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The Lead with Jake Tapper

Federal Judge Orders Trump Admin to Fully Fund SNAP in November; Trump Admin Announces Deal to Cut Weight-Loss Drug Prices; Nation's Busiest Airports Brace for Imminent Flight Cuts. Johnson Downplays Democrats' Election Day Dominance; Rep. Nancy Pelosi, First Female House Speaker, Won't Seek Re-Election. Aired 6-7p ET

Aired November 06, 2025 - 18:00   ET

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

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper.

This hour, a brand new chapter in the fight over SNAP or food stamp benefits.

[18:00:02]

This afternoon, a federal judge ordering the White House to pay full benefits for the month of November after the Trump administration said, after different judges ordered them to that they were only going to pay part payments. Moments ago, Trump's team officially appealed the ruling. So, what happens next? What about the 42 million Americans who rely on these benefits to eat?

Plus, you could soon pay significantly less for certain weight loss drugs thanks to a new deal announced by the White House earlier today. But how soon and which drugs, how accessible will they be? We'll talk to a former FDA commissioner in moments.

And the flight cancelations are rolling in by the hundreds ahead of the Trump administration's plan to start cutting air traffic tomorrow. We're live at one of the airports that will be affected, and I'll be joined by the head of the Flight Attendants Union with details that you need to know.

And we have breaking news to start up this hour of The Lead, a federal judge ordering the Trump administration to fully fund SNAP or food stamps benefits for the 42 million Americans who rely on the food assistance program in the month of November amid what is now the longest government shutdown in the history of these United States. The administration has announced that they're going to appeal the ruling. The Trump administration is currently only partially funding the program through November from the nearly $5 billion emergency reserve it has been required to dip into.

Let's go to CNN's Kaitlan Collins at the White House. Kaitlan?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Jake, this is quite a ruling from this judge ordering the federal government to make these payments in full when it comes to these SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans who have kind of been left in the middle and the lurch of all of this, as there has been this dispute playing out inside the courtroom from groups that are suing the administration over not paying these benefits during this government shutdown.

And something that stood out to me, Jake, is something the judge referenced in this decision today, in this ruling, saying that they must make these SNAP payments by Friday, by tomorrow, where he essentially appointed to something that the president said on Truth Social earlier this week after the administration was ordered to pay about half of the SNAP payments, what they had from that contingency fund that they had.

That had created a lot of questions here during the White House briefing, Jake, where Karoline Leavitt was acknowledging the president's post, but essentially saying that they were still complying with the court order. Those were actually talking points that were sent up to Republicans on Capitol Hill.

The judge took it very differently and saw it as basically a rebuke of his order to pay those SNAP payments. And he's warning here that if this does not happen, there are millions of Americans, elderly and disabled, who could go hungry without these benefits being paid off in full.

And so that's the question here of what the administration is going to do next, Jake, because we are told that they are going to appeal this decision that came down from Judge McConnell today, but we haven't yet heard from the White House or from the Office of Management and Budget on this matter. And, certainly, it is something that is becoming a crisis point for so many Americans in this moment and in this government shutdown that, Jake, right now, as we are here tonight, yes, there's a lot of conversations happening on Capitol Hill, but right now, still no end in sight to that government shutdown.

TAPPER: All right. Kaitlan Collins at the White House with all the latest news, thank you so much. And don't miss Kaitlan on her show, The Source with Kaitlan Collins. Tonight, she's going to be joined by Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene. That's tonight at 9:00 Eastern only on CNN.

Let's bring in Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas. Senator, so what do you make of the decision by the Trump administration to appeal this judge's ruling, the judge ordering the administration to fully fund SNAP benefits this month and the Trump administration fighting that?

SEN. ROGER MARSHALL (R-KS): Well, look, Republicans want to get the SNAP benefits and we give the Democrats 13 times to vote to do just that. And even tomorrow, they're telling us they're going to vote against SNAP benefits once again. So, I think that the Trump organization, the Trump administration, was going to use these $5 billion of emergency funds that were meant for disasters. The judge told them to use those, so they will.

But beyond that then, then who do we choose? You know, there's only a certain amount of money left. Do we not pay the troops? Do we not buy infant formula? Do we not pay for school lunches? What the real issue is here, my friends across the aisle need to come on back and fund the government again.

TAPPER: The president talks about the cost of living a lot. This is what he said on Fox just yesterday in reference to Tuesday's elections.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We've done so much. You know, energy is way down. Look at energy. We're going to have $2 gas, I later did that. That brings everything else down. Groceries are way down other than beef. Now, beef is going to come down. You know, we have to do that. The fact is, we have prices way down. We have prices down. Our country's doing well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: So, inflation, just as a factual matter, it's at its highest rate since January when President Trump took office. Groceries are up all across all product categories, not just beef, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Americans are paying close to $200 more for the same goods and services this year as they were last year.

