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Quest Means Business
Coffins of More Hostages Return to Israel; Trump Honors Charlie Kirk One Month After Assassination with Medal of Freedom. Aired 4:00-5p ET
Aired October 14, 2025 - 16:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[16:00:26]
PAULA NEWTON, CNN INTERNATIONAL HOST: Wild day on the markets there and maybe not for the reasons you might think. We had a lot of economic news
today. But all eyes on the Oval Office, President Trump and the latest salvo in the U.S. trade war with China.
Those are the markets and these are the main events: President Trump welcomes Javier Milei to The White House and ties economic support for
Argentina to its midterm election results. Mr. Trump is also threatening, as we were just saying, China for refusing to buy U.S. soybeans. I will
speak to the chief economist of the IMF who says it is too soon to tell if the full effects of the trade war have really come into play and trickled
through the global economy.
And Instagram is going PG 13, toning down its content for teenage users. We will explain.
Live from New York. It is Tuesday, October 14th. I am Paula Newton, in for Richard Quest and this is QUEST MEANS BUSINESS.
And good evening everyone. Tonight, U.S. President Trump says he won't be generous to Argentina if its ruling party loses this month's midterm
elections. Now, Trump endorsed President Javier Milei during his visit today at The White House. The U.S. is providing a $20 billion lifeline to
support the Argentine peso.
Trump says the U.S. will benefit if Milei and Argentina prosper. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We want to see it succeed. Very simple. I mean, we don't have to do it. It is not going to
make a big difference for our country, but it will in terms of South America.
If Argentina does well, you're going to have others following and a lot of others are following. You have countries in South America that two years
ago would have never even been thought of to go as democracies or as just countries that want to do fair and balanced trading.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now, and just minutes ago, out of the Oval Office, President Trump said he is considering terminating business with China relating to cooking
oils. Now, this was a post on Truth Social, and it led to a slight selloff on the markets at the end of the day, you see it there, just right at the
end.
Now the President says this would be retaliation, accusing China of not buying U.S. soybeans on purpose. Stocks have had a volatile few days after
President Trump threatened an additional 100 percent tariff on China on Friday.
Kevin Liptak is at The White House.
We are used to this kind of confusion coming out of The White House, but the President there was very calculated. It has been a back and forth
really since late last week. I mean, he had his Treasury Secretary close at hand in The Oval Office. Is this really a strategy in terms of really
brinkmanship when it comes to the U.S.-China trade relationship and the war that is still ongoing?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: You know, I think it is. I think that there is a degree of the President trying to push President Xi
to his limits in terms of what he is willing to do when it comes to this question of the rare earth minerals, which is where this dispute really
kind of began last week.
I will say, on the issue of the soybeans, that was most likely at the front of the President's mind, because this has been sort of factored in to the
bailout of Argentina.
Argentina, once the U.S. said that it would inject this $20 billion cash influx into the Argentine economy, it has lifted some of the export duties
on its soybeans, and it is selling its soybeans to China, which has caused all sorts of political headaches for the president in the United States,
including from some of the Republican lawmakers who represent the soybean producing states like Chuck Grassley from Iowa, who has questioned why the
U.S. is sending $20 billion to Argentina when Argentina is taking all the Chinese soybean business from the United States.
So this is quite a complicated sort of nexus of issues and geopolitics that the President is dealing with, but I do think this is another evidence of
sort of the whipsaw back and forth on the China trade issue that we've been seeing for the last several days, because after the President threatened
that hundred percent tariff, he said the next day that he thought things would work out just fine, that President Xi was doing things for his
domestic purposes, and that they would be able to work all of this out.
Now, the President seems to be zagging in the other direction, threatening to cut off purchases of cooking oil, which is not a product we've heard
much about from the President up until this point.
[16:05:06]
Of course, this is all kind of leading up to the expected and I say expected summit between President Xi in South Korea at the end of this
month. The President suggested at the end of last week that there might not be any point in sitting down with Xi as Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent
said today that actually they do still appear on track to have this meeting.
I think the question now is whether all of this is going to be resolved by the time the two of them meet in Korea, or whether this will all be sort of
a point of discussion and dispute when they eventually get face-to-face.
NEWTON: Yes, the groundwork doesn't seem to be laid for a full blown deal at that point, but you know, Scott Bessent says they are negotiating, that
their teams are meeting.
I do want to get to that meeting, though, with Argentina, right? I mean, you just pointed out why this could be -- this so-called bailout could be
controversial with Americans, especially American farmers. But I do want to ask you, why does The White House find it so important? I mean, we've got a
big dose of the Trump Doctrine in that office, basically saying, look, we want to back a winner. We believe Javier Milei is that winner, and we
believe in his economic policies.
LIPTAK: Yes, and the President and the Treasury Secretary were pretty explicit about what they view as the alternative. The President said it was
a far left wing sort of economic policy that would come in place if Javier Milei's party loses in the midterm elections later this month and they tied
it even to American Democratic politicians.
You know, Scott Bessent called Elizabeth Warren the Democratic senator, a Peronist, clearly aware of the audience in the room there, and he called
Zohran Mamdani who is running for mayor in New York City, he is a Democratic socialist, but he called him a communist chauvinismo.
