip to a military base near Gaza, where hundreds of Israelis lined the route.

(On camera): This liftoff is a moment more than two years in the making. Some of the last living Israeli hostages getting their own taste of freedom.

(Voice-over): New found freedom filled with moments that seemed frighteningly out of reach just weeks ago, like two former hostages embracing for the first time in years.

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It was an emotional day in Gaza, too, when more than 1,700 Palestinians detained without charge were finally freed. Tears of joy and questions answered after months in the dark about their loved ones' fate.

Thank God for this blessing, this woman says, reuniting with her husband. It's my birthday today, he says, tearing up. It's an indescribable feeling being here next to my wife. The Israelis may have destroyed Gaza, but they can't destroy us.

In the occupied West Bank, dozens of Palestinian prisoners serving long-term sentences also received a hero's welcome. They are among 250 high-security prisoners released as part of the deal. Most of them tied to deadly attacks on Israelis. For the Miran family and most Israelis, a price well worth paying to make families whole again and give two little girls their father back after two long years.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DIAMOND (on camera): And Phil, the bodies of four hostages were also returned on Monday by Hamas. These are four bodies out of 28 that Hamas was still holding. We understand, of course, that Hamas does not know the location of all of the remaining bodies of Israeli hostages being held inside of the Gaza Strip. Israeli intelligence reports have also confirmed that. And so for tonight, it seems that there is closure for at least four of those families of the 28 whose bodies have been held in Gaza for some time now.

For the rest of them, it's unclear what the timeline here actually looks like. We know that it could take days to find bodies beneath the rubble, but in addition to that, of course, locating them will need the help, perhaps, of the International Red Cross, which has signed up for this mission going forward. But of course, this speaks to a larger problem that we're seeing in Gaza, Phil.

Over the course of Just the last few days, hundreds of Palestinian bodies have been found beneath the rubble by Palestinian rescue services and we expect that there will be thousands, if not tens of thousands of additional bodies, according to estimates by international organizations, that could be found under the rubble for days, weeks, months, perhaps even years. It speaks, of course, to the enormous task of rebuilding that will have to happen in Gaza and also to the untold death toll in the Strip. Phil?

MATTINGLY: That is certainly the case. Good reporting as always. Jeremy Diamond for us in Tel Aviv. Thanks so much. Let's get straight to CNN's international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He's in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where the historic ceasefire deal signing took place earlier today. Nic, as of this hour, what are you learning about the actual plans for post-war Gaza?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Very little. There was a lot about Sharm el-Sheikh today that had shades of a victory lap by President Trump. The signing of this document by him, by the other mediators, the President of Egypt, the President of Turkey, Amir of Qatar signing this document.

We don't know what was in the document. We know that other leaders had come into this and you saw behind President Trump during his speech, he had the Greek Prime Minister next to the Italian Prime Minister next to the Pakistani prime minister next to the British prime minister next to Mark Carney, the Canadian prime minister, all lined up there listening to quite a long speech by President Trump.

The little detail that the president gave away about what he was thinking about Gaza going forward was he said, look, we've got money. He said, over the past days, recently, I've got commitments of big money from these big and powerful countries here for the rebuilding in Gaza. But we didn't get a sense of the international stabilization forces, critical number of troops, 20 to 40,000 is the number we have heard today. We don't know what country they'll come from, what their mandate will

be, what they'll be expected to do inside of Gaza, whether they'll have U.N. backing and critically, for those young soldiers and the nations that they come from going in to potentially hostile situation, what will be their rules of engagement? What happens if they see a gunman at the end of the street, one they're supposed to disarm? Do they shoot first? Do they have to wait to be shot at? How does all of that work?

And of course, Israel will be on the sidelines expecting this international stabilization force to disarm Hamas. Hamas in the meantime in this vacuum is standing up its armed police force inside of Gaza, getting stronger, getting rid of their enemies on the ground.

So any sense that we were expecting to get of momentum following on from the phase one, the ceasefire, hostage release, prisoner release, it didn't really seem to materialize today. And you kind of got that sense looking at some of those leaders standing behind President Trump, that there are so many threads to what needs to be done.

