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Israel And Hamas Agree To First Phase Of Trump's Gaza Ceasefire Plan; Appeals Court To Consider Portland National Guard Troop Deployment; Staffing Issues Cause Delays At U.S. Airports As Shutdown Persists; Trump: Israel & Hamas Agree to First Phase of Gaza Plan; Comey Pleads Not Guilty, Attorneys Want Case Dismissed; Saving Italy's Submarine Canyon; Movie Stars Turn Out for 12 Days of Screenings, Interviews. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired October 09, 2025 - 01:00   ET

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

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[01:00:34]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN Breaking News.

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Lynda Kinkade. It is 8 in the morning in Tel Aviv where Israelis have gathered in Hostages Square to celebrate news that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a Gaza ceasefire plan.

U.S. President Donald Trump made that announcement saying as part of the deal, Israel will withdraw its troops to an agreed upon line and Hamas will release all remaining hostages, likely by Monday. The families of Israelis still being held captive in Gaza have expressed excitement that their loved ones could soon return home. Former hostages also celebrating the news.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

OHAD BEN AMI, FORMER HOSTAGE: I can't believe it. Elkana, Yosef, Sega, Bar, Maxime, you're coming back home to your families. I can't believe it. I can't believe I'll see you. Hug you. Wow. I'm excited. I'm waiting for you. Can't wait to hug you already. I'm dying to. I'm dying to. Oh, what a day. Thank you, Trump.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Celebrations also breaking out on the streets of Gaza as Palestinians cheered the breakthrough which they hope will mean an end to the two year war. Hamas says it has provided lists of Palestinian prisoners to be released as part of the deal. UNICEF's global spokesperson says Palestinians are now feeling an immense sense of joy and relief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES ELDER, UNICEF SPOKESPERSON: People ask the Palestinians have hope? Yes, they have hope. They have hope because it's the one thing they have agency over. They have hope for a better future. And that better future starts with education. Education is that future. These are the things that Palestinians will need, right? Education, nutrition, water, no airstrikes, peace. Yes. It's a day of hope.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Day of hope. More on that, CNN's Paula Hancocks is following the developments from Abu Dhabi and joins us now live. Great to see you, Paula. So after two years of war, a breakthrough this deal agreed to just hours ago. Just take us through the reaction you're seeing.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Lynda, the reaction from the region is one of joy, one of relief. The fact that this ceasefire is finally going to go ahead. Certainly people in the region are waking up to this news now. It's 9:00 a.m. here in Abu Dhabi. We have seen on the streets of Gaza the reaction from those Palestinian civilians who will finally be seeing a lack of airstrikes, a lack of bombing.

We have heard from our stringers on the ground though, that there is still some activity, some military activity ongoing in Gaza City, but certainly it is a lot lighter than it has been in recent months. In fact, over the past two years on the Israeli side as well, in Hostage Square, we saw incredible scenes of joy, of relief.

We are seeing people arriving at the square as well in the early hours of the morning as that ceasefire deal was announced by the US President Donald Trump. So there really is a sense of relief across the board that this has finally got across the line. There have been many moments when this deal has looked close and at the last hurdle it really has collapsed. We have seen that a number of times and there have been bitter disappointments on all sides when this deal has not gone through.

But the fact is what we're seeing now is this realization of the first phase. According to the U.S. president, one of the key mediators here, Qatar announced that this will end the war. It will see the release of hostages, Palestinian prisoners and the entry of aid.

That is a key part of this humanitarian aid. We are hearing from the United Nations and from NGOs on the ground is seeing sitting at the border waiting to get in, waiting to be able to create that surge to ease the suffering of civilians in Gaza. Lynda.

KINKADE: Hopefully that surge of a guessing quickly and of course this, the first phase of this deal, Paula, includes this hostage prisoner exchange.

[01:05:00]

How soon could that happen and how prepared are both sides to follow through?

