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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
Thousands of Flights Canceled and Delayed as Shutdown Drags On; Trump Shuts Down Question About Food Prices: "Fake News"; Feds Issuing Subpoenas to Former CIA Director and Others who Investigated Russian Interference in 2016 Trump Campaign; Feds Issuing Subpoenas To Former CIA Director John Brennan, Others Who Investigated Russian Interference In 2016 Trump Campaign; GOP Rep. Nancy Mace Pushes Back After Being Accused Of Profanity-Laced Tirade Against Airport Police; Labor Dept. Social Media Page Depicts A Mostly White Male Workforce; "Flying Cars" Now A Reality. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired November 07, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... some wear independent designers, when they could wear anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheath dress is dead. Rama Duwaji killed it.
GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): ... and the symbolism behind her election night outfit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The frequency, topped by Palestinian Jordanian designer Ziad Hijazi.
PAZMINO (voice over): We asked Mamdani how he and Duwaji are adjusting to all the new attention.
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR-ELECT: Life is very different. It is different in some ways that are beautiful, in some ways that are tough.
PAZMINO (voice over): Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: Thanks for joining us. AC360 starts now.
[20:00:37]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST, "ANDERSON COOPER: 360": Tonight on 360, a shutdown talks stalled. The administration warns flight cancellations could soar and the President jets off to Mar-a-Lago.
Also tonight, he says he doesn't want to talk about affordability and claims prices are down. Tonight we put his claims to the test, keeping them honest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are clear for takeoff, have fun.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And later, with so many planes not flying, here's something to dream about, an electric flying machine anyone might one day be able to pilot.
Good evening, thanks for joining us. You might be stranded at the airport somewhere tonight, but the President is not. He's now airborne for Florida and the government is warning people to expect even more canceled flights and they predicted only yesterday.
As you can see in the graphic there on the lower right corner of your screen, it is already bad enough. More than a thousand flights canceled, more than 5,000 delayed. And now, with the government shutdown about to enter Day-38 with talks to end it stalemated, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is warning that 10 percent cut in flights he warned about just yesterday that could quickly double.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: So, if this shutdown doesn't end relatively soon, the consequence of that is going to be more controllers don't come to work, and then were going to have to continue to assess the pressure in the airspace and make decisions that may again move us from 10 percent to 15 percent, maybe to 20.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: As for ending the shutdown, Senate Republicans today called the Democratic offer to extend health care subsidies for a year in exchange for their votes, a nonstarter, they'll try again tomorrow. And the President, after telling them not to leave town until they reach a deal, left town to spend another weekend in Florida.
As he did, we learned that he had just asked the Supreme Court to block a lower court ruling that required the administration to fully cover food stamp benefits for tens of millions of Americans this month.
Joined now by CNN aviation correspondent, Pete Muntean at Reagan Washington National Airport. Pete, how is it there tonight?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Anderson, the air traffic control tower here is short staffed tonight, which is just one of the 32 facilities that are short staffed nationwide. In spite of this Trump order to essentially cause airlines to purposefully cancel flights to reduce stress on air traffic, controllers at airlines have already posted these mandated cancellations tomorrow. Southwest Airlines canceling about 100 flights on Saturday, United Airlines 170, American Airlines 220.
This is all airlines saying they will comply, and that word is a bit of a subtext there, with this Trump administration mandate to siphon off some flights, four percent of flights through Monday. Then on Tuesday, that jumps to six percent of flights, eight percent on Thursday, then 10 percent on Friday.
What is so interesting here is that this is happening as we are getting closer and closer to the Thanksgiving Holiday, and the Trump administration says this order will remain in place if there is no end to this government shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says, there's really not much science behind the numbers, although he's still defending it. He says that this is all to help out air traffic controllers, although airlines aren't really buying the safety excuse.
COOPER: I mean, passengers are obviously frustrated and inconvenienced, you know, you said that airline industry isn't really buying the safety excuse. Why not? What are they seeing that they don't think it's about that?
MUNTEAN: Airlines really feel like they're being forced to inflict this travel pain for the Trump administration's political gain, and what the airlines have been doing is essentially scrambling behind- the-scenes for the last 36 hours, because they only got about an hour's warning from the Trump administration when they made this announcement.
