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Thousands Attend Rally in Tel Aviv Ahead of Hostage Release; Palestinians Return Home to Rubble in Gaza; U.S. Military to Have Role in Ceasefire Coordination; Zelenskyy Sees Hope for Ukraine After Gaza Ceasefire; Massive Blast at Tennessee Explosives Plant Kills 16 People. Aired 12-1a ET
Aired October 12, 2025 - 00:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Well, hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Becky Anderson, live today from Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt.
Well, a long and agonizing wait is almost over for Israel. In just one day the remaining hostages in Gaza are set to be released. Israel's hostage coordinator has told families that the process is expected to start on Monday morning.
Well, these are live images from the Israel-Gaza border this morning as the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas still taking hold. Families have waited more than two years for this moment. On Saturday, many of them expressed hope about their loved ones' return, as well as gratitude to those who brokered the deal.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROWD: Thank you, Trump. Thank you, Trump. Thank you, Trump.
ZAHIRO SHAHAR MOR, NEPHEW OF SLAIN HOSTAGE AVRAHAM MUNDER: Today we stand at a pivotal moment. A deal is on the table. We finally feel hope. But we cannot and would not stop now. Every single hostage must come home. The living and the deceased. Every family deserves closure. Every family deserves to bring their loved ones home. Let's end this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, thousands of people flocked to Tel Aviv for a rally ahead of the hostages' release. Some held large banners suggesting the U.S. president deserves a Nobel Prize for his efforts. But the same praise for Donald Trump was not given to their country's own leader, Benjamin Netanyahu. Here's what happened when U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff mentioned each one in a speech.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE WITKOFF, U.S. SPECIAL ENVOY: President of the United States Donald J. Trump that made this peace possible. (CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)
WITKOFF: To Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who --
(BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, in Gaza, thousands of Palestinians displaced during the war have been streaming back home. But they are finding very little, if not nothing but ruin. Busy neighborhoods that were once full of life are now deserted areas littered with debris.
Since the ceasefire began, around 150 bodies have been recovered from the rubble across the enclave. Here's how one woman described the devastation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHADHA AL-NAJJAR, FROM THE BANI SUHEILA AREA (through translator): The scale of destruction is indescribable. Nothing remains in its place. All our bedrooms are destroyed. Only the roof remains intact. It hasn't collapsed, so that will shelter us in winter. But it may take 50 years to restore it to what it was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: Well, Israelis and Palestinians alike are feeling a mixture of grief and joy right now.
CNN's Oren Liebermann has more on the mood in Tel Aviv.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF: There is a tremendous sense of anticipation here after two years of war, the return of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. 48 hostages are set to be released, 20 of whom are believed to be alive as we expect to see the first phase of the ceasefire agreement under President Donald Trump's 20- point proposal play out over the course of the next 48 hours or so.
Still, the anticipation here we saw that and we felt it in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv throughout the day on Saturday. In the morning, there was a crowd of hundreds that were determined to be there and be together. Strangers coming together effectively as a family, waiting for the remaining hostages to come home and showing strength in a place that for so long Hostages Square has been a location of mourning, desperation and anger.
A very different feeling there. And as it got into Saturday evening, we saw thousands, hundreds of thousands, according to the Hostages and Missing Families Forum, pack the square and the surrounding streets. U.S. envoy Steve Witkoff was there and spoke, as did President Donald Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner. Every time they mentioned Trump, there was a loud and boisterous applause, a sense of thanks that you could very much feel for the person they view as making this happen, as pushing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to come to this agreement, to sign the ceasefire, to end the war, and to bring the remaining hostages home.
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When Witkoff tried to mention Netanyahu, a very different reaction. Boos across the crowd, loud and for quite some time here until Witkoff was able to calm the crowd and move on and say he was a part of making this moment happen.
After we see Hamas release the remaining hostages, again 20 of whom are believed to be alive, 28 of whom are deceased, we will see at some point after that Israel released 250 Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences and 1700 Palestinians detained since the beginning of the war. In preparation for that, Israel has already begun to move Palestinian prisoners to locations and prisons in southern Israel from which they will be released, and a number of them will be deported.
