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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Government Shutdown Enters 8th Day Amid Political Standstill; Arizona Dems Senators Spar With Johnson Over Grijalva's Swearing In; Trump Says Deal To End Gaza War Is "Very Close"; Concerns Over Air Traffic Control Staffing As Shutdown Drags On; Ex-FBI Director Comey Pleads Not Guilty To Federal Charges; Tensions Builds On Capitol Hill As Shutdown Drags Into Day 8. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired October 08, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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KASIE HUNT, CNN HOST: All right. Thanks very much to my panel. Thanks to all of you at home as well. Jake Tapper standing by for The Lead. Hi, Jake.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: Hey, Kasie. Thanks so much. We'll see you back in The Arena tomorrow.
HUNT: See you tomorrow.
TAPPER: Sources telling CNN that a Gaza ceasefire deal is, quote, very close. The Lead starts right now.
Breaking news from the Middle East. A deal between Israel and Hamas is so close that President Trump is now saying he might even travel to the region on Sunday. What sources are telling CNN with the president's heavy hitters, including son-in-law Jared Kushner in the middle of negotiations.
Plus, shut down, day eight, and the possibility of delayed paychecks is getting more real. Could some furloughed federal workers not get paid at all? We're going to talk to House Speaker Mike Johnson. He's standing by right now.
And thankfully, some good news. Proof of life from superstar Dolly Parton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOLLY PARK, Singer-Songwriter And Actress: I'm not ready to die yet. I don't think God is through with me and I ain't done working.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: After reports she was sick and the request for prayers from her sister, the queen of country, alive and kicking and in full glam after that message from her sister at fans terrified. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. The Lead tonight continued
deadlock. Congress now in day eight of this federal government shutdown. This morning, the Democratic funding bill failed another Senate vote. Their proposal, which would reverse a number of Republican changes to Medicaid and end Obamacare subsidies has yet to pass the House. It did not pass the Senate.
And then immediately afterwards, the House passed Republican funding bill also failed a Senate vote, with just three lawmakers who caucused. Democrats voting with all Republicans to reopen the government.
Formal negotiations between party leaders don't seem to be happening. But new video today does show some bipartisan conversations are taking place in the halls of Congress.
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REP. MIKE LAWLER (R-NY): You guys just keep pontificating. How about you go down the floor and go post open the government up? That would be great.
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R) HOUSE SPEAKER: All right.
LAWYER: Here's the clean CR.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Go vote to open the government. Thank you very much.
LAWLER: We're going to have --
JOHNSON: Wait a minute.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: All right. I said there were bipartisan conversations. I didn't say they were productive bipartisan conversations. Democrats are standing by their health care demands this extension for Obamacare subsidies and more Republicans say that they're open to talks about those subsidies, but only after the government has been reopened. As time goes on with any without any sort off ramp, the real world stakes continue to get higher.
Next week, for example, members of the military are at risk of missing their very first paycheck in this shutdown. Flight delays are already hitting airports across the country because of air traffic controller shortages that are being exacerbated. Coming up, I'm going to talk to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy about that.
And still yet to be seen is if or how President Trump shifting threats to fire or withhold back pay from federal workers could impact the rest of the government's functions. Joining us now to discuss is the speaker of the House, Republican Congressman Mike Johnson of Louisiana. Speaker Johnson, thanks for joining us.
The Democrats have said they want these needs demands related to health care met before they vote to reopen the government. And we've obviously been hearing that negotiations are not happening between Democrats and Republicans in party leadership. Are you speaking with Democrats about, at the very minimum, any sort of concrete promise on holding a vote on Obamacare subsidies?
JOHNSON: They're putting the cart before the horse. This is a big distraction for political purposes. We've been explaining this over and over. What we put on the floor and what we passed through the House, what is currently on the Senate floor is now failed many times, as you said, six times now is a simple CR.
This is so important, Jake, because there's nothing to this. It's 24 pages in length. It is the bare minimum, bare bones document to keep the lights on so that Republicans and Democrats in the House and Senate can continue their discussions, deliberations and negotiations on health care and everything else.
This is nothing unusual. It is very conventional. It is exactly the same product that Chuck Schumer himself voted for triumphantly in March of this year and gave an impassioned speech on the floor and said it was the right thing to do and he knew it was the right thing to do.
The only thing that's changed between now and then is that it is his political calculation. He's afraid he's going to get a challenge from his left flank in his Senate reelection bid and he's holding the American people hostage because of it, plain and simple.
