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Sean Diddy Combs' Prison Release Date Set for May 2028; Military Families Brace for Missed Paychecks Amid Government Shutdown; Trump Says He Had an MRI During Visit to Walter Reed; Stocks Rally to Record Highs Amid Hope for U.S.-China Trade Deal. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired October 27, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: No, thank you so much for that.

And ahead, the impact of the federal government shutdown on military families, the Treasury Secretary says money will run out to pay service members if the shutdown stretches on. We'll have that next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: We're following some breaking news right now. A May 2028 prison release date has now been set for Sean Diddy Combs. CNN's Elizabeth Wagmeister joins us now. So what more are you learning about this?

ELIZABETH WAGMEISTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hey, Omar, so just getting this information in from the Federal Bureau of Prisons. As you said, May 8th of 2028 is the release date that is currently set for Sean Combs. Of course, he stood a two-month trial.

[15:35:00]

He was convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Now, the judge had sentenced him to just over four years. This 2028 date of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution. Now, the judge judge had sentenced him to just over four years. This 2028 date, of course, less than four years, but this reflects his time already served.

You'll remember that Sean Combs has been in jail since his arrest in 2024. His team made attempts to get him released on bail. Those attempts were declined, so he has been in jail at the MDC.

We are still waiting to see what prison he will be transferred to. Now, his team has also filed a notice of appeal. No appeal officially filed yet -- but expect that to come because his team has vowed to appeal from the beginning.

And remember, Omar, Sean Combs was acquitted on the most serious charges by a New York jury. If he were convicted on those more serious charges of sex trafficking and racketeering, he was facing up to life in prison. So relatively speaking, this is a relatively short term for Sean Combs, but still, as the judge said, he sentenced him to what the judge called as hard time and now expected to be released in May of 2028.

JIMENEZ: All right, Elizabeth Weinmeister, thanks for bringing us that breaking news -- Brianna.

KEILAR: Families are beginning to feel the pain as the government shutdown enters its fifth week. The Senate reconvened earlier this hour, but so far, after 27 days, both Democrats and Republicans have failed to come up with a solution to reopen the government. Starting November 1st, millions of Americans on Obamacare subsidies will start getting notified that their health insurance premiums are skyrocketing for next year.

At the same time, the U.S. Department of Agriculture says it will not use $6 billion in its contingency fund to cover food stamp benefits, which are set to expire. Some military families rely on those benefits even while they're receiving paychecks. But according to the Treasury Secretary, soon that pay may not be coming as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT BESSENT, TREASURY SECRETARY: We were able to pay the military employees from excess funds at the Pentagon middle of this month. I think we'll be able to pay them beginning in November. But by November 15, our troops and service members who are willing to risk their lives aren't going to be able to get paid. What an embarrassment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: We're joined now by Austin Carrigg. She's the CEO for Exceptional Families of the Military. It's a nonprofit that supports military families with members who have special medical or educational needs. Austin, it's great to see you again. Can you just talk to us? I know you're talking to so many military families. What are you hearing about their main worries as they're trying to cope with this uncertainty?

AUSTIN CARRIGG, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, EXCEPTIONAL FAMILIES OF THE MILITARY: So a lot of our families are reporting that the military hospitals are sending them off base to get their medications, and a lot of them are unprepared for the amount that's going to be required of them to pay for these medications, because in the military system, the co-pays are free. Outside that system, there are stacks of copays, and our families are unable to access the copay reimbursement programs that other families are in these situations.

KEILAR: So normally, how would they handle it if they weren't facing this?

CARRIGG: So it would be provided at their military hospital free of charge. But now the military treatment facilities are telling us that they're unable to order some of the medications that families are needing. So they're having to go now to their local pharmacies off base and pay co-pays for them, where they normally wouldn't have any co-pay due.

KEILAR: So does that really speak to how some of these sort of support roles are getting in the way of day-to-day needs of military families? Is that what the trickle-down is here?

CARRIGG: It's the support roles, but it's also a matter of the fact that we weren't prepared for this, right? None of our families, I think, ever took into account this. We knew that we were losing our paychecks, but we didn't know that there was also going to be this pharmacy issue and that our families were going to have to pay this out of pocket. So suddenly, without a paycheck.

KEILAR: So there's that issue, which is a very distinct one and incredibly alarming if you haven't had a chance to prepare for it. What are the other financial strains that military families are expecting to confront as they stare down potentially a missed paycheck?

CARRIGG: So I know a lot of our families are concerned about food. They're concerned about the ability to pay their bills, to pay their mortgage or their rent. And for families like mine, we are often faced with, am I going to pay for gas to get to and from a medical appointment? Am I going to pay for parking at the hospital? And where am I going to come up with that money to do so?

KEILAR: And you mentioned food. At the beginning of November, so five days from now, SNAP food stamp benefits will no longer have federal funding. One out of every four active duty military families is food insecure. Fewer actually rely on food stamps because of the way eligibility is calculated.

