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Trump Speaks After Arriving In Egypt For Gaza Summit; Rep. David Kustoff (R-TN), Is Interviewed About President Trump, World Leaders In Egypt For Gaza Summit. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired October 13, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: -- as you know, I guess five or six are in yet now, but they're looking for bodies. They know the areas and the search party is out. And they're doing it in conjunction with Israel. And they're -- they're going to be finding quite a few of them.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: President Trump, can you tell us when phase two of the negotiations will begin?

TRUMP: Well, it started, I mean, it started as far as we're concerned, phase two has started. And, you know, the phases are all a little bit mixed in with each other. They're going to start cleaning up. You look at Gaza needs a lot of cleanup. That's why when I talk to you in my speech, I talk to you about the debris. I use the word debris. That's debris times 10. So, but we're going to -- they're going to really do a job.

They have a lot of power. In another room, you have the wealthiest, some of the wealthiest nations in the world, all leaders. The -- the big leaders are here, the emirs and the kings and everybody. And it's -- it's a very interesting group. I guess we have like 35 countries, and that's only because they were the 35 that we invited.

Everybody that we invited came. So it's a -- there's a lot of respect. And I think you'll see some tremendous progress both in the Middle East. This country is doing very well. It has good leadership. It's about leadership. And it's really nice when you say, how is your crime situation? And they like, don't even know what you're talking about. What do you mean crime? We don't have crime. Because if he has crime, he puts it out very quickly.

Some people think that's not nice, but I think it's great because people don't want to be mugged and smashed and -- and they don't want to be stupid people. They have a place that is doing very well. We're very proud of him because we knew each other from the beginning. The first time I met, it was in a hotel and I was going to meet him, and then Hillary Clinton was following me. Remember Hillary Clinton?

And he liked me so much, he never even got to see Hillary. He saw her for about two seconds, but he didn't really want to waste a lot of time. He knew what was going to happen, but that was the first time we met and we had a very good chemistry together. And it continues until today. So I want to thank you all very much. I appreciate the way you covered the -- this really momentous. I've never seen anything like it.

The level of love, the level of respect for what it is and it's, you know, it's --it's peace in the Middle East that everybody said it's not possible to do. And it's going to happen. And it is happening as -- before you very eyes. And that's why it's become so fascinating. Marco, do you have anything to say?

MARCO RUBIO, STATE SECRETARY: Egypt has been a phenomenal participant. I think both Steve and Jared will tell you the critical role they played and they can tell you themselves. They hosted the talks here and they're going to play a very important role now in the follow up, the implementation of this, which is really, it's not simply about restoring Gaza, it is about transforming the region.

So we have an incredible partner, a long alliance, very capable partner here and a tremendous collection of leaders. This is clearly in my mind, I think in the mind of everyone in this room, probably one of the most important days for world peace in 50 years. That's not an exaggeration.

TRUMP: Only 50.

RUBIO: Maybe 100 since the end of World War II.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. Witkoff and Mr. Kushner, I'm curious, you've played such an important role in the tactical negotiations here. What will your role be going forward as -- as a lot more has to be brought to the table here?

STEVE WITKOFF, MIDDLE EAST SPECIAL ENVOY: The minute -- the minute we had inked the deal, Jared and I were already working on the implementation side of the deal. So we're -- we're dug in. We'll be here quite a bit. That's at the direction of the President. That's probably going to be one of the most important phases here. Jared is remarkable to work with. I talk about it all the time. And of course we both love working for the President. So it's a -- it feels like a very honorable job.

TRUMP: Mr. President, would you like to say something with the interpreter?

ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT: Yes. (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, first of all, we we'd like to say I welcome you to Egypt. It's a great pleasure and an honor to have you with us here in the City of Peace, Sharm El-Sheikh. We'd like also to extend on behalf of all Egyptians and peace lovers around the world, salute the appreciation and the respect for this unprecedented and momentous accomplishment.