The release of hostages, prisoners and detainees is the crucial first phase of this ceasefire agreement. After that comes the second phase, and that includes the international security force that's supposed to move into Gaza, the disarmament of Hamas, as well as the rebuilding of Gaza. But the details to make that happen, crucially, have yet to be worked out. And those will be very difficult negotiations that have to be held in the days ahead.
Oren Liebermann, CNN, in Tel Aviv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ANDERSON: Well, Yaakov Katz is a senior columnist for "The Jerusalem Post." He's also a senior fellow at the Jewish People Policy Institute, and author of "While Israel Slept," a book about Hamas's October the 7th attack.
And it's good to have you this morning. Just talk to us about the emotion and the anticipation in Israel as we inch closer to the expected release of these hostages and just the significance of what will unfold in the coming hours.
YAAKOV KATZ, SENIOR COLUMNIST, THE JERUSALEM POST: Well, this is a country that's definitely holding its breath at the moment, Becky. We saw the tens of thousands that really came out last night two Hostage Square in Tel Aviv, heard the speeches of Steve Witkoff, of Jared Kushner, of Ivanka Trump and of course, of some of the former, the released hostages, those who have already come back. And everyone is just waiting.
This is an entire country I think that Monday, when we see those 20 living hostages, please God, cross back into Israel, return and re- embrace with their loved ones after more than two years of being in Hamas captivity, it will be a moment that you won't have one dry eye in this entire country.
But it's also a moment that people are very concerned. What comes next? I mean, just yesterday we saw images from the streets of Gaza, where Hamas is trying to reassert its control. Masked armed gunmen are back on the streets of Gaza in the thousands, and it just shows and underscores, I think, to many people, how Hamas is not exactly gone. And what happens in that second stage is over and spoke about how those details are still very vague, does have many people here also concerned about the future.
ANDERSON: On that support shown in Hostage Square of Steve Witkoff, of Jared Kushner, of Ivanka Trump, we heard the cheers when Donald Trump's name was mentioned. We also heard those boos for Prime Minister Netanyahu.
I just want our viewers to get a further sense of the atmosphere last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WITKOFF: Well, to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who --
(BOOING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANDERSON: I wonder what that tells you about not only Donald Trump's role in this peacekeeping, but also about Benjamin Netanyahu's standing.
KATZ: Becky, Donald Trump is viewed as the rainmaker, the peacemaker, the man who brought this deal. All Israelis, for months now, if not for since he got elected, and since he came into office definitely in January, all eyes have been to Washington and have been to Donald Trump as the man who has the potential to bring this war to an end and to bring the hostages home.
A long time ago, Israelis lost hope for the most part in the leadership and in this current government. Let's not forget for a moment this is the government that was in office on October 7th of 2023. This is the government whose policies led to the surprise Hamas attack, to the greatest massacre of Jews on a single day since the holocaust. The fact that they're still remaining in office is a question of accountability that us Israelis one day will have to decide and determine, and hopefully new elections will come soon for Israelis to be able to choose new leadership.
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But also just think of this one simple fact, Becky. You haven't had a prime minister of Israel, the prime minister of Israel, I don't think any member of his Cabinet have been to Hostage Square to address the families, the supporters, the people who have been calling for the release for a simple reason. They know that, A, they're not wanted there, and B, they have been, let's just say, overly hesitant over the last two years in trying to get this deal done.
Finally it has been done and 100 percent there is credit that belongs to Prime Minister Netanyahu for finally accepting this deal. But I think it is clear to everybody that he had to be pushed into it by the president of the United States.
ANDERSON: Yes. And I hear that echoed around this region. I am based in Abu Dhabi in the UAE. I hear this support for Donald Trump and the Trump administration's efforts to get this deal across the line reflected around this region. And I think back to being with you in the first days in Tel Aviv after that horrific attack led by Hamas. And I reflect now on where we are and where we've been over the last two years.
Once these hostages are hopefully safe and returned home, I wonder now what will come next in this chapter for Israel? How much pressure will there be on Benjamin Netanyahu? Firstly, to ensure that he sticks to his side of this grand bargain, as it were, for phase two, for an end to this war, and the reconstruction, rehabilitation of Gaza going forward and for accountability for the failures of October the 7th.
