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The Brief with Jim Sciutto
CNN International: Venezuela's Military Plans "Massive Mobilization"; U.K. Halts Some Intel Sharing with U.S. Over Boat Strikes; Lawmakers Set to Vote to Reopen Government; Ron Dermer Resigns from Cabinet; Israel Moves to Mandate the Death Penalty for Terrorists; SoftBank Sells NVIDIA Shares to Fund A.I. Bets; Ronaldo: 2026 World Cup Will Be My Last. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired November 11, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR, "THE BRIEF": Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from all around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington and
you're watching "The Brief."
Just at this hour Venezuela says it is now launching a mass mobilization of its military forces as a U.S. strike group arrives in the region. Israeli
lawmakers advance a bill that would mandate the death penalty for convicted terrorists and Cristiano Ronaldo says next year's World Cup will definitely
be his last. All that and many more coming up.
New tonight, Venezuela has announced a massive military mobilization, this in response to a massive U.S. military buildup in the Caribbean. It plans
to carry out exercises through Wednesday involving its land, air and naval forces. Venezuela's defense minister has vowed his soldiers are ready to
quote fight to the death.
The mobilization comes as the world's largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford, has just arrived in the region. The U.S. says it is targeting
drug smuggling. However, the Venezuelan government believes the real goal is regime change.
This all unfolds as CNN has learned the U.K. is no longer sharing intelligence with the U.S. about suspected drug trafficking in the
Caribbean. Sources say the U.K. does not want to be complicit in U.S. military strikes on the vessels, believing the attacks, which have killed
dozens in recent weeks, violate international law.
Stefano Pozzebon is in Caracas. Stefano, I wonder, do Venezuelan officials believe that the U.S. might very well invade the country? Are they taking
this buildup of forces that seriously?
STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Well, I was actually speaking with a source a couple of days ago, Jim, asking him exactly the same question.
He's an analyst, a person that has some understanding of how the inner circle of Nicolas Maduro's government works and thinks. And he says that he
thinks that they don't think that this is probable. However, they're definitely taking it seriously. They're not taking any chances, if you
will, Jim.
And I think that the mobilization over 200,000 between soldiers and members of the militia to join these military drills to prepare the country for
whatever might happen is a sign that Nicolas Maduro thinks that that could definitely be a possibility.
We at CNN have learned over the last few weeks and even days that the White House has not made a final decision, that the U.S. president, Donald Trump,
is still pondering, is still evaluating whether to move to a next step of that campaign, allegedly against the drug traffickers, but that could also
implicate direct strikes on Venezuelan soil.
One thing that perhaps is often missing is the fact that, well, according to the White House, the leader of this country, Nicolas Maduro, he's
himself a drug trafficker. So, when they say we're going to prosecute, we're going after people who are trafficking in cocaine, for example, they
might well believe Maduro's personally.
So, that's why I think with the arrival of the Gerald Ford, just like you said, the largest aircraft carrier in the world that has just arrived in
the area of competence, in the area of operation from the United States Southern Command to support that mission, that could be yet another sign
that the United States are preparing some form of attack and are just preventing Venezuela to retaliate as a way of showing a disproportionate
difference in forces.
One of the big questions that is hanging over Caracas right now is the streets, as you can see, are very calm as of tonight, is how prepared
Venezuela actually can be. We know that in the years of Maduro's predecessor, Hugo Chavez, when this country used to be one of the
wealthiest in the region, Venezuela did purchase a lot of equipment from Russia and other countries to beef up and boost up its military defense.
However, we don't know, after more than 10 years of dramatic economic crisis in this country, how affected and how effective those weapons might
be. That is the main question.
And then going back to the scoop by our colleague Natasha Bertrand up in London about these refusals from the United Kingdom to share intelligence
with the U.S.
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We understand that other countries, including Canada and Australia, have also shared concern about what the use of that intelligence that is shared
between these countries is and the legality of those strikes. So, clearly, a very tense situation, Jim, we know that has been dragging on for a few
months. It was August 15, I think, that we started seeing the first warships from Washington arriving down in the Caribbean Sea, but now we
might actually get closer to another infection point, Jim.
So, a very tense moment here in Caracas, even though, as of today, the situation here on the ground remains calm.
SCIUTTO: Stefano Pozzebon, thanks so much for joining us now. U.S. Congressman Steve Cohen, he's a Democrat from Tennessee who sits on the
House Intelligence and Judiciary Committees. Congressman, thanks so much for taking the time.
REP. STEVE COHEN (D-TN) AND MEMBER, U.S. HOUSE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE: You're welcome, Jim. Happy Veterans Day.