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And the expectation here have been to push that forward. They are still hanging loose threads and we still have serious questions about what was in the document that was signed because we don't know.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, and these aren't peripheral questions. And I think, Nic, you would know better than anybody, there is value to the kind of diplomatic inertia that has, without question, been created here. But one of the big questions kind of, I think, hanging over everything is the U.S. role going forward. Presidential Envoy Steve Witkoff said he intends to be very involved in the next stages. This is what he told reporters earlier today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY TO THE MIDDLE EAST: The minute we inked the deal, Jared and I were already working on the implementation side of the deal. So we're dug in. We'll be here quite a bit. That's at the direction of the President. That's probably going to be one of the most important phases here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Nic, what are you hearing about kind of the U.S. role in the development of the next phases?

ROBERTSON: It is going to have a role. It's already sort of have 200 troops dedicated to overseeing the ceasefire from within Israel and having a role in overseeing whatever troops go into Gaza. That's our understanding at the moment. And look, President Trump was absolutely instrumental. His weight and leaning on the parties and the players and the mediators was absolutely critical to getting to where we were today. But they all believe that he needs to stay engaged and that's their concern. And I think, look -- look at Sharm el-Sheikh today. A couple of really

powerful leaders and President Trump was really sort of talking about how all the leaders here, they're rich, they're powerful, they're from this region. But two of the most notable ones, the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, who's literally just across the Red Sea over in Saudi Arabia, didn't come. His very able and capable foreign minister, very astute diplomat was here and the president did have a conversation by phone with Mohammed bin Salman.

And MBZ, Mohammed bin Zayed, the Emir in the Emirates didn't come. Both of them have become very entrenched in positions over this two- year war in Gaza that they absolutely want to see a Palestinian state and they've lost faith in the leadership of Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel. So I think that they didn't come indicative of those loose threads I was referring to.

MATTINGLY: Yeah, notable absences. Also notable, the president made very clear to shout them out during his remarks, their critical role uh within the kind of Arab state community that the president has such good relationships with certainly will be important going forward. Nic Robertson in Egypt for us, thanks so much.

Well, my next guest experienced a day much like today, about seven months ago. We'll ask what the next phase of their emotional roller coaster might feel like. And here in the United States, House Speaker Mike Johnson says, we're barreling towards one of the longest government shutdowns in American history. How that could affect anyone, even if they don't have a federal job.

But first, more emotional scenes. And the moment the family of Matan Angrest saw proof of life, proof the 22-year-old is alive, later reuniting with his loved ones in Israel. We'll be right back.

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MATTINGLY: Back with our "World Lead." In the crowds that gathered earlier today at Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, shouting, thank you Trump, as it was announced the final group of hostages had been released and would soon be reuniting with their loved ones. Joining us now is Abbey Onn, an American living in Israel. Several of her family members were kidnapped on October 7th. I really appreciate your time. I want to ask, you reunited with two of your family members last year and another this past February. How did it feel watching hostages reunite with their families today?

ABBEY ONN, RELATIVES TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS: They feel like there's a piece that is finally complete. I think they've done their best in the last number of months and even year plus to rebuild their lives physically, emotionally, mentally, but something has been missing because the fight to bring home people that they were kept in captivity with has continued. And today that came to an end with the last living hostages brought home. MATTINGLY: You spoke with Jake Tapper shortly after Hamas's attack in

October 2023. That was before you learned your cousin and her granddaughter were killed. You mentioned to Jake during that interview two years ago, it was important to separate the Palestinian people from the Hamas terrorists. How do you see the Israeli-Palestinian relations going forward? What does this moment represent to you?

ONN: My cousin who lost her mother and daughter on that day, they were brutally murdered by Hamas. She spoke on the two-year memorial of October 7th, just last week. And she said, she doesn't want revenge, she wants renewal. And I think that she speaks for a lot of Israel. I think we've been fighting for two years to bring home people who we've never met, but consider our brothers and sisters. And we will continue that fight to make sure that The country that we live in reflects the values that it was built upon. And I think that's a critical piece of building future peace for Israel and the region.

