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Age Debate Grows in Democratic Party; News Outlets Reject Pentagon Demands; Trump Meets With Argentina's President; Gaza's Future. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired October 14, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: A new day in Gaza, though old questions about the enclave's future linger amid concerns about the return of deceased hostages' remains and what the rebuilding of Gaza will look like.

Plus: decision day, the Pentagon telling reporters to sign on to restrictive new rules or surrender their press passes. Virtually every news outlet is rejecting this ultimatum. So will the Pentagon make good on this threat?

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: And the FDA clearing a blood test to help diagnose Alzheimer's disease. We will take a look at what this could mean for patients concerned about the disease and cognitive decline.

We're following these major developing stories and many more all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: We begin this hour monitoring breaking news at the White House. Shortly, President Trump is hosting Argentina's President Javier Milei, a visit that comes on the heels of a controversial $20 billion bailout from the United States to Argentina, a lifeline that is sparking major backlash as the government shutdown drags on, leaving more than a million federal workers furloughed, fired, or working without pay.

CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us at the White House.

And, Alayna, both Democrats and Republicans, have been critical of this bailout. What is the White House saying about this visit?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, look, I mean, first of all, I would note that the president has one of the best relationships with President Milei of Argentina than he does with any other foreign leader.

I remind you that they have met a few times this year, although this is actually Milei's first visit to the White House, but he was also very close to the president even before he was sworn into office. He was one of only two world leaders, I should note, that also stood on stage alongside the president during the inauguration.

But, of course, the big news is exactly what you mentioned, Boris, which is that it comes as the Trump administration agreed to offer a $20 billion lifeline to Argentina in the form of a currency swap with Argentina's Central Bank.

And part of this is because there could be financial ruin in Argentina if they weren't able to receive this. But you mentioned it. There's a lot of criticism, and from both parties, about this bailout. Particularly, we're seeing that criticism from Democrats in light of the shutdown, Democrats arguing that essentially the Trump administration is willing to help out foreign governments while a lot of America's federal workers and other industries are suffering due to Congress being shuttered.

Now, one of the things that I think is also at the top of people's minds today is how this is affecting soybean farmers. It sounds a little bit kind of wonky, but essentially American soybean farmers have been struggling ever since the administration had kicked off its different trade wars and tariff policies.

And part of the reason soybeans are so tied to this Argentinean bailout is because China has been buying more soybeans from South America, and specifically Argentina, than they have from United States' farmers. And after this bailout, we actually saw Argentina cancel some of their export rates.

And so that's only incentivizing China to buy more soybeans from them in light of all of this. Now, we have heard from the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent. He is the one who's overseen this lifeline to Argentina. He has argued, essentially, that business leaders want to deepen ties with the country and it will help stabilize the Western Hemisphere.

But I will say there are some within the administration who kind of raised red flags at this bailout of Argentina, one of them being Brooke Rollins, the secretary of agriculture. There was a viral photo that was released taken by the Associated Press last month.

It was a photo of Bessent's phone, and it showed a screenshot of a message from a contact named B.R., presumed to be Brooke Rollins. And, essentially, her message has illustrated the panic over some of the soybean industry's woes worsened by this Argentina bailout, as I mentioned.

In it, Rollins said -- quote -- "Just a heads-up. I'm getting more intel, but this is highly unfortunate. We bailed out Argentina yesterday and, in return, the Argentines removed their export tariffs on grains, reducing their price to China at a time when we would normally be selling to China."

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So, a lot of kind of uneasiness among many people, again, some people on the right, but also on the left, around this bailout. So that, of course, will be one of the key topics of discussion today. But I will say it's likely to be very much a friendly meeting. These two leaders very much view themselves as friends, as personal allies.

And so there should be more of an optimistic tone to it, although a lot of questions, I'm sure, that both leaders will be facing about this lifeline from the Trump administration.

SANCHEZ: Alayna Treene live for us at the White House.

Thank you so much, Alayna -- Erica.