SCIUTTO: You as well. And I see you there wearing your pin to commemorate the day. First, I just want to begin on Venezuela now, because for the U.S.
to move its most advanced, largest aircraft carrier off the coast of Venezuela, carries its strike group with it, as you know, there's a
destroyer in the region, a whole host of aerial assets as well. What exactly is the Trump administration preparing for here? And does that
include ground operations inside Venezuela?
COHEN: Well, I guess first I'd have to say that if I knew the answer, I probably couldn't tell you, because what we hear in the Intelligence
Committee, we cannot repeat. But I can tell you that the Intelligence Committee has not met since we shut down and we haven't been given any
information. We have what we call read books that were given on all sections of the world and what's going on and what the intelligence
agencies are involved in. And I read them regularly.
And I was in Washington about eight days ago and read them, and there was nothing in there. And I asked twice that week if there was anything about
the boats and the sinking of the boats, and there'd been nothing. So, there has been some information I've received that there might be some briefing
papers tomorrow on the situation. But as to now, they've not informed the Intelligence Committee, to the best of my knowledge, anything whatsoever.
SCIUTTO: Given your long experience on the Intelligence Committee, and you meet with foreign partners as well in your job, how damaging is it for an
ally, in this case, I think you'd say one of America's closest allies, the U.K., to say, we're not going to share intelligence with you because we
believe you're using that intelligence to carry out illegal acts, these deadly strikes on what the administration calls narco-terrorists. What's
the effect of that?
COHEN: The effect is very, very bad because they won't be sharing with us and we may not be sharing with them. And the five I's, five companies that
work together on intelligence, have always worked together and there's never been issues. The only issues that have arisen during the Trump
administration, and there was one earlier where they considered not sharing information because of some of the things Trump had revealed. He revealed -
- I think during his first term it was, he revealed some information with the Russians present in his office that was classified information.
He's done these two occasions, I think, publicly, and of course he had a bunch of classified documents at Mar-a-Lago that he wasn't supposed to
have. So, he's not a president that has kept a firm hand on security papers and security information.
SCIUTTO: I just returned from Europe and it strikes me that when you speak to European officials about the defense and intelligence relationship with
the U.S., they'll say something in public. Everything's fine. Relationship's great. It's always been. In private they'll express genuine
concerns about it. And I wonder if you hear the same thing.
What is the actual state of the cooperative relationship with our defense and intelligence partners given, you know, what I think we could call quite
a public split here over U.S. operations in the Caribbean?
COHEN: Well, there have been other splits and they're not good and, you know, Trump, he's loose with his lips and he's taking actions that are
questionable. The main reason I think Britain is looking at retrenching their sharing of information with the United States is because they feel
what we're doing is illegal, that that should be a criminal activity where we arrest the people on the boats, give them due process and allow them to
have the opportunity to present witnesses.
One of the things that I've learned is that whenever I go overseas and we ask people, what is the thing you must respect about the United States?
What they always say is the rule of law. We no longer can really boast that we are the country with the best rule of law and giving people due process.
We've not given a lot of immigrants who have courts of rules should have due process before they're sent off to El Salvador. We sent them to El
Salvador.
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We've flown airplanes when we were ordered to return them by courts and continue to fly the airplanes to their destinations. And so, our reputation
has been sullied because of the actions of the president. He's been known to tell untruths and not understand what he's getting involved in.
And I certainly think that these -- using our military to fire upon these boats, which what I've read is most of them have been involved in drug
movements, but the drugs are cocaine, not fentanyl. Fentanyl is the killer drug in America. Even then, I don't think he should be killing the people,
they should be arresting them.
And if you wanted to make a war against some drug dealer countries, it would be fentanyl cartels in Mexico or producers in China, not cocaine
producers and traffickers in Colombia who are sending it through Venezuela. And what I understand, I read a story this past week, and that's where I'm
getting information from the newspaper, it seems the L.A. Times, that the drugs that were on those boats were headed for Trinidad and Tobago and they
were on their way to Europe and the drugs weren't even intended for the United States.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I want to turn out to an issue of domestic politics if I can, and that is the bipartisan deal to reopen the government now working
its way through Congress. Do you believe that your Democratic colleagues in the Senate caved with this deal?
COHEN: Yes, I do. We were at a high point on Tuesday. The public is definitely with the Democrats. I think they're still with the Democrats,
but it was tremendous numbers. Every race, every part of the country, red, blue, purple, was voting Democrat because they saw we were standing up for
health care, and health care is the most important civil right that anybody has. We need to provide health care to all people. We should have health
care for all Americans.
My father was a doctor. I had polio when I was five. I spent three months in a hospital and nine months on crutches. I have what's called post-polio
now, so I've had polio most of my life. And so, I'm a firm believer in health care, and I will not vote to ever deny health care to any American.
