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Amazon: Services Restored After Global Internet Outage; Trump Says He'll Announce New Tariffs On Colombia As Feud Escalates; Soon: Jury Selection In Murder Trial Of Former Illinois Deputy. Aired 7:30- 8a ET

Aired October 20, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

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[07:30:33]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, some breaking news. An update on these huge global internet outages that affect almost everyone depending on what you're using. It does appear that most apps and websites are now working again.

I want to get to CNN's Clare Sebastian with the very latest. Clare, what are you learning?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Um-hum -- yeah, John. Now we are hearing from Amazon that they have sort of essentially found the root cause and fixed it. This is what they're saying. They're saying the underlying DNS issue has been fully mitigated, and most AWS Service operations are succeeding normally now."

DNS, putting it in very simple terms, Domain Name System. This is essentially how the internet translates sort of human readable websites into IP addresses that can then be read across the internet. So that is the system that we're hearing from IT experts does sort of malfunction fairly regularly on a much smaller scale.

But, of course, this being Amazon Web Services, which is the dominant player in cloud computing -- essentially a 30 percent market share -- has had a huge impact globally even though we went from the first reports of the problem to fully being mitigated -- the underlying issue -- in the space of about 3 1/2 hours.

These are some of the companies that were affected. You can see it ranges from the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase to gaming like Fortnight, Delta Airlines -- all sorts of things, of course, including Amazon's own services.

They are still, they say, working through a backlog of issues -- requests that have been coming in throughout the morning -- but the underlying issue -- they have found it, and they say that they have mitigated it -- John.

BERMAN: So I can tell you from going through some of these sites some do appear to be back on, but not all. And Amazon does say it could take some time for every one of the apps and sites that you use to be working in full order again.

We'll keep our eye on this and monitor it throughout the morning.

Clare Sebastian, thank you so much for the update -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Happening today, President Trump is escalating his fiscal and verbal attacks on Colombia and its president. He now plans to impose new tariffs on Colombia after first announcing he will end all U.S. aid to Colombia. He's attacked the Colombian President Gustavo Petro, calling him an illegal drug dealer who "does nothing to stop the production of drugs."

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DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They are a drug manufacturing machine, Colombia, and we're not going to be part of it. So we're going to drop all money that we're giving to them. They have -- it has nothing to do with them stopping drug production.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: The two leaders have clashed on the issue of drug trafficking, especially as the United States conducts strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. And yesterday, we learned about another one of those strikes -- the seventh in the Caribbean. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth saying the boat was affiliated with what he said was a Colombian terrorist organization.

CNN's Alayna Treene is at the White House.

Alayna, first, it was Venezuela, now Colombia, one of the strongest U.S. allies in the Americas. What are you learning about this and how it has turned so strongly worded against the president there of Colombia?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, Sara. I mean, the president -- President Donald Trump now finds himself embroiled in this escalating conflict with Colombia and he's now vowing to inflict pain on the country after engaging in what you said as well -- an escalating war of words with the country's leftist President Gustavo Petro.

Now, the president said last night, as you mentioned, that he is going to impose new tariffs on Colombia today. We're standing by to see what that announcement is actually going to look like. And said that he's also cutting all aid to the country. That is notable given that Colombia is one of the top recipients of aid from the United States in all of Latin America.

Now this comes, of course, as we have seen the president and the Trump administration really escalating their attacks and strikes on boats off the coast of Venezuela, which they argue are carrying illicit drugs.

I should note -- and this is something that has come up in the course of the conversations around Colombia as well overnight -- is that there has been little evidence to see what exactly is happening. The Trump administration has not been very forthcoming about which cartels that they argue are carrying drugs. There's little information. They haven't identified these different types of people that they've killed. They have killed dozens of people now with these strikes, and that's one of the concerns amid all of this.

[07:35:00]

Now, Petro, for his part -- the Colombian president -- he said -- essentially accused the United States of murdering what he said was an innocent fisherman in an attack on a boat that American authorities again said was carrying illicit drugs.

Now I do want to note that this isn't the first time we actually saw President Donald Trump engage in a wider conflict with Colombia. Just days after he was sworn into office for this second term, he had threatened to impose sky-high tariffs on Colombia when they -- when the president had moved to block the deportation of immigrants.

And so we have to see where this is going to go, but very big consequences for Colombia if Trump moves forward with this.

SIDNER: Yeah.

Alayna Treene, thank you so much for your reporting there live from the White House for us -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Vice President J.D. Vance is now going to be leading a U.S. delegation to Israel as the Trump administration is pushing ahead to the next phase -- with the next phase of the very fragile ceasefire in Gaza.

