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The Lead with Jake Tapper
FAA to Cut Flights at 40 Airports if Shutdown Continues; Democrats Win Across the U.S. in Sweeping Trump Rebuke; Trump Faces U.S. Supreme Court Skepticism Over Tariff Power. FAA To Cut Traffic 10 Percent At 40 Airports If Shutdown Continues; Tesla Shareholders To Vote On Big Pay Package For Musk. Aired 6-7p ET
Aired November 05, 2025 - 18:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[18:00:00]
JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.
This hour, we are following breaking news. Flights will be reduced at dozens of major U.S. airports starting Friday if there is no deal to end the government shutdown, which is now, as of today, the longest shutdown in American history. Congratulations, Congress. The move coming after massive flight delays as air traffic controllers continue to work for no pay. We're digging into these brand new details.
Plus, is the U.S. Supreme Court going to block President Trump's tariffs? CNN's teams were inside the courtroom today as a majority of the justices, including some conservatives, appeared skeptical at times of the administration's arguments. And moments, I'm going to be joined live by a small business owner who will be directly affected by this ruling, one way or the other.
Also, warning signs for Republicans and some lessons for Democrats. A very eventful election night has both parties plotting their next steps as the focus shifts to the midterms. This hour I'm going to be joined by a Democratic governor frequently brought up in 2028 conversations, as well as with the top House Republican.
And a huge vote set for tomorrow could either make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire, or cause him to leave Tesla entirely or digging into what exactly is on the table and how likely is Musk to get his way.
The Lead tonight, the FAA is slashing air traffic by 10 percent at 40 airports across the country starting Friday. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy's announcement coming this afternoon is air traffic control and TSA staffing shortages continue to cause massive backups at major airports nationwide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: I anticipate there'll be additional disruptions there'll be frustration. We are working with the airlines. They're going to work with passengers. But in the end, our sole role is to make sure that we keep this airspace as safe as possible. (END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: This as the Trump administration and the government shutdown causing the issues hit a record-breaking 36 days today, the government shutdown making it the longest shutdown of all time.
I want to bring in CNN's Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean. Pete?
PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake Airlines were caught very off guard by this announcement, and I'm told by an airline source they were given less than an hour notice to put this policy in place in only about 36 hours time.
The impact here will be huge for the American traveler. Remember, air traffic controllers continue to work unpaid during the shutdown and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy just said there is too much stress on them. It's making the airspace unsafe. So, he says, if there is no deal ending the government shutdown, this policy will go into effect starting Friday morning.
To put this simply, the FAA is imposing a 10 percent cut to flights at 40 major airports across the country. Those specific airports remain undisclosed tonight. The FAA chief, Brian Bedford, says a list of those airports will come out sometime tomorrow.
What's interesting here is that Bedford says this was guided by the data that the FAA gets from pilots, not the air traffic controllers this surprise new policy was designed to protect.
Here is what Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DUFFY: We're noticing that there's additional pressure that's building in the system, and, again, our priority is to make sure that you're safe. And so we're going to talk about additional measures that we are going to take that's going to reduce the risk profile in the national airspace.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: More than 400 air traffic control staffing shortages have been reported at FAA facilities since the start of the shutdown 35 days ago. That number more than four times what was recorded during this same period last year. Still very few details from the Transportation Department on this, but cutting airline flights by 10 percent is a huge number. There are about 45,000 flights handled by U.S. air traffic controllers on an average day. So, what the FAA is talking about here is equivalent to canceling about 4,500 flights a day. By my math, that's about 30 percent worse than the worst day for flight cancelations in the last year.
One must also think of the optics here, Jake. Never before has the U.S. airspace been politicized like this. Jake?
TAPPER: Pete Muntean, thanks so much. And joining us now to discuss, Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association. What's your reaction to the announcement from Secretary Duffy? Is that welcome news for your members, your air traffic controllers?
NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, NATIONAL AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS ASSOCIATION: Air traffic controllers are showing up to work every day to deal with issues that we've never seen before. 36-day shutdown, the stresses, the pressure, the fatigue is setting in. Air traffic controllers are texting, I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work. Everything that we can do to support the air traffic controllers during this time is another step and another measure to ensuring that as the risk rises, that it's mitigated, and this is what Secretary Duffy and Administrator Bedford felt what's best for the system.
TAPPER: So, you agree that this is a good move considering where we are?
