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The Lead with Jake Tapper

No Signs of Serious Talks on Capitol Hill to End Government Shutdown; Federal Workers' Financial Stress to Pile Up Amid Government Shutdown; Trump to Congress, U.S. in Armed Conflict With Drug Cartels. No Signs Of Serious Talks On Capitol Hill To End Government Shutdown; Eighth Outer Banks Home Collapses Into Ocean. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired October 02, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Erica Hill in for Jake Tapper.

[18:00:00]

This hour, the government is shut down still for a second day, and we find ourselves at an impasse as both sides continue to dig in. The White House said shutdown related layoffs are likely to be in the thousands. We'll take a closer look at the impacts and how they're now reaching far beyond the government itself.

Plus, the Trump administration telling Congress the U.S. is now in an armed conflict with drug cartels. So, what could this mean for potential military campaigns?

And we'll take you live to a popular grocery store to try to understand why so many Americans say they're still feeling sticker shock at the checkout.

The Lead tonight, all signs point to the government shutdown lasting until at least next week. Senate Democrats are expected to vote on the Republican-backed short-term bill on Friday, but that's unlikely to reach a different outcome than what we saw on Wednesday's vote. There are no votes scheduled for the weekend. Negotiations appear somewhat few and far between.

CNN's Kaitlan Collins is live at the White House this hour. So, Kaitlan, your team spotted a key Republican at the White House as well this afternoon. Who was there?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. As we've been hearing, the minority leader over in the House, Hakeem Jeffries, lamenting the fact that he says right now Republican Congressional leaders are not negotiating with him, that he hasn't heard anything back from them or from the White House since that meeting they had here on Monday, that happened and obviously did not stave off a government shutdown. That's what we've been hearing from Hakeem Jeffries.

But we did see the House speaker, Mike Johnson, arriving here earlier at the White House. He was going into the West Wing. He was seen in upstairs of the West Wing over by the press secretary's office. He had some family and friends also alongside him. It seemed to be more of a social visit than any kind of negotiations when it comes to the shutdown, though, obviously, that is the key thing that is driving a lot of what's happening here at the White House. I mean, there are even some White House employees who are not here right now because of this government shutdown.

But what they've really been focused on over the last 24 hours, as we're waiting to see if any more Senate Democrats decide to cross the aisle and vote yes on keeping the government open, which is what the White House is banking on, they're working on the messaging part of this, Erica. You've certainly seen inside the briefing room, as happened again today, a lot of memes playing on loop inside those televisions inside, where normally were briefed by the press secretary basically is they're arguing that they're winning the messaging battle here.

But also what's happening behind the scenes could be just as key as what they're saying publicly, and that's the question of cancelations that we're seeing from multiple departments and agencies, and also potential layoffs coming throughout the federal government during this shutdown. This is what the White House press secretary said earlier about this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REPORTER: Can you give us an estimate on the amount of federal workers that the Trump administration wants to fire during the government shutdown? Are we talking hundreds? Are we talking thousands?

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Look, it's likely going to be in the thousands. It's a very good question. And that's something that the Office of Management and Budget and the entire team at the White House here, again, is unfortunately having to work on today.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COLLINS: And of course, the person who runs the Office of Management and Budget is Russ Vought. He is a longtime Trump ally. The president actually posted earlier that he was meeting with him to talk about what they are using with this and basically touting the authority and the added power he believes he has as a result of this government shutdown. So, that is a key issue that we're watching here at the White House to see how many people exactly are laid off because of this shutdown.

HILL: Yes, we certainly are. Kaitlan, I appreciate it. Thank you. And, of course, Kaitlan will have much more tonight on The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Her guest tonight, Energy Secretary Chris Wright. Be sure to tune in 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

Joining us now, Republican Congressman Mike Flood of Nebraska. He is on the Financial Services Committee. Sir, it's good to have you with us.

When we look at where things stand right now and what we're hearing about potential firings, do you believe federal workers should be fired during this shutdown and that Democratic agencies specifically should be targeted, as we've heard from the president?

REP. MIKE FLOOD (R-NE): You know what's amazing? The one person that Democrats have their biggest problem with is the exact person that they've empowered during this government shutdown. No, I'm not surprised that we're talking about layoffs. I'm not surprised that they're permanent. This has been something we've talked about with a $37 trillion budget deficit. We've got to make some cuts. But all of this could have been avoided if the Democrats would have done what Chuck Schumer did in March, what they did last year, and that is approve and extend the Biden-Schumer budget until November 21st so that we can find a bipartisan mainline budget solution.

