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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
The Andrew, Formerly Known as Prince; Mamdani on President Trump's Threats if He is Elected NYC Mayor; President Trump Back in D.C. After Meeting with China's President Xi, Trump Instructs Pentagon To Start Testing Nuclear Weapons "On An Equal Basis" With Russia And China; SNAP Deadline; Teacher Shot By First-Grader Testifies: "I Thought I Had Died". Aired 8-9p ET
Aired October 30, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DEREK VAN DAM, AMS METEOROLOGIST: What's happened to your home?
BRITNEY SAMMS, HURRICANE MELISSA SURVIVOR: The storm, everything gone. Everything. Everything right down.
VAN DAM: What do you need most at this time?
SAMMS: A roof over our head, sir. Me and my mother, my grandmother. We don't know we are going to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VAN DAM: Erin, it truly is a race against time. If we don't get aid into this area very quickly, there will be a humanitarian crisis that unfolds even further their desperate need for international assistance including food and medical supplies as well -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Derek Van Dam, thank you so much with that crucial reporting.
And thanks so much to all of you for being for it.
AC360 starts now.
[20:00:39]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, Britain's Prince Andrew, soon to be evicted from his Royal home and stripped of his title by his brother, King Charles. Andrew is a prince no longer.
Also tonight, he is on the cusp of becoming the first Muslim and one of the first democratic socialist mayors of America's largest city. My conversation with New York mayoral frontrunner, Zohran Mamdani.
Later, with two days left before 42 million Americans, including 16 million kids lose food stamp benefits, why the administration says there is nothing they can do and what a judge just said about that argument.
Good evening. Thanks for joining us.
And oh, brother, today, Britain's King Charles did something almost unprecedented in British Royal history. He is starting the process of stripping Prince Andrew of that and his other titles and honors.
In addition, the King is evicting his younger brother from his almost regal dwellings in the Windsor Mansion known as Royal Lodge.
Just last week, Andrew, who will now be known as Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor, said he would give up the use of his other title, Duke of York. But at the time, Buckingham Palace says that he was born with the title prince and presumably would die with it. Well, clearly something has changed.
In any event, this caps a fall which began over his alleged sexual abuse of Virginia Roberts Giuffre and other women allegedly trafficked to him by Jeffrey Epstein.
Now, the Palace statement alludes to it saying: These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him.
The statement adding that King Charles and Queen Camilla, "Wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
For this Londoner, it was not enough.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HARRY HUMPRIES, LONDONER: Is this what we represent? Is this what the people represent? No, it is a disgrace. So I am happy he has got stripped off his titles, his Royal titles as well. He has been kicked out of the country because these guys live off us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As for Virginia Roberts Giuffre's family, they put out a statement saying in part: "Today, an ordinary American girl from an ordinary American family brought down a British Prince with her truth and extraordinary courage."
"Our sister, a child when she was sexually assaulted by Andrew, never stopped fighting for accountability for what had happened to her and to countless other survivors like her. Today, she declares victory."
Joining us from London to start our coverage, CNN's Max Foster.
So what more do we know about why the King took this action now, especially given, you know, he made a few steps in this direction a short time ago, and now this. What's the reaction been like also?
MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I think they thought that they had dealt with this, but you showed some voices there from the British public. I think there has been this groundswell of opinion against Andrew and how the Palace has handled it, and they've just had to respond to that.
Speaking to sources here, they said they were working towards this moment where they could strip him of all of his titles officially. That's been hurried through and taking away the prince title was the interesting part, because he was born with that. The other titles were given to him so they could be taken away. But now this formal process of getting rid of all of those titles effectively evicting him from the monarchy, he has got nothing left. He is just a mister now, evicted from the mansion as well as you say.
Sources telling me he will be offered a home, though, on Charles' private estate, and he will get an income from Charles. So we will wait to see how the public responds to that. I am not sure they're going to take too kindly to that, because it feels like he is being protected by being put on a private estate. We will wait to hear on that.
Also, crucially, Anderson, there is one thing that doesn't change here. One privilege he keeps, he is still eighth in line to the throne, and there is some discomfort in the Palace tonight about that. That's not something they can resolve very easily. But I think politicians will start having words to say about that. This isn't going to go away any time soon.
COOPER: I mean, literally, it sounds like he is being put out to pasture. Is it clear if the Palace knows more than the public does about Andrew's association with Epstein? And that -- I mean, could it be they are trying to get ahead of further disclosures, or is it just enough was enough? The King didn't want to hear anything more about this.
