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Polls on the Shutdown; Trump's Post Ahead of Layoffs; Emily Thoompson is Interviewed about the National Parks; Allison Foerster is Interviewed about Chicago Students' Trip to Rome. Aired 8:30-9a ET
Aired October 03, 2025 - 08:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[08:31:44]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, fire crews say they have largely contained a huge fire at a Chevron refinery just south of Los Angeles, but the fuel still needs to burn out in its entirety. Now, people living nearby said they heard a loud explosion last night. Oh, look at that there. The security cameras from miles away captured the moment it all began. A shelter in place order for area residents was lifted early this morning. Firefighters were able to contain the blaze to one section of the facility. No injuries were reported, which is lucky. This oil refinery is one of the largest on the West Coast, processing 270,000 barrels of crude oil a day. The cause of the fire remains under investigation.
New this morning, the FBI has fired a longtime employee who displayed a pride flag at his desk. The order, we're told, came directly from FBI Director Kash Patel in a letter ordering the employees' immediate dismissal. The director cited poor judgment and inappropriate political signage for the firing. He did not mention the pride flag specifically. The fired employee had received multiple awards. Days earlier, Patel dismissed more than a dozen FBI agents who took a knee in front of demonstrators during George Floyd protests in 2020.
Sara.
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right, today, lawmakers in the Senate getting ready to vote again on funding measures that would reopen the government. But with the congressional leader's deadlocked, the bill is expected to fail, and the finger pointing is getting pretty nasty.
CNN's Harry Enten is here.
Republicans and Democrats, of course, blaming each other for the shutdown. The big question is, and something that they are certainly thinking about --
HARRY ENTEN, CNN CHIEF DATA ANALYST: Yes.
SIDNER: Who do Americans blame?
ENTEN: Yes. I think there are a lot of Republicans out there right now strutting around thinking that they're cock (ph) of the walk. SIDNER: This is a morning show, Harry.
ENTEN: I know. I know.
SIDNER: Let's keep it -- come on, keep it clean.
ENTEN: But you -- we're trying to keep it clean, but shutdowns just get me so excited. Republicans out there thinking they're cock of the walk.
But here's the thing to keep in mind, blame more for the 2025 shutdown. Who do Americans blame more? They blame Republicans. "The New York Times" by seven points they blame Republicans in Congress and Donald Trump. In Marist, look at that, blame Trump and Republicans by 12 points. How about "Washington Post," by a 17-point margin.
When you look at the data, what you're actually seeing is that more Americans are blaming Republicans than Democrats, which I think really goes against the conventional wisdom, because a lot of folks are saying, hey, Democrats are so divided. But at this particular point, Americans are placing the blame on the Republican shoulders. At least the plurality of them are.
SIDNER: All right, so, looking at this, does this match up to what we see historically? Like, how is this different, or the same?
ENTEN: Yes, this is what I think is so notable here is we can go back over time, and this is actually a pretty familiar story. What are we talking about here? Blame more at the start of shutdowns, '95-'96, they blame the Republicans more by 16 points. 2013, blame the Republicans more by ten points. 2018-2019, blame the Republicans more by 14 points. And right now, on the average poll, you see that the American public are blaming Republicans more by 12 points than Democrats. So, this actually lines up with what we've seen historically. When the government goes in the shutdown, at least in prior occasions and in this one, what we see is that more Americans are likely to blame Republicans than Democrats, which again is why the polling right now doesn't exactly strike me as surprising. Despite the fact that Democrats might be messy, Republicans are the ones who are getting more blame because that is what happens -- has happened, at least historically speaking.
SIDNER: And also because Democrats are like, look, they have all three branches of government.
[08:35:02]
ENTEN: Correct.
SIDNER: You know, so --
ENTEN: That's exactly -- I think that's so notable, right, it's the Republicans are the ones who have the House, the Senate, and, of course, the presidency.
SIDNER: And the Whtie House, yes. All right, so what about, you know, at the beginning versus the end of
these shutdowns? Because things get really awful for so many people. People notice the services are cut, but you also have the big furloughs. What do you see there?
ENTEN: Yes, I think this is notable, right? I think there might be a lot of Republicans say -- who would say, OK, these are early days yet, right? This is early days yet. But what happens at the end of the shutdown? Does, in fact, the blame change? Well, historically speaking, no.