MATTINGLY: What's your faith that this moment can actually lead to, I think, the aspirations that you heard from all the leaders today. There have been so many similar moments, I think, in the past decades in the Middle East that have ended up in diplomatic failure. Do you think this time will be different?

ONN: I do. I think we've seen since the 7th of October a civilian movement that is stronger than anything I've experienced in my life. The people of Israel are not the government of Israel. They want a thriving democracy. They want peace.

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They want the values that the country was built upon. They want to be able to love their neighbors authentically. And that's something that I think now that we have the living hostages' home, we can finally Of course, work to make sure that those who are not alive are also brought home, but continue that fight for something that will create change.

MATTINGLY: You have three kids. You've written powerfully about being a mom, being a parent, kind of over the course of the tragedy, the strains of the last couple of years. What's it like being a parent in this moment? How have you been talking to your kids about what we've seen over these last couple of years?

ONN: Thank you for asking that. It is something I never imagined I would experience as a parent and we've dealt with it. Our way of dealing with it has evolved and I think we're much more um upfront and straightforward with the kids because they're living through it. We can't shield them from sirens and from the murders and from captivity and the things that are all around them.

But I think what we are trying to instill in them is an understanding that there's a lot of humanity here and that what we're fighting for throughout all of this is humanity to bring an end to this war, to bring all of the hostages home and to build a stronger Israel.

I believe Israel should exist. I believe there should be a homeland for the Jewish people and that homeland needs change and that we should be the ones to continue to fight for that and that we as parents and they as citizens as well have a role in bringing that about.

MATTINGLY: Abbey Onn, I really appreciate your time. Thank you very much.

ONN: Thank you. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, we do want to get to some other news, including the lingering problems from this weekend's nor'easter and the remnants of a powerful Pacific typhoon that hit Alaska's coast. But first, another emotional scene from Israel. This is Segev Kalfon, the hostage no more, reuniting with his family just hours ago. We're back in a moment.

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MATTINGLY: Breaking news in our "National Lead," three deaths are now blamed on the nor'easter that slammed the East Coast. Days of severe flooding have shut down highways, airports and power throughout five states. That's not the only place experiencing extreme and dangerous weather. In Alaska, several people remain missing from a record storm surge. CNN's Allison Chinchar looks at all the damage and what's still to come.

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): Extreme weather coast to coast as three powerful storms battered the U.S. with wind, waves and rising waters. On the East Coast, an early season nor'easter tracked up the eastern seaboard, bringing widespread coastal flooding, whipping winds and pounding surf.

UNKNOWN: It's definitely a wild one.

CHIHNCHAR (voice-over): From North Carolina to New Jersey, water levels surged well above flood stage during high tides both yesterday and today. Wind gusts topped 50 miles per hour across parts of Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Virginia, and North Carolina.

UNKNOWN: It's kicking right now.

CHIHNCHAR (voice-over): The winds even triggered a ground stop at LaGuardia Airport Monday morning, compounding existing travel delays already worsened by the ongoing government shutdown.

UNKNOWN: Although there is a lull now, don't get a false sense of security. The wind will increase to a constant rate of about 25 miles an hour.

CHIHNCHAR (voice-over): Meanwhile, In the far northwest, a much stronger system fueled by the remnants of a powerful Pacific typhoon slammed into western Alaska, unleashing widespread destruction. Record-setting storm surge tore homes from their foundations, and search and rescue teams were dispatched to locate missing residents. And in the desert southwest, deep tropical moisture left over from Hurricane Priscilla and Tropical Storm Raymond in the Pacific brought rare soaking rains to typically dry regions.

Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson all set new rainfall records, picking up two to three months' worth of precipitation in just a single weekend. Flash floods turned dry creek beds into raging torrents, closing roads and prompting numerous water rescues across several counties. At least some portion of the southwest remains under the threat for flooding through Wednesday of this week as more waves of rain are expected. Allison Chinchar, CNN.

MATTINGLY: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. Well, this is day 13 of the government shutdown. Do fired federal employees have any legal recourse to get their jobs back? We're going to talk about that next.