DANIELS: This is a decision that they're going to have to make. They're going to have to review and determine is this the right move or not, because it's a moving target every day that this shutdown continues.
[18:05:03]
There are more problems being caused from it every day it grows, and we don't know what that measure's going to be and would look like, but we need to ensure the air traffic controllers are supported along the way.
TAPPER: Is it safe to fly?
DANIELS: It is absolutely safe to fly, but that's because of the hardworking men and women. And dealing with this added risk, this added fatigue, this added pressures, they're going to work and every single day, they have to make that decision of are they fit for duty? Are they ready to handle the stresses and pressures of what's going on? Are we going to have a new procedure? We base what we do day in and day out of predictability. Right now, there is no predictability because we don't know what this shutdown is going to continue to bring.
TAPPER: So, Democrats say that they're voting the way they are to not open the government because of this healthcare emergency, they say, where, you know, Obamacare premiums are about to skyrocket, and those subsidies are about to disappear at the end of the year. Republicans say, well, we'll talk to them about that, but they have to open the government first. Do you agree with the Republicans that the government needs to open as soon as possible?
DANIELS: I agree with the air traffic controllers need to get paid for the work that they do day in and day out, that they shouldn't be the rope in this tug of war game that's going on. We're calling on Congress to end the shutdown, end it by any means that ne needs to happen, pass the legislation, pay the air traffic controllers, and all the federal employees, and let us continue doing the amazing job that we do.
TAPPER: I know that some of these air traffic controllers are calling in sick so they can do another job so that they can put food on the table and put gas in the car. Others are working air traffic control and then doing something else, Lyft or Uber Eats or whatever. What are you hearing from your members?
DANIELS: Hearing -- one is, you know, the term of our of calling in sick. It's, you know, one thing that isn't always true. They're not calling in sick. They're calling and saying, I don't have childcare today. What do you want me to do? I don't have -- I can't pay for it. I can't pay for the gas and I can't pay for my utilities. How would you like me to handle this to the employer? But on top of that, as you said, they are working second jobs and it absolutely concerns us.
No air traffic controller should have to work a second job, but on top of that, for the first time ever since we have less controllers than we did in the 2019 shutdown, we're seeing them resign. And that's absolutely putting us in a horrible position moving forward and something we've been trying to work with Secretary Duffy to overcome.
TAPPER: This is the longest shutdown in the history of the United States of America. The FAA administrator acknowledged today something like this has never had to happen before, just canceling 4,500 flights a day. What's your message right now to leaders of Congress and are you more frustrated with one side or the other?
DANIELS: I'm frustrated with the entire process that air traffic controllers are used as a political pawn in any type of government shutdown. We're being thrust into the spotlight on policy disagreements that have nothing to do with us. That's the where the frustration comes from myself and every ever traffic controller in the country. And they wake up to a headline that says, there's no end in sight, that leads to hopelessness.
So, our call is in the shutdown, end it immediately. That's the real answer to all of this. None of these things happen if our government's open and we can go into work and keep running America's airspace safely.
TAPPER: When you talk to members of Congress, when you talk to the leaders of the Democratic Party or the Republican Party, what do they say to you?
DANIELS: The same thing that you hear day in and day out on the talking points. And, you know, I understand, I leave the politics of the politicians. I understand we're air traffic controllers, but at the same time, we have to understand that when we see risk in the system build, my job, all of our jobs, the 10,800 certified controllers, their job is to tell you when things are becoming unsafe and tomorrow will be less safe than today, and we have to mitigate that risk somehow.
TAPPER: In the shutdown during Obama's term, I think it was in the first term, 2013, maybe 2000-some, it was 2013, 2014, then-Citizen Donald Trump said that it was Obama's fault. Obama needed to roll up his sleeves, get to work, he's the president. Do you agree that whoever is the president should get to work and help resolve a government shutdown?
DANIELS: I think that any time there's a government shutdown, air traffic controllers shouldn't be the one in the middle of it on any policy disagreement.
TAPPER: All right. Nick Daniels, thank you so much.
The arguments in front of the U.S. Supreme Court today as the future of President Trump's tariffs hangs in the balance. Did the justices give any clues today as to which way they're thinking?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
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TAPPER: We're back with this breaking news in our National Lead, the FAA set to cut flights at U.S. airports starting Friday if the government shutdown continues.