One of my proudest votes was for the Affordable Care Act, because that needs to be expanded upon and strengthened, not weakened.
SCIUTTO: So, why do you think this group of senators, Democratic senators, made this deal? What -- I mean, particularly to your point in the wake of
what we're resounding Democratic victories last Tuesday?
COHEN: I think they got nervous, which I understand. Flights being delayed. And I flew last Friday and on Monday and was concerned about my
flight being canceled, neither was, but still was a concern. And I think a lot of citizens had flights canceled, certainly delayed, but a lot of them
were canceled, and there would be more and more of them. And this was a way for President Trump to put pressure on citizens to get them upset, to call
their congressman and say, hey, my flight was canceled, get the government working again.
This was not so much -- it may relate to safety some, but it was mostly a political move. And he tried the same thing with SNAP payments. He was
going to starve people, not feed hungry children and seniors and people with disabilities, and to put pressure again on those people's hostages.
Trump showed no desire to negotiate. He didn't negotiate. He played bullying tactics, and those ain't felt for him.
SCIUTTO: Yes. Well, Congressman, we appreciate you giving us so much time. Thanks so much for joining the program.
COHEN: You're welcome, Jim. Nice to be back with you.
SCIUTTO: Well, moving now to Israel, where Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, who is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's confidant, has resigned.
He had served as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. during the first Trump administration. On Monday, the Israeli parliament advanced a bill mandating
the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism against the Israeli State.
That piece of legislation pushed by the country's far-right national security minister, who handed out suites after the first reading of the
legislation. Israeli lawmakers also voted to advance a measure allowing the government to shut down foreign media outlets without a court order. Amir
Fuchs is a senior researcher at the Israel Democracy Institute, and he joins us now. Thanks so much for joining.
AMIR FUCHS, SENIOR RESEARCHER, ISRAEL DEMOCRACY INSTITUTE: Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: So, let me begin, if I can, with what's known as the Al Jazeera law. This is the one that gives the government the power to close down
foreign news outlets without a court order, even during peacetime. I mean, it strikes me that if a government claims some national security interest,
they can shut down news organizations. Does that, in your view, comply with Israeli law?
FUCHS: You have to understand, we did have that law during the war. And now, because the war is ending, we need to -- the lawmakers need to reenact
it as a permanent law.
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And of course, I think this is against freedom of speech and has a lot of problems. But the issue is about keeping Israel's security, and that's why
they need it. Until now, it was implemented against Al Jazeera and Al Mayadeen, from Qatar and from Hezbollah.
SCIUTTO: I mean, the trouble, right, is that a prime minister who doesn't like news coverage could say military secrets or challenges our security or
we must be unified in this time of war, et cetera. I mean, to your point, opens the door pretty wide, does it not, to diminishing freedom of
expression and freedom of freedom of the press?
FUCHS: It does. I totally agree with you. But still, there can be petition to the court even after the warrant is given. We still have a Supreme
Court, which is independent and strong and can deal with these petitions after the warrant is given.
SCIUTTO: OK. Tell us about the impact of the other law and this bringing - - or mandating, I should say, the death penalty for those convicted of terrorism, because you have so many of many thousands of people who are
accused of terrorism inside Israeli jails who have not been convicted, oftentimes spend a great deal of time there. What is the standard for the
death penalty to be applied?
FUCHS: Well, what they are suggesting, and we must stress that this is just first reading, it's not a law yet, it's just a bill, but they are
suggesting is that when someone is convicted with murder and during a terrorist attack against the Jewish people resurrection in its land and
basically is supposed to catch all the terrorists that attack Jews, there will be a mandatory capital punishment, which is, of course, a very extreme
version of capital punishment.
SCIUTTO: This is at a time, of course, when many in the international community question whether Israel committed crimes during its conduct of
the war in Gaza. Is this a political move by the prime minister trying to shore up his right flank in advance of coming elections?
FUCHS: In a way, of course, this is a political move. And I have to say that one of the reasons we are dealing with this bill is that there is
public support for capital punishment in Israel, certainly after the atrocities of 7 October '23. But the fact is that we had these bills for
years and they were always blocked by the heads of security agencies that said this is not, we don't need this and this is actually
counterproductive. It doesn't have any evidence in countries that do have capital punishment that is deterrent. It is not effective. It will only
damage.
But now, yes, when we see the election coming and there is some kind of populism, and of course, this is one of the reasons that it is now
promoted. But I have to say there might be -- during the legislative process in the committees, there will probably be some changes until it
will be finally ratified, if it will be ratified. And even if it will, there is a strong chance that the Supreme Court will decide that this is
unconstitutional.