[18:05:00]

Are you concerned at all that President Trump is out of touch with how Americans are actually experiencing this economy?

MARSHALL: Well, Jake I certainly think we can do better. I think that we inherited a tough situation, four years of cumulative inflation of about 25 percent. The best news is that wages are outpacing inflation. Food inflation is out in 3 percent right now compared to, again, that 25 percent in inflation. We want to do better. He's absolutely right that the price of gasoline is down from over $4.5 a gallon to $2.5 a gallon. Interest rates are down, but we've got work to do, and I look forward to doing just that. We need to impact the cost of healthcare. Housing are things that I'm concerned as well as that the Biden administration left us with some huge problems in those areas. So, I'm looking forward to try to tackling the cost of healthcare, the cost of housing, and others.

TAPPER: I don't have to tell somebody from Kansas that the tariffs are having an effect on prices as well.

MARSHALL: Look, I think that they're overstated. I think that we import less than 20 percent of our goods. The average tariff is going to probably impact to the price to people here at home, 1 or 2 percent. It's going to be a onetime hit as well. And at the other hand, we're bringing in more manufacturing jobs as well. So, he's used them for good leverage. We shipped our big ships of sorghum today, yesterday with soybeans. So, the tariffs, in my opinion, have worked for good leverage in bringing some of those jobs back home here as well.

TAPPER: Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican of Georgia, talked with CNN about the president's focus around Tuesday's election. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I also blame that on who's advising him in the White House, you know, keeping him on nonstop tours around the world and nonstop meetings with foreign country's leaders is not America first. It's just not. I think domestic policy should be the most important issue that the president and the Republican-controlled House and Senate are working on, and that showed up in the election on Tuesday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Do you agree?

MARSHALL: Of course not. I think that that mission that President Trump was on was the most successful trade trip that it's ever taken. Meanwhile, the proof is in the pudding. Our border's secured. The price of gasoline is down, like we talked about, our one big, beautiful bill, the largest tax cut in American history. You know, there's no tax on tips, overtime, Social Security. We made permanent some of the great things for small business growth as well, things like no taxes, or there's one-year tax deductions for things like interest rates, those types of things as well. So, I think that one bill had more accomplishment in it than my previous four here years here as well.

So, I think there's a time to be abroad. There's a time to be here as well, and the president is accomplishing both of those.

TAPPER: It was a huge tax cut, but a lot of it went to wealthy people. A lot of people, economic experts described the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act as the greatest transfer in the history of the United States from the lower class to the upper class.

MARSHALL: So, actually, wealthy people did not get a tax cut. We kept their taxes the same. But, certainly, people that were on Social Security, overtime tips, those people certainly were going to see improvement. But the biggest improvement is going to give by the small business tax benefits where we were taking care of, you know, bonus depreciation. The interest, like I talked about as well, being able to write off research and development. This is a pro-growth bill and I think that everyone's going to benefit from it.

TAPPER: The president posted today about ending the filibuster. That seems to be his solution for ending the shutdown, just to get rid of the filibuster. He wrote, quote, the Democrats will terminate the filibuster in the first hour if and when they assume controller power. Republicans have what the Democrats want. We should do it now and have the greatest three years in history. Would you support getting rid of the filibuster?

MARSHALL: Look, every day that this shutdown goes on longer, I start leaning in that direction. Instead, what I'm going to start pushing for is making the filibuster a constitutional amendment. And if we can get Democrats to support that's going to reassure me that they're not going to go nuclear on us next time that they have control of the Senate as well. I think that's the best solution out there.

So, I'm not there yet to nuke the filibuster, but it has a great place. It has a great way of protecting the minority. Sometime again, Republicans will be in the minority. It'll protect us. Right now, it's protecting Democrats, but I want it to be enshrined in the Constitution.

TAPPER: Republican Senator Roger Marshall of Kansas, thank you so much.

A White House deal may make certain popular weight loss drugs a whole lot cheaper. I'm going to ask a former FDA commissioner about this potentially revolutionary moment and the potential risks.

Plus, if you're planning to fly anytime from tomorrow through the next few weeks, you need to listen up. We're going to have a live report from one of the nation's busiest airports as hundreds of flights are already canceled for tomorrow.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:10:00]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES SECRETARY: Diabetes, cardiac diseases, we are going to see a decline because of this historic agreement. We're going to see a decline in cost, but also more importantly in the afflictions themselves.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: in our Health Lead, in a deal between the Trump administration and drugmakers, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, certain weight loss drugs will now be significantly cheaper. Prices as high as $1,350 a month could now go as low as $149. Trump officials say prices for existing drugs, such as WeGovy and Zepbound will start at $350 and trend down to $245.

