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CNN NewsNight with Abby Phillip
40 U.S. Airports Cut Flights, White House Warns of Mass Chaos; No Deal Yet to End 37-Day Shutdown Amid Flight Reductions; Absolute Sh*t Show, Chaos at Conservative Org Over Nick Fuentes. Donald Trump Accuses Democrats of a Con Job on Affordability; Rep. Nancy Pelosi Announces Retirement, Trump Gives Final Words to Pelosi. Aired 10-11p ET
Aired November 06, 2025 - 22:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[22:00:00]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR (voice over): Tonight, unprecedented and unsustainable, the Trump administration shutting down 10 percent of flights across the country because of the shutdown.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is chaos out there.
SIDNER: And a blunt warning for federal workers from the Senate majority leader.
SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Federal workers and military families are getting their Thanksgiving dinner from a food bank.
SIDNER: Food pantries for Thanksgiving. But who is to blame? Each side says they are.
Plus, on the third attempt, the head of the conservative Heritage Foundation says the hard words out loud.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I made a mistake and I am sorry for that.
SIDNER: But the fight inside the GOP over the Tucker Carlson-Nick Fuentes interview is far from over.
Also, the president says there's no affordability crisis.
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: The Americans are gaining tremendously.
SIDNER: So, what's the disconnect between Main Street and the White House?
And she's an American first and a Democratic powerhouse in Congress. She was also the chosen boogie woman for Republicans.
TRUMP: She was an evil woman.
SIDNER: Nancy Pelosi calling it quits after nearly four decades in Congress.
Live at the table, Adam Mockler, Lydia Moynihan, Arthur Aidala and Ashley Allison.
Americans with different perspectives aren't talking to each other, but here, they do.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SIDNER: Good evening. I'm Sara Sidner in New York in for Abby Philip.
Let's get right to what Americans are talking about, and it's the breaking news. A travel nightmare is becoming a reality because of the government shutdown. In just hours, the Trump administration will slash flights at 40 of the nation's busiest airports, including major hubs, like New York City, Chicago, Atlanta. Delta, United, American and Southwest have already grounded hundreds of planes for tomorrow, and that number expected to grow the longer this stalemate drags on.
All of this has been putting a massive strain on the people whose jobs it is to keep us safe in the sky. Air traffic controllers are stressed to the max, understaffed and now working without pay. Resignations, we hear, are happening daily.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: They're calling in saying, I don't have enough gas to get to work to their employer, to their supervisor and manager and saying, what do you want me to do?
They're not calling in sick. They're not calling in protests. They're calling in with real life situations. These are real people dealing with real life circumstances. And when you don't pay somebody for 37 days and say, hey, just keep showing up and do your best, people are going to have issues and they're mounting daily.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: And if you're wondering whether things will get better, here's a warning from the vice president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: The American people are unfortunately about to start suffering some very real consequences because of the shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: People are already suffering and they have been very clear about that. And look who we have at the table. No one is going to suffer fools tonight, as I understand it.
I'm going to start with you, Arthur. We are hearing this, you know what, end of the last longest shutdown in our history. Air traffic control calling out and having it be a nightmare for travel. Is this going to be the key that pushes Congress to do its job?
ARTHUR AIDALA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think absolutely. Two weeks ago I had to travel like 7:00 on a Saturday morning, the airport here in New York, it was packed. I mean, packed, packed, packed. Thank God I have TSA and clear, so it took me half an hour. But when I got there, I asked the TSA, I go, what is going on? And she's like, well, only half of us are here. She's like, we're not getting paid. We're here voluntarily. Yours truly is supposed to travel this Saturday morning with a nine-year-old and a three-year-old you know, domestically, but from a New York airport. Trust me, my wife when the flight gets canceled, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, oh boy, there's going to be people freaking out. And now -- and my heart breaks because those people who have gone this long without a paycheck.
Listen, I run a small business. I'm now 57, but at 37, 20 years ago, I was living paycheck to paycheck. I really, really, really, really was. Luckily, I had mommy and daddy if things got a little tight, but a lot of people who are 37, I have children, they don't have mommy and daddy.
[22:05:00]
So, I agree with you. I think this will be what brings these two sides who should have the wherewithal, the intelligence, to put their egos aside, to put their politics aside and to do what they're there for and to serve the people of the United States of America and get things people paid, get people fed, and get things moving.
SIDNER: Allison, what do you think the chances are with the Democrats having this sort of big, blue wave that they just had? I do that to you every time.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's okay.
SIDNER: It's Ashley Allison, and I call you all the time. There's a lot of love. But, Ashley, what do you -- the Democrats are saying, look, let's go ahead and talk about insurance, let's get this done, and then we will help you reopen the government? Is that going to fly?
ALLISON: I don't know. All I'll say is that I actually agree with Arthur today.
SIDNER: What?
ALLISON: Because --
AIDALA: You agree with me a lot.
ALLISON: Do I?
AIDALA: Yes, especially when it comes to hair. You do the hair, you do the whole hairstyle thing together.
ALLISON: I think you're right though. I think both sides will come together. The reality is though, they could have come together a month ago, but Republicans didn't want to. Democrats were saying, negotiate with us. You don't have enough votes to keep the government open. You don't have enough votes to do it your way. You have to negotiate. You don't have a mandate across all of it.
