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Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees
House Expected To Vote Tomorrow On Deal To End Shutdown; Britain Suspends Some Intel Sharing With U.S. Over Boat Strikes; Venezuela Announces "Massive" Military Mobilization As Largest U.S. Warship Arrives In Caribbean; NJ Suburban Teens Suspected In Jihadist Terror Plot; Kenny Chesney On His New Memoir "Heart Life Music"; President Trump Says GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene "Has Lost Her Way". Aired 8-9p ET
Aired November 11, 2025 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
TAMARA QIBLAWI, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: The military analysts we spoke to say that Beijing is watching these ongoing conflicts play out, and its taking notes in order to strengthen its posture, better prepare for a possible invasion of Taiwan and to fend off the U.S. military in case it comes to Taiwan's aid -- Erin.
ERIN BURNETT, CNN HOST: All right, Tamara, thank you very much. Really just an extraordinary reporting there.
And thank so much to all of you for joining us. "AC360" starts now.
[20:00:34]
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN HOST: 360": Tonight on 360, with House lawmakers taking their first steps right now to re-open the government, Americans brace for lingering pain from the shutdown, and the President tries to say the pain is not real.
Also tonight, a CNN exclusive on how the administrations campaign against those alleged drug boats is costing the country access to potentially vital intelligence from America's oldest and closest allies.
And later, only on 360, how authorities say two young men in a leafy suburb allegedly turned into wannabe Jihadists ready to kill for ISIS.
Good evening, thanks for joining us.
Right now, a House Committee is getting ready to take the first key vote on the bill to end the government shutdown. By this time tomorrow night, it could be on its way to the President's desk. Could be? Because a lot depends on enough House members returning from their districts by then to pass it. And that depends on whether they can catch a flight back to Washington with airlines still trimming weeks still in short supply, even if those lawmakers can get flights, there's no guarantee that air travel will go back to normal right away or anytime soon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MANU RAJU, CNN SENIOR CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Even if we see the
government reopen this week could we see delays for Thanksgiving travel?
SEAN DUFFY, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: So it depends on, are we going to have air traffic controllers come in to work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: That's the Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, today. Here's the President on Fox last night promising the air traffic controllers who did stay on the job through the shutdown money, which he admits he doesn't have.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I'm sending them a $10,000.00 bonus.
HOST: Where is that money coming from?
TRUMP: I don't know, I'll get it from someplace, I'll get it from -- I always get the money from someplace, regardless, it doesn't matter --
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, it may matter to the men and women with bills to pay and families to support who showed up to do very difficult and demanding jobs and got paid nothing for it for weeks. They've already been hurt by the shutdown. So, if people who rely on food assistance.
The President went so far as to ask the Supreme Court to let them go hungry. So, was anyone who depends on government services beyond just air traffic control that were degraded or unavailable. But that pledge you heard, the President makes pales next to another one, he now seems to be walking away from.
The one he once made about a problem rising prices that the shutdown did not cause, but certainly put a spotlight on.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: From today and from the day I take the oath of office, we will rapidly drive prices down and make America affordable again. We're going to make it affordable again.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, that's candidate Donald Trump campaigning in North Carolina two summers ago on the economy and rising prices. And here he is last night on Fox talking about the very same thing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: More than anything else, it's a con job by the Democrats. They're saying they just have to say, you know, they put out something, say today costs are up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, the President last night and here he is last Thursday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: Everything is way down and the press doesn't report it. So, I don't want to hear about the affordability.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, it's funny he says that because once upon a time, it seemed like all he wanted voters to hear from him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So, when I win, I will immediately bring prices down starting on day one.
Prices will come down, you just watch, they'll come down and they'll come down fast.
We will rapidly drive prices down.
We will rapidly defeat inflation. We're going to bring your prices down.
People that used to live a nice life four years ago, they can't afford an apple.
I will end inflation.
But if I win, we will rapidly defeat inflation.
They call it groceries, bacon, lettuce, tomatoes -- everything is so much higher than it ever was.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, he and Republicans won big on that issue last year and Democrats won on it this year.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR-ELECT: The cost of living is the real crisis.
I will, however, be a mayor who is ready to speak at any time to lower the cost of living.
New York is suffering from a crisis, and it's called Halalflation.
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D) VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: And I'm ready to get to work to lower costs.
Virginians are struggling to afford the rising costs in health care, housing and energy.
BARACK OBAMA, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Mikie is a mom who will drive down costs for New Jersey families.
MIKIE SHERILL (D) NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT: I'm fighting for affordability. I'm fighting to get your costs down.
I am laser focused on driving down costs for families like yours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, now, a week after Democrats running on affordability had their best single election in years, and with his polling numbers underwater on how he's handling the economy, the President's response is to say he doesn't want to hear about it. But there's more to it. He's also saying he's already largely solved the problem.
