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Trump Admin Forces 800-Plus Flight Cancellations Amid Ongoing Shutdown; Now, Delays Reported at Newark, Washington, D.C., and Austin Airports; Trump Admin Appeals Order to Restore Food Stamp Benefits. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 07, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, airport chaos. Travelers are bracing for fewer flights and longer lines. What's happening right now inside some of the biggest airports in the country? The transportation secretary just addressed the crisis. Hear what he had to say.

And deadly strike, three people are dead after the U.S. military carries out new strikes on a suspected drug boat.

Plus, sleep aid warning, new research linking melatonin use to heart failure. What you should know if you're taking the supplements now.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Plus, shut down showdown take 15. Senate Republicans preparing to call another vote to try to reopen the government, but will they be able to uphold their promise to Democrats?

Suspicious delivery, several people rushed to the hospital after a mysterious package containing a white powder was opened at a military base right near the nation's capital.

And inflation on aisle four, the truth about what's really going on with your grocery bill.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

We begin this hour with pain from the ongoing government shutdown spreading to airports across the United States. Right now, a nationwide flight reduction is in effect. The FAA is forcing cuts at dozens of America's largest airports, citing safety concerns as air traffic controllers are working without pay. More than 800 flights have already been canceled. Here's what travelers are saying.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It is difficult to understand how they just can't figure this out. You know, it's going to impact everybody.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, they'll get back to normal traveling and everything else.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can't imagine an airport like this that is so busy, all those flights being canceled. So, I'm nervous.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm a nervous traveler anyway, a nervous flyer, and, you know, you want to know that the people that are keeping you safe are being taken care of, and they're just not right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hawaii's not a terrible place to get stuck, but we don't want to get stuck away from our dog and away from our home. So, we're hopeful we'll be able to get back on Tuesday.

REPORTER: Would you be open to getting a backup ticket?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You got to have backup money. I don't have that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: The Trump administration is forcefully pushing back on criticism, instead blaming Congress. Here's what the transportation secretary just said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There is an easy answer. Open up the government. Stop this.

Why are senators going home? If you can vote 14 times to keep the government shut down and create this gridlock in our airports and you're going to go home, they should sit here. Like Americans sit in airports, they should sit in their offices, they should sit in the Senate and figure out how they're going to come up with a deal to open this back up and not use the American people as leverage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's go live right now to CNN's Jason Carroll. He is over at Newark International Airport. That's one of the several airports where delays have been reported this morning. Jason, how are things going there right now?

JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, we've also just gotten word this morning that the Newark Control Tower is going to be short staffed until at least 2:00 this afternoon. Also another update, there are now 45-minute delays inbound to Newark. So, that just gives you a sense of what we're already experiencing here on the ground.

We've already heard from a number of people very frustrated about their travel experience, all this due to the FAA deciding to cut flights to 40 of the busiest airports across the country, including all of New York City area airports, Newark included in that obviously, Chicago, Miami, Los Angeles, Memphis. Chances are, Wolf, if you know someone who's traveling today, you probably know someone who's going to be affected by this in some way, shape, or form. Hearing from the airlines, they are canceling flights, Delta, 170, United, 200, American, 220 flights canceled, Southwest more than 100 flights canceled. We've been speaking to people all morning long. I spoke to one woman, she's a doctor trying to get back to Utah. Just listen to how frustrated she was about her travel experience.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm renting a car. I have to be back in Utah by Tuesday. And from what I hear with the counters, the airline counters and TSA, they literally said to me, if I were you, I wouldn't travel over the next three days.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[10:05:04]

CARROLL: And guess what, Wolf, Pamela, I followed up with her. She wasn't able to rent a car. She ended up having to get a U-Haul. She said, now she's going to be using that to drive across country. Just some of the desperate measures people are using to get where they need to go. Wolf, Pamela?

BLITZER: Terrible situation indeed. Jason Carroll over at Newark airport. Pamela?

BROWN: So, all of this raises that question, right? If you have plans to fly, what should you do?

Joining us now, is Sean Cudahy, senior aviation reporter for The Points Guy.

BLITZER: Sean, first off who should be most concerned right now?

SEAN CUDAHY, SENIOR AVIATION REPORTER, THE POINTS GUY: You know, I think I would be most concerned if I were someone who was flying this weekend on a connecting itinerary, so like a two-leg trip. You know, take Delta, for example. You heard there are 170 cancellations today. By my count, about 80 percent of those are its Delta connection regional jets, those smaller planes.