HILL: So, to that point though, are you concerned about the potential number of layoffs? I know you're saying this is all on Democrats, they're empowering the president to do it, but if we're hearing they're likely to be in the thousands, what does that say to you about the potential broader impact?

FLOOD: Well, you know, I'm looking at it from my district's perspective. You know, I have a lot of airmen over at the Air Force base strategic command, combatant command in Bellevue, Nebraska. They're obviously in national defense, so I'm not worried as much about them. But food inspectors are going to stay on the job. There's going to be some cuts. And, by the way, we have a bloated government. It makes sense to make some cuts.

[18:05:01]

But until I see the exact plan, it's going to be hard to say how it'll affect America or Nebraska.

I do know that Russ Vought has been very good. I'm the chair of Main Street Caucus. We have had regular conversation with him. They are being very strategic. They were looking at what are the essential services the government must provide and protect property and health and all of that, and what they can get away with maybe permanently riffing.

And so this should come as a surprise to no one, that we're in this situation. And again, it's entirely preventable. All they have to do is extend the budget they've already supported in the Senate.

HILL: To your point about those conversations you've been having with Russ Vought, can you offer any insight then, if these conversations have been ongoing, about where you believe some of these cuts could come first?

FLOOD: Well, Russ Vought's been very careful not to show his cards publicly or even in a private setting like that, but they have solicited from members of the Main Street Caucus. Tell us how you see this. What are some agencies that you're really paying attention to? For instance, the National Weather Service is a critical agency that did see some DOGE cuts. And then because Main Street Caucus got involved, we have this rehiring now of meteorologist offices around the United States.

So, listen, the White House wants to do right by the American people. They also want to do everything they can to trim the budget deficit, and this is part of it in the discretionary spending lane. And so nobody in America should be surprised that we find ourselves in this situation. When the Article 1 branch of government fails to fund the government, the Article 2 branch of government, being the executive branch run by Donald Trump, has the authority to step in and make those decisions, and that's exactly what's happening here.

HILL: The political decisions are very clear. We are certainly hearing it from members of both parties.

I found it interesting. The Washington Post is out with a new one-day poll that reflects similar results to what we've seen in other polling. There have been questions about who is going to get the blame here. The numbers pretty high in terms of what we're seeing. 47 percent of respondents say President Trump and Republicans are to blame for the shutdown. 30 percent say it's the Democrats. 23 percent say they're not sure. Those numbers don't look great for Republicans.

FLOOD: Well, that's a snapshot from one media entity. There's a lot more polling that's out there, I'm sure. But here's the deal, like I am a Republican that has always voted to fund the government. I voted to fund the government when the House Freedom Caucus didn't want to in the last Congress. I have always voted to do it.

If we have a reasonableness standard, and the question is it unreasonable to extend the Biden-Schumer House Republican budget from 2024, the answer is yes. It's so understandable that Democrats already did it in March, and all they have to do is do it again, and then we get to a mainline budget that, again, will require compromise between Republicans and Democrats, and we can end this charade and the uncertainty that Schumer and all the Democrats are putting on the American people by using our federal workers essentially as hostages in some political game to save their own backside.

That's how I see. I've been someone who always votes to fund the government, and that's what's happening here.

HILL: In terms of funding and how money is used, I also want to ask you a story that just crossed recently from The Wall Street Journal is reporting that the president is now looking into a potential bailout for farmers because of the hit that they are taking from tariffs. You represent a number of farmers. I've spoken to farmers over the last several months who are very concerned about the impact here, soybean farmers in particular, who tell me the last thing they want is another bailout. Do you believe this is responsible? Is this what you would like to see from the government, that the tariffs could lead to a bailout again?

FLOOD: Well, you're absolutely right. We do have an issue with soybeans. We raise a lot of soybeans here in the Midwest, in my homestead of Nebraska. We're very concerned about it. China's playing games, obviously, in this ongoing trade war, the same trade war that Biden didn't lift a finger on for four years. But we find ourselves in a situation where I think that $10 billion, if that's what they're talking about, it's absolutely necessary for the soybean farmers.

