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The Situation Room

Israel Reducing Aid Into Gaza?; Shutdown Impacting Air Traffic Controllers; ICE Agents Under Threat?. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 15, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:03]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: But, bottom line, this has been a big focal point in regards to the overall sort of push back and forth from local -- and the community here against the federal government.

And I should just say, right before this, one of the defense attorneys filed a motion saying that this case is going to come down to the credibility of DHS' statements here. And it was a similar vein that a previous federal judge here said that they don't trust the credibility of DHS statements.

So it'll be interesting to watch that dynamic here moving forward.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: Yes, we will be tracking it closely.

Omar Jimenez, thank you so much.

And new this morning, the Department of Homeland Security says Mexican drug cartels have put bounties on ICE and Border Patrol personnel in Chicago.

CNN's Priscilla Alvarez joins us now.

So, what more are you hearing about this, Priscilla?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, we're hearing from the Department of Homeland Security specifically, and they're citing credible intelligence that they have received that Mexican criminal networks are targeting agents who are doing immigration enforcement work, particularly in Chicago.

Now, they have not shared this intelligence, but they say that these criminal worker -- networks have been working with people in the United States to monitor, harass and assassinate federal agents. And they lay out a tiered system of the bounties that have been placed on some of these federal agents.

Now, we know that, last week, the Department of Homeland Security announced the arrest of an individual who they said was part of a gang and had allegedly placed a hit on Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino. He is actually the Homeland Security official that has been in charge of the federal immigration crackdown in Chicago.

That was for $10,000. And they cited and they shared a photo of a screenshot of a Snapchat conversation where this hit was essentially placed on Bovino for anyone who could really get to him. So they have arrested someone on this already. This happened last week. They are saying that there is more on this front.

But, generally speaking, what we have heard time and again from the Department of Homeland Security is that they are seeing an increase of threats towards their federal agents, though, of course, the images that you showed also include people who are protesting their actions. So it has become a very complex picture in Chicago.

But this is another point that the administration is making insofar as it relates to the federal agents during the work and the hits that are being placed on them, and they are saying it's the Mexican criminal network who are doing that work.

BROWN: All right, Priscilla, thanks so much for bringing us that reporting.

Up next here in THE SITUATION ROOM: the stark new warning from the nation's air traffic controllers, who say the two-week-long government shutdown is putting even more strain on a system that's faced challenges for years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:37:10]

BROWN: Happening now: Critical workers who help keep us safe when we travel are speaking out about the impact of the government shutdown.

Members of the air traffic controllers union are handing out flyers at airports alerting Americans to the strain not only on staffing, but also safety. Those workers recently got their first partial paychecks due to the shutdown and, they could miss their next one entirely if the shutdown continues.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The feeling is very similar amongst all of my co- workers. We are professional. We will come to work. We will make sure that we do the job that we were hired to do.

But any time you're not receiving your paycheck when you expect it, the financial burden that is placed on your family and yourself is challenging. And it's something that is going to be on our minds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Joining us now is the president of the national Air Traffic Controllers Association, Nick Daniels.

So, Nick, just how fragile is the air travel system right now? And tell us more about how these air traffic controllers are doing.

NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Well, it's fragile before the shutdown even started and that's why we continue to get out and advocate for the changes necessary.

We're 10,800 certified professional controllers operating where there should be 14,633. So, every given day, we're already 3,800 certified controllers short, and it takes two to three years just to train one of them. Plus, they're working with unreliable equipment.

Look no further than Newark, the delays in Dallas and all the major metropolitan airports. That was already happening. And now air traffic controllers' focus today isn't just on how we improve the system and how we train the next generation of controllers. It's how do I pay for food, gas, take care of my family and kids, because they just received their last partial paycheck.

And their focus has now shifted to a zero dollar -- how do I get a loan? How do I rack up credit cards? Do I have any savings to start diving into? So this introduces a whole new level of risk in aviation.

BROWN: Is it sort of distracting for them, thinking about supporting their families, supporting themselves?

DANIELS: It's absolutely distracting. The government spends millions of dollars teaching us how to reduce distractions, delays, fatigue. Every day a controller goes to work, their focus is on the flying public, their safety. They could have had a hard day at home.

We just had a controller the other day. He texted me talking about his father passing away. His father just died two days ago, and he has to go to work today to do his job. He knows how to check those emotions at the door. But now he also has to think about, how do I pay for his funeral? How do I take care of the family in association with it in the meantime?

And those are real people with real lives that are now facing a whole different level of challenges while keeping America safe.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, it does bring you to the next question. How safe is it to fly for the American public?

DANIELS: Well, it's as safe as it's ever been because of the hardworking men and women that represent, the air traffic controllers that do this job day in and day out.

But what we're asking them is, they make the impossible already look possible, running 45,000 flights a day, three million passengers, tons of cargo that runs America day in and day out. They're already shouldering this burden. And now we're saying do it with this additional stress on.

