Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Gaza Ceasefire in Effect, Israel Pulls Back Troops; Aid Groups Preparing for Rapid Response to Gaza; Palestinians Can Use Rafah Crossing to Return Home; Trump Grumbles about Nobel Peace Prize. Aired 3-3:30a ET

Aired October 11, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching from around the world. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London.

Ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, a ceasefire in Gaza is in effect. And as some displaced Palestinians are returning to their homes, we await the exchange of prisoners and hostages.

French president Emmanuel Macron selects a new prime minister. But in a shocking twist, selects the same man who quit the job earlier this week.

And Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. U.S. President Donald Trump weighs in after missing out on the honor.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (voice-over): Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Salma Abdelaziz.

ABDELAZIZ: You're looking at live pictures of Israel and Gaza, where it is now 10:00 on Saturday morning.

We are expecting a very crucial hostage in prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas. It could happen at any time before the Monday deadline.

The Israeli military pulled back its forces to an agreed-upon point, in accordance with that ceasefire deal. The military says troops will still be present in some areas and is warning people to avoid approaching them.

U.S. President Donald Trump says he believes the ceasefire deal will hold because, according to him, all sides involved are, quote, "tired of the fighting."

About 200 U.S. troops have begun arriving in Israel as part of an effort to monitor and facilitate the ceasefire, now in its first phase, and thousands of Palestinians displaced by the war hoping to return to whatever is left of their homes.

Crowds of people have been walking from the south of the enclave toward the north and Gaza City. Live now to Dubai and CNN's Eleni Giokos.

I want to first of all, good morning. I want to ask you about how and when this hostage release will take place.

Are we going to see this happening all at once or is this more of a gradual process?

ELENI GIOKOS, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's such an important question because logistically it is going to be a challenge. And remember, the 72-hour clock is ticking. It ends noon Israeli time Monday or 5 am Eastern.

So we're a day in essentially, Salma. Logistically, I want to kind of give you an understanding of what's going on. You've got 48 hostages currently trapped in Gaza. We understand at least 20 to be alive. We also understand that they are in different parts of the Gaza Strip.

The International Committee of the Red Cross, of course, are going to help facilitate, as we've seen in other hostage releases. And the question about whether we're going to see them all out at one go or perhaps seeing them coming through at different stages of this is going to be an important question.

Perhaps one we'll get an answer to in the coming hours. But this is why you've got U.S. troops on the ground that are going to have to help facilitate and monitor what is going on and how this is going to work out.

For Hamas. of course, this is a challenge because locating the hostages is going to be important. And, of course, locating the remains of the deceased is also going to be important.

Prime minister Netanyahu says that perhaps not all of the remains are going to be located within the 72-hour window. We also understand and I want to give you a sense of what we understand on the numbers.

So 48 hostages trapped right now; 20 at least are believed to be alive. And then it also one included of a former IDF soldier held there since 2014. Those remains also expected to return to Israel.

In terms of the pain, the trauma and, of course, the closure of this two-year war, we've seen so much activity at Hostage Square in Israel, people coming out and praying and, of course, the immense pressure that we've seen being put on prime minister Netanyahu and his government to get a deal done.

I want you to take a listen to a hostage that was released in February, Eli Sharabi, who says he's got mixed feelings because of the pain and the loss that he's endured but also a sense of closure. Now take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ELI SHARABI, FORMER HOSTAGE: We have mixed feelings about all this and because of my brother, Yossi, hostage as well on October 7 and killed in captivity later.

[03:05:00]

And that we are going to get him, you know, his body now. So it's a bit of closure for us. Very sad closure. But I'm waiting to see my friend from captivity, Alon Noel (ph) and that will come to an end, this -- all this nightmare for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GIOKOS: Hospitals in Israel are preparing for the hostages. We understand at least two hostages are believed to be in very poor condition.

In the meantime, Salma, on the other side of the border, we're seeing about 1,700 trucks waiting to get in, filled with aid and medical supplies. We know in the Gaza Strip, where we've seen famine and we have seen the immense destruction of critical infrastructure included in some of the aid that is going to be going in.

We're going to see perhaps a bit of effort in terms of repairing the critical infrastructure like bakeries and sanitation and hospitals. So that is going to be part of this phase one deal that is now fully in effect.