KATZ: Well, I think I'll stick to the deal, Becky, for a couple of reasons. But one of the most important is the fact that Donald Trump still has more than three years in office, and he knows that if he violates the deal somehow, and Trump views him as violating the deal, there could be repercussions. And he understands that those are repercussions for the state of Israel. But I think he also understands politically he is trying to portray an image to the Israeli public and the electorate that he knows only he, Netanyahu, knows how to derive strategic benefits from President Trump.
And if that goes sour or sideways, that wouldn't spell well for his potential in the next election, which will come in the coming years. Israelis are supposed to hold elections in October of next year. So just in about a year. But all predictions are that this government won't last the remaining of this year. So sometime over the coming year, we will have an election. And that will be the question of accountability.
But here's what I'll say. We need a state commission of inquiry now that the war has come to an end. This is the moment for Israelis to study and analyze and investigate in depth what happened and how we got to this point, because this could happen again. And look at what's happened over the last two years. The war that has completely shaken this entire region. So many people on both sides have lost their lives. A region that has been embroiled in turmoil and conflict for too long.
And now we have an opportunity to rebuild, not just in Israel and heal but also in Gaza. New leadership, new governance, new security. The Iran on the defensive, Hezbollah on the defensive, Bashar al-Assad's regime gone in Syria. They are real, amazing, tangible opportunities. But we need the right leadership to get there, and we have to investigate for ourselves, for our future, how this happened so it cannot be allowed to happen again.
ANDERSON: It's 7:15 in the morning with you this Sunday, Yaakov. Thank you.
Yaakov Katz, joining us this morning. Aid groups standing by, of course, hoping to surge aid into Gaza as
this ceasefire takes hold. We're going to have that and more when we return.
You're watching breaking news here on CNN.
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ANDERSON: Well, as we await the expected release of the hostages, the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is allowing critical aid to free more freely, flow more freely into Gaza. But exactly how much is still not clear.
New images of Khan Younis showing Palestinians crowding around trucks rushing to grab much needed supplies. The Israeli agency that oversees the movement of humanitarian aid tells CNN that aid trucks were entering the enclave on Saturday. Now, as part of the ceasefire deal, Israel agreed to allow 600 trucks into Gaza every day.
The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees says it has enough food ready to supply the entire population of Gaza for three months, and it must be allowed in.
Well, the humanitarian organization Save the Children has issued a dire warning about the impact two years of war has had on Gaza's kids. They've struggled to find food and clean water and been forced to move out of their homes amid relentless attacks. Save the Children's humanitarian director said, and I quote, "What we are seeing is not only the impact on health, but also on mental health and well-being of children and this collective trauma across a whole generation of children."
Well, Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi is a former member of the Knesset. She joins me now from Nazareth in Israel.
And I just want to start with your reaction, your response to where we are right now, a ceasefire holding in Gaza and the hostages expected to be released hours from now. Just briefly, what's going through your mind after more than two years of war and suffering?
GHAIDA RINAWIE ZOABI, FORMER KNESSET MEMBER: Well, thank you for having me, Becky. This morning, I think that the vast majority of the people in Israel and Palestine are cautiously optimistic. I think that all people are fed up and hoping for a much secure and peaceful tomorrow.
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However, I think that at the end of the day, after the first term is implemented, which is the hostages getting back to their -- to their homes, and the partial withdrawal of the Israeli army, there could be a much more dangerous timeline where I'm not sure to what extent the continuation of the Trump plan will be implemented and in effect. ANDERSON: Yes. And that is the -- that's the next big question, isn't
it? You know, getting through phase one and then, you know, a myriad of questions about the detail on what happens next and its implementation.
Talk to us about what we are expecting to see today, both with the release of the Israeli hostages and the near 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. What can we expect?
RINAWIE ZOABI: Well, I think that as far as the living hostages with all the lists that came to their families, I think that at the end of the day, we will see them all going back. There will be a medical check, of course. And then, some sort of a security check, as we saw in previous hostages getting back. And then they will be welcomed by their own families.
As for the Palestinian prisoners that were imprisoned in the Israeli infrastructure prisoners I think that there -- at least there will be some sort of a change in the names. Now, Hamas is talking that he had already presented a new list of names. There has been talks about Marwan Barghouti. From what I can anticipate, at the end of the day, Marwan Barghouti will not be freed. And I think that that was part of the promise that Benjamin Netanyahu made for Ben-Gvir.
