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Gaza Faces Uncertainty Over Next Steps In Ceasefire Plan; Trump To Meet With Argentina's Leader As U.S. Extends $20 Billion Lifeline; White House Says It Will Use Tariff Funds For Critical Food Aid Program. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 14, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:40]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. This morning President Trump says phase two of the ceasefire in Gaza is underway, but phase one is not yet complete with Hamas failing to release 24 of 28 bodies of hostages. So how will phase two get underway and what will happen in a mostly destroyed Gaza in the meantime?

Joining me now retired Col. Cedric Leighton, our CNN military analyst, and CNN global affairs analyst Kim Dozier. Thank you both for being here this morning.

First to you, Kim. I mean, hasn't Hamas already broken the ceasefire deal because all of the hostages, alive or dead, were supposed to be handed over around the same time? Could this threaten the ceasefire?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST (via Webex by Cisco): Well, Hamas had always warned that it might take more than 72 hours to find all of the bodies, in some cases because they weren't held by Hamas; in other cases because the Hamas groups that were holding them -- the individual units -- might have gotten killed by Israeli airstrikes and Hamas has lost contact with them.

And also remember, right before the ceasefire Hamas was under attack so it couldn't be in constant contact with all of its different elements. Now that the Israelis aren't monitoring all the communications for targeting, they are reaching out and trying to find the different units and locate all of the bodies, but it's going to take time.

SIDNER: Let me ask, Col. Leighton. President Trump had mentioned that they had approved Hamas as a police force for now in Gaza. And since then Hamas has carried out executions of people that opposed it or that it claims were collaborating with Israel in some way.

What does this tell you about whether Hamas will actually disarm?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON, CNN MILITARY ANALYST, U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.) (via Webex by Cisco): Yes, Sara. I don't think they're going to disarm, at least not voluntarily. So this is going to be a major sticking point I think for this peace process going forward. Hamas has been able to exercise power in the areas that it controls right now and that fact is I think going to play a large role in how this goes forward because once Hamas exercises that control, they're not going to relinquish it. They'll be basically reestablishing themselves where they were in terms of their police powers, their governmental powers, and things like that. So if they're in charge of the civil administration that's going to make a huge difference in terms of being able to carry out the provisions of this peace proposal.

SIDNER: Yeah.

Kim, I want to stop for a second and let you hear what President Trump said about Gaza and rebuilding on Air Force One.

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I'm talking about something very much different. I'm talking about rebuilding Gaza. I'm not talking about single state or double state or two state. We're talking about the rebuilding of Gaza.

A lot of people like the one-state solution and some people like the two-state solution. We'll have to see. I haven't -- I haven't commented on that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Very different from the policies of the United States because the two-state solution has always been the desire.

What do you make of this and what does it mean for phase two of the ceasefire?

DOZIER: Well, to look at the larger Palestinian state issue, if President Trump wants to move ahead with the expansion of the Abraham accords, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations have said they won't support expansion unless Israel commits to a two-state solution. So there's that. Eventually, they will change the channel on President Trump's thinking on that.

But for now the problem is that rebuilding in Gaza will only really be possible in the 50 percent-plus areas that the IDF controls. I can't see other nations who have committed forces for peacekeeping -- like Indonesia has suggested that they might be willing -- would be willing to put their people on the Hamas-controlled side and possibly have to clash directly with Hamas to take control. That means all the investment will go to the part where the IDF is in control and possibly, people will start coming to those areas.

[07:35:05]

We're going to have a very confused and messy picture for some time to come no matter what sort of promissory note got signed in Sharm El- Sheikh by all those leaders.

SIDNER: Yeah.

And Colonel Leighton, I was going to ask you about securing Gaza now making it possible for there to be some movement towards rebuilding when about 70 percent, it's estimated, of the buildings -- we're talking mostly homes and businesses but also hospitals, schools -- have been destroyed.

LEIGHTON: Yeah, that's exactly right, Sara. The U.N. is saying that that's the case and some estimates are even higher than that in terms of the amount of destruction. But it's huge -- the amount of destruction, regardless of which estimate you use. So that's going to complicate things.

