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Indirect Israel-Hamas Talks To Begin In Egypt On Monday; Hostage Families Express Hope For Return Of Loved Ones; Indirect Israel-Hamas Talks to Begin in Egypt on Monday; Trump Speaks with CNN's Jake Tapper Ahead of Gaza Talks; Hundreds Rescued after Blizzard Near Mount Everest; Endangered African Wild Dogs Reintroduced to Uganda. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 06, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

[01:00:34]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, wherever you are in the world, you are now in the CNN Newsroom. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. And it is so good to have you with me.

Coming up on the show, Israel and Hamas are set to begin indirect negotiations today. Why many are optimistic that the U.S. plan to end the war could succeed. The U.S. Supreme Court gets ready to begin a new term. We'll look at the controversial cases the justices are expected to take up. And rescued on Everest, hundreds of trekkers are safe, but a blizzard still has many stranded.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Live from Atlanta, this is CNN Newsroom with Ben Hunte.

HUNTE: Welcome. Delegations from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are set to begin key negotiations in Egypt in the coming hours. They hope to finalize a cease fire deal based on U.S. President Donald Trump's Gaza plan. Ahead of those talks, President Trump says there have been positive discussions with Hamas and other nations and he says technical teams in Egypt will work through and clarify final details.

The U.S. president is urging everyone to move fast, saying, quote, "Time is of the essence or massive bloodshed will follow, something that nobody wants to see." But amid signs of progress, Israeli attacks inside Gaza are still ongoing. Hospital officials say Palestinians in Khan Younis buried loved ones on Sunday that were killed in weekend strikes. CNN is, of course, following all of the development. Nic Robinson is in Cairo, but we begin with Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv.

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's a lot of optimism in the air about the prospects of President Trump's 20 point plan to end the war in Gaza actually becoming a reality. But the rubber is going to meet the road on Monday as Israel and Hamas are set to begin indirect negotiations to actually turn that plan into something concrete that can be implemented on the ground. And this is where we're going to find out how big the gaps really are between these two sides and the willingness of the two parties to actually bridge those gaps. These indirect negotiations are set to take place in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt. And the Israeli prime minister has authorized that Israeli negotiating team to travel on Monday to participate in those talks.

In fact, on Sunday night, the prime minister held what is being described to us as a lengthy discussion with that negotiating team ahead of those talks, we know that there are still several major issues that need to be resolved before this plan can become a reality. One of those is going to have to do with the Israeli withdrawal lines, the lines to which Israel will withdraw within the Gaza Strip in order for that hostage release of 48 hostages to actually go through. Then there's the big question of disarmament. Hamas has so far not indicated publicly whether they are willing to disarm, which is a requirement for the U.S. and Israel in order for this war to end.

And then more broadly, there is still this question of whether Hamas will actually agree to release all 48 hostages up front, as they have signaled they are. But without the entire plan having been agreed to, will Hamas require that all 20 points of this plan have final agreement before moving forward with the implementation of the first phase, which is indeed that hostage release? There's no question, though, that the United States and Israel want this deal to be done quickly. President Trump has been talking about how he hopes this can be achieved in a matter of days and threatening that Hamas will face complete obliteration if it doesn't agree to this deal.

Now, Israel, the Israeli military has said it's shifted to a defensive posture inside the Gaza Strip, but that doesn't mean that bombardments have stopped altogether. Some residents in Gaza have reported to us that they've seen a decrease in Israeli strikes, but the killing is very much still continuing, with at least 20 people who've been killed on Sunday alone, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry. Between that and the 48 hostages still being held in Gaza, it's clear that the stakes of these negotiations are very, very high.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Well, we shouldn't expect an easy ride, that's clear. Marco Rubio earlier said 90 percent of the negotiation has been done, but the remaining 10 percent is very tough. The key thing to look for is going to be Hamas agreeing to Israel's withdrawal line, where it withdraws its troops back to inside of Gaza as part of a ceasefire. If they're agreeing with that, and if they're agreeing with the immediate release of the hostages, then the ceasefire can go into place. But for Hamas, that is conceding territory that even on a temporary basis that they hadn't conceded.