There's a big question in terms of what happens after this and what details need to be worked out. That's perhaps a question we can answer come Monday after the 72-hour window closes; 250 Palestinians that are facing life sentences will be released and 1,700 other Palestinians that were arrested will also be released on Monday.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you so much for breaking that down. You really give me a sense of all these different moving parts. Thank you.

New satellite imagery reveals the sheer scale and extent of the damage in Gaza after two years of Israeli bombardment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): The images taken after the ceasefire took effect on Friday show a colorless, burned-out landscape. Many buildings and infrastructure now reduced to rubble. CNN's Jeremy Diamond has more on how Palestinians are reacting as they return to what remains of their war-ravaged homes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): There is no joy in this homecoming. Only mounds of rubble to step over and sift through. Israeli troops have withdrawn. A ceasefire is in place but at 70 years old, Majdi al-Gor (ph) has returned to find his Gaza City neighborhood in ruins.

"I want to sleep on the rubble but I do not even have a blanket or a cover to sleep on," al-Gor (ph) says. "I can't change my clothes. This is the only set I have. I want to take a shower but I can't. I want to go to the toilet but I can't. Where should I go?"

He is far from alone. Tens of thousands of Palestinians have begun to return to their homes in northern Gaza, trekking along the same coastal road many took to flee advancing Israeli troops just weeks earlier.

Here, the mood is still upbeat, despite it all.

"I feel immense joy. My heart is full of love, though also tired and weary," this man says.

"Now we will go to see our homes and we hope to find them still standing," Adel Abu Salama (ph) says, "because almost everything around them is destroyed and the children were killed. God willing, we will find other people safe and well."

This is the rude awakening that awaits many at the end of their long journey.

The Tel al-Hawa neighborhood of Gaza City is one skeletal block after the next.

Khalil is still taking stock of the destruction after returning home to find everything destroyed.

"What are we supposed to cry for?

What are we supposed to look for?

Look, these are our cars. These are our homes. These are our lives."

As one chapter closes, another only just beginning.

DIAMOND: As Palestinians begin to pick up the pieces, here in Israel, the families of the hostages are eagerly awaiting their return. The Israeli military on Friday at noon completed its withdrawal from parts of the Gaza Strip. And that set off a 72-hour clock for Hamas to return the hostages back to Israel.

That means that Monday at noon local time is the last possible moment when Hamas can release those hostages. Remember, there are 20 living hostages expected to be released. The bodies of 28 others, although at this point it seems unclear whether all of those bodies will be released right now.

That's because we understand that Hamas does not know the location of all of those bodies. The International Red Cross set to assist in finding and recovering some of those bodies over the coming period of time.

And on Monday, we are also expecting President Trump to come and visit the region. His visit to Israel on Monday, set to coincide, it would seem, with the release of those hostages -- Jeremy Diamond, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Live now to Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

[03:10:00]

We have Olga Cherevko with us. She is the spokesperson in Gaza for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Good morning. First of all, thank you so much for joining me today.

I want to ask you, first of all, just how did you sleep?

How did the Palestinian families around you sleep last night?

I mean, after two years of airstrikes, which I know often happen in the middle of the night, I imagine that a sense of security doesn't just suddenly return for everyone.

OLGA CHEREVKO, SPOKESPERSON, OFFICE FOR THE COORDINATION OF HUMANITARIAN AFFAIRS, GAZA: Good morning, Salma. Thanks for having me. You know, it was a bit surreal to actually sleep in quiet where there was no bombs falling.

There was no loud explosions or things that we are so used to or drones, airplanes and these kinds of things that were constantly present in our lives, day or night. And I think there is a really positive air of hope here that has been present since the last couple of days.

And yesterday I took a ride to drive to the al-Rashid Road, where thousands of people were northbound back to Gaza City. And I could see everybody with huge smiles on their faces.

But, of course, it's a mixed, mixed emotion. As your correspondent said earlier, many of them arrived to find their homes in ruins. Some of them have only left days ago while others have been gone for quite some time from the north. So it's a lot of mixed emotions but also a lot of hope and a lot of relief.

ABDELAZIZ: You talk about the mixed emotions and the hope but I do want to ask you how families are responding to this deal, especially with so many who have been killed in this conflict, among them almost 18,500 children. I can only imagine that for every parent, for every family, they're thinking about the ones who didn't make it out alive.