[11:05:08]

ABDEL FATTAH EL-SISI, EGYPTIAN PRESIDENT: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I -- I feel very confident that your excellency is the only one who is capable of bringing this about and bringing end to this war.

EL-SISI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I even said that very precisely during my communication with your excellence, that you are the only one who is able to bring about peace and to achieve peace in this country.

EL-SISI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank you, sir.

EL-SISI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need to do now is to fixate the ceasefire, make sure that it maintains and sustains that we can deliver all of the remaining, the bodies, of the deceased to their families. And this is very important to bring in more humanitarian assistance into the strip and working very closely on following up the rest of the steps that should be taken to make this successful.

EL-SISI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. President, you've been very great. Thank you.

TRUMP: Pleasure. Thank you very much. Thank you. He's a good man. EL-SISI: Thank you.

TRUMP: He's a good man. We're with him all the way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Will he be on the Board of Peace, sir?

TRUMP: I'd like to have him on the board. I'd like to. We may need an interpreter. But that's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As long as the president --

TRUMP: You can't do better.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The Board of Peace, I'll be there.

TRUMP: We've had many leaders want to be on the board, actually. The Board of Peace, it's -- it's taken our -- Steve, I'd say a life of its own. So do you want to discuss that? What's happened?

WITKOFF: I -- I think we have a long list of applicants to be on that list.

TRUMP: Yes. Everybody wants it. That's very nice. That's better than the other way. Usually it's the other way. Nobody wants to be on the board, but it's -- it's really taken on. This whole thing has taken on a life that's very different. So it's been -- it's been really great -- a great honor. And you -- and you people have done a fantastic job. I want to tell you that. We appreciate it very much. Thank you very much, everybody. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Thank you guys. Let's go. Let's go. Thank you.

TRUMP: Hold on one second. Yes?

EL-SISI: (Speaking in Foreign Language).

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just want to look forward to your excellency's support and your sponsorship with us in the conference for the reconstruction.

EL-SISI: Thank you.

TRUMP: Hundred percent. Thank you. Thank you, everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right. Thank you guys for coming.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. So there you have it. The President of the United States, his first introductory meeting with the -- with his host, the President of Egypt, President El-Sisi, heaping some praise on President Trump, you're the only one who could bring this kind of peace agreement forward. He was very effusive in his praise for President Trump and their meeting there.

And President Trump, as you well know, Kaitlan, he likes doing these formal meetings, but then answering reporters questions. And he did that just once again, just now, even though it wasn't in the Oval Office, it was in this hotel where they're all meeting in Sharm El- Sheikh in Egypt.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, it doesn't really matter if he's on his turf or someone else's, where he will delve into those question and answer sessions. But hearing from the Egyptian President Sisi there, as he was sitting next to the president, obviously Egypt had a key role in brokering this ceasefire that the President announced and confirmed last Thursday. That's where these last minute negotiations have been going on with Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, who you saw seated there alongside the Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

And so in that moment, you know, as they spent several days there and then have been here basically in the region for over a week now, the one point that -- that you heard Marco Rubio made -- making was that this is about the broader region and what that looks like. And that is really -- this visit obviously here was focused on Israel. This moment now where they are meeting is going to be focused on that.

And the President was asked about the second floor phase of this deal, of what this is going to look like, this proposed peace deal, as he has been putting it. He argued that he believes they're already in the second phase. I -- I guess that's following the release of this 20 living hostages. And now they are starting to -- to hand over the bodies of the deceased hostages.

[11:10:09]

And the President talked about something he mentioned earlier, which is that Gaza is, as he likened it earlier, to a demolition zone, just talking about the scale of the destruction there. He keeps referencing wealthy countries in the region, Wolf. It's not clear if that's his, what he's envisioning for rebuilding Gaza and for what happens there going forward. But certainly that is something he's mentioned multiple times now when asked about what's next for Gaza on the ground there as so many Palestinians are returning to total destruction.