Who gets the blame at the start of the shutdown has ended up being the ones who get the blame at the end of the shutdown. '95-'96, GOP, GOP. 2013, GOP, GOP. 2018, GOP, GOP. Look, it's early days yet. Maybe history will be bucked in this particular situation. But historically speaking, if you're being blamed at the start of a shutdown, you're getting blamed at the end of it. And right now, it's Republicans who are being blamed at the start of this one. History ain't exactly too kind to those who are blamed at the start of shutdowns.
SIDNER: And Democrats sort of -- sort of licking their chops seeing these numbers, I'm sure, and thinking about 2026 as well.
ENTEN: They are definitely thinking there.
SIDNER: Yes.
ENTEN: But we'll see what happens.
SIDNER: All right, Harry Enten, I'm glad you kept it clean the rest of the entire segment. Appreciate it.
ENTEN: It is morning television.
SIDNER: It is.
John.
BERMAN: Yes, and that's history being bucked with a b, we should note there.
With us now, CNN political commentator Kate Bedingfield and former White House spokesperson under George W. Bush, Pete Seat.
All right, nice to see you both this morning.
KATE BEDINGFIELD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm not sure this is what I signed up for, John.
BERMAN: It's been a long week. It's been a long week.
I do want to ask you, Kate, we just saw that polling from Harry there that right now, you know, Americans are blaming Republicans by 12 points for the shutdown. Add to that sort of the constant sort of releases we're getting from the White House. The A.I. memes. And now this video overnight with Russ Vought as the grim reaper, right? So, one wonders, the White House seems to be celebrating aspects of this showdown -- this shutdown. How might that impact voter's views of it?
BEDINGFIELD: Well, I think for the MAGA base that's what they're doing. They're throwing out red meat. This is what Trump's base loves. They love to see him behave in this way. So, they are -- you know, they're stoking the -- the flames.
I think for Democrats, they have the upper hand on two really important messages, but they have to stay focused on them and not get pulled off of them. One is Republicans are trying to raise your health care costs, which we know is an incredibly impactful message across the board. There was a "Post" poll yesterday I think had like 71 percent of Americans in support of extending the ACA subsidies, which are -- are what's -- what is at issue here. So, just continuing to hammer, hammer, hammer on health care.
But then, secondly, this message that Republicans are unwilling to negotiate. They're unwilling to come to the table. They're unwilling to find a solution, to find a compromise. That in and of itself is a powerful message, too. So, there will be a lot of noise flying around. But if Democrats can stay focused on those two messages, I think they'll continue to -- to have -- to have the upper hand here from a -- from a message perspective.
BERMAN: And, Pete, I think Republicans going in thought they had a literally clean message with the idea of a seven-week extension on funding and then talk about other things. But again, when you have videos like the grim reaper and when you have news, I was just reading moments ago, a suspension of infrastructure funding that's going to Illinois, this targeting of Democratic states and money there, you know, how does that complicate the messaging for Republicans here?
PETE SEAT, FORMER WHITE HOUSE SPOKESPERSON FOR PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH: Well, there's a time and a place to debate and discuss health care, just like there's a time and a place to discuss immigration or energy policy or education, but not when it comes to funding of the government and all the lives that are impacted by it. And those aren't my words. Those are the words of Senator Chris Murphy from 2013. Democrats have always said that a clean CR should be passed and we shouldn't try -- Republicans shouldn't try to extract certain policy concessions during these debates. And yet that's exactly what Democrats are doing.
We shouldn't even be having this conversation, John. A clean CR should have been passed. The Republican majority in the House of Representatives passed one. It's now in the Senate's court. And it likely will fail yet again later today because of Democrats intransigence, because they want to drag Republicans into their health care mess. This is only happening because Democrats, not a single Republican, voted for Obamacare, the Affordable Care Act, which has never been affordable. We're still waiting 15 years later for the affordability part of that. And the subsidies that are being discussed. Again, not a single Republican has voted for those in the American Rescue Plan Act or the Inflation Reduction Act. So, they're trying to drag Republicans into a mess that they themselves created.
[08:40:00] BERMAN: But, Pete, and just very quickly, yes or no, even if all of that is true, is it a good look for the White House and other Republicans almost to be seen as celebrating aspects of the shutdown?
