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Trump Authorizes CIA Action in Venezuela; Rep. Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) is Interviewed about the Shutdown; Hamas' Handover of Hostage Bodies; Jane Harman is Interviewed about the Ceasefire. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 16, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

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KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Twenty-three-year old Kada Scott was last seen on October 4th leaving work at an assisted living facility. Her family reported her missing the next day. And part of this -- as part of the search, on Wednesday, police located a heavily tinted vehicle, and officers say a tip led them to the car, which was parked at a condo complex. And Philadelphia police now say that vehicle is connected to Keon King, the 21-year-old who was arrested and charged this week in Scott's disappearance. Investigators believe that King was the last person who spoke to Scott. This morning, there is still no sign of her.

Wild video out of Tennessee. Like legit wild video, guys. A car crashes straight in through the roof of a home, straight in to someone's bedroom, just missing the homeowner. She told affiliate WSMV that she had actually just walked out of the bedroom with her two dogs when the car came crashing through. And here's what one neighbor said they saw.

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STEPHEN BURRIS, NEIGHBOR: Here is a car that took a nosedive. Had to have been going I would say 100 plus coming up the road.

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BOLDUAN: Unbelievable. Police say the driver is in the hospital with a broken neck and faces multiple charges, including driving under the influence.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: New this morning, a major escalation in President Trump's crackdown on migrants and drugs from Venezuela. He says he authorized the CIA to operate inside the country after those lethal strikes on alleged drug trafficking boats. Now he's warning the operation could soon expand.

And a new docu series is investigating the disturbing rise of artificial intelligence as a trigger for delusional thinking. What is behind the growing psychological phenomenon? And, one person has died, dozens more are injured after a car exploded

outside a shopping center.

I'm Sara Sidner, with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, new this morning, is it covert if you tell people it's happening? Not a question for a class on existentialism. President Trump revealed that he authorized the CIA to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. And he said so on the heels of the fifth known U.S. strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. Now he is threatening a new major escalation, potential land strikes in Venezuela. The president declined to say whether the CIA has been given the authority to remove Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro from power. He cited the illegal flow of migrants and drugs from that country for the justification for the operations.

Let's get to CNN's Alayna Treene, live at the White House for the latest on this.

So, sea operations, covert operations and land operations. A lot going on here.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: A major escalation, John, of the president's really pressure campaign on Nicolas Maduro, of course, Venezuela's authoritarian leader. And it comes as we know, even though the president isn't saying this publicly, we know from our conversations with people throughout the Trump administration that the end goal here really is to try and drive Maduro from power. It's no secret that the president has often criticized him, has said that there should be new leadership, and we really are seeing him ramp up this pressure campaign in ways that he hasn't before.

And just to get into what you were saying, this was secret until, of course, yesterday, when the president acknowledged it out loud. But the president had secretively authorized the CIA to conduct court -- excuse me, conduct covert action in Venezuela. And this comes, of course, as we know, that the president has been ordering a series of strikes on Venezuelan boats and other boats traveling off the -- the coast of the country. So far those strikes have killed 27 people.

Now, all of this is related to what the president and the administration are arguing are their efforts to target drug cartels, try to limit drug smuggling and the flow of migrants into the United States. But we did hear the president acknowledge that he gave the CIA this authorization when talking to reporters yesterday, but he stopped short of saying that he believes that the agency has the authority to try and oust Maduro.

Listen to how he put it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I authorized for two reasons, really. Number one, they have emptied their prisons into the United States of America. We have a lot of drugs coming in from Venezuela. And a lot of the

Venezuelan drugs come in through the sea. So, you get to see that. But we're going to stop them by land also.

I think Venezuela is feeling heat, but I think a lot of other countries are feeling heat too.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TREENE: So, one of the most notable things from the exchange that the president had there with reporters yesterday was when they had asked him, why not just have the Coast Guard try to intercept these boats that the Trump administration claims are carrying all these drugs and have them arrest these people?

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The president essentially said that over the past 30 years he argued that efforts to try and stop these drug traffickers have been, quote, totally ineffective, never worked, and said it never really worked when it was done in a politically correct manner. And so, it's clear that the president thinks that lethal force, trying to have the CIA and other operatives go in and try to do this in a covert manner is the best way to try and deal with this.

And what we're watching for now is when we might actually see some of these efforts make it to land. So far a lot of the strikes, all the strikes, I should say, have been conducted on ships operating on the coast -- off the coast of Venezuela. The president has vowed to have them begin on land as well.

