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Supreme Court Expected Soon to Rule on SNAP Benefits; FDA Dropping Black Box Warnings from Many Hormone Treatments for Menopause; Ceremonies Underway Nationwide to Salute Military Veterans; Hegseth's Policies Blamed for Pushing Qualified Women from Military. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired November 11, 2025 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: The Supreme Court might rule as early as today on whether the Trump administration can continue to block SNAP benefits during the government shutdown. This is the latest legal uncertainty that's left many who rely on food assistance feeling judicial whiplash, not knowing when or if they'll get the money to buy food. The USDA, which runs SNAP, has issued four different guidance memos, while two lawsuits are trying to force the Trump administration to pay out those funds.

In one of those suits, the judge slammed government lawyers yesterday for threatening states who quote, jumped the gun and provided SNAP benefits.

[15:35:00]

The states said they did so because a court order allowed it.

Joining me now is Matthew Plotkin, the attorney general for one of those states, New Jersey, one of about two dozen that are suing over the suspension. Matthew, thank you so much for being with us.

You say that New Jersey SNAP recipients have access to their full November 2025 benefits. I wonder what your response is now to the judge saying that state officials jumped the gun issuing these payments.

MATTHEW PLATKIN, (D) NEW JERSEY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Well, I think the judge yesterday was rightfully extremely concerned with what the Department of Justice was saying. And I would just note, we didn't just provide full benefits to, again, in New Jersey, 800,000 people, 42 million across the country who rely on SNAP for food. We did it based on the guidance issued by the federal government on Friday following that judge's order, in writing to us unequivocally saying they would pay full benefits.

So the idea that we somehow quote, jumped the gun or did something that we were not supposed to do, when again, all we were trying to do is make sure that 800,000 New Jerseyans, over 300,000 children, 200,000 seniors have food on the table and not starve them for political purposes like this administration has tried to do now for the first 10 or 11 days of this month.

SANCHEZ: I do want to clarify. I misspoke when I said that the judge suggested that you would jump the gun. It was government lawyers. They're also arguing that states should undo these payments.

Is that even possible?

PLATKIN: Yes, whatever high school intern they have running their program over there at USDA is clearly unfamiliar with how programs that support food for 42 million Americans function. Once you put money on a card, we all have them in our wallets. It's very hard to unwind it.

It would take, as we said, weeks or months to get what the federal government has said we should do into place. By that time, you'd have starving Americans all across this country. We have never seen the weaponization of hunger for political purposes like we are seeing right now.

In every other federal government shutdown that we've ever experienced, they've still paid SNAP benefits. There are more hungry kids on SNAP in New Jersey than the entire population of our state's largest city. This is not some trivial thing that we do around the edges.

Making sure that our kids, our seniors, our people with disabilities, over a million veterans and today is Veterans Day, have food on their table, should not be subject to partisan whims and definitely not the kind of whiplash chaos that this administration has done where even their own agencies aren't talking to each other.

SANCHEZ: How do you respond to claims from the administration that court orders requiring the full funding of food stamps could upset the deal that's currently in place in the Senate that may soon get a vote in the House to reopen the federal government?

PLATKIN: Yes, I'm not a member of Congress. I've been fighting for the rule of law for years now, but particularly since January. It's not a deal I would have supported for the record.

But regardless of what Congress may do, the law as it stands today is what we're fighting about. And Congress, prior to this shutdown, and for many years prior to this, has appropriated funding in contingency plan budgets to ensure that SNAP continues in times of emergency. That's why every other shutdown they've been able to pay SNAP benefits.

Only now, because the Trump administration has decided to use people's hunger to force their political, quote unquote, opponents back to the bargaining table, are we dealing with this legal crisis. But it has nothing to do, from a retroactive perspective, about what the CR will say, though I'm pleased that they're going to make sure that states are made whole through it. But that's a separate question.

And I defer to the members of Congress who, for whatever reason, have decided to vote for it. SANCHEZ: Matthew Platkin, thank you so much for sharing your perspective.

PLATKIN: Thanks so much for having me.

SANCHEZ: Of course -- Brianna.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour. At least 12 people are dead and 20 injured after a terror attack in Pakistan's capital. Officials say the explosion happened in a parking lot of the city's busy judicial complex, that it was full of high-ranking district offices, and that it's the worst suicide attack to hit the city in nearly two decades.