Now, here's the funny thing though, that I just, the backdrop. What's today, Thursday? Two nights ago, Mamdani wins and we're told he's going to turn the city into a place where you don't have groceries on the shelves, where people can't put gas in their car. You actually know where that's happening? Under government rule, with the White House being under Republican rule, with the White House being Republican rule, with the Senate being Republican Rule, with the House being a Republican rule. And what do we hear from the FAA is that there are people who can't afford to put gas in their cars because they're not getting paid.
You're worried about Mamdani being a -- let me finish. Let me finish. You're worried about Mamdani being a socialist. I'm worried about the Republicans governing.
LYDIA MOYNIHAN, CORRESPONDENT, NEW YORK POST: This is why actually Republicans don't like big government, because it is extremely unreliable, and that's why they don't want more government the way that Momani is proposing.
ALLISON: But they're in charge.
MOYNIHAN: But I hope, Arthur, that the Democrats are listening to you. The issue is, if you're listening to the mainstream media, 87 percent of coverage for the Democrats has been positive during the shutdown. So, they look at this, they think they're winning. Schumer thinks every day that passes, it's better for him. The minority whip talks about having leverage. And they don't really have the incentive now, right? They look at the margins that they won in Virginia where lots of angry government employees turned out to vote for Spanberger, and they think, I don't want to give this up. At the same time, Axios is reporting that House Democrats are putting tremendous pressure on Senate Democrats not to cave, not to compromise, or they will have, quote/unquote, hell to pay.
So, I don't think Democrats are interested in negotiating based on everything that's being reported and that we're hearing from them.
ADAM MOCKLER, COMMENTATOR, MEIDASTOUCH: Democrats are absolutely about to negotiate. There's reporting today that they're ready because they have leverage. First of all, I just want to say the idea that the Republican Party is the party of small government, as you claimed, is a joke under this administration. Donald Trump is taking stakes, active stakes in multiple companies. Donald Trump is expanding his executive power trying to trample all over Congress, trying to appoint people in key positions so that they can take Jimmy Kimmel off the air. But I do want to say --
MOYNIHAN: So, why do you want big government here in New York? Why is that something that we should advocate for?
ALLISON: We just want the government open.
MOCKLER: You don't know my position on New York, first of all.
MOYNIHAN: I want the government -- the Republicans voted 14 times to open the government.
MOCKLER: Let me just finish. Let just me finish. Republicans have voted 14 times to strip healthcare away from millions of Americans. It is incredibly, incredibly obvious who has the moral high ground in this government shutdown, and it's the Democratic Party. They are just trying to prevent millions of Americans who are going to be kicked off of healthcare.
MOYNIHAN: Who put the sunset provision for ACA subsidies?
MOCKLER: Republicans negotiated --
MOYNIHAN: That was Democrats.
MOCKLER: Republicans negotiated that.
MOYNIHAN: Well, who put the sunset provision?
MOCKLER: The under works in Congress. Two sides have to come together. The Republican Party --
MOYNIHAN: This is the first time that we would have had a clean C.R. passed. This is the bill that Schumer and everyone else agreed back.
MOCKLER: The Republican Party was the party that came in --
MOYNIHAN: Why aren't they committing to it this year?
MOCKLER: Listen, the Republican Party was the party that didn't want permanent credits, number one. Number two, the reason why Democrats are like, number one, just holding off is because millions of Americans are about to get kicked off healthcare. It's incredibly simple. It's super simple.
MOYNIHAN: They put in the sunset provision.
MOCKLER: Because Republicans asked them to.
SIDNER: Let's quickly talk about some of the things because we did hear from J.D. Vance who said, look, people are about to start feeling this. But people are feeling this. Not just the federal workers who are in dire straits, but everyday Americans as well who use things like SNAP. A federal judge has come out and said, listen, you have to pay full SNAP benefits. You have to do it now. This is an emergency. What do you make of that, Lydia, with the Trump administration's, like, oh, well we're going to pay partial money into the SNAP fund, but we're not going to pay the full thing. And the judge is saying, no, I am ruling that you need to pay this in full, people are hurting.
MOYNIHAN: My understanding is that they don't have the funds to pay it in full. The emergency funds they have are not enough to cover it for this entire month.
[22:10:00]
So, that's why they keep pushing to try and open the government. And I think the idea that somehow a federal judge can order the executive branch to pay, well, why can't that same judge then ask Democrats to reopen the government?
ALLISON: Well, because the executive branch was the one that said they weren't going to use the contingency money.
(CROSSTALKS)
ALLISON: But the reason why the federal judge doesn't have to tell Congress is Congress already approved the money and is now in the executive. This is how the government works. And so the executive is saying that they don't want to release those funds because of big government actually. And the judge is saying in an order of checks and balance is, you can't do that, Mr. President. You actually don't run -- you're not a king. You actually have to release the funds that Congress has already approved because we have three branches of government. That's actually why.
MOCKLER: Can I just ask to either the Republicans on this panel, would you rather see this government shut down end in Trump's preferred way, which is terminating the filibuster or Democrat's preferred way, which is extending healthcare? What do you say?
