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Melissa Lashes Jamaica, Targets Cuba Next; Trump Arrives in South Korea Ahead of APEC 2025; CNN Investigates the Controversial Disappearance of Journalist Austin Tice More Than a Decade Later. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 29, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

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ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world and everyone streaming us on CNN Max. I'm Rosemary Church. Just ahead.

The second strongest hurricane in Atlantic history is walloping Cuba with Category 3 winds and rain after unleashing on Jamaica.

President Trump meets with South Korea's president and receives a lavish gift on the final stop of his swing through Asia.

And Game 4 of the World Series is in the history books as the Blue Jays give Shohei Ohtani a run for his money.

UNKNOWN (voice-over): Live from Atlanta, this is "CNN Newsroom" with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Thanks for joining us.

Well, Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest storms ever recorded in the Atlantic, will soon be making landfall in Cuba just hours after devastating Jamaica.

The Category 5 hurricane was the most powerful on record to smash into the island nation. Jamaican officials say the country's infrastructure has been severely compromised after the storm made landfall on Tuesday. Melissa is now at Category 3 strength as it approaches eastern Cuba. The U.S. National Hurricane Center is warning people to seek shelter immediately with conditions expected to deteriorate rapidly.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Cuba with more on some of the early impacts from Melissa.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, we have these periods of torrential rains and then these pauses where you think maybe the worst is begun to go by us and then it kicks off all over again, even stronger. So right now where we are, the city of Santiago de Cuba, the entire city is on blackout. We only are able to transmit because we brought a generator with us, but about half a million people here are in blackout and throughout the eastern end of Cuba, the power has been entirely knocked out.

So people are at their homes, they're in the dark, they're not able to know the latest, able to see what is happening. You know, of course, you hear these loud bangs and there's real concern that this storm, as the winds kick up, could pick up debris and that debris essentially becomes shrapnel. So police have come by with loudspeakers telling everyone to stay in their house that there is a curfew going on right now until first light in the morning.

And that is really the best thing that people can be doing because with these heavy rains, with the potential for a flash flood, this is the most dangerous time right now. Because if there is any kind of incident, if anyone is injured, help is simply not coming, at least not until the sun comes up and people are able to begin to take in the damage that this terrifying hurricane has caused here.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: I want to bring in Kwame McPherson, a writer who lives in Kingston, Jamaica. Thank you so much for talking with us after dealing with what's being called the storm of the century. And I wanted to find out how you're holding up first.

KWAME MCPHERSON, WRITER AND KINGSTON RESIDENT: Well, to be honest, I'm fine. I have a little bit of leaking here and there, but overall I'm okay. We had a lot of forewarning, we were able to stock up on food, and I was being prepared really and not go anywhere until the minister actually left.

So I'm fine. Everything's okay for me personally, but I know for a lot of other people, of my compatriots, they've had a tough time.

CHURCH: Absolutely. And Kwame, I wonder if you would mind walking us through the experience you had when Hurricane Melissa first hit.

MCPHERSON: Well, it's interesting. I put it down to almost like a boxing match. We had a first round, second round and third round.

So in the first round, before Melissa actually even ventured into Jamaica, we had a lot of wind and rain and it was very ferocious, very vicious. And that's when we got the introduction to Melissa. When Melissa hit, then it was another round, and that's when it got even more intense, even more so than the first round alone.

So she came in on the first day, it was on Sunday. Monday we really had her when she actually landed and she's now actually leaving. But again, as she's leaving, we're still having a lot of wind and rain. So it's almost like we had three rounds of Melissa over a period of three days, really.

[03:05:02] So it's really interesting in terms of how intense, how ferocious, how extreme, how strong the winds were and the persistence of the rain. The rain, a lot of water, a lot of water.

So I can imagine, like I said, we're not supposed to venture out from our homes, but I can imagine that there's been a lot of flooding, a lot of landslides and yes, it's been very intense. So very interesting hurricane.

CHURCH: Yes. And of course, Hurricane Melissa ploughed through homes and hospitals, causing catastrophic damage after making landfall in Jamaica with hundreds of thousands of people now without power, that's according to officials. Are you getting any sense of the devastation around you and have you been able to contact friends and neighbors to find out how they're coping in the aftermath of this storm?