Two of the deal's main architects, Donald Trump's Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, will also be heading back over. And they showed some rare insight into what happened behind the scenes after the president gave them the green light to talk directly to Hamas leaders to get them to yes.

Here they are on "60 MINUTES."

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JARED KUSHNER, HELPED NEGOTIATE ISRAEL-HAMAS CEASEFIRE DEAL: We wanted the hostages to come out. We wanted a real ceasefire that both sides would respect. We needed a way to bring humanitarian aid into the people. And then we had to write all these complex words to deal with the 50 years of stupid word games that everyone in that region is so used to playing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And this trip now comes after Israel says Hamas carried out an attack Sunday killing two Israeli soldiers. That marks the first time Israeli troops have been killed in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect. Israel responded, launching a wave of airstrikes that Gaza hospitals say killed at least 44 people. Still, Israel and Hamas say they remain committed to the ceasefire deal, though accusing the other of violating it.

Joining us right now is CNN senior military analyst and former NATO supreme allied commander, retired Admiral James Stavridis. It's good to see you, Admiral.

First, what do you think -- I was just curious of this detail kind of offered up from Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff -- what happened behind the scenes, including Trump giving them the green light to speak directly with Hamas -- Hamas' main negotiator.

ADM. JAMES STAVRIDIS (RET)., CNN SENIOR MILITARY ANALYST, FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER, PARTNER, THE CARLYLE GROUP (via Webex by Cisco): Yeah. We all hate when we negotiate with terrorists, but at the end of the day if you're going to negotiate you've got to talk to them. So I, for one, have no problem with that.

And then secondly, what I really picked up on was Jared's comment about the word games that people have played forever. I think he's right and perhaps they have cut through the Gordian knot here. We'll see.

But I'll end with this, Kate. When I was in charge of U.S.-Israeli military-to-military cooperation as the NATO commander I went to Israel often. I got advice from Dr. Henry Kissinger, who knows a thing or two about the Middle East. Dr. Kissinger said to me, "Every solution is merely an admission ticket to the next problem." I think that's what team Trump is discovering in the region now. It's hard.

BOLDUAN: And you also -- you wrote a really, really in-depth and interesting piece about, kind of, this advice that you received. How that translates to now and what is needed for the Gaza peace plan to actually succeed. In summary, you say it's U.S. troops. Explain.

STAVRIDIS: Um, it is U.S. troops as leverage. A small number of U.S. troops, Kate. In the context of previous deployments of 150,000 troops to Iraq or 100,000 troops to Afghanistan, no.

But 3,000 U.S. troops -- a lot of them offshore on warships to operate helicopters. A lot of them doing the back-office work. You could use those 3,000 U.S. troops as leverage to get 30,000 Arab troops to patrol Gaza. And I think the IDF is going to keep about 30,000 troops there.

So think 60,000 allied troops, if you will, use the U.S. small number as leverage. That's a pretty good approach in my view.

BOLDUAN: Maybe it's really -- it's on Bloomberg and it's really worth a read for people because you go in-depth on who is needed -- the backup that's needed. I found it truly fascinating.

Also, and what Alayna Treene was talking about what's happening -- you have a ton of experience in South America from your time at U.S. Southern Command. We've got another strike by the Trump administration on an alleged drug boat. Colombia's leader now accusing Trump of murder.

What's your perspective on this and where this is headed?

STAVRIDIS: Uh, it's not headed in a good direction. Let's start with that.

There are really two missions here, Kate -- one you're seeing the results of. It's counternarcotics. I would argue instead of blowing these boats we have a lot of experience capturing them. If we were to capture them, we could interrogate the crews. We could drop a plumb line back to Maduro and really seal the case that he is a global drug dealer and terrorist -- and I believe that. But we need the evidence if we're going to sell this more broadly.

[07:40:20]

So that's one mission.

And the other one, Kate, is good old-fashioned gun boat diplomacy. There are six to eight major warships down there, Tomahawk missiles, helicopters, B-52 bombers, F-35s. I know I'm just ticking down a laundry list, but the point is huge combat power down there. It's not to blow up drug boats; it's to send a signal to Maduro that his days are limited. Whether the administration is going to pull the trigger on use of force ashore is what we're all watching.

BOLDUAN: Oof.

It's good to see you, Admiral. Thank you so much, as always -- John.

BERMAN: All right. Millions of Americans took to the streets to protest the current administration and its policies. This was President Trump's response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Truth Social post mocking "No Kings" protest with AI-generated video.