[01:05:18]

If you go back to the middle of August, it's the line back in the middle of August that the IDF would locate themselves at, which is less territory, if you will, inside of Gaza than under previous proposed plan. I think one of the key things we need to look at is the expectation of how quickly the talks can happen. Everyone's talking about speed and that's very important. President Trump mentioned that it could be a couple of days of talks away. And we've just seen a sort of a key detail emerge here, and that is when Israel sends its delegation to these talks, the Prime Minister is not sending Ron Dermer to head the delegation.

And here, if you will, is sort of the key ingredient for Prime Minister Netanyahu. When you see that Ron Dermer is going to the talks that you know that you're close to the end game. Now it's going to be senior officials in charge of hostage releases, in charge of intelligence security issues. So it feels that we're still a little stretch away. And of course the key thing here is Hamas has not yet agreed to giving up its weapons, not yet agreed to not being part of the political future inside of Gaza and not agree to what the political future inside of Gaza might be.

Is that cease fire in sight? Yes, it is. Are we there yet? Absolutely not.

HUNTE: CNN Political and Global Affairs Analyst Barak Ravid has more on how the Trump administration and other nations are trying to ensure the latest cease fire plan is a success.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: What I hear is that there's quite a lot of optimism in the White House at the moment about the ability to continue on pushing both parties, Israel and Hamas, towards deal. The mediators, Egypt, Qatar, also Turkey are pushing Hamas very hard. President Trump is pushing the Israelis pretty hard.

On the Israeli side, there's a lot of skepticism on the one hand, especially within the Israeli negotiation team. Netanyahu was more optimistic yesterday. Today sounded a bit more careful. But I think everyone are going into this round of negotiations that will start tomorrow in Cairo with a lot of motivation to get a deal. That's at least my feeling from talking to all the parties.

There's a lot of will on each -- on every party to try and get a deal this week. I think it all started obviously in my opinion at least and from the people I talk to with the failed Israeli strike on Qatar, on Hamas leaders in Qatar, I think that point was just too much for too many people both in Washington and capitals in the region. And I think people saw that this is one bridge too far and that this war is escalating to places nobody really wants. And I think that at that point, the White House realized, especially Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, Trump's envoys, they realized that was the point to convince the president to put a plan on the table for the first time since the war started. And I think what President Trump did is something that President Biden did not do.

President Trump both put a plan on the table and put serious pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stop the war. We are now, I think, more than 48 hours into a ceasefire in Gaza that President Trump forced Benjamin Netanyahu into with one post on Truth Social. This is, to me, at least, extremely significant. And it shows that Trump has a lot of leverage on Netanyahu. And I think what changed is that in the last two weeks, President Trump decided to start using this leverage that he has on Netanyahu to end this war.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Palestinians are expressing hope for a ceasefire deal that will finally see an end to the war in Gaza. Those displaced by the ongoing fighting have witnessed other efforts fail, but say they're cautiously hopeful that this time could be different.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): We are worried, really, that the deal they are talking about will fail because every time they reach a solution, they say a truce will be declared, we wake up on a terrible nightmare at the end. No, we hope to go beyond this stage. The truce comes into effect and we go back to Gaza City, despite the debris, despite its destruction, despite everything. But nothing is more valuable than the homeland soil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[01:10:15]

HUNTE: There is also cautious optimism in Israel, where crowds gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to pray for the return of those still being held by Hamas. In Jerusalem, the families of some of the Israeli hostages set up a tent for hope outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence. They're expressing hope that a deal will be reached and that they'll see the return of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EINAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translator): After two years of struggle, two years in which 48 hostages and one female hostage are held captive by Hamas, we are a step away from a comprehensive deal and the end of the war. This opportunity must not be missed. We will not let it be missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Joining me now from Jerusalem is Yaakov Katz. He's a senior columnist with the Jerusalem Post, a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, and co-author of the book "While Israel Slept, How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East."