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MATTINGLY: In our Politics Lead, we are learning more about the more than 4,000 fired federal employees as President Trump makes good on his threat to pressure Democrats to end a shutdown now entering its third week. The federal agencies impacted by the mass layoffs include the Departments of Commerce, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Homeland Security, and the Treasury Department.

Now, multiple sources at the Department of Education tell CNN the latest round of mass layoffs have decimated the office that handles special education programs serving millions of children, youth and adults with disabilities nationwide. And a Bipartisan Policy Center review says nearly 1.4 million other federal workers are either furloughed or working without pay.

Joining me now is Randy Erwin, the national president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, which represents roughly 110,000 federal workers across the country. Just to start as the shutdown stretches into this third week, you've highlighted the personal toll of not getting a paycheck, what that means for some of your members, some of whom you say are, "unable to pay for food, medications, child care, other basic necessities, their families to survive. Others will be defaulting on rent, car loans and other payments."

The impact here, I think too often the federal workforce is kind of the amorphous concept, not actual people. What are some of the personal stories you've heard?

RANDY ERWIN, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL FEDERATION OF FEDERAL EMPLOYEES: Yes, you know, we just did a survey of our membership and we got, I just read a -- read 85 pages of comments that were absolutely heartbreaking. But, you know, this -- this is -- this -- the pain of the shutdown is hitting federal employees across the country. You got or 2 million, roughly federal employees across the country. They're all going without, nearly all are going without pay. Some are working, some are not.

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But some are -- are devastated that they're not being able to pay -- provide for their families. I was reading about some that say they -- once the -- the -- their tank of gas in their car is empty, they're not going to be able to fill it again and they're -- you know, they can't possibly go to work. They can't do anything because they don't have the money to put gas in their tank. And it's story after story like this. And it's just heartbreaking to see what's happening to hardworking federal employees who do such good work for the American people.

MATTINGLY: On the actual reductions in force, the firings. And I want to be clear here, when you're talking about 2 million workers, most all of them are in the situation you're just describing right now in terms of not getting paychecks, 2 million plus. There are furloughed and then there are individuals who were notified on Friday that they were subject to reductions in force. They're basically being fired.

And -- and I think has been, this is very different. We haven't seen this before in a shutdown. And when the President was asked about this is how he kind of framed everything. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It'll be Democrat oriented because we figure, you know, they started this thing.

These are largely people that the Democrats want. Many of them will be fired.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: What's your response to that?

ERWIN: It's appalling to hear the President of the United States speak like this, you know, just to kind of take joy in the misery of Americans. And he is taking joy in -- in, you know, singling out federal employees. I mean, he -- first of all, he does not have the legal right to do a reduction in force during a shutdown. It's illegal to do. The Anti-Deficiency Act says that -- that the -- the executive branch, the White House and federal agencies can't -- can't lay off folks because money hasn't been appropriated for them to do so.

And -- and so the -- the fact that they're doing that, it's an illegal action for them to take. And then the President's, you know, adding insult to injury, taking glee in the fact that -- that people are suffering. And, you know, I just can't believe the President is acting this way, it's appalling. And, you know, I -- I just don't know what to say.

MATTINGLY: This is already taking place in court, the legal fight that you're talking about. And as I noted, this -- this is unprecedented. The administration claims they have legal authority.

ERWIN: Right.

MATTINGLY: It certainly hasn't been utilized before. Your organization and others are challenging that. It's in the midst, I think the next hearing on the injunction, potential injunction, is it a couple of days, maybe two days. But in July, the Supreme Court lifted an injunction, kind of clearing the way for the President to move forward on mass firings as part of his broader overhaul. Why is this different?

ERWIN: Well, it's different this time because he's doing it without money being appropriated to do so. You can't go through a rift without spending money. And he is now doing that. He's -- he's -- first, he indicated that he was going to do something that's illegal and now he's gone and actually done it. And so, you know, we have entered a new territory.

It's important to remember that the President, you know, swears an oath to uphold the Constitution. And Article 2, Section 3 of the Constitution says that the president must faithfully execute the laws of this country. That law is written in plain English, and now he's going and violating it. And we're at a scary point in this country when the President is ignoring laws written in plain English. But that's where we're at.