We are not right now seeing airlines cancel these long haul international flights to Europe, by and large. They're going more for these smaller planes that carry fewer passengers, fewer passengers to rebook there, but, obviously, a lot of those flights around the country, and it's a big inconvenience right now.

BROWN: So, if your flight is canceled or significantly delayed, what's the first move? What are your rights as a traveler?

CUDAHY: Yes. So, keep in mind every traveler, if their flight's canceled, significantly delayed, to your point, you are owed a refund under federal policy. And the Department of Transportation yesterday really kind of went out and reminded travelers that they are owed a refund, you know, if they run into these flight troubles, really supposed to be no questions asked money back to you within seven days if you booked by a credit card.

The other thing that I would be doing is just staying glued to my airline mobile app, to my email, opt into all of the push notifications. We're hearing from a lot of airlines, they've kind of beefed up their tech in recent years and, you know, a lot of these communications that they're sending out to travelers are kind of coming through those digital channels. You might be able to avoid waiting on hold with the airline, just rebook yourself with a few taps.

BLITZER: You know, Sean, it's interesting. We're already seeing the effects of this 4 percent reduction with more than 800 flights already canceled today. FlightAware's misery map is showing airport delays nationwide. If the shutdown continues, airlines will be cutting 10 percent of flights by next Friday. How much worse will things look then?

CUDAHY: Yes. I mean, I kind of think about some of the worst snow storms that we've had in pockets of the country at times. That's kind of when you've seen cancellations climb, you know, to that rate. The difference though is that this is going to affect a large swath of the country, the entire country, virtually. You know, we've talked a lot about the 40 airports that the FAA is focusing its cuts on. But when you see the cancellations that are actually getting -- you know, put in place by airlines, you know, the reality is that this is affecting almost every airport across the country. We're even seeing obviously cuts, you know, from Alaska to Hawaii.

So, you know, this is really, you know, going to be, you know, an increasing hurdle for travelers and certainly for airlines scrambling to make these changes here over the coming days.

BROWN: And we heard the transportation secretary say today that there could be this ripple effect, even if the government shutdown ends very soon. There's still that ripple effect, right? You've had air traffic controllers retire, resign. You know, it takes a while to get everything back up and running the way it was before, right? So, then you have to ask, well, what about Thanksgiving? It's less than three weeks away. Should people be thinking about driving if they can instead of flying?

CUDAHY: Yes. You know, it's a great question. I spoke with, you know, a longtime air traffic controller, an air traffic control instructor yesterday. And, yes, she kind of concurred with that point that, you know, even if the government shutdown were to end somehow in the next day or two here there's likely going to be you know, you know, some residual impact here.

And keep in mind, today, really, marks kind of two weeks from what airlines considered to be the start of the Thanksgiving travel rush. You know, I don't know that at this point I would be telling travelers not to fly for Thanksgiving. You know, I think it kind of remains -- you know, hopefully, we would see some improvement if the government were to open in short order. But, I mean, you've heard the head of the top air traffic controllers union point out that, you know, there's really no telling how disruptive this could be if the shutdown were to continue weeks more into the holiday season here, and what is expected, or was expected, at least by all accounts to be a record- setting Thanksgiving travel rush.

BROWN: Yes. He was just on our show yesterday making that point.

BLITZER: Yes. And it's clear they got to reopen the government and get this thing back to normal quickly. That's very, very important.

BROWN: Abundantly clear. Sean Cudahy, thank you so much.

BLITZER: And still ahead, order to fully fund food assistance during the government shutdown, but Vice President Vance is pushing back against the federal judge's orders. He says the administration will do it on its own terms.

BROWN: And then later, the U.S. military strikes another suspected drug boat in the Caribbean. What we're learning just ahead. You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: Happening now, the Trump administration is asking a federal appeals court to pause a ruling that would require it to fully fund the nation's food stamp program. A federal judge yesterday ordered the White House to restore benefits, calling the delay due to the ongoing shutdown, quote, unacceptable. More than 40 million Americans have missed their payment this month and sparking angst and worry among some of the nation's most needy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASHLEE TARR, SNAP RECIPIENT: I was born with a mild form of cerebral palsy, so I've been disabled since birth. So, I rely on food stamps and Social Security to survive.

I've been struggling. It's been really hard. I've literally been eating spaghetti for four days because it's all I have in my apartment.

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BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN's Arlette Saenz on Capitol Hill. Arlette, tell us more about why the administration is appealing this order by the judge.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, the fate of food stamps for millions of Americans hangs in the balance as the Trump administration is really tangling with the judicial system over providing these food stamp benefits.

