Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

V.P. Vance Arrives in Israel to Bolster Fragile Gaza Ceasefire Deal; Politico Report on Racist Texts Appear to Derail Trump Nominee; V.A. Therapists and Patients Say Treatment Sessions are Being Limited. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired October 21, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking overnight, new reports that there are fears within the Trump administration that the whole Gaza ceasefire deal could fall apart. Vice President J.D. Vance just arrived in Israel, the latest on what could be a salvage mission.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: And tragedy averted, a man arrested at the busiest airport in the world after his family tipped off police that he was headed there to quote, shoot it up. What police are saying today.

And White House walls coming down, demolition underway to make way for a new $200 million ballroom planned by President Trump.

I'm Kate Bolduan with John Berman. Sara is out today. This is CNN News Central.

BERMAN: All right. Breaking news, Vice President J.D. Vance touched down in Israel just a short time ago. He is leading a full court press of diplomacy by the Trump administration, driven by anxiety that the whole Gaza ceased fire could fall apart and by what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might do next.

The New York Times is reporting that several Trump officials are concerned that Netanyahu may, quote, vacate the deal. The Times says the strategy is now for Vance, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner to, quote, try to keep Mr. Netanyahu from resuming an all-out assault against Hamas. And the president also threatened to, quote, eradicate Hamas if they violate the deal.

The truce was put to the test in recent days after two Israeli soldiers were killed in Gaza and Israel responded with deadly airstrikes.

Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene live at the White House. What's the latest this morning, Alayna?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well look, I think it's clear that the ceasefire is in a very fragile state right now, John, and that's why they are sending the vice president to Israel. As you mentioned, he just touched down this morning. And this is supposed to be a symbolic move. Of course, we know that some of the people who were the key in negotiating this deal, Steve Witkoff, the president's Middle East envoy, Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, both of them had already arrived in Israel earlier this week. They've been in, in a number of engagement. But Vance is really supposed to show symbolically that the White House is taking this very seriously and how important it is that things go to plan with this 20-point plan that the president had laid out.

Now, of course, I think part of the reason this is happening at this point is because of what you mentioned, which is the exchange of fire on Sunday, two Israeli soldiers -- two IDF soldiers were killed after there was an anti-tank missile that was launched on an army car. And then Israel responded by firing a series of missiles back. 44 people were killed in Gaza from the Israeli fire.

And, look, we heard both Israel and Hamas after that, affirm that they are still committed to the ceasefire agreement, but both sides also blamed the other. And the president for his part has tried to kind of play off the exchange of fire, arguing that the initial attacks on the IDF soldiers were from some kind of extraneous rebel group within Hamas, and believes that both sides are committed in good faith to the deal. But all to say this could very much fall apart easily. That's exactly what we saw with some of the carefully negotiated ceasefire talks that happened earlier this year.

The Trump administration, of course, wants this to be different, and they've made a full show of force trying to ensure that happens. That's partly why the president flew to the Middle East so quickly after they were able to reach this agreement because he wanted to have that show of force with all of the 59 other countries, and particularly in other Middle East leaders to show that there was accountability here.

Now, the president also has threatened to eradicate Hamas, and this has been a warning shot he's now fired twice, if they do not cease the violence that is happening. But, again, Vance is there all to try and ensure that this doesn't fall apart and that they can continue to move forward in these negotiations. We'll have to see how that actually goes this week.

BERMAN: Yes, we're standing by to hear from any of them out of Israel this morning.

Alayna Treene at the White House, thank you very much. Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, also this morning, Mr. Berman, President Trump's pick to lead the Office of Special Counsel appears to be on thin ice, and that quite honestly may be a generous take. You now have the top Republican in the Senate, John Thune, saying this about Paul Ingrassia, he's not going to pass.

[07:05:04]

It comes after Politico reported on racist text messages Ingrassia allegedly sent in a group chat with the Republican. In one message, Ingrassia allegedly texted that the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday should be tossed into the seventh circle of hell where it belongs. In another Ingrassia back and forth allegedly wrote, I do have a Nazi streak in me from time to time. I will admit it.

CNN's Annie Greer is on Capitol Hill for more. So, you have this reporting and you have what is in terms of the response from lawmakers on Capitol Hill now?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, leader Thune was very clear last night, Kate. He said that Ingrassia doesn't have the votes and he hopes that the White House polls this nomination. Ingrassia was expected to meet in front of the Senate Homeland Security Committee on Thursday, and at least one of the Republicans on that committee, Republican Senator Rick Scott, told me last night that he does not support Ingrassia. So, that right there is enough Republican opposition to end this nomination, assuming that all Democrats also vote against him, which we are expecting him to do.

