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Erin Burnett Outfront
Trump: Israel And Hamas Signed Off On First Phase Of Peace Plan; Trump Portrays ICE Protests As "Violent Riots" Tied To Antifa; Comey Pleads Not Guilty, Looks To Dismiss Case Before Trial. Aired 7- 8p ET
Aired October 08, 2025 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[19:00:28]
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: OUTFRONT next:
The breaking news, Trump just announcing what he calls the first phase of a peace plan between Hamas and Israel. The very latest on this breaking news.
And more breaking news this hour. New video into OUTFRONT of a pastor praying outside an ICE facility shot in the head with pepper balls by ICE agents. This video coming as Trump threatens to jail Democratic leaders, blaming it all on his boogeyman, antifa.
And Comey's plan of attack. The former FBI director's legal team laying out its plans tonight in an effort to kill the case, which includes questioning whether Trump's handpicked prosecutor is even legal.
Let's go OUTFRONT. Good evening. I'm Erin Burnett.
And OUTFRONT tonight, we do begin with breaking news. Just a few seconds ago here, have signed off on what he is calling the first phase of his peace plan.
Trump making the announcement on his own social media site, writing in part, quote, this means that all of the hostages will be released very soon and Israel will withdraw their troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a strong, durable and everlasting peace.
Now, if this holds, it would bring the two-year conflict between Hamas in Gaza and Israel to an end.
Kristen Holmes is OUTFRONT live outside the White House, and Jeremy Diamond is in Tel Aviv live for us early in these hours of Thursday morning.
I want to start with you, Kristen. What are you learning?
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, this is what the administration has been working towards since Donald Trump took office for the second time. This first part of this peace deal. Now, of course, to keep in mind, this was a 20-point peace deal. And right now, we're looking at two of the key components. This idea
of a ceasefire and withdrawal of Israeli troops, as well as the hostage negotiation and getting the hostages back. That would be in exchange for Palestinian prisoners that are currently being held in Israel, something that we know Hamas almost immediately agreed to when they were looking at that plan.
But we also know that Hamas has a number of other sticking points, as does Israel. Things that were listed in this peace plan included things like Palestinian statehood, which the Israeli prime minister has said is an absolute red line.
But clearly, this is the first phase of all of this, and it is something that his team has been working on. It comes nearly two hours after we saw Marco Rubio, the secretary of state, walk into a room where President Trump was doing sort of a panel talking to various cabinet officials about antifa, and handed him a note that said, were very close, and we need you to look at a Truth Social or draft a Truth Social so you can be the first one to announce it.
Clearly, President Trump was the first one to announce it, and this is something that both sides want it. We didn't hear it from Israel. We didn't hear it from Hamas. All we heard was from President Trump putting it out there.
So, what exactly this looks like? Well, there's still going to be a lot of questions. We know there are roughly 20 living hostages. We also know they're going to be returning the dead hostages as well.
We also know that this idea of Israeli withdrawal of troops, what does that look like? Is that everybody? What kind of withdrawal? What does the timeline look like? One of the things to keep in mind when you looked at that 20-point plan was that they said both sides had to agree on the timeline of withdrawal. We still don't know what that actually is, but this right here is the first phase that they are announcing in this peace deal, saying talks are going to be ongoing.
BURNETT: All right. Kristen, thank you very much.
And, Jeremy, obviously, the first phase significant. But when talks are ongoing and things like Palestinian statehood are still hanging in the balance, obviously that can mean everything. What are you learning?
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, I just need to underscore what an enormous moment this is for so many people in this region, for the people of Gaza, who have endured two years of war, for the families of these 48 remaining hostages, who have endured two years of absolute agony. This is a watershed moment. President Trump announcing that the first phase of this plan will indeed move forward. And that means the release of all of these hostages, an initial withdrawal of Israeli troops within the Gaza Strip.
And ultimately, what we have to think and believe, based off of the president's tweet, is that Hamas may have received some assurances about this actually leading to an end of the war. Every single source that I've been speaking with over the course of the last week has emphasized that the only scenario in which Hamas would actually agree to give up to release these 48 hostages, you know, without a total agreement on this 20-point plan would be if they received some kind of assurances from the United States, from the mediating countries that these negotiations that will follow the implementation of this first phase of this agreement, that they will actually lead to an end of this two-year war.
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And so, we're already getting reports of celebratory gunfire in Gaza. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has just put out a statement acknowledging the enormity of this moment for the families of those hostages who have waited so, so long, who were waiting with bated breath tonight as so many Israelis were as well tonight.
And also, a message from the Israeli prime minister just released from his office saying, quote, "With Gods help, we will bring them all home."
Now, there are a number of questions as well. How quickly will the release of these hostages happen? Remember, in that 20-point plan that the president released last week, it said 72 hours from the moment of agreement. A process will also need to unfold in Israel. This deal will have to come before the Israeli cabinet for a vote in order to move forward with the release of these hostages, as well as the release of the Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli prisons, who will be released in exchange for them.
