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Prince William Opens Up on Family Life, Losing His Grandmother; White House Says Thousands of Federal Workers Will Likely Be Fired; More Federal Workers Told to Blame Dems for Shutdown in Their Out-of- office Messages; Outdoor Advocates Say Leaving National Parks Partly Open is Dangerous. Aired 2-2:30p ET

Aired October 02, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: -- stress has been the really hard part of his existence, if you like, his job, his life. But I was told that was specifically about the immediate family and particularly about his wife and the cancer diagnosis. He does mention Harry when he talks about memories, but no comment really around that. I think they're just so careful about not -- blowing up that family row yet again in public.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": Max Foster, thank you so much for that reporting. Look forward to watching that. New hour of "CNN New Central" starts right now.

First it was furloughs and soon there could be firings, thousands of them. That's the word from the White House as the government shut down stretches into a second day. We have the latest from the White House and Capitol Hill. Plus, the Justice Department firing a top prosecutor after a social media post by a right-wing activist tied him to the case of FBI Director, James Comey. The only issue there, that prosecutor was never involved in Comey's case. And Bad Bunny backlash, this year's choice for the Super Bowl halftime show now sparking criticism from a member of the Trump administration. We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming your way on "CNN News Central."

With hundreds of thousands of federal workers furloughed for a second day, the White House says the number of people President Trump may ultimately fire will likely be "in the thousands." Earlier, the president signaled he would be eyeing cuts to "Democrat agencies" that he planned to discuss further with his budget chief today. And while the layoffs could happen in the coming hours, an end to the government shutdown likely will not.

The Senate won't vote again until at least tomorrow. And there are no signs that anyone has budged in the slightest. CNN's Rene Marsh leads us off this hour with more on the American families caught in the middle of all of this. So Rene, what are you hearing?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So this morning, the president started out by letting us know that he'd be meeting with his OMB Director, Russ Vought, to hammer out the details of what these cuts are going to look like, the mass firings, which agencies, will they be permanent, will they be temporary? And we do know that Russ Vought at OMB had already gotten the wheels turning in this direction. And prior to this shutdown, he communicated to agencies to begin readying plans for a reduction in force.

It is unclear at this point exactly which agencies are going to see these mass layoffs. We do know that the White House said this afternoon that the layoffs will be in the thousands. But what's also happening is simultaneously, Boris, are cuts to actual programs that the president calls Democratic programs. We saw Russ Vought put out a message on social media, in which he announced nearly $8 billion in funding from the Energy Department to Democratic-led states concerning climate change had been cut. We're talking about states like California and Colorado that will not receive this federal funding.

And so, the president has called this shutdown, which is usually a budget battle, but he has called this an unprecedented opportunity. And really he seems to be taking advantage of it, and it's an opportunity in his eyes to continue to shrink the federal workforce and get rid of these programs that he calls Democratic programs that don't align with his presidency. I will say that the union that represents these federal workers, AFGE, they filed a lawsuit on September 30th because they knew that the administration was going in this direction of the mass layoffs.

And they say that it's -- they're arguing that it's not legal. They say this is an abuse of power. They're also pointing out that these mass firings essentially mean that workers would actually have to work during this shutdown to put this plan into action. But of course, going back to the human impact of all of this, some of the programs that we are watching, Boris, are federal food programs, assistance programs like WIC for Women and Children. They only have about a week of funding left. And after that, it's a bit uncertain depending on which state you're in.

SANCHEZ: Wow. You also have some new reporting, Rene, on what some of these workers are being told to put in their out-of-office emails.

MARSH: Right. So myself and my colleague, Sunlen Serfaty, we've been talking to federal workers. One source of mind telling me at Health and Human Services that they were instructed to essentially put in their out-of-office email message blaming Democrats for this shutdown. That's the reason why you're emailing me and you cannot get to me. It's because of the Democrats. Very unusual. We don't see that sort of partisan language on the agency level. We haven't in the past. And so, something else that's different this time around.

SANCHEZ: Yeah. Interesting. Rene Marsh, thank you so much for the reporting. Brianna?

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CO-ANCHOR OF "CNN NEWS CENTRAL": As we mentioned, President Trump will meet with the White House Budget Chief as they're looking to call what he calls Democrat agencies during the government shutdown.

[14:05:00] Trump says he's meeting with OMB Director, Russ Vought of Project 2025 fame and alluded to making the cuts either temporary or permanent. CNN's Alayna Treene is live for us at the White House.

