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Air Traffic Controller Shortages Disrupt Flights Across U.S.; New CNN Poll Shows Trump Approval Rating Dips to Lowest of Second Term; Democrats Weight Different Paths in New York City and Virginia Races. Aired 7-7:30a ET

Aired November 03, 2025 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:00:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning, major ripple effects in effect over the shutdown. Air travel saw its worst weekend since the shutdown began. The transportation secretary warning it will only get worse.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking this morning, brand new CNN data, the highest disapproval rating President Trump has ever had in our polling, including after the insurrection. So, what is dragging him down?

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: He is the only person to survive a plane crash that killed 241 people. This morning, that survivor is speaking out for the first time, saying God gave him life, but took all his happiness.

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

Air travel across the country disrupted, delayed, and on track to get worse. Sorry, everybody for that on a Monday, as the government shutdown drags on this morning with just a few weeks to go now until a major travel holiday, Thanksgiving. Air traffic controllers are coming off their worst weekend for staffing shortages since the shutdown set in more than a month ago now. Between Friday and Saturday night, there were 98 staffing trigger, staffing trigger reports at FAA facilities. That's the terminology they used. That means controllers had to make changes, rerouting planes, delaying flights, and beyond to keep the airspace safe with fewer people on staff.

Controllers are considered essential. Staffs are required to continue working even though they are not being paid, have not been paid now for a month. Transportation secretary says, well, some of them have used sick days. Other controllers are taking time off to work jobs that will actually pay them.

CNN's Pete Muntean has been tracking all of this for us throughout, and it looks like we hit a bit of a turning point this weekend, Pete.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it was a tough one, tracking all of it, and it's been a lot. So far, the biggest concerns for delays today are bad weather in Atlanta, Charlotte and Nashville, also San Francisco, but no major staffing concerns yet. But history has shown us that things can change so, so fast. It's exactly how we started out Friday, which kicked off this worst weekend for air traffic control staffing shortages since the start of the shutdown.

I want to show you what we've been monitoring. It's called the FAA National Airspace Operations Plan, and it's published every few hours. It shows FAA facilities with short staffing. That list is maybe one, two, sometimes no facilities listed nationwide on Friday. That's the image. There were 46 of them, 3 airports, all of them in New York City, especially New York Liberty International Airport, have been especially hard hit. And the FAA says nearly 80 percent of air traffic controllers were out on Friday Halloween at facilities that handle New York flights. That is what creates the binds. The FAA says it has no choice in some cases, but to slow the place of flights and put in place delays or ground stops.

I want you to listen now to what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said about that, he says, we are not out of the woods yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Well, does it become a flight emergency, a safety issue? No. We will stop traffic. So, we're not going to let that happen. I think the real consequence is, what kind of rolling delays do you have throughout the system, right? We've seen problems at L.A., in Dallas, in D.C., Boston, Atlanta. And so I think it's only going to get worse.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: In all this weekend, we saw more than 16,000 flight delays nationwide. Remember, air traffic controllers are still working without pay during this shutdown. That $0 paycheck they received last Tuesday was just insult to injury. And Transportation Secretary Duffy said yesterday the Trump administration is looking for what he calls pots of money to pay controllers despite this shutdown. But he says the rules are strict and the Trump administration must follow the law. Kate?

BOLDUAN: All right. Pete Muntean, thank you so much. John?

BERMAN: All right, breaking news this morning, a brand new CNN poll out just minutes ago on the eve of key off-year elections.

With us now is CNN's Washington Bureau Chief and Political Director David Chalian. D. Chal, we got big numbers here on the president's approval rating, which I guess really is upside down at historic levels.

DAVID CHALIAN, CNN WASHINGTON BUREAU CHIEF: It is John. And just consider this brand new CNM poll, sort of a mood ring, if you will, as we head into Election Day tomorrow, and that we're one year away from the midterms, that approval rating for the president, it has -- it is at a low point of his second term.

[07:05:12]

37 percent of Americans in our poll approve of the job. Trump is doing 63 percent disapprove.

Take a look at his approval in this term over time. You see here, he was up hovering near 50 percent in his honeymoon after the inauguration, and it has been going down pretty steadily since, now at 37 percent.

And also, just to get a sense here of how Americans are reacting to what he's doing, Trump has gone too far when it comes to using presidential power. 61 percent of our poll respondents say that is true. Trump has gone too far deporting undocumented immigrants. 57 percent say that is true. That's up from February. In fact, this question, Norah O'Donnell asked him on 60 Minutes last night, he said the exact opposite. He thinks it doesn't go far enough. The American people disagree, according to our new poll.

BERMAN: You said he used this poll as a kind of mood ring. What is the ring telling you about the mood elsewhere?

CHALIAN: Well, we sort of do that directional. How are things going in the country? Only 32 percent of Americans, John, say they're going well. 68 percent say going badly. What's driving that? Well, what is top of mind for Americans? The economy and cost of living far and away. 47 percent of Americans say it's the most important issue facing the U.S., then the state of democracy at 26 percent. Immigration, crime and safety, a little lower down.