All of this raising concerns, though, as well, John, about -- particularly from people in Congress who are arguing, is this legal? Is the president allowed to do this without consulting Congress, without having them vote on it? All of that is still very much up for debate.

BERMAN: Congressman Warren Davidson, a very conservative Republican from Ohio, just told me that if the targets on land are connected to the Maduro regime, he does think that Congress needs to vote on it.

TREENE: Yes.

BERMAN: Alayna Treene, at the White House this morning, thank you very much.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: So today on Capitol Hill, another day and another Senate vote but no real change. The government shutdown is now entering day 16. A Republican funding bill is expected to get a vote and fail once again. And in the House, Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republican leaders are planning to speak just an hour from now. As I said last hour, welcome to "Groundhog Day."

Joining me right now to talk about the state of affairs is Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut.

Thanks so much for being here.

So, let's reality check, Senator. From the outside looking in, it sure as heck appears that this shutdown is nowhere close to ending. Do you agree?

SEN. RICHARD BLUMENTHAL (D-CT): There's no immediate prospect of the shutdown ending because Republicans are resisting any serious negotiation or any talks at all. The House of Representatives is on a paid vacation. They're out of touch and out of town. And so, the court decision just yesterday against the president firing en masse thousands of federal employees will embolden our side. But also, what we're hearing from our constituents, that they want health care to be guaranteed. They want to know before November 1st, when the open enrollment period begins, whether they will afford health care insurance instead of the doubling or tripling of premiums they're going to see without some kind of extension of the health care tax credits.

So, there is a serious issue here, Kate. And we are going to stand strong and firm because we're on the right side of this issue, right side of history. And, by the way, the right side of the red states, where three quarters of the people live, who will be affected negatively if these health care tax cuts are not extended.

BOLDUAN: So, things are not changing anytime soon. And with that in mind, I want to jump ahead to what is changing in a very real way, in very real time. What John Berman was just talking about with Alayna Treene at the White House, President Trump now saying he's considering land strikes on Venezuelan drug cartels. This is after the fifth known strike on an alleged drug boat and after the administration has confirmed the CIA has been secretly authorized to conduct covert action in Venezuela.

Are you OK with any of that? And what would it mean for the president to conduct a land strike on those drug cartels?

BLUMENTHAL: We have no idea what the president is thinking when he's talking about land strikes. But if they are acts of war, certainly Congress must have a role in approving them. That's true under the War Powers Act, but also the Constitution. And very clearly, if they are law enforcement --

BOLDUAN: If that would even happen. He hasn't come to Congress for -- he hasn't come to Congress for authority on anything, tariffs, military action, anything.

BLUMENTHAL: And that's why the courts have acted against him on tariffs. I don't know whether the courts would be involved in his land strikes on these Venezuela cartels. Let's be very clear, we want to stop the cartels. Any kind of drug trafficking ought to be halted. And it could be by emboldening and strengthening the southern command of the United States military to do interception through the Coast Guard and other means of these boats that are on the water. But a land strike against Venezuela raises very serious questions, not just of law, but also practicality.

You know, if you look back at the Bay of Pigs invasion in Cuba under Kennedy, the Contra operation in Nicaragua under Reagan, these kinds of covert operations have a way of going awry, costing lives and dollars.

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And that's why some transparency and disclosure and accountability are very, very important.

BOLDUAN: Ukraine's President Zelenskyy is on the way to the United States, set to meet with the president tomorrow. And you can be sure that he's going to continue asking for Tomahawk missiles. Senator, should he get them? Do you think he will?

BLUMENTHAL: I met yesterday with some of the highest-ranking members of the delegation that will be meeting with President Zelenskyy, the delegation from Ukraine, and they are very, very hopeful that President Trump will authorize those Tomahawk missiles, which are so important to going after the places and production facilities that Russians are using to make the drones and missiles that every day are exacting a reign of terror on Ukrainian civilians. They are bombing and droning the hospitals, schools, homes in Ukraine. And those Tomahawk missiles will enable the Ukrainians to go after the production facilities for the bombs and missiles used by the Russians. But equally important, the Graham-Blumenthal Russia sanctions bill that will throttle --

BOLDUAN: Well, let me ask -- let me quickly ask you about -- let me ask you about that, because that was going to be my next question, because you have Trump, just yesterday, Senator, saying that the Indian prime minister has just assured him that he's going to halt purchasing all Russian oil and gas. That is one of the big goals of your sanctions bill with Lindsey Graham that has 80 plus co-sponsors at this point. But is it really that simple, that Modi can just turn off the spigot? Are you assured that this is actually going to happen now that you've just heard Donald Trump say it?