Joining us now is the Democratic governor of Pennsylvania, Josh Shapiro. Governor, I don't need to tell you. You have two huge busy international airports in Philly and Pittsburgh. Do you know how big of an impact these cuts could have?
GOV. JOSH SHAPIRO (D-PA): I think it's going to have a huge impact. And listen, this is yet another example of the kind of chaos that Donald Trump has brought to our country. I mean, listen, Republicans control the White House, they control the House, they control the Senate. They got to reopen the government, and they got to pay these workers who do really critical tasks for us, like keeping us safe when we're in the skies. It's time for them to get this over with and get people back to work, pay folks and end this shutdown.
TAPPER: I want to ask you about the results of last night's election. So, we'll have two moderate Democrats who will be the next governors of New Jersey and Virginia, a Democratic socialist, will be the next mayor of New York City. What message should Democrats take from that when it comes to planning for 2026? Embrace Democratic socialism, embrace moderate Democrats? What's your take?
SHAPIRO: Here's what I saw last night. I saw sort of two through lines, whether you're in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, or in my home, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, where we saw extraordinary number of wins for Democrats, from the Supreme Court all the way down to school board.
There were two points. Number one, candidates who promised to fix issues on people's minds, the things that were harming them in their community, from rising costs to the lack of energy options, you name it, to lack of housing options.
[18:15:09]
These were the specific things these candidates ran on. They had specific plans on how to make people's lives better, and I think voters showed up to vote for that.
The second thing voters did was they sent a very clear message to Donald Trump, that we are rejecting your chaos, we're rejecting your extremism, and we do not like what you're doing to this country, with rising prices as a result of your tariffs, with the kind of lawlessness that they've seen, that the kind of ways in which he's making folks, particularly by the way, the folks who voted for him worse off by ripping away their healthcare or limiting their opportunities.
And so I think it was a clear message in two ways. One, we want people who are going to get stuff done in our states and in our communities, and, second, we want to make very clear to Donald Trump, we don't like what you're doing.
TAPPER: How will Democrats be able to use the issue of affordability in the next year's midterms? That was obviously a huge problem for Democrats last November with Kamala Harris and before her, President Biden, not being able to compellingly make an argument that Democrats are on the side of bringing prices down because inflation was such an issue during the Biden years.
SHAPIRO: Look, Jake, I don't think we should wait for the midterms to test this. I think folks need to do the work every single day, including the folks who were just elected last night to be able to rein in costs. That's one of the reasons why in Pennsylvania we've tripled the value of our childcare tax credit to make childcare more affordable. We passed the first tax cut for seniors in more than 20 years. I've cut taxes for small businesses twice in Pennsylvania. We're putting more money back in people's pockets and trying to reduce costs.
The problem is we've got a president of the United States who pushed that tariff button and is raising costs, making it harder for our farmers, making it harder for folks who run our small businesses to get by.
So, I don't think this is an issue, Jake, we should wait for the midterms on. I think this is an issue right here, right now. We've got to deal with the affordability crisis that Donald Trump is making worse, and we've got to put policies in place and executives have to take actions in order to alleviate the burden on people in our respective states.
TAPPER: You expressed concern about Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York, in July. In an interview, you said, quote, you have to speak and act with moral clarity. And when supporters of yours say things that are blatantly anti-Semitic, you can't leave room for that to just sit there. You've got to condemn that. Now that Mamdani is the mayor-elect of New York City do you still have concerns?
SHAPIRO: Yes, of course, I have concerns. And I articulated those concerns then. And, Jake, what you probably don't know is that shortly after I articulated those concerns, Mamdani called me and we had quite a lengthy conversation over the summer. And I expressed to him directly the concerns I had about both the things he said and the things that folks around him said. And I thought we had a very honest conversation. I'd be lying to you if I said we agreed on every issue. But we had a very clear and honest conversation based on that.
Look, Jake, I think all leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity, to condemn hatred and bigotry, anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, any sort of effort that divides us, any sort of effort that creates others, any sort of effort that puts someone down based on what they look like, where they come from, who they love, or who they pray to. And I think every leader has a responsibility to do that.
Look, I've been somewhat heartened, you know, candidly by some of the people, elected leaders on the right who have spoken out against Fuentes and Carlson and The Heritage Foundation and others. I think all leaders, even when it is on your side, have a responsibility to call it out. I'm going to keep trying to do that here as governor of Pennsylvania and I expect all leaders to do that.