Listen, we're opening up new markets, Indonesia, Vietnam. These are good things for America and American soybean growers. But given the fact that China has diverted and they're buying a lot of their soybeans from Argentina or Brazil or whatnot, we do have a problem. This is an immediate crisis that needs to be addressed. And just like President Trump did in 2017, he promised, when he started this trade effort, that he would be there, have the backs of American farmers if we find ourselves in a transition period or the prices are too low. And that's what we have and that's what I hope we do. And, quite frankly, the soybean farmers and all farmers need it right now.

HILL: So, you're okay with that as a bailout for the problem that was created?

Republican from Nebraska, Congressman Mike Flood, we appreciate you joining us on The Lead. Thank you.

FLOOD: Thanks for having me.

[18:10:00]

HILL: Even if you're not a government employee, the reality is you could begin to see the impacts of the shutdown. We're going to take a closer look at the how and the when there.

Plus, President Trump now says the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: In our National Lead, even if you don't work for the federal government, the reality is you may soon start to feel the impacts of the government shutdown.

CNN's Tom Foreman joining us now. So, Tom, you've been tracking the real world impacts of this shutdown. What are you seeing? We're now in, of course, day two.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's still early, but the warning bells are clanging and airports are a key focus. While federal workers there are considered essential and must stay on the job, they are generally working without pay. And this is a situation which analysts say could lead to work slowdowns, long lines and delayed or canceled flights eventually. Industry reps say their folks are focused on safety.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: They're also thinking about, I have, you know, medical bills I need to pay, student loans I need to pay off. And not knowing in how long this will go, October 14th, they'll receive their first partial paycheck.

[18:15:01]

October 28th, if it's to go to there, they receive no pay at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOREMAN: Health officials are also raising alarms as the Centers for Disease Control has said, quote, state and local health partners along with the public should expect delays in CDC's ability to identify and respond to outbreaks, urgent disease threat, and/or a critical need in areas including food safety, healthcare quality, and high consequence pathogens.

And the FBI Agents Association has also weighed in here offering a similar warning about the ability of their agency to coordinate with state, local, and international law enforcement. And, of course, the potential impact of all of these furloughs and threatened layoffs is raising concerns for the millions of Americans who rely on federal services. Erica?

HILL: Yes, absolutely. We also have the president saying, Tom, that he wants to go after agencies, which he considers to be favorable to Democrats. Do we know at this point whether the cuts are being applied evenly across departments and agencies?

FOREMAN: Not at all. They're not being applied that way. If you look at this as a percentage of their workforces, the impact ranges widely. For example, the Social Security Administration is down just 12 percent in terms of furloughs. Well, we're trying to keep the checks going out there. That's part of the plan, so that kind of makes sense. Homeland Security in charge of the border and all of those ICE raids has furloughed just 5 percent of its people. And the Internal Revenue Service, no furloughs at all there.

But now take a look at the Environmental Protection Agency, which has lost 89 percent of its people being furloughed, the Labor Department down 76 percent. This is important because there are big government economic reports that are supposed to be coming in that we now know are going to be delayed at a critical time when the economy has been sagging, the Interior Department down 81 percent, Fish and Wildlife down 66 percent, the National Park Service down 64 percent. We don't know definitively if any of this is politically targeted but we do know the impact could really be profound.

If you look at this, according to the National Parks Conservation Association, the parks could lose $1 million in fees and the surrounding communities, $80 million each day of a shutdown, all the more reason for something to be worked out soon.

HILL: Yes. That has a massive impact on all of those businesses surrounding. I really appreciate it, Tom. Thank you.

FOREMAN: You're welcome.

HILL: Well, President Trump has decided the United States is now engaged in a formal armed conflict. The latest on the confidential notice sent to Congress this week, that's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

HILL: In our World Lead, escalating tensions in the Caribbean Sea. President Trump now saying the U.S. is engaged in an armed conflict with drug cartels. That's according to a confidential notice to Congress, which was obtained by CNN. Now, that notice reportedly offers legal reasoning for the U.S. strikes on three boats in the last month, killing 17 people. The president, you may recall, also posted video of those strikes on Truth Social.

Joining us now Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton. Ambassador, it's good to have you with us. So, if the president does call this an armed conflict and describes the drug cartels as terrorists, does that offer a legal avenue for these strikes and potentially the resulting deaths rather than murder?