SCIUTTO: Tell me why --
FUCHS: You have to understand we don't have a tradition.
SCIUTTO: Right. Go ahead.
FUCHS: Just to clarify, we don't have a tradition of executions in Israel. We don't have any -- we didn't have any execution since more than 60 years.
The last time we did have an execution is of Adolf Eichmann of 1962, according to the law, dealing with the Nazi criminals. So, it's very
unusual in Israel to have executions for criminals. So, we still have a lot of legal and political obstacles until we will even see an execution in
Israel.
SCIUTTO: Understood. Amir Fuchs, thanks so much for walking us through the impact of this.
Still ahead, one of the world's biggest tech investment firms is now selling a massive stake in NVIDIA. Is SoftBank's move a sign of an A.I.
market bubble? We'll discuss.
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SCIUTTO: Welcome back. In today's Business Breakout, a mixed day on Wall Street. The Dow rallied to record highs thanks to strength in health care
stocks. Tech, however, pulled back amid ongoing fears about high valuations.
Checking some of today's other business headlines. Another day of travel chaos at U.S. airports. Airlines canceled more than 1,200 flights on
Tuesday due to U.S. government-mandated flight reductions. It's the fifth day in a row that cancellations have topped 1,000 per day. Another 2,000
flights were delayed.
The U.S. Transportation Secretary says flight restrictions may not end immediately, even if the government shutdown ends this week. He says the
data will have to show that airports are staffed properly before the administration lifts those restrictions.
New economic data suggests the U.S. jobs market continues to weaken. Payroll from firm ADP says more than 11,000 jobs were lost per week on
average in the four weeks ending October 25th. That's compared to a gain of more than 14,000 jobs in the four weeks prior. ADP data has become
essential for economists trying to keep track of the U.S. economy. Due to the lack of official government data due to the ongoing shutdown.
Tesla is facing new troubles in its second biggest market, China. The company announced it has sold just over 26,000 vehicles there in the last
month. That's its weakest sales in China in three years, more than 35 percent lower than the same period last year. Tesla now has only a 3
percent share of the Chinese market due in large part to increased competition from domestic Chinese companies such as Xiaomi, which reported
record China sales last month. They're also cheaper.
Japanese investment giant SoftBank revealed today it has sold its sizable stake in the A.I. chip maker NVIDIA. SoftBank held more than 32 million
shares of NVIDIA worth almost $6 billion. It made the move, it says, to free up cash for other A.I. funding commitments. It says the sale has
nothing to do with NVIDIA itself. That said, NVIDIA shares fell almost 3 percent on that news. It is also fueling fears that A.I. stocks more
broadly might have risen too high too fast.
Joint hedge fund manager Michael Burry, who was featured in the film "The Big Short," says he is now betting against NVIDIA and A.I. software giant
Palantir. Burry says he's worried that some A.I. giants could be overstating their earnings.
SoftBank has sold its entire stake in NVIDIA before. Tech bulls note NVIDIA could see strong demand for its chips from SoftBank's newest A.I.
investments. We'll see.
Robbie Whelan joins me now, reporter for The Wall Street Journal. I wonder, I mean, listen, there's been a lot of talk about A.I. related stock
valuations for some time. It's -- I mean, it's a big portion -- big reason the stock market's been going up so much.
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And you've had a split, it seems. Some market watchers say, well, no, there's something behind this. It's real. And others say it looks like a
bubble. What are you hearing? Is this one a sign that, you know, the bubble crowd is winning out?
ROBBIE WHELAN, REPORTER, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: It's a complicated question. Thanks for having me on to discuss it. What I would say is that I
don't think this deal in particular, this sale of stock that Masa Son has done, is the cleanest reflection of there being a bubble. I think it's --
in this case, it's more about, you know, an investor, a prominent tech investor who thinks that his money is better deployed on the side of the
companies that design and operate the models like ChatGPT, where the real revenue is going to be for the long term. I think that's what the
determination that Masa is making in pulling his money -- NVIDIA, plowing it into OpenAI, which is the only real company that he's in in a
significant way that has gained a big foothold in developing A.I. products.
That said, there is a lot of evidence building that we may be in a bubble, especially on the infrastructure side. We've done a lot of reporting in
recent weeks, the last month or two about just how much money and the amounts of capital being deployed on data centers, on chips, on networking
hardware is just eye popping. It's just incredible how much money is being spent. It's probably the biggest build out of infrastructure in human
history on planet Earth, and it doesn't show any signs of slowing down.