HANCOCKS: Well, what we've heard from the U.S. president at this point is that he believes the hostages could be released as early as Monday. Now, from a technical point of view, this still needs to be approved by the Israeli cabinet. We understand that the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu has called a cabinet meeting for Thursday. He is quoted as saying this is a great day for Israel, but this deal does need to be ratified in Israel.

And once that has happened, then the clock can start ticking. And potentially what we saw in the first version of the 20-point plan was that there would be 72 hours and within that time all of the hostages would be released. We also understand that there will be up to 2,000 Palestinian prisoners released as well.

We did hear a little more from the U.S. president speaking on Fox News about what comes after that initial first phase. Let's listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I think you're going to see all of that disappear. I think you're going to see people getting along and you'll see Gaza being rebuilt. We're forming a council that the Council of Peace, we think it's going to be called and it's going to be very powerful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And that Board of Peace will actually be headed up by the U.S. President, Donald Trump. Lynda.

KINKADE: Right. Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi. Thanks very much. We are going to stay on this story. Joining me now from Los Angeles is Dalia Dassa Kaye, a senior fellow at UCLA Berkeley Center for International Relations. Great to have you with us.

So, you know, this war we've been speaking about for two years, it's been absolutely devastating. This new cease fire deal is being described as a historic breakthrough. From your perspective, how would you describe the first phase of this agreement?

DALIA DASSA KAYE, SENIOR FELLOW, UCLA BERKELEY CENTER OF INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Well, it's certainly good news and you can see it from your reporting how much relief and celebration there is in Israel and Gaza, across the region. So it, you know, if it hopefully will happen within the coming days where you get the key elements, you know, most critically an end to the fighting, a release of all the hostages, Israeli hostages, and a surge of aid which is so desperately needed.

If those things happen, this is a huge first step. But I think we're still short of calling it a breakthrough. And we need to, I think, pause and understand that after, you know, two years of so much destruction and devastation, you can't just snap your fingers and reverse everything overnight.

So it's this the real question is how difficult it will be to get to the next stages and there are serious challenges ahead despite the good news today.

KINKADE: Yes, serious challenges and of course, quite a few stages. The first part of the stage, of course, is this hostage prisoner exchange, which could happen as early as Monday. How pivotal is that exchange to the credibility of the entire deal? And what risks could potentially derail it?

KAYE: Well, it's incredibly critical. This is one of the major Israeli war aims. And let's be realistic here. To get to this even first stage, ceasefire deal, both sides had to give up on maximalist objectives. So the Israeli aims were dismantle Hamas and get the hostages out. If this succeeds, they will have accomplished a very critical war aim and also an aim that is very important to the Israeli public. The majority of the public wants this war to end, wants the hostages out.

So without that, it's going to be very difficult to see the Israelis motivated to end the war. And Hamas ultimately did not get its, you know, full, you know, full interest in having an Israeli withdrawal all the way out of Gaza. There will be only a limited withdrawal. That's a key question of whether Israel completely withdraws at the end of this process.

But it is still surviving. It is not a dismantled organization. It's weak, it's diminished. It's not capable of attacking Israel again in the way we saw it on October 7, two years ago. But it's still there. And so I think those are the big challenges. And the security question is most critical.

And this, even if this first phase happens, the real question is going to be who's going to demilitarize Hamas, who's going to enforce that? How do you make sure there's enough security to get rebuilding and the difficult governance questions underway. These are not simple issues.

KINKADE: Yes, certainly those aren't simple issues. And either is the humanitarian catastrophe that we have been discussing that's been unfolding in Gaza. This plan promises a surge in aid. How quickly could we see meaningful relief on the ground? And what are the logistical and political bottlenecks in getting it in there?

[01:10:04]

KAYE: Well, I think this has been an ongoing issue. But if the Israelis have the political will, and I think they will, with President Trump putting his full weight behind this agreement, I think no side has an interest in scuttling it, at least at this stage. You know, the question is whether they'll be follow through.