HILL: Today, the Red Cross says the agonizing wait for the families of deceased hostages in Israel may now take weeks, while also conceding that some families may never receive their loved ones' remains.

So far, only four of 28 bodies have been returned. Three of those four have now been identified, Bipin Joshi, who was an agricultural student from Nepal, 26-year-old Guy Illouz, and Yossi Sharabi, who was kidnapped two years ago.

There is also major concern about all of these unanswered questions today and the next phases of this plan and the future of war-ravaged Gaza. There is no clear timeline for when decisions will be made about how Gaza will be governed or when Hamas will disarm.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live in Tel Aviv.

So, Jeremy, what more are you hearing at this hour in terms of some of that planning?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, we understand that there are negotiations now under way in the Egyptian city of Sharm el- Sheikh. That is the same location where the negotiations for phase one struck this cease-fire deal and resulted in the release of all of the living hostages yesterday.

We're told that there is an Israeli working-level delegation, as well as delegations from other countries, that are in Sharm el-Sheikh beginning to work on the next phases of President Trump's 20-point plan to end the war in Gaza, critical issues, as you noted, including Hamas disarming, a transition of power inside of the Gaza Strip, and ultimately Israeli forces withdrawing and handing over power and territory to this international security force.

But even as those negotiations are under way, it's important to note that phase one has yet to actually be concluded. And that's because we have only seen four of the 28 bodies of hostages be returned to Israel so far. And we know that among the bodies that are left, there are 24 bodies.

And, in fact, we have just heard from President Trump, who posted just moments ago on TRUTH Social, that, while yesterday we saw all 20 hostages be back and saying that all of this is good news, he said the job is not done, that the dead have not been returned as promised.

He then says that phase two begins right now, although the return of these dead bodies is indeed supposed to be phase one. And we heard today from Ruby Chen. He is the father of an Israeli soldier, Itay Chen, who is also a dual American citizen. He was held hostage, and his body is still being held inside of the Gaza Strip.

This was his reaction to yesterday, a moment of mixed emotions for him and his family.

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RUBY CHEN, FATHER OF ITAY CHEN: I had expectation of getting the worst possible phone call that any parent could get. And when the day ended, I was disappointed that I did not get that call.

You will always have that doubt. When we met other families that got their loved one back to burial, that was what they said to us. It doesn't make the pain easier, but it just allows that doubt to go away and allow them to start that healing process.

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DIAMOND: And Ruby Chen, of course, like the families of the 24 other deceased hostages, are still waiting for that moment of closure.

And there is so much uncertainty about when it may come, because, in addition to the fact that Hamas has only returned four bodies, they may be holding other bodies, there are also some bodies of hostages that they simply do not know the location of. And that is going to require a lot of work over days, perhaps even weeks, according to the Red Cross, to actually locate those bodies and ultimately return them.

And, as a result, it seems of the fact that these bodies have not been returned, we're told that Israel's security establishment has recommended not opening the Rafah Crossing between Egypt and Gaza tomorrow, as previously scheduled, a surge of humanitarian aid now very much hanging in the balance, as we await Hamas to return those other bodies -- Erica.

HILL: Jeremy, really appreciate it. Thank you, the heartbreaking updates there.

Still to come this hour, we are looking at developments here at the Pentagon, another major media outlet rejecting the Pentagon's new press rules. Secretary Pete Hegseth may take this one personally. We will explain.

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Plus, President Trump's federal firings decimating the office that oversees special education programs nationwide. Sources say nearly every staffer in that office has now been let go. We will take a look at the potential impact.

And the FDA just approving a new blood test for Alzheimer's -- how it works and how soon it could be available.

These important stories and many more ahead this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SANCHEZ: Just moments ago, FOX News joined CNN and other major outlets in rejecting new restrictions on the Pentagon press corps. The new policy gives reporters until 5:00 p.m. today to sign a pledge on news gathering or potentially lose their press credentials, including access to the Pentagon.