A faction of the militant Pakistani Taliban is claiming responsibility in a statement seen by CNN.

And in Florida, two good Samaritans are being hailed as heroes after rescuing a 74-year-old man who was trapped inside that burning car right there. Dramatic video from Clearwater Fire and Rescue shows the moment they pulled him to safety as flames engulfed the car.

Officials telling CNN affiliate WFLA the bystander's quick action and bravery likely saved his life and prevented a tragedy.

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And police in Louisiana need help identifying this man here. They say that he went into a bank with a limp, had a cane, was wearing a neck brace on Friday. Then moments later, he handed the teller a note, shouted that he was robbing the place.

And after taking an unknown amount of money, he took off noticeably very much without a limp. Investigators think that he may have gotten away in a vehicle.

And still to come, the FDA is now working to lift its strict warnings on many hormone treatments for menopause. Dr. Sanjay Gupta will help us understand the health update that impacts millions of women.

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SANCHEZ: Hormone therapies commonly used to treat menopause symptoms will no longer carry a black box warning. Issued more than 20 years ago, that warning led to a sharp drop in prescriptions after fears the treatments could increase the risk for cancer and heart disease. But now the FDA says evidence suggests those risks may not apply to women under 60.

KEILAR: CNN's chief medical correspondent, Dr. Sanjay Gupta is with us now. Sanjay, this is a story I swear that so many people are paying attention to, texting their friends about. So give us the skinny on this.

Is this a shift that is going to give women more options for treatment?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I think almost undoubtedly. And I can understand why it's a big deal. I mean, this is 25 years roughly that we've been talking about.

I helped my mom navigate through this. My wife now navigating through this. It affects all women, really.

The story started sensibly enough. In a way, you know, as women are going through menopause, their ovaries are making fewer of these hormones, estrogen and progesterone. So the idea was, replace those. And that should take care of some of the symptoms associated with menopause.

They conducted this study starting in 1997 called the Women's Health Initiative Study to basically prove this out. Problem was that a few years into the study, they started to see these safety signals. And that's what prompted the black box warning.

If we have that black box warning, I want to put it up on the screen here for a second. Because it was, you know, it was significant to see this black box warning. Warning endometrial cancer, cardiovascular disorder, breast cancer, dementia, all these things.

You can understand why women were frightened. And, you know, use of this hormone therapy started to go down significantly. We now know many of those risks were overstated or not nuanced enough.

But take a look at what happened over 30 years. 70 percent drop, really, in the use of hormone therapy for women who were menopausal. One in four women used to take hormone therapy before this black box warning.

It went down to one in 25. So in 25 years. So it's affected an entire generation of women, really.

SANCHEZ: So Sanjay, what is it that is changed and what's the guidance about who should be using hormone therapy now?

GUPTA: I think there are two major things. I don't know if I would say that they were changed, but sort of dug into a little bit deeper. One is just the age of the women that were being looked at as part of that original study.

The average age of those women was 63. But what they found was that women who were younger, younger than 60, they seemed to have a very different profile in terms of risks and benefits from taking hormone therapy. Also, when you started it, meaning did you start it within 10 years of menopause?

If you did, the benefits really outweighed the risks. And let me put a punctuation mark on that. Take a look here.

Start within 10 years of menopause onset or before 60 years of age. That is the now recommendation that women will see. But let me show you some of the benefits, though. We talked a lot about the risks, but if started within 10 years of menopause onset, cardiovascular disease, 35 to 50 percent reduction. Alzheimer's disease, 35 percent reduction. Bone fractures, 50 to 60 percent.

You guys may remember I talked about my mom before having a spine fracture. One of the things that the doctors told her is had she been on hormone therapy, she may have had higher bone density. Not guaranteed, but not being on the hormone therapy was associated with increased spinal fractures.

So, lots of benefits if used appropriately. There's still going to be women who are going to be counseled not to. Previous history of cancers, certain cancers, previous history of blood clots, but within that range, 10 years from the onset of menopause, a lot of benefits there.

SANCHEZ: Yes. Really interesting development. Dr. Sanjay Gupta, thank you so much for walking us through that.

And if you have questions about hormone therapy, you can scan the QR code on the screen. Dr. Gupta is going to be back later this week to answer your questions.

Still to come, as we honor America's veterans today, how do the men and women who served feel about the support they're getting from their country? We'll discuss next.