So now, airlines are dealing with this like they would deal with a major snowstorm. They're trying to get the word out, trying to tell passengers via text and e-mail and app to stay home, to not show up to these flights that are canceled or airlines are trying to slide them to different flights. That is why we're not seeing a lot of people stuck in airports, stranded overnight, sleeping on cots, because the airlines have really been trying to make sure that people understand what is going on here, and they're telling them to reach out to their members of Congress to end the shutdown.
COOPER: All right, Pete Muntean. Thank you.
I want to go to Capitol Hill, CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. Have the flight cancellations lit a fire under lawmakers to try to reach a deal to end the shutdown?
SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Not yet, Anderson. In fact, quite the opposite. There is certainly a lot of frustration that is growing up here on Capitol Hill. But there is not a deal and Senators are vocally saying that they're frustrated with this progress that really has taken a step back during the day today. Especially when you compare it to the previous days of this week, where there was some contours of a deal that had been emerging that is no longer.
[20:05:26]
The reality of this moment is that Congress essentially took a step back today when we saw Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer come to the floor, and he made this big floor speech announcing a democratic counterproposal, that counterproposal, he said, Democrats would, among other things, agree to reopen the government if Republicans agreed for an ACA one-year subsidy extension.
That, of course, as Senator Thune said, the Republican Majority Leader, he said that's a nonstarter. He said that is the negotiation. First, we have to open up the government. Then we can negotiate about an extension of these subsidies. So, at this moment, no path forward. And Anderson, Senators are out of here tonight. They are done for the night.
COOPER: So they can get flights out, I mean, are lawmakers, they're not staying in Washington this weekend?
SERFATY: As of now, they are staying in Washington. The Senate will have a very rare Saturday session starting at noon Eastern Time on Saturday, but there is no vote on the horizon for anything. There's no deal coming together.
The Senate Majority Leader said that of course, there will be some negotiations that continue. The conversations will continue, but there's no consensus around something that's emerging. So, the fact that there is no vote imminent speaks volumes at where they are in this process. The Majority Leader likes to say when they have something to vote on, they will hold a vote and there's no vote scheduled.
COOPER: All right, thanks very much.
Joining me now is Chris Gallant, former JFK air traffic controller. He's currently a Blackhawk pilot in the Army, National Guard and Democratic candidate for Congress on Long Island, New York. Also joining me is Dave Riley, retired air traffic controller of 32 years, 22 of which was with the FAA and over nine with the Marine Corps.
Dave, when you see these mandated flight cuts by the FAA at 40 major airports, are they necessary?
DAVE RILEY, RETIRED AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Thanks for having me, Anderson. No, they're not necessary at all. The FAA has programs and plans to relieve stress on the controllers and that particular airports and in particular sectors around the country. So, them implementing this, this 10 percent mandated cut back on flights is just another way to inflict that pain upon the flying public.
The controllers, while they are overworked and underpaid. They've been overworked since the pandemic, working excessive amounts of overtime and then just adding insult to injury and not getting paid during the shutdown is adding a lot of stress to them. But it's not from too much traffic. It's just from the distraction of what's going on with their families at home.
COOPER: But even with these cuts, we're seeing delays. How do you explain that?
RILEY: Well, the delays in the system are going to happen. You know, if you're canceling flights now, you're having to reschedule other people on other flights to move them where they need to go. So, you know, it's you know, it's just going to slow things down. And that's what we do when we have fewer controllers. We just slow down the problem and still make the flights happen. They just might be delayed. But canceling them outright just inconveniences everybody, not only that, but it affects the economy of our country by impacting the airlines and the cargo haulers and all that goes with that.
COOPER: Chris, do you agree with that?
CHRIS GALLANT, FORMER JFK AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLER: Look, nobody wins in a government shutdown. The main problem is, is that our controllers are really stressed out. They are working ten hours a day, six days a week, and the conversations have shifted to, how do I take care of my child? How do I take care of the rent, the roof over my head? How do I take care of my family? And those are not the things that they should be worried about. They should be worried about what's going on in the tower cab when they're working, and have the ability to have that stress relief when they're off.
I understand both sides of the mic, I fly Blackhawk helicopters in the New York airspace as well, and so I'm very familiar with how the airspace in that area works. And it's very dense, it's very high stress, high tempo environment.