So you really kind of hear the President and the Treasury Secretary laying out what they view as sort of a radical left wing alternative to Milei's
policies. We should say, you know, Milei is an economist, he has had some success in taming inflation in Argentina, and I think the fear inside The
White House is that if he loses sort of the majority and if he loses the ability to continue carrying out some of these free market reforms that
Argentina's economy could just suffer further.
But I think the President was pretty explicit. He is not doing this for Argentina, he is doing it for Milei. He says, "We are staying with him, and
if he doesn't win, we are gone." He says "If he loses, we are not going to be generous with Argentina."
I think it is pretty clear that this support and this bailout, although they are not calling it a bailout, but it is essentially, you know, trying
to bail out the economy there, that that is not going to go forward if Milei's party sort of suffers any losses in these midterm elections.
NEWTON: And a clear attempt to influence the vote there, which is midterms are expected at the end of the month. Kevin Liptak for us, thank you very
much.
Now, some background here. Argentina has been struggling to stabilize its currency. The peso fell sharply last month after President Milei's party
lost a provincial election. Now, that sparked doubts about his ability to carry out key economic reforms.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent responded to Argentina's acute illiquidity by buying pesos. He also announced the $20 billion currency
swap with Argentina's Central Bank.
Maria Victoria Murillo is the Director of the Institute for Latin American Studies at Columbia University, and she joins me now.
And you've been watching this very closely, I am sure, in the last few hours as well. In your opinion, is Milei and the Argentine economy in
trouble, you know, because of this political polarization? Because at this point in time, Donald Trump really was blunt about this. Right? We need to
get the legislative majority for Milei, because if we don't, those economic reforms have no chance of passing.
MARIA VICTORIA MURILLO, DIRECTOR, INSTITUTE FOR LATIN AMERICAN STUDIES AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY: So Trump is right that if the government doesn't get a
strong majority, it would be very hard to pass any kind of reform because it has currently a very small delegation in Congress.
It is also true that the comments of President Trump had already affected the value of the Argentine shares given that the surveys, although we know
we have to take surveys with a grain of salt, so far don't look so positive for President Milei's coalition in the legislative elections. So it seems
hard to think that he would be able to have a pretty strong victory as it was expected a few months ago.
So in that sense, the comment of President Trump caused some fear of those who think that he might get maybe a third of the vote or a little bit more,
and that would not be sufficient for shoring up the reforms.
[16:10:10]
NEWTON: Now, why do you believe the Trump administration has taken such an interest in Milei's political fortunes here? And obviously, the economic
fortunes of Argentina?
MURILLO: I think that Secretary Bessent was probably the crucial person here when the IMF gave a huge loan to the Milei administration, he came to
Argentina for just a few hours to be there when the loan was announced and this is a 12 or 11-hour flight so it is not such an easy task. And he seems
that Donald Trump seemed to deflect -- President Trump -- a lot of the questions that were specific about Argentina to Secretary Bessent. So this
seems to be driven by his own interest in Argentina, and he has personal connections with people in the economic team of President Milei, and so
that might be part of the reasons that are linking him so clearly to Argentina. There is also the cost for U.S. investors if Argentina defaults
once again, as it has done several times. So those might be some of the reasons.
Certainly, they don't seem so geopolitically connected because China has a space base in the Argentine in Patagonia and there was a question about the
base and about the swap that China
has with Argentina and the government, like both President Trump and Secretary Bessent, did not seem to take the question on the base, and they
said there was no need to repay China to swap so that those connections need not be severed.
NEWTON: Well, certainly we do believe that the midterm elections now have even more import globally, especially in the United States. They were
already a crucial test for Argentina itself. We will watch with interest at the end of October.
Maria Murillo, thank you so much. Appreciate it.
Now the IMF is warning not to overlook the effect of higher U.S. tariffs on global growth. It now expects the world economy to grow 3.2 percent this
year, since tariffs for the time being haven't been as damaging as initially thought.
Now still, the IMF says it would be, this is their words, "premature and incorrect" to think these trade tensions have had no effect.
Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas is the Chief Economist of the IMF, and he joins the program now.
Really good to see you on a day when you put out quite a global outlook, and we will start there. Your outlook has modest changes, but you do
highlight the challenges in the months to come from this trade friction. We just saw it on display in the last couple of hours.
Do you fear that even this outlook, though, that just you just published really is already outdated even from the last few hours? I mean, companies,
governments, stock markets, they've really had to adapt to what has been an escalating trade war, principally between the U.S. and China.
PIERRE-OLIVIER GOURINCHAS, CHIEF ECONOMIST, INTERNATIONAL MONETARY FUND: Well, certainly the events of the last week and in the last few days
highlight that we live in an environment where trade policy uncertainty is with us, it can flare up at any time and this is something that
increasingly households, businesses, everyone has to take into account.
Now, what we are seeing in our latest report is a global economy that has been very resilient, holding the tariff shock that has been happening since
the first part of the year and with the growth number that is only slightly changed from what we had last year, and so that is a good sign. That's a
sign of resilience.
What we've seen is businesses have been able to adapt. There has been a lot of front loading. There is also, let's not forget it as well, a lot of
trade deals that have been implemented, exemptions et cetera. So the tariff shock itself has been scaled back down. Of course, if the shock is smaller,
then its impact is also smaller.