[20:05:06]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: So are you ready? Costs are way down. Gasoline is going to be hitting $2.00 pretty soon, or around $2.00.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Well, in fact, he said it already is down to $2.70 a gallon, it's not. According to AAA, gas is averaging $3.08 a gallon, which is down from this time last year, but only by $0.02 from $3.10.
Grocery prices, which the President says are, "way down," are actually up. Up by about 2.7 percent in September -- over September 2024. They're also up by about 1.5 percent since the President took office.
In the face of that, the President could be saying things like, I know it's still rough out there. I understand why some of you voted the way you did last week. I hear you, we're working on it. He could talk about cheaper eggs, which is true. Or his effort to lower drug prices, but he's not. And even conservatives are noticing.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ERICK ERICKSON, HOST, "THE ERICK ERICKSON SHOW": But now Republicans are perversely doing the same thing democrats did when they were in office with Joe Biden. Saying, no, actually, don't believe your eyes at the grocery store. Prices are coming down. That's not helpful to Americans who are feeling higher grocery costs right now, which is actually happening.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And as it's been happening with prices rising, the government shut down and the President petitioning the Supreme Court to keep 42 million SNAP recipients from receiving their full benefits, Americans have been watching the President jetting down to Mar-s-Lago for weekend parties like this one, with a Great Gatsby theme, and who can put a price on that?
Shortly before air time, the Supreme Court extended its pause on a judge's order that the administration fully fund SNAP. This one expires tomorrow, and with people going hungry, just moments ago on Fox News, we saw the President giving a tour of White House renovations and proudly pointing things out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you look at the air conditioner vent, its book matched. Look at that, who can do that? I can do that because I know that, you know, it's even available that you could do that. Very few people can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Joining me now, CNN political commentator, Republican strategist Brad Todd and CNN chief political analyst and former senior adviser to President Obama, David Axelrod.
David, what does President Trump get by arguing that affordability is not really a problem?
DAVID AXELROD, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: Beats the hell out of me. I have to say, you know, on your air many, many times during the last presidency, I said that President Biden was making a great mistake by trying to jawbone people to feel what they didn't experience in their own lives about the economy.
And now we have Trumponomics here -- We have the same campaign going here. Inflation is up, jobs are slowed to a trickle, people are suffering with these tariffs. And that's why consumer confidence, the Michigan Index just came out, this sort of gold standard and it's the second lowest on record.
People are hurting out there and the President seems completely oblivious to it. And what's really baffling about it is he's defying the standard that he held President Biden to, and he is obviously not living up to the commitment that he made.
COOPER: Brad, do you see it that President Trump is going down the same road that President Biden did?
BRAD TODD, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I see two troubling things here. You know, one thing for any elected official is you should never tell the voters that the mission has been accomplished, because otherwise they'll start looking around for who to accomplish the next mission.
The second thing is, is, you know, we're not all experts on everything, but we are experts on what we pay every day. And sure, there are some things going down. As you mentioned, eggs is going are going down, butter is down, coffee is down, gasoline is down. Energy overall is down low. Electricity is stubbornly going back up.
COOPER: I think coffee was up 15 percent last I checked but -- TODD: Yes, but there are, but that doesn't mean the prices are where
voters want them to be. And so, my advice to the President would be to convey that he's continuing to fight to bring prices down, and that he's fighting to make more things affordable, and that he inherited a mess and he's working on it.
COOPER: David, CNN's reporting that the President sees the economy as a perception and messaging issue. How do you square that with, you know, throwing a Great Gatsby themed party at Mar-a-Lago last night, showing off the gold accents in the Oval Office, the obviously the East Wing demolition, which was privately paid for.
AXELROD: Yes, I'm going to put that in the category of rhetorical questions. I mean, obviously, when people -- when large numbers of people, 61 percent of Americans said in the CNN poll that his policies have made the economy worse, you know, and he's so used to being able to sell whatever he's selling that he believes that he can jawbone his way through this.
But the contrast between the opulence and the focus, it's not, you know, even if you set aside the Gatsby theme, which is incredibly tasteless given the situation and some of the other stuff, there is this sense that he just doesn't get it, that he's not focused on what he's supposed to be focused on and what they hired him to do.
He was hired because people felt he had a strong economic record, the last time, and he was a businessman who knew how to run the economy. He told them he would lower prices, and he's focused on everything but -- and I think it's a tremendous political problem for him and for the Republicans, as you saw last Tuesday. And I think you'll see again in the midterms, unless there's a course correction.
[20:10:32]
COOPER: Brad, do you think Republicans should look at last week's election and, you know, as a flashing red light, a warning?
TODD: Well, every time you lose, you need to figure out what did you do wrong that caused you to lose or made it worse than it would have been if you hadn't made mistakes. That's just responsible politics. So yes, I would. If I were Democrats, I'd be worried about Zohran Mamdani in New York and all the things that's going to bring negatively to them, winning was a bad idea there.
