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Trump And Ukraine's Zelenskyy Held Phone Call Today; Gaza Ceasefire Holding, Israeli Forces Holding Back; TN Officials: No Survivors After Plant Explosion; Shutdown Blame Game; New TSA Security Video Blames Democrats For Shutdown; Airlines To Passengers: Prepare For Delays, Cancellations; Inspiring And Empowering Children Living In Poverty. Aired 5-6p ET>

Aired October 11, 2025 - 17:00   ET

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

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[17:03:59]

SARA SIDNER, CNN HOST: Welcome to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Sara Sidner in New York. Jessica Dean has tonight off.

Tonight in the Middle East, we are learning more on the timing for Hamas to start releasing Israeli hostages currently being held captive in Gaza. This is all part of the latest ceasefire agreement.

Aid has started arriving in Gaza as tens of thousands of Palestinians begin making their way home. Many arriving to find a scene like you are seeing there. Their lives, their homes destroyed.

U.S. Special envoy Steve Witkoff, crediting President Trump for brokering the first phase of the ceasefire deal.

And in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelensky said the latest news from the Middle East is a reason for his country to hope for an end to the Russian-Ukraine war.

[17:04:48]

SIDNER: Zelenskyy posting on social media about a call with President Trump today, which he described as, quote, "very positive and productive".

I want to bring in CNN's senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak.

Kevin, what first of all, do you know about what happened, what the discussions were between Zelenskyy and Trump on this latest phone call?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And according to Zelenskyy, it was positive. And it's interesting because this now the Ukraine war is the conflict that remains on President Trump's plate.

He has had success in Gaza. But this conflict in Ukraine has been the frustrating one for him, you know, dating back to when he entered office. And on their phone calls, Zelenskyy sort of made this suggestion that

his success in Gaza could lead to momentum in ending the war in his country, saying that if a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war.

And that does echo what I've been hearing from administration officials over the last couple of days, is that the president's success in the Middle East could potentially lend some new grist to his attempts to end the conflict in Ukraine.

How exactly and how specifically that occurs, I think, remains to be seen, because until this point, Vladimir Putin, the Russian president, has shown no willingness to ease up in Ukraine. The presidents attempts to broker a three-way meeting between himself, Zelenskyy and Putin have essentially gone nowhere.

The other topic that I think these two men will have discussed is Zelenskyy's request for these long-range Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukraine to penetrate much deeper into Russia. The president said last week that he had sort of made a decision on whether to supply those to Ukraine, but that he wanted to know more about what Kyiv plans to do with them.

And so an important point of conversation between these two men, as the president continues to try and resolve that conflict.

SIDNER: Give us some sense of what the White House is saying now, as President Trump prepares to leave to head to Israel as these hostages are expected earlier than some thought they may be coming back home, potentially in the overnight hours from Sunday into Monday.

What are you learning about the expectations as to what Trump will be doing in the region there?

LIPTAK: Yes, and he is expected to address the Israeli Knesset, their parliament there from Israel. He will then go to Egypt, to Sharm El- Sheikh, where he's planning to participate in an official signing ceremony for the ceasefire, but also engage with a number of other world leaders who will be convening there for a summit.

We heard from the Elysee Palace in Paris earlier today that the French President, Emmanuel Macron, would be in attendance as well. So certainly a celebratory trip for the president.

But I think the sentiment that is most prevalent in the administration today was probably voiced best by Jared Kushner when he was speaking in Hostages Square earlier, when he said that they are not going to celebrate tonight, that they will be celebrating when those hostages come out.

Certainly the view that this deal is still very fragile and still very delicate, Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, that is very true. Anything can happen from now, in the next 24 hours.

Kevin Liptak, thank you so much for your reporting there for us from the White House.

All right. As we were talking about, the president is expected to arrive in Israel on Monday. He's expected to meet hostage families and Israeli leaders before addressing the Knesset. From there, he heads to Egypt for the signing of that ceasefire agreement.

Let's go to CNN international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. He is in Sharm El-Sheikh where this signing ceremony will happen.

What can you -- what can we all expect to see at this because it is remarkable the number of people from different countries in the region who will be there and be a part of this.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, absolutely. More than 20 countries -- leaders thereof, according to Egyptian officials, will be attending what they're describing as a summit. Yes, there will be a signing ceremony, but there will also be a chance to talk about the phase two issues.

Kevin was speaking there about Emmanuel Macron coming, the British prime minister coming as well, German chancellor, Italian prime minister on their agenda as sort of using the momentum that President Trump has created to try to get into phase two quickly.