But, you know, the U.N. is prepared. One of the good news aspects of the new plot plan is that it is not going back to this very poorly designed humanitarian aid structure that was really actually a killing field for Palestinians. It is going to return to U.N. mechanisms. I think those mechanisms will be ready and able and prepared. But the border has to be open. The Israelis have to be able to facilitate it. And you need security on the ground. You need the fighting to be stopped.

And so we need to have a sustained end of fighting, not just a pause, but a sense that this is it for good, that this is really the end of the war. You know, we had a ceasefire in March. It broke. The aid started coming in again relatively quickly, and it broke down three months later. And we have the eight months of devastation. It's what's so tragic that it took so long to finally get to this day.

So if the political will is there, you start opening the borders secure. You know, the situation on the ground, I think that, you know, we can see a dramatic change very quickly and it could not happen soon enough.

KINKADE: Yes, exactly right. Hopefully this is indeed a success. Dalia Dassa Kaye, thanks so much for your time.

KAYE: Thank you.

KINKADE: A federal judge in Chicago will hear arguments in the coming hours on the Trump administration's deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois. The president wants to help protect federal agents and properties amid protests against immigration enforcement. On Wednesday, President Trump said Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brendan Johnson should be in jail for failing to protect those officers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRANDON JOHNSON, CHICAGO MAYOR: 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.

GOV. JB PRITZKER (D) ILLINOIS: I got to say, this guy's unhinged. He's insecure. He's a wannabe dictator. 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.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: A California based appeals court will hear arguments in the days ahead on the administration's deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon.

A detention hearing will continue in the coming day for the suspect in the deadly Palisades fire near Los Angeles. Investigators say Jonathan Rinderknecht was arrested in Florida, where he had his first court appearance Wednesday. He did not enter a plea to charges of destruction of property, which could see him go to prison for up to 20 years.

Officials say he started a fire while working as an Uber driver in California back in January. Investigators say a lighter likely was used to set the fire in paper or vegetation. The Palisades Fire killed a dozen people and burned thousands of homes and businesses. Los Angeles mayor says many survivors are still without homes.

Former FBI Director James Comey wants the criminal case against him dismissed. We're going to look at the charges he's facing and what his attorney said about President Trump at his arraignment.

Plus, staffing shortages at air traffic control towers are causing headaches across the US. I'll speak with an expert about problems in the air traffic travel industry made worse by the government shutdown.

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[01:18:05]

KINKADE: Welcome back. Flight delays across the U.S. could get even worse in the coming days due to airport staffing shortages. Officials have reported an increase in air traffic controllers calling out sick amid the government shutdown, even though they're supposed to keep working without pay until the shutdown ends.

The U.S. Travel Association estimates that the effects of the shutdown are costing the travel sector about $1 billion a week, causing irreversible damage. And these are just some of the cities where airports have experienced staffing shortages this week. The list includes major hubs like Atlanta and Chicago.

On Wednesday night, the FAA reported at least six air traffic control facilities as being understaffed. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says he understands the pressures these workers are facing but that they must show up for their job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I'm encouraging air traffic controllers to show up for work. They need to go. They need to go to their jobs. They need to control the airspace. The problem is, when I've talked to them, they are stressed out. They are wondering how do they put food on the table, how do they pay their mortgages if their paycheck doesn't come through? We're having maybe a bit of a rebellion by air traffic controllers caused by the shutdown. But my message to them, they work for me. They got to go to work. Show up, control the airspace, and eventually you're going to get paid.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: -- for Aviation for American Economic Liberties Project. Good to have you with us, Bill.

WILLIAM MCGEE, SENIRO FELLOW FOR AVIATION, AMERCAN ECONOMIC LIBERTIES PROJECT: Thanks very much, Lynda.

KINKADE: So you've warned about cracks in aviation infrastructure before. How does this shutdown make that worse?