You know, the basic thing that you have to do is you have to bring in all these forces if you're going to have a peacekeeping force. As Kim mentioned, Indonesia is -- you know, is probably one of the major players in this particular aspect of it, along with several of the Arab nations. That is going to be very difficult to insert them between the IDF lines as they exist right now and the areas that are controlled basically by Hamas.

So that's I think one of the most difficult both logistically and operationally that we're going to see. And if that's the case and this peace process -- the rebuilding, which really amounts to the rebuilding process, it's going to have some major stumbling blocks associated with it because if you don't have the security you can't rebuild. That's basically the bottom line here.

SIDNER: Yeah. Phase two is the most critical thing going forward but also the most complicated.

Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you so much to you, and Kimberly Dozier as well -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. New this morning, former President Barack Obama issued a clear warning to the American people in a wide- ranging interview with comedian and podcast host Marc Maron. Obama said that President Trump is deliberately weakening the guardrails in place to protect democracy, adding that Americans are "being tested" by Trump's policies.

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BARACK OBAMA, (D) FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're being tested right now. I think people -- and that includes young people, right? Understand there are consequences to the choices that we're making. If you decide not to vote, that's a consequence.

And if you are a Hispanic man and you're frustrated about inflation and so you decided eh, you know what, all that rhetoric about Trump doesn't matter, I'm just mad about inflation. And now your sons are being stopped in L.A.

(END VIDEO CLIP) BERMAN: And Obama did not stop there.

With us now in person CNN's Isaac Dovere. Isaac, great to see you --

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER; Great to see you.

BERMAN: -- in person, as I said.

DOVERE: In person.

BERMAN: Marc Maron -- this was the final episode of his "WTF" podcast. Obama had been on this before. This was kind of a big deal. And he felt like he had something to say.

DOVERE: Yeah. There are a lot of things that Barack Obama has been thinking about, and they've been sort of trickling out over the last couple of months at certain appearances he's been doing. But this was set for a while to be the final episode of this podcast and Obama used it to unload on a bunch of different topics that have been on his mind, clearly.

BERMAN: Including, I understand he had some thing to say about Democrats, yes?

DOVERE: Yes. Look, he talked about preaching and about how you can't have a holier than thou attitude. But he also talked about the concessions that a lot of academic universities, and law firms, and businesses have made to Donald Trump, and talked about it in terms of they should not be doing it because it's not like the consequences at this point are -- that they'd be like Nelson Mandela going to jail.

Take a listen to what that sounded like.

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OBAMA: If you're a law firm, you know, you're saying we're going to represent who we want and we're going to stand up for what we think is our core mission of upholding the law. And maybe we'll lose some business for that but that's what we believe. That's what's needed.

If you're a university president, you say well, you know what? This will hurt if we lose some grant money --

MARC MARON, COMEDIAN, HOST, "WTF WITH MARC MARON" PODCAST: Yeah.

OBAMA: -- from the federal government but that's what -- that's what endowments are for.

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DOVERE: And so look, that's a debate that was happening a couple of months ago. This is part of what happens when Obama waits this long to speak is that a lot of people have sort of moved on from that being the fight even though Harvard and other schools are continuing to have it. And it's this question of what is Obama's place in the political

conversation? What is his place as a leader of the Democratic Party that obviously is trying to figure out what its leadership is? It's one that he is struggling with and trying to figure out how to address, and it's one that I can tell you since that podcast posted yesterday I've heard from a lot of Democrats of various ages with a lot of different opinions of what they want to hear from him.

[07:40:05]

BERMAN: But hit that one more time because last night I was talking to Bakari Sellers about this, and he brought up that very point. Democrats, by and large, don't think that Obama is wrong when he's bringing up the colleges and the law firms, but they also think it would have been a helluva a lot more useful had it come up two months ago. Had he taken a leadership position then.

DOVERE: Well look, one of the things that drives Obama and has been since he left office -- and, of course, he left with Donald Trump coming in the first time -- is that he does not want the story to be about him. He does not think that it's good for it to be him versus Donald Trump and that it's him as the only Democrat speaking out when he wants a new generation to rise up. We'll see if that happens.

BERMAN: He actually talked about that in this interview also. He says one of the problems we have is that we don't automatically have this new generation in place every time there's a new cycle.