Yaakov, thanks so much for being with me. How are you doing?

YAAKOV KATZ, SR. COLUMNIST, JERUSALEM POST: Thank you, Ben.

HUNTE: Thank you. It's good to see you. We now have a ceasefire and hostage deal reportedly agreed in principle. But there are still some major questions. From your perspective, how close are we really to seeing this deal finalized?

KATZ: Well, there's a lot of hope. And, you know, you kind of just went through that. There's hope, obviously, in Israel, there's hope among the families of the hostages. There's hope in Gaza. Everyone is really worn down and traumatized and beaten after these past two years of a war that I think no one in Israel ever imagined could drag on for so long.

But with that said, the devil here is in the details. And even though, for example, just one, if Hamas, which is supposed to release all of the 48 hostages at once, and let's remind ourselves, Ben, 20 of them are believed to be alive, 28 are been determined by Israel to already be deceased and dead. What if Hamas comes up today in those talks in Sharm El-Sheikh and says, listen, we can only find 40, we can't find the remaining eight. What does Israel do? Does it walk away from the table?

And what does Donald Trump do? Does he continue to put the pressure on Israel to stay in those talks, to accept a deal, even if it does not include all 48? If that were to happen, what impact would that have on Prime Minister Netanyahu's coalition? And that's just one example of the different developments that could potentially go sideways in today's talks. So while we want to be hopeful, I think we do need to have some patience to see how this goes today.

HUNTE: Yes. How does Israeli public opinion factor into all of this? The ongoing protests mainly about keeping pressure on the government, or do they reflect deeper divisions over how this war should end?

KATZ: Well, Israelis for the most part, and polling is showing this over the last few days, ever since Donald Trump rolled out his 20 point plan alongside Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Exactly a week ago on Monday at the White House, the Israeli Polling shows that 75 percent, about 2/3 of the country, support court accepting the Trump plan, getting back the hostages and bringing an end to the war. And I think when we look at the plan itself, while there are -- there's a lot of unknown and there's a lot of uncertainty, what exactly does it mean about Hamas disarming? What does it mean about Hamas not being in a new government? What exactly is the Israeli withdrawal? How long will it take?

At what point do we say that Hamas is no longer a threat and then Israel will have to pull out completely from Gaza? A lot of vagueness in this deal, but for the most part, the fact that the hostages come home, Hamas is no longer the governing entity. Hamas is supposed to be disarmed. Language in the deal about the deradicalization of the Gaza Strip and the fact that the Israeli military keeps a perimeter at least for some time in Gaza to ensure the security of those borderline communities that were attacked so viciously two years ago. Tomorrow, it's a good deal for Israel.

And I think that's what Israelis mostly understand.

HUNTE: We're almost two years on from October 7th. Israel has previously said this summer that its main military objectives have already been met. So if this deal does fall apart, what does the future actually look like?

KATZ: Well, it will be a tough future. I mean, this war that continues as we speak now at a much lower intensity level ever since the prospect of the ceasefire has become real, this is two years of conflict that has taken a massive tragic toll on both sides of that fence along the Gaza border. Of course, here in Israel, two years ago tomorrow, October 7th, was that massacre that took place, the murder of 1,200 people, the abduction and taking of hostage of 251, 48 who still remain in captivity. And a country, Israel, that went into a war of regional kind unlike anything we've seen before.

[01:15:08]

The prime minister likes to call it the seven front war against Iran, against Hezbollah, against the Houthis, against, you know, issues in militias in Syria, the downfall of Bashar al-Assad and so much more. But also in Gaza, I mean, there is a tragedy that has fallen Gaza. So many tens of thousands of people killed, there -- the destruction and devastation of the Gaza Strip, the trauma to the people of Gaza, whether it's Hamas's fault or people want to criticize the IDF, I'm not going to get into that right now, Ben, but it's a tragedy and it's time for this to end. And the prospect that this will fail once again after so long really is something that should keep us up at night because I think everybody here wants --

HUNTE: Yes.

