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Senate On The Cusp Of Breakthrough To End Shutdown; Thousands Of U.S. Flights Cancelled Or Delayed; Furloughed FAA Workers Picket Outside Phoenix Airport; Source: Senate Reaches Deal To Extend Government Funding; Paying The Way To End The Government Shutdown; Top BBC Leaders Quit Over Misleading Edits To Trump Speech. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired November 09, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:56]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

We do begin with breaking news just coming in to CNN as Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have reached a deal to extend funding for the federal government, which could pave the way to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history.

Let's bring in CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, who is joining us from Capitol Hill.

Manu, this news just breaking. What do you know?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, a major breakthrough and a sign that this very painful government shutdown that has lasted 40 days, the longest in American history, is now poised to end after a bipartisan deal was reached in the Senate, according to a source familiar with the matter who is sharing with me details about what is happening behind closed doors.

Right now, Senate Democrats are huddling with their members, getting briefed about this deal that was reached with among a handful of Democrats, along with Republicans. But I am told very significantly that one of the -- that there are enough Democrats who will vote to advance this bill, meaning that it will eventually get over the finish line once they jump through all the procedural hoops in the Senate, and the clearest sign yet that this will soon -- shut down will soon come to an end.

Now, as part of this deal, it would extend government funding through January 30th. Right now, the government has been closed since October 1st. It would kick the can down the road, extending the government for another few months. It would also not include what Democrats have been demanding from the beginning of this fight. It does not include an extension of those expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.

Remember, Democrats started this fight initially by saying those must be dealt with now because people are seeing their health care premiums rise and the millions of people who need this need some certainty as they go through open enrollment. Well, this deal, because of opposition from President Trump and from Republican leaders, does not include that. But what it does have is it does give a guarantee that in December, there will be a vote in the United States Senate on an Affordable Care Act bill.

It's unclear what the contents of that bill is, but there are assurances that that will come to the floor of the United States Senate. However, there is no guarantee that that bill will pass the United States Senate, let alone the Republican led House, where there's widespread GOP opposition to this plan. So it's unlikely that ACA bill will become law. So expect some Democratic pushback, particularly on the left flank on that.

Also, as part of this deal, two key provisions, one of which I'm told would allow federal officials who have been fired by the Trump administration over the last several months to be reinstated. So it's unclear exactly what that language would be, how it's structured. But I am told that it would reinstate those fired federal employees and include some provisions preventing for future federal firings that have been pushed very hard by a number of Democrats, particularly Democrats who represent large swaths of federal workers.

And then those food stamp benefits, also known as SNAP, that have expired and the Trump administration is fighting to not dip into emergency funds to keep funding that program for several more weeks for 42 million people, this bill would extend that food stamp assistance, the SNAP benefits through fiscal year 2026. So a whole another year of food stamp funding. So the people who -- Democrats who have cut this deal are telling me that, look, we may not have gotten everything we wanted, particularly when it comes to health care, but we have elevated the issue of health care they believe.

They believe they're winning the political argument on that. But more significantly, they also believe that these key issues dealing with federal food stamp, federal food aid is going to be resolved. The hundreds of thousands of federal workers who have been furloughed, living without pay, they will soon get paid again as well. And all those flight delays and cancellations that are mounting and are bound to get worse and worse and worse, those eventually will be reversed in the days ahead once and if this ultimately becomes law.

But huge news in the United States Senate tonight, as there are clear signs yet that this standoff, which has been so damaging, could soon come to an end and a key vote is set to take place later tonight.

[19:05:02]

Jessica, that will be the first procedural vote to begin debate on this measure. And then it might take some time for the final bill to be passed and sent to the president's desk, but it could happen very quick. It could happen over the next few days. But the breakthrough means that eventually this very well will become law -- Jessica.

DEAN: Yes. And Manny, good. That's key information for everyone watching at home. So the next big thing is to watch for this key procedural vote that we are expecting to happen tonight. From there, it might take a little bit longer to get to final passage, but that key procedural vote is the -- is the one we want to watch tonight.

