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Anger In Israel Over Delayed Release Of Deceased Hostages; Trump Renews Threat To Cut "Democrat Programs" Amid Shutdown; White House: Troops To Be Paid Today. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired October 15, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:30:55]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning there is growing anger is Israel over the pace of Hamas' release of the remains of its deceased hostages -- how slow it's going. Overnight Hamas handed over four more bodies, but the Israeli military now says one of those bodies is not that of any of the hostages. The three others have been publicly identified as hostages.

And now, after two years and the hope that was sparked by this ceasefire deal, the agonizing wait continues for so many families of slain hostages.

And joining me right now is one of those parents still waiting, Ruby Chen, the father of Itay Chen, the youngest American hostage taken. Ruby, it's good to see you again.

This all must be such a mix of relief for the other families but also deep disappointment for your family. What are you hearing this morning?

RUBY CHEN, SON ITAY TAKEN HOSTAGE BY HAMAS (via Webex by Cisco): Yes. If we just go to the facts, it's been 96 hours where they were supposed to come out with 48 hostages. And 96 hours have passed by and we only have 28 -- or 27 of those hostages out.

I don't think that was the intention of the agreement that was put in place and definitely not for the United States that out of those 48 there were two U.S. citizens that have not come out yet.

BOLDUAN: The fact that one of the bodies returned has now been identified overnight by the IDF to not match any of the -- any of the remaining hostages, what do you think that means? Why do you think Hamas would do that, or what do you think it says about what Hamas knows of the whereabouts of the hostages?

CHEN: Yeah. I think there lots of psychological warfare and a lot of testing the boundaries, you know. Hamas could have done it unintentionally because it might be difficult to find, but they also might have done it intentionally to just convey the message how difficult it is and that means that they need much more time. And that is a way to play with the agreements that were put in place regarding the future of Gaza and all the discussions that are going on in phase two.

It was very specific where the agreement said 72 hours Hamas needs to provide all of the hostages that it has in its possession and intelligence on those that it does not. That did not happen, so we are in a breach.

We shared out concerns to the U.S. as well as the Israeli government that the sanctions or the lack of a deadline of providing the hostages was not in place. And, you know, it was based on good faith and the desire of the parties to move forward. But now we are in a different situation, and we are very concerned that this window of opportunity of getting hostages out might close.

And again, there are two U.S. citizens that are not accounted for. And I think the U.S. -- specifically, the president, Mr. Witkoff, you know, need to check it out. How we do make sure that we continue to getting those hostages out, including the two U.S. citizens.

BOLDUAN: Really quickly, President Trump is saying, and he said before the Israeli parliament, the war is over. He's talking about this moving into phase two. On Monday, the speaker of the Israeli parliament took off his yellow ribbon pin, kind of following the return of the last living hostage as kind of a symbol of this is over.

Do you think that they are now looking past your son?

CHEN: Well, I hope not, you know. It's a narrative that, of course, we are concerned about. But my son is no less of a hostage than the other 27 that came out over the last couple of days. And he is a U.S. citizen, and I hope being a U.S. citizen that matters. I hope other U.S. citizens listening to me now and might be traveling abroad, and God forbid someone might take them. It should be a liability, not an asset, to take U.S. citizens out.

And it's also inconceivable that Russia got all of its citizens out. Germany, France got their citizens out. But the U.S. still have two citizens left behind. What does that mean about being a U.S. citizen?

[07:35:05]

BOLDUAN: Ruby, what are you being told by the State Department, the White House, or even the Israeli government at this point of what to expect and what to prepare for? And what are you hearing and what's your sense because you have been advocating for your son from the very beginning? You and I have had so many conversations. Do you get the sense that they are as committed as they were before to returning your son to you?

CHEN: I do. Like, I have no doubt that is the intention. I just think that the fundamentals of the agreement that were put in place are a big vague and that exactly is where Hamas is playing at the moment and testing the boundaries.

