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Trump Says He Has No Plans To Meet With Putin; European Leaders Put Pressure On Putin To End War In Ukraine; Heat Guard, Trail Blazers Coach On Leave After Arrests; 23 and Me Solves A Medical Mystery; U.S. Ranchers Blast Trump's Plan To Buy Argentine Beef; Trump's Argentina Beef Deal Angers Many Struggling U.S. Farmers; Trump Says He's Raising Tariffs On Canada By 10 Percent; What Did Americans Think Of Canada's Anti Tariff Ad? Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 25, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

[18:00:31]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I am Jessica Dean here in New York.

And tonight, President Trump headed to Asia for high stakes talks. On his way over, the President, telling reporters at the moment he has no immediate plans to meet with Russian leader, Vladimir Putin. This comes a week after Trump spoke with Putin over the phone.

The two were expected to meet for a summit in Budapest, however, that was called off and Trump instead implemented sanctions on Russia's two biggest oil companies.

Let's bring in CNN's Julia Benbrook to tell us more about this.

Julia, what else did he say about any potential meeting with Russia or how this might move forward?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jessica, it is no secret that it has been a long goal of President Donald Trump's to help bring the war in Ukraine to an end. We know that last week he spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, with the goal of discussing that, following it, there was some optimism, as he said, that he had plans to meet with Putin in Budapest. But just days later, that meeting was called off and there were new sanctions placed on Russia.

Now, he was asked on Air Force One today what Russia would need to do in order to reschedule that meeting. I want you to take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I am going to have to know that we are going to make a deal. I am not going to be wasting my time.

I've always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing. I thought this would have gone long before peace in the Middle East. I could say almost any one of the deals that I've already done, I thought it would have been more difficult than Russia and Ukraine, but it didn't work out that way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: Following the cancellation of that meeting, The White House said that Trump had not seen enough interest from Putin in moving toward peace. Trump has also suggested that a meeting right now would be a waste of time.

Now, I do want to highlight, Jessica, also on this trip, multiple stops, we are hearing from him on a lot of different topics, but we do know his schedule is going to include stops in Malaysia, in Japan, and in South Korea and South Korea specifically, there will be this important meeting, long awaited between Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, high stakes, because, of course, this comes at a tension -- when -- at a time when tensions are high -- excuse me -- as they are working to come to some sort of a trade deal and both recently slapped new measures on each other.

Trump is presenting some optimism. He says he does expect this to be a good meeting, maybe even a great meeting.

DEAN: And you mentioned, he has been traveling all day, Julia. He did stop to refuel in Qatar and met there with the country's Emir and Prime Minister, where they talked about postwar planning for Gaza. What did he say about that?

BENBROOK: He did. He is already having meetings on the way. As he stopped to refuel and sat down, he thanked these leaders for the role that they played in helping broker a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, and he just hours later posted on social media, I want to pull part of that up for you now to highlight what he said.

He had a warning for Hamas in the coming days. He said, "We have a very strong peace in the Middle East, and I believe it has a good chance of being everlasting. Hamas is going to have to start returning the bodies of the deceased hostages, including two Americans, quickly, or the other countries involved in this great peace will take action." He went on to say, "... perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when -- perhaps it has to do with their disarming, but when I said both sides would be treated fairly, that only applies if they comply with their obligations. Let's see what they do over the next 48 hours. I am watching this very closely."

So a clear warning there for Hamas to take certain steps in the coming days.

DEAN: All right, Julia Benbrook with the latest, thanks so much for that.

We are joined now by CNN contributor and former CNN Moscow Bureau Chief, Jill Dougherty.

Jill, good to see you. I want to go back to Russia and Trump's comments on Russia. He has been changing his tune on meeting with Putin in the last week. We have seen shifts like this before from the President, but now we have seen these sanctions go into place. What does all of this signal to you?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN RUSSIAN AFFAIRS CONTRIBUTOR: Well, economic pressure, I think would be the main thing. I mean President Trump has said he hopes that Xi Jinping will help out, and what help out means would be stop buying Russian oil and that, you know, the theory behind that, of course, is that the Russian economy is very dependent upon their exports of energy.

