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"Potential Terrorist Attack" Thwarted in Michigan; Trump Demand GOP Use Senate Filibuster to end Shutdown; Millions of American Set to Lose Food Stamp Benefits Tomorrow; Trump and Xi Reach Agreement on Tariffs, Soybeans and Rare Earth Minerals. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired October 31, 2025 - 09:00   ET

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

[09:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Called CNN News Central from 7:00 to 10:00 a.m. Yes.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: We're here for it. We will also -- I here you have a hundred of your clock necklaces, we will also take one of those as our sponsorship mascot, if you so want to share that.

FLAVOR FLAV, RAPPER, TEAM USA BOBSLED TEAM "OFFICIAL HYPE MAN": Whoa, that's slamming, that's slamming. Hey, listen, if you want to come in with Flavor, you know what I'm saying? CNN, let's go, baby.

SIDNER: Let's go.

FLAVOR FLAV: Yes, boy. CNN, stepping up to the plate, stepping up to the plate. Yes, boy. I love you, CNN.

SIDNER: And we love you, CNN.

BOLDUAN: Yes. Literally nothing, no moss. That is perfection. Flavor Flav is the bomb, and we are thankful that you are here today. Thank you.

FLAVOR FLAV: Hey, thank you guys for having me. God bless.

SIDNER: We begin with breaking news. The FBI director announcing on X that agents have thwarted plans for a Halloween weekend terror attack. CNN is chasing details on the investigation as we speak.

The vice president and transportation secretary warning the shutdown could cause a disaster for Thanksgiving travelers if lawmakers don't reach a deal to reopen the government. And no more monkeys jumping on the bed, but they are swinging from the ceiling. How the pet primate ended up at a Halloween store.

I'm Sara Sidner with Kate Bolduan and John Berman. This is CNN News Central.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BOLDUAN: Let's start with that breaking news at this hour out of Michigan. FBI director Kash Patel saying multiple people have been arrested for allegedly planning what he calls a potential terrorist attack over the upcoming holiday weekend -- Halloween weekend. CNNs Brynn Gingras tracking this one. Brynn, a lot of details to learn, but what do we have so far?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that post extremely vague, Kate. We're trying to still get more information exactly what we're talking about here and exactly where this allegedly was meant to be happening and what they thwarted. So, the big questions are what were potential targets or target? Who is allegedly involved? Are we talking about international terrorist subjects? Are we talking about domestic terrorism? And, of course, a whole other bunch of questions. And we're waiting to hopefully get an update from the FBI or the DOJ.

What we do know is that there was also a tweet this morning from the Dearborn Police Department that -- or Facebook post rather, and it said that they had been made aware that the FBI conducted operations in the City of Dearborn earlier this morning, wanting to assure residents in their town and city that that there should be no cause for alarm.

Now, it's still not clear if what they're talking about is exactly what the FBI director, Kash Patel, is talking about in his post. So, we're still trying to connect all the dots with that. Of course, this is October 31st. This is Halloween. This is a day where authorities are on high alert as it is. But certainly, this sounds like a huge development for the FBI. And, again, we're just working really hard to ask those questions exactly what happened here, what was thwarted, and hopefully, we'll get some answers for you soon.

BOLDUAN: Multiple subjects in Michigan. A lot to learn. Brynn, thank you so much for being on top of this. John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning on the verge of millions of Americans losing food benefits, food stamps and SNAP subsidies begin to run out tomorrow due to the government shutdown. The president's solution, get rid of the filibuster so the Senate can pass funding to reopen the government with a simple majority instead of trying to get to the 60-vote threshold.

With us now, CNNs Annie Grayer. And, Annie, the president has talked about this for some time. This is sort of a new salvo overnight.

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: That's right, John. The president's demands here really throws a wrench on Capitol Hill because even the top Republicans in the Senate have said that they are against this idea. A 60-vote threshold in the Senate is sort of the bedrock of the institution. It's what requires both parties to work together. That's why with 53 Republicans currently in the Senate, they need those seven Democrats to help them with this funding this government shutdown. But as the stalemate has continued, party leaders are now starting to explore different ideas.

Both parties, while they've been in power, have explored the idea of ending the filibuster as both political parties have gotten more partisan and they've wanted to do things without having to work together. But they've always stopped short of actually eliminating it because while it sounds great when you're in power to lower the vote threshold and be able to pass your own party's priorities, if the other party gets power, then all of a sudden you no longer have any opposition.

