Transcript of Hostages Released, Trump In The Middle East, Shutdown Layoffs

Celebrations broke out in Israel as all 20 living hostages were freed from captivity in Gaza.

And Palestinians held by Israel will also reunite with their families. The swap is a big step in the ceasefire deal.

I'm Michelle Martin. That's A. Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. President Trump addresses Israel's parliament before heading to Egypt to cement the deal he brokered between Israel and Hamas. This is just phase one of a 20-point plan, but the President insists the war's over. How are Israelis responding to his message?

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This morning, all 20 living Israeli hostages are free. Shesam.

Tens of thousands of Israelis celebrated the moment in downtown Tel Aviv as Hamas released the last surviving hostages they captured two years ago in the October seventh attack. In exchange, Israel is releasing nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. President Trump has declared the Gaza war is over.

Npr's Daniel Estrin is in Tel Aviv. Daniel, what's it feel like there?

Hey, it's just unbelievable. I am at what's known as Hostages Square. I stood in a sea of people, tens of thousands of people watching footage of the hostage release on a large screen. I watched men cry. I watched women cry. I watched them smile and cheer and then cry some more. This is Niva Perry.

We've waited for this moment so long. I'm full of hope after two years of devastation, of killing, of anxiety, remorse. I just can't contain my happiness. We have been here for two long years. That's why I'm so overwhelmed, and I can't believe that we are here now.

This is the culmination of one of the biggest, longest protest movements in Israeli history, people calling for Israel to strike a deal with Hamas, to release the hostages, and to end the war. We have reached that moment, and it's a surreal one.

Yeah, definitely sounds that way. Tell us how the hostage release unfolded this morning.

Hamas transferred hostages to Red Cross vehicles inside Gaza. This happened in two separate groups around 8: 00 AM local time and then 10: 00 AM local time. They were taken across the border to an Israeli military base. Unlike earlier this year with the last hostage release, there were no Hamas ceremonies with hostages paraded on a stage. That was part of the ceasefire deal. Then Hamas today should be transferring the bodies of dead hostages, around 28 of them. But that will take longer because about a third of them are unknown where they are or they're under rubble.

Now, the living hostages and the ones released, what condition are they in?

Yeah, they're men and mostly in their 20s and 30s, including two pairs of brothers. Around half of the hostages released today were taken hostage at a music festival on October seventh, two years ago. And, A, this morning, a few of the families got surprise video calls from Gaza, where you see masked Palestinian militants standing next to the hostages and their families speaking to them for the first time, and the hostages are smiling. They're standing on their feet. They're being helicoptered to hospitals any moment now in Israel. And they've been more than 700 days in captivity. And what we know from previously released hostages and from videos Hamas published is that they likely have been kept in underground tunnels, held alone, starved. We don't know yet what their real condition is in both body and mind.

Okay, so what happens today?

Well, President Trump is in Israel. He's addressing the parliament. He's then going to Egypt for summit with more than 20 world leaders to mark this moment. Almost 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are being released from Israeli prisons. Hostages are spending their first day of freedom with their families. They've been waiting for this moment to heal for so long.

That's NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv. Daniel, thank you.

You're welcome.

As you just heard, President Trump has arrived in Israel, where he has received a rousing welcome.

The President is widely credited with bringing about the ceasefire in the Gaza war. He's getting ready to speak to Israel's Parliament in Jerusalem.

Joining us now is NPR's Greg Myrie, who is in Tel Aviv. Greg, what message will Trump deliver?

Yeah, as Trump arrived at Israel's Parliament, the Knesset in Jerusalem, he could be heard saying that this is a great day. The President clearly sees this as a great success, and he wants to celebrate this ceasefire. On the flight here, Trump spoke briefly with reporters on the plane and said, emphatically, the war is over. So that is certainly the hope of the message that Trump has come to convey. But we should note that Israel's Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, hasn't gone this far. He seems to want to keep his options open in case there are some problems that hell up down the road.

Okay, so give us a sense of how Trump was greeted in Israel.

Yeah, it's really overwhelming. He got a literal red carpet welcome at Ben Gurian Airport outside Tel Aviv. Netanyahu was there to greet him. Trump's daughter, Ivanka, and her husband, Jared Kushner, were there. They've been here for the past couple of days, and he helped negotiate the ceasefire agreement. Now, more broadly, Israel has just embraced Trump in the most spectacular way imaginable. We've seen crowds at Hostages Square chant, Thank you, Trump. Thank you, Trump. I'd note that that same crowd has booed Netanyahu. They believe Netanyahu rejected earlier opportunities to end the war. Huge huge billboards featuring Trump have cropped up all over the country. On the beachfront in Tel Aviv, Trump's distinctive profile was carved in the sand, accompanied by a big thank you with an Israeli flag.