[18:05:10]

And in fact, you know, a quarter of Russian revenues come from oil exports, and China, if it stopped buying, it would be very significant because they buy 47 percent of the oil from Russia, crude oil.

So if it worked, it could be -- it could have an impact on President Putin and on his war economy.

The only problem is, you know, if you listen to what President Putin said just the other day, he said no self-respecting country, you know, makes any decisions based on pressure. So would they actually do it? Would he want to be seen as caving? And then also China is very good at having run arounds, you know, workarounds as they are called, to get oil out and sell it in different ways. It would have -- kind of a sanctions bust, as they call it.

DEAN: And also this week, we heard the President of Lithuania saying Russian planes had violated their airspace. I know you just returned from Eastern Europe, and I am curious from your time there what your sense is of how the war is being viewed and what people are thinking.

DOUGHERTY: Oh, there is a lot of concern, I can tell you, Jessica. You know, I went to Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, into Ukraine, a little bit into Lviv, and then Hungary, Romania, Moldova. So this is all the western part of Russia, and the concern is very high and I have to say, seeing the border, which really wasn't that militarized before, is very militarized now.

A lot of concern about Russia, maybe, you know, invasion, but more this sabotage and undermining that Russia is carrying out. So again, it is a lot of concern and I do think they feel that they are -- let's say, they have to do it themselves because the administration, Trump administration has indicated, you know, that it is now they feel a European responsibility to do a lot of the heavy lifting on this.

DEAN: That is interesting. Has that shifted since, you know, as you've been talking with people and over the last several years, and certainly since Trump has come into office?

DOUGHERTY: Oh, I would say definitely, and especially on this trip, one official said to me, we don't feel that they have our back. And, you know, in a way Europe is getting more and more ready, certainly to carry some of that burden. They are doing their own sanctions. They are providing weapons. But President Trump is selling the weapons to Europe to provide them.

So there is a feeling that, yes, they will be able to help Ukraine and defend themselves, I have to say, but it could take a lot of work, a lot of money, and this will be a very significant, I think, shift in Europe in general.

DEAN: And we did talk about the sanctions. Obviously, Europe part of that with the U.S., with President Trump putting those sanctions on Russia's oil industry. How were -- I don't know if you were there when that had gone into effect or not, or if they were just talking about it, what the timeline was.

But how do you think Europe is kind of metabolizing that decision?

DOUGHERTY: Well, again as you have noted, and others have, there often is a switch in the way President Trump deals with Russia. A lot of it is obviously trying to maneuver and negotiate and try to, you know, push Putin into certain positions.

So I think the Europeans are doing as much as they can to try to stay close to the administration, convince President Trump to be very strong on Ukraine, but they are also at the same time doing what they think they have to do, because it is a little unpredictable at this point.

And Putin, by the way, shows no sign of really caving on anything or changing his mind. Just look at this trip by Kirill Dmitriev here trying to convince, you know, the United States, yes, we can get the relationship back on track, but it is at this point no indication from Putin that he wants to change his original position on Ukraine.

DEAN: Yes, all right, Jill Dougherty, always good to have you. Thank you so much for your thoughts. We really appreciate it.

And still ahead, New York's Attorney General remains defiant in the face of a federal indictment. What Letitia James says the case is not about -- why she says it is not about her as she pleads not guilty to felony charges.

And it is an FBI probe that shocked the sports world. We are going to dive deeper into the gambling case with ties to the New York mafia and the NBA.

We are also tracking Hurricane Melissa. It is growing stronger by the minute as it barrels toward Jamaica and Haiti.

Stay with us. You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:14:52]

DEAN: New York Attorney General Letitia James has pleaded not guilty to charges brought by President Trump's Justice Department, slamming the administration for bringing federal mortgage fraud charges against her.