FOSTER: It has done a huge damage to the monarchy. I mean, some people are saying it was going to go into decline if they don't deal with this properly. Of course, the public, if you speak to them, feel that the Palace must have known more about this as it was happening.
[20:05:10]
They weren't -- you know, it is all part of a cover-up, but this speaks to the whole Epstein story, doesn't it? This idea the establishment covering up sexual abuse ideas that they don't want to get out there. There is no evidence that the Palace or the family have been covering this up.
You know, Charles is not close to Andrew. I don't think they sit and talk about what they've been doing very much.
I think at the same time, Charles is trying to protect him to some extent. I was told by a source, you know, he is his brother at the end of the day. He can't completely throw him out. But, you know, if you're going to be cynical about that as well, if they had completely thrown him out with nothing, you know, would he go rogue? Would he start writing books? You know, he would have to make some sort of income as well.
So there are considerations here. I just wonder if they've gone far enough. And are they only responding to the public? There wasn't much leadership here. So there is an issue, but hopefully Charles does feel as though he has done enough on this now, and it was interesting. You know, you mentioned that in their statement, they did recognize the victims as central to this.
You know, all along, Andrew has missed that point and the Palace has missed it a bit as well. It hasn't come into the statements. So that was an interesting acknowledgment there.
COOPER: Max Foster, thanks very much.
Joining me now is CNN Royal historian, Kate Williams and Amy Wallace, coauthor of "Nobody's Girl," the memoir of Epstein survivor, Virginia Roberts Giuffre, which has just come out.
Giuffre also alleged Andrew sexually assaulted her as a teenager. He has denied all of those accusations.
Kate, I just want to read a portion of the Palace's statement, some of which I read earlier. It says, referring to Andrew, "These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him. Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been and will remain with the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse."
It is kind of a weird statement. I mean, they're essentially saying that any -- and I mean, victims everywhere around the world of any and all forms of abuse, obviously, they are trying to make sort of a statement, a head nod to sexual abuse allegations, but they're not actually saying that.
KATE WILLIAMS, CNN ROYAL HISTORIAN: Yes.
COOPER: It is kind of weak sauce, or is it just a very Royal kind of sauce?
WILLIAMS: It is a weak sauce, Anderson. You're absolutely right. They don't even say we are thinking of the victims of Epstein. I mean, it is very, very vague because just as Max Foster was saying there, one of the key criticisms that has been leveled at Andrew throughout this period, but also at the Palace, is that they've been reactive. They've been burying their heads in the sand. They've been ignoring it.
But most of all, as if no one has talked about the victims, these women who stood up for themselves and the powerful voice that they have, and these women who everyone tried to silence. I've been reading "Nobody's Girl" such a powerful, powerful book. So congratulations to Miss Wallace on writing it.
And it really does show how much people tried to stop Virginia from speaking and brush under the carpet. So now the Palace are speaking about the victims, but it is very vague, as you say, and simply, I think some people are going to say, this is too late.
COOPER: Amy, I mean, I think of Miss Giuffre right now who died by suicide after a long struggle to be heard, to be believed to be, you know, seen and understood. You and I were talking on this program a week or two ago. Do you think this would have happened if Virginia had not posthumously shared her story with the world?
AMY WALLACE, COAUTHOR, "NOBODY'S GIRL": I don't and that's why I mean, it is a happy, sad moment for me because I am so proud of her, her courage in coming forward, not just in her book, but for years, but then to continue to raise the issues at great cost to herself, for all of us to help everybody, to make the world a better place.
So I hear all the criticisms that you have been discussing, and I agree with them in terms of how much more specific the Royal family could be, but, you know, in the United States in recent months, citizens have taken to the streets and, and protested because they thought Donald Trump was too much of a king. You know, No Kings protest.
And I would argue that you might need to come up with a different name for those protests at this point, because King Charles has shown us what a real king can do. A real king can show compassion for those weakest among us who have been abused, terribly abused, and then he can turn around and go further, and he can punish even people close to him, even his own sibling, by humiliating him in public and taking away his theoretically, you know, birthright of being a prince.
Those are some heavy, heavy things that he just did, and I hope that it starts a reckoning in this country where we need to be holding all the men that these girls and women were trafficked to, all of them to account. And that gets to releasing the Epstein files, which Donald Trump campaigned and promised that he would do.
And then going further than that, and having the Department of Justice and the FBI do their jobs and hold these men to account.