But for sure, Republicans need to look deep at the election results and say, what did we do wrong? You know, we have to win on criminal justice, immigration and the economy. We have to -- those are the three legs of the stool in any Republican election. And so, we have to get back on top on the economy and Republicans in Congress know that and if they don't know that, they're kidding themselves.
COOPER: David, what can the President, I mean any President for that matter, actually do, to reduce prices?
AXELROD: Well, I think he made a pledge that's hard to achieve but certainly the tariffs have had the opposite effect in many people warned that they would have the opposite effect. And now that is coming to reality. So, don't pursue policies that are going to drive prices up when you promise to drive prices down.
I just want to say one thing. I really have a high regard for Brad and for his candor. And I agree with much of what he said, but I'm kind of amused by this is the state of the Republican Party, you are confronted with a set of facts, and all I can say is take two Zohran Mamdanis and call me in the morning.
Yes, that's not going to solve the problem for the Republican Party. The President has to help solve that problem. And there are things that he can do. One of them, the Supreme Court, Anderson, may help solve for him because they may rule these tariffs unconstitutional.
TODD: Well, you asked, Anderson, he can do a few other things. He can continue to cut regulations, they can continue to muscle the fed to lower rates so borrowing gets cheaper. They can continue to make energy more affordable. So, there are things they can do in federal policy to bring prices down.
AXELROD: Brad, let me just say this. You also have to have a consistent, reliable policy. You can't kind of jackass around from one thing to another and change policies, whether it's on tariffs or regulations or anything else. You have to have a consistent policy, businesses rely on it. Our trading partners rely on it. And that's one of the reasons we have economic chaos right now.
COOPER: Is jackass-ing around like an actual political science term. I was -- I didn't study --
AXELROD: It is.
TODD: Midwestern Europe.
AXELROD: Yes, I will introduce it to you.
COOPER: Okay, yes. I'll send you -- I feel like I've seen enough of it over the years. So, Brad, I mean, obviously President Trump, you know, we've seen him strike deals with drug companies to lower the prices of certain medications. What do you think more broadly, he could do with, like, farmers and ranchers, for example?
TODD: Well, certainly, I think he's going to -- I think have to bring some of these tariff disputes to resolution. We've already brought some of them to resolution with Europe, with the United Kingdom, there are other large trading partners for whom he has a pretty good stick out there. I think we have to bring those barriers down so American products can go back overseas and find a lot of new markets. I know America's beef cattle farmers and ranchers would love that opportunity.
And the same thing as you mentioned on prescription drugs -- he's definitely working at that problem harder and has stretched himself more than any president in recent memory to work with new, innovative solutions on that. I think the vigor is the key for Donald Trump. It is the thing he has
at most presidents don't have. David's right that moving in a straight line on the same subject for a while would help but vigor and energy and disrupting is where he does his magic. And so, I think he's got to stay focused on this problem.
COOPER: Brad Todd, David Axelrod, thanks very much, appreciate it.
Ahead, with all of this as a backdrop, more reaction to the President's tour of the newly gilded White House,
Also a staunch MAGA conservative who's been at odds with the President over the shutdown. What Marjorie Taylor Greene is saying now and the reaction she's getting from the President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know what happened to Marjorie, she is a nice woman, but I don't know what happened. She's lost her way, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: And later, country music hall of famer Kenny Chesney on life, loss and his incredible rise to music superstardom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNY CHESNEY, COUNTRY MUSIC HALL OF FAMER: I wanted to give to the world a music that wasn't being made to consume through a straw. I wanted it to be consumed with a fisheye lens, right, and that's when it all changed for me. But it all came down to just being authentic and being my true self.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:19:35]
COOPER: Before the break, you heard conservative, Erick Erickson suggest that the President should, in so many words, get real on the pain that Americans are feeling from high prices. He's not the only one.
Here's a social media post today from Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. In it, she writes, "Ignoring that both Rs and Ds in Georgia are equally concerned about inflation, cost of living and economy jobs would be foolish. Those issues are impacting everyone."
It follows other similar recent remarks from her on that on rising health care premiums and more, which appear to have prompted this last night from the President.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I don't know what happened to Marjorie, she is a nice woman, but I don't know what happened. She's lost her way, I think.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:20:12]
COOPER: Well, in response to that, the Congresswoman posted this, "The only way is through Jesus, that's my way and I've definitely not lost it. Actually, I'm working hard to put my faith into action."
Joining us now is CNN political commentator Alyssa Farah Griffin, who served in the first Trump administration. First of all, are you surprised by some of the comments Marjorie Taylor Greene has been making?
ALYSSA FARAH GRIFFIN, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: It's been a fascinating quick evolution to watch. And I watched with a lot of skepticism. Listen, I'm never going to be able to unhear or unsee some things that she's done and said. We all remember her following some school shooting victims and sort of harassing them on the streets. Her meeting with the likes of Nick Fuentes.