TAPPER: But isn't the continuing resolution that he voted for in March before the one Big Beautiful Bill Act passed? So it didn't contain the cuts to Medicaid or the reductions increases to Medicaid, isn't that right?
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JOHNSON: Jake, we didn't cut Medicaid.
TAPPER: I said reductions increase.
JOHNSON: Well, you said cut. We didn't cut Medicaid. We reformed it. We cut out fraud, waste and abuse. Medicaid spending continues to go up and it will. We just reduced the growth of Medicaid because we got ineligible recipients off of it. That was really important because the resources are being drained for the people that it's intended for U.S. citizens and who are the disabled, the elderly, young, pregnant women who are in difficult situations. For example, it was not for able bodied workers and it was not for illegal aliens.
Chuck Schumer filed a counter proposal continuing resolution that wants to add back $200 billion of hard pay, hard to earn taxpayer funds to float illegal aliens, noncitizens who would be back on the program. We're not doing that. They wanted to add $1.5 trillion in new spending to a simple seven-week stopgap measure that has been done as many as 13 times, by the way, during the Biden administration when all the Democrats voted for it, 99 percent of them voted for it. Suddenly they won't now because they need a political issue to debate, plain and simple. That's exactly what's going on here.
TAPPER: So we've talked about this before on the show. What you're referring to is the reduction in emergency Medicaid payments to hospitals. I think it's like 1 percent of that goes to undocumented immigrants. But it is true that some does go to undocumented immigrants.
JOHNSON: Well, that's one of six categories.
TAPPER: Right, right. OK, I wasn't done. And then there are also the noncitizens that were covered by TPS, the Haitians and others, asylum seekers that had Medicare and Medicare access, Medicaid and Medicare access and now don't after the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
But the main pieces of the Democrats ask is this extension to Obamacare subsidies, at least that's what they emphasize. And even a member of your own party, Congressman Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, she's breaking with the Republican view on whether or not this is an urgent need. Take a listen.
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REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): When people are working paycheck to paycheck, they can't make ends meet. And we are looking at a massive spike in health insurance premiums. It's going to crush people. They're going to have to drop their health insurance and that could put a lot of people in danger.
Their taxpayer dollars fund Our paychecks. They fund the entire government. And I believe the American people deserve better.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So in your home state of Louisiana, Obamacare marketplace enrollment has grown by 234 percent since 2020, according to KFF, the subsidies were enacted in 2021 during COVID. They seem to be popular in nonpartisan polling. If this did come up for a vote, how many House Republicans do you think would vote to extend the Obamacare subsidies?
JOHNSON: None of us can project a vote outcome on an issue that has not been fully debated and argued here. This is a deliberative body. We're going to handle this issue like we do every other. Those subsidies are part of a broken system. Obamacare is not working for everybody. The premiums have gone up 60 percent since 2010, when it was supposed to reduce costs.
When the government subsidizes something, it shows that it is not working. So there are real reforms that would have to be included before that is something that could pass off the House floor. The point is, Jake, that is a December 31st policy issue. The Democrats have globbed onto it because they're trying to pretend that has something to do with the September 30 end of the fiscal year continuing resolution to keep the lights on.
TAPPER: But doesn't open enrollment start November 1st? Doesn't open enrollment start at the end of this month, November 1st? JOHNSON: Some insurance companies will send out notices and all of
that in November. That's right. And that's why the Democrats are so wrong to close this government and burn up the time in October. Because this was always intended to be a very important period for Rs and Ds in both chambers to work through this stuff.
They're the ones preventing that from happening. And they've closed the government for no reason. And real Americans are being harmed. As you noted at the outset of the program, troops are about to miss a paycheck on October 15th.
TAPPER: Yes.
JOHNSON: TSA agents, Border Patrol agents, the people who are working every day and sacrificing their own safety to provide safety for others, will not be paid because Chuck Schumer and 43 of his colleagues, Senate Democrats, are playing games. The House passed the bill. The Senate Republicans have passed the bill. The President supports it. Republicans are voting to open the government, and Democrats are keeping it close.
TAPPER: When are you going to -- when are you going to bring the House back in session?
JOHNSON: There is nothing for the House to do at this moment because they've shut the government down. As soon as Chuck Schumer decides to stop playing games, we'll bring everybody back here and get right back to regular session. That's a very important thing. We have a lot of end of the year business to do. Among them all these health care questions.
But we've got to get everybody back in the building working and we can't do it when the government shut down. It's wrong and real people are being affected.
