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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump: Israel & Hamas Agree To First Phase Of Gaza Plan; Trump: Illinois Governor, Chicago Mayor Should Be In Jail; Comey Pleads Not Guilty, Attorneys Want Case Dismissed. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired October 09, 2025 - 05:00   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.

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. Thank you for being with us.

I'm Brian Abel. Rahel Solomon is off. It is Thursday, October 9th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C., 12:00 p.m. across Israel and Gaza, where the breaking news -- we've witnessed celebrations and a sense of relief as U.S. President Donald Trump announces Israel and Hamas have signed off on a ceasefire and hostage deal for the first phase of Trump's Gaza plan.

President Trump says as part of this deal, Israel will withdraw its troops to an agreed upon line and Hamas will release all the remaining hostages in the coming days.

Hamas says it has provided lists of Palestinian prisoners to be released also as part of the deal.

In the hours ahead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to convene a security cabinet meeting, followed by a vote on the agreement.

News of the deal sparking celebrations on the streets of Gaza, where Palestinians cheered the breakthrough which they do hope will mean an end to the two-year war there.

Similar scenes of joy playing out in Israel, where the families of hostages still held in Gaza anxiously await their return.

CNN's Paula Hancocks joining us now from Abu Dhabi with the latest.

And we are preparing for these negotiators of this deal to officially sign the agreement, Paula.

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Brian. This will be the negotiators who have secured the agreement on this first phase of the Gaza ceasefire plan. We are expecting them to sign that agreement at some point today. And we also know that in about four hours or so, there will be that security cabinet meeting in Israel. This is according to an Israeli official. It will just be looking at

the hostage release and the prisoner exchange. This will not be a vote on the entirety of this framework of the plan. So, these are the two things that we're waiting to see in the coming hours.

Now, we have seen in Gaza itself, as you say, there have been plenty of celebrations. We are also, though, in recent hours have seen some military activity, journalists on the ground working with CNN say that they have heard explosions. We've been seeing signs of smoke on the horizon as well, but certainly it is a quieter situation than we have seen for many months.

Now, looking a bit further afield, what we can expect is we've heard from the U.S. president, Donald Trump, that he is potentially going to be traveling to the region in the coming days. Weve heard also that he's been invited to speak to the Israeli cabinet. He has also said that he believes that the hostage release itself could start as early as Monday.

So, there are a lot of details to be hammered out, still. But certainly, what we know at this point is that there is celebration in this region. There is relief, there is joy that the ceasefire appears to be imminent, if it is not in place at this point, and that there will be this progression towards the rest of this 20-point plan -- Brian.

ABEL: And, Paula, given that beyond the cease fire and hostage release, that so many of these details still do need to be hammered out, is there any sense of what the hurdles here are to having this deal, this plan hold?

HANCOCKS: Everyone we have heard from in the region and everyone we have spoken to is trying to focus on the next few days at this point, saying this is the celebratory moment. This is the moment of joy that we can look at that potentially this bloodshed will end. But then they do look beyond that. And that is where we are seeing a million potential issues.

The 20-point plan was deliberately vague in the details of what will happen going forward to ensure that both sides would sign up to it, that both Hamas and Israel could sign on to this deal and say that they could get what they wanted out of this deal.

So, yes, the difficult work, the difficult negotiations are yet to come. For example, the demilitarization of the Gaza Strip. Hamas has to lay down its arms, something it's said in the past was a red line.

[05:05:03]

Who will ensure that that will happen, that they will in fact put down their arms?

The withdrawal of the Israeli military, which is expected to be in the coming days, although an exact timeline hasn't been given. We don't have the exact details of where the military will withdraw to and when they will be leaving the Gaza Strip in full.

That seems to certainly be an issue for later days. And then, of course, you have the question of who exactly will be in charge of Gaza. We know there is going to be this board of peace, something that the U.S. president has spoken about just recently on Fox News. Let's listen to that.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think you're going to see all of that disappear. I think you're going to see people getting along, and you'll see Gaza being rebuilt. We're forming a council that -- the Council of Peace, we think it's going to be called, and it's going to be very powerful.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: Now, President Trump will be heading up that that Board of Peace, certainly. And we know that Arab and Muslim nations have signed on as well to help with the reconstruction. But there are a lot of details to be hammered out, Brian.

