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All Living Hostages Freed After Two Years of Hamas Captivity; Emotional Scenes as Families Reunited with Freed Palestinians; Trump, World Leaders Sign Gaza Ceasefire Deal; Hostages & Palestinian Prisoners Freed as Trump Hails Gaza Deal; U.S. Troops Set to Monitor Gaza Ceasefire Deal. Aired 3-3:30p ET
Aired October 13, 2025 - 15:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Ceasefire Deal Signed: President Trump is heading home after a historic day in the Middle East as we see emotional scenes of Israeli hostages and Palestinian detainees reuniting with loved ones.
ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Plus, a powerful nor'easter continues to pound the East Coast. Tidal flooding, damaging wind gusts as strong as a tropical storm.
And also, a grim wake-up call. Experts say the planet's climate is now reaching a dangerous tipping point.
We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.
KEILAR: We are following the extraordinary events today in the Middle East. President Trump just a short time ago officially signing the U.S.-brokered Gaza ceasefire deal after Hamas released all of the remaining living hostages. And in return, Israel freed nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees.
The President, alongside world leaders, celebrating this historic day.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is the first time the Middle East crisis has brought people together as opposed to driving them apart and to declare that our future will not be ruled by the fights of the generation's past, which is foolish. So together, let us continue in the spirit of cooperation and good will that has finally brought us to this incredible historic breakthrough.
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KEILAR: Earlier today, just incredibly emotional moments that you're seeing here. Loved ones embracing for the first time in 738 days. And here was that moment for Bar Kuperstein, who was released from Gaza.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).
BAR KUPERSTEIN: (Foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).
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KEILAR: We're also now seeing the somber transfer of the hostages who did not survive. Coffins containing the remains of four deceased Israeli hostages are now being returned. And inside of Gaza, tears of joy amidst so much pain and ruin. Buses of prisoners who had been held in Israeli jails arriving in Khan Younis with big questions about Gaza's future now, as President Trump declares the war over.
CNN's Nic Robertson is live for us in Egypt.
Nic, what more can you tell us about the state of the ceasefire deal right now, sticking points that remain, and also exactly what was signed today?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, it really felt like a victory lap, a well-deserved victory for President Trump while he was in Israel. But I think it got a little more difficult here, if you will, when he arrived in Sharm el-Sheikh, because the leaders were waiting here to discuss the path forward, wanting that momentum, wanting -- wanting the -- the strength of support that came to President Trump for his success in getting the first phase done, but really sort of wanting to be able to take away something from Sharm el-Sheikh that gave a roadmap for the future. Flesh on the bones, if you will, of President Trump's 20-point plan.
And -- and if that happened behind the scenes, we're not aware of it. President Trump spoke about many countries wanting to give money for the rebuilding in -- in Gaza. But the core issues and the most pressing issues, one of them being the international stabilization force in Gaza, how big should it be?
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How many troops? Twenty to forty-thousand was a number we did hear today. But which countries should they come from? Not just who should pay for it, but what would their mandate be? What would their rules of engagement be? Difficult questions like that.
We didn't get a sense of that today. Neither did we understand or -- or get shared with us. The text of what was actually signed, it was President Trump with the -- with the three other mediators there, President Sisi of Egypt, President Erdogan of Turkey and the Emir of Qatar all signing this document. But at no point was that made public.
It does feel as if they were signing the success of phase one, the ceasefire hostage and prisoner release. That's been executed. But there wasn't coming out of today's meeting a real sense of, or publicly visible at least, a sense of momentum of moving forward. It was notable actually at one point that the Indonesian president approached President Trump after he gave his speech and they got into quite a close conversation, you know, putting arms on each other.
And we understand that the Indonesian president has committed a significant number of troops. So, perhaps things have happened behind closed doors, we haven't seen. But -- but the sense here I feel is we have a lot of outstanding questions and I'm not sure all the leaders who came here today had their questions and hopes answered.
KEILAR: Yes, it's a really good point. Nic Robertson, thank you so much, live for us from Sharm el-Sheikh.
HILL: Also joining us this hour from our perspective, Dana Stroul, who's a former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the Middle East.
Dana, good to have you here. Just picking up on what we heard from Nick there, Nick talking about this sense of momentum that is needed to move forward, also the guarantees that are needed to move forward. We don't have a lot of specifics as to what was actually in the deal that was signed. And given the fact that some key players in the region, so MBS was not there, the Crown Prince of the UAE. What does that tell you about the level of commitment right now?
DANA STROUL, FORMER DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE FOR THE MIDDLE EAST: I think there's no question that there's a really high level of commitment from both the Arab leaders of the Middle East and then the Muslim leaders of the broader world. The question, though, is -- is after this phase one, this was almost the easy part, hostage release, Palestinian prisoner release, some amount of Israeli military withdrawal and this humanitarian aid going in.
