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Nick Daniels is Interviewed about Air Traffic Controllers; Steven Horsford is Interviewed about the Shutdown. Aired 9:30-10a ET
Aired October 08, 2025 - 09:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[09:33:05]
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just in, staffing is back to normal we are told this morning at Newark Liberty International Airport. This after the air traffic control facility operated short staffed for two hours this morning. Newark, really just one of several airports that have reported staffing issues over the past 24 hours. You can see on the map right there, a lot of really important airports there. There have been delays for passengers traveling to and from so many cities.
The Department of Transportation says they have seen an uptick in sick calls since the shutdown began. Controllers are considered essential workers, and they are required to work without pay. Their next payday is scheduled for next Tuesday, October 14th. But if the shutdown continues, that paycheck will only cover their hours before this all started. And later this month, they would miss their first full paycheck.
With us now is Nick Daniels, the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
We really appreciate you being with us.
Just talk to us about the impact of the shutdown on your members, on air traffic controllers. What is it?
NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Well, good morning, and thank you for having me.
The impact is, every day they're going to work and now wondering, am I going to get paid? When am I going to get paid? How long does this last? How long are these delays -- are these distractions going to continue, which is going to lead to stress, which is going to lead to fatigue, and it's something that weighs on our minds that ultimately leads to anger and saying, open this government today. Let us do the amazing job that we do day in and day out.
BERMAN: Why are we seeing shortages at facilities around the country?
DANIELS: You're getting a front row seat to what we have been saying for years of delays being reported due to staffing, due to equipment that's not reliable. Over 1,000 times we've had to declare ATC zero, meaning there is not enough staffing or the equipment is not working in many of the facilities out there. Now that it's being focused on, people see what air traffic controllers deal with day in and day out of having to combine sectors, work other people's airspace because of the shortage of air traffic controllers in the system.
[09:35:04]
And it's now being highlighted for everyone to finally see.
BERMAN: To what extent are the shortages or the sick calls, if that's what's happening, shutdown related?
DANIELS: It's common to have one or two people call in sick on a shift. We have facilities that have 300 people. We have facilities that have 11 people. And when you have crews and they're broken down, there's somebody that's going to lose their medical clearance because they had to take a medication. There's somebody that had to call in sick. That's -- the people are going to show up. They're going to do their job.
What I'm concerned with, what the flying public is concerned with is, as this continues, what it does to the air traffic controllers and the fatigue that it creates.
BERMAN: It's one thing for us to sit here and say, you know, they're going to get a partial paycheck next week and then no paycheck after that. But what does it feel like? What are you hearing from your members about what they're going to do to get by if they stop getting paid?
DANIELS: Yes. Paying me eventually is not an excuse, and it doesn't pay the bills that are due today. When I show up and the creditor wants their money, when the mortgage is due, when I need to put food on the table or gas in the car, that's what we're concerned with. And that's what the American traveling, you know, the American public is concerned with is, are there air traffic controllers when paychecks start becoming partial or not received at all, they're going to have to go to their morning shift, their evening shift, and then go drive Uber after they're done in order to have a steady stream of income. That level of stress and pressure is absolutely unfair, and it should not be on the backs of air traffic controllers in a shutdown that has zero things to do about -- with us.
BERMAN: One of the things that is part of shutdown history lore is that the last shutdown, the record setting shutdown, ended in part because of a shortage of as few as ten air traffic controllers here. What do you envision going forward?
DANIELS: Air traffic controllers don't start a shutdown and we don't end a shutdown. Politicians start a shutdown, and politicians are the only people that can end a shutdown. What you're going to see is the stress, pressure and fatigue that air traffic controllers have to contend with. The very difficult world of managing this system, already critically staffed, and then wondering where our pay is going to come from, and having that steady stream of income. That's the impact that I'm worried about and I don't want to rest on these air traffic controllers. And why the politicians need to come together now and end this shutdown today, like America is calling for.
BERMAN: Nick Daniels, we appreciate you being with us this morning. Thank you very much.