[20:10:22]
COOPER: So, Kate, will King Charles just support Andrew Mountbatten- Windsor for the rest of his life? And I mean, what was Andrew -- how was he -- what was he living on before? Did the like the Duke, you know, the titles he had of Duke of, you know whatever it is, does that come with money?
WILLIAMS: Yes. Good question. We do want to know more about the Royal family's finances, Anderson. They are very opaque. Andrew's money from the Royal family as a working Royal, which would normally be about a six figure sum, about $300,000.00 was stopped when he stepped back in 2019. So he has had a very small military pension, very small. So really, I think he has been supported by perhaps a legacy from the Queen, money from the King, and he has been in this marvelous 30-room mansion on the Royal Estate, beautiful house that he wouldn't leave, and he has now been evicted.
But he is going to live on the King's private estate in Sandringham and be supported by the King. And I think people are still going to keep saying, is this enough? I mean, you're still looking after him. You're still protecting him. You're still letting him hide behind you. And over and over again, just as Amy was saying, there has been this cover-up. You know, obviously we hope the Epstein files are coming out, but certainly the Royal family have benefited from Epstein files not coming out.
If they do come out, there is going to be, I think, even more damaging revelations for Andrew and the King is going to have to deal with those. And one of the questions are, where does Andrew's money come from? And are you supporting him, as you say.
COOPER: Amy, Virginia says in the book, "Back at the house, Maxwell and Epstein said goodnight and headed upstairs, signaling it was time that I take care of the prince. In the years since, I've thought a lot about how he behaved. He was friendly enough, but still entitled, as if he believed having sex with me was his birthright."
Obviously, the title of prince was, until today, his birthright. How do you think Virginia would react to this?
WALLACE: I think she'd feel just completely validated by it. And again, as you've said there is still more to do. There is still more to do in England, and there is still more to do here, a lot more to do here in the United States.
But remember, this is a girl who, when she was 17, was served up to Prince Andrew for the first, not just one time, but three times. And then she comes forward and makes her voice heard, as do many other brave survivors of Epstein and Maxwell, and people tell them they are liars. That's been going on for more than a dozen years.
So in that way, even the polite language of the Royal family and the way that that statement is phrased, I hear that its Britishisms and politesse, but it is a huge acknowledgment, a huge validation for what these women and girls went through. And in that sense, I think Virginia would be overjoyed.
I wish she was here to see it.
COOPER: Yes, Amy Wallace, thank you so much. And Kate, thank you as well. I feel like Kate, you and I have witnessed a lot of remarkable events in the history of the royal family over the last, I don't know, decades. It is good to be with you tonight. Thank you --
WILLIAMS: Thank you so much.
COOPER: -- Kate Williams.
The President's Far Eastern trip and what to make of his announcement that the U.S. would start testing nuclear weapons again.
(VIDEO CLIP PLAYS)
COOPER: Also, a former teacher shot by her six-year-old student takes the stand. This is body cam video of her being treated for the wounds that nearly killed her. Her court testimony today about what she went through ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:18:19]
COOPER: We are now five days from Election Day in the biggest mayoral race in the country that could upend all conventional wisdom in the three-way race. There's democratic socialist candidate, Zohran Mamdani, former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who is running as an Independent and Republican candidate, Curtis Sliwa.
All of them have been busy crisscrossing the city campaigning. A new Marist poll out today of likely New York City voters show Mamdani with 48 percent over Cuomo's 32 percent. Sliwa is at 18.
Now the stakes are high if Mamdani is elected. President Trump has threatened to withhold federal funding for the city and deploy National Guard troops here, as he has done or pledged to do in other Democratic-led cities like Washington, D.C., Chicago and Portland.
For months, the President has often gone after Mamdani.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: We have a communist who is 33 years old, doesn't know a thing. Practically, he has never worked a day in his life, and he has sort of caught on. Right?
And, I am not going to send a lot of money to New York. We are not going to ruin one of our great cities, because we will make that great. We will clean up the crime in about 30 days.
And all of these cities, we want to clean them up. We don't like that opposition. But if somebody is going to be a communist mayor of New York, it is a fluke if he gets in.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Now, earlier today, I spoke with the Democratic nominee, New York Assemblyman Zohran Mamdani.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Recently, you heard President Trump suggest he is going to withhold federal funding, possibly send in National Guard troops if you're elected, Andrew Cuomo has kind of amplified that. What do you say to New Yorkers who say, is this worth the hassle of losing perhaps a lot of money in federal funding if you become the mayor?