But I'll tell you, I interviewed her on "The View" a week ago, and I found her to be genuine and sincere when it comes to the policy concerns around affordability. I think she's hearing from her 700,000 constituents in Georgia. And keep in mind, she was elected in 2020.
So, she was sworn in 2021. This is her first year being in office when Donald Trump is President. So serving under Biden, I think there was this element of you could just blame the guy in The White House, but now she's seeing her constituents who love Donald Trump, who voted for him, who believed in him the way she did, saying, hey, we're hurting. Nothing is getting better.
Our premiums are going up. The cost of everything seems to be too high and I found that issue to be very sincere from her.
COOPER: You asked her about the shutdown last week on "The View". She was critical of Democrats, but also her own party. I'll play a clip of that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): But I'm going to pick on Republicans. Republicans never fixed it and then the ACA tax credits were passed in 2021, and there was a sunset date of the end of this year and Republicans never made a plan for that and I have been practically -- I yelled at Mike Johnson last week in our GOP conference call.
By the way, I'm missing the call today. It's going on right now, and I hope that Mike Johnson is finally giving a single health care policy because the country deserves it, and it shouldn't be a secret. And I shouldn't have to go into a skiff to go find our Republican health insurance plan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: Do you think a lot of that is coming from pressure from her own constituents -- just from all from all stripes?
GRIFFIN: I think its twofold. I'm a cynic in politics. I've been in it long enough to not assume the best in people. And I would say this, I think she has higher ambitions, whether its statewide or frankly, looking at this moment and planning for a post-Trump future, he's going to be President for three more years, and then there's going to be an open primary for who the heir apparent to MAGA is. And I think she's realizing she alienated a lot of folks with some of her rhetoric.
There's a way that you can speak to America first and to the priorities of the Trump administration without being as polarizing as she was. But I do think the concerns around affordability. I talked to her at commercial breaks. I found her to be incredibly sincere and actually committed to policy solutions. She went deeper on health care than I think I expected from her and her concerns on Obamacare, I think are something that are substantive critiques I've heard from the most moderate Republicans.
COOPER: It's interesting. Do you see that a lot in people you talk to on Capitol Hill of this kind of shifting already for a post-Trump?
GRIFFIN: It's really interesting to see the positioning already. We're still a year out from the midterms. Donald Trump is not a lame duck for at least another year, but there seems to be folks hedging for what the future is and whether it's -- are we tying our camps toward Vance or toward Rubio or sort of positioning themselves for who they want to be next, that's already starting to happen.
And I think that there's also this huge David Axelrod was talking about this. It seems like Donald Trump, who usually has his finger on the pulse of the American people, has a massive blind spot on the affordability crisis right now. And Republicans see that as an opening if they want to have future aspirations at politics.
COOPER: It is fascinating that, I mean, he ran on very successfully bashing Biden on affordability, on prices and then to fall into it seems that same pattern, that same trap is, it's fascinating to watch.
GRIFFIN: It is, because it's the Biden trap of the economy is better than you think it is and better than you feel.
Donald Trump very much judges the economy by the market, and the markets doing very well. I remember in the first term, he would always want to see how the market closes at the end of the day.
But okay, 62 percent of Americans are invested in the market. That doesn't speak to the everyday anxieties that people feel. And I don't know that I -- and I genuinely don't know that he has people in this term around him who are saying, listen, I'm hearing from farmers. I'm hearing from tradesmen, from just everyday Americans who supported you, and they just can't afford anything.
COOPER: I want to play a clip again of President Trump's interview with Laura Ingraham on Fox tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: If you look at the air conditioner vent, its book matched. Look at that, who can do that? I can do that because I know that, you know, it's even available that you could do that. Very few people can do it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: It's -- I mean, I didn't know what book matching was. I plead ignorance on that.
GRIFFIN: It feels like a home renovation show.
COOPER: Yes, it does.
GRIFFIN: The only thing missing is the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" music playing over it.
COOPER: I know, but I mean, it is -- does it, you know, the Great Gatsby party, the renovations, does it just, again, is it just that he's in the White House, and why not do this, he's feeling his oats or --
[20:25:25]
GRIFFIN: Listen, I don't know who around him is telling him about the everyday concerns of Americans. I think he's insulated himself with a lot of billionaires, a lot of millionaires, a lot of very wealthy people. I would think this would be a moment that J.D. Vance, who could very well be the next President of the United States and who came up from very humble beginnings, could be talking to him and say, hey, we're looking and sounding tone deaf in this moment.
But from the Oval Office renovations to the ballroom and to the parties at Mar-a-Lago, it feels like let them eat cake and it is going to hurt Republicans in the midterms if they don't reshape this messaging.
COOPER: Alyssa Farah Griffin, thanks so much, appreciate it.
Coming up next, more on our breaking news, a key vote tonight to advance the bill to end the government shutdown to a full House vote tomorrow. Well get an update on what's going on from Capitol Hill.