[11:40:07]

It's our job to get out there and communicate for the safety of the flying public, letting them know that we're having to focus on when we're going to get paid next instead.

BROWN: Yes. And on that note, tell us more about these flyers that they're handing out. DANIELS: Yes, so at many of the major airports, you will start seeing

air traffic controllers out in yellow shirts handing out leaflets, letting the flying public know to demand to end this shutdown today.

We're calling on everyone. They know going into the 28th, the next thing is the 1st. And what happens on the first? All your bills are due. And so that's why we are asking everybody to join us. You can go to NATCA.org and ATCA.org and tell Congress, open this shutdown -- or open this government today, end this shutdown, because air traffic controllers want to ensure their safety.

We want to see America keep moving. And you're going to see them out in the yellow shirt. And please stop by and help them.

BROWN: Which airport?

DANIELS: Right now, they're at Chicago O'Hare. They're at La Guardia, Dulles, DCA. And it's going to start expanding to the major airports from around there.

You will -- they will -- you will see them. They will be in a bright yellow shirt. But they could use your support and America's support.

BROWN: All right, I want to watch what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said about air traffic controllers last week. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: If we have if we have a continual small subset of controllers that don't show up to work, and they're the problem children, listen, we need more controllers, but we need the best and the brightest, the dedicated controllers.

And if we have some on our staff that aren't dedicated like we need, we're going to let them go. Again, I can't have people not showing up for work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And I understand you met with the secretary yesterday. What was your message to him?

DANIELS: Yes, met with the secretary. We talked about many of the different things, as we're being thrust. Air traffic controllers didn't ask to be thrust into this spotlight. We are the rope in this tug-of-war game that's going on.

He understands that. And we have ensured that everybody who knows air traffic controllers, we have a stringent medical requirement. If they're sick, we want them at home, not getting other air traffic controllers sick. There's so few of us already.

But if there is illegal use of sick leave or even a thought there is of it, there's a process and procedure to handle that. Myself, the FAA, Secretary Duffy, we all understand of what that needs to go through, because we in no way support air traffic controllers somehow misusing sick leave or anything else.

We're here to do the job. We're going to continue showing up doing it day in and day out. But we got to understand the stress and pressure that's on them.

BROWN: And what did he say to you about the shutdown and what he's going to do to support these air traffic controllers during this?

DANIELS: He's been an advocate for ensuring that we could continue training during this time, him and Administrator Bedford.

But here's the thing. We have stopped hiring air traffic controllers when we need them more than ever. In 12 days from now, the Oklahoma City academy shuts down. The funding runs out for that, and it's going to put in a whole other level of strain. And it's not like we get to recover in a day or a week.

It's going to take months to recoup and get these people who you quite often hear them say the best and brightest. We not only need to recruit the best and brightest. We need to keep the very ones that are in the system today. And that's what Secretary Duffy and I spoke about, is keeping the air traffic controllers that are here and ensuring they're recognized for the work that they're doing.

BROWN: Right. And have you spoken to any air traffic controllers who are now considering finding different careers or perhaps taking on a second job?

DANIELS: The second job aspect of it is extremely real.

But, yes, every day, I mean, air traffic controllers are on that edge. And that's why, working with Administrator Bedford, working with Secretary Duffy to figure out ways to compensate these air traffic controllers for what they're dealing with on a daily basis and bringing new ones in is going out and now saying, do that, work six days a week.

They don't work just five. They work six days a week. They usually work 60 hours in that week, only four days off in a month. And, yes, the main conversation they're having today in the control room is, how do I defer my mortgage, or how do I -- what are you going to work for? Are you going to work for Uber? Are you going to work for DoorDash?

Are you going to go do a waiter's jobs? How are you going to earn money during this time the government is shut down? And that's not what we need our nations air traffic controllers focused on. And that's the risk we're talking about.

BROWN: Nick Daniels, thank you.

DANIELS: Thank you.

BROWN: Just ahead here in THE SITUATION ROOM: The massive influx of aid needed to address Gaza's humanitarian crisis still isn't happening, as Israel slashes the amount of aid entering the enclave in a bid to speed up releasing the remains of deceased hostages. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:48:20]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, long-awaited trucks filled with fuel and an aid began rolling into Gaza, as Israel prepares to reopen one of the territory's main crossings.

But, today, the U.N.'s head of relief is calling for a renewed humanitarian commitment to Gaza, warning of possible setbacks as the agency tries to ramp up the delivery of aid. Israeli authorities have notified the U.N. that the number of humanitarian trucks allowed in Gaza will be reduced or delayed due to the limited number of the deceased hostages released by Hamas.

Let's discuss now more with UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram. She is on the ground in Gaza.

Tess, thank you for being here with us.

Bring us there. Bring us inside Gaza. What are the challenges right now as you try to get aid to Palestinians?

TESS INGRAM, UNICEF SPOKESWOMAN: The challenge at the moment is the crossing.

We have got the team on the ground. We have the trucks outside. We just really need that gap, the crossing, to bridge the trucks and the people, so that we can desperately get this aid to the families who need it. The needs are immense.