But once again, an enormous moment, and one that many in this region hope will be a turning point. And I can tell you that there is a sigh of relief and celebrations already underway over here -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeremy, thank you very much.
And as we get more on that breaking news here, we're going to bring that to you. Also breaking this hour, though, a pastor pepper sprayed while praying. We have new video into OUTFRONT tonight show you and it shows Chicago pastor David Black praying outside an ICE detention facility when suddenly masked federal agents fire pepper ball at him, hitting him in the head. He's later pepper-sprayed.
Now in the video that we see. Of course, you don't see him being confrontational. This protest appears to be peaceful. That pastor tonight is suing ICE, and in a moment, I'm going to speak to the woman who captured this video last month and is sharing it tonight with us for the first time.
That incident, though, that you're looking at in terms of where it happened, actually happened at this ICE facility that were showing you now outside Chicago, which is right now the center of what's happening in Chicago, the very same place where roughly 500 National Guard troops could be heading in the next few hours, a move pitting Trump against the mayor of Chicago and the governor of Illinois.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Everything we're doing is very lawful. What they're doing is not lawful. And what the governor and the mayor of -- as an example, you could say, of Portland and you can say certainly of Chicago is not lawful. What they're doing, they have to be very careful.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: When Trump says they have to be very careful. He appears to be referring to his threat to have Democratic leaders jailed, he wrote. Chicago mayor should be in jail for failing to protect ICE officers, Governor Pritzker also.
So, Trump is now threatening to jail the Democratic leaders in the states to which he is sending national guard troops, a threat that is not received well by Governor J.B. Pritzker or the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS : I got to say, this guy is unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump -- if you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.
MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: It's certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has called for the arresting of a Black man unjustly. I'm not going anywhere.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's an unprecedented showdown to actually even hear rhetoric like this happening between a sitting president and sitting Democratic leaders. It's just important to always try to take a deep breath and remember that Trump is trying to paint Democrat led cities as lawless and in chaos.
But according to "The New York Times", federal officials in Portland, Oregon, on September 25th reported the scene outside that ICE facility as quote, unquote, low energy. Actually sounds like kind of a phrase that Trump has, in fact, used in the past, although not about that same comments the next day, about the same facility.
So why did I say September 25th? I said that because on the very same day, here's what Trump said about Portland.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Take a look at Portland sometime. These are wild -- these are crazy people, and they're trying to burn down buildings.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's unclear whether he's referring to things that were happening in Portland five years ago. It really is unclear. But Trump and his team later in that briefing went on to blame their
favorite boogeyman, antifa. And that topic actually was the focus of an entire event at the White House today.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Under the Trump administration, we're going after antifa criminals and all who fund and support their campaigns are in serious trouble. And we have a lot of records already, a lot of surprises, a lot of bad surprises.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: And Trump's secretary of homeland security actually took that further.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KRISTI NOEM, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: This network of antifa is just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA, as ISIS, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them.
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They are just as dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: That's pretty incredible, right? Hamas has just been engaged in a two-year war that we just announced the first stage of a peace plan to a few moments ago.
And ISIS -- these are incredible things to say. And obviously, I'm not going to sit here and defend anybody who considers themselves part of an antifa movement such that it is, but "such that it is" is the operative part of that sentence. Antifa is far from a major, sophisticated terror organization like Hezbollah, Hamas or ISIS.
In fact, it's not even like far-right groups like the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers, which have had national leaders. Unlike antifa, there is no organized hierarchy to the group. And according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, compared to right wing extremists, antifa linked violence is rare and limited.
But that has not stopped Trump from blaming antifa for just about every act of violence in America since he first got into office.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's insurrectionists all over the place. It's antifa. Antifa burns a lot of American flags.
And they let antifa get away with murder.
Antifa knocks the hell out of Portland, takes over parts of Seattle, destroys Minneapolis, antifa kills people. The antifa thugs who are allowed to roam the streets.
Antifa rioters ransacking our cities.
You have antifa running down the streets and burning down your buildings.
Antifa and they burn down cities and killed people.
Those people got attacked viciously, viciously by the scum from antifa -- antifa thugs.
The antifa, these are bad people. Angry mobs. Antifa. Antifa.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: It's actually amazing when you put it together like that.
Trump, of course, also tried to blame antifa for January 6. Days after the insurrection, blaming the group during a call with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who responded, and I, quote, because it's very memorable. He says to President Trump, it's not antifa, it's MAGA. I know. I was there.
Omar Jimenez is OUTFRONT live at the ICE facility at the center of much of the Chicago area protests.
And, Omar, as you're standing right there in Broadview, you know, we obviously see people going in and out behind you. What is the latest you're learning?
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So right now, this is one of the places where the National Guard could show up because this is federal property down this way. And one of their directives is to protect federal personnel and property.
Now, just to give you an idea of sort of the lay of the land here and kind of how this scene has evolved one you see the sign protest area, stay off street. This is something that has come up after what has been repeated times of protests popping up night after night, more so on the weekends. That's when numbers tend to swell and the ways that they do.