Also later, exclusive reporting, the United Kingdom suspending some intelligence sharing with the U.S. due to the strikes against alleged drug boats.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:30:54]
COOPER: More now in tonight's breaking news from Capitol Hill. House Rules Committee getting ready to vote on the bill to end the longest government shutdown in American history, setting up a full House vote tomorrow. There are some lingering questions, of course. Among them, as mentioned earlier, will any House member pushing back or rushing back to Washington for the vote face airport chaos due to the shutdown?
Also, will any House Democrat follow the eight senators from the Democratic caucus who voted to support the GOP bill? House Speaker Mike Johnson is going to need support from the razor-thin GOP majority, but he's not guaranteeing a vote on extending health care subsidies, which was part of the Senate deal that got those Democrats to break ranks.
CNN's Manu Raju joins us now from Capitol Hill. So how soon could the House vote to end the shutdown? And is it clear if or when Speaker Johnson will actually allow a vote on Obamacare subsidies?
MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, on the first question, we do expect that vote to happen tomorrow night. It could be a late night in the United States House because there is a question about attendance. Members have been scattered all about the country because the House has been out of session since September 19th.
This is a strategic decision by the Speaker to keep the House out for this long, to try to pressure Senate Democrats to vote for the Republican bill to reopen the government. Ultimately, the Senate Democrats, a handful of them, cut a deal on a separate bill to reopen the government. That would keep government agencies funded, most of them through January 30th, others through the end of next September.
But it also does not include what had been a central demand for Democrats that led to this shutdown to begin with, which is an extension of those expiring subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. They had demanded that because of concerns that the people who rely on that, millions, could see their premiums rise right now during the Obamacare open enrollment period.
They did secure a vote, a commitment for a vote in the Senate on a yet-to-be-drafted bill dealing with health care. But there is no guarantee that that will pass the Senate. And the Speaker has been very clear that he is not going to commit to holding any similar vote on health care in the United States House, which is why Democrats in the House are pushing very hard to try to kill this bill tomorrow to try to press on with their health care demands.
The narrowness of the House majority gives them some hope that they could potentially succeed. But, Anderson, in talking to Republican sources and Democratic sources, there is a belief that this bill will pass, perhaps by the narrowest of majorities, because we do expect some defections, at least one on the Republican side, maybe one on the Democratic side.
And tomorrow, there will be -- Johnson's majority will get even tighter with Adelita Grijalva, the Arizona Democrat who's been waiting to get sworn in for more than a month, will get sworn into her seat tomorrow. Meaning that Johnson will get just -- have just a two-vote margin.
He can only afford to lose two Republican votes --
COOPER: Yes. RAJU: -- on a straight party-line vote to get this bill through, Anderson.
COOPER: Well, with her being sworn in, when can we expect a vote to release the Epstein files?
RAJU: Yes, that could actually happen after Thanksgiving because of the peculiarities of the House procedure. The process they are using to circumvent the House Republican leadership and the White House's opposition, frankly, is called a discharge petition.
That requires 218 members to sign on to a petition to force a vote, and she'll be that 218th signature. Meaning that vote will happen in -- probably in the first week of December. But if it passes the House, Anderson, it still has to pass the Senate, where it has an uphill climb.
COOPER: Yes. Up next -- Manu, thank you.
Up next, CNN's exclusive reporting, America's closest ally breaking with the U.S. over those deadly boat strikes in the Caribbean, now cutting off intelligence sharing.
Plus, the arrest of two young men in upscale Montclair, New Jersey, accused of plotting terror attacks for ISIS.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's such a shock being around here. This is not what you'd expect around here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I guess you just don't know. You don't know what's happening in your own community. You know, it's scary. Ties to terrorism is a scary thing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:39:28]
COOPER: Tonight, CNN has exclusive details that Britain has stopped sharing intelligence with the U.S. military about vessels in the Caribbean suspected of carrying illegal narcotics. Now, since early September, the Pentagon has ordered at least 19 strikes on boats the Trump administration insists are being used to traffic drugs. At least 76 people have been killed.
But sources say that Britain believes the strikes are illegal, and they don't want information gathered by British assets to be used in the ongoing operation. Late tonight, the president of Colombia making a similar move, suspending intelligence sharing until the U.S. stops attacking suspected drug trafficking boats.
[20:40:02] Now, in another development, Venezuela has announced a massive military mobilization as the largest U.S. warships, the aircraft carrier Gerald R. Ford arrived today in the U.S. southern command region, which includes most of Latin America. Officials say the strike group will be used to stop the flow of drugs into the U.S., but Venezuela fears it may eventually be a military target.
I want to talk about it with CNN National Security and Politics Analyst Paul Rieckhoff, president and founder of Independent Veterans of America. The idea of the U.K. suspending some intelligence sharing, that's pretty major given our close alliance.
