Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

GOP-Led Oversight CMTE: Biden Pardons Via Autopen Are "Void"; One Of The Strongest Hurricanes Ever Makes Landfall In Jamaica; Israeli PM Orders "Immediate, Powerful" Military Strikes In Gaza; Senate Dems Block GOP Bill To Reopen Govt. For 13th Time. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired October 28, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN CAPITOL HILL REPORTER: And this is not the only thing that the Oversight Committee is asking DOJ to do. They also turned over three of Biden's aides for further questioning from DOJ, because they pled the Fifth in their testimony. And they're also asking the D.C. Board of Medicine to review Biden's doctor, who was with him the entire term. So that is all in front of the Department of Justice now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: All right. Annie Grayer, Boris Sanchez thank you for that from Capitol Hill.

And a new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Catastrophic wind, rain and life-threatening storm surge, the strongest hurricane to ever hit Jamaica, is slamming the island right now.

KEILAR: Israel's prime minister is ordering, quote, "immediate and powerful strikes in Gaza just hours after he accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire agreement."

And Texas sues the makers of Tylenol, claiming a much-disputed link to an increased risk of autism. Despite experts insisting, the science isn't settled.

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

KEILAR: We have breaking news as we track Hurricane Melissa. We're now seeing the first images of devastation after the historic storm's catastrophic strike on Jamaica. Just listen to Melissa's fury a short time ago.

Melissa made landfall as a powerful Category 5 storm with 185 mile- per-hour winds, tying the record for the strongest storm to ever make landfall in the Atlantic.

SANCHEZ: Yes. The life-threatening danger is far from over, with the center of Melissa now fully over the island nation. Let's get right to meteorologist, Chris Warren.

Chris, what is the latest you're seeing? CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Well, Boris and Brianna, it is still

a Category 5 hurricane, 160 mile-an-hour winds sustained and gusting to 220. Now, those winds are right in here, right around the ring there, the eye wall. So, you have that pinwheel right there, that little needle. That is where the -- there's actually, you know, calm winds right in the middle, but it's the edges where the eye wall is located right there. So, the blue colors, the yellow and the green, that is the strongest winds.

Now, you go a little ways away and Kingston, winds are sustained at 28. So, the difference here between an inconvenience bad day to a devastating and catastrophic day here is a matter of miles. So, hurricanes are like that. The farther away you get from the center, wind-wise, conditions are better.

However -- however, with the rainfall across the entire island, flash flooding, mudslides, landslides, all a possibility. But as far as landfall happening around 1 o'clock this afternoon near New Hope and on this side of the storm, as the eye was coming on shore around this side of the storm, water's being pushed up and the rainwater is trying to drain out of the hills and the mountains here in Jamaica.

Now, the hurricane not too far away from Montego Bay, there's the airport, there's a lot of resorts, also a lot of structures, a lot of homes. So, that is the next spot we're watching very closely. Heavy rain, absolutely still a concern with this. Winds, Montego Bay expected to be gusting up around 105 to 110 miles an hour. It's not going to be until late tonight before this storm clears Jamaica and then the hurricane moves into Cuba, eastern Cuba. And then after that, it's still a major hurricane.

Three is devastating impacts. Four and five catastrophic impacts in terms of the wind. And then, through the Bahamas by late Wednesday. So, during the day Wednesday for the Bahamas. Brianna and Boris.

KEILAR: And Chris, this is a slow-moving storm. It just kind of sits there and churns. How does that worsen the impact?

WARREN: Well, it worsens the impact in three different ways. First, you have this right here. You can see a massive storm moving slow. It's moving around eight miles an hour right now. Now, as far as the wind goes, a structure that might be able to handle a hundred-mile-an- hour winds for five minutes is one thing, but maybe after a half an hour a shingle starts to get loose and then 45 minutes later it blows off. Now, wind gets in the house and then the roof goes. So, the duration, a lot more stress on structures.

In terms of rainfall, a slower moving system like having the faucet of the garden hose on longer, right? More water's coming out. So, the system moves over a rugged terrain. A lot more water falls on the terrain, drains out to sea, while at the same time a slow-moving system over water is pushing the sea water onto land and the water from the rain's trying to get out to the sea and the sea's being pushed in. So, Brianna and Boris, the flooding is also going to be worse with the slower moving system.

[15:05:07]

KEILAR: All right. Chris, thank you so much for that. As we continue to keep our eye on Melissa, Montego Bay, which is on the north coast of Jamaica, is at risk of taking a direct hit from the storm. Valerie Brimo has lived in Jamaica her whole life and now owns the Mynt Retreat Bed and Breakfast there. She's hunkered down waiting for the worst to be over.

