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Brutal Arctic Blast to Sweep Across U.S.; Dems Offer to Open Govt if GOP Extends ACA Subsidies for 1 Year; Duffy: Up to 20 Percent of Flights Could be Canceled if Shutdown Lingers; Delays Cascade Across U.S. Amid Airport Staffing Shortages; Trump Says He will Discuss Potential Putin Meeting with Orban; Trump may be Open to Granting Hungary Exemption from Sanctions; Appeals Court Set to Rule on Full SNAP Payments;. Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired November 07, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: ... but even a few degrees above normal. And it's not just cities in the southeast. Take a look at Washington, D.C., yet another similar scenario here. The weekend, actually pretty nice. Temperatures both days are actually going to be above average for a change. But then we get to Monday and Tuesday, and you start to see some of those temperatures dropping back off.

Again, we're not just talking 5 or 10 degrees. You're talking record- breaking cold temperatures, both of those mornings, before we finally start to see the temperatures getting at least a little bit back to normal by the time we get to the end of the week.

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: Allison Chinchar, thanks so much. A new hour of CNN NEWS CENTRAL starts right now.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: An offer on the table. We are following the breaking news on Capitol Hill. Senate Democrats just presenting their plan to end the government shutdown. How Republicans are now responding.

Plus, the impact of the shutdown at the nation's airports. Flight cuts, of course, underway. The Transportation Secretary now warning that more cancellations could be coming if the stalemate does not end. How travelers are reacting?

And the legal fight with hungry Americans caught in the middle. How the administration is now battling a judge's ruling to fully fund food stamps.

We're following these major developing stories and many more, all coming in right here to CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

MATTINGLY: The ball is now in Republicans' court, at least according to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, who just laid out what he called a unified offer from Democrats to end the shutdown. Now included in their proposal is a one-year extension of the Affordable Care Act subsidies, which has been the central demand of Democrats over the entirety of the 38-plus day shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): This is a reasonable offer that reopens the

government, deals with health care affordability, and begins a process of negotiating reforms to the ACA tax credits for the future. Now, the ball is in the Republicans' court. We need Republicans to just say yes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: CNN's Arlette Saenz joins us now live from Capitol Hill. Arlette, are Republicans saying anything so far?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Phil, we may hear from some Senate Republicans in a short while. They actually will be meeting at 3:30 as a caucus just about an hour after Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer made this Democratic counteroffer to reopen the government.

At the heart of that offer is including a one-year extension of Obamacare subsidies, which are set to expire at the end of the year, in order to reopen the government. Now, what's unclear at this moment is whether any Republicans would actually get on board with that or if this proposal will simply fall flat. Of course, Republicans who have said that they would want to see an extension of these Obamacare subsidies have said that they can only do that if there are reforms to the program. So that is one of the big things to consider.

But here is Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as he made this offer, which he believes is a simple offer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: Democrats are ready to clear the way to quickly pass a government funding bill that includes health care affordability. Leader Thune just needs to add a clean one-year extension of the ACA tax credits to the CR so that we can immediately address rising health care costs. That's not a negotiation. It's an extension of current law, something we do all the time around here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, for Democrats, this gives them the opportunity to show a united front as they continue to hold off in this government shutdown standoff. But it's very unlikely Republicans will immediately get on board with this plan. Of course, it's not just the Senate that this proposal would have to get through, but then it would have to go over to the House.

And House Speaker Mike Johnson has suggested that the votes just simply would not be there, that there need to be reforms to any extension of these Obamacare subsidies. So, a lot still remains up in the air on this. In addition to what this new Democratic proposal, what both sides have been talking about is potentially passing a stopgap funding bill to fund the government into January, as well as appropriations bills for three separate departments. But a lot really remains unclear at this moment. At this moment, it doesn't seem like there will be a vote today on anything relating to reopening the government. But that's something Thune has been keeping on the table for tomorrow.

MATTINGLY: And I would note, Arlette is strategically placed at a point where she will catch any Republican who comes in for that 3 P.M. meeting through the outdoor route. Please let us know anything they say. Great reporting, as always, my friend Arlette Saenz. Erica?