But we should not forget that we are not through this. It is only the beginning. The tariff rate that the U.S. is putting on the rest of the
world is around 20 percent. That's not as high as in April, when it was expected to be around 25 percent, but it is certainly much, much higher
than where it was a year ago and the effect in terms of the impact on prices and activity that will continue to be there. So this is why we are
seeing an economy that is growing, but it is really not firing on all cylinders.
NEWTON: Yes, and believe me, countries, companies have all taken notice. This has been a lot more trade friction than they would have anticipated
let's say six or eight months ago. I do want to focus on the U.S.-China trade, though.
I mean, look, it is clearly having a ripple effect throughout the global economy and that's because the U.S.-China GDP combined accounts for about
43 to 44 percent of all global GDP.
[16:15:05]
So you have already articulated that look, these are your words that the tariff shock is dimming what are already lackluster growth prospects. But
what happens if this trade war escalates further? I mean by a certain measure, it just did in the last hour alone.
GOURINCHAS: Well, it just did and who knows where it will be by tomorrow or the day after tomorrow. So I think this is where we have to sort of stay
back a little bit and think about the risks that this represent. We try to assess them in one of the scenarios that we prepare for our outlook. We
have a baseline projection, that's the 3.2 percent growth number we expect for this year, 3.1 percent for next year, but we also try to think about
what might go wrong.
Among the things that might go wrong, obviously, an increase in trade tensions that would certainly weigh down on global growth, disruptions in
global supply chains, that would also weigh down on global growth. Now, we don't have a crystal ball. We didn't really try to simulate the effects of
the kind of disruptions that people are talking about right now, but even reasonable expectations about potential trade disruptions would shave off
maybe 0.2 percentage point or 0.3 percentage point of global growth next year. So that's quite significant.
NEWTON: It is significant. In fact, some would say, especially given the position some governments are in, even alarming. I do want to get to what
you say are the four potential downside risks to the global economy and that includes the A.I. surge.
The risk profile for China, sovereign debt and institutional credibility and that has a lot to do with the independence of those very crucial
institutions. Things like you know, the Central Banks in all countries. I have to ask you, which one worries you the most? Because you could say, all
things being equal, is it China? And not just its relationship with the United States, but its own fiscal management?
GOURINCHAS: Well, the situation in China, from our perspective, is certainly a source of concern. What we are seeing is an economy where the
domestic side is stuck. There has been a real property sector boom and bust, and they haven't really cleaned up that property sector, so it is
weighing down households. They are very uncertain about the future. There is a lot of savings, relatively little consumption. Businesses are very
worried about what might be happening.
So domestic demand is very weak, and so for the last few years, this is an economy that has been growing mostly out of its export sector. It has been
doing a lot in that space, and it has been helping the economy grow, but we see the limits of that.
We see we are in an environment in which we have this trade tensions. They cannot be ignored. And of course, there has been a lot of redirection of
trade. China is trading a lot less now with the U.S. than it used to be. It is trading a lot more with other Asian economies and a lot more with
Europe.
But there is a limit to how much it can hope to lift its own economy through just the export sector and so that's why we have some concerns
about its growth prospects going forward.
NEWTON: And if we talk about what you call the A.I. surge, in your words, it offers both promise and peril. There is risk there and you point
specifically to a market repricing. How real is that risk right now?
GOURINCHAS: Well, one has to be careful about what might be happening in that space. We have the episode of the dot-com period 1996 to 2000, where
there was also a lot of optimism about a new technology that was the internet then and a lot of investment, an increase in valuations. People
felt richer, people went out and consumed. The economy was doing great. Actually, so great that the Fed had to tighten policy rates during that
time to try to contain price pressures because demand was very, very strong.
And then we had a market correction and that market correction led to the 2001 recession in the United States. And so I think we have to look at this
episodes. I am not saying we are on the same trajectory necessarily. No one, I think, can tell for sure what might happen. There are, as you
pointed out, there are productivity gains with A.I. Everyone is using it. I am sure you're using it. I am using it. Everyone can attest to its
benefits, but we have to be concerned about the valuation that the market is putting on this right now, and whether there might be excess optimism.
And be careful about how this might unfold if there is market repricing.
NEWTON: Yes and I am sure you've heard from CEOs as well as I have and you see in the data that at times, certainly the productive rate of A.I. is not
matching the capital investment and that is what is key there.
I do want to get to another issue though, that kind of relates to this and that is inflation. Some people are saying three percent is the new two
percent, right? What is your feeling about -- is it unrealistic in developed economies to try and bring inflation to two percent? And you say
very clearly in the outlook that look inflationary pressure is still here.
[16:20:00]
GOURINCHAS: Well, yes. And I think, you know, some parts of the world advanced economies are back at two percent. You look at the Euro area, in
fact, their inflation is even at two percent, and in some of the countries in the Euro area are below two percent. There is nothing that cannot be
done there.
I think the interesting question is why is inflation being so persistent when we are looking at the U.S. There has been relatively little progress
that has been done in a year in bringing down inflation.