So, take a listen to how Leader Thune thinks about this issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD), MAJORITY LEADER: Supermajority requirement is something that makes the Senate the Senate. And honestly, if we had done that, there's a whole lot of bad things that could have been done by the other side. There's always pressure on the filibuster, sure. Yes.

[09:05:00]

I mean, you know, you -- there are folks out there who think that that is the way we ought to do things around here, simple majority. But I can tell you that the filibuster through the years has been something that's been a bulwark against a lot of really bad things happening to the country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: So, that is the top Republican earlier this month. We'll see if his position changes now that the president is making this demand. And we also have to see how this is going to impact the beginnings of negotiations that were starting to happen on Capitol Hill. How will this impact the goodwill that was starting -- the glimmers that were starting to be shown. But 31 days into this government shutdown, and really no major end in sight, and people are really feeling the pain.

Federal workers are going without pay, and tomorrow 42 million Americans will lose their food assistance and go hungry. So, the stakes could not be higher. The stalemate continues to drag on, and the president's demand late last night really just upends the ideas of any real progress happening going forward.

BERMAN: All right. Annie Grayer watching things closely for us, thanks very much. Sara.

SIDNER: All right, joining us now, Democratic Congresswoman of Illinois, Nikki Budzinski. Thank you so much for being here this morning. Look, the consequences of shutdown are becoming really real and painful for people. We're talking about families having to go without meals, potentially. What's it going to take to break this stalemate?

REP. NIKKI BUDZINSKI (D-IL), AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE AND VETERANS' AFFAIRS COMMITTEE: Well, what it's going to take is bipartisanship. It's going to take Republicans welcoming Democrats to the table to negotiate, to get the government reopened. We're in day 31.

And I think, Sara, you made a really important point. Tomorrow, there are going to be millions of families that are going to go without SNAP benefits. I can specifically speak to my district, 56,000 families, households rely on SNAP in order to make sure that they can put food on their table.

There is a lot at stake. And what we're saying as Democrats is, Republicans, you are in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House. Have us at the table to be a part of negotiating reopening this government so that we can address the manufactured health care crisis that they, quite frankly, created with their big ugly bill and their refusal to extend the ACA tax credits.

SIDNER: Look, the president is saying, look, now Republicans just go nuclear. He has basically said, break the filibuster and let this thing be funded for the next seven weeks. What's wrong with that?

BUDZINSKI: Yes, look, what I would say is he's willing to throw out historic precedent in the United States Senate rather than have Democrats come to the table with Republicans to negotiate on a bipartisan basis to reopen the government. That seems like a pretty common-sense solution to this. And that's what we've been arguing should be happening.

You know, he would rather blow up the filibuster than address the rising premium costs that I can tell you constituents in Central and Southern Illinois are facing today. We can solve this on a bipartisan basis if Republicans are willing to come to the table with Democrats. And that's what we'd like to see. And then I think we can end this shutdown today.

SIDNER: The head of the largest federal employees union and several airlines are coming out with statements very similar to this. Here is what Delta has put out when it comes to this shutdown. It says that it implores Congress to immediately pass a continuing resolution to reopen the government. Missed paychecks only increases the stress on these essential workers, many of whom are already working mandatory overtime to keep our skies safe and secure. They're using Republican talking point there that this is a clean CR. What do you say to these companies and the federal workers who are sitting there wondering what the heck is going on?

BUDZINSKI: Yes. Well, first of all, let me say my heart breaks for the federal workforce. They have been under assault over these last 11 months from the Trump administration, having indiscriminate firings that have been happening. Their collective bargaining rights have been taken away from them. I myself am someone who worked in the labor movement. I know very much the struggle that working families are facing and the assault that this administration has imposed on them over these last 11 months.

This shutdown is making everything worse clearly, and that's why I think it is so important for Democrats and Republicans to get to the table today. You know, I've been going back and forth from my district to Washington. I was in Washington this week. House Democrats were in Washington this week, and again, House Republicans under failed leadership by Speaker Mike Johnson refused to come to D.C. to do their jobs. We can end this shutdown and provide real relief to working people if Republicans will have Democrats at the table. And at this point, they're refusing to do so.

