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Multiple Online Services Hit by Major Techn Outage; Trump Threatens Tariffs on Colombia Amid Drug Boat Strikes; Today: Chicago ICE Officials to Testify Before Federal Judge. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired October 20, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: -- getting over 200 yards and two touchdowns on the ground and dropped the Falcons to 3 and 3. The Niners are up to 5 and 2 for the season, despite missing Brock Purdy, Fred Warner, and Nick Bosa.
[06:00:15]
Well, that does it for us. Thank you so much for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. Erica Hill takes over next when CNN THIS MORNING starts, right now.
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: A massive outage impacting over a dozen websites and some cloud computing. What we're learning. CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
Ultimatums and accusations. The feud between the U.S. and Colombia escalating dramatically over President Trump's war on drugs.
Is ICE going too far? Today, a federal judge in Chicago set to hear from the officials leading the enforcement efforts in that city.
A fight in Congress. The speaker refusing to swear in a new member, but is he breaking the law?
Seven million Americans in the streets, protesting the president's policies. Did his response to the "No Kings" marches prove their point?
Former Congressman George Sanchez released from prison. Why he says it changed him, after serving less than three months.
An urgent manhunt in Europe after chainsaw-wielding thieves steal priceless jewels from the Louvre Museum while thousands of tourists were inside.
Good Monday morning to you. It is 6:01 a.m. on the East Coast. A live look for you there at the twinkling lights of New York City as we wait for the sun to come up.
It is Monday, October 20. Great to have you with me. I'm Erica Hill, in for Audie Cornish.
We are following breaking news at this hour. A major tech outage to tell you about. More than a dozen websites and services are offline at this moment, according to DownDetector.com, which tracks Internet disruptions.
Among those sites and -- and also services, Venmo, Snapchat, Fortnite, Facebook, Prime Video, and Amazon's cloud computing unit. Amazon web services.
CNN's Clare Sebastian is following these developments for us from London. So, Clare, what more do we know about this outage and just how widespread it is?
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, good morning, Erica.
This seems to be originating from AWS, Amazon Web Services, which is their cloud computing arm. We know that they are now racing to fix this.
The latest update that we have from them is that the potential root cause has been identified. They say, "We're working on multiple paths to accelerate recovery."
We started to get reports of this, really, sort of in the last three to four hours. And at that point, AWS said that they were seeing what they said were increased error rates or latencies for multiple services in their U.S. East 1 region. So, I think just sort of one section of what they're providing.
But it is sort of widescale in terms of the impact. We're seeing websites from around the world being affected, from a large variety of different industries. Social media. You mentioned Snapchat, also Facebook. Gaming, Fortnite has been affected. Amazon's own services, of course. Everything from Prime Video to -- to the Ring doorbell service.
Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, has also come out and said that it's been affected.
So, I think, look, likely more of the impact will come clear in the coming hours. And of course, the scale of the impact is likely to depend on how long this outage goes on.
It is sort of re -- reupping the memories of last summer, July of 2024. We saw that major outage caused by the update to the CrowdStrike security software. This is different. This seems to be originating with the AWS hosting service. So, we wait to see how this scale evolves.
But again, it draws attention to these points of failure within the architecture of the Internet that you don't think about, of course, until something goes wrong.
HILL: Yes, exactly. All right. Well, I know you'll continue to follow it for us, Clare. Appreciate the update. Thank you.
As the Trump administration continues to strike suspected drug boats off the South American coast, President Trump is now issuing new threats against countries he accuses of standing in his way. On Sunday, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth sent out a video of what appears to be the seventh known strike against a suspected drug boat; seventh strike under President Trump.
The strikes are drawing condemnation in South America, Colombia's president accusing the U.S. of murdering an innocent Colombian citizen.
President Trump responding by canceling all economic U.S. aid to Colombia and could also announce more tariffs against the country as soon as today.
(BEGIN VIDEO)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: They are a drug-manufacturing machine, Colombia. And we're not going to be part of it. So, we're going to drop all money that we're giving to them. It has nothing to do with them stopping drug production.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Joining me now in the group chat, Sara Fischer, CNN senior media analyst and senior media reporter at "Axios"; and Zachary Wolf, CNN Politics senior writer and author of the "What Matters" newsletter.
As we look at all of this, that escalated quickly. I guess we could say that perhaps not surprisingly.
[06:05:01]
What is interesting is this back and forth that we're seeing play out. The president now tying it to money. And yet, what's missing in a lot of this is we still don't have a lot of details from the government to back up, frankly, what we're seeing play out.
ZACHARY WOLF, CNN POLITICS SENIOR WRITER: We don't really have any details to back up what we see play out. You know, you hear there are kind of things starting to trickle out from the region where you see people talk to, you know, victims or, you know, people who've died in these attacks.
But we really don't have any evidence. We don't know anything about the drugs. The -- you know, if you talk to experts, they will tell you these are not the drugs that are coming into the U.S. Those would go through Mexico or through the Pacific.