ABEL: Yes, there are a million potential issues, as you said. We'll -- so the work will continue.

Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi -- Paula, thank you.

To discuss more, Jonathan Panikoff, director of the Scowcroft Middle East Security Initiative at the Atlantic Council is joining me live from here in Washington.

And, Jonathan, in your estimation, what moved this to both sides, signing off after so many previous attempts that looked promising, ultimately failed.

JONATHAN PANIKOFF, DIRECTOR, SCOWCROFT MIDDLE EAST SECURITY INITIATIVE, ATLANTIC COUNCIL: Good morning, Brian.

I think there was pressure on both sides in a way that we frankly haven't seen in the last number of months, maybe the last year. On the Arab side, I think you saw significant pressure on Hamas, not just by Egypt and Qatar, but also by non-Arab states in the region like Turkey.

I thought it was very notable, for instance, that the Turkish chief of intelligence, Ibrahim Kalin, was actually part of the negotiations for the first time. We saw a video of him there yesterday coming out on the Israeli side.

I think, frankly, President Trump was able to reach a point where working in conjunction with Arab states who are unified, he looked and said, look to Netanyahu, we're at a point now where you have to end this, where we've got to move on. There's got to be a way out. We can do it on terms that are acceptable to you, that are vague, that we're seeing now and will play out. But this is now the time. And frankly, after the strike in Doha, quite a bit of that pressure

was able to increase in a way because of the strategic mistake there. And so, I think both sides were feeling greater pressure than they ever have up to this point.

ABEL: Does this deal give us any insight into the state of Hamas?

PANIKOFF: Well, I think it certainly indicates how weak Hamas is, and we've known that for a while. Hamas's leadership has been weakened over the last two years by Israel, not just in the first tier, but frankly, two, three tiers down the road. The organization is now quite fragmented, but it also is a reflection of, frankly, what the split has been in the Hamas political leadership in Doha and the military leadership in Gaza, which had long been reticent to sign a deal like this.

I think we are seeing now that even the leadership in Gaza, the terrorist leadership, is weakened to a point where they recognize that a deal is necessary, that they can't keep going at the rates they were going, and that it was time for them to also agree here.

ABEL: Jonathan, given your expert -- expertise, what do you see as the key questions that are left to be answered about this deal?

PANIKOFF: Well, Paula touched on a few of them. I think the disarmament of Hamas is going to be, frankly, the key one. And I think the timeline of Israeli withdrawal is the other one in the more immediate range.

So, what happens, for example, if the -- if Hamas refuses to fully disarm, as was part of President Trump's 20-point plan, does an international security force, as is also envisioned, come in and take responsibility for disarming Hamas? Or does Israel have the right, for instance, to engage in just counterterrorism operations and come back into the strip or stay in the remaining parts of the strip over the long term, a longer period than, frankly, Hamas and Arab officials have indicated would be acceptable.

I think those are questions, and I think the governance question as well. What exactly does the board of peace do, and who will the technocrats be from the Palestinian side that actually, frankly, undertake the initial humanitarian requirements, help with initial reconstruction?

[05:10:04]

There's a lot of questions to be answered, even as I think almost everybody in the region is feeling relief about the idea of a ceasefire.

ABEL: Jonathan, if you could speculate for a moment for me, what do you believe that the ruling structure could look like here moving forward? Would it be Palestinian authority involved or not?

PANIKOFF: I think it's going to take a little bit of time for the Palestinian Authority to have a role, and how that comes about, I think, is still yet to be defined.

My initial inclination is because of how opposed Israel was to the Palestinian Authority coming in, having an immediate deviation from the 20-point plan of technocrats to the P.A. is going to probably be a nonstarter. I think what you're looking for instead is that you have a more technocratic government engaging in, frankly, municipal functions, whether its dealing with water or sanitation or trash collection, whether its dealing with how to organize and help to work with Arab states, to fund and clear some of the rubble with heavy machinery. I think it's very, very basic items that we'll see technocrats working through.