Valerie, thank you for joining us and taking the time to speak with us. Just tell us what you're experiencing right now.

VALERIE BRIMO, OWNER OF MYNT RETREAT BED AND BREAKFAST: Thank you for having me. We're having very high winds. It's devastating with the -- with the trees that are breaking off. It's just -- it's just crazy with the winds.

KEILAR: So, you're able to look out? How are you sheltering and are you waiting for the worst of it?

BRIMO: Yes, we're sheltering in place. I'm able to see outside and the trees are breaking off and the wind is extremely high.

KEILAR: And the -- the wind right now is really the problem. How -- how are you feeling? Are you --

BRIMO: Yes.

KEILAR: -- are you feeling safe? Is your bracing for more? Valerie, can you hear me? Are you feeling safe? Is your bracing for more?

BRIMO: This storm is -- Well, this storm is big. It's the worst I've seen so far in my life and we're just hoping that it's over quickly. It's halfway across the island so we're hoping at leaves quickly but it's moving slowly.

KEILAR: And do you have guests there at the inn?

BRIMO: I do and they are very understanding and they're being told all safety features. Yes, we do have guests at this time.

KEILAR: And, you know, you heard a lot of warnings from officials. They were very concerned that people weren't going to evacuate, especially on the south side of the island, get to the places they need to get to. What are you hearing from friends and family about the decisions they've chosen to make ahead of the storm hitting Jamaica?

BRIMO: (INAUDIBLE) we've taken this one seriously and I believe that we're very organized, and we have shelters open, and I'm very proud of -- of what is happening in terms of preparation and shelters around the island. I just -- I'm hoping that with all the flooding and the wind that everybody's safe in shelters.

KEILAR: And tell us, the -- the power was actually turned off preventatively, is that right?

BRIMO: That's correct, from last night in Montego Bay. But in other areas earlier today.

KEILAR: So, you're able to speak with us. Have you been able to speak with other people around the island?

BRIMO: Yes, I do have cell service. I'm with Flow and I do have cell- service and I'm able to communicate with friends and family.

KEILAR: You have lived in Montego Bay your entire life, as you mentioned, and you say this is ...

BRIMO: Yes.

KEILAR: ... this is not like anything you've seen. It -- it sounds like that is the -- that was the expectation of a lot of Jamaicans that this is one for the record books.

BRIMO: It is. It's one of the worst I've seen.

KEILAR: And what are you expecting? We've heard from officials that it could take days before, you know, the -- the worst of the impact, which we expect will be south of you in St. Elizabeth's Parish, before we can really get a -- a sense of the scope of that. How -- how are you and other people on the island bracing for that?

BRIMO: Oh, we -- we know we have a lot to do in terms of cleanup and flood ravaged areas. We know we have a lot to do. So, we're just -- we -- we all just get together and just do the job, you know, when it's over. We're organized and we're prepared.

KEILAR: We know you are, Valerie. And you're there, as we mentioned, in Montego Bay. Valerie, we do want to note we just got an update, the storm is -- the -- the center of it, just 15 miles south of you there in Montego Bay. So, we're going to continue to check in with you.

BRIMO: That's correct.

KEILAR: Yes. And we -- we wish you so much luck.

BRIMO: That's correct. (INAUDIBLE) ...

KEILAR: We know that you -- yes, we know that you are getting ready for this and you're dealing with the strong winds and the trees breaking right now, as you can see right now. But please, please stay safe and stay in touch with us, okay?

BRIMO: Thank you so much for reaching out. Appreciate it.

KEILAR: Valerie, thank you. We appreciate it.

BRIMO: Thank you.

KEILAR: And we're joined now by the former FEMA administration -- former FEMA administrator under President Biden, Deanne Criswell, who is with us.

[15:10:00] Thank you so much for being with us.

DEANNE CRISWELL, FORMER FEMA ADMINISTRATOR UNDER PRES. BIDEN: Yes, thanks for having me.

KEILAR: You hear Valerie there in Montego Bay, 15 miles. The storm is about to hit her. And I mean, her attitude's amazing. But you can also get the sense that Jamaicans understand this is something they haven't seen before.

CRISWELL: Well, I mean, when I've been watching this, right, and watching this rapid intensification, this is what we've been seeing in these storms over the past several years. And it starts out as something small. And then, all of a sudden, you know, it's large and it's moving fast, which means that places like Jamaica, places, you know, where it's going to make landfall, even if it was in the United States, there's less time to warn and evacuate and take those last steps. And I think that's really what Jamaica's seeing right now. And they've really had to rush into these final preparedness steps to make sure that they're keeping themselves safe.