Former FDA Commissioner Dr. David Kessler is the author of Diet, Drugs and Dopamine, the New Science of Achieving a Healthy Weight. He joins us now.

So, Dr. Kessler, we're going to touch on the risks for taking these drugs in a moment, but, first, what do you make of this deal? How revolutionary is it when tackling obesity and the accompanying illnesses in the U.S.?

DR. DAVID KESSLER, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: Jake, great to be with you. Obesity is a disease. It's not about willpower. It's about this toxic fact. So, making these drugs accessible, very important for public health. These are only one tool, but it's an important tool.

[18:15:00]

TAPPER: The question of the side effects and risk versus reward was brought up. Here's part of how Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and the CEO of Eli Lilly responded. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. MEHMET OZ, ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: There're always going to be side effects, if anything strong enough to help you, strong enough to hurt you.

DAVID RICKS, CEO, ELI LILLY: But we're confident in the safety, but there's always some precautions we should have and people's own medical histories matter in that decision.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: Now, you warned in your book that these weight loss drugs can be dangerous and can lead some people to near starvation now even more people are going to have access to them. What are the risks that people should consider?

KESSLER: Well, certainly there is, you know, the effect on appetite. That's how these drugs work. They take you to that edge of nausea. But it does help quiet that food noise. And for millions of Americans, I mean, there are benefits also. And there are -- you know, this toxic fact that we're all carrying around with us is causing real harm. There are 98 million Americans who are pre-diabetic, and these drugs have benefits as well as risks, and they need to be balanced, but people should take them, you know, under good care. It's not just a panacea.

TAPPER: You talk about these toxic fats. If you were king, if you were a wizard and you could snap your fingers and change the diet of the American people or force the food manufacturers to change things, what would you change?

KESSLER: You know, at that cause of that toxic fat is this ultra processed food. We're eating 500 calories more. I mean, it's these added fats and sugars. It's these refined starches that are just flooding the marketplace. But for many people, right, they can't shut off that addiction, that food noise. So, these drugs are important.

But, Jake, it's very important. You know, that a lot of the advances today, the discussion today is about reducing prices, but that's the out-of-pocket costs, right? These drugs need to be accessible. Yes, there are risks, but we need to increase the access. For $2,000, $3,000, $4,000 a year is still too much. And there's a trend that's happening, right? And that is insurance. Health insurance is no longer insurance. I mean, much of the discussion today, it was about out-of- pocket costs and the insurers need to step up to the plate.

There was one thing that I thought was terrific today, and it was buried in the discussion in the news, but Medicare, CMS, and I applaud Dr. Oz and I applaud the secretary for the fact that they're going to have a pilot program to make these drugs much cheaper for people who are not only overweight or obese, but who have pre-diabetes. So, understand that toxic fact gives rise to that pre-diabetes, that gives rise to that cardiovascular disease, that gives rise to that heart failure, if we can prevent that transition early on, we'd be much healthier as a country.

TAPPER: Dr. David Kessler, thank you so much, sir. I really appreciate it.

Coming up a new book reveals how fear, partisanship and dysfunction severely damage the Justice Department during and after Donald Trump's first presidency. Authors and Pulitzer Prize-winning Journalist Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis join us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:20:00]

TAPPER: In our Law and Justice Lead, today, a federal appeals court in New York revived President Trump's request to move his 2024 hush money conviction from state to federal court. This is a case where President Trump was convicted in state court on 34 counts of falsifying business records in an attempt to cover up a payment to the adult film actress, Stormy Daniels, about their rendezvous.

This is the president's only criminal conviction. Trump's indictments on attempting to overturn the 2020 election results and on mishandling classified documents, those were ultimately dropped before ever going to trial. And now a new book uncovers how political pressure and fear and internal dysfunction undermined the Justice Department's independence and effectiveness during and after Trump's presidency.

Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists and authors of Injustice, How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department, Carol Leonnig and Aaron Davis, join us now, and here it is, Injustice. First of all, what a cool image on the cover. Did you guys -- did you have a lot of images to pick?

AARON DAVIS, CO-AUTHOR, INJUSTICE: There's a little bit of debate, yes.

TAPPER: A little bit of it. I like it.

