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More Flight Cancellations Expected; House Expected to Vote Tomorrow; Rep. Mark Alford (R-MO) is Interviewed about the Shutdown Deal; Arctic Blast Hits Millions; Lawsuit Filed against Camp Mystic. Aired 9-9:30a ET

Aired November 11, 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]

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: Spaceflight, and that is land the booster back on a ship in the middle of the ocean as it's rocking with waves. You know, we've gotten so used to seeing SpaceX do this. Very hard to do. Blue Origin, never done it before. We'll see if they can do it again, Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, it's -- we will watch it together, as always.

It's great to see you, Kristin. Thank you so much.

A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

Another hour of this fantastico show. A shutdown breakthrough. The Senate passes the deal, sending it now to the House. And soon enough, possibly to the president's desk. But how soon enough could you see an end to the travel chaos that it's all caused at airports across the country?

And also this. Are you feeling that arctic blast right now? Millions of Americans are facing record-breaking freezing temperatures today.

And a Michigan police officer delivers a baby during a traffic stop with a little help from his police radio. Wait till you hear about who was on the other end of said police radio.

I'm Kate Bolduan, with Sara Sidner. John Berman is off today. This is CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: As you just heard, breaking overnight, after 42 days, the end of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history may now be in sight. A bill to reopen the government is now headed to the House after the Senate passed it late last night, when seven Democrats broke party ranks.

In the meantime, the shutdown is still causing travel chaos for millions of Americans. More than 1,000 flights already canceled today. The FAA set to ramp up cuts to air traffic from four to six percent at 40 major airports. Now, if the shutdown doesn't end by Friday, that number goes up to 10

percent. And it all comes as air traffic controllers miss a second paycheck this week.

CNN's Gloria Pazmino is at Newark airport in New Jersey.

What are passengers experiencing there this morning?

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Sara, if you are coming into the airport with this prospect of cancellation, with this government shutdown still ongoing, I think the best thing you could possibly do is come here with a good attitude. And that is a lot of what we have heard here this morning. A lot of people coming prepared and knowing that they could have some sort of travel problems. Many of them told me that they actually are taking advantage of the flexibility that many of the airlines are offering right now in order to rearrange their travel, because they know that cancellations are going to be scaling up as the week goes on.

Now, even though the shutdown appears to be almost over after that vote last night, this is still very much ongoing. The FAA has to continue to follow the emergency order, which requires that flight capacity is reduced across 40 of the nation's major airports.

Now, starting today, that reduction is starting at six percent. And that is scaling up to 10 percent by the end of the week. So, with that in mind, some of the travelers we have spoken to here today told us that they are rearranging their travel.

Now, here's what the delay and cancellation picture looks like across the country. About 1,100 cancellations so far today. More than 500 delays. And here at Newark airport specifically, there are 62 cancellations as of this hour.

So, we spoke to some patient travelers. Here's what they had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Any sort of issues so far with your flight?

STACEY KOLMER, TRAVELER: So far, no, today. But I understand that tomorrow there's going to be another bunch that gets notified for the next couple of days. So, a return flight is up for grabs. I have no idea.

APRIL TAYLOR, TRAVELER: They let us take a -- move it to an earlier flight. So, we feel like so far everything's saying it's on time. We're hopeful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

PAZMINO: Now, things here are continuing to flow as normally. You know, the lines are not very long. Security is appearing to flow as it would on any average morning. But, of course, travelers are kind of thinking about this as they arrive at the airport. And, of course, we have the very busy travel season around the corner. So, the real question here is whether or not we're going to see a domino effect of cancellations and delays, even if the shutdown is over by the end of this week.

Sara.

SIDNER: Yes, I think, what you said, a good attitude, patience and getting to the airport early just in case and being ready to change your plans just in case. Those are all things I guess you have to have armed with you when you come into the airport.

Thank you so much, Gloria Pazmino, for your reporting there from the airport.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, because being flexible and going with the flow is exactly the attitude I, speaking for a friend, has when she goes to the airport.

[09:05:04]

Let's go to this now, Sara.

The House is set to vote on the spending package to end this travel chaos and more, let's be honest, because there are millions of federal workers affected here. Potentially they're going to vote on it tomorrow.

But the end of this shutdown fight has triggered another fight within the Democratic Party. Did Democrats cave or get the best deal possible while stopping the pain that this shutdown is causing? This is leading to some Democrats now even -- now speaking out to call for the Democratic leader in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, to step aside.