[18:15:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LETITIA JAMES, NEW YORK ATTORNEY GENERAL: I will not be deterred. I will not be distracted. This is not about me. This is about all of us, and about a justice system which has been weaponized.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: It is possible James does not go to trial on January 26th. Her attorneys are trying to get the case thrown out, even challenging whether the interim U.S. Attorney Lindsey Halligan is lawfully serving in her role.

Ankush Khardori, senior writer for POLITICO magazine and former federal prosecutor, joins us now.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So let's start first with that.

Do you think her attorneys have a real shot at getting this case thrown out.

ANKUSH KHARDORI, SENIOR WRITER, POLITICO: I do think they have a real shot. I mean, it is difficult to get a criminal case thrown out at the outset. The standards are very high. But, you know, Letitia James, I think, has pretty relatively good arguments here. One, as you just mentioned, that Lindsey Halligan is not serving in the position lawfully and that therefore the indictment is invalid.

And two, she has also indicated that they plan to bring a motion for vindictive or selective prosecution. Her arguments are above average in each context.

In the appointments issue, I mean, we have Lindsey Halligan's service here follows the service of another non-Senate confirmed U.S. Attorney, and is not supposed to be the case that you can have back- to-back interim U.S. Attorneys. And on the question of whether or not she has been vindictively prosecuted, I mean, there is like, you know, a pretty substantial public body of evidence concerning Trump's interest in prosecuting her.

DEAN: Yes, I mean, we've talked about this a lot in the days since this happened, but that Truth Social post where he talks to Pam Bondi and lists her, I would imagine that's going to play a role in all of this.

KHARDORI: Yes, absolutely and it is definitely not even the first thing. I mean, Trump has been talking about this for literally years, using the power of the Justice Department to pursue his enemies and he has named Letitia James before. So that is not going to be the only piece of evidence she is able to point to.

DEAN: And then help people understand how this compares to the case against the former FBI Director, James Comey.

KHARDORI: Well, you know, I would -- they are both quite weak, I would say conspicuously weak based on --

DEAN: The cases against these people. Yes.

KHARDORI: -- based on public information available. Yes, the cases against these people and of course, there has been reporting indicating that the career prosecutors recommended not bringing the cases. I would say that Letitia James is -- it strikes me as a little different insofar as I think her argument for selective prosecution may end up being a little bit better, simply because we really don't see prosecutions like the one she is being subjected to, the sort of suggestion of mortgage fraud in this particular context.

I've never seen a case like this, and I used to prosecute financial fraud. So there is that.

Now, Comey's argument is not as powerful because he has been charged with making false statements to Congress, and people are, of course, regularly charged with making false statements to Congress. But in terms of like, the broad contours, the prosecutions are both weak and I think the defenses are likely to be strong. And I think, if I were to guess, I would say it is unlikely that the government prevails in either case.

DEAN: I also want to talk to you about these two separate gambling cases that we saw this week, involving some prominent names from the NBA. One included this illegal scheme using cheating technology to steal millions of dollars from victims during rigged poker games here in Manhattan, and also involved the mafia.

As people were kind of reading about this, I think there was so much interest in it. In terms of the case itself, what do you think about that?

KHARDORI: Well, yes, I mean, look, it is a major sports story. And of course, the NBA is a huge sports industry, so it is going to be a major news as a result, given the figures who are involved and the public's interest in it. I would say as a matter of, like, financial fraud cases or white collar crime or even organized crime, these are not actually particularly compelling cases or really that unusual. I mean, I think the lost amount in one of the cases is $7 million and for a major white collar case, that's actually not that much.

And, you know, the poker games, you know, the allegation is that they were cheating at these illegal poker games and that they were sort of -- those games were set up and were protected by these mafia families in New York. And, you know, it is not surprising to me that the Justice Department and the FBI, which have been under a lot of scrutiny lately, would try to blow this out and make it seem as huge and unprecedented as possible. Kash Patel talked a lot about that yesterday. But as a prosecutorial matter, they're really not the biggest cases in the world.