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SIDNER: I want to get your response to something that we heard from one of your Republican fellow Congress members, Representative Clay Higgins from Louisiana, blaming SNAP recipients for not having enough food. Listen to how he put this. All right. So, here it is that he put it out on X. He says there are 22 million American households receiving SNAP benefits for groceries at $4,200 per year on average. Try to get your head wrapped around how many pantries you can stock with $4,200 in properly shopped groceries. Any American who has been receiving $4,200 per year of free groceries and does not have at least one month of groceries stocked should never again receive SNAP because, wow, stop smoking crack. Those are his words.

BUDZINSKI: Oh, my gosh.

SIDNER: That's about $87 a week for people. If you break that down, what do you say to him?

BUDZINSKI: Well, that's just a distortion and a lie and a mischaracterization of the families, the seniors that I represent in my district that rely on SNAP in order for them to put food on their table, for the children in this country that rely on SNAP so that they don't go to bed hungry.

What we're talking about with SNAP is $6 a day. What this Republican majority has made very clear to the American people and the Trump administration leading the way on this is that they would rather give away more corporate tax breaks, more tax breaks for the richest people in this country than help to provide a child with that $6 a day benefit.

You know, since the Trump administration came in, they said on day one they were going to tackle rising costs. That started at the grocery store. We know today that on an average, groceries have gone up by about 29 percent since 2020. That is huge. When you look at the price of beef in the grocery store, when you look at the price of coffee, it is outrageous, and families are struggling to make ends meet.

And yes, it is about groceries, it is about food insecurity in this country, but what Democrats are also really saying in this shutdown is this healthcare manufactured crisis that the Republicans imposed on working people in this country, they need to address. They are, again, in charge of the White House, the Senate, and the House. These people are -- the families that I represent are truly struggling. And it is really sad to hear a Republican colleague of mine so mischaracterizing what is happening in this country.

SIDNER: Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski, thank you so much for coming on this morning and hashing it out. John.

BERMAN: Prince Andrew a prince no more, just Andrew. What we are learning this morning after he was stripped of his royal titles.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: Look, it could be a disaster. We want people to be able to get home for Thanksgiving. We want people to be able to travel for businesses.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERMAN: TSA agents unpaid, air traffic delays are mounting, and three billionaires dining on chicken and beer proving that three billionaires can dine on chicken and beer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:15:00]

BOLDUAN: New this morning. China's President Xi Jinping held high- level meetings with Japan's new Prime Minister as well as Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea. This is just after, of course, the much-talked-about important meeting between the Chinese leaders sitting down with President Trump really for the first time in six years. Both leaders leaving that face-to-face, celebrating progress in their trade talks.

On trade talks with America's neighbor to the north, Canada's prime minister is now indicating they're moving away from the U.S. and more toward China.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK CARNEY, CANADIAN PRIME MINISTER: So, our government is charting a new course with an ambitious mission to double our non-U.S. exports over the course of the next decade. And we're already making significant progress.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And just this week, the U.S. Senate had passed a resolution aimed at ending Trump's tariffs on Canada for Republicans joining Democrats in a rebuke of the president's trade tension with Canada. Let's talk about this and much more, its impact on the economy. Joining us right now is Kevin Hassett, the director of the White House National Economic Council. It's good to have you here again, Kevin.

KEVIN HASSETT, DIRECTOR, WHITE HOUSE NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Thanks.

BOLDUAN: If Canada moves away from the United States, more towards China in terms of a trading relationship, is that good for the United States?

HASSETT: You know, what is good for the United States is getting Canada to start to adhere to their previous agreements and to follow the rule of law and to stop punishing American companies the way they've been. The negotiations with China have been very, very frustrating for President Trump. As an example, they have a huge digital service tax on companies that stream things like Netflix. If anybody who makes content that you watch when you go home at the end of the day and you flip around to watch a show, they've got to make a quota in Canada of how many Canadian actors they have. They've got stuff like that littered throughout the economy. And it's gotten worse and worse under these liberal governments.

So, President Trump won't stand for it. He's tried to negotiate with the Canadians to get better deals for Americans. And they've been, frankly, rude and dismissive. And this is how it gets to where we are.

[09:20:00]

But the bottom line is we had an enormous victory in China, that there's a great, great deal for Americans, that American farmers are going to be selling their soybeans, and all of that happened while the Chinese accepted a tariff that was much larger than they started with in January. And so, it's a big win for the American people and for the president.

BOLDUAN: And president calling the meeting with Xi a 12 out of 10. One of the critical parts about it --

HASSETT: It's --

BOLDUAN: Yes, exactly. Well played. One of the critical pieces of this negotiation is around rare earth minerals. When Canada -- oh, sorry. When China controls pretty much all of the critical rare earths in the world, what do you see as the greatest leverage point that the United States has to force China to play ball and not restrict exports again when they would like?