SEAT: Well, Kate -- Kate was spot on. Republicans are speaking to their base. Democrats are speaking to their base. The Republican base wants to see them fight Democrats and stand firm. And the Democrat base wants to see them fight Donald Trump and Republicans.
BERMAN: Yes, I just wonder what the impact will be if it drags on when you have tens of thousands of people not getting paid and maybe losing their jobs permanently if it becomes discordant to be sort of celebrating that aspect of it. But we'll see. We'll see. As you say, the messaging may appeal to some people.
In terms of messaging, I just want to play this again, Kate. We've had that video from Bernie Sanders, Senator Sanders, and Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez where they explain what the shutdown is about. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): Well, there's nothing clean about it. This is one of the dirtiest tricks that is being pulled on the American people right now.
Your monthly insurance premiums are going to double.
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): If you don't have the money to go to a doctor and you're sick, you die.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Kate, the people who are driving the messaging here, not necessarily, or you're -- from the left flank you're hearing from Senator Sanders and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, but it's really Senator Schumer, Leader Jeffries, right now. Do you have a sense of what the Democratic base or how the Democratic base thinks that they are handling and how much slack they have?
BEDINGFIELD: How much slack leadership has?
BERMAN: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: Is that your question?
BERMAN: Yes.
BEDINGFIELD: So, I would say that, look, it's no secret there is frustration among the Democratic base with leadership of the Democratic Party. Some of that is just a function of the fact that Democrats don't control any of the levers of power right now in Washington. And that's incredibly frustrating for the base, who is watching as Trump is doing things that they find abhorrent. So, there is certainly some frustration. I will say though that on this question of health care, again Pete was
saying this is the -- this is Democrats trying to drag the Republicans into their mess on health care, there is no stronger argument, there is no more popular argument that Democrats can make to the country than the one that they -- they make about how they have made health care more affordable through Obamacare and beyond. It continues to be an issue. It was an issue that drove the -- the 2020 race. It didn't have as much impact in the 2024 race. Many other things were going on. But this continues to be an issue where when Democrats can be talking about health care, they are in a strong -- they have the upper hand. They're in a strong position. So, to see Senator Sanders, Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez doing a video like that, that clarifies the issue so concisely for voters and reaches an audience of people who may not be paying attention to the back and forth and everything that's going on in Washington is hugely valuable. And it's all part of a bigger, broader Democratic effort. And, you know, I would really -- I would counsel the Democrats to -- to keep this fight focused on health care because it is a winner.
BERMAN: We'll see if we're talking about this Monday, a week from Monday, two weeks from Monday.
Kate Bedingfield, Pete Seat, great to see you both this morning. Have a nice weekend.
Sara.
SIDNER: John, I know that politics is important, but you know what else is important? Puppies. At least for your mental health. For --
BERMAN: (INAUDIBLE).
SIDNER: I mean, look at that fuzzy face. Oh.
First responders are trained to help others in their darkest moments. But when it comes to their own struggles, especially with mental health, they can find it really hard to reach out. That's where the CNN hero of this week is stepping in.
During California's devastating wildfires in 2020, Heidi Carman and her golden retriever made it their mission to comfort firefighters who were on the front lines dealing with all that tragedy. That work has grown into a nationwide nonprofit with hundreds of teams around the country bringing some well-deserved relief to those who really need it.
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HEIDI CARMAN, CNN HERO: To fight in the fires in California is like a war zone. It's grueling work. It's smoky. It's hot. It's dangerous. They go for a minimum of two weeks, 24 hours on, 24 hours off. That stress, to have it lightened with a therapy dog visit, is priceless.
We got Kerith in 2018 and we were training her to become a working guide dog. She was just too friendly to every single person. So, I started doing therapy dog work with her. During the 2020 fire season, going around to fire base camps, she was
so good at just making the firefighters feel better.
I started posting pictures on her Instagram. Then I was getting messages, can you come to my husband's police department? I'm like, yes, sure.
[08:45:01]
Now we have hundreds of therapy dog teams across the entire country. We go to fire base camps, fire stations, police departments, 911 dispatch centers. All first responders would benefit.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The average adult male lives around 18 years longer than the average adult police officer. And that is often because of chronic stress. And oftentimes, as a defense mechanism, we close up.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is she just for first responders?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She's so soft.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When we are around emotional support animals, you just see that all sort of melt away.