AIDALA: First of all, I'm not a Republican.
MOCKLER: Sorry. Then what do you say? I want to see -- what do you say?
AIDALA: I ran for city council as a Democrat in the city of New York.
ALLISON: Okay, Arthur.
AIDALA: I lost by 180 votes.
MOCKLER: Then I would ask you, what do you say about that?
AIDALA: But I'm not a -- I'm a New Yorker.
MOCKLER: Okay. Answer my question. Answer my question then.
AIDALA: But these labels, you know why we are where we are?
MOCKLER: Answer my question.
AIDALA: What you just did. I'm going to answer your question, but this is why we are where we are, because we've become so partisan. We have become, we've forgotten about the people who don't put gas in their car. We've forgotten about the people who can't feed their kids. We are more worried about if -- here's why the Democrats don't have -- are not motivated to settle this. Because history will say, under Donald Trump, it was the longest government shutdown.
SIDNER: The second one. AIDALA: So, it'll be a -- well, it'll be now.
ALLISON: We're getting there. We're getting there.
AIDALA: So, for them, for the Democrats, ha, it's going to be down on his scorecard. I wish Congress would go home, go to their home districts and see the people suffering, and then come back to Washington and then make their decisions.
MOCKLER: Somebody is, and it's Marjorie Taylor Greene, and she's taking the sides of the Democrats actively. She has talked to her constituents and she said their healthcare premiums are about to skyrocket. So, again, one party clearly has the moral high ground.
Let me ask the same question. How should the shutdown end? The way that Trump wants it to end --
MOYNIHAN: It should end that it always -- there's one way it typically has always ended.
MOCKLER: So, negotiation, thank you. That's what I'm saying, negotiation.
MOYNIHAN: It always ends with a clean C.R.
MOCKLER: With negotiation.
MOYNIHAN: I reject your premise of --
MOCKLER: So, Donald Trump wants to terminate the filibuster. Democrats want to extend healthcare credits. Which of these sides would you choose?
MOYNIHAN: I reject that premise.
MOCKLER: Okay.
MOYNIHAN: The way that the government has always (INAUDIBLE) is passing a clean C.R. That's what Republicans did under Biden. That is --
ALLISON: What? Just because it's always been, doesn't mean it always has to be done that same way?
SIDNER: Wait, hold on. To be fair, Donald Trump himself has broken a myriad of norms, right? And so we're in this time where you talk about polarization, we're in this time of extreme polarization where the president has broken norm after norm after norm. And now the Democrats are looking at this saying, we want to negotiate for this particular thing. And polling is showing that the population is saying, yes, we need our healthcare to be taken care of as well as food and getting the government back running.
ALLISON: Can I just say that I live in Washington, D.C., and almost four weeks ago when the government shut down ended, I was leaving CNN and I was in an Uber, and the Uber driver asked me, how long do you think this is going to last? And I was like, I'm not sure. And he's like, it's week one and I'm already struggling. He wasn't on SNAP and he was an independent contractor. And he's struggling because there are collateral consequences.
So, I actually am not going to be a hack for the Democrats or the Republican right now. This is having massive impact. I went and got my eyebrows done the other day and my eyebrow technician was like, they're going to fire two technicians from here because all of our clients don't have money to come. She's not on SNAP.
AIDALA: That's a thing, the eyebrows?
SIDNER: Listen, her eyebrows look good.
ALLISON: Okay.
AIDALA: That's a thing?
ALLISON: In a moment of transparency. But I'm saying that to say for people -- you think that like an eyebrow, a lash technician, a beautician is not filling that? They have clients have to have money to pay them.
SIDNER: Restaurants, the same way.
ALLISON: Restaurants have -- like D.C. is hurting and there are people that work for the federal government, not just in Washington, across the entire government. And so this is not just going to impact SNAP benefits or recipients, it's going to impact the entire American population.
SIDNER: Yes. And we will see what happens now that there is going to be this massive disruption in the skies as well.
All right, ahead, some of the biggest names in conservative politics are deeply divided over a notorious white supremacist and what he's doing to the Republican Party.
Plus, the A word, affordability, and what a difference a day makes. Yesterday, the president agreed it was a big issue, but today, he's singing a different tune. We'll talk about it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:15:00]
SIDNER: Tonight, an eye-raising quote, absolute shit show. That is what a senior staffer is calling The Heritage Foundation after its leader, Kevin Roberts, defended Tucker Carlson for hosting white nationalists and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes on his podcast. Roberts is now apologizing, but the staffer says Roberts' lost control of the organization, there is open rebellion. It is discussed from those there. 85 percent are totally disgusted.
Carlson ignited a civil war inside the Republican Party with that podcast. Right wing provocateur and close Trump ally Laura Loomer told CNN that Carlson is a poison pill to the GOP and he'll cost the GOP elections in 2026 and 2028.
[22:20:04]
Carlson, however, defended himself today when he spoke with Megyn Kelly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MEGYN KELLY, HOST, SIRIUSXM: I personally have watched videos of him questioning the Holocaust, likening it to baking cookies in the oven, and there's no way you could have gotten to 6 million.
So, what do you say to those people and say, why don't you raise any of that?
