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Camp Mystic Lawsuit; Trump Appeals E. Jean Carroll Verdict to Supreme Court; U.K. Suspends Some Intelligence Sharing; Air Travel Delays Continue. Aired 1-1:30p ET

Aired November 11, 2025 - 13:00   ET

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

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BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: No quick fix. Lawmakers might be on track to end this record-breaking shutdown, but the frustrating travel impacts could last for weeks. What it all means for the holiday rush.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Plus: After 27 campers and staffers died in catastrophic flooding at Camp Mystic in Texas, the families of nine victims are suing the camp and its owners, alleging gross negligence. We have the details on that.

And keeping out of it, the U.K. suspending certain kinds of intelligence sharing with the United States over attacks on alleged drug boats amid concerns the strikes may be illegal.

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

KEILAR: The bill to end the longest ever U.S. shutdown is now moving to the House and by tomorrow night the government could be back open if the House speaker, Mike Johnson, can hold a full House vote and pass the bill just a little over 24 hours from now.

But a final vote doesn't mean the travel impacts are over. More than 1,200 flights have been canceled today, another 1,800-plus delayed, and the FAA warns flight reductions will only get worse. Six percent are being cut today, up to 10 percent on Friday if a funding plan is not signed by President Trump by then.

And all of this uncertainty is rattling travelers.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm exhausted. I am tired. I am mad. I had to call the customer service. They couldn't give me anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not having any control no matter how organized you are because you might get there and it's just not available to you is a little scary, especially when you have a whole life that you have to get home to.

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KEILAR: CNN's Pete Muntean is live for us at Reagan Airport, one of the 40 that are feeling this.

What are you seeing there, Pete?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, the end of this government shutdown can't come soon enough for travelers and for airlines and for air traffic controllers.

The good news is that the facilities that the FAA operates, air traffic control facilities with understaffing issues today are relatively low so far. That's a big caveat to put on it. Compare it to yesterday. There were two so far today. There have been 40 yesterday.

So things are pretty good, at least to start. It also means that cancellations are going down. We saw 2,900 flight cancellations nationwide, according to FlightAware, on Sunday. That was the single worst day for flight cancellations since this government shutdown began. Went down to about 2,400 yesterday.

Just checked FlightAware today. So far, we're at about half of that. About 70 percent of that number, 850 or so of those flights, were flights preemptively canceled by airlines to comply with this mandate from the Trump administration to slash flights all in the name of safety.

Remember, air traffic controllers continuing to work during this government shutdown without pay. The jump today was to 6 percent. That was the mandate from the Trump administration. It started at 6:00 a.m. today. It goes to 8 percent on Thursday and then a 10 percent mandate for airlines to slash flights come Friday.

I want you to listen now to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. He spoke at an FAA facility in Wausau, Wisconsin, a little bit earlier today. And he signaled that, even though this government shutdown may end, it is up to him. He is the final authority when it comes to ending these Trump administration-mandated flight cuts. Listen.

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SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I'm concerned that we're not going to have on day one controllers come back into the towers right away. I'm asking them to do that. President Trump has asked them to do that. It is their jobs and they will be paid, but it might not be immediate that they come back in.

And so we're going to watch, analyze, encourage them to come back. But, again, we're going to start to alleviate the restrictions that -- we're at 6 percent now. We will alleviate that only when the data says we should.

(END VIDEO CLIP) MUNTEAN: So, Duffy signaling that we may not be out of the woods yet when it comes to these federally mandated flight restrictions. So we are just at the start, 6 percent today, 10 percent Friday.

The good news is, air traffic controllers who continue to go unpaid during this government shutdown -- they just got a zero-dollar paycheck yesterday. They will get a lump sum at the end of all this. That can't come soon enough for them.

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KEILAR: Yes, definitely cannot.

Pete Muntean, live for us at Reagan National Airport, thank you -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: All eyes are now on the House of Representatives, where lawmakers are expected to vote as early as tomorrow afternoon on that Senate-passed funding bill to reopen the government.