SANCHEZ: And between what we anticipate we're going to see over the next few days when it comes to devastation and -- and then recovery, you're talking about an island that has never seen a storm that has this kind of wind and this kind of rain. And further, some 70 percent of the population lives within three miles or so of the coastline. A lot of hard to access areas, too. What makes this a -- a unique event for Jamaica, given those singular facts about it?

CRISWELL: Well, I think the first part that it is an island nation, right? And that means that the resources that we would perhaps have here in the United States are not going to be as readily available. I think about Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico, right? At least with Hurricane Maria, you had resources that had the ability to come from the U.S. and support the U.S. territory. Jamaica doesn't necessarily have that. They're going to have what they have on the island and they're going to have damage to their ports and the airports.

And the ability to move those logistical supplies in is going to be challenged and limited. And so, these are the things that they're going to have to start to work through. They're going to have things on the island, but they're not going to have enough to last several days, if not weeks, you know, as they continue to start this recovery process, which is going to take some time.

KEILAR: You know, even in that case, though, I think of how the storm had -- had come and gone and it was reporters, you know, our -- our reporters who were able finally to get to some of the hardest ...

CRISWELL: Yes.

KEILAR: ... hit areas. They were able to get to Vieques, which -- which had been cut off.

CRISWELL: Yes. KEILAR: And I think our only reference point for that might be some of

these kind of little enclaves near Asheville that we saw during that last storm. What are you expecting here? We actually had a guest booked and then on the southwest side of the island, we weren't able to get back in touch with them. Of course, we wondered, is that because comms are cut off and they can no longer talk to us? I mean, what is the expectation for when we are really going to get an accurate picture?

CRISWELL: Well, think about Asheville. Asheville lost 100 percent of their infrastructure for several days, some of it for weeks and months after that hit. And so, they became essentially an island within there because they also lost access and road access. Now, you actually have an island. They should expect to lose 100 percent of their infrastructure for a period of time. They're not going to have communications. They're not going to have power.

This excessive rainfall is going to contaminate the water drinking systems as well, right? And so, these are the types of complications that they're going to be not just facing in the immediate hours afterwards, but again, many months, if not years afterwards. You know, we can use things like aerial imagery to really get an idea of what the extent of the impacts are. And those are valuable tools that can really help to start that -- that recovery process to prioritize the areas of greatest concern.

But you also have to have boots on the ground that lived experience like you talked about in reaching these small little enclaves of people that have been cut off completely to make sure they're getting what they need right now.

SANCHEZ: There's also a distinguishing feature of the storm that makes it more complex, the fact that it is extremely slow.

CRISWELL: Yes.

SANCHEZ: It has been extremely slow thus far. So, as we just heard from our meteorologist, Chris, a building that could sustain winds of a hundred miles an hour for five minutes, you've got hours and hours of winds of up to 160 miles an hour. Do -- do you know the infrastructure largely in Jamaica is prepared for something like that?

CRISWELL: I don't think any infrastructure is largely prepared for that long of a sustained 185-mile-an-hour winds. You know, the closest I think that I got during my time as the FEMA administrator was Hurricane Ida, and it stayed a Category 4 hurricane for a few hours once it made landfall in Louisiana. But that was just a few hours. We're talking several hours, Category 5 from an area that has an infrastructure that's probably not as strong as what we would have perhaps in a Louisiana, a Florida or a Texas.

And so, again, it's designed for a little bit of that wind for a short period of time. But then I think, as your meteorologist also said, it's the water, right? It's not just the wind. This storm is bringing water, which I've read out there measuring in feet, not inches.

[15:15:02]

And now you've destroyed some of the infrastructure. You put water on top of that and you really have a perfect storm for creating the most amount of damage possible in a very small, close-knit community.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we are hoping the best for the people of Jamaica as we watch Hurricane Melissa engulf the island nation with rain and heavy wind.

Former FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell, thank you so much for joining us. Appreciate your perspective.

CRISWELL: Thanks, Boris. Thanks, Brianna.

SANCHEZ: Still to come this afternoon, we're following the latest out of the Middle East, where Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ordering immediate and powerful military strikes in Gaza. Ahead, what this could mean for an already fragile ceasefire.