HILL: Well, the impact of the shutdown is certainly playing out at this hour at airports all across the country. Travelers right now dealing with this 4 percent reduction in flights today at 40 major U.S. airports.

[15:05:07]

That will continue to increase until it hits 10 percent at the end of next week. And according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, even steeper cuts could be on the way after that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEAN DUFFY, SECRETARY OF TRANSPORTATION: So, if this shutdown doesn't end relatively soon, the consequence of that is going to be more controllers don't come to work. And then we're going to have to continue to assess the pressure in the airspace and make decisions that may, again, move us from 10 percent to 15 percent, maybe to 20. I don't want to see that.

Or, by the way, if controllers start coming to work and the pressure goes down, we can move those numbers in the other direction. Again, this is a moment-by-moment assessment, again, doing all we can to make sure travelers are safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: So, already today, we have seen these cascading disruptions for travelers, as air traffic controller shortages continue to rack up across the country, CNN's Pete Muntean is live at Reagan National Airport.

So, Pete, just walk us through what you're seeing there today and -- and frankly, what we know from across the country at this point.

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, first, that is another big threat from Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy as he continues to ratchet up the rhetoric here that flights will continue to get canceled by Trump administration mandate if there is no end to the government shutdown. It's important to set the scene for you here. We're not seeing a ton of people camped out because their flights have been canceled, although we are seeing other issues here at Reagan National Airport because of the staffing shortages that continue in spite of this Trump administration mandate to start to cut flights.

There was a four-hour delay that was just imposed by the FAA for flights to Reagan National Airport here because of a shortage of controllers upstairs in the air traffic control tower. That is on top of the 800 flights preemptively canceled by airlines nationwide because of this 15-page emergency order put out late last night by the FAA and the Trump administration that airlines would have to shed about 4 percent of all their flights all in the name of safety.

By the way, this is only the beginning. This ratchets up to 6 percent flights being mandated to be canceled by the Trump administration starting on Tuesday, then eight percent on Thursday, 10 percent on Friday, which puts us within the two-week window of the huge anticipated air travel rush leading up to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says this is all because air traffic controllers are in crisis, though the airlines will say that this is only created travel chaos for them and airports, and airlines, and passengers. I want you to listen now to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, who's sticking to his guns that this was the right call. Listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DUFFY: The airlines have been good partners. They don't love this. They're going to lose millions of dollars because of this. It's -- it's challenging for them to take down flights. And to those passengers that are upset, listen, call your Democrat senator. Fourteen times they voted no to open up the government. Those in the House that are sniping at me, they voted no to open up the government. And -- and again, you can have votes. There's a process on how this is supposed to work in -- in the -- in the Congress.

Shutdowns are not the way you get your will and your way if you've lost elections. You introduce bills, you debate, you vote. That's what you do. And if you can't get what you want, you don't shut the government down and inflict this pain on the American people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: One has to ask, though, if this travel pain is being inflicted on people for political gain and Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says the safety of the U.S. airspace is not political, that air traffic controllers have essentially been overwhelmed since the start of the shutdown and they began working without pay. They just got another zero dollar pay stub in their emails yesterday.

In the meantime, airlines have been scrambling to get the word out about this to passengers. They've been hitting them up via text and email through their apps. They say they're dealing with this essentially like they would deal with mass cancellations during a major snowstorm. By the way, the delays continue to pile up today, and that is separate from the cancellations we have seen because of this Trump administration mandate.

Last check, we were about twenty-three hundred delays nationwide, according to FlightAware, and the number continues to go up and up. We've seen about 25 air traffic control facilities in the U.S. today with short staffing. Some of the hardest hit places here at Reagan National Airport, Houston, George Bush, Austin, also Chicago O'Hare. It is a big, long list and we are not out of the woods yet.

HILL: No, we're certainly not. Interesting comments about the -- the political nature of all of this. But what is clear is that a number of folks who are involved, including the president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association, says he is worried that they are being used as political pawns.

[15:10:01]

Pete, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

Still ahead here on CNN, President Trump just wrapping up a meeting with Hungary's prime minister. The details about that closed door session and what was discussed.