Manu Raju, stay nearby. I'm sure we'll be back with you very soon. Thank you so much for that reporting.

We are joined now by David Urban and Paul Begala. David is a CNN senior political commentator, Republican strategist, and former Trump campaign adviser. And Paul is a CNN political commentator and Democratic strategist who's worked for many presidents.

Good to see both of you here on this Sunday evening, where we do have this breaking news. So I do just want to get your thoughts on what Manu is reporting out.

Paul, we can start with you. Do you think this is a good deal for the Democrats?

PAUL BEGALA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do. And first of all, it's a good report by Manu. I've been in touch with the Democrats on the Hill.

DEAN: He's the best.

BEGALA: He is. He's spot on. One senator told me it's January 31st not January 30, but everything I was told by Democrats in the Senate is just that. And I think it's a good deal if they ask my advice which they did. I think it's a good deal. Here's why.

Democrats do now own the issue of health care. They always have. But these subsidies are so important and they will get a vote on that by January 31st. If they don't the government will shut down again. So if they -- one senator said to me, if they do the Lucy and the football thing again, where Lucy pulls the football away and Charlie Brown collapses, well, then we'll just have to go through this all over again.

Those subsidies are enormously popular, and the Democrats have the wind at their back with this landslide victory in New Jersey and in Virginia. Meanwhile. Donald Trump, while people don't have food when he cuts off their food stamps, when he's firing people, he has this grotesque Gatsby gala at Mar-a-Lago with go-go girls dancing in champagne glasses. Everybody except Jeffrey Epstein was there. The optics are terrible for the Republicans. So I think Democrats come out ahead on this deal.

DEAN: David, what do you think?

DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I love Paul Begala. Hey, so, Jess, I would say -- I would say the following. What -- it's great because Americans are going to get, you know, people are going to get a paycheck who work for the government. Airports are going to not be backlogged like they are this evening and this past weekend and crazy. You know, America wins. So it's great that the government gets open again.

But here's what I would ask my good friend Paul Begala. What is different about this vote than the vote that we could have taken 15 C.R.'s ago, when Chuck Schumer could have voted for the exact same -- could have voted for a clean C.R., and then Republicans would have still had their own, this ACA, you know, subsidy issue, which is starting, which is going to kick in here shortly. It'd be the exact same place as they were.

But because of Chuck Schumer's fear of AOC and the radical progressive wing of Paul's party, he didn't want to let that happen. And so he held America hostage. He held you -- remember the, you know, that famous, the Willy Wonka who held her breath until she turns blue? Well, Chuck Schumer held his breath until America turned blue. And now we're getting the exact same thing we would have had way back when.

Listen, Republicans are going to have -- he's exactly right. This issue, if Republicans don't get resolved, they will own it. And they would have owned it if Chuck Schumer would have voted yes 15 C.R. votes ago.

DEAN: And Paul, I will say, like if you if you look on, you know, X, formerly known as Twitter, which of course is not the real world, but it does give you a sense of kind of what people are saying who are very political. Right? You hear from some more progressive Democrats that kind of what David is saying, why are we giving, you know, why are we saying yes to this deal that, you know, it's not -- it's not a guarantee that these subsidies will be extended?

BEGALA: Well, it's not a guarantee because it's a democracy. We have to vote on it on the Hill. And I do love Urban. I have to say that. But he knows. He knows his party is getting killed. They're getting killed on this. This is the dumbest shutdown in history. Million years ago, I'm working for Bill Clinton. Newt shut -- Newt Gingrich shuts down the government because he wants Clinton to cut Medicare by $270 billion. That's a really unpopular thing. Clinton thought it was bad politics, bad policy. So they had to shut down. Clinton won and Gingrich went along with not cutting Medicare.