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL CANDIDATE: You know, we are already seeing this as a reality with Eric Adams as the mayor. The federal administration took $80 million out of city coffers. They suspended $50 million for our city schools. And then they threatened to withhold $18 billion in infrastructure grants.
[20:20:10 ] The most effective way to push back on his threats is to actually name them for what they are, and then use every tool at your disposal to take them on.
COOPER: So what do you do if he decides -- I mean, we already saw there was an ICE action on Canal Street. They said they were targeting undocumented immigrants who were selling counterfeit bags, which on Canal Street is kind of there is a long history of that, obviously.
What do you do?
MAMDANI: I think this is an example of what is unacceptable in this country. I think the first thing that you do is you close the door that Eric Adams opened to the NYPD doing civil immigration enforcement. He said that on national television. The second thing you'd do --
COOPER: So you would not allow the New York Police Department to engage or to cooperate with ICE or DHS?
MAMDANI: Not in civil immigration enforcement. We have sanctuary city laws where we've been very, very clear that for a set of serious crimes, there is coordination with the federal administration. But anything beyond that, beyond that, I think 172 crimes that are listed, that is something for the NYPD to focus on purely right here in New York City.
COOPER: Leading Republicans are trying to make you, in some ways, the new face of the Democratic Party. I am sure you heard what Speaker Mike Johnson said. He essentially blamed you, at least indirectly, for the ongoing government shutdown. I just want to play what he said.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): They're worried about the radical left base that is rising in the democrat party and some of the leading politicians here, including the two New Yorkers who run both chambers, Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer are afraid they're going to get a challenge from a Mamdani-like candidate.
And so they have to show a fight, and that's what this is about.
The only reason they did it right now is because they're afraid of the rise of the far-left Marxists in their party, and they have to show them that they're going to fight.
And real people are hurting during this political game, this showmanship.
COOPER: Do you believe national Democrats are afraid of you? And Schumer has not endorsed you?
MAMDANI: I believe the national Democrats are holding the line right now to actually call the question on the Trump administration, which ran a presidential campaign on the premise of cheaper groceries and is now using the power that they won to make it even harder to afford those groceries and to hear someone try and pin this on me when what we've actually seen is that Americans just want their health care, they just want to be able to afford their groceries, their day-to-day lives, it shows how out-of-touch the Republican Party is.
COOPER: There is a clip of you that's gone viral from 2023, just two years ago, you were speaking at the Democratic Socialists of America. You talked about the importance of international solidarity. And this is what you said.
MAMDANI: And I think that for anyone to care about these issues, we have to make them hyperlocal. We have to make clear that when the boot of the NYPD is on your neck, it has been laced by the IDF. We have to make not specifically that example all the time, but just to say that for working class people who have very little time, who have so many stresses, who are under so many pressures, there isn't that much time for symbolism.
We have to make it materially connected to their life.
COOPER: What does that mean? That was just two years ago. What does that mean the boots of the NYPD have been laced by the IDF?
MAMDANI: It was a reference to training exercises that have taken place between the NYPD and the IDF. And I've spoken --
COOPER: Do you still believe that the NYPD is basically working hand in glove with the IDF?
MAMDANI: No, I've made very clear, those are training exercises that were a concern to me. And what my focus is, is on working with the NYPD to actually deliver public safety for New Yorkers across the five boroughs. And I've made the decision to retain Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch because of her record in being able to deliver that safety and reducing crime across the five boroughs.
COOPER: That's new. You know, previously, you wouldn't say that you wanted to retain her. You were saying point blank. I mean, she has done a remarkable job it seems, lowering crime rates.
MAMDANI: What I've said throughout the course of the campaign, I think since April, was that I would consider it because I think these decisions are very important. They're ones that you have to actually take your time with.
COOPER: I appreciate you being here.
MAMDANI: Thank you. Real pleasure.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, next Tuesday, stay with CNN for results from all the critical races across the country. Our election night coverage begins at 5:00 P.M. Eastern here on CNN and streaming on the CNN app.
Up next, President Trump's high-stakes summit on trade issues with China's leader, which he believes was a resounding success the scale.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: On a scale from zero to 10, with ten being the best, I would say the meeting was at 12.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: But just before the meeting, the President vowed to begin testing nuclear weapons again, catching even his top aides off guard. More on that ahead.
