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Senate Fails for Tenth Time to Pass GOP's Funding Bill; Israel Shares Information on Location of Deceased Hostages in Gaza With Mediators; Gaza's Rafah Crossing Remains Closed Despite Critical Aid Shortages. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired October 16, 2025 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": -- Senators tried again to reopen the federal government, but the tenth time not the charm. We have the latest on the government shutdown next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": For the 10th time, the Senate again today failed to advance the Republican stopgap bill to end the government shutdown. We're now in Day 16 and both parties are showing no signs of ending their stalemate. Democrats want Obamacare subsidies extended, but Republicans are refusing to discuss that issue until the government reopens. Speaker Mike Johnson is telling Republicans to stay in their districts, a decision that he defended today.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON, (R-LA) HOUSE SPEAKER: House Republicans made the responsible decision for our members to spend this week in their districts working for the people. Staying back to work with our constituents was a decision that we made very thoughtfully, and we made collectively as a group, House Republicans.

[13:35:00]

We have so much of that work to do. This is not some talking point, it's not some strategic tactic. We made that decision out of urgent necessity.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: I'm joined now by Republican Congressman Mike Haridopolos of Florida. Thank you so much for joining us in the studio.

REP. MIKE HARIDOPOLOS, (R-FL): Thank you.

KEILAR: I wonder, are you hearing from constituents? What are they saying? Are they saying they want the government reopened?

HARIDOPOLOS: They do. We're all frustrated like they are. As you know, I voted yes to keep the government open with Republicans. We're cautiously optimistic that the Democrats will see the light, so we can start a debate on healthcare. But we need to keep the government open after all we're all paying for it.

KEILAR: Yeah. So you're -- as you're well aware, Democrats are demanding the extension of these Obamacare subsidies. And 24 percent of Floridians under the age of 65 benefit from these tax credits. This is according to data from the Kaiser Family Foundation, very reputable non-profit organization, also the Census Bureau. It's really, really a high number in Florida where Medicaid has not been expanded. How much does that affect your thinking as a member of Congress from Florida when you see Democrats demanding these subsidies?

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, first and foremost, let's recognize that Obamacare has not been the greatest success as you have much higher price than we anticipated, and we did not get to keep our doctor. So I think what Republicans want to do is have a real --

KEILAR: It's -- I will -- it's popular, right? Healthcare is incredibly expensive and no one's going to argue with that over -- no one's going to argue with you over that. But these are very popular, these subsidies. You're very aware of that and they're very --

(CROSSTALK)

HARIDOPOLOS: First of all --

KEILAR: -- highly used in your state.

HARIDOPOLOS: We're very aware of the high prices that have come on since Obamacare, and that's why we want to reform the system. And the way we reform the system is have a good debate about it. The more time we can spend in committee hearings, hearing from people directly how they're impacted, we all win. We did some great reforms with Medicaid in the Big Bill passed in July.

We knocked illegal aliens off it. We made sure that people who no longer qualify no longer get this starting in 2027. We also made sure that if people are able-bodied, they shouldn't be getting free healthcare when people are paying $1,500 a month, that's $18,000 a year. I want to have that debate. But we can't do it when the government is shutdown.

Let's just open up the government, have the debate, because these are big prices that people are paying. We want to get that waste and fraud out of the system. So if we do keep these subsidies, we do it with the money going to the right places.

KEILAR: They don't qualify, undocumented immigrants, for those federal funds when it comes to healthcare. We should be clear about that. Open enrollment starts November 1st. This is right around the corner. This is when people in your state, again where they use these subsidies --

HARIDOPOLOS: All the more reason why we should open up the government and have the debate today, instead of waiting even more time to play these political games. KEILAR: So what kind of subsidy extension could you support?

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, what I want to do first and foremost is look at what's the driving cost of healthcare.

KEILAR: OK. But can I just -- and I hear Republicans say that you can't solve that by November 1st. You can't solve that by the end of the year. Obamacare didn't start the rising cost of healthcare. This has been a huge problem.