TAPPER: All right, the governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Democrat Josh Shapiro, thank you so much, sir. I appreciate it.
SHAPIRO: Good to be with you. Thanks.
TAPPER: After last night's elections, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Democrat of New York, says, it's clear his party has a mandate while President Trump says he knows what's to blame for Republican losses.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: I don't think it was good for Republicans. I don't think it was good. I'm not sure it was good for anybody.
I think if you read the pulses, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans. And that was a big factor. And they say that I wasn't on the ballot was the biggest factor.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Democrats have all of the momentum in the world. Republicans woke up this morning and realized that they are no longer in a 2024 electoral environment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Democrats swept all of last night's key races in Virginia, New Jersey, New York City, trouncing Republicans, Democratic governors-elect winning by 15 points in Virginia, 13 points in New Jersey.
[18:20:09]
And the Democratic gains were not only wide, they were deep on school boards and in sheriff elections, and in many places where Trump won one year ago today.
In California, voters passed Proposition 50, giving Democrats the opportunity to redraw the state's Congressional maps mid-decade and flip Republican-held seats.
I want to bring in CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Kaitlan, President Trump, his party got shellacked last night. Do you think he gets that?
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, I was in the room this morning. It was a pre-scheduled breakfast with Republican senators at the White House, and we were all kind of waiting to see what is this moment going to be like when the president is in the room with his party, where this mood has shifted here in Washington following last night's major Democratic victories. Democrats had been on their heels before this, and there were questions of what last night's elections would mean for the ongoing government shutdown.
And the minute that President Trump walked in the room this morning for that breakfast, Jake, he got up to the lectern. He did not read his entire speech that had been prepared for him on the one year anniversary of his big election when last year, and instead he said that last night was a bad night for Republicans. He said he didn't think it was a good night for anybody. And for the first time since this shutdown has started, Jake, we really heard the president explicitly saying that it is negatively hurting his party and that he believed it played a big role in last night's losses for the GOP. And that is something that we have not heard from the president before.
And, Jake, it wasn't just that where the president was saying that once we left the room, they were going to have a little talk amongst themselves about how to change things going forward, something that since that appearance this morning, he's made clear they need to talk about affordability more, they need to talk about their wins more. But you see there, Jake, John Thune, the Senate majority leader, is seated in that room, so are a bunch of people who do not agree with the president on eliminating the filibuster to end the government shutdown.
But listen to what the president had to say this morning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: It's time for Republicans to do what they have to do and let's terminate the filibuster. It's the only way you can do it. And if you don't terminate the filibuster, you'll be in bad shape. We won't pass any legislation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: He made very clear there, Jake, that that is what he thinks is the way out of this shutdown, not negotiating with Democrats. He called Democrats and likened them to kamikazes, saying that they were on a suicide mission and don't care about reopening the government, but he made clear that this is what he thinks is the path out of there.
Now, there's at least one Republican senator who was there, Senator Tommy Tuberville from my home state of Alabama, that said he agrees with the president, but there's a lot of Republican senators who have said they do not believe that is the right path here.
And so there's a huge question going forward of what that looks like and whether or not they acquiesced to what the president has said he believes is the right way out of this shutdown.
TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins, thanks so much. And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins tonight. She's sitting down with Independent Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern on CNN.
Tensions over this shutdown now the longest, newest history were on display today outside the Capitol. House Speaker Mike Johnson and other Republicans were giving their dearly shutdown news conference, but were repeatedly interrupted by Democratic Congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, asking Republicans to work with Democrats on reopening the government.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. CHRISSY HOULAHAN (D-PA): You have an obligation, not just to see you --
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): I'd to talk with you. Wait. I'd love to talk with you. Come in my office okay?
HOULAHAN: You have an obligation to call the leadership of both parties and bring us together and solve this problem together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: On the right there, that's House GOP conference chair, Congresswoman Lisa McClain of Michigan, who twice told Houlahan that she has an obligation. Thanks for being here.
REP. LISA MCCLAIN (R-MI): Yes, thanks for having.