The fight here is the Democrats are trying to get the Republicans to do something that is wildly popular. Everybody wants these Obamacare subsidies except the Republican MAGA crowd in power in Washington. I mean, it's -- so Republicans have a chance to get well on an issue that they're terrible on, health care, to actually help their voters. Those Obamacare subsidies go more to Trump voters, frankly, than they do to Kamala Harris's voters.

And so it's a -- it's an easy deal for the Republicans to make, and they can't seem to do it.

[19:10:02]

It's like telling me you can go next week to Athens, Georgia, and watch Texas Longhorns play Georgia Bulldogs, but you got to drink beer. Like, what's the catch? We're trying to help Urban's party get well on health care, their worst issue, and they don't seem to want to take yes for an answer.

DEAN: And David, what is --

URBAN: Yes, but, Jess --

DEAN: Go ahead.

URBAN: Jess, I would just say this. I would ask Paul again, how are we any different today than we would have been if Chuck Schumer would have voted yes on the C.R. 15, you know, 15 votes ago, 40 days ago? If Schumer and the Democrats would have voted yes, Republicans would still own this ACA issue and you'd be happy, and the government would have been open this entire time. So I think it's a lot of like, you know, misdirection, look here, look there, a little political jujitsu, so to speak.

Democrats are no better off. The country is worse off because of what Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats just put everybody through. So Paul is right. Republicans are going to have to own it. They're going to have to come to grips with these subsidies and figure out how they're going to do it. Do they want to make insurance companies get more money? Do they want to help people? Of course they want to help working class people.

But I submit that we could have been there 40 plus days ago with Schumer just saying, OK, guys, you're free to vote your conscience. Let's get this C.R. done.

DEAN: Paul, do you -- you just disagree.

BEGALA: But what the Democrats got is a guarantee that they can vote. Well, yes, they got something really big. They care about extending these Obamacare subsidies. Again, they disproportionately benefit the MAGA voters out in America. But we love them and we want them to be healthy. And so everybody in my party wants to see those health care subsidies extended, even though they disproportionately benefit red counties, red states, you know, red households. That's OK.

But so what the Democrats got is a guaranteed vote. Now, a lot on the left are saying, well, you can't take these folks' word for it. Well, Urban and I have both worked in Washington long enough that you got to take a chance. You got to get caught trying. And compromise is the way we get things done. And they have this failsafe. If the Republicans renege on their promise to give the Democrats a fair vote on those Obamacare subsidies, the government will shut down again on January 31.

DEAN: David, what do Republicans do when it comes to health care, though? Because now we have like the president saying, just get rid of Obamacare. You hear Senator Lindsey Graham saying something similar, and they've been trying to do that now for a long time.

URBAN: Well, we know, listen, we saw that brought up and failed in Trump 1.0 They tried to get rid of, you know, Obamacare writ large. Just it just imploded. There is no substitute plan. But I do believe there are lots of plans to, you know, take -- so what's going to happen here? Democrats will get a vote. They're going to get a vote on some, you know, their fantasy bill that they're going to want to jam everything through. They're going to need 60 votes in the Senate. They'll fail getting 60.

And then guess what's going to have to happen? Republicans and Democrats will have to compromise, right? They'll have to compromise and come up with some language that both parties will agree that can pass the Senate, that will pass the House, that will keep these subsidies in place, that will be palatable to everybody. It is the sausage getting made. It's not pretty. But that's how the legislative process works in America.

And Republicans don't want to own a broken health care system going into the midterm elections. So I suspect you'll see some sort of fix. It may not be exactly what the Democrats want, but there'll be some sort of fix moving forward for the American people.

DEAN: OK. I want you guys to stay with us. We have a quick clip from President Trump talking about the news tonight. Here's what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We never agreed to give any substantial money or any money to really prisoners, illegals that come into our country. And I think the Democrats understand that. And it looks like we're getting close to the shutdown ending. You'll know very soon. Thank you very.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: So not a lot there from President Trump again coming back to the White House. He just says he thinks that it's going to end soon and talked again about people who are here illegally not having access to I believe he was referring to health care.