So, given that the economy is so hugely important to Americans, what do they think of Trump's policies affecting the U.S. economy? 61 percent of Americans in this poll say that he has -- his policies have worsened the U.S. economic conditions. Only 27 percent say they have improved.

BERMAN: Yes. Those were the numbers that really jumped out to be, when you said, have people telling you the economy is the most important thing, yet Donald Trump, the president, is not helping in that area. That gives you a sense of why his disapproval rating might be so high.

So, Dave, we've got elections tomorrow. Let's not talk about those. Let's talk about the ones a year from tomorrow.

CHALIAN: Yes. Well, the elections tomorrow will be interesting too. But you're right. We did take our first look a year out at that generic Congressional ballot. You know, do you -- would you vote for the Democrat or the Republican in the battle for Congress? 47 percent say they would vote for the Democrat, 42 percent, the Republican. This Democratic advantage, it is an advantage, but it's not nearly as large of an advantage Democrats had eight years ago coming to the end of Donald Trump's first year in office in 2017 that teed up their huge midterm victories in 2018.

However, we do see that Democrats are far more motivated to vote than are Republicans. If you look here, those that tell us they're extremely motivated to vote in the midterms, Democrats and Democratic- leaning Independent, 67 percent say they're extremely motivated. That compares to 46 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning independents.

But, John, the Democratic Party brand, it's still a problem for the party. Look at this. Their favorable rating is at 29 percent. Now, the Republican favorable rating's not that much better. 33 percent, but still a tick better. 55 percent of Americans have an unfavorable view. A majority of Americans have an unfavorable view of the Democratic Party.

Now, this is a lot of Democrats that are feeding that. They're sort of hating on their own party. We'll see if they succeed tomorrow night, if Donald Trump's numbers continue to go down, if that'll turn their fortunes around. But this does not look exactly like that 2018 huge midterm sweep. The Democrats still have some work to do to take advantage of Donald Trump's unpopularity with the American people.

BERMAN: Yes, Democrats want to push that number higher, to be sure, in terms of the generic ballot. We'll get some new data points tomorrow when actual voters go to actual polls. We will be talking to you extensively, I'm sure, in the next 48 hours.

David Chalian, great to see you. Thanks so much. Sara?

SIDNER: All right. Speaking of which, the countdown is on. Tomorrow is Election Day in America. What several of the key races will tell us about where we are headed?

And tens of thousands of layoffs now being blamed on the growth of A.I., but one CEO says there's reason for hope.

Also, a heroic officer dives into freezing waters to save an injured pup. And take a look at this. We'll show you what happened next.

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[07:10:00]

SIDNER: This morning, we're in that final countdown to Election Day. And in two closely watched races, the frontrunners are offering sharply different paths forward for Democrats. In the New York City race, I know you've heard a lot about this mayoral race, Zohran Mamdani has sprung to political stardom with his upstart campaign as a Democratic socialist. While in Virginia's governor's race, Abigail Spanberger, a former congresswoman and CIA officer, has laid out a much more moderate vision, even enlisting former President Obama in the last stretch of her campaign,

CNN's Isaac Dovere, joins us now. This is a major sort of identity test in some ways. I have to say, I was out this weekend and the lines for early voting were insane. Like they were the longest I've ever seen them here in New York.

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Yes. Like there's a lot of excitement for Mamdani, clearly. But as I write in this piece, it's up on our site right now, only in the Democratic Party, given the identity and existential crisis that it's going through, could you have the two clear front runners going into races for tomorrow. It would be Zohran Mamdani, as you described him, and Abigail Spanberger, as you described her.

[07:15:04]

These are different people offering very different visions of what the future of the Democratic Party is. And I spent some time in Virginia on Friday riding around on the bus with Abigail Spanberger going to events that she was at, talking to her about it. And she was very clear that she thinks, and should say a lot of other Democrats believe what she's saying, that the model that she's put forward in a state that is much more competitive as an incumbent Republican governor, is more what the future of the Democratic Party writ large should look like.

Even as Mamdani, we see these shots that have been gone of him this march across the Brooklyn Bridge, the energy and passion that he's excited. But one of the things that Spanberger said to me is that when she -- I said to her, you don't have a proposal for government-run website -- grocery stores on your website, and she said, that's because I couldn't pass it.

And she said, when we talk about things that this Democratic Party is talking about, we have to not say we tried it and it didn't work. She said to me, people believed you, vulnerable people believed you, and that is something that Democrats need to watch out for. She said in the immediate, as they're facing an emergency circumstance she sees with Donald Trump, and going into the long-term, when Democrats -- when voters think about what Democrats have actually done for them.