Now, the Trump administration this morning appealed a decision from a federal judge in Rhode Island who yesterday said that the Trump administration needed to pay food stamp benefits in full for the month of November. This comes on the heels of the Trump administration saying that they would only partially fund food stamps through the U.S. Department of Agriculture going forward.

And yesterday, Vice President J.D. Vance really pushed back on that ruling from the federal judge, saying that all food stamps must be provided. Vance said that this is a decision that needs to be made by the administration about the path forward, not by the courts. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

J.D. VANCE, U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: It's an absurd ruling because you have a federal judge effectively telling us what we have to do in the midst of a Democrat government shutdown, which what we'd like to do is for the Democrats to open up the government. Of course, then we can fund SNAP and we can also do a lot of other good things for the American people. But in the midst of a shutdown, we can't have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: So, a lot of questions going forward for the about 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps. And up here on Capitol Hill, talks still remain deadlocked on reopening the government, really leaving questions about when this might end.

BROWN: All right. Arlette Saenz, thank you for bringing us the latest there from Capitol Hill. Wolf?

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss the shutdown and more, Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington States. He serves on the House of Budget, Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees. Congresswoman, thanks so much for joining us. You're a busy lady and thanks for coming into be here to The Situation Room.

Should your friends in the in the Senate vote to authorize a resolution, continuing resolution, a clean bill, if you will, to allow the federal government to reopen and end this chaos that's going on on so many fronts right now?

REP. PRAMILA JAYAPAL (D-WA): Yes, thanks for the question. Look, I think that, first of all, on SNAP, we should be clear --

BLITZER: The food stamps.

JAYAPAL: This is food stamps. This is $6 a day for the hungry. And it's 42 million Americans across the country that depend on these food stamps. It is actually illegal for the president to withhold funding that is there specifically for this purpose.

In 61 years, this bipartisan program has never shut down. There's never been a day when people haven't been able to get the food that they need, because across party lines, people believe that if you're hungry, we should feed you. And so what he is doing right now is withholding money now in contravention of a judge's order. The judge is saying it's illegal for you to do this. You have to fund SNAP. So, let's be clear that the food stamp debate could be settled today if they would just comply with the judge. They don't get to just decide which court orders they like or don't like. They actually have to do what is legal. And it is illegal to withhold food from the hungry.

On the shutdown, I'm here in D.C. My colleagues in the House on the Democratic side have been here ready to negotiate. But it is now almost six and a half weeks that Mike Johnson hasn't brought us back. I've never had such a long time where the speaker has kept us out of the House, out of negotiating.

BLITZER: The house, though, has already passed the C.R., the clean resolution, to continue the government opening it. Well, it's up to the Senate now, not the House.

JAYAPAL: Well, it is and it isn't, right, because what Mike Johnson did is send us home. It was not a clean resolution, just to be clear. It cut funding from last year's levels going back to March. That's why the Democrats in the House voted against that continuing resolution because it was not clean. It actually cut money.

BLITZER: Well, it was clear in the sense that what was already approved was going forward, but there was a stipulation in the C.R. that the funding for the healthcare subsidies that were -- but there was a date set when it would end, and they wanted that date to be extended and it wasn't extended.

JAYAPAL: Two different issues, but both really important. So, the C.R. itself continued the cut funding from March. But to send the House Democrats home without getting a resolution from the Senate and from the president, I think, is abdicating responsibility. You have to wait for the bill to be passed. You can't just go home and try to jam the Senate, which is what they did. So, now in the Senate, Senate Democrats have been very strong in holding up until we negotiate a resolution to the expiring Affordable Care Act credits.

Now, remember, Wolf, we already -- the Republicans just cut a trillion dollars from Medicaid. Rural hospitals are already starting to close in my state, around the country.

[10:20:01]

People are already starting to recognize that they're not going to have -- 15 million Americans are going to be kicked off of healthcare because of those Medicaid cuts.

Now, on top of that, they have refused to continue the Affordable Care Act tax credits, which essentially serve would mean that about 22 million Americans would have their premiums either double or triple. In my state, we're already seeing tripling of premiums. And that means that people wouldn't be able to afford health insurance. And even if you were still paying, your insurance premiums would go up. So, what Democrats in the Senate and in the House have said is, we need a resolution on healthcare because we can't afford to have more people without healthcare. And that's what the whole fight has been about is, let's make sure if you need Democratic votes, which you do in the Senate, that you negotiate with us, that you talk to us, and that you get Democratic votes so that you can reopen government.