MCPHERSON: In terms of assessment, not yet, because I think we're still having a remnant of Melissa now, even as I'm talking to you, so I can hear the wind and the rain. So obviously we're not supposed to be going out until Melissa was gone and we've got lighter weather and so on and so forth.

I have been able to contact friends and family, but the funny thing is that there are some people who don't have any electricity or internet service at the moment, which is par for the course, because when we have hurricanes, that tends to happen depending on where they are.

I'm in the city, so I guess I have an advantage because I do have electricity and I do have internet because I'm talking to you right now. So until a couple of days down the line, we'll be able to actually have those things up and running again. We'll be able to actually know what's happening elsewhere.

But like I said, in terms of the feeling, I do have a feeling that the destruction and devastation would have been widespread, especially to the west, central and to the west of the island because of the intensity of the storm itself.

CHURCH: What's your advice to all those in the path of this powerful storm?

MCPHERSON: Well, we were fortunate. Our government and the agency have been very proactive. So at least about a week and a half, two weeks ago, they were warning us that Melissa was coming and that we need to be prepared and that basically we should start, you know, get food stocks and candles and flashlights and all that kind of stuff in order for anything to happen in regards to when Melissa passes through.

So we were fortunate to have our administration, as I said, and the agency, we were proactive in advising the populace on what they should be doing. And that's basically all you can actually do is prepare and really just get ready for when it does come.

There's nothing else that's going to happen because you can't stop it. You know, there's no way it's going to stop, it's going to come, but it's just a matter of being prepared and being able to ride through the storm, ride through the wave of dealing with Melissa. So that's what I would advise anyone.

And a hurricane of this intensity, because we haven't had a category five for as long as I can remember. And it has been really, really, like I said, really intense, frightening for a lot of people, traumatizing for many people. So it's also being, having the mindset to understand that it will pass, you know, it's not something that's going to stay.

And being able to deal with on that basis because like I said, a lot of people have been traumatized by the experience of dealing with a hurricane of this intensity.

CHURCH: Of course. And your advice, preparation is key. We appreciate you giving that to everybody.

Kwame McPherson, thank you so much for talking with us and do take good care. Stay safe.

MCPHERSON: Thank you. Thank you for the opportunity.

CHURCH: The U.S. President is in South Korea right now meeting with President Lee Jae-myung. Donald Trump was presented with one of the country's highest honors, usually reserved for South Korean presidents. He also received a lavish gift, a replica of an ancient crown.

President Trump addressed leaders at the APEC CEO summit earlier, noting he'd made quote, "groundbreaking agreements" while visiting Malaysia and Japan. He says a deal with South Korea will be finalized very soon.

So let's go to CNN's Will Ripley, who is covering this live from Seoul. Good to see you again, Will.

So tell us more about the crown and the medal presented to the U.S. President coming after the recent No King's protest in the United States and what came out of his meeting with South Korea's new leader?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, President Trump has now been bestowed with the Grand Order of Mugunghwa, which is the highest honor that can be awarded here in South Korea and then of course, how can you miss that enormous gold plated crown worn by the Silla kings of Korea in the 5th and 6th centuries adorned with things like trees and deer and birds, all symbols of sacred authority and divine rule. And now President Trump has it.

And this is a picture that's worth a thousand words and how countries in this region and really many around the world are learning how to deal with the U.S. President who loves to be flattered, loves to be praised, loves gold.

[03:10:08]

You got all of that here in South Korea today.

And then they sat down and talked about the business at hand, which is the trade deal that still has yet to be finalized between South Korea and the United States. The big sticking point, as I spoke with the South Korean president Lee Jae-myung about earlier this week, is $350 billion in upfront investment that Trump wants South Korea to pony up in exchange for 15 percent tariffs.

Trump has long said that South Korea and other U.S. allies were ripping off the U.S. for a long time. And now it's time to change the equation, which means payday for the U.S., even though some voices in the U.S. have said asking a country like South Korea to hand over $350 billion cash, which could potentially trigger a financial crisis because it's a large percentage of its GDP, would be tantamount almost to a shakedown of your close allies.

But nonetheless, South Korea's President said he believes that Trump and him and their teams can come up with a rational solution where everybody will be happy in the end, but they still have some work to do. So no breakthroughs on the trade deal front to report yet here, Rosemary, but they're certainly talking about it.

CHURCH: And Will, North Korea test launch cruise missiles off its western coast on Tuesday, that's according to state media, a day before President Trump was set to begin his visit to South Korea. What are you learning about that? And of course, this earlier chatter about a possible meeting between the two leaders?

