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The Brief with Jim Sciutto

CNN International: Cuba, Haiti and Jamaica Pummeled by Hurricane Melissa; 20 Plus People have Died from Melissa in Haiti; Israel Conducts "Targeted Strikes" in Gaza; Powell: December Rate Cut Far from Foregone Conclusion; Appeals Court Blocks Order Mandating Updates from ICE Official; Trump set to Meet with Xi in South Korea; Trump gives S. Korea Approval to Build Nuclear-Powered Submarine. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 29, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:00]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers, joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington, and you're watching

"The Brief."

Just ahead this hour, Hurricane Melissa kills at least 30 people, and causes potentially billions of dollars of damage in the Caribbean. U.S.

President Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are poised to hold their first meeting since 2019. And the World Series, all tied up between the

Toronto Blue Jays and the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Game 5 set to begin in L.A. just a couple hours from now.

We begin with the aftermath of Hurricane Melissa, upending life in three Caribbean nations, all of whom have fragile economies and limited resources

to respond to disasters on this scale. The damage in Cuba, Haiti, and Jamaica is significant, still being assessed. It could run into the

billions of dollars. Rebuilding could possibly take years.

In Cuba, we're hearing that Capital Havana was actually spared, but the Cuban president says there was significant damage with widespread power

outages after the already vulnerable power grid buckled under the force of the Melissa hurricane. About 140,000 people have been stranded by rising

river levels.

In Jamaica, the bodies of four people were found in St. Elizabeth Parish, this according to a government source. The full extent of the devastation

is still unclear. Some areas remain inaccessible. Most of the island is without power, which is further complicating relief efforts.

And in Haiti, more than 20 people killed. A mayor says many of those deaths were caused by rivers bursting their banks. Residents remain trapped after

their homes collapsed.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We have nothing in our hands to live on. If a hurricane hits, we're screwed. If the hurricane comes on top

of all the problems we already have, we'll simply die. My kids, my wife and my family are somewhere else. We have nothing to eat to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Melissa is now moving towards the Bahamas. Nearly 1,500 people were moved to safety before. Flights were suspended as well. In Jamaica,

our Derek Van Dam is in the capital, Kingston. And Derek, I know it's difficult to assess the damage around the island, given so many areas are

inaccessible. What do you know so far? And crucially, what are you seeing? And how extensive are you seeing damage like that you're standing in front

of there?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: This just a drop in the bucket, Jim. And look, what we're working with is a complete dichotomy across the entire

country. The eastern side spared the catastrophic damage. The further west you travel, it gets catastrophic very, very quickly. And we've witnessed it

through the course of the day, being on the front lines of the Jamaica Defense Forces, along with an entire flotilla of ambulances and medical aid

and NGOs looking to get into the Black River region.

Now, we stopped in Lacovia, just to the west of -- I think, I believe it's Santa Cruz and St. Elizabeth Parish. This western portions of Jamaica. So,

I'm trying to get some perspective here. And we have just gradually seen a worsening and worsening of the destruction. And this just an example, but

also an important part of the story that is unfolding here.

A lot of the cultural buildings of this historic part of Jamaica have been destroyed, flattened or ruined. We are trying to get into the Black River

area, where we know 16 feet of water pummeled that region. 90 percent of the buildings have been destroyed. Their whole infrastructure is basically

a total loss. But let's just sit here and appreciate this moment, because my team and I were so awestruck by the beauty of this.

This the Anglican Church in Lacovia. And just look at the hues of blue. And if Jerry, my incredible photojournalist, can kind of zoom in, perhaps, into

the insides of this church, the whole ceiling, of course, ripped off, the rubble completely strewn across the region. But there is still the stained-

glass windows.

[18:05:00]

And I can read some of the scripture that is on some sort of plaque in the background there. It looks like it's in Anglican. But it's incredible to

just really sit here and know what has been celebrated, mourned, beloved in a place like this. And we just understand that this is, again, a drop in

the bucket of the destruction that has unfolded here across the western portions of Jamaica.

Again, there is just this massive humanitarian effort of people, volunteers, doctors, the Jamaican Defense Forces, everyone giving extra

hands to clear debris from the roadways. We even saw at one moment in time a bunch of local residents just outside of Santa Cruz, which was so badly

hit, the ambulances were getting stuck in the mud today, but they're on the front line getting the necessary need to the hardest-hit areas. And they

were pushing them through the deep mud, through the debris of the mudslides and the landslides and the flooding and the devastation that has been left

behind from Melissa. So, that's just -- it's some of the stories that are unfolding here. It's heartbreaking to watch.

