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Future of Trump's 20-Point Plan Appears Uncertain; Comey Indictment Fallout: DOJ Prosecutor Fired. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 14, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: -- American League championship series in Toronto against the Blue Jays.
[06:00:05]
Julio Rodriguez opening the scoring with a three-run blast in the first inning. Look at that. The Blue Jays.
They would come back to tie the game in the second with a string of hits of their own, but that was all. In the fifth, Jorge Polanco doubling -- doubling Seattle's tally when he launched another three- run shot.
And the Mariners rubbed it in a little bit with another four runs, including a two-run bomb by Josh Naylor. And he knew it right away.
They'll be in Seattle for game three. That's on Wednesday night.
That does it for us. Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: The ceasefire celebrations give way to some complicated questions. Can it all lead to a lasting peace in the Middle East?
CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: This is the historic dawn of a new Middle East.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The long road ahead and the issues that still need to be ironed out.
And thousands of trucks ready to go. How fast can aid groups deliver Gaza from starvation?
And fresh off the Gaza successful ceasefire? President Trump shifts focus back to Ukraine. Hear his ultimatum for Russia. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: I know what it feels like to be attacked for just doing your job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Letitia James not backing down. Her new message to supporters as she's targeted by Trump's DOJ.
And so much for the Pentagon's pledge for reporters. Some conservative newsrooms say they won't sign up either.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We have liftoff. Go super heavy. Go Starship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That's right. Liftoff. The Starship mega rocket blasts into space and crosses a key milestone.
It's 6 a.m. Here on the East Coast, but this is a live look at Gaza as people are beginning to return.
Good morning, everybody. It's Tuesday, October 14. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here's where we begin.
President Trump, who says that phase two of the ceasefire plan has, quote, "already started." So, here's what that means. Dismantling Hamas, ensuring peace in the region, and figuring out who would run Gaza and the future of the Palestinian state.
President Trump unclear on what that should look like.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: We're talking about rebuilding Gaza. A lot of people like the one-state solution. Some people like the two-state solution. So, we'll have to see. I haven't -- I haven't commented on that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: World leaders signed the first phase of the ceasefire agreement yesterday. That included Israel freeing more than 1,700 Palestinians, who had been taken into custody without charge after October 7th.
Another 250 Palestinian prisoners were also released. They were serving long sentences for serious crimes. Hamas released 20 hostages, who are now back to their homes, and the remains of four dead hostages. But 28 bodies were supposed to be brought back.
As for the other 24 sources told CNN last week, Hamas may not be able to find them. And that could jeopardize the ceasefire deal, because it states Hamas was to release all the hostages, alive or dead, within 72 hours.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JONATHAN DEKEL CHEN, SON HELD HOSTAGE & RELEASED BY HAMAS: The biggest single obstacle to getting to a better future for Israelis and for the people of Gaza and Palestinians and all of our neighbors, is somehow figuring out how to defuse the hatred.
It's not just the rebuilding and the feeding of Gaza. It's figuring out, with the help of goodwilled people and goodwilled nations, how we find other solutions than butchering each other as -- as we move forward, because Israelis aren't going anywhere. And -- and nor are the Palestinians.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Michelle Price, White House reporter at the Associated Press; Chuck Rocha, Democratic strategist; and Ashley Davis, former George W. Bush White House official.
I want to start with you, Michelle. This seems like, as much as we've talked about Trump, a pretty big deal moment for Steve Witkoff.
And also, this return of Jared Kushner. Was it just for this issue, or do you expect to see Kushner involved in other things going forward?
MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUST CORRESPONDENT, ASSOCIATED PRESS: That's kind of an open question going forward.
The president has clearly wanted to keep his son-in-law involved in this process. It's someone he consults with, along with Steve Witkoff.
Steve Witkoff has been given kind of an expansive profile across multiple conflicts. He's just become a general envoy.
You know, building on the success which momentous achievement yesterday. You know, it's very likely that the president might ask Jared Kushner to stay involved.
[06:05:07]
The expectation that we've heard from Kushner's side is that he wants to get back to his businesses, that this may have been a one-time thing, but with Trump's orbit, people always kind of come out and come back in.
CORNISH: Yes.
PRICE: Nobody's ever. really gone.
CORNISH: Exactly. Bringing it back to Witkoff for a second, I just wanted to play some of the praise that the president had for his special envoy. Here's how he talked about him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Steve started this all by himself. I call him Henry Kissinger who doesn't leak. OK? Henry is a big leaker. He leaked.
Steve doesn't leak. Steve just wants to get the job done. He wants to do what's right. But I'll give you just a quick story, because, as you know, he's working on the war with Russia and Ukraine. A war that would have never happened if I were president. A shame.
I thought it was a hell of a lot easier than doing what we just did very successfully with Israel and a lot of other people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Ashley, I want to turn to you. I didn't expect Kissinger to catch strays in that comment, but here we are. And I thought it was interesting that he brought up Russia and Ukraine in front of the Knesset. Right? Like when he had the attention of the whole world.
