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Early Start with Rahel Solomon

Trump: Republicans Need To Focus More On Affordability; Day 37 Of The Longest Shutdown In American History; Supreme Court Raises Concerns About Trump's Tariffs; UPS Plane Crash Kills At Least 12; CNN Visits Northern Gaza With Israeli Military. Aired 5-5:30a ET

Aired November 06, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:25]

BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from United States and all around the world. I'm Brian Abel. Thank you so much for being with us.

It is Thursday, November 6th, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, D.C.

And straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESOPNDENT: After weeks of staring contest between the two sides, there have been negotiations that have been happening behind the scenes.

SEN. JOSH HAWLEY (R-MO): The shutdown needs to end, and in my state it is really hurting real people.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: The deadlock here on Capitol Hill is about to potentially trigger an air travel nightmare.

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There is going to be a 10 percent reduction in capacity at 40 of our locations.

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Mamdani won a decisive victory, but still almost half of all voters did not support him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He doesn't have a lot of administrative experience or any. And so, people are very divided.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

ABEL: The dust has finally settled on the 2025 elections across the U.S., and now for Republicans, it's time to play the blame game. Some are dismissing the sweeping Democratic victories as no surprise.

And President Trump says the government shutdown is partly to blame for the GOP's poor showing. But he unveiled a new theory at a speech to business leaders in Miami, affordability. The president says it's a new word made up by Democrats. He says Republicans didn't talk enough about it or focus on his supposed economic accomplishments.

The president says he has not reached out to New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani. He thinks Mamdani instead should reach out to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think he should be very nice to me. You know, I'm the one that sort of has to approve a lot of things coming to him. So, he's off to a bad start. He has to be a little bit respectful of Washington, because if he's not, he doesn't have a chance of succeeding.

And I want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed. I don't want to make him succeed. I want to make the city succeed. And we'll see what happens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Now, Democrats are hoping to capitalize on the momentum from these off-year elections as they look ahead to the 2026 midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Republicans are going to be unable to gerrymander their way into rigging the midterm elections. That scheme is over. Buried dead in the ground and so were going to take back control of the House and fight for every inch of territory.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Meanwhile, the longest government shutdown in American history is now in day 37. A bipartisan group of lawmakers is attempting to push a new deal that would fund the government through January. But there are still multiple hurdles to overcome before presenting it to the full Congress.

Yet, while lawmakers aren't seeing eye to eye on reopening the government, many are in agreement that the longer the shutdown lasts, the more it will harm Americans.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): I want my fellow Democrats to continue to fight for working families so that 20 million of them will not see a doubling of their health insurance premiums under the Affordable Care Act, and 15 million will not be thrown off of healthcare. Yes. And by the way, I think you're seeing more and more Republicans who understand that they're playing a losing hand.

HAWLEY: The shutdown needs to end. And in my state, I can just tell you it is really hurting real people. This is why I've offered a bill to pay those SNAP benefits, because people need the assistance, 42 million people. I mean, this is becoming a humanitarian crisis, and I think we have got to end this ASAP.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And the USDA is set to provide more. But still, not all of the usually allocated SNAP benefits to families on government assistance this month. A new court filing shows the agency will only reduce maximum benefits by 35 percent. Originally set at 50 percent.

Analysts found that original figure would mean nearly 5 million food stamp recipients wouldn't receive any benefits. The Trump administration is only providing partial assistance after being ordered to do so by a judge. There have also been problems with the rollout of those funds, but the USDA says they've done their part by releasing them to the states.

CNN's Rene Marsh has details on other impacts of the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Historically, the economic damage from shutdowns quickly resolves itself once the government reopens. But a number of factors will certainly make this shutdown one of the most damaging. For starters, it is the longest shutdown in U.S. history. The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the shutdown will reduce the GDP by one to two percentage points.

The GDP is an indicator of the health of the economy and whether it's growing or shrinking.

[05:05:04]

The Congressional Budget Office says that although most of that decline will eventually be recovered, it estimates between $7 billion to $14 billion will be permanently lost during the shutdown. Now, the precise economic damage is difficult to measure, in part because of the information blackout.

Data releases, including the all-important monthly jobs report and the Fed's inflation metric, all halted because of the shutdown. And we should note that this very long shutdown is happening on the heels of massive layoffs across the federal government. Before the shutdown even began. And since October 1st, 1.4 million federal workers have been either furloughed or working without pay. And this Thursday, some employees will miss a second full paycheck.