MCGEE: It's hard to even measure it. It's -- we already have a crisis in at the FAA and in the air traffic control sector, we've had a crisis for more than four decades. I know that sounds hard to believe, but when you trace the problems with air traffic control understaffing, it goes back to Ronald Reagan when he fired the striking air traffic controllers in 1981.

[01:20:09]

So we have been understaffed, underfunded and under equipped at the FAA, particularly in the air traffic control sector, for decades. There's a lot of political blame to go around. But then when you have a shutdown like this and you have morale, that is already stretched thin.

Let's not forget, because of the shortage of controllers, we are short somewhere between 3,000 and 4,000 controllers nationwide, according to the Government Accountability Office. So you already have morale problems. You already have the unions telling us that many controllers were working six days a week, 10 hours a day. Now, what are we saying to those that aren't furloughed, they're working for free. Well, of course there's going to be morale problems.

KINKADE: And I want to play some sound for our viewers of what happened to a pilot in Burbank in California. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just getting a heads up, you said everything's closed for like our clearances?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Clearance is closed. Grounds closed. Locals was closed. The tower is closed due to staffing. Please just contact SoCal on the 800 number and the green book for your clearance.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Bill, are these isolated cases or is this the tip of the iceberg?

MCGEE: No, it truly is the tip of the iceberg. I mean, we are seeing -- this is like playing whack-a-mole. If you look at a map of the United States, we're seeing problems like this popping up all over the country. If you track these things through the FAA, you see that we've had closures at multiple airports in the last couple of days. Boston, Las Vegas, Palm Beach.

We've had massive delays in some of the busiest airports in the country, particularly in the Northeast. Washington, JFK, LaGuardia, Miami, Orlando. But imagine being a pilot coming in, trying to land an aircraft and you're told there's nobody there. Keep flying. This is just, really -- just untenable. We can't allow this. It eventually will strain safety.

I know that all the officials in the government are saying that safety comes first, but how can it not put a strain?

KINKADE: Yes.

MCGEE: And so we have to do something to address this.

KINKADE: I'm wondering exactly that. If more and more people start calling out, especially amongst TSA staff, air traffic controllers, how dangerous could it get? Especially if this shutdown drives on.

MCGEE: It can get quite dangerous. You know, we have had more than one shutdown in recent years, as we all know. And every time there's a shutdown, when we try and clean up the mess afterwards. There's always discussion in Congress that, well, we will not force those who are necessary to work that they will not do it without pay. But it hasn't happened.

So once again, you're either being furloughed or you're being told to come to work and you're not getting paid. I mean, how are people supposed to pay their rent, pay their mortgage, pay their kids tuition? It's ridiculous. And of course it's open ended. We don't know how long it'll take. And the answer from the government always seems to be, well, eventually you'll get back pay.

That's not the answer because you know, what are you supposed to tell your landlord when the rent comes to.

KINKADE: Yes.

MCGEE: Are we supposed to tell the grocery store?

KINKADE: Just finally, what are the most visible effects for travelers right now, not just in the U.S. but international travelers coming into the U.S. and what's the worst case scenario should this shutdown drag on for weeks like it did last time?

MCGEE: Well, you know, one of the worst effects is really not seen by travelers. And this is what's so disturbing. I've written about it at length for Farmers Travel and for USA Today and for Consumer Reports. And that is that it's not just at the FAA, the air traffic controllers, it's the safety inspectors.

Now these are the people in the front lines at our last line of defense. They're the ones keeping an eye on the airlines, on the repair facilities for the aircraft, at manufacturers like Boeing. And in the past they have been furloughed for up to 35 days at a time. What we have then is a system whereby the aviation industry is self- policing and that simply doesn't work.

So I not only worry about the day to day which we can see with the air traffic control towers and the TSA screeners, but I really worry about the long term effects. What's not being done right now, what's not being inspected, what airplanes are not being seen by the FAA. We have to address this.

KINKADE: Bill McGee, great to get your perspective and analysis. Thanks for your time.

MCGEE: Thanks very much, Lynda.