But we've got a little bit of time left. Paul, I'll let you give your final thoughts with that in mind.

BEGALA: Well, I think, look, David and I can hash this deal out in a hot minute. The problem is the MAGA crowd --

DEAN: I think you might be able to. You could reopen the government.

BEGALA: I know.

URBAN: Listen, Paul and I could fix everything. We fix Social Security. We could fix it all. Come back in 30 minutes. We'd have a well of our country squared away.

BEGALA: Well, can't fix our hair, though. I want Obamacare to cover male pattern baldness, and then I'll be happy. Here's the deal. The Republicans are going to extend those subsidies or wish they had. They just lost a landslide, and they're going to lose a bigger landslide because people like Obamacare. Those subsidies have like 75 percent support. You can't get 75 percent support for anything.

And you can for that. So the Republicans just need to frankly give up, embrace Obamacare and move on to terrain where they can fight and win more successfully. [19:15:08]

DEAN: And David?

URBAN: Yes, guess what? Guess what, Jess? When you give people stuff for free, they hate it when you take it away. Shocking. Yes.

DEAN: All right. David Urban and Paul Begala, always a pleasure to have both of you. Thank you so much.

BEGALA: Thanks, Jess.

DEAN: Yes. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:20:16]

DEAN: News of a potential deal in the Senate to stop this government and end this government shutdown could not come soon enough for air travelers. We are tracking a potential vote to move that forward. We're keeping an eye on that in Washington.

Meantime, the tracking site FlightAware reporting more than 2500 U.S. flights have been canceled today, nearly 9,000 delays. That's again thanks to the shutdown. The FAA ordering a 4 percent cut in flights. And that will only increase as the days go by and the government remains closed.

Leigh Waldman joining us now from Newark airport with more on this.

Newark has had -- has been hit particularly hard, Leigh. What have you seen there today?

LEIGH WALDMAN CNN CORRESPONDENT: Jessica, you're exactly right. It's been hit very hard here. We've been looking at this big board and you're lucky if you find a flight that is on time. Most of these marked as delayed or canceled, telling people to go to the gate after hours' worth of delays. We know today there's been over 430 delayed flights, more than 360 canceled flights just at this airport alone.

And we've seen a wide range of emotions from people. One woman crying tears of joy after spending 12 hours here, finally getting a flight home. Another woman laughing as she's like, our flights canceled, what can I do? Other people getting pretty upset telling the people who work at this airport that they could just slap someone, they're so upset. So a wide range of emotions as they try and bear through what's happening here today.

People now worried about their Thanksgiving travel, trying to reconsider maybe I should just drive across the country to get to my family for this Thanksgiving. We spoke to one woman who changed her flight. She was supposed to have a connecting flight that was more or that was less expensive rather, but switched it to direct, hoping that it wouldn't cancel her flight. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEIDI DIAZ, TRAVELER: We were doing it with a stop originally because it was cheaper. Domestic like with a stopover, but now it's like it's just, I don't know, it's a bit too risky I think. If you get stuck somewhere that's like half my time, especially if I only come for three or four days. And then I don't want to get stuck with a layover that's like two days long or something. That would be horrible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: And Jessica, we know looking towards tomorrow and the rest of the week, hundreds of flights are already being planned to be canceled because of the FAA mandate to reduce the amount of flights in the air, but there's weather delays happening across the country. And still the ongoing staffing shortages for air traffic controllers, including the facility that maintains this airspace.

And I've asked one person, what would you say to lawmakers in D.C. about this ongoing shutdown, he said they need to get in a room, hug it out and come to a deal.

DEAN: Yes. So we're going to see, Leigh, if they can do -- there may not be hugging. Maybe there will be. We'll see. But they're going to be able to come to a deal.

Leigh Waldman in Newark, thank you so much for that reporting. We appreciate it.

In Phoenix, furloughed federal employees picketed outside Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, protesting after more than a month of working without a paycheck. The employees from the Federal Aviation Administration included inspectors, technicians and other specialists.