And I think that's where the United States and the mediators need to do whatever is possible to make sure that Hamas goes back to what was agreed upon and releases, as soon as possible, all of the hostages that they have. They are in breach at the moment. And it is also assumed that two U.S. citizens can be accounted for based upon the knowledge that I have. So they should have been out, and they are not out, and the question is what do we do at this moment?

And again, I am just, you know, the father of a son. You know, we are New Yorkers. We are simple people. I do not have all the information that the president and that his team has. But I have a call with folks today from the State Department and others that are part of the negotiations and get an update and understand what are the actions that are being taken to make sure that we indeed get to finish phase one and begin phase two.

I am very happy that the president in his tweet yesterday said the job is not done, meaning he understands that there are more hostages that need to come out, including U.S. citizens.

We just need to keep on pushing and making sure that we are able to get to the finish line of this phase in order to move on to the next phase for the benefit of the people here in Israel, but also the benefit of the Palestinian people that also want to see an end to this chapter.

BOLDUAN: Yeah, and your resolve remains Itay, in that image just over your shoulder.

Ruby, thank you very much. It is good to see you again. Thank you for your time -- Sara.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The Democrats are getting killed on the shutdown because we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we were opposed to. So we're being -- and they're never going to come back, in many cases. So we're being able to do things that we were unable to do before. So we're closing up programs that are Democrat programs that we wanted to close up or that we never wanted to happen, and now we're closing them up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: That's President Trump there vowing to release a list of programs backed by Democrats that will be cut during the government shutdown. His comments coming as the shutdown enters day 15.

Joining us now Christine Quinn, the executive committee chair of the New York State Democratic Committee. Also with us, communications expert and former Republican strategist Lee Carter.

Lee, to you first. One example of the programs that have been gutted now is the department overseeing the special education. And it is hurting students. We just talked to someone who has seen this play out. It is hurting families. It is hurting the most vulnerable of students.

By trying to hurt Democrats is the president simply Americans? LEE CARTER, STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS EXPERT, FORMER REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST AND POLLSTER: Well, I think in all of this nobody's winning. I think both Republicans and Democrats are taking it on the chin right now because it looks like they're being petty and are not willing to compromise on anything. And no matter which side you're on you're going to be able to blame somebody for what's happening.

But these issues like education and health care are really important to Americans, so the longer this drags and the more of an impact we see, the harder it's going to be to explain.

But right now you're seeing that the Republicans are taking it more on the chin than the Democrats are in polling. Republicans are taking the blame much more than Democrats are. But still, everyone's saying I don't trust anyone to be acting in my interest. They're looking at this and thinking it's all just political and no one's fighting for the every man. And I think that is ultimately going to be a big problem for both parties coming out of this.

SIDNER: Christine, how do you see it? Because sort of pulling this funding away, is that going to help pressure Democrats to say you know what, we're just going to sign on to what Republicans have put out there, which is a -- they say it's a clean C.R.

CHRISTINE QUINN, PRESIDENT AND CEO, WIN, EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE CHAIR, NEW YORK STATE DEMOCRATIC COMMITTEE, FORMER NEW YORK CITY COUNCIL SPEAKER: To take funding away not just from children but children who are in the most needs of extra educational support and then call it a Democratic program, all it does is look like what it is, vindictive behavior.

And I don't think Democrats are going to back down in the face of that. How can they trust their partner in negotiations, the president, when he's behaving this way? When he's hurting children. How can they trust that?

I think this type of overly political nasty behavior is going to only keep the shutdown, unfortunately, going -- and it is going to have Democrats dig deeper to protect the issues and services that Americans need.

[07:40:05]

I run a homeless service organization. The president's original budget -- we could lose 40 percent of our budget for permanent housing. That will force people back onto the streets. We need people to stand up and say that's not OK, and that is part of what this is about.

And the president -- how can you call special education children a Democratic issue? All kinds of people have children who need a little extra help. It's a people issue, not a political issue.

SIDNER: I want to talk about another big political issue that came up overnight -- some exclusive reporting from Politico. They're reporting on leaked messages from leaders of Young Republican groups across the country. It is, of course, trending on X and other places. What you're seeing is the article's headline there. But here is a

little bit more of what that text says.