RIPLEY: Yes, North Korea is well within its right to test cruise missiles. They test them a lot. Unlike ballistic missile launches, cruise missiles are not a violation of international sanctions.

And so North Korea tested missiles off of its new warships that they built and incidentally, the United States was launching rockets in Japan on the same day that President Trump was there. There was a lot of talk leading up to President Trump's arrival here on the Korean peninsula that he might have a meeting with Kim Jong-un.

When he was asked about it by reporters, he said repeatedly that he'd be willing to meet with Kim. But then when he was down with the South Korean President, he talked about how that meeting is not going to happen this time. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I know Kim Jong-un very well. We get along very well. We really weren't able to work out timing.

We have President Xi is coming tomorrow and that was something that obviously is very important to the world, to all of us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

RIPLEY: President Trump talking about that big meeting scheduled to happen tomorrow morning local time, Rosemary, between on the sidelines of the APEC summit with President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

Now that is the meeting that all of the eyes of the world are going to be looking at very closely. Because of course, the big question is, can U.S. and China, after so many months of very difficult negotiations, can they come to a consensus on a trade deal that will not result in a no deal or a disaster, but in fact, a benefit for the United States and Chinese economies, and of course, by extension, the rest of the world, because everybody's interconnected.

The big sticking point has been rare earths. China controls rare earths processing. President Trump's been trying to change that, trying to strike deals with nations, including Australia and Japan to get rare earth mined and processed in those countries.

But they're not there yet. And it's not going to be that way for a number of years to come, which means that Xi holds a lot of cards in his meetings with President Trump.

As our light flickers on and off here, it's going to get even more exciting. It's going to get even more exciting when the two of them sit down should be I'd love to be on a fly on the wall for those conversations. We'll see how it goes.

CHURCH: Absolutely, definitely, highly anticipated. We will see what comes out of that meeting. You just never know.

Will Ripley, many thanks for joining us with that live report from Seoul. I appreciate it.

Well, dozens of people have been killed during a massive police operation in Rio just ahead, while Brazilian police launched the raid against a notorious gang. We'll have details.

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[03:15:00]

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CHURCH: President Trump says nothing's going to jeopardize the ceasefire in Gaza, but less than three weeks into the truce, it's already looking shaky, with Israel again pounding the enclave with airstrikes after accusing Hamas of violating the deal. At least 91 people have been killed, according to hospital officials.

Israel claims Hamas killed one of its soldiers in southern Gaza, staged the discovery of a dead hostage with this video as proof, and returned remains to Israel that did not belong to any of the hostages. Hamas denies all of this and says it's still committed to the ceasefire.

The U.S. military has carried out more deadly strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says U.S. forces hit four boats in three strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean on Monday, killing 14 people. This marks the largest one-day operation in the campaign against alleged drug cartels.

To date, a total of 14 boats have been destroyed and 57 people killed. It comes as the U.S. builds up its military strength in the Caribbean, with Hegseth vowing to, quote, "track, network, hunt and kill those involved in the drug trade."

Well, it's been called the deadliest police operation ever in Rio de Janeiro. At least 64 people were killed in a massive police raid targeting organized crime. Huge columns of smoke were seen rising from a lower-income neighborhood north of Rio. Officials say 81 people were arrested.

Julia Vargas Jones has details.

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JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A massive operation, no doubt. The governor of Rio de Janeiro said it was the largest in Rio's history, 2500 police officers involved in this. But that death toll, 64 people killed, that is quite high.

And it does beg the question of what went wrong. Did they just severely underestimate the firepower that this gang had or was capable of firing upon them?

We saw videos of drones with explosives going from the favelas towards the police. We got updated numbers. Now, 92 rifles were seized, large quantities of drugs.

Of course, none of that is surprising. But it is surprising to see such a high number of deaths. And that's why now Brazil's federal government is getting involved; they're saying there was no cooperation here and there's a bit of a blame game as to why the death toll was so high. The governor of Rio saying, I got no help from the federal government.

The federal government saying, well, you didn't ask for our help. But we are now going to look at this investigation and this operation very closely to make sure that you did respect the human rights of the people that live in those areas that perhaps had nothing to do with organized crime and that were, at the very least, very much inconvenienced for an entire day where they did not have access and a way to go in or out of their homes. Entire streets, neighborhoods were completely blocked off for this operation to take place and so many people who lost their lives.