DEAN: And one of the headlines of the poker scam included Chauncey Billups, this great former NBA player, current head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers. How could someone like that who has made more than a hundred million dollars as a player be involved, understanding he is charged and not proven guilty of anything. It is interesting.

[18:20:15]

KHARDORI: Well, yes, he is innocent until proven guilty. I suppose, you know, one way of thinking about it is how can people or why do people with so much money already at their disposal feel the need to cheat and get even more of it? That question often arises in the world of white collar crime, where you have rich people ripping off other rich people or not so rich people in many cases. And I wish I had a good answer for you, but I don't, except for greed.

DEAN: Yes, it is. These are fascinating cases. Why do you think these sorts of cases grab so much -- is it that they are well-known people, that they are wealthy? Why do they grab people's attention in such a way?

KHARDORI: Well, I think it is they are well-known people. They are wealthy. Basketball is a huge sport here, and also sports gambling has become a very, very large industry in a relatively short period of time in the U.S.

And so I think for a variety of reasons, like I said, kind of apart from how a prosecutor might think about like, is this a big case, complicated, whatever. There is just so many factors that intersect here that sort of work to generate broad-based public interest.

DEAN: All right, Ankush, thank you so much for being here. We appreciate it.

KHARDORI: Thank you.

DEAN: Coming up, a shocking case of fraud turns a Georgia woman's life upside down. New details of a doctor's scheme that was not discovered until decades later, thanks to a DNA test.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:25:57]

DEAN: Breaking news now as we are tracking Hurricane Melissa as it is expected to intensify into a rare Category 5 Hurricane by Monday.

Right now, the Category 1 storm is off the coast of Jamaica, and it is not likely to impact the U.S., but the storm's slow movement could lead to catastrophic flooding in parts of Haiti, Jamaica and the Dominican Republic.

CNN's Chris Warren has the latest now -- Chris.

CHRIS WARREN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: There are multiple reasons why this is a disaster in the making. First, the steering winds. Just not enough to pull this system away from land fast enough that the impacts will be limited. It is meandering around caught between two areas of high pressure and not going to see these steering winds till the middle of next week, as it eventually will pull it out into the Atlantic.

Now where exactly it goes in relationship to Jamaica, it could still be on the East Side or the West Side. Computer models show us that, but still, right in the middle is Jamaica, and it is that rainfall, the amount of rain that's happening and the extent of it.

Look at this footprint here, just with one forecast model from here to here. So you can imagine it is shifting this far or this far somewhere in Hispaniola including Haiti and Jamaica, still going to end up potentially with feet of rain. So that is landslides, catastrophic flooding all on the table here.

And then there is the warm waters, so the warm waters is like the fuel for hurricanes. Upper 80s, plenty warm. You need around 80 degrees. Upper 80s definitely there. Then on top of that, the warmth is deep into the sea here. So what that means is these storms, when they kind of stall out in there, hanging out in the same spot for a while, it can help stir up the ocean, bring up that cooler water and weaken the storm, that's not going to be the case here, because the heat is so deep in the water.

Then there is the terrain, another huge component. The fact that there are mountains and big hills here gets more lift out of that humid tropical air, getting up to where it cools, condenses and turns into even more rain. So the terrain is another factor. And on top of all of that, strong, damaging winds and the future satellite shows us an intense hurricane moving through the Caribbean.

DEAN: All right, Chris, thank you.

A medical mystery as a Georgia woman spent years trying to find the root of her health issues before she turned to genetic testing for answers, and that one decision took her on a journey that led her to a life changing discovery for her and for others.

She shared her story with CNN's Ryan Young.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUMMER MCKESSON: So my oldest half sibling is 61 and the youngest is 39.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice over): These half siblings --

JIM HARRIS: Good to meet you. How are you?