KEILAR: Plus, the Texas Attorney General is suing the makers of Tylenol, claiming they deceptively marketed the medication to pregnant mothers and that it's linked to autism. What the science actually says and where this case could go ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:20:19]

KEILAR: We are following breaking news that could jeopardize Israel's ceasefire with Hamas. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the Israeli military to carry out immediate powerful strikes in Gaza. Gaza's civil defense has said at least two people were killed by an Israeli strike south of Gaza City.

SANCHEZ: Earlier today, Netanyahu's office accused Hamas of being in clear violation of the ceasefire, saying it returned sets of remains that do not belong to any of the 13 hostages still missing.

CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Jerusalem.

Jeremy, what more have you learned?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, we are now seeing that there are strikes being carried out by the Israeli military in the area of Gaza City. We do not yet know, you know, whether these strikes are going to continue, whether what we've seen so far is the extent of Israel's attacks in Gaza tonight. That will, of course, be key to seeing how limited these strikes are and to what extent they could potentially jeopardize this ceasefire altogether.

But we do know that within the last few hours, the Israeli prime minister did indeed order the Israeli military to carry out what he described as, quote, immediate and powerful strikes in Gaza in response to what the prime minister earlier today called a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement by Hamas. It seems that this Israeli military response has been driven by two main factors. One of them is that yesterday we saw that Hamas said it was returning

the remains of a deceased Israeli hostage. After DNA analysis, though, the Israeli government said that these were not the remains of one of the remaining 13 unaccounted for Israeli hostages, but rather additional remains of -- of -- of a deceased hostage whose body had already previously been recovered by the Israeli military.

In addition to that, we know that today Israeli forces were attacked in the southern part of the Gaza Strip in the city of Rafah, beyond that yellow demarcation line where Israeli troops are positioned inside of Gaza. According to an Israeli military official, Hamas militants opened fire with RPGs and sniper fire on Israeli troops. This happened in the same area where we saw two Israeli soldiers killed about a week and a half ago by Hamas militants.

Interestingly, now we're getting a comment from Hamas saying that they have no connection to this shooting incident or to the militants that carried it out in the southern part of Gaza. That's very similar to what they said a week and a half ago when there was another exchange of fire in which two Israeli soldiers were killed.

But the bottom line is that all of these factors are leading Israel to carry out strikes inside of Gaza tonight. We don't yet know the extent of it. Not the first time, obviously, that Israel has carried out strikes in Gaza. Last time, it didn't lead to a total collapse of the ceasefire, but it does certainly put the ceasefire in a much more fragile position that we'll be monitoring over the coming hours and days.

KEILAR: Do we know if Israel told the U.S. about this? Did Netanyahu alert President Trump?

DIAMOND: We don't know whether the President and Prime Minister Netanyahu actually had a conversation about this, but I was told by a U.S. official that Israel did notify the United States of its intention to carry out these strikes inside of Gaza tonight. And, of course, over the last couple of weeks, we've seen a parade of U.S. officials coming to Israel, showing very close coordination over the -- over the ceasefire, but also trying to make sure that Israel sticks to this ceasefire agreement.

And so, the United States was clearly aware that Israel was going to carry out these strikes. I think the key now will be to make sure that the response is limited enough that it doesn't lead to a total breakdown of this ceasefire. That's certainly something that U.S. officials are going to want to convey in the coming hours.

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond, live for us in Jerusalem, thank you so much for that update.

Ahead, the shutdown stalemate continues in Congress as the Senate fails once again to pass a Republican proposal to fund the government. We have the latest there.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:53]

SANCHEZ: For the 13th straight time, Senate Democrats have blocked Republicans bill to reopen the federal government. Today's vote failing by a final tally of 54 to 45. Republicans, of course, need 60 votes to advance their stopgap funding bill. But time for so many Americans is running out.

KEILAR: Air traffic controllers did not receive a paycheck for the first time today. And on November 1st, SNAP benefits, also known as food stamps, for millions of Americans will run dry. And in a few short weeks, the military may not get paid either. CNN's Manu Raju is live for us on Capitol Hill.

And, Manu, lawmakers, are they feeling any pressure to get a deal done?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're now entering week five of this government shutdown. But the positions here on Capitol Hill are only hardening as the consequences are getting much, much more painful for so many Americans, in addition to the hundreds of thousands of federal employees who will not get their paychecks, who have been furloughed and cannot go to work. We could see impacts -- deeper impacts for air traffic controllers, impacts on flight delays.

[15:29:52]

And now the real fear, that more than 40 million Americans who do rely on food aid, known as SNAP or food stamps, that that could soon dry up as the White House is now refusing to dip into a $5 billion fund called the Contingency Funding to help pay for some of those expiring benefits.