TAPPER: I appreciate it. So, Congresswoman Houlahan also accused -- by the way, for people who don't know, that -- Congresswoman Houlahan is not a disruptor naturally. I mean, like she is a rather polite person. I think she's very frustrated. I think there are a lot of people, Democrats and Republicans, very frustrated. Do you think that Democrats are the only ones right now who have an obligation to be part of the solution to open the government?
MCCLAIN: Well, I think in the Senate it takes 60 votes, right? We all know the math. The House Republicans, we did our job. We passed a clean C.R., no games, no gimmicks, no partisan policies, whatsoever. We actually even agreed in a bipartisan fashion on the date of November 21st.
So, I think everyone's nerves are shot. I think everyone's frustrated. But I think the most who are frustrated really are the American people, right? Take a look at people who aren't getting food from the SNAP program, you know, airline traffic -- airline controllers, people not getting paid. It's frustrating all around, there's no doubt. And I'll say this again. The only people who get hurt in a shutdown is the American people.
So, to your point, we do need to come together, we do need to open up the government. But we don't have anything to negotiate because we didn't put any gimmicks in there to begin with.
TAPPER: So, right now, Congressman Don Bacon, a Republican from Nebraska, and Congressman Tom Suozzi, the Democrat from New York, are negotiating an off-ramp, which is Democrats say that the government's shut down because they want Republicans to help them fix the fact that Obamacare subsidies are going to end at the end of the year.
[18:25:15]
And Bacon and Suozzi have come up with a way to do that in a way that addresses some of the concerns Republicans have had about it, having to do with means testing, who actually gets the subsidies and also whether the money directly goes to pay for that.
Are you willing, are Republicans willing to say, yes, we will vote on that solution if Republican -- and on this date, if Republican -- I mean if Democrats vote to open the government?
MCCLAIN: Yes. I mean, first and foremost, let's open the government so we can continue to have these discussions, so we can continue to have these debates. That is how it is supposed to work. So, I'm in agreement with you that we have to fix the Affordable Care Act because the Obamacare Affordable Care Act is anything but affordable, right? I know what Republicans are committed to doing, and we're committed to driving down premium costs.
TAPPER: Yes. Well those are -- that's not just in Obamacare. I mean, that's health insurance everywhere, premiums are going up.
MCCLAIN: No question. But I don't think there's, you can deny that since Obamacare premiums have gone up, premiums have gone up almost 60 percent. So, there definitely needs to be a fix. That's why in the one big, beautiful bill or the Working Families Tax Cut, Republicans passed out of the House an 11 percent decrease in premium.
See, there's a difference between what Republicans are trying to do with decreasing premiums and a lot of what's happening on the Democratic side. We don't want to give a blank check to insurance companies. We don't believe that it makes sense. And I do think there's bipartisan appetite for this, that somebody making a half a million dollars should receive these subsidies.
TAPPER: Right.
MCCLAIN: So, there is room there.
TAPPER: Let's talk about the politics of this for a second, because, you know, President Trump told Republicans earlier this morning, according to a source talking to CNN, that Republicans are getting killed politically on the shutdown. And if you look at what happened last night, it is hard to say that there is anything in the election results, and I'm looking at not just like, I get it, New Jersey's a Democratic state, but looking at Republican counties, looking at Republican sheriffs that lost their jobs. It's hard to see anything last night that was an endorsement of what the Republican Party is doing right now.
MCCLAIN: Yes. Well, let me give you the other side of that of that story, is voter turnout from Republicans was not high, not high at all. But I think part of that reason is because Republicans, for the most part, are happy with what's happening. The border's closed, crime is down, inflation under Biden used to be 9 percent. It's now down to 3 percent. Interest rates are down. Mortgage is down. Let me -- I know, let me just finish. Let me just give you the -- let me just give you the other side.
I shop at the same grocery store as everybody else does.
TAPPER: So, you said prices are up.
MCCLAIN: Is there more work that needs to be done? Absolutely, there is. That's why in the Working Family's Tax Cut, we did just that. We voted not to raise everybody's taxes. It's very different than what the Democrats did. So, I think there's two sides of the coin that you have to take a look at.
What is an incumbent on us is we must make sure that we get our voters to turn out like they did in the election year, no question.
TAPPER: I mean, using that argument, your voters could be so happy that the Democrats take control of the House of Representatives next year. I mean --
MCCLAIN: Right. And I'm very confident that we will not only hold the majority, but I'm optimistic that we will actually gain the majority.
TAPPER: Well, that would be defying history.
