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Scientists Push Back on Bill Gates' Climate Memo; Interview with Rep. Jeff Hurd (R-CO): Trump Administration to Cut Flights at 40 Airports if Shutdown Drags On; At Least 12 Killed in UPS Cargo Plane Crash in Louisville, Kentucky; 2 More Arrests Made in Terror Plot Probe. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 06, 2025 - 08:00   ET

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

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DANIEL SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: ... really pointed out that it was ridiculous to think that New York City was going to have problems with climate change. I was reading this as people were actively underwater in their basement apartments in New York City last week. So the rhetoric just isn't matching the real world here.

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Meanwhile, former Biden climate czar Gina McCarthy is in Brazil, along with a group that includes California Governor Gavin Newsom and others, who will try to convince the world that blue states and big cities are still in the fight with pledges to keep.

GENA MCCARTHY, FORMER EPA ADMINISTRATOR: This is a difficult time, Bill, that you know, and I've never been at a time when I felt that the federal government was as much out of the loop as this federal government is. But that can't be what we focus on. We have a chance to go to Belem and let people know that America is all in.

There are solutions. There are opportunities. There is hope in the United States.

KATHARINE HAYHOE, CHIEF SCIENTIST, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: We also see that businesses, organizations, nonprofits, churches, tribal nations, universities, all kinds of different entities are taking climate action. So when Gina is going to Brazil to tell people that people in America, organizations in America are still acting, she's right.

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WEIR (on camera): But all of those folks will be going up against record numbers of fossil fuel lobbyists, as we've seen show up at these COPs more and more, the scientists calling for more transparency as to who's there and what their agenda might be. So many angles to watch. Such a pivotal time.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Great piece, Bill. Thank you so much for that reporting.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now. JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: This morning, bracing for a possible travel nightmare at airports all across the country. The FAA says it will reduce flights at 40, four zero major airports by tomorrow if Congress cannot make a deal to reopen the government ASAP. But Democrats' big election wins this week are emboldening them in the shutdown standoff. We'll check in on that.

Also new this morning, some new clues are recovered from the crash scene in Kentucky. The NTSB now on the ground there as new video emerges showing the moments before that UPS plane went down.

And can you guess the Louvre's security password? You'd think it would be very complex for building, housing, priceless art and jewels. But apparently the answer was in the name.

I'm Jessica Dean alongside Kate Bolduan and Sara Sidner. John Berman is out today and this is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Brace yourself for travel chaos like a new level of it at this point. With the government shutdown now into day 37, the Trump administration and the FAA are planning now to slash flights at dozens of major airports beginning tomorrow. We're talking potentially thousands of flights per day.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced the move yesterday that air traffic is going to be cut by 10 percent at 40 major airports. The reason being is he says they have to ensure safety. The data says they must.

But which airports? He did not say. But we are expecting to get a list of those impacted today.

This is coming as staffing shortages among air traffic controllers have already caused problems and we've seen them mounting from coast to coast. They're working without pay during this shutdown. This new move is seems to be so drastic that even airline executives are sounding the alarm.

The CEO of Frontier Airlines now writing to flyers with what he says is just practical travel advice, warning people booked on his airline on Frontier that they should now book a backup ticket on another carrier to avoid being stranded.

Now, there is talk on Capitol Hill of something of a deal or talks of talks emerging to try to end this political fight. But how real those talks are is really anyone's guess.

Some Democrats, though, are feeling new confidence after sweeping Tuesday's elections and saying now is not the time to cave to Republicans, rather apply more pressure to them in these talks. Joining me right now is Republican Congressman Jeff Hurd of Colorado. He is on the House Transportation Committee, which oversees the FAA.

Congressman, thank you for coming in. Did you all get a heads up that this --

REP. JEFF HURD (R-CO), TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE COMMITTEE: Kate, good morning.

BOLDUAN: -- was coming from the transportation secretary in the FAA? Because apparently airline executives are reporting is they only got a one hour heads up that this move was going to be announced.

HURD: Well, I'm not surprised to hear this from the Secretary of Transportation. I mean, this is a completely avoidable crisis. We passed the bill in the House months ago that would keep the government open.

The Senate needs to do its job and pass the same bill. We wouldn't even be having this conversation, Kate. People wouldn't be having to worry about their travel reservations if we simply kept the government open.

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We did our job in the House. Senate Democrats need to do their job and get it open as well. It's a completely unnecessary conversation, not just transportation, but also SNAP, you know, federal assistance, troops getting their pay, all of these things, completely unnecessary crisis that's being caused by, in my view, very short sighted policy by Senate Democrats.

BOLDUAN: How bad is this going to be?

HURD: It's going to be bad. It's already bad. Already we have men and women that are serving our country honorably that are not getting paid.

We're having farmers that are not getting the assistance that they need. We're having employees that are furloughed, that there's a backlog of work that's going to be done, even when --

(CROSSTALK)

BOLDUAN: I'm talking specifically about this next kind of it feels like an impending doom of air travel. You've got TSA agents that are calling out. You've got -- you've got air traffic control workers who are calling out there.