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SANCHEZ: On this Veterans Day, President Trump spent time at Arlington National Cemetery laying a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier before delivering remarks saluting those who served.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today we remember with overwhelming gratitude the more than one million American service members who have made the supreme sacrifice and laid down their lives.

Our heroes have lived through unthinkable nightmares so we could live the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KEILAR: Ceremonies, big and small, are underway nationwide to honor service members. Veterans Day also serving as an important reminder about the urgent issue of veteran suicide prevention and to connect those in need with essential resources.

We're joined now by Kyleanne Hunter, a former Marine Corps Super Cobra pilot and now the CEO of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, also known as IAVA.

Kyleanne, thank you so much for being with us. What are you reflecting on, on this Veterans Day?

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KYLEANNE HUNTER, CEO, IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN VETERANS OF AMERICA (IAVA): Thank you so much for having me, and for me, today, like every day that I have the privilege of being at the helm of IAVA, I continue to be overwhelmed with the dedication, the sacrifice, and really the unwavering commitment to American principles that the post-9-11 generation of veterans has demonstrated. This was the first time in the nation's history that we had a significantly prolonged conflict, let alone two, that stretched on nearly two decades, and it was an entire all-volunteer force. And so just continuing to reflect on the sacrifice, dedication, and commitment of this generation of veterans.

SANCHEZ: Given what President Trump has claimed about his administration cutting the backlog of VA benefit claims in half and also dropping the unemployment rate among veterans by some 26 percent since January, how would you rate the administration's effort to approach veterans, and are there steps the federal government could take to better serve those who have served?

HUNTER: Yes, well, we, you know, as an organization that is dedicated to ensuring that America is a place that serves all who did serve, we applaud any effort to improve conditions for veterans. One thing we do know for sure is that we are also wanting more transparency out of the administration like we have for nearly every administration as to what this data actually means. When we look at some of our own surveying that we do of our members and we think about things like employment, there are still significant concerns around underemployment, around the sort of steadiness of that employment, and the ability for promotions and these to be really meaningful careers, not just a job.

As it concerns the backlog of benefits claims, we are, again, encouraged by any improvement that we see in the benefit process, but we still do have some concerns from what we are hearing from folks on the ground as to the accuracy and completeness of the claims that are getting processed.

KEILAR: Kyleanne, I have a new report out with my colleagues Haley Britsky and Izzy Khurshudyan that's on CNN.com today, and it's about women in the military, and we spoke to more than a dozen women veterans and active duty service members who right now, in the midst of Secretary Hegseth's rhetoric and policies, are kind of questioning their place, their service, what this could mean for the future when it comes for women serving. How are you thinking about that right now?

HUNTER: This is something that is incredibly concerning to our community. Women are the fastest-growing group of veterans if we look at just the demographic makeup. Women have been joining the military in large and seemingly unprecedented numbers for the past nearly 20 years, and they have done everything that this country has asked of them.

They have performed to the highest standards. There have been no standards that were lowered for them. They have excelled in combat, in administration jobs, in, you know, really important research and development.

You know, you go across the military, they've done everything, and we have real concerns right now for that service being undermined and what that's going to do to the mental health of veterans, not just women, but the men who also served alongside them.

And something else that we're hearing from many of our members is concerns around the politicalization of military service. No one who puts the uniform on wants to be a pawn of any political ideology. And there are concerns that some of the current rhetoric surrounding women is just that.

SANCHEZ: And Kyleanne, what do you think the impact might be on recruitment, as you noted, in all volunteer force?

HUNTER: So this -- the recruitment concern is one that we definitely have. You now, we know that women are more eligible to serve in most states. So that means that they are more likely to have graduated high school.

They're more likely to have the physical and academic and legal requirements to join. But rhetoric like this may be driving women away. Additionally, we know that the best influencers of people to join the military are those who have served and that the military is more and more a family business, as it were.

And if conditions aren't good for women, it would be difficult for women veterans to encourage other women to serve potentially.

KEILAR: Yes, that's one of the things we heard.

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There were female service members who were wondering, can I tell a 17- year-old woman, yes, this might be the best place for you. And you'd certainly hope that they would be able to say that.

Kyleanne Hunter, thank you so much for being with us and happy Veterans Day.

HUNTER: Thank you so much and happy Veterans Day to all watching.

KEILAR: And "THE ARENA" with Kasie Hunt starts right now.

END