Don't forget that at the end of the day Ben-Gvir made, a very, I would say a TikTok video sadly when he visited the -- two months ago Marwan Barghouti in his prison and he threatened his life also. And I think that Marwan Barghouti will not be freed. I think that more and more, Hamas prisoners will be freed because that would be Hamas's requests. If we look further during the coming months, I think that we can anticipate two major impacts from the Trump plan.
One is the fact that -- and I want to frame it within the elections. We have national elections in one year from now. There has been a lot of talks that Benjamin Netanyahu will try to make these this date more early. I do not think that the date will be earlier than the coming next year in October 2026, because he will continue his narrative that Bibi is king of Israel and Bibi and Benjamin Netanyahu has saved the Jewish Israeli people.
ANDERSON: Right.
RINAWIE ZOABI: And also there is the midterm elections in the United States, where I think Trump will focus more on the internal issues and economical issues and China issues.
ANDERSON: Can I ask you just briefly, as Palestinians in Gaza return north to their homes, largely to rubble, and await a surge of aid, are you confident the people of Gaza will get the support that they need at this point?
RINAWIE ZOABI: Well, I think that it's such a chaotic situation on the ground even if with all the -- with all due respect to the U.N., different departments, all these efforts of the international community and humanitarian aid, I think that there will be a lot of chaos. There will be a lot of people not getting what they need in terms of food and basic products.
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And at the end of the day, if there will not be a much more powerful, larger infrastructure of international community, there will be -- there will be a continuation of this chaos.
ANDERSON: Ghaida, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed for joining us.
Ghaida Rinawie Zoabi in Nazareth this morning for you.
Well, as hopes for rebuilding do rise in Gaza, the role of the U.S. military is important here. What the U.S. is expected to do and what the role of the military is expected to be is after this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
IDIT OHEL, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE AND PIANIST ALON OHEI: Alon is a pianist, and there are so many pianos all over the world with the say Alon, you are not alone. So if you see this piano, please come and join and play for him. And if you have a piano at home, play for Alon so he can hear you and know that you are with him, that he is not alone. And we're so glad and so happy that he is coming home.
Send us an Instagram your playing and hopefully Alon will see it. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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ANDERSON: Well, welcome back to our coverage of the Gaza ceasefire and hostage release. I'm Becky Anderson here in Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt for a summit to be held here on Monday, attended by Donald Trump and those countries involved in negotiating this ceasefire deal and supporting the next phase.
One of those key mediators is Qatar, and we are just learning that three Qatari diplomats have died in a car accident here in Sharm El- Sheikh ahead of Monday's summit. They were part of the Qatari emir's administration and included a member of the royal family. Qatar's embassy in Cairo said two others were injured in the crash, which occurred earlier today when the steering wheel of their car malfunctioned. The two are receiving treatment in these city's international hospital.
Well, Special Envoy Steve Witkoff and President Trump's son-in-law, Jared Kushner, accompanied the U.S. Military's Central Command chief to Gaza on Saturday. They were there to oversee the implementation of a coordination center for the ceasefire. Now, Witkoff, Kushner and Admiral Brad Cooper later returned to Israel. They said the visit was made to monitor progress on the center, intended to support, quote, "post-conflict stabilization in Gaza." U.S. service members have also begun arriving for the effort. About
200 are expected to assist with the flow of humanitarian and logistical aid, as well as provide security assistance.
Well, for more now on what that effort looks like on the ground, I'm joined by CNN military analyst, Colonel Cedric Leighton, U.S. Air Force retired.
It's good to have you, sir. First, break down what we know about this U.S. military coordination.
COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes, Becky. It's good to be with you. The big aspect of this, Becky, is that this is a command center in essence. So the Civil Military Coordination Center is designed to fuse all the information that they can about all ongoing operations, whether it's logistical issue, whether it's a peacekeeping issue, there will be intelligence feeds to it.
So it's basically designed to centralize all the information that comes into an operation like this. And then it disseminates that information to the forces that are designed to be on the ground there. So we believe that there's going to be an international peacekeeping force of some type on the ground in Gaza that will not be U.S. military boots on the ground, but it will be perhaps Arab boots on the ground.