COOPER: Dave, what are you hearing from current air traffic controllers, under normal circumstances, as you pointed out, have already an incredibly stressful job?
RILEY: Yes, absolutely, and a lot of the controllers can go one paycheck, but going without a second paycheck is really pushing a lot of added stress on what they're trying to accomplish. You know, typically when you work a session in the tower, you move some airplanes, you take a break, and on that break, you get a chance to kind of relax and reset before you go up and do it again.
But now, they're having to spend a lot of that time trying to find a second job, trying to figure out how to pay the rent, how to provide for their family's child care. All these extra things add more stress to the problem and creates a huge distraction for the controllers. We need to get them paid and we need to pass some legislation to not only back pay them, which is the short-term solution, but put some legislation in there that changes where anybody that's forced to work for the government during a shutdown still gets paid.
COOPER: Chris, you're running for Congress for the first time. What's motivating you?
[20:10:36]
GALLANT: Well, I think Washington is broken. There is no solution to anything. Nobody can work together anymore and it's a problem. My goal is to get to Washington and to start solving real issues and real problems. Right now, if I were in Congress, it would be the idea is to go back to the House and to work with our counterparts and come up with solutions and ideas that are tangible, and that will work for the American people.
It's the American people, at the end of the day that are getting hurt by this, and it's the people who are not getting paid, not only air traffic controllers, but also our members of the military who don't know if they're going to get a paycheck this month. They may have gotten one last month, but this month is not guaranteed. COOPER: Chris Gallant, I appreciate you being with us. Dave Riley, as well, thank you.
Coming up next, the President weighs in again on a subject weighing heavily on almost everyone going to the holidays, food prices and how the real numbers square with claims like these.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Prices are down under the Trump administration, and they're down substantially. We did a great job on groceries and affordability. The only problem is the fake news. You people don't want to report it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It's always the fake news.
Later, Congresswoman Nancy Mace, her confrontation with police at a South Carolina airport that set off an uproar there and in Washington, what she wants people to know about it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY MACE (R-NC): A couple of cops that filed a false incident report, you're giving other cops a bad name, and I'm coming for you. So, you need to know that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:27]
COOPER: President Trump, fresh off a bruising election night for Republicans on Tuesday, continues to be asked about the affordability issue the Democrats ran on, and it seems he continues to fight reality. He spoke about it today in the Cabinet Room.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you look at affordability, which they campaigned on, they lied because they talked about all prices are up. No, no, prices are down under the Trump administration and they're down substantially. We did a great job on groceries and affordability the only problem is the fake news. You people don't want to report it.
They said, oh, I don't want to talk about affordability. The reason I don't want to talk about affordability is because everybody knows that its far less expensive under Trump than it was under sleepy Joe Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He did say he doesn't want to talk about affordability and keeping them honest, it's not lies and fake news. Some grocery prices have gone down since President Trump took office. Eggs are down nearly 16 percent. Ice cream and ham have also dropped.
Overall, from January to September of this year, groceries are up an average of 1.4 percent and that's according to the federal government's Consumer Price Index, with many specific items showing a far greater jump. Coffee with the biggest leap of over 15 percent, ground beef more than 14 percent, bananas nearly eight percent, cupcakes, candy and salad dressing also up.
Over the summer, groceries saw the biggest month to month increase in three years and like Trump's predecessor, President Biden, telling Americans they're better off when that doesn't reflect their reality, doesn't seem to be a winning strategy.
Washington Post-ABC News-IPSOS poll this week found 71percent of people said they are paying more for groceries, while 59 percent said they're paying more for utilities. And they blame the President for the financial burden.
