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Trump Heads to Egypt for Summit; Trump Speaks to Israeli Knesset. Aired 8:30-9a ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 08:30   ET

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

[08:30:00]

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR: Earlier on today about what the expectations are for this summit here. And he said it was about maintaining momentum. As one regional diplomat put it to me, we're flying a plane while building it. There is so much detail to be discussed about what happens next, not least to put some real detail onto this 20-point plan that has been laid out by Donald Trump.

It's my sense here that what we will get in the end is a sort of combination of that Trump plan and a slightly different plan that was submitted by the Arab and Islamic state. So, watch for, you know, some -- some movement on that plan and its implementation. That is what's going to be really, really important at the moment. But the Egyptian foreign minister told me, that's going to take weeks. It's going to take months, maybe years, to get that implementation, governance, security on the ground. You know, everything that goes into that plan is going to take ages.

But the Egyptian foreign minister said to me, what is really important here at this summit is that these countries sign up to an agreement that this war is over, to all intents and purposes. That this war will come to an end. And he told me that the most important part of all of that is having Donald Trump engaged. It is, the Egyptian foreign minister told me at summit co-hosted by Egypt and Donald Trump, and it is about ensuring that Donald Trump remains engaged, because if this vision, if this idea that this is the end of the war, and the war, of course, is the through line to potential peace in the Middle East, then Donald Trump needs to stay engaged.

I've got my colleague, Nic Robertson, with me here in Sharm el-Sheikh, just down the road from where I am here. I'm at the conference center for this summit.

And, Nic, I know you listened in to Donald Trump's speech there. What did you take out of it?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, look, we got Donald Trump's philosophy writ large. There is peace through strength. That's how he said Israel got to the point that it is. It got there with U.S. weapons that he was happy to supply. It got there, he said, by the U.S. using its B-2 bombers on a long mission to strike Iran's nuclear sites. He actually said that the United States is getting another 28 B-2 bombers. I think that was, again, writ large. President Trump's philosophy of how President Trump does business around the world. He mentioned wanting to get peace between Russia and Ukraine as well on his mission to bring peace to many conflicts around the world. And clearly his implying that that's done from a position of strength. We know that he's discussing right now with a Ukrainian leader about the possibility of using tomahawk cruise missiles from Ukraine, being used by Ukraine, to target perhaps energy sites within -- within Russia.

So, this is the president's philosophy about how he drove the situation where it is today. Everyone praises him for his ability to get people to do what they don't want to do, although he did say that Benjamin Netanyahu sometimes doesn't quite follow his own plan. But there's that power -- there is that peace through strength. That's his philosophy there. And the other part of his philosophy was writ large there. You just did the numbers there, 25 trillion for all the countries present, 30 trillion there from the United States. His vision is an economic vision. You stabilize peace through the economy. It sounds like what he wants to do is supercharge the Abraham -- that Abraham Accords. There was no detail that I heard about the putting flesh on the bones that may get discussed here about his 20-point plan, about how to realize that longer, more durable peace within Gaza. All the hurdles you and I have been discussing, international stabilization force, its scale, its size, its mandate, its time duration, when they can be ready. All of those things disarming -- disarming Hamas, all of that. But this was President Trump's philosophy, peace through strength, enduring peace through economic ties. That seems to be what he's bringing in here.

ANDERSON: Yes. Why bother with the sort of hackneyed phrase, the devil is in the detail, when you can make a sort of, you know, overarching speech which the U.S. president and other stakeholders will hope will spur further momentum towards the end of this war and the potential for peace in the Middle East.

It's good to have you, Nic. Thank you very much indeed.

So, Kaitlan, as Nic said, you know, leave aside the detail on how to ensure this war ends.

[08:35:08]

How do we ensure that the pieces are in place for potential peace in the Middle East? He's laid out a vision and by sort of sheer force of will, the U.S. president will hope that he can execute on that vision.