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BERMAN: The AI-generated video features President Trump in a crown flying the fighter jet emblazoned with "King Trump" on its side. The president then appears to dump raw sewage on protesters.

This new wave of "No Kings" rallies, as they're called, boasted nearly seven million attendees across 50 states.

With us now Republican strategist Doug Heye, and former press secretary to then-Vice President Joe Biden, Kendra Barkoff.

Kendra, let me just start with you. What do you think these protests showed this weekend?

KENDRA BARKOFF, FORMER PRESS SECRETARY TO THEN-VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: Well, they showed that they are -- people are unhappy with Donald Trump's policies. You have more then seven million people coming out in 50 states across the country. They are angry. They -- people voted Donald Trump to lower gas prices, to lower grocery prices, and that is clearly not happening.

And on top of that, I would just say that video that he created -- I am sorry. That is something that 10-year-old boys may get a good chuckle at. But the reality is if this Republican Party led by Donald Trump continue to not take these people seriously, great. Let's keep it up because that is great news for Democrats come 20 -- come -- in the upcoming elections.

BERMAN: This is what President Trump had to say beyond the AI video -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I think it's a joke. I looked at the people. They're not representative of this country. And I looked at all the brand-new signs paid for -- I guess it was paid for by Soros and other radical left lunatics. It looks like it was. But we're checking it out.

The demonstrations were very small and very ineffective, and the people were whacked out. When you look at those people those are not representative of the people of our country.

REPORTER: Mr. President, (INAUDIBLE).

TRUMP: No, I'm not a king. I'm not a king.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: So Doug, he called them very small, very ineffective. I will note, I mean, we're just a few before elections across the country here. I assume there is a risk to overstating the importance of these, but how much of a risk is there to understating the importance if you're Republicans?

DOUG HEYE, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER RNC COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: Well, it certainly can tell us maybe something about Democratic intensity. But as you mentioned, we're just a few weeks away from elections in Virginia and New Jersey. And so as I saw rallies in Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, big crowds at those.

But ultimately, I would rather, on one of the last Saturdays before the election, have those people knocking on doors and making phone calls, and actually trying to affect elective change if I'm a Democrat than waving signs and whatever else. It seems to me to a missed opportunity here.

And don't get me wrong, John. What is more fun? It's a great little Saturday to dress up like Kermit the Frog and, you know, wave posters of J.D. Vance with a bald head for some reason. That's a great Saturday.

What is doesn't do is it doesn't help Mikie Sherrill win in New Jersey. It doesn't help Abigal Spanberger win in Virginia. I would think that would be the Democrats' priority. And you can do this in a politically smart way and it's why I think

that the organizers here aren't campaign people. You do this rally after the elections because if the Democrats win these two elections then you can demonstrate real momentum regardless of -- yes, I would agree with Donald Trump -- maybe not with all of his imagery -- that some of these people aren't exactly representative of real American voters.

BERMAN: Also over the last few days perhaps not surprisingly late on Friday President Trump commuted the sentence of former member of Congress George Santos who was convicted of all different types of fraud but also accused of just breathtaking schemes in the process of getting himself elected and lies to the people of Long Island.

I want to play for you what Santos said about this commutation over the weekend -- listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GEORGE SANTOS, (R) FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE, PRISON SENTENCE COMMUTED BY TRUMP: Look, there's always going to be critics. People are going to like me; people are going to hate me. It doesn't matter whoever gets clemency in the future or whoever that person might be. I'm pretty confident if President Trump had pardoned Jesus Christ off the -- off the cross he would have had critics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:45:05]

BERMAN: Is George Santos Jesus, Kendra?

BARKOFF: Definitely not. This is just a bizarre use of political capital by Donald Trump. It is sort of baffling to me. But I will say that this is exhibit number A for why pardon reform is needed. I think that this is -- you know, we've seen it time and time again.

Obviously, presidents get the ability to pardon. That is within their ability to do so. But I do think that this is a problem that needs to be fixed and addressed for future -- for future presidents.

BERMAN: And Doug, this isn't an issue of can. No one disputes that the president can do this. It's the issue of should.

HEYE: Yeah, I agree with Kendra. I'd love to see some reform on this. Presidents of both parties have abused the pardon power. And this could be an example of where Congress takes some power away from the executive branch. For generations Congress has given power away. This is a perfect example where Republicans and Democrats should be able to come together.

BERMAN: It will be interesting to see George Santos in public view, and if President Trump like that, several weeks from now. Santos is on TV every day or frequently.

Doug Heye, Kendra Barkoff, great to see both of you. BARKOFF: Bring him on.

