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Israel Approves First Phase of Peace Deal, Paves Way to Hostage Release; Peru's President Impeached; Letitia James Indicted; Powerful 7.4 Earthquake Off the Coast of Southern Philippines; Russia Strikes Kyiv Causing Blackouts; U.S. Judge Blocks President Trump's Plan to Deploy National Guard Illinois; France Hosts Talks On Implementation Of Gaza Plan; Senate Republicans Fail To Advance Short-Term Funding Bill. Aired 2-2:45a ET

Aired October 10, 2025 - 02:00   ET

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

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KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN HOST: Welcome to all of you watching us around the world, I'm Kim Brunhuber. This is "CNN Newsroom." Israel approves the first phase of a ceasefire deal to bring the remaining Israeli hostages' home as Washington announces the role U.S. troops will play in the peace process.

A setback for the Trump administration in its crackdown on immigration in Illinois. The decision by a U.S. judge despite the administration's claim ICE agents are in danger.

And a massive earthquake strikes off the coast of the Philippines.

And we begin in Gaza, where there have been fresh Israeli strikes in Khan Younis and Gaza City amid a push for a ceasefire with Hamas. Now, this all comes just hours after Israel's government approved the U.S. brokered plan. Israeli sources say that approval means a ceasefire is in effect after more than two years of war. The agreement includes the release of all hostages held in Gaza in the days ahead, but it's not clear if Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has given the ceasefire order to the country's military.

Now the agreement is a fragile one with uncertainty around a number of key issues. Senior U.S. officials acknowledged that the plan could still fall apart amid mutual distrust between Hamas and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, and Special Envoy Steve Witkoff praised the Israeli Prime Minister for his handling of the ceasefire negotiations. Benjamin Netanyahu touted the agreement's terms securing the release of hostages still held in Gaza. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL: We were at momentous development in the last two years. We fought during these two years to achieve our war aims, and a central one of these war aims is to return the hostages, all of the hostages, the living and the dead. And we're about to achieve that goal. We couldn't have achieved it without the extraordinary help of President Trump and his team, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. They worked tirelessly with Ron and his team, our team. And that and the courage of our soldiers who have entered Gaza and the combined military and diplomatic pressure that isolated Hamas, I think, has brought us to this point.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The chief negotiator for Hamas says the group has received guarantees from the U.S. and international mediators confirming that the war has ended. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KHALILI AL-HAYYA, HAMAS CHIEF NEGOTIATOR (through translation): We have received guarantees from the mediating brothers and from the American administration, all confirming that the war has ended permanently, and we will continue to work with the national and Islamic forces to complete the remaining steps and work to achieve the interests of our Palestinian people, self-determination and fulfillment of their rights until the establishment of an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: Now if the ceasefire holds and Israel withdraws the agreed upon line in Gaza, living hostages could be released on Monday according to Trump. But that timeline isn't certain and the release could happen sooner. The remains of deceased hostages are also set to be returned but Hamas may not be able to find them all. Meanwhile, Hamas says hundreds of Palestinian prisoners will be released from Israeli prisons.

For now that Israel and Hamas have agreed to a ceasefire, the big question is, what happens next? The White House says the U.S. will send about 200 troops to monitor the agreement from Israel. A source is telling CNN they'll be part of a new coordination center, but they won't go into Gaza. CNN's Kristen Holmes has the latest from Washington.

KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Trump, the White House, the administration as a whole is still riding high, but they don't seem to be taking anything for granted when it comes to the implementation of this peace deal. We heard from one U.S. official who said that the U.S. will be sending 200 troops on the ground who will oversee the implementation of this peace deal.

We also learned that Middle Eastern envoy Steve Witkoff, as well as President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who have ties to the region, presented the peace plan in front of the Israeli government, before the Israeli government signed off on this. Just a reminder, that is what was going to put the entire thing in motion.

[02:04:59]

Once they signed off on this peace plan, that's when the Israeli troops will start withdrawing to the agreed upon line. And that's also, once that's done, when the hostages will start to be released. And when you talk to administration officials and senior U.S. officials, they all agree. They understand that this is just the beginning and that there is a long road ahead. But they're still celebrating this moment.