KINKADE: Well, the price of gold is on track to have its biggest year since 1979. And some on Wall Street are betting that rally is just getting started. A gold boom is typically a red flag about the state of affairs in the world. One of the biggest drivers of the gold rally is the U.S. dollar, which is having one of its worst years in decades.

Gold is up 54 percent so far this year at more than $4,000 an ounce.

[01:25:00]

It comes as the U.S. shutdown derails major economic reports, leaving investors and the Fed in the dark. Well, there's much more to come on CNN Newsroom, including more on the U.S. President's announcement of a deal to end the war in Gaza. There are celebrations in the enclave and in Israel. That story next.

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[01:30:43]

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

I want to return now to our top story. President Trump's announcement that Israel and Hamas have signed on to the first phase of his Gaza plan that will allow for the swift release of all remaining hostages.

This was the reaction among some of the hostage families.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump, you have the best crowd in the world. What do you guys have to say to President Trump?

CROWD: Thank you.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The hostages will come back. They're coming -- all coming back on Monday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Qatari officials say that the deal will also see Israeli forces withdraw to an agreed-upon line and increase the delivery of aid into Gaza. Reaction inside the enclave was also jubilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAEL RADWAN, PALESTINIAN (through translator): Thank God today President Trump announced that the war stopped.

We are very happy. That the war stopped. This is something joyful for us and we thank our brothers and anyone who contributed, even if verbally, to stop the war and to stop the bloodshed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Several thorny issues are yet to be resolved, including a future government for Gaza and the disarmament of Hamas.

Israel's prime minister will convene his government in the coming hours to ratify that agreement.

Well, CNN political and global analyst Barak Ravid was one of the journalists who interviewed the president after the news of that deal broke.

He spoke with CNN earlier about their conversation and what comes next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BARAK RAVID, CNN POLITICAL AND GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: President Trump ended our call by saying the whole world came together to reach this deal, including countries that were enemies.

And I think that President Trump now, his biggest challenge will be how to move from this first phase of this deal to the second phase.

That will be at least -- at least as difficult and complicated because it speaks not only about a ceasefire and a release of hostages. It speaks about what Gaza will look like in the future. It speaks about reconstruction in Gaza. It speaks about an international security force. All of those things are very complicated.

But -- and Trump will have to deal with them once he's back from his trip to the Middle East.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Joining us now is Aaron David Miller, a former State Department Middle East negotiator and senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Always great to have you on the program. Thanks for your time.

AARON DAVID MILLER, FORMER STATE DEPARTMENT MIDDLE EAST NEGOTIATOR: Thanks for having me, Lynda.

KINKADE: So having worked on these kind of negotiations yourself, do you view this first phase deal as a real breakthrough?

MILLER: I mean, given the horrors that Israelis and Palestinians have inflicted on one another over the course of the last two years. And remember, today is the beginning of the third year of this war.

It's gone on longer. It's been bloodier in duration than any previous Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and probably any Arab-Israeli conflict in history.

It's not the forever peace that the president describes, and it's not the total victory that Benjamin Netanyahu promised.

It does offer a break. And again, it's a 20-point plan that is pretending to be comprehensive. But let's be very clear. You put your finger on it to begin with. It's a first phase implementation plan.

KINKADE: So what do you see as the landmines in getting from this point to sustainable peace, or even a full ceasefire?

MILLER: Well, I mean, as soon as we get through the next four or five days, the Israeli cabinet, excuse me, the Israeli -- the Israeli cabinet needs to approve. There's a 24-hour period since the Israelis are releasing Palestinians, 250 of them who have been accused of killing Israelis. There's an appeal process in which the families, the victims' families

of the victims of those killings, have a chance to appeal what the Israeli government is doing.

[01:34:44]

MILLER: Assuming the Israelis withdraw to a line that is apparently agreed upon between Israel and Hamas and the mediators and the hostage -- the hostages that are no longer alive are recovered and can be returned in a timely fashion.