And then you see these concrete barriers on the sides where they've tried to keep people true to that neon sign before the led sign before to keep people off the streets. Now you see the protesters on the left here, very small in numbers at this point. But again, these numbers have gone way up and down at points. And it's why, if you look down even further to where law enforcement is sort of set up in the middle of the street there, you'll see a fence, a controversial fence for folks here in the area, but a fence nonetheless that was put up to help with the security aspect of things.
And then over that American flag is flying. That is where the federal ICE building actually is, the detention center that has sort of been the center -- central focal point of the protests we've seen to this point.
And, Erin, there are really two different things in dynamics here happening in Chicago. One is when will the National Guard arrive? We know Texas National Guard is at that reserve center further outside of town, but that comes on top of what we have seen to be increased immigration enforcement that has put fear in many immigrant communities throughout the city of Chicago that even some of which we visited today as well.
So those are the two factors that Chicago is seeing right now. And then, of course, we are in this waiting game to see what the scope of any guard deployment will actually look like.
BURNETT: Yeah, absolutely. And as you say, though, that that building where if they are tasked with that is a federal building. And as we saw in L.A., right. It literally meant they were within a couple feet of it. They don't move beyond that. We'll see what happens here.
All right. Thank you very much, Omar.
Ryan Goodman, Mimi Rocah, S.E. Cupp, Mondaire Jones all here with me now.
Ryan, can I just start with Trump saying the protesters in Chicago and Portland are antifa, and then that they're terrorists and Kristi Noem says that antifa is like ISIS, Hezbollah and Hamas and MS-13 in terms of its organization and its -- and its ability.
What do you -- what do you say to that?
RYAN GOODMAN, FORMER SPECIAL COUNSEL AT DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE: So I would say just see Trump's first FBI director, Christopher Wray, he testified under oath to Congress and in fact said that antifa does not exist as an organization at all.
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Not even like a complex or sophisticated organization doesn't exist as an organization. It's rather this loose network of ideology or people who have a certain sense or idea. And there's no leader, there's no organization to it.
And so, for the arguments to come out of cabinet members and the and the president to say that this is like ISIS, that took over two major cities in Syria and Iraq, I think --
BURNETT: Or Hamas that just led a two-year war, right?
GOODMAN: And controls vast -- has controlled vast territory. Does not help them when it then gets to the courts because the judges are looking at that and saying your statements are, quote/unquote, untethered to the facts. That was a Trump appointed judge in Oregon who said that and said, if you need a legal basis to nationalize the federalize, the guard or bring in the military in any sort of way, you have to have -- it has to be conceived in good faith. And this is not conceived in good faith. BURNETT: I mean, you know, I mean, just to hear I want to play it
again because it is just pretty stunning to hear the Department of Homeland Security secretary say what she said, because it is counterfactual to such a bizarre degree, frankly. Let me just play it again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NOEM: This network of antifa is just as sophisticated as MS-13, as TDA, as ISIS, as Hezbollah, as Hamas, as all of them. They are just as dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: I mean, what does that actually mean for Trump's case? And obviously, she's sitting there. She's sitting next to him. Clearly, that's what he wants to hear. And perhaps what he has been in some sort of bizarre, you know, cycle led to believe.
MIMI ROCAH, FORMER SDNY PROSECUTOR: Yeah. I mean, look what he says on Truth Social and all the clips you just played, that he says at a campaign rally about -- about antifa. What antifa looks like, what the state of crime is and individual cities, what she says there. None of that ends up, it seems to me, being proven when they get in the place where facts matter, which is court.
And that's why you have a Trump appointed judge, a neutral arbiter saying untethered to the facts. That's why they keep losing in court. Because in court, you can't just -- you can say the sky is orange, when it's blue. You can say, I'm wearing pink when I'm wearing red, but you have to prove it in court.
And that's a place where, you know, and this is -- this is the world I was raised in at DOJ. Like facts still matter. And that is the one thing right now that gives me comfort because they can say whatever they're going to say, but they have to prove it because there is a legal standard.
This -- can I just say what this is not about?
BURNETT: Yeah.
ROCAH: This is actually not about fighting antifa or crime or whatever in these cities. What this is because there's something to do that, it's called local law enforcement who works with federal law enforcement.
BURNETT: Right.
ROCAH: Do they need the National Guard to come in? And, you know, do those functions that law enforcement does? No. And that's what the judge was saying.
You can't show me there is a need for that. And so, I -- people, I think, get confused, which is part of the strategy here into thinking, oh, well, yeah, crime is bad in Chicago and we want to do something about immigration. So, we have to bring in the National Guard. That's what they say.
You can achieve -- you can target those goals. You can work. We can all agree or disagree on those goals, but that doesn't mean you bring in the National Guard. That is an extreme step.
BURNETT: Right. Well, we certainly saw that in L.A. We'll see what we see in Chicago. But they were certainly not needed there from what we saw. And in fact, it was their presence that sparked protests themselves.