Congresswoman Lisa McClain from the great state of Michigan, it's so great to have you. Thank you so much. Go Blue.
TAPPER: Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace now says she's going to sue American Airlines and Charleston Airport. The latest twist in a truly bizarre saga, that's next.
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[18:30:00]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, Republican Congresswoman Nancy Mace of South Carolina today announced that she is taking legal action against American Airlines and Charleston International Airport after airport police officers accused her in a police report of, quote, loudly cursing at them, calling them, among other things, quote, effing incompetence, in an expletive-filled tirade last Thursday.
Security video provided to CNN by the airport shows Mace arriving at a sidewalk entrance area at 6:50 A.M. in a dark gray sedan. What happened next, according to the officers, is that Mace was, quote, very irate that they had not escorted her from her car. In a report, one of the officers writes, Mace began, quote, loudly cursing and making derogatory comments to us and about the department, unquote. One officer also saying, quote, any other person in the airport acting and talking the way she did, our department would have been dispatched and we would've addressed the behavior.
Congresswoman Mace has since posted dozens and dozens and dozens of times about the incident. She held a news conference about it earlier this week.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): Did I drop an F-bomb? I hope so. Did I call them incompetent? I hope I did because they earned it. So, I am not going to apologize for holding people accountable.
Incident reports are almost always used only for people who commit crimes. So, why were these filed? This was a complete and total political hit job.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Congresswoman Mace's behavior has gotten so outlandish that many of her fellow Republicans have weighed in on this incident. South Carolina Republican Senator Tim Scott posted on Facebook, quote, it is never acceptable to berate police officers, airport staff, and TSA agents who are simply doing their jobs.
[18:35:04]
He added, it's not, quote, becoming of a member of Congress to use such vulgar language when dealing with constituents, unquote.
These unusual public comments implicitly criticizing a fellow South Carolina Republican, comments repeated by South Carolina's other Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, with dozens of South Carolina officials signing a letter backing the airport.
All of this a window into serious concerns that Republicans in Congress and in South Carolina have about Congresswoman Mace's erratic behavior in recent months, quote, it's time for Nancy Mace to resign and get the mental help she needs, said her former political consultant, Wesley Donehue on X or Twitter yesterday, where he and Congresswoman Mace have exchanged critical messages.
On Capitol Hill, Mace's fellow House Republican, sources tell me, have watched her behavior get increasingly odd. Before this fight with the Charleston Airport, the former advocate for LGBTQ rights began aggressively attacking members of the transgender community.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MACE: Tranny, tranny, tranny. I don't really care. You want penises in women's bathrooms and I'm not going to have it.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Okay. MACE: No, thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: A former senior staffer for Congresswoman Mace tells me, quote, it went from kind of funny to devastatingly sad in terms of her not getting help in displaying this behavior on a national stage, unquote. One House Republican tells me that Mace's colleagues are totally befuddled with her and that her actions have become, quote, a big question within the conference. The general feeling is there is something unwell about her. She's really going through a crisis. It's sad. Clearly, there's something going on with her, unquote. Adding, quote, one of the biggest moments was her display on the house floor when she was accusing her ex-fiancee and others of running some sort of pedo ring, unquote.
That's a reference to a bizarre event in February of this year, in which Congresswoman Mace delivered a highly unusual speech on the House floor in which she accused her ex-fiancee and three other men of rape, physical assault, and sexual misconduct, allegations that the men dispute. There was also her decision to share a naked silhouette photo of herself during a house hearing in May while renewing those allegations.
In a statement to CNN, Donehue, her former consultant, tells me, quote, over the past two to three years, Nancy Mace has been having a sharp mental decline. I'm no doctor, but that's what I believe. He added, quote, she went from being very reasonable person to being someone who cannot control her emotions, unquote.
The House Republican told me that there isn't any real infrastructure for the House of Republican leadership to deal with this type of situation. Quote, we're all independently elected. We don't report to the speaker. He's not our boss. It's not like there's much he can do. He can't order her to get counseling, unquote.
We reached out to Congresswoman Mace for an interview and for comment about her behavior and her office declined.
Our small business series is next. I'll be joined live in studio by a founder who's been creating products for new moms for more than a decade. How will she be impacted by the tariffs case that the Supreme Court heard today?