So, kind of what they're doing here is amping up pressure without actually laying out a case for what, you know, is the end result. What is the goal here? We don't know.
HILL: Which, in many ways, Sara, speaks to exactly what we are used to seeing from this administration in terms of messaging. I don't have to give you the details. I just need you to trust what you're seeing. And then that is going to feed the narrative.
The question is, is it working in this instance? SARA FISCHER, CNN SENIOR MEDIA ANALYST: Well, there's a very common sort of enemy in terms of the drug war. We saw in the United States what fentanyl did to this country. We saw the opioid crisis.
And so, I think that President Trump going after drug cartels is a message that's pretty much a winning one across the board.
Where you get into dangerous territory is when, as Zachary said, we don't have a lot of details around what these attacks are. You're going to have some people -- I think a minority -- who are going to question the sort of legal authority of the Trump administration to unilaterally attack these boats.
But then you're also going to have some people that say, is this sort of unilateral drug war worth us getting into more potential trade headaches with more nations?
We're already experiencing the impact on consumer goods, on prices because of trade wars with countries like China, which I think most people can get behind. But why are we now targeting South America over something completely unrelated?
I don't think this is going to draw public outrage. Let me be clear about that.
HILL: Yes.
FISCHER: But I do think, over time, people are going to wonder, Why are we picking so many fights with so many countries?
HILL: There's also a question of how much does the United -- United States still need cooperation of Colombia when it comes to fighting the drug war?
WOLF: Right. I mean, Colombia is a source of a lot of the cocaine, so you know, you don't want to pick fights with Colombia if you're going work with them in a drug war. And a lot of the money presumably, goes to help in the drug war.
You know, we can talk about the drug war's been going on for decades now; how successful it's been. Clearly not entirely. But, you know, this -- Trump doesn't seem to be very concerned with being friends with other countries.
HILL: It's also interesting. So, it's numbers from the State Department, Corrie Jerasina (ph) reporting. Two hundred two million dollars assistance from the U.S. to Colombia over this fiscal year. Thirty-one million of that was for agricultural support.
That is what the president says is going away. Now, threatening new tariffs. All of this unfolding, of course, against the backdrop of a $20 million, potentially, bailout to Argentina.
As long as the election goes the way that the administration wants it to. It's fascinating to see that juxtaposition. FISCHER: Yes, Donald Trump has a clear agenda for what he wants out of South America. And by the way, we saw this back in the day with Bolsonaro and Brazil. Donald Trump will pick strategic allies in South America, and that will become where he wants to emphasize trade partnerships, where he wants to emphasize other diplomatic deals.
Picking one country -- at one point it was Venezuela and the cartels; now it's Colombia -- to go after and sort of bully is a way that he sends that message to all the other countries in the region: you get in line with what I want to do, or else punitive measures are coming.
HILL: It will be interesting as we watch this play out. We'll see if those tariffs materialize today, as we have been told that they might.
Stay with me. Much more to discuss this hour. And of course, for more of Zachary's writing, check out the "What Matters" newsletter, which drops every weekday. Do subscribe at CNN.com.
Ahead here on CNN THIS MORNING, more than three weeks after being elected, an Arizona Democrat is still waiting to be sworn in. I'll speak with Congressman Johnny Olszewski, who is pushing for Speaker Johnson to do that.
Plus, the first true test of the ceasefire in Gaza, as key architects of the deal head to the region.
And a warning about A.I., set to put millions of out work. So, the big question: what, then, would happen to those workers? The prediction from one CEO.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:13:54]
HILL: Thirteen minutes past hour. Now here's your morning roundup.
In just a few hours, the murder trial set to begin for the Illinois sheriff's deputy, accused of killing Sonya Massey. Massey, a black woman, was shot and killed in her home last year after calling police for help.
The officer, Sean Grayson, a white man, shot Massey after she picked up a pan of hot water. Grayson is facing 45 years to life in prison, if convicted.
Two airport workers are dead at Hong Kong International after a cargo plane slid off the runway and landed in the sea. The workers were in a vehicle on the tarmac and were swept into the water when that plane crashed after landing. Four crew members were sent to the hospital.
President Trump offering quite a message for the millions of people who marched at "No Kings" rallies across the nation over the weekend.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(MUSIC: "TOP GUN" THEME) (END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: The president posting that A.I.-generated video, which shows himself in a crown, dumping waste on protestors.
Nearly 7 million people across all 50 states showed up for protests to call out the president's policies. The president, not impressed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Checking it out. The demonstrations were very small, very ineffective. And the people were whacked out. When you look at those people, those are not representative of the people of our country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Mr. President --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[06:15:10]
HILL: Several states had mobilized the National Guard ahead of the protests, but the events were peaceful.
After the break on CNN THIS MORNING, demanding answers. Today, a judge will hear from the head of ICE in Chicago after video surfaced of violent arrests.
Plus, win or go home. The Blue Jays forcing a game seven to keep their World Series dreams alive.