Now our assessment is some of it is related to the tariff shock that is feeding into higher prices, not fully yet. There is more to come in that
space and that is why in our projections, we are expecting inflation to remain persistent in the U.S. and above Central Bank target.
Now that is something that is obviously a concern if you're a member of the Board of the Federal Reserve where you have to bring back price stability
and we've seen this inflation running higher than target for some time now.
NEWTON: Pierre-Olivier Gourinchas, we thank you and we look forward to another interview at the end of the year so we can take the full measure of
2025. Thanks so much.
GOURINCHAS: Thank you.
NEWTON: Now just today, new U.S. tariffs took effect on kitchen cabinets and upholstered furniture. The President of Canada based Glenwood Kitchen
joins me to discuss right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NEWTON: We now go to Chicago, where a large crowd formed at the scene of a car crash involving federal agents. Now, the crowd faced off with officials
in military uniform and appeared to be shouting before a chemical agent was deployed. The incident occurred in a neighborhood near the border with
Indiana.
Whitney Wild is in Chicago for us.
Whitney, can you bring us right up to date here? I know you've been following this very closely in the last few moments.
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: Well, what we've learned is that this incident started, we believe, around 11:00 in the morning
Central Time here in Chicago and this information is coming from the Chicago Police Department. This is the first, you know, they were the first
to give us an on the record statement. So we also have statements now from the Department of Homeland Security.
The Department of Homeland Security says that this started after a vehicle rammed one of their law enforcement vehicles. They say that that vehicle
had Border Patrol agents inside. They say that they pursued the vehicle that rammed their car and used what is called a pit maneuver to you know,
basically render the car immobile. And a pit maneuver is when you see law enforcement come and kind of clip the side of a car to, you know, to spin
it in such a way that, you know, that the driver is able to -- you know, that its difficult for the driver to get out or it gives agents more
control in that dynamic situation involving vehicles.
[16:25:11]
So after that happened, they say that the suspects jumped out of the vehicle and they ran. Border Patrol chased after them. The public became
aware of this incident in this area. This is a
neighborhood called East Side of Chicago -- East Side Chicago, and it is on the far south side of the city and this is where we saw this crowd form.
And what you're seeing there are moments shortly after that happened, law enforcement says that there were -- you know, that protesters were throwing
objects at them. That is confirmed by the Chicago Police Department as well, who as you see in this video here in the corner, you can see Chicago
Police Department officers there assisting.
That is typical when there is an incident that happens in the city, the Chicago Police Department responds to do the traffic investigation and also
help with crowd control. They say that federal agents detonated chemical agents after objects were thrown at them. They say that 13 of their own
officers were exposed to chemical agents.
This is the second time in a couple of weeks that federal agents have detonated chemical agents, exposing other members of law enforcement who do
not have the requisite gear to manage that. So this had happened a couple of weeks ago. 27 officers were exposed in a similar incident. This ended
pretty quickly by 1:00 in this area that had wrapped up.
But the point here is that when these incidents with ICE happen, the public finds out very quickly and these crowds form, and that is what is putting
pressure on federal agents. It is putting pressure on the Chicago Police Department.
Further, it is another example of why the Department of Homeland Security says that they needed the National Guard here. They are concerned about
their agents being able to do their job in the city without being, you know, what they say is basically being attacked by people you know, by
members of the public, by protesters.
So anyway, this is just a kind of a small flashpoint that exposes these bigger issues that we are talking about here. You know, federal agents
using chemical agents against protesters. And again, the reason that DHS says that they need the National Guard here.
So again, this is -- we've seen this story before, several weeks from now and, you know, we may continue to see it again.
NEWTON: Yes and at a time when the Governor of Illinois continues to square off with the President and his Cabinet about what exactly is needed in the
state and specifically in Chicago.
Grateful to you and we appreciate it.
Now, the U.S. is now charging new tariffs that quite literally hit close to home. President Trump ordered a 25 percent tariff on kitchen cabinets,
bathroom vanities and upholstered wooden furniture and a 10 percent duty on imported timber and lumber.
Now the president of Glenwood Kitchen, based in Canada and New Brunswick, in fact, says his company had zero time to prepare. James McKenna says he
expects to see a large drop in U.S. orders right away.
James McKenna is the President of Glenwood Kitchen, and he joins me now from New Brunswick.
Good to see you, and I am grateful for you for speaking to us about this today. As I said, it hits close to home, hitting your business right where
it happened. It has been going on for decades now that you've had this cross border business. You say the situation is dire. What percentage of
your business in sales goes to the United States?
JAMES MCKENNA, PRESIDENT, GLENWOOD KITCHEN: Yes, we ship about 20 percent of our product as far down as Connecticut, straight down the I-95 and we've
been shipping to the U.S. for about 40 years.
NEWTON: And given what it represents to you in terms of business, can you not weather this? I mean, the tariff is 25 percent and it represents 20
percent of your business.
MCKENNA: Yes, we are going to weather this. It is not going to be easy. The problem is, it was just thrust upon us within two or three weeks ago. We
had no idea this was coming. We had no way to plan for reaction to this tariff. Not only us, our customers who have placed orders with their
customers are now expecting a 25 or 50 percent tariff on product that is already being delivered.