JOHN BOLTON, FORMER U.N. AMBASSADOR: No, you can't. You can't take concepts and pour the meaning out of them and then pour new meaning in that you like and say that it's applicable. I mean, this is what the administration is saying here sounds a lot like Humpty Dumpty in Alice in Wonderland, where Humpty Dumpty said words mean exactly what I say they mean and nothing more. So, if you call it a war, then military force becomes applicable. But as much of a curse as the drug trade is, it's not a war.

And, you know, we -- this is, to me, more a matter of philosophy than of law. We have historically and properly kept the military out of law enforcement, and I think the administration's doing everything it can to push the military into law enforcement, both on the high seas and in this country.

HILL: Well, it's also interesting, as The New York Times pointed out in its reporting, a terrorist designation would typically be used for people who want to harm or to kill Americans because of their ideology. It's fascinating if we're talking about a drug cartel or drug lords, because one would think, practically speaking, they would not want to see their customers dead because they can no longer do business with them.

BOLTON: Well, there are examples of narco-terrorism in Colombia before Planned Columbia was applied to it. I would say that the drug traffickers there were also terrorists. But this actually reinforces why you don't move to the use of military simply by declaring something to be a war against the United States. We're not going to get invited into countries, like Colombia, possibly like Mexico, if the governments think that we'll move at our discretion from conventional law enforcement toward the indiscriminate use of military force.

Terrorists are different from drug cartels in a more important way, and that is we are a big part of the drug problem. Nobody's forcing any drugs down anybody's throats or into their arms. There's a demand for it in this country. That's what our real problem is. HILL: I also want to get your take on another story this week that has certainly sparked a lot of interest, the president signing an executive order earlier this week vowing to defend Qatar in the event of an attack. This actually happened on the same day that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologized for Israel's strike on Qatar, which targeted Hamas. I have seen this executive order from the president referred to as extraordinary compared to a level of commitment similar to NATO's Article 5. What do you make of this show of support for Qatar?

[18:25:01]

BOLTON: Well, maybe it's because the president received a $400 million jet. Look, I think it's a mistake to single Qatar out from the other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Saudis, the Emiratis, the Kuwaiti's, Bahrain, and Oman. I think the strategic situation in the Gulf region is of critical importance to the United States. But no offense to Qatar, it's not more important than the others. And it just has the look of typical Trump foreign policy, not looking at strategic questions, but looking at what's good for Trump.

HILL: We'll be following that one. Tomorrow is six weeks since the FBI searched your home and office. I know this is a pending investigation. But earlier this week, you spoke at Harvard and said there was no classified information in your book. What is the next step at this point?

BOLTON: Well, I can't really talk about the ongoing situation. I've said, of course, for six years there was no classified information in the book, and I'm happy to reaffirm that.

HILL: Yes, absolutely. Ambassador Bolton, thank you, as always, for your time. I appreciate it.

BOLTON: Thank you.

HILL: Trips to the grocery store don't come cheap these days. One grocery store owner joins us to discuss what he thinks is behind some of the prices moving up, and even a few moving down. That's just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

HILL: In our Money Lead, President Trump says he's brought down grocery prices just as he promised he would do on the campaign trail. The consumer price index, however, when we take a look at those numbers, they tell a little different story. On average, grocery prices have actually risen during Trump's second term. Grocery prices actually had the highest single month jump between July and August, the highest single month jump in the last three years.

Joining me now is Stew Leonard. He's the president and CEO of Stew Leonard's grocery chain. It's good to have you back with us.

So, I know we talk a lot about how prices are up over overall.

STEW LEONARD JR., CEO, STEW LEONARD'S GROCERY STORES: Thank you.

HILL: But you do have some good news. You've actually been able to lower prices on some staples at your stores. Where are you able to get those costs down?

LEONARD: Okay. Well, the market has a lot to do with it, and I know everybody's talked about these, right, eggs, eggs, eggs. Those are down over last year. You're seeing things like chicken right here. The chicken breasts are down over last year, butter's come down. Flour's come down. We got some good news there, but there's all lobster prices have come down because China's not importing as many of them. We got some good news right there.

There's also some tough things, like -- this is like, how do you like this baby right here? That's a nice big rib eye tomahawk, Fred Flintstone-type steak right there. But we're noticing beef prices. They're at a 60-year low for the herd sizes, obviously supply and demand. The price is up about 15 percent on beef.