Part of that, the next stage of that, the choreography of this, if you will, because it feels very choreographed this, but the choreography, the next stage in that is Donald Trump arriving here we assess within about two hours. It's a very short trip from Israel to here. He'll be on the ground here in Sharm el-Sheikh, the city of peace, of course, where other peace accords have been struck in the past. The question will be, as in the past, the deals can be struck, the agreements can be made in Sharm el-Sheikh, the city of peace. But will they hold? And that will be the question certainly.

So, he will be on the ground here. The world's leaders certainly from some 20 plus countries will be here. They're waiting for him. And we will go from here.

This is about, and I underscore this, I hear it from everybody that I speak to, this is about maintaining momentum first and foremost, Kaitlan.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. And one thing the president made clear in his lengthy speech here is that he feels that momentum is on his side and he is quite bullish and optimistic on normalization of relations here in the Middle East and what that's going to look like. We'll see how it pans out and what that summit looks like when the president does make his way there eventually.

Becky Anderson in Sharm el-Sheikh. It's so great to have you and Nic Robertson, Jeremy Diamond, Nada Bashir, Clarissa Ward as well. Our entire team that we have here on the ground.

We're going to continue our full coverage here right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:41:35]

COLLINS: On the ground here in Israel. President Trump is on his way to the airport where he arrived just a couple of hours ago. Now he'll be heading to Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, where he is going to be sitting down with more than a dozen world leaders who have gathered there and are awaiting his arrival for the signing ceremony of what President Trump has put forward as this peace proposal to end the war in Gaza, something that the president has said twice now on this visit that he believes, yes, that war has come to an end.

With more reaction now to the president's remarkable speech that he just gave to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, for over an hour, I'm joined by CNN political and global affairs analyst Barak Ravid, who is also the global affairs correspondent with "Axios."

And, Barak, I want to hear about your reporting on the latest with what's going on inside the deal and the trip. But I just have to get your reaction to that speech from President Trump and that remarkable moment where he turned to President Herzog and called on him to pardon the prime minister as he is facing his own corruption trial.

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Yes, Kaitlan, you know, President Trump, after the 12-day war between Israel and Iran, weighed in on Netanyahu's trial and tried to influence the legal procedure. But what he did today, was a whole new level, and he went further than -- than ever before by doing this, you know, from the Knesset podium. And I think that while Netanyahu and his allies in the coalition were very happy about it, I'm pretty sure that the other half of the Israeli Knesset and the Israeli society wasn't very happy by this intervention by President Trump in domestic Israeli politics, especially that the country is only now starting to heal from those two years of war.

And one of the main things Israelis want, and it's -- you see it as an overwhelming majority in every public opinion, it's number one. And national committee of inquiry, which is something that Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently opposes because he knows why. And second is that the majority of Israelis still, even though Netanyahu's numbers improved a bit over the last few weeks, still the majority of Israelis doesn't want him as prime minister. And therefore I think a lot of Israelis were puzzled hearing Donald Trump speak the way he did.

COLLINS: And just in this moment overall, as the president, one of his biggest applause lines was noting that all of the living hostages have now been returned. Obviously, we still keep in mind the families whose deceased relatives that are still being held in Gaza, them being returned. It's just as important to them as those who got their relatives are still alive back, their loved ones.

Barak, just this -- this visit overall of the president here to Israel and -- and what you are hearing from sources about it.

RAVID: Well, I think the visit overall is very successful because President Trump is perceived by the majority of Israelis as a very supportive president, maybe the most supportive one in decades, maybe of all times since the establishment of the state of Israel.

[08:45:10]

Maybe -- and, you know, at least in the last 50 years. And I think that everything Trump -- or most of the things Trump said were -- would get overwhelming support by both sides of the political map in Israel. And I think a lot of people appreciated what he did to get this deal to end the war and release the hostages. So, I think that's what Donald Trump, this was very successful.

