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Flight Reductions Taking Place Nationwide As Shutdowns Impact Worsens; Families Juggle Higher Prices, SNAP Disruption During Govt. Shutdown; Survey: Consumer Sentiment Lowest In 3 Plus Years Amid Shutdown. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired November 07, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

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[11:00:38]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, travel troubles. Passengers hoping to fly are being met with long lines and hundreds of delayed flights. The new finger pointing this morning about who's to blame.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: A lot of cancellations too. We want to welcome 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 hundreds of flight cancellations across the country so far today. Right now an unprecedented flight reduction is in full effect as the federal government shutdowns impact spreads to the nation skies. That mandate by the FAA is forcing flight cuts at more than 40 of America's largest airports impacting right now thousands and thousands of travelers as air traffic controllers continue to work without pay. Today, the Trump administration is defending the move.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: There's an easy answer, open up the government. Stop this. Why are senators going home? If you can vote 14 times to keep the government shutdown and -- and create this gridlock in our airports and you're going to go home, they should sit here like -- like Americans sitting 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)

BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN's Whitney Wild at one of the nation's busiest airports, O'Hare International in Chicago. Whitney, tell us what it's like there.

WHITNEY WILD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here it is calm. There's only dozens of flights that are either canceled or delayed. In total, there are 78, between 78 and 80 flights that are either canceled coming into or out of O'Hare. And then there's a few dozen more delays here. Let me take you on a walk over to the board here so you can see. I mean I think all things considered when you think about what this could look like across the country that there are more than 800 flights that are canceled and, you know, thousands, you know, more than a thousand that are delayed.

This board is looking pretty good. There are about 10 flights that are delayed right now at O'Hare. And then when you look at the security line it's still running about five minutes through security. So this is about as good as you can get on -- on any day really let alone on a day or when we know across the country there are some major travel problems.

What's interesting about thinking about the story here in Chicago is when you think about cancellations here and you think about delays. Immediately, you think, well, that's usually because there's a massive weather event. Chicago gets slammed with snow. That's usually the times we see travel disruptions here at O'Hare. But instead it is a crystal clear blue day.

In theory this should be a perfect day to fly. But instead there's this manmade pressure disrupting the system here. We spoke with a couple who's traveling today. Their flight's not canceled. As we know news about cancellations have been going on for several days now. So people have been able to adjust their flight plans to account for that. But here's what one couple told us about their frustrations.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMIR DARRAS, CHICAGO TRAVELER: Yes we know about the cuts and potential cancellations of flights but we're just hoping to get lucky on both -- both trips each way. Reopen the government. Yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you think?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think the airlines are handling it well though as best as they can given the circumstances. So I appreciate them keeping us all safe. And yes, they should come to an agreement and reopen the government and avoid all of this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: It's not just FAA workers who are going without pay, remember it's TSA officers as well. And what we saw earlier this week or last week was these really long lines at -- in Houston where there were TSA officers who simply couldn't come into work. And so that is the major question here.

So earlier this week we spoke with a union rep from TSA as well as a woman who was a TSA officer. The TSA officer had to quit. She simply couldn't afford to come to a job that wasn't paying her. And the union representative made very clear his concern is that if this continues to drag on, more TSA officers are going to have to call out sick because they can't afford the child care. Can't afford the gas required to come to work. Or his other major concern is that more TSA officers are just going to have to quit because this job which is supposed to be stable is just too volatile.

And when you think about what that means as you're going into the very busy travel season between Thanksgiving and Christmas that's where those TSA representatives are concerned. TSA union representatives are concerned that there could be major chaos down the line. Back to you guys.

[11:05:08]

BROWN: Understandably. Whitney Wild in Chicago, thanks so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: Also happening now, families who receive federal food assistance are currently in the middle of a bitter, very bitter political battle. The government shutdown now the longest in U.S. history has already delayed SNAP benefits, food stamp benefits for millions of Americans who rely on the payments to put food on the table.