BLUMENTHAL: There are still obstacles because the Russian shadow fleet, which transports oil and gas, can still operate and perhaps illicitly provide supplies to Indian buyers. So, there needs to be a much stronger regimen of enforcement through the United States Treasury, as well as other means. Our European partners are very much on board.

And it's not just the Indians. And I want to commend this first step, which is a very positive one, toward having India take this step in reducing its purchases. But China, Brazil, Hungary, they are fueling the Russian war machine. The purpose of our Russian sanctions bill are to exact scorching penalties and stop that flow of money to Russia that is providing for its slaughter in Ukraine and to bring Putin to the negotiating table. Peace through strength is the operative concept here. And it's proved to be true in the Middle East. I hope that President Trump will turn to Ukraine and make clear to Vladimir Putin, we will support the Russian sanctions bill, we will stop the flow of money to your war machine, and we will bring the Russians to the table by exacting this kind of price.

BOLDUAN: Yes. One of many things that cannot be voted on while the government is still shut down would be the sanctions bill.

Senator Blumenthal, thank you so much for coming in.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, ahead, federal agents tackling and arresting a man outside a Walgreens as witnesses scream that he's a U.S. citizen. What we're learning about that confrontation.

Plus, more than a dozen governors showing Congress how it's done. The bipartisan group forming a new alliance over health care. We'll talk through that.

And the latest new wave on TikTok. Federal workers speaking up about how their life is difficult during this shutdown.

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SIDNER: New this morning, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is warning, quote, "the struggle is not over," as sticking points have emerged in the U.S.-led ceasefire with Hamas. And here is U.S. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying President Trump deserves some credit for returning the Israeli hostages, but questioned the permanence of the ceasefire.

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REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): I think that the release of the hostages is a tremendous accomplishment.

I also think that, as President Trump was on the plane back to the United States, there's already indications and questions about whether this ceasefire will hold. And I pray that it does.

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SIDNER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is live for us in Tel Aviv.

You heard AOC there saying she prays that the ceasefire holds. But what is the situation now on the ground there?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, there's no question that in the last few days the fragility of this ceasefire has very much been on display amid the kind of slow release of the remains of the deceased hostages that Hamas has been releasing over the last few days, and as Israel says that it is preparing to retaliate effectively by restricting the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Over the last few days we've seen Hamas so far release the remains of nine of the 28 deceased hostages. The -- we have seen releases every single day so far. But according to the Israeli government, more bodies of deceased hostages should have released by now. We've heard from the families of those deceased hostages as well who've expressed their frustrations, calling on the U.S. and Israel to ensure that Hamas upholds its end of the bargain.

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Hamas is now saying that they have released the remains of all of the hostages whose bodies they know the location of and can actually access for now. And interestingly, yesterday, we heard from two senior U.S. advisers who told us that they believe that Hamas is not violating the terms of the deal right now, that they're satisfied that there has been a pace of releasing of some of these remains every single day over the course of this week. And they say that specialized teams from Turkey and Egypt should be assisting in retrieving some of these bodies, noting again, as Hamas did, the difficulty of the conditions in Gaza, given that some of these bodies appear to be beneath the rubble of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip.

But so far, Israel has refused to open the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, which would allow for Palestinian civilians to go in between. We also know that there are tremendous amounts of humanitarian aid piled up on the Egyptian side of the border, and not enough aid has gotten into Gaza so far to alleviate that humanitarian situation.

But urgent efforts underway to try and address all of that.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, Jeremy Diamond, thank you so much for all your reporting throughout this conflict.

John.

BERMAN: All right, with us now is Jane Harman, former member of Congress from California, former ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee. She most recently served as chair of the Commission on the National Defense Strategy and is the author of "Insanity Defense: Why our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe." Talk about hard national security problem, what's happening in Gaza right now.

Look, you have the failure to return the bodies of the deceased hostages, which was agreed to in -- in the ceasefire deal. You also have reports that Hamas has not disarmed and doesn't seem to be about ready to hand over power in parts of Gaza. So, what happens?

JANE HARMAN (D), FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: Well, left on its own, Hamas is not going to do much. They'll slow roll the return of bodies. I would agree that some of them are hard to find, and some of them may be in the tunnels. Oh, by the way, that would be a disincentive to blow up all the tunnels, which will need to happen over time if there really is going to be a safe Gaza.