Isaac Dovere, as I said, great to see you in person.

DOVERE: Thank you.

BERMAN: Thanks so much.

All right. Happening today, President Trump is set to host the Argentinian president and his political ally Javier Milei at the White House. The meeting comes just days after Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent announced a controversial agreement for the U.S. to provide Argentina with a $20 billion lifeline coming in the form of a currency swap with Argentina's central bank.

With us now, CNN political commentators David Urban and Maria Cardona.

Mr. Urban, I want to start with you because a lot of people are looking at this and saying well, wait a second. There's a government shutdown now and we're giving $20 billion to Argentina. And I know American farmers are saying it because we've heard from them over the last few weeks. Wait a second -- you're propping up Argentina's economy so it can sell soybeans to China when American farmers can't sell soybeans anywhere?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER TRUMP CAMPAIGN ADVISER (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah, John. Look, very good points, very valid points. I'd like to hear more about it.

I don't -- I'm not -- listen, I'm a huge fan of south power. I think we should be helping countries around the world and their democracy. I think USA, indeed, plays a very valuable role and U.S. investments in foreign countries are super important.

In this instance it seems a little bit less clear. Those things that you point out -- U.S. farmers are quite upset because the Argentinians are buying soybeans not from the United States but from China. So I'd like to hear more about it.

But anytime that we are trying to help an ally stabilize a country like that with a -- with a -- with a swap -- a currency swap -- we're not bailing them out. We're not handing them cash. We're swapping our dollars for their dollars to kind of stabilize their currency. I think is -- I think it's a good thing.

BERMAN: Yeah. The risk there obviously is that the peso -- the value bottoms out, which there are economists who will tell you that it might happen.

So Maria, how salient of an issue do you think this could become in the United States?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: I think it could become a very salient one, John. And look, I agree with David and I'm always one to cheer for us helping all of our neighbors to the south and in this hemisphere. But when you have people at home whose health care is going to be ripped from them -- has been ripped from them by Republicans, by DT's agenda, then I think that's where you have the political saliency, right?

We all know that right now we're in the middle of a government shutdown because Republicans refuse to negotiate with Democrats. And the ACA -- the Obamacare subsidies are about to expire, and people's health care bills are going to completely go up and increase by 100 percent, 300 percent. That is going to be something that I think will be a political -- that will politically backfire for Republicans, especially going into --

BERMAN: Um-hum.

CARDONA: -- the midterm elections.

And when you compare it with this $20 billion bailout, I think Americans are not going to be happy with that.

BERMAN: Um, all right, this just in. Hot off the presses here in my hands.

URBAN: Well --

BERMAN: Hang on, David, because we're just getting some exciting political news on the Senate map, and I know both of you are watching this very, very closely.

The governor of Maine -- the Democrat -- Janet Mills has announced that she is going to run for Senate against the Republican incumbent Susan Collins who has been there for a long time and is always a target for Democrats every six years. But they never can seem to get past Susan Collins who is seen as a moderate in that state and runs good elections there.

Governor Mills seen as a strong candidate, Maria, but 77 years old, going against Collins who is 72 years old. And there are already candidates in the field, including -- and forgive me for not having his name right in front of me but this oyster farmer who is getting a lot of support around the country as well.

What do you think about this?

CARDONA: Look, I think the more the merrier, right? I think a competitive primary is good.

But I agree with you, John. I think that oyster farmer has had a lot of relevance. He has exploded on social media. He has really connected with the working class, middle class families in Maine.

And so I think that this is kind of a jump ball. And as you know, the official Democratic Party should not get behind anyone if there is a competitive primary, and right now it looks like there will be a competitive primary.

[07:45:07]

But I think this is good because it shows that many Democrats believe that this could perhaps be the cycle where Susan Collins I think gets toppled. And there are a lot of people in Maine that have been very unhappy with what she has been doing. And so I think -- I give Democrats a lot of credit here and I think that this could be the year to get rid of Susan Collins.

BERMAN: Let me just read the statement from Governor Mills.

