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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Delegations from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. Set to Begin Key Negotiations in Egypt; U.S. Government Shutdown Enters Day 6; Hundreds of Trekkers Escape from Blizzard-Struck Everest in Tibet. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired October 06, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

BRIAN ABEL, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world, thank you so much for being with us on this Monday, I'm Brian Abel, Rahel Solomon is off, it is October 6th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington D.C., and straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Delegations from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are set to begin key negotiations in Egypt in the coming hours.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump has been talking about how he hopes this can be achieved in a matter of days, and threatening that Hamas will face complete obliteration if it doesn't agree to this deal.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lawmakers say that there's really no clear end in sight to the government shutdown. Now, the main reason lawmakers have just not passed a spending bill to reopen the government is because of the Affordable Care Act subsidies.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A powerful blizzard swept across the Tibetan side of the Himalayas. Many people were stranded outside for hours or even days. Further south in Nepal, the same weather system triggered deadly landslides and flash floods.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Delegations from Israel, Hamas and the U.S. are set to begin key negotiations in Egypt today. The goal, finalizing a ceasefire deal based on Donald Trump's 20-point Gaza plan. The U.S. President says technical teams will work through and clarify final details. He's also urging everyone to move fast, saying, quote, "time is of the essence or massive bloodshed will follow", something that nobody wants to see.

And he had this to say when asked about setting a deadline for Hamas to release the hostages.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Very quickly.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What if Hamas(ph) --

TRUMP: We had some very good meetings. The countries of the world, a lot of the countries surrounding Israel, frankly, Muslim, Arab and many others have had great meetings with Hamas. And it looks like it's working. So, we'll wait for a little while, see how it all turns out.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will you be firing federal --

TRUMP: We're going to work very quickly. I think it's going to go very quickly. The meeting seemed to be very good. We'll find out, we'll let you know soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: But amid signs of progress, Israeli attacks inside Gaza are ongoing. Hospital officials on Sunday said Palestinians in Khan Younis buried loved ones killed in weekend strikes. Still, Palestinians are expressing hope for a ceasefire deal that will finally see an end to the war in Gaza. Those displaced by the ongoing fighting have witnessed other efforts fail. But say they're cautiously hopeful this time may be different.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are worried, really, that the deal they are talking about will fail, because every time they reach a solution, they say a truce will be declared. We wake up on a terrible nightmare at the end. No, we hope to go beyond this stage. The truce comes into effect and we go back to Gaza city despite the debris, despite its destruction, despite everything. But nothing is more valuable than the homeland soil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: There is also cautious optimism in Israel where crowds gathered at Hostages Square in Tel Aviv to pray for the return of those still being held by Hamas. In Jerusalem, the families of some of the Israeli hostages set up a tent for hope outside Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's residence. They're expressing hope that a deal will be reached, and that they'll see the return of their loved ones.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELNAV ZANGAUKER, MOTHER OF ISRAELI HOSTAGE MATAN ZANGAUKER (through translator): After two years of struggle, two years in which 48 hostages and one female hostage are held captive by Hamas, we are a step away from a comprehensive deal and the end of the war. This opportunity must not be missed. We will not let it be missed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Nic Robertson is following these developments for us and joins us live now from Cairo with the very latest. Nic. NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, we know that

the leader of the Hamas delegation, Khalil al-Hayya is in Egypt, obviously, Egyptian officials are here, but it is being held, the details of what discussions are being had and between and by whom is being held under very close wraps here.

There has of course, been huge hope, huge expectation and a real sense of momentum here, but it does seem to be that at this moment, that the difficult part of the negotiation begins because there are unanswered questions by Hamas.

[05:05:00]

That key question to unlocking the release of all the hostages that would allow for a ceasefire is, will Hamas accept what Israel and the IDF is proposing as their frontline position, if you will, in Gaza, which is, the default position they had in the middle of August, which is much deeper into Gaza than any previous negotiation had talked about.

But of course, from Israel's perspective, from the U.S. perspective, from all of the sort of regional countries and partners here talking about the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Qataris, the Turkish, the Indonesians, the Jordanians, all of whose Foreign Ministers yesterday signed a letter commending Hamas on taking the initial step of getting into these talks.