CNN affiliate KNXV reporting the group wanted to get together so they could raise awareness about how the impact or how the shutdown has impacted their life, and also warn everyone the situation could become dangerous, in their words, for air travel.

Former air traffic controller Todd Yeary is joining us now.

Todd, thanks so much for being here with us. Obviously, we are watching very closely to see if there's going to be any movement on Capitol Hill on this tonight. In the meantime, the fact remains that air traffic controllers, the system writ large, is pretty overwhelmed right now.

TODD YEARY, FORMER AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Well, Jessica, good to be with you. All we need to do is replay the segment where the interviews with regular folks kind of gave us the answer to the open book question. The real reality is, is cutting the number of airplanes and the system does not address the issue with the air traffic controllers. When you're not getting paid the issue isn't too many airplanes. It's not enough money.

If I can't pay for gas to get to work, if I can't put food on my table, if I can't get ready for the holidays, simply because you're trying to reduce my workload is not some acknowledgment that you actually owe me some money. I've been working six days. I've been overstressed for a while. The technology is lagging. We've just got too many issues to decide that somehow or other, this trite sort of really, disingenuous commitment to saying we're going to cut flights so that we can relieve stress is part of the problem with our politics.

They do, as one of your interviewees said, get in the room, and I don't care if they hug it out. They got to work it out. And if they don't work it out, we're all going to be in trouble in just a few days.

DEAN: And listen, we are looking ahead to the holidays and that is a big deal of course for those air traffic controllers who, as you note, have gone without a paycheck now for 40 days and for travelers, of course, who count on air travel to get to their family members for the holidays.

[19:25:08]

That's not too far away. How, you know, again, we're hoping that this gets solved before then, but if it doesn't, what might that look like?

YEARY: Well, Black Friday may not be Black Friday. Let's remember that in the retail arena, folks look for the day after Thanksgiving sales to begin to change the bottom line of too many retail corporations. And so it's not just a matter of moving people, it's moving product. As we get ready to move to the Christmas holidays, folks who are shipping gifts or at least trying to buy gifts can't afford gifts because they can't afford food.

And so there's this practical reality that the Congress seems to be so detached from that regular, everyday people who work hard need their money. And the truth of the matter is, is many air traffic controllers don't make the amount of money at the larger facilities like Chicago Center, where I worked for my career. The truth of the matter is, most of the controllers in the controller workforce make very modest incomes.

Some of them may even qualify for SNAP. So when SNAP is hanging in the balance, when health insurance is hanging in the balance for family members, not necessarily government employees. And when my paycheck, the government won't pay me but you want me to show up to work, as the young folks on the street asked, well, where do they do that at? The reality is, is folks are entitled to a hard day's pay for hard day's work, and we're getting a lot of hard day's work with no pay. And that's a real problem.

DEAN: Yes. And then just help people understand because there are kind of a number of events kind of converging here. There's the shutdown. And obviously these air traffic controllers going without pay, as we have underscored. There's also the shortage in staff, which has been an ongoing chronic problem just across the board when it comes to the air traffic control, you know, situation across the country.

YEARY: Well, let's just say this is 1981 version 2.0. In 1977, there's a cap placed on the mandatory retirement age of active air traffic controllers who control live traffic. That's 56. 1980 Ronald Reagan as a candidate makes a commitment to pat-co the union that they're going to be supportive of the union's concerns. 1981, when Reagan's in office, he changes his mind and fires the entire workforce. And it takes a decade and a half to replace the entire controller workforce. Now, those controllers are retirement eligible by force, and there's no training pipeline. There's no training money, and the equipment is not being improved because there is no money coming from the Congress.

This is a whole debacle, and we need to stop pretending that somehow or other by frustrating the flying public, that somehow or other that's going to get them on your side. There are going to be a lot of angry people here in a few days. And if the Congress doesn't figure it out, I think they're going to hear from constituents in a way that's not going to be too kind.