Plus, the Trump administration now fighting a judge's order after that judge said the administration must pay full SNAP benefits this month. This, of course, a battle over feeding some 42 million Americans who rely on food assistance.

And a bit later, a major fast-food chain announcing it may shutter hundreds of restaurants nationwide, adding to the growing list of businesses closing their doors this year. That and much more ahead here on CNN NEWS CENTRAL.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:15:00]

MATTINGLY: President Trump has been meeting throughout the day with one of his greatest admirers in Europe, Hungary's strongman Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Trump said the two leaders plan to talk about a future meeting with Russia's President Vladimir Putin to end his war on Ukraine. Now, a meeting had been set in Hungary until Trump cancelled it a little more than two weeks ago.

Orban said today he is convinced the war will end soon, but the problem is the West is divided on how to do it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIKTOR ORBAN, HUNGARIAN PRIME MINISTER: We are not unified because Brussels and the Europeans have a different approach to the war. So, the only pro-peace government is the United States government and the small Hungary in Europe anyway. All the other governments prefer to continue the war because many of them think that Ukraine can win on -- on the -- on the front line.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, you would say that Ukraine cannot win that war?

ORBAN: You know, a miracle can happen.

TRUMP: Yes, that's right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Now, President Trump also notably showed Orban openness to granting Hungary an exemption from U.S. sanctions for buying Russian oil and energy. Let's take a step back and talk about all this with Harvard Professor

of Government Steven Levitsky.

Steven, really appreciate your time.

You co-wrote the book "How Democracies Die," which is why I want to step back a little bit. You've previously compared the actions of the second Trump administration kind of the -- what you've called weaponizing the state to those taken by Viktor Orban. What did you see in this meeting between the two leaders today?

STEVEN LEVITSKY, CO-AUTHOR, "HOW DEMOCRACIES DIE": What's striking is this is our closest ally in Europe. Europe is full of capitalist democracies, and yet the country we -- that this government admires most is Europe's sole autocracy. It's not -- it's not only that Viktor Orban is Europe's biggest admirer of -- of Trump. Trump is one of the biggest admirers of Orban.

So, we've come a long way from being a country that considered itself to be a model for democracies all over the world. Today, tiny Hungary's autocracy is a model for the U.S. government.

MATTINGLY: When did that evolution start? It's been something, if you follow conservative politics, folks, now the Vice President of the United States, obviously the President as well, top administration officials have been in this place on a country and a government that other U.S. officials from past administrations, Republican and Democrat, are not very keen on having close relations with or at least kind of hold at a distance. How did they get to this point inside this administration?

LEVITSKY: It's been coming for a while. The Republican evolution, the radicalization of the Republican Party has been a slow process going back to well before Donald Trump. But really after the 2020 election, when Trump violated the cardinal rule of democracy, which is you've always got to accept the results of elections. And the Republican Party was basically forced to get on board with that. That's when you really saw a critical mass within the Republican Party embracing authoritarian models.

And Hungary is among the most successful cases of this. And you could see the Trump administration, especially in Project 2025, borrowing aspects of the Hungarian model, purging and packing the government and weaponizing it to use against the rivals, getting your friends, billionaire friends, in control of key sectors of the media, gerrymandering, trying to win elections through gerrymandering. All of that is borrowed from Hungary.

MATTINGLY: The mutual admiration, you kind of -- you make an important point -- it's not a secret. Conservatives are very open about this. They attribute kind of the policies they like of Viktor Orban and certainly move in that direction. Orban made the point about Hungary's government today. He said Hungary is a special island of difference in a liberal ocean in Europe and said Hungary is the only modern Christian government in Europe. Is that how you would depict Hungary's place in the continent? LEVITSKY: Hungary has pretty openly embraced a -- a version of

Christian nationalism, of ethno-nationalism, which is frankly really at odds with America's liberal tradition. We're a country that has always been a country of immigrants, a country that was founded on the notion that -- that all men, that all -- that all people are -- are created equal. This ideology of Christian nationalism is really at odds with the -- with America's founding traditions. But yes, that is what it stands for.