So that is a question now the federal government asking the state of Rio de Janeiro. This as President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was still making his way to Brazil from the summit in Asia. So the vice president, Geraldo Alckmin, called a meeting of his cabinet to discuss this very issue.

Sources telling CNN Brazil that the federal government now seeking to find a strategy to help support Rio de Janeiro going forward. This, of course, as these gangs, both Comando Vermelho, the Red Command, and the PCC, Primeiro Comando da Capital, the PCC being their main rival acting out of Sao Paulo, have expanded greatly in the past decade, not only in these two major cities, but into smaller cities in Brazil and into other countries, even Paraguay, Bolivia, Colombia. That is why the governor of Rio was calling these people narco-

terrorists, a term that we have heard more and more being thrown around in the region and even by the U.S. President Donald Trump as he refers to some of these organizations. The PCC was called a terrorist organization in the past.

So we'll see if this operation now triggers another response, surely from the Brazilian government. We'll see what happens next. One of the options flying around is the proposition to bring the military to help out for security in the streets of Rio de Janeiro, but that remains to be seen.

Julia Vargas Jones, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Thirteen years after he vanished in Syria, CNN investigates the disappearance of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, and our Clarissa Ward confronts the man who held him captive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Can you just tell me, because he was my friend, is Austin Tice dead?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Her exclusive reporting, just ahead.

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[03:25:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Rosemary Church. I want to check today's top stories for you.

Hurricane Melissa has just made landfall in Cuba as an extremely dangerous high-end Category 3 storm. Flooding has already begun across eastern Cuba just hours after Melissa made its initial landfall in nearby Jamaica. Rainfall totals remain catastrophic and hurricane conditions are spreading inland across Cuba's warning areas.

Israel has renewed air strikes in Gaza, accusing Hamas of violating the U.S.-brokered ceasefire. At least 91 people were killed in Tuesday's strikes, according to hospital officials. Israel claims Hamas killed one of its soldiers and staged the discovery of a deceased hostage in the enclave, Hamas denies this and says it remains committed to the truce.

The U.S. military has carried out more deadly strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth says U.S. forces hit four boats in three strikes in the eastern Pacific Ocean Monday, killing 14 people. This marks the largest one-day operation in the campaign against alleged drug cartels. Well, more now on Hurricane Melissa, which has made a second landfall

in the Caribbean, this time in eastern Cuba.

[03:30:06]

Our meteorologist Chris Warren has the latest on the storm's impacts in the region.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Hurricane Melissa, an absolute beast at landfall, making landfall at 1:00 in the afternoon near New Hope, Jamaica, at 185 miles an hour, a Category 5 hurricane, one of the strongest Atlantic hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin on record. In fact, this was also the strongest landfalling hurricane in Jamaica and one of the strongest landfalling hurricanes in the Atlantic Basin. It was the strongest, I should say, in Jamaica.

With that, making landfall near New Hope, bringing a lot of the seawater, making it look like some of these towns, like the shoreline, had gone inland a bit as rainwater was draining out of the hills and out of the mountains here in Jamaica, and then it moved across, and we still don't have the full scope of what happened here in Montego Bay, but the surge and the wind and the rain, a very tough time there.

Now we'll continue to watch Melissa as it rakes across Cuba and then into the Bahamas and then eventually out to the Atlantic. The amount of rainfall, still a huge concern here in Cuba and the Bahamas. Could see tropical storm conditions in the Turks and Caicos.

Also, while it will be way away from the United States, it will be close enough to help generate some waves, and with that, we've seen it time and time again, the threat for dangerous and life-threatening rip currents.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And to find out ways you can help those impacted by Hurricane Melissa, just go to cnn.com/impact.

Well now to a CNN exclusive and a deeply personal journey for our chief international correspondent, Clarissa Ward. She and her team traveled to Damascus and Beirut to investigate the disappearance of her friend, U.S. journalist Austin Tice.

Tice went missing inside Syria in 2012 while covering the country's civil war. Clarissa confronted the man who held Tice captive, asking him what happened. Here's her report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

WARD (voice-over): These are some of the last known videos of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, shown here for the first time.

AUSTIN TICE, JOURNALIST: It's clearly a popular revolution, right?