Also, with days to go before food stamp benefits run out for millions, why can't lawmakers come up with emergency funding? We are keeping them honest.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:29:19]
COOPER: President Trump arrived back at Joint Base Andrews late this afternoon after his weeklong trip to Southeast Asia. Moments before his meeting with China's leader, Xi Jinping, the President made an unexpected statement vowing to restart the testing of U.S. nuclear weapons on an equal basis, his words with Russia and China.
He says the process will begin immediately.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: They seem to all be nuclear testing. We have more nuclear weapons than anybody. We don't do testing. We've halted it years -- many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it is appropriate that we do also.
REPORTER: Details around the testing, sir. Like where? When?
TRUMP: It will be announced. You know, we have test sites. It will be announced.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, this even took many of his advisors off guard and keeping them honest, neither China nor Russia has conducted a nuclear test in decades. Lots to talk about with "New York Times" foreign affairs columnist, Thomas Friedman. He is the author of "The World is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the 21st Century," and many other great books.
[20:30:17]
So what do you think caused the President to announce that decision? And what exactly does on an equal basis mean in this context?
THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN, NEW YORK TIMES FOREIGN AFFAIRS COLUMNIST: Well, Anderson, your guess is as good as mine. So I'll just give you my guess, which is that Vladimir Putin, in the last few weeks, has tested a nuclear-powered cruise missile and a nuclear-powered undersea drone. Nuclear-powered is different from nuclear warheaded. OK? And the President seemed to be reacting to that. He later clarified it wasn't directed at China. But, you know, this is a problem you have when the President is basically his own national security adviser, secretary of state, President, spokesman for the State Department, spokesman for the NSC, and spokesman for the White House. And so you toss out something like that without any clarification, and you create a lot of doubt and a lot of anxiety.
COOPER: I mean, what would be the consequences if the U.S. began testing explosive nuclear weapons again? I mean, would other major nuclear powers then resume testing as well?
FRIEDMAN: The only one who's been testing nuclear weapons since 1996 is North Korea. Let's start there. Also, we've conducted far more nuclear tests than any other country, so we'd actually be facilitating other countries to catch up with us. I think what the President is reflecting in -- in sort of the signal to Putin is actually a sign of something good that President Trump has done.
I think by doing the oil sanctions on Putin, he's -- he's rattled Putin. And Putin is worried that the President, now having done economic sanctions, might transfer the much coveted by Ukraine Tomahawk cruise missiles. And so I think what Putin is basically doing is saber-rattling because he's worried.
But I don't think we should go from there to breaking this long taboo on nuclear testing, which we don't need to do. It's very expensive. By the way, even just organizing nuclear tests, you know, can take up to two years. So and the President said he was ordering the Pentagon to do it, and it's actually the Energy Department that actually runs nuclear tests. So there's a lot of confusion.
COOPER: With regards to the trade talks between U.S. and China, do you think much value was actually achieved? Because the President framed this whole thing as a major breakthrough.
FRIEDMAN: He said it was a 12 out of 10. I would say it was a 12 out of 10,000, you know. All it really did was get us back to where we were in May. And now American soybean farmers will be able to, again, sell their -- their crops to -- to China. That's a good thing. China is not going to use its -- talk about nuclear weapons, it started the equivalent nuclear option of basically banning our ability to import rare earths and magnets from China, which basically are essential to all our advanced industries today.
And we've agreed to reduce the tariffs on -- on China. That was the essence of it. It's where we were in May. And, you know, this whole thing has been a -- it -- it's just been a festival of injecting uncertainty, Anderson, into our economy. You really have to ask two questions.
When President Trump started this trade war, did he, one, know that China had this equivalent of a nuclear weapon, that it could come back with a ban on rare earth magnets and basically shutdown our economy and pretty much every advanced supply chain in the world? Did he know that even? Because if he did, pretty stupid to start a trade war with China knowing that. And, secondly, if you're America and you're 350 million people and you're going to do a trade war against China, which is, you know, 1.3 billion people, it'd be good to have allies not turn around and slap tariffs on all our allies at the same time, that we need to create leverage against China. So, you know, to me, I hope it's over. The whole thing is silly. I think tariffs are stupid. They're uneconomic. And I just hope the whole thing goes away.
COOPER: Yes. Tom Friedman, always good to have you. Thank you.
Just ahead, court testimony about one of the unlikeliest near-death experiences imaginable.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name?
ABBY ZWERNER, PLAINTIFF & FORMER TEACHER SHOT BY 6-YEAR-OLD STUDENT: Abby Zwerner.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. How old are you?