CNN's Annie Grayer following all of this from Capitol Hill for us this hour.

Annie, what are you hearing? What are the vibes there right now?

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, the vibes right now are a lot of anticipation for the House to come back, which has been out of session since September 19th. They are going to be back tomorrow night. We expect there to be a vote on the government funding bill as soon as Wednesday night. And we're expecting it to pass because House Speaker Mike Johnson seems to support it. But, more importantly, the White House and the president are behind it. So, we do think that Republicans will muscle this through.

But the real people to watch are going to be the House Democrats. They are furious at their Senate Democratic colleagues for agreeing to this deal. In fact, the top Democrat in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, has been telling his fellow rank and file members to vote against this package. He's largely come out against it, saying he's going to fight it. And that's because these House Democrats are furious that their colleagues would give up on the one major thing that Democrats have been fighting for this entire shutdown, which was an extension of those expiring Obamacare subsidies that were causing people's health care prices to rise. Democrats wanted there to be a more firm solution. Instead, all they got was a vote in the Senate at some point in December. It's no -- it's very unclear if that will pass. And then in the House, there's no guarantee that it will be taken up.

So, there's a real question among Democrats, what did we get out of this? Was it all worth it? A lot of people are pointing their fire at Chuck Schumer, the top Democrat in the Senate, who even though he voted against the funding deal, is still taking the blame.

Take a listen to Ro Khanna, who's a Democrat in the House, for his views on this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RO KHANNA, (D-CA): He's the leader of the Senate. This deal would never have happened if he had not blessed it.

It's time for him to be replaced. He is not meeting the moment. He's out of touch with where the party's base is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRAYER: Now, Khanna is not a member of the Senate, but his views reflect a lot of people in the Democratic Party right now.

And one thing that I was also reporting over the last few days is how this deal came together. And those eight moderates had really been working with Republicans behind the scenes this whole time and weren't necessarily surprised this is how it came out.

So, there's a lot for Democrats to discuss in the coming days.

BOLDUAN: Absolutely.

Annie Grayer, first things first, get the government reopened and then all of that will occur.

It's great to see you. Thank you so much.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, if Senate Democrats manage to pass the extension of Obamacare credits after this shutdown deal, there is no guarantee the House will take it up. Here's what Speaker Mike Johnson told Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Will you have a vote on the issue as your 13 Republicans, frontline Republicans, people that are -- that -- you're the speaker because of them.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Yes.

TAPPER: They're in districts that are vulnerable.

JOHNSON: Sure.

TAPPER: Will you have a vote so they -- so they can vote?

JOHNSON: Well, the very people that you were citing in the letter believe we have to have real reform.

TAPPER: So, you're not committing to bringing up a bill that deals with the Obamacare subsidies before they expire?

JOHNSON: I'm not committing to it or not committing to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: Joining me now, Republican Congressman Mark Alford of Missouri.

Thank you for being here this morning.

I do want to bring up this letter that was sent by 13 of your Republican colleagues, which they wrote to the House speaker saying this, "once the government is reopened, we should immediately turn our focus to the growing crisis of healthcare affordability and the looming expiration of the enhanced Affordable Care Act premium tax credits. Millions of Americans are facing drastic premium increases due to shortsighted Democratic policymaking. While we did not create this crisis, we now have both the responsibility and the opportunity to address it."

Do you agree that your first order of business, after taking this up in the House to open the government, will be to take up the bill that extends Obamacare subsidies?

REP. MARK ALFORD (R-MO): Well, Sara, first off, thanks for having me on.

I'm about 30 steps from the House floor. We've been working hard in our district. It's going to be good to get back on that floor tomorrow and vote for this continuing resolution. The same one basically that we voted on September 19th to fully fund the government. And now three appropriation bills that we previously passed are going to be attached to that.

Look, we have to provide, I think, some relief for health care. Health care that the Democrats broke it.

[09:10:03]

It has really devastated our health care system. Premiums have gone up. These subsidies that are going directly to the insurance companies are not right. I agree with President Trump. Maybe we should look at giving this money back to the American people and let them decide what to do with that money.

But this has got to go through regular order. And I think when Jake was talking with Speaker Johnson, that's what Speaker Johnson was saying, we can have these conversations. Number one, it was not time to have this conversation while the Democrats were holding the American people hostage. Now that that is just about over, we can start having these discussions through regular order, through the appropriate committees, and then to get it to the House floor.

