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U.S. Inflation Rises To Three Percent, Karine Jean-Pierre Talks About Time In White House; Tropical Storm Melissa To Rapidly Grow Into A Major Hurricane. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired October 24, 2025 - 14:30   ET

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

[14:30:00]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: A trip to the grocery store is costing Americans more. A new report out today shows that inflation is ticking up. So, why is the president saying the opposite?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Grocery prices are way down. Groceries are down. Now, as you know, groceries are down. We've gotten prices way down for groceries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: For a deeper dive on this, let's turn to CNN's Daniel Dale. So, Daniel, what are the facts here?

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: The fact is that these claims are just not true. It wasn't true when President Trump claimed earlier this year that grocery prices were down. It's not true now. And we know that because of the new Consumer Price Index Report released this morning, which showed that from August to September, grocery prices increased again by 0.3 percent. That followed a 0.6 percent increase from July to August, which was the biggest jump in three years.

They're also up 2.7 percent from last September. And about half of that increase, about 1.5 percent from July to August. A 4 percent in total has happened since January, the month President Trump returned to office.

[14:35:00]

Now, if you talk to grocery -- sorry, if you talk food economists, as I did, they'll tell you that there are all sorts of reasons why grocery prices might bounce around unrelated to who the president is. But they'll also tell you that it very much appears that two of this president's signature policies, specifically a crackdown on undocumented immigrants, who make up a large percentage of the farm workforce, and significant tariffs on imported goods, have at least contributed to the increases that Americans are seeing in the grocery aisle.

And for example, if you look at some of the grocery products with the biggest price increases over the past year, they include coffee and bananas, two products that are almost entirely imported in this country. They also include beef. There are a lot of factors behind the beef increase, but a significant percentage of that product as well is imported. So, tariffs are clearly having an effect.

Now, I think it's also worth noting that it's not just grocery inflation on which the president is making these kinds of false claims. He's also making such claims about overall inflation. Listen to some of his recent comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Inflation, I've already taken care of. Economically, the country is the strongest it's ever been. Prices are way down in our country. And inflation has been defeated. And now, our inflation is down to a perfect number, a beautiful number. Hardly any at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: Inflation very much continues to exist. Overall, consumer prices rose 0.3 percent from August to September. They're up about 2.4 percent since President Trump returned to office in January, and up about 3 percent year over year compared to last September.

Now, if you go to multiple decimal places, it's just over 3 percent. And that means that this rate of inflation of this past September was the highest since May 2024. So, I'm not saying President Trump is to blame for all of that, and it's certainly true that it's lower inflation than we had during the Biden era peak, over 9 percent in 2022, but it's also not true that grocery prices are down, it's also not true that inflation has been vanquished.

JIMENEZ: Daniel Dale, always appreciate you putting that together. Good to see you. Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: The White House briefing room can often resemble a boxing ring. And the press secretary facing off with members of the media in fiery exchanges. In Karine Jean-Pierre's new book, the former Biden White House press secretary, talks about her experience at the White House revealing what she saw behind the scenes and in front of the cameras and revealing and explaining why she is now a registered independent.

The author of "Independent: A Look Inside a Broken White House, Outside the Party Lines" is with us now. Karine, thank you so much for being with us.

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, AUTHOR, "INDEPENDENT: A LOOK INSIDE A BROKEN WHITE HOUSE, OUTSIDE THE PARTY LINES" AND FORMER BIDEN WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Thank you so much, Brianna, for having me. I appreciate the opportunity.

KEILAR: There are many points in this book where you have criticism for Democratic Party leadership and how they've messaged. As I mentioned, you're now an independent hence the title of your book here. Who are you taking issue with specifically? JEAN-PIERRE: There's not a specific name that I'm going to bring to you. I think it is a Democratic issue. Look, I take accountability myself. I was the person at the podium behind that lectern pushing these messaging and trying to connect. So, 2024, the elections were not what we wanted and we all have to take accountability for it. And so, I'm not running from that. I'm talking about this moment that we're in right now. And what I am talking about in the book, especially towards the end, there's a call to action. There's a call to meet the moment.

And millions of Americans feel the way that I do when it comes to the Democratic Party just not meeting the moment. We want them to fight. We want them to show teeth. We want them to have a strategy on how they're going to fight back in this moment. Not strongly worded letters. We don't want that. We don't want canned responses. We want an opposition party.

And so, that's what I've been hearing from people. The polling shows there's a disappointment in the Democratic Party. And that is what I'm trying to get to. How do we get to a moment right now when our democracy is hanging by a string? What do we do? And we need our Democratic leadership to stand up to that.

KEILAR: Yes. And I'm asking you to be specific for a reason. And here's an example. Zohran Mamdani, who you have queens in common with. That's where you started your political career. He says he's leading a movement that has won the soul of the Democratic Party. But Chuck Schumer, his home state senator, hasn't endorsed him. Hakeem Jeffries just did now. But by many accounts, it took him too long. I think some people who have been critical of him would say that.

What about them? Because if party leadership, I mean, they are the House and Senate leaders, if they can't navigate this kind of moment with clarity, how can the rank and file confidently navigate the upcoming midterms?