So how do you sell a kitchen to somebody for $15,000.00 to $20,000.00 and then say, hey, by the way, we need to tack on another 25 percent onto that.
That's not fair for anybody.
NEWTON: And are you and your U.S. customers actually going to have to eat that in your profit?
MCKENNA: Absolutely. Between ourselves and our U.S. kitchen cabinet retailers, we are going to eat that 25 percent that's what is going to end
up happening for us to continue to do business in the U.S.
Now 25 percent, I think there is still a chance that we can keep our U.S. customers, 50 percent, there is no chance. That business will completely go
away and that happens January 1st, so a little under, what -- two to three months away.
NEWTON: And I hear you that, you know, this threatens your business. What would you say to President Trump who is saying, look, I want those kitchens
made in the United States.
MCKENNA: Yes, I understand his point of view. Unfortunately, Canada is very similar to the U.S. We take care of our employees, we pay taxes, we have a
pension, we have medical benefits. We have, you know, strong safety standards for our employees.
I would dare say, we pay more, if not, you know, more than, you know the U.S. on cost of goods sold. Now, there is a lot of countries, Asian
companies that export into the U.S. that don't do that. So I wouldn't pick on Canada, we are a friend and a neighbor and we are not that much of an
advantage. Some of these countries are, so let's focus on them, and get back to doing great business with your Canadian neighbors.
NEWTON: You know, your prime minister, Mark Carney, has called this a rupture with the United States. Do you see it that way? And do you think
Canada's strategy with this right now is the right one? There's been a lot of boycotts, right, of U.S. goods and --
MCKENNA: Yes. Yes, absolutely. I mean, month over month, 30 percent reduction in travel to the U.S. so places like Vegas and in Nashville are
seeing -- definitely seeing drop in tourism. For us, if we can't sell in U.S. dollars, typically what we would do is we would bank those U.S.
dollars and we would buy U.S. machinery and buy U.S. supplies. If we don't have those U.S. dollars, we're going to be looking towards Canada and other
markets to find those things that we need.
And I'm just one business out of many that are doing the same thing. So, you know, those are dollars that were sold in the U.S. that we would send
back to the U.S. and I don't think people talk about that.
NEWTON: No, in fact, you are a U.S. customer, right? And you're saying that that's going to go away if this trade war continues.
MCKENNA: I have U.S. customers and some of them I think will go away. Absolutely. We will lose a good chunk of our share in the U.S.
NEWTON: James McKenna, we will leave it there for now and we'll wait to see what happens in the new year with that tariff. Appreciate it.
MCKENNA: Thank you, Paula.
NEWTON: Now the coffins of four more hostages are heading home to Israel. We'll discuss how Hamas's slow handover of the promised remains may impact
the people of Gaza.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[16:35:20]
NEWTON: Hello, I'm Paula Newton, and there's more QUEST MEANS BUSINESS in a moment when Israel says it's received four more coffins carrying the bodies
of deceased hostages, yet many more remain unaccounted for. And Instagram says teens on its platform will only see PG 13 content on its feeds. Before
that, the headlines this hour.
U.S. president Donald Trump is suggesting that a $20 billion bailout of Argentina may hinge on its midterm election results. Mr. Trump endorsed
President Javier Milei during a meeting at the White House. Legislative elections take place in less than two weeks. Trump says the U.S. won't
waste its time in Argentina if voters reject Milei's economic reforms.
President Trump says U.S. forces struck a boat off the coast of Venezuela carrying alleged drug smugglers. Mr. Trump says the vessel was, quote,
"affiliated with a designated terrorist organization." He did not name any organization or provide evidence to back up the assertion. This is at least
the fifth time the U.S. has announced such a strike.
U.S. federal agents in Chicago appeared to fire tear gas to disperse a crowd that had gathered off -- after a car crash today. Witnesses say ICE
agents had been involved in a chase. A U.N. affiliate -- pardon me, a CNN affiliate says rocks were thrown as protesters clashed with federal agents
at the scene.
An army commander in Madagascar says the military has now taken control of the country. The president was forced to flee after weeks of youth-led
protests. He was impeached by lawmakers. The military says it's now dissolving all institutions except for the national assembly.
And we do have some breaking news. The Israeli military says the Red Cross is bringing four more coffins containing the remains of deceased hostages
back to Israel. This comes after Hamas handed over the remains of just four hostages yesterday despite agreeing to return all 28 together as part of
the ceasefire deal. The U.N. says it was told that Israel will reduce or delay the amount of humanitarian trucks allowed into Gaza each day as a
result. Families of the hostages say everyone taken by Hamas must come home.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MOSHE LAVI, BROTHER-IN-LAW OF FREED HOSTAGE OMRI MIRAN: We are not going to stop fighting and advocating until every single hostage is returning home.
We currently still have 24 hostages. Deceased hostages murdered on October the 7th or during their captivity, and their remains must return to Israel
as stipulated by the agreement between Israel and Hamas.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: And just moments ago, we had a new warning from President Trump, who says Hamas must disarm or, quote, "we will disarm them."
Jeremy Diamond has been following all of this from Tel Aviv.