TAPPER: Yesterday a White House memo raised questions about whether federal workers are going to receive back pay as they continue to work. Air traffic controllers, members of the military, the like, you and Leader Thune both told reporters that you supported them getting back pay. But then President Trump said this. Take a listen.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: It really depends on who you're talking about but for the most part we're going to take care of our people.
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There are some people that really don't deserve to be taken care of and we'll take care of them in a different way.
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TAPPER: What does that mean?
JOHNSON: I haven't talked to the president about the details of that. He is getting some legal analysis and advice that others are looking into this and questioning whether all furloughed federal employees should receive back pay.
That's always been the way it's done. That's always been my understanding of the way the law should apply. And I know for a fact the president does not want any federal employee to be harmed in any way by the Democrats political shenanigans. He said that repeatedly and emphasize that repeatedly.
Now are there areas of the federal government that are wasteful and that they're still fraud and that they're inefficient and ineffective? Of course. And a shutdown provides an opportunity to review those things with a different lens.
But I'm not sure exactly which areas he's referring to or which he's talking about. But I know there's a lot of great Americans who work for the federal government, serve in these agencies, provide essential services for the American people and they should not be pawns in a political game. And we're going to make sure of that.
TAPPER: So you obviously had a run in with two Democratic senators from Arizona today over the delayed swearing in of Congresswoman elect Adelita Grijalva from Arizona. She says as soon as she's sworn in, she'll be the final signature on the discharge petition that will force onto the floor a vote to release all the Epstein files. Then that would go to the Senate.
Here's what Senator Ruben Gallego told CNN when he accused you of delaying. Take a listen.
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SEN. RUBEN GALLEGO (D-AZ): Mike Johnson wants to do two things. Number one, cover up for pedophiles on the Epstein list. And number two, put his members in a really rough position when it comes to voting and extending these ACA tax credits.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: A few weeks ago you said that Congresswoman-Elect Grijalva would be sworn in with once the House was back in session. But now I believe I heard you say to those senators that you'll swear her in once the government is reopened. Am I right? Did you change your terms there?
JOHNSON: No, I didn't change my terms. You can look at that video. Play it back in slow mo. Watch Ruben Gallego's body language. He's folding his arms. He's very uncomfortable because he's not telling you the truth. This doesn't have anything whatsoever to do with Epstein. They try to make everything about Epstein.
This is about the House not being in regular session because the Democrats and the Senate decided to shut everything down. We will square Rep. Elect Grijalva as soon as we get back to regular session. They tried to claim and that's why I walked outside my office and saw their publicity stunt in front of my office and I was happy to have the dialogue with them and point out the truth.
They said, oh well, you did this for two new representatives from Florida a couple months ago. We did, but it was a very different situation. They had been prior -- previously noticed for their day of their oath office ceremony. They flew all their friends and family in for this big event but the House went out of session without any prior notice. They were all here. So we just had an exception and we administered the oath to both of those folks.
There has been no previous date scheduled for Rep. Elect Grijalva because she was elected after the House went out of session.
TAPPER: Yes, I don't understand why you're not -- but I don't understand why you're not calling the House back in session. There's going to be, once the government reopens, there's going to be so much work to be done. Not just a vote potentially on these Obamacare subsidies that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to vote for, but also all the end of year business. I don't know why the air traffic controllers are working without salaries. You guys get paid during a government shutdown?
JOHNSON: Well, no, most of us -- most of, well, Republicans have sent letters in and we're waiving our salary. So we're in the same situation as every other federal employee. But here's the point. The members are working right now. They're working in their districts and they're doing very important work. Republicans, anyway. I don't know what the Democrats are doing, but the Republicans are going around, for example, to their rural hospitals in their districts and trying to help those folks navigate through to make access of the $50 billion that we set aside in a big fund to prop them up.
Guess what? Chuck Schumer's counter proposal for the CR would cut all of that funding. There's a lot to navigate. They're doing very important work in the districts and the ongoing discussions and deliberations about the end of the year matters is going on in earnest right now.
And that's also between Republicans and Democrats. They don't have to be here in the building and on the floor. There's nothing to do on the floor until Chuck Schumer opens the government up again. But pain will go on for Americans until he decides to do that.
TAPPER: But there could be. I'm sure they're doing important work back in their districts, most of them. But I mean, there could be the work of legislating. Like, I mean, that's important.
JOHNSON: Yes, but we can't get back to legislating while the legislative sessions have been stalled because they're playing games over government funding. It is an absurd situation, and it's unprecedented. There's never been a situation like this where there was a clean CR and one party was trying to play games over it.