HARIDOPOLOS: Remember, they said it would lower cost, that it did the exact opposite. And we know there's a lot of waste and fraud. We have two or three months to work on this. I'm confident that we can have --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: And that's a very good -- that's a very good point, right, the cost curve. However, this is also something that both parties could have tackled for a very long time. You can't tackle that immediately.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, you can't tackle it when you are not in session either, and just have these debates.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: But there are these -- do you want -- so, do you want the Speaker to come back? I mean, you could be in session. You don't have to not be in session.

HARIDOPOLOS: Like you, I want the government to have -- be open. That's what people are calling about. They can't believe that the Dems --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Well, these are two things, explain this to me.

HARIDOPOLOS: No, the difference is here --

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: The House being in session and the government being open are two distinct things.

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, first of all, we've done our job in the House. As you know, we passed it out of the House many weeks ago. They're sitting on, I think, Vote 10 as you brought it very well. And I don't have to take school house rock here. It takes the House to do one part. It goes over to the Senate. We're waiting for them to come back.

In the meantime, we are spending time in the districts. We're spending a lot of time on phones. We're talking to reporters and we're talking about -- we're studying this issue because these Obamacare subsidies are a big deal. It's a subsidy on a subsidy on a subsidy. And they said these COVID things would be temporary. They want to keep that long term. They just want us to rubber stamp what people rejected back in the 2024 elections.

And we're just not going to say, "Oh, you get your way because you are upset and you took your ball and went home." I want to open the government up. I'm a new member of Congress. And people deserve to know what the impacts they'll have on their budget because they're paying $1,500 a month for it, if they're not in one of these Obamacare subsidies.

KEILAR: You want to open up the government? Do you want the House to be in session?

HARIDOPOLOS: I think that what we have laid out precisely is that this is -- there's a budget discussion and there's a policy discussion. This is how we got lectured by Chuck Schumer for years.

KEILAR: OK, that's not what I asked you. The House is not in session. Your Republican colleague, Kevin Kiley of California, said that the House does not have to be closed down because the government is shutdown. The Senate isn't doing this. Do you want the House open?

HARIDOPOLOS: What I want is the government to be open.

[13:40:00]

People have paid for these services. They're not getting these services.

KEILAR: But what about the House of Representatives?

HARIDOPOLOS: The House of Representatives is working right now. We're looking at options right now. But the Democrats are the ones playing the games. They said the only way they're going to open the government is if we spend $1.5 trillion to keep the government open for seven weeks. And now they've added another, at least again, in their mindset, the rubber stamp of $450 billion to $350 billion to keep the latest subsidies in place from COVID. We don't think that's the right thing to do.

KEILAR: And these are expensive subsidies.

HARIDOPOLOS: Oh yeah, they are.

KEILAR: They certainly are. The fact is a lot of Americans will see the difference of them. So whether you say you don't want to rubber stamp something from the COVID era, it doesn't take away the fact that if you don't deal with these subsidies, many, many people are going to see their costs increase.

HARIDOPOLOS: Yes.

KEILAR: Something that cannot be solved by trying to adjust for healthcare here, a huge long-term problem in the near term. So knowing that, I mean, how do you approach this then?

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, first of all, we're willing to have the debate and all we ask them is return. KEILAR: If you're not in session --

(CROSSTALK)

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, again, it's a very easy --

KEILAR: How can you debate if you're not in session?

HARIDOPOLOS: Well, it is really easy to have the debate because all they have to do is open up the government. Again, why would the Democrats start their entire career saying, we should never shut down the government. Suddenly this temper tantrum showed up. And so, we're saying let's all get together and work on it. But all said, there's another side of this coin. We are as (ph) very sympathetic that people are getting Obamacare subsidies, but we also know people who pay from their own pocket $1,500 a month, they have to subsidize that situation. No, they're paying for those people who get free or reduced healthcare. And we've got to look at their costs too because we need to drive those down.