The other thing is these little guys right here, shrimp, right, you know, we're importing them from Ecuador right now. There's a 15 percent tariff. I don't see how prices can go down overall, between now and the end of the year. We got to make some big buying decisions right now, for coffee in Brazil. We import our coffee direct and roast it here at Stew Leonard's.

So, I don't see the window for costs to come down. Our labor's going up at our family business here in the tri-state area. So, it's going to be a challenge really for customers to see their grocery bills go down this year, I think.

HILL: Right. You mentioned the coffee. That's something we've been following really closely here at CNN, the impact of tariffs on coffee, also on bananas, for example. When it comes to coffee, are you seeing changes in what people are buying because of the costs?

LEONARD: Well, you know what we did, this is like our bag of coffee right here, and this probably is about $15 right now. We are now -- maybe you call it shrinkflation or whatever, but just to make it a little more pocketbook friendly, we're making $10 bags right now, which are flying off the shelf.

So, the other thing you don't know about is these are the beautiful 16 to 20-size shrimp. They're nice jumbo shrimp that you get for your shrimp cocktail. The question, will people go down in size for that, and they're $2 a pound less if you buy smaller shrimps.

You know, avocados, same price as, you know, last year, they're $2 each. You know, here's a little fun thing my daughter did. These are plush toys. We got hit with a 35 percent China tariff on these things. So, we had to raise the price. Normally, they're $10 for these in the store. We had to raise the price up to $14, you know? So, it's having an impact right here. HILL: It is. I also just wanted to get your take on with the government shutdown. There's been a lot of concern about different programs, and specifically WIC, which provides food assistance for those in needs, particularly women and children. There is concern that those programs could run out of money within weeks. What could that mean for families?

LEONARD: Boy, what a tough question right there. You know, that's -- my heart -- I mean, even aside from the shutdown, there's just so many people that, you know, need food and, you know, are living, you know, just day-to-day right now. And, you know, we've been sponsoring a lot of food banks and so forth, and maybe we'll have to step up our effort a little bit. We give out about 3,500 turkeys at Thanksgiving. And we've already noticed right now that there's been a surge in requests. I could easily give out ten times that many for families in need.

So, you just -- you know your heart -- you want to help everybody. I hate to see little kids, you know, that don't have enough food. And, you know, we'll just step up our effort and try to do what we can in the community.

HILL: Stew Leonard, always good to talk to you. Thank you.

LEONARD: Okay. Take care and thank you. Happy Halloween.

HILL: And to you too. Thank you very much.

Well, as we talk about the high cost of food, Politico is also reporting some Senate leaders were spotted at a fine dining restaurant last night. This is, of course, federal employees are going without paychecks.

[18:35:02]

Some of them still working, but they won't get paid until the shutdown is over. That's ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: In our Politics Lead, while Democrats on Capitol Hill are fighting to prove themselves to their base in the government shutdown in the historically deep red Texas, an underdog in the Senate Democratic primary is setting fundraising records, so monumental that some are speculating, he could be the future of the party.

State Representative James Talarico joins me now. It's good to have you with us here on The Lead. Your campaign says you raised $6.1 million in just three weeks. That's 2 million more than your primary opponent has raised since July. How do you plan to keep that momentum going?

STATE REP. JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): Well, what I'm really proud of is where that money came from. It came from more than 125,000 people from nearly every county in Texas and all 50 states, and zero of it came from corporate PACs. So, this is truly a campaign of, by and for the people. And you may know, Erica, that before I was a politician, I was a public school teacher. Most of the work I've done is to help students and educators and families in the state of Texas.

[18:40:03]

It's part of why I'm running for the U.S. Senate. And I'm proud to say that the most common profession among those who contributed to our campaign were teachers, and that means a lot to me personally.

HILL: As we're watching what is playing out in Washington, Democratic leadership, so far, no plans to bend to Republicans to end this shutdown until their terms on healthcare are met. We are on day two now. What grade would you give your party in this moment? How are they handling it so far?

TALARICO: I'm really proud of the way that Democrats in Washington have finally stepped up to fight for the people of this country. Before I was a politician, like I said, I was a school teacher. And I saw the way that these decisions made in the halls of power hurt people, like the students that I taught, like their family members in the neighborhood. And it's why I decided to run for office so that they could have someone who's fighting for them.