It's led allies like Steve Bannon, who told POLITICO that Zohran Mamdani's New York City mayoral win, quote, "should be flashing red lights all over for Republicans to also push the affordability message."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STEVE BANNON, EXECUTIVE AND FORMER WHITE HOUSE CHIEF STRATEGIST: President Trump is, you know, he's been working nonstop on this stuff. But I think he realizes now, hey, it's affordability and growth -- and growth. We got to get the jobs and particular jobs, not making sure that lower level administrative management and tech is not completely wiped out in eviscerated, because that's where it's going. And these kids need jobs.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He's right about that where it's going with A.I. He's not alone. That advice is also coming from inside the White House. The President's own deputy chief of staff said this after election day.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAMES BLAIR, WHITE HOUSE DEPUTY CHIEF-OF-STAFF: I think you'll see the President talk a lot about cost of living as we turn the year and into the new year. The President is very keyed into what's going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround. But all the fundamentals are there. And I think you'll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That was Wednesday. Today, while falsely claiming that prices are down substantially, he did tout one item that seems to have gotten cheaper compared to last year. Walmart's promotional Thanksgiving meal basket.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) TRUMP: It was 25 percent, Walmart just announced it two days ago, 25 percent cheaper -- this year, it will be cheaper to have Thanksgiving than it was a year ago under Sleepy Joe Biden.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He should have looked into it a little bit more, because the only problem is you're also getting less. Not that we expect the commander in chief to do a Daniel Dale as deep dive on the basket, but this year's basket contains 15 products, six fewer than the 21 in the 2024 basket.
In addition, items from Walmart's great value store brand make up a greater percentage than last year's basket, which included more named brand items. The difference from last year was pointed out to the President today, and here's how that went.
[20:20:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REPORTER: Mr. President, since you brought up the Walmart Thanksgiving meal and it is cheaper, but it also contains less as affordability continues to be an issue --
TRUMP: Well, I haven't heard that, you're telling me -- who are you with?
REPORTER: I'm with NBC News, sir.
TRUMP: Fake news, NBC, you're fake news -- NBC has gone down the tubes along with most of the rest of.
REPORTER: Sir, may I ask, if I --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: He shouldn't have put all his eggs in the Walmart Thanksgiving basket. All this adds up to a credibility gap for President Trump on an issue that historically has been his strongest.
I want to bring in Jonah Goldberg, CNN political commentator and editor in chief of "The Dispatch". So, Jonah, the President has obviously tried with some success to sort of bend reality on a number of fronts over the years. Is it a bridge too far to think he can convince people their groceries have gotten or have not gotten more expensive?
JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, it's a bridge too far. I mean, this is one of these things that drives me crazy. It's like people, it's like the emphasis people put on polling sometimes. It's as if, you know, if you have a thermometer that gives you a bad reading. It doesn't change whether the reality of whether you have a fever or not.
We all talk in our business as about the macro economy, but everyone lives in their own micro economy and no one is a better expert than the actual person managing their own finances about how they're living. And you can just see in the right track wrong track numbers. You can see in the general malaise that is coming out in all sorts of ways, that people just don't feel like the economy is getting better, particularly at the low end, because it's not.
COOPER: It's so interesting, though. I mean, he went to lunch on Joe Biden, you know, for being out of touch and talking about Bidenomics and, you know, he was talking about the price of eggs and the price of gasoline while he was running. It's so interesting that now that he is ensconced in a heavily gold clad office, that he's saying, you know, the affordability is not a problem. At the same time that he's, you know, building a ballroom. It's interesting how the dynamics or the perspective while he's running are is different than when he's ruling.
GOLDBERG: Yes, I mean, look, the political climate was very much -- the winds were at his back when he was running because Biden was very much in denial about the shape of the economy. He was very much in denial about his own capacity, and these things were breaking Trump's way in terms of the ground truths in the country.
But now, he's very much in a bubble. I mean, like, you don't have to be a brilliant political strategist to say, don't throw a great Gatsby themed party the week you're cutting SNAP benefits, right?
COOPER: In general, I don't think you should throw a great Gatsby themed party anytime, but especially now.
GOLDBERG: Fair enough, right. But, like, yes, but like, the basic problem is that the body language of the presidency is just off. I have no problem on the merits with, you know, tearing down the East Wing and putting up something better, if you go through the right process and stuff. But it seems like he's just off message in all sorts of ways, and he can't stay on message. He's right to talk about affordability, but just today they're talking about more indictments and lawfare.
He wants to do other things, and he doesn't know how to actually talk about this stuff in a way that's going to convince people.
COOPER: Do you agree with Steve Bannon that Tuesday night's election results should be flashing red light for Republicans?
GOLDBERG: I work by the principle that I try really hard never say the sentence, I agree with Steve Bannon about anything, but I agree with a lot. I agree with a lot of people who think that it should be a flashing red light. You know, because the simple fact is, there was no one wing of the Democratic Party that did really well versus the other wings. They all did well.
