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Hurricane Melissa's Eye Wall Now Pushing Ashore in Jamaica; Amazon is Laying Off 14,000 People, Could Ultimately Cut 30,000 Jobs; Trump Announces $10 Billion Toyota Investment in U.S. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired October 28, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, breaking new storm of the century and getting stronger, monster Category 5. Hurricane Melissa is lashing the Caribbean as we speak. It is the strongest storm on the planet this year.

And food crisis, the assistance program that 42 million Americans rely on to get food will run out of money in just days.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: CIA hit squad claim. Venezuela says it has arrested a group of mercenaries, trained and financed by the U.S. spy agency. Is there any truth at all to that?

And later, Dodgers deliver 18 runs -- 18 innings, I should say, 11 runs for Shohei Ohtani and a game three stunner.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we're following the Breaking news, major breaking news. The strongest storm yet to hit the planet this year is bearing down right now on Jamaica and getting stronger and stronger. This is just into The Situation Room. Hurricane Melissa's eye wall is now pushing ashore. The storm has catastrophic and life-threatening winds, rain and storm surge.

BROWN: This right here is a live look from Jamaica as that island nation about the size of Connecticut, with a population of nearly 3 million, braces for a direct hit with Melissa packing sustained winds of around 180 miles an hour. Imagine that. This is a monster storm and it's predicted to be the worst storm to hit Jamaica this century.

Right here, this is video from Inside the eye of the storm. The National Hurricane Center warns that the eye wall could bring massive power outages and, quote, total structural failure to Jamaica, especially at higher elevations.

So, let's begin our coverage with CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam on the ground right there in Kingston, Jamaica. What's going on there? We're learning that the eye wall is coming to shore right now. DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes. We're bracing for what will be a generational and historic event that will unfold unfortunately painstakingly slow across this country of Jamaica. So, we're in the nation's capital and we are about 100 miles or so east of the eye wall, which, just as you mentioned, is coming to shore now.

I want to share this special update before I kind of show you around this area. The National Hurricane Center issued a special update. They have regular scheduled times where they do it, but they released the special update talking about the pressure of this storm. So, not only is it at 180 miles per hour, one of the strongest winds in a hurricane ever measured in the Atlantic Basin, one of. It is now sub 900 millibars. That is a measure of strength of this storm. It's at 896. There's an unconfirmed report from the hurricane hunters right now of 893 millibars.

Think of the pressure. We often communicate to our viewers that the category strength of a hurricane Cat 1 to Cat 5, this is a high end Cat 5, upper echelon of what nature can actually produce. But when we talk about sea level pressure, sub 900 millibars is about as low as the environment can produce. So, we're working in record territory there. So, that means, and we'll translate to catastrophic winds where it makes landfall.

And we do anticipate that landfall here in the coming hours across the St. Elizabeth Parish. Again, that's west of where we're located. But the wind field's so large. We're feeling the effects of this hurricane here in Kingston.

So, this is just a drop in the bucket. I'm trying to give you an idea of what we're seeing. Winds pick up periodically through these gusts, the rain bands that come through. But think of Kingston and many of the communities here across the country. They are at the base of very high mountain ranges. They tower over 7,000 feet in some instances, and when we have oncoming tropical storm, it's going to push out all the available water that it's picked up from the Caribbean ocean and produce this torrential rainfall.

So, landslides, mudslides, and flash flooding is a major part of this storm and that rain, the inland flooding will meet the storm surge aspect of this storm.

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So, it's two colliding forces working against each other, so the vulnerable communities near the coastline, the water will rise because of those colliding forces.

National Hurricane Center and Weather Services, using some -- just the most dire wording that I have seen them, talking about isolation of communities for days, complete structural failure where the catastrophic winds of the inner core of the eye wall come ashore, which is happening now. It is going to be devastating.

And, Wolf and Pamela, one other aspect of this that just talking to some of the locals of Jamaica is the economic impacts of this storm, the potential here, because last year was Beryl, didn't even make landfall, but it devastated the bread basket of Jamaica where this land falling hurricane is taking place. Now we have a direct hit with a Cat 5. This will have economic implications for this country going forward to a multitude of hazards for Jamaica. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: All right, Derek Van Dam, please stay safe over there. We'll stay in very close touch with you. Thank you very, very much.

After the hurricane hits Jamaica, it's expected to continue into the Caribbean and heads straight for Cuba. CNN's Patrick Oppmann is in Santiago de Cuba right now for us. Patrick, what is Cuba doing right now to prepare for this catastrophic storm?

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're finishing up the preparations they can make here. They have told now hundreds of thousands of people to evacuate low lying coastal areas, simply to get the higher ground, however they can do that. We saw yesterday islands off the coast here being evacuated and they've warned the population here in this entire eastern section of this island that, yes, Cubans know and understand hurricanes, but not like this one, not like Melissa.