PAUL RIECKHOFF, NATIONAL SECURITY AND POLITICS ANALYST: It's bad.
COOPER: Yes.
RIECKHOFF: This is a bad and dangerous situation, I think, in general, and it's getting worse and more dangerous. I mean, this is unprecedented. I think it's unauthorized. There hasn't been proper consultation with Congress.
COOPER: But they're targeting these boats.
RIECKHOFF: The initial targeting of these boats.
COOPER: Yes.
RIECKHOFF: Yes. The entire operation that they continue to do almost daily, they're blowing up new boats. I don't think they have popular support in this country. And now one of our most trusted allies is saying, no. They're saying they won't support this. They're saying it's illegal.
This is the opposite of a coalition of the willing. We don't want a situation where our men and women are going in alone, without our allies, with the world against us. And it looks like war is almost imminent. On this Veterans Day, there seem to be a lot of folks in Washington who are like a next generation of chicken hawks that want to make more veterans. And I think today is a good reminder of the cost of war, and we need to continue to ask hard questions and ask what's next and if it's worth it, especially when the U.K. is saying they're out.
Mark Warner, the top Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, said that the intelligence that the administration provided behind closed doors was solid, but it's a mistake to not give the American public more information.
RIECKHOFF: I think that's absolutely true. There has to be a presentation to the American public about what our strategy is, about what the costs are going to be, why it's worth sending men and women potentially to die. Especially on this Veterans Day, let's think about not just who we're blowing up, but who we're putting in harm's way.
And the sharing of intelligence is necessary, but that also doesn't necessarily mean that the response is appropriate. You don't have to use a hammer to crush an ant, and this is something that most folks think can be controlled by the Coast Guard, but instead we're continuing to blow it up and escalate the situation.
COOPER: The fact that the USS Gerald Ford is now in the region, I mean, that's the largest aircraft carrier -- I think the biggest strike group that the U.S. has. What message is that sending?
RIECKHOFF: We're flexing like we're going to war, and it looks like Venezuela is doing the same, and it's becoming a very dangerous showdown. Trump has said he will strike inside Venezuela. He said he'll put boots on the ground.
He said he'll put intelligence assets there, and I think the world believes him. And they should believe him because he's mostly been telegraphing his punches. So now we seem to be coming to this situation where something like a Gulf of Tonkin incident or some other kind of escalation could really send it in a dangerous direction.
Trump said, you know, he wanted less wars. This looks like the opposite of that. And I think there's bipartisan concern. This shouldn't be a partisan issue. We should all as Americans, especially on Veterans Day, be concerned about if a president rushes us into war and what happens next.
COOPER: I mean, given it is Veterans Day, you've obviously advocated for troops in Iraq, Afghanistan. What is your hope tonight for the future for vets?
RIECKHOFF: Well, today's a rare moment of unity. It's a time to celebrate what brings us together as Americans, and it should remind us about our values, but it should also remind us of the cost of war. I was here at the parade in New York City today. There's amputees. There's folks who were severely wounded.
And you've got to ask the hard questions about whether or not that's worth it. And all Americans can't sit on the sidelines and just cheer for veterans. If you really want to advocate for veterans, you have to get involved in veterans policy, and most of all, involved in national security decisions that could make more veterans.
And this is one of those times where I hope folks can get together and keep that sense of unity and hold all politicians, and especially our commander in chief, accountable.
COOPER: Paul Rieckhoff, thank you. Appreciate it.
RIECKHOFF: Thank you, Anderson.
COOPER: It may seem far-fetched to find any potential link between the suburbs of New Jersey, such as the comfortable town of Montclair, and the terror group ISIS, but federal law enforcement officials are sounding an alarm with the arrest of two young men there and others in different parts of the country. They're accused of becoming radicalized through online platforms and committing themselves to jihad.
We have more tonight from CNN's Chief Law Enforcement Intelligence Analyst John Miller.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JOHN MILLER, CNN CHIEF LAW ENFORCEMENT AND INTELLIGENCE ANALYST (voice-over): Montclair, New Jersey, tree-lined streets, front porches, low crime. Just 17 miles from New York City, Montclair is not a likely target for ISIS recruiting. But federal prosecutors say two young men, graduates of Montclair High, were fully radicalized and ready.
ALINA HABBA, ACTING U.S. ATTORNEY FOR NEW JERSEY: They pledged themselves to ISIS and were plotting acts of terrorism in our country.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's such a shock being around here. This is not what you'd expect around here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I guess you just don't know. You don't know what's happening in your own community. You know, it's scary. Ties to terrorism is a scary thing.
MILLER (voice-over): The FBI says the arrests in New Jersey were all part of a complex web of online radicalization extending across the country and across continents. The Montclair suspects were also in touch with a 19-year-old charged in Seattle which came on the heels of arrests made in Dearborn, Michigan.
According to the FBI, that group of men was planning an attack in the name of ISIS on Halloween. The attack, codenamed "pumpkin." A number of targets were surveilled, including an amusement park and gay nightclubs.