WARD (voice-over): They were shot in the city of Yabroud in Syria in July 2012, shortly before Austin went missing 13 years ago.

TICE: It's just, it's so moving and peaceful. It's such like an act of community.

WARD (voice-over): Ten months after the collapse of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, his dungeons have been emptied. But the ghosts of tens of thousands of his prisoners remain. Among the missing, Austin Tice, journalist, U.S. Marine captain, Georgetown law student, devoted son and brother, and my friend.

For me, this is personal. I've come to Syria to find out what really happened to Austin and track down the shadowy figure who knows the answer.

WARD: I'm just looking back through all of these emails that Austin and I were sending each other. And I have one from Sunday, August 12th. He was getting ready to cross into Lebanon, I was getting ready to meet him in Beirut.

And he says, if I cross when I have plans to, we'll be throwing back those cocktails pretty soon. Of course, plans never really work out here.

WARD (voice-over): I never heard from him again.

Weeks after Austin disappeared, a video surfaced online purporting to show him held by jihadists. Former U.S. official on CNN, they determined it was a ruse, and that Austin was in the custody of the Assad regime.

Safwan Bahloul was a general in external intelligence at the time, and one of the last people to see Austin alive, summoned in by the man who was holding him.

SAFWAN BAHLOUL, FORMER SYRIAN EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE GENERAL: I was contacted by a four-sun general at that time. He was called Bassam al- Hassan, he's very close to the president.

And he told me, we have caught an American journalist. We want you to interrogate in a way or meet the guy and see the possibility if he's not a mere journalist. If he's a spy in a way.

[03:35:02]

He told me that he's an ex-marine officer, he was brave, he was not a shaky character. He wasn't shaky, he was brave enough to face his custody.

WARD: Did he ever ask you for help?

BAHLOUL: If you mean help to be freed, no, not at all. But he told me if I could obtain some things to make his life easy in the cell he was kept there.

I told him, like what? He told me, you know, some magazines, journals to read and, you know. Okay, and what else? And he told me soap and towel and I told him, okay. And after that, I think the next day I was called by another guy in Bassam's office.

He told me in Arabic, (inaudible) which it means our pal just escaped. They discovered that he used the soap to rub his body, their body with the soap to lubricate his body and he put the towel on broken shattered glass, which is cemented to the external fence.

WARD (voice-over): We managed to get into the compound where Safwan says he interrogated Austin. At the time, under the control of Assad's Republican Guard. It was never a formal prison, the perfect place to hide a high-value captive.

WARD: It could be this, look. Obviously, it's all been refurbished, so it's hard to match the descriptions exactly. But one thing particularly that Safwan talked about was this high window.

You can imagine he just spent days and days in here plotting how he was going to escape.

WARD (voice-over): For more than 24 hours, we're told Austin was on the run in the upscale neighborhood of Meza. Perhaps hoping to reach the many embassies and United Nations offices in the area. But he didn't get far.

BAHLOUL: Every security apparatus in Damascus, which there are thousands of operatives. They started the search and he was caught by one of them. And he was redelivered to the National Defense Forces militia, which headed at that time by Bassam al-Hassan.

WARD (voice-over): Al-Hassan brought Safwan in to see Austin one more time.

BAHLOUL: It wasn't like the previous times I saw him. He was optimistic and energetic.

WARD: But he had lost hope.

BAHLOUL: Yes, absolutely. Because I was talking to him and he was not responding. He was, in a way we could say, depressed. And I never saw the guy again.

WARD: Did you understand when you left what was going to happen to him?

BAHLOUL: It's unimaginable even. In my wildest thinking, I wouldn't suspect that he would just disappear.

WARD: So let me ask you this. Who knows what happened to Austin? Who knows the truth?

BAHLOUL: Bassam.

WARD: Is this him?

BAHLOUL: Can I see it?

WARD: Yes, absolutely. One hundred percent.

One hundred percent.

WARD (voice-over): For years, Bassam al-Hassan stayed in the shadows. Now, CNN has obtained new, never-before-seen images of him.

Known in regime circles as Khal, or Uncle, he was a top Assad advisor and founder of the Iran-backed National Defense Forces militia, blamed for brutal massacres.

After the fall of the Assad regime, al-Hassan fled quickly to Iran. Then, in April of this year, he showed up in Beirut, Lebanon, and sat down with the FBI for a series of interrogations about Austin.