The socialists did well, the normie-moderates did well, the sort of fringe people did well, everyone did well because it really was a referendum in many ways on the status quo and on Donald Trump.
COOPER: Jonah Goldberg, thanks so much, appreciate it. Coming up next, we have more breaking news tonight. The Justice Department issuing subpoenas, as Jonah was just talking about naming former CIA Director John Brennan and others who investigated Russian interference in the President's 2016 campaign.
Also tonight, the wild saga involving Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina, who admits she confronted airport security. But police go further in their incident report, saying she was, "loudly cursing".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACE: Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope so. Did I call them incompetent? I hope I did because they earned it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Also tonight, first, it was the Department of Homeland Security, now the Department of Labor has launched a social media campaign that seems to long for a bygone America, where White men worked, women stayed at home, and people of color just weren't included in the picture.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:29:22]
COOPER: There is breaking news tonight, what appears to be a new step in the President's retribution campaign against those who once investigated him. Sources telling CNN that federal prosecutors are issuing subpoenas to these four figures from the Russia investigation. Former CIA director John Brennan, former FBI officials Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.
Joining us now, CNN legal analyst Carrie Cordero is also a senior fellow at the Center for New American Security. So several of the people getting subpoenas, they were already investigated by Special Counsel John Durham. Is this case any different?
CARRIE CORDERO, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, Anderson, looking at this report. I'm sort of scratching my head trying to understand what potential criminal violations could be at play because the former Special Counsel Durham, he did look at matters related to the 2016 election, Russia investigation.
And so, that matter, I thought, was closed. So, I'm thinking about what potential could justify a subpoena to these individuals in this case. And the only thing that I can think of is that they are sort of digging for information that potentially could reveal maybe 1,001 false statements type of claims. But it's a bit of a question mark.
[20:30:43]
COOPER: That image in the tall darkness we were just showing was the President arriving in Florida, going to his resort in -- for the weekend. The potential -- I mean, as you were saying, it's confusing to figure out what the potential crime at issue here is. And why would this investigation be run out of the Southern District of Florida?
CORDERO: Yes, that's a good question. And I'm trying to think of why it would be the Southern District of Florida. I mean, to issue subpoenas, there needs to be some sort of criminal investigation that's taking place. These particular individuals were in intelligence-related positions in the intelligence community and even at the FBI in intelligence-related roles.
The only Florida connection is the President's other residents. So at this stage, based on the report that we have, I don't want to speculate about what other reasons Florida might be the district, other than somehow they must have found some potential criminal violation in those areas. But I think it's a big question mark at this point. And I really am wondering what type of criminal violation would predicate the issuing of subpoenas in that district.
COOPER: I mean, given the way things are right now, if he's able to find a willing prosecutor, I mean, there's -- it's very possible this is just either a phishing expedition or just retribution to tie somebody up in court for a long time, even if it doesn't result in anything.
CORDERO: Right. So anytime somebody is on the receiving end of a criminal subpoena, you know, that means that they have to hire lawyers again. They have to be in a position to be able to respond to that. So it is something that can drag on and certainly make people's lives very difficult.
The individuals in this, you know, that are named so far in the CNN reporting --
COOPER: Yes.
CORDERO: -- does look like individuals that the President over a very long period of time, certainly in the years following the 2016 election investigation, are individuals who were the targets of his --
COOPER: Yes.
CORDERO: -- unhappiness.
COOPER: That's for sure.
CORDERO: So it does raise a lot of questions as to whether or not they have found a particular section of the Justice Department or particular prosecutors --
COOPER: Yes.
CORDERO: -- who are willing to explore this investigation.
COOPER: Carrie Cordero, thank you very much.
It's been quite a week for South Carolina Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace, who's firing back at critics after being accused of going on profanity-laced tirade against police at the Charleston airport last Thursday. Now, according to an incident report, it all started when she called the officers, quote, "f-ing incompetent."
Since then, Mace, who is running for governor of South Carolina, has tried to defend herself in several social media posts. She held a news conference, also threatened a lawsuit, and has been called out by the state's two Republican U.S. senators who used the same airport.
