Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

30th Conference on Climate Change Happening in Brazil; United: Preemptively Canceling About 200 Flights Tomorrow; Trump Admin to Cut Flights at 40 Airports Starting Tomorrow; Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) Discusses About Government Shutdown; Federal Judge Keeps Restrictions on ICE Agents in Chicago, Calls Trump Admin's Statements "Not Credible"; Dallas Cowboys Marshawn Kneeland Dead at Age 24. Aired 3- 3:30p ET

Aired November 06, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: ... clings to the fuels of the 19th century in many ways. So, it's really a seismic moment right now. So many different angles to watch, and -- but there are Americans down there trying to spread the message that big cities, blue states are doing their part.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Wow, what a shift. Three hours of free electricity in Australia, while in the U.S. all we do is talk about the rising cost of electricity here. Bill, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Buckle Up: Air passengers could be facing a travel nightmare tomorrow. The White House says it will cancel flights at 40 of the country's biggest airports if the government shutdown isn't over. One airline already taking action.

And SNAP Decision: Those folks out there who are facing food stamp benefits being cut are still facing cuts, but it's not quite as bad as initially expected. Still not enough for many Americans, though.

And Trillion-Dollar Payday: Tesla shareholders could soon give Elon Musk the biggest pay package in history.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

We now know hundreds of flights will not be taking off tomorrow as the government shutdown drags on. Just minutes ago, United Airlines telling CNN it is preemptively canceling about 200 of its flights after the Trump administration said it would cut air traffic by 10 percent. Then moments ago, we got the full list of the 40 airports the FAA says will be seeing these flight reductions. We're talking coast- to-coast impacts, thousands of flights potentially grounded each day. CNN's Pete Muntean is following all of this.

Pete, what can you share about what we should expect?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, here's the latest. Airlines are preparing to post the details of their cancellations any moment now. United Airlines just told me that it will cancel about 200 flights starting tomorrow, then again on Saturday, same on Sunday.

But let's reset. This is now the most direct consequence of the government shutdown on air travel. Airlines really blindsided by this mandate. There's no better word for it from the Trump administration. I'm told carriers were given less than an hour's notice that the FAA would order flight reductions nationwide starting tomorrow morning.

Here is the reasoning from the Trump administration. Air traffic controllers just got the zero dollar pay stub, their second of the government shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says that stress in the national airspace system has reached a point where it is no longer safe to operate at full capacity. And here is what Secretary Duffy said on Fox News this morning.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: You've seen a lot of delays and cancellations through the airspace. It changes every single day based on what controllers are coming to work and which ones are not and what airspaces. But we were seeing increased pressure in these 40 markets. And we looked at the data. This was data driven. And so, taking 10 percent of the flights out will reduce that pressure, which is what we want to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: So here is the new directive from the Trump administration, if there is no deal to reopen the government, the FAA is mandating that airlines reduce flights by up to 10 percent at 40 of the country's busiest airports. Multiple airline officials now tell me the Trump administration will start this off at 4 percent tomorrow, then ramp this up to 10 percent through next week.

Let's go to the map. Where will this be? This is the new map, the preliminary map of airports everywhere from Florida to Albuquerque to Anchorage now on the list, including some airports with no airline service like Teterboro, New Jersey, which is interesting.

I've been cautioned that this could change, though, that this will likely include all of the FAA's so-called core 30 airports. Those are the busiest, most operationally critical airports nationwide. But again, nothing final here, all preliminary, because the FAA has not yet published a final order to airlines. And they are really scrambling to adjust right now.

All four major U.S. airlines say they're complying with this directive. They're giving passengers way to change their flights free of charge. But then there's this reaction from Frontier Airlines CEO Barry Biffle. He does not mince words here. He calls the directive unsustainable, saying, quote, "You can't run a national airspace system like this. This is not how an aviation system in the modern world functions."