You'll have the what's known as the New York Eight -- that's, you know, the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, others all coming in.

And these are going to be the countries that are going to be the sort of heft behind phase two, not only determining, you know, how it might look, but also playing a role in it as well.

So President Trump, you know, he'll be coming in here with the sound of people's thanks and gratitude ringing in his ears.

And I believe it's going to get the same here as well at this summit. There will be a lot of thanks and gratitude to him, but also a lot of hope that he is going to go the course and work with these other countries in the coming days, weeks and months to make sure phase one becomes phase two, becomes real peace.

[17:09:52]

SIDNER: The first phase of this ceasefire deal is underway. There are still some huge sticking points that will impact phase two. Do you have a sense of how those are being resolved? And if they are being resolved?

ROBERTSON: Everyone has talked about let's get phase one done. But by the time the president arrives here, phase one will be pretty much well on the way. The Palestinian prisoner should be sort of in the process of being released, because we expect the hostages to have been released.

So -- and this summit, at least it will be a beginning of conversations between leaders about how do you decide who is going to be involved in this sort of overseeing the ceasefire, and how will they do it?

And what will the international stabilization force look like? Which countries will it come from? Who will have which areas of Gaza to oversee? How will Hamas be disarmed? How do you get into sort of a new phase of a technocratic Palestinian leadership inside of Gaza?

All of those things against the backdrop of Hamas not wanting to disarm and wanting to be part of that political future. Against the backdrop of Israel wanting to maintain a level of control over, an influence over what a ceasefire might look like, and what a de- weaponized Gaza actually looks like.

These are detailed questions down to, you know, can somebody carry an AK-47, or does that have to be given up too, in which case, how do the police enforce security? So many layers to this, Sara.

SIDNER: Truly, Nic. Thank you for going through all of them for us. Nic Robertson there in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt, appreciate your reporting there.

Let's go now to former Supreme NATO Allied Commander, Retired General Wesley Clark. General Clark, it's a pleasure to have you on this Saturday.

Look, U.S. service members have begun arriving in the Middle East, about 200 of them, we're told, will be involved in some way. What would their role be to try to ensure that the ceasefire works?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: Well, they'll be running some kind of a coordination center.

We used to call this a Civil Military Operations Center -- coordination center. So this is where, the logistics can come together with the information, the intelligence, the planning, the discussions, the political oversight.

It's a control -- command and control node that will be set up. It won't be inside Gaza. It'll be somewhere in Israel. And they will be supplying the tactical communications, the overhead imagery, the planning for logistics, the coordination for air routes and land routes and sea routes into Gaza, et cetera.

I mean, that's a -- that's a typical thing that has to be done to make something like this work.

SIDNER: Coordination is certainly key.

I do want to ask you about phase two of all this, because that is where some of the biggest possible complications are going to happen.

You've got this issue where, as disturbing as it is, Hamas having hostages, that is something that they had as leverage. And once they let go of all of these hostages as they have promised to do, and as people expect them to do, you've also got a call for them to disarm and let go of their political hold that they had on Gaza. How do you see this working and how difficult will it be to get Hamas

to agree to disarmament and to walk away from politics, knowing that they certainly could be targets of Israel?

CLARK: Oh, I think it's going to be very, very difficult. They could also be targets of other nations, including targets from other Palestinians in Gaza.

And right now there are other armed groups in Gaza other than Hamas. So Hamas will tell you right now they can't disarm because there's no police structure. There's no way to keep their own Palestinian people safe. So they're going to provide the police structure.

So Sara, as you -- I think, I think Nic Robertson did a very good job of describing the overall problems as you move into phase two.

But let me make a suggestion on this. So, as you're thinking about how to do this, you cannot disarm Hamas until you've got an effective security force formed up and coordinated, and they can provide police activities inside to replace Hamas. And so this is going to be a many weeks, maybe months process.

But in the meantime, Hamas has to show its goodwill. That means to say they have to register, get ID cards, describe what their holdings are. They have to identify the contending groups that they're working against.

[17:14:49]

CLARK: They have to sort of flip sides and be with the international community rather than just against the Israelis. And the Israelis have to create an atmosphere in which Hamas feels that it can safely do this.

Now, the agreement promises them amnesty. It also gives some the right to leave. Will they really accept this? There are some 7,000 Hamas fighters have supposedly surfaced right now. That's a lot of manpower.