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Among the new demands from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, that reporters vow not to report what he's calling unauthorized information, even if it's not actually classified.

Let's get to CNN chief media analyst Brian Stelter for these breaking details.

Brian, it's notable that Hegseth's former employer FOX News just released a statement along with all these other news outlets.

BRIAN STELTER, CNN CHIEF MEDIA ANALYST: Yes, absolutely. Indeed, it is.

For all the people who've wanted to see more solidarity from the American news media when facing Trump administration aggressive attempts to stop and curtail the press, well, here it is. This is a unusual and really, really stark show of solidarity by the American news media.

We have heard from dozens of news outlets in the past couple of days, all saying they will refuse to go along with these new rules. And this afternoon, CNN, FOX News, ABC, NBC, CBS are releasing a joint statement all saying the same.

Now, this is notable for a couple reasons. One, CNN said last week that it was not going to go along and have journalists at this network sign the new rules. But, until now, we had not heard from ABC or NBC or CBS or FOX News on the record. And that matters because those are the other biggest networks in the United States, known as the so- called press pool in many cases.

So here is the statement in full from those five major networks.

It says -- quote -- "Today, we joined virtually every other news organization in declining to agree to the Pentagon's new requirements, which would restrict journalists' ability to keep the nation and the world in form of important national security issues. This policy is without precedent and threatens core journalistic protections. We will continue to cover the U.S. military, as each of our organizations has done for many decades, upholding the principles of a free and independent press."

So, one of the very -- one of, I would say -- I can't think of a statement quite like this we have seen this year. It's one of a very rare instances of these networks coming together and speaking out collectively. And because Pete Hegseth, the defense secretary, worked at FOX News

for about a decade, this is going to take even more significance because FOX News is signing on to this. Now, what does it mean to have these five networks coming together? Well, it speaks to the power of cameras and video and television.

We know that Hegseth and his aides care deeply about television coverage of the Pentagon and of the Trump administration. So, again, it is notable that FOX News, along with the other networks, all agreeing they're not going to go along with these new restrictions that would attempt to criminalize journalism.

These new rules, Boris, they turn reporters into P.R. parrots. They try to turn reporters into publicists. And Hegseth already has plenty of publicists. Covering the military is like covering any other beat. Reporters want and need to hear from a wide variety of sources, including means sometimes getting tips from people who are not authorized to provide the information.

These rules try to stop that. And so, essentially, every major news outlet in the country is saying we'd rather give up our press passes than go along with this.

SANCHEZ: So do you have any clarity on what happens tomorrow to reporters at the Pentagon who don't sign on to this -- and it doesn't seem like any really are -- after the deadline passes? Or are they just going to get booted?

STELTER: Yes, unless there's some last-minute change from Hegseth's side, from the Pentagon side, then the press passes have to be turned in on Wednesday. And then, as of Thursday, reporters will be outside the Pentagon. They won't be able to enter the building and have the typical access that they have been afforded for decades.

Now, it's not as if reporters are just wandering around into secret means of the Pentagon. It doesn't work that way at all. It's a giant office building. Reporters already have to wear badges. They already have to adhere to certain rules. Already, earlier this year, Hegseth and his aides have restricted where reporters can go.

And they have also stopped having routine press briefing. So, frankly, access to the Pentagon has become less and less valuable this year, as Hegseth has cut reporters off, as he's posted his own content on social media instead, and as he has limited the engagements that reporters have in the building.

Now he's really taking a dramatic next step by creating these new rules that are being rejected by the media. Essentially, reporters will be working from the outside. And, in some cases, maybe that's a good thing. Access in some cases is overrated. And what I have noticed some Pentagon beat reporters already doing in the last few days is looking for tips, putting out word, putting out a message to sources, here's how to contact us.

We're seeing some of that kind of action happening as reporters adjust to this new normal. SANCHEZ: Yes, we will see what happens after the deadline at 5:00

p.m. today.

Brian Stelter, thanks so much for the reporting.