BLITZER: Continuing the healthcare benefits is critically important. There's no doubt about that. But I also want to play to you, for you and our viewers, what one mother told CNN about the hardships her family is facing right now during this government shutdown. Listen to this.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rather than myself having like a full plate of food along with my kids, I'm making sure that they have a full plate of food and their bellies are full, and I may have either less or I may not eat what they are eating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Is there a point where the pain, and it's enormous out there right now, where everyday Americans are just so unable to put food, enough food on the table for themselves and their family, their little kids, elderly people, is there a moment when the government just simply needs to reopen and they have to pass it?

JAYAPAL: Well, the government should reopen today by Republicans negotiating with us. Because I've been out at food banks and I've talked to people who are just struggling, I mean, the lines around food banks are going up because people don't have their SNAP benefits. And I think that that is something that should be fixed right now. That's illegal to withhold SNAP benefits. And so that is one piece.

But in order to reopen the government, Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. And if they want to actually get the votes from the Democratic side, it's incumbent on the governing party to negotiate. That's what's always been the case, right? We have bipartisan negotiations. You can't just say, this is how we're going to do it and you have to go along with us when it involves cutting 22 million Americans off of healthcare.

BLITZER: I remember when Democrats were in power in the House, the Senate, and the White House, they repeatedly asked Republicans, repeatedly asked Republicans to vote in favor of what they called a clean C.R., a continuing resolution, in order to simply keep the government open and then negotiate while the government is open on these issues that are dividing the two parties.

JAYAPAL: And if you remember, there was a negotiation with Republicans and they got a bunch of stuff that they wanted. We passed that C.R., this was under Joe Biden, and then they reneged on the promises that they made, which is exactly what happened earlier this year. They made promises for authorizations, and then they passed rescissions packages, taking back the money that they had just authorized. So, trust is zero here, Wolf. I mean, that's the sad truth.

BLITZER: So, basically, you don't believe in what the Republicans are promising?

JAYAPAL: No, because they could have solved the healthcare crisis, but instead they chose to slash Medicaid, they chose to not extend the Affordable Care Act premiums. Everybody knew that these were expiring. They have refused to do that. We could end this today with a real negotiation.

To-date Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and John Thune and Mike Johnson and President Trump have not sat down to actually negotiate, not to just posture but to negotiate something that will bring the Democratic votes on board. That is the responsibility of the Republican Party.

And Mike Johnson, look, we haven't been in session for six and a half weeks, six and a half weeks. And we've only had 20 days of legislative work since they passed what I call their big, bad, betrayal bill back in July that slashed Medicaid. Why are we not working? Why are we not here in D.C. negotiating this through so we get a resolution from the House, the Senate, and the White House?

BLITZER: Pamela has a question.

BROWN: I just -- I'm wondering what you say to Republicans and critics of what the Democrats are doing saying -- arguing that, look, the bottom line is if Democrats in the Senate voted for the C.R., the government would reopen. That's a fact. And they're using Americans as leverage in a crisis of their own making. That's what Republicans argue. They say, look, the Democrats came up with the ACA, the Democrats came up with this expiration date for the subsidies. And now this is, you know, a crisis of their own making and they're holding Americans hostage, basically. What do you say to that argument?

JAYAPAL: I would say listen to the people on Tuesday night.

[10:25:01]

Across the country, people on Tuesday night voted in elections against the extremism of this administration, of Republicans who are slashing all of the benefits that people rely on. These are Americans whose bills are going up, their utility bills are going up, their grocery bills are going up, their healthcare bills are going up, and they are pleading with us to please stand up and fight for them.

And that is what Democrats and the House and the Senate have been doing. Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. So, they can try to spin this, but the reality is if you control all three chambers, it is on you to govern. That's what Joe Biden did despite sometimes we didn't like the compromises. But that's what a responsible party does when they have all three chambers. They negotiate to get the votes that they need.

And Democrats are not going to go along with an administration that continues to raise prices and destroy healthcare for Americans across the country. That's the crux of the shutdown. We are fighting for the healthcare of the American people and we are going to stand strong until Republicans understand that they need our votes. We need to get something for that for the American people. And that's the fight that we have right now.

BLITZER: Democratic Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal of Washington State.

JAYAPAL: That's right, Washington State. We say the better Washington.

BLITZER: I always say Washington, but there's a different Washington. All right, thanks very much for coming in. Always good to have you here in The Situation Room.

JAYAPAL: Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you very much.

BROWN: Coming up here in The Situation Room, mental health in the spotlight as the NFL mourns the Death of a young Cowboys player. What the team's quarterback is saying about Marshawn Kneeland.

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