Now, it is unclear if the administration will pay back pay to furloughed employees, as has been done in previous shutdowns.

Meanwhile, millions of Americans have lost access to food assistance. Federal dollars sent to states for home heating assistance has also been delayed, and the FAA says it will cut air traffic by 10 percent at 40 airports across the country, starting on Friday. If the shutdown continues.

Now, this shutdown is not like any other the nation has seen, and really, it is unclear when it will end. Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Airlines are responding to that news from the FAA. Frontier Airlines CEO releasing a statement saying if passengers don't want delays, he'd, quote, recommend booking a backup ticket on another carrier. United Airlines notes they want to keep their passengers informed, adding, quote, any customer traveling during this period is eligible for a refund if they do not wish to fly. Even if their flight isn't impacted.

A spokesperson for Southwest Airlines said they, quote, urge Congress to immediately resolve this impasse and restore the national airspace system to its full capacity.

In a major test of presidential power is underway at the Supreme Court. The justices are debating whether Donald Trump exceeded his authority with his punishing global tariffs, and even the conservatives appear to have deep concerns about the Trump administration's arguments.

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CHIEF JUSTICE JOHN ROBERTS, U.S. SUPREME COURT: The vehicle is imposition of taxes on Americans, and that has always been the core power of Congress.

JUSTICE NEIL GORSUCH, U.S. SUPREME COURT: What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter? Declare war to the president?

JUSTICE AMY CONEY BARRETT, U.S. SUPREME COURT: Is it your contention that every country needed to be tariffed because of threats to the defense and industrial base? Explain to me why, as many countries needed to be subject to the reciprocal tariff policy?

JUSTICE KETANJI BROWN JACKSON, U.S. SUPREME COURT: It seems a little inconsistent to say that we have to interpret a statute that was designed to constrain presidential authority, consistent with an understanding that Congress wanted the president to have essentially unlimited authority.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

ABEL: If the court breaks with the president, it would mark the first time they've done so in a major case since his return to power. President Trump says he heard the case went well on Wednesday, and warned that reversing his tariffs would trigger a worldwide depression and hurt the U.S. economy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: It would be devastating for our country if we lost that, devastating. I think it's one of the most important, maybe the most, but one of the most important cases in the history of our country. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: The tariff case was brought forth by a group of small and medium sized businesses.

And a key question is whether they would be entitled to refunds if the court rules against the Trump administration.

Twelve people are now confirmed dead following that fiery crash of a UPS cargo plane in Louisville, Kentucky. And officials say that figure is still expected to climb. Transportation safety investigators have recovered the so-called black boxes, but there's no word yet on what brought down the flight.

CNN's Isabel Rosales picks up the story in Louisville.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The UPS cargo plane that departed Louisville bound for Honolulu crashed at approximately 5:15 p.m. Tuesday evening. Because the crash happened during daylight hours, surveillance cameras in the surrounding areas captured the harrowing scene. The crash ignited up to 38,000 gallons of jet fuel, sparking a fire that stretched nearly half a mile, creating an enormous plume of black smoke over Louisville.

TODD INMAN, NTSB BOARD MEMBER: We have viewed airport CCTV security coverage, which shows the left engine detaching from the wing during the takeoff roll.

ROSALES (voice-over): That engine can be seen on the runway, along with other scattered debris from the plane. Two businesses near the airport were directly impacted.

SEAN GARBER, CEO, GRADE A AUTO PARTS & RECYCLING: I've never been in a war zone, but I would have to imagine it is what a war zone looks like. All of our buildings in the path of the airplane are destroyed.

[05:10:02]

ROSALES (voice-over): Garber still has three people missing from his company and has little faith they're alive. As of tonight, at least 12 people are dead and at least 16 families have reported loved ones unaccounted for, according to Kentucky Governor, Andy Beshear. The NTSB says, investigators have recovered the plane's black boxes and that all the video footage that captured the crash is already proving critical to the investigation.

INMAN: This and other videos, along with evidence we are finding, are very valuable asset to our investigators and helping us hone further which areas we were going to be focusing on as we move into further days of the investigation.