"I've never backed down from a bully, and I never will. Donald Trump is ripping away health care from millions, driving up costs, and giving corporate CEOs massive tax cuts. And Susan Collins is helping him. My life's work has prepared me for this fight -- and I'm ready to win."

David Urban, when we're talking about the Senate seat in Maine and Susan Collins, is this Lucy and the football?

URBAN: John, you are reading my -- you're like the amazing Carnac. You just read my mind. This is Lucy and the football.

I've known Susan Collins -- exactly -- like give the envelope. You're ready to go.

I've known Susan Collins since 1997. Susan Collins is an incredible politician and an incredibly gifted political athlete. Has served the people of Maine with great distinction and great honor. I call her a friend. I know her extremely well.

She is a tough campaigner and an incredible, great politician, and I don't mean that in the pejorative sense of politicians. She serves the people of Maine very well. And I suspect that come January of next year she'll be sworn in once again -- or after the midterms she'll be sworn in once again.

BERMAN: I'm not --

URBAN: She's not going to lose to the oyster farmer. She can't even -- she -- Maria, you can't even -- you don't know the guy's name.

BERMAN: I do. I do. I do. The name is Graham Platner who is -- who has raised actually --

CARDONA: There you go.

BERMAN: -- a ton of money over the last several months.

CARDONA: Graham. I knew his first name -- right.

BERMAN: And so -- and so again, we may see a primary there --

URBAN: Listen, I'm sure -- I'm sure Graham is a very -- I'm sure he's a nice guy but he's not going to beat Susan Collins.

CARDONA: You would love him. You would love him, David.

BERMAN: All right. The five of us are going to get together --

CARDONA: We'll see.

BERMAN: -- Maria, David, me, Graham Platner the oyster farmer, Susan Collins, and Janet Mills.

CARDONA: There you go.

BERMAN: Table for six in Portland.

Thank you all very much for being with us -- Sara.

SIDNER: John, you just want some free oysters. Let's be honest -- sorry.

BERMAN: Right.

SIDNER: Still to come, a new tool in the fight against Alzheimer's that can help rule out the disease in people showing symptoms.

And cameras catching the moment fur literally flew in Arizona. Look at that poor pup hoisted to safety by a helicopter crew. We'll show you all the pictures. Oh, buddy.

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[07:51:50]

SIDNER: All right. New for you this morning the FDA has cleared a new blood test designed to help doctors rule out Alzheimer's in people showing symptoms. It comes as the number of people living with the disease is on the rise with more than seven million nationwide. And by 2050, that number is projected to nearly double to 13 million.

CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard is joining us now. What are you learning about this test?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Sara, this test -- it was made by the companies Roche and Eli Lilly and it's for adults ages 55 and older who are showing signs and symptoms of cognitive decline. And it's known as a pTau181 test. So what that means is it measures the protein, pTau181, in your blood, and we now that protein is associated with Alzheimer's disease.

So the idea here is that the test can rule out those whose cognitive symptoms are not tied to Alzheimer's. For people whose test comes back as it can't be ruled out, then they would need to go through further assessments and evaluations to really get to the bottom of their diagnosis.

But the companies say that in a clinical study this test did correctly rule out Alzheimer's in about 97.9 percent of cases. So this is really another tool in a broader toolbox to help us really assess people's cognitive health when they are showing signs and symptoms, Sara.

SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, so many people -- when you forget things you think oh my gosh, is this the beginning of it? So this could really give --

HOWARD: Right.

SIDNER: -- people relief to say, like, that's not actually what's going on here.

HOWARD: Absolutely.

SIDNER: How many people could ultimately benefit from this?

HOWARD: Well, we do know that more than two in five adults will develop dementia at some time later in life. So again, the idea here is that this test could really help us identify OK, who could benefit from further testing versus whose symptoms may be from something else other than Alzheimer's. So that's what we can think of when we think of the benefits of this type of blood test.

SIDNER: Jacqueline Howard, really interesting news this morning from you. Thank you. I really appreciate it -- John.

BERMAN: This morning two men are in custody after a home invasion in a Florida suburb. Investigators say the suspects forced a couple into their garage at gunpoint before fleeing when an alarm sounded. Now detectives found an air tag secretly taped under the victims' car. They think it was placed there by the suspects as they were casing their victims. But it ultimately helped police track and find the suspects. Both now face charges, including armed burglary and kidnapping.