I do want to get to this issue of the remains of the hostages. Is this being seen as a setback for this deal entirely? Because as we understand,
it has been difficult to locate the remains of the hostages in Gaza.
JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Yes. That's right. And I think it certainly is a reminder of how fragile this ceasefire agreement between
Israel and Hamas is. And that's not just talking about what the next steps are and the negotiations in the process in order to ensure that this
ceasefire truly does represent an end of the war.
We are still in phase one, and it hasn't been completed because so many of the bodies of deceased hostages still remain in Gaza. And so we've seen the
Israeli government and security establishment beginning to think through, you know, how to hold Hamas to this deal, what kind of steps might be
taken.
This was, you know, earlier today, we were in a place where only four bodies had been returned. Now we know that another four are in the custody
of the Red Cross and set to be handed over to Israeli forces any moment now. That still means, though, that there are 20 bodies of deceased
hostages left in Gaza once these latest four actually make their way onto Israeli soil.
And as a result of that, the Israeli security establishment has recommended to the government that they not open the Rafah crossing from Gaza into
Egypt tomorrow, as was scheduled. We haven't actually gotten word on whether the government is going to be moving forward with that
recommendation, but it certainly seems like they likely will.
We have already gotten information that the Israeli authorities have informed the United Nations that they plan to reduce the amount of aid
going into Gaza.
[16:40:03]
And keep in mind, we were supposed to start seeing a real surge of some 600 trucks of aid per day into the Gaza Strip, and now that is also under
threat by the Israeli government as they seek to pressure Hamas into releasing the bodies of additional deceased hostages much more quickly.
The families of those deceased hostages are also fighting to ensure that Hamas upholds its end of the deal, and that Israel and the United States,
you know, don't take the release of the 20 living hostages yesterday as a win and as a sign that the job is over now.
And in fact, we heard from President Trump directly. After those hostage families made that call, the president taking to Truth Social to say that
the dead have not been returned as promised and the job is not done, an indication that the pressure from the United States for Hamas to uphold its
end of this bargain is indeed still very much alive.
NEWTON: Yes. And before I let you go, Jeremy, again, the president putting more pressure on Hamas and just saying this is your surrender essentially.
I know that is way down this peace process right now, but clearly the president is going to hold this line.
DIAMOND: Yes, absolutely. And listen, President Trump made clear as he was here in Israel and then as he traveled to Egypt to actually sign this
agreement with the mediating countries that, in his view, the war in Gaza is over. And he is making clear that he is going to hold both Israel and
Hamas accountable for this 20-point plan, despite the fact that neither side officially agreed to all 20 points.
We saw this agreement for phase one, which included the release of the hostages, the initial Israeli withdrawal from parts of Gaza, the entry of
much needed humanitarian aid. But all of the rest of it in terms of Hamas disarming, Hamas giving up power and establishing a transitional
Palestinian governance in Gaza --
NEWTON: Jeremy, forgive me, we're going to leave it -- we're going to leave it there as the president is speaking from the Rose Garden.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we're here to honor and remember a fearless warrior for liberty, a beloved leader who
galvanized the next generation like nobody I've ever seen before. And an American patriot of the deepest conviction, the finest quality, and the
highest caliber. The late, great Charlie Kirk.
Five weeks ago, our nation was robbed of this extraordinary champion. He was a champion in every way. I got to know him so well. He didn't like
losing, and he was able to fight people that were enemies. And he didn't necessarily love those enemies so much. You know, I heard, I heard he loved
his enemies. And I said, wait a minute, is that the same Charlie that I know? I'm not sure, but I didn't want to get into it.
But it was a horrible, heinous, demonic act of murder. He was assassinated in the prime of his life for boldly speaking the truth, for living his
faith and relentlessly fighting for a better and stronger America. He loved this country. And that's why this afternoon it's my privilege to
posthumously award Charles James Kirk our nation's highest civilian honor, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Thank you.
As you know, only hours ago I returned from a very historic trip to secure peace in the Middle East. People said that couldn't be done. Charlie felt
it could be done. Charlie felt it could be done.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. But I raced back halfway around the globe. I was going to call Erika and say, Erika, could you maybe move
it to Friday? And I didn't have the courage to call, but you know why I didn't go? Because I heard today was Charlie's birthday. And I said, you
know, now that was a definite. And I said, we're going to have to forget about some of those very big, very rich countries that expected me to be
there. And I can tell you based on the length of that flight, I wouldn't want to go back tomorrow, but I would not have missed this moment for
anything in the world. Nothing.
And it's a very important time for our country, and our country is doing so well. It's never done better. We are a country with almost now $18 trillion
of investment coming in. Nobody has ever seen anything like that. Previous administration had less than a trillion for four years. We have more than
18.
[16:45:02]
It will be much more than 20 by the time the year -- more than $20 trillion. There's never been a country in the world that had anything like
that. What's happened to our country is incredible in a short period of time.
Charlie was a big person for, sir, can we close up those borders, please, a little bit, you know? They're really leaking badly. I said, Charlie, I
haven't gotten there yet, but, you know, it came out last four months literally nobody was allowed into our country. And the only people that
were allowed in were people that came in legally. The borders are absolutely stone cold closed and they reported zero, zero, zero and zero.
So that's pretty good.