BLITZER: He keeps hitting the countries like Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar. They have a lot of money and they potentially could help the people in Gaza rebuild that whole enclave over there. Let's see if that happens. That would be very significant.

Nic Robertson is in Sharm El-Sheikh for us. And Nic, it's pretty significant, I think, that the President once again talking about Iran and suggesting that Iran will come along, and he cited the U.S. effort to destroy the nuclear capabilities of Iran, but he was leaving open the possibility that as a follow up to this ceasefire deal, the hostage release deal in Gaza, maybe Iran will change its attitude and join this process. Is that -- am I reading too much into that?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: No. I think the President was certainly implying that sort of coming from a position of -- of -- of strength and power would lead to peace or at least a better understanding and arrangement with Iran. I was struck by a couple of things here. One is, the President said everyone we invited came.

Well, we know Prime Minister Netanyahu was invited at the last minute, seemed to be coming, wasn't coming. But the Iranians, we understood, were invited. And the Iranians seem to think they were invited because we heard from the Foreign Ministry there that they wouldn't come because they felt under pressure. They wouldn't come and sit around the table with a country, and here they mean the United States and perhaps some of the others at the table, that were pressuring them and threatening them through sanctions.

And what President Trump actually said there as well was that Iran would get tired of these very heavy sanctions that are on them and would therefore decide that they want to get rid of the sanctions and come to the table. Whereas what the Iranians have been saying over the past couple of days is they're not going to come to the table because of the sanctions as ever, with Iran astute negotiators trying to change the sequence of events to effect what they want.

There's no doubt President Trump can bring more pressure to bear. One -- one of the other things I have to say that struck me as well was just the demure Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the president, sitting next to President Trump. You know, he was very careful with his words. He was very measured. He spoke through a translator there.

But I'm minded to think back of President Trump in the White House with the Jordanian king earlier on in the year where he was pressuring the Jordanian king to take Palestinians out of -- out of Gaza, out of the West Bank, give them a home there so that -- so that Gaza could be cleared of Palestinians. And the king was incredibly uncomfortable, the king of Jordan. And it was in that same week that President Sisi was expected to come to the White House, but he didn't come. And it very much seemed at that time that he didn't want to go through what others, other leaders were being put through at the White House and coming under extreme pressure to take Palestinians. Of course, the situation has moved on entirely.

President Trump says there won't be an expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza. But President Sisi there clearly smiling and feeling much more comfortable about this engagement with President Trump than what it could have been earlier in the year.

BLITZER: And President El-Sisi of Egypt heaping some praise on President Trump for achieving the ceasefire deal, the hostage release deal as well. You wanted to make a point, Kaitlan?

COLLINS: Just to follow on what Nic Robertson was saying there. You know, when that 20-point peace plan from the White House was released, as -- as they have billed this, what was really striking to me was the difference from that February or March press conference we had at the White House where President Trump came out with Prime Minister Netanyahu and made his comments about envisioning this Riviera of the Middle East.

And when I asked him, where are the people, the Palestinians who live in Gaza supposed to go? Because of course, that was the issue. No other countries had proposed taking them. That was left unanswered. And the President was saying essentially, well, they can't live in Gaza because Gaza is destroyed. And so that was a key unanswered question for months as they were trying to hammer out an agreement here.

And when that proposal was released, not only did it say that they did not have to leave Gaza, it said they were encouraging them to stay in Gaza and that if they left, they would be guaranteed return to Gaza.

BLITZER: Yes. Good point. Brett McGurk, our global affairs analyst, was watching and listening to this exchange between the President of the United States, the president of Egypt. What -- what jumped out at you, Brett?

[11:15:06]

BRETT MCGURK, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Something Nic just said really struck me. I've been in a lot of meetings with President Sisi, and I just, I -- I noticed there he was very comfortable. That's the right word. And he clearly is fully behind this direction that President Trump has set. And that's really important because Egypt has gone through an incredibly difficult two years since the beginning of this war on -- on October 7th.