And he even suggested to travelers to consider booking a backup ticket on a completely different airline. You may never, ever hear that again from an airline CEO. You got to put this into context. Forty-five thousand flights on average in the U.S. every day.

[15:05:03]

So, a 10 percent reduction of that is worse than the worst cancellation day that we've seen in the past year, essentially every day until the shutdown ends. So, this is not a small tweak. And aviation is a multibillion-dollar economic driver. We're talking commerce and air travel, supply chains, deliveries. The clock is really ticking now.

And one more superlative here. Never in modern U.S. aviation history has the federal government done an across-the-board slash-to-flight capacity like this. And now it really seems that passengers are caught in the middle. I'm hearing from so many of them right now.

KEILAR: I'm sure they are just thrilled, just thrilled, Pete.

MUNTEAN: As if air travel could get any less fun.

KEILAR: Yes, it's the best. All right, Pete, thank you for that. Erica?

HILL: Brianna, thanks. Joining me now, Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin of Maryland.

Congressman, good to see you as always.

I mean, look at where things stand in terms of the shutdown. Speaker Mike Johnson earlier pouring cold water on what looked like maybe a potential off-ramp when he said he would not guarantee a House vote on extending Obamacare subsidies, even if Senate Republicans would commit to one. So, are all hopes for that potential off-ramp at this point dead in the water?

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): No, I think that's bluster on his part. The politics have turned very sharply against the Republicans on this. They saw the landslide Democratic victories across the country because of the Republican government shutdown, as Donald Trump says, and because of the assault on health care, the assault on food and the SNAP program, and now the attack on the airports and air flights.

I mean, they are demolishing our ability to function in society, whether we're talking about health care, we're talking about food, we're talking about transportation, and they've shut the entire government down. And it's extremely unpopular. Donald Trump's poll numbers are plummeting. The Republicans' poll numbers are sinking. And they've got to come back, sit down with us and negotiate.

I mean, they can negotiate with Vladimir Putin in Russia and President Xi in China. They'll meet with Kim Jong-un, but they won't sit down and talk to the Democrats about making the government work for the American people.

HILL: When it comes to Democrats, on a call, some House Democrats, we learned, were urging their Senate colleagues directly to tell them to not take the deal. Leader Jeffries signaling on that call that he was keeping the pressure on his Senate counterpart. You talk about politics catching up with Republicans. When you look at your own party, can you give us a sense of how much division there is at this moment within the Democratic Party in terms of how to proceed?

RASKIN: Well, I'm not seeing much division at all, because everybody wants a deal. But we want a deal that includes all of the needs of the American people that have been crushed by the Republicans over the last several months. So, we want a deal to reopen the government, reopen health care so people's health insurance premiums can be paid.

I mean, even Marjorie Taylor Greene is talking about the fact that her kids have health insurance premiums that have gone up $700, $800, $900. I mean, some of our constituents are seeing their premiums double or triple, and they want to pull the plug on all Affordable Care Act health tax credits. And then, they're also pulling the plug on millions of people in Medicaid. And so that's not sustainable.

So, no, we don't want a deal that's going to continue more of the same Republican war on the services that Americans need. We want a deal that is going to actually address the needs of the American people. And I think the Democrats are unified around that. Of course, a lot of the action right now is in the Senate. But everything I'm hearing from Democrats around the country is we've got to hang tough for everybody. And we're not going to allow health care beneficiaries to be pit against people who are on SNAP, to be pit against federal workers. We're going to pull through for everybody here.

HILL: Amid this shutdown battle, one of your fellow Democrats, Maine Representative Jared Golden, announced he will not seek re-election, saying that Congress, in his words, is increasingly unproductive. He, of course, was the only House Democrat to vote for the stopgap measure. Do you think Democrats did enough to keep Golden, who's from a key battleground district, in the fold?