We've been given a tip about where al-Hassan is now hiding out, an upscale apartment complex in a suburb of Beirut.

One balcony, and one man in particular, draws our attention. By the end of a long night of watching, we're convinced it's him.

Wearing hidden cameras, producer Sara Sergani and I go to confront him.

[03:40:00]

WARD: Hi, how are you? How are you? My name is Clarissa Ward. I'm a journalist for CNN.

Can I ask you a couple of questions? I'm looking for more information about my friend Austin Tice.

BASSAM AL-ASSAN, ADVISER TO FORMER SYRIAN PRESIDENT BASHAR AL-ASSAD (translated): Come in.

WARD (voice-over): He invites us into the apartment, but he is clearly rattled, and asks over and over again how we found him.

AL-ASSAN (translated): I insist to know, who told you about this place? No one knows where I live.

WARD: I'm not going to tell you how we found out where you are. It's not important. We've been looking for you for a while.

We know that you've given multiple different stories. Can you just tell me, because he was my friend, is Austin Tice dead?

AL-ASSAN (translated): Of course Austin is dead. Austin is dead.

WARD (voice-over): He tells us he explained to a team from the FBI that President Assad gave him the order to execute Austin, and that the order was carried out by a subordinate.

AL-ASSAN (translated): I don't want to protect Bashar Al-assad because he abandoned and left us. This related to President Bashar only. WARD: But you sent him to his death.

AL-ASSAN (translated): I don't want to go into details.

These are the details that I told the team. I told the team that I received the order and passed on it. That's it.

WARD: Can you just tell me one thing? Can you tell me when Austin died?

SARA SERGANI, CNN PRODUCER (translated): From 2012? October?

AL-ASSAN (translated): He passed away.

SERGAMI (translated): He passed away. 2012? 2013? 2013?

WARD (voice-over): He refuses to give any more information. When he asks to take a photograph of us, we decide to leave.

At the door, he talks about Austin's mother, Deborah Tice. His voice cracks.

AL-ASSAN (translated): I owe her apology and it upsets me to remember it. Truly. I wish what happened hadn't happened.

WARD (voice-over): It is a gut punch to think that Austin may have been killed 12 years ago.

WARD: One thing that he was very emphatic about is that Austin is dead. Austin is dead and he wants to pass his condolences to Deborah.

WARD (voice-over): CNN has confirmed that al-Hassan failed the FBI polygraph test. What is less clear is what parts of his story are a lie.

In September, a U.S. delegation, including FBI investigators, came to Damascus to search for Austin's remains, based on a location given to them by al-Hassan. They came away empty-handed.

The full truth of what happened to my friend may well never be known, like the fate of countless Syrians.

WARD: Everyone was keeping so many secrets.

BAHLOUL: Well, in a way, in a way.

WARD: Everyone was lying.

BAHLOUL: It's all about loyalty and worship, and nearly worshiping the commander. The supreme commander, he's the president. He's everything.

So, yes, lying is widely spread in the ex-regime, yes.

It's nothing personal. I was doing my job. That's all it is.

WARD (voice-over): Austin may simply be remembered as yet another victim of the endless lies and senseless cruelty of a ruthless regime.

Clarissa Ward, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: The Tice family has repeatedly described Bassam al-Hassan as a liar. In a statement to CNN, the family said, Austin Tais is alive. We look forward to seeing him walk free.

For 13 years, the Assad government denied ever holding Tice captive. After the collapse of the regime, Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia. Attempts by CNN to reach him for comment were unsuccessful.

The U.S. government shutdown is entering its fifth week and funds are running out. For millions of people who rely on federal food aid, we will have a report from Washington.

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[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back to CNN. Here's your Business Breakout.

It is the end of the trading day for the major markets in Asia. At last check, both the Nikkei and KOSPI made record gains thanks to a wave of optimism from U.S. tech stocks. Meantime, the Hang Seng closed slightly down for Wednesday.

And these are the business headlines.

Apple has joined an exclusive club, becoming just the third publicly traded company to top $4 trillion in market value. Fellow tech giants Nvidia and Microsoft both reached that milestone earlier this year. Apple shares have been surging lately, with the new iPhone 17 selling better than previous models.

[03:50:00]

Amazon says it's laying off 14,000 people, about 4 percent of its overall corporate staff, as it prepares for a wider use of artificial intelligence. More cuts are likely coming as well, but the company says it will also be hiring in key areas related to A.I. and that those who lose their jobs can reapply for those roles.