And then today, Conservative Radio Host Erick Erickson said this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERICK ERICKSON, HOST, "THE ERICK ERICKSON SHOW": There's something wrong with Nancy Mace. And I'm not a fan of hers and it's increasingly because she's not mentally well. And it's really clear she's not mentally well. And I don't know if she has friends who can do an intervention with her, but Nancy Mace needs a real intervention.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: For more on all of this now from CNN's Tom Foreman.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY MACE (R), SOUTH CAROLINA: I absolutely, 100 percent, confronted the airport employees who put my safety at risk.
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): South Carolina Representative Nancy Mace insists Charleston airport security guards were late to meet her car and to escort her to her flight. Official reports from the incident and timestamps on surveillance video reveal conflicts. The guards expected a white BMW at 6:30. At 6:33, they say they were told she was running 10 to 15 minutes late.
She then reportedly showed up in a gray car and they were summoned to meet her at a security checkpoint inside. The fallout there, however, is undisputed. Mace talking loudly to guards, cursing and saying, "This is no way to treat an f-ing United States representative."
[20:35:05]
MACE: Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope I did. Did I call them incompetent? If I didn't, they absolutely earned it.
FOREMAN (voice-over): The state's U.S. senators have jumped to the airport's defense. Tim Scott posting, "It is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs." Lindsey Graham calling them professional and diligent. But Mace has unleashed a torrent of attacks on her critics.
MACE: They're offended that a woman who gets thousands of death threats a year would be concerned about her safety. Why is that?
FOREMAN (voice-over): And she has called the airport officers who reported her behavior "dirty cops." MACE: You're giving other cops a bad name and I'm coming for you. So you need to know that.
Tranny, tranny, tranny. I don't really care. You want penises in women's bathrooms and I'm not going to have it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.
MACE: No, thank you.
FOREMAN (voice-over): It was already a tumultuous year for the hard charging MAGA supporter, who has flung insults at trans citizens. Speaking on the House floor, she accused her ex-fiance and three other men of rape, an accusation that's been denied and that her ex-fiance has countered with the defamation lawsuit. And now she is saying she will sue some of those involved in the airport drama.
MACE: Like it's so weird. It's very strange.
FOREMAN (voice-over): It has all driven one of her former consultants to tell CNN, "It's time for Nancy Mace to resign and get the mental help she needs." Mace is not having that either.
MACE: You know, being anti-corruption, anti-rape, anti-murder, anti- illegal, that makes me crazy. Sign me up.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOREMAN (on-camera): Mace is now running for governor and although she hasn't offered to sit down with CNN to talk about all of these, her office says this is really just about protecting her security in a perilous political time. Anderson?
COOPER: Tom Foreman, thanks very much.
Coming up next, images that look like a cross between a Norman Rockwell past and our AI future and why the administration is selling them as the faces of the new American workforce.
Also, a look into what could be an electrified flying future for almost anyone.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:41:53]
COOPER: When we left you last night, Norman Rockwell's descendants were criticizing the Department of Homeland Security for using his paintings to promote a whitewashed vision of American life, which they say misrepresented Norman Rockwell's beliefs. Here are three of those images.
Conspicuously missing were images like this one of other Americans, nonwhite Americans, whom Rockwell also painted during his career. When asked for comment by the New York Times, DHS sent a link to a press release accusing the press of insufficiently covering the crimes of undocumented migrants, which certainly sends a message.
So does this. "Restoring the American Dream," it says. Only -- this one's from the Labor Department's new social media feed, not Homeland Security's, part of several media campaigns on Americanizing the workforce. It avoids the Norman Rockwell problem by being apparently AI generated.
The same for -- goes for this one titled "Build Your Homeland's Future." And this one promoting an apprenticeship initiative telling recruits to, quote, "unleash American energy, dominance, and power the Golden Age."
This one reads, "Thanks to at POTUS policies, America is experiencing a blue collar boom and our workers are thriving." Finally, there's this, the slogan this time, "Unleash American Innovation."
And by now you might be noticing a pattern, a certain dreamy sameness to the faces, you might say. For one, it's all men. World War II's Rosie the Riveter or anyone like her are not exactly front and center here, even though the Labor Secretary back then, Frances Perkins, and now Lori Chavez-DeRemer are both women. It is nearly all men in their ad campaign, all young, all nearly white.