ROSALES (voice-over): Tomorrow will be the first full day the NTSB will be on scene to investigate, and they expect to be there at least a week, if not longer. INMAN: Our mission, again, is to understand not only what happened, but why it happened and recommend changes to prevent it from happening again.

ROSALES (voice-over): For nearby business owners, the focus for them is finding those still missing and eventually on rebuilding.

GARBER: Well, the most important thing for us is figuring out where these three people are and identifying the customers that were there, so we can provide information to their families, comfort them and make certain that that process is as painless, which it can't be, for them. And then turn our focus onto our business.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROSALES (on camera): And that ill-fated UPS flight was not delayed and had no maintenance work done immediately before that crash Tuesday. That's according to the National Transportation Safety Board, citing UPS. Now, the NTSB is deploying several different groups to look into this investigation. One of them is a maintenance group that will look at every single aspect when it comes to maintenance done to this plane, to independently verify what UPS is saying. But so far, the NTSB saying that they haven't found anything disproving what UPS has said so far.

Isabel Rosales, CNN, Louisville, Kentucky.

ABEL: Concerns are growing about the security surrounding the president of Mexico after a bizarre public groping incident. We'll have a report from Mexico City.

Plus, what a CNN crew saw and didn't see while embedded with the Israeli military in Gaza.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:16:47]

ABEL: A man is in custody after he appeared to grope the president of Mexico in public on Tuesday. Video of the incident has sparked outrage online and renewed a debate over harassment, with President Claudia Sheinbaum calling the incident an assault on all women.

We have more now from CNN's Valeria Leon.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is pressing charges against a man who she said was drunk and harassed her on Tuesday.

The man was arrested overnight, according to Mexico City Mayor Clara Brugada, and is in custody at the sex crimes investigation unit. The incident took place when a man broke through a crowd of people greeting Sheinbaum in Mexico City and appeared to grope her, according to viral footage of the incident. Sheinbaum spoke about it earlier today.

CLAUDIA SHEINBAUM, MEXICAN PRESIDENT (through translator): I experienced this episode of harassment. At the time, I was actually talking to other people. I realized immediately Juan Jose, who coordinates the entire assistance team, intervened, and it was only after watching the videos that I understood what had really happened, because I was talking to a lot of people.

Yes, I obviously felt this person get close. He was, I repeat, completely intoxicated. I don't know if he was on drugs, but I decided to file a complaint because this is something I experienced as a woman. But it's something all women in our country experience.

LEON: She says the incident has raised questions about Sheinbaum's security. When asked whether she would consider increasing her security, given how easily the man approached her, Sheinbaum she will continue as usual, insisting there is no risk against her.

The incident on Tuesday has reignited conversation around an issue that runs deep in Mexico. Official data shows that about seven out of ten women in the country have faced some form of violence, and nearly half say they've experienced sexual violence.

Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico City.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: And now to the Middle East, where Israel has identified the body of a deceased hostage as a Tanzanian student. The Red Cross transferred the remains from Gaza into Israel on Wednesday. That leaves the bodies of six deceased hostages still in Gaza.

Sources say Israel believes it has new information on the longest held remains in Gaza. Lieutenant Hadar Goldin, who was killed in 2014, in the war there between Israel and Hamas. But the Israel Defense Forces says it has no information, contrary to reports in Israeli media. Journalists, including our own Jeremy Diamond, have repeatedly urged Israel to let them into Gaza without restrictions to independently show the world what is happening there.

While we are still waiting for that kind of access, Israel has allowed Jeremy and other journalists to embed with the IDF and visit a part of northern Gaza. Here's what Jeremy witnessed.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: So, we've just arrived at this Israeli military position along the yellow line inside the Gaza Strip. And you can see all around me the first thing that catches your eye, obviously, is the enormous extent of destruction here.

We are in Gaza City's Shuja'iyya neighborhood, or at least what's left of the Shuja'iyya neighborhood, because you can see that there is almost not a single building that is still standing in this area.

[05:20:03]

This is about as far as we foreign journalists can get into Gaza right now. The Israeli military, the Israeli government has only allowed us in in limited circumstances on these types of military embeds.

For more than two years now, Israel has barred foreign journalists from freely entering the Gaza Strip. We would, of course, like to go further down where there are actually Palestinian civilians, to be able to talk to them directly and cover their experiences. But you can see in this area, there are no Palestinian civilians, just an established Israeli military position. And so, so much destruction beyond.