It says -- they -- these Young Republican leaders -- "They referred to Black people as monkeys and 'the watermelon people' and mused about putting their political opponents in gas chambers. They talked about raping their enemies and driving them to suicide and lauded Republicans who they believed support slavery."

Lee, how much concern should there be in the Republican Party about this particular issue that has come up? And even in those text messages that you're seeing they worry that someone might see them, but they continue to say these things.

CARTER: Well, I think it's horrifying. There is no -- there is no way to justify it. There's no way to say that this isn't a big issue.

And I think, frankly, J.D. Vance's comments on this didn't go far enough. He said, you know, these are boys -- or he said something sort of dismissive about it and said let's really focus on what the Democrats are saying instead.

SIDNER: Yeah.

CARTER: This should be absolutely, without doubt, unequivocally rejected -- talking about this as hate, talking about this as unacceptable, and that should be that. This shouldn't even be a topic of conversation, but it will continue to be a topic of conversation unless people put this to bed.

And all of these gentlemen that were on this have lost jobs, and they should. And this really is -- it's outrageous and everyone should say what it is.

SIDNER: But let's put up J.D. Vance's tweet there because you -- or X, or whatever it's called these days -- because you mentioned it. And he says this is -- "This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat." And then he mentions what was happening with the AG of Virginia who talked about having two bullets for his opponent.

But we saw a very contrite response and fulsome response from the governor -- the board of directors of the Young Republicans. And I just want to put this out there. They replied very differently than the vice president, saying, "We are appalled by the vile and inexcusable language revealed in the Politico article published. Such behavior is disgraceful, unbecoming of any Republican, and stands in direct opposition to the values of our movement -- that our movement represents."

I'm curious from you, Christine. As you see these two different responses -- first of all, is that enough? What you saw from the board of directors vis-a-vis what you're seeing from the vice president?

QUINN: I mean, Lee is right. This is just disgusting. And they -- the vice president did not go far enough. What the board said is far better. But look, whether you are a Republican, a Democrat, an Independent, or whatever, this is unacceptable, period, end of conversation. And when something like this happens it's critical that people who have an association with the group -- in this case, Republicans -- become the strongest voice against it.

And I have to say it's tragically not surprising to see things like this from young people in the Republican Party right now when you have leaders in the Republican Party maybe not saying those exact things -- I don't want to say that -- but are saying really negative, nasty things. Young people will follow the tone set by leaders.

And what should happen today is the president himself should say this is unacceptable. He should not repeat there were good people on both sides because there is nothing good about what was said here. And if it's not really cracked down upon it will spread.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you to you both, Christine Quinn and Lee Carter. Appreciate the conversation today -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Do not try this at home. What happens when a dog chews on the wrong lithium battery. I'm not sure there was a white lithium battery there.

And you know the "SEINFELD" episode where Jerry finds out he never returned a copy of "Tropic of Cancer" he took out back in 1971? Everyone nodding in here. There's a story almost just like it except it was for twice as long and it was a geometry book. You'll want to see what happened.

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[07:48:55]

BERMAN: New this morning members of the military were in danger of missing their first paychecks today, but now the White House says troops will get paid today despite the government shutdown stretching into its third week. The Office of Management and Budget says the funds to pay servicemembers being pulled from the Pentagon's research and development fund. But with no deal to reopen the government anywhere in sight many military families are still bracing for the unknown.

With us now Monica Bassett, founder and CEO of the Stronghold Food Pantry. Thanks so much for being with us.

You run this pantry for military members and their families. What have you been seeing since the shutdown began?

MONICA BASSETT, FOUNDER AND CEO, STRONGHOLD FOOD PANTRY (via Webex by Cisco): Yes. First and foremost, thank you for having me on.

And we have been seeing just an unprecedented spike -- a surge from military families that have been asking for support with that looming doom of the possibility of not being paid. But like you mentioned, we are fortunate that some shuffling was done to get our October 15 paycheck done. However, we're not out of the woods yet as -- if the shutdown continues, we're going to be right in this exact same spot coming November 1.