CARMAN: Cortisol levels go down. The endorphin levels go up. I can feel that goodness just coming up her leash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just to have a dog come by. And she can't talk. Can't ask questions. It can kind of break the ice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I missed you too.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The first time I met Kerith, I had undiagnosed PTSD. She just picked up on it right away. She just went nose to nose with me. And we just had a moment. And it broke me down.
This is my wake-up call that I needed to go to therapy. They're man's best friend for a reason.
CARMAN: We have helped so many people. I'm grateful to Kerith for showing me the way.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: I'm obsessed. What a sweetie! For the full story about Heidi and her important work, and to see more of those adorable therapy dogs, you can go to cnn.com/heroes.
All right, coming up, Philadelphia police searching for a driver who went speeding through an intersection, hit another vehicle, and then went airborne and landed in someone's home. The driver ended up OK enough to run from the scene. There is a manhunt for that person today. And a school project on the papal conclave turns into the trip of a
lifetime. We talked to the teacher of some Chicago grade schoolers who are about to go see the pope after dressing up as the pope.
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[08:51:16]
SIDNER: Across the country this morning, states are scrambling to keep their national parks running despite the federal government shutdown. Under the Department of the Interior's contingency plan, the parks remain partially open. You're looking at Joshua Tree, a beautiful park there. But staffing and services are already stretched thin because of DOGE cuts.
We are joined now by Emily Thompson. She is the executive director of the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks.
Look, a lot of people looking at this saying, well, look, at least they're partially open. What could go wrong?
EMILY THOMPSON, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COALITION TO PROTECT America's NATIONAL PARKS: Sure. Yes, you know, our national parks are already in crisis. And this government shutdown is just making a bad situation worse. We are leaving parks open to the public with very minimal staff. And bad things can happen. You know, we wouldn't leave a museum open without curators. We wouldn't leave an airport open without air traffic control. We shouldn't leave national parks open without National Park Service employees.
SIDNER: Can you give me some sense of just how thinly stretched the staff is? There were DOGE cuts that -- long before this that impacted the parks. And I know we talked to some of those who had been -- had been let go. What is the scenario right now before the shutdown?
THOMPSON: Sure. So, parks have been understaffed and underfunded for a decade or so. But since January, the National Park Service has lost about 25 percent of the workforce. We've seen cuts to programs and offices that support the work of national parks. They're stretched. They're already struggling to -- to keep up. And they're trying to do more with less. And this shutdown is -- is just another challenge right now this year.
SIDNER: What do you tell those who are going to -- to go to the parks? I was just in Yosemite not long ago before all of this and it is such a beautiful experience because the United States has an incredible number of these gorgeous, you know, just beautiful scenes inside of these parks, animals, the views. What do you tell people? What are you warning people at this time if they do decide to go into parks as they are partially open because of this shutdown?
THOMPSON: It's a hard situation. You know, we don't want parks to be closed forever. But the government is shut down. And as long as the government is shut down, our parks should be closed. And so, we would encourage people not to visit parks right now, to take advantage of some of our -- our beautiful state parks and -- and maybe delay that trip until the government reopens.
SIDNER: All right, it's -- thank you so much. I really do appreciate you -- you coming on and sort of walking us through that. The national parks partially open, but you are warning that the staffing isn't necessarily there in case something goes wrong. And we have seen, over time, rescues that had to be made, people on some of these cliffs and that sort of thing, or who have hurt themselves. So, a lot to think about if you're going out to the parks. You recommend going to the state parks.
Emily Thompson, thank you so much. I do appreciate your time.
John.
BERMAN: All right, new this morning, police body cam footage shows country music star Morgan Wallen denying he did anything wrong while getting arrested for throwing a -- a chair, I should say, off a Nashville bar's balcony in April.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I just watched camera footage of you throwing a chair off (INAUDIBLE) landing in lane two (ph) of traffic, all right. Go ahead and put your hands behind your back, sir.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: This was April of last year. And while police questioned Wallen, he calls country artist Eric Church, who owns the bar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN WALLEN, MUSICIAN: The (EXPLETIVE DELETED) trying to take me out. They're trying to take me to jail outside of your (EXPLETIVE DELETED) bar.
Eric Church is on the phone.
[08:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Eric.