Is this, at best, relief right now for them?

CHEREVKO: I think it will be a process. I think it will be a process of emotions that will have to be processed with time, both here and in Israel by the -- by everybody who has been suffering in these two years of the war. So it will be probably alternating with happiness, with grief, with

relief, with hope and these kinds of emotions that that will be mixed together. I think it will take time. I think obviously we know that the mental impact, the psychological impact that this war has taken on the people is immense, especially children, of course.

So we will -- we -- this is one of the areas that we will be prioritizing to make sure that these kinds of services continue to be provided to the people as they are returning and as their life is restarting for them.

ABDELAZIZ: It will take time. of course, it will take time. But what is needed most urgently, I imagine, is aid, is help, is food, is medicine. We understand that Israel says that 600 aid trucks a day should soon start to flow into Gaza.

What more can you tell us about that aid, when it's arriving, if it's enough?

CHEREVKO: So we have this plan. We have about 170,000 metric tons of aid in the various corridors in the region, basically waiting to be loaded and come and enter Gaza. And these things include, of course, food, medicine, shelter, these kinds of -- these kinds of supplies that will be able to meet people's needs.

Of course we are -- we have been ready. We have been saying that we have been ready to implement this plan.

We have the 60 days benchmark during which we will be targeting various vulnerable groups who need this assistance most urgently, including the feeding 2.1 million people, targeting about 500,000 people with nutrition, treatments, education.

Prioritizing, including by reopening temporary learning centers water and sanitation facilities, to reduce the dependency on water trucking and things like this and many, many other things.

So for these things to happen, we need a certain number of enablers to be in place. And these include opening additional crossings, having these crossings being functional. So that means additional scanners, multiple convoys being able to run a day.

Of course, protection for our workers, protection of civilians, infrastructure being restored and these types of things that need to be in place. So this is what we are hoping for.

[03:15:00]

That these steps will be taken without delay and that we will be proceeding as soon as possible.

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you, Olga, so much for that. A massive task ahead in getting that aid to the people who need it.

CHEREVKO: Thank you so much.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ABDELAZIZ: Russia's president says the push for peace from his summit with his U.S. counterpart in Alaska still has some legs.

Presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump met there in August but didn't produce any breakthroughs on Ukraine. Even Russia's deputy foreign minister recently said the push from that summit is gone but Mr. Putin believes otherwise.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR PUTIN, PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA (through translator): But we remain on the grounds of that discussion, which has taken place in Anchorage. Here, we do not change anything for ourselves. We think that some additional adjustments from both sides but, in general terms, we remain within the framework of the Alaska agreements.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Meanwhile, Ukraine is reeling from a massive wave of Russian strikes on its energy system. It says close to 500 drones and missiles were launched overnight into Friday, causing temporary power outages across the country. Ukraine's president says the attack showed there's only one way to deal with Moscow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Just look at what's happening. Even Hamas, you see? Everyone eventually shows readiness to stop military actions except for the Kremlin and Putin. And we can see it. That's why they must be stopped by force, which means air defense and carrying out long-range strikes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ: Qatar will build a brand new center to train its military pilots thousands of kilometers from home. The facility will be constructed in the U.S. state of Idaho, where U.S. and Qatari militaries will train together. As Natasha Bertrand reports, the plans have been in the making for years.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: So a U.S. official told us that this is actually pretty routine. This is something that the U.S., for example, has done with Germany and Singapore. And in fact, Singapore's air force already has a presence at that Idaho base where this Qatari facility is going to be built.

Now the agreements with these partner countries are essentially a way to foster increased coordination and interoperability between them and the U.S., which obviously can help if you're in a situation where you have to train alongside these partners.

Or, of course, a real-world situation where, for example, Qatari pilots might have to operate alongside U.S. pilots. It's a way for the U.S. to essentially train them better on the jets that the U.S. has sold them.

And so Qatari fighter jet squadron, Qatari fighter pilots, they are going to be at this facility, at this Idaho U.S. military base. And it's important to note that while the Qataris are going to be paying for this, they're going to be doing so through the foreign military sales process.