But explicitly, saying that this was an opportunity for a sustainable ceasefire, but saying there must -- the talks must progress quickly, and this is going to be the real test, the Israeli delegation expected to come into Egypt later today. What will they face when they sit in these proximity talks? What precisely will be on the table?

Because, of course, Hamas has not yet agreed to the 20-point demands of President Trump in their entirety, not yet agreed on how their future should be, their political position within Gaza, that which they want to maintain, the fact they've been demanded for disarmament, they haven't agreed to that yet.

So, some really big and fundamental outstanding questions that are going, I think, to get some intense testing, and perhaps a sense of some of the momentum slowing down is the fact that it was initially expected that Ron Dermer; Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Minister of Strategic Affairs was expected to be at the talks in person, is now leading the Israeli delegation, but remotely.

So, he won't be in Egypt, and I think that perhaps gives us a hint here, and what we've heard as well from President Trump and others that while the technical talks have been ongoing, it could be a couple of days to get a product out of these talks. And for us to get details of how that goes step-by-step. As I say, that is being held under close guard, close wraps here in Egypt.

ABEL: And Nic, I know, you know, cautious optimism is the phrase that is often used during these talks because we have been here before with these parties, having conversations. Based on just the length that you've been covering this for, is there any sort of feeling compared to other times where, you know, Israel and Hamas have been close to coming to a ceasefire agreement, where those discussions have fallen apart? Is there any sense that this is different this time around?

ROBERTSON: Yes, the similarities with past failures are there, that United States has sort of agreed something with partners, Arab partners or others, the details of which we haven't been privy to. And then Hamas has claimed that Israel has come along and moved the goal- posts, and that's not good enough for them and vice versa.

Israel agreeing something, the U.S. and then Hamas, according to Israel moving the goal-posts, and that not being the agreed path. So, yes, we have been here before, but I think some of the things that make it different is, President Trump has gone public following the extreme displeasure from his allies and partners in the region that Israel struck in Qatar at the Hamas leadership in their residence.

And incidentally, by the way, their principal target, Khalil al-Hayya, is actually here leading the Hamas delegation. That happened -- really put momentum in the region to get President Trump to move up and make more public his position, and that was the 20-point plan, which was all those Arab and Muslim majority nations agreed to. That said that again, we're getting some of the same language that there was a 21- point plan and it became a 20-point plan. And one side thinks perhaps, it's been changed again in Israel's favor. So, you could say there, that the scene is being set for a repeat.

But what is different is that President Trump appears to have put more pressure on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as soon as Hamas said that they were agreeing to get into talks about this, he immediately demanded that Israel went on a ceasefire, and it was noticeable that they did decrease their strikes and shelling inside of Gaza, although it does continue at a lower level, and there are still deaths and casualties inside of Gaza.

And just in the past 24-36 hours, President Trump has reiterated a very strong message to Hamas, if you don't get on board with this, you face obliteration".

[05:10:00]

So, the difference here would be that President Trump is publicly weighing in with more pressure, but it's not clear that that's going to -- that's going to lift things over the bar to get to the hostage release yet.

ABEL: So, the pressure by President Trump is different, we'll see if the outcome is different as well. Nic Robertson for us in Cairo, Egypt, Nic, thank you. And there's some breaking news that's coming into CNN after less than a month in office. The Prime Minister of France says he is resigning. For more, we go live now to CNN's Melissa Bell in Paris -- and a very short tenure. Melissa.

MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: That's right. In fact, Brian, this is a record of brevity in a country where the tenures of Prime Ministers has been notoriously short these last few months. Sebastien Lecornu, just 27 days in power, that's all he'll have managed to do. What he'd been trying to do ever since becoming Prime Minister, remember, after the fall of the government of Franois Bayrou, was to cobble together in the middle of mainstream French politics, the traditional left and traditional right, a sort of government that was going to be able to tackle some of the big questions.

And principally, Brian, the urgent need to push through a budget that will mean cuts, a smaller budget for 2026 than we've seen before in order to tackle France's looming budget crisis. Now, the difficulty in that is that he'd been relying on these main parliamentary groupings, as I say, the mainstream traditional right and traditional left.