KATZ: -- this war to come to an end. It wants that resolution. And we want to begin to heal on both sides of this border. The Israelis want to heal, but also the Palestinians deserve an opportunity to be able to finally heal after this war.

HUNTE: Yes, well, there's a lot of positivity in the area right at the moment. So let's see what happens next. Yaakov Katz in Jerusalem, thank you for joining us. Appreciate it.

KATZ: Thank you, Ben.

HUNTE: Ukrainians in the western city and Lviv are surveying the destruction after a massive Russian air attack. Lviv's governor says Russia launched its largest ever assault on the region overnight into Sunday, involving 140 drones and 23 missiles. At least five people were killed. Four of the victims were members of a single family who died in a strike on their residential building. Russia also targeted the city of Zaporizhzhia on the opposite side of the country.

At least one person was killed in that air attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Russian forces fired more than 50 missiles and nearly 500 drones over the weekend, proving once again the Putin craves the destruction of Ukraine.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Sadly, there's no strong, adequate response from the international community to what's happening. Constant escalation and brazenness of these strikes. Putin is doing it and seems to mock the west and its silence and lack of strong actions in response. Russia has rejected every proposal to end the war or even to halt the strikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HUNTE: Syria reaches a political milestone. Coming up, the latest on the first elections in the country since the fall of the Assad regime. See you in a bit.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:21:50]

HUNTE: In the coming hours, Syria will release the results of its first election since the ouster of Bashar al-Assad. Officials are describing Sunday's indirect vote as a defining step in Syria's political transition. But critics are calling it unrepresentative of the people. And some Syrians are skeptical it will bring about any real change.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE (voice-over): A milestone in Syria. The country held its first parliamentary elections on Sunday after decades of dictatorship, Syria's interim president Ahmed al-Sharaa says it's a step forward after nearly 14 years of civil war and the demise of Bashar al-Assad's regime.

AHMAD AL-SHARAA, SYRIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): To have moved from a stage of war, chaos and destruction to one of elections and collective participation within only a few months is no small feat. The mission of rebuilding Syria is a shared responsibility, not entrusted to one person or a few individuals, but to all Syrians, each of whom must contribute to rebuilding their country.

HUNTE (voice-over): But the vote wasn't open to the general public. Instead, members of approved electoral colleges cast ballots to pick two thirds of the new parliament, with the final third to be appointed by the president. The interim government says after years of war, the temporary electoral framework was needed because there's no accurate voter registry, with one elector explaining the logistical challenges of a popular vote would be too great.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): There are cities that are completely destroyed. More than half of the Syrian people are still displaced. Many people do not have documents. There is no infrastructure that allows for direct mass elections for all the people.

HUNTE (voice-over): But not all of Syria's provinces participated in the elections. Authorities say security and logistical challenges prevented parts of the country outside of the central government's control from holding elections. Those areas are still controlled by Druze and Kurdish factions, which critics say raises questions about how inclusive the new parliament will be. Women were guaranteed 20 percent representation in the electoral colleges, but it's unclear how many will be elected or appointed to the new assembly. Some Syrians say they're pessimistic the elections will bring about real change.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): Frankly, I'm not hopeful for anything. Nothing. I hope that something will happen for the better. I wish as a person that something will happen for the better, but I have no hope for anything. HUNTE (voice-over): Under Bashar al-Assad, all Syrians could vote, but the elections were widely considered shams. One of the tests of this new assembly will be to pave the way for a popular vote. But until then, some Syrians say this vote, even an indirect one, is better than before.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: OK, a new push to end the war in Gaza. Delegations from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are set to begin negotiations in Egypt. Ahead, what President Trump is saying about those talks. Plus the U.S. Supreme Court begins a new term after a pretty short summer break. We'll tell you about the big cases on their docket.

[01:24:53]

See you in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:30:04]

BEN HUNTE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back.

Returning now to our top story, the indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas. Those talks are set to begin in the coming hours. And U.S. President Donald Trump is sharing his hopes for the ceasefire deal will be finalized.