Those elements will then get information from this coordination center, which will allow them to perform their mission in a -- perhaps in a more efficient way and in a way that will, in essence, synchronize all the different elements on the ground in Gaza. So that is the basic idea behind this civil military coordination center that the agreement is setting up here.
ANDERSON: And we know that there have been offers of support in principle by Arab and majority Muslim countries. Which countries do you expect to be providing support to, in the first instance, monitor the ceasefire ahead of any mobilization or presence actually on the ground in Gaza?
LEIGHTON: So as far as we can tell right now, Becky, we're thinking that the Egyptians, the Qataris, the -- perhaps the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, those would be the most likely candidate countries at the moment to go and help with the monitoring mission and actually help staff this coordination center. So those would be the most likely candidates at the moment. There will probably be others that will be part of this effort, but those are the candidate countries that are most likely to be there.
And of course, Egypt and Qatar have obviously also been involved in the diplomatic aspects. So there would be ideal candidates from a military perspective as well.
ANDERSON: Do you expect the sort of longer term presence on the ground, which, to be frank, is going to be controversial, will need U.N. Security Council support a resolution to legitimize that presence? LEIGHTON: Yes, I think that would be a really good idea from a
diplomatic standpoint. U.N. Security Council resolutions have been instrumental in other peacekeeping forces in the Middle East, not only in places like Lebanon, but also very close to Gaza, in places like the Sinai. And they have a long history of actually implementing some kind of peace efforts in these areas.
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And generally speaking, they've had somewhat mixed results. But generally speaking, they've lasted in some cases for a long time, like the Sinai peacekeeping mission has lasted for a very long time for several decades. So those are the kinds of things that we can expect from a diplomatic perspective. It would make a lot of sense to do that.
ANDERSON: How challenging, very briefly, is that undertaking going to be? There are various factors that will be considered and weighed of course.
LEIGHTON: Yes. It's going to be really challenging. One of the key aspects here is the logistics one. The U.S. military has done a very good job in the past with logistics type issues, but they'll also have to be intelligence efforts that are designed to help with this mission. So it's going to be a complex mission. I think it's going to be a very difficult mission for all the parties involved, but it's going to be a mission that will be necessary if there's going to be any peace in Gaza at this point.
ANDERSON: Cedric, it's good to have you. Thank you very much indeed.
Cedric Leighton, out there.
Right. I'm Becky Anderson in Sharm El-Sheikh. I'll be back in about 30 minutes with more of our breaking news coverage. For the time being, let's get you other news. Let's head over to CNN's Ben Hunte, who is in Atlanta -- Ben.
BEN HUNTE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Thank you, Becky.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrations took place around the world on Saturday, just a day after the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel took effect.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PROTESTERS: No more lies. Occupation no more. Occupation no more.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Protesters in London waved Palestinian flags while chanting "free Palestine" and "Occupation No More." Police patrolled the event and were seen removing people from the crowd.
Meanwhile, around 5,000 Palestinian supporters took to the streets of Berlin. These demonstrations come as the first phase of the ceasefire is being implemented, but some attendees questioned whether the U.S. brokered deal will last, while also criticizing Israel.
When U.S. President Donald Trump visits Israel on Monday, he is set to address the Knesset. He will then head to an international summit in Egypt that's expected to include a signing ceremony for the ceasefire agreement.
But the diplomatic progress in Gaza is giving Ukraine some hope for ending its own war with Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke with Mr. Trump on Saturday, and Kevin Liptak has all the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: President Trump's phone call on Saturday with his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, just underscored that for all of the success that the president has had in brokering this agreement in Gaza, the war in Ukraine still remains an outstanding conflict that he has so far been unsuccessful in trying to resolve.
In this phone call, which Zelenskyy described as positive and productive, the Ukrainian leader congratulated the president for his success in this Gaza arrangement. And he wrote on social media that, quote, "If a war can be stopped in one region, then surely other wars can be stopped as well, including the Russian war," suggesting that the president's success in the Middle East could lend momentum to his efforts to try and resolve the Ukraine conflict.
That does reflect something that I've heard from administration officials over the last several days, which is that the president's deal-making success between Israel and Hamas could potentially lend further grist to his efforts to try and resolve the Ukraine war. Now, how exactly that happens remains unclear. So far, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, has shown no signs that he's ready to let up in Ukraine, and President Trump's efforts to arrange a trilateral meeting between Zelenskyy, Putin, and himself have so far been unsuccessful.