[14:40:00]

JEAN-PIERRE: I totally agree with you. You said exactly what I agree with, and not just me, millions of Americans agree with that as well. They want to see our party leadership stand up. And we're not seeing that. Again, I mentioned the candid lines, strongly worded letters, that's not what we want to see.

One of the things that was really disappointing very early on this year is when Democrats basically handed over their power by rubber stamping Trump's appointees. And that is taking away what they had the leverage. They had leverage, and they let that go. And we knew that this time around this term was going to be different. They had Project 2025. They knew -- we knew what this year or this administration was going to do. More than 40 percent of what's on that list of Project 2025 is done.

And so, that's how people started to look and say, OK, what's happening here? And then, when you start throwing communities under the bus or not showing real fight for communities, then people feel left out. You don't have that big tent party. So, that is what I'm talking about.

Mamdami is a perfect example. He rightfully -- right, he did the work. He connected with people in the way that we hadn't seen in some time, and he won the primary. He did it the way that he was supposed to, and still wouldn't get Democratic leadership to support him.

KEILAR: You -- I want to ask you, I'd be remiss, obviously, if I didn't ask you while having you here. You were White House press secretary during an unprecedented time with Biden bowing out of the race. I mentioned you criticized the party in here. You also criticized Democrats in the party for how they treated Biden. I should note, former Vice President Kamala Harris said, quote, "It was recklessness to leave the decision of whether to run again solely up to the Bidens." Recklessness, she calls it. Do you disagree with her?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I appreciate the vice president. I'm glad she wrote the book. And I think she ran an incredible race last year, obviously, for the presidential election. In this instance, I -- what I talk about is going back to 2023. We have to understand where we were and remember where we were in 2023 when President Joe Biden made that decision. We came out of a midterm election that wasn't a red wave. That it had report -- been reported by many. Everybody expected it to be a red wave. It was a historic midterm election for incumbent president in his first term. And so, that didn't happen.

He was the first and only person to have beaten Donald Trump. And so, those things were on the table when he made that decision. Obviously, ultimately, he's going to write a book and he's going to talk about it himself.

KEILAR: But, Karine, I'm sorry to interrupt you on this. But a lot happened.

JEAN-PIERRE: So, we have to -- no, no. But -- no, no, but --

KEILAR: Because he was up in years.

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, for sure. For sure.

KEILAR: I need to ask you because a lot happened after that. And according to my colleague, Jake Tapper, who wrote a book with Alex Thompson, you know, looking back on that cabinet secretaries were telling them that Biden wasn't up to the task of the proverbial 2:00 a.m. phone call. George Clooney said Biden didn't even recognize him at the fundraiser that he was hosting. I mean, we're talking 2023, 2024.

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. And --

KEILAR: Why didn't you see -- why didn't you have concerns? Why didn't you raise them?

JEAN-PIERRE: So, I did not have any concerns. I saw him on a daily basis, Brianna, you know that. I saw him every day. I engaged with him every day. Now, did he show age? No one is denying that. Yes, he showed age. This is a president that was sharp. This is a president that pushed his staff. This is a president that was on top of the policies that he cared about that were important to the American people.

Let's not forget, he also was leading a coalition, an international coalition when it came to -- something that we hadn't seen in decades when it came to the war in Ukraine. There was a lot going on. You just said it in asking me one of the questions, it was an unprecedented time.

And objectively, Brianna, it was a -- we had some successes, some historic successes in the beginning of -- in the first couple of years of his first term, in his presidency. And so, those are the things -- I'm talking about my personal -- from my personal standpoint.

KEILAR: Yes, but that's not what I'm asking about --

JEAN-PIERRE: What I saw. On a daily average. On a daily average.

KEILAR: Do you think he should be president right now?

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes, I'm listen. I'm hearing to you.

KEILAR: Do you think that he is capable of being president? Because that was what you were advocating for, someone who would be president in his current state until 2029.

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. I did not see anything that concerned me when he decided to run for president. I did not. This is someone that I saw every single day.

[14:45:00]

Again, he was on top of the policies. He was sharp. He was someone that cared about the outcome of the issues that were in front of the American people and what we were doing. I'm speaking from my own personal opinion. I'm speaking from what I saw on a day-to-day basis.

And you talked about the vice president's book. She actually speaks to that as well. So, you know, I could only speak from what I saw. I can't speak to sources. I can't speak to a book that I actually haven't read, but what I can speak to --

KEILAR: Yes. But you also say in your book that you don't plan to read it, Karine.

JEAN-PIERRE: -- is what I saw. And there's nothing -- but there's --

KEILAR: You say you haven't read it and you don't plan to read it. I mean, why not? I mean, if most people -- a lot of people -- if the leadership of their workplace imploded --

JEAN-PIERRE: Yes. Because, Brianna --

KEILAR: -- and someone wrote a book with 200 sources, they would want to read it, they'd want to reflect on it. Why not?

JEAN-PIERRE: No, because I saw it personally and I experienced it personally on an average day-to-day.