Now, the Trump administration is asking an appeals court to pause a judge's ruling that would require the federal government to pay November's food stamp benefits in full. CNN's Rene Marsh is joining us right now. She's in The Situation Room. Rene, what are you hearing from people who are simply waiting to see what kind of benefits they still might be able to get this month?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean spending time with these families getting out of Washington to see what this means for them their daily lives. Their ability to either eat or not eat, feed their children, it really is heartbreaking to say the least. I mean I do want to take a step back and just say that this program is a program that the Trump administration has isolated to not fund.

They have not wanted to fund this. You know in the beginning it was a court that forced them to make these partial payments. They did not want to use this emergency fund that is at the USDA. The judge said that they had to. Then they made these partial payments and the judge gave them the option to move around other money at the agency to make sure that these recipients could get their full benefits for the month of November.

The USDA decided not to do that. So yesterday we saw a judge force them to make these full payments. Actually this judge ordered that they make this full payment by today. We don't know if that will happen. As you mentioned there is an appeal for that -- that ruling. And the President has said that he plans on withholding SNAP until the shutdown is over.

So now just imagine that whether you have food for your children it really depends on what happens with this battle that we are seeing in Washington D.C. And I had the chance to spend time, a full day with one mom. She lives in West Virginia just about two hours outside of Washington D.C. And the struggle is real for her. I want you to just take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ONITA NORRIS, WEST VIRGINIA MOTHER: 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 just for the sake that they are getting enough.

MARSH: So mom's having to sometimes skip a meal or curb.

NORRIS: Yes. Yes. It feels like I'm failing them because I am trying. I'm trying to do all that I can. And of course as a human you get frustrated and I never want my kids to see that or feel like I'm taking that out on them for something as simple as dinner.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: So a little bit more about her because I mean she -- she spent the time to tell me that it also hurts her to see the idea that, you know, the person who relies on SNAP is a certain kind of person who is just gaming the system who's not working, they're lazy, this woman she works in West Virginia, she works at a college, a university there, full time job, 40 hours a week. And she says that it's not enough. She doesn't want to rely on this but she needs to rely on it.

She talks about groceries and the price of groceries being extremely high. In West Virginia we know energy prices are extremely high. She's got rent. So all of those things together while her salary is not increasing all of her expenses are increasing. She relies on $265 a month in order to get the -- the food that she needs for her family. So she's -- she's hoping that this is resolved here.

We've got a lot of outreach since her story got out. People wanting to help her and what she said to me this morning is just donate to your local food bank. She wants people to donate to the food bank so that everyone who's in need not just her will get what they need until this is all resolved.

BLITZER: Yes. It's hard to believe here in the United States of America. People are going hungry. Their kids are going hungry because of this. They got to end this government shutdown ended very, very quickly. Rene, excellent reporting. Thank you very, very much.

BROWN: And it's worth emphasizing that as Rene said, you know, the administration is isolating this program. It is -- it has found ways to fund other programs like WIC like paying service members and it is pushing back against fully funding this SNAP program. Rene, thank you so much. It's so important to show those personal stories.

And as these economic circumstances jeopardize people's ability to put food on their table, businesses are also feeling the effects. Sydney McKinnis is a manager at Joseph's Market and she joins us now. Hi Sydney. Thanks for coming on. So tell us a little bit more about what you're seeing. How much of a change in people's shopping habits have you observed over the past several weeks?

[11:10:16] SYDNEY MCKINNIS, MANAGER, JOSEPH'S MARKET: I've definitely seen a lot less prime cut meats going and a lot more bulk packaging as well. I did do November special and we, me and my dad, talked to the suppliers to try to get down as much meat for as cheap as possible. And he worked with us and we did come up with a meat order that's pretty reasonable. You get 30 pounds of meat I think it is for around 115 bucks.