You're then going to get to the very knotty question of how to create a break in Hamas's determination not to give up its weapons and to remain a vibrant political force in Gaza with pretensions to rule the Palestinian national movement as a whole and increase its influence on the West Bank on one hand.

And Benjamin Netanyahu's determination to demilitarize Hamas, to end its capacity clearly to do another October 7th. But also to extinguish its political influence in Gaza.

Israel will not withdraw its forces unless Hamas is -- agrees to give up its weapons, and you end up with a security force, presumably, according to the 20-point plan composed of troops from Arab and Muslim countries.

And even then, the Israelis will demand the right to preempt and prevent Hamas's resuscitation.

Then you get to the complex question of who's going to govern Gaza and international board with seemingly token Palestinian representation.

It's a world of complexity and migraine headaches from here on in for the mediators.

KINKADE: So is Hamas likely to see this deal as a win or a trap? And what about Israel's far right factions? Could they resist elements of this agreement?

MILLER: Yes, I mean, they could. And I suspect after phase one, assuming they don't (INAUDIBLE) from the government before, and I don't think they will, Netanyahu is freed from any effort to dissolve the Knesset until October 19th, when, I believe when the Knesset comes back into session.

No, I think the government will last for a while. As far as Hamas is concerned. Look, I think the dynamics have fundamentally shifted.

Yahya Sinwar, the other veteran Hamas leaders that planned October 7th, who put great stock in retaining hostages, I think that the current military leadership, the brigade commanders that are making the decisions inside basically have been persuaded that the hostages represent a diminishing asset.

And the only way they're going to survive politically and ameliorate Israeli political pressures to release them and then deprive the Israelis of any justification for continuing the war.

They're also counting on key Arab states, Qataris and the Turks and others, to press Donald Trump who presumably will press the Israelis to continue sort of drawing back from their intensive, more comprehensive military campaign.

So you could end up with a situation in which the Israelis are present in Gaza, Hamas is not eliminated, to be sure, as a political force, maybe more humanitarian assistance getting in.

But Lynda, an end of the war that normal humans, let's say, in this case, you, you and I would consider an end to the war, I think that's a ways off --

KINKADE: Yes.

MILLER: -- if at all.

KINKADE: Aaron David Miller, great to get your analysis as always. Thanks so much.

MILLER: Lynda, thanks. Thanks for having me.

KINKADE: Attorneys for James Comey say they hope to get the criminal charges against him dismissed before the case even goes to trial. The former FBI director has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding.

CNN's Katelyn Polantz reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Former FBI director, James Comey, he has a trial date and it's only three months away, January 5th. That is when the former FBI director is set to go to trial in a federal court in northern Virginia.

The charges he faces, he's pleaded not guilty to. They're both about congressional testimony he gave five years ago to the Senate. It was obstruction of a congressional proceeding charge and a false statements charge. Comey says he's not guilty.

And his lawyers at a hearing on Wednesday. In federal court, this first hearing before Judge Michael Nachmanoff, his lawyers said that they're going to do quite a bit to try and challenge the prosecutors here.

A lot of this case will be a battle fought before a jury ever even gets close to the courthouse in northern Virginia in January.

That battle, it's going to include the types of requests from the judge to throw out the case because Comey's team will allege there's been vindictive or selective prosecution. So unfair prosecution of James Comey because they say the Trump administration doesn't like him and that Donald Trump himself directed this case to be brought.

[01:39:49]

POLANTZ: There also will be a challenge of the U.S. attorney here who oversaw this case, who herself took it through the grand jury. Her name is Lindsey Halligan, and she was in court today, which was a little bit unusual. You only see usually lower-level prosecutors appear before a court in a proceeding like this.

There also will be allegations that the defense team wants to bring into court, saying that there was abuse of a grand jury, outrageous government conduct -- all of the sorts of things that will be looking with a microscope not just on the Justice Department's behavior in this indictment, but also the political speech from President Donald Trump, from the attorney general and from others in the Trump administration.