SIDNER: Yes. It's quite interesting when you look at this. Because some people look at this, and I wonder if you do as well, is that New York is a singular place. It's got a very interesting and different population than, say, somewhere in Virginia or somewhere in Florida. How do you like sort of link that --

DOVERE: Look, I mean, I've been -- I was with Spanberger on Friday. I've been in New York City going around on Saturday and Sunday. I grew up here. A lot of New Yorkers think about New York as the center of the universe. That is sometimes how things can feel with politics.

But Virginia's a very different place. The country is a very different place overall than New York City is. And I've seen that as I've covered races all around the country despite growing up about 20 blocks from this studio.

And the question is, what will appeal to voters that are maybe like New York City voters in some ways and maybe much more like Virginia voters in some ways? And whether it's passion that Mamdani is exciting or some of the policy ideas? That's the continuing conversation that the party's going to have coming out of these races.

SIDNER: He's actually -- Mamdani is very much energizing the youth vote. DOVERE: For sure.

SIDNER: We'll see if that's what happens in some of these other races as well. It's all very interesting and it all begins tomorrow.

Isaac, thank you so much. I know you're going to have a long couple of days.

DOVERE: Yes.

SIDNER: Right. Kate?

BOLDUAN: Millions of Americans are facing the very real threat of running out of food as SNAP benefits are now stuck in limbo. So, what does it feel like to be stuck in the middle of this political fight with really nothing to do about it? That is coming up.

And an explosion at Harvard, police are now searching for two masked suspects caught on surveillance video from this weekend.

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[07:20:00]

SIDNER: So, if the Bills played the Chiefs only in the regular season, imagine how happy Buffalo would be.

With us now, CNN's Coy Wire. Coy, one of your two teams won, so you're smiling a little bit this morning.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes. I don't remember what happened in that other game when the Falcons played the Patriots, John, good morning to you. We had the two favorites to win the AFC going down to the wire. The Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, reminding everyone why he is the league MVP and against the notoriously stingy Chiefs defense. Allen said the new franchise completion percentage, 88.5 percent of his passes, 273 through the air, including that touchdown passes Dalton Kincaid ran for two scores, including Buffalo's brand of tush- push, the snowplow. 79 career rushing touchdowns, John. He passed Cam Newton for most by a quarterback and he goes to 26 all-time for any player, passing the great Earl Campbell.

Now, Mahomes had his toughest game of the season, he had a chance to potentially tie it here, but it's batted down. Mahomes held to the lowest completion percentage of his career, just 44.1 percent. Bills win 28-21. Here's Josh wearing a hat designed by Carson, a young hospital patient after the big win.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSH ALLEN, BUFFALO BILLS QUARTERBACK: They're the pinnacle of what you want your franchise to be. They've been that for the last eight years. You know, anytime you get a chance to play, you know, the best and you can come away with a victory, you're going to be feeling pretty good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: All right. Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin said, it's a fine line between drinking wine and squashing grapes in this business. It's nothing dramatic, he said. His Steelers had lost two straight, but his defense made a huge statement against the Colts who were 7-1 coming in, most prolific offense in the league this season. They forced three fumbles, three interceptions. They sack Daniel Jones five times in a 27-20 win. The Steelers are now 5-3.

Now, take a look at where Jaguars Kicker Cam Little, John, is lined up for this 68-yard field goal attempt. We have seen some absolutely wild and wacky field goal kicking in the league this season. And now we get the longest field goal in NFL History, Cam Little, big leg. And it made the difference, a 30-29 win over the Raiders. There've only been six field goals of 64 or more yards in NFL history. Half of them, John, have come this season.

And remember, Cam Little, he's the one who hit a 70-yarder in the preseason. Now he does it when it really counts. Incredible stuff, John.

BERMAN: It's changing the game, right, Coy? I mean, it's absolutely changing the game. Teams have to move the ball basically 20 yards and they're all but guaranteed three points..

WIRE: Yes. So, the new K ball rule this year, they can get the 60- footballs at the beginning season. They can make them pliable, they can rub the brush on them, they get all those bumps off there and make them a little more aerodynamic, is definitely making a big difference in the kicking game this season.

BERMAN: Pretty great to see, and it was great to see the Patriots and the Atlanta Falcons play again yesterday. Every time those two teams face off, it brings me a smile.

Thanks so much, Coy.

WIRE: You got it.

BERMAN: Sara?

SIDNER: Okay, good times. You know, I'm going to bring up something happy. I'm wearing the blue. It's great to see the Dodgers winning the World Series.

Okay, now that we are done with that, still ahead, we're going to hear from President Trump. He did an interview with 60 Minutes after suing the program. He is talking a lot about everything, from whether or not nukes should be tested and what his thoughts are on China.

[07:25:08]

And the CEO of Goldman Sachs says he's not buying the A.I. jobs freak out. Why he believes America's workforce will bounce back even as A.I. reshapes white collar jobs.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, as the government shutdown enters day 34, President Trump, in a brand new interview, is telling 60 Minutes that he is ready to negotiate, but not until the government is reopened.

[07:30:06]

This was also the first interview.