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CNN This Morning

All Living Israeli Hostages Now Released by Hamas; Netanyahu Addresses Knesset, Thanks Trump. Aired 6-6:30a ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 06:00   ET

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

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All 20 -- get this -- all 20 surviving, living Israeli hostages are now within Israel. They're free. They've been released by Hamas, a very, very significant development indeed.

[06:00:17]

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The first time in two years, Wolf, over two years that no hostages have been in the hands of Hamas.

That's why you see such a joyous parliament here in Israel, as the speaker of the Knesset is speaking now. President Trump is obviously seated to his right.

And you can see a huge envoy that President Trump brought with him here in terms of Dan Scavino sitting there; Karoline Leavitt, the press secretary. A ton of President Trump's aides are on hand for what they are billing as this major speech here. And touting this moment.

On the right, you can see Hostages Square outside, where so many people have been gathered for hours, going on since 4, or 5 a.m. That's where we find CNN's Clarissa Ward.

And, Clarissa, what are you hearing from families there, now that all 20 of these hostages are now back on Israeli soil?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kaitlan, we just witnessed a pretty extraordinary moment. Two, three helicopters, making their way to the nearby Ichilov Hospital, literally flew over Hostage Square.

This entire square went absolutely berserk: cheering, waving, shouting out. This is really their first glimpse, albeit from a distance, of those hostages. Twenty living hostages, now back on Israeli soil for the first time in 737 days.

And people have been camped out waiting here, some of them since 4 or 5 in the morning, waiting for this moment, really waiting for those first glimpses, those first photographs that we've been seeing distributed by the IDF of those initial reunions between family members and their loved ones who have been held captive for more than two years.

Earlier, the mood was a little more somber. There was a little bit more trepidation as to whether everything was going to go according to plan. We saw a lot of tears. We saw a lot of people praying. And also, a lot of people grieving the hostages who are not coming home alive today, the 28 whose remains were to be released as part of this agreement.

But from what we understand, not all of those coffins will be coming home today, as it will take some time to locate the whereabouts of all of them.

But right now, the mood in this square, I think, best described as jubilant, Kaitlan.

And again, just that moment when they saw the helicopters. Ichilov Hospital just over there behind me, not five minutes away. And there was not a single person in this square who was not waving, who was not cheering, who was not shouting out, because they want these hostages to know that they've been here every week protesting, demanding their return through thick and thin, through winter, through summer.

And now, finally, they're here to witness this historic moment -- Kaitlan.

BLITZER: Clarissa, where we are in Tel Aviv, Kaitlan, we've been hearing some helicopters flying over. Ichilov Hospital is not too far away from where we are either.

COLLINS: And --

BLITZER: And that's where many of these 20 Israeli hostages who have now been freed will go for medical checkups, medical treatment, as the Israelis always do when they bring back hostages. The first place they go is a hospital to make sure that they're OK.

COLLINS: Yes. Unfortunately, this is a process that Israel has gotten used to ever since we were here in November of 2023, when that first release of hostages happened around Thanksgiving of that year.

And, you know, acclimating these hostages. Then it was a lot of children who were being returned; women. These are primarily men and -- that are being brought back. But, you know, they're being reunited with family members after two years. They're being reunited with -- there's so much that's happened in these two years. If you think of that, Wolf, that that they have to be just reacquainted with.

BLITZER: I looked at the list of the 20 Israeli hostages who had been -- who are alive and have now been freed, and they're back on Israeli soil. And most of them, they're almost all young men in their 20s and 30s. Some of them with kids.

And this is going to be very powerful, very emotional, once they actually are united with their family.

COLLINS: Yes. And they meet a few family members and then are reunited with others in bigger groups as the day goes on.

Right now, on the left side of your screen, you're watching the Israeli parliament inside as the Knesset speaker is -- is delivering his remarks. Soon, we'll hear directly from Prime Minister Netanyahu and then eventually from President Trump.

And what Clarissa was talking about, Wolf, those helicopters she heard, I believe it was the same ones, because Hostage Square is in that direction. And we saw them heading just past over where she was as she was talking about the crowd cheering in that moment.

[06:05:07]

BLITZER: Yes. And those helicopters presumably might be carrying some of the surviving Israeli hostages to hospitals in the Tel Aviv area, where they're going to be fully examined, go through medical treatment. And we'll see all of this unfold.

So, we're standing by to hear from the prime minister of Israel, introducing the president of the United States at the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. We'll have live coverage coming up.

We'll get more reaction from families, and we'll -- hopefully, we'll start seeing some of the connections, some of the engagements, some of the welcoming of these hostages by their family members. And we'll have live coverage of that, as well. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:10:25]

BLITZER: Welcome back. As we await President Trump's speech before the Israeli Knesset, the parliament in Israel, in Jerusalem, all 20 living Israeli hostages are now out of Hamas's captivity. And they are back in Israel. Major, major news, very significant news.

People here in Israel are thrilled. It's been two years now, and the long road to recovery seems to be beginning right now.