Stick around.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[18:40:00]
TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, a majority of Supreme Court justices appearing at least a bit skeptical of President Trump's signature emergency tariff policy after arguments today, the conservative wing, including Chief Justice John Roberts, asking some tough questions of both the administration and the businesses challenging the tariff policy, some of the justices signaling reservations about the White House relying on emergencies to impose sweeping global tariffs with no limit over the two and a half hours of questions. A decision is expected to come by the end of June at the latest.
Now, let's get to our Business Leaders series where we talk to small business owners from coast-to-coast about the tariffs and the way the tariffs are impacting them and their businesses, such as the survival of Sarah Wells Bags, which hinges on today's Supreme Court decision. The company's been creating postpartum bags and apparel for working mothers for 13 years now, and Sarah Wells is here with me now in studio.
Sarah, so you're not part of today's lawsuit before the court, but you did participated in amicus brief to make sure the court heard how the tariffs affected you. What did you share in that brief? How are the tariffs affecting you?
SARAH WELLS, FOUNDER, SARAH WELLS BAGS: Absolutely. Thanks, Jake. So, it's been a devastating year. I paid IEEPA tariffs at the beginning of the year on a shipment coming in from China, where I manufactured with the same factory for 13 years, and then decided to get out of China in the hopes of relieving myself from some of the cost, moved to Cambodia and then liberation day tariffs put 49 percent on tariffs on Cambodia.
So, it has been a devastating year of trying to figure out how to get inventory in here. We've had to do layoffs. We've stifled our growth in product development, and we are out of key inventory going into the holiday season.
TAPPER: Right now, you're still facing tariffs as high as 40 to 45 percent. You've eliminated staff. What are some other ways that you've tried to deal with this?
WELLS: Yes. The holiday season is coming up, so we normally would have new products, but we're not innovating in that sense. We're not coming out with anything new. We're just really pulling back, trying to be as small and lean in operations. We've had to raise prices, but all of that being said, at some point here, there's the end of the line. You know, consumer confidence is down and we are seeing our sales are down year-over-year, and it's extremely worrisome.
TAPPER: So you were at the court today after you heard the arguments, after you heard the questions from the justices. Are you feeling more confident that these policies might be reversed?
WELLS: Yes, I'm grateful. What I heard from the justices listening in today was that they get what we have been saying as small businesses all year. This is the tax on small businesses. They really went hard on that line of questioning. And I think that that gives me some hope that the justices are going to say that the, there was real overreach in the use of these powers to do these tariffs.
TAPPER: Yes. I mean, President Trump keeps saying that the other countries are paying the tariffs, and that's just factually inaccurate, as you can attest. You are paying the tariffs and your customers are paying the tariffs. [18:45:01]
WELLS: Absolutely. That $15,000 on that shipment coming in from China back in the beginning part of this year came directly out of my bank account, which then led me to have to do layoffs and stifle all of that growth. I fully paid that. China had no part in that.
TAPPER: What's your message to Trump administration officials who argue that this policy is making money for the U.S. and also helping to return domestic manufacturing?
WELLS: Well, first of all, I think we heard in the Supreme Court today that making money is not the appropriate use of the emergency powers. And so, I would like to see this -- this case go in the direction of supporting small businesses that any kind of trade policy around tariffs needs to involve. Congress needs to have an opportunity for public comment. So, folks like myself can weigh in on whether it impacts our products or not.
And on the manufacturing side, I have tried for 13 years to manufacture here. There's no infrastructure for my line of handbags to do that, and all of the supplies would come from China, anyhow, with the current tariffs.
TAPPER: All right. You can find Sarah Wells Bags online, grab the inventory while it's still there.
Sarah, thank you so much. I'm so sorry you're going through this.
WELLS: I appreciate it.
TAPPER: How one community is stepping up to help federal workers who have not gotten a paycheck in more than a month because of the government shutdown, now the longest in American history. That story next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In the national lead, the FAA is cutting 10 percent of air traffic at 40 airports nationwide, starting Friday. This as the federal government shutdown hits a record breaking 36 days today, meaning essential federal workers are still on the job not being paid.
CNN's Whitney Wild went to hear how TSA officers are handling the strain of this shutdown stalemate.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In this church basement --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You don't want anything.
WILD (voice-over): -- an assembly line of volunteers prepares plates destined for the airport.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE; They're going to work every day. At least this is one thing we can help them out with.