And anytime you see something like this, especially with the kind of financing that we're seeing behind it, which is heavy on debt financing,
heavy on this sort of agreements that in the tech world are called circular agreements where a larger company will basically fund their customers using
-- you know, using balance sheet capital, that's when we start to get worried, start to see some eyebrows go up thinking maybe this is a bubble.
SCIUTTO: Yes. I mean, listen, it sounds a lot like, you know, when they were building the railroads, right? I mean, there was a period there they
build way too many of them. A lot of people lost a lot of money.
I mean, another trouble here, right, and I know SoftBank is selling its NVIDIA stock to invest in part in OpenAI. So, they're still in the space.
But there's a lot of interconnectivity of the investments among these companies. You know, there -- which -- I mean, makes one think of the
possibility of something of a house of cards.
WHELAN: Yes. I mean, it's -- if you want to go through the list, we can do that. I mean, OpenAI has a deal -- they have a massive deal with SoftBank.
It's called Stargate. It involves building an enormous number of data centers, especially in Texas. They have they have a huge deal with AMD,
NVIDIA's biggest competitor in the chip design space, where essentially, they have warrants to buy about 10 percent of AMD stock for nothing. And
they're going to use the capital that they've got essentially from the rising price of AMD stock to buy AMD's GPUs, put them in data centers.
You've got a similar arrangement, a hundred-billion-dollar deal between NVIDIA and OpenAI. And these deals, when you look at them, they're all sort
of different. They have different shades of how they're structured. But when you look at them all, the thing that really stands out is that they
all seem to be a supplier. One of these huge super cap companies in the tech space, giving money to customers in one form or another or helping
them get access to capital in order to spend on their products.
And I think that's what really worries a lot of investors as they say, if this was really a healthy market with no major holes in the business plan
of these big companies, then why would we need to sort of do these kinds of esoteric financing agreements? Why -- wouldn't the demand just be just be
strong enough to sort of support those investments? And the reason why it's not is that we really are still in early stages of what people talk about
as A.I. changing the business world.
You know, everyone's sitting around wondering, when is all this revenue from these products we keep hearing about they're going to change what it's
like to go to an office for work, what it's like to experience entertainment? When are all these products going to come? And more
importantly, when are they going to start making money?
SCIUTTO: Yes, that's the thing. I mean, and by the way, as you know, as well as me, there's a lot of debate as to just how quickly that's going to
all happen, right? Robbie Whelan, I'm sure it's not the last time we talk about it. Thanks so much for joining.
WHELAN: No problem. Thanks for having me.
SCIUTTO: Coming up, a former NASA astronaut decides to run for Congress as a Democrat in what is a newly redrawn district in Texas, like all the newly
redrawn districts there that heavily favors Republicans. He joins us right after the break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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SCIUTTO: Welcome back to "The Brief." I'm Jim Sciutto. And here are the international headlines we're watching today.
Sources tell CNN the U.K. is suspending some intelligence sharing with the U.S. about drug trafficking in the Caribbean. Recent U.S. strikes on
suspected drug smuggling vessels have killed more than 70 people. The Trump administration says the track traffickers threaten U.S. lives and therefore
deadly force is justified. Sources tell CNN the U.K. believes those strikes are illegal. They also say Canada does not want its intelligence used for
deadly strikes either.
Palestinian activists say dozens of Israeli settlers torched land and property in the West Bank today, the latest in a surge of such attacks.
People wearing masks, carrying clubs assaulted a dairy factory in a village while Palestinians carrying water buckets tried to put out the flames.
Israeli police say they arrested four Israeli suspects after, quote, "extreme violence."
Officials in Pakistan say at least 12 people are dead, 20 others injured, after one of the worst suicide bombings in Islamabad in nearly two decades.
The blast happened near the capital city's busy courthouse today, near the offices for high-ranking government officials. One faction of the militant
Pakistani Taliban has now claimed responsibility. The country has faced a surge of violence since the Afghan Taliban swept into power in Kabul in
2021.
Former NASA astronaut Terry Virts wants to represent one of the newly redrawn congressional districts in Texas. The Democrat dropped his longshot
bid for the Senate in Texas after those new district bounties were created. This district in the Houston area, they were designed, as all the new
districts in Texas are, to favor Republicans. The area's incumbent Democratic Congressman Al Green plans to run in a different district
instead.
Terry Virts joins me now. We should also note on this Veterans Day, he's a retired Air Force colonel who flew 45 combat missions in the F-16. Good to
have you on, sir. And on this Veterans Day, let me thank you for your service.
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COL. TERRY VIRTS, FORMER NASA ASTRONAUT AND U.S. AIR FORCE (RET.): Thanks for having me on, Jim. And I just want to thank all the veterans out there.
If you're out for dinner tonight and you see somebody wearing one of those Vietnam veteran hats, just thank them.