Still to come on CNN NEWS CENTRAL: The race to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins is heating up and sparking an uncomfortable question for Democrats. How old is too old?

Plus, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth responding to reports that Texas National Guard troops were sent home after failing to meet fitness standards.

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We will discuss in just minutes.

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HILL: Longtime Maine Governor Janet Mills just launched a last-minute campaign to unseat Republican Senator Susan Collins.

Now, if Mills wins, she would be the oldest freshman senator in U.S. history. The veteran Democrat is 77. She says she would only serve one term. Her candidacy goes against the Democratic push for new, younger voices in the party.

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You may recall she went viral for this moment earlier this year after squaring off with the president over transgender athletes competing in women's sports.

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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Is the -- Maine here, the governor of Maine?

GOV. JANET MILLS (D-ME): I'm here.

TRUMP: Are you not going to comply with that?

MILLS: I'm complying with state and federal laws.

TRUMP: You better comply, because, otherwise, you're not getting any federal funding.

MILLS: See you in court.

TRUMP: Every state -- good. I will see you in court.

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HILL: CNN Washington bureau chief and political director David Chalian is here. So, yes, there was that moment, but there's a lot being made of -- and this was not a very well kept secret when she launched the bid, but also the fact that there would be this generational divide, how old she would be at the time, when there is a push in the state of Maine alone as well as other areas of the country for younger representation.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: Yes.

And we're seeing that specifically, Erica, within the Democratic Party and within the democratic electorate. This generational divide has been roiling the party. And so, yes, that is true. And she is facing a slew of decades-younger primary opponents in the Democratic primary.

This is who she has to face before she gets, if she wins, the opportunity to take on Susan Collins. You will see Graham Platner, an oyster farmer. He's 41 years old. Jordan Wood, a former Hill staffer, was a chief of staff up on the Hill. A beer magnate, all of whom are in their 40s or 30s, you see there.

So that's the generational divide, also an ideological divide. Graham Platner, that 41-year-old oyster farmer, he's got the support of Bernie Sanders. So here's the tension. Janet Mills, a really perfect candidate on paper for Democrats, it's why Chuck Schumer worked so hard to get her in the race, very popular two-term governor, has -- the only Democrat to win statewide in 20 years in Maine, right?

This is the kind of person and can get all that establishment money and support. But is that at this time what Democrats are looking for to put forward as fighters in their party, which is why that moment you just played with Trump, she highlighted that in her announcement ad.

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HILL: Yes, which is interesting, because they want that fighting spirit.

I also did want to ask you about, so a podcast that dropped yesterday that was recorded prior to that featuring former President Obama is getting a lot of play for a number of different things that he said. But some of that was his approach to companies and schools who have made concessions to this administration, to President Trump.

Is that breaking through?

CHALIAN: Well, it is certainly a continued rhetorical mission from Barack Obama that we have seen over the last few months. He's sort of trying to pivot to offense here, I think, to not only it's his belief system, but to demonstrate to other Democrats around the country.

We also hear from Kamala Harris, who's out on her book tour right now. One of the things she's been saying stop after stop is saying the thing that has surprised her most is nothing what Donald Trump has put forward, because he's sort of following through on what he said he would do. It's the -- what she calls the capitulation. And that's what -- and that's what Obama is speaking at here too. So I think he's trying to get not just his own party a bit of a spine here to fight back on this stuff, but also some of these larger interests, universities, these institutions that are part of the guardrails of democracy, right?

I mean, it's not just elected officials, corporate America and the like.

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HILL: ... law firms too, yes.

CHALIAN: And law firms too.

And so I think he's trying to stiffen their spine a bit with this. But this has been a new moment for him to try to be a little more on offense here to paint the path forward for his party.

HILL: We will see if it has an impact.

CHALIAN: Yes.

HILL: David, always nice to see you.

CHALIAN: You too.

HILL: Thank you.

CHALIAN: Thanks.

HILL: Up next here: Nearly every staff member in the government office that oversees special education has just been fired -- the implications next.

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