TUCKER CARLSON, HOST, THE TUCKER CARLSON SHOW: You know, do your own interview the way that you want to do it. You're not my editor, buzz off.
I don't need to prove that I'm a good person to you. You may think I'm a terrible person, okay. I'm just doing my thing, which is I want to understand what people think. And I am committed to that. And if you don't like it, don't watch. That's my view. But that doesn't mean that I share the views.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: No apology there from Tucker Carlson.
I do want to ask you, Lydia, how destructive this might be for MAGA.
MOYNIHAN: Yes. Look, I mean, I think obviously everyone was shocked and appalled that he would do an interview with somebody who -- we don't even need to go through everything that Nick Fuentes has said. I am though encouraged to see the backlash that all of this is having, that people at Heritage are standing up and condemning that. And, of course, that's what Charlie Kirk did so well was call out that kind of horrible rhetoric and destructive ideology. And so I think there have been so many voices on the right who've been really quick to stand up, condemn it and say, this does not have a place in the conservative movement.
And I think we'll see what happens at Heritage, but I think it's good that Kevin Roberts said, yes, I screwed up.
SIDNER: Yes, it took him three times to do it though. He was very much --
MOCKLER: And this definitely does have a place somewhere.
SIDNER: To it. Go ahead.
AIDALA: I was there last night. Yes. I was -- I do a --
SIDNER: Were you in -- were you there?
AIDALA: Yes, I was there. I do a true crime show with Megyn Kelly, no politics just legal analysis.
ALLISON: I am learning so much about you today. You're a Democrat and you're a true crime person.
AIDALA: Yes. Well, I am kind of a criminal defense attorney. I don't just play one on T.V. And, you know, he eloquently, I will say, defended himself.
Let me be very clear, as a Sicilian American, I identify so closely with my Jewish brothers and sisters like very, very closely. Like I fast on Yom Kippur, I have no tolerance for anti-Semitism, whatsoever.
So, I went into last night not with an open mind, but I wanted to hear what Tucker had to say. And, I mean, he made it very clear last night that he absolutely believes in the Holocaust, that it took place, that he hates Nazism.
MOCKLER: Thank God he made that clear.
AIDALA: I mean, but he said it over -- I mean, he spent like 20 minutes on it.
SIDNER: Right.
MOCKLER: I love that he could clarify it.
SIDNER: But he was very friendly with Nick Fuentes on --
AIDALA: Okay. So, here's his retort. Here's his retort. And I was very friendly with Vladimir Putin.
MOCKLER: No.
AIDALA: Well, I'm just telling you what he said last night. He said, I was very friendly with Vladimir Putin. He said, I may mess this up, but I've interviewed -- I think it was like, I don't want to mess it up, but some tribe who -- it was accountable tribe, that they were eating their own people, they were eating flesh. And I interviewed them and they were horrible. I interviewed Charles Manson. I've interviewed a lot of horrible, mean, terrible people, and I've never gotten the reaction and I didn't think I was going to get the reaction.
And the reason why he brought him on was Fuentes, on his own, attacked Tucker Carlson's father, wife and child, and Tucker was enraged. And the way he targeted his anger was to have him on his podcast.
MOCKLER: Wait. So, he was so enraged, he decided to have a friendly interview with Nick Fuentes? The problem -- well, listen, the problem is not that he held the interview. It's that he normalized this type of ideology.
I think the Republican Party is, for the first time, being forced to face the monster that they've created in Nick Fuentes. Throughout my entire youth, I've watched Donald Trump normalize, not Nick Fuentes' rhetoric, but a type of extremist rhetoric that the U.S. has never seen before. Now, that is manifesting in the GOP or at least Tucker Carlson and big wings of the GOP welcoming in, Tucker Carlson is welcoming in somebody who believes the Holocaust didn't happen, or he thinks if it did happen, it was a good thing. He thinks that black people deserve less rights, women deserve less rights. You can't say --
AIDALA: (INAUDIBLE) about Donald Trump.
MOCKLER: The Republicans do not --
AIDALA: About Jewish people with Donald Trump.
MOCKLER: That's not what I'm saying.
AIDALA: He wore a yarmulke at his daughter's wedding.
MOCKLER: The way that Donald Trump speaks about the Democratic Party, the way that Donald Trump speaks about people who disagree with him has normalized his extremist rhetoric. He said that we were nuts who need to be taken care of in front of the military.
But the point is a lot of young people are being sucked into this Nick Fuentes pipeline.
AIDALA: And it's true.
MOCKLER: I don't think the Republican Party, the old guard, is ready for what's about to smack them in the face with this new guard.
SIDNER: I'm just curious just to follow up on that, Adam. There is a thought that because of what happened to Charlie Kirk and how he was killed, that there are people who were sort of in his tent, Charlie Kirk did not -- he hated Nick Fuentes. There was a battle between them and that those people have now moved to support someone like Nick Fuentes. Do you see that happening?
[22:25:00]
MOCKLER: I agree with that analysis. I've been following the rise of Nick Fuentes for a few years. I've been tracking it closely. And Charlie Kirk was a bulwark against this type of far right extremism. Charlie Kirk would unequivocally condemn the Groypers who came to TPUSA. But I'm telling you, we are now seeing this vacuum filled. We are now seeing people on Instagram reels post Nick Fuentes and get half a million likes with Holocaust denial.