DEAN: Yes. All right, Todd Yeary, thank you for your time. We appreciate it.

YEARY: Good to be with you, Jessica.

DEAN: Breaking news into CNN this hour, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate have reached a deal to extend funding for the federal government. This could pave the way to end this government shutdown now the longest in history. We're going to be live from Capitol Hill with more details about that deal, what's in it, after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:32:45]

DEAN: Let's go back now to tonight's breaking news. The Senate has reached a bipartisan government funding deal that could start the process of reopening the government, ending the shutdown now in Day 40, the longest in American history.

I want to bring back in CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju, who was there on the Hill tracking all of this and he first broke news of this deal. Manu, tell people what's in it and what were likely to see happen now?

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, we expect a vote could happen in the next 90 minutes or so in the United States Senate. The critical first vote to advance this bill that is essential. You need to get 60 votes on this bill.

Remember, Democrats have blocked reopening the government 14 times over the last 40 day government shutdown because they have been adamant that this bill must address the looming health care premium crisis as Obamacare subsidies that millions of Americans rely on are set to expire at year's end. They wanted to ensure that this bill included provisions to extend those subsidies. But this deal that was reached to reopen the government does not include those demands that Democrats had sought. In fact, it has a separate provision. It would actually call for a separate standalone vote on the Affordable Care Act that is not tied to this bill. So that means that that separate Affordable Care Act vote very likely

will not become law. It probably won't pass the United States Senate almost certainly won't pass the United States House and it almost certainly won't get signed into law by Donald Trump, who has been railing about these subsidies and contending that they should not be extended over the past couple of days, which really changed the dynamic here on the Hill with a number of Democrats saying, look, we cannot continue to hold out hoping that there could be a deal with the president on healthcare. Instead, let's reopen the government, given the pain and the consequences so many Americans are now facing.

Now, as part of this deal, that has been reached is that would extend government funding through January 30th. That is going to be the new deadline to avoid the next government shutdown, assuming that this deal ultimately becomes law, it also would ensure that federal employees who have been fired by the Trump administration would get their jobs back, and have additional protections for those federal employees who have been fired, who could not be fired in the future as well.

And perhaps most significantly, it includes this long-term funding increase, a yearlong funding increase of food stamp benefits, also known as SNAP. Remember, those have dried out at the beginning of the month. So many Americans now desperate for that money, the Trump administration has said it would not spend additional money to help pay that program another few weeks, which means that that program will be funded.

[19:35:28]

So, the calculation ultimately by a number of those Democratic Senators are saying, look, this is the best we can get at this moment. We'll continue to fight on healthcare. They believe they've won the political argument over this, and most significantly, I am told that there will be enough democratic votes to vote. Yes, they will need at least eight Democrats to vote yes to Advance this bill. We expect that to happen when this vote happens here in a matter of about 90 minutes or so -- Jess.

DEAN: Yes and of course, there is the question to Manu of those other Democrats who won't be voting for it and how much anger there's going to be back and forth amongst Senate Democrats. I know you'll be watching that.

Stand by, we will check back in with you. Thank you so much for that.

After the break, we are going to be back talking as top leaders at the BBC resign over a scandal about a misleading edit of one of President Trump's speeches. What happens next with the British public broadcaster?

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:40:59] DEAN: We do have this breaking news tonight that Democrats and

Republicans in the Senate have reached a deal to extend funding for the federal government that could pave the way to end this government shutdown now, the longest in our nation's history.

Let's bring in CNN media analyst Brian Stelter. And, Brian, I want to talk about another angle to all of this, which is just that so many millions of people have been impacted by this all across the country. And in many years past, when something like this would happen, you would read about it, maybe in a paper, you'd see it online.

Now it's everywhere. You can watch it in your feeds -- TikTok, Instagram. What kind of difference do you think that's making in all of this?

BRIAN STELTER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, it made the shutdown more personal and it may have helped put pressure on politicians to finally find a way to move past this.