CNN's Kevin Liptak was with the president in Virginia, where he marked the U.S. Navy's 250th anniversary.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPROTER: President Trump is voicing optimism that his 20-point plan to bring peace to Gaza will reach the finish line. But at the same time, the president seems highly aware that this is a fragile negotiation.

That's part of why he's deploying two top administration officials: his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law, Jared Kushner, to Cairo to ensure that this plan reaches finality.

And it was interesting, as the president was speaking here in Norfolk, you know, ordinarily he is not shy about talking about his efforts to bring peace to conflicts around the world. But when he was speaking from the podium here, the president didn't seem to want to talk about this in too much detail.

Listen to what he said.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're putting out -- we're putting out a lot of fires. Maybe some of you will be angry. You'll say, what's he doing? We want to fight.

You know what? If we can solve them the way I'm solving them, we solve seven. We have another one that's taken 3,000 years and we're pretty close. But I don't want to talk about it until it's done.

LIPTAK: So you hear the president saying that he didn't want to talk about this too much, essentially suggesting he didn't want to jinx success. And that is sort of a theme from what we've been hearing from other administration officials today.

We heard the Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledging that the war is not over yet. That work remains to be done, and suggesting that the next several days will be critical, saying that we want to see this happen very fast and, quote, if it doesn't, I think the entire deal becomes imperiled.

We also heard the president as he was coming here to Norfolk, say that this was a good deal for Israel. It was a good deal for the Palestinians, suggesting that there was no need for flexibility, but allowing that there will have to be quote, "some changes" to the text.

And what those changes are, of course, could determine whether or not this deal is successful.

Now, today in Norfolk was very much about demonstrating U.S. Naval might. The president flew to the aircraft carrier, the USS George H.W. Bush. He viewed a demonstration with ships, with submarines, with naval aircraft.

He then flew here, landed on Marine One aboard the USS Harry Truman. As the strains of the "Top Gun" theme song were playing really kind of demonstrating his role as commander in chief and talking to the Navy, to the assembled sailors about the Navy's 250th anniversary.

But still, the conflict in Gaza, very much at close range here, the USS Harry Truman, recently returned from the Red Sea, where it was involved in battling the Houthi rebels, that sort of a follow-on conflict to the Gaza war.

And so certainly the president, wanting to demonstrate his role as commander in chief here, but also wanting to talk about the war that he hasn't been able to resolve, the conflict in Gaza.

Kevin Liptak CNN at the Naval Station Norfolk in Virginia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Well, ahead of the ceasefire talks, Donald Trump spoke with CNN about his expectations and what might happen if Hamas refuses to give up power.

Our Jake Tapper has the details of that conversation.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: The president answered my questions on text about his hopes for this nascent deal. I asked him what happens if Hamas insists on staying in power in Gaza. The president said "complete obliteration". Then I said, I assume you saw that Senator Lindsey Graham interpreted

Hamas's response as a rejection, since Hamas insisted on no disarmament, keeping Gaza under Palestinian control and tying hostage release to negotiations. Is Lindsey Graham wrong?

The president said we will find out, only time will tell.

I asked him, when will you know if Hamas is truly committed or just stringing the world along? And is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on board with ending the bombing, as you called for, and whatever else you need him to do to make this peace proposal a reality?

The president said yes on Bibi; soon on the rest. I said that I thought the Arab League calling on Hamas to not be part of any future leadership in Gaza, Palestine was a remarkable step.

[01:34:44]

TAPPER: Are they committed to seeing your plan implemented and will they help with funding and a law enforcement presence or whatever is needed? I said I hope peace would become a reality.

The president said, I hope, and that he was working hard.

I also asked the president, how do you think the government shutdown is going to end? He said, good, we are winning and cutting costs big time.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: A federal judge has now blocked Donald Trump from sending any National Guard troops to Oregon. On Saturday, that same judge told President Trump he could not deploy the Oregon National Guard to the city of Portland.

The White House then said it would send National Guard soldiers from California or Texas. But this new ruling shot down those plans completely. The White House cites the need for troops to protect federal agents and facilities during protests.