And my worry is J.D. Vance needs to come out and condemn this. J.D. Vance, when the young Republican group chat leaked of people who were Nazi supporters, muddied the waters. Do you not see the normalization that's happening, either of you?
ALLISON: Can I just say one thing that I think the statistic was only like 85 percent of the people found it problematic. That 15 percent is like a significant percentage and it actually -- yes, and it's actually enough to start to get traction to go to 20 and then 25 percent and then 35 percent. And so -- but God forbid, right? AIDALA: God forbid.
ALLISON: But God forbid. But the way you stop it is that you don't allow any space for it.
MOCKLER: Moral clarity.
ALLISON: You cannot have -- and I know the next talking point is like, well, what about the Democratic side? We can talk about that at one point. Today, we're talking about Fuentes.
AIDALA: You can talk about the guy who just elected mayor, the same New York and what he said about my Jewish brothers and sisters.
ALLISON: I get that. But let us handle that. What Republicans need to do is identify that 15 percent that might be in The Heritage Foundation and say, not on our watch, but that also requires, wasn't it Nick Fuentes the person who also went and had dinner with the current president right now? So, that is what I think Adam is saying is that there's like these little permission structures where it doesn't just say, no, sir, no man, not on our watch.
MOYNIHAN: What I would say is J.D. Vance actually has condemned Nick Fuentes, and, of course, Nick Fuentes has gone after him because he's married to somebody of Indian origin. And what I will say is I'm seeing so many voices in the conservative movement who are condemning this. And I am very encouraged by that, the fact that people are saying and calling this out and recognizing that the conservative movement is about conserving, and Nick Fuentes does not have a part in that. So, I am seeing that tremendously.
And I'd also say I think a lot of Republicans though at the same time are alarmed that, you know, on the left, somebody like Jay Jones who said he wants to see his colleague's children murdered, 90 percent of Democrats who voted for him didn't have an issue with those text messages. So, I think --
ALLISON: They probably had an issue with it. I think it is -- I don't think those text messages were acceptable, and I think that that's the moral clarity you have to have now. It's like --
MOCKLER: He apologized.
SIDNER: He apologized. He did.
ALLISON: But even like sometimes you apologize and you still have to like --
MOCKLER: Does Trump ever apologize for anything?
ALLISON: But sometimes you do things that are wrong and an apology takes a little long longer to set in. I'm okay acknowledging that. I also think, though, is that we find ourselves -- you, on the first block, you said, what we find ourselves doing is Republicans, Democrats. What we have to stop doing is when somebody does something wrong, pivot it to the other side and be like, well, I'm not going to stand up and say this is wrong and totally get rid of it until you do it on your side. That's not what we teach children in kindergarten. That's not we teach young people. We say a wrong is a wrong and a right is a right.
SIDNER: We are going to come back. We have a lot more to talk about.
Next up, apparently, the affordability crisis is over. That is according to President Trump. We will discuss his new argument, coming up,
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:30:00]
SIDNER: Tonight, President Trump has a new political nemesis and its name is affordability. After claiming yesterday it was a new term that Republicans didn't talk enough about, today Trump debuted a brand new line: The affordability crisis, he says, is dead. Stop lying.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We are the ones that have done a great job with affordability, not the Democrats, and yet we just lost a couple of elections in very Democrat areas. Maybe won't be full.
They weren't very Democrat when I ran a year ago because I did well in those areas, but we just lost an election they said based on affordability. It's a con job by the Democrats. The Democrats are only good at con and cheating on elections.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: Now in a social media post, Trump pointed to the price of Walmart's 2025 Thanksgiving dinner, which is down 25 percent when compared to last year. The only issue with that comparison is this.
It turns out the new meal has fewer items, smaller turkey, and quote "great value items have replaced the name brands." That's the Walmart brand.
Trump's reversal on affordability comes the same day as a report announcing the worst October layoff numbers in 22 years. Alright, is there a message that is being missed by the White House, do you think?
Affordability.
It is what each Democrat used and won their races in a sweep.
ARTHUR AIDALA, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, AND HOST, "ARTHUR AIDALA POWER HOUR": It's definitely an issue. I mean, two weeks ago I went into a regular bagel store, nothing fancy. I got an 8-ounce cup of black coffee, no milk, no sugar, it was over $4.
That afternoon, and I'm sure you could appreciate this, take the edge off. SIDNER: You went to get your eyebrows done?
AIDALA: No, I went to get a Johnny Walker red. That is the cheapest scotch of all of them, right?
The guy gave me one shot, measured one shot with three ice cubes. It was $15. So I paid, and then they're looking for a tip.
[22:35:03]
So I paid 20-plus dollars for basically like nine-ounces of liquid that was not exactly gold. Driving here tonight, the driver said to me, he goes, look, Arthur, affordability is really an issue.
Whether it's housing, whether it's food costs, whether it's car service, whether it's taxi cabs. Now, I don't know, the President is different. I don't know what the mayor of the city of New York, who ran on affordability, what he or she, if it was a female mayor, whoever it is, could actually do to affect my coffee price and my booze price.