And the Democrats won't even discuss that. They just want a rubber stamp. And on top of that, they're saying, we're not going to accept a one year extension. We want even more than that. I mean, here's a group that lost the election. They had this civil war going on within their party, and they're trying to run the show contrary to the entire political career, which was you got to keep the government open or it's -- I think, Schumer called it lunacy or idiocy, I forget which stupid word he used.

KEILAR: They've been very critical of Republicans when they have shut down the government. They're also seeing, just from a political standpoint, as you understand, that people are about to see what the cost of this already very popular subsidy is and what it's going to be to them. I mean, that is a real --

HARIDOPOLOS: That's why I am here.

KEILAR: That's a real effect just politically --

HARIDOPOLOS: Oh, yeah.

KEILAR: -- that you're going to have to confront. You can't run away from it. That's a very real thing.

(CROSSTALK)

HARIDOPOLOS: We don't want to run away from it.

(CROSSTALK)

KEILAR: Even if you don't like it, you're going to have so many people in your district who say, oh my goodness, this is going to cost me so much money.

HARIDOPOLOS: And I think people should be open to the awareness that Obamacare failed. It has dramatically. And we need to look at ways to reform it. And I want to have that open debate. I don't want the old Chuck Schumer style of let's get the four leaders together in a room and work it out. I got elected too. And all of us Republicans who got elected and this new majority are saying, we want to have a more transparent system with a traditional budget process as opposed to what they've been doing in the Senate since 1996.

They've not passed a traditional budget since 1996. Chuck Schumer's been here since 1980. Nancy Pelosi since '86. The new people want to say, let's have an open budget process like we do in Florida, and let's have an open debate and keep the government open. You and I are paying for it. And unfairly, the Democrats say, we don't care. We're going to shut it down and take away things that people have already paid for. That's why I'm on your show. Let's have the debate and let's open up the government, and let the cards fall as they will.

But I want to have that debate and not leave it to the four corners or just the leaders to make all the decisions in Washington. That's what change is all about.

KEILAR: Easier to debate when the House is in session. But I hear you. Congressman Mike Haridopolos, thank you so much for being with us.

HARIDOPOLOS: Thanks, Brianna. Nice to meet you.

KEILAR: We appreciate it.

And could the Gaza ceasefire deal already be in jeopardy? Ahead, Israeli frustrations with Hamas threatening to reignite this conflict just days after this deal to end it was signed. We're going to look at the crisis and the increasing concerns about Israel's retaliation against Palestinians in Gaza next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:48:20]

SANCHEZ: Anger is growing in Israel over how long it's taking to return the 19 deceased hostages whose bodies are still in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying today at a ceremony commemorating the October 7th attack that Israel's fight against terror will continue. And a source tells CNN that Israel believes Hamas knows more about some of the hostages' whereabouts than it is willing to admit.

Hamas though says it has handed over all the bodies it can access and that conditions in the war-torn region are slowing down progress. Meantime, President Trump tells CNN that Israel could resume fighting as soon as he says the word if Hamas does not disarm. Amid all of this, the escalating humanitarian crisis in the enclave, the Rafah border crossing which remains closed as human rights groups are accusing Israel of using humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip in the dispute over the slow hostage release.

Let's go straight to CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond, who's in Tel Aviv for us. So Jeremy, what's the latest? JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Boris, this --

there's no question that this ceasefire is fragile right now, but there is a difference it seems between some of the public rhetoric that we are hearing from both sides and the reality that's actually being implemented on the ground. And as of now, it seems like both Israel and Hamas are upholding the terms of this ceasefire agreement.

We heard from senior U.S. advisers yesterday, who said that despite releasing just nine out of the 28 remains of deceased hostages, the United States believes that Hamas is upholding the terms of this agreement. And as it relates to Israel, releasing enough aid quantities into the Gaza Strip, we have been hearing a lot of clamoring here in Israel for Israel to restrict the quantities of aid.