SCIUTTO: Yes, it's a good idea. I'll do my best to do the same. All right. First, let's talk about your run here. Because, as you know, the Texas
Republican Party redrew the districts for the midterms expressly to make them Republican-friendly districts and help perhaps swing control of the
House in that election. But when you look at this district you're running in, it's, you know, listen, it's got quite a breakdown. 37 percent
Hispanic, 32 percent white, 24 percent black, 5 percent Asian.
And there are some who think that it might not be as solid Republican as Republicans hoped. What's your view of the district?
VIRTS: Well, I can say, first of all, this is a classic case of politicians picking their voters, not voters picking their politicians.
It's un-American. It's wrong. Ask anybody in kindergarten, they have the ethics to know that what Trump and Greg Abbott and the Republican Party are
trying to do is wrong.
And to your point, absolutely. I've been throughout the district talking to folks, they are mad. The voters that they think might have voted for Trump
in the last election are really mad. They're mad about tariffs. They're mad about cost of living. I was at a used car rally this weekend and, man, they
were coming up to me just angry about tariffs, about ICE. There's a large Hispanic population. It's a very working-class district. It's where the
refineries and ship channel is in Houston. These folks are working people. The wealth of our country comes on the backs of my constituents in my
district, and they are not happy with what's going on with ICE raiding houses and with these tariffs raising prices.
SCIUTTO: You know, you look at those races last week in New Jersey and Virginia and you did see evidence there of Latino voters, you know, not
quite abandoning, but their support for Republican candidates dropped significantly as compared to the 2024 election. But Texas, you know, those
are purple states, you know, New Jersey, blue state. I mean, you might even call them blue states, but Texas, of course, is a red state.
How big of an issue are those quite aggressive federal raids against -- and not just -- we should note, not just illegal residents of this country, but
oftentimes they're picking up legal residents. How big an issue is it in Texas?
VIRTS: Well, it's a huge issue. And look, we're not saying that we should have illegal immigration. Nobody's saying that. Even a lot of the Latino
population, they don't want the illegal immigration either. What they're saying is people who are here not breaking the law, many American citizens
are being terrorized by our police. These ICE agents are wearing masks. Who wears a mask? There's no situation where normal law enforcement should wear
a mask in America.
I spent a lot of time in Russia training for my space station flight. I saw Russian police breaking up riots actually one day. They wear masks. We
shouldn't be doing that here in America. So, folks are mad about that.
But to another point, it's not just the ICE raids. Part of my district is a big agricultural area. We have soybean farmers and we have cattle ranchers.
And they are very upset also. They voted for Trump largely. But they're mad at the subsidies we're giving to Argentinian beef producers to compete
against us. And they're mad against the destruction of the soybean market in China. So, there's a lot of voters who might have voted in 2024.
And, look, I understand why they did. The Democratic Party was not perfect. The Democratic Party made a lot of mistakes in my judgment. I understand
why some people voted for Trump. But those folks are getting upset. And we saw that in Abigail Spanberger in Virginia, a friend of mine, former CIA
officer. She really swamped the -- you know, just about every county flooded to the Democratic side. So, a lot of voters are not happy with the
direction things are going right now.
SCIUTTO: I wonder, you know, when you look at the health care issue, because that's also one that Democrats rate very well on as compared to
Republicans. That was the core of the shutdown from Democrats' perspectives, they were not going to vote to reopen government until they
got a concession on those ACA subsidies particularly. But now you have Senate Democrats signing a deal to reopen the government. In your view, is
that a mistake for Democratic senators to, in effect, give up on that issue?
VIRTS: I've got to be honest. I was so mad when I checked my Twitter at 10:00 night the other night. I was just so frustrated that we had done
that. Because I've been traveling across the state of Texas. I think 100 percent of the time the first question from every voter I talked to was
about health care. And we can see what this administration is about. The administration is working overtime to do everything they can to take health
care away from millions of Americans, to make health care more expensive for millions of Americans. And they depend on Democrats to fight back
against this.
[18:40:00]
And when I saw some of these senators, the eight that caved in, saying, well, we trust Republicans, they'll let us have this vote. We trust
Republicans? How many times? This is Charlie Brown and Lucy in the football. How many times do they have to show us that they're not
trustworthy?
When I heard one say that, well, Trump wasn't budging, so there was nothing we could do. Well, is that how you negotiate? I have a lot of ideas of how
they should have negotiated, but it's very frustrating. And to read the room of voters, voters didn't want us to cave in on this. So, fingers
crossed, they allow us to have a vote. Fingers crossed the Republican senators vote to protect health care. But I'm not holding my breath on
that. They've shown over and over again that their goal is to ruin health care for working Americans. And this is not a good situation. That should
not have happened.