But it certainly caught on. And I mean, it goes back to Bill Clinton. It's, what was it?
LYDIA MOYNIHAN, CORRESPONDENT, "NEW YORK POST": It's the economy.
AIDALA: It's the economy, stupid.
SIDNER: Mamdani does have an idea for that. It's government run grocery stores.
AIDALA: Yes, that's going to go over like a, well--
MOYNIHAN: Did you combine the coffee and the Johnny Walker?
AIDALA: Well, that's what Irish coffee. And I usually do it in the morning before I go get my night.
SIDNER: We're learning a lot about you today.
AIDALA: Yes. It's (inaudible) dollar coming up.
SIDNER: I think a big reveal here.
ADAM MOCKLER, MEIDASTOUCH COMMENTATOR: The fundamental fact is that things are getting worse for Americans over the past nine and a half months or so. Donald Trump has continually claimed that we are in a golden age of America, that we brought in $18 trillion via tariffs. But most of the macroeconomic indicators are not looking too good.
For example, you can look at unemployment. It's up, inflation is up since Liberation Day back in March/April. Americans are struggling. You can just talk to anybody about it.
And the problem is, Trump is now just throwing out the word affordability, like that's going to fix anything. Last night, he was on Fox News. And Fox, you know, read him a post from one of his supporters, a three-time Trump voter.
And the three-time Trump voter was like, listen, we're struggling here. Main Street does not reflect Wall Street. And it's bad.
And Trump's answer was, no, prices are down, except for beef.
He essentially is gaslighting and saying prices are down. He then says energy prices are down. Maybe she should like check her.
And it's like, no, you were right.
AIDALA: Gas prices are down.
MOCKLER: The electricity prices are up.
ASHLEY ALLISON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR AND FORMER NATIONAL COALITIONS DIRECTOR, BIDEN-HARRIS 2020: I have like, we've lived this before. This is literally Groundhog Day. And it happened last year.
And Democrats said exactly what Donald Trump was saying. And people were like, they kept pointing to the economy.
SIDNER: They kept pointing to the economy.
ALLISON: And people are struggling now, but people were struggling a year ago. And the reason why you have someone like Mamdani, besides the fact that he ran a spectacular campaign and he really did like capture social media and the energy, he was giving alternative options that it seems like Joe Biden wasn't giving and Donald Trump isn't giving. And all it seems like is in this moment is that Democrats and Republicans are saying, I have the answer.
I have the answers. And the American people are saying on both sides, I'm still struggling. I don't care that it's all you're making it all about you.
How about you care about me? And like, I'm willing to try something different.
And I just want to caution both parties that if we if you don't wake up, if you don't realize that people are really dissatisfied and you're really afraid of the election of a Mamdani, you might see more on both sides, more populist type of candidates, more Democratic socialist type of candidates in 2026 primary folks and both of the traditional party.
SIDNER: I want to just quickly bring in the issue of tariffs and what may happen with the Supreme Court, because if the Supreme Court decides that they are not legal, that's something like $90 billion. It's going to have to somehow be given back.
AIDALA: And the arguments were leaning that the court is going that way.
SIDNER: That's right.
AIDALA: Both Gorsuch and --
SIDNER: Our legal eagle is paying attention.
AIDALA: -- and call me Barrett. They both said they were like, look, Mr. Trump's lawyers, this is a tax, a tariff is a tax. And that is like a fundamental congressional right.
You know, so that--
MOCKLER: The party of small government again strikes again.
SIDNER: So let me let me go to something that that last night Ben Shapiro said about this issue. What would happen if the Supreme Court decides that indeed these tariffs that Trump is imposing are legal? Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BEN SHAPIRO, PODCAST HOST, "BEN SHAPIRO SHOW": One of the things that will be fascinating is if the court does strike it down, watch the stock market absolutely explode. Seriously, you'll watch the S&P 500 jump like nobody's business. And the President is then going to be in the awkward position of having to explain why the markets are boosted by the rejection of the policies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: So, Liddy, I guess the big question is when you hear that coupled with the hurt that people have right now and then you hear the president say this is just a con job about affordability that the Democrats don't know what they're talking about. What would you advise him to start talking about?
MOYNIHAN: Well, I think affordability, obviously, is the key issue that every American at the end of the day votes based on the pocketbook issues. That's what it comes down to.
And I think I'm sure it's frustrating for the President because there actually is a lot of progress. You know, gas prices are down 20 percent for the first time now. Real wage growth is outpacing inflation for food.
And so I am heartened. But obviously, we've come off an economy where the high watermark of inflation under Biden was almost 10 percent.
[22:40:03]
So I do think when we talk about prices rising, they got really high really fast. And we are still experiencing pain from that. So I don't think that it's ever a good idea, though, to tell somebody who is hurting financially that that's not real or they don't feel that.
But I think the more that Republicans focus in and J.D. Vance was actually part of his analysis of some of the election results following Tuesday was, yes, we need to focus on what's going on here domestically. How can we make people's lives more affordable? And that is ultimately
the winning issue for Republicans or to Ashley's point, whoever is going to win. That's what you have to hone in on.