Kate.
KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: A flight instructor and student pilot, crash in the Everglades. Then you have the dramatic rescue to get them then to safety. We've got that for you.
And another crash of the balloon variety. A hot air balloon crashes into power lines in New Mexico.
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[09:42:23]
SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, eight days and counting. The federal government shutdown already affecting air travel while hundreds of thousands of workers go without pay. And now President Trump is suggesting some federal workers shouldn't get back pay whenever the government does open.
Joining me now is Democratic Congressman Steven Horsford of Nevada. He is a member of the House Ways and Means Committee. Thank you so much for being here.
REP. STEVEN HORSFORD (D-NV): Thank you, Sara.
SIDNER: Just first to what the president said yesterday, that some federal workers, he may suggest, will not get back pay and others will. Can the president decide this on his own outright?
HORSFORD: Well, thank you, Sara, for having me on.
And no, the president cannot decide this unilaterally. There's actually federal law that indicates that federal -- federal furloughed workers will be paid when the government is reopened.
And I've introduced legislation to make sure that the workers get paid everything, plus the fees and fines that they may incur during a government shutdown. And as co-chair of the Labor Caucus, we will continue to push to protect federal workers so that they are made whole.
This is a government shutdown that is a result of Donald Trump and congressional Republicans' inability to govern, to pass their own budget. They don't have the votes to pass their own budget. And House Democrats are demanding that they come to the table to save health care, to lower costs, and to cancel the cuts. SIDNER: You are speaking to the fact that -- that Republicans could
break the filibuster and -- and go this on their own without the seven Democrats that they need. And Democrats have been holding off voting on this Republican spending measure because they want to guarantee that health care subsidies will be funded. That is not currently in the bill.
And guess who agrees with you? Marjorie Taylor Greene. She's lashing out at Republicans over health care, siding with Democrats, saying this, "I'm absolutely disgusted that health insurance premiums will double if the tax credits expire this year." And she goes on to say, she's frustrated with and thinks it's a scam, insurance and all that. But then she says, not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this. So, she seems to be saying what Democrats are saying.
Do you think that her voice will help push this agenda forward and help end the shutdown?
HORSFORD: Well, I think the voice that matters the most is the people of America, and their voice, demanding that Congress act to avoid the premium increases to their health insurance.
[09:45:04]
In Nevada, a family of four with an average income of about $64,000 would see their health premiums increase 193 percent. That's $2,500. Outside of paying the rent or the mortgage, the cost of health care is the biggest expense that families have. And the American people are speaking very clearly with one voice. Congress, do your job and save health care. That's what House Democrats are fighting for. And I'm glad to see that one of my Republican colleagues seems to understand that these cost increases with the premium tax credits expiring are untenable and must be addressed now, not later.
SIDNER: I want to ask you about a couple of your Democratic colleagues, one of whom was in Portland, saying, look, in her mind, because of this warlike mentality from the president, saying that it's a war zone in Portland, to ask the demonstrators not to rally, not to protest outside of ICE facilities for now, to take it somewhere else. What do you -- what do you make of that? Is that a good message?
HORSFORD: Well, unfortunately, we have a president and an administration that's more focused on wanting to occupy U.S. cities than they are wanting to lead them. And I have the utmost confidence in the governors of these states and local law enforcement to keep communities safe. And if the president was serious about making sure that law enforcement and those governors have the resources, he would tell Speaker Johnson to reopen Congress for us to pass the budget and to restore the cuts to health care, as well as the cops program and community violence intervention that they also defunded as part of their partizan budget.
We are about protecting the American people, and that means both their health care and their public safety.
SIDNER: Look, there's a lot have been talked about messaging from -- from Democrats. And -- and we heard from a Democrat, a representative, who's running for governor in California, Katie Porter. And I want to let you listen to what she said after she was asked whether or not -- what she was going to do about the 40 percent of people in California who voted for Trump and how she would sort of encourage them to vote for her. Here's how she responded during an interview with CBS.