SCIUTTO: Terry Virts, thanks so much for joining us.
VIRTS: Jim, thanks for having me on. And again, happy Veterans Day. Thank you to those who have served.
SCIUTTO: Indeed. Well, in New Jersey, patrons are rallying behind the co- owner of a local restaurant who was detained last month by federal immigration agents. CNN en Espanol's Maria Santana has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
EMILIO VICENZ MARQUEZ, RESTAURANT OWNER: He makes all from scratch and he makes all the dressings from his own imagination.
MARIA SANTANA, CNN EN ESPANOL ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Emilio Vicenz Marquez says his brother and head chef, Ruperto, is the heart
and soul of Emilio's Kitchen, the popular Atlantic Highlands restaurant they opened four years ago in the tight-knit New Jersey coastal town.
MARQUEZ: The first bite, you start asking questions like, what is this? You know, this is delicious.
SANTANA (voice-over): The brothers, originally from Puebla, Mexico, have lived in the U.S. for decades and own two restaurants. Both, Emilio says,
have valid work authorizations. But Ruperto now sits in the Newark Detention Center, arrested by ICE agents on October 19.
MARQUEZ: That day, he was on the way to work, and he never made it.
SANTANA (voice-over): Home surveillance video provided by a neighbor shows that around 6:30 that morning, his car was being followed by two vehicles
with flashing lights.
MARQUEZ: For some reason, I thought he got kidnapped, and I was waiting for a call from the police, or I was about thinking to call the police.
SANTANA (voice-over): Hours later, his brother called from detention, asking him to call a lawyer.
SANTANA: You also had to call his wife?
MARQUEZ: Correct.
SANTANA: And you had to inform her that her husband, father of her three children, was detained and was not going to come home that night?
MARQUEZ: Yes.
SANTANA: What was that like?
MARQUEZ: Devastating.
SANTANA: So, she was thinking, what if this happens to me too? What's going to happen to my children?
MARQUEZ: Yes.
SANTANA (voice-over): Ruperto's children, ages four, six, and eight, are all U.S. citizens. The younger ones think their father is on vacation and
will be back soon. But the oldest is struggling.
MARQUEZ: She doesn't want to go to school. She is like doing the homework, but she doesn't pay attention in what she's doing. And so, she cries a lot.
SANTANA (voice-over): In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said that Ruperto Vicenz Marquez is a criminal illegal alien from Mexico
with a previous arrest for resisting arrest and a final order of removal issued by a judge in July. Adding that work authorization does not give
anyone legal status to remain in the U.S.
But Marquez's attorney disputes almost all of that, telling CNN that he does not have an order of removal. In addition to a work permit through
2028, he has a pending relief application to legalize his status. And the charge cited by ICE was dismissed in 2010, says the lawyer.
For now, the grill keeps sizzling and the fresh tortillas rising at Emilio's Kitchen.
MARQUEZ: So, when you taste the food, it gives you life.
SANTANA (voice-over): A family hoping that their chef can soon come home.
Maria Santana, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: And so, many stories just like his. We will be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:45:00]
SCIUTTO: Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo says he expects his sixth World Cup next year will be his last. Our Becky Anderson asked him to show
-- ask him how soon he plans to retire. Here's his response.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CRISTIANO RONALDO, FOOTBALL LEGEND: Well, the soon for me means in 10 years. So, did people -- did people realize that when I say soon, it's in
six months, one year. No, I'm joking. When I mean soon, it's I'm going to back in the days and tell you, I'm really enjoying the moment right now.
And as you know, in the football, when you reach some age you count the months very quick.
So, the moment is good, as I tell you before, I feel very good in this moment. I score goals. I still feel quick and sharp. I'm enjoying my game
in the national team and Al-Nassr. But, of course, let's be honest, what I mean soon is probably one, two years. I'm still be, at the game.
BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: So, you expect this World Cup to be your last?
RONALDO: Definitely, yes. Because its -- I will be 41 years old, and I think will be -- at the moment and in the big competition that's too -- I
don't know yet. As I've told you before, I'm enjoying the moment. But when I mean soon, it's really soon, because I give everything for football. I'm
in the game for the last 25 years, I did everything. I have many records in the different scenarios in the clubs and also in the national teams. I'm
really proud. So, let's enjoy the moment, live the moment.
ANDERSON: As you look beyond the game, of course, your son, Cristiano Junior, kicked off his career in the Portugal under sixteens. How good is
he? Is he is he better than you?
RONALDO: I wish. Let's -- let me tell you something. We always -- the human beings, they -- we don't want nobody being better than us. That's --
and my point, I wish if my kids will be better than me. I'm never going to be jealous of him. Trust me.