One thing that I think it's almost certain that Zelenskyy and Trump discussed on this phone call was Zelenskyy's requests for those long- range Tomahawk missiles that would allow Ukraine to strike much further inside Russian territory. President Trump said last week that, quote, "He had sort of made a decision on whether to provide those weapons to Ukraine," but that he wanted to hear from Kyiv first about how precisely it planned to use them.
Now, this conversation occurring as President Trump prepared to depart for the Middle East. He's expected to leave on Sunday afternoon for Israel, where he will address the Parliament there, the Knesset. He will also travel to Sharm El-Sheikh, the Egyptian Red Sea resort, where this deal was finalized last week. He's expected to participate in a signing ceremony there. Also on hand will be another of -- a number of his foreign counterparts, including the British Prime Minister, Keir Starmer, and the French President, Emmanuel Macron.
Now, I think the sentiment inside the administration in the lead-up to this trip was probably best vocalized by Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, who was speaking in Hostages Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday, when he said that they were not going to celebrate that night. They would celebrate once the hostages come out.
[00:40:15]
You know, the administration acknowledges that this is still quite a fragile moment. As one U.S. official said last week, quote, "There's still just a lot of ways that this can go wrong, so certainly a sense of celebration and anticipation, but also a recognition that this deal remains a delicate one."
Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: Well, President Trump says U.S. military members will get paid despite the ongoing government shutdown. The Pentagon says it's found $8 billion set aside for its research and development. And some of that money will be used to send troops their paychecks this Wednesday. And that's if the government doesn't reopen.
Military members were in danger of missing their first pay since the shutdown began, but redirecting the Pentagon money could face legal challenges, and it's still unclear if the move covers the U.S. Coast Guard, which operates under the Homeland Security Department.
Beijing says it will take countermeasures if President Trump follows through on his threat to impose new 100 percent tariffs on Chinese goods. The threat triggered a massive cryptocurrency selloff that started late on Friday, and as of Saturday afternoon, more than 18 billion in crypto had been liquidated. According to data analysis platform Coin Glass this is the largest crypto liquidation event in history. The losses come after U.S. markets also took hits on Friday.
Multiple injuries are reported after a helicopter crash in a beach parking lot in Southern California. The latest on the investigation and the fallout after the break. Stay with us.
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HUNTE: Welcome back, I'm Ben Hunte. Let's take a look at today's top stories.
Israel's hostage coordinator says the process of releasing the remaining hostages from Gaza is expected to start Monday morning. In Tel Aviv thousands of Israelis held a rally on Saturday ahead of their return. Many expressed joy and excitement. Others thanked the U.S. president for brokering the deal.
Images out of Gaza show Palestinians flocking to their abandoned homes, or what's left of them, as the ceasefire does take effect. Israeli troops pulled back under the first phase of the U.S. brokered deal to end the war, which has left much of the enclave in ruins. U.S. service members will get their paychecks this Wednesday, despite
the U.S. government shutdown. That is according to President Donald Trump, who says officials have found money to pay the troops. It's going to come from about $8 billion for the Pentagon set aside for future research and development.
Diane Keaton, the Oscar-winning actress famous for her award-winning film roles, her dramatic and comedic moments, and her quirky style, has died at 79. Keaton's career spanned decades. She broke out on Broadway in the 1960s, moving to Hollywood with her role in "The Godfather." Keaton won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her work in "Annie Hall." She credited the film for allowing her to take on all types of roles and stretch her creative wings.
Keaton was also celebrated for her gender nonconforming style, known for incorporating menswear into her signature style. She's survived by her two children.
A tight knit community in Tennessee is in mourning after a grim assessment from officials after an enormous blast at a military explosives plant. No survivors have been found, and they're assuming 16 people died.
CNN's Isabel Rosales has more on the investigation.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We've learned that all families have now been notified, and the big update here is that the number of those presumed dead has actually gone down from 18 people to 16 after the sheriff's office were able to locate two individuals who were not inside of the building.