This has got to be a bipartisan deal, though. You know, the health care system broke under Obamacare. It -- and as President Trump said, well, I'm not going to repeat his exact words for it, but it's not ideal. And we're going to have to work together to get this fixed because the solutions are going to be tough. I don't think we're ever going to go back to the way things were. But definitely something has to be done. I think Speaker Johnson is committed to that, and I think most Republicans are as well.

SIDNER: So, the president has brought up, in times past, that he has some idea of a health care plan. He was in office for four years, as were you. What is the Republican's plan? Because while all of the Republicans are trashing Obamacare, there are a lot of people who rely on it now for their primary health insurance. The only thing they can use to make sure that they are insured. So, is there a plan that Republicans have prepared that can be discussed and potentially voted upon?

ALFORD: Well, we have many intelligent members, doctors, lawyers on these committees of jurisdiction that will come up with this plan if there isn't one already. I'm a sophomore here in Congress, a freshman on the Appropriations Committee. So, this really isn't my bailiwick to come up with a health care plan that's going to get us out of this hole that the Democrats dug with Obamacare.

But Speaker Johnson, Leader Scalise and the others in leadership, along with those committees of jurisdiction, will come up with a plan, I think, that is going to turn things around for the American people.

It's the same that -- situation, basically, that we have with Medicaid and that we've been trying to reform Medicaid and these subsidies that were talking about through this shutdown. And the Democrats trying to hold us hostage over that. It was never a good plan to begin with to send these subsidies to the insurance companies. And that was basically done because Obamacare was broken from the beginning. It was a -- it was an attempt and a plan by the Democrats to bring socialized universal health care to America. They knew that Americans would not vote for that. It was very clear when Hillary Rodham Clinton proposed that while her husband was president, that the Americans had no appetite for universal health care. Their intent, though, in bringing a European-style government to America. And I think the vast majority of Americans are not for that.

SIDNER: Polling shows, though, that they do actually like Obamacare. They are using it. And now very scared that it's going to go away.

I do want to ask you about Ghislaine Maxwell. We have been hearing from Mr. Raskin, Congressman Raskin, that a whistleblower has come forward, telling him that Maxwell's getting special treatment in prison, is actively looking for potential commutation. But she's been given all kinds of things, like special meals and chances to pet puppies. I mean, what do you think about this as these victims have been saying over and over and over again, how dare you?

ALFORD: If that is true, and I have no way of corroborating that information, verifying it. If that is true, I think it's despicable. I think she's a despicable human being, along with Jeffrey Epstein. I think she was deserving of the sentence that she got. And I don't think life should be easy for her.

Of course, that's up to the Federal Bureau of Prisons. And as more information starts to come out on that, and it is indeed verified, maybe we can go from there. I do sit on the Commerce, Justice and Science Subcommittee under the direction of Hal Rogers, our subcommittee chairman. And maybe that's something that needs to be looked at if we can verify this information.

SIDNER: Do you want to hear from this whistleblower?

ALFORD: I would -- I would in -- yes, I would like to hear information regarding this. It's always troubling when someone who has done something so heinous, if this is indeed true, if it's verified, I think it needs to be looked into.

SIDNER: Congressman Mark Alford, thank you so much for coming on this morning. Appreciate it. Now you've got a lot of work to do today.

And stay tuned. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries will join "THE SITUATION ROOM" in just a bit this morning.

Kate.

[09:15:06]

BOLDUAN: Families are now suing Camp Mystic, the Texas summer camp where 27 campers and staffers died in that catastrophic flooding. The families now accuse the camp of gross negligence and putting profit over safety.

And it is only November, but a big portion of the country is setting -- seeing record snowfall and super cold temperatures already. Did winter come early, and is it here to stay?

And two sparring bucks get a little too rowdy.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BOLDUAN: So, there are record low temperatures already this morning in parts of the country as an arctic blast is setting in over much of the southeastern United States. Millions of people could be looking at some of the coldest temperatures at this point in years. And it's making for dangerous conditions for northern states, with snow already on the ground and more to come.

[09:20:03]

CNN's Derek Van Dam is tracking all of this for us. Derek, where is this all headed and how cold is it going to get?

DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: OK, so dozens of records are currently being toppled this morning. The new numbers are starting to come in. We're talking about century old records that have stood we're talking over 100 years now falling.

Look at Tampa, 39 degrees. That's a record. Look at that, standing since 1892. This just gives you an idea of the depth of the cold that we are experiencing across the southeast. This is the earliest it has been this cold in the deep south in decades and now in over a century.