Steve Witkoff had said, both privately and publicly, as had President Trump, that one of the most important things that they wanted to do during Trump's second term was to get the hostages released. It was something that they had been working on since the second that he was sworn into office. But they're also realistic when it comes to what this could look like long term. While they believe that this is, again, a starting point, a good beginning, they know there are still a number of hurdles ahead.

If you look at President Trump's 20-point peace plan, we're talking about just a few points that have been approved. There are still several points that both sides have said are red lines for them. For example, Palestinian statehood. President Trump's deal had left the door open for that. Prime Minister Netanyahu has said that is a no-go for Israel. That is a no-go for him to agree to. On the other side, Hamas, the disarmament. That is something that Hamas has said is a red line for them.

So they're going to be working through this in the coming weeks and months. We are told that at least part of the same team with Witkoff and Kushner are going to be going through these negotiations on the next phases. But they don't seem to be under any kind of guise that this is going to be an easy process.

Of course, as we've been reporting, President Trump has said he's going to visit the region or is likely to visit the region as early as next week. That will likely coincide with the same time that Hamas is releasing those hostages. Kristen Holmes, CNN, the White House.

BRUNHUBER: We're going live now to Cambridge and Marc Weller, head of International Law at Chatham House and professor at the University of Cambridge. Thank you so much for joining us here. SO, as I mentioned earlier, U.S. officials are telling us the deal could still fall apart because of all that deep mistrust between the two sides. So, how fragile is the deal right now?

MARC WELLER, HEAD OF INTERNATIONAL LAW, CHATHAM HOUSE: The deal is fragile, but the very fact that they got it indicates that Hamas feels under great pressure to deliver, to have a ceasefire. People are celebrating on both sides. So there will be some dynamics moving forward, but there are immense difficulties. Hamas has not been able easily to communicate with their associates and affiliates throughout their territory, to organize all of the living hostages to return. Much more difficult also the dead one won't be easy, but I'm sure they will make an effort and everybody will try to help to get this first part done.

The real question is having divided the issue of the hostages and the ceasefire from all the rest, that I think is somewhat worrying. All of that was part of one plan but now this is, as we just heard in your report, a matter of negotiations for weeks and months.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, exactly. And I want to get to some of those longer term questions because you're right, they have deferred the more thorny parts of this to later. But in the here and now, I mean, President Trump has said he'll stand by every aspect of this plan. So given all that mistrust that I mentioned earlier, how much does this deal depend on President Trump personally staying engaged and sort of keeping everyone in line here?

WELLER: It absolutely depends on him. There wouldn't have been a deal without him. Trump has many detractors, but on this issue, it is absolutely true, as I think most around the world are admitting, that without him have put his foot down and said we will now have a deal, offering 20 quite rough paragraphs to have an outline of what will happen, and then insisting that this goes ahead.

That has been crucial, and this will need to continue. Otherwise, there will be the kind of hesitation. So you remember how Israel went back to war after they had the first phase of the ceasefire early this year, which kind of was delivered by Hamas, but then the second phase didn't happen. So the involvement of Trump and his team remains absolutely crucial.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. All right. So let's talk about that second phase because as I mentioned, I mean, that first phase, even though nothing is easy, that is the relatively easy part. We still don't know much about the next phase, which as we mentioned, contains many of those more, you know, those sticking points. Obviously, one of the biggest is disarmament, as we've mentioned, which has been a red line for Hamas. I mean, how do you see that happening?

WELLER: Well, in many other cases, disarmament of combatants after an intensive conflict is a sort of year-long process. You offer arms to buy back Kalashnikov from people.

[02:09:59]

You have collection points where the group responsible is meant to help collect them. You will have a sizable mission in the country to verify what happens to those arms. So it is something which normally doesn't happen from one day to the next, and of course it is likely that they just bury some of what they have.