Some say they can't even pay rent. Some have had to resign and move out of state, I've even heard, because they are out of money.

How bad is this situation going to be? Come tomorrow when Sean Duffy says these cuts set in.

HURD: It's been bad, it's going to get even worse. This is now the longest government shutdown in history, and again, it's completely avoidable. The folks that are not getting paid, everyone that's going to the airport, all the TSA agents, all the air traffic control people that you're meeting, none of them have been paid for more than a month, again, because Senate Democrats aren't doing their job and keeping the government open.

It's extremely frustrating. It's not good. They're missing mortgage payments. They're missing car payments, all the things that they need in order to run their lives.

It's not good for morale. It's not good for national security, for economic security. We've got to get the government back open again.

BOLDUAN: Sean Duffy has been sounding the alarm, the secretary, but some Democrats, like the top Democrat on your committee, are skeptical that this move that's setting in now, this air traffic cut is motivated only by the data. Congressman Larson said this about it. The FAA must immediately share any safety risk assessment and related data that this decision is predicated on with Congress.

Do you want to see that data? Do you question the motivation here as well?

HURD: No, I don't question the motivation at all. The data, it seems to me intuitive that not paying people and not keeping the government open is not good for travel security or getting people where they need to go or the functioning of airports or air traffic control or TSA. That seems inherently obvious to me.

And this system can only last so long without getting funded. We're now, again, 37 days into the longest government shutdown in history, completely avoidable. We would not even be having this discussion if the Senate would have simply passed the bipartisan, clean, continuing resolution that we that we passed out of the House back in September.

I'm not surprised to hear that the system is struggling under the weight of these problems when we're not paying people, when the system's not being funded. Of course, it's going to break down.

BOLDUAN: Let me ask you about the here and now. You're part of a group of House members, a bipartisan group trying to work out a compromise. You kind of came to an agreement on principle, if you will, an extension of Obamacare subsidies for a couple of years in order to reopen the government.

My question, I had Josh Gottheimer on who says he's ready to have talks with anybody and you guys are just trying to get something done. Why aren't people jumping on this --

HURD: Yes.

BOLDUAN: -- right away, bear hugging this proposal and saying let's move on?

HURD: I think people are ready to advance something like this. We got to get the government open first, though. That's the fundamental issue.

And that's something I've always said. It's something I continue to say. Let's get the government open.

And you have a number of Republicans, obviously me and Josh Gottheimer, but also Don Bacon, Tom Suozzi on this legislation. There are other Republicans and Democrats that I'm confident are looking for a solution like this. It's pragmatic. It's thoughtful. It addresses the immediate short term

need that we have to reduce health care premiums and give Congress time to work on those fundamental cost drivers.

It makes sense. It's pragmatic. We have income caps. We're trying to address fraud, waste and abuse in the system.

It's something that I think most pragmatic and thoughtful members of Congress, regardless of what political party you're in, can get behind. And I'm confident that we'll see that kind of support. But first, we got to get the government back open again.

BOLDUAN: Let's, I guess, see what comes today on day 37 of this shutdown. Congressman Jeff Hurd, thank you so much for coming in -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. Thank you, Kate. Ahead this morning, three people remain missing after that incredibly fiery plane crash in Louisville. And there is new video out now showing the plane missing an engine. We will show you all of that coming up.

Also, detailed travel plans, secret meetings and trips to the gun range. Police arresting two men they say were plotting to pull off a terror attack.

And a suspected serial shoplifter caught in action, accused of stealing thousands of dollars worth of clothes.

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How police ended up tracking him down. Those stories and more ahead.

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DEAN: New details this morning in Tuesday's UPS cargo plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky, they confirmed death toll now 12, three people still missing. New stunning footage appears to show the plane's left engine missing just as the aircraft went down in a fireball. NTSB investigators say that engine detached during takeoff.

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It was later found on the runway and recovered by investigators. They've also recovered the plane's black boxes, which they say suffered some heat. And joining us now, CNN transportation analyst and former inspector general at the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo. Mary, thank you for being here.

We know these investigators are on the ground. Walk us through what they'll be doing today. Again, as we're seeing this video that is just so, it's hard to watch.

It's stunning watching that plane just go into a fireball.

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST: It certainly is stunning, but again, the video is very important and very helpful. I mean, you know, 20, 30 years ago when I worked accidents, you didn't have this kind of video. There weren't cameras everywhere.

So already the NTSB is gathering this footage. They're asking the public to help to report any pieces of the aircraft that they find, etc. So they've already called for the public help.

But today they're going to be securing the site, examining all the perimeters, really mapping it out. And there's lots of software, by the way. There's AI and data programs that help them do that.

Wherever they pick up something, it will be noted on the data program. And of course, they have lots of other tools at their disposal. But now it's going to be a site survey, figuring out what's out there, picking up the crucial parts that have to be moved.

Of course, some things had to be moved off the runway because the airport's open already. And they've already announced they have a pretty big team there on the ground already yesterday. I think they said they sent 28 people with many more to come.