But this is a big task. It's very, very difficult. I don't want to make him pressure. Because what I want it's -- for him, it's to be happy. Doesn't
matter if you want to play football or play another sport, be happy, be free. Don't be with the pressure of your daddy because the pressure of your
daddy, it's a lot.
And this is new generation, different generation. They are thinking different. They live different. That's as a father, I'm here to help him,
to be whatever he wants to be. I will be his support.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: He's got some pretty good soccer genes. Still to come on "The Brief." It is a car. It's a plane. Well, actually, it's kind of both. Watch
as this flying vehicle, flying taxi, takes to the skies. That story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:50:00]
SCIUTTO: Well, you may have heard flying cars, once pure science fiction, are now becoming a reality. This one is made by a company called Pivotal in
Northern California. You won't be able to go very far up or travel very far away though. However, if you've got about $190,000 to spare, something like
that could be yours. Nick Watt took a closer look at this head-turning next generation flying machine.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are clear for takeoff. Have fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger that, clear for takeoff.
NICK WATT, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): You don't need a pilot's license, and you don't even need a runway.
WATT: There, can you see it? It's just there.
WATT (voice-over): If you've ever played a video game, you can fly this thing. It's one joystick, seriously. And there's a lever to release a
parachute if it all goes horribly wrong.
WATT: It looks awesome from down here. What's the feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such a great feeling. It's the best view ever. In normal aviation, you don't get to fly this low to the ground that often.
So, getting to do it in this point of view is spectacular.
WATT: I'm going to stop talking to you because I don't want you to crash.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Appreciate that.
WATT (voice-over): Kitty Hawk gave birth to the age of aviation, and all this might be another massive milestone in the history of flight.
WATT: It looks wrong. You know, my brain can't quite get a handle on the movement. I'm used to seeing how cars, motorbikes, airplanes move. This
just moves differently. It's disconcerting. It's weird. I mean, it's awesome, but it's weird.
What are we calling this? We call it, like, an aircraft? Do we call it a flying car? I mean, what is it?
JOE MORSE, ASSOCIATE TEST PILOT, PIVOTAL: So, technically, it's an eVTOL, which stands for Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing aircraft.
WATT: You need a sexier acronym or sexier name.
MORSE: Yes, exactly.
WATT: And why don't you put some wheels on it and actually make it a flying car?
KEN KARKLIN, CEO, PIVOTAL: We definitely don't have the weight budget for wheels to be taking it on the road, unfortunately.
WATT: Disappointed, guys.
WATT (voice-over): They've got to keep it in the FAA's ultra-light category so that you don't need a license to fly under 254 pounds before
some safety stuff.
(MUSIC PLAYING)
WATT (voice-over): But, hey, his flying car didn't have wheels either. Listen, we've been dreaming of something like this since "The Jetsons."
Look, there's an old-fashioned land car. Pivotal says they've sold five of their first model Blackfly and trained dozens to fly them.
KARKLIN: One of them is a professional pilot, and he flies it to his airport from home.
WATT: So, you do have somebody commuting already?
KARKLIN: We have a couple of people commuting.
WATT (voice-over): There is a catch. You aren't allowed to fly over so- called congested areas with lots of people and buildings. A couple of other downsides, starting price, $190,000. And for now, the battery life is only
around 20 minutes, the range only about 20 miles. Pivotal says that will improve.
WATT: Whoa. Jeez, Louise.
WATT (voice-over): Another issue, they won't let me fly for real because I haven't practiced long enough in the VR simulator.
[18:55:00]
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let go.
WATT: I'll let go of the trigger.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WATT: Wow. It feels great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's cool, right?
WATT (voice-over): Ignore my histrionics, this is very easy.
WATT: I mean, this feels very cool, and I'm just pretending.
WATT (voice-over): You have to pass a test in the simulator before you can buy a Pivotal personal aircraft. It isn't a legal requirement. They say
they're just being responsible. And also looking into uses helpful to humanity, maybe for getting a smoke jumper into a wildfire or getting a
doctor to a hard-to-reach patient. And, of course, there's the military.
WATT: You've given them to the U.S. Air Force already?
KARKLIN: That's correct. For a non-developmental testing. And now, we're working with other agencies within the DOD. That said there's I think an
amazing opportunity in recreation.
WATT (voice-over): And one pilot told me flying a Cessna is like driving a sedate sedan. Flying this is like riding a motorcycle.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SCIUTTO: Pretty cool. Just 190 grand. Thanks so much for joining. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. You've been watching "The Brief." Please do stay
with CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[19:00:00]