Anyway, so, Carol, let's stick, let's go to the substance of this book. It's getting amazing reviews. Jeffrey Toobin just glowed about it in The New York Times. The book really shows how the Biden Justice Department under then-U.S. Attorney Merrick Garland was worried about going after Trump at all. You write, quote, at one point in the summer of 2021, Garland was described as having said, all the Democrats want me to go after Trump. I'm just not going to do that. I can't, to Garland, you write, the investigation had to be built brick by brick.

Now, the prosecutors you spoke with, many of whom lean conservative in their political views, how did they sum up the missed opportunities to prosecute President Trump?

CAROL LEONNIG, CO-AUTHOR, INJUSTICE: Well, Jake, first off, thanks for having us here. Talking about this book now is really rewarding because you can sort of see that what those sources told us years now ago, two years ago, months ago, their worst fears are kind of coming true right in front of your and my and Aaron's eyes.

What they said over and over again, even though they were big fans of Attorney General Merrick Garland and respected him a great deal, they feared that the caution, the desire to avoid even the whiff of looking political by Merrick Garland ultimately meant they did not pursue the open source evidence that Donald Trump had tried to block a free and fair election and overturn it, and that that is not in keeping with the Department of Justice's mantra, pursue the case without fear or favor.

[18:25:04]

TAPPER: Yes. One of the criticisms of Garland is that he is more judged than prosecutor. And, you know, it's interesting you write about this, and I hadn't really thought about this until you write about it, Aaron, but the idea that the Justice Department was asking Congress, the January 6th committee, to turn over the evidence that they uncovered. It usually is the other way around. It's usually Congress asking the Justice Department show us your evidence.

DAVIS: Right. I mean, it's super unusual in this case because, you know, you want to have prosecutors go in and be the ones who, you know, laid on the first tracks so that they know what could be said if it ever goes to trial. Here, you had an entirely different situation where Congress had actually hired its own former federal prosecutors to conduct an investigation, and they were often the ones who spoke to everyone around Trump before anybody in DOJ had done so.

So, DOJ, 15 months, we write in our book. 15 months after January 6th, they really actually begin the investigation of folks around Donald Trump. And then they start trying to contact these folks and they want to know what they've already said at that point in time to the House select committee. And then in the very last instance just days before Congress turns over into Republican control, they're still asking for copies of these interviews. In fact, they go up and get a hard drive just the night before Republicans take control of the Congress and then actually get to see what's been said behind closed doors.

TAPPER: And, Carol, one of the grand ironies of this and Merrick Garland in trying to keep the Justice Department as independent and the FBI is independent and apolitical as possible, right now, we have probably the most political Justice Department, probably the most political FBI we have ever seen. Experts are being sidelined or fired just because -- in some cases, because they had something to do with any one of these prosecutions, even if they were right in some cases because of rumors among MAGA folks, like the firing of Michael Benari, the prosecutor in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Tell me about how people who are still in the Justice Department, the experts and officials who are -- who still have integrity and are there, how are they feeling about this moment?

LEONNIG: Great question. You know, some of those people who also spoke to us for the book, right, we try to protect these sources, but they are kind of holding on with their ends of their fingernails, you know? And they believe that there's going to be a time when the Justice Department can be rebuilt, but they have great fear like that it's a five-alarm fire inside the department. Some bread and butter prosecutions aren't happening.

Fear that like terrorist plots may not be averted because they've lost some of the best expertise they've ever had in counterterrorism. Right off the bat, January 20th, Donald Trump is removing people who were at the top of some of these investigations of him, especially classified documents, and they were also people who fought terror. So, there's a lot of worry about that.

TAPPER: The book is Injustice, How Fear -- I'm sorry, How Politics and Fear Vanquished America's Justice Department. It's out now. Carol and Aaron, congratulations, as the book is getting fantastic reviews. I really appreciate you being here.

LEONNIG: Thank you.

DAVIS: Thank you.

TAPPER: We're now just one day away from the FAA cutting air traffic significantly because of this federal government shutdown, the longest in American history. The ripple effect that we'll have, could it have huge effect on flight crews? We're going to talk with the head of a flight attendants group on The Lead, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:30:00]

TAPPER: Breaking in our National Lead, several major American airlines have announced hundreds of flight cancelations starting tomorrow. This as the Trump administration says that it will cut air traffic at 40 airports starting tomorrow if the government shutdown does not end. And shutdown-related travel delays have already been bad due to staffing shortages. One of the hardest hit airports, Newark Liberty International, which has seen delays nearly every day of the shutdown.

CNN's Danny Freeman is there. And, Danny, things are potentially about to get even worse starting tomorrow morning. What are you hearing from travelers?

DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Jake. And that's really one of the most remarkable things, because as you noted, things are already so challenging here with piling up delays and piling up cancelations. So many travelers really, really concerned about it even getting worse tomorrow and through the weekend. So much of it, of course, specifically directly and explicitly because of the shutdown and the confusion and frustration really has arrived here.

So, let's start at that top level, Jake, from where you began. We're expecting over the course of the next several days hundreds of cancelations of flights across dozens of major airports all across the United States, across the number of airlines as well. But remember again, that's on top of cancelations and delays that we have seen because of staffing shortages due to air traffic controllers. Just this afternoon here at Newark, Jake, there was an advisory that there would be significant delays because of staffing shortages here. And I'll note they had this ominous note, the FAA did, about what was going on here, saying simply that times will get worse as the evening would go on.

Emotions, Jake, today so high for so many people because it was bizarre, while some people here today were relieved that they were able to actually get on their planes and fly out, others are already thinking ahead to that holiday travel, nervous to book flights. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON BALL, TRAVELER: I am happy that we're leaving today because I knew of the shutdown, but I didn't know this specific aspect.

FREEMAN: Yes. Leaving today, I'm sure is -- and avoiding that is a godsend?

JULIE CHAMET, TRAVELER: It is a godsend because I have to be able to get back to work. I work at a hospital and I have to be able to get to work.

CHERYL BOOMER, TRAVELER: I think there'll be a lot of other things that are more concerning than getting home for Thanksgiving dinner. If the shutdown still continues, there'll be many more dreadful things and perhaps this will make people think again about what's really important.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FREEMAN: So, again, Jake, emotions very high, stress only rising at these airports. And now it's not just for those federal workers, those air traffic controllers, but also for much of the flying public to come. Jake?

TAPPER: All right. Danny Freeman at Newark International Airport, thanks so much.

[18:35:00]

Let's discuss this with Sara Nelson. She's the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. And, Sara, unlike air traffic controllers, flight attendants are still getting paid, but explain how this mass reduction in flights could severely impact your members.

SARA NELSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: Well, look, already, we are concerned about the safety risks. They're introduced here, the safety and security risks, and we're concerned about our federal sector sisters and brothers who are either out of work or forced to come to work without pay. But what that does always is a ripple effect. So, as we see these flights canceled, we are going to see less and less of our work.

We know what happens when the planes stop. It is not good. People don't get their medicines, they don't get to the hospital, they don't get their packages. The restaurants and grocery stores don't get food. The economy slows down and ultimately stops. And so this has got -- there's got to be an end to this, and you're right, our members are starting to feel the economic impact right now.

TAPPER: I can't even think about how much your members are going to have to deal with very grumpy, very angry passengers that they're not responsible for creating the situation, but they're going to have to deal with it.

Let me ask you, at this point in the shutdown, do you think this level of flight reduction by the FAA, by the Trump administration, do you think this is necessary to keep everyone safe?

NELSON: What happens when there is introduced risks that we do slow the system down, when you see the delays, when you see the cancelations, that is typically a product of not having enough staff to safely direct those flights. So, that's what's happening already with their air traffic controllers who are stressed and who are not able to continue to safely do their job in some instances. Same with TSA, some of the TSA workers are not able to come to work. Think about it. They haven't had a paycheck, in one and a half paychecks, and they're about to miss another. They can't put a tank of gas in their car to get there.

So, this is what happens. Things get slowed down when you don't have the safety and security experts. And when you don't have the intelligence of the people who are on furlough to help back up the work of those safety and security experts to do the job. So, things are going to continue to slow down and the action by the FAA is exactly what we have seen in the past, although it is on a greater, a grander scale than one airport at a time, one air traffic controller at a time.

TAPPER: And what do flight attendants see in terms of passenger behavior when these types of disruptions happen? Do shutdowns like this and flight disruptions like this, and flight cancelations like this lead to more unruly passengers, more safety incidents, more flights have to be delayed because of people that are angry or intoxicated?

NELSON: You know what's very interesting, Jake, is that, normally, we see that in weather meltdown or an operational meltdown because of an I.T. failure or something like that. What we see during a federal government shutdown is that there is an awareness by the traveling pug book on -- for the most part, but there are people who are coming to work without pay, continuing to make the country run. There are people who say thank you. I saw it all over TSA today when I was at the TSA line at Dulles Airport, and people are saying thank you. They're yelling out to other passengers, be nice to the TSA agents.

We see a different approach actually from passengers during a moment like this, just like we do in a crisis in the wake of 9/11, at the beginning of the crisis of the COVID pandemic, after we see an aircraft accident or crash. And that's what we're seeing right now. Americans want to come together and help. And I would just hope that our representatives in the Capitol would understand that they need to act more like Americans act every single day than they are acting, still getting paid while government workers are not.