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REP. KATIE PORTER (D), CALIFORNIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: And what I'm saying to you is that --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, to those voters, OK, so -- so you --
PORTER: I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.
PORTER: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're not going to do the interview with us?
PORTER: Nope. Not like this, I'm not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Every other candidate has answered our follow- ups.
PORTER: I don't care. I don't care.
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SIDNER: She was being asked whether or not she needed those votes and what she would do to entice them, and said she didn't need them. What do you make of that? Is that a good message?
HORSFORD: Well, what I'm focused on in Nevada is actually listening and learning from the constituents that I represent. My district covers 50,000 square miles, from rural Nevada to the urban communities of Las Vegas and north Las Vegas. And what my constituents tell me is that today their health premiums are about to double if Congress doesn't do its job to act. They are worried about the cost of housing and child care and groceries and energy costs. And that is why House Democrats have said, cancel the cuts, lower the cost on the American people, and let's save health care by making sure that we extend these premium tax credits so that insurance doesn't double or triple on behalf of the American people.
That's what Nevadans and people all across the country are concerned about. And that's what House Democrats, led by Hakeem Jeffries, are fighting for and standing up for here in Congress. It's time for Speaker Johnson to have the respect for the American people and reopen Congress so that we can do our job.
SIDNER: All right, Congressman Steve Horsford of Nevada, thank you so much for coming on this morning. Appreciate it.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: Former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez could be facing more severe charges after a fight, an altercation with a truck driver. There's new details and video coming in this morning.
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[09:53:53]
BERMAN: All right, former FBI Director James Comey, we have just learned, is now in a federal courthouse in Virginia. Again, that's the breaking news, James Comey has arrived. He's inside that building you were just seeing there right now. He, of course, has been indicted on two counts of lying to Congress and one -- giving a false statement or obstructing as well.
This followed pressure from President Trump. This process gets underway very shortly. We will bring you the latest when it comes in.
This morning, new surveillance video obtained by "The New York Post" shows former NFL quarterback Mark Sanchez after a fight that led to him being stabbed in Indianapolis. Sanchez, currently an analyst for Fox Sports, is facing a felony charge for his role in the altercation with a 69-year-old truck driver. There are multiple surveillance videos of the incident. The prosecutor says the truck driver sustained, quote, "very severe injuries." The man's attorney gave an update on how he is doing.
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ERIK MAY, ATTORNEY FOR PERRY TOLE: He's back at home with his wife and just recovering at this point. I mean, obviously, there's going to be a lot of medical care that he's going to continue to receive in the coming days and weeks and months.
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[09:55:07]
BERMAN: Officials say the dispute began over a parking space.
Kate.
BOLDUAN: All right, talk about a day in the office. Two men walked away, we'll show you, unscathed after their plane crashed and flipped over in the Florida Everglades. It was a student pilot and instructor. They were in the midst of a test flight, as one does, when they ran into trouble with the plane, as one hopefully doesn't. After the crash, they were able to use their cell phones to send their coordinates and then were able to get in another plane, that's called a helicopter, to get out of the Everglades, and they were unscathed, uninjured, and have a story to tell.
And I'm going to take your -- going to take your crash and I'm going to raise you a hot air balloon. Two hot air balloons crashed during Albuquerque, New Mexico's annual balloon fiesta on Monday. The first hit power lines in a neighborhood north of the city. You can see it was there, draped over the power lines. The pilot was the only passenger and was not hurt. Another balloon then actually crashed into power lines in the very same area. Thankfully, no one was hurt in that crash either. The balloon fiesta runs nine days every year, features about 500 hot air balloons. So, when you think about it, they're doing pretty well.
BERMAN: Or they should move the power lines. Either way.
BOLDUAN: They should. Just put them under ground. So easy to do.
BERMAN: It seems -- seems like a reason to bury the power lines if the balloons keep crashing into them.
SIDNER: Speaking of hot air, it's Wednesday, it's hump day. Thank you for joining us. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "THE SITUATION ROOM," up next.
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