But getting Hamas to actually disarm, who's the guarantor of that? What are the consequences if they refuse? What are the forces that are going to go in on the ground and compel Hamas to disarm? Who's going to be in charge of governance? These are really key questions. We're going to need those leaders of the Middle East to consistently be engaged.
KEILAR: Who could do that? How do you see that -- who could exact that pressure?
STROUL: I think it's President Trump. He's put his brand and his name on the line and he's threatened very serious consequences if Hamas doesn't comply with the full 20 points of this plan. But I think we should all be sober minded about this. Implementation of this entire plan means the end of Hamas as a resistance organization. It means surrender for Hamas.
So, the way we got to this moment is because Turkish, and Qatari and Egyptian leaders really pressured Hamas. They're going to have to keep that pressure up and there's going to have to be real offers for a new life for Palestinians in Gaza. And Prime Minister Netanyahu is going to have to remain flexible like he did with President Trump.
HILL: Sort of to that point, I was struck by some reporting from Barak Ravid earlier today. So, he was talking about the fact that last week, there were some significant concerns when it came to Hamas in terms of Israel reigniting the war after the hostages were released. Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner meeting with Hamas leaders. President Trump gave them the okay to say President Trump is not going to let that happen. That's also going to be key that that is maintained.
STROUL: Absolutely. So, hats off to Barak Ravid for the most incredible reporting hour by hour about what's going on. But unprecedented that President Trump authorized his closest inner circle to sit with the perpetrators of the October 7th attacks and guarantee that Israel will not restart the war without any articulation of what are the guarantees that Hamas will actually uphold its end of this and disarm and give up its governance role in Gaza.
KEILAR: What are the difficult -- the difficulties of building and maintaining a coalition, right, in the region, including the U.S., that is going to see this through?
STROUL: Incredibly difficult. It is going to require consistent presidential investment and a really ace diplomatic team and also assistance professionals. And that's the really hard follow-up work that I hope President Trump is willing to authorize his team. But it's going to require the State Department. It's going to require assistance professionals. And this is a moment in time when we have USAID dismantled and we don't have a lot of Senate confirmed officials inside the State Department that are trusted by the Trump administration.
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HILL: There's the political question of all of this, too, in terms of who will be governing in Gaza moving forward. The Washington Post editorial board today said that, in their view, that expanding the Abraham Accords is a, quote, "more realistic goal than a two-state solution." Would you agree?
STROUL: I think the possibilities for expanding Israel's normalization are greater today than they were before October 7th. The fact that we have leaders in Beirut and Damascus who talk about Israel, talk about non-belligerency, talk about the possibility of normalization, the leaders of Saudi Arabia have not taken it off the table. And now we have the possibility of non-Arab Muslim nations like Indonesia who are open to the possibility of expanded relations with Israel. It is actually a significant strategic opening at this moment in time. And I hope that Prime Minister Netanyahu and Israeli leaders are willing to take some of the steps necessary to realize that, which is the most important way that Israel could have enduring security.
HILL: Great.
KEILAR: Dana, thank you so much for being with us. It's such a -- it's such a big day. It's really something still to absorb. We appreciate it.
HILL: Still ahead here, as we're continuing to follow all of these moments out of the Middle East, so many of them so powerful. This is IDF veteran Segev Kalfon, who's finally set free. That is the
reunion with his family. We'll have more when we come back.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).
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KEILAR: U.S. troops have begun arriving in Israel as part of the ceasefire plan. A senior U.S. official telling CNN that up to 200 service members will monitor the plan's rollout and support stabilization efforts. But Egypt is calling for more. The country's foreign minister is asking for American service members to be stationed inside of Gaza.
Let's talk about this now with Leon Panetta, former defense secretary and former CIA director during the Obama administration.
Secretary, I wonder what you think about the U.S. role and how extensive it is going to be considering the administration has been pretty clear U.S. troops won't be in Gaza.
LEON PANETTA, FORMER DEFENSE SECRETARY, OBAMA ADMINISTRATION: Well, I think a U.S. troop presence makes sense. I know that the security forces there are going to be made up of countries in the region, and that makes sense. But I think it's good to have the United States have a presence there in order to make clear to the other parties that the United States isn't going anywhere and that we're going to see that the second stage of these negotiations are accomplished.
KEILAR: So, would you go as far as to say that it would be difficult for this coalition to operate successfully and carry out its security mission without U.S. troops?
PANETTA: Well, let me -- let me put it this way, this -- this achievement, and it is a significant achievement, would not have happened without United States leadership. President Trump deserves a lot of credit for bringing the parties together. And in my -- in my history of working on the Middle East, once a president provides that kind of leadership, he can't back away from it. He's got to continue to be vigilant. He's got to continue to be involved. The United States has got to continue to be a leader in terms of making sure that the next steps are fulfilled.