But you've got a couple of million people there in Gaza, who's going to provide their safety from local law enforcement to protection against kidnaping, blackmail and murder from other groups?

So you've got a real law enforcement and security problem in the near term. And so that means you're not going to see an immediate disarmament of Hamas. It's going to have to be phased. It's going to have to be negotiated.

And you're going to have to have the international security force structured and prepared to step in bit by bit.

And then you probably have to give up the weapons in a phased manner. So you may have to give up the big weapons, machine guns and RPGs and stuff. And then there'll be some local patrols that will keep their AK-47.

And at the end they'll be signed over and distributed and probably destroyed and these people will be given amnesty and get signatures for it.

I mean, it's all about the credibility of the international community. This war has stopped because both sides reached a culminating point.

The Israelis have -- that's enough. The IDF is worn out. Netanyahu has pushed it as far as he can. He's got mounting domestic opposition, and people want those hostages back.

And on the other side, Hamas has lost its protectors. It's taken some heavy losses. The people of Gaza are exhausted and turning hostile to Hamas.

So that's the culminating point. And President Trump was strong enough to push it to phase one.

But as Nic indicated, lots and lots of issues to get it over the finish line.

SIDNER: Absolutely. And a lot of people don't realize there are other armed groups that have existed in Gaza, like Islamic Jihad. There's just a lot of complications there.

CLARK: That's right.

SIDNER: General Wesley Clark, it is a pleasure to have you with us today. Thank you so much.

CLARK: Sara, thanks.

SIDNER: Still ahead, new details surrounding the victims of a deadly blast at an explosives plant in Tennessee. Look at what is left there. Warning signs that may have been missed as the sheriff's department says they don't believe there are any survivors who were able to survive this blast.

Plus, if you're traveling this holiday weekend, be prepared for potential flight delays and maybe even cancellations as the government shutdown drags on, impacting airports across the country.

We'll be right back.

[17:17:35]

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SIDNER: This is just an awful story. Tennessee officials saying now no survivors have been found after a massive explosion yesterday at a military and explosives plant. 18 people still missing, but authorities have moved from rescue to recovery now.

Now CNN's Isabel Rosales joining us now with words from a family member who lost someone in that explosion.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have the first confirmation directly from a family member who says that they believe that their loved one has passed away in this explosion. This is the niece of Melissa Stanford, 53 years old, who was a

production supervisor here at Accurate Energetic Systems, who says that the Tennessee Bureau of Investigations gave them a call saying that they believe with the magnitude of the blast that her loved one could not have survived.

She also told CNN this. To say her family is devastated is, to put it lightly. "We are honestly at a loss for words and grief is not linear. In the past 24 hours I have seen anger, sadness, bargaining, denial and acceptance."

We also saw the spectrum of emotions here from the sheriff of Humphreys County Chris Davis, who was struggling to put into words the fact that they had recovered no survivors.

His hands were shaking. He was near tears as he told us that the assumption now is that all 18 people that are missing are believed to be dead.

Here's what else he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRIS DAVIS, HUMPHREYS COUNTY SHERIFF: At some point in time, we've got to rip off the band aid. Can I tell you, and I alluded to it yesterday, it's not like working an accident. It's not like working a tornado. We're dealing with explosions. And I would say at this time we're dealing with remains.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROSALES: Sheriff Davis and Sheriff Jason Kraft of Hickman County both told me, as I was walking along with them after the press conference, that they both intimately knew people that were involved in this explosion that were in that building.

So that explains the level of emotion, not just as leaders of their respective counties, but also human beings who were personally touched by this tragedy, this catastrophic explosion.

The sheriff, Sheriff Davis, also told me that this scene has become volatile because they have unexploded ordnance that has made it that much more dangerous for first responders to do the work that's necessary there.

[17:24:50]

ROSALES: And especially the work needed to come to a cause of this explosion. That's a serious question, how this could have happened, that at some point needs to be answered.

Sheriff Davis told me that it's going to be days, if not weeks, for them to get that answer, Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Our thanks to Isabel Rosales.

Coming up, the shutdown blame game going full steam ahead, but no agreement anywhere close.

The latest video making the rounds, targeting those who are traveling and then at TSA checkpoints. That's coming up.

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[17:29:52]

SIDNER: This is unusual. People in line for security screening at U.S. airports will be getting a politically charge message from the head of Department of Homeland Security. This is it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, UNITED STATES SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY: Democrats in Congress refuse to fund the federal government. And because of this, many of our operations are impacted, and most of our TSA employees are working without pay.