We're very fearful of what's further down this way, because we're looking west. The sun's setting behind us. We're looking west. And towards the

coast is the southwest. That's the Black River area. And we know complete destruction near the coast. And we're going to try and get there. But it's

proving to be very challenging. Jim.

SCIUTTO: Derek Van Dam, goodness, it sounds like we're just getting the very first images of the devastation there. Thanks so much. Joining me now,

Margherita Fanchiotti. She's Save the Children's director of Program Quality and Impact in Haiti. Good to have you on. I suppose as the storm

impacts Haiti, this already a place that faces so many challenges, including the more than a million people displaced due to armed groups

there. How does a place like Haiti respond to this?

MARGHERITA FANCHIOTTI, DIRECTOR OF PROGRAM QUALITY AND IMPACT IN HAITI, SAVE THE CHILDREN: Good evening, and thank you very much for the

invitation. Unfortunately, indeed, we're currently facing really strong winds and heavy rain since last Thursday in Haiti. And this isn't over yet,

because Hurricane Melissa is passing essentially around the country. So, first, it hit the southern coast when it was moving just south of the

island. And then as it continued its path towards first Jamaica and then Cuba and now Bahamas, it is still impacting the northwestern coast of

Haiti.

This really some of the same areas that were already impacted by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and by the earthquake in 2021. So, I really wish to commend

the resilience of the Haitian people. There were lots of lessons learned from the previous emergencies that have been taken into account and have

contributed to reducing the death toll. But unfortunately, the situation remains very serious.

There are currently at least 23 people that have lost their life, among them at least 10 children. And unfortunately, the count is really

increasing as the time goes by. There are about 14,000 people that are currently displaced. And this just people that have been displaced by the

hurricane itself. But there were already almost 1.5 million people displaced by the violence of armed gangs in the metropolitan area of Port-

au-Prince that is impacting the entire country already before Melissa. So, many of these people that were already displaced before are now also facing

the impact of the hurricane.

There are 43 schools at least that are going to use the shelters. So, we are really seeing very few places that are overcrowded with people that

require food, water. Hygiene needs are incredibly high. This a country where cholera was already present before Hurricane Melissa. So, now this

one of the aspects we're worried about is really also the health impacts of Hurricane Melissa. So, we're keeping monitoring the situation as it evolves

also today and tomorrow.

SCIUTTO: Are you finding that you're getting enough international support to meet those needs? Because of course, there's the physical impact of the

storm. But as you mentioned, there's disease that could follow, including diseases such as cholera.

FANCHIOTTI: First of all, I wish to acknowledge the great role that is being played by the Asian Civil Protection that is coordinating response

with the support of the International Community and of local Asian NGOs.

[18:10:00]

It is clear that Haiti is unfortunately one of the least funded crises. So, even before Hurricane Melissa, we were really confronted with very

stretched resources to respond to the humanitarian crisis that is really unprecedented in the country. And now, on top of this, we are also seeing

the impact of Hurricane Melissa.

So, we thank CNN and all the media that are helping us raise attention to the needs and raise visibility to the needs in the country in Haiti. It is

paramount that we get additional support to reach as many children as possible. Resources are stretched, but we are coordinating with all the

partners to make sure that we try to really support the needs of as many people as we can with the limited resources that we have.

SCIUTTO: No question. Well, Margherita Fanchiotti, we appreciate the work you're doing there. Thanks so much for joining.

FANCHIOTTI: Thank you very much.

SCIUTTO: Well, Israel carried out yet another airstrike in Gaza. The Israeli military says it conducted a precise strike targeting, quote, "a

terrorist infrastructure" site in northern Gaza. The IDF says it will resume the U.S.-backed ceasefire, though will continue to operate to remove

any immediate threats. This comes after Tuesday's heavy attacks killed more than 100 people in Gaza, marking the deadliest day since the ceasefire took

effect. Palestinian officials say nearly half the victims were children.

Joining me now, Amos Yadlin, former chief of Israel's military intelligence. Good to have you here.

MAJ. GEN. AMOS YADLIN (RET.), FORMER CHIEF OF ISRAELI MILITARY INTELLIGENCE: Pleasure to be here.