And so, for that reason, because U.S. leadership is going to continue to be required here, I think a U.S. presence makes sense.
KEILAR: How big overall of a force do you think this would require to stabilize Gaza? What are the dangers that a coalition force would be facing?
PANETTA: Well, I -- I think it's good to start with the 200 of the U.S. forces. I think that makes sense because, frankly, I think it's the symbolism of having the United States presence there that's important at this point. My hope is that ultimately, if you can put together a security force of some 40,000, largely made up of the other countries in the region, that they can play an even bigger role in making sure that security is protected in Gaza. I think they will be the ones primarily responsible for that happening. But to have the U.S. presence there, to have our leadership there, I think is going to be required.
KEILAR: Iran has come up a number of times today. The President even said this morning he thinks Iran is ready to make a deal of its own. How are you seeing that?
PANETTA: I think that that makes a lot of sense. Look, I really do think that there's a real opportunity here that's been created by what has happened here. And it's really important to kind of step up and make sure that that momentum is not lost.
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And if we can work out an agreement with Iran, if we can -- if we can work out an agreement on the Abraham's Accord to bring other countries into that, if we can work out a negotiation with regards to who ultimately governs in Gaza, those are going to be very significant steps towards assuring what the President said today, which is peace in the Middle East.
KEILAR: President Trump -- I mean, what -- what was clear today was he was certainly savoring this moment of peacemaking, and he's been getting a lot of credit, rightfully so, for what he has brokered here. We just learned that Ukrainian President Zelenskyy is going to be at the White House. That is going to be on Friday where he'll be meeting with President Trump. I wonder if you think Trump might take anything away from this experience, or that he could when it comes to how he might deal with Vladimir Putin.
PANETTA: Well, I think if -- if his goal here is to make peace, and I think he believes in that, it does require that you have to be strong with the players you're dealing with. But when it came to being able to put this deal together, it took a President Trump being very tough with Netanyahu to bring him to the table and get this done. I think if he's going to bring peace in Ukraine, he's going to have to be equally very tough with Vladimir Putin to make clear that if Putin does not agree to a peaceful solution, that he will face the United States providing stronger military support to Ukraine in order to make clear that Russia will not succeed in Ukraine. He's going to have to take those steps.
KEILAR: Yes, certainly watching this visit with a new sense of curiosity after what we've seen today. Secretary Panetta, great to get your insights.
PANETTA: Good to be with you. KEILAR: And we do continue to bring you the historic scenes out of the
Middle East. This is video of hundreds of Palestinian detainees freed from Israeli prison and the large crowds greeting them upon their return to Gaza. We'll have more on the breaking news today when we come back.
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HILL: We will have much more in the breaking news out of the Middle East in just a moment, but we are also closely following this developing story along the East Coast, this powerful nor'easter, which continues to thrash the coast here. The worst of the storm hitting the Jersey Shore right now. A state of emergency has been declared in New Jersey and also in parts of New York. Delaware has actually activated the National Guard. CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar has more.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: More than half a dozen states up and down the eastern seaboard still have a lot of these coastal flood alerts, and many of them will last for several more hours. Winds are also expected to continue through the evening hours, and we've already had some very impressive wind gusts, 50 to 60 miles per hour. Most of these are from North Carolina, but we've also had similar numbers from New Jersey, Delaware and also Maryland.
Here you can see still looking at some wind gusts up around 40 to 50 miles per hour through much of the evening. But then we finally start to see them calming back down by Tuesday morning and certainly by the time we get towards Wednesday. Another concern is still some of these very heavy rain bands. You'll notice even tonight still some pretty strong rain and wind gusts, both along portions of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, down through New York and New Jersey.
Once we get towards tomorrow morning, it's really going to only be focused along the Cape portions of Rhode Island and Western Massachusetts. And then by the time we get to Wednesday, we finally start to see an end to a lot of that moisture, at least temporarily until our next wave of rain begins to move in in just a few days.
Another concern is also going to be the river flooding. In a lot of cases, these are more of a delayed effect. So, you still have several of these river gauges that are expected to be at moderate or even major flood stage, not just for the remainder of the day today, but also a few of them that could linger into Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.
HILL: All right. Allison, thank you for that.
As we continue to cover this historic day of the ceasefire deal in the Middle East and, of course, the return of all 20 living hostages, there are so many remarkable moments, emotional moments to share with you. Elkana Buhbot was kidnapped from the Super Nova Festival or the Super Nova Music Festival. He had been there at the party with friends and told his wife and mother he was helping to evacuate people who had been wounded as the attack was unfolding. He has a little boy who was seen here getting ready, waiting to meet
his dad at the hospital. It, of course, has been two years now that they have been apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (Foreign language).
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