There was one issue that is still very interesting because we don't know everything about it, is that Donald Trump, managed to get Benjamin Netanyahu an invitation to the summit in Sharm el-Sheikh, where Donald Trump is going right now. And when they drove in the -- in The Beast, in Trump's limousine, from the airport to the Knesset in Jerusalem, Donald Trump told Benjamin Netanyahu, why don't you come to the summit? And Benjamin Netanyahu said, great, if I have an invitation I'll come.

And then President Trump called President Sisi of Egypt and asked him, call Netanyahu and invite him. And President Sisi, who did not speak to Netanyahu for more than two years, agreed to do it. And he called him and invited Netanyahu. Netanyahu agreed, only to backtrack an hour later with some excuse that he cannot go because it's -- because of the Jewish holiday. A holiday that he knew existed when he told Trump, yes, in the first place.

So, I think we still don't know what exactly happened there that got Benjamin Netanyahu to get cold feet and backtrack in the last moment.

COLLINS: Yes. We were even hearing from Israeli sources that they believed Netanyahu was going to go. Egypt had all but confirmed it.

Barak, do you think it had anything to do with, in addition to the Jewish holiday, the presence of the Palestinian authority president -- president, who is going to be on the ground in Sharm el-Sheikh?

RAVID: So, first, I think it had nothing to do with the Jewish holiday, OK. I think I -- we can --rest assured it did not have anything to do with the holiday. It had a lot to do with Netanyahu's coalition partners, especially the ultra-nationalist ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who Netanyahu needs for his coalition, for his political survival. And I think that Netanyahu realized that if he sits in such a summit and listens to speeches about two state solution and God forbid maybe even shake hands with the Palestinian president under the auspices of the president of the United States, something that I have a pretty good hunch President Trump wanted to do. I think Netanyahu realized that it would be very bad politics for him domestically, and he decided not to do it.

COLLINS: Well, Barak Ravid, if I know or trust anyone's hunches, it's yours, based on your -- your good sources and good reporting.

Barak Ravid, great to have your insight into this.

And we're going to have much more of our breaking news coverage when we get back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:52:28]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, welcome back to our breaking news coverage. John Berman with Kate Bolduan here.

On the side of your screen there you see images from Khan Younis inside Gaza, the celebrations there, where Palestinian prisoners who had been held for some time, presumably, are returning home.

On the bottom of your screen you see the Ben Gurion Airport outside Tel Aviv, where President Trump, very shortly, will be leaving for Egypt for a peace summit there.

Just a short time ago he addressed the Israeli parliament, hailing the release of all 20 of the living hostages who had been in captivity in Gaza. During his remarks, the president praised the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as a man of exceptional courage and said the Middle East is ready to embrace its potential.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A lot still to come today.

Joining us right now is former State Department Middle East negotiator, Aaron David Miller, Barbara Leaf, a former assistant secretary of state for near eastern affairs under President Biden. And also with us is CNN global affairs analyst Brett McGurk.

Brett, let me start with you. As you negotiated an early release of hostages after October 7th, you have been -- you know how all of this -- how challenging all of this has been. How challenging is this now step that we're looking toward as the president's heading to Egypt?

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Oh, massively, Kate. Massively challenging. I think that's an understatement.

But I -- look, that speech by President Trump, I'll put aside the living, that was a declaration of victory speech. And I think we have to remind ourselves, after October 7th, all of Israel's enemies joined forces to wage a multi-front war against Israel. And Trump basically said, they lost, Israel's stronger than ever, Israel is here forever. It's what he says. And then he flips to looking ahead and expanding the Abraham Accords, which will be discussed in Sharm el-Sheikh. I think that agenda now is very much on track, I have to say, if you look ahead over the next two years, after Israel gets through its elections next year.

But also he affirms his 20-point plan. He says Hamas must disarm. Gaza must be demilitarized. Also implicit in that is no Israeli annexation, no Israeli occupation of Gaza. That's a message to the right wing, the really nationalist right wing that was sitting right in front of him. So, I thought he laid out a very affirmative agenda here. And now in Sharm, the hard work, who will be the international forces coming to an interim security force? Who will be on the interim political structure in Gaza, which has to be established? That all now has to happen.