Mondaire, so, Trump said that the protesters in Portland and Chicago are domestic terror groups, right?
MONDAIRE JONES, FORMER U.S. CONGRESSMAN: Yeah.
BURNETT: And that he's using antifa as his kind of umbrella word for that. But let me just play exactly how he said it, about why domestic terror?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It should be clear to all Americans that we have a very serious left wing terror threat in our country, radicals associated with the domestic terror group antifa that you've heard a lot about lately.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: So left wing terror threat.
JONES: Yeah.
BURNETT: Is that present in Chicago and Portland right now?
JONES: You know, a few years ago when I served on the House Judiciary Committee, then FBI Director Chris Wray testified that the single biggest domestic terror threat in America was white supremacist domestic terrorism. And so, you know, every allegation with these people is a projection. And it's an admission.
And what it does, candidly, in addition to misleading the American people about like, what are the actual factors causing crime in this country, it makes this president's perceived political enemies unsafe.
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I mean, to call somebody a terrorist, to liken them to a Hamas fighter, for example, because of an ideological disagreement within like the normal bounds of politics on policy. And, you know, it causes the kind of assassination attempts that we've seen. And unfortunately, successful in some instances, assassinations that we've seen even over the past several months. And so, there's no attempt to calm the rhetoric. In fact, they inflame it whenever they get an opportunity to.
BURNETT: S.E.? S.E. CUPP, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I agree with everything that's been said. This is authoritarian. It's an abuse of power. It's bad for America. It's really scary.
However, politically, it's a little bit more complicated than that. How this shakes out.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CUPP: He gets so much from doing this, right? He gets to scare MAGA about a boogeyman and they'll go out and their influencer platforms and spread that message. He gets people like us to come on TV and say, antifa is not that bad. That's great for him.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CUPP: We could be right, but that's great for him. Or crime is not as bad as you think it is. That's also great for him.
And politically, it's unclear how this shakes out because a majority of Americans are not with Trump on his tactics. His mass deportation tactics.
They're not with him on sending the national guard into cities and towns. They are with him in his diagnosis of the problems. They agree illegal immigration is a problem that needs fixing.
They agree, right or wrong, that crime is up, and cities feel unsafe. I know I feel that way.
So, the -- how this shakes out politically depends on whether Trump gets credit for just showing up, which he often does. He gets credit for correctly identifying problems. Even if people don't like his solutions.
Now, he always goes too far. I think he did a pretty good job in D.C., actually. It was localized and then he left, pulled the troops out.
BURNETT: Yeah.
CUPP: He's overplaying it in Chicago. We'll have to see if he goes too far for the American people to stomach this, or if he goes just far enough for enough people to say, well, I didn't like the tactics, but at least he's doing something about it.
And Democrats are out on television saying this isn't even a real problem.
BURNETT: Right, right.
CUPP: It's tricky.
BURNETT: The politics of it.
All right. Thank you all very much. And next, I'm going to speak to the woman who witnessed masked federal
agents firing at that pastor praying outside the ICE facility in Chicago. What was taking place just before he was hit.
And James Comey's next move, attorneys for the former FBI director laying out how they plan to kill Trump's case before it even gets to a jury. Do they have a shot at that?
Former White House attorney, Ty Cobb, here OUTFRONT.
And how the late Bob Ross could be the key to saving public television from federal budget cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BOB ROSS, PAINTER: My world, everything is happy. So we have happy little clouds and happy trees.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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BURNETT: All right. You are looking at live pictures right now of Illinois, the National Guard could be on the ground tonight just a matter of hours taking up their position outside that ICE detention facility in Broadview. They've been brought there to protect the federal building, that federal location. So, they stay at the building for now, which is the same site where tonight a Chicago pastor is suing the Trump administration, accusing federal agents of extreme brutality and violating his First Amendment rights.
And that is where this disturbing new video was recorded. In it, you can see Pastor David Black. He is a presbyterian minister in Chicago. He is dressed in black, wearing his clerical collar, standing outside the gates with a small group of protesters. You can see this.
This was just a couple of weeks ago. Above them, you see masked ICE agents on the roof. So, you see that -- the juxtaposition.
Then moments later, without warning, one of them fires a pepper ball, hits the pastor in the head as he is praying. You see it explode on impact. And seconds later, Reverend Black collapses.
OUTFRONT now is Amanda Tovar. She witnessed all of it and recorded video of the pastor being shot. She's a teacher. She lives 15 minutes from Broadview, which is why she felt compelled to go to protest that day.
And I know you are outside the facility speaking to us now, Amanda. So, I very much appreciate your time.
So, this is just a couple of weeks ago.
AMANDA TOVAR, CAPTURED VIDEO OF ICE SHOOTING PEPPER BALLS AT PASTOR: Hi, Erin.
BURNETT: You -- you're recording what -- when this happened, right? So, you see the agents on the roof, you see Pastor Black on the ground and we're seeing your video now for the first time, ICE agents opened fire.