HASSETT: Well, there are a lot of discussions about these things, but the good news is that those discussions are over, that we've got a very amicable deal, that the Chinese are going to deliver the rare earths, and then, you know, nations around the world are going to be attentive to the fact that maybe they want to diversify their supply chains a little bit so that they're not held hostage again like we were this year. But we're really, really pleased with the amicable agreement that we've got with the Chinese.

And so, the things that we were going to do if they did this or that, you know, we don't want to open up old sores. We want to just get this deal done with and move forward with our economy and their economy. I could say finally that the Chinese economy is looking very weak to me, and I think that they really, really needed this deal very much. And so, it wasn't just about the rare earths. And that's why they accepted the president's tariffs, which again are higher than they were at the beginning of the year.

BERMAN: I want to ask you about the government shutdown, as we're now in day 30. On the 20th of October, 11 days ago, you had said that you believe that the shutdown would likely be over by that week's end. Let me play this to remind folks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HASSETT: I think the Schumer shutdown is likely to end sometime this week. But I can tell you that if it doesn't, if it doesn't, if the story that we've been basically hearing from moderates that look, we just can't do it in front of the No Kings rally, if that ends up not being true, then I think that the White House is going to have to look very closely, along with Russ Vought, at, you know, stronger measures that we could take to bring it to the table.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: That didn't happen, and we're still here today, Kevin. So, what is your prediction now about this shutdown?

HASSETT: It's very -- yes, it's very frustrating. You know, it is true, though -- and I'm sure you heard the same thing, because you've got lots of contacts on the Hill, of course, that moderates on both sides were telling us that the No Kings rally was kind of the thing that they couldn't open government before, because the far left of the Democratic Party would go nuts on the moderates and primary them and so on if they were reasonable and open to country.

But now, it's just urgent that we open. As you've seen, the government employees union president has called on everybody to open. The airlines are calling on everybody to open. We certainly got to get air traffic controllers back to work before the Thanksgiving holiday. What the Democrats are doing right now is throwing a hissy fit because President Trump is so successful, and it needs to stop. The economic harm is real. It needs to stop.

BOLDUAN: And so, we will see how much longer it does predict. Do you predict it's going to be over by next week's end?

HASSETT: I have no idea. You know, it could be that what's going on is that they're going to hold on until the president and Republicans decide that they have to use the filibuster and the filibuster for these things. I hope not. I hope that there's somebody left in the Democratic Senate that respects the history of our country, respects the Federalist Papers that describe the Senate as a moderating influence in our country. Right now, Chuck Schumer is the exact opposite, and it's causing all of this dismay and harm.

You know, think about the misleading stuff they've been saying about food stamps, they want us to use our -- we have a little rainy-day fund for food stamps in case there's a disaster, which is about half as much as you need for a month of food. And they're saying, oh, just release that. And well, no, just open the government so everybody can have all the food they need.

BOLDUAN: Well, the question is isn't enough, it's can you? I mean, I had Adam Smith on just now, and he said he is adamant that you can release the funds, even though it may not be enough to cover the whole 8 billion.

HASSETT: Open the government, and everybody will have everything that they need. That's the right answer. But also, as you've seen with the hurricane in Jamaica, that, you know, if our rainy-day fund is gone, then what happens if we have a rainy day? That's the kind of thing that we have to think about. And it's just terrible that they're putting people's lives at stake. Government workers aren't getting paid. People aren't getting their food. Airlines are having to delay their flights.

BOLDUAN: But can you access the funds?

HASSETT: All because of what?

BOLDUAN: Can you access those funds if you wanted to?

HASSETT: It's a legal matter. I'm an economist. But there are differing legal opinions about it.

BOLDUAN: Kevin Hassett, it is good to have you on, as always. Thank you for coming in.

HASSETT: Good to be -- yes, thanks, Kate.

[09:25:00]

BOLDUAN: Sara.

SIDNER: As you heard from Mr. Hassett there, airlines are now stepping in in the battle over the shutdown, employing Congress to pass the short-term budget now. And now, Donald Trump is calling the potential impacts of the shutdown a disaster as Thanksgiving approaches.

And new information, we are getting in to CNN about the potential terror attack that was thwarted, multiple people arrested. The latest we're learning, coming up.

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