TAPPER: Yes. And just a reminder for everybody watching, all the TSA agents and air traffic controllers that are not being paid, that are having to take in second jobs, that are having to call in sick to deliver for Uber Eats, they are not being paid and all the members of Congress, they are still being paid, more than $170,000 each.

Sara Nelson, thanks so much. I appreciate it.

Is there really momentum to end what is now the longest ever government shutdown in American history? I'm going to ask a congressman what he's hearing in the halls of the Capitol, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:40:00]

TAPPER: In our Politics Lead now, we are 37 days into what is now the longest government shutdown in the history of these United States. And tonight, House Speaker Mike Johnson's pouring cold water on any whispers of a potential deal that might be in the works. Johnson says he would not guarantee a House vote on extending Obamacare subsidies even if Senate Republicans commits to one. His comments coming after key senators held negotiations today in hopes of laying out a path forward by tomorrow.

Democratic Congressman Maxwell Frost of Florida joins me now. Congressman, are you still the only Gen Z member of the House? Is that still the case?

REP. MAXWELL FROST (D-FL): Yep, it's still the case. Hopefully, that changes next election, because if you're the youngest member for too long, that's not a good sign.

TAPPER: So, what's it like experiencing this and seeing all these people in their 80s and 70s and 60s and 50s putting the country through this?

FROST: You know, it's really troubling, Jake, and especially like when you see what people are going through at home here, when you're going through the airports and you're meeting with TSA workers who are missing paychecks, our own staff are missing paychecks. We know that this has impacts across the country. It's even more troubling to see the administration weaponize the whole thing, deny SNAP, food nutritional assistance, to working families, the announcement that the FAA just made on cutting airport service as well, all this different stuff.

And the thing is, no matter where you're at on the policy or the negotiation or the debate, at a minimum, we should at least be in D.C. every single day trying to work through this shutdown. And I just think it's disgraceful that the speaker of the House has said half of Congress isn't going to go to work until the government opens. But how does the government open if half of Congress isn't working?

And so my hope and our demand really is send us back to work, like the entire country's working, like so many federal workers are working right now without a paycheck.

[18:45:01]

TAPPER: So, you don't buy that this air traffic slowdown tomorrow is for safety reasons? You don't believe that?

FROST: I think it could be for safety reasons. I will say that the rollout of it has been very sloppy. My local airport found out through news reports. They even found out -- they didn't even find out directly from the FAA. They've been in the dark as of two hours ago. They still haven't received an actual notification. They learned from an online publication.

So, you know, whether or not -- I mean, I'm sure it's being done for safety reasons, but you got to do this in the right way. But we shouldn't even be having this conversation. We should be out of the shutdown already. And the fact of the matter is, we have not been in session for over a month now.

TAPPER: This was a major week for Democrats winning multiple key races across the country, from California to New Jersey to Manhattan. Trump is blaming the GOP's poor showing on him not being on the ticket, as well as the government shutdown.

Speaker Johnson justified the losses this way. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: I've spoken with the president about it. I reminded him, as I -- as I said this morning this is -- this is not a surprise to us. I mean, blue states elected blue leaders. I mean, that, yeah. So what?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

TAPPER: What do you make of that?

FROST: That's what we call copium. That's him trying to cope with the results that he's very scared of and that he doesn't like.

Number one, it's not just blue states across this entire country, especially in places in the south. We saw Republican supermajorities completely crushed.

We saw in Virginia, a state that isn't really a solid blue state or solid red state. It's a swing state and has a Republican governor right now. Abigail Spanberger won that race with flying colors.

We saw the same thing in New Jersey. We saw key demographics that in many cases went to Donald Trump. Latino men and folks like that who actually voted for Democrats this time. We saw record turnout in the New York mayoral race as well. So, I mean, you know, for him to just brush it aside, he's brushing

aside voters. He's brushing aside many voters who voted for Donald Trump less than a year ago or about a year ago now. And now they are saying were going to vote for the Democrats because they're seeing the extreme agenda of this administration.

I think they're also seeing the shutdown and the fact that Congress has been essentially on vacation for over a month, and they're disappointed and they feel lied to. And we're here to tell them, look, I'm not here to shame people for decision you made a year ago. I'm more concerned about the decision you make next year and the one you make in next elections.

And Democrats have a vision for this country. And so, I just -- I think he's just trying to put it aside because at the end of the day, its Donald Trump, but it's also his leadership, which is the reason why Republicans (AUDIO GAP) this election.