Usually these are loaded up with partisan priorities. We didn't do that. Republicans are operating in good faith. We sent over a totally clean CR. Again, it was the same one that Chuck Schumer and the Democrats voted for as recently as March of this year. There is no reason whatsoever for them to do this except that they're playing games. There's only one viable option on the table to get the government reopened, and it's the clean CR.
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We're not asking them to do anything heroic. We're asking them to do their basic jobs.
TAPPER: CR for those listening, it stands for continuing resolution. It's the funding of the government. Speaker Mike Johnson, thank you so much for your time today. Appreciate it.
JOHNSON: Thanks, Jake.
TAPPER: Later on The Lead, a Democratic response to this. We're going to talk to the House Minority Whip, Katherine Clark, Democrat of Massachusetts, about this shutdown stalemate.
But first, the breaking news. President Trump's message to the room right after he was handed this piece of paper. What he just said about a deal that appears to be close between Israel and Hamas to usher in a ceasefire. Stay with us.
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TAPPER: Breaking news in our World Lead, you're watching the moment President Trump was handed a piece of paper during a White House event just moments ago was a letter from Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The president then summoned Rubio back to him and delivered this news on the Israel-Gaza ceasefire talks happening in Egypt right now.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To find the criminal conspiracy.
TRUMP: OK. I'm just giving.
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Yes, I was just given a note by the Secretary of State saying that we're very close to a deal in the Middle East and they're going to need me pretty quickly.
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TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN International diplomatic editor Nic Robertson and CNN senior White House correspondent Kristen Holmes.
Kristen, you were in the room for that extraordinary scene just moments ago. The president seems pretty optimistic.
KRISTEN HOLMES, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake. And I'm looking at this. One of the photographers in the room seems to have gotten a close up picture of what the note said. It says very close, underlined. And then it says need you to approve a Truth Social post so you can announce deal first. That was the piece of paper that he was handed and it was a remarkable scene as this unfolded.
Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State was not in this room. In the seats, two seats down from President Trump was Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. President Trump spotted Rubio, said come on in. Wiles got up and Rubio took that seat. It was during that time that he passed this note. He wrote and passed this note to Donald Trump and he read from it.
And that is apparently according to this photographer who was in the room, what the note said. Again, very close. Need you to approve the True Social post soon so you can announce the deal first. They are very optimistic right now.
You obviously also heard President Trump saying that he would be likely traveling to Egypt. He was asked if he would travel anywhere else in the region. He seemed to imply that he might go to Gaza as well, talking about how he wanted to be on the ground there, saying they felt very good. There were still a few sticking points that were good negotiators on both sides.
But clearly here from this note from Marco Rubio, the U.S. at least feels like they are very, very close to a deal.
TAPPER: All right, no Truth Social post has been posted as of the second. Let's go to Nic in Cairo. Nic, what are you hearing right now about a possible deal?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, Hamas sources are using, I mean, frankly, the same language, the words very close. That's what they're saying. They're telling CNN very close to a deal. They're also saying that there's outstanding issues still with the Palestinian prisoners they want to have released in exchange for the hostages.
But this is the first time we've heard Hamas use this type of language. It's past midnight. Talks are still ongoing, so the momentum is still there. And talks have been going on now for well over 12 hours involving Hamas and others. And then of course, Steve Witkoff, Jared Kushner joining in as well through the day.
So momentum appears to continue to build. Optimism is still there and at the moment not hearing, you know, anyone talking about what may derail the process.
TAPPER: Nic, what could possibly derail the deal at this point? I mean, I know Hamas insists on staying in power, which is not off the table. What do you think is the biggest hurdle?
ROBINSON: Yes. And it's really the elephant in the room. And I raised that we're not hearing what could sort of put this all on an off ramp to make the whole thing go negative because it's many of those other points in President Trump's 20-point plan. They've been talking, Israeli sources saying they've been talking specifically about the ceasefire, the line that the Israeli troops will pull back to specifically about the hostages being handed over, the Palestinian prisoners being released. But it is those points you say that Hamas disarming. What is the level
of agreement and how much is it being discussed and in what detail? Because Hamas has in the past resisted disarming the 20-point plan. Says they disarm the 20-point plan. Says they don't have a position in politics going forward. This is an organization that's had been building itself over 40 years. Hard to see them giving in to some of these points.
So when you get into the nitty gritty on that's how it could unravel. But going in, I think the caveat here to say is going into this lead, negotiators have been saying this is focused on those key things. Ceasefire for hostages for prisoners. End of. The other issues appear to be sort of getting parked slightly to the side.