Meanwhile, Texas Governor Greg Abbott said he fully authorized the use of the Texas National Guard in Oregon and elsewhere.

Federal officials are investigating the arrest of a man found with explosives on Sunday outside a church just hours before a Catholic mass that was meant to bless those working in the legal field.

The mass also marks the start of a new Supreme Court term, though no justices were present at this event. The man was found to have vials of liquid and possible fireworks in his belongings.

The scare comes as the court is set to hear several high-profile cases.

CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic previews what's on the docket. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: After a rough summer with deep disagreements over Trump administration policies, the Supreme Court is about to hear several important cases that involve even more Trump controversies, but also difficult culture war issues.

I'll first mention two that will be heard this month. The justices on Tuesday will take up a dispute over whether state, here it's Colorado, can stop licensed health care professionals from engaging in so-called conversion therapy.

That is the practice of working with LGBTQ teens to try to change their sexual orientation or gender identity.

The Trump administration is siding with a counselor, a woman who describes herself as a practicing Christian engaged in talk therapy, who is challenging the Colorado ban as a violation of her right to free speech.

Next week, the justices will hear a dispute over the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act that could affect redistricting practices across the country and influence election results as soon as the 2026 cycle.

The Louisiana case tests whether states found to have discriminated in their maps with boundaries that diluted the voting power of Blacks or Hispanics, can then be required to draw what are known as majority- minority districts.

These districts are intended to give Blacks and Hispanics a chance to elect their candidates of choice.

In November, it's tariffs. The court will hear a Trump appeal of a lower court ruling that found he had exceeded his power with the sweeping tariffs that date to April, in what the president called "Liberation Day".

The justices fast-tracked this case, as the administration stressed that billions of dollars were at stake.

Then in December and January, the court will take up two cases over Trump's effort to remove leaders of independent agencies. Rulings here could ultimately affect the power of the Federal Reserve, which Trump has been heavily pressuring on interest rates.

Usually, when the Nine start a new annual session, they have had a relatively restful summer. But last summer was anything but restful. The justices ended up ruling on a series of rushed emergency appeals from the administration on its immigration raids, foreign aid cuts, wide-scale firings.

In virtually all of the disputes, Trump won. The three liberal justices in the minority on this court that has a conservative supermajority have protested strongly.

And I'll leave you with this line from Sonia Sotomayor, the senior justice on the left. In a July case involving deportations she said as she dissented, quote, "today's order clarifies only one thing. Other litigants must follow the rules but the administration has the Supreme Court on speed dial," unquote.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Jessica Levinson is a professor of law at Loyola Law School and host of the "Passing Judgment" podcast. She's joining us from Los Angeles. Thank you so much for being with me. How are you doing?

JESSICA LEVINSON, PROFESSOR OF LAW, LOYOLA LAW SCHOOL: Great to be here.

HUNTE: So good to see you.

Let's get into this. The Supreme Court begins a new term this week. Before we get into what's actually coming up, how would you describe the balance of power in the court right now? Do you think the justices will be more united than last term, or are the divisions just as deep or even deeper than before?

LEVINSON: Maybe option number three, even deeper. I do think it's important to remind people that there are a lot of decisions that are unanimous.

There are a lot of decisions that you and I don't talk about because they're not particularly controversial. But the judges are united maybe it's 9 to 0; maybe it's 8 to 1.

[01:39:46]

LEVINSON: I think what we see on those cases where again, they're television worthy, is that there are deep divisions and this is a court that is conservative by a margin of 6 to 3.

And in a lot of ways it's a 3-3-3 court with three very conservative justices, three more kind of center right but certainly right of center, and then three liberals.

So I think that when they come back and they really haven't been gone that long because of all these shadow docket decisions. But I think when they come back, we're going to see more divisions on those big hot button cases.

HUNTE: There is already so much focus on presidential power and Trump's efforts to expand executive authority. How significant are these cases and what kind of precedent could they set for future presidents?

