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WNBA Superstar Calls Out League in Scathing Remarks; Government Shuts Down as GOP, Dems Deadlock on Spending; Trump Admin Federal Crackdown Underway in Memphis; Twin Storms Collapse Homes Along NC Outer Banks. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 01, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: ... the connection or not in that, but you wonder. Players need to stand up and say, it's Caitlin, you know, that yes, we're all important, but Caitlin Clark is the one that brings all the TV ratings and all the attendance, more than anyone ever has before. Embrace it. That spotlight shining on Caitlin Clark shines on all these other players, and they haven't said that over the last two years.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Really interesting. Christine, always great to talk with you. Thank you so much.

BRENNAN: My pleasure. Thank you.

KEILAR: And the new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The government shuts down and right now there is no clear path to reopening it. As lawmakers trade blame, thousands of federal workers are sidelined. We're going to talk about how you may experience its impact on everything from national parks to airports as well.

We also have new details on Sean Combs with his sentencing coming up on Friday. What we're hearing about what the rap mogul might say to the court and who might be there before his sentence is handed down.

And as Hurricane Imelda churns through the Atlantic, the impact in North Carolina is clear, strong waves bringing down homes on the outer banks. We're following this and many other breaking major stories right now on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SANCHEZ: The government shutdown is official. We're now several hours into it, about 13 or 14 or so. And just moments ago, the White House budget chief warned that federal layoffs could be coming in the next one to two days. The President, meantime, has threatened to fire, quote, vast numbers of people. While we wait for that, the government is out of money. Roughly 750,000 federal employees could be furloughed each day and not get paid.

Notably, the Senate will also be out tomorrow as lawmakers take the day off for the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur.

Let's get right out to CNN's Brian Todd at Reagan National Airport. Brian, a big question today is how Americans are going to be feeling

the impacts of the shutdown. And one place where they will immediately notice a difference potentially is airports.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Boris, and we're going to be keeping an eye on places like this. This is the North security checkpoint here at Reagan National Airport. Our photojournalist David Brooks will zoom in on the people in question. These are the TSA screeners in the blue shirts who, starting today, starting several hours ago, came to work without getting paid.

Now, you can see behind me, it hasn't really led to any backups yet. This has been very smooth sailing all day today at this TSA checkpoint. No problems really at all. But you have to keep this in perspective. This could really play out over several days or even weeks, because when the government shuts down and the TSA screeners and air traffic controllers are not being paid, as they are not right now, that could have a trickle effect later on, meaning the longer these people go without paychecks, the more they may not be able to afford gas or public transportation to get to work. They may not be able to afford child care. So, many of them may start calling in sick. That's when you're going to see the airport delays, the disruptions, the backups at places like this. So, it could play out over several days.

It has played out that way in past shutdowns. And, in fact, we just got a statement from the TSA, a spokesperson emailing us this just a few moments ago, warning of just that effect. First, the spokesperson said that the funding of -- for the government expired, quote, "Due to the partisan politics of left-wing politicians." But then the spokesperson had this caution for the traveling public, quote, "While TSA is prepared to continue screening about 2.5 million passengers a day, an extended shutdown could mean longer wait times at airports. We kindly ask for our passengers' patience during this time."

So, Boris, they are warning this could be coming, and it has played out like that in past shutdowns. Also, air traffic controllers not being paid. Now, in the past, air traffic controllers, especially in the shutdown that ended in 2019, about 10 of them called in sick at once. That led to the ending of that shutdown. But this time, their union has told them not to do that, to come to work to protect the airspace.

Meanwhile, we talk about furloughs. We have a rundown of the latest numbers of the government employees being furloughed, already pretty staggering, I have to say, 335,000 just from the Department of Defense are being furloughed. About 32,000 from the Department of Health and Human Services, 17,000 from the State Department, 14,000 from the Department of Homeland Security and 11,000-plus from the Transportation Department.

And at that -- in those furloughs, most or if not all of those people are from the FAA. That's about a quarter of their workforce. But we are told that hirings and training of air traffic controllers will continue. Boris?

SANCHEZ: Brian Todd live for us at Reagan National Airport. Thank you so much. Brianna?

[15:04:59]

KEILAR: Brian, this is coming now by the President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, Nick Daniels.

And I think, Nick, the hope, obviously, is that this does not affect air travel. But it's kind of hard to see how there aren't pressures on it. What could happen?

NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: The hope is that the government shutdown ends very soon, so there is no impact in effect. But it's extremely stressful for the air traffic controllers. We're already dealing with, you know, critical staffing, dealing with unreliable equipment and you add these difficulties, this unnecessary distraction into the mix. It puts the controllers in a very difficult position day in and day out. But they are an extremely proud group that is ready to show up and tackle any task, but it does weaken the national airspace system.