TAPPER: Nic sitting in Egypt. Kristen Holmes at the White House, thanks to both of you. The transportation secretaries with me next, I'm going to ask him about the growing number of staffing shortages at airports on day eight of the government shutdown. What does that mean for you and your loved ones who are traveling?
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TAPPER: In our National Lead, the U.S. air travel has been impacted by the government shutdown quite a bit in the last 24 hours alone. Passengers at least nine major U.S. airports face delays due to staffing shortages. Notably, air traffic controllers are considered essential staff. Thus they are required to work during the shutdown, though they are not getting paid.
The Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy admits that he is seeing more and more sick calls and that may force controllers to pick up second jobs. The fact they're not being paid, such as Uber driving to make ends meet.
Let's bring in the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy. Mr. Secretary, do you believe that the air traffic controllers in this country already overworked and underpaid as we've discussed and previously, do you think they're being used as pawns in this shutdown? Is that fair to them or to the flying public?
SEAN DUFFY, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: Well say who's using them as pawns? Right. I'm encouraging air traffic controllers to show up for work. They need to go -- they need to go to their jobs. They need to control the airspace.
The problem is when I've talked to them, they are stressed out. They are wondering how do they put food on the table, how do they pay their mortgages if their paycheck doesn't come through? And so again, you have these different blips in staffing throughout the nas -- the national airspace.
And so if you look back for the last 10, nine months, Jake, delays were caused by about 5 percent of staffing shortages in towers.
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Today, 53 percent of the delays are coming from not enough staff in our facilities. And so, again, we're having maybe a bit of a rebellion by air traffic controllers caused by the shutdown.
But my message to them, they work for me. They got to go to work, show up, control the airspace, and eventually you're going to get paid.
TAPPER: Yesterday, we had on Nick Daniels, who, as I'm sure you know, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.
DUFFY: Yes.
TAPPER: He said the following. Take a listen.
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NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Air traffic controllers are going to go to their primary job, but then they'll start having to take up a second job to ensure they have a steady stream of income. And we know the American people don't want to see that. And that's why the shutdown has to end today.
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TAPPER: He means the second job so that they can pay the bills because they're not being paid on the first job. What's your message to families trying to travel safely while the folks keeping planes in the air safely are -- are, you know, at some point soon going to have to start taking two jobs?
DUFFY: Yes, I appreciate the question. So first off, these controllers are working, you know, oftentimes six days a week. And again, having to take a second job outside of six days a week in -- in a facility controlling the airspace is a lot of stress on the controller.
But we are clear on our mission. We keep people safe. So if we don't feel like air travel is safe, we don't have enough controllers, our managers feel like we have tired controllers, we will reduce capacity at airports and you'll see delays. You might even see cancellations.
And I think most of America would say, you know, I'm -- I'm willing to deal with the cancellation as long as you guarantee when I fly, I can go from -- from point A to point B and I can do it safely. That is our mission. And that's what we're doing.
And so when you see delays, it's because we're not willing to take additional risk if we don't have the staff to fly your flight on time.
TAPPER: So let me ask you a question from my daughter, who is away at college and is going to get on a plane and -- and come visit her parents soon. What does she need to do to prepare for this? I mean how do you predict if you're a flyer out there? How do you predict if your flight is going to be delayed because of what's going on here?
DUFFY: Well, I think the answer to that is give her Chuck Schumer's number and say, Chuck, when are you going to open up the government? When are you going to deliver the votes necessary to open up the government? As you know, every single Republican has voted to open up the government.
It was the Democrats in the Senate who voted for a shutdown. And so how long does this last? I don't know. And we're not seeing consistency in facilities across the airspace, Jake. It's -- it's, you know, a group of, you know, some today and a few others tomorrow. And the delay -- delays might happen for whether it's an hour or two hours and a staffing shortage. Then they come back online.
So again, there's no rhyme or reason to what's happening with these controllers. But the truth is, we need to open up the government. Again, even Chuck Schumer in the past has said, you know what, this creates chaos and it creates needless risk.
Don't have a shutdown. And when you have one side that says, we want a clean C.R., and we actually have time to negotiate the issues that Democrats have, it only makes sense. Open it up. Don't take America hostage. Let's -- let's -- let's work. Let's talk. Let's figure this out. But we have time to do that.
TAPPER: Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, thanks so much. Appreciate it, sir.
DUFFY: Thanks, Jake.