We have way too many politicians who are fighting for their billionaire mega donors. I mean, that's what this whole shutdown is about. Republicans in D.C. want to kick millions of Texans, millions of Americans off their healthcare to fund tax breaks for their donors. That's corruption, plain and simple. And it's about time that Democrats in Washington stood up to that kind of corruption.

HILL: There's been a lot of attention on you, frankly, for some time. You've amassed quite a following online that it say extends far beyond Texas. As you noted, you have donations coming in from far beyond your state. The New York Times is just out this week with an opinion piece on you. The headline is, he's young, talented, and openly religious. Is he the savior Democrats have been waiting for? It also notes no Democrat has won statewide office in Texas in more than 30 years. You did though manage to flip your state house seat in 2018.

You talk about your faith, you talk about religion and politics, but perhaps in a different way. And I know your response to the death of Charlie Kirk last month may have contributed to that. Do you see room in this Democratic Party for that kinder, more centrist message at a time when we hear constantly that it could be more about the extremes, that that is actually what will take hold, and that's what voters are maybe after?

TALARICO: Well, we have to use moral language. In addition to being a lawmaker, I'm also a seminarian. And if you read the New Testament, Jesus doesn't spend most of his time preaching or teaching or even praying. He spends most of his time healing the sick.

Right now, we have politicians in Congress with Christ follower in their Twitter bios, but they are kicking the sick off their healthcare and they're willing to shut down the government to do it. We as lawmakers, especially those of us who proclaim a devout faith, have a special obligation to heal people, not make them sicker.

I feel like too often we sanitize this discussion about healthcare by talking about premiums and continuing resolutions. But a budget is a moral document. What happens to people who don't have health insurance? Diabetics ration their insulin. Seniors skip their medication and people die. In fact, it's estimated that 51,000 Americans will die needlessly if all these Republican cuts go through. That's 51,000 flesh and blood human beings. That's a moral crime in the wealthiest country in human history. No one should die because they can't afford their health insurance.

HILL: Texas State Representative James Talarico, I appreciate your time tonight. Thank you.

TALARICO: Thanks for having me.

HILL: The panel, my panel is here now. When you hear what James Talarico has to say -- Ashley, I see you smiling. When you hear what he has to say -- I've been struck actually over the last several months what we have seen from him online and how many people seem to be sharing it from really diverse backgrounds, quite frankly, and even political leanings, his messaging, is there a place, though, realistically for it in this moment? And if so, where?

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR FOR V.P. HARRIS: Absolutely. I mean, and it's clearly working. I mean, he's breaking fundraising numbers. And, you know, I will tell you I'm from Texas and that the state rep is all the talk across the entire state. So, for me, it's energizing because it really signals that our bench is deep, that we've got a lot of young talent that we can bring into the party, revive the party.

But I will say the challenge though is that we're consistently looking for a savior, to quote The New York Times, and the reality is the party is fundamentally broken. We're facing a three alarm fire. We are in an identity crises. We're bleeding support among our base voters, a growing trust cap among that voter, and we've got, you know, voters, and we've got an aging infrastructure that we've got to address.

[18:45:04]

So, no one person is going to fix the problems of this party. And the problem is that we continually sort of ignore them, brush them under the rug and move from election to election. And, you know, again, it's just continues to fracture the foundation. And we find ourselves where we're bleeding support among our base vote voters.

And, you know, Black voters are voting for an openly racist individual at double digit numbers. I mean, that's a problem for the Democratic Party that speaks to the depth of the problems that we have. And I don't think there's one person -- although I love the state rep, he's fantastic -- is going to fix it.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Shermichael, I feel like you want to jump in. I mean, how --

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I do.

HILL: -- troublesome would a candidate like James -- could James Talarico be?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, he's an interesting candidate for a number of reasons. His first answer, he had a sort of populist message recognizing people's economic strife and conditioning. I thought that was very smart.

Then, towards the tail end of the second question you asked, he connected policy to faith. I know he has a masters in divinity. He's a presbyterian. I don't know if he still identifies with that, but I know that's how he grew up.

I thought that was also very interesting, because you haven't heard in a very long time from a Democrat. In my opinion, someone who speaks so openly about their faith. So that was very unique.

Obviously, Bernie Sanders has spoken with a sort of populist tinge to his messaging, but I thought this guy was sort of more mainstream, trying to be more balanced and leveled out with his articulation of his position. So, again, just as a strategist, listening to every single thing he was saying, that was unique.