Here's the one exception we saw and the only one the Washington Post could find when it reported on this, a woman, a black man, and in between them, that guy who looks like all the others. In fact, it's hard to find many black faces at all on the Labor's social presence. Here's part of a video the department posted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a new dawn in America. President Trump is delivering a golden age for American workers. Wages for blue collar workers are rising at the fastest rate in six decades. And the One Big Beautiful Bill is delivering historic tax cuts for working families.
Happy Labor Day and welcome to the golden age of the American worker.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: I know diversity is not allowed anymore and no one -- a lot of people don't seem to care about it, but black people do exist and they work. That golden age sure has the same complexion as the one conjured up in this image also posted by the Labor Department.
This one is an AI, it's by illustrator Harold Anderson, who was a contemporary of Norman Rockwell's. The painting is titled Every Sunday Morning. It's from the early 50s and just like the Norman Rockwell paintings, the DHS has been posting presents a pretty one-dimensional view of American life even back then.
And certainly today, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, nearly 40 percent of the workforce is non-white. 47 percent is women. When asked for comment by the Washington Post, the Labor Department spokeswoman, not a man, accused the Post of, in her words, "manufacturing outrage that doesn't exist." Adding that, quote, "Twisting social media posts celebrating American workers and the American Dream into a race story is absurd."
Joining us now, CNN Political Commentator Shermichael Singleton and Ashley Etienne, former Communications Director for Vice President Kamala Harris.
[20:45:05]
Shermichael, do you think it's a good idea for the Labor Department's social media outreach to focus mostly on white men?
SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: This is what I think, Anderson. Twenty-one percent of black men voted for Donald Trump in November. Fifty-four percent of Hispanic men voted for Donald Trump in November.
And when you look at the through line from all of the exit data that we have internally, being that on the Republican side, but also stuff that we covered, CNN, other news outlets, the through line was all of those men, those non-traditional Republican voters gave the President and my party the opportunity under one single grievance, economics, a yearning for economic autonomy.
And so as a strategist, when I see something like that, I'm thinking to myself, you have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to really cement our standing among these non-traditional groups to make it incredibly difficult and more challenging for our Democratic friends to compete on the national scale.
Why would we not do that? It makes zero sense to me. Ashley Etienne and I were just discussing this last night about the opportunity for the Republican Party to be smart, to be wise, to be surgical in their outreach to these groups. And I think we're really missing an opportunity here, Anderson. And when you miss the ball, it's very rare you have an opportunity to come back and do it again.
COOPER: Ashley, I mean, are you surprised by these images? I mean, it's clearly a theme.
ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR VP HARRIS: No, I don't think anyone's actually surprised by this. I mean, to get back to Shermichael's point, I mean, it's clear that many of those black and brown voters that voted for the President have abandoned the party. This past, we just saw that on Tuesday, they're bleeding support among black men and Latino men.
And this could be a contributing factor to that is because they don't see themselves in the President's agenda going forward. But my former boss, Kamala Harris, warned about this. She said that Donald Trump was going to take us backwards to the golden age, to the age and the time in which there was white male dominance. And that's clear from all of these advertisements said that's what the President intends to do.
I mean, he's fired black officials in his administration. He's indiscriminately picking up Latinos off the streets and shipping them out of the country. You've got a situation where, you know, there are, you know, multiple different groups that he's been targeting. You know, Department of Transportation, for example, has changed their designation about minority businesses. So now women and black people and brown people are now shut out of $580 billion of infrastructure projects. So this is very intentional on the part of the President. But I agree with Shermichael, these gentlemen who flipped and left our party now must feel isolated and slighted by the President.
COOPER: I mean, Shermichael, is this just part of the -- is scared of any kind of talk about diversity and therefore it's -- black people are not to be mentioned or is this -- do you think some sort of intentional we just want to recruit white people for whatever, you know, the social media campaign is?
SINGLETON: I mean, look, Anderson, I'm a strategist. And the number one rule of electoral politics is the maximization of power in order to move forward one's legislative agenda. In a country with 300 million people as diverse as ours, you can't do that with just one group of people.
Men need housing. You've got to build more houses. Republicans, we could start there. We know for a fact that during the COVID pandemic, millions of Americans lost their small businesses. There's an opportunity for us to be surgical and targeting men there with entrepreneurial loans and apprenticeships.