Everywhere we go in Israel, we see a lot of people who are smiling. They're very, very happy at what's going on, not only because the ceasefire is working, because the surviving, the living Israeli hostages are now back in Israeli hands on Israeli soil. Very significant indeed.

I want to discuss this and more with Hagai Levine. He's the head of the health team of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum.

Hagai, thank you very much. You must be thrilled by the news of what we're learning today, but give us your sense.

DR. HAGAI LEVINE, HEAD OF THE HEALTH TEAM, HOSTAGES AND MISSING FAMILIES FORUM: Well, it's really unbelievable. You know, I'm in this room, more than two years, I'm together with the families, treating the families, following the health of the hostages, trying to get them out of hell.

And today, it's like a dream come true that all the living hostages are out. We still have the mission to bring all the deceased, the remaining 26 plus two unknown status hostages.

But today, we are really thankful for President Trump, the USA, and all the other countries that helped in getting to this day. And you see the crowd in the -- in the Hostages Square nearby. It's just such an emotional day.

And we just saw the pictures of reuniting with their families. We still have a long way of recovery, but today, start the recovery of the hostages of the families of the entire Israeli public. And actually, the entire region.

BLITZER: Do you think, Hagai, that the Israeli hostages were told in advance they were about to be released? Or were they just released, and they discovered, as they were finally with other Israelis?

LEVINE: We'll find out soon. We know that the Hamas employed psychological terror on the hostages all the time, giving them false information. And even today, they were not allowed to do the ceremonies that were intended to humiliate the hostages.

And the Red Cross, today they were given a phone call. The Hamas gave them a phone call to the families, which was a blessing for the families. But it was also a way of the Hamas to employ a last psychological terror before they are released to show that they are in control.

And only now, after 738 days that they were dehumanized by Hamas, tortured by Hamas. Only now, they are getting back to life, to having control about their decisions, their ability to speak, to eat. And obviously, it will take a long time for them to recover.

BLITZER: And how confident are you, Hagai, that the remains of the Israeli hostages who are dead will be returned to Israel, as well?

LEVINE: It's a tough question. We must believe, as we believed so far. Without hope, we would not have been here. And, you know, President Trump mentioned how important the demonstration in Israel shows that the vast majority in Israel wanted to bring back all the hostages and end the war.

And, you know, I see the pictures from -- from the parliament. And I don't know what are Netanyahu intentions, but it seems like Trump is eager to make sure that the war does not come back. And in order to achieve that, we need to find all the deceased hostages. It's difficult.

We warned, and we published reports that show that, if you bomb Gaza, you are also going to lose some of the six (ph) hostages. We are very concerned that we will not be able to locate all of them today.

Some of the dead hostages are supposed to be brought back to burial in Israel and to identification. Let's see how many.

I must tell you, I'm with the families. It's nerve-wracking for the families. They don't know what to do. They don't know if their uncertainty will come to -- to end now. And you know, winning back the deceased hostages is lifesaving. It's lifesaving for the hostages. And it's lifesaving in order to prevent further bloodshed.

[06:15:11]

BLITZER: And what is so impressive, Hagai -- and I'm sure you agree -- is that Hamas no longer has control of any living Israeli hostages. That was one of their strengths in these negotiations. To hold on, to hold on, to hold on. But now all the Israeli hostages are back in Israel, very significant development indeed.

We'll continue to watch all these developments. Professor Hagai Levine, thanks so much for all your important work. Thanks so much for joining us.

LEVINE: Just a final word. Just a final word. We see the power of solidarity, the solidarity of the Israeli people and supporters all around the world. This is what enabled bringing back all the hostages. And this is really historical, remarkable day. Thank you.

BLITZER: And the ceasefire is holding as we speak right now, which is so, so important. Hagai Levine, thank you very much.

And our breaking news coverage of all of this will continue. We're awaiting the Israeli prime minister and the president of the United States, President Trump. They will both be speaking at the Israeli Knesset, the parliament. We'll have live coverage of that, coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:20:34]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN breaking news, and let's bring you up to speed on what is happening right now, which is that all living hostages have been freed from Gaza. And President Trump, in a few moments, will be addressing the Israeli parliament.

Also, we're set to hear from Benjamin Netanyahu, as well.

In the meantime, I want to talk about the road ahead. There is set to be a summit in Egypt. And I have here Ghaith Al-Omari. He is the senior fellow to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, to give us a sense of what that could mean.

So, the thing we didn't know yesterday, that we know now, is that Netanyahu may actually attend this summit in Egypt. What was the summit supposed to be about?

GHAITH AL-OMARI, SENIOR FELLOW, WASHINGTON INSTITUTE FOR NEAR EAST POLICY: Thank you, Audie. Actually, now we know that he is definitely attending.

The summit is supposed to discuss the next phase. Now we have the first phase release of hostages, ending hostilities. There's a lot ahead.

Who will be in charge in Gaza in terms of security, in terms of governance? How do you start reconstructing Gaza? I mean, all of these big questions are on the table and supposed to be discussed in Sharm El-Sheikh. Now, Bibi is going to be there. And this changes the dynamics.