ZWERNER: Twenty-five.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Twenty-five.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: A former teacher shot by her six-year-old student takes the stand.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:34:47]
ZWERNER: I thought I had died. I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven. But then it all got black.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
COOPER: Some dire news. At the end of Day 30 of the government shutdown, just two days from now, some 42 million Americans, about one in eight, will lose SNAP food assistance benefits or food stamps. According to the USDA, approximately 39 percent of that 42 million, or roughly 16 million people, are kids 17 or younger.
[20:40:01]
Well, today, a federal judge in Boston said she would rule soon on whether the administration has to tap into a $6 billion emergency fund to continue paying benefits, something both it and most Republican lawmakers say cannot be done.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: The contingency funds are not legally available to cover the benefits right now. The reason is because it's -- it's a finite source of funds. It was appropriated by Congress. And if they transfer funds from these other sources, it pulls it away immediately from school meals and infant formula. So there -- there -- it's -- it's a tradeoff.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, this is the administration's argument. The judge hearing it today was openly skeptical, saying, quote, Congress had put money in an emergency fund. It's hard for me to understand how this isn't an emergency when there's no money and a lot of people are needing their SNAP benefits. This is happening with food banks already under greater strain from the government shutdown. Listen to a Dallas area food bank president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRISHA CUNNINGHAM, PRESIDENT, NORTH TEXAS FOOD BANK: Our normal ability to be able to serve, we probably have about 744,000 in our 12 counties. We're looking at an additional 460,000. So that's like a 60 percent increase likely over -- overnight for those that don't get the benefits. And no food bank has the resources to be able to meet that deficit.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: So that's a food bank president earlier this afternoon. Earlier today, the top Senate Democrat weighed in.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: Over $6 billion in emergency funds that could keep SNAP going and Trump has said, don't spend a dime. We want to use hungry people as hostages in this crisis. Trump is a vindictive politician and a heartless man.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley might not agree with the second part, but he and 10 other Republican senators are co- sponsoring a bill to fund SNAP throughout the shutdown. He writes in a recent "New York Times" op-ed, there is no reason any of these residents of my state or any other American who qualifies for food assistance should go hungry. We can afford to provide the help.
One catch, though, Majority Leader Thune today sent senators home for the weekend. They won't be back until Monday. And in any case, most of Senator Hawley's fellow Republicans are not signing onto his legislation or buying the notion behind it. Some don't even think it's their party's problem.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TOMMY TUBERVILLE (R-AL): I think Democrats are getting a little bit tight right now. It's their constituents, a lot of them, in some of these inner cities that -- that are going to need SNAP to survive. And they're getting a lot of calls. And pressure is going to be put on them, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, keep it honest. According to the Alabama Department of Human Services, more than three-quarters of a million of that senator's constituents rely on SNAP benefits. In any case, Senator Tuberville is giving voice to a notion that comes from the very top, namely that federal benefits can somehow be broken down along party lines and can be used as such as weapons in the government shutdown fight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We're only going to cut Democrat programs. I hate to tell you, I guess that makes sense. But we're only cutting Democrat programs. We'll be cutting some very popular Democrat programs that aren't popular with Republicans, frankly.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining me now is CNN's senior political commentator and former Trump campaign advisor David Urban and CNN chief political analyst and former senior advisor to President Obama, David Axelrod. David Urban, I keep using the Obama test. If President Obama had said that statement, people's heads would have exploded. I mean, is it right for the President of the United States to be making decisions based on the political party of the people who might be receiving aid?
DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, Anderson, let -- let's just be clear. This is -- this is raw, naked politics at play here. That's what we're seeing. And it -- and it started, you know, 30 days ago when Chuck Schumer decided to hold America hostage. You know, you ask Zohran Mamdani, is he responsible for this -- for this shutdown? And to a certain extent, he isn't.
But Chuck Schumer's fear of a primary by AOC or somebody from the left is largely responsible because last time when Chuck Schumer voted for C.R., he got incredible, incredible grief from his party, from the left wing of his party, and almost would have tossed him on his can. And so this time, he wasn't going to be, you know, it wasn't going to be full, it wasn't going to be taken, you know, down that path again. And so he decided to hold his breath and say no.
And so 14 times now, they voted, Democrats have voted to keep the government shut. Listen, they could vote to reopen the government tomorrow. These benefits would flow forward. Everything would keep going. We wouldn't be in this crisis if we were. And we can negotiate on health care premiums. People could sit down and negotiate without the sword of Damocles hanging over everyone's head.