There's no accountability of what they already have at this point, how much would have been surrendered. So this is going to be a difficult issue where an international presence in charge of this is urgently needed and needs to be deployed very quickly.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah, and that long-term process is something I know you've been writing about. So let's look ahead. I mean, you've been thinking a lot about peacekeeping. President Trump wants peacekeepers on the ground immediately, but as you pointed out, I mean, this takes months to set up, and there's no ready pool of peacekeepers waiting to deploy. So, this is a hugely complex task. Exactly how is this supposed to work, do you think and how do the timelines factor into this? WELLER: Well, all of this will need to be negotiated by the U.S.,

Qatar, Egypt. Maybe Egypt can take a leadership role. It's meant to be Arab-led with some other Islamic states contributing. The good news is that there are now some offers to contribute forces, which for the last two years was a very, very difficult problem. You remember the Americans went to Albania (ph) of sorts and tried to persuade them to the forces for the troops.

We now even have Indonesia and others offering significant troops. But it is a huge problem to devise the mandate for the forces, to train them to some extent to work as one unit, which will be very difficult if they come rapidly from different places, and to just bring them there, deploy them there, logistically support them there. So it's not something that happens from today, from one day to the next.

And of course one has to be very cautious about having a sort of security vacuum. You want Hamas to abolish itself both as a military force but also as the civilian government in Gaza. But at the same time it seems that in the territories where Israel has withdrawn, they will remain in charge for some time. And that could be a bit of a challenge.

BRUNHUBER: Yeah. Many challenges ahead. Marc Weller in Cambridge, really appreciate getting your analysis on this. Thank you so much.

WELLER: Thank you very much.

BRUNHUBER: Former Israeli hostages are praising the ceasefire plan. They say the fight isn't over until the last hostage is released. Twenty hostages held in (inaudible) are believed to be alive and will be returned home along with the remains of 28 deceased hostages. Here's how one former hostage reacted to the news in Tel Aviv on Thursday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMIT SOUSSANA, FORMER ISRELI HOSTAGE (through translation): We say to President Trump, to the volunteers and to everyone who didn't leave us, thank you. Thank you for the strength, for the faith, for holding all of us up. We won't rest until the last of the hostages, male and female, return home. So let's breathe a little more, just a little more, until this is over. I feel that something new is beginning. May we all remain united and strong for them. One more second to keep going.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: The U.N. says it's planning to send hundreds of aid trucks into Gaza every day in the first two months of the ceasefire. 170,000 metric tons of food, medicine and other supplies are ready to go and will give some much needed relief to Palestinians in the enclave. Many of them have been displaced several times and famine has been declared amid sharp Israeli restrictions on aid in Gaza. Aid officials tell CNN there are still questions about how the aid will surge in and what kinds of supplies will be allowed. Peru's Congress has removed its president from office. Dina Boluarte

was impeached during an overnight debate a short time ago after losing most of her allies in Congress. Lawmakers approved a motion of vacancy for permanent moral incapacity. Boluarte refused to attend the vote, arguing that due process was rushed and then held a separate address to the people after her impeachment. Peru has now had eight presidents in less than 10 years.

After months of pressure from President Trump, the U.S. Justice Department indicted New York Attorney General Letitia James on bank fraud and false statement charges in Virginia. Now, the indictment comes as Trump continues to call for his political opponents to be prosecuted. James's charges stem from a mortgage she took out in Virginia in 2023. Prosecutors say she falsely claimed on paperwork that the Virginia home would be her primary residence, securing her favorable loan terms.

Last month, CNN reported the Justice Department officials didn't believe they had enough evidence to build a case against the New York Democrat. Meanwhile, James says the president is weaponizing the legal system. Here she is.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: These charges are baseless. And the president's own public statements make clear that his only goal is political retribution at any cost. I'm a proud woman of faith and I know that faith and fear cannot share the same space. And so today I'm not fearful. I'm fearless. And as my faith teaches me, no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: James is the second person to be indicted as the president pressures the Justice Department to go after his political enemies. The first was former FBI Director James Comey who's being prosecuted for lying to Congress and he's pleaded not guilty.