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But as you have military families preparing for not being able to pay for food. What are they doing? What are the resources that they're seeking out?

CARRIGG: So a lot of them are searching for local food banks. They're asking for loans from their bank or extending themselves out with credit cards. And I feel like a handful of the families that we've spoken with are so paralyzed with fear that they haven't done any of those things because they can't figure out where to start.

KEILAR: Austin, does this feel different, this government shutdown?

CARRIGG: It feels different for a lot of our families because in the past there was always this call for us to be paid. And except for the Coast Guard, that has happened. And this time a lot of families are saying they feel like we're in for the long haul, that we are likely going to be setting a record for the amount of time that the government has shut down. And they have concerns about what this may mean for their future and whether they're going to stay in service given that this is happening.

KEILAR: Which becomes a national security issue. Can you speak to, even as service members get back pay, right, but there's been this interruption in them getting pay, what are the permanent effects of that interruption in getting pay, even if they receive back pay?

CARRIGG: So back pay is not going to pay student loans today. It's not going to pay their mortgage, their car payments, their car insurance. So we are looking at the reality that these service members are going to be taking hits to their credit reports. And we all know that your credit score is part of your security clearance. So there are long- term implications here.

We have some families who have children in daycare. How are they paying for their childcare? Are they going to lose that spot? The same thing for those who have students in college. How are they paying for college with all of this happening? And we are very concerned that in those last two instances that they're not going to be able to continue.

KEILAR: You're painting a dire picture. And that is what military families are telling you. That is what they're describing to so many advocates. Austin Carrigg, thank you so much for being with us and telling us what's going on. We appreciate it.

CARRIGG: Thank you.

KEILAR: Coming up, President Trump telling reporters he had an MRI during a recent trip to Walter Reed Medical Center. Why? We'll talk about it next.

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KEILAR: We're learning some new details about president trump's recent visit to Walter Reed Medical Center. The president telling reporters aboard Air Force One today, that he received an MRI during that appointment. Here's what he said.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We had an MRI, the machine, you know, the whole thing, and it was perfect. The doctor said some of the best reports for the age, some of the best reports they've ever seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, his comments mark the first time he's provided any kind of reason for his second medical exam this year. But over the summer, we learned Trump, his leg was treated for leg swelling and had been diagnosed with chronic venous insufficiency.

Here with us now is CNN senior White House reporter Kevin Liptak. So, Kevin, can you just explain why this scan or even just the admission of this scan is significant?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, I think it's unusual because, you know, the president went to Walter Reed two and a half weeks ago. This is the first time we've learned about this MRI.

The president also went to Walter Reed in April. So this is his second time to that facility within the span of several months. Ordinarily, presidents only get a physical once a year. So just the fact that the president went out there was unusual. You

know, the medical office at the White House is pretty substantial. You can get all kinds of procedures done there. So the fact that they flew him out to Maryland to have this done was itself significant.

And the addition of the knowledge of this MRI only lends sort of the significance of what the president was doing out there. When we heard from the doctors after this visit, you know, they put out this memo. It was pretty brief.

They said that he got advanced imaging -- which is why someone asked him about the MRI in Air Force One today. But they didn't say why. They said that this whole visit was meant to, quote, ensure optimal cardiovascular health and continued wellness.

And so the president on Air Force One, when he was asked, well, why did you go out to Walter Reed to get an MRI? He said, you know, you can ask the doctors. And so we have asked the doctors.

We've asked the White House. And they haven't provided any more information about what exactly this MRI was sort of called up to do. And it does, I think, lend another layer of uncertainty about the president's health.

You know, he's 79 years old when he was sworn in back in January. He was the oldest president at that point in time to be sworn into office. He does have kind of a mixed track record when it comes to how forthright he is about his health.

Certainly, they put out these memos every time he has a physical. But, for example, when you think back to when he had COVID during his first term, it took years for us to learn that his blood levels, his blood oxygen levels had sort of decreased to quite a worrying level. And so, I think now that the president has said that he had an MRI, perhaps that will shake loose some information from the White House.

But at this point, we just don't know why exactly they decided they needed to do that.

KEILAR: So as you've asked the White House, because the president did say talk to the doctors --

LIPTAK: Yes, exactly.

KEILAR: -- has the White House given any indication that you can indeed talk to the doctors?

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LIPTAK: They have. And we should say the president, his doctors, and his team are all in Asia right now. So they have just woken up, perhaps.

And perhaps they're coming up with an idea of what they want to say about this. The list of reasons why you get an MRI, and I think this is why it behooves them to explain, is pretty long. You can have it for neurological reasons. You can have it if you have

a backache. You can have it for cardiovascular reasons. There's a whole host of reasons why you would have an MRI.

And so in the absence of any information, it sort of leaves people to speculate, picking off this list, about what exactly this was for.

JIMENEZ: Kevin Liptak, appreciate the reporting. Good to see you.

All right, we want to update you on some of the other headlines we are watching this hour, including two people were taken to the hospital after a tornado struck Mexico Beach, Florida, according to the Bay County Sheriff's Office.