SCIUTTO: In a recent piece you wrote for Foreign Affairs, you said that the war in Gaza could reignite. And I wonder if that's what we're seeing

now with these military strikes and exchanges of fire.

YADLIN: The military strike is coming after Hamas violated the deal a couple of times. First, with not returning within 72 hours the bodies of

the hostages that they have killed, or cheating about the fact that they are not finding them. And yesterday in Channel 12 in Israel, there was an

amazing video of Hamas taking a body from an apartment, buried it in a place, and then calling people to see how they find it. So, we know that

they have eight or 10 bodies that they are claiming, and cheating of course, not telling the truth, that they don't have them.

Then two times they fired at Israeli soldiers and killed them, last week and this week. So, the continuation of the ceasefire depends on Hamas. And

Hamas is to blame. We feel very sorry about every innocent children or women that were killed. But this, again, Hamas strategy to shield itself

behind their families. And this terror organization that continue to cheat and lie.

OK. Put it aside. What is the chances of this ceasefire to hold? I can see three scenarios.

SCIUTTO: But before we get to those scenarios, if you're saying Hamas is not abiding by the ceasefire, and if Israel is responding with military

strikes, is there a ceasefire at all?

YADLIN: There is, because both sides in that moment want the ceasefire to continue. Israel give it a chance, because the Trump plan basically take

the core demands of Israel and incorporate it into the 20 points. Dismantling Hamas, demilitarization of Gaza, and a different governance,

not the terror governance of Hamas, another government.

So, Israel will give the Trump plan a chance. Whether Hamas will do it, I'm not sure. Depends a lot on Turkey and Qatar. Will they push Hamas to keep

the ceasefire?

SCIUTTO: And that's a question, because you say in Foreign Affairs, and you've said elsewhere in your Foreign Affairs piece, that there's reason to

be hopeful, in part because the deal brought together an Arab-Palestinian front, in effect, that agrees, that supports disarming Hamas. The trouble

is disarming Hamas is a difficult thing to do, right? And it might require putting international forces at risk, I imagine. Do you believe that those

states are willing to do so?

[18:15:00]

YADLIN: I don't see their willingness yet, because the joint stabilization force should do the job. As we spoke in the past, the points after the

returning of the hostages and the semi-withdrawal of Israel are not well defined. And there is interpretation to each one of the points in the 20

points or the 15 points left. So, I do think that Hamas will try to establish a Lebanese-Hezbollah model, that under a legitimate Arab or

Palestinian technocrats that run Gaza, they will keep their terror force. Israel will not tolerate it. Israel will go to its own Hezbollah model,

that it agrees with the Biden administration, that if Hezbollah rebuild its force, its terror force, Israel is allowed to attack it.

So, when you go back to the countries that need to be in this joint stabilization force, they understand that Hamas maybe will fight with them.

And they are not running to stand in the line to create this force. And this force haven't got the mandate yet, and there is the issue whether it

will be a U.N. Security Council mandate or an American-Egyptian-Qatari understanding.

SCIUTTO: Sort of a Coalition of the Willing, so to speak. I wonder what your view is of the state of the U.S.-Israel relationship. Because one

recent change in this country, which has taken place over many months, even years, is that it's not just members of the American left who are critical

of Israel, you have more members of the American right who are quite critical of Israel. I think of the Tucker Carlsons of the world, et cetera.

And, of course, U.S. leaders hear that criticism. Do you think that this relationship has been weakened?

YADLIN: The relationship is based on three pillars. Same interest, same values, and trust between people. All the three pillars are with quacks.

They haven't collapsed, but they are with quacks. Israel used to be a bipartisan agreement in America. It is now -- there is not a lot of

bipartisan agreement in this country. Maybe China left.

SCIUTTO: Right.

YADLIN: And we have anti-Israeli parts, both in the progressive of the Democrats and, as you mentioned, in the MAGA people. But I think, at that

moment, when the two of us are speaking, the relations are very good, because President Trump understood the Israeli sentiment may be better than

the Israeli prime minister.

And the stopping of the war, bringing back the hostages, supporting Israel on many, many issues, and criticizing Israel when it needs to be

criticized, I think the relations are quite strong with this administration. Future? In three years, we will have to be worried.

SCIUTTO: Amos Yadlin, particularly a pleasure to have you in person here. Thanks so much for joining.