President Trump's push to send National Guard troops into Chicago is now on hold. Look at why a judge says she sees no need to deploy soldiers there and what that ruling means. That's coming up next here on "CNN Newsroom." Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Authorities in the Philippines are assessing the situation after a 7.4 magnitude earthquake struck. It was off the eastern side of Mindanao, 123 kilometers or 79 miles from the island's capital. That's according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

(VIDEO PLAYING) Firefighters crouched on the ground outside their station as sirens blared during the quake. Video from the moment the quake struck showed panicked people rushing out of buildings or trying to keep their balance as the ground shook violently. Now the threat of a tsunami has since passed and there are no immediate reports of damage.

The left bank of Ukraine's capital is without power after a massive Russian attack and utility workers are scrambling to contain the damage. Ukrainian authorities say at least 12 people were injured there while one children was killed in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. Russia has been striking Ukraine's energy infrastructure almost daily since last month, which follows its game plan from previous years when it targeted sources of heat ahead of winter.

The mayor of Chicago and governor of Illinois are celebrating a district court ruling that will keep President Trump from deploying National Guard troops in their state for two weeks. The judge said she found no credible evidence that there has been a rebellion in the state that would justify sending in soldiers. Omar Jimenez reports on the decision and what comes next.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a big moment. This judge granting a temporary restraining order to block President Trump's deployment of National Guard troops here in Illinois for at least 14 days. Now this came as part of what she described as a high level summary, sort of an oral ruling, but she was very detailed. The judge, April Perry, and how she described her reasoning in getting to this particular place, and I want to take you through some of it now.

Now, one of the things that she talked about over the course of this is really about this definition of rebellion since this is -- that is some of what the federal government had cited in the need to have the National Guard here, sort of this fear of getting to a place of open rebellion. She described rebellion as quote, "deliberate, organized resistance, openly opposing the government as a whole," and then said, "I have seen no credible evidence that there has been rebellion in the state of Illinois."

She said that the evidence, as she moves through her oral ruling today, the evidence demonstrates that the deployment of the National Guard may lead to, quote, "civil unrest." She also said, Judge Perry said that she finds that deploying the National Guard will, quote, "only add fuel to the fire that the defendants have started" in her characterization. And really, a lot of what she talked about said -- she said came down to this one particular aspect and that was that the court was left with having to make a, quote, "credibility determination" and she found that the Department of Homeland Security, the assessments made by them were, quote, "unreliable."

She even mentioned Broadview which is where we are, just outside Chicago and some of the protests that we've seen here over recent weeks. She said, she described how one recent protest there were 200 protesters and there were a hundred state and local law enforcement officers on site and that state and local law enforcement were able to maintain control. So these were some of the details that, again, she was taking those in the courtroom through one after the other as she issued this oral ruling or sort of this high level summary as she described.

We're expecting the details of her written decision to come over the course of Friday, but we do know that this was a motion that was granted in part. So we are also waiting to see what the other parts are here, but nonetheless a significant moment. If past holds true, the Trump administration will push for an appeal most likely here and pursue that effort aggressively. But again, for right now, at least the next 14 days, President Trump has been blocked from deploying National Guard troops on the same day that we first saw Texas National Guard troops take their steps here in the Chicago area. Omar Jimenez, CNN, Broadview, Illinois.

BRUNHUBER: As world leaders celebrate the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, officials from the Middle East and Europe gather to discuss what the day after looks like for Gaza. That story and more coming up. Stay with us.

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[02:24:59]

BRUNHUBER: I'll show you new images from Gaza which appear to show the aftermath of strikes this morning.

[02:30:00]

Witnesses in Khan Younis and Gaza City report there have been airstrikes and artillery shelling. Those come as Israeli sources say the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire deal is underway. That remains unclear if Israeli troops have been given the ceasefire order.

Still, the Israeli government approved the U.S. brokered plan to end the war in Gaza late Thursday evening. Israel is expected to withdraw its troops to an agreed upon perimeter within the first 24 hours. Israel is also planning to release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners. U.S. President Donald Trump says all hostages held in Gaza should be freed by Tuesday.

Key European and Arab foreign ministers met in Paris on Thursday to discuss how exactly the ceasefire will be implemented and how countries plan to help Palestinians once the fighting stops.