I don't know if that resonates beyond a place like Texas, but I will tell you this, Democrats would be smart, in my opinion, as a Republican, to try to find more candidates like that.

That said, Democrats got to be honest with themselves and realize you have an unfavorable rating that's above 60 percent. To Ashley's point, they lost younger voters to a degree last November. They lost black men to a degree last November. You also saw significant numbers of Latino voters move over to the Republican Party.

Now, whether or not my party can cement a bloc of those voters and make them competitive come midterms, that's a question that we're still trying to figure out. But if you're Democrats, you have to be worried that voters you once were able to rely on are looking elsewhere in terms of their concerns.

HILL: All right. So real quickly, before I let you both go. When we talk shutdown, there are a lot of concerns about the layoffs that could be coming. Some people have already been furloughed, as we know, there have been members of Congress who have said, look, don't pay us during the shutdown. We would be much more comfortable with that. We know how Americans feel about lawmakers getting paid during a shutdown.

The president is donating his salary, as he has done in the past. "Politico" reporting, though, that it was Senate Majority Leader Thune, Republican whip John Barrasso and other top Republicans spotted at a fine dining restaurant on capitol hill last night. Ill let you both weigh in, but real quickly, Michael, to you first, since it's your party, is that a good look in this moment?

SINGLETON: I mean, look, this is what I want. I want my Democratic friends to come to the table with Republicans, keep the government open.

HILL: But do you want them at the table at the fancy restaurant when other people aren't getting paid? Is that a good look?

SINGLETON: I don't have a problem with them having dinner at any restaurant, because I think most Americans would like to have dinners at nice restaurants. And you know what? They can do that if they're getting paid, if Democrats will come to the table and keep the government open.

HILL: Well, they are getting paid because they're lawmakers.

SINGLETON: They're still refusing to do -- of course. Of course.

HILL: Ashley?

SINGLETON: The Democrats aren't worried about that.

ETIENNE: I mean, I'm not sure where Michael's talking about. Weve been at the table waiting for the president and the Republican Party to show up. I mean, here's the deal with the Republicans and the president. With the president, this is about Democrats. With Democrats, this is about the American people.

You know, the Republican Party couldn't care less about prices going up, premiums going up. If so, they would be at the table trying to fix this. What this is, is an effort to double down on a failed economic agenda.

And that's what I want my party to start leaning in on, is placing the blame for the economy. You know, unemployment is going up, costs are going up. You know, per your last segment, you know, we're looking at a situation where unemployment is at 7.5 percent in the black community, 350,000 black women have lost their jobs.

I mean, we're in a real crisis right now. And meanwhile, Republicans are out eating steak dinners at, you know, at local restaurants rather than coming to the table and figuring out how they can revamp their economic agenda so that the American people aren't paying and bearing the brunt of that policy.

(CROSSTALK)

SINGLETON: So, Ashley, Ashley, why not, let's keep the government open and then negotiate health care, which is what Democrats would like to do.

ETIENNE: I'm in to that.

HILL: I'll let you two go negotiate that. But we're going to have to end this segment. Otherwise I'm going to get in trouble.

(LAUGHTER)

HILL: Nice to see you both.

SINGLETON: Thank you.

HILL: Thank you.

ETIENNE: Bye.

HILL: Well, the star of "Monk" and "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" has a great new gig. He's joining the family here at CNN, and we couldn't be happier. Except we're all a little jealous because his gig is all about eating lots of carbs. Tony Shalhoub joins the lead next.

First, though, the new must-see video, the eighth home now along the North Carolina outer banks to collapse in the ocean. Look at that. Those two hurricanes far off the U.S. East Coast helping to kick up the strong waves and bring those houses down. We're back in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:54:09]

HILL: This just in to CNN. In a dramatic letter, Sean "Diddy" Combs is begging the judge for forgiveness, writing he is humbled and broken, saying, quote, "I lost my way." This, of course, ahead of Combs' sentencing tomorrow, he will find out. This comes on the heels of being convicted for two charges stemming from prostitution. Each of those counts can carry a ten-year prison sentence. Combs was acquitted of the more serious charges of racketeering and conspiracy and sex trafficking.