YADLIN: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead this hour, the last Fed rate cut of the year. Jerome Powell cast doubt on Fed policy going forward. He says setting policy

during the government shutdown is like driving in a fog. The latest on the Fed's policy meeting coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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SCIUTTO: In today's Business Breakout, a mixed day on Wall Street. Tech stocks rose to yet more records, but the Dow fell due to rate cut

uncertainty from the Fed. The S&P 500 finished unchanged. The U.S. Central Bank, as expected, cut rates today by a quarter of a percentage point. That

is the second interest rate cut this year.

Chair Jerome Powell, however, warned that the Fed could take a pause at its next meeting in December, the exact opposite of what markets had been

expecting.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, U.S. FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: We haven't made a decision about December. You know, I always say that. It's a fact that we don't make

decisions in advance. But this -- I'm saying something in addition here, is that it's not to be seen as a foregone conclusion. In fact, far from it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Interest rate uncertainty did not slow down NVIDIA. The A.I. chip maker became the first publicly traded company to hit a market cap of $5

trillion. Its shares rose nearly 3 percent.

Influential tech investor Cathie Wood spoke about the markets with CNN's Richard Quest in Saudi Arabia. She told him that a tech pullback is

possible, but fears of an A.I. bubble, in her view, are overblown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CATHIE WOOD, CEO, ARK INVEST: The markets are getting it. That's what's happening with the equity markets. They are sniffing out some real success

stories here. And yet, there is so much fear out there. This the opposite of the tech and telecom bubble. That's why this sustainable. This the

proverbial wall of worry. Those are the strongest bull markets. They climb the wall of worry, and they broaden out over time. And that's what's

happening now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: We'll see over time. In other business headlines, tech giants Microsoft, Meta, and Alphabet are just out with closely watched earnings.

Google parent company Alphabet said quarterly revenues surpassed $100 billion for the first time due to the A.I. boom. Microsoft earnings and

revenues also surpassed expectations. Its Azure cloud unit reported 40 percent growth. Meta reported better than expected results. Shares dropped

in after-hours trading, though, due to a one-time tax charge.

The Congressional Budget Office says the ongoing U.S. government shutdown could cost the American economy as much as $14 billion. The nonpartisan

agency says a number of factors will hurt economic activity, including, of course, less federal spending on goods and services, and the fact that

needy Americans will soon see their food benefits run out. The CBO says the shutdown could reduce GDP by some 2 percent this quarter, 2 percent.

Paramount Skydance and General Motors have joined the growing list of companies announcing sizable job cuts. General Motors says it is cutting

nearly 2,000 electric vehicle manufacturing jobs, citing lower than expected demand for EVs. Entertainment conglomerate Paramount Skydance,

which has expressed interest in buying Warner Brothers Discovery, the parent company of CNN, says it will lay off 10 percent of its workforce.

About 1,000 job cuts expected this week. Other companies that have announced major layoffs recently include Target, Amazon, UPS, and Intel.

The Fed chair, Jerome Powell, says that he is watching the recent string of layoffs, quote, "really carefully," particularly those due to advances in

artificial intelligence. The Fed rate cuts today because of job market uncertainty, even as inflation remains stubbornly high. But the lack of new

data due to the ongoing government shutdown is hurting its ability to set policy.

[18:25:00]

Joining me now, Justin Wolfers, professor of economics and public policy at the University of Michigan. Good to have you. Lots of questions for you.

The Fed used to say, still says its inflation goal is 2 percent. Inflation is still at 3 percent, but the Fed's cutting rates. What's happened? Does

it have a new standard?

JUSTIN WOLFERS, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS AND PUBLIC POLICY, UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN: No. What it has is a whole new dilemma. The dilemma is that

inflation is higher than the Fed wants it to be. But on the other hand, unemployment's rising.

So, normally you get one bad thing or the other, either you have high inflation and low unemployment or high unemployment and low inflation.

What's happened right now is what economists call a supply shock, something that raises the cost of doing business. That supply shock is, of course,

Trump's tariffs.

The hope is that they will raise prices once, which means there'll be a period of inflation. But that extra blip of inflation will go away. So,

that then leads the Fed to have a little bit of space to look at its concerns about the labor market, which it appears to be very worried about.

SCIUTTO: There's some concern that the A.I. boom is hiding broader signs of trouble in the U.S. economy from tariffs, from continuing high

inflation. And some of that's in the stock market, right, because the vast majority of those gains are from a handful of companies, right, that are

doing so much A.I. business. Do you share that view?