I know at the time to you, you say it was chaotic, almost as if you were, like, watching a video game. And you see, Reverend Black was hit.
Can you -- can you walk me through what you saw and what -- how you were processing it at the time?
TOVAR: So I had heard earlier in the day that they had been shooting from the roof, and it was starting to get a little bit more escalated than days before. When I got there, I did see that they were pepper -- spraying pepper balls at different people. So when it happened, I saw just people just chanting or people saying things to ICE agents and nothing really significant was happening.
Until I started recording the agents that were on top of the roof. As I was recording the agents on the roof, I was zooming in on the agents, seeing what they were doing. And just to see what they looked like, how they were, you know, what they were looking at. And as I was recording, I saw that they were just so callously just spraying down. They weren't aiming, they weren't doing anything like they weren't looking to see, like there was a threat. They were just casually, you know, pointing downward like it was a video game.
And when I recorded them doing that, I looked down. I panned down to the ground. And then that's when I saw the pastor and some people on the ground as well.
And so, there was nothing that was provoking it. He was praying. He had his hands open. He was praying to them, and they just ended up shooting him. It was like casual to them.
It wasn't anything. There was nothing exciting happened. Nothing that was -- they weren't scaling a fence.
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They weren't throwing any items. They weren't even saying anything in the least that would be threatening.
And that's when they just started opening fire at them. And I didn't realize exactly the extent of everything. I'm sorry.
BURNETT: Oh, no. No, that's okay. I just was -- I wanted to show that you had just mentioned the part after he was shot in the head by the pepper ball. I know it's hard to watch, but I want to play for people again.
The agents walking towards Reverend Black, they then shove him and spray him in the face with what appears to be some sort of gas. Tear gas? Certainly, what we saw them use in L.A. That's what it looks like here.
This is after they'd already shot him in the head, Amanda, right? So, this comes after the part you're talking about?
TOVAR: Yes, yes, yes.
BURNETT: So, when you watch this. Was it clear why they continued to target him?
TOVAR: I don't know why they were targeting him. I mean, if -- I mean, he was clearly he was clearly a man of the cloth. He had his collar on. He was clearly a priest. And they still did it anyway.
He was praying at them. He was praying for them. He was talking to the people in the crowd. He wasn't doing anything that was being seen as anything threatening.
And when I saw him getting sprayed in the face, I was thinking that this was so surreal. Everything was happening around me. I've been to many different protests over my life. Never have I experienced anything like this.
I've never seen people getting tackled around me, people being shoved, and at the very least, having them sprayed directly in the face by pepper spray.
I've never seen that ever happen before.
BURNETT: The assistant secretary for public affairs at DHS. I'm sorry, there's a slight delay, so I don't mean to be talking over you, but she said she defended all of this. She said law enforcement verbally warned these agitators that they would use force if they did not move and stop impeding operations. They did not comply. Shortly after, rioters began throwing rocks, bottles and launching fireworks at the law enforcement officers on the roof.
Did you see any of that?
TOVAR: That's not true. That's not true. That's not true.
I was there for at least a half hour previous to this happening, and that did not happen. People were chanting, people were shouting, yes, people are angry. Maybe people were saying things that they didn't want to hear, but they were all words.
There was no -- there was no rocks being thrown. Nothing like that was happening. And I really wish that people would come out here and stand in unity with everybody out here to see what's happening, because this is the reality of the situation. This isn't fake, this isn't A.I., this isn't anything generated. This is real life.
I was shot that evening. I was hit with a flash bang. I was hit -- you know, I had mace or pepper sprayed in my eyes. This is real.
I'm an everyday person. I'm a teacher. I'm a mother. I'm a friend.
I help people, I consider myself a good person. I'm a real person out here dealing with this.
I'm not an agitator. I'm not somebody being paid to come out here and do this. I'm a real person who cares about humanity. And so, when I'm out here seeing this happen and seeing the callousness behind how they did it, I just couldn't stand by and just allow it to keep happening. It's just not okay.
BURNETT: Amanda, I really appreciate you being willing to share this with us and come out and, you know, put your face out there. I know that's not easy. And I thank you.
TOVAR: Thank you for covering this. Thank you for covering this because it needs to be covered. It needs to be shown exactly what's happening. And I hope something changes.
And I think that we all need to come together and just make sure that this change happens. This is not the world I want my daughter to be raised in.
BURNETT: Thank you so much.
And next, James Comey's lawyers plan to argue Trump's handpicked prosecutor was never lawfully appointed. This actually could be really crucial. This is not a technicality. Who is Lindsey Halligan and what does that claim mean?
Plus, the breaking news, President Trump just announcing what he calls the first phase of a peace plan between Israel and Hamas with the release of all of the remaining Israeli hostages. New details on that after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:37:04]
BURNETT: Breaking news, we've got new information coming in right now on what President Trump is calling the first phase of a deal between Israel and Hamas. Trump says an agreement has been reached for a peace deal, saying that the remaining hostages will be released soon and that Israeli troops will withdraw from Gaza.
Jeremy Diamond is on the ground in Tel Aviv.