[13:50:00]

We've even had Israeli officials tell the United Nations that the aid would be restricted as long as Hamas did not release the remains of more deceased hostages. But I've now learned, according to U.S. and Israeli officials, that Israel is in fact upholding its requirements in terms of the quantities of aid going into Gaza. Yesterday, for example, we had originally been told by an Israeli official that just half of the 600 trucks of aid required to go into Gaza would be going in. But it turns out that actually 700 trucks of aid actually went into Gaza yesterday, according to internal COGAT documents.

COGAT is that agency, Israeli agency that's responsible for coordinating the shipment of aid into the Gaza Strip. That doesn't mean, of course, that the situation in Gaza has been stabilized from a humanitarian aid standpoint. It's going to require a lot of days and weeks of sustained levels of humanitarian aid at that level in order for the situation to begin to stabilize. But at least in terms of the potential violations of the ceasefire that we could be seeing on both sides, from the United States standpoint, both sides are upholding their end of the agreement.

Now, that doesn't mean that Israel doesn't want to see more bodies of deceased hostages come out much sooner from Hamas. But there are efforts underway in particular, involving the Egyptians and the Turkish government as well, helping provide specialized equipment, expertise as well in terms of locating and then removing some of these bodies that are believed to be under the rubble of Israeli airstrikes. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Jeremy Diamond live for us in Tel Aviv. Thank you so much for that reporting. Still ahead on News Central, a crisis for many American military families not having enough food to eat. And here's the catch, this problem could get worse if the government shutdown doesn't soon come to an end. We'll discuss in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:56:35]

KEILAR: On today's Home Front, a last-minute move by President Trump has allowed the Pentagon and the Department of Homeland Security to move funds around to pay service members. But as military families geared up for missed paychecks by visiting food banks, the food insecurity crisis facing military families even before this shutdown has again come into stark relief. A 2023 study by the Military Family Advisory Network found that one in four active-duty families were facing food insecurity. And now things could become even worse if military families missed their next paycheck on October 31st.

Let's get some insight now with Monica Bassett, the Founder and CEO of Stronghold Food Pantry. Monica, these numbers, I mean, this is shocking to people who learn about this. Why are so many military families facing food insecurity?

MONICA BASSETT, FOUNDER & CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER, STRONGHOLD FOOD PANTRY: Yes. So Brianna, first and foremost, thank you so much for having me on here. And that study has been done and yes, one in four military families were facing food insecurity before the government shutdown. And they say a lot of those high causal factors are the fact that military families, PCS, and they move their duty station every two to three years. One, making that very hard for a military spouse to earn income to get employed anywhere else.

We have a very high unemployment and underemployment rate for our military spouses, but also the move itself is very expensive. I think so many people think that the military moves are cost free to military service members, but there is actually a pretty hefty price. On average, I believe you can spend one to $5,000 out of pocket from those moves that takes -- that you don't get reimbursed for. And then your reimbursement costs can take up to 60 to 90 days to get back. So, that one in four is definitely spiking right now with the government shutdown.

KEILAR: Yeah, certainly. And service members got paid this week, but what about the next paycheck? How are military families addressing food needs as they're concerned they might not get paid here in a couple weeks?

BASSETT: You're absolutely correct, and that's the one thing that we at Stronghold are also trying to educate our patrons on. They get very excited. Some of them are young and they don't realize that just because the October 15th paycheck came in, that we're going to be in this exact predicament in another week or two if the government does not pass a resolution or something to protect the military pay.

And what we're trying to do is just educate them on continuing to get resources, continuing to try to find a way to not necessarily negotiate groceries. This is what Stronghold is here for. The spike has shown us that there is a high percentage of military families that have a very thin margin of additional funds to get them from one paycheck to the other. So, we want our families to stay very vigilant and to continue to find resources in their area.

KEILAR: Yeah, I think we can all agree that members of the military, our servicemen and women, they should not be worried about their families getting enough to eat whether there is a shutdown or not. I mean, I don't know how you do your job when you're worried about that. What's the long-term solution here? Well, the long term solution is always to educate them and to give them the resources. I always say that at stronghold where they are to be that immediate tangible plug that hopefully will prevent a military family from spiraling into --