MATTINGLY: Do you see any possibility, like one of the -- the things that Trump has been able to do, he has relationships with non- traditional allies or a willingness to -- to talk to oftentimes like very much non-traditional allies, sometimes foes, and try and leverage that for agreements to reach peace, or deals in some way, shape, or form. Is there a possibility that Orban surges that to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine?

LEVITSKY: Well, it depends on what terms you want to end the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

[15:20:01]

Orban calls the United States the -- the only pro-peace government in the West. That's because the United States at least has -- under Trump, has shown signs of willing -- of being willing to concede much of Ukrainian territory to the Russian government. So, if you are interested in ending the war on Russian terms, then -- then maybe Hungary is a good ally.

If you want to defend Ukraine's sovereignty and Ukraine's role as a -- as a -- as a democracy and a free state, I think we'd be better off realigning with Western Europe.

MATTINGLY: Steven Levitsky, really appreciate your time and expertise, sir. Thanks so much.

LEVITSKY: Thanks for having me.

MATTINGLY: Well, the Trump administration asking an appeals court to put a pause on a judge's order demanding it fully fund SNAP benefits this month. So, what exactly happens now? We break down the fight underway as millions of Americans struggle to pay for groceries.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:25:35]

HILL: Well, the Trump administration is back in court fighting to not fully fund SNAP benefits this month as millions of Americans, some 42 million Americans, worry about whether they will be able to buy food.

MATTINGLY: Now, this is a direct result of what's now the longest government shutdown ever. Lawyers for the administration have asked a federal appeals court to pause a judge's order requiring the full payments. A decision could come at any time. CNN's Rene Marsh has been doing a ton of reporting on this. What's the latest here?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Look, the bottom line is that this is a program, SNAP, that the Trump administration has isolated as a program that they do not want to fund during this government shutdown. I mean, it was the court that essentially ordered them to make these partial payments using this emergency fund that is there at the USDA. They did not want to tap into those funds. And then just yesterday, it was the court that said that they have to fully pay these benefits through the month of November and do it by today. I've been in touch with people who rely on benefits. Their card is still on a zero balance.

So, it clearly has not happened. As you said, the administration has asked for an appeal. At one point in court, the administration's lawyer said that they didn't want to move money around, which, by the way, they have moved money around for certain programs. They've moved money around at other agencies to pay the military. They've moved money around within USDA to cover WIC.

So, it's not something that they have not done. But they did not want to do it for this specific program. They said it would jeopardize a child nutrition program, which, among other things, helps to provide free lunches for some 29 million children. But at that point, the judge called them out and said, look, there's -- if you use the $4 billion that's needed to fully give these 42 million Americans their benefits for the month of November, you'd still have $19 billion left. And that would last you through May. So, he really called their bluff on that.

But -- but really, what is happening here is the American people who are caught in the middle of this both political and legal fight. You have people, 42 million, as you say, in red states, blue states, across the country, many people in states and counties that voted for President Trump. I just came back from Martinsburg, West Virginia. They voted for Trump every single time he was on the ballot for president. And they are being hit hard there. And I actually spent the day with one woman who has two children. And she relies on SNAP, $265 a month and she didn't get that this month. So, here's a little bit more from her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ONITA NORRIS, SNAP RECIPIENT: I mean, I went to college. I did all the things they say you're supposed to do. Pull yourself up by your bootstraps. And I'm still looking at my bank account like, but why isn't it cutting it? Why isn't it enough?

MARSH: You said you feel like you're failing. Can you unpack that a little bit more?

NORRIS: I'm trying not to cry. My kids. It feels like I'm failing them, because I am trying. I'm trying to do all that I can. Of course, as a human, you get frustrated. And I never want my kids to see that or feel like I'm taking that out on them for something as simple as dinner. And I know they're watching. And yes, I feel like I'm failing them. (END VIDEO CLIP)

MARSH: I mean, I asked her about what's going on here. She's really just frustrated. She's angry. And she asked one question. How could food be political?

HILL: It's a -- it's such a great question. So many hardworking Americans who still need a little assistance because everything is too expensive. They're not making enough money. And it shouldn't be political.

MARSH: No.

HILL: Rene, thank you.

MATTINGLY: Well, after the break, advice for anyone planning to travel as soon as the government shutdown leaves hundreds of flights grounded.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)