And I just, I really noticed that. I could tell Sisi was comfortable with the President and -- and very bought into this plan. Now, to make this plan move, though, I didn't hear many specifics of what's going to happen. I thought Steve Witkoff said, we're staying at it. I'm now focused on implementation, but let me just kind of go through some of the buckets that have to be addressed.

The interim security force, that's going to be a force of about between 20 and 40,000 foreign troops, if you want to do it right, not U.S. forces in Gaza, but will be outside. CENTCOM had put a lot of this together over the last year, but that's a big troop commitment. And who's going to do that? What are the rules of engagement? Very complex.

The international reconstruction program, everybody's behind that. It's going to be a massive price tag. Who organizes that reconstruction effort, and how is the money distributed? Again, we did this in the counter ISIS campaign, something I was involved in years ago. It's complex. It takes a lot of organization.

And then the political structure about the interim governance of Gaza also has to be resolved. The Egyptians have been a part of this for years, Wolf, trying to get Palestinian factions together in some sort of a united organizing formula. It has never worked. To set up that political structure will be difficult.

But I come all the way back first to security, because without security, you won't have reconstruction, you won't have a political horizon, and you have to get the security piece right. Right now in Gaza, the only security force is either Hamas or beyond the line that they just drew for this deal, the Israeli Defense Forces.

So, you know, over the coming months, weeks, hopefully, clarity on -- on who will be in that interim security force and trying to get that security structure set up and into Gaza that is so critical for anything else to happen here. And when you look at kind of the reconstruction of Gaza or a political horizon, security comes first.

BLITZER: And very quickly, Brett, before I let you go, when we heard the President, I was taking notes. He said, I think Iran will come along, Iran. He's talking about Iran in a follow up to what has just happened in Gaza. What did you make of that?

MCGURK: I honestly, I think there's almost zero chance of that, knowing the Iranians. Look, Iran is under tremendous pressure, not only the war in June, which was a huge blow to them, strategic blow. But second, the Europeans have just snapped back sanctions. What that means is all international sanctions that came off in the Obama -- Obama era nuclear deal are now back on, international sanctions back on Iran. And so Iran is under tremendous pressure.

I think it's smart to say, hey, you have a way out of this. Let's get to the table, figure something out. But the Iranian system, its entire basis is -- is driven on hostility to Israel and to wiping Israel off the map. So the idea that Iran is going to come into this and be a constructive player I think is highly unlikely.

What the President might be doing there is saying, yes, Iran, you're under tremendous pressure. You know what we can do. Sanctions are only going to increase, but there's a diplomatic opening if you want it. And I just don't think the Iranians will take it. BLITZER: And the Iranian hostility is not only directed at Israel, it's directed at the United States as well. Brett McGurk, thank you very much. Nic Robertson on the scene for us in Sharm El-Sheikh, thank you.

[11:18:48]

Kaitlan Collins here with me in Tel Aviv. We're watching all of this unfold. We'll have much more ahead in our special breaking news coverage of this truly historic day. We're watching it all from here in The Situation Room. Incredible scenes playing out in Israel throughout the day as people are celebrating the return of the living hostages after 738 days in captivity. We'll show you some of that when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to our breaking news coverage of the release of all remaining living hostages held in Gaza. And I want to tell you the story of one of them. Omri Miran was kidnapped from his home right in front of his wife and two young daughters. My colleague, Kaitlan Collins spoke to his brother-in-law about the family's nightly ritual during Omri's captivity.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: You told me something really beautiful when we first spoke, which was that with your two nieces who were so young. And to think that they've gone two years without seeing their father, that she would take them out and look at the stars every night and -- and talk about your brother-in-law returning.

MOSHE LAVI, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF OMRI MIRAN: We're still doing it.

COLLINS: They still go out and look at the stars?