KEILAR: Can you explain specifically how it works? I mean, is it the support staff? Is it -- just the -- their daily work -- their day-to- day jobs, how is it impacted when there's a shutdown?

DANIELS: First, it's just the stress on the controller themselves. It's already one of the most stressful jobs in the world. It's showing up and doing the job to ensure that three million people are safe every day. Thirty-five thousand flights that they control every day, again, while critically staffed with the unreliable equipment. But also, they have a support staff.

Two thousand -- approximately 2,350 people that ensure those air traffic controllers have the latest procedures, the latest briefings, the latest information. They're furloughed right now as well. And every day that continues, that's a new level of complexity, something else that they have to overcome, and doesn't put them in a position to sit down and be as successful as they absolutely can.

KEILAR: Yes, that's not great news. So, in hiring or training, Brian Todd is reporting that continues on. Are there challenges posed to that, though?

DANIELS: Absolutely. The hiring of air traffic controllers in the Oklahoma City Academy is continuing on. We absolutely applaud Secretary Duffy, the administrator, Bedford, of going in and ensuring that that was a new part of it, in that we hire or that we can train air traffic controllers day in and day out at our facilities. However, without that support staff, without the ability to run the classes, again, it puts us in a difficult position. Some of it may continue, but some of it is going to absolutely linger and fall behind.

KEILAR: Florida Congressman Mike Haridopolos told CNN furloughed workers should continue showing up to work, quote, "knowing full well, when the government opens back up, you're going to get paid." Your response to that? DANIELS: Represent a proud group of individuals that do one of the

most demanding jobs in the entire world. Absolutely, they will show up every day. They will continue to do the job that they've now done for a decade, short staffed, and again, without the proper equipment that they need.

However, as the pressure builds, as that unnecessary risk continues, it's just like any other American worker. If you tell them that they're not going to get paid, it's going to add a level of pressure, risk, stress to the, you know, individual when they go home and have to answer questions to their family of when will we get paid again? How are we going to plan? What does the future look like for us? When that answer is, I don't know, it's a whole other level of taking that pressure and stress and going to work and doing the demanding job they do.

KEILAR: I'm sure it's enough of a concern to have air traffic controllers dealing with the normal struggles of life, right? But knowing that they might all be dealing with not having a paycheck if this does continue on and we don't know how long it's going to last. I mean, how scary is that to you?

DANIELS: In the last government shutdown, we saw air traffic controllers -- our workforce is so young right now with, you know, supporting the supercharging of hiring of air traffic controllers and the initiatives that Secretary Duffy has put in place, many of them in the last shutdown prior to that started having to have second jobs. They had to start driving for Uber on the side just so they had a steady level of income during that time. The last thing that we want that the American people deserve or need is air traffic controllers picking up side gigs in order to make sure that they're going to have money, support and resources for their family and loved ones.

KEILAR: Because remind us, how many days, how many hours a week are they already working?

DANIELS: They're already working 60 hours a week, usually six days a week and most often for only four days off in an entire month.

KEILAR: Yes, driving Uber on the side. There's not much of a side to be doing that with. Thank you so much, Nick Daniels. Really appreciate it.

DANIELS: Absolutely.

KEILAR: And up next, we're going to take you live to Memphis, which is where hundreds of federal law enforcement officers are setting up shop as part of President Trump's crime crackdown there.

Plus, we have some new details on what to expect from the week's sentencing -- from this week's sentencing of Sean "Diddy" Combs.

We have these important stories and more all coming up this hour on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) [15:13:59]

SANCHEZ: New today, President Donald Trump announced on Truth Social that the National Guard in Oregon is, quote, "now in place," while claiming that conditions in Portland, quote, continue to deteriorate amid clashes outside the city's ice facility. Meantime, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and other members of the Trump administration are on their way to Tennessee -- to Memphis. It comes as hundreds of agents have begun the federal law enforcement surge there.

Memphis officials expect the first deployment of National Guard troops to happen within the next few weeks.

CNN Ryan Young is live for us in Memphis and joins us now.

Ryan, you've explained that some residents are welcoming of this.

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, that is true. We've talked to some people who say they do welcome more officers, patrols, more resources in this area.

Let me set the scene a little bit because the last 40 minutes when we joined you from a neighborhood that had been impacted by that violence, we got a sense there that people wanted more. This is the staging area and this is where we believe the Secretary of War is headed. And this is the area here.

[15:15:03]

In fact, in the last few minutes ago they just asked us to back off their command post, which is in that area over there. We do believe by the surge of police officers that we're seeing in this area they're getting ready for those VIP guests that are on the way here with AG Bondi on the way here as well.