ALLISON: When the stock market skyrockets, if the Supreme Court says that you can't do these tariffs, it shouldn't be a surprise because when he imposed the tariff, the stock market plummeted.
So, like, you know, with every cause, there's no more reaction. And so when the reverse happens, usually the opposite happens. So it shouldn't be a surprise.
People should just take notice. And hopefully--
MOYNIHAN: I mean, the stock market's high now. And I mean, I guess that's not it's going to go even higher. It's not a horrible situation to be in.
MOCKLER: You know, Trump will still claim it as a massive win, even if the stock market did spike. But I do want to say it's not impressive that the stock market is at all-time highs. It's almost always hitting all-time highs.
It's more impressive that Donald Trump was able to take the stock market multiple times via his tariffs. That's the more impressive part. The growth over the past nine months is slower than Biden's last nine months in office.
AIDALA: Trump's been in nine months. So we got to say, OK, but even the affordability thing, I mean, it takes a little while. These tariffs, it takes a while.
SIDNER: This is true. But the issue is, is that economists at the time when Biden was in office was that we're saying this economy is booming. And look back at some of the job numbers, they were quite large.
AIDALA: I agree.
SIDNER: So it was on its way up. And there's a lot of consternation about the tariffs because that kept sort of making --
ALLISON: I had a crazy thought the other day. And I was like, I mean, it would actually require someone like me to be more compromising on some policies that I didn't agree.
I was like, well, what happened if the economists were right about Biden's economy? What would have happened if Trump would have just let it go for nine more months?
I think what happens in this country is that we get whiplash because of our election cycle. We never actually see the full actualization of any policy because we do something and then we take steps back and then that person tries to do something else for you.
SIDNER: We're going to stop this here just because we have a lot more to talk. And yes, it's politics.
Next, Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi retiring next year, she says she and President Trump going at it, we will distrust.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:45:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: Tonight, you might call it an old-fashioned schoolyard roast of battle between leaders and the Republican and Democratic parties. I'll set the scene for you.
Nancy Pelosi announcing today she will not seek reelection after 38 years in Congress. And earlier this week, she had some choice words about President Trump. So as expected, President Trump used the news of her retirement to return the favor.
A reminder, their combined age is 164.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), HOUSE SPEAKER EMERITA: He's just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the earth.
TRUMP: I'm glad she's retiring. I think she did the country a great service by retiring. I think she was a tremendous liability for the country.
I thought she was an evil woman who did a poor job, who cost the country a lot in damages and in reputation. I thought she was terrible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: All right. By all accounts, Nancy Pelosi was one of the most powerful and effective speakers that this country has ever seen. The first woman to break that ceiling, she was a speaker twice.
I am curious, from your perspective, Ashley, when you hear this battle going back and forth, it is politics. But that is quite a send-off from the President for someone who's been in Congress for this long.
ALLISON: I don't expect anything more. I mean, they really don't like each other. And --
AIDALA: You think--
ALLISON: We don't?
AIDALA: You're on a limb, man. Are you OK with that?
ALLISON: They really don't like each other, to put it mildly. And they're never going to like each other. I want to really focus on the fact that I think it is important that
Nancy Pelosi retired. And I think other people that are in political office at a certain age need to also retire and make space for a diverse younger generation.
SIDNER: Name names, Ashley. Name names.
ALLISON: I can Google them and call them out like clockwork. But you know how old you are.
AIDALA: And she doesn't it sadden you, though? Because you I mean, you were there, right? You were in the mix. Doesn't it sadden you?
ALLISON: What mix?
AIDALA: That two leaders in the White House and in government. I mean, I'm a civilian. You were part of the team.
Doesn't it sadden you that the two leaders, I mean, what she said is horrible about him, what he said is horrible. I don't have any recollection of Ronald Reagan ever speaking like that.
I don't remember -- I don't remember Bill Clinton ever saying that about Newt Gingrich.
MOCKLER: Who started the era of politics?
ALLISON: I'll just say I get it. She retired. She didn't die.
[22:50:00]
You know what I mean? So like if she doesn't leave in office and she's -- I get it. I would love for it to be a better time. I think the more important thing is that Nancy Pelosi did this when she stepped down as speaker to let a space for a younger generation to take hold of the Democratic Party in the House.
I think she's sending a signal ahead of the midterms that like it's time to pass the torch. Did we learn anything from 2024?
She's also 85?
SIDNER: Let's listen to what Paul Ryan said, because not tweeted. Sorry.
It's not tweeted. X--
ALLISON: X, whatever.
SIDNER: Oh, my God.
If my old eyes can see this, he says, while we rarely agreed on policy, I have a deep admiration for Speaker Pelosi, the lifetime of public service for decades. She advanced or advocated. See, I can't see for her beliefs based on --
ALLISON: -- lays the trail.
MOYNIHAN: Lays the trail for female lawmakers and protected the House as an institution. Congratulations to Nancy on a storied career.
AIDALA: That makes me happy.
SIDNER: I should be wearing glasses.
AIDALA: Get glasses.
SIDNER: Speaking of an older person --
AIDALA: You look beautiful.
SIDNER: Go ahead.
MOCKLER: The glasses do look good. I want to jump in.