DARRELL ENGLISH, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 777: We're going to load these up.
WILD (voice-over): Darrell English is the regional president of the national union representing Transportation Security Administration officers.
ENGLISH: They're awesome back here.
WILD (voice-over): On a crisp Monday morning, he and other union reps load up coolers, then drive an hour to deliver free meals to TSA officers at Chicago Midway International Airport.
ENGLISH: We know that it's been a month now. Officers are struggling, so anything that we can do to help them out, they're going through a lot of personal and emotional stress right now. They're on top of their jobs.
WILD (voice-over): Amid the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, these TSA officers are in a holding pattern. They're essential employees, so they have to work, but they aren't being paid. In Houston this week, a major jam at security lines lasted up to three hours, as some TSA employees called out sick. Top leaders in Washington blame each other.
SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: As every day goes by. I think the problem is going to only get worse, not better. I hope that Democrats come to their senses and end this shutdown.
REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: This is day 35 of the Trump Republican shutdown. Donald Trump and the Republicans cannot govern.
WILD: Whose fault is this? Does it even matter?
ENGLISH: Well, at this point, it doesn't matter, because at the end of the day, it's about who can be -- who's going to help us get fed. So we're not trying to point fingers at it. We're just trying to bring people together.
ROXY KNIGHTLY, FORMER TSA OFFICER: I felt like I was pushed into a corner.
WILD (voice-over): Roxy Knightly was a TSA officer until Friday, when she says she resigned.
KNIGHTLY: I tried to push through for as long as I could, but my lease is literally about to end within the next two weeks, and landlords require two pay stubs. I do not have two recent pay stubs.
WILD (voice-over): Now, Roxy is moving out of state to live with a friend.
KNIGHTLY: I kind of feel a little bit lost, to be honest with you because I did, you know, intend to continue working as a transportation security officer. It definitely was not an easy decision for me to have to make. It breaks my heart that it's come to this.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
WILD: Jake, English is very worried that as this drags on, you may see more people who simply cannot show up to work. More TSA officers who quit. And that is going to mean more problems in security lines. And as we get into this very busy travel season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it could be very chaotic, which means what we saw in Houston could be only the beginning, again, if this shutdown continues -- Jake.
TAPPER: Whitney Wild in Chicago, thanks so much.
The vote tomorrow that could make Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire. And yes, that's trillionaire with a T and an R.
Stay with us.
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[18:57:24]
TAPPER: In our tech lead, Elon Musk appears to be giving Tesla shareholders an ultimatum ahead of tomorrow's meeting where they will be voting on his newest pay package. If the company performs as well as Musk hopes, he could end up walking away as the world's very first trillionaire. You heard that right, trillionaire, at a time that food stamps aren't being given to people right now. But as he's warned, he will walk away if he does not get this deal.
CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has crunched the numbers for us.
Vanessa, will the shareholders risk losing Musk?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, in a single vote, Elon Musk could become the world's first trillionaire or leave the company he founded. Tesla shareholders are expected to vote on Elon Musk's new pay package at Tesla on Thursday afternoon. The company's shareholders have historically approved must pay packages, but warned in September that, quote, Musk also raised the possibility that he may pursue other interests that may afford him greater influence if he did not receive such assurances.
So just how much money are we talking about here? Well, it's $423 million worth of additional Tesla stock, which over ten years would be worth $1 trillion if the company reaches a value of $8.5 trillion, then Musk would get that full payout.
But that's easier said than done. Tesla has been on rocky financial footing, seeing sales, and profits plunge in the first half of this year. And they're facing strong headwinds as the Trump administration got rid of EV tax credits for consumers.
Jake, most analysts believe that Tesla needs Musk much more than Musk needs that money. So they believe that this pay package vote will likely pass.
But, Jake, that is a whopping $275 million a day for Elon Musk -- Jake.
TAPPER: And our thoughts are with the 42 million Americans not getting food stamps right now.
Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks.
In an interview moments ago on his favorite network, President Trump was asked about the new mayor elected for New York City. The self- described Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani. Zohran Mamdani before the election, President Trump referred to Mamdani as a communist. He is actually a Democratic socialist.
But now, President Trump says Mamdani will need his office for future requests, and he was asked if he ever plans to reach out to the New York City mayor. The president responded and said that he thought the mayor elect should reach out to him. Well, stay tuned if that ever happens.
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