And I think we've done about 50 orders in the last three days and it's only November 7th. I posted it on Tuesday and it's just taken off. I see a lot more people buying like two or three of those and they're taking them home to spread it out amongst their families. Just so -- just so everybody is fed, you know.

BROWN: Yes. So -- so tell me more about how many of your customers rely on the food stamps.

MCKINNIS: Oh God, a lot. I'd say at least 45 percent. Whether they come in and they're just getting a couple drinks or they come back to the back of the meat counter and they order a big old package. It's definitely a lot of them and we're seeing less of their faces as of recently.

BROWN: You're seeing less of their faces. What are you hearing from the others that are -- are still coming to your store about their concerns?

MCKINNIS: I mean, they're gearing up with whatever they do have left. They're buying things that they can throw in their freezer and stretch to the last, you know, towards the end of the month as well. Because you don't know -- we don't know what's going to happen. Yes, they're -- they're buying a lot more things to keep them steadily fed throughout the month.

BROWN: And -- and how is all this impacting like businesses like yours?

MCKINNIS: Well, I can only imagine. As of right now, I wouldn't say nothing too, too bad. But of course, it is a worry in the back of your head. I mean, we're going to be OK. It's just a matter of these people, they -- they need to eat. I mean, it's obviously something that we can't say everything's free and give it all away. But we're definitely trying to help out as much as we can in as many ways as possible just because we hate to see everybody struggling.

BROWN: Yes, and you mentioned that special deal you put together and it's been very popular among your customers. I'm curious what you're seeing in terms of just overall prices. Because the inflation data released last month shows that -- data show that grocery prices have been increasing. And I'm wondering if that's what you're seeing.

MCKINNIS: There -- yes, it's been -- it's been something crazy to watch because I've been here five years now. And just as much as it's changed from, say, the last few months versus all the years I've been here. Like I'll tell you, a ribeye, a prime grade ribeye, went from $21.99 a pound last week to $29.99 a pound come this week. Obviously, that's a specialty cut and we're cutting less for the case. But it's just something as simple as a ribeye has gone up in price so much that we've -- everyone's kind of going down the scale of prime cuts which is to be expected, but it's just crazy.

BROWN: But why is it going up so much and so rapidly? Just help us better understand that.

MCKINNIS: Yes, so well, at first we had, well, I'd say last week, week before, $21.99 a pound. And that was super, super close to cost because we just don't like -- it just looks terrible to have it up so high. And come this week after, we realized, oh my goodness, we're giving these away essentially. We're not -- we're actually losing money because we didn't realize they had changed.

And we changed the price and the scales and everything. And everyone's like, what in the heck? We were like, yes, there's not too, too much we can do when prices go up that high, if you know what I mean especially that rapidly.

BROWN: Yes. And what's the fix?

MCKINNIS: I mean, as of right now, wait it out. There's not much we can do. We're not going to -- we're not going to buy in. Well, we do have, of course, like different cuts and that are a lot cheaper. We've got top round at like $6.99 a pound in the case. But we don't want to lose the quality and go for something different, different brand. Because that's something we also like to strive for is that it's always consensually the same every time you get it, if you know what I mean.

[11:15:13]

BROWN: Yes. High quality. All right, Sydney McKinnis, thank you so much for giving us a window into what's happening at your store.

MCKINNIS: Thank you.

BROWN: We really appreciate it. It -- it helps us better understand the -- the landscape.

MCKINNIS: Yes, of course.

BROWN: Thanks so much. Wolf?

MCKINNIS: Yes.

BLITZER: Pamela. And still ahead, several people are rushed to the hospital after a suspicious package is delivered to a major U.S. military base just outside Washington, D.C. It's the same base that President Trump uses to fly in and out of the area. Our newest reporting when we come back. Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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[11:20:30] BLITZER: New this morning, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth now says the U.S. military has just carried out another strike on an alleged drug boat in the Caribbean. You can see the video of the strike here. Hegseth said three people were killed. There have been 18 strikes like this one since early September with 70 people killed.