WOLFERS: Look, Jim and I -- Jim, the fact that you and I just talked about A.I. means if you and I formed a company, we'd have a market cap of about

$200 billion. So, I reckon we ought to do it.

SCIUTTO: Let's try it. Absolutely.

WOLFERS: Yet look, the reality is this a transformational technology. It's taking up a huge amount of investment. And so, America really is best

thought of as two economies. There's just boatloads of money going into building out data centers and hiring the best data scientists and getting

A.I. off the ground. And separately, there's everything else.

The thing is, the Trump economy and the Trump policies have almost nothing to do with what's going on with this A.I. boom. The stuff that worries

folks at home, and we see in opinion surveys, folks at home are very worried about the state of the economy, is everything else. Look, if you've

ever been to a data center, just row after row of computer, there's not a lot of people involved. And so, you can have things like gross domestic

product growing as we build more data centers, but folks at home are struggling to find jobs or not getting the pay rises that they hope to get.

SCIUTTO: Final question. You heard Cathie Wood there saying this in a bubble. The market's doing a good job of figuring out and rewarding the

companies that are actually making money from those that aren't making money. There are others who disagree with her, though, right, and look at

these numbers, it's records every day and say there's a problem here. And they make some comparisons to the dot-com boom. Where do you stand?

WOLFERS: Yes, let me give two meta lessons that I think are really important. The first one is whenever people only talk about one set of

risks, that they're certain that everyone's getting things wrong in one way. So, people say it's definitely a bubble. That means they're saying the

market is definitely overvaluing A.I. Well, A.I. is a transformative technology. Always think about both sets of risk. Is there a chance it's

actually more transformative than markets believe? That remains a possibility.

The other meta lesson is any time anyone's confident that they know in the market's wrong, but they alone are the font of wisdom, they're probably

overstating it. So, there's a risk. There's a bubble. But no certainty.

SCIUTTO: Yes, those are good life rules as well as market rules. Justin Wolfers, University of Michigan, thanks so much.

WOLFERS: Great pleasure, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Straight ahead. Concern in Chicago over immigration officials continued use of sometimes shocking force. I'm going to speak with a

congressman dealing with ICE and other federal law enforcement raids in his district on a daily basis right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.

Responders are racing to hard-hit western Jamaica. The prime minister declared the island nation a disaster area. More than 70 percent of the

country is without electricity now. Cuba has also suffered significant damage. While officials say the storm killed more than 25 people in Haiti.

French officials say two suspects arrested for involvement in the Louvre heist have admitted to their involvement in the robbery. According to the

Paris prosecutor's office, the two remain in custody. The jewels stolen from the Paris Museum have not yet been recovered. Two additional suspects

remain at large.

President Donald Trump is preparing to meet with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping for the first time in six years. This meeting comes as the on again

off again trade war between the world's two biggest economies has been wreaking havoc on the global economy. The meeting takes place in South

Korea with President Trump is on his last stop of an Asia tour.

The U.S. federal shutdown is threatening food benefits for more than 40 million people. About one in eight Americans receive what are known as SNAP

benefits used to be called food stamps. As of right now, they'll stop receiving that aid as early as Saturday. That unless the Senate passes a

Republican led bill that would extend those benefits. It does have bipartisan support, but the Senate's Republican leadership is so far

refusing to consider standalone bills during the shutdown.

A federal appeals court just temporarily blocked court order that required the top Border Patrol official in Chicago to check in daily with a judge. A

federal judge has ordered Gregory Bovino to give her a daily report on the immigration crackdown in Chicago. This order followed concerns that law

enforcement were using excessive force, including tear gas, in one case during a Halloween parade for children.

Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley from Illinois, whose own district has been experiencing these raids. Congressman, thanks so much

for taking the time.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Glad to be back.

SCIUTTO: You've described the behavior of ICE and other federal agents in your district as dangerous chaos. Can you give our viewers a view of what

you're seeing there on a daily basis?

QUIGLEY: Well, sure. I'll tell you about the aftermath. You know, I was at the domestic violence courthouse that had been raided by ICE. Women are now

afraid to go there and get orders of protection.

[18:35:00]

I was at a shelter for women called Bethany. The women there are afraid to drop their kids off at daycare because ICE is there, and therefore, they

can't go to work or continue their education. We've seen food pantries where people are afraid to go. I've got a 16-year-old high school student

who is a cancer patient. She's in a wheelchair. Her father was working extra hours to pay for that care on a Saturday when he was picked up. And

I've volunteered to walk kids to school as part of a walking school bus program because their parents can't because they have brown skin. So, so

much for going after the worst of the worst. You know, my neighborhood, the city, it's on edge.