I would also finally say, look at the health care for many men across the country, despite whatever the ethnic differences may be, there are some discrepancies there. We could also focus on that. And so there are a lot of things that I could cite a number of data points to say, hey, Republicans, we've got an opportunity here. Let's not miss the ball here.
Because, Anderson, Democrats, they recognize the era of -- the eras of their party. They just had something that came out two weeks ago called Deciding to Win, where they talked about the fact that --
ETIENNE: That wasn't a party.
SINGLETON: -- they have misplaced their priorities as it pertains to men of all colors. So why would we want to give them an opportunity to self-correct, to lose those men instead of doubling down, answering the clarion call that the men --
COOPER: Yes.
SINGLETON: -- gave us the permission to address last November? Again, this just doesn't make sense to me. And I would advise the party to focus on what voters are asking of us, specifically men.
COOPER: All right. I got to go.
Thank you both. Ashley Etienne, Shermichael Singleton, thanks.
SINGLETON: Thanks.
COOPER: Coming up next, how our skies could one day be filled with aircraft like this piloted by almost anyone.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It looks awesome from down here. What's the feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such a great feeling. The best view ever. It's a 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:54:34]
COOPER: The concept of having your own personal flying vehicle may now be a reality, or at least a lot closer. CNN's Nick Watt got a chance to check one out. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are clear for takeoff. Have fun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Roger that. Clear for takeoff.
WATT (voice-over): You don't need a pilot's license, and you don't even need a runway.
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.
[20:55:09]
WATT: It looks awesome from down here. What's the feeling?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Such a great feeling. The best view ever. It's a 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. It's weird.
What are we calling this? Do we call it like an aircraft? Do we call it --
JOE MORSE, ASSOCIATE TEST PILOT, PIVOTAL: Yes.
WATT: -- a flying car. I mean, what is it?
MORSE: So technically, it's an eVTOL, which stands for Electric Vertical Take-Off and Landing aircraft.
WATT: You need a sexier acronym.
MORSE: Yes.
WATT: 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 taken on the road, unfortunately.
WATT: Disappointed, OK.
WATT (voice-over): They got to keep it in the FAA's ultralight category so that you don't need a license to fly under 254 pounds before some safety stuff.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Meet George Jetson.
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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 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.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let it go.
WATT: Let go the trigger? UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
WATT: Wow. This is great.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That'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 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)
COOPER: Nick, there are a bunch of companies making eVTOLs. There's a real race to make this go widespread.
WATT (on-camera): Oh, yes, there are a bunch of players in this space. And actually, you know, Anderson, Elon Musk just a couple of days ago hinted to Joe Rogan that he might have some sort of prototype to demo pretty shortly.
Also, there's a market for the bigger vehicles --
COOPER: Yes.
WATT (on-camera): -- multiple seats, heavier. Joby Aviation and Archer Aviation got the green light to trial aerial taxis, flying taxis.
COOPER: Yes.
WATT (on-camera): And the hope, Anderson, is that they're going to deploy them here in Los Angeles for the 2028 Olympic Games so that people can fly over that infamously sluggish L.A. traffic.
And they're also looking right now for what they're calling vertiports --
COOPER: Yes.
WATT (on-camera): -- little places for these cabs to land. It's a brave new world, Anderson.
COOPER: Yes. Thanks, Nick. Appreciate it.
Before we go, I want to mention a note on my podcast, All There Is. My first guest for the season was country music superstar Luke Bryan. He lost his brother and later on his sister and her husband.
Our entire conversation will premiere on CNN this Saturday at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time. Here's just part of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LUKE BRYAN, COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR: This boy, he was nine years old. He looked up at me and he had these big tears in his eyes and he looked at me. He goes, Mr. Luke, I lost my sister a couple of months ago and I want to know how you get through life.
And when that nine-year-old, Anderson, when that nine-year-old told me that, it was -- I dropped down on my knees and just did the best job I could, did the best job I could in that moment to help that young man. And I said, buddy, you talk to your sister like she is still here, you treat her like she is here every day of your life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It's a great conversation about grief, faith and music. Once again, Saturday, 10:00 p.m. Eastern on CNN.
The news continues. The Source with Kaitlan Collins starts now.