I have been talking to people for the last five days since the cease- fire went into effect about what they need. And the list is long. People are returning to rubble, where water systems have been decimated, where it's difficult for them to find food to eat or medicine for their children.

So, right now, the biggest challenge is making sure that that aid flows quickly and at scale.

BROWN: Tell us a little bit more about that, because, initially, there was a pledge made that 600 trucks of aid would get in, and then Israel told the U.N. that it was going to scale back because Hamas, they said, wasn't turning over the deceased hostages.

So what actually is getting in right now?

[11:50:02]

INGRAM: We know that trucks moved today. I'm not yet sure on the volume of aid.

We need hundreds of trucks coming into the Gaza Strip every day to even begin to meet the needs. But I think what's important right in this moment of time is a reminder that aid is a legal obligation. Facilitating it is required under international humanitarian law. Yet, throughout this conflict, we have seen repeatedly aid used as a bargaining chip or restricted or the U.N. sidelined.

And that must end now. This cease-fire is our opportunity to step up for the children of Gaza and reach them with what they need, because the stakes are still so high. We have a famine. Diseases are spreading. Winter is just around the corner. We -- it's a race against the clock.

BROWN: We're hearing today from some displaced Palestinians about what they're experiencing after the cease-fire went into effect. I want to listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE (through translator): There is no work, no food, no drinks, no housing and now winter is coming. By God almighty, I'm telling you I swear we don't have blankets. I have nothing, nothing at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translator): We wake up in the morning and look for a sip of water to drink. If we want to eat, there's no money, no work to do. This isn't a life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, as you had painted the picture, I mean, there's a dire need there for aid and there's fear that it's not going to get there. Has there been any coordination with the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation? I know it's been controversial, but given the situation there on the ground, has there been any talks with them to help get the aid to the people who need it most?

INGRAM: The U.N. is at the heart of this humanitarian response, and we're heartened by the fact that that's echoed in the cease-fire agreement that we should be the ones with the experience, with the trucks ready to come in to do the job.

So the issue is not the United Nations. The issue is the crossings. We really need to see them open. And I think, to your point on fear, that's really key. I met a mother yesterday, Saida (ph), six children.

And she said to me: "I spent two years in fear, but now I have a different kind of fear, and it's the fear that the water truck came yesterday, but it might not come today and it might not come tomorrow."

And I think that echoes in the conversations throughout the Gaza Strip at the moment.

BROWN: Israel's defense minister said this week that, if Hamas doesn't speed up the return of hostages' bodies, it would constitute what he calls a violation of the agreement.

How concerned are you that this deal between Hamas and Israel won't hold up?

INGRAM: I think people here are concerned, but they're also holding on to hope because they cannot afford for this cease-fire to be broken. If it was, it would be the third time a cease-fire is broken in this crisis.

People cannot deal with that. They're saying to me: "Tess, I have survived. It's over."

So it would be incredibly detrimental if we were to sink back into the atrocities that we have seen over the last two years, with children killed and injured every day. So, look, we have got to be optimistic that this cease-fire holds. And we continue to call on the parties to the conflict to adhere to all of the terms of the cease-fire.

BROWN: There's been obviously the reporting about the executions there on the streets. Tell us about your concerns and the Palestinians' concerns about a civil war breaking out.

INGRAM: The situation remains unstable here on the ground in Gaza. And the evidence of violence is gravely concerning.

Civilians must always be protected. So, again, we call on the parties to the conflict to adhere to the terms of the cease-fire and to prioritize peace. That's what the children of Gaza need right now more than anything else.

BROWN: All right, Tess Ingram, thank you so much.

INGRAM: Thank you.

BROWN: Coming up, what we know about a brand-new investigation launching in Texas, as lawmakers try to decipher the circumstances around the deadly July 4 flooding that killed nearly 140 people.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:58:42]

BROWN: Now to a story that we have been following closely here in THE SITUATION ROOM.

A newly formed investigative committee will look into the circumstances surrounding that catastrophic July 4 flooding in Texas, which killed at least 136 people in the central part of the state, including 27 young campers and counselors from Camp Mystic.

Texas' Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick announced the committee, saying in part -- quote -- "The families who lost their precious daughters deserve answers, as do all Texans, on exactly what happened on July 4. Camp Mystic has not spoken publicly on the record as to what happened that morning."

And Blake and Caitlin Bonner, who lost their daughter Lila to the cataclysmic floodwaters, said this in a statement: "Behind countless headlines are the faces and names of 27 young lives lost, our daughters. The state-led investigation must honor them with action and a full accounting of what happened at Camp Mystic on July 4 and in the aftermath."

One camper, 8-year-old Cile Steward, is still missing.

Despite that, Camp Mystic announced last month that it would reopen next summer, surprising parents who are still mourning the loss of their daughters and asking for accountability from the camp leadership. Also last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law tougher rules around camp safety, something the families of Heaven's 27, as they call themselves, advocated for.

[12:00:00]