And I guess finally, if people don't care about how the human impact is taking place, the financial one is real, too. Little Village is largely

Hispanic neighborhood. I was there at a lunch a couple Fridays ago. It's a ghost town. Their business is down 50 percent. So, it's hard to watch, but

you have to be there. And if we can't be in D.C., we need to be with our constituents.

SCIUTTO: There have been protests. Oftentimes you see people trying to stand in the way of these of these raids or at least calling them out and

honking their horns and saying you're not welcome here, et cetera. Are those protests having, in your view, a positive or potentially a negative

impact? Because I'm sure you've seen sometimes those protests get -- the agents use those protests as justification to crack down harder.

QUIGLEY: Yes, it's really not justification. It's a pretty clear violation of the law we passed after the Civil War that you can't use the military

against civilians. ICE is using any sort of protest as a justification to escalate. I think the people who are protesting this and their First

Amendment rights have shown great restraint.

That federal judge who ruled against the Trump administration, he was -- she was a Trump appointed judge, said sporadic protest violence is not an

insurrection ruling against their decision to go in and bring in the National Guard.

So, look, when you look at the videos in my neighborhood, they were just last Friday, they were in -- ICE was in my neighborhood again today, you

see people who are stepping out of their homes who are, you know, working from home. And what kind of threat is this? I mean, they may be yelling at

them, but what do you see? You see people in flip flops and shorts and doodles. Somehow ICE sees this as some sort of threat. And that's why

they're in front of that judge. As you talked about the indiscriminate use of tear gas. They bring blank search warrants there. This extraordinarily

unconstitutional and dangerous.

SCIUTTO: Do you find that the law enforcement officers listen and abide by these court orders?

QUIGLEY: I think you're seeing -- especially because the fact this judge is bringing the head of ICE in Chicago on a daily basis, they know that

these are masked people coming into a community. My community doesn't even know if it's ICE because these could be rogue operations. But their sense

is that ICE isn't paying attention. They're not paying attention to the consent degree, they're in violation, and that's why they're getting called

in every day. And what I what I heard from my friends and neighbors who are at some of these dispersals of tear gas is that they see a smirk on the

face of the ICE agents as they dispense it.

So, look, this this scary times. These are, again, armed masked men throwing kids and women to the ground and taking people in who are

hardworking, contributing members of society.

SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, you see the video speak for themselves. You see so many incidents like that. You mentioned the Insurrection Act earlier. The

threat from President Trump seems to be, as these other cases work their way through the courts challenging his nationalization or federalization of

the National Guard for deployment on city streets for law enforcement, that, well, listen, if I lose those cases, I'm just going to declare an

insurrection here. One, do you fear that? And two, what would stop him if he decided to?

QUIGLEY: Yes. I don't think the Supreme Court will. So, it is very, very scary. When a tyrant tells you he's going to do something, you ought to pay

attention.

[18:40:00]

When he gathered his generals together and said that our cities should be used as a training ground for the military to go after the enemy within.

First you got to ask yourself, who's the enemy? I guess it becomes pretty clear, people with brown skin, people who didn't vote for him, people who

live in cities in a general sense. This a president moving from something of an autocrat to a tyrant and I don't know anything that's going to stop

him and I think that's how the ICE agents respond to them.

I think they feel like they're immune, they think they feel like they can do anything because no one's going to hold them accountable. That's why we

asked for an inspector general investigation of ICE and what they're doing to attempt to document this. So, at some point when we get the House back

there will be some accountability.

SCIUTTO: Illinois Congressman Mike Quigley, we appreciate you walking us through it.

QUIGLEY: Thank you, take care.

SCIUTTO: Coming up on "The Brief," a high-stakes meeting set to take place in South Korea between the leaders of the world's two largest economies.

There they are. Our preview of the Trump-Xi summit is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: Now, to South Korea where a highly anticipated meeting between President Trump and Xi Jinping set to take place in just a few hours. This

will be the first in-person meeting since President Trump returned to the White House. They last met in 2019. Key topics on the agenda expected to

include tariffs, fentanyl, rare earth soybeans and Russia's war in Ukraine. It's a big list.