WALLEN: Talk to him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Law enforcement, we have to enforce the laws. Gotta treat it like we would with anybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Footage then shows the country star in the back of a police vehicle, where he appears to hear one of his own songs playing on the car radio.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MORGAN WALLEN, MUSICIAN: Aw, (EXPLETIVE DELETED), this is me and Thomas Rhett. Turn it up. That's me and TR!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Wallen pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of reckless endangerment last December.
This morning, Philadelphia police are looking for the driver who crashed into a family's home and then apparently fled. Police say the driver was speeding through an intersection, hit another car, then went airborne into the house. It left a huge hole in the wall there. No one inside was hurt. The driver of the other car is now at the hospital in critical condition.
Sara.
SIDNER: All right, it is the field trip of a lifetime. A group of Chicago grade schoolers are getting set to leave for Rome after they made headlines back in May for staging an elaborate conclave before Pope Leo was elected, complete with cardinal costumes, you see there, the white smoke they even did. I mean they really did this to a t. And there was, of course, a very small pope.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dear sisters and brothers, I announce to you with great joy, we have a pope.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SIDNER: There's something so adorable about that.
Anyway, Pope Leo is, of course, a Chicago native and a Sox fan.
BERMAN: White Sox.
SIDNER: What do you have to say about that?
BERMAN: White Sox.
SIDNER: That's right. Correct. White Sox. Oh, nothing -- he has nothing to say. He doesn't want to -- know lightning is going to strike you because you --
BERMAN: No, no, I love the White Sox.
SIDNER: OK.
BERMAN: I love the White Sox.
SIDNER: But you're a Red Sox fan. We get it.
BERMAN: At least he's not a Yankees fan. That would suck.
SIDNER: Joining us now is a teacher at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy and a co-leader of the Rome trip, Allison Foerster.
Thank you so much for being here.
All right, these trips can be tricky because you've got a lot of kids, and I'm sure their parents are going to be there, and it's going to be a whole thing.
Is there any official movement that you're going to actually get to spend time talking with the pope this morning maybe?
ALLISON FOERSTER, TEACHER AND CO-LEADER OF ROME TRIP, OUR LADY OF MOUNT CARMEL ACADEMY: I mean -- thank you so much for having me.
We are going to be very, very hopeful, very prayerful that we will get a chance to engage with the holy father. We will be attending a general audience on Wednesday. We know that we have seats. We know that he knows we're coming. But he is an international figure and the leader of the church. So, we understand that there are no guarantees with his schedule. We're just a group from an elementary school in Chicago who really hope to see him. But we'll be understanding, obviously, either way.
BERMAN: I'm betting on you here. I'm betting on it happening, right?
SIDNER: For sure (ph)
BERMAN: I mean this is a guy who -- a pope, I should say --
FOERSTER: Fingers crossed.
BERMAN: Who has occasionally worn a White Sox hat in the Vatican. So, I'm thinking that a group of Chicago kids shows up, he might find some time to see them, which is fantastic and wonderful.
Can you just tell me, this conclave, and we keep looking at these pictures here, you got -- what made you decide to do this and what was the reaction after you decided to do this when the pope turned out to be a Chicago guy?
FOERSTER: Well, one of my colleagues, Dominic Moretti (ph), had this idea over a decade ago. He just kind of thought, you know, we try really hard at our school to make childhood magical for our students -- and he's one of the masterminds in our building -- of really trying to find ways to make learning come alive and to make there one childhood feel really memorable and really precious. And so, he had this idea. Thankfully, Pope Francis had a really long papacy. We didn't need a mock conclave. But when -- when he passed away, very quickly Dominic said, do you think we could throw this together in time? And we were, fortunately with the support of our team and community members, other staff, we were able to pull together the costumes and also the details.
The important part of this, we always try to tell people, it was not just dressing up. This was an experiential learning opportunity. We put a lot of intentionality into making sure that our youngest students were able to really engage with this tradition in our faith, and the tradition of the papacy, and the tradition of the apostles and Saint Peter, and understand it in a more tangible way. So, we paid a lot of careful attention to details. We tried our best
to make sure that everyone in the school had a really firm and solid understanding of what we were doing, but also why.
SIDNER: The thing is, these children will not have to watch the movie "Conclave," as much of the country did --
FOERSTER: No.
SIDNER: Who may not be familiar as to how it all works. They are going to know this from a very early age.
But the thing I love the most that you just said is that you try your best at this school to make childhood magical and learning magical.
[09:00:05]
And you know every day I try to make this show magical for John Berman.