But he was a big believer. He wanted people in the country more than I did, frankly. He wanted them to come in legally and he got his wish.
October 14th is Charlie's birthday and he should have been turning 32 years old. I tell you, I never -- when I first met him, he was like 22 and I
said, boy, he's awfully young. But I thought he was older than that. You know, he looked a little bit older than his age. That's OK. You know,
that's not good when you're old, but when you're young, it's great. He had the best of all things. But he was special.
But instead Charlie is attaining a far more important milestone. We're entering his name forever into the eternal roster of true American heroes.
He's a true American hero and an amazing person. Way, way beyond his years. And I'm honored to be joined by a woman who has endured unspeakable
hardship with unbelievable strength. And that's Charlie's widow, Erika.
And I just want to thank you, Erika. He loved you so much. I was with him. Please. Thank you, darling. Thank you.
I was with him before I met Erika and he told me he was going to get married. He said you won't believe how beautiful she is. I said, well,
then, now that I meet her, he's right. But then he also said, and you know what? She's like the smartest person I know. See, they do go together on
occasion. Not often, not often, but on occasion they go together. But he was -- he was in love with you. He was deeply in love with you. It's great.
Erika, your love and courage have been an inspiration to all of us, and we will always be here for you. And we're always going to be here for your
gorgeous, beautiful children. And we'll never forget what your family has sacrificed for our country and loved our country. When things were going
badly for our country, he was so, as you know, angry. He would get angry because he said it doesn't have to be that way.
We're also pleased to be joined by an incredible group of Charlie's friends, very powerful friends, actually, and some not so powerful. And
they're actually better people. OK. I know -- the less powerful ones. I have to tell you that all of you power guys down here, the best ones in the
group are the ones that are less successful. But that happens, too. No, they're all great and they're here. And let's start with Erika's father.
Where is Erika's father? Where are you? Where are you, Dad? Oh, look at him. Wow. I want to get a hat like that, too. I like that. How are you?
Nice to see you again.
Thanks as well to Vice President J.D. Vance, who's been fantastic. J.D., thank you very much. Great. Doing a great job. Did a great job on Sunday
with George Slapadopoulos, I think. Put him away pretty good.
Second lady who's a phenomenal woman, Usha Vance. Thank you very much, Usha. Thank you very much. Great woman.
President of Argentina, he wanted to be here. That's -- Argentina is a serious flight, right? And he's become a superstar. And he's doing amazing
things. It's -- he's a MAGA person, but it's make Argentina great again. That's what he does. Right? And I want you to stand, please, Javier. Javier
Milei. Doing a great job. Thank you very much.
Many members of my Cabinet are here. Just about all of them are here. I won't go into every single one of them, but I'll announce a few of the
people that have really turned this country around and helped me. Incredible people. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson. Where is Mike? Mike?
[16:50:01]
What a job you're doing, Mike. What a job you're doing. And I watched you this morning and you're in there trying to say, look, just let the country
open. Everything will be fine. We're dealing with some radical left lunatics and I just wish Charlie was here to fight us. I think the fight
would have been over already. He would have had a march on the Capitol by people whose average age is about 21, because there's nobody that had that
relationship with young people. Right, Mike? So thank you, Mike, for being here.
House majority leader Steve Scalise. Steve, thank you very much. Brave, a brave guy and a friend.
House majority whip, another terrific man, Tom Emmer. Tom. Thank you, Tom.
Senate majority whip John Barrasso. John, thank you very much.
You have all these senators. I'm going to get in trouble. I'm not going to read all their names. I'll be reading all day. We'll be talking about
Charlie in about 45 minutes from now. We can't do that. So all of the senators, there are so many of you. Thank you very much. I do want to thank
Senator Thune for doing a terrific job. He's really been leading properly. Do you agree, Mike? The team, the two of these guys have been fantastic.
So, to Senator Thune, I want to thank you very much. Incredible job. I watched him this morning and he was out there pounding him this morning on
television, too. And John Barrasso, thank you for the work you've done. And congratulations on your success. But I want to thank you all and all of the
Congress people that are here. I see we have our attorney general here. So, and you are doing a fantastic job. Thank you very much, Pam. Thank you.
Thank you very much.
We have everybody. Wow. That's incredible. OK. I'm not going to do any more. It'll be here too long. But I just want to thank, you have given him
such support. But he always gave you such support. That's why you're here. And very unusual.
Charles James Kirk was a visionary and one of the greatest figures of his generation. He was truly an amazing figure and growing leaps and bounds he
knew that the fight to preserve our heritage is waged not only on the battlefield and in the halls of power of which we have tremendous power
here, including the head of a place called war. We call it now war. We had defense. We had our secretary of Defense. Now we have a secretary of War.
And somehow I think it's more emblematic and hopefully we'll never have to use war. But the fact that we're ready is very good. Peace through strength
is very important, but also in the hearts of our nation's youth. That's where Charlie rode strongest. At age 18 that insight inspired Charlie to
found the organization that ultimately touched the lives of millions and millions of people and so many young people that nobody has ever seen
anything like it frankly.