Wow. What role will President Trump and his administration have in the next stages of the Gaza ceasefire?

The plan A is for the Trump administration to remain very active. About 200 American troops are being sent to Israel. At least some are already here. I know this because I see them walking around my hotel in uniform. Now, they'll be part of a military-civilian coordination center, and this will also involve other countries, all of them, trying to keep the ceasefire on track. The US contingent is led by Navy admiral, Brad Cooper, the head of US Central Command, so a very senior figure. This US presence, this military presence is a sign that the Trump administration really wants this ceasefire to stick. But we should stress that the Americans and the others will be doing things like planning, logistics, transportation, and they'll be doing it from a safe distance inside Israel. These US forces will not be in Gaza.

Okay, got it. The President is going to be in Israel for just a couple of hours. Can you tell us what's next for him?

Yeah. So Trump will be flying to Sharm El Sheik, Egypt, on the Red Sea later today. That's where this formal signing ceremony for the ceasefire will take place. 20 or so national leaders are supposed to be there. Today is a day of success and celebration, but the important point to emphasize here, this is stage one. Much harder stages are ahead and will play out for weeks, months, even years to come.

All right. That's NPR's Greg Meiry in Tel Aviv. Greg, thank you.

Sure thing.

Thousands of federal workers received layoff notices Friday as a government shutdown continues. At least some of those intended firings have already, though, been walked back.

The Trump administration continues to blame Democrats for drastic changes to the federal government. But these are changes that have also been part of the President's day one agenda. This as members of the military, faced the prospect of their first missed paycheck this week.

Npr's Stephen Fowler has been keeping track of these changes, joining us now to help sort all of this out. So, Stephen, we're heading into the second week of the government shutdown. Friday, the White House announced substantial layoffs were coming for federal employees. Where do those now stand?

About 4,000 people from at least seven agencies received these reduction in force notices. That includes places like the IRS, the Education Department, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development. A quarter of those layoffs were with the Department of Health and Human Services. Sources told NPR that more than 100 employees at the country's top mental health agency will be let go, plus hundreds more at the centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was Friday. On Saturday, some CDC employees started receiving word that their layoff notices were being reversed. We don't know the scope and scale of that decision, but I did hear from a few folks who are the so-called disease detectives that work on investigating outbreaks who say their cuts were walked back.

Okay. Now, Vice President J. D. Vance was asked about those reversals on CBS's Face the Nation yesterday. This is what he had to say.

You ask, How does this mistake happen?

It happened because Chuck Schumer shut down the government We're trying to make sure that essential services still function in the face of that shutdown. Okay, take us through the Trump administration's logic here.

Well, the administration argues that Democrats' refusal to drop their demands for extending healthcare subsidies means they have to start firing workers and cutting spending to keep the lights on for essential government services. Budget experts say that's not how that works. Those essential services continue no matter how many people work for the government because they're essential. The federal employees who keep doing their jobs during the shutdown will get paid once a new spending plan is passed. Beyond that, firing workers and slashing spending has been a top Trump administration priority since day one, like the Department of Government efficiency effort, and also like Doge, some government experts I talked to last week before the firings were announced, said to take any threats and big changes with a grain of salt, like Jessica Riedel with the Center-Right Manhattan Institute. There's a lot of people in the government right now who were pretty sure their jobs were going to be eliminated six months ago, but are still employed by the federal government. In fact, A, in recent weeks before the shutdown, we've been reporting on federal agencies hiring people back because they can't perform basic functions or carry out Trump's agenda.

Okay, so there are some layoffs, except for the ones that are being reversed. This week is also the first potential missed paycheck for military members. Is that really going to happen?

Over the weekend, President Trump posted on his social media site, Truth Social, that he would make sure the troops are paid A Pentagon official, not authorized to speak publicly, told NPR that they would take about $8 billion of unused research, development, testing, and evaluation funds to cover the paychecks for October 15th. It's not clear if they can legally do that, but like many big changes to the federal government this year, the White House says it's using power over appropriations that belongs to Congress.

All right, that's NPR's Stephen Fowler. Stephen, thanks.

Thank you.

That's Up First for Monday, October 13th. I'm A. Martinez.

I'm Michelle Martin. For your next listen, Consider This from NPR. At Up First, we give you the three big stories of the day, or Consider This, colleagues take a different approach. They dive into a single news story and what it means to you to learn about a big story of the day in less than 15 minutes. Listen now on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.

Today's episode of Up First was edited by Kate Bartlet, Vincent Nee, Jason Breslow, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Martha and Overland. It was produced by Zia Budge, Nia Dumas, and Christopher Thomas. We get engineering support from David Greenberg. Our technical director is Zack Coleman. Join us again tomorrow.

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