Also this morning, a growing investigation at the Pentagon after a suspicious package was sent to Joint Base Andrews in Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C. Officials say the package had a white powdery substance inside. And sources are telling us at least seven people were taken to a hospital on the base. Early testing didn't reveal anything hazardous. We're watching the story. We'll update you as we get more information.

BROWN: And we have breaking news, Wolf. A new survey shows Americans are worried about the toll this historic government shutdown could have on the economy. I want to bring in CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich. She has some new reporting on consumer sentiment. Vanessa, it's dipped to its lowest level in three years. Is that right?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Pamela. Americans are feeling as bad about the economy right now as they did three years ago when inflation was at a towering 9 percent. This is according to the University of Michigan, who says that in this preliminary survey this month, consumer sentiment fell by 6 percent, and that is the lowest level since June of 2022, which at that time is the lowest level since this survey began in the 1950s.

And then if you look at it on an annual basis, consumer sentiment falling by 30 percent in the last year. And this month in particular, sentiment fell because of concerns over the government shutdown. It's the longest on record. We're talking about day 38 right now of this government shutdown, and people are worried about what that means for the overall economy. We also saw sentiment decline across different age groups, income levels, and political affiliation.

The steepest drops in sentiment came where people were talking about how they felt about their personal finances and also where they felt the economy was going in the next year. That's where their concerns were. There was an increase in sentiment among one group of Americans, and those are people who have money in the stock market. They are feeling better. The stock market has been incredibly resilient in the face of so much economic uncertainty.

And, Pamela, it's obviously important to figure out and understand how people are feeling, but this report is also really important, Pamela, because it's one of the only economic reports we've had in the last 38 days. We haven't gotten those inflation reports, those jobless claims, so this really paints somewhat of a picture about how consumers may be feeling in this economy right now, Pamela.

BROWN: That's a really good point. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you. Wolf?

[11:23:22]

BLITZER: And just ahead, a CNN exclusive. Parents are claiming a popular A.I. chatbot encouraged their son to take his life. The shocking and very disturbing conversations, that's next in The Situation Room Special Report.

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BLITZER: Now to a CNN exclusive investigation. The family of a recent college grad who died by suicide is filing a lawsuit against the creator of ChatGPT. The parents claim the chatbot encouraged their son, Zane Shamblin, to take his own life. CNN exclusively reviewed dozens of pages of chats between Shamblin and ChatGPT, including one's just moments before his suicide. Ed Lavandera has the story in this Situation Room Special Report.

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ALICIA SHAMBLIN, MOTHER OF ZANE SHAMBLIN: I love this. This is awesome. Look at him. Look at his face.

KIRK SHAMBLIN, FATHER OF ZANE SHAMBLIN: He should still be here.

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: You think he's a victim of ChatGPT and this chat bot?

K. SHAMBLIN: Yes.

A. SHAMBLIN: Absolutely.

K. SHAMBLIN: It 100 percent facilitated Zane's death. My son's suicide.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): The parents of Zane Shamblin have filed a lawsuit accusing the creators of ChatGPT and its CEO Sam Altman of designing a product that encouraged and goaded their son into suicide.

LAVANDERA: On the morning that Zane Shamblin took his life, he came out here in the middle of the night to the edge of Lake Bryan near the campus of Texas A&M University where he had been a student.

LAVANDERA (voice-over): For nearly five hours, the 23-year-old computer science graduate sat in his car at this spot texting with ChatGPT.

LAVANDERA: It started around 11:30 at night and lasted until after 4 o'clock in the morning.

A. SHAMBLIN: It's like a train wreck you can't look away from. I'm his mom and these are my son's final words.

LAVANDERA: Just after midnight, this is the first time that Zane mentions having a gun. Just learned my glocks got glow in the dark sights.

[11:30:01] LAVANDERA (voice-over): ChatGPT instantly sent back a 226-word response, part of which read, I'm honored to be part of the credits roll. If this is your --