RASKIN: Well, look, I mean, Jared Golden represents a -- a pretty red district. I think it's a Trump plus 10 district and he's done a great job holding that district. And I've been very supportive of him and very supportive of all of his campaigns. And we're going to, you know, continue to go out and fight for both of the congressional districts in Maine and to win that Senate seat away from Susan Collins, so we're not constantly lurching from shutdown to shutdown, and from, you know, this attack to that attack on the American people's programmatic infrastructure that we depend on, including now transportation with the Republican wipeout of all of these air flights tomorrow across the country.

[15:10:01]

So, you know, Jared Golden has been an important member of our caucus, and we're going to miss him. But there are tons of Democrats in Maine who are ready to keep up the fight. And I was in Maine recently with Chellie Pingree. And I know that the Maine Democrats are fighting hard for a clean sweep in Maine, like we've seen clean sweeps in all of the elections across the country on Tuesday. And, you know, that was five states. And everybody in the other 45

states and D.C. and Puerto Rico are waiting for their turn to go to the polls, too, to get America moving again.

HILL: Congressman Jamie Raskin, good to have you this afternoon. Thank you.

RASKIN: You bet. Great to have you.

HILL: I want to get to some breaking news just into CNN. Now, the man who threw a subway sandwich at a federal officer found not guilty of assault. So, you may remember this one. It happened during the Trump administration's law enforcement surge here in Washington, D.C. The defense counsel for Sean Dunn admitted to the throw, saying, quote, he did it. He threw the sandwich. Jurors that were asked to determine if he committed misdemeanor assault. And ultimately, that jury decided he did not.

The trial, at times, it's important to note, descending into farce. The federal officer testifying the sandwich, quote, "exploded against his chest" and, quote, "smelled of onions and mustard." The judge saying this was, quote, "the simplest case in the world." Lots of quotes.

Still to come here, impacts of the government shutdown causing additional ripple effects for millions of Americans. The big push now to provide more SNAP benefits for the families who lost them.

And later, the details just released surrounding the death of a Dallas Cowboys football player just 24 years old. That and much more ahead on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:05]

KEILAR: New today, a federal judge in Chicago has issued a sweeping injunction keeping limits on federal agents' crowd control tactics during Operation Midway Blitz. During the ruling, the judge called the government's claims of riots and violence against officers not credible. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is with us on this story.

What are you learning here?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, this was the outcome of many days of hearings and multiple testimonies. So essentially, the judge in this case have collected as much evidence as possible, including a deposition with Gregory Bovino. He's the top Border Patrol official who's been overseeing the crackdown in Chicago. And she ultimately came to the conclusion that she just could not believe what the federal government was saying in their arguments and what they were presenting in their evidence. She found it, as you just mentioned there, not credible.

One of the incidents that garnered national attention and that she touched upon was the one where Gregory Bovino was seen throwing tear gas at protesters. Now, at the time, the Department of Homeland Security said that there was threats made against federal agents, that Bovino was hit in the head.

Well, what Judge Ellis found in the testimonies and the evidence and the videos that she saw, and -- and she says this, is that, quote, "Defendant Bovino admitted that he lied." The rock was thrown at him after he had deployed the tear gas.

So, the crux of this has been the way that federal agents have been engaging with and confronting with protesters and vice versa. Now, she also went on to say again after reviewing all the evidence that, quote, "I find the defendant's evidence simply not credible. The defendant in this case being the Trump administration. I watched the defendant's videos, this and hours and hours and hours of body cam video and video from helicopters was the best they could provide.

So clearly conveying her concern and the fact that she certainly was not buying the various arguments and the evidence that the federal government was presenting in this case. Now, she also touched upon something that did come up in over the course of these hearings, which is the judge micromanaging the way that federal agents do their work. To that end, she said that she was doing, quote, "no such thing with this injunction" and went on to say that federal agents must give at least two separate warnings before issuing riot control weapons with, quote, "reasonable opportunity for people to comply."