We will continue to do all that we can to avoid delays that will impact your travel. And our hope is that Democrats will soon recognize the importance of opening the government.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Of course, Democrats blame Republicans for failing to negotiate with them and agreeing to fund health care subsidies that expire at the end of the year, and will send insurance premiums, if not funded, skyrocketing for millions of Americans.

CNN contributor Sara Fischer joining us. Now, just how unprecedented is it to see the head of DHS sending out this message to all American travelers and those who are from other countries in our airports?

SARA FISCHER, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: It is unprecedented, Sara, and that's because it could be potentially a violation of the Hatch Act, which is a law passed in 1939 that says federal officials cannot explicitly engage in politics. Now, I don't think that anything would ever come of this if they were to be found guilty of the Hatch Act. But this is why you typically don't see federal agencies and federal officials, outwardly naming other parties, putting blame on other political parties, because it is not considered within the decorum of the office.

SIDNER: Yes. I mean, who would go after them? It would have to be the department of justice, or someone would have to file a complaint, correct? Which is certainly not something that we would expect to see from this administration.

FISCHER: No, it would probably be the Office of Special Counsel, and Donald Trump fired his head of the Office of Special Counsel earlier this year. He's put in place a 30-year-old prosecutor who, I think, would be very unlikely to charge Kristi Noem with anything. She is a Trump ally.

Of course, you have watchdog groups, you know, essentially advocacy groups that have filed complaints, that can file further complaints. But like I said, it's very, very unlikely that much of anything were to come of this. I mean, Kellyanne Conway was accused of violating the Hatch Act during Trump's first administration. Nothing came of that. There have been allegations against officials during the Biden administration. Nothing's come of those.

So, the Trump administration sort of does have free reign to be able to message people as they wish. The challenge is actually going to be whether or not some of these airports allow it. You've seen the airport in Portland, Oregon, for example, say that they are not going to run this video. Now, I don't know what that means for the continued tension between the Trump administration and the City of Portland, but I think that you are going to see certain cities and certain airports step out and say we are not going to run this in case it is a violation of the Hatch Act.

SIDNER: Yes. I guess the big question is, as this rolls out in some airports, and as you are seeing Trump saying, hey, you know, we are winning on this issue, and Democrats are saying, oh, no, you are not. Is this -- I mean, this is propaganda, really, what is going to be played for people.

Is it -- is it working? Do you expect it to sort of sway public opinion in some way?

FISCHER: I mean, I think it could. And the Trump administration is so good at putting out media in favor of their policies and their practices. I think about all the social media that the White House puts out around their ICE raids and things like that.

But at the end of the day, when these subsidies, these health care subsidies, expire, what I think was going to have a lot of impact is when people see their health care rates go up. And then, I think another thing that's going to have another big impact is that you have President Trump, right now being credited with brokering a huge historic peace deal.

Typically, when there is a big government shutdown, you blame the party in power. However, the party in power just had a major win. And so, I'm very curious to see how all of this rolls out. Those government subsidies, Sara, they are going to start to expire pretty soon, but through the end of the year is when the majority will.

SIDNER: Yes, I think Democrats have been saying, look, November 1st, people are getting those notices, and we will start to see the -- potentially, the fallout from that.

Sara Fischer, thank you so much for coming in on this Saturday morning -- afternoon, my bad.

Still ahead. Speaking of airports, union leaders for the National Air Traffic Controllers Association calling on employees to please show up for work amid grave concerns surrounding air safety during this government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even though some aspects of the government may shut down, we never do.

[17:34:25]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The flying public may not know who we are, but they trust we will continue to safely guide them home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: The government shutdown has caused delays at airports during the week, and you could expect some delays for millions of people taking to the skies this weekend. Airlines are warning travelers that they could see delays and potentially cancelations at airports, as TSA agents and air traffic controllers working without pay, call in sick.

The Union, though, is urging employees to show up for work, but they say air traffic control towers were already facing staffing shortages.

Katie Nastro, joining us now. You are a travel expert and a spokesperson for going.com. Katy, how is the shutdown really impacting travelers at this point? How worried should you be if you are heading out to a flight, that your flight might not go off on time?

KATY NASTRO, TRAVEL EXPERT: Yes. Sara, thanks so much for having me. And look, I think the more noticeable impact that travelers are seeing day to day is the delays.