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TAPPER: This news cycle moves fast. Feels like a lifetime ago when the former FBI Director James Comey was in federal court pleading not guilty to criminal charges. That was, of course, earlier today. How that hearing went down and the attention on the judge in that case, that's next.
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TAPPER: We have some breaking news for you in our Law and Justice Lead. Earlier today, former FBI Director James Comey pleaded not guilty to two felony charges providing false statements and obstructing -- obstructing a congressional proceeding. The former FBI Director is accused of lying to Congress in 2020 over leaks of classified information about FBI investigations into both President Trump and Hillary Clinton. Comey faces up to five years in prison if he's convicted.
The trial is set for January 5th. But Comey's attorneys are hoping to get the case dismissed way before a jury is even convened. CNN's Jamie Gangel joins me now to discuss. Jamie, these charges against Comey come after President Trump openly told his Attorney General, Pam Bondi, to prosecute him and other political enemies. And obviously, Comey's attorneys are going to use that to argue this is a vindictive prosecution. What do we know about the judge overseeing the case?
JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So, first of all, Judge Michael Nachmanoff is known as calm, under pressure, unflappable. We spoke to lawyers who've both won cases in front of him and lost cases, and they all say he plays it by the book, calls balls and strikes, is not political, which I think will serve him very well in this case.
TAPPER: And what did you make of the -- the judge's demeanor during Comey's arraignment today?
GANGEL: So, you know, it's interesting because he's never -- he's had some high-profile cases, but never anything like this.
TAPPER: Yes, this is something else.
GANGEL: And -- and so -- so this was different. But he lived up to his reputation. He was polite. It was very businesslike. You wouldn't know that, you know, it wasn't a normal day. He -- he did, however, I -- I thought it was interesting with the government, he did sort of press them a little bit. He said at one point, the government had said something was complicated, and the judge said, this doesn't appear to be an overly complicated case.
I'm not going to let things linger. So he's going to push this very quickly. January 5th is the trial date. He's known for being not only on time, but early. The arraignment was supposed to be tomorrow. It was today. They asked for January 12th, January 5th. You're going to see a very speedy trial. He's always prepared.
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TAPPER: Yes, Comey wanted a speedy trial.
GANGEL: Correct. Absolutely.
TAPPER: And -- and you have a right as a defendant to a speedy trial.
GANGEL: Correct.
TAPPER: What specifically about Judge Nachmanoff's background gives any indication as to how he might rule on whether or not these charges should be just dismissed altogether or whether or not he'll proceed with the trial? GANGEL: So I think that's tricky just because that kind of motion to dismiss is very rarely granted. But when you look at this case, there's certainly a lot of evidence because of President Trump's statements. What lawyers have told me is he will play it by the book, by the law. He won't be scared if he thinks the evidence is there to do it, but he's going to follow the law.
TAPPER: All right, Jamie Gangel, thanks so much. Good to have you here.
Just moments ago here on The Lead, Speaker Mike Johnson compared the current financial situation that he and other House Republicans are going through to that of furloughed federal workers. We need to talk about that moment. We will do so next.
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[17:45:12]
TAPPER: We're back with our Politics Lead. A government in its eighth day of paralysis. Right now on Capitol Hill, Democrats are showing no signs of budging in their opposition to funding the government spending bill that does not meet their demands for Obamacare premiums to be continued.
My panel's with me. I spoke with Speaker Johnson at the top of the hour. Here's a little bit of what he had to say.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: Republicans have sent letters in and we're -- we're waiving our salaries. So we're in the same situation as every other federal employee.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: That's because I -- I asked about why they aren't working. Why aren't the House members? And he said, well, it's a government shutdown, et cetera. But we're -- and I said, well, you're being paid. And he said, well, but we're offering to -- to waive our salaries.
I think there are probably people out there who are not getting salaries who are federal employees who may have -- maybe heard that and said, it's not quite the same thing.
KAREN FINNEY, CNN COMMENTATOR: Absolutely, it's not the same thing. As particularly given that, again, we're talking about doubling healthcare premiums that people are going to have to pay --
TAPPER: For the Obamacare subsidies.
FINNEY: -- you know, for the Affordable Care Act subsidies, yes. And -- but also, I mean, I think it's been interesting. A number of the -- what we've heard from a number of the folks who are out of work, they believe in this fight.
They believe that this is a, you know, just cause because they're -- they are also people who understand that, you know, the costs coming out of their pocket. And let me just say one other thing. This would be a different conversation if Trump had done a better job dealing with costs and inflation earlier in the year.