Let's go live to Capitol Hill with CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju.

Manu, does House Speaker Mike Johnson have any doubts that he's going to have the votes to get the government reopened?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, in this Republican House majority, the narrowest majority in a very long time, you never really know until the votes are cast.

But there is confidence among Republican leadership that they ultimately will get there. Remember, Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes. He can only lose two GOP votes on any party-line vote. And we do expect perhaps at least one Republican to vote no, maybe another.

So it could be -- that can potentially be all he can afford to lose. However, there's nothing to look at. Maybe some Democrats vote for him -- for this bill as well, some on the more moderate side who have supported efforts to reopen the government.

And then there's a big question about absences. That is something, as we're talking about travel delays, members have been all over the country amid this government shutdown because the speaker has kept the House out of session since September 19.

So they're now scrambling to get back to Washington. And if there are fewer members can make it, that changes the math, so questions there as well. But this all comes amid Democratic anger. The Democrats in the House in particular are trying to kill this bill when it comes to the House floor.

And there were Democrats in the Senate expressing major frustration over the deal, particularly since it did not include an extension of those Affordable Care Act subsidies that they wanted to be extended as part of this deal. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): What just happened in the Senate chamber was an absolute disgrace. I just -- I can't stress it enough. Just it was very profoundly disturbing to be there in that chamber, where Senator McCain famously was able to stop the Republicans from gutting the Affordable Care Act. That's what got me to step up the run for Congress.

Like, I literally ran for Congress in 2018 to protect our health care, to protect the Affordable Care Act. And I just -- I'm really gutted right now. I'm just so pissed off at just what's going to happen to so many people.

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RAJU: But the eight Democrats who voted for this in the United States Senate said this is really the best deal that they could come up with and that it would alleviate the pain that so many people are feeling with this government shutdown that is ongoing.

They have secured a vote in the United States Senate for an issue -- for health care legislation to come up then by the second week of December. But, Boris, the speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, has not committed to holding a similar vote in his chamber -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: Manu Raju live for us on Capitol Hill, thank you so much.

Still to come: a close ally of the United States breaking over strikes on suspected drug trafficking vessels. Why the U.K. is now suspending some of its intel sharing.

Plus, the families of nine Camp Mystic flooding victims are suing the Texas camp and its owners after 27 girls and counselors died following catastrophic flooding there.

And, later, a new survey finding that higher prices are pushing more Americans to live paycheck to paycheck -- that and much more coming your way next on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

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SANCHEZ: Now to a CNN exclusive.

Sources tell CNN the United Kingdom is suspending some of its intelligence sharing with the United States over the Trump administration's deadly strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean. The U.S. campaign has killed dozens of people over the last couple of months and.

Sources tell CNN that British officials believe the U.S. military strikes violate international law. The U.K.'s decision to stop sharing certain intel does mark a significant break from its closest ally.

Let's get the latest from CNN's Natasha Bertrand with the exclusive reporting.

Natasha, what more are you learning?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Boris, this is a really significant break from the U.S.

And it comes just months after the U.S. began launching these lethal military strikes on these vessels, something that the U.K. fundamentally disagrees with, according to our sources, and believes is actually a violation of international law.

Now, to take a step back for a moment, the context around this is very important. The U.K. was a very important intelligence sharing partner for the U.S. in the Caribbean over the last several years, because, of course, the U.K. does have territories in the Caribbean. It does have a vested interest in stopping the flow of narcotics in that area.

And so, previously, the U.K. shared intelligence on a regular basis with the U.S. Coast Guard, which would then locate and interdict vessels that were suspected of carrying drugs. The key difference, though, is that, at that time, the Coast Guard would simply arrest everyone on board and seize the drugs.

Now the U.S. military, as we know, has begun launching lethal strikes against these boats, killing everyone on board. To date, 76 people have been killed.