ASHLEY DAVIS, FORMER GEORGE W. BUSH WHITE HOUSE OFFICIAL: Well, absolutely. I mean it's -- it doesn't actually surprise me that he is. And I guess he's meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday to kind of finish that warming up. This is something that's eating at him, as well.
But going back to Jared, I think, you know, Jared did the Abraham Accords under the first administration of President Trump. And I think --
CORNISH: And those were the agreements that created a kind of normalization structure through the economies of Arab leaders, yes.
DAVIS: Exactly. Free trade. And recognizing Israel.
And I think that that -- he'll continue to play in that region. I don't think that Ivanka is going to let him ever go back to the White House.
I mean, you saw, maybe, his comments over the weekend that said, if he doesn't come home, she's going to change the locks. Obviously kidding.
The other person we need to recognize here is Secretary Rubio. And the president did recognize him, as well. I mean, he did a ton of work.
And this -- listen, this is the first time that this area of the world has been reshaped since 1979.
What I like the best about, obviously, the heartbreaking stories of people coming back over the last two days, but Democrats and Republicans were actually all getting together yesterday for the first time, praising kind of the efforts that happened.
CORNISH: Yes, you heard even Kamala Harris who was making some comments.
DAVIS: Hillary Clinton. I mean, a lot.
CORNISH: Yes, and I think at one point Trump was saying thanks to Bill Clinton saying something nice about him, which was the other weird thing that happened today. But, Chuck, I want to turn to you, because it is absolutely obvious
that this issue bedeviled Democrats for the better part of four years. The Biden administration was not able to get it across the finish line.
And even in the last week, Harris and others were being heckled by protesters on Gaza.
Does this at all give a chance for a reset? Like, how should people be talking about this now on the Democratic side?
CHUCK ROCHA, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think you bring up a great point. I was sitting here while everybody was talking, thinking, I remember when my party was the party of peace, when we were out in the streets demanding no more war. And all of the protests and things and how this mantle.
And I give the president credit here, and I'm one of the few Democrats who do. That the buck stops with the president. Whether it's the price of eggs, but also foreign wars and Middle East and the things that are going on are a very big deal.
But to my sister's point here, this is a political thing within the party where you have left and right, looking at different issues.
And I think about Michigan.
CORNISH: Yes.
ROCHA: And Michigan has a lot of Muslim voters, right.
CORNISH: That's why I'm bringing this up.
ROCHA: Right. And that, no matter where we went and no matter how much Democrats were trying to find solutions, it never was enough for the left wing of the party around all the genocide and other things that we were seeing on the TV screen. I think this is a chance for a reset here.
CORNISH: Ashley, I have one very provocative question. Sorry to put it to you.
ROCHA: Oh, my.
CORNISH: Do -- does -- are those students owed an apology? The ones who were out on campuses demanding a ceasefire, saying more needs to be done about the war. And they were societally punished for it.
DAVIS: Apology from whom?
CORNISH: I don't know.
DAVIS: I mean, listen, I think there's different.
CORNISH: The people who doxed them. The people, you know what I mean? Like, the -- DAVIS: There were a lot of protests that weren't peaceful either. The
ones that were -- I think. So, I think there's two different things here.
But I just don't know who -- who's going to apologize.
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: I think this is a very emotional issue on both sides. And there's still a lot of antisemitic happenings on college campuses, especially. And I think that's -- I think that's something that has to be dealt with.
CORNISH: Yes.
DAVIS: I'm not saying it needs to be dealt with by signing agreements by the universities and things like that. I mean, but we have to deal with this in our country.
CORNISH: Well, it will be interesting to see, especially in the -- the aftermath of the Turning Point USA and the death of Charlie Kirk. There's been a very vicious fight there about the role of Israel and even allegations of antisemitism.
ROCHA: Talking about real-time. In the Michigan Senate primary for the Democrats, stay tuned to that. Watch that in this election.
CORNISH: Well, then we're going to go to that. Thank you for flagging.
[06:10:02]
OK, you guys, stay with me, because we've got more to talk about.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, the Pentagon's war on weight. National Guard troops deployed to Chicago sent home over fitness concerns.
Plus, it's not the start to the season Bill Belichick had hoped for. His response to the rumors that he could be leaving UNC.
And the House speaker says this could end up being the longest government shutdown in history.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is very nerve-wracking, to not know where your paycheck is going to come from, and to still have to pay your water bill, your electricity, your mortgage and/or rent.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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[06:15:10]
CORNISH: OK, it is 15 minutes past the hour. I want to give you your morning roundup. New York Attorney General Letitia James made her first public
appearance since being indicted. She took the stage at a rally for New York city mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani. And while she didn't mention the president by name, she had a clear message for him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES: I will not bend. I will not capitulate. I will not give in. I will not give up.
You come for me, you've got to come to all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Now, James has been accused of bank fraud and lying to a financial institution.
A successful test flight for SpaceX Starship. The mega rocket made it halfway around the world and released mock satellites.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three down to two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starship has landed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Despite it bursting into flames, SpaceX is calling it a success; because the spacecraft was able to smoothly navigate a series of landing maneuvers.