So, the cold air spills all the way into the panhandle of Florida. Thirty A (ph) vacationers there waking up to below freezing temperatures. I mean this is just astounding, right near the Gulf. And when you factor in the wind, of course, it's even worse. We still have our freeze alerts in place. The sun is in full force across the southeast. That's our real only saving grace here because it will help boost those temperatures above the freezing mark pretty quickly this morning. But when you factor in the wind, it is still downright bone chilling.

Look at Jacksonville at 31. And so, we got to get through this morning. We've got to get through today.

And we have to get through this as well. We've had lake effect snow bands that have set up downwind from Lake Michigan Erie, Ontario, as well as Superior, and they continue to produce several inches of snow in those favorite areas. Remember, local effects, lake effect snow bands that are really localized to these areas. But the people who get it, they know what it's like. Three to five inches of fresh snow on the ground can be hazardous.

But I like to describe this -- you can actually see here on our TV screen, that Buffalo live shot, some of the snow that is draped over the city landscape there. But it will be a very short lived snow situation because the temperatures are going to warm and rebound in the days to come, Kate.

So, if you didn't like the cold air, you've got the warmth coming back. But December, that's another story. We'll talk about that another day.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yes, I mean, we just need to get through tomorrow. We don't need to do --

VAN DAM: Exactly.

BOLDUAN: We got -- we got -- we got time. We got time to talk about what's coming in December.

It's great to see you, Derek. Thank you so very much.

Sara. SIDNER: All right, this morning, more than four months after 27 campers and staffers died in catastrophic flooding that swept through Camp Mystic, a number of families are now suing the Texas camp and its owners. Three separate lawsuits were filed this week accusing the camp of gross negligence.

CNN's chief investigative correspondent and anchor Pamela Brown was at Camp Mystic right after the flooding happened.

I know you also attended Camp Mystic as a young girl. What are you learning about these lawsuits that have come forward?

PAMELA BROWN, CNN CHIEF INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Well, Sara, these are three separate lawsuits comprising nine families of campers and counselors who passed away. And the themes of these lawsuits are the same. These families believe Camp Mystic ignored weather warnings, did not have adequate safety plans. They prioritized money over safety they're alleging here and that that the camp wasn't upfront with families about the potential risks. And they also detail what they see as an uncoordinated evacuation rollout as the flood waters rose, with one lawsuit saying the disorganized instructions from camp leadership led to utter chaos and mass panic.

Now, I asked the camp's attorney recently about part of that evacuation effort where the camp owner, Dick Eastland, eventually took the girls out of their cabin and into his car, which ultimately led to them all being swept away and killed.

Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKAL WATTS, CAMP MYSTIC ATTORNEY: Early on the water wasn't as high and -- and there's this -- this classic mentality that you can get more people out in a car than walking them out one by one. And, obviously, his instinct was to go closest to the river and work backwards. And he was successful with respect to 166 girls.

The girls that passed away, the heaven's 27, were in cabins far off the river, far above the 100-year flood plain. I would argue above the 500-year floodplain. But the bottom line is, is this was an unprecedented once in a thousand-year event that nobody thought was even possible. It's never happened before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And the families contend there have been a history of bad weather in that area, and there should have been more preparation. We also heard from Jeff Ray, legal counsel for Camp Mystic, who similarly defended the camp's actions after these lawsuits were filed, saying that the floods were, quote, "unexpected and that no adequate warning existed in the area." He also said that they "disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland."

Coming up, next hour, I'm going to speak to one of those families who filed suit, the Gettens (ph), and their attorney, about why they're taking this legal action now and what the mental anguish they say they've experienced has been like.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right, no matter who is to blame, there is such heartbreak for all of these families.

BROWN: Yes.

SIDNER: Pamela Brown, thank you so much for your great reporting on this. Appreciate it.

All right, coming up, love don't cost a thing, but the wedding sure does.

[09:25:02]

How the tariffs that President Trump has imposed are driving up the prices of weddings.

And breaking news, soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo tells CNN the 2026 World Cup will, quote, "definitely be his last."

Those stories and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SIDNER: All right, we've got some breaking news for you in the world of sports. One of the best and most famous soccer players in the world says the upcoming World Cup will be his last. Portuguese legend Cristiano Ronaldo just made the announcement this morning while talking to our Becky Anderson.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, you expect this World Cup to be your last, do you?

[09:30:00]

CRISTIANO RONALDO, PORTUGUESE SOCCER STAR: Definitely yes, because is -- I will be 41 years old and I think will be the moment.