The White House is looking for the next leader of the Federal Reserve. Current Fed Chair Jerome Powell's term ends in May. Five people are apparently on the short list to take over the position next year. President Trump is expected to name his pick as early as December.

The U.S. government shutdown is heading into its 29th day and there's still no sign either side is willing to make a deal. Air traffic controllers missed their first full paychecks on Tuesday. All members of the military branches may not get paid on Friday and tens of millions of Americans are also at risk of losing crucial food aid, as CNN's Manu Raju reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We are now entering the fifth week of the federal government shutdown and the consequences are getting much more grim for so many Americans. Not only are there hundreds of thousands of federal employees who are living without paychecks and many who have been fired from their jobs, now benefits are bound to dry up, including SNAP benefits, that's federal food aid.

There are roughly 42 million Americans who do rely on food aid. But starting in November, starting on Saturday, the administration says that that money will dry up.

There's calls on Capitol Hill for the administration to tap into $6 billion of a reserve fund to help the lifeline for that program, at least for several more weeks. But the administration says that it will not tap into that money.

Vice President of the United States, J.D. Vance, told me that that money is limited and there's only so much they can do legally. And I asked the Senate Majority Leader, John Thune, why not allow for that money to continue to flow as past administrations have done during government shutdowns.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), U.S. SENATE MAJORITY LEADER: Well, does it make any sense to any American with the assumption of the, obviously, it would benefit people who are getting, receiving food assistance through SNAP, but to keep the government shut down for another three weeks? Why wouldn't you just open it up and have everybody get their benefits now?

RAJU: And Democrats, for their part, they're not budging either. Even though the largest federal employee union called for them to back off their demands and actually agree with the Republican approach, which is to vote to reopen the government now and negotiate all their demands later, Democrats say that that is not going to move them off their position.

They want a negotiation and an extension of expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. Those are set to expire at the end of the year. But they say that must be dealt with immediately because people are going to see their health care premiums rise starting when open enrollment begins for many Americans starting on Saturday.

But the administration and Republican leaders say there will absolutely be no negotiations until Senate Democrats vote to reopen the government.

So what do we see on Tuesday? Senate Democrats, for a 13th time, voted to block that Republican plan.

Meantime, the House remains on a session. It's been out since September 19th. As the Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, says that they will not return until Senate Democrats vote for the Republican plan, meaning this standoff and crisis is bound to deepen and drag on for much longer.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

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CHURCH: Donald Trump has fired all six members of the Commission on Fine Arts, according to a source familiar with the matter. The independent federal agency advises the President, Congress, and the city of Washington, D.C., on design anesthetics.

The firings come as Trump oversees a massive overhaul of the East Wing of the White House, he's planning to replace it with a 90,000-square- foot ballroom, which will cost about $300 million. The President is also planning to build a major new arch to commemorate the country's 250th anniversary. All the members of the federal agency were appointed by former President Joe Biden.

Baseball's World Series is all tied up at two games apiece following a lopsided Game 4 after losing a record-tying 18-inning duel. The Toronto Blue Jays came back to beat the Los Angeles Dodgers with Shohei Ohtani giving up a two-run homer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Toronto also scored four runs in the seventh inning, going on to win 6-2. Game 5 is Wednesday night in L.A. and there will now be a Game 6 Friday night in Toronto. Here's Blue Jays manager John Schneider.

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JOHNSCHNEIDER, TORONTO BLUE JAYS MANAGER: I get that it's easy to write Ohtani vs. Guerrero. To us, it's Toronto vs. Los Angeles.

But that swing was huge. A sweeper is a pitch designed to generate pop-ups, in my opinion, and the swing that Vlad put on it was elite.

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[03:55:10]

CHURCH: Take a look at this. A newly found Dr. Seuss book will be published next year. "Sing the 50 United States" asks readers to learn and name all the states along with the cat in the hat and two little cat helpers.

The manuscript was found earlier this year at U.C. San Diego's Geisel Library named in honor of Ted Geisel, the real name of Dr. Seuss. There was full text and a cover sketch by the author along with notes on the overall art direction. The book comes out next June just in time for America's 250th birthday.

I want to thank you so much for your company, I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. "Early Start" is next with Brian Abel.

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