CORNISH: I want to talk about the dynamics here, because to get to this point, President Trump, obviously, first term, Abraham Accords, right? Establishes relationships in the region.

And even in this second term, to me, most striking, when he actually had Netanyahu apologize for the strikes on Doha. He has shown power in a lot of ways.

What do you think it means that Netanyahu is going to attend?

AL-OMARI: First of all, it makes sense. If we're discussing the future of Gaza, Israel has to be at the table. So, in that sense, it's a logical statement.

Yet, it's going to create a lot of complications. Netanyahu, for example, is going to be there, but so will Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Now, Netanyahu has been saying for years, no role for Abbas in Gaza.

CORNISH: No role at all?

AL-OMARI: That's what he's been saying.

CORNISH: OK.

AL-OMARI: He said it, actually, at the U.N. So now, we'll see. How will Netanyahu spin that one when he gets home?

On the other hand, you have Arab leaders coming there who did not expect Netanyahu to be there. To give you an example, the prime minister of Iraq is going to be there.

Now, in Iraq, it's illegal to meet an Israeli. How he's going to spin that one? He has an election coming up.

We don't know right now what level the Saudis are going to send. Is it going to be Mohammed bin Salman, the crown prince, or -- so, it's thrown a whole lot of new changes. And it could create both opportunities moving forward, but also political challenges for the participants.

CORNISH: I want to ask you about this moment. We know that Trump is set to speak. They've released some excerpts to the public.

And one of the things he's supposed to say is that Israel won all that can be won by force of arms. I thought that was a striking thing to tell the Israeli parliament and the Israeli people.

AL-OMARI: Not only is it striking, it's also a contradiction to actually what Netanyahu has been saying now for -- for a while. He's been talking about total victory, et cetera.

What -- what Trump is saying, basically, you've gotten all you've gotten. Take your win. And accept it.

Again, this will create political problems for Netanyahu with some of his hardline constituents, whether in the government or as voters.

CORNISH: There is also supposed to be, in this plan going forward, the complete disarmament of Hamas. Can you talk about the complications there?

In the past, I believe it's been that Hamas had tried to sort of reassert itself, usually violently within Gaza. Can you talk about what you're going to be watching?

AL-OMARI: Actually, it's over. Hamas is already trying to assert itself. It had deployed some uniformed armed security personnel. Sadly, we're seeing today field executions. Hamas killing --

CORNISH: Executions?

AL-OMARI: Yes. Hamas is killing people, accusing them of collaboration, often with no grounds for that. We're seeing clashes with some of the clans in other parts of Gaza.

Unfortunately, I expect to see a bloody few days coming ahead of us.

And this is going to be one of the challenges today facing the people in Sharm El-Sheikh meeting, the leaders.

CORNISH: Right.

AL-OMARI: Yes, we have to talk about the long term, et cetera. But there are immediate problems. Hamas's behavior. But it's not only the violence in the behavior.

CORNISH: Yes. But how do you maintain that ceasefire? How do you monitor?

AL-OMARI: Absolutely.

CORNISH: And prevent any violations?

AL-OMARI: Absolutely.

[06:25:02]

CORNISH: And this is the kind of thing we're going to be listening for now with Netanyahu, who is about to address Israeli parliament and, really, the world as we watch this moment with President Trump there. And what is ahead with this potential ceasefire? We're only in that first portion.

And let's hear what Netanyahu has to say.

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, PRIME MINISTER OF ISRAEL (through translator): President Herzog and his wife, Michal. My many-- the many dignitaries here, led by a great friend, the president of the United States of America, President Donald J. Trump. Welcome to Jerusalem, our eternal capital. Welcome to Israel on this

very emotional day that will be remembered in the history of our people. And you, Mr. President, will be remembered in the history of our people. And we've already been remembered in the history of mankind.

But we, as we say, remember our friends. And we know your part, your important part, crucial in bringing back the remaining hostages on this day.

When we were told just now, just an hour ago, that all our living hostages are back with us. So exciting. We waited so long for this moment and were committed to bring back everyone.

And I would like to thank you personally and on behalf of the nation. Thank you, President Trump. Thank you.

NETANYAHU: Now, I know that the teleprompters are working well, though I'm not using them.

But I'm not sure about the translation, so I'll say words in English. President Trump, the Knesset welcomes you and your distinguished delegation to Jerusalem, our eternal capital.

This is your first visit to Israel since you recognized Jerusalem as our capital and moved the embassy here. Thank you, President Trump, for that.

There are many other reasons to thank you since your last visit here. Thank you for recognizing Israeli sovereignty over the Golan Heights.

Thank you for standing up to the lies against Israel in the United Nations.

Thank you for recognizing, in your 2020 peace plan, our rights in Judea and Samaria, the ancestral homeland of the Jewish people.

Thank you for brokering the historic Abraham Accords. Abraham (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

Thank you for withdrawing from the disastrous Iran nuclear deal.

Thank you for supporting Operation Rising Line and for your bold decision to launch Operation Midnight Hammer. Boy, is that -- you've got to hear this. This is the most fitting name ever named for a military operation. Because a little after midnight, you really hammered them.

[06:30:00]