TAPPER: Former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced today she's not going to seek reelection. She's 85 years old.

I can't help but notice that the three big winners Tuesday night -- Mikie Sherrill, Abigail Spanberger, Zohran Mamdani, all of them are younger than me. Do you think more older members of Congress should follow Pelosi's lead and head for the exits?

FROST: I think it's really important that we have a congress that looks like the country, and the fact of the matter is, like you mentioned, I'm the only member of Gen Z in congress. Millennials and Gen Z make up a third of the country. Were nowhere near a third of congress and a third of really any legislative body across the country.

So, whether it's the House of Representatives, the Senate, state legislatures, city councils, I think it's important for people to know when its the right time for them to pass the baton for not just the younger generation, but a new generation of leaders. I think we need younger people in office, but it's not just about young people. It's about folks who know what its like to become a senior and retire in this system right now, fresh, freshly, right? And I think that's really important too.

So, the decision that, you know, the former speaker made, I mean, look, she's a legend. And she's the most effective speaker of the house has ever seen. And so, we thank her for her work and her service.

TAPPER: Congressman Maxwell Frost, Democrat of Florida, thanks so much.

My panel joins me now.

Rebecca Katz, you were part of the Mamdani campaign. You were an adviser to Mr. Mamdani. Here's the big question for him. Lots of big promises. And not just saying we're going to try to do X, we're going to try to do Y. Very affirmative. We are going to do this. How is he going to achieve that? Because for a lot of the things he

wants to achieve, he's going to have to raise taxes on the wealthy and he's going to need the participation of Governor Hochul, who's running for reelection.

REBECCA KATZ, FOUNDING PARTNER, FIGHT AGENCY: And who also happened to endorse him. Yes.

So, I would say that, Mayor-elect Mamdani came in. He has a mandate. He has over a million people who voted for him. That's more than New York City has seen since 1969. These people want real action, and they want to go -- they want -- they want elected officials to go and take action.

Now, Governor Hochul, she has a primary coming up. She has to listen to these folks, too. The state assembly has to listen to them.

I remember back with Mayor de Blasio, they said universal pre-K would never happen. How are you going to pay for it? Well, that's happened, and that's a national model. So it's about time we might dream big a little bit.

And he wants results and he's got a crew of people. He had 104,000 canvassers. These are people who want real change.

[18:50:01]

And he's going to use the power of the microphone, which is something that Democrats have not done for a while. We haven't had many good messengers, but he's going to go out there. He's going to preach, and people are going to come and we're going to get it done.

TAPPER: Hochul is being challenged in in her in her primary by her own lieutenant governor, right? Is that -- is that still the case? Anthony Delgado?

KATZ: That is still the case.

TAPPER: And is he going to get the support of progressives?

KATZ: I mean, that remains to be seen. So we'll see what happens.

TAPPER: Sorry to put you on the spot. I was just -- I was just -- you brought up Hochul.

KATZ: I don't know.

TAPPER: You brought up Hochul. And I was like, oh, that's interesting.

KATZ: Yeah.

TAPPER: Shermichael, we keep hearing Republicans downplaying the results of the election. You know who doesn't downplay them? President Trump. But we still hear lots of people saying, I don't know if you heard Congresswoman Lisa McLean on my show yesterday saying Republicans didn't turn out because they're so happy. They're so happy. Everything's going so great. They didn't need to turn out.

What do you think?

SHERMICHAEL SINGLETON, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, I'm looking at a couple of things. Our voters are a bit different because of President Trump. In the past, I think you could rely on Republican voters a lot more than you can now, in part because a sizable percent of our coalition is nontraditional voters, people who aren't typically used to voting in every single election, whether it's an off year or major election.

That said, the two groups that I'm primarily focused on are Hispanics and Black men. Last year, we got 44 percent. 46 percent of Hispanics, 21 percent of Black men. Those groups, I would argue, would have absolutely made it very difficult for Democrats to compete on the federal election level with losing that sizable percentage of both of them. They typically get around 98 percent of Black men. Prior to this recent election last year, they got around 60 percent of Hispanics.

So to have seen those drop offs last November to now see Democrats recover makes me very nervous about midterms next year, because those are two groups that I really believe the Republican Party had an opportunity to really submit. Now, granted, I think that there's still a chance for us.

TAPPER: Uh-huh.

SINGLETON: I think some of Mr. Mamdani pronouncements, while I intellectually understand them, I think populism, economically speaking, the raw emotions, the short-term economic idealism does not work when you put it into practice. And I don't think that's something that the voters realize yet. But they'll soon find out.