I mean, this is a solely -- this -- this crisis is solely created by Chuck Schumer and the Democratic Party. And listen, Anderson, you know, I call balls and strikes here. And I am not, you know, I'm not shy of criticizing the Republican Party or this President when they're wrong. But in this case, I think, you know, the Democrats are -- are to blame here. Their -- their largest union here, 800,000 AFG union members are now calling for a C.R., which what -- is what the Republicans are offering. They should take it.
[20:45:14]
TAPPER: David Axelrod, is David Urban right?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Actually, I want one of those machines, those new automated machines that call balls and strikes here. I'm not sure that Dave's calling balls and strikes exactly. Look, I'm sure there's politics on both sides, but the fact is, you know, Democrats decided to plant a flag in the ground because this month people are getting their notices that their health care premiums are going to go up astronomically if they buy health care through the Affordable Care Act.
And they saw a lever of power here to try and force a solution to that. The question is, why don't -- why don't the -- why don't the Republicans and the President just sit down and negotiate this one issue and -- and move forward? But the food thing is egregious. You know, I mean, it's not -- one of the things that should be said is that in a study I saw, the -- the folks who use these benefits tend to be more from counties that voted for Donald Trump than counties that voted for -- for Harris.
So they're actually hurting their own constituents by doing this. And it's not a game of chicken that should be played because there are real lives affected, and a lot of them are children. And I don't think that's going to sit well with the American people. Just sit down and negotiate and -- and move forward. Give people health care that they need, make -- get some security about their health care premiums, and let these benefits go. Obviously, they're trying.
The President was the one who said, we're going to stop doing this on November 1st. They don't have to do that. They've moved other monies around. ICE, for example, is getting funded, but he won't fund this.
COOPER: Yes.
AXELROD: This is -- now he's looking for leverage, and that's a -- and there are a lot of -- there are a lot of hostages in play here.
COOPER: David Urban, you only have, like, 30 seconds left.
URBAN: Yes, it just -- it just all goes away with Republicans -- with Republicans voted 14 times, again, to move this forward, clean C.R. Democrats, this is what I think they should have done. Democrats should have taken the clean C.R. and then said, Republicans are at fault if November 1st, your premiums go forward. Don't hold America hostage, Chuck Schumer. Vote for the C.R.
COOPER: David Urban, David Axelrod, thank you.
In Virginia, a former teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student is suing a former assistant principal for $40 million, claiming she ignored multiple warnings that his child had a gun. Today, that former teacher took the stand while the latest from CNN's Jean Casarez.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEAN CASAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A first responder rushes into Richneck Elementary School in Newport News, Virginia, frantically putting on her gloves to treat a teacher who has just been shot by her six-year-old student.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's your name?
ZWERNER: Abby Zwerner.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Moments later Abby Zwerner is lifted onto a stretcher. This dramatic body camera video played out in a civil trial this week.
Ms. Zwerner survived the shooting and brought a $40 million lawsuit against Ebony Parker, an assistant principal at the time, claiming Parker failed to act when several people approached her with concerns the boy had brought a gun to school.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abigail Zwerner, your honor.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Ms. Zwerner on the witness stand today with emotional testimony.
ZWERNER: I thought I was dying. I thought I had died. I thought I was either on my way to heaven or in heaven, but then it all got black.
CASAREZ (voice-over): A single bullet went through her left hand and lodged in her upper chest, nearly missing her heart. Her lung collapsed, and the bullet remains inside her to this day. In January 2023, the boy pulled the gun from his mother's purse and brought it to school in his backpack. The mother has been sentenced to nearly four years in prison for felony child neglect and federal weapons charges.
The six-year-old boy has not been charged. According to the complaint, the boy had violent tendencies and had previously choked a teacher. Parker, the assistant principal, is accused of ignoring warnings from other teachers that students had seen the firearm and allegedly forbade teachers from searching the six-year-old.
She resigned two weeks after the shooting. An expert witness on school administration assessed Parker was warned at least four times and had a duty to act.
[20:50:00]
ANN SHUFFLEBARGER, PLAINTIFF'S EXPERT WITNESS IN EDUCATION & CRISIS MANAGEMENT: Take action. Get the kid secured. Search, call law enforcement, alert the principal. There are many things that needed to be done, and none of those were done at that time.
CASAREZ (voice-over): The defense said the teachers should have taken action. They were the first responders.
The trial could set a precedent holding school officials accountable for a school shooting. Abby Zwerner, meanwhile, is forever changed.
ZWERNER: There's something that's just different. It's -- and it's -- I can't necessarily put it into words.