Judge Michael Nachmanoff, he indicated he wants things to move quite fast. That three-month timeline to trial is short, and when they get there, the prosecutors say they will only need two or three days to try this case.

There are things that could derail it, though. Of course, trial dates do move, and the prosecutors, they indicated they actually may not even be that prepared to go to trial right now.

They're still wrapping their arms around the evidence in the case. And they're also looking at the possibility of having classified documents that are part of it as well. Something else that could derail this.

Comey did not speak as he was exiting the courthouse, but he was surrounded by many of his family members. And there are many, many onlookers on seeing exactly what happens in this case, because it is the first in the Trump administration where someone that Donald Trump expressly wanted to see charged has been and now is headed to trial.

Back to you.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Still ahead, some of the most highly anticipated movies of the year are screening this week and next at the London Film Festival. And CNN is on the red carpet for opening night.

[01:41:35]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KINKADE: Welcome back.

Most of the deep sea remains a mystery and hidden with it are submarine canyons -- vast underwater valleys that support marine life and help keep our oceans in balance.

As part of the Rolex Perpetual Planet Initiative, the One Ocean Foundation is venturing into the deep sea off the coast of Italy to explore and protect one of these fragile ecosystems.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GINEVRA BOLDROCCHI, SCIENTIFIC PROJECT COORDINATOR, ONE OCEAN FOUNDATION: The Mediterranean Sea and the Canyon of Caprera is my home. The canyon is sustaining so many different species, including sharks, the fin whale, the sperm whale, striped dolphin, bottlenose dolphins -- a lot of dolphins. So this area needs to be protected.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: This is the canyon of Caprera. Stretching more than a thousand meters deep, it is one of the Mediterranean's largest and most biodiverse underwater ecosystems.

In the rough blue waters spanning some 20 to 40 kilometers off the coast of Sardinia, researchers are about to explore the canyon's seabed for the first time with an ROV, a remote-operated vehicle.

FRANCESCO ENRICHETTI, RESEARCHER, UNIVERSITY OF GENOA: The area we are going to explore is located deeper in the range of 800 -- 1,000 meters depth. This area is extremely interesting for us because we have very little information at the level. So we hope to find interesting organisms there.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see how many fishing lines.

WEIR: Sailor-turned-engineer Guido Guy is a pioneer in underwater ROV exploration and will be piloting this mission today.

GUIDO GUY, ENGINEER: These organisms grow on the rocks of the sea bottoms, forming these huge forests, which are extremely important for other organisms.

WEIR: While the ROV works underwater, marine biologist Ginevra Boldrocchi works on the surface, collecting acoustic data, pollution levels and animal DNA.

BOLDROCCHI: The overall mission of the project is conservation. The first step of every conservation initiative, and so you need science to prove that the area is actually important.

So the first thing we are going to do is the DNA sampling. We want to get all the biological traces which are present in our sea water.

And then we do either the acoustics. This is not only detecting the marine mammals but also noise pollution made from maritime traffic.

WEIR: Submarine canyons play a fundamental role in ocean health. They cycle nutrients, store carbon, and provide a habitat for countless marine species from corals to sharks.

BOLDROCCHI: At the moment, the canyon has no kind of effective protection at all. So we are going to lose our refugees for so many endangered species and we will lose a lot of biodiversity.

WEIR: After surveying the depths of the canyon, today's ROV expedition uncovered rare corals and a wide array of marine life.

[01:49:51] ENRICHETTI: And we collected these small gorgonians. Identification is impossible through the images. So we have to analyze it at the laboratory.

WEIR: They also found the worst kind of human impact with fishing gear and litter scattered across the seafloor.

ENRICHETTI: We all serve a rare population of the soft bottom gorgonian completely destroyed by the impact of these long lines.

WEIR: As their research continues, they hope this data will help strengthen their call for a legal framework to protect the canyon and safeguard its future.