KEILAR: So did these people.

JEAN-PIERRE: And right now, I -- right now, Brianna, look where we are today. It is important that we talk about where we are today. We are in an unprecedented situation. There are people who are going missing in the street because there's military being told to round people up who are brown, who are black, and some of them are U.S. citizens. We are in a place where the rule of law has been thrown out the window. That's what I'm talking about.

Yes, I pulled back the curtains and wanted to focus on some things that I experienced. Me, Karine Jean-Pierre as White House Press Secretary. But I also wanted to talk about the moment that we are in. These are dangerous times. I'm asking, like millions of other Americans, for the Democratic Party to meet the moment. I'm trying to create a conversation. I'm trying to push a conversation that I think is really important.

And so, I have said what I've said about that summer of 2024. I have talked about my experience with President Joe Biden and what I saw, but we also have to look at this moment. These are scary times.

KEILAR: And absolutely. I think it's very important. We talk about it every day on the show about this show about this moment that we are in and the things we see happening every day. We would be remiss if we didn't talk about how we got to this moment. That is certainly essential. Karine Jean-Pierre, thank you so much for being with us.

JEAN-PIERRE: Thank you so much.

KEILAR: And still to come, just off the coast of Jamaica, Tropical Storm Melissa could soon begin to rapidly intensify into a major hurricane. We have the new track and potential impacts next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

JIMENEZ: The National Hurricane Center issuing a new advisory on Tropical Storm Melissa just a short time ago, showing it's strengthening for the first time since forming on Tuesday. The storm has already caused flooding and landslides in the Dominican Republic. In Haiti, at least three people have died. You see some of the flooding images here. Conditions are expected to get dramatically worse, with Jamaica expected to take the worst hit.

I want to bring in CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar, who's with us now. So, Allison, how soon could Melissa become a hurricane here?

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Right. We could be looking at less than 24 hours from now, potentially even as early as 12 hours from now. Saturday is really going to be the key when we finally start to see this thing not only intensify, but actually start to make some forward progress here. And what I mean by that is the forward speed of Melissa right now is only two miles per hour. Earlier, it was at one mile per hour. Just for some perspective here, a sloth moves at about one mile per hour. The average human moves at about three to four miles per hour. So, you could walk faster than Melissa is currently moving.

Now, sustained winds up to 60 miles per hour. So, we're starting to see the storm very gradually intensify, and that's going to continue over the next few days. But here's the reason why it hasn't really moved all that much. You've got a high-pressure system to the east of it, another high-pressure system to the west of it, and a very deep trough to the north, and it's essentially kind of trapped Melissa in between. But you're going to start to notice some of those other things, the ones that are steering it, begin to fade away and move out of the way and allow for Melissa to finally start to make some forward progress here in the next 24 hours. We know the storm is going to push its way off towards the west before finally making a sharp turn to the north.

Now, here's the thing. The farther west it goes, the more likely it is to encounter a much more favorable environment. So that's why we anticipate the storm is going to become a hurricane sometime Saturday and potentially even a major hurricane by Sunday.

Now, here's the other thing, too. The models still don't know exactly when it's going to make that sharp turn to the north. They all agree it will happen. It's just when is really the million-dollar question. The key thing here, though, is the farther west it goes, the more favorable environment it has to intensify. All of this red and orange color you see here on the map are those extremely warm sea surface temperatures, and we know that is fuel for these types of storms. So, the farther west it goes, the more likely it is to intensify.

Right now, the official forecast from the National Hurricane Center has Melissa getting to a Category 4, but it is not out of the question this could make it to a Category 5, especially if it ends up going farther to the west. But by far, the biggest concern with this storm is absolutely going to be the rainfall, not just because it's a very powerful storm, but because of that incredibly slow movement. It has a lot of time to dump a tremendous amount of rain, not just for Jamaica, but also for portions of Haiti, even into Cuba.

You see a lot of pink and white color on that screen. You're talking at least 10 inches of rain widespread across some of these areas, with some spots picking up 15, even 20 inches of rain.

[14:55:00]

The topography has a lot to do with that. It's very mountainous, especially here along the southern and western tier of Haiti. That's where you're going to see some of those higher numbers coming in. Same thing for Jamaica, although really the entire island is a lot of mountains, but especially along the southern and the eastern coast, that's where, again, you see a lot of that pink and white color indicating those extremely high rainfall amounts.

Again, not only is the concern from the rainfall, but because of that topography, there's also the concern for things like mudslides and landslides. So, that's another factor we're going to have to take into account over the next few days.

Wind gusts, especially the stronger the storm gets. Even if it doesn't make a direct landfall across Jamaica, if it gets close enough and it's strong, say a Category 4 or a 5, you're still going to have some of those wind gusts in excess of 100 miles per hour across portions of Jamaica as the storm begins to swirl around and make its way off to the north. So, that's going to be a concern possibly as early as this weekend, but certainly as we go into Monday and Tuesday of next week.

JIMENEZ: Very concerning, Allison Chinchar, appreciate it. A new hour of CNN News Central starts after this short break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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