But, you know, it's compounding, I think, for so many people, the fact that costs are still up, particularly food, gas, inflation is high, and now you're talking about doubling healthcare premiums, which, remember, healthcare costs, one of the top reasons people go bankrupt.
TAPPER: David, your buddy, Marjorie Taylor Greene, wants to, I'm just joking, I'm just joking. I don't know why I said that. She -- she is out there saying that she thinks that this is -- this is something that the Republicans should actually support because people's premiums are going to go through the roof if the subsidies are not. And now, remember, these are COVID-era subsidies and they're expiring. DAVID URBAN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, look, let's just cut to the chase here. Both parties are at fault, both parties wanted to gird for this fight, right? We wouldn't be here today if -- if either party didn't think there was some political advantage to them, right?
TAPPER: Sure. Yes.
URBAN: The Democrats think there's a political advantage, Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries thinks he has an advantage, Speaker Thune, the President, they have the advantage. And so how this gets played out is -- is the tough part because it's getting played out for real Americans every day, right? You talk to Secretary Duffy about what's happening in -- in the skies, people are being delayed, their flights are being delayed, is safety being compromised at some point? Hopefully not, right? On the 15th, service members won't get paid, their first paycheck's missing. A lot of these folks live, you know, paycheck to paycheck.
TAPPER: Yeah.
URBAN: If you're -- if you're a junior enlisted person, right, you're not getting your paycheck, you don't have a lot -- you don't have a lot of float if you're an E-1 or an E-2 in the military. And so this is -- no, exactly, people have been -- and so this is coming to a head very quickly. And -- and so it has -- it has had no consequences really to this point, right? I mean, no one's really suffered to this point.
Suffering is going to start happening and then we're going to see what these folks can get to doing their jobs that they're here to do in Washington. They're here to make the government run. People need to make things work.
TAPPER: So let me turn to something different, which is there's a governor's race out in California.
FINNEY: There is, indeed.
TAPPER: And former Democratic Congresswoman Katie Porter is running and she did an interview with a CBS reporter. And apparently this reporter asks all the gubernatorial candidates the same questions.
FINNEY: Yes.
TAPPER: But Congresswoman Porter didn't seem to take well to it. So here's a little clip of it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What do you say to the 40 percent of California voters who you'll need in order to win who voted for Trump?
KATIR PORTER, FORMER U.S. REPRESENTATIVE: How would I need them in order to win, ma'am? UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, unless you think you're going to get 60 percent of the vote. You think you'll get 60 percent. Everybody who did not vote for Trump will vote for you. That's what -- what you're saying.
PORTER: In a general election? Yes. I feel like this is unnecessarily argumentative. What is your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The -- the question is the same thing I ask everybody, that this is being called the empowering voters to stop Trump's power grab. Every other candidate has answered this question. This is not argumentative.
PORTER: Correct. And I said I support it.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, and the question is, what do you say to the 40 percent of voters who voted for Trump?
PORTER: Oh, I'm happy to say that. It's the do you need them to win part that I don't understand. I don't want to keep doing this. I'm going to call it. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're not going to do the interview with us?
PORTER: Nope, not like this, I'm not. Not with seven follow-ups to every single question you ask.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So Congresswoman Porter said she wanted a pleasant, positive conversation.
[17:50:01]
FINNEY: Nope.
TAPPER: Karen, what do you think?
FINNEY: Who wouldn't? You don't want to know what I really think.
TAPPER: I do, actually. And we're on cable, so you can say anything.
FINNEY: What a dumbass. Seriously, I mean, why --
TAPPER: Yes.
URBAN: I know, give the -- give the question, you're like, we -- we -- I want to represent all Californians.
FINNEY: Right, it's an easy answer. I mean, my God, we're going to have radical agreement on this one, actually. We were joking about it before, because what a dumb answer. Of course you always want to try to get as many votes as you can. What's your theory of the case about how you're going to build a coalition, the California vote? I mean, it's a hard one. TAPPER: Beyond -- beyond Congresswoman Katie Porter, do you think this is an issue that comes up in -- in states that are basically one-party states? Do you see what I'm saying?
FINNEY: Absolutely, but it's -- but it's the kind of question, it's a very fair question, let's say that, and it's the kind of question lots of politicians get asked. What about those who voted for the other guy?
TAPPER: Yes.
FINNEY: I mean, you should always be trying, I mean --
URBAN: And this is how you win. This is how Trump won, right? Went to black barbershops with the bodegas, right? Why is it -- why is it foreign for Katie Porter to say, now I'm going to try to get some of these white, you know, middle-class voters who may have voted for Trump.