Very few people on this island that has been hit so many times by hurricanes over the years have ever seen a storm as strong as Melissa. If it comes as we expect it will on shore here as a major hurricane, it will have devastating impacts to where I'm right now in Santiago de Cuba. You just see so many old houses, so many roofs that are loose, that use tile. And that will become shrapnel when Melissa's winds come tearing through the city, that it becomes a very, very dangerous scenario, as roof come apart, as water tanks come off, as streets begin to flood.

Usually behind me, you can see the Sierra Maestro Mountains, they've been co completely blotted out by those outer bands of Melissa's rain, heavy rain, that is just beginning to arrive here. You know it's going to get worse and worse, Wolf and Pamela. I suspect by this evening, I will not be able to stand here where I am right now.

For the moment, it is to calm before the storm. It will not continue for long like that. And that is why the government is telling people they have to finish their preparations, they have to get home, they have to hunker down and begin what is going to be a very long day or two as the storm rips through Cuba.

BROWN: All right. Derek Van Dam, Patrick Oppmann, thank you so much.

And your heart just goes out to all those folks, right? I mean, they must feel like sitting ducks as this strongest storm of this -- on the planet this year is just barreling toward them making.

BLITZER: This reminds me of the lead up to Katrina. I covered that, and it's just awful, especially for the folks who are still in Jamaica and in Cuba, and elsewhere in the Caribbean right now. This is going to be awful.

BROWN: And you think about the people who are vacationing in Jamaica, they're celebrating anniversaries or honeymoons, and now there they are trapped.

BLITZER: Yes. I hope they got out.

All right, still ahead, massive layoffs over at Amazon right now. 14,000 people and counting as the company looks to use more A.I. technology.

BROWN: And a suspect accused of killing a deputy leads police on a high speed chase. How it all came to an end.

You're in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: All right. Just in, Apple is now a $4 trillion company. The tech giant is joining a very exclusive club. NVidia and Microsoft both reached this milestone earlier this year. This is truly a blockbuster year for tech stocks as the A.I. frenzy soars.

Also new this morning, massive job cuts coming to Amazon. The company is now laying off 14,000 people, yes, 14,000 people, and it says it isn't done. Reportedly up to 30,000 people, 30,000 jobs could soon be gone from Amazon.

Let's go live right now to our senior reporter, Matt Egan, who's joining us from New York. Matt, what's behind these massive layoffs and what does this say about the health of the overall economy?

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well Wolf, this looks like just the latest shoe to drop as corporate America continues to adopt A.I. Amazon's saying that it plans to cut 14,000 jobs from its corporate workforce. That amounts to about 4 percent of its corporate head count.

Now, the company says the goal here is to slim down, to cut bureaucracy, to stay nimble, and they're signaling they're not done yet, saying that they will look for additional places to cut next year.

Now, in some ways, this amounts to a course correction for Amazon after a COVID era hiring boom, right? Their total headcount basically doubled between 2019 and 2021 as demand skyrocketed. But this is not just about that, right? There's also, of course, the artificial intelligence factor. Now, Amazon didn't explicitly say how many of these layoffs are linked to A.I., but the company has previously said it views A.I. as a once-in-a-lifetime technology, and that, yes, adopting A.I. will mean fewer corporate workers in the future.

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Bottom line, Wolf, it feels like we are still in the early stages here of A.I. related layoffs, and there's still a lot of uncertainty about how all of this is going to play out in the long run.

BLITZER: All right. Matt Egan reporting from New York, Matt, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: Wolf, we have breaking news, top Border Patrol Official Gregory Bovino is expected in court in the next hour. He's going to be there to answer a judge's questions about aggressive actions by federal agents, including this one, which appears to show Bovino himself throwing a tear gas canister during a protest against federal immigration authorities in Chicago last week.

Now, officials say Bovina was reacting after being struck in the head with an object. CNN has not seen any video of that happening. The judge earlier issued a temporary restraining order that blocked agents from using certain types of force.

So, let's bring in CNN Correspondent Priscilla Alvarez here in The Situation Room with us. Take us through what we expect to happen once Bovino arrives in court, because this is significant.

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, potentially, testy exchanges between the judge who issued this temporary restraining order and Gregory Bovino, who, as you showed there, had tossed that canister after the Department of Homeland Security said that he himself had been hit in the head with rocks, and also Greg Bovino being the person who is at the helm of this federal crackdown in these cities, Chicago now, Los Angeles before.

At the core of this lawsuit is the way that these confrontations have gone between U.S. Border Patrol agents and protesters. They have faced multiple protesters as they've been conducting enforcement actions, and that has led to clashes, including the use of tear gas and other tactics, bringing in the temporary restraining order from the judge that said that could not be used unless there was an imminent threat.

Now, the incident that you just showed is one that really served as the impetus for this testimony that we're expecting within the hour from Gregory Bovino. And this isn't just something that is focused on Chicago. We have to think about this a little further out. This is someone who has been at the helm of the federal crackdown. It's Chicago now. It could be another city down the road.