BERMAN: Thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. This morning a potential warning sign for the economy. A new poll finding Americans are growing increasingly worried about their job prospects amid hiring freezes and higher prices for everything from food to health care to housing and utilities.

CNN's Matt Egan joining us now. Break this down -- what you're seeing in this report.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yeah, Sara. Well, we're seeing that Americans have lost confidence in this job market and what it means in the event that they need to land a new job, right?

This new AP poll shows that just 21 percent of Americans say they are either extremely or very confident in their ability to find a good job. Just 21 percent. Thirty percent say they're somewhat confident. But almost half -- a plurality -- 47 percent say they're not very or not at all confident that they could find a good job.

Now what's notable is that all these metrics are actually moving in the wrong direction when you compare it with 2023 under the Biden administration. Also, when you compare it to 2019 just before COVID- 19. Americans have a lot less confidence than they did.

And this just reflects reality, right? I mean, the job market is a lot weaker than it was a few years ago. Hiring was on fire for a long time --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- and now it's really ice cold.

In fact, if you look at the three-month average for job growth, which is something that economists follow very closely, it's just 29,000 on average through August. Now that's the worst since COVID. And it's through August because, of course, we're in the dark about the September numbers due to the government shutdown. But this is low and it's below what's needed to keep up with the supply of workers.

But it's not just that hiring is weak, it's that some industries are actually cutting jobs right now. We've seen outright job loss in August in a number of sectors, and it's not just government where the Trump administration is cutting rapidly.

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: Construction, manufacturing, information, and finance -- all of these industries lost jobs in August.

Now one other point here is the cost of living remains just a major headache. That's something the president promised he would fix --

SIDNER: Right. EGAN: -- in the last election.

But this poll also shows that a lot of Americans -- 54 percent say that the cost of groceries is a major source of stress right now. And also, you're looking at the cost of housing, 45 percent. Lastly, Sara, the cost of electricity, 36 percent.

So put it altogether, Americans say right now hiring is too low and prices are too high.

SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, the president may not be worried about these "No Kings" rallies but this --

EGAN: Yes.

SIDNER: -- he should be worried about --

EGAN: Absolutely.

SIDNER: -- because this is what people put him into office to deal with and so far, it's not looking so good.

Matt Egan, thank you so much. Great reporting.

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: Kate.

BOLDUAN: So first on CNN, this morning health officials from across the country joining forces in support of vaccines. More than two dozen health leaders with the Big Cities Coalition are now the latest group to directly respond to and push back against guidance that they're hearing coming from the Health and Human Services Department under Robert Kennedy Jr.

The group is speaking out over real concerns and fears about what change -- about changes and what changes are coming to recommended schedules, and what it's going to mean.

CNN's Meg Tirrell has this new reporting and she's joining us now. What are you learning, Meg? What are they saying?

MEG TIRRELL CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah. So this is a group of big city public health leaders.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

TIRRELL: So across blue and red states. Some of the biggest cities and counties in the United States.

And two dozen of them have come together to sign this letter essentially imploring Americans to what they call "tune out the political noise about vaccines."

They say, "Our message is simple: get vaccinated. Vaccines have eradicated devastating diseases and saved millions of lives," they say.

[07:50:00]

And they are worried about the coming respiratory virus season. Of course, we're heading into flu, COVID, RSV season. They're worried about changes we've seen, as you noted, to the childhood and adult immunization schedules, and they're worried about what they're hearing coming out of federal leaders.

They say, "Vaccination rates are declining in many parts of the United States." They are "deeply troubled by the repeated false claims about vaccines from too many federal officials, which have contributed directly to these trends."

And, of course, we have seen measles outbreaks. They are warning about polio. So they're telling folks trust your doctor. You know, got to the people that you trust -- your local public health leaders. Tune out the political noise when it comes to vaccines.

BOLDUAN: There have been changes to vaccine -- federal vaccine policy recently that people might not be tracking this on a day-to-day basis.

What do people need to know?

TIRRELL: Yeah. A lot of people might have heard about changes when it comes particularly to COVID vaccine --

BOLDUAN: Right.

TIRRELL: -- recommendations. And there, actually, the real-life implications are not as strong as they may have seemed. So anybody over the age of six months -- the recommendation from CDC is if you want a COVID vaccine talk with your health care provider -- a doctor, a pharmacist -- anybody who is a, you know health care provider -- and you can still get a COVID vaccine.

And as we are heading into fall flu --

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

TIRRELL: -- COVID, RSV, those shots are recommended for certain groups. Flu for everybody.