LEVINSON: Great question. As we mentioned before, the so-called shadow docket or interim docket or emergency docket where, generally speaking, it's the Trump administration who has gone to the Supreme Court and asked for some sort of interim emergency relief that's been very busy over the summer. And a lot of those cases deal with the scope of executive power. So I think we're going to increasingly be dealing with that issue

during this term. I want people to basically be aware of two different questions where the justices are going to be having to answer one, a president's power over the executive branch; and two, a president's power more broadly, for instance, something that's playing out right now. A president's power to federalize the National Guard and send them from one state to another.

So there will be a lot of these cases. We have a president embracing a really broad view of executive authority, and we'll see in what circumstances the justices bless that view.

HUNTE: The court is also set to hear several major cases touching on LGBTQ rights. What's at stake in those cases, and how do they fit into this broader pattern that we've seen from the court on social issues?

LEVINSON: So I think when it comes to these questions and these really are about transgender athletes and whether or not they can play on teams that are designated as women's or girls' sports teams, I frankly think that if you look at the justices' writings, if you look at things they've said, even just last term, it's fairly clear that the justices are likely to strike down these so-called bans on transgender athletes.

And I think that when it comes to how this fits in more broadly these are really questions about the equal protection clause and whether or not the justices think that people are similarly situated. And what the justices think violates that clause in terms of what amounts to discrimination on the basis of sex.

HUNTE: Public trust in the Supreme Court has taken a hit over the past few years. Do you think that this term offers any chance to rebuild credibility, or will these politically charged cases just deepen this divide?

LEVINSON: I think that when it comes to almost everything in America in 2025 and leading into 2026, we tend to view questions whether or not they're political or legal.

And I still do believe those are different through the lens of oftentimes which party are we affiliated with and or who do we want to win, which is another way of saying, I think what we're going to see is people who largely support the conservative legal movement be very happy with this term, and people who feel that the conservatives are making errors.

The more liberal minded jurists, I think they're going to be very unhappy with this term. I don't see a lot changing. I would be surprised, frankly, if we see really big surprises.

HUNTE: You have described the court's emergency docket as increasingly powerful, and we've seen it deliver some huge wins for Trump. How much influence is that shadow docket now having on the country's biggest legal questions? And should it be like this?

I'm really confused about how they've been on a break, but not been on a break. What's going on?

LEVINSON: Yes, they're on a break, but they're not really out of office. And we hope that they didn't set those out of office messages.

So what typically happened maybe five, ten years ago is when it came to these emergency docket questions, they were largely death penalty cases where somebody would run to the court for obvious reasons. There would time would be of the essence and they would say, the court, please stop this execution.

Now, what's increasingly happening and what's happening much more during this current term is that the Trump administration, because they're issuing so many more executive orders, are facing many more lawsuits to those orders.

When they lose in the lower courts, they are then going to the Supreme Court saying, stay that lower court decision, meaning stop that lower court decision while the case plays out.

[01:44:47]

LEVINSON: And this is happening in a lot of really important cases dealing, for instance, with federal spending, with the president's ability to hire and fire people in federal agencies, a lot of issues dealing with immigration.

So it's having a huge impact in a way that we frankly just didn't see in recent history because of changing patterns in how president -- in part because of how President Trump is governing.

HUNTE: Well, as the term begins, I'm sure we're going to be speaking a lot more. But for now, we'll leave it there.

Jessica Levinson, thank you so much.

LEVINSON: Thank you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Hundreds of truckers stranded by a Himalayan blizzard on Mount Everest. We'll bring you the latest on the race to rescue them. That's coming up.

[01:45:30]

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HUNTE: Welcome back.

Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest have been guided to safety. That's according to Chinese state media.

The storm began on Friday night and continued through Saturday. It trapped visitors in a remote valley near the mountain's eastern face. About 350 people have reached safety, with more than 200 others still

on the mountain. But they are in contact with rescuers. Officials say the remaining trekkers are being escorted down in stages.

For more, let's go to Taipei, where CNN's Will Ripley has the latest on the rescue efforts.

Will, thanks so much for being with me.