CASAREZ (voice-over): Jean Casarez, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, just ahead, Jesse Jackson's profound influence on American politics not only decades ago, but today. A new look at that. We'll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:55:31]
COOPER: The Reverend Jesse Jackson is one of the most important and controversial figures probably in the civil rights movement. He also became a key player in American politics, mounting two remarkable presidential campaigns. My CNN colleague, Abby Phillip, has a new book out. It's called "A Dream Deferred: Jesse Jackson and The Fight for Black Political Power." Abby Phillip and I spoke earlier.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Abby, Jesse Jackson is now 84 years old. I think there's a lot of young people who don't really have any idea or really a conception of what he was like in his prime --
ABBY PHILLIP, CNN ANCHOR: Yes.
COOPER: -- the importance of him and -- and his legacy. I mean, if you look at the photo of Martin Luther King's assassination, he is there.
PHILLIP: Yes.
COOPER: He's -- he's on, we're putting it up. I mean, he's one of the people on the balcony.
PHILLIP: Yes, yes. And look, I mean, I think that is one of the parts of this that gets lost to history in a way because he's had this long life, is that people don't remember that not only was he there in that time with Dr. King and was one of the close advisors with Dr. King in the moments before his death, but also he was a major celebrity figure in this country, especially in the 1980s when he was running for president.
COOPER: And he was everywhere in the 1980s.
PHILLIP: He was everywhere. I mean, he was a master at the media, a master at communicating, and a master at attention-grabbing, and to a fault, almost. I think some people did not like that about him, but he used the media pretty effectively and was a cultural figure. He was a social justice figure. He was a political figure. He was all of those things, and at the height of his powers, he ran for the highest office in the land. COOPER: His history with Senator Obama, Barack Obama, President Obama was -- was interesting.
PHILLIP: Yes. Complicated.
COOPER: Complicated. There was a famous hot mic moment when he was on a "Fox" interview. I just want to play. This was a moment, I think, in 2008 while --
PHILLIP: Yes.
COOPER: -- President Obama was running to -- to be the president.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: See, Barack been talking down to black people on this faith based, I want to cut his -- off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That became, you know, he -- I think he -- he later apologized for -- for that.
PHILLIP: Yes.
COOPER: What was the -- what was at the core of -- of the --
PHILLIP: Yes.
COOPER: -- I don't know if it was resentment or dislike?
PHILLIP: It's a lot of mixed feelings and emotions. I mean, they had known each other for a long time. Obama came out of Chicago and was very good friends with Jesse Jackson's son, Jesse Jackson Jr. One of his daughters was Michelle Obama's maid of honor in their wedding, so their families had gotten somewhat close, but Jesse Jackson was reflecting a view. I think he was being candid. He thought Obama was talking down to black people, and I think people who are close to him recognize that there was a little bit of resentment there, that Obama was sort of getting the accolades that he never really got.
And later on, you know, in recent years, Reverend Jackson expressed a lot of remorse about that, about that moment. He said, I wish I never said it. And I think there was so much pride in Obama on election night. I mean, everyone remembers that photo of him crying in the audience on election night, and those tears were real. They were about regret. They were about hope. They were about fear for a black candidate who, you know, as Jesse Jackson knows well, because he was there when Dr. King was killed, fear for Obama and what he faced being in the public eye.
But, you know, our colleague David Axelrod he was standing just feet from Jesse Jackson that night and said that, you know, that was -- it was such mixed emotions, but the emotions were very real that night.
COOPER: Abby Phillip, congratulations on the book. PHILLIP: Thank you so much Anderson.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: Well, this week a premier season for my podcast All There Is. The first episode is available on our great community page CNN.com/allthereis or wherever you get your podcast. It's a deeply moving interview with country music superstar, Luke Bryan, who's achieved huge success and also suffered great losses, his brother, his sister, her husband, one of his closest friends take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE BRYAN, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Closure is not my word, I think that I live every day going, you know, true pieces of my heart and soul and mind were taken never to be given back.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:00:03]
COOPER: Tonight at 9:15 p.m. in just about 17 minutes, I'm starting a brand new weekly show it's a companion show of the podcast it's called All There Is Live. I'll be talking with podcast listeners, special guest, viewers on screen and through our live comment section about grief and loss. And to watch you can go to -- and participate, you go to CNN.com/allthereis. You can go there right now. The show starts about 15 minutes. I hope to see you there. The news continues right here on CNN, The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now. Also see you tomorrow.