And we should not also, I was just checking the CDC website to check on these respiratory virus trends. It hasn't been updated since the end of September. So as we're in this government shutdown --

BOLDUAN: Which is not normal.

TIRRELL: Right, exactly. They do weekly updates --

BOLDUAN: Right.

TIRRELL: -- when we get in this kind -- time of year to see how bad is flu, how bad is COVID, and not seeing that in the usual place right now. BOLDUAN: Hmm, that's definitely a story to track in.

TIRRELL: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: You don't know how bad it is, and you don't know where you need to put resources.

TIRRELL: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: Thanks so much, Meg.

TIRRELL: Thank you.

BOLDUAN: I really appreciate it.

Still ahead for us we have some wild video coming in out of Texas showing an officer who truly was at the right place, right time, saving a woman from her burning car. We've got details on this. Oh my goodness. That's coming up.

And also this morning jury selection is set to begin in the trial of a former sheriff's deputy who shot and killed a Black woman inside her Illinois home after she called them for help.

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[07:56:15]

SIDNER: Happening today, jury selection set to begin in the murder trial of former Illinois deputy sheriff charged for killing a Black woman who called police to her own home to help her and ended up being killed by an officer. Investigators say Sonya Massey called 911 to report a possible intruder.

You're looking at an image from the officer's body camera inside that home. Now once they were inside that body camera video shows former deputy Sean Grayson ordering Massey to remove a pot of boiling water from the stove. After Massey picked it up, she said, "I rebuke you in the name of Jesus," and Grayson then fires three shots killing her.

For more on this I am joined by our Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney.

These cases with police officers in front of juries always complicated. I am curious as to whether this video that we have seen from the body camera will be used both as a defense and as evidence of wrongdoing on the part of the officer.

JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Without question, Sara. Good morning to you.

Look, the reality is that it's going to be all about the interpretation of what occurred there. Now remember what we're talking about. We're talking about an intentional murder charge.

SIDNER: Yeah. JACKSON: That means that the prosecution's theory is that he intended and premeditatively killed her.

In addition to that there's aggravated battery. What is that? When you cause great bodily injury. And, of course, sufficient misconduct with respect to the misuse of his office.

Now he, of course, will argue self-defense. Self-defense is all about was I in immediate fear of death or serious physical injury? The bodycam is going to take the jury there.

Now it's not only are you in immediate real fear -- apprehension of the fact that you could be killed or seriously injured, it's whether or not your conduct was proportionate to the threat posed --

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: -- and whether or not you acted reasonably.

So both of them, to your question, Sara -- both the defense and prosecution are going to use the bodycam to give their perspective. It's all about the boiling water.

Defense will argue that he was in immediate fear. Prosecution will say no such thing. She had no weapon. He was not in immediate fear. She wasn't coming towards him with the water. In fact, she was crouching down. And his actions were unreasonable.

That's what the prosecution will argue. How the jury interprets that will have a lot to do with respect to whether he's guilty or he's not guilty.

SIDNER: When it comes to the mindset, because that plays into this too -- when it comes to the mindset of the officer, when you talk about premeditated murder does this have to be something that is thought of, you know, minutes before, seconds before, hours before? When it comes to premeditated murder, how does a jury sort of see that?

JACKSON: So that's a great question, Sara, and it comes up all the time. And jurors are reminded when they're charged, meaning what happens at the end of the evidence. We're not there yet. We haven't even begun --

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: -- to select a jury. But they'll be charged. And what the law is -- and it could be a split instant. You don't have to premeditate, go, buy things -- no I'm coming to the home to do it. What did you decide?

But the other issue with regard to state of mind is going to be whether he or any officer in his position would have acted similarly, meaning what was going through his mind and was he acting reasonably under those circumstances. That's what the jury has to determine.

And remember, Sara, the case has been moved because of the publicity in that particular jurisdiction.

SIDNER: Yeah. There was huge publicity. This video went viral. People watching it all over.

I am curious about jury selection. What the defense and the prosecution is looking for her because they do get a chance to take some people off the jury that have strikes.

JACKSON: Yeah. So, you know, I think that there's a major concern about the publicity in this case and about people having heard the case. But I want to just say that it's not so much have you heard about the case --

SIDNER: Right.

JACKSON: -- and even have you formed opinions about it. We all form opinions about things.

SIDNER: Sure.

JACKSON: The issue is could you leave that aside and base your conclusion, if you're a juror, your verdict on what you hear in the courtroom?

So you're going to hear a lot of questioning of the jurors. You'll hear them -- hey, I saw it. I think this. I think the other. OK, ma'am -- Ms. Jones. I know you heard it. I know you saw it.