So, Trump nominated and Gracie to lead the Office of Special Counsel, which oversees all federal whistleblowers and civil servant laws. But his nomination has been clouded with controversy. CNN has reported on his history of alleged racist comments, and as you mentioned, the Politico reporting has a lot of messages in there.

I'm going to read you two more of them. One in one alleged message, Ingrassia says, quote, never trust a Chinaman or Indian, never, end quote. And in another text, Ingrassia writes, quote, blacks behave that way because that's their natural state. You can't change them. He then added, according to the chat, quote, proof all of Africa is a shit hole and will always be that way, end quote.

Now, Ingrassia and his team are pushing back firmly on the latest Politico reporting. In a statement, his attorney says, quote, in this age of A.I., authentication of allegedly leaked messages, which could be outright falsehoods, doctored, or manipulated, or lacking critical context, is extremely difficult. We do not concede the authenticity of any of these purported messages.

So, it is now in the hands of the White House, Kate, what they are going to do here. But Leader Thune was clear in his message. It's very rare for Republicans on Capitol Hill to push back on one of Trump's nominees, but we are seeing that here, some Republican senators are expected at the White House later today. So, we are going to be tracking closely if the president makes any statements or the White House makes any changes to Ingrassia's nomination.

BOLDUAN: Yes. This is a space to watch today, for sure, when John Thune says, he isn't going to pass. John Thune should know and does know what he's talking about when it comes to this.

It's good to see you, Annie. Thank you very much. Let's see what happens even through the extent of this show on this front.

Coming up for us, what police say could have been a tragic mass shooting averted. New details this morning after a man with an AR-15 in his truck was arrested inside Atlanta's airport, threatening to, quote/unquote, shoot it up, all of it caught on police body camera. Plus, for many Americans buying a home in the United States right now has gotten increasingly difficult over the past few years, and we now have new CNN reporting this morning that it may have about to get even harder.

And hundreds of billions of dollars, new details on the impact of the worldwide internet outage that affected everything, from banks to communications, to, well, of course, Snapchat. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:10:00]

BERMAN: We have new CNN reporting this morning. Some Veterans Affairs patients and therapists are raising alarm saying their long-term therapy sessions are being limited. One combat veteran says it feels, quote, like being abandoned.

CNN's Brian Todd, who does such great reporting on the V.A., has this new piece of information. Brian, what are you learning this morning?

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, John. We have learned that some V.A. hospitals have stepped up the enforcement of a policy, which limits the number of long-term mental health sessions available to individual veterans. That is according to four V.A. mental health providers and two patients who we spoke with from V.A. facilities across the U.S. Most of them did not want to give their names for fear of retaliation.

We have to say this policy did not start in the current Trump administration. It goes at least as far back as the Biden administration and likely further back than that. But our sources tell us the enforcement of that policy has become more strict during this Trump administration.

We also need to say this is not occurring at every V.A. facility in the U.S. We have learned of this occurring at a few facilities. At those places, essentially, it's like this patients get a certain number of one-on-one therapy sessions, which can vary between 4 and 24 sessions. The mental health providers at those facilities tell us that, whereas in the past, they had discretion to extend the number of sessions based on their assessments of their patients. The V.A. is now pressing them in some cases to stop one-on-one sessions at the end of the allotted series and more broadly to reduce the number of patients who get this long-term care.

We spoke with one Marine combat veteran, Michael, which is a pseudonym. Michael's one-on-one sessions with his V.A. mental health provider were suddenly terminated recently. He told me it felt, quote, like being abandoned, you are thrown away like yesterday's trash. He said, quote, I'm not ready to address all my issues on my own yet. It feels like they took the training wheels off before I'm ready. Michael says it took him a long time to find the right V.A. therapist and to build trust with that therapist after he had struggled with addiction and was hospitalized following multiple suicide attempts.

[07:15:03]

Contacted by CNN, the V.A. has denied that veterans are not getting the care they need. V.A. Spokesperson Peter Kasperowicz said, quote, there are no limits on the number of V.A. appointments a veteran can have in mental health or any other areas. Kasperowicz said, the V.A., quote, works with veterans over an initial eight to 15 mental health sessions and collaboratively plans any needed follow-on care. As part of this process, he says, veterans and their healthcare team decide together how to address ongoing needs, including whether to step down to other types of care and self-maintenance or continue with V.A. therapy.

But we have been told by V.A. mental health providers that they were told to stop seeing some patients for those longer open-ended periods. In some cases, they say they're offering veterans options, like group therapy, which many veterans don't want to do, or they offer them the chance to reapply for one-on-one treatment. But if they reapply, they could wait months to get that treatment, and it's not guaranteed that they will get back with their trusted therapists.

These providers tell us that for some veterans with severe PTSD, suicidal ideations and other conditions, it's just not clinically appropriate to do it this way, that some of them are going to need this treatment for the rest of their lives. John?