Rescue efforts are continuing, but it is good news that some people have made it down. What else are you hearing so far?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, what's been complicating this Ben, is that there are so many people that were on Everest right now. Because October is usually -- is supposed to in normal weather anyway, bring clear skies and stable weather to Everest.

But let me show you this video of what actually happened. You had snow, you had rain, you had thunder, you had lightning all at once on Everest.

So this is why people were trapped in these freezing winds, deep snow. They had zero visibility. Of course, plummeting temperatures.

This is the. Same system that Caused those deadly floods and landslides in Nepal. So Everest's eastern. Flank in Tibet is where. the people were trapped.

And this is a very Remote area, very hard to reach. Youve got no roads, of course, no quick exits.

Now, the North Face of Everest is also in Tibet, but it's much easier for people to get down there because there's actually a paved road that China built about a decade ago that leads almost to base camp.

You can actually drive a tour bus within a mile of base camp. Then you get off and walk the rest of the way. But that's not the situation where these people are trapped.

And that's why it's been so difficult getting them down. You had trails completely buried, routes blocked by this powerful blizzard, rescues have been slow. Of course, it's very dangerous for rescuers as well in these steep, high altitude areas. Not to mention the problems people, you know, have to have oxygen in many cases so they can even breathe because the air is much thinner.

Villagers have actually been called to help dig through the snow to reach the stranded trekkers, and they've been bringing them down in groups.

They have made contact, they think with everybody and miraculously, there have been no reports of any deaths. I mean, people do die on Everest pretty much every season, Ben.

And at least as of now, people are all accounted for, they're believed to be safe, I'm sure cold as hell. But safe.

No deaths confirmed. So that's some good news, Ben.

HUNTE: That is some good news. And hopefully there'll be some more very soon.

For now, CNN's Will Ripley live from Taipei. Thank you for joining me. Appreciate it.

After decades of absence from their ancestral habitat, these wild dogs are making themselves right at home in Uganda.

Oh, look at them. We'll look at a groundbreaking conservation effort to revive this endangered species. See you in a bit.

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HUNTE: Hello again.

These wild dogs could be the key to bringing their species back from the brink of extinction. They face setbacks and threats, including climate change and poaching.

[01:54:51]

HUNTE: But conservationists believe they have a fighting chance to survive and thrive.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: After being functionally extinct for decades, these African wild dogs are making their return to Uganda. The painted dog or cape hunting dog is known for its predatory instincts, rounded ears and unique coat colors.

These endangered carnivores can run more than 44 miles per hour and are crucial to ecosystem balance in Africa.

THOMAS PRICE, DIRECTOR, CTC CONSERVATION PARK: In Uganda, they're not only an endangered species, they are technically functionally extinct. They are rare sightings of single animals or two animals here and there. But there's not been any denning activity seen in Uganda for decades.

HUNTE: Now, that could change. The organization Conservation through Commercialization has brought in eight wild dogs from South Africa to the Uganda park, in hopes they'll regrow the population.

PRICE: One of our females is highly pregnant at the moment, and we do hope, if all goes well, that she will have offspring by next week.

HUNTE: Officials say fewer than 7,000 African wild dogs remain worldwide due to poaching, habitat loss and climate change. But these dogs seem right at home in their Ugandan habitat.

PRICE: Well, they're doing great because this is their natural environment. I mean, they used to be here, so there's nothing we need to adjust for them.

HUNTE: Gone for decades. Their absence caused ecological imbalance, but their comeback from the brink of extinction is a welcome change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HUNTE: Hundreds of hot air balloons filled the New Mexico sky on Sunday. The morning launch, known as the Mass Ascension, is part of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta. This is the 53rd edition of the event, which started in 1972.

Organizers say it is the largest of its kind in the world, and more than 500 balloons will take part in the fiesta and nine-day event that takes place every year during the first full week of October.

Can you believe it's October? Wow.

Thank you for joining me and the team. That's all I've got for you. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta.

There is so much more CNN NEWSROOM just ahead. I will see you next week. Rosemary Church, over to you.

[01:57:09]

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