But the work still continues, the investigative work to figure out the cause of this explosion, and also DNA work to try and identify these remains. The sheriff saying that the families of these workers understandably are upset. The sheriff of Humphreys County, Chris Davis, was visibly pushing back his words. He was upset. He revealed that he himself personally knew some of these individuals killed at the explosion.
Meanwhile, another person who was hurting is Janie Brown, who sought comfort at a prayer vigil. She says she knew or worked with some of the victims. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANIE BROWN, NEARBY RESIDENT, FRIEND OF VICTIMS: It's going to be a sad day in our community for a while. They were loved by their families and by their communities. They've been all around the communities. Everybody knew them, and it's just a sad, sad day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROSALES: Sheriff Davis warned that this could take a matter of days, if not weeks, to come to an answer as to the cause of this explosion and further complicating that and slowing investigative efforts down is that this is what the sheriff described as a volatile environment due to unexploded ordnance. They're working to clear that out and to further make progress in this investigation.
Isabel Rosales, CNN, Bucksnort, Tennessee.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HUNTE: Aviation authorities are investigating a helicopter crash in Huntington Beach, California. One witness was able to capture this moment on video when the flight took a turn for the worst on Saturday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I changed his mind. Oh, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, my god, oh, my God. Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTE: Wow. A total of five people were injured during the incident and transported to a nearby hospital, including two passengers on board and three people on the street. While the cause of the accident is still unclear, one eyewitness claims a piece of the helicopter's landing gear broke off as it approached, before spinning out of control and crashing.
Both coasts in the U.S. are in for serious storms this weekend. The southwest faces potential flooding from two former storms.
Also ahead, what severe wind and heavy rain will mean for the northeastern corridor?
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HUNTE: Welcome back. Recovery efforts are underway in southern Mexico in the wake of deadly rainfall. At least 37 people died in downpours from tropical storms Raymond and Priscilla, including five people in the coastal state of Veracruz.
The heavy rain triggered landslides caused rivers to flood and led to power outages. Forecasters expect rainy weather to continue this weekend in many states.
Much of the United States is facing flooding threats. The southwest is getting soaked by two former tropical storms. Nearly three months of rain fell in Las Vegas on Friday. Meanwhile, on the East Coast, a new Atlantic storm is expected to drench the Carolinas before heading north. The weather could disrupt major airports from Washington, D.C. to the greater New York area.
CNN meteorologist Allison Chinchar has the details.
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Flooding is really going to be the biggest concern up and down the Eastern Seaboard, but it's going to be targeted right through the Carolinas and into the Delmarva Peninsula here where you can see that higher risk is possible.
This is for the potential for flooding and it's a lot to do with this particular low-pressure system that's going to slide up and down the Eastern Seaboard ever so slowly as we finish out the rest of the weekend.
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And it's that slow movement that's going to allow for a lot of rain to really inundate some of these areas, not to mention the strong winds are going to push a lot of that water inland. So, you're also going to have concerns with beach erosion and coastal flooding. Again, not just for the Carolinas, but notice the system moves up through the mid- Atlantic and into the northeast as we finish out the back half of the weekend.
Another concern is going to be the river gauges. When you take a look at this map, look at all of those purple dots that you see there. Those are the river gauges that have the potential to reach major flood stage over the next several days. Now, they're not there yet and a lot of times with river flooding, it's more of a delayed effect. So, some of these areas won't even peak until late Sunday, Monday and perhaps even in some spots on Tuesday.
Winds are also going to tick up as we go through the remainder of the evening and even into tomorrow. You'll start to see them go from 40 to 50, even up to 60 miles per hour especially the latter end of Sunday and into Monday for a lot of cities in the northeast. And this could in turn cause some travel problems early Monday morning, especially if you plan to fly out of some of the bigger airports, places like New York, D.C. and even into Boston.
One of the other things, too, is keeping an eye on the high tides. Now, both for Sunday and Monday, high tides are right around that lunch hour timeframe. So, that's going to be a concern, especially across New Jersey, but really again, up and down the entire Eastern Seaboard, where you're going to have all of that water surging in on the coast, but you also have the rain falling from the sky, contributing both of them to the potential for flooding.
HUNTE: OK, that's all I've got for you for now. Thanks for joining me and the team. I'm Ben Hunte in Atlanta. CNN's Becky Anderson has our breaking news coverage continuing in just a few minutes. See you then.
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