And then, President Trump's board of peace or council of peace, as he called it last night, is probably going to play some sort of role. I think the question of how much of one is quite open still, but I think there will be some broader international authority that's also playing a role, at least initially, as we get from the ceasefire into the second and third phases, hopefully.

ABEL: Yeah. Jonathan, I was going to ask you quickly what needs to happen to make sure both sides hold to these agreements.

PANIKOFF: I think the biggest thing is that you're going to have to see, continued U.S. and Arab pressure. If the Trump administration views this as now a fait accompli, that the agreement is signed, hostages are returned, Israel has withdrawn, at least initially, and walks away. I think the odds that the ceasefire can hold long term quickly diminish. And the same is true on the Hamas side that if Arab states don't stay actively engaged, if Turkey doesn't actively engage, it makes it harder.

At the end of the day, Gazans are clearly exhausted from the war. Israel is exhausted from the war. I think most of the world is exhausted from the war, but it's going to take continued engagement from all sides to keep pushing forward for that second and third phase to come and not to slide back.

ABEL: All right. Jonathan Panikoff, appreciate your time, sir. Thank you very much.

PANIKOFF: Thank you.

ABEL: As the Trump administration prepares to defend its National Guard deployments in court, hear why the president thinks the governor of Illinois and the mayor of Chicago should be in jail.

Also ahead, Portland, Oregon, war zone or peaceful city? We'll see how the situation on the ground compares to the president's apocalyptic claim.

Plus, a dozen people killed, thousands forced to flee, and homes and businesses that went up in smoke. Now, investigators say they've caught the person who started the devastating fire near Los Angeles.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ABEL: A federal judge in Chicago will hear arguments today on the Trump administrations deployment of National Guard troops to Illinois. The president wants them to help protect federal agents and properties amid protests against immigration enforcement.

On Wednesday, President Trump said Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson should be in jail for failing to protect immigration officers, and they are responding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MAYOR BRANDON JOHNSON (D), CHICAGO, ILLINOIS: It's certainly not the first time that Donald Trump has called for the arresting of a Black man unjustly. I'm not going anywhere.

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D), ILLINOIS : I got to say, this guy is unhinged. He's insecure, he's a wannabe dictator. And there's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump, if you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: So, Illinois leaders remaining defiant.

Meanwhile, a California based appeals court will hear arguments today on the administrations deployment of National Guard troops to Portland, Oregon. President Trump has made some apocalyptic claims about the situation in Oregon's biggest city. But visitors and people who live there say Portland couldn't be more peaceful.

CNN's Tom Foreman reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The White House is effectively describing the city of Portland, Oregon, as a war zone just coming apart at the seams over these clashes between federal agents, including ICE, who are trying to deal with immigration matters, and protesters who do not approve of their methods.

But people on the ground there, including local officials, are saying this is simply not the case. The White House description is a fantasy, not a reality. As the police chief said, you can't take what's happening in one block around the ICE facility and say that somehow portrays the whole city because it doesn't, especially not in a greater metro area of more than 2 million people.

Have there been clashes? Yes. Back in June, there were a series of clashes where they had flammable materials up near the building. Fire started outside various conflicts, and fights between protesters and agents out there, 40 arrests have been made since early June, 31 people have been charged with federal crimes since June 13th.

But again, for some of the people who are local there, they're saying, look, that is a serious matter. It's something to be dealt with. But this in no way rises to the to the level of some kind of gigantic

clash with federal authorities that cannot be handled through normal channels, not by bringing in troops, that sort of thing.

The White House is telling a very different story, waving around the word "insurrection", suggesting this is an uprising against the government itself. It will be up to the courts to decide what the truth is here. And just as importantly, what the remedy should be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: A Chicago pastor is one of a group of people suing the Trump administration after he was shot in the head with a pepper ball by federal agents, and it was caught on camera. It happened last month outside the ICE detention facility in Broadview, Illinois.