I mean, Alayna, first off, the administration has it given an indication of where those cuts could still happen and noticeably, the president who during his campaign really tried to distance himself from Project 2025, giving it a shout out there.

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, I thought that was fascinating. I can't tell you, I felt like a broken record on the -- when I was covering the president's campaign, the amount of times that he went to great lengths to try and distance himself from Project 2025. Again, Russ Vought, we know the White House's budget Chief, was one of the architects of that. It's remarkable to see him reference this and so far, I have not gotten an answer from anyone at the White House about why the change of heart in referencing it today.

But I do think, if you look at Project 2025 and then also, what's in there and also what we've heard from Russ Vought, there are a lot of things that are aligned, which is this idea of really wanting to purge the federal workforce of what they call, at least what the president's calling, Democratic programs, agencies that he argues do not align with his agenda. We heard that from the White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt this morning.

And there is no question in my conversations that they do plan to move forward with it. But to your question, Brianna, and this is the question I have, which agencies specifically are they going to target? We just don't know right now. I can tell you, that Russ Vought is going to that meeting with the president with a whole list of agencies that he believes should be cut. But there haven't been decisions made as far as I've heard in my conversations with people in this building behind me. That's supposed to be discussed during this meeting between Vought and the president. So stay tuned for that.

But I think another question of course, as well has been what will the scope of those firings or those mass layoffs look like? Karoline Leavitt was posed that question this morning. Listen to her answer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you give us an estimate on the amount of federal workers that the Trump administration wants to fire during the government shutdown? Are we talking hundreds? Are we talking thousands?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, it's likely going to be in the thousands. It's a very good question. And that's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here again, is unfortunately having to work on today. These discussions and these conversations, these meetings would not be happening if the Democrats had voted to keep the government open.

(END VIDEO CLIP) TREENE: So there's a few quick things I want to point out there, Brianna. One, of course, when I said the scope of this, I mean, she's saying it's going to be in the thousands, which is a massive number. And some of the reason the White House is saying that they're doing this now is because, of course, the government is shut down. They don't need Congressional approval to go forward with this. But I will also point out, and I think it's an important point to make, we've seen these mass layoffs in this administration before; the government was open then. And so, there's still questions about why they're saying this is the only time they can do that. Things that we're still waiting to get answers on.

KEILAR: All right, Alayna Treene live for us at the White House. And still to come, day two of the government shutdown and national park advocates warning it is putting America's iconic landmarks and its visitors at risk. Plus, new CNN reporting on how another top justice department prosecutor was fired after being targeted online by right- wing influencers. And later, Greta Thunberg and other activists detained by the Israeli military as they were trying to reach Gaza to deliver aid. We'll have that a much more coming up on "CNN News Central."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:13:12]

SANCHEZ: National park advocates are fearing what the government shutdown might mean for some of the country's most beloved landmarks. The Department of Interior is letting the park stay partially open, but now a group of park organizations are saying that doing so without adequate staffing is dangerous. The National Parks Conservation Association described what happened in the last shutdown in 2018. They write, "Landmarks were graffitied, artifacts stolen, wildlife poached, and trash and human waste overflowed."

Joining me now is John Lauretig. He's the President of the "Friends of Joshua Tree," which is a national park in California. Thanks so much for being with us this afternoon, sir. What lessons would you say you learned from the last shutdown? And are you concerned that we could see irreversible damage from this one?

JOHN LAURETIG, PRESIDENT, FRIENDS OF JOSHUA TREE: I think, the response to the shutdown this time is a much more measured response to the parks. We -- I was just in the park this morning and there is staff in the park, so I feel much better about the park still being open during this shutdown.

SANCHEZ: Congressman Jay Obernolte, whose district includes Joshua Tree, wrote the Interior Secretary, "The Joshua Tree National Park is not only a national treasure, but also the economic backbone for the communities that surround it." Can you talk to us a about that, how significant the national park is in maintaining the local economy?

LAURETIG: Yes. The national park drives the local economy here. At the -- in the shutdown of '18 and '19, businesses closed, restaurants closed. There just was no traffic into the park. So, all these local businesses had to lay people off.

[14:15:00]

This time, I'm hopeful that folks will still come visit the park, respect the national park, take care of it, and spend their money in our local economy.