The U.S. military is actually going to be physically building the facility. And we should also note that this is actually a project that dates back to 2022 under the Biden administration. They had been exploring this for several years. But it only recently came together in the last few weeks.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Eighteen people are feared dead or missing after an enormous blast devastated an explosives manufacturing plant in Tennessee. The explosion could be felt up to 24 kilometers away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABDELAZIZ (voice-over): Before and after images show the extent of the damage. The facility shown here on the left was obliterated in the blast, which officials equated to, quote, "a mass detonation."

It left charred debris and burnt-out vehicles in its wake. Officials say the facility made military and demolition explosives and has 80 employees. Now it's unclear how many were in the plant at the time of the explosion.

And political whiplash in France as the country's prime minister returns to office just days after stepping down. Details in what's at stake for Emmanuel Macron's government, just ahead on CNN.

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[03:20:00]

(MUSIC PLAYING)

ABDELAZIZ: Rounding out a roller coaster week in French politics, president Emmanuel Macron is returning prime minister Sebastien Lecornu to his post just days after the PM quit the job. Mr. Macron is hoping Lecornu can gather enough support in the deeply divided parliament to pass next year's budget by the Monday deadline.

But Lecornu's appointment is being met with criticism from the far right and the hard left. Many of Mr. Macron's rivals are demanding he either call snap parliamentary elections or resign.

And the winner of the Nobel Peace Prize says it belongs to the people of Venezuela. Maria Corina Machado was awarded the coveted prize on Friday for, quote, "keeping the flame of democracy burning amid a growing darkness." According to the Norwegian Nobel committee, the Venezuelan opposition

leader won for her unwavering campaign for a peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy. She has been in hiding in Venezuela since last year after a disputed election.

U.S. President Donald Trump spoke with Machado on Friday. He claimed she said she was accepting the award in his honor because he actually deserved it. Before that conversation, a Trump administration official denounced the Nobel committee for honoring Machado with the award. CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Trump has made no secret of his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize After campaigning, pleading, prodding for years --

TRUMP: Where's my Nobel Peace Prize?

They don't talk about it.

FOREMAN (voice-over): President Donald Trump has lost again.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You will be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for 2025.

MARIA CORINA MACHADO, FORMER DEPUTY, NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF VENEZUELA: Oh, my God. Oh, my God.

FOREMAN (voice-over): The winner is Maria Corina Machado, an outspoken defender of democracy in Venezuela.

[03:25:00]

Where she'd been forced into hiding by the authoritarian regime. Trump has previously praised her but as her win was announced, a White House spokesperson griped, the Nobel Committee proved they place politics over peace. On Capitol Hill, the president's party is bristling, too.

REP. BUDDY CARTER (R-GA): That's why he deserves the Nobel Peace Prize and that's why I'm introducing a resolution for a sense of Congress today that will honor him with the Nobel Peace Prize.

FOREMAN (voice-over): It's not clear how that would work but they're not alone. Team Trump's peace efforts in the Middle East, past and present, prompted Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu to mock up a fake image of Trump with the medal and send a letter to the Nobel Committee.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: It's nominating you for the Peace Prize, which is well-deserved. And you should get it.

TRUMP: Thank you very much. This I didn't know.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Leaders in Pakistan and Cambodia have also praised Trump's peace efforts, parts of Africa as well. I believe that he does deserve a Nobel Peace Prize, the president of Gabon said and even Ukraine says it will back the prize for Trump if he ever delivers the peace he has promised their nation.

But Trump's unprecedented attacks on democratic norms at home, his calls for armed suppression of protesters, his legal pursuit of foes, pressure on education, business, the free press and free speech, have all spurred sharp criticism of his claim to being the peace president.

JIMMY KIMMEL, ABC HOST: The peace president is sending a platoon to invade a yoga studio in Portland right now.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Perhaps that's why Trump himself admits he may never get a piece of that glory he so clearly craves.

TRUMP: They will never give me a Nobel Peace Prize. It's too bad. I deserve it but they will never give it to me.

FOREMAN (voice-over): Tom Foreman, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABDELAZIZ: Thank you for joining us. I'm Salma Abdelaziz in London. "MARKETPLACE MIDDLE EAST" is next and I'll be back with more CNN NEWSROOM in about half an hour.