[20:45:08]
The FBI says one of the main drivers of the Michigan plot was just 16 years old. The groups of young men made their ways into encrypted platforms, talking to each other online, but also to suspects in the U.K., Somalia and Syria.
One of the alleged New Jersey conspirators was taken into custody last week at Newark Airport as he tried to get to Turkey, allegedly on his way to Syria.
REBECCA WEINER, NYPD DEPUTY COMMISSIONER, INTELLIGENCE AND COUNTERTERRORISM: This is a classic case of what terrorism looks like in 2025.
MILLER (voice-over): Rebecca Weiner is the Deputy Police Commissioner for Intelligence and Counterterrorism at the NYPD, which played an extensive role in the investigation.
WEINER: This isn't as simple as there is an entity called ISIS that's operating overseas that's reaching into our homeland, recruiting and radicalizing people. This is a much more nuanced dynamic where people are finding each other online, doing that mutually reinforcing self- radicalization, finding like-minded people overseas, some of whom may have connections to the actual terrorist organization. So it's much more muddy, but it is also much more dangerous.
MILLER (voice-over): As much as ISIS has lost territory and control in places like Syria and Iraq due to efforts of the U.S. and its allies, the ISIS propaganda and recruiting machine has steadily rebounded and is targeting younger men.
COLIN CLARKE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, THE SOUFAN CENTER: We've seen a real trend in youth radicalization. And though we're still waiting on all of the details of this plot, one of my hypotheses is that the ongoing war in Gaza has really kind of opened up the aperture for more people to be interested in politics. And then they're kind of on ramp to this conveyor belt that leads them down through different social media rabbit holes to more and more extreme content.
MILLER (voice-over): Arrests were made last week from Michigan to New Jersey, Washington state to the U.K., different environments, different demographics, targeted by a terrorist group that uses different approaches.
CLARKE: It's almost like Madison Avenue, right? They're tweaking their messaging. They're figuring out what works, what doesn't work, for what age group, what socioeconomic background. It's really quite ingenious when you think about it. And artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies are making it easier for them to do. It's lowering that barrier to entry.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
COOPER: And John Miller is with me now. I mean, obviously, a lot of people are focusing on how these teenagers are from this affluent town. It's very unexpected that they would suddenly pop up as wannabe jihadists.
MILLER (on-camera): And I mean, look at the parents. You've got two 19-year-olds. The father of the first suspect is a noted Iranian- American poet and professor at the City University of New York in Queens. The mother of the other suspect is a woman who has run an international program at the U.N. as director for women and entrepreneurship.
So, this is a very stable platform for kids to go so sideways. But three things come up. You've got to know what your kids are doing on the Internet, which at that age can be nearly impossible.
COOPER: Yes.
MILLER (on-camera): For every account you know about, there's an alias or a hidden account or a whole hidden life you might not, which gets us to the third thing, which is you really, aside from trying to keep abreast of what they're doing by looking over their shoulders, you've got to be in that dialogue with them, even at the ages where they're trying to become more independent and pull away. You've got to talk to them.
COOPER: It seems because we -- I mean, you haven't heard much about ISIS in the last couple of years. MILLER (on-camera): So the ISIS structure in terms of caliphate, holding territory, controlling large swaths of land, has dissipated to near nil. There's pockets in Syria and places like that. But their propaganda machine has been so sophisticated.
And AI has played a role in this because now they can just take a propaganda message that's already created, edited, filmed, and produced. And go into AI and say, produce this in 20 different languages, which we don't have translators to speak, and reach a much wider aperture.
And their appeal to young men is toxic masculinity. Jihad is what it takes to be a real man, to be really tough. It's where they set the bar.
COOPER: Yes. John Miller, thanks so much. Appreciate it.
MILLER (on-camera): Thanks.
COOPER: Coming up, a new episode of my podcast, All There Is, just came out. It's a conversation with Country Music Hall of Fame Artist Kenny Chesney. Next, some key moments from that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KENNY CHESNEY, COUNTRY MUSIC SUPERSTAR: What I like to do is measure. And I'm measuring mentally and emotionally how far I've got to go to touch that person in that specific seat, that far away from me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:54:29]
COOPER: Welcome back. A new episode of my podcast, All There Is, just released in the last hour. My guest this week is Country Music Superstar Kenny Chesney. You can watch it right now at CNN.com/AllThereIs. I've known Kenny for nearly 20 years, and for 360, I talked to him about his remarkable career, which he writes about in a new memoir, which is just out. It's about his extraordinary journey in music. It's called "Heart Life Music."
Here's just part of our conversation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You also do something which I just found kind of amazing, which is if you're playing a stadium, as you do a lot, you go up to the top row --
CHESNEY: Yes.
COOPER: -- the farthest seat out from the stage. Why do you do that?