And so when the U.S. military began this campaign, the U.K. looked at it and said, we don't want our intelligence being used by the U.S. military for targeting if that targeting is going to lead to these boats being blown up, which the U.K. believes is essentially illegal, because these drug traffickers, even though they are suspected of carrying narcotics, they are still civilians in the U.K.'s eyes.

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So this is part of a kind of emerging theme here that we are seeing from not only international allies, but also from inside the Pentagon itself about growing skepticism of the U.S. military's campaign there and its legality.

We reported just last month that the commander of U.S. Southern Command offered to resign because he had also been raising concerns about the legality of the strikes on these boats. And, in addition to that, military lawyers inside the Pentagon have also been raising concerns about whether these strikes are legal.

So this is forming a picture here of growing dissent about these strikes, which the administration, the Trump administration has repeatedly said they believe they are on firm legal ground with because they argue that they are in an armed conflict with these cartels and these criminal organizations.

But, clearly, not everyone sees it that way because, ultimately, legal experts, as well as, of course, the U.K., they believe that these are civilians with due process rights and they cannot be extrajudicially killed, Boris.

SANCHEZ: Yes, we will see how this change in intel sharing might alter operations.

Natasha Bertrand, thank you so much -- Brianna.

KEILAR: The decision by the U.K. to suspend some intel sharing with the U.S. happening as we learn that the Navy's most advanced carrier strike group has arrived in Latin America. The USS Gerald Ford with its 4,000 sailors and dozens of tactical aircraft relocated from Europe amid tensions with Venezuela.

And CNN is also learning some new details about U.S. military -- a U.S. military campaign targeting alleged drug boats and the weapons being used to take them out, the latest strikes happening over the weekend when six people were reportedly killed after two boats were hit in the Eastern Pacific.

CNN's Zach Cohen has been following this and has new reporting.

Zach, what are you learning?

ZACHARY COHEN, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY REPORTER: Yes, Brianna, the Pentagon has not acknowledged what kind of military aircraft were used in those 19 strikes that we know about so far.

But we're learning through our sources that most of them have been conducted using the MQ-9 Reaper. Now, this is a drone. It's remotely piloted. It usually carries what are called Hellfire missiles just to give you a sense of how much punch that packs.

This drone was originally designed to target enemy tanks, but has since been used in a variety of different operations by the U.S. military over the last several years. We're also learning that some of the strikes were also carried out by an AC-130 gunship.

Now, it's an adapted transport aircraft. It's huge and it carries a huge gun. So, again, these are all strikes that are targeting, though, small boats in the region, but the Eastern Pacific and the Caribbean.

And lawmakers have pressed U.S. officials to explain why so much firepower is needed if you're just going to target small boats. That's something we're told U.S. officials have not been able to really articulate during these classified briefings.

The other thing is, lawmakers have asked about the cost. How much do each of these strikes cost the American taxpayer? U.S. officials don't have a good answer or at least a total dollar figure for them yet, but do acknowledge that each strike is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars when you put together all the different factors.

So, obviously those questions exist as the USS Gerald Ford is now in the region, adding even more assets to what is already really sizable U.S. presence.

KEILAR: Is that unusual that they can't provide information about why they're using the kind of weapons they're using here?

COHEN: It is. And, frankly, lawmakers have had a series of questions about what the real goal in this military campaign is.

U.S. officials similarly can't seem to lay that out in a clear way as well. So, Capitol Hill really still has a lot of questions for the administration, but these strikes are continuing in the meantime.

KEILAR: Yes, they really are.

Zach, great reporting. Thank you so much.

And ahead, CNN speaking to the parents of a Camp Mystic flooding victim, as families of some of those lost sue the Texas camp and its owners. We will talk about that next.

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SANCHEZ: President Trump is now asking the Supreme Court to overturn a civil verdict that he sexually abused and defamed magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.

CNN's Kara Scannell is following this story for us.

so, Kara, what are the president's lawyers saying?