And, Jeremy, you know, as we have seen, the agony that you used the word earlier that the hostages have endured, that their families have endured, and there have been mass hostage releases before. But this if this is every remaining hostage, alive or dead. What an incredible moment for Israel, for those families. What are you learning?
DIAMOND: Without a doubt about it. And we have been watching the collective sigh of relief that has been happening across Israel. The reactions of some of those hostage family members on social media, you know, tears of joy all around.
And I am told that those families can expect to embrace their loved ones as early as this weekend. A source, an Israeli source familiar with the matter, telling me that the hostages are likely to be released on Saturday or Sunday.
The exact timing of that will depend on when the Israeli cabinet approves this agreement, because following that, there needs to be a Supreme Court petition process. Relating to the release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for those hostages, a largely pro forma process. But we know that these cabinet meetings can stretch on, particularly if some ministers want to take a stand and want to express their views on this momentous moment. And so, we will have to wait for the exact timing of that.
Now, separately, I do want to note that while President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu did not directly say that this agreement will lead to an end of the war, we are hearing that from other parties to this agreement, the Qatari mediators, as well as Hamas, both indicating that this agreement on this first phase of President Trump's peace plan here, as he is calling it, will lead to an end of the war in Gaza. And, of course, for the people of Gaza who have suffered so much over the course of the last two years, more than 67,000 people who have been killed, nearly 2 million people who have been displaced from their homes, 90 percent of residential buildings in Gaza raise.
I mean, this is an enormous moment of relief for them as well. It will depend, of course, on negotiations to implement the rest of this 20- point plan. But it seems that there are strong assurances from the United States that that will actually happen -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Jeremy, thank you very much. As you get more, of course, we'll be coming back to you this hour on that breaking news.
We also have new developments in the James Comey case and how his team is trying to end it all before it goes to court. I mean, the former FBI director's legal team is launching a major effort for full case dismissal.
Comey, of course, pleads not guilty to two felony charges.
[19:40:03]
Comey's team saying that they're going to file a, quote, outrageous government conduct motion, along with motions to argue that this prosecution just on its face is vindictive and selective. Comey's team also zeroing in on Trump's handpicked prosecutor, Lindsey Halligan, and whether she was even lawfully appointed.
And that actually could be central to the whole thing.
Brian Todd begins our coverage on this OUTFRONT.
(BEGIJN VIDEOTAPE)
LINDSEY HALLIGAN, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT: In honor of everything you've done for women.
BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Thirty-six-year-old Lindsey Halligan had never been a prosecutor until President Trump selected her as the interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. Less than four days into the job, Halligan brought her first case, charging former FBI Director James Comey.
Halligan is now drawing criticism for leading a retaliatory prosecution against a longtime Trump enemy, something she herself warned about in a 2022 interview with Fox News.
HALLIGAN: It's up to the sitting president to ensure that our criminal system does not unravel into retaliatory or political prosecutions of former presidents and other government officials.
TODD (voice-over): That was Halligan acting as Donald Trump's personal attorney, speaking about then-President Joe Biden and the FBI's raid on Mar-a-Lago. Halligan said she was at Mar-a-Lago at the time and was barred from going into the residence during the search.
HALLIGAN: What the FBI did was an appalling display of abuse of power.
TODD (voice-over): In September, when President Trump pressured Attorney General Pam Bondi in a Truth Social post to prosecute James Comey, Trump said, quote, "Lindsey Halligan is a really good lawyer and likes you a lot. We can't delay any longer."
When he appointed her to her current post, Trump praised Halligan as, quote, "extremely intelligent, fearless," and he continued his praise a few days later.
TRUMP: Lindsey Halligan, who is very smart, good lawyer, very good lawyer.
TODD (voice-over): Before appointing her as a prosecutor, the president had tasked Halligan as a White House aide with rooting out so-called woke ideology at the Smithsonian. Halligan said this to Fox News about the depiction of slavery in American museums.
HALLIGAN: The fact that we had -- our country was involved in slavery is awful. No one -- no one thinks otherwise. But what I saw when I was going through the museums personally was an overemphasis on slavery. And I think there should be more of an overemphasis on how far we've come since slavery.
TODD (voice-over): According to a "Washington Post" profile of her, Halligan grew up in Colorado, played softball and basketball at her Catholic high school. She competed in the Miss Colorado USA beauty pageant, making the semifinals in 2009 and finishing as third runner- up the following year. She studied law at the University of Miami, and later became an insurance attorney.
In an email to "The Washington Post" earlier this year, Halligan said, quote, sports and pageants taught me confidence, discipline and how to handle pressure on the court, on the field, on the stage, in the courtroom and now in the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE) TODD (on camera): A person familiar with Lindsey Halligan decision to charge James Comey had previously told CNN's Andrew Kaczynski that this case is not political, that it's based on facts and evidence, and that Halligan would not have proceeded if the case lacked merit.