Turning Point USA. It's amazing. And it's actually bigger now. It's become bigger in the last few weeks than Charlie ever thought. I think his end
vision in many years from now would have been just a fraction of what it turned out to be in a couple of weeks. Right? It's amazing. With hard work
and joyful spirit and endless enthusiasm and determination.
And he did have great enthusiasm. You know, I always say you need enthusiasm to be successful enthusiasm. Charlie grew Turning Point into the
largest conservative youth organization in the entire country. He forged a personal bond with countless young conservatives. He fought for free
speech, religious liberty, strong borders, and a very strong and proud America. In everything he did, he put America first. He really put America
first.
And ultimately, Charlie became more than a leader of an important organization. He became the leader of historic movements all over the
country. There were movements, individual movements. One movement. But it was historic. Everything he did was historic and a true evangelist for the
cause of freedom and the word of Almighty God. God was very important to Charlie. He would say, you know, if you don't have religion, you're not
going to have a strong country. It's true.
He was so wise beyond his years. You know, I talked to him sometimes I'd say this guy is like a young guy. He was really a wise man. From the time
Charlie worked on my presidential campaign in 2016, he was there right from the beginning. He liked me. I don't know, I have no idea why. What the hell
was he thinking? He said, you're going to win, sir. I said, you know, I'm running against 17 senators and a lot of tough people and governors. We
have all these people. And he said, no, you're going to win, sir.
[16:55:02]
He said, not going to be close. And he made it happen. He helped make it happen. I'll tell you that. Without him, who knows what would be. Maybe
you'd have Kamala standing here today. That would not be good. I will tell you, Javier, you don't know who Kamala is. Promise. it would not be good.
Do you agree with that, Howard?
He also mobilized countless citizens to go vote. It's called "Go Vote." Very simple. And with his help in 2024, we won more young people than any
Republican by far in the history of our country. And we won the popular vote. We won them. Remember they said, oh, well, if Trump could win four,
that would be nice. I win seven by a lot, by a landslide. But the popular vote was massive and we won the electoral college. Remember this? Be very
hard. I'd say 270. Well, we got 312 to 226.
And then we won something called districts and councils and different things. But in one case we won 2,750 to 525. That's the one where you see
the map is almost entirely red, except they have a little blue line on one side and a little blue line, meaning New York and Los Angeles. I have a
feeling that if the vote were 100 percent, we would have won that, too. You want to know the truth.
But he knew, and he knew very well. And he also understood honesty. And he was always concerned with honesty. He said, the only way we can lose is if
the cheating gets so bad. And that's where we came up with a little phrase, too big to rig. We said, go out and vote. Just go out and vote. And we had
that. Remember we used to say that all the time because people would say, oh, they're going to win. We don't have to vote. Let's go to a movie. We'll
come home and watch later. And he wasn't about that.
So we had -- we come up -- with really together we came up with that phrase, we've got to make it too big. I never made a speech where I didn't
say at the end, now, look, the polls are showing good. Don't believe the polls. I said we're going to make it, Susie, right? Too big to rig. So if
you think we're going to win by a lot, it doesn't matter. Pretend we're losing. You got to go out and vote. They voted. And at 9:02 the whole thing
was over, right? 9:02.
Remember they said, oh, this could go a few days. Well, went a few minutes. 9:02. And he knew that and I felt it, but he knew it. He knew it. I think
he knew it more than anybody. But Charlie never missed an opportunity to remind us of the Judeo-Christian principles of our nation's founding, or to
share his deep Christian faith and his final moments. Charlie testified to the greatness of America and to the glory of our savior, with whom he now
rests in heaven. And he is going to make heaven. I said, I'm not sure I can make it, but he's going to make it. He's there. He's looking down on us
right now. So incredible.
Look at this. How this turned out. This was supposed to be so dark and cloudy. Not dark and cloudy, is it? Look at that. How beautiful that is.
There's no artist that can capture it as beautiful as it is today. Wow. It's amazing. As I said on the day that he was assassinated, Charlie Kirk
was a martyr for truth and for freedom. And from Socrates to think and to Saint Peter, from Abraham Lincoln to Martin Luther King, those who change
history the most.
And he really did. Have always risked their lives for causes. They were put on earth to defend. He was put on earth to do exactly what he was doing. He
didn't want to waste time. He would have been a top student at any college in the country. I know the college as well. He was smarter than the guys
there. He was so smart, but he almost, I guess didn't have the time. He knew what he wanted to do.
It wasn't like, I want to sit in a classroom for four years listening to people teach me liberal principles because they were never going to teach
him that anyway. But he didn't have the time. He really didn't have the time. But every time the enemies of goodness and virtue tried to silence
the voice of righteous and noble leaders like Charlie, they failed. They seem to fail. Ultimately, they look like they're doing well, and then they
end up failing. Because the truth has been unrelenting over the years, over history.
And people like Charlie, it's just they've got a power that others don't have, and a few people will ever have. So today, like those martyrs before
him, Charlie's voice, his message and his legacy are stronger and greater than ever before. They are greater than ever before. Look, this is a
horrible event, but it brought out the greatness of Charlie. Nothing could have ever supplanted this. It's incredible the way people are talking about
him. And with great love. I mean, I read so many stories about some of the enemies, but I watched the enemies, and it's hard for them to --
(INSERT 1630)
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