[07:50:05]

BERMAN: Yeah. Talk to me about that because the paychecks are coming today, which I'm sure does come as a relief. But there's a little bit of a double whammy when it comes to military families because so many military spouses also have some kind of government job.

BASSETT: Correct. So our patrons -- what we're seeing here is that spouses furloughed because it is the best thing for a military spouse to get on to the federal government because we move every two to three years and it's hard for us. We have a 24 percent unemployment or underemployment rate within the military spouse community. And so being to be able -- being able to get on the federal government and having a government job allows them to travel and move with their family every two to three years.

And many of our patrons are furloughed from that and then they were waiting tentatively if their spouse, who is the servicemember, was going to get paid.

We also have dual military families who were at the cusp of not either family were not -- either partner were not going to get paid. So that was very hard on our patrons. I think that really did that surge and that spike for military families that were seeking support. It also is very telling of that small, very thin margin that military families have that carry them over from one paycheck to the other.

BERMAN: It's a really good point. There's not a lot of slack here for families.

You are the spouse of an active-duty soldier, the daughter of a veteran. How is morale? How is morale in your family, and how is morale among the families you're speaking with since the shutdown began?

BASSETT: It's heartbreaking. It is absolutely devastating. That undue burden, that mental stress of can I pay my bills come October 15? Can I put nutritious food on the table? Who is going to -- what am I going to weigh out, the utility bill or the car insurance versus putting groceries on the table or putting gas in the car?

So the morale has been low. I think that our military community has taken a very big emotional hit, and I just want our community to stay very vigilant because again, as we get through this October 15 pay, we'll be back in the same spot in one more week.

BERMAN: Monica Bassett, thank you for being with us. Thank you for what you do. I do know you want people to know that if they are struggling right now reach out to the Stronghold Food Pantry. You will get some help there. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, John.

On our radar, six months after allegedly trying to assassinate Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and set his residence on fire, 38-year- old Cody Balmer pleaded guilty to charges including attempted murder, arson, and terrorism.

The Dauphin County D.A.'s office releasing new video now. This is it. They say it shows Balmer there in the upper right-hand side of your screen -- you see him there -- firebombing the mansion. Now a crew from inside the residence allegedly show -- a camera, sorry, from inside the residence allegedly showing him -- well, it does show him throwing another Molotov onto the floor in a dining area. And you see what happens because of that.

It all happened as the governor and his family were asleep inside the mansion, protected from the attack by doors the intruder could not get past.

Governor Shapiro speaking with CNN last night about this terrifying, newly-released video.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO, (D) PENNSYLVANIA: I've been trying to unsee that video for the last six months. It is hard for us as we walk through these halls to know that he was in here as well. That said, I must tell you that we're not willing to live in fear.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Now, Balmer was sentenced to 25 to 50 years in prison.

All right. A good reminder this morning to you to be real careful with lithium ion batteries. A family in Chapel Hill, North Carolina sharing this video. Their dog Colton started a fire after chewing on something that had a lithium ion battery inside of it. The family was gone at the time, and their home security alerted them. They say they were very thankful that just the rug caught on fire. Their pup clearly OK doing the whole fetch game.

All right. A retired Northern California geometry teacher gets a textbook back 40 years after one of his former students borrowed it. Rod Woznick got this geometry book in the mail. His former student Brent Gentner found the book in a box when he moved to Florida. Woznick says that getting the book so many years later brings back memories and a real appreciation for his students. Gentner called Woznick one of his favorite teachers. That's pretty cool.

[07:55:05]

All right. This year marks 40 years since the start of breast cancer awareness initiatives. The American Cancer Society says that push for awareness has helped save more than half a million lives due to proactive screening and better treatments over time. The survival rates have improved.

But there is a rise in younger people getting breast cancer, namely women under the age of 50. And when it comes to Black women they are still about 40 percent more likely to die from breast cancer than their white counterparts. A year ago this month CNN's Stephanie Elam brought us together -- our dear friend and former MTV veejay Ananda Lewis and I -- as we were in the midst of treating our breast cancer. In June, Ananda died from the disease.