BOLDROCCHI: We want to show that we have important community also in the bottom that deserve to be protected.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: And you let us know what you are doing to answer the call with a #CalltoEarth.

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KINKADE: Welcome back. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

You may have noticed I'm wearing pink in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer is the second most common cancer here in the United States.

A new study finds that women have a 40 percent higher long-term risk of dying from the disease if they miss their first mammogram. Doctors recommend women start receiving mammograms at the age of 40. The good news is, if detected early, survival rates are high.

Well, California is now the first U.S. state to not only define unhealthy ultra processed foods, but ban them from 1 billion meals that are served to school children every year.

Governor Gavin Newsom signed the Real Food, Healthy Kids Act into law on Wednesday. It requires public health officials and scientists to decide which ultra processed foods are most harmful to human health.

Officials have ten years to fully phase those foods out of the school food supply.

Well, some of the biggest movie stars are turning out for the British Film Institute's London Film Festival as the 69th edition is now underway. 12 days of screenings and red-carpet interviews celebrate the latest and greatest in the film industry.

CNN's Anna Cooban reports from the red carpet.

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ANNA COOBAN, CNN REPORTER: I'm here at the Royal Festival Hall for the opening night of the BFI London Film Festival.

Over the next two weeks, the great and good of world cinema will be treading this red carpet, all hoping that the festival can provide the springboard to box office success and awards glory.

Raising the curtain tonight is "Wake Up, Dead Man", which is the latest installment in Rian Johnson's "Knives Out" series starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a detective.

I asked Craig earlier what he thinks about his third time reprising this role.

DANIEL CRAIG, ACTOR: Having a cast like this and having someone as brilliant as Rian Johnson writing and directing these films, it's like an actor's dream.

COOBAN: And you shot in the U.K. last year. More and more productions are coming to the U.K. What do you make of this sort of resurgence in British cinema right now?

CRAIG: I can't actually overexaggerate the importance of it, really. It's like -- it's what we do brilliant. We have some of the best crews and creative people in the world in this country who are second to none.

[01:54:49]

CRAIG: And it's what, you know, it's my industry. So obviously, I've got some skin in the game, but it's also -- I've watched it grow and grow over the past few years, and I couldn't be prouder of it. And I think long may it last.

GLENN CLOSE, ACTRESS: It was like skating on smooth ice. It was -- you know, everybody just -- we've had all so much experience and it's so much fun to bring all of that into this group and just enjoy each other's company and be inspired and, entertained by everyone else's work. It was one of the best experiences I've had.

COOBAN: And what's it like working with Daniel Craig?

CLOSE: Heaven. He's lovely. And you know, everybody here -- a lot of us have done theater. So there's a kind of breadth of experience and perspective, you know, that just makes watching somebody, you always learn by being in this profession, you know, if you're lucky to work with great people, you learn from that.

And so when you're surrounded by that, it just becomes one -- you know, an amazing experience.

JOSH BROLIN, ACTOR: Usually during a movie like that, you go to your respective trailers. We all ended up in the same trailer. We all ended up hanging out the whole time on and off the set.

So I don't know why you can't, you know, you go, oh, if I just get these people, it's going to be perfect. It's usually not the case.

But this was -- this was an amazing experience just personally.

(CROSSTALKING)

BROLIN: What?

COOBAN: Magic in a bottle.

BROLIN: It was.

COOBAN: Over the next few days, the likes of George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Daniel Day-Lewis and Emma Stone will be attending this festival. So audiences have a lot to look forward to.

Anna Cooban, CNN -- London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, scientists are getting a better idea about where to land future spacecraft on Mars. They looked at data from the planet's tornadoes, which put large amounts of dust into the Martian atmosphere.

Scientists learned those storms are much stronger and raise more dust than previously believed. The information is already being used to pick better landing sites for future Mars missions.

Well, thanks so much for your company tonight. I'm Lynda Kinkade.

Stay with us. NEWSROOM with the lovely Rosemary Church is next.

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