And you were saying this is not how politics has always been. And I agree.
But who started this new era of divisive politics? Was it Obama? Was it Biden? It was definitely Trump.
Trump's claim to fame in the political arena was saying that Obama's birth certificate was fake. That was his claim to fame.
His second claim to fame in the political arena was coming up with nicknames for his opponents. He was shaking.
AIDALA: Well, that's what got him elected.
MOCKLER: So let me ask you, can any of you concede that Trump was the one, either of you, that entered us into this new era of divisive politics?
MOYNIHAN: I thought we were talking about Nancy Pelosi.
SIDNER: Well, we're talking about them both. But yes, she did. She is.
MOCKLER: Was it her that entered in this era?
MOYNIHAN: Look, there have been Hillary Clinton making comments about deplorables. Obama talking about people, guns and violence. I mean, I don't think politics has ever been a gentlemanly sport.
If you look at back during the Civil War, people were getting caned on the Senate floor. And --
MOCKLER: Trump is dragging us down to the depths of hell by breaking unspoken norms over and over. He is.
ALLISON: I think the one piece, though, is just remember that Nancy Pelosi felt like her life was in danger on January 6th. Nancy Pelosi's husband was brutally attacked. And there I cannot speak for the former speaker, but I think that there is something inside of her that believes that Trump had something to do with both of those things.
MOYNIHAN: And Donald Trump had multiple attempts on his life.
ALLISON: And I'm not saying again, we don't always have to say just because Nancy Pelosi feels some way, we've got to talk about that. Nancy is retiring. Let's have Donald Trump retire.
MOCKLER: The difference is, Nancy Pelosi being in danger was because of Trump.
ALLISON: That's what I'm saying.
MOCKLER: Yes, that's the difference there.
AIDALA: Sarah, another little twist, though. This is very personal.
SIDNER: Again?
AIDALA: She was, well, yes, she was an excellent role model for young Italian-American women. She's been the highest ranking Italian- American woman in the United States of America. She's very proud of it.
She's very Italian-oriented. And the couple of personal interactions I've had with her, she's a very charming woman to be.
SIDNER: There you go. We'll end on that.
Next, the panel gives us their nightcaps. It's going to be good. We'll talk about it coming up.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[22:55:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SIDNER: We're back and it's time for Newsnight Nightcap, You Sunk my Battleship edition. The famous war board game, joined Trivial Pursuit and Slime as new inductees into the National Toy Hall of Fame.
So each of you have just, I'm going to say 20 seconds now, because we've learned a lot about Arthur Aidala's life, to tell us what else should be in the National Toy Hall of Fame. Arthur?
AIDALA: Number one, I don't get the whole slime thing. It's all over my house. I'm bored with it.
So I always loved Operation for two reasons. Number one, I shake like a leaf, so it's very hard. But number two, you can play it alone, right?
It's just all about you. Can you get the bone out? And can you get the funny thing?
SIDNER: For those who don't know what Operation was, there was this little man and he had all of his organs and you had to pull it out without buzzing.
AIDALA: Without hitting the sides. The metal tweezers hit the metal.
SIDNER: Ashley?
ALLISON: Okay. There was a Little Miss series. There was Little Miss makeup, Little Miss hair.
And you could activate putting makeup on their face with water and a little brush, or their hair would turn colors. And I asked for one every year, because every year they came out with a new form. Little Miss clothes and their clothes would change.
So that's chic.
SIDNER: Okay, Adam?
MOCKLER: I think the Xbox 360 deserves a spot in the Hall of Fame. So many games that I grew up playing, Call of Duty, Zombies, Minecraft.
AIDALA: What is that?
MOCKLER: You don't know what an Xbox 360 is?
SIDNER: You don't know what Xbox is?
AIDALA: It's like Atari.
SIDNER: Atari by the way is in there. Atari is in the Hall of Fame. Okay, what about you, Lydia?
MOYNIHAN: Well, I'm feeling a little nostalgic, but I picked something I currently play, which makes you feel nostalgic, Lord.
MOYNIHAN: No, Atari.
Atari, Yes.
I picked Cards Against Humanity because I love games. I play them constantly. I'm always looking for people to play them if anyone wants to join.
SIDNER: Maybe they'll do a show, Cards Against Humanity.
MOYNIHAN: Yes. Oh, I think that would be censored. I think that wouldn't be allowed on CNN.
SIDNER: It would.
Did you know that sand is one of the toys that they have? Just sand is one of the toys that's in the Toy Hall of Fame.
ALLISON: I love the good sand.
MOYNIHAN: Affordability.
SIDNER: I like sand, so I'm going to pick Pet Rock.
Pet Rock.
[23:00:03]
AIDALA: I saw you more of like a holly hobby oven. Do you remember holly hobby oven? You get to cook with a light bulb.
SIDNER: The oven is in there.
AIDALA: I knew it.
ALLISON: Well, we said Easy Bake. We said together Light Bright.
The problem with Light Bright, though, is like if your parents didn't re-up your slice, then it was over after two days.
SIDNER: It was over. All right, we are done. That was really fun.
Everyone, thank you so much, and thank you for watching "Newsnight." "Laura Coates Live" starts right now.