But look, I think this is a momentous day in the Middle East. It's a rare, hopeful day in the Middle East.

[08:55:01]

I think there is a real chance here. Getting all those hostages home with this deal is extraordinary. And I think you build from here.

So, that starts in Sharm. I think you'll have a lot of symbolic statements in Sharm. But what happens behind the scenes? Who's contributing troops? Who's contributing resources? Who's going to lead? Who's going to set up this political structure? That is all critical, and that will start here in about an hour.

BERMAN: Ambassador Leaf, Barbara, I was struck by sort of -- there were many different prongs of outreach in President Trump's speech, but a great deal of focus was on Arab nations to join in, the ones who haven't already, the Abraham Accords. Not nearly as much was on Gaza specifically, the future of Gaza. I do wonder if he hopes or how he hopes to move forward, establishing more diplomatic relations between Israel and some of these other countries, maybe at a faster pace than dealing with Gaza.

BARBARA LEAF, FORMER ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE FOR NEAR EASTERN AFFAIRS: So, look, I mean, it is an extraordinary day. And you can literally feel the elation that the Israeli public -- the Israeli people feel at this momentous time when they have those 20 hostages back and the prospect of the return of the remains of those who died in captivity and -- and an end to this war, which has been so shattering for people on both sides of that barrier. But I think -- and so I would say, you know, the president met -- met that spirit of elation, of exuberance with some very high-flying rhetoric, which is appropriate on a day like this and is really to incentivize people, both in Israel, the government, the public and incentivize, as you say, the Arab leaders across the region to move swiftly.

As Brett said. I mean, there are such difficult details to work out on security and governance. This -- this piece getting to the release of the hostages, the exchange of -- of detainees and then the end of the war, as the president said repeatedly, was massively difficult. But in a way it will be the easiest step ahead of -- of all the things to follow. And I will say, just as he -- he met that exuberance, in a sense he oversold but -- perhaps deliberately oversold the prospects for a near-term move to normalization among these countries. And in my view, he undersold the -- the missing piece, which is how this configures for a political solution to the Palestinian quest for statehood. But that's a very long road to go down. And I think his focus was today in rallying people. But there's no question the public across the region are not yet ready for that.

BOLDUAN: Yes. ADM, Aaron David Miller, what's your -- what are you thinking about? What sticks out to you on this day?

AARON DAVID MILLER, : Great to be here with you guys, and Barbara and Brett.

Look, three U.S. presidents have addressed the Knesset, sitting presidents, Jimmy Carter in '79, Bill Clinton following the Israeli- Jordanian peace treaty in '94, and Bush 43 on the 60th anniversary of Israeli independence.

This was an extraordinary speech. It was a pro-Israeli speech. But it was also a very much pro-Netanyahu speech. And it -- it put to rest, if there was any doubt whatsoever, the urban myth that we don't intervene in Israeli politics and they don't intervene in ours. That was an extraordinary moment when he turns to Isaac Herzog, the president of Israel, and asks the question about pardoning the prime minister.

You know, there is an extraordinary amount of anger toward Benjamin Netanyahu. Not just for his accountability with respect to October 7th, but the whole issue of judicial reform, which preceded it. And politics in Israel are now, I think, going to become increasing -- increasingly unstable.

Brett's right. I think the government probably won't go to term. October 2026. Probably in the spring. And Benjamin Netanyahu is going to need Donald Trump, not just to be a bystander in this effort, because Trump's more popular in Israel than Netanyahu is. He's going to need Trump as an active campaigner.

One additional point. Phase one is really quite remarkable when you think about it. The three -- the three reasons that gave Gaza urgency, the hostages, the exponential rise of Palestinian deaths and casualties as a consequence of Israel's prosecution of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza. Reports of starvation, malnutrition, food insecurity, horrible situation, whatever. The phase one deals has taken the hostage card off the table.

[09:00:00] I -- I think this was a strong -- and Brett described it as a victory speech -- I think it was a strong message, Benjamin Netanyahu, that the war is over.