And they also set up work groups. And this is very important because it lets you know where they're headed by the work groups that they've set up. And they've set up a power plant engine work group, because obviously the engines are suspect, a maintenance work group.

And they will look at all the maintenance of the plane. There's a reported heavy maintenance, meaning you take the plane in and look at every part of it. It's called a C or a D check.

Recently, not immediately before the flight, but recently, they'll be looking at that. Human performance, you know. What did the pilots do?

What could they do? And from the looks of this, they could do nothing. You know, God rest their souls.

There wasn't anything the pilots could do to avoid these buildings once they lost that engine. And systems, hydraulics, steering control. So the NTSB, by the way, they're deemed essential employees.

And they are on the job full-time regardless of pay status. So they're out there working.

DEAN: Right, right, right. And when you watch this video, and I think since this happened, the key question for so many people out there is just how on earth did this happen? What happened here?

How on earth did this happen? They're there to find out. We clearly have some clues with what you were saying about the engine.

But did it surprise you to learn about all of this?

SCHIAVO: Well, you know, and investigators at the NTSB will do this, and I always do this. I go back to other accidents that I've worked on, and there have been other accidents where engines have departed the plane. But it's very, very rare.

Engine fires are not rare. That's why they have fire bottles and fire suppression systems on the plane. But the way this happened with the engine leaving the aircraft, that means there, I suggest that that means there should be a problem with engine mounts or the pilings, how the engine is attached.

And it's so critical and, you know, aircraft maintenance is so technical that not only do you have to use the approved parts and the approved, you know, when you're replacing fan blades, for example, but you also have to do it in the right steps. In a previous case where an engine fell off, they didn't remove the engine from the plane for maintenance and overhaul in the right steps, and they damaged the pilings and the --

DEAN: Yes.

SCHIAVO: -- pylons and the pins that hold the engine on. And that's probably what they'll be looking at as well.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Mary. Always great to have your expertise here. Thank you so much -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Violent threats, secret phone calls, and a plot to kill. Two more arrests in what police say was an ISIS-inspired terror plot, how they stopped it.

And the wrinkles may be real, but the Botox is not. The FDA issuing a new warning, beware of websites selling fake medication.

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SIDNER: All right, new this morning, a week after the FBI announced it foiled a potential ISIS-inspired terror plot in Michigan, two more men have been arrested. Two men are said to have been part of the same online communication group as the ones who hatched the alleged plot in Michigan, according to a law enforcement official.

Brynn Gingras is here. You've been getting some of this information and this new reporting. What are you learning this morning?

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Sara. I almost suspect that we might see more of these in the coming days, because certainly we've been talking about how law enforcement officials, FBI agents to be more clear, were in on these communication chat rooms and have been surveilling individuals for quite a while. So we saw the ones in Michigan last Friday, those arrests, and now we're hearing about two more that happened in New Jersey.

And as you said, these two individuals, according to officials, were in that same communications group. However, they weren't exactly plotting the same sort of plot that was laid out in the Michigan complaint that was unsealed on Monday. But this group, according to officials, essentially pledged allegiance to ISIS and then also was talking about improvised explosive devices.

One of the individuals, according to officials, was actually researching videos online about plots that have taken place already here in the United States. And what we've learned from officials is that they moved in with an arrest at Newark Airport on one individual just on Tuesday because that person was already ready to book a flight or ready to get on a flight, rather, to go to Turkey. And what they're saying is that he was then going to transfer to Syria to actually train with ISIS.

So they moved in quickly on him, and we also learned about a second suspect, again, a 19-year-old who was -- sorry, 20-year-old who was arrested inside his New Jersey home. Not too many details about this. But like I'm saying, there might be more of these to come because we're learning about these arrests, you know, before any action is taking place, just the pre-planning.

Now the big question is, are charges that are being applied to these individuals, are those going to stick? And so we'll have to wait and see how that goes, not only for these two individuals, but also those suspects in Michigan.

SIDNER: Yes, I think we heard from an attorney for one of the men that was arrested in Michigan who said, you know, this is all baseless. And so we have to wait and see how this plays out. But you do have the indictment that has the details of kind of how this happened.

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GINGRAS: Right. But also, I mean, in the Michigan case, those individuals had warehouses or storage units, I should say, not warehouses, full of, you know, magazines and ammunition.

So it's not like the agents are going in blind, you know, but there is some question of are they moving in too soon? So we'll have to see.

SIDNER: Yes, we'll have to see. But the fact that they're in those chat rooms makes a big difference

GINGRAS: Yes.

SIDNER: -- here. Now we know that from the from your reporting and what we're seeing --

GINGRAS: Yes.

SIDNER: paperwork.

GINGRAS: Absolutely.

SIDNER: Thank you so much.

GINGRAS: All right.

Over to you, Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, darling. The Louvre's security password might make your office e-mail account look like Fort Knox. More on that. And Democrats are still celebrating after big wins on Tuesday. But can

Tuesday's election results carry through the midterms a year away? Harry Enten running the numbers on that just ahead.

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