You've taken us on this military embed today, but we as foreign journalists cannot independently access Gaza. We can't cross that yellow line and go and speak with Palestinian civilians. Why not? The war is over.

LT. COL. NADAV SHOSHANI, INTERNATIONAL SPOKESPERSON, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES: Well, that's -- that's a question I think that you should ask people above my pay grade and I'm in charge of embeds. I'm an IDF spokesperson. I'm in charge to bring reporters to see what IDF is doing. Do my best.

DIAMOND: We asked where exactly that yellow line is, and I was just told that its slightly beyond some of those few remaining buildings that are still standing there, but it's almost impossible for us to distinguish exactly where that yellow line is. And we know that it's also the case for the Palestinians on the ground who have been shot at. Some of them have been killed as they have approached or accidentally crossed that invisible yellow line.

How are Palestinians on the ground supposed to know where that line is?

SHOSHANI: Well, the line was also published publicly, social media, leaflets and so on. But also, our troops are extremely careful. There's warnings in real time. One does not get lost into IDF fire.

In most cases, the people crossing the yellow line are Hamas. It's not an accident. And when it is civilians in most cases, they are able to move back.

DIAMOND: But you have -- but the Israeli military has killed civilians who crossed the yellow line accidentally. There was a family that was traveling in a vehicle. They were fired upon by an Israeli military tank shell. Do you need to revise those policies?

SHOSHANI: Well, it's a work in progress, as I said.

DIAMOND: The Israeli military has begun to deploy these yellow concrete blocks in order to distinguish where exactly that yellow line stands. But it's still not covering the entirety of that yellow demarcation line.

We have heard talk, of course, of establishing this international stabilization force. There are efforts now at the United Nations Security Council to actually establish a resolution that would send that force into Gaza. But for now, all of that has yet to actually be implemented on the ground. And you can see behind me the enormity of the challenge that remains.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: Jeremy Diamond reporting there.

Russia's president is suggesting the Kremlin will follow suit if the U.S. starts testing its nuclear weapons again. President Vladimir Putin says he'll take, quote, proportionate, measures if Washington goes ahead with the plan. But a Kremlin spokesperson says no final decision has been made yet.

Last week, U.S. President Donald Trump pledged to resume nuclear tests on an equal basis with Russia and China. None of the top three major military powers have conducted a test in nearly three decades.

A possible turning point is coming in the legal fight over the use of troops on the streets of America. We'll have the latest state of play as National Guard members stand by in Portland, Oregon.

And Democrats want to know more about those deadly U.S. military strikes on alleged drug smuggling boats. And the White House is finally sharing some of its intel. Coming up, how Democrats are reacting.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[05:28:03]

ABEL: There is one day left until a judge's order blocking President Trump from deploying national guard troops to Portland expires. The troops have been standing by at training bases in the city for weeks. The Trump administration claims the president has the authority to deploy the troops to protect immigration facilities from attack by protesters. But state and city attorneys are calling it one of the worst ever infringements on Oregon's sovereignty.

And the White House is now sharing some intel on its recent military strikes in the Pacific Ocean, which it alleges is on drug trafficking boats. On Wednesday, Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth briefed leaders of the house and senate and leaders of key congressional committees. At least two Democratic lawmakers later expressed confidence in the intel.

Still, Senator Mark Warner, the vice chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the Trump administration needs to share more information with the American people.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. MARK WARNER (D-VA): I think they do have visibility into drug trafficking lanes, and I think things that would slow down the transportation of drugs, particularly this is almost all exclusively cocaine to America is appropriate. But again, showing by interdiction. And drug recovery and the fact that the individuals on the boats are actually known narco terrorists would go a long way in convincing a lot of Americans and for that matter, the rest of the world.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: The U.S. military has conducted 16 strikes on 17 boats accused of drug smuggling that have killed 67 people in the Pacific and the Caribbean.

In Venezuela, human rights advocates are concerned the Venezuelan government could be using an app to ramp up surveillance of its citizens. They say authorities appear to be encouraging people to inform on each other by reporting on activities that could be seen as disloyal.

CNN's Stefano Pozzebon reports.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR (voice-over): Imagine living in a country where the government appears to ask your neighbor to spy on you. The Venezuelan government revamped an application this month to invite citizens to report.