MATTINGLY: What's your message to the President but congressional leaders of both parties, as we enter, I guess we're now we're in day 13 of the shutdown?

ERWIN: Sure. Well, the -- the message to Congress is to Congress as the institution, it is important that you got -- you've got to get along enough to get in a room and hammer out some kind of spending legislation. That's your job. Do your job. It will require some compromise. It will require some bipartisanship. If it -- if it wasn't going to require that, we would have a spending bill done already and we wouldn't have a government shutdown. So Congress, do your job and -- and get that done.

The President needs to follow the Constitution. You know, he is taking it way, way too far. We need to see Congress stand up and hold him accountable. We need to see the courts do, I would say, a better job of -- of -- of holding the line and not letting the President kind of, you know, take things way, way too far.

We're not talking about an area where you're nibbling around the edges. We're talking about a place now where it's blatant violation of the law, in our view. And that's got to stop. We need those two other co-equal branches of government to do their job and hold this President accountable.

MATTINGLY: Randy Erwin, really appreciate your time. Thanks so much.

ERWIN: Thank you so much for having me.

[17:40:00] MATTINGLY: Well, up next, the politics of this historic day for peace in the Middle East.

Plus, the stunning moment you may have not seen when President Trump called on Israel's president to pardon Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Stay with us.

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MATTINGLY: We're back with our Politics Lead. President Trump on his way back to the United States after he and several other world leaders signed a Gaza ceasefire deal. This as all 20 remaining living hostages are freed after enduring more than two years in Hamas captivity. Let's bring in the panel. And Shermichael, it's actually, I've been thinking about this throughout the course of the last couple days because what we saw today and what has transpired over the course of the last 72 hours is a remarkable achievement.

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes.

MATTINGLY: No matter how you view the President. And I am pretty firmly of the mind that the President Trump's maybe the only president who could have pulled this off, given all of the different dynamics at play. But we were just talking about the government shutdown here at home. That contrast of what we're seeing on the world stage versus what we're seeing at home. What do you make of it?

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SINGLETON: Look, it's an interesting duality, right? I mean, I think the President did something that's quite frankly remarkable and prevented the furtherance of a destabilization in that entire region, which certainly would have impacted the United States interests, including our troops and the surrounding country. So we have to give recognition to the President in that regard.

As it takes to the government shut down, I'm not convinced yet, Phil, that the American people are paying attention to this yet. Now, maybe when some federal workers are impacted, maybe when this begins to really impact what people rely on the government for some of those social safety programs, that I think the conversation is going to be very, very different.

I imagine that the Senate -- Senate Democrats rather, at some point will probably cave and vote with Republicans to reopen the government. I really foresee that.

MATTINGLY: I would have -- full disclosure, two weeks ago, heading into this, I was kind of where Shermichael is right now. I have been surprised. And the more I talk to Democrats, the more I'm convinced, like, I probably was a little ahead of where I should have been on that.

CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Yes. And, you know, you don't -- this is the first government shutdown that where nobody really cares about the government shutdown. I just, as were talking about off air, got back from East Texas. They weren't talking this weekend about, oh, I wonder if we're going to get a peace deal. They were wondering about the price of beer and steak has went up and. And what's going on with the price of land.

They were talking to me about, like, how much it used to cost. It was homecoming. About what how much land used to cost, how much more expensive lots of things are, I think real people's lives. I think they appreciate the President. These guys definitely do. My buddies probably blame Democrats for the price of eggs, for hell's sake. But what I'm getting at is the shutdown, right. It's real people's lives. But have they felt it regular Americans? I don't think so.

SINGLETON: Yes, yes, not yet.

MATTINGLY: I mean, to be fair, you were a Texas high school football game. If people were talking about anything related to the government, I would have concerns about the quality of football that you're all modern back in football. Chuck Rocha, I do want to ask you the -- this moment during the President's speech in the Knesset, which he seemed to go off script and speak specifically to the Israeli president. Take a Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Mr. President, why don't you give him a pardon?