CNN's Melissa Bell reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MELISSA BELL, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This was a meeting here in Paris designed to look at the day after in Gaza. The French president bringing together not just the Qatari prime minister, but the foreign ministers of several Arab neighbors of Israel, the Arab Quint, as they're known, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, all of those countries that France and their European allies worked with in the run up to the U.N. General Assembly and the recognition of the Palestinian statehood. All of those involved, it is hoped, also now in the future of Gaza, the idea to look at contributions to do with security, to do with the rebuilding of Gaza and to look at its future governance.

This is what the French foreign minister had to say at the end of the day's meetings.

JEAN-NOEL BARROT, FRENCH FOREIGN MINISTER (through translator): A ceasefire is not yet a durable peace. This is the first step in a long path towards a political solution that will guarantee the security of Israel, recognizing the legitimate right of Palestinians to a state.

BELL: The importance of those Palestinian voices and the importance of the Palestinians within the future governance of Gaza that has been at the heart of a lot of the conversations here today at the heart also, of why this meeting was held to continue to weigh in on the future conversations about Gaza and how it will be run.

We heard from the French president earlier, after his meeting with the Qatari prime minister, speaking of the importance of ensuring that a reformed Palestinian authority can play that essential part in the future governance of Gaza, in order that a Palestinian state can exist.

Emmanuel Macron, also speaking very critically of the settlements in the West Bank as a threat to that Palestinian statehood.

Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: The U.S. federal government shutdown is now in its 10th day. Republicans in the Senate failed once again to pass a stop gap funding bill on Thursday. And with the shutdown expected to extend into next week, military service members could soon miss their first paycheck.

We get more now from CNN's Arlette Saenz in Washington.

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ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pressure is growing on lawmakers to act as this government shutdown is extending into day nine.

The Senate failed to advance two short-term funding bills with votes on Thursday as both parties are essentially waiting for the other side to cave on their positions.

But there are some small signs of fractures within the Republican coalition. Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has long been a loyalist of President Donald Trump, has recently started to speak out against the Republican position on health care.

She has said that there does need to be an extension of those expiring Obamacare subsidies that have been central to Democrats' demands in this shutdown fight.

And Marjorie Taylor Greene went as far as placing the blame on GOP leadership in the House and Senate for how this shutdown has played out. Take a listen.

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I'm actually putting the blame on the speaker and Leader Thune in the Senate. This -- this should not be happening. And I don't think -- look, as a member of Congress, we already have a low enough job approval rating. This shutdown is just going to drive everybody's approval rating that much lower.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: So, you're putting the blame on the leadership of your party?

GREENE: Absolutely. We control the House. We control the Senate. We have the White House. I -- I've been vocal saying, you know, you can use the nuclear option in the Senate.

SAENZ: There is also mounting pressure on trying to address pay for members of the military. They will miss their next paycheck on October 15th if the government remains shut down.

There is a group of lawmakers in both the House and the Senate who do want to see a standalone measure on military pay brought up for a vote.

But so far, House Speaker Mike Johnson has told his members that he does not plan on bringing up a standalone bill, as they are hoping to continue keeping the pressure on Democrats in this shutdown fight.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BRUNHUBER: And we'll be right back with more here on CNN NEWSROOM.

Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Pop culture fans are gathering in the Big Apple for this year's New York City Comic Con. The annual convention kicked off on Thursday. It's considered the largest pop culture event on the U.S. East Coast. Roughly 250,000 people are expected to attend the four-day festival, including celebrities like Sigourney Weaver, Glen Powell and the voice actors from "K-Pop Demon Hunters".

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GREG MENDEZ, COMIC CON ATTENDEE: This is actually, like, probably my seventh New York Comic Con. Got love it. It\s kind of being like reconnecting with everything geek. And this is kind of being coming back to my tribe. So, when I'm here, I'm with my people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[02:40:06]

BRUNHUBER: New York City Comic Con continues through Sunday, October 12th.

All right. Thanks so much for joining us. I'm Kim Brunhuber.

"WORLD SPORT" is next. I'll be back with more news at the top of the hour.

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