Stephanie is here with us this morning. There was quite a reaction. It's so good to see you. Hi, girl.

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, OK.

SIDNER: It was -- it was -- there was quite a reaction to this story.

ELAM: Yeah.

SIDNER: And the initial story was you, me, and Ananda talking about the different paths we took when it came to how we wanted to treat our cancer. And then in June, she died.

ELAM: Yeah.

SIDNER: Give me some sense of what you are getting back because you're getting a whole lot of response, as am I, from people who saw the progression of what happened and saw this story.

ELAM: Yeah. You know, it was a year ago this month that we sat down for that roundtable, right, and had that conversation -- which when I suggested it to both of you, you both were so open and ready to have that conversation. And I believe both of you have saved lives.

Eight months later Ananda was gone.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: And to this day what I posted on Instagram, what we all posted, people are still writing about how they're getting their mammograms now. People are still talking about how they're getting their loved ones to get tested.

It's a lasting legacy that she has left us because people have looked at it and I would say also looked at your journey and looked at her journey, and they've made changes because they've seen how things go.

And I would also point out that I think Ananda's passing was -- I mean, it was difficult for me, obviously, but I feel like it was also very difficult for you.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: And maybe that's because of the fact that you both were battling the same kind of breast cancer. Is that why?

SIDNER: Yeah, that was part of it. Obviously, I loved her as a friend and as a very light and joyful human being because that's who she was.

ELAM: Yeah. SIDNER: But I think for many people who saw what happened in her case where she decided to do alternative medicine first, and then as the disease progressed, she talked about it. She said, you know, I was able to stave it off for a while and then she -- "it gassed on me" is what she said, which is like it started going very fast --

ELAM: Took off.

SIDNER: -- and it just ravaged her body.

And I think seeing what can happen and what does happen to far too many women really struck anybody who has cancer but especially when you know someone and you love someone, and you never want to see that happen again. And I think that's part of it.

And I think of us -- we both -- her and I, and you, and our friends -- we're learning some things we just didn't know --

ELAM: Yeah.

SIDNER: -- going through this process and being able to talk about it with doctors and the like.

And I just wanted to give people just a few facts that I just -- that struck me, and I think struck you as well.

And this one really got me because on every form that you go -- when you go the doctor and they ask you about your history, they say do -- does anyone in your family have breast cancer? Did your mother have it? Did your grandmother have it?

ELAM: They always ask.

SIDNER: They always, always ask. And I thought since my family didn't have any history of breast cancer that I was safer. And it turns out that 85 to 90 percent of women who get breast cancer do not have it in their family history.

ELAM: Yes. So that sense of security --

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: -- need to go away.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: The screenings need to happen.

And I think also, you know, you just look at the age of people who are passing away from --

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: -- this disease, right, and I'll just say cancer as well. Because D'Angelo passing yesterday --

SIDNER: Uh-huh.

ELAM: -- he was the same age as me. I realized I was only two weeks older than him.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: Like, when you look at cancer and what it's doing to our community and to other communities we need people to get the testing done. And if that is part of Ananda's lasting legacy then I think she would be very happy about that. To make people see this other side.

And you said it. The gassing on her part -- it did. Because at the end, we thought that we had months. We thought that we had weeks. And then it turned out to be oh, we have days. And it was like, no, a matter of hours.

SIDNER: Hours.

ELAM: So, like, when you think about how quickly things can change.

Now, at the same time, there are people who are living in stage four --

SIDNER: That's right.

ELAM: -- for a very long time as well.

SIDNER: Um-hum.

ELAM: Things have progressed and gotten better. But what needs to happen is the testing. And when you feel something doesn't seem right go and get it examined.

SIDNER: Immediately.

ELAM: Because that's the thing.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: Because people are feeling things inside of their body and they're ignoring it because they've got kids, they've got work, they've got jobs, they've got obligations. All of that won't matter if you're not here.

SIDNER: Yeah.

ELAM: So it's something that I find myself saying over and over to people as other people close to me have gotten cancer recently is you've got to get the testing done. The support system is there. Everything will happen.