This has one -- been one of the greatest wartime presidents and cigars and champagne. Who the hell cares about it? (END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: So just for context, this is about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's legal issues that he's been dealing with now for several years. What do you make of that?

SINGLETON: Yes, look, I mean, the President has had an interesting relationship with Netanyahu. Sometimes is up, sometimes it's down, sometimes he loves him, sometimes he doesn't love him. I think it was a flippant remark, but, however, I think the President recognizes, though, in this particular moment, he needed to be able to work with the Netanyahu administration, some of the more conservative advisers and supporters with Netanyahu to get this deal across the board.

Remember a couple of months ago, there was a lot of questions and debate if Netanyahu was even willing to come to the table to even entertain a legitimate agreement with Hamas, because he didn't trust that -- the leadership of Hamas would do the right thing. President Trump was able to make that happen.

So I can understand him saying, look, regardless of whatever the political issues may be, for the Prime Minister, this is monumental enough. We should look beyond the pot -- beyond the politics, and bring some closure to this to move forward. I'm not surprised by it.

ROCHA: I think you can do both at the same time. I think you can celebrate everything that's happened in the Middle East today and celebrate these amazing pictures of these folks getting reunited with their families, while at the same time holding Netanyahu accountable for the things that he's been accused of, all at the same time because there has to be accountability.

MATTINGLY: Another comment the President made on his way to Israel aboard Air Force One. He was asked if the ceasefire deal will help him get into heaven, which is, I got to say, I've been in the press pool. It is a unique question to ask a President of the United States. However, his response was also unique. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't think there's anything going to get me in heaven. OK. I really don't. I think -- I think I'm not maybe heaven bound. I may be in heaven right now as we fly an Air Force One. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make heaven.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROCHA: Look at somebody else who may have a hard time with this same topic, I would just say that it's really interesting when you hear him say this because it makes him a regular guy.

SINGLETON: It definitely does.

ROCHA: As a Democrat, it really makes me upset because folks flip it making, you know, what do you say? Lie to yourself. I do that a lot. Other folks, he's just been a regular person going, look I've made a lot of mistakes. You all covered me and pull out everything I've ever done in my life so maybe I'm not going to have a straight shot all the way to heaven. It makes him really -- really like a regular folks and as a Democrat it makes me hate it.

SINGLETON: I think Chuck is 100 percent correct. I mean like my grandfather used to say when he would say I'm a Christian, he said, wow, you've already accomplished it. It's a lifelong journey. We're all imperfect. The President recognized that. Into Chuck's point for regular people they said, hell, I don't know if I'm going to get to heaven but I'm certainly trying every single day. It's relatable. It's why people like him.

MATTINGLY: Yes. I mean it -- when you read it versus when you listen to him say it which is a very -- this isn't sport. You can call him --

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SINGLETON: His face, the body language. Yes.

MATTINGLY: -- of covering this President is don't just read it, listen to and watch how he's actually saying it. I mean honestly, there's like a combination of the -- the humor, the quippiness, but also like a self-awareness about like it's a little presumptuous to be like, you know what? Yes, absolutely. I'm going to go.

ROCHA: You've never seen a Democrat speak that freely because our -- our consultants and lawyers would have a field day. They'd be like, how? Oh, it's over. Like, we've got to unbutton the tie a little bit and be really regular and talk to folks like me and my boys were talking to each other this weekend, Democrat, Independent, Republican. That's what people want to hear.

MATTINGLY: There's like 80 percent of what you and your boys are talking about this weekend that you don't want anywhere near a live television.

SINGLETON: Yes. We can't talk about it on set, at all.

MATTINGLY: Which Shermichael was -- was reporting all of it when you're telling the stories. Guys, I appreciate you. Thanks so much. We will have both of you back next hour and keep talking.

This programming note, how will this shutdown and CNN will host a town hall this Wednesday. Senator Bernie Sanders and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Kaitlan Collins will moderate. Again, look for that Wednesday night at 9:00 Eastern right here CNN. Well, up next, comedian, Maya Rudolph, on her new project. Is it meant to imitate real life?