MCKESSON: Good. How are you doing?

HARRIS: Well.

YOUNG (voice over): Meeting for the first time, face-to-face.

HARRIS: Overwhelming.

MCKESSON: A lot.

HARRIS: Yes, a lot. YOUNG (voice over): Summer McKesson and Jim Harris never understood

why they towered over others in their family, both standing above six feet.

MCKESSON: Growing up, I would always joke that I was adopted because I was so much taller than my family and just looked different.

HARRIS: My father who raised me was five-eight. I grew up an only child.

YOUNG (voice over): Summer also had life threatening health issues that no one else in her family had. Puzzled, they turned to 23 And Me.

MCKESSON: 23 And Me was kind of a last resort. Back in 2020, I found out that I had blood clots in my heart and lungs. A year later, I had to have open heart surgery.

YOUNG (voice over): Summer learned her life altering medical issues are genetic and can be potentially linked to older parental age, which didn't make sense with her family's medical history.

MCKESSON: I did it to see if it would give me any health insights, because there is a health component to it, and little did I know what I would find out.

YOUNG (voice over): Their parents sought help to conceive at the prestigious fertility clinic at Duke University, and received care from a respected doctor.

HARRIS: I went through Ancestry and 23 And Me and matched with what turned out to be the doctor at Duke's biological raised daughter and talked to her.

MCKESSON: I didn't even know that they had IVF or sperm donation back then, and so it was a shock. It was almost paralyzing when I first found out to find out my dad wasn't my dad.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[18:30:10]

YOUNG (voice over): But that wasn't the only shocking news they received.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCKESSON: Back then they couldn't freeze sperm, so it had to be fresh. And it was supposed to be an anonymous medical student that looked like my dad.

JIM HARRIS, DISCOVERED HALF-SIBLINGS: It was going to be from a Duke medical student, but it was the sperm from the doctor that ended up being my genetic father.

(END VIDEO CLIP) YOUNG (voice over): Summer and Jim have now connected with more than a

dozen half-siblings whose paternal side connects back to that Duke doctor who passed away years ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I went on the sites and I matched with, you know, five, six people at the time. And then, there was a couple of people over the years, and I know there's more.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice over): Despite North Carolina not classifying fertility fraud a crime, the sibling duo wants accountability.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I don't know how many patients over 30 years were -- were treated. Duke needs to tell all the mothers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG (voice over): Duke did respond with a statement: "We have been made aware of unacceptable actions. The unacceptable actions could not happen today at Duke Health and should have never have happened. Given our commitment and obligations to protecting the privacy and security of personal information, Duke Health is unable to comment on individual patients.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MCKESSON: I probably have a lot of other siblings in their 40s as well that need to know. And I know I wouldn't be here without him, but I also will forever be impacted by his actions.

YOUNG (off camera): You're not asking for money. You're asking for knowledge.

HARRIS: I'm asking to help people. I'm asking for transparency.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Like we mentioned in the story, the doctor died several years ago. So, Summer and her brother will never have the chance to ask him all the questions they wanted to ask him, but they're really focused on the other brothers and sisters who might be out there who might also be facing other health concerns that will never have the answers that so far they've been able to find.

Reporting in Atlanta, Ryan Young, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: Still to come, hashing out some beef with the President. We're going to talk to the leader of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association about President Trump's push to get Americans to buy meat from Argentina. How it could impact American cattle ranchers and potentially your bottom line?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:36:47]

DEAN: Cattle ranchers across the country are blasting President Trump's plan to buy more beef from Argentina. The administration says boosting low tariff imports of the meat could bring down prices at American grocery stores. However, some U.S. farmers tell CNN that that move feels like a betrayal of the American rancher. CNN Correspondent Rafael Romo joins us now with more on their response.