So, this is a hearing that could have wider implications, not only for the Chicago area, but also for other parts of the United States, as, again, the administration continues to double down on these efforts. So, again, we will see him within the next hour in that courtroom.

BROWN: Yes. And I'm told that on the screen is aerial footage of that incident that happened there. This is coming at a time when the Trump administration is planning this shakeup at ICE over frustration, over lagging immigration arrests. What more are you learning about that?

ALVAREZ: Well, the White House set lofty goals earlier this year, 3,000 daily arrests, but they haven't been able to meet that high bar. It's a number that has been pretty out of reach for an agency that historically has been strained by personnel and resources.

Now, the administration has done a whole of government approach, 1,500 Border Patrol agents spanned out across the country to bolster immigration enforcement efforts. And senior leadership at the Department of Homeland Security and the White House likes what they see with the U.S. Border Patrol. It's very clear with Gregory Bovino, who is a chief patrol agent, being the one they tapped to lead this charge.

So, now, there are discussions and plans underway to potentially reassign at least a dozen directors of these field offices. There are 25 ICE field offices, so about half of them could be reassigned again because the administrations believe that they are underperforming in the number of arrests and they could, according to my sources, install Border Patrol officials to head those offices.

Lastly, I will read a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, which said that they have no personnel changes to announce at this time. Tricia McLaughlin going on to say that the Trump administration remains laser focused on delivering results and removing violent, criminal, illegal aliens from this country. Certainly still tension ongoing between the White House and ICE as they try to reach those million deportations that they announced over the campaign.

BROWN: All right. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: She does know her stuff. I always say that.

BROWN: That's right.

BLITZER: All right. Now to a shocking, high speed chase all caught on camera. This is in San Bernardino County out in California where a suspect fled a crime scene and then led police on a chase topping 150 miles an hour. The suspect crashed into a car and went flying off his bike. Officials say he's in the hospital right now in stable condition.

This chase began after a San Bernardino County sheriff's deputy was shot and killed while responding to a domestic violence call. He leaves behind a pregnant wife and a two-year-old daughter.

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SHERIFF SHANNON DICUS, SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: He's a six- year deputy with the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department, and has served the community of Rancho Cucamonga for five years.

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BLITZER: The deputy, Andrew Nunez, was 28 years old. The sheriff described Nunez as a wonderful father and a wonderful deputy sheriff. Our deepest, deepest condolences to his family, may he rest in peace, and as we say, may his memory be a blessing.

BROWN: Yes, very sad.

BLITZER: Very sad. BROWN: All right. Coming up here in The Situation Room CIA mercenaries hired for a hit. The new accusations from Venezuela as the U.S. steps up its military presence in the Caribbean.

BLITZER: And we're also following the breaking story of the morning, Hurricane Melissa barreling toward Jamaica right now is one of the strongest Atlantic storms on record. We're tracking it all as it gets closer and closer to making landfall.

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BLITZER: New this morning, President Trump announced a new business deal with Toyota. It's worth billions of dollars for the United States. President Trump made that announcement while in Japan. He also spoke to troops aboard the USS George Washington aircraft carrier, where he heaped praise on Japan's newly elected prime minister.

Let's go live right now to CNN Correspondent in Hanako Montgomery, who's in Tokyo for us. Hanako, what can you tell us about the Toyota deal?

HANAKO MONTGOMERY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Wolf. While Trump has been in Asia, he's been trying to strike a number of trade deals with U.S. allies, and in Tokyo, he's been doing the exact same thing. Aboard the USS George Washington earlier on Tuesday, Trump announced that Japan's largest car maker, Toyota, was going to invest billions of U.S. dollars as part of Japan and the U.S.'s trade agreement. Listen to this.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I want to thank Japan because Japan is making big investments into the United States.

And I was just told by the prime minister that Toyota is going to be putting auto plants all over the United States to the tune of over $10 billion.

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MONTGOMERY: Now, Wolf, I do have to note that, again, this is part of the U.S.-Japan trade agreement that was penned earlier this year. In fact, at a working dinner with Japanese business leaders later on Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick announced that Japanese companies would be investing a sum of $490 billion.

Now, these companies come from a variety of different sectors, including nuclear development, engineering and construction services, semiconductors and A.I. infrastructure industries. So, again, Wolf, Trump really building on the personal rapport between Japan's new prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, and also striking these business deals before he heads into a much more difficult meeting with Chinese Leader Xi Jinping. Wolf?

BLITZER: All right. Hanako Montgomery in Tokyo for us, Hanako, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Just ahead here in The Situation Room, breaking news, millions in Jamaica feeling hurricane Melissa's wrath already as the eyewall is coming to shore as a massive Category 5 storm.

BLITZER: And tens of millions of Americans are just days away from losing their access to critical food assistance. We'll speak to one of those people. That's coming up next.

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