In our pop culture lead, Jake Tapper may be off today, but he left us with a little something special and a special appearance, a chat with a legendary actor.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Something new from a Tony, Golden Globe and four-time Emmy Award-winning actor. You might know Tony Shalhoub from his hit TV shows "Monk" on USA or "Wings" on NBC, or the Amazon series "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel".

I first noticed him as the cab driver in the film "Quick Change", but next up for Mr. Shalhoub is he is the host of the new CNN original series. It's called "BREAKING BREAD," and here's a taste.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TONY SHALHOUB, HOST, "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD": Thank you, Kumari, for hosting us here.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let's dig in.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It sounds amazing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's amazing. Yeah. Thank you.

SHALHOUB: I'm joined by some fellow bread lovers for a spectacular dinner. We're passing milk, bread rolls, sour and focaccia topped with an olive tapenade.

Sharing and tasting the many ways the city brings people together.

Oh, my God.

I really just want to share some food. Talk about the good stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you find that people order the breadbasket a lot? Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. This is our number one seller.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We make about 30 loaves a day.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That's super nice to know. Yeah.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If my behavior with bread is a little weird and neurotic, I can be too much of a bread nerd. Yeah.

SHALHOUB: That's all right.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I've had similar experiences. I've had people tell me they've never seen someone sit down and eat so much bread at the beginning of a meal, and that it's distracting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's distracting.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: And it's my pleasure to welcome Tony Shalhoub to the show and to the CNN family.

It's so great to have you. As noted, you've done a lot in your career. Why this new venture?

SHALHOUB: Yeah, that's -- that's an excellent question, Jake. First, thanks for having me on. I really, really appreciate it.

So -- so "BREAKING BREAD" is kind of an attempt, I guess for me to kind of break out of my usual, my usual zone of, you know, working in film or television or even on stage, working with a lot of fictional material. I felt -- I sort of felt the need to kind of reconnect to the world again, and, get out, get out to new places, meet new people, get out to places that were even familiar to me, but to maybe try to see them in a different way. And from a different point of view.

And, I really just -- I felt like it was time to, you know, to kind of get back to the world and act maybe as a bit of a tour guide for viewers into this, into this food space. I'm -- I have to confess, you know, I'm not -- I wouldn't characterize myself as a foodie.

I know, a lot of people in, you know, who do travel food shows do think of themselves as a foodie, but I'm really not. I'm more of -- I'm just more on an exploratory mission, I guess you'd say. And I'd love to take the viewers along with me.

TAPPER: That sounds great. Just to bring people up to speed on your bio, your father immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon in the 1920s, and you grew up in Green Bay, Wisconsin. How does your own unique background and upbringing play a role in this new series, if at all?

SHALHOUB: Well, it does. I -- both my parents were Lebanese, and so, you know, that was a big part of our culture growing up that -- not exclusively, but a lot of a lot of the food that we ate, the bread that we ate. And that the culture that we shared, certainly.

And one of the stops in on -- on the bread show because we weren't able to go to Lebanon this past year. We went to Sao Paulo in Brazil, which happens to have we learned a huge Lebanese population. There was a massive migration there, over the, you know, starting in the 1800s.

And so, we were able to meet these amazing people, not just Lebanese, of course. There were -- there's people from all over the world in Brazil, it's a huge melting pot. But certainly the Lebanese culture there was the main draw.

TAPPER: With all that's going on in this world and all the divisions, the show tries to find ways to unite us all. Is bread a big uniter?

SHALHOUB: Well, I don't know. I mean, that seems like an awfully lofty, ambitious agenda. I, you know, I just -- it is -- it is something that I think most people can agree on. You know, if you go to a restaurant, you sit around a table, everybody orders something different or has a, you know, a dislike for one thing or another.

But when the bread comes, everybody goes in and everybody has that common experience. So, you know, bread as a vehicle for connection, for -- a vehicle for conversation. That's kind of what -- that's kind of what we're about.

TAPPER: Tony, if you ever come to D.C., I'm going to take you to the best pita and hummus place in in D.C., but it's not Lebanese. Its actually Greek.

SHALHOUB: I'm there. Love Greek food.

TAPPER: All right.

The new CNN original series is called "TONY SHALHOUB BREAKING BREAD". It premieres this Sunday at 9:00 Eastern and Pacific, only on CNN.

Tony, thanks so much.

SHALHOUB: Thank you, Jake.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

HILL: I'm going to weasel my way into that pita place.

Thanks so much for joining us.

Erin Burnett starts right now.