Still, Comey's lawyers will challenge Halligan's appointment as interim U.S. attorney, likely citing the fact that the person she replaced had already served the 120-day limit imposed on U.S. attorneys who are not confirmed by the Senate -- Erin.
BURNETT: All right. Brian, thank you very much.
And Ty Cobb is with me, former Trump White House lawyer.
All right. Let's just cut to it. I mean, there's a lot of things they're going to try to do, but the most important one is that we know this was filed right before the end of statute of limitations. Right?
TY COBB, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: Right.
BURNETT: So, we're past that now. If anyone else -- if they have to refile it. So, you're past that date. And she was the only signature on it. And she had not been fully through the process of vetting and confirmation to have the job.
So, do you think that that could really make this go away?
COBB: Yes. There's only one opinion on this, on this rule at the Justice Department. It was written in 1986 by then Assistant Attorney General Samuel Alito, now justice on the Supreme Court, which makes very plain that once an interim U.S. attorney is 120-day period is gone, expires, that the appointment is then up to the district court.
In this situation, notwithstanding knowing that rule the president and Pam Bondi chose not to follow the rules, but to just force her appointment, say she was say she was the U.S. attorney and legally, she is not.
BURNETT: So, I mean, which is actually pretty incredible now.
Okay. So that could make all this go away. It's interesting, as you say, Alito rule.
COBB: Could, it could be a rifle shot.
BURNETT: Lindsey Halligan herself, she was in court today, and she was, you know, obviously she was nodding and things like that. But the federal prosecutor from North Carolina, right? They've got two of them now because it didn't appear anyone from the Eastern District of Virginia would work on the case. But it was the federal prosecutor for North Carolina who actually did the talking.
So, what does that say about her role and her ability to do this in the context of the fact that she hasn't prosecuted a case before?
[19:45:03] COBB: Well, I don't begrudge the U.S. attorney, in the role that she's pretending to fill, being in court for the arraignment of the director of the FBI. I mean, it's a weighty matter.
And obviously she's representing the office.
BURNETT: Her presence is normal, right. Yeah.
COBB: The fact they had to go 200 miles to find anybody to choke down the humiliation of trying to represent the government in this case, tells you a lot about the case. You know that people weren't willing to try it locally, that the people that the courthouse knows, the judges know, the people with reputations, integrity, and, you know, presence, you know, they're not there. They're not going to be in the court.
So it's going to be a team from out of town, doesn't know the local practice, doesn't know the local juries, doesn't know the local judges up against two of the two of the better trial lawyers, experienced trial lawyers, big case trial lawyers in America.
BURNETT: In the country.
So very quickly, before you go, it looks like the timeline here is really quick. I mean, could you get a verdict? If there is, if it isn't thrown out. but -- I mean, by Thanksgiving?
COBB: No. So the -- if it goes to -- so you -- oh could -- you get a -- you could definitely get a -- you will get a ruling on dismissal before Thanksgiving in my view.
BURNETT: Yeah.
COBB: Yes. I think you will. You know they have many fact-laden motions, prosecutorial misconduct, selective, vindictive prosecution. But the rifle shot in terms of whether she was lawfully appointed and the statute of limitations is gone, is largely legal and the facts are really not in dispute.
BURNETT: All right, Ty, thank you very much.
And next, we have breaking news. House Speaker Mike Johnson speaking out after being accused of keeping the house in recess to avoid voting on the Epstein files.
Plus, how the late Bob Ross is helping save public TV from Trump's budget cuts.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROSS: I'd like to wish you happy painting, and God bless, my friend.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Breaking news, House Speaker Mike Johnson insisting his delay in swearing in Democratic Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva has nothing to do with avoiding a vote on releasing the Epstein files. Of course, it is her vote once they get that, the motion to release the files, they say, would have enough support to pass or votes crucial.
Here's Johnson just moments ago with Jake Tapper.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: This doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with Epstein. They try to make everything about Epstein. This is about the House not being in regular session because the Democrats and the Senate have decided to shut everything down.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BURNETT: Of course, Republican Congressman Thomas Massie has put it in black and white posting, "Contrary to what he says, Speaker Johnson is doing everything he can, including delaying the swearing in of the recently elected member of Congress and spreading misinformation about the legislation to block a vote in Congress on legislation to release the Epstein files."
OUTFRONT now, the Democratic Congressman Robert Garcia, the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, which issued a subpoena back in August to the DOJ for the Epstein files.
And, Congressman, I so much appreciate your time.
[19:50:02]
So, you hear Speaker Johnson saying, no, absolutely not. He is -- he's not swearing in. Congresswoman-elect Grijalva has nothing to do with a vote on releasing the Epstein files. What do you say?
REP. ROBERT GARCIA (D-CA): I mean, that's really hard to believe. First of all, the speaker, they're saying that were not in a formal session. Other members have been sworn in the very similar sessions in the past. It's very clear that Mike Johnson is now obsessed with also hiding the Epstein files and the truth.
We know there's been a White House cover up, which we believe has been ongoing. The president himself has said he wants to release the files. Now, he's flip-flopped on that. The attorney general said the files are on her desk. She is now flip-flopped on that.