But there has to be more pressure on Hamas. There has to be more pressure on Israel. Trump is the ultimate Israel whisperer. All he has said lately is, he can tell Bibi what to do. So, tell Bibi to, you know, hold off and let this play out a few more days. But on the other side, the Sunni Arab world, beyond just Qatar and Turkey, and maybe Egypt, have to put more pressure on Hamas too. There's a twisted relationship between Qatar and -- and Hamas. They house the Hamas leadership there. And they still do, as far as I know, the political leadership. And -- and the other countries have a vested interest, especially Saudi Arabia. You'd think in -- in preserving and expanding the Abraham Accords. And so does Trump. That's his big piece achievement of his last term. And oh, by the way, it probably has economic rewards for his family.

BERMAN: I mean, as this deal, as the 20-point plan moves on, and they're -- really, they're not past part one yet, phase one yet, but some kind of international policing force inside Gaza.

HARMAN: Yes.

BERMAN: How much do you really believe as you sit here right now, and you've worked and been in all of these countries.

HARMAN: Yes.

BERMAN: Do you believe that these Arab states, and in some cases Muslim states, will put their own troops on the ground in Gaza?

HARMAN: Well, let's hope. Maybe.

BERMAN: Yes. See, but you're only willing to go so far as maybe.

HARMAN: I'm only willing to go so far. But it has to be a robust force with everyone in. I don't think the U.S. would put troops on the ground. It's ironic that we're now possibly going to be on the ground, or certainly in the air over Venezuela.

BERMAN: Yes.

HARMAN: But we might put troops and ammunition offshore. That's something we might do.

BERMAN: And in Israel, I mean we do have troops involved in -- from Israel beforehand.

HARMAN: And in -- of course, in Israel.

But it ain't over till it's over. And phase one was a great triumph for -- for President Trump and for Bibi Netanyahu, who got pushed into it. But if there's no phase two, we're back at war. And I can't imagine who wins except possibly for Bibi's right-wing coalition. And I don't think that's in Israel's long-range interest. I think this peace plan, fully implemented, with a path to two states, is a really robustly good idea for the long-term security of Israel and the thrive -- thriving of the whole region.

BERMAN: How long do you think you -- it will take before we know whether this is moving forward? HARMAN: Well, President Trump has to pay attention to this. He can't

just leave it. And I hope he will focus on his meeting with Zelenskyy on Friday. I would, you know, have him dial down Venezuela, dial up Ukraine and the Middle East.

BERMAN: Let me talk about Ukraine for a second here, because we know that Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been asking about Tomahawk missiles, right? And I think we have a map, which we can show. If Ukraine were to have Tomahawk missiles, it would give them the capability to strike much deeper into Russia, to take the fight, you know, way deeper, hitting installations.

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You can see all the major cities that would be able to be reached by, at that point, Ukrainian weapons. A, do you think that President Trump should give them the Tomahawks? And do you think that he will?

HARMAN: I think he should give them the Tomahawks. I think he should have given them long range weapons much sooner. They are making their own version of ATACMS, which are sort of medium range missiles.

BERMAN: Right.

HARMAN: Right now they're enormously innovative. But -- and given them permission to attack the sites that are attacking them. We're not talking about bombing schools, hospitals, innocent cities, which is what Russia is doing against Ukraine. The other thing is, and you were just talking to Senator Blumenthal about this, is that bill needs to move. Senate Leader Thune was talking earlier this morning, I saw him, about possibly it could move through some procedure, even if Congress isn't back. But secondary sanctions, robust secondary sanctions against every country, every country, including some in Europe that are trading with -- with Russia would really, really, finally put such a damper on the Russian economy that Putin would have to -- have to negotiate.

BERMAN: House Speaker Mike Johnson would have to bring the House back into session, which he hasn't done yet.

HARMAN: Well, yes, but that's what he ought to do, too.

BERMAN: I'm sure you miss being there right now, going through another shutdown.

Former Congresswoman Jane Harman --

HARMAN: There were better times, John. There were better times.

BERMAN: Great to see you. Thank you so much,

Kate.

BOLDUAN: A head shake and there are better times could be the meme of our times right now. Coming up for us, the dark side to A.I. A new docu series exploring the question, as they say in it, is A.I. making us crazy? A deep dive into what's called A.I. psychosis.

We'll be back.

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