What are you hearing, Rafael?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, ranchers, Jessica, are not happy at all. They were having a good year and this may change things for worse for the ranchers. The price of beef has increased in the United States nearly 15 percent according to year-to-year data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The price hike is fueled by multiple factors, including a recent multi-year drought that decreased the amount of grazing land for cattle and made feed grain significantly more expensive, resulting in a shortage of cattle, one agricultural economist told CNN.

President Donald Trump's planned solution for high prices is importing more low-tariff beef from Argentina, quadrupling the current 20,000 metric ton quota to 80,000 per year. The move has angered cattle ranchers who fear this is going to create chaos without affecting grocery prices, according to the National Cattlemen's Beef Association.

But White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt says the President can help consumers and protect ranchers at the same time.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: President loves our ranchers and he also loves American consumers and he wants to do right by both. So, the immediate solution to the problem of the rising cost of beef, the President wants to bring that down as we have to increase our supply. And so, that's what he's doing with respect to these imports.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One last week, Trump dismissed claims that an influx of cheaper beef from Argentina is going to affect American cattle ranchers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The only price we have that's high is beef and we'll get that down. And one of the things we're thinking about doing is beef from Argentina. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. But my question is what do you have to say

to U.S. farmers who feel that the deal is benefiting Argentina more than it is them as they are a (INAUDIBLE) --

TRUMP: Look, Argentina is fighting for its life, young lady. You don't know anything about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: But many cattle ranchers count on higher prices to help balance out lean years and say the move is, quote, a betrayal of the American rancher, as a cattle farmer from Illinois told us. It's feeling -- it's a feeling echoed by cattle sales manager in Montana.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TY THOMPSON, CATTLE SALE MANAGER/BILLINGS LIVESTOCK AND AUCTION YARDS: What is his problem with higher priced beef? Because consumers have a choice in proteins. There's chicken, there's pork, there's all different proteins. Consumers have chose (ph) to buy beef. President Trump ran on being a free market guy. So, what he was saying last week goes totally against what he ran on.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: In a statement to CNN, Montana Senator Tim Sheehy said that Montana ranchers have made clear they will oppose any plan to flood the American market with foreign beef. Empowering hardworking ranchers who feed America and lowering prices for American families at the grocery store are not mutually exclusive, he said. Finally, Jessica, the Department of Agriculture recently unveiled a plan to help cattle ranches that, among other things, would grant them access to more federal land for grazing. Jessica.

[18:40:10]

DEAN: All right. Rafael, thank you.

And we are joined now by the President of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association, Justin Tupper.

Thanks so much for being here with us. We appreciate it.

Let's start first with this -- this plan to import more Argentinian beef. If that happens, what -- what happens for you all?

JUSTIN TUPPER, PRESIDENT, U.S. CATTLEMEN'S ASSOCIATION: Well, I think first and foremost, a lot of what they talked about before is very true. And we -- we know we have imports. We know we already get some beef from Argentina. But the biggest thing that we think that we should be looking at is not necessarily that they're coming in, but the safety protocols. And they don't have to play by the same rules that we do. And very stringent rules in the United States and all of our slaughter chain, and they don't have to do the same thing.

So, I think one of the things that we're much concerned about is you increase some of this imports that they don't have to have the same safety standards that we do.

DEAN: So, if I'm understanding you right, you're -- you're concerned that that might be unhealthy, unsafe for American consumers?

TUPPER: Well, I think, you know, we really boast that we raise and promote the safest, best protein on the planet, and we want to continue to do that. But if we're going to increase all these imports and bring it in from other countries that their standards aren't the same as ours, and they mix it with our beef, and then can, through loopholes, call it a product of the USA, that's a real problem. And I think that's probably the larger issue here than some of the imports coming in.

We know we're going to have imports. We've always had imports, but the -- the standards and how they do it needs to be the same protocols as ours.

DEAN: You told CNN earlier this week you have spoken with the Senate Majority Leader's staff. You've sent a letter to the -- the President requesting a meeting. I'm curious if you've heard back, if there's been any progress on that.