And now, Mike Johnson does not want the House to meet because he does not want the full files to be released to the congress and to the public.
We just want the truth. For all the men that have abused women and girls in this country, Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, all the abusers, the truth has to come out for the survivors. It's important that we get to the truth, and that's what it's about for the release of the files. BURNETT: So your colleague you know, obviously I was repeating what
the Republican -- your Republican colleague Massie had said, but your Democratic colleague Eric Swalwell posted something I thought was interesting. And I wanted to give you a chance to tell me what you see.
He said, "It's coming to an end, guys. I've spoken to a lot of House Republicans this week, and they've confided that Trump's movement and support is fading. As one told me, this Epstein bomb is about to drop and no one wants to defend a pedo-protector. It's just a matter of time. One Republican just texted me that if there is a discharge vote on Epstein, they expect a jailbreak of over 100 members. Trump will go nuts," end quote.
Are you hearing anything like this, Congressman?
GARCIA: I am. What I'm hearing is that a lot of Republicans don't understand why the White House is so obsessed with covering up the Epstein files. Look, we can all make assumptions about to what's in there -- the photographs, the files.
What's important is that we focus and center the survivors of Jeffrey Epstein. We're talking about underage girls, children who were minors, who were abused by powerful men. And what we have said is we don't care what political party these men are in, how powerful they are, how much money they have. They have to be held accountable.
So, this last vote of Adelita Grijalva getting her installed is so important to getting the full files released. We're not going to stop this investigation. There is bipartisan support here. Mike Johnson should swear her in. And Donald Trump today has the power to release the files to the public.
BURNETT: He has that. He has that power. And of course, still, as you as you point out, sir, it doesn't happen. And it is confounding to anybody who understands right and wrong on this, right, as all Americans do.
Thank you so much. I appreciate your time, as always.
And next, why Bob Ross could be key to saving public television.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:57:09]
BURNETT: Tonight, we don't make mistakes, just happy accidents. Those famous words from the legendary and beloved painter Bob Ross, who is a staple on PBS stations for over a decade. And now, dozens of his paintings will be auctioned off to support public television after Congress cut more than $1 billion in federal funding earlier this year.
Tom Foreman is OUTFRONT.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ROSS: It's a fantastic day here, and I hope it is wherever you're at.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): With his soft words, bushy hair and joyous approach --
ROSS: In my world, everything is happy. So we have happy little clouds and happy trees.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Bob Ross shared his love of painting with millions. And now, PBS hopes to raise $1 million or more by auctioning 30 works by the late artist.
ROSS: All right. Let's have some fun.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Trying to offset Republican cuts of $1.1 billion to public broadcasting amid accusations of anti-conservative bias.
TRUMP: These are lunatics. These are sick people. But the government should not be providing funding.
FOREMAN (voice-over): If Ross was crazy about anything other than painting on air, it did not show. For 11 years, the retired Air Force drill sergeant with 20 years of service, urged the viewers of his PBS program to just pick up a paintbrush, as he had, and give it a try.
ROSS: It's a lot of fun. I think you'll enjoy it.
FOREMAN (voice-over): With or without a studio full of critters.
ROSS: Isn't that the cutest little devil you ever seen? If you're not careful, you can get attached to these little rascals. And I do.
FOREMAN (voice-over): Although Ross died of cancer 30 years back, the popularity of his shows soared during the pandemic. His face still appears on countless products, and in 2023, he was even spoofed in a movie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don't worry, it's not rocket science.
ROSS: It's harder.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The first three paintings that will be up for auction were made on TV, including this one called "Cliffside".
ROSS: Looks more like a little farmer's place out here.
FOREMAN (voice-over): "Home in the Valley" is one of the comparatively few examples of Ross depicting a human presence in his natural settings.
ROSS: I'm grabbing a little bit of this dark color, and I want to pull it. Pull it, there.
FOREMAN (voice-over): And this chilly scene is called "Winter's Piece", even though ross, as usual, filled it with warmth. ROSS: I'd like to wish you happy painting and God bless, my friend.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (on camera): The auctions are going to start in Los Angeles, move to London, New York, Boston and online. Whether they'll get the million plus that they hope they're going to get here, we don't know. We can wish them well, but as you noted, Erin, Bob would tell them himself -- no mistakes, just happy accidents.
BURNETT: It is pretty incredible though, and you've got to think people would want to, you know, ones that were made on TV have that extra, extra provenance, right?
FOREMAN: Yeah, 30 -- 30 minutes a piece, 30 minutes apiece for those paintings. That's pretty fast work.
BURNETT: And anyone, you know, as you said, popular during the pandemic. But just the connection that people have, even hearing that voice, right? There's something about it. It's a sense of calm.
FOREMAN: And he had a squirrel in his pocket.
BURNETT: Yes, which didn't bite him. And there's a miracle. It says everything you need to know.
Tom, thank you so much.
And thanks to all of you.
Anderson starts now.