But, look, let's talk about the numbers here. Really, the city of Memphis has seen crime on the way down. In fact, five-to-six-year lows. But at the same time, you have a community that's desperately dealing with a violent situation when it comes to guns and homicides. So, they want to see some impact. They want to see some real change. And we know all the surging of extra officers could help that. So, we're going to kick to the sound that where we've talked to people in this community who say, look, they want to see something different. They want to see something happen. They want to see more than political rhetoric.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Memphis has a history of racialized violence in the city. If you think back to the sanitation workers' strike. So, bringing troops here puts black and brown communities at a higher risk to be targeted.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I know a guy -- a person that got shot coming out, you know, because he heard something. But he -- you got a gun pointed to his door in case he comes out, you're stealing his car. Yes, we need the task force.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

YOUNG: Yes, boys, I'm actually glad you could walk us through with us because a lot of this is not defined just yet. They didn't tell us where to stay in or where to go. We showed up at the command center. We were here earlier as some of these troops kind of surged in. And I say troops, but I mean, FBI agents, we've seen officers from as far away as Mississippi here as well.

So, this is all sort of being rolled out as we speak. We know more than 50 arrests were made just last night, but the big conversation right now is how will these extra resources be rolled into the officers and the work that's already being done here. Boris.

SANCHEZ: And Ryan, once they arrive, what is the National Guard's role going to be?

YOUNG: That is a great question. And one of the things that we think may happen here is they may take up position in neighborhoods where they deemed trouble areas. One thing that we've heard over and over again from people in neighborhoods is the fact that gas stations in particular are a place where they're concerned about. There's been a lot of violence around some of these points and they want to see more patrols in areas where people are just trying to live their normal life.

As one dad told me today, no one wants to get up in the morning and worry about their kids on the way to school. So, that's something they would like to see as well as an impact around the school infrastructure here, especially as we get closer to Friday night, all the football games in this area, people want to see more security, more safety and hopefully we'll see more of it. Boris.

SANCHEZ: Ryan Young, thank you so much for the update, live in Memphis.

Still ahead, homes collapsing into the ocean as two storms whip up powerful waves along the East Coast. We have the latest on the threat to the U.S. coastline when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:22:37]

KEILAR: Twin hurricanes spinning off the East Coast may not officially make landfall in the U.S., but they're definitely wreaking havoc along the North Carolina coast with powerful waves that are wiping out beach homes.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Uh-oh. Here we go. We've got some major breakage. Here it goes.

(END VIDEO CLIP) KEILAR: Storm surge from Hurricanes Imelda and Humberto have taken out at least six of these homes on the Outer Banks. We could see even more damage at high tide. So, let's get an update now from CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. That looks pretty bad out there, Derek. Is there still a threat to coastal North Carolina?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, definitely, Brianna. In fact, we're approaching that high tide in the Outer Banks of North Carolina where all these susceptible structures are located. And this in combination with a tide that will be about one foot higher than the overnight high tide and slightly higher than yesterday's when we've had these series of homes fall into the ocean.

Now, it's just amazing to see that this is actually the straw that broke the camel's back considering that we've had so many powerful offshore storms that have led to kind of this erosion and the breaking down of our coastal barriers that we rely on. Unfortunately, we just have these six-to-12-foot breakers right along the coastline created by what was Humberto and now is Imelda allowing for these long propagating waves towards the east coast of the U.S.

So, that in combination with strong northeasterly winds really puts this area in a susceptible location, right? So, you're talking about the Outer Banks, the Chesapeake Bay, in through the Delaware River. This region right here where we have our coastal advisories and warnings. That's the most susceptible.

So, let's talk about what is causing this. So, there it is, Imelda, which continues to strengthen. About a hundred mile per hour wind gusts with this storm, well offshore. But it is, again, making its impacts known because of the waves that are propagating in all directions. There's the wind components of this. So, this constant battering of the northeasterly winds across the Outer Banks putting areas like Buxton, North Carolina, in that prone position for coastal erosion to continue here today and even into the next 24 to 48 hours. Because we'll still have waves, we'll still have that onshore component to the wind for days to come, as the systems slowly exit off to the north and east.

[15:25:04]

We certainly don't want to see more scenes like this. But it's just incredible and astounding and frankly quite sad to see what has happened to some of these, what used to be prime coastal real estate. Look at the rip current risks all along that 2,000 miles of coastal real estate. And by the way, Brianna, this storm's not done just yet. It's got its eyes set on Bermuda tonight. Landfall and hurricane, potentially a strong Category 2.

KEILAR: Oh, my goodness. Bermuda, better brace for that. Derek Van Dam, thank you.

Coming up, some more finger pointing in Washington as the government shutdown is into its 15th hour. We're going to talk to a Republican lawmaker about what he thinks could end the shutdown.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)