[20:55:09] CHESNEY: Before the show, it's just a moment of reflection for me and a moment of gratitude. Second of all, what I like to do is measure. And I'm measuring mentally and emotionally how far I've got to go to touch that person in that specific seat, that far away from me.
Because I know what it looks like from stage to there. But every place is different. And I like to sit there with my thoughts and be still and just emotionally measure.
COOPER: Because you, on a stage, you want to project yourself to that farthest person --
CHESNEY: Yes.
COOPER: -- and touch them just as much as you're touching the folks in the front row.
CHESNEY: Yes, down in the front. And that's the way I've always done it. And it just helps me.
COOPER: Your first stadium show is Neyland Stadium. Nobody had played there. The Jacksons were the last people to play there --
CHESNEY: You got it.
COOPER: -- in 1984.
CHESNEY: Yes.
COOPER: Two decades later, you get to play there. You're on a stage. It is 62,000 seats or nearly --
CHESNEY: Yes.
COOPER: -- 62,000 seats. What was that moment like?
CHESNEY: It was really intense playing there because I'd been in that stadium a lot as a child. So, yes, I --
COOPER: You write about that in the book. You write about during the show --
CHESNEY: Yes.
COOPER: -- you were looking up at the seats in row KK, the section --
CHESNEY: It's going away. It was distracting.
COOPER: -- that you used to sit with your dad.
CHESNEY: Yes, I used -- I know the section and the seat, KK, row 1 and 2. It's where Dad and I would always go with my friend Jim Cogdell and watch Tennessee football every Saturday as a child.
So, when -- and I was -- fast forward to you being an adult and being at this place in your life and doing an actual show there and being a part of the history of that place in a small way through music, it was almost -- I mean I was in the zone and I was doing my thing, but it was distracting almost because I kept staring at that spot and going, wow. The -- even the journey to write then was just surreal really.
COOPER: One of the lessons of the book, and it's a lesson others have taught before, but it's a lesson everybody has to figure out in their own way, which is it was only once you could tap into who you actually are, like what is in your core and what you love.
And after you discover the U.S. Virgin Islands and discover that part of yourself, you write early on. You weren't sure -- you were starting to get some traction, but you weren't sure of the artist you -- like what sort of artist you actually were. I mean I guess it began with no shirt, no shoes, no problem. But once you fully embraced all sides of you and weren't trying to do what someone else was doing but figured out what Kenny Chesney wants to do, that's when things just exploded.
CHESNEY: Once I started being my true self and I wasn't dressing the same, I wasn't acting the same, I was working out constantly and because I wanted to give to the world a music that wasn't being made to consume through a straw. I wanted it to be consumed with a fisheye lens, right? And that's when it all changed for me. But it all came down to just being authentic and being my true self.
COOPER: There is something that you did which I don't think you've ever talked about, I've never talked about. When Sandy Hook happened, I interviewed the mother of Grace McDonnell who was a little girl killed at Sandy Hook, and her name was Lynn.
Before that interview, I was in their kitchen and I was talking to them and this was just days after their daughter was killed. And there was a photo of you on the refrigerator. And she's, Grace loved Kenny Chesney.
CHESNEY: Wow.
COOPER: And in fact the morning she was killed, we were standing at the school -- excuse me --
CHESNEY: No, it's OK.
COOPER: We were standing at the school bus, waiting for the bus and we were singing Kenny Chesney's song. And I texted you that night to just say, hey, I just want you to know you really touched this family's life. And this family really loved you and this little girl who died really loved you.
You texted me right back and you said you wanted to reach out to Lynn. And I got in touch with Lynn, made sure it was OK. You called Lynn and you spoke for a long time.
CHESNEY: Yes. And we have since then become really good friends. You know what's crazy? And this is -- because I believe in -- I'm a very spiritual person and I believe in people pushing people together. Do you know today, as we are sitting here talking, and I'm not sure when this is running -- COOPER: Yes.
CHESNEY: -- but as I'm sitting here talking, today's November the 4th, the day my book comes out. And I was going back and forth with Lynn on email just a couple weeks ago and she goes, I'm really excited to see that your book's out, that it's coming out. And I said, well, thank you.
And she goes, I think you need to know November 4th is Grace's birthday. She would have been 20 years old today.
COOPER: Kenny Chesney, thank you so much.
CHESNEY: Thank you, my brother.
COOPER: Yes.
CHESNEY: Thank you very much.
COOPER: My pleasure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COOPER: You can hear my conversation with Kenny about loss and grief on my podcast, All There Is. The episode just came out. It's available wherever you get your podcasts. You can also watch the entire episode right now at CNN.com/AllThereIs. It's where you can also access a full library of past podcast episodes and also watch my new companion streaming show, All There Is Live, which is on every Thursday at 9:15 p.m. Eastern Time.
That's it for us. The news continues. "The Source" with Kaitlan Collins starts now. See you tomorrow.