South Korea says its president reached an agreement with Trump on the details of South Korea's own trade deal. Officials in Seoul say U.S.

automobile tariffs will be lowered to 15 percent. As for the huge investments demanded by Trump, $200 billion will be done in cash. $150

billion will come through shipbuilding cooperation.

President Trump just posted on social media saying, quote, "I've given them, this South Korea, approval to build a nuclear-powered submarine."

That's a big deal. Previous administrations have not wanted that fearing proliferation. So, what did Trump get in return? He got a golden crown. A

replica of one from an ancient South Korean kingdom.

Jeremy Chan is senior analyst of China and Northeast Asia at the Eurasia Group. Golden crown.

[18:45:00]

All right. First, let's talk about Trump and Xi meeting. There's a lot of talk of a framework of a deal. Is this a trade deal or really just a truce

that brings the two sides back from the worst of a trade war? I mean, it seems like it's going back to the status quo on a whole bunch of things,

including Chinese soybean purchases.

JEREMY CHAN, SENIOR ANALYST OF CHINA AND NORTHEAST ASIA, EURASIA GROUP: Yes. Well, I think the Chinese desire is to go back to the status quo ante

basically that existed prior to Trump's election. So, that means rolling back, for example, fentanyl, tariffs, rolling back export controls that

have been rolled out under the Trump administration. But more than anything, sort of stabilizing the bilateral relationship, not only for the

duration of 2025, but heading into 2026 as well.

SCIUTTO: The goals, as stated by Trump, going into this trade war was, we're going to stop Chinese cheating, economic cheating, theft of our

ideas, et cetera, and we're going to bring all these manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.

CHAN: That's right.

SCIUTTO: Has the president accomplished any of the stated goals via this trade war?

CHAN: I would say heretofore, no. And a large part of that is because the Chinese have this sort of trump card holding over him, right, which is the

rare earth export controls and China went one step further on October 9th by weaponizing those even further to essentially include any product that's

produced anywhere in the world that potentially includes a rare earth going forward. And I think that will be at the crux of the negotiations that take

place in a few hours.

SCIUTTO: So, is the bottom line of this truce that China got the better of Trump?

CHAN: I think the bottom line is that they got the better of each other and that ultimately both sides have approached the brink and have looked

into the abyss and have decided to step back a bit. And it was really more Trump and ultimately his decision to recognize that the market and the

economic implications of going to the brink with China were too large.

SCIUTTO: Does Trump then retreat from this going forward? I mean, I'm not going to hold you to this because one fact of this administration is

unpredictability. But if Trump looked into the abyss and saw the costs, including China's stranglehold on rare earths, has he concluded, listen, I

can't win in this game with China?

CHAN: I think ultimately what Trump wants to do is to do business with China. And that means keep the rare earths flowing, keep the soybeans

flowing in the opposite direction, right? And ultimately to sell as many high powered A.I. chips, for example, as NVIDIA can make, which don't flout

sort of national security concerns. I think, ultimately, he's transactional in that regard. He's not ideological and he's not looking for some larger

sort of, you know, containment.

SCIUTTO: But how can he sell high-end chips to China when everybody you talk to in the national security space in this country, and you know this

better than me, says this a major field of competition between the U.S. and China? And you listen to Sam Altman, the U.S. cannot lose the A.I. race to

China. How can you sell high-tech chips to them and still win that or are we just forgetting about that?

CHAN: Well, it's a very good question. I mean, the chips heretofore that were offered to China, they didn't want, they wanted the better chips. And

it looks like Jensen Huang has been successful in his lobbying of the White House to allow sales of a more capable chip that is still below the sort of

the cutting edge of what the U.S. can produce, but is certainly better than what the Chinese could procure heretofore.

SCIUTTO: I mean, that's in the A.I. space. From a competitive standpoint, that's problematic, is it not? Because didn't DeepSeek show that China

could create tremendous A.I. capabilities even without the most advanced chips?

CHAN: Oh, absolutely. I think China is closing the gap by the day. And these chips -- selling these more advanced chips to China is going to, I

think, further reduce the gap in the A.I. capability between the two countries.

SCIUTTO: Goodness. All that for this. Jeremy Chan, thanks so much for joining.

CHAN: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: Coming up, baseball. The Toronto Blue Jays have tied up the World Series. I mean, the latest from Patrick Snell ahead of tonight's game five.

It's been quite a series, to say the least.