TAPPER: She didn't like the follow-up, she said.
URBAN: It was shocking. She was asked to follow up.
FINNEY: Can I just point one other thing out about Katie Porter because I do know a little something about California politics, having grown up there. She's actually very unpopular right now for having given up her House seat to run for the Senate. So this is -- does not bode well for her campaign and for her ability to actually win any votes at this point.
URBAN: I hope Katie Porter wins, because she's so terrible.
FINNEY: Gosh.
TAPPER: So 30 of, just switching to NPR for a second, 30 of Bob Ross's paintings --
URBAN: I love them.
TAPPER: -- are now being auctioned off to help support public television. There he is, there's Mr. Ross. Public television, in light of the federal funding cuts, public broadcasting struggling so much at the hands of the Trump administration, Republican.
We should -- we should note, this is, Republicans have been promising to defund PBS and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting long before Trump. What do you think, and you -- are you going to -- that's a nice painting.
URBAN: Listen, I was just informed in -- in the makeup room, we were informed that Bob Ross's paintings sell for like 300,000 and up. So I was -- I was going to go on and try to help bail out the WQED in Pittsburgh, I can't afford it.
TAPPER: Maybe you can get Trump to buy you one.
FINNEY: There you go.
URBAN: Listen, I think, may -- maybe here's an idea. Maybe PBS should sell some Hunter Biden paintings, they're probably going for a bargain.
TAPPER: All right.
FINNEY: All right. All right.
TAPPER: David Urban, Karen Finney, thanks so much.
Today, the President said that the mayor of Chicago should be in jail, along with the governor of Illinois. How's that going over, as Democrats push back on the President's attempts to send in the National Guard to Oregon and Illinois? Well, we're going to go to Chicago, live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[17:56:52]
GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): There's one thing I really want to say to Donald Trump. If you come for my people, you come through me. So come and get me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: In our National Lead, a fiery response there from Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker, hours after the president called for the governor and the mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, to be jailed for, "failing to protect ICE officers." Yet another rather shocking comment that -- that one cannot imagine any previous president ever saying, but this one makes regularly.
Johnson also responded, Mayor Johnson, taking to Twitter to say, I'm not going anywhere. This escalation in words comes a day after Texas National Guard troops arrived in Illinois. Despite fierce opposition from the state's Democratic leaders, CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Broadview, Illinois, just outside Chicago. And Omar, you -- you tell us there's a lot of tension in this community.
OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yes, there is. And really there are two tracks of things sort of happening in the Chicago area. There is the increased immigration enforcement. That's when we're seeing all these videos of masked men jumping out and grabbing people off the street. And then there is the potential deployment of National Guard troops to the Chicago area.
One of the places they could be deployed is right here to Broadview, Illinois. This is essentially one of the reasons this place has become kind of a focal point is it is an ICE holding facility, detention facility, essentially. And so we've seen protests come out at points over the course of the day. That's why you might hear a lot of honking. It says, honk if you love the Constitution. So pretty small numbers right now. But then if you look down here, obviously you see sort of where the border of where they believe the federal property begins at that fence that they -- that was erected at, essentially after days of protests. But where you see the American flag, that's sort of the divider at this point between the federal property and here.
And again, one of the directives for the National Guard, if this were to be a place that they deployed, would be to protect federal personnel and property. This has been a focal point of protest where law enforcement here have at times felt the need to deploy tear gas and things like that. So this is why this is a place that -- that many suspect could be one of those first places those troops see the ground here.
TAPPER: All right, Omar Jimenez in Broadview, just outside Chicago. Thank you so much.
Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper -- I'm Jake Tapper. Our breaking news this hour, huge, fast moving developments in the Gaza cease fire negotiations. President Trump during a live event, was just handed a note that appears to say an Israel-Hamas cease fire deal is very close. What might that mean for the Middle East? And what might it mean for the -- the release of the remaining hostages being held by Hamas in Gaza?
Plus, the federal government shutdown could not shutdown an argument in the halls of Congress between House Speaker Mike Johnson and Democratic members of the House and Senate. I asked Speaker Johnson about it in the last hour. We're going to break that down and break down that tiff as both parties escalate the blame game for the shutdown. None of which inspires confidence that we're going to find a way out of the shutdown anytime soon.
[17:59:55]
Also, nine months after one of the worst fires in the history of the state of California decimated the Los Angeles area and killed a dozen people, a man has been arrested on suspicion of arson.