SANCHEZ: I wonder, given that you are much more confident in the way that this shutdown is being handled, if you do have some concerns that you want to share with members of Congress, Why do you think they should handle this shutdown urgently?

LAURETIG: Well, I -- this is just not -- it's not the best way for the government to run and to work. It would be really nice if they could reach across the aisle, come to some kind of agreement, and get the government back working, and to return all these federal workers back to work too.

SANCHEZ: All right, John Lauretig, great to get your perspective. Thank you so much for being with us.

LAURETIG: You're welcome. Thank you.

SANCHEZ: Of course. Ahead, a top Justice Department prosecutor fired after social media claims falsely linked him to the James Comey case. We'll explain in just moments.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:20:44]

KEILAR: The Trump administration firing another DOJ official. And this time, it's the top National Security Prosecutor at the U..S. Attorney's Office in the Eastern District of Virginia. Sources say Michael Ben'Ary was fired after a pro-Trump activist and writer linked him to the case of former FBI Director, James Comey, who was indicted last week. But sources tell CNN Ben'Ary was not involved in Comey's case. CNN's Evan Perez is here with details. I mean, Evan, come on.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Right, exactly. Well, look, what we know is this, that Ben'Ary was fired yesterday and there was really not much of an explanation. A lot of the letters that people get when they get fired, it just says Article II reasoning, which is essentially the president's authority in the Constitution. And what we know is this, that before he was fired, he was targeted on social media, on X, by a prominent MAGA influencer, Julie Kelly, who said that -- she named him by name and she said, "One can only assume that he was a big part of the internal resistance to the Comey indictment."

Now, that in the U..S. Attorney's Office in Eastern District of Virginia, there was some internal resistance to this case because of concerns that the evidence wasn't strong enough. And -- but the issue is that Ben'Ary was not at all involved in this case. He was the head of the National Security Unit at that office.

KEILAR: I mean, he's been involved in a lot of important cases though?

PEREZ: Right. I mean, one of the cases he was overseeing until he was fired is the case of the terrorist attack at Abbey Gate, which was at the end of the Afghanistan withdrawal, the terrorist attack that killed all those Marines, if you remember. And so that case is one that he was overseeing; that's a case that President Trump actually cares about.

KEILAR: He certainly cares about that Abbey Gate case. So he's not the first DOJ official to be targeted sort of by these, it's almost like kind of crowdsourced investigations by these MAGA influencers. What's happening here?

PEREZ: Right. We've seen it repeatedly. There was a lawsuit recently against Lash Patel and the FBI Director and the U..S. government because a number of FBI employees, agents have been fired because there were targets of some of these false claims on social media. For instance, there was one who was a pilot who was piloting the FBI director, and he was falsely accused of being part of the Mar-a-Lago search. He was not at all involved in that. Didn't matter, because it had gained steam and became viral in right-wing social media. And he was actually fired.

And a number of other officials were fired because they were trying to save his job. So, we've seen this repeatedly. Again, where social media takes off with a claim, it gets to someone at the White House, they're usually tagging the president or Susie Wiles, the Chief of Staff, and then shortly thereafter, they are fired. Whether it's true or not, it doesn't matter.

KEILAR: That's wild. Evan Perez, thank you so much for that.

Still ahead, state and local health departments warning the government shutdown could make it a lot harder for them to keep communities safe and healthy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:28:25]

SANCHEZ: Right now, state and local health departments say they're worried about the government shutdown making it harder to keep Americans healthy, just as the nation heads into a respiratory virus season. Departments are warning about the shutdown's effects on staffing, disease outbreak response, and vaccine rollout plans. CNN Health Reporter Jacqueline Howard has the latest.

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: What we're hearing from state and local health departments is that they are worried about how long this shutdown will last and what may be around the corner. One of the biggest concerns they have right now is if a health department is dealing with a disease outbreak or it has questions about the funding or resources it receives from the federal government, who will answer its call for help? How much will the shutdown disrupt communications between local public health workers on the ground and officials at the CDC? Because, the current shutdown plans are for the CDC to retain about 36 percent of staff across CDC and the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The Department of Health and Human Services told me that this could impact communities at the local level. In that statement, the department says, "State and local health partners, along with the public, should expect delays in CDC's ability to identify and respond to outbreaks. Specifically, CDC will maintain minimal capacity to respond to an urgent disease threat or other critical need and areas including food safety, healthcare quality and patient safety, vector-borne disease, and high consequence pathogens." Example --