And how about a good morning, Toronto, for that? A lot of fans excited there this morning ahead of game seven.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:19:55]
HILL: ICE officials are set to testify before a federal judge in just hours. The judge wants answers about how officers are conducting President Trump's immigration crackdown in Chicago.
Earlier this month, the judge issued a restraining order, restricting agents' crowd-control tactics, use of force, and actions against journalists. But she says she is still hearing reports of teargas being deployed without warning.
One person who could answer for all of this has actually left the city. Chicago's ICE field director headed out of town days ago.
Joining us to discuss, former federal prosecutor Alyse Adamson.
So, Alyse, what's fascinating is the judge has said she wanted to hear from the acting director there. He's gone. The deputy is reportedly going to answer some questions.
Does it matter who is answering the questions at this point? ALYSE ADAMSON, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, I mean, yes, because what you would assume is that the field director would have the most complete answers, right?
And a lot of times, it's strategy as to who the government wants to put up as the witness, because you have to testify truthfully. And they could get into some areas that they don't want to share.
Now, that being said, what the government's saying right now is the witness that they're going to put on, who's a deputy director but of Customs and Border Patrol, not ICE, that this person works in incident response, and they're actually the better witness.
Now, what the judge has also said, though, Erica, is OK, well, we can try that. But if you are unable to answer my questions, we'll just hold another hearing until you can get a witness with the information that I need.
HILL: Is there anything different about this judge and the way that she's handling this case, based on what -- in comparison, I should say, to what we're seeing in similar issues across the country when it comes to the pushback on this immigration enforcement?
ADAMSON: Well, actually, Erica, it's interesting, because we're seeing a lot of pushback from the Judiciary. Because what these cases really amount to is a test of the executive branch, their authority, and then also, the authority of the court. What we're seeing is a clash between these two, which should be co-equal branches.
Now, what I will say is she seems to be very, very articulate in her pushback. I think that's what we're seeing. She also knows a lot about the process: like body-worn camera, for instance. She's requiring all of the agents not only to wear it but also to activate it.
You have to know a little bit about how this goes to make that nuanced order.
So, I think we see -- we see the same pattern, but you know, she's just -- she's just being very clear what she wants to see.
HILL: Yes. So, all eyes on this. Meantime, we have the president on Friday asking the Supreme Court to allow the deployment of National Guard troops in Illinois to assist in the immigration crackdown.
Governor Pritzker, not surprisingly, pushing back on that once again, warning that the president, in his words, is using service members as political props and pawns, calling the efforts by the president illegal.
What changes now with the Supreme Court getting potentially involved here?
ADAMSON: Well, what changes is what's actually going to be happening on the ground. Because, as you just noted, there has been a lot of litigation. There has been a lot of judicial pushback. And right now, for the most part, agents [SIC] have been enjoined. That means they're being prevented from actually being out on the streets. The courts have said no, you can't go out. Or they've been limiting what they can do.
If the Supreme Court rules -- and their rulings are binding. And so, if they find that, in fact, they can go in over the objection of the governor; or if this is the appropriate circumstances, then we are going to see the National Guard deployed places that they currently are not.
And a lot of it has to do with the Statute 12406 and whether or not, you know, what has to be true on the ground for the president to unilaterally send in the National Guard.
HILL: And some of that is open to interpretation.
ADAMSON: That's right.
HILL: In terms of what it looks like.
ADAMSON: And that's what the Supreme Court is going to be interpreting.
HILL: There we go. Alyse, great to see you, as always. Appreciate it. Thanks.
ADAMSON: Thanks so much for having me.
HILL: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, for the first time, the workers who oversee the nation's nuclear stockpile will be furloughed. Why the agency says it was left with no other choice.
Plus, a brazen break-in. Precious jewels stolen from the Louvre, and now the manhunt is on to find the thieves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:28:45]
HILL: Good Monday morning, 6:28 here on the East Coast. Here's a look at what's happening right now.
Former FBI Director James Comey wants his case thrown out. Today, his team is expected to file a motion to have that case dismissed by challenging the lawfulness of the recent appointment of U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan.
Halligan, of course, is the president's former personal attorney who secured Comey's indictment.
Comey is accused of making false statements to Congress and obstruction of a congressional proceeding. He has pleaded not guilty.
For the first time in its history, the agency that oversees the U.S. nuclear stockpile will furlough the vast majority of its staff. About 1,400 employees set to receive notices today. That leaves just 400 people on the job. A spokesperson for the Department of Energy says they extended the funding as long as they could.
The Toronto Blue Jays keeping their World Series dream alive to force a game seven against the Seattle Mariners in the American League championship series. The winner of tonight's game will face the Dodgers in game one of the World Series on Friday.
Well, as this government shutdown drags on, the House remains out of session, and newly-elected congresswoman remains in limbo. Arizona Representative-elect Adelita Grijalvo was voted in during a special election weeks ago. She still, of course, has not been sworn in.
Democrats accuse House Speaker Mike Johnson of playing politics with her election. Now Arizona's attorney general, Kris Mayes, tells CNN affiliate 12 News Arizona she's going to sue Johnson, potentially as early as today, over the issue.