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Boris, Trump's lawyers have gone to the Supreme Court asking them to overturn this decision by a jury, where the jury awarded E. Jean Carroll $5 million after finding that Trump sexually abused her and defamed her when he denied the assault, said that she wasn't his type, and claimed that she made up the assault to boost sales of a book.

Now, what Trump's lawyers are saying here is that the trial judge made several errors by allowing certain types of evidence to go before the jury, among that, the "Access Hollywood" tape, which you will remember, Trump was caught on a hot mic making comments about how he openly gropes and grabs women. They also said that the judge was wrong when he allowed two women to testify about unrelated alleged sexual assaults by Trump.

One of those women said that Trump assaulted her on an airplane in the '70s. Another said that she was assaulted by Trump at Mar-a-Lago, and the judge allowed both that testimony to come in before the jury. Trump's lawyers are saying that the judge's doing that artificially propped up E. Jean Carroll's allegations.

And they're saying because that was an error, this should be reversed. Now, if the case were to move forward, it would need four of the nine justices to agree to hear the case. If they don't get forward to agree to that, then that means that E. Jean Carroll will finally get this $5 million that the jury had awarded her. Trump was required to already put that money aside in escrow.

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But that would be the first of these two-pronged fight that she has made against Trump. There's also an $83 million judgment that is still up on appeal, and that is one that is also likely to make its way to the Supreme Court. As it stands now, a federal appeals court said that that should stand.

Trump's lawyers are trying to get the full panel of judges at the Second Circuit to hear it. And if they deny that, it is possible that there will be a second attempt to get this at the Supreme Court. That is always a high bar, but Trump's legal team has been fighting these judgments along the way.

We will wait to see if there are four justices that say that this case should be heard. Trump's lawyers saying there's discrepancies among all the circuits, and that's another reason why they think the justices should hear it -- Boris.

SANCHEZ: And, Kara Scannell, thank you so much for that update -- Brianna.

KEILAR: We're now seeing the first lawsuits from the catastrophic July 4 flooding that swept through Central Texas and killed more than two dozen people at a girls camp. The families of seven campers and two counselors are now suing Camp Mystic and its owners.

One of the three lawsuits accuses the camp of gross negligence and reckless disregard for their daughter's safety. The other suits blame Camp Mystic for not evacuating the girls earlier, knowing that some of the cabins were on floodplains.

The parents of 9-year-old Ellen Getten are among the plaintiffs.

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JENNIFER GETTEN, MOTHER OF FLOOD VICTIM: So this has been a huge loss for our family, and her big sister, Gwynne, is devastated. She never wanted to be an only child, and Ellen was her best friend.

DOUGLAS GETTEN, FATHER OF FLOOD VICTIM: What we don't want to have is anyone else and their kid to a camp, and five days later learn that their child is lost. Two days later, you're told you're being DNA- swabbed, which means that you have really lost your daughter, wait a week to find the body.

And we were supposed to pick our daughter up from camp, both daughters, on July 26. Instead, we had a funeral on July 16. We don't want that to happen to anyone else ever.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Camp Mystic's lawyers responded, saying -- quote -- "We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that it was unexpected, and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area. We disagree with several accusations and misinformation in the legal filings regarding the actions of Camp Mystic and Dick Eastland, who lost his life as well."

Eastland was one of the owners of Camp Mystic. Last month, another camp attorney spoke with Pamela Brown about Eastland's actions when the flooding hit.

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MIKAL WATTS, ATTORNEY FOR CAMP MYSTIC: Early on, the water wasn't as high, and there's this classic mentality that you can get more people out in the 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 floodplain, I would argue above the 500-year floodplain.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Each lawsuit is seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The bill to end the government shutdown heading to the House after a small group of Senate Democrats broke ranks and voted with Republicans to approve a funding measure, and that decision is stirring outrage among Democrats, who are demanding any package include extended health insurance subsidies.

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