What appears to have happened, and we've just been hearing the outgoing Prime Minister speak is that, he felt that he could no longer rely on the support specifically of the traditional right. There had been, in his words, too many red lines for those parties that had agreed to serve with him. And bear in mind that he only named these government ministers yesterday.

They had -- they felt -- had too few governmental posts within his new government, and looked set not to play ball. Hence his resignation. Now, this really leaves the French President high and dry and with very few options left. Remember that this particular period of political instability was born, Brian, of the decision of Emmanuel Macron to dissolve the French parliament last June, triggering parliamentary elections that, far from consolidating the center led to the far right and the far left becoming more powerful.

And Emmanuel Macron's own center losing seats. Hence, his inability to name any Prime Minister able to govern with such a small number of seats in the middle. The hope with Sebastien Lecornu had been -- the fourth Prime Minister to take office since that dissolution last June had been that because he was a relatively consensual figure, he might be able to bring people together.

I think what appears to have been his downfall is that, he was considered a staunch Macron ally, and there is a great deal of dissatisfaction with the President, not just in the broader population, but within parliamentary circles -- and I'm not even talking here about the extremes. I'm talking about the middle.

And I think that fragility in the end will have cost him his place, and therefore made him the shortest-serving Prime Minister in the history of the French fifth republic, with all of these consequences now ahead.

What Emmanuel Macron can do to try and get some kind of government together, able to push forward a budget is far from clear how he can manage that within the short time frame needed. Remember, Brian, that budget has to be before parliamentarians within the next couple of weeks.

ABEL: And I'm sure there's not a lot of people that are raising their hands to fill that position at the moment.

BELL: Absolutely --

ABEL: Melissa Bell in Paris for us. Melissa, thank you. In the coming hours, some lawmakers will return to Capitol Hill to vote on bills that could end the U.S. government shutdown that's now entering its second week. They'll hold a fifth vote on a spending bill drafted by Democrats, which includes measures to restore parts of the Affordable Care Act, and on a stopgap bill by Republicans, which would fund the government until late November.

But nearly a week into the shutdown, neither Democrats nor Republicans seem willing to budge on their demands. Here's what party leaders had to say on Sunday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, the last time there was a conversation with Republican leadership was in the White House meeting last Monday, and unfortunately, since that point in time, Republicans, including Donald Trump, have gone radio-silent.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Republicans are the ones in Congress working to improve healthcare access, quality and make it cheaper. We want to bring the cost down of healthcare, premiums are too high, but it's not because of Republican policies, it's because Obamacare is not working. We are trying to fix it.

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I have encouraged my Democratic members to sit and talk to Republicans. It's always good when Democrats and Republicans talk to each other. But two points, first, in those conversations, the Republicans offered nothing. And -- but second, the only way this will ultimately be solved is if five people sit together in a room and solve it.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): The Democrats just need to open up the government. Right now, we're at a stalemate. They'll get another chance on Monday to vote again, and I'm hoping that some of them have a change of heart.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[05:15:00]

ABEL: And a new "CBS News" poll out provides some insight into who Americans think are responsible for the shutdown, 39 percent say President Trump and congressional Republicans are to blame, 30 percent say it's the fault of congressional Democrats, while 31 percent say Democrats and Republicans share the blame equally.

Still to come, a judge stopped Donald Trump from deploying the Oregon National Guard to Portland. So, the President came up with a new plan. The judge's ruling on that is just ahead. Plus, the latest on trouble from Trump tariffs and how it's impacting farmers across the U.S. And later, a shock during Sunday night football as a matchup between the New England Patriots and the Buffalo Bills goes down to the wire.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [05:20:00]

ABEL: A federal judge is blocking Donald Trump from sending any National Guard troops to Oregon. On Saturday, that same judge told the President he could not deploy the Oregon National Guard to the city of Portland. The White House then said it would send National Guard soldiers from California or Texas.

But a new ruling late Sunday shot down those plans. The White House cites the need for troops to protect federal agents and facilities during protests. President Trump has described Portland as a war- ravaged city, but one state lawmaker says that is simply not true.