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[18:50:00]

SCIUTTO: In just over an hour, the L.A. Dodgers will once again face off against the Toronto Blue Jays. The World Series currently tied two to two

after last night's game four. There goes Vlad Guerrero Jr. hitting another one. The Blue Jays were the underdogs heading to the series. Toronto hasn't

won it since way back in 1993. Now, it's all tied up. All bets are off.

Patrick Snell joins me now. I guess before last night's game, I was like, you know, the Dodgers are going to run away with this. You know, the first

game was a fluke. But now here we are. It's two to two. You just don't -- you can't predict this stuff. It's baseball.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN WORLD SPORT ANCHOR: Jim, I thought exactly the same thing. Home field advantage at the home fans. They're roaring them on. But

it's fascinating. It's compelling viewing. And we are absolutely loving it. Just over an hour now from first pitch in L.A. for game five.

No doubt the stars will be out in force once again in the City of Angels. We certainly saw that last night. You know, these Toronto Blue Jays

players, they're looking to try and make their own very special piece of history. They fought back so many times this postseason and now they're

just two wins away from completing an incredible run to win a World Series title. They were down in the ALCS time and time again. What do they do?

They always fight back. And they did it yet again in game four. So, the message from them is quite clear. You write them off at your peril.

The celebrities, as I say, out in force on Tuesday night. We got there Brad Pitt. We got LeBron James as well. The actress Sydney Sweeney. Britain's

Prince Harry in the house as well, alongside Meghan, all in attendance to see Shohei Ohtani on the mound. The matchup everyone wanted to see in this

one was Ohtani against Jay slugger, Vladimir Guerrero, Jr.

First inning, Ohtani striking him out on three pitches. Dodgers had one- nothing lead in the third when Vlad comes to the plate. Again, the Dominican-Canadian star getting a hold of this one, his seventh of this

postseason first home run Ohtani has allowed since August the 27th, would you believe. Ohtani pitching in the seventh inning, but left the game with

runners on. Then the Jays once again getting to that Dodgers bullpen. They score four runs in the inning. Toronto wins it 6 to 2 to level up the

series. Here's Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. now after the game about winning the matchup against Ohtani. Let's take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VLADIMIR GUERRERO JR. TORONTO BLUE JAYS FIRST BASEMAN (through translator): I respect Ohtani a lot. I mean, and I know basically myself and him, we

were like the talk of the series. But when we are between those two lines, we're competing. I mean, it felt good that tonight I could have hit that

home run against him. But I mean, like I said before, he's a great athlete.

SHOHEI OHTANI, LOS ANGELES DODGERS PITCHER AND HITTER (through translator): Whether that's during the regular season or the postseason, you know, my

goal is to be able to pitch six innings and this situation, this game, I wanted to go seven. And it was regrettable that I wasn't able to finish

that innings.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: All too playful, Jim. As I say, the Dodgers going with two-time Stein Young Award winner Blake Snell to pitch in game five in just over an

hour. So, on paper, the Dodgers should still have the advantage in the series. But of course, games aren't played on paper, are they? But game six

and if needed, game seven will be in Toronto. It should be fun to watch how it all plays out.

I dare not make a prediction, Jim. I will tell you this, I know this much, as the Dodgers look to win back-to-back World Series titles. The New York

Yankees actually won three straight World Series crowns from 1998 to 2000. So, watch this space. I know what I'll be doing a little bit later on this

evening. Back to you.

SCIUTTO: I think they left Ohtani in an inning too long last time. He was up to like 3:00, 4:00 a.m. the night before. I know he wanted to stay in.

But the classic thing, do you listen to your star in that moment or as a manager, do you say, listen, you did great. Let's bring someone else in.

SNELL: Yes. Or do you take the matter out of his hands? I think -- I was up till 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. the other night as well. Look, I still think

we're all bleary eyed from this series, right? And it's far from over. Back to you.

[18:55:00]

SCIUTTO: Patrick Snell, thank you. All right. In today's Good Brief, a newly found Dr. Seuss book will be published next year, posthumously, of

course. "Sing the 50 United States." Ask readers to learn and name all the states along with the cat in the hat and two little cat helpers. The text

and cover sketch by author Ted Geisel, the real name of Dr. Seuss, was found in a manuscript housed at the University of California, San Diego.

The manuscript included notes on direction of the art in the book. Kids and adults, of course, will enjoy it when it comes out next June, just in time

for America's 250th birthday. Another thing to read to the kids.

Thanks so much for joining. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay with CNN.

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