You know, affordability was the fashionable word in the past few days during the off year election results, all the conversations. But I think there's a broader word that captures all of what we're seeing. And it's the word inequality, the wealth gap in America continues to grow. People can swipe through influencers on their phone who are living millionaire lifestyles while they are struggling to get by, and those struggles are usually pretty invisible, mostly out of sight but the shutdown changed that.

We've seen people sharing their own stories on social media, making their own videos, in some cases making videos on TikTok right from their phones, talking to members of Congress demanding action, describing what it's like to go without a paycheck. We've seen front page stories about those food banks, aerial photos of long lines outside donation centers, and reporters have been talking to people about what it means to live paycheck to paycheck, and what the impact has been to have SNAP benefits threatened, for example.

So, I think the news coverage, as well as the social media commentary has made the usually invisible suffering really visible. And that was true a month ago. But it's especially true in the last week or so. We've seen a real surge in the past week. And, you know, on one level, it's people complaining from the airports, that's true. But I think the more important stories we've seen here on CNN and "The New York Times" and the A.P. have been the stories of people who are truly afraid about what they're going to do without these SNAP benefits, without access to groceries, without the funding for their next meals.

And those stories have broken through in a really serious way in the past few days. And now here we are possibly seeing an end to the shutdown.

DEAN: Yes, and it is -- there is something, I think, so human about it that people can see themselves. They can see themselves in a mom that's really worried about her kids or a dad or a grandfather or whatever the case may be. And that does make it so much more relatable in a way that, to your point didn't really exist before. STELTER: Yes, there's a big difference from past shutdowns. It's not

the only difference from past shutdowns. We know Democrats, in part wanted to engage in this, to make a statement about Trump's autocratic actions. But when it comes to the healthcare debate, for example, it's different when people are able to express their own experiences with the health care system in a very personal way. And simply people have more tools to do that than they did 10 or 20 years ago.

DEAN: Yes, I also want to get to another big story tonight on the media front, which are the two top leaders at the BBC stepping down over this misleading footage in a documentary about President Trump. What is your take on these resignations and this crisis really at the BBC?

STELTER: Right, and President Trump taking credit for this tonight, celebrating the resignations of Tim Davie and Deborah Turness, this is, I would say is much more complicated, though, than a single misleading edit of a documentary. Yes, the producers of that BBC show messed up, but it was about a year ago and nobody seemed to notice at the time. It became a political controversy in the U.K. just in the past week, as a result of newspaper reporting by the conservative telegraph, which has been publishing anti-BBC commentary for years.

So, I think we should see this as part of a political effort to undermine the BBC and one that dramatically succeeded this week, in part because the BBC was feeble about responding. There were some talks internally about responding, correcting, trying to address the controversy, but the BBC didn't really do anything as this festered for days. And as a source at the BBC said to me tonight, the press was feasting like vultures on the BBC.

So, you had these resignations partly as a result of that and also part of a broader political climate where conservative politicians are pressuring the BBC on multiple fronts, where the license fees for the BBC are being reviewed by the government and by a daily drumbeat of disputes over coverage of the Israel war in Gaza on the BBC.

So, a lot of different pressure points, a lot of different pain points for the leaders of the BBC. And of course, they're not the only news organization feeling those pressure points right now. Trump is celebrating this. Some outlets now saying he's won another scalp, so to speak, by having these resignations. But it points to a deeper issue in the U.K. about the future of the BBC and its place in Britain.

[19:45:38]

DEAN: All right, Brian Stelter, always great to see you. Thanks for your thoughts, really appreciate it.

STELTER: Thanks.

DEAN: Our other breaking news out of Washington tonight is that the U.S. Senate does have what appears to be a bipartisan agreement to potentially reopen the government. But there's a lot of steps that still need to happen, including a critical first vote in this, which we are watching for tonight. We're going to continue to keep our eye on that.

And after the break, accusations of sports, gambling and money laundering, two Major League players are facing serious charges tonight. We've got more details on that.