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REP. SUZANNE BONAMICI (D-OR): What I do know is what Trump thinks about Portland is completely disconnected from reality. I've been downtown. I've been at the ICE facility. He's describing it as a war zone, and it is not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Still, President Trump insists that troops are needed in Democratic-led cities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now, we're in Memphis. We're doing the same thing in Memphis, and we're going to Chicago -- we're sending National Guard -- you know what? We're sending what's ever necessary. People don't care. They want to -- they don't want crime in their cities, and we're doing it, and we're doing it well. We're doing it like nobody's ever done it before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: CNN's Rafael Romo has more on the President's move to deploy the National Guard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): The President and his administration are framing anti-ICE demonstrations in Democratic-led cities like Los Angeles, Chicago and Portland as violent protests carried out by, quote, "domestic terrorists". In an interview with "Fox News" on Sunday morning, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem stated without providing evidence that protests and confrontations with federal agents are part of an organized movement funded by gangs, terrorists, and drug cartel members.

She cited drivers in Chicago who allegedly rammed their cars into a vehicle carrying federal agents, prompting one agent to shoot and injure a woman, the Department of Justice announced that two people have been charged in federal court with using their vehicles to assault, impede, and interfere with the work of federal agents in Chicago. KRISTI NOEM, SECRETARY OF HOMELAND SECURITY, UNITED STATES: I've

encouraged the governor of Oregon and of Illinois, and that Attorney General should go down and spend some time with our ICE officers and with our border patrol officers and encounter the protesters that they do, because these individuals are shouting hateful things at them, threatening their families, putting their hands on them, and acts of violence are occurring on a regular basis.

ROMO: And in an interview with CNN also on Sunday, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker criticized the Trump administration for last week's raid in the city of Chicago featured in a DHS video posted on X this weekend. According to the governor, U.S. citizens, children and elderly people were detained for hours without cause.

GOV. JAY ROBERT PRITZKER (D-IL): What kind of a country are we living in? And this raid at this building is emblematic of what ICE and CBP and the President of the United States, Kristi Noem and Greg Bovino are trying to do. They want mayhem on the ground. They want to create the war zone so that they can send in even more troops. Now, they're claiming they need 300 of Illinois's National Guard.

ROMO: A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told CNN that the raid was part of a multi-agency operation that led to the arrest of 37 undocumented immigrants, most of them from Venezuela, but also included people from Mexico, Nigeria and Colombia. Rafael Romo, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a Himalayan blizzard on Mount Everest. We will bring you the latest on the race to rescue them. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:25:00]

ABEL: Hundreds of trekkers stranded by a blizzard on the Tibetan side of Mount Everest have been guided to safety, according to Chinese state media. The storm began on Friday night and continued through Saturday. It trapped visitors in a remote valley near the mountain's eastern face, about 350 people have reached safety, but more than 200 others are still on the mountain, yet in contact with rescuers.

Officials say the remaining trekkers are being escorted down in stages, and CNN's Will Ripley has the latest on the rescue efforts.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RIPLEY (on camera): Freezing winds, chest-high snow-drifts, almost zero visibility, hundreds of trekkers caught in really brutal conditions on Mount Everest right now. A powerful blizzard swept across the Tibetan side of the Himalayas, many people were stranded outside for hours or even days, with temperatures plunging like that. Hypothermia is a real risk. The storm buried trails. It cut off escape routes in a remote valley

on the eastern flank of Everest. The rescue effort has been slow. It's been dangerous. That part of Everest is much harder to reach than the north phase, which is also in Tibet, but it has a paved road leading almost all the way to base camp.

Teams of villagers and emergency crews have been mobilized to dig through the deep snow and help guide people down the mountain by hand. All the trekkers are now believed to be accounted for. Groups were being brought to safety in stages. Many are finally on lower ground, they're getting warm meals, they're getting medical checks and they're getting a chance to recover.

The blizzard hit during China's national day holiday when trekking traffic peaks. October is usually one of the safest and most predictable months for trekking. Cooler temperatures, clearer skies and far less risk of heavy storms once the monsoon ends.