TUPPER: We have not, as of yet. Again, we -- we would like to sit down and visit about some of these issues and -- and work on different solutions other than bringing in more beef from countries like Argentina or Brazil or some of those places that have been known bad actors.

DEAN: The President has maintained, he posted this week, that if it weren't for him and his words, cattle ranchers would be doing terrible. He thinks that his tariffs on other countries save that industry. If you were able to sit with the President, what -- what do you think he -- he needs to really understand about -- about your situation?

TUPPER: Well, I think, you know, we just sold 6,500 cattle here yesterday in St. Onge, and it's a free market system. We sell them to the highest bidder, and that our whole industry is based on that free market system. And when you have interventions from the outside, it just throws monkey wrenches and waves all the way through the whole system.

And we -- we really believe that if left alone, the market will right itself. We will increase the cattle numbers again. Some of these droughts have lessened and prices and the market signals tell people to keep heifers back. That'll happen. And we -- we really argue that maybe beef isn't too high.

You know, I don't know how much a person pays for a latte in the morning, three, four bucks, but 650 for a pound of hamburger for the nutritional value it has, we would argue is not too high.

DEAN: And I hear you on the free market piece of it, especially being here in the United States of America. To your point, prices for ground beef, they have risen more than 13 percent in the past year, more for steaks. So -- so, to the -- the people out there who are on the purchasing end of this, what do you say to them?

TUPPER: I -- I agree that it's went up, but so is everything else around you. I mean, it doesn't matter what you do, it's gotten higher. And that's the same for our input costs. Our producers, everything has went up. So, I think when we look at the nutritional value of what you get out of that pound of hamburger, especially, we're not sure that it's that much different than it was in the 1960s. The percentage that it costs to feed a pound of hamburger with inflation and everything, not much has changed there.

And right now, we are seeing some of the best prices we've ever seen in the cattle industry. And -- and finally getting some of these ranchers to make a living wage. And we've seen a ton of people in the last 20 years go out of business from droughts to lower prices. And now we're hoping to capitalize on some of the better times and -- and demand is tremendous. That's the one thing that stood very strong throughout this. Consumer demand is at as good levels it's been in a long, long time.

DEAN: All right. The President of the U.S. Cattlemen's Association, Justin Tupper. Thanks for your time. We appreciate it.

TUPPER: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Up next, Harry Enten joins us to run the numbers on the latest tariffs on Canada and the Ronald Reagan ad that triggered them. Find out how Americans are feeling about the ongoing rift between the two nations.

[18:45:01]

And tomorrow night, a CNN special explores the shocking broad daylight jewelry heist at the iconic and beloved Louvre Museum in Paris. Here's a preview of that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I heard an alert on my radio given by a colleague in the Galerie d'Apollon. She -- she was saying, it's urgent, it's urgent. It's very, very urgent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They had these angle cutters that they had bought from a hardware.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And this is what you use to cut glass, it turns out, rather effectively.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They didn't know that there were thieves. Many thought that there were terrorists because the Louvre Museum is a very big monument. And unfortunately, we had this in mind. So, can you imagine people in the Galerie d'Apollon seeing intruders entering by the windows? They were very afraid. They were very afraid.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And they threatened the guards with the angle cutters to hold them back.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The guards then evacuate people as they're trained to do and get them out of the museum as quickly as they can.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They told the visitors, get out, get out, get out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: "The Heist: The Louvre's Stolen Crown Jewels" premieres tomorrow night at 8 P.M. Eastern and Pacific right here on CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:51:07]

DEAN: President Trump says he's raising tariffs on imports from Canada by 10 percent over current levels. It's not clear when that would go into effect. We do know the President withdrew from trade talks -- talks with Canada this week after an anti-tariff ad aired featuring President Ronald Reagan calling it a, quote, fraud. But what did the American people think about it? CNN's Harry Enten is here to run the numbers. Harry.

HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Hey there, Jessica. Good Saturday to you.

Look, it was the tariff ad heard all the way around the World Series -- well, in North America anyway. Of course, we're talking about the tariff ad that Canada used to go after Donald Trump using Ronald Reagan's own words on tariffs. And it did at least enter the minds of the American public. They were quite interested in the ad. What are we talking about here?

Well, Google searches for Ronald Reagan. Look at this, we're talking about up 455 percent versus a week ago. Not surprisingly, tariff is the top search topic associated with Ronald Reagan at this particular point in the United States of America. But here is something that I find to be really interesting.

There was a bit of a Barbra Streisand effect going on there. What do I mean by that?

What I mean is that the most searches occurred not during the World Series when the ad actually aired, but actually in the morning on Friday when Donald Trump took to social media to talk about the ad. Perhaps Donald Trump might learn once in a while. It's best to keep your mouth shut if you don't want people interested in a particular issue or topic. And one of the reasons why Donald Trump does not like the idea of Americans thinking about tariffs is because the American people don't like him on tariffs. What are we talking about here?

All right. Trump's net approval rating. I got five issues for you here on the board. Look at what's at the very bottom of your screen. We're talking about trade and tariffs. Donald Trump way, way underwater on tariffs at minus 16 points. It's arguably the worst of the major issues alongside the economy right here at minus 16 points. Donald Trump does considerably better on foreign policy, no doubt boosted by the Israeli-Hamas ceasefire at minus eight points. Immigration, one of Trump's best issues at minus three. And then arguably his best issue of all, crime at minus one. Donald Trump is doing far, far worse on trade and tariffs.

Of course, it's not just the American people who are upset about trade and tariffs, Jessica. It's our neighbors to the North. What are we talking about here? Well, take a look at this. Canadians who say America is either an enemy or potential threat. In 2023, it was just 7 percent. Look at where we are now in 2025, 48 percent. We're talking about an increase of nearly sevenfold. Nearly sevenfold in just the last two years, the number of Canadians, the percentage who say that America is either an enemy or potential threat. And of course, that is very much tied to the Donald Trump administration. They think he's a big hoser. What are we talking about?

Well, Donald Trump and his administration have, get this, a minus 58 net popularity rating in Canada. My goodness gracious, you really can't get much worse than that. Canadians dislike Donald Trump. And, of course, Americans dislike Donald Trump's trade policy, his tariffs on Canada as well. Jessica, back to you.

DEAN: All right. Harry, thank you. And tomorrow night, discover the breads that bond Sao Paulo on the new episode of the CNN original series, "Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread." Here's a preview from this week's episode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SHALHOUB, CNN HOST, "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD": This is what -- this is amazing, delivery on the street.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (Foreign language) ...

SHALHOUB: (Foreign language) ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Habibis (ph) use corn flour for open -- the sfiha. And it's more crispy, it's so cool.

SHALHOUB: Sfiha is a Middle Eastern flatbread topped with minced meat, onions, herbs, and spices.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this one's more traditional. It's the meat, the beef.

SHALHOUB: Beef.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tomatoes and -- and onions.

SHALHOUB: (INAUDIBLE) --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, when you eat sfiha in Habibis (ph), you make this like a sandwich and eat.

SHALHOUB: I have to say the best fast food I've ever had.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's very good.

[18:55:04]

SHALHOUB: I mean, and this one, the -- the ...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This one is very Brazilian because it's pork and sausage. It's called calabriza (ph). The Brazilians love this one.

SHALHOUB: I must be Brazilian.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Be sure to tune in. A new episode of "Tony Shalhoub: Breaking Bread" premieres tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern Pacific, only here on CNN.

Still ahead in our next hour, a legal battle playing out in California as the Trump administration pushes forward with controversial immigration arrest across the country. California's Attorney General joins us to talk about his state's efforts to fight back and more. Stay with us, you're in the CNN NEWSROOM.