Plus, what she makes of the candid feedback from Kamala Harris after portraying the former VP on SNL. Stay with us.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Come on, just relax.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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[17:55:40]

MATTINGLY: We're back with CNN's Jake Tapper and his conversation with two stars of an Emmy nominated series returning to T.V. this week.

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MAYA RUDOLPH, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: Oh God. Our plane crashed. What are we going to do?

JOEL KIM BOOSTER, ACTOR AND COMEDIAN: Whatever it takes. Wait, should we have written SOS?

RUDOLPH: Oh, no. This is way more us. They'll get it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: In our Pop Culture Lead today, that is a clip from the newest season of "Loot" on Apple T.V. Starring Maya Rudolph and Joel Kim Booster among many others. The show follows the travails of Molly Wells, the ex-wife of a cheating tech CEO who takes billions in the divorce and tries to balance love, wealth, self-discovery in hilarious fashion. And with us now are the stars of Loot, Maya Rudolph and Joel Kim Booster. Thanks for joining us for season three. Maya, as the show enters its third season, what are you most excited about for this season? It looks like you're -- you're taking a real plot twist there.

RUDOLPH: This season is fun. It's very funny. It -- it -- it -- it -- we travel a lot, we meet a lot of new friends. I feel like season three of a comedy is really when you get to have fun. We've established everything. We know who the characters are. Now we -- we get to see them really go town.

BOOSTER: Yes. It's liftoff, baby. We're in the sky.

MATTINGLY: And Joel --

RUDOLPH: It's liftoff, baby.

MATTINGLY: Your character Nicholas, Joel, it's quickly -- has quickly become a fan favorite. How should viewers expect to see Nicholas lift off this season?

BOOSTER: You know, I think it's really, we've gotten to know Nicholas over the course of three seasons and we see him -- we've seen him sort of be absorbed into Molly's world and really his entire life is basically revolves around this woman. And I think in season three you get to see him start to take some steps to self-actualize a little bit and figure out what he wants and what his identity is apart from this woman.

And you get to see, I think a little bit more of a window into why he is the way he is, you know.

RUDOLPH: Yes.

BOOSTER: Like he's for all the reasons why he's a fan favorite, he's snarky, you know, he's -- he's a little mean, he's a little abrasive. But you get to see all the reasons why he developed that way and why he's protecting himself with those sorts of behaviors. So it's really exciting and very funny.

TAPPER: Well, the show is great, and I hope everybody tunes in for season three. I have to ask you before we go, Maya, you obviously burst on the scene on Saturday Night Live, and you were featured last season portraying Kamala Harris, the vice president and presidential candidate. I want to play a clip from one of the skits that the former vice president referenced herself in her new book, "107 Days." She writes about how she was shocked watching the vice presidential debate and how unaggressive Tim Walz was toward J.D. Vance during the debate. Here's the SNL skit that you were in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUDOLPH: Why are they friends? Why are they vibing?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, Momola, it's Joe Biden.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So in -- in her new book, Harris writes of that sketch, "the following weekend, SNL did a sketch in which actors posed as Doug and me sitting on our couch watching the debate. While I did not in fact spit out wine, it was otherwise uncanny in its portrait of our evening. I'm not sure if you read the book --

RUDOLPH: Wow.

TAPPER: -- but that -- it's -- it's a very positive.

RUDOLPH: Not yet. I haven't read it yet. I can't wait to read it. I really, I can't believe that I even got a chance to witness any of those "107 Days" up close and personal. And that was really just an unbelievable experience. I feel tremendously lucky to have -- to have been a part of any of -- of her "107 Days." It was incredible. And I love that -- that she saw that sketch and heard me say that they're -- they're not really vibing and she was into it. She's got an amazing sense of humor and which, I mean, these days, if you don't have a sense of humor, boy, I don't know what you're going to do.

So I'm -- I'm really grateful to all the kind things she said because she knows how much love and admiration I have for her, and it's just so cool. Wow.

[18:00:01]

TAPPER: Maya Rudolph and Joel Kim Booster, thanks to both of you. "Loot" season three premieres Wednesday, October 15th on Apple T.V. Thanks so much. Really nice having you on the show.

RUDOLPH: Nice to have -- nice to be here. Thank you.