[17:40:02]

We have seen just the last week, multiple different major airports, Newark, O'Hare, Dallas, Nashville, either have delays or ground stops due to staffing as well as there is been some inclement weather. And, you know, what's interesting about this, this shutdown versus previous shutdowns is travelers are dealing with these impacts sooner than they had in the past.

SIDNER: Right.

NASTRO: However, one bright spot is, if anybody is traveling over this weekend, A, it -- this is not considered a busy season. We're not in the peak of Thanksgiving. So, there are fewer people traveling versus a peak season. As well as we haven't seen mass cancelations. So, that is sort of a bright spot to what's currently going on.

But leaving enough time to sort of have a plan B, and just understanding of the current scenario before you head to the airport is never a bad idea.

SIDNER: Yes. We are in day 11 now. And this coming week, we will see some of the government workers not get their paychecks. We know that TSA and air traffic controllers, you know, are considered essential workers and are supposed to stay there, but they do have families they have to feed, and some of them call in sick, not just to cause a problem, but they call in sick because they are looking potentially for being able to find work elsewhere. Maybe they have problems with child care.

As this drags on, will this get worse? I mean, the question is, as the shutdown goes and goes and goes, if there is no end in sight, do travelers need to be really considering whether or not they should be traveling or be willing to deal with some major issues?

NASTRO: Yes, that's a great question. You know, if you have traveled towards the end of the month, we look to government shutdowns in the past, of what had occurred, and there were mass delays and some cancelations and even airport closures. Now, we've already seen some ripple effects. But think about it. You have people that are already in a very, very stressful job, air traffic controllers, one of the most stressful jobs, pretty much in the entire world, being asked to show up day to day and do 110 percent.

And, you know, with some sick call outs, it could honestly just be due to the pressure of this very, very pressurized job. And couple that with financial stress, it is almost like a pressure cooker. So, if you do have travel in the coming weeks, there is a very real possibility, and there is no knowing whether or not this will happen, but there is a very real possibility that you could encounter significant delays. Some cancelations, maybe even ground delays or airport closures.

And so, we may see more travelers opting to take the refund versus a rebooking if they do encounter a cancelation or significant delay, and regardless of whether it's due to staffing or, you know, maybe it's a weather issue, you are still entitled to that, even despite a government shutdown, that regulation is still in place. We want people to remember that.

SIDNER: Yes, travelers rights. That came up years ago when people were getting stuck on planes for hours and hours and hours just sitting there.

Katy Nastro, thank you so much for giving that great advice for those of us who do a lot of traveling.

Coming up, win or go home? A night after a thrilling night of baseball. Another matchup is on tap for tonight. There has been a lot of drama in baseball, maybe no crying, but maybe a little.

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[17:48:16]

SIDNER: Some -- I don't even know what you want to call it. Huge drama, amazing theater for Major League Baseball. You are welcome fan.

"CNN SPORTS" Don Riddell, joining us now. I mean, there is only, like one song that could describe what happened over the last, I don't know, 15 hours. It's thriller.

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. SIDNER: The Tigers and Mariners playing a winner-take-all game last night in Seattle. I mean, fans were blown away for 15 innings, and it went on for how long?

RIDDELL: Four hours and 58 minutes.

SIDNER: Good grief.

RIDDELL: Yes. It was an instant classic, Sara. Great to see you, by the way.

Of course, it was a nightmare for the Detroit Tigers in the end and their fans. But yes, everybody was on the edge of their seats until the early hours of Saturday morning. It ended with the Mariners clinching the game and the series, meaning they will go on to play the Blue Jays next. They are having their best season in almost a quarter of a century.

One more game to be decided in the coming hours tonight. That's going to be the Brewers, who have the best record in the regular season. They are up against the Cubs. The winner of that series will go on to play the L.A. Dodgers.

Also, on Friday night. I think we can say that the Las Vegas Aces have now unlocked dynasty status, beating the Phoenix Mercury by 97 points to 86, sweeping the WNBA final series by four games to nothing. This is their third championship in just four years. A'ja Wilson, leading them to glory, securing another MVP title for her.

Now, then, before I hand back to you, Sara, pay attention Hollywood script writers, because this is just incredible.

[17:50:01]

You are about to see Valentin Vacherot from Monaco beat the GOAT, Novak Djokovic, becoming the lowest-ranked player ever to get to the final of a Master Series event in Shanghai. He is ranked 204 in the world.

But this isn't even the best part of the story. He then went to watch the other semi, where he saw Arthur Rinderknech beat Daniil Medvedev, and that guy is his cousin. So, now, we've got two cousins who are going to be playing for the final on Sunday. He went on to the court afterwards, and they exchanged just an incredible moment, a really, really emotional hug between these guys.

