A Breakthrough Hostage Deal, and an Arrest in Deadly L.A. Wildfire

0:02From the New York Times, it's the headlines. I'm Tracy Mumford. Today's Thursday, October 9th. Here's what we're covering.

0:13Joining us now live on the phone is the president of the United States, Donald J. Trump. Mr. President, wow. Congratulations, sir. Last night in an interview on Fox News. Well, thank you very much, John. It's a great honor to be involved. President Trump said that Israel and Hamas have agreed to the first phase of a peace plan. A breakthrough that comes just days after the war in Gaza passed the two-year mark. The whole world came together, to be honest. So many countries that you wouldn't have even thought of it. They came together. The world has come together around this deal. Under the agreement, which was pushed by Trump and negotiated via Qatari mediators in Egypt, Hamas will release all of the remaining living hostages as soon as this weekend.

0:59They're believed to still be holding about 20 people. In exchange, Israel will release nearly 2 ,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees and will pull back its troops in Gaza to an agreed-upon line. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he'll convene his cabinet today to sign off on the deal. But some of the most contentious issues between Israel and Hamas seem to have been left up to future negotiations, including whether Israeli forces will eventually leave the territory entirely, whether Hamas will give up its weapons, and who will rule a post-war Gaza. Still, the initial breakthrough, after months of deadlocked negotiations, sparked hope across the region.

1:41What do you guys have to say to President Trump? Thank you! In a brief phone call, some of the family members of the Israeli hostages thanked President Trump personally for his involvement in the negotiations. And in Gaza, where more than 67 ,000 people have been killed and more than 90 % of homes have been destroyed, Palestinians told The Times that they were eagerly awaiting a possible end to the fighting. One English teacher there said he was feeling a mix of joy and sadness, with optimism that the war might soon be over, but, quote, sorrow for everything we've lost.

2:23On Capitol Hill yesterday... These strikes were not authorized by Congress. Congress has not been shown the evidence of who exactly was on board these ships. Such strikes are not legal. Senate Democrats tried to block President Trump from using military force against boats in the Caribbean. But... On this vote, the yeas are 48, the nays are 51, and the motion is not agreed to. Their effort failed, as nearly all Republican senators voted against the measure. Since early September, the Trump administration says it's blown up four boats and killed over 20 people who it claims were smuggling drugs into the U.S.

3:00from Venezuela. Trump recently said he determined that the U.S. is in a formal armed conflict with drug cartels. But the strikes on boats have largely been seen by experts in military law as illegal. And the attacks have drawn intense criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who've said that the White House has offered no credible evidence that would justify the strikes. Meanwhile, the president of Colombia yesterday said one of the boats the U.S. bombed was from his country, not Venezuela. He said Colombian citizens had been killed. Two American officials also told The Times that Colombians were on board at least one of the boats the U.S.

3:39destroyed. The White House dismissed the Colombian president's comments as, quote, baseless and reprehensible.

3:53Today, federal judges will hear arguments in two separate legal cases over President Trump's plans to deploy troops in U.S. cities. First up, Portland. Trump has tried to send in National Guardsmen, saying the city is burning to the ground. A federal judge blocked that effort over the weekend, calling Trump's assessment, quote, simply untethered to the facts. But the government appealed, and now a panel of judges will hear more arguments today. The president's assessment of Portland is at odds with descriptions from federal officers on the ground there. On the same day Trump called the city under siege from mobs protesting ICE, officers at an ICE facility described the protests as low energy in internal reports seen by The Times.

4:41Local officials said this week, though, that the small demonstrations have grown more intense since the president posted about Portland on social media. And in Illinois, a federal judge will hear arguments about whether to stop the deployments of National Guard troops there, after several hundred were sent to the state from Texas this week. The Trump administration has said the troops are necessary for safety, citing crime rates and rising tensions around immigration enforcement operations. But state officials have objected, and Governor J.B. Pritzker described it as an invasion. Yesterday, Trump doubled down, claiming Pritzker, who is a Democrat, should be in jail for what Trump described as failing to protect ICE officers.

5:26He said he was going to jail Gavin Newsom. He says he's going to jail me. He says he's going to jail the mayor of the city of Chicago. Pritzker dismissed Trump's threat. Come and get me. Come and get me. This week, the governor claimed Trump's ultimate goal is to normalize military patrols in American cities, potentially to even intimidate voters in future elections, saying, quote, he wants us all in big cities to get used to the idea that it's OK to have military on the streets. You're going to see soldiers outside your polling place. That's going to intimidate a lot of people.

6:06After more than eight months of tireless, meticulous work, I stand here with our partners, proud to announce an arrest in connection to the devastating Palisade fires that claimed lives, destroyed homes, and shook this community to its core. In Los Angeles yesterday, officials announced they've arrested a 29-year-old man, saying he was responsible for the wildfire in January that killed 12 people and burned thousands of buildings. Geolocation data showed that he was standing above the fire in a clearing merely 30 feet from the blaze as it rapidly grew. The authorities said that about a week before the Palisades blazed, the man, who was an Uber driver and former resident of the neighborhood, intentionally set a small fire on a hiking trail nearby.

6:52Within hours, that fire was extinguished, but smoldering embers were left over that eventually roared back to life. Officials said that the suspect appeared to have been obsessed with fire, and that before lighting it, he was listening to a song on YouTube featuring a character setting things on fire. Hours after his arrest was announced, the L.A. Fire Department released an internal review, calling the blaze a perfect storm, fueled by dry conditions and hurricane-force winds, and made worse by staffing shortages. Many survivors of the fire have since sued, saying that emergency responders were negligent and hadn't properly prepared for the extreme conditions.

7:33One Palisades resident who lost his home told the Times, quote,

7:53And finally. I wanted to say, I know lately everybody thinks that I am sicker than I am. Do I look sick to you? I'm working hard here. Dolly Parton wants to let people know she's not dead yet. Fans of the 79-year-old country legend have been in a frenzy since Parton postponed her Las Vegas residency last month, citing medical issues. Add in some AI-created videos that made the rounds on social media, and rumors about her health have been running rampant. Things hit a whole new level this week when her younger sister asked people to pray for Dolly. But I figured if you heard it from me, you'd know that I was OK.

8:35Parton released a video to reassure her fans, saying she's still working hard. A little reminder of how hard Parton can work. She is credited with writing the hits Jolene and I Will Always Love You on the same day.

8:54Those are the headlines. Today on The Daily. The Supreme Court is kicking off its term this week with a case about conversion therapy and the question of whether mental health professionals are legally allowed to try and change a child's sexual orientation or gender identity. You can listen to that in The New York Times app or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Tracy Mumford. We'll be back tomorrow with the latest and the Friday News Quiz.