LAVI: Yes. It's a ritual for Roni. She's four years old now. Omri used to do it with her. And it's -- for her it's like a religious duty. I have to go and wish good night to the world because her father also hears it. And somewhere in a tunnel in Gaza, he's wishing goodnight to her. That's the kind of bond she has. She dreams of Omri so many times.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Well, after his release, Omri's wife called their children, telling them daddy's back. And we are getting new images in Omri playing with his children, finally. Look right here. Reunited after more than two years apart. And maybe tonight, Omri and his daughters will look up at the stars together. How beautiful, Wolf. Just beautiful.

[11:25:22]

BLITZER: So beautiful. So moving. And we're seeing so many of these images now just coming in. Families reunited. These young men finally, finally, after two years freed, they're back in Israel and they're meeting after two years for the first time in two years with not just their wives, not just their parents, but with these little kids who have now grown up and they didn't see their dad for two years. And now they're hugging and kissing and playing and having a good time. It's just so emotional, so powerful for all of us just to watch these happy, very happy moments indeed.

And I got to tell you, we're following a lot of other breaking news out of the Middle East right now as President Trump continues, continues to meet with world leaders about the future of Gaza, dramatic developments unfolding. Joining us now, Republican Congressman David Kustoff of Tennessee. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us. As you know, more than 700 days after the horrible October 7th attacks, these Israeli hostages, all of those who are still alive, are now home. No more living Israeli hostages are still being held by Hamas in -- in Gaza. And this is truly, and I'm sure you agree with me, an incredible moment, right?

REP. DAVID KUSTOFF (R-TN): It really is, Wolf. And thank you for your coverage this morning of -- of this tremendous day. I think about from people of my age, you know, we think about the Iranian hostage crisis that lasted 444 days. And we lived each of those days. And these hostages that were released were held for 738 days, to put it in perspective.

So the images that we're seeing are joyous and we celebrate that. And we appreciate all the hard work of President Trump and his team for working with the Israelis and with Hamas and all the other partners in that part of the world to execute, if you will, the first step of President Trump's 20-point plan.

BLITZER: What -- what does this moment mean to you, Congressman, not only as an American, but as an American Jewish leader, a leader in the Jewish community here in the United States?

KUSTOFF: So I'm glad you asked that question. The American Jewish community is, I can't think of any other word, but relieved to see what has happened today because going back two years to October 7th, 2023, we know the heightened state of affairs not only in -- in Israel and in Gaza, but certainly in the United States. I -- I've talked to I don't know how many people in the -- in the U.S. Jews in the U.S. who have told me of all ages that they have never felt the level of anti- Semitism in the country that they have over these -- these last two years.

And -- and nobody should have to live like this. So to see what we've seen today, the -- the images of these hostages being released, the speech of President Trump to the Knesset, which in itself was historic, it -- it came gives people in our country, certainly in -- in -- certainly in Israel and in the Middle East. But Jews in the -- in the U.S. hope, I can't think of a better word, but -- but hope for the future.

BLITZER: They certainly do. I could testify to that as well. As, you know, President Trump is saying that the Gaza war is now officially over. How confident are you, Congressman, that this ceasefire, which is still in effect, thank God, will hold? And do you have any concerns that Hamas will not actually disarm?

KUSTOFF: Wolf, look, there are going to be a lot of parts and a lot of chapters to this story. We -- we've seen the first one unfold today. This was a pretty good first part and a pretty good first chapter. I was encouraged in the remarks with President Trump and Steve Witkoff earlier that Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner are going to remain engaged. And -- and to me, they were such an -- they played such an essential role on behalf of President Trump in the United States to get this part of the deal worked out, actually meeting last -- last week with representatives of -- of -- of Hamas.

[11:29:51]

So this is going to -- going to play out, but again, I think for the first time in a long, long time that Israelis and everybody in the Middle East can see a finish line. And I have no doubt that President Trump is going to remain as engaged.