Now, the first time around, she said that they could be used if there was an imminent threat. This seems to be far more specific, so we'll see what happens from here. But this has been a case centered on what's been happening in Chicago. But it is important on the bigger -- bigger stage as well, because it is something that we may see more of in other cities. So, she was sort of putting her mark on this, that the way that the federal agents interact and engage with these protesters needs to be restricted.

KEILAR: To find them simply not credible, though ...

ALVAREZ: Yes.

KEILAR: ... that -- that is really something. Priscilla Alvarez, thank you very much.

Some new details and images from the deadly UPS cargo plane crash that could provide a clue for investigators who are trying to figure out what happened. You're watching CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:23:50]

KEILAR: Some sad news to report today. The Dallas Cowboys announcing that one of their young players, 24-year -- 24-year-old Marshawn Kneeland, died this morning.

HILL: So, police were investigating the incident as an apparent death by suicide. They say it followed a police chase involving Kneeland. CNN Sports Anchor Don Riddell joins us now.

So, Don, what -- what more do we know at this point?

DON RIDDELL, CNN ANCHOR & CORRESPONDENT: You know, the death of any young man would be, of course, tragic, but this feels especially so. Marshawn Kneeland was playing in his second season for the Cowboys, and on Monday night he scored his first NFL touchdown, and he did it on national television.

We are learning more from the Texas Department of Public Safety, which said that on Wednesday night their troopers attempted to stop a vehicle for a traffic violation. The driver refused, and a pursuit began. Shortly afterwards, a wrecked vehicle was discovered, and the driver, later identified as Kneeland, fled the scene on foot.

Meanwhile, Frisco police say they were informed that he had expressed suicidal ideations, and at 1.30 A.M. the police located Marshawn Kneeland. The 24-year-old had died from what appeared to be a self- inflicted gunshot.

[15:25:00]

His agent, Jonathan Perzley, wrote of his heartbreak on Instagram, saying, quote, "I watched him fight his way from a hopeful kid at Western Michigan with a dream to being a respected professional for the Dallas Cowboys. Marshawn poured his heart into every snap, every practice, and every moment on the field. To lose someone with his talent, spirit, and goodness, is a pain I can hardly put into words."

His coach at Western Michigan, Lance Taylor, said, quote, "His passion for life and his teammates were unmatched. Our entire Bronco football family is devastated." The police say that their investigation is ongoing. Their press release concluded with a public service announcement. It said, if you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Please call or text the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988. You are not alone.

HILL: Well, it's heartbreaking. Don, appreciate it. Thank you.

Still ahead here, we do have new details at this hour of that deadly crash of a UPS plane in Louisville, Kentucky. I do want to warn you, some of the footage we're about to show you may be disturbing. Important, though, because it's also putting together some of the pieces here. It seems to show that one of the engines on the plane was missing just as the plane goes down in a fireball. So, I think we have that video for you. Maybe we can put that up. Here we go.

So, the plane -- you see the plane there going by very fast. The engine on its left wing is gone in that video. We could slow it down now so you can see. Investigators say that the engine detached during takeoff and it was later found on the runway.

KEILAR: An NTSB photo of the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder were recovered. Officials say at least 12 people died in that crash. And moments ago, we heard this from the on-scene board member from the NTSB. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TODD INMAN, BOARD MEMBER, NTSB: Yesterday, we also did what was called a FOD walk. This is a foreign object debris. This FOD walk occurred on Runway 17 left or L and 17 right or R. During the FOD walk on 17R, we found multiple pieces of engine fan blades along with the main component of the engine of the number one engine, which is on the left side of the aircraft. We have transferred all of those to a secured location for further examination and we'll be using ...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Nine people are still missing at this point in time, but responders are shifting from rescue to recovery mode. They do not expect to find any more survivors.

There is a big push to make sure that people get resources for food after they've lost their full SNAP benefits this month. After the break, we hear from the director of an organization helping people find food.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)