This is so random and so unexpected. They -- it never even occurred to them that this might happen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTHUR RINDERKNECH, WORLD NUMBER 54: Even in the -- in the best dreams, we couldn't -- we couldn't have a dreamt about this. So, I can't even say it's a dream, because I don't think even one person in our family dreamt about it. So, it wasn't a dream. It's just a dream that came out of nowhere. (END VIDEO CLIP)

RIDDELL: Isn't that a great story, Sara? I'll be watching that final. Back to you.

(CROSSTALK)

SIDNER: I literally guffawed. That was -- I did not know that.

RIDDELL: Yes.

SIDNER: I wasn't -- there was so much drama with baseball. You got to -- you can't expect me to pay attention to tennis as well.

RIDDELL: Well, now you know.

SIDNER: And the WNBA, you got A'ja Wilson just crying her eyes out in joy. I mean, what a great sports weekend, this has been, Don Riddell.

RIDDELL: Yes.

SIDNER: And it's so good to see you. Thank you so much.

RIDDELL: All right.

SIDNER: All right. In the decades since she was named CNN's Hero of the Year, Maggie Doyne and her nonprofit have greatly expanded their life saving work in Nepal. The once empty plot of land she bought as an idealistic teenager on a gap year is now the home to a state-of- the-art children's village and an award-winning school.

Maggie was inspired by a child she met who was living in utter and extreme poverty, and now, she's proven what one person can make -- that one person can make a difference in thousands of lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: CNN Hero of the Year is Maggie Doyne.

MAGGIE DOYNE, FOUNDER, BLINKNOW FOUNDATION: 10 years ago, CNN Heroes happened, and it completely changed my life and the lives of our organization.

The school has now served nearly a thousand children. Back in the day, it was this little bamboo shack. Now, we host summits where other community organizations can come and learn and collaborate. There is a big sister's home for at risk girls who have been victims of trauma, human trafficking, violence.

We have a food and farming program, full service and open medical clinic. It's really a community vision for care and what children need to thrive.

His name is Robie. Right after CNN Heroes, we had the tragic loss of my son, Robie. That was a very dark period of grief and pain and loss. The years following were about putting the pieces back together and really healing as a family.

I was speaking at an event and got introduced to a guy. He is a filmmaker. Long story short, we ended up connecting, finding love, taught me so much. We've been on this journey together, and it's been a chapter of partnership and building this beautiful family.

We created this as a call to action.

Our film, "Between the Mountain and the Sky, covers 20 years of life, the ups, the downs, the everything in between. It definitely lifts the veil of heroism.

We raise our children in the call amongst their other siblings. There is two generations. Our oldest are like 26, 27. I think in this time of uncertainty and violence and injustice, it's really important to stay focused on what we can do. So, my message continues after 20 years as a mom to now so many children.

Keep doing what you can, where you are, keep showing up, keep loving, keep going with your acts of kindness. It all matters.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SIDNER: We cannot be overstated the impact she has had. For the full story about Maggie's inspiring journey, you can go to CNNHEROES.COM.

[17:54:22]

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: This Sunday from French classics, like, Crusty Baguettes, and Savory Bouillabaisse, discover the incredible combinations of bread and food that bring cultures together on a new episode of the CNN original series, "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD".

Here is a look at Tony's time in Marseille.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) panisse.

TONY SHALHOUB, HOST, BREAKING BREAD: Panisse are small discs made from chickpea flour and seasoned with sea salt. Reminiscent of a potato chip and served in paper cones.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you can have your panisse with aioli. Aioli is special mayonnaise we have here.

SHALHOUB: With garlic --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, yes.

SHALHOUB: Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And then we -- and then we don't talk to each other anymore, because we will smell garlic.

SHALHOUB: We can only talk to each other, but not to others.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You like it.

SHALHOUB: That is so good.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, it's crispy outside, very soft inside.

[18:00:02]

SHALHOUB: I can't stop eating these.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's part of the tradition.

SHALHOUB: I can see.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Since you have not eaten --

(CROSSTALK)

SHALHOUB: You have to eat.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Too, many of them. You are not a (INAUDIBLE)

SHALHOUB: If you are not feeling a little weird.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, (INAUDIBLE) you would be done when you have to many in your stomach.

SHALHOUB: Yes. I know. I'm sure.

(END VIDEOTAPE)