And Bill Belichick is putting an end to the rumors about his future in Chapel Hill.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILL BELICHICK, UNC COACH: Some of the reports out last week about my looking for a buyout and trying to leave here and all that, is categorically false. There's zero truth to any of that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: The rumor mill got grinding after UNC's loss to Clemson last week, marking the team's third blowout loss of the season.
The six-time Super Bowl winning coach said there's a learning curve and that he's working on his long-term vision for the team.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, morning, does partizan blame game violate the Hatch Act? Why some airports are refusing to show Secretary Noem's video blaming Democrats for the shutdown.
Plus, a top national security prosecutor dismissed while in the middle of prosecuting a terror suspect. Why he says the firing could hurt the case. And it's a rainy morning in Baltimore. Good morning to you. Pack an
umbrella.
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[06:21:34]
CORNISH: The fallout over the latest indictment of former FBI director James Comey has now led to the firing of a top national security prosecutor.
Michael Ben'Ary was removed from his post in Virginia's Eastern District, and this was just days after a pro-Trump activist suggested he was part of the internal resistance to the Comey case.
Ben'Ary left a note on his office door saying, in part, "I am troubled that I was removed so abruptly in the middle of important work, including the prosecution of Mohammad Sharifullah, now the only person to face justice in the U.S. for the bombing at the Abbey Gate of the Hamid Karzai International Airport. And while I have the utmost confidence in my co-counsel, my abrupt, apparently thoughtless removal with no period of transition will hurt that case."
That case will mark just the second time ever that a foreign terrorism suspect will be prosecuted in U.S. criminal court on charges related to killing American service members in a war zone.
Jafar has been charged with aiding and abetting the Abbey Gate suicide bombing that killed 13 service members and more than 160 Afghans.
Joining me now is Jake Tapper, because he's written a new book about that first case of its kind. It's called "Race Against Terror: Chasing an al-Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War."
So, Jake, first, I just want to touch on this idea of firing prosecutors in the midst of prosecuting, especially a case like this that has a lot of import.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: It's a very difficult case to prove in a court of law. If the example of Jafar is anything like the case that I wrote about for my book, which was a different terrorist named Spin Ghul.
You have all sorts of questions of evidence. You have all sorts of questions of custody. You have all sorts of questions of -- of the confession or any sort of interrogation of the suspect.
In this case, Jafar was interrogated, I believe, when he was first captured in Pakistan.
So, these are difficult cases to prove. And it's a very challenging situation to fire a prosecutor in the midst of a prosecution, based on some sort of very questionable allegation made on social media by somebody who doesn't really know whether or not he actually did voice objection to the Comey indictment.
CORNISH: And as you said, these cases in general are complicated, right? You're trying to piece together the story from abroad.
And what did you learn looking into this case into Spin Ghul, whose trial was actually pretty controversial back then?
TAPPER: It was controversial. And it is actually interesting to see how different the situation is in the United States in terms of the political blowback.
When Obama in 2011, 2012 was trying to try foreign suspects, foreign terrorism suspects in U.S. criminal courts, there was a huge hue and outcry from Congress, Democrats and Republicans. Nobody wanted these people brought to the United States. There was real fear of what would happen if they got acquitted. What would happen if they escaped?
When President Trump announced that they were bringing Jafar to the U.S. for prosecution, there was no such outcry.
But what was interesting when I learned about when writing about Spin Ghul was just how intense and complicated it was to prove the case.
[06:25:03]
I mean, the book is basically about the sleuthing, about the fingerprint evidence, and the witness testimony, and how the prosecutors and the FBI agents had to prove this case, and how difficult it was.
And it was really fun to write about and interesting to write about. But also just instructive in terms of how difficult these cases are. And that's why there have been so few of them.
This Jafar would only be the second one, as you noted.
CORNISH: In the end, what do you think is the legacy from this period? I mean, now it's -- it's maybe hard for younger people to understand just how preoccupied we were in the U.S. with these kinds of cases.
TAPPER: Well, I think that if you just look at the -- what was achieved when the prosecutors went after Spin Ghul, they did. I mean, this doesn't spoil the book, but he is locked up in a supermax in Colorado for the rest of his life.
And I think that does make us safer as a country and makes the world safer. And I think that the -- the alternative would have been, I guess, to send him to GITMO. And then probably, years later, he would have been freed for lack of evidence against him.
So, I think the fact that there have been more than 600 prosecutions of terrorists in U.S. criminal court and so few successful prosecutions of these terrorists in military commissions, suggests that we're in a place now where the country is more comfortable with the idea of putting these people through the criminal justice system, even if that does mean they -- they are afforded the rights of any defendant. And that's probably a good thing. CORNISH: Well, if you want to learn more about this case and this era
of our history, please check out "Race Against Terror: Chasing an al Qaeda Killer at the Dawn of the Forever War." That's out now.
Jake, thank you.
TAPPER: Thank you so much, Audie. Appreciate it.
CORNISH: Now, straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, the ceasefire is holding, and groups now facing the difficult task of rebuilding Gaza.
Plus, deadly weather coast to coast, two powerful storms leaving behind flooded roads and destroyed homes.
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