This morning it didn't blow up when it wasn't supposed to. And this morning SpaceX is celebrating what it is calling a successful test flight for its Starship megarocket.

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(CHEERING)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three down to two.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Starship has landed.

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[07:55:00]

BERMAN: So it made it halfway around the world. It released mock satellites while in space. It did ultimately burst into flames, but SpaceX is calling the flight a success due to the spacecraft smoothly navigating a series of landing maneuvers.

In Arizona, new video of a dog rescued after a camping trip took a scary turn. The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office received a call that the campers' dog had been injured, and it could no longer walk. An aviation crew was able to locate them, put the dog into a special rescue harness, and hoist him up for a long ride. Once on the ground, the dog was rushed to an emergency veterinarian -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

Today, the Senate is set to return to Capitol Hill as the government shutdown enters day 14 with no end in sight.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (D-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: We're barreling toward one of the longest shutdowns in American history unless Democrats drop their partisan demands and pass the clean, no-strings-attached budget to reopen the government and pay our federal workers.

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SIDNER: Democrats are demanding a rollback in President Trump's cuts to Medicaid, as well as an extension of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies.

As this shutdown drags on a critical food aid program for nearly seven million pregnant women, new moms, and young children is expected to run out of money soon. That program is known as WIC. The Trump administration said last week it will use tariff funds to try to keep it afloat but key details remain unknown.

Joining me now is senior public policy director of WIC, Ali Hard. Thank you so much for being here.

First of all, you've got this promise to use some tariff monies to try and fund WIC. What kind of lifeline is that for WIC? How long will that last?

ALI HARD, SENIOR PUBLIC POLICY DIRECTOR, NATIONAL WIC ASSOCIATION: Good morning, Sara, and thank you so much for having me.

So we still have not heard any official information from the White House about how much funding will be available or when it will be available to state WIC programs.

The reporting from last week indicates that it may be about $300 million, and if that's correct, we think that's about two weeks of benefits on average if it's equally distributed across states. Our hope is that they would provide that funding most to the states who are about to run out, and then that would allow the whole program to stay open for a bit longer -- hopefully, at least, through the end of October.

SIDNER: Can you just give us a sense really of what this program means for families? We're talking about low-income pregnant women. We're talking about giving them nutritious food, as well as children. I mean, what do you -- what are your biggest concerns? What does this do for society as a whole?

HARD: Yeah, absolutely.

So WIC just celebrated our 50th birthday. We were sort of the first food is medicine program in the nation. We were founded by a pediatrician who was seeing really scary rates of infant mortality and low birth weight babies, and he thought let's do a nutrition-based intervention.

So we provide a nutritious food package -- so a food prescription. And then we also provide screenings and health care referrals and really make sure that family who is low-income and at nutritional risk is really wrapped with support. And we're serving folks at some of the most vulnerable times in their life.

So we are very concerned about if that support goes away for a pregnant mom or for a baby. There could really be lifelong impacts of losing that nutrition at those critical moments of life.

SIDNER: Can you give me some sense of how you're seeing this?

You know, you've got Democrats who are saying look, we want these health subsidies. There has already been huge cuts to Medicare and those premiums are going to start rising very shortly there. While Republicans are saying hey look, we have this clean bill. Just sign it. We will deal with that later.

What is your message to Congress right now?

HARD: I think most important right now is that we need to make sure that WIC is funded in some way. We are grateful that the White House has made available, hopefully, this funding. And we need it to go out ASAP, so that needs to happen this week. And we hope that Congress will help us in pushing the White House to get that funding out ASAP.

But we also would say that this short-term funding is helpful but it sort of keeps us on these lifelines, you know, moments where we're just going from one tranche of funding to another and not really sure in the long run if we're going to get to a point where we run out of money. So there has to be a long-term solution for families so that they know they can get access to these lifesaving benefits.

SIDNER: Ali Hard, thank you so much for spending some time with us and talking through this critical issue. Appreciate it.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BERMAN: All right, quite a show. The first public appearance for New York Attorney General Letitia James since she was indicted on federal charges.