You're going to see it here. The pastor is on the ground there on the right. The lawsuit says. Pastor David Black, wearing all black, was struck by pepper ball fired by ICE agents on the roof. When he falls to the ground, you see others, other protesters coming to help him.

A woman who recorded this incident told CNN what she saw.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

AMANDA TOVAR, CAPTURED VIDEO OF ICE SHOOTING PEPPER BALLS AT PASTOR: I had heard earlier in the day that they had been shooting from the roof, and it was starting to get a little bit more escalated than days before. When I got there, I did see that they were pepper -- spraying pepper balls at different people.

So, when it happened, I saw just people just chanting or people saying things to ICE agents and nothing really significant was happening. Until I started recording, the agents that were on top of the roof. As I was recording the agents on the roof, I was zooming in on the agents, seeing what they were doing, and just to see, you know, what they looked like, how they were, you know, what they were looking at.

And as I was recording, I saw that they were just so callously just spraying down. They weren't aiming, they weren't doing anything like they weren't looking to see, like there was a threat. They were just casually, you know, pointing downward like it was a video game. And when I recorded them doing that, I looked down. I panned down to the ground. And then that's when I saw the pastor and some people on the ground as well.

And so, there was nothing that was provoking it. He was praying. He had his hands open. He was praying to them, and they just ended up shooting him. It was like casual to them. It wasn't anything.

There was nothing exciting happened. Nothing that was -- they weren't scaling a fence. They weren't throwing any items. They weren't even saying anything in the least that would be threatening. And that's when they just started opening fire at them.

I don't know why they were targeting him. I mean, if -- I mean, he was clearly, he was clearly a man of the cloth. He had his collar on. He was clearly a priest. And they still did it anyway.

He was praying at them. He was praying for them. He was talking to the people in the crowd. He wasn't doing anything that was being seen as anything threatening. And when I saw him getting sprayed in the face, I was thinking that this was so surreal. Everything was happening around me.

I've been to many different protests over my life. Never have I experienced anything like this. I've never seen people getting tackled around me, people being shoved, and at the very least, having them sprayed directly in the face by pepper spray. I've never seen that ever happen before.

I was there for at least a half hour previous to this happening, and that did not happen. People were chanting, people were shouting, yes, people are angry. Maybe people were saying things that they didn't want to hear, but they were all words.

There was no -- there was no rocks being thrown. Nothing like that was happening. And I really wish that people would come out here and stand in unity with everybody out here to see what's happening.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Now, a Homeland Security official tells CNN that what the video fails to show is the protesters obstructing an ICE vehicle just prior to the pastor being shot.

Former FBI Director James Comey says he is not guilty. How his attorneys plan to fight the charges against him, and why they call it a political prosecution.

Plus, Disney is raising ticket prices for its theme parks in the U.S. Fans have more affordable options, though, if they get the timing right.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:32]

ABEL: A judge has set a January trial date for former FBI Director James Comey. He has pleaded not guilty to charges of lying to Congress and obstructing a congressional proceeding. His attorneys say the case is vindictive and outrageous, and they do plan to file at least five motions to have it dismissed.

The charges stem from Comey's 2020 testimony about leaks in the investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Comey's legal team also plans to challenge the appointment of prosecutor Lindsey Halligan, a former personal attorney for Donald Trump.

A detention hearing will continue today for the suspects in the deadly Palisades Fire near Los Angeles. The flames turned some residential areas into a wasteland back in January, killing a dozen people and forcing thousands to evacuate. Nine months later, investigators as Veronica Miracle reports, have made an arrest. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VERONICA MIRACLE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Investigators say they arrested 29-year-old Jonathan Rinderknecht in Florida, near his current residence. But they say at one point, he lived actually in the Pacific Palisades, about one block away from a trailhead where that fire originally started. That's according to investigators.

They also say that Rinderknecht was driving for Uber the night they believe he started the fire and had actually dropped off two passengers in the area and then went to that trailhead.

Now, according to investigators, the original fire was called the Lachman Fire, and it started on in the early morning hours of January 1st. And that fire ignited, they say, by Rinderknecht was quickly put out.