TAPPER: Well, I'm sure you disagree with what he just said.

SINGLETON: I mean, I think -- first of all, I think New York is obviously different than the rest of the country. There's things that we can do in New York that that are possible, like universal pre-K that seem to not seem to be running into roadblocks in other places.

I think you have to try, right? And New York city is the biggest city in our country. Like, why aren't more people invested in in having Mayor-elect Mamdani succeed?

And I think when we see -- when we -- when we succeed, we all succeed, right?

SINGLETON: I don't disagree with the premise, but I think most people want to be successful. But I don't think people recognize this redistributive idealism that Mamdani is propagating doesn't work because it makes business -- it makes -- it makes businesses skittish.

KATZ: Everybody wants lower cost.

SINGLETON: Businesses will retract. They'll hire less people. And you have to have that income to pay for all of this free stuff.

TAPPER: Last word for you.

KATZ: Yes. I would just say, he ran on affordability. He was laser- focused on that. People want things cheaper. The quality of life is hard right now.

TAPPER: Yeah.

KATZ: So, I think it's about time for government to step in just a little bit to help out.

SINGLETON: Socialism isn't the way to do it.

TAPPER: All right. Anyway, thanks to both, I think we're going to resolve this right now.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: If you grew up in a time before the Internet, you're going to love our next move. The Toys and Games just inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. We've got some throwbacks for you. That's coming up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[18:57:42]

TAPPER: G2.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDETN : G2. It's a hit.

TAPPER: Nice.

Sorry, guys. We're playing a Battleship here, and our pop culture lead.

Three new toys have taken their place in the National Toy Hall of Fame.

And CNN's Tom foreman is here trying to cheat at Battleship.

Tom, what else? What other toys? Hey, by the way, just so you know, this is -- you missed. You missed everything. But this is what I had.

What other toys made the list at the National Toy Hall of Fame?

FOREMAN: Well, this one is one -- there are only three, right? This one is the first one, and it's a big deal because battleship has been around for a long time. This was actually originally played with paper and pencil.

TAPPER: Is that right? FOREMAN: For a long time ago. And then slowly came along. This came

along sold 100 million of these.

So, very, very popular and became one of the first electronic games.

Here's another one. Look at this. This -- inducted this year, slime.

TAPPER: Now this is post of our childhoods, slime.

FOREMAN: Oh, yeah. This is very high tech.

TAPPER: And this is like Congressman Max Frost played with us.

FOREMAN: Yeah. When I was a child. Oh, my. We had to make slime out of cows milk and wheat. It was very different.

TAPPER: That's disgusting.

FOREMAN: It is disgusting.

TAPPER: It's what it is.

FOREMAN: But actually, a lot of people make slime. So, slime got in. Even though slime is sort of a general -- well, I'm going to be incapable of going forward.

TAPPER: That's really awful.

FOREMAN: But slime will be -- yeah, we're going to have a problem here. Slime is made by a lot of people. So, this is a general toy that got in, the concept of slime --

TAPPER: It's like interviewing some members of Congress.

FOREMAN: Famous, famous on a TV show.

TAPPER: OK. What else is the third one that made?

FOREMAN: And the third one that made --

TAPPER: The third one in the Tapper household growing up.

FOREMAN: Right there, Trivial Pursuit.

TAPPER: Trivial Pursuit.

FOREMAN: People forget -- if you're old enough, you forget that -- or if you're young enough, you forget that Trivial Pursuit came along before the Internet was a widespread thing, so your ability to do this was great.

And now, we're going to play it. Pick a category. One of the categories.

TAPPER: Entertainment.

FOREMAN: Entertainment and the category of entertainment. In the 1975 film "Jaws".

TAPPER: Yeah.

FOREMAN: Which brand of beer can does Captain Quint famously crush?

TAPPER: Oh, Jesus.

FOREMAN: No, not that brand.

TAPPER: Miller.

FOREMAN: No. Narragansett lager.

TAPPER: Narragansett lager, I never --

FOREMAN: Do you want to try a different -- wonder one other category real quick?

TAPPER: Yeah.

FOREMAN: Another category. Science and nature. Sports and leisure. Art and literature.

TAPPER: History.

FOREMAN: History. In what year did the treaty of Paris officially end the American revolutionary war?

TAPPER: The treaty of Paris ended the American Revolutionary War, 1789.

FOREMAN: Oh, so close but wrong, 1783.

TAPPER: 1783.

All right. Thanks, Tom. Really appreciate it. That was great. Great segment.

(LAUGHTER)

TAPPER: Tom Foreman, thanks.

"ERIN BURNETT OUTFRONT" starts right now.