You can see video showing debris and downed power lines as officials urged residents to stay off the roads while damage is assessed. By the way, this is the same community that was really decimated by Hurricane Michael back in 2018.

KEILAR: Also, a U.S. Navy helicopter and a fighter jet crashed within 30 minutes of each other during separate incidents over the South China Sea on Sunday. Officials say both aircraft had been conducting routine operations. All crew members were safely rescued and an investigation is underway.

President Trump called the incidents very unusual and suggested bad fuel could be to blame. Noteworthy, they did come off of the same aircraft carrier.

And a 13-year-old boy in New Zealand hospitalized after swallowing dozens of powerful magnets, often sold as desk toys for adults.

A recent case report in the New Zealand Medical Journal describes how the magnets form chains that stuck together in the boy's bowel, putting pressure on the tissue. Surgeons successfully removed the magnets, but they also had to remove part of the boy's bowel. These high-powered magnets have been banned in New Zealand, but officials say enforcing that ban remains a challenge.

And ahead, U.S. stocks rally after U.S. and Chinese representatives agree on a framework for a trade deal. We'll have that next.

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JIMENEZ: Big rally on Wall Street. Let's take a look. Stocks today climbing toward their latest records amid growing optimism that a U.S.-China trade deal is close or could be close. Negotiators say they've reached a framework agreement to avoid escalating tariffs.

KEILAR: And we're joined by Roben Farzad, business journalist and host of Full Disclosure on NPR. All right, Roben, stocks rising after this announcement, but oh, the details, right? For instance, you have the Treasury Secretary saying he anticipates the U.S. could get some kind of deferral on rare earths export controls. It doesn't really sound like a permanent solution.

ROBEN FARZAD, BUSINESS JOURNALIST AND HOST, FULL DISCLOSURE: And as I've said, in the six months since whatever it was, Liberation Emancipation Day happened, the six and a half months, markets have learned to yawn these things off. They realize that they're kind of manufactured victory headlines and manufactured threats and step back and taco and whatnot. A lot of much bigger things are going on, namely AI, namely the weak dollar, foreign markets surging, European economies spending on defense and self-determination in a way that has really sent those markets shooting upwards.

So while the United States is up and markets are at a record here, they're nowhere near some of the emerging and developed markets that we're seeing overseas. And China clearly is celebrating in that as well.

JIMENEZ: And, you know, one aspect of sort of this back and forth when you look at, I guess, what leverage one side has versus the other is Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says China will make a, quote, substantial purchase of American soybeans. Look, China has purchased almost no American soybeans this year, despite previously being essentially the biggest market for American soybeans. How significant of a purchase would this need to be to offset the effects on American farmers that we have seen to this point?

FARZAD: You know, those inputs are really important, whether you have dairy farms or you're talking about the pure land. That's why the Chinese and the Saudis are investors in these crops. You can go to Argentina, which is also a major soybean epicenter.

The Chinese need these things. They need them voraciously. As more people leave the lower classes and come to the lower middle class, they're eating more meat, more pork.

There has to be more of these inputs into the feed. We do have leverage in that respect and that China is willing to buy it from anyone. I mean, other countries in Asia, Brazil, the United States.

But ultimately, as you've read, their leverage is in these rare earths, which are really elusive for us. And Trump knows that. We're trying to say, look, work with me here if you want me to relent.

But ultimately, I think Xi Jinping knows that he has the part in the pun that the Trump card in this.

KEILAR: Yes, fentanyl has been a big sticking point in these tariffs, right? And China's top trade negotiator indicated that they'd reached this consensus on fentanyl.

The U.S. could lift or reduce a 20 percent tariff that the administration imposed on China in April to halt China's export of what are these precursor chemicals for making fentanyl. Details here are kind of unclear, but are you seeing the fentanyl tariffs ultimately then as a success?

FARZAD: I'm not so sure. I mean, the problem is really coming out of Mexico and sourcing these things. And it's always going to be, look, whether you're talking about tusks or black market, agriculture things, other things, inputs, talk about the opium trade going back hundreds of years or inputs that go into morphine and heroin and opiates, they're hugely difficult to trap.

Just look at cracking down on China getting Russian oil. I mean, the border -- you have a command and control economy and government there in Beijing, but things leak out left and right under false flags. I don't think it's on balance a problem that's fed so much by China.

And look, we even took up fentanyl against Canada. And that's penny ante when it comes to the big debate. I mean, this is a Latin American problem.

The inputs are coming in via Mexico, via Venezuela. And Trump knows that he has to have rhetorical victories in there.

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KEILAR: Yes. Roben, great to have you. Roben Farzad, thank you so much for putting all of that into perspective. We do appreciate it.

JIMENEZ: And setting the stakes for what is clearly a major, major trip for the president. And we will see what comes out of it.

KEILAR: Yes, it is a big one. Omar, great to have you here.

JIMENEZ: Nice to see you.

KEILAR: "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

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