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DEAN: Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano is very active right now. Look at that, lava has been erupting this weekend and as you can see, it's still going.

According to the USGS, eruptions have been a frequent occurrence for nearly a year now. Fountains from both vents began to increase rapidly earlier and have shot about 1,000 ft high today. Kilauea sits inside Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, which remains closed due to the government shutdown.

And we are following breaking news in Major League Baseball as well. Cleveland Guardians pitcher Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz have been indicted for allegedly taking part in a scheme to rig bets on major league games.

Now, each are facing multiple conspiracy charges that include wire fraud and money laundering. And according to the indictment, Clase's involvement in the scheme started back in 2023. Investigators say he gave information to corrupt sports bettors about the speed and types of pitches he would throw, winning the bettors over $400,000.00.

Ortiz is accused of joining the enterprise alongside him in 2025. Prosecutors allege Ortiz was paid a total of $12,000.00 to intentionally throw a ball instead of a strike in two games. Ortiz's lawyer says his client is innocent.

Both players have been placed on non-disciplinary leave. That was back in July and did not pitch again the rest of the season.

CNN Sports analyst Christine Brennan is joining us now. Christine, this is these are pretty incredible charges. What was your reaction?

CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Absolutely, you're right of course, about that. I mean, this is very significant news in the world of sports. And whether you can trust the game that you're watching and that you care so much about. And I'm sure there are a lot of people going, wait a minute, haven't we heard this before -- Jessica.

Well, yes, it was just a couple of weeks ago that we were hearing about the major news out of the NBA with a top player and a top coach. Also obviously under suspicion and being, arrested. Indicted for similar betting and malfeasance in terms of gambling in this sport of the NBA. And for those who have been paying attention, just two days ago, there were six former men's NCAA basketball players who were banned for life for also being involved in betting and gambling.

So what does that tell us? We have a trend here, and it's a terrible trend for sports and where we are in our society. The NBA a couple of weeks ago, the NCAA just two days ago, and now Major League Baseball and MLB had issues last year as well. These are allegations, obviously.

These men are innocent until proven guilty. But this is a huge problem in American sports. And anyone who watches anyone who turns on the T.V. and sees any of these commercials, I don't think they're that surprised, Jessica, that this is happening because gambling is all around us, all around these players. The leagues are now in business with the betting and gambling companies as never before, and it is no surprise to me at all that this is the result. This is exactly what is now happening.

DEAN: And so how do they fix this?

BRENNAN: You know, one option certainly is the sense of -- that it's a learning experience or the threat of what can happen to you. And for example, with Clase, he has a contract basically of five million dollars and over six million coming next year.

Now again, we will see how it plays out. But if in fact he is found guilty that's over. He is out of baseball forever. Could that be a warning signal? Could that be a bit of a wake-up call for players to say, okay, you're going to get a couple thousand here and a couple thousand there? Texting with gamblers, this is really bad stuff in terms of the trust that a fan can have in watching the game. But that money is pales in comparison to the kind of money they're getting in their salary.

So, you know, that's certainly one way to do it. Otherwise, you know, the genie is out of the bottle. And I hate to be so pessimistic, but I think we're going to see much more of this. And, again, I don't think it's a surprise and anyone in the leagues who are saying, "Oh, we can't believe this is happening." Well, where have you been? Because you are now working with gamblers, you are in business with the gambling and the betting industry, and some of these young players, obviously, it's hard for them to differentiate, even though they're told not to do it and they do it or allegedly do it.

19:55:24

DEAN: Yes, all right, Christine Brennan, great to have you. Thank you so much for that, we appreciate it.

BRENNAN: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead in the next hour, Democrats and Republicans in the Senate say they've reached a deal to extend funding for the federal government, which could pave the way to end the 40-day government shutdown. We are thinking that this vote could come very, very soon. We are keeping an eye on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C., on Capitol Hill. We'll have the latest from Capitol Hill when we come back.

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