BERMAN: Brian Todd, I know you're going to keep asking the right questions here and keep on doing this important reporting. Thanks so much for being with us this morning.

And if you feel like you are in crisis, call or text 988 to reach the 24-hour Suicide Crisis Lifeline. Veterans and their loved ones can dial 988, then press 1 or text 838255 to reach the veterans crisis line.

We're standing by to see when National Guard troops could appear on the streets of Portland after a federal judge cleared the way and what city might very well be next.

And will we have to call it the North American pastime? A team from Canada on its way to the World Series, the dramatic blast that put them there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:20:00]

BERMAN: New this morning, Amazon says its systems are effectively back online after the huge Amazon web services outage brought down thousands of high-profile apps, websites, and online platforms with it. Now, one expert says the total cost of the disruption could reach hundreds of billions of dollars.

CNN Tech reporter Clare Duffy is with us now. Claire, I do have to say, Amazon says it's all back up. Things are still glitchy as far as I can tell this morning on a lot of sites. CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, you know, there was sort of a chain of problems yesterday that Amazon was having to address as it fixed one thing, another problem would come up, and it's going to take a little bit of time to get all of its millions of customers back operating normally, although the company says its systems are now effectively back up and running, as you said.

But this has been a real wakeup call as to just how centralized the internet has become and reliant on this small number of core infrastructure partners. We've just kind of accepted as normal that now most companies don't operate their own computers and servers to host their websites. They rely on third parties, like Amazon, which most of the time is cheaper and easier and actually more secure unless you have an outage like we saw yesterday. And then it creates this sort of single point of failure.

Now, of course, Amazon isn't the only major player here. But it is the largest cloud computing provider. It hosts around 4 million customers. It has 37 percent of the cloud computing market, and between the big three players, Amazon, Microsoft, and Google, they host 60 percent of the cloud computing market. That is just a huge percentage of the internet that is dependent on the small number of partners, and that's why you saw such widespread disruption yesterday. People couldn't make doctor's appointments. They couldn't access their banking apps. You know, you couldn't buy things normally from websites or in some cases in-person. And that's why you're seeing this estimated hundreds of billions of dollars in terms of expected losses from consumers not being able to spend normally, people not being able to work normally at their jobs.

One expert I spoke to also said that he thinks this problem, this concentration is only potentially getting worse. This is senior analyst Jacob Bourne at eMarketer. He says, even if just briefly, major providers like AWS going down represent vulnerabilities in what have become critical infrastructure for organizations and in some cases, governments globally. As cloud reliance and workloads expand, these outages could hit industries even harder.

So, again, I think a real wake up call, and we do expect, hopefully, to get more information from Amazon and on exactly what went wrong yesterday.

BERMAN: One expert I talked to last night said, you know, companies should think about redundancy when it comes to that, but, you know, it doesn't seem to be the type of thing you would hire two cloud computing companies to handle all your information.

DUFFY: In some cases, companies do work with two different cloud computing companies, or they have some on-premises servers that host their most critical data and they rely on a cloud computing partner, but that takes a lot of work to sort of build out that new architecture for your systems.

BERMAN: Also, you know, I'm sure a lot of money as well.

Clare Duffy, as I said, things still a little bit glitchy. Hopefully, everything will be perfect over the next 24 hours. Thanks so much.

DUFFY: Thank you.

BERMAN: Kate?

BOLDUAN: So, the East Wing of the White House, like you've never seen it before, demo underway for President Trump's plans for a new 90,000- square foot ballroom.

And suspicious knocking on the cockpit door and a communications breakdown that led to this emergency landing last night. We've got details.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:25:00]

BOLDUAN: So, the White House, a place of history, one of those places where you say, oh, the stories these walls could tell if they could talk, well, some of those walls are now coming down. The facade of the East Wing of the White House is now being demolished as part of President Trump's latest renovation plan to construct a $200 million ballroom.

The project is being funded by private and corporate donors, and it even got a mention as the president welcomed LSU's baseball team to the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: You know, we're building right behind us. We're building a ballroom. They've wanted a ballroom for 150 years, and I'm giving that honor to this wonderful place.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: The Wall Street Journal though reports this morning that the Treasury Department instructed employees not to share photos of the demolition after images went viral on social media. Treasury's headquarters is next door to the East Wing. It's going to be some 90,000 square feet in the plans, which would more than double the size of the existing structure.

So, the breaking news this morning, Vice President J.D. Vance has arrived in Israel. His visit comes at another critical moment for the region. There are growing concerns the Gaza ceasefire is on shaky footing.

[07:30:01]

The New York Times is now reporting from several Trump officials speaking on a condition of anonymity that there is concern within the administration that.