Return to Transcripts main page

CNN News Central

House Expected To Vote Tomorrow On Senate-Passed Bill To End Shutdown; Raskin: Ghislaine Maxwell Wants Trump To Commute Her Sentence; More Flight Cancellations Expected As Shutdown Deal Moves To House. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 11, 2025 - 07:30   ET

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

[07:30:00]

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: President Trump has given his seal of approval, if you will, signaling that he will sign it when it does make it to his desk. But he also had some choice words for the top Democrat in the Senate, Chuck Schumer, over all of this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I think he made a mistake in going too far. Uh, he, you know --

LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST, "THE INGRAHAM ANGLE": Going too far how?

TRUMP: Well, he just went too far. He thought he could break the Republicans and the Republicans broke him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: CNN's Kevin Liptak is live at the White House for us this morning. What are you hearing about the direction this is headed from here on out from where you are standing today, Kevin.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah. You know, it's clear that the president and his team feel vindicated in their strategy here. You know, this all kind of played out exactly as they predicted -- that if they waited the Democrats out, if they refused to engage in negotiations, that the Democrats would eventually fold.

Now part of their calculation as well as to try and turn up the pain, whether it was cutting food stamps or laying off federal workers, or threatening to withhold backpay. This all kind of occurred as the president predicted. But the real question I think going forward is whether there will be a political price for any of that. You know, polls have shown that the president and that Republicans have mostly caught the blame from the American people for this shutdown.

And I think that the strategy that Democrats feel going forward is that if health care prices rise -- if those Obamacare subsidies aren't extended that President Trump will get the blame for that. And that, of course, I think is the big question. It is this question of rising prices, whether it's health care or groceries, or housing that does seem as if it's going to pose the biggest challenge for President Trump ahead of next year's midterms. And you have seen him kind of grappling with this in public over the last week.

Last night on Fox News he was asked about some of this polling that shows an enormous amount of economic anxiety. Listen to how he responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I don't know that they are saying it. I think polls are fake. We have the greatest economy we've ever had. We have close -- we will have over $20 trillion come into our economy and it's largely because of my election, but it's also largely because of tariffs.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So you here there Trump saying that the polls are fake. That this is the greatest economy the country has ever had. In a lot of ways, going down the same path that his predecessor did in trying to convince people that the economy is actually better than it feels.

At the same time you've also seen the president taking a number of steps over the last week kind of getting at this issue, whether it's sending rebate checks with tariff money to lower and middle income Americans or going after meat packing companies for jacking up food prices, or talking about this idea of a 50-year mortgage, which in theory could lower monthly payments. All of it an indication that the president is feeling this issue even if in another breath he just tries to brush it off -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: It's a really great encapsulation, Kevin, of the view from the president. But the one issue that does remain that will continue to nag at him is the whole issue of prices. You can say you don't believe the numbers in a poll, but it is another thing how people feel about the economy.

It's great to see you. Thank you so much -- Sara.

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Joining me now to continue the discussion is Bryan Lanza, a Republican strategist, and Meghan Hays, a Democratic strategist. Thank you both for being here.

Meghan, I'll start with you. Let's look at what's happening. The Senate has pushed through this bill. The House will probably pick it up on Wednesday.

By breaking ranks about voting to fund the government, did Democrats just sort of reward Donald Trump for being hardline and engaging in cruelty by doing something no president has done before -- refusing not to fund the supplemental food program which left families scrambling and threatening Democratic -- "Democratic" issues and programs? Did they just sort of reward him by saying OK, we're going to open the government and we're not going to get those health care subsidies put into this bill? MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, FORMER WHITE HOUSE DIRECTOR OF MESSAGE PLANNING, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL CONVENTION CONSULTANT: No. I think at some point in time the Democrats realized that the goodwill is going to wear off for them and that they needed to make a deal and this was the best deal that they were going to get. They got federal workers back to work. They got SNAP and WIC funded for an entire year.

The problem with what the Democrats did here is they didn't message it correctly. So people are now thinking they caved when really, they do have a vote on ACA. They did get things for them agreeing to open the government.

But the problem here is the Republicans were never going to negotiate past what they got, so Democrats had to make a decision. How long do we keep going? Do we go into Thanksgiving? Do we go into Christmas?

It's not worth it. People are suffering. People were not eating. Veterans aren't getting food and SNAP benefits.

So it was important for the government to open. They can get the vote on ACA and leave it in the Republicans' hands. If they decide not to agree on ACA that will -- that will haunt them in the midterms and the Democrats know that.

[07:35:05]

SIDNER: Bryan, speaking of the ACA, one thing is clear that health insurance is skyrocketing for families on Obamacare without the government subsidies.

I want to let you listen to what Speaker Johnson said when Jake Tapper asked him if he would take up a vote on health care subsidies that even 13 Republicans are pushing him to do. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE: The Senate yet --

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Will you have a vote on the issue as your 13 Republicans -- frontline Republicans -- people that are -- that you're the speaker because of them.

JOHNSON: Yes.

TAPPER: They're in districts that are vulnerable.

JOHNSON: Sure.

TAPPER: Will you have a vote so they -- so they can vote?

JOHNSON: Well, the very people that you were citing in the letter believe we have to have a real reform.

TAPPER: So you're not committing to bringing up a bill that deals with the Obamacare subsidies before they expire.

JOHNSON: I'm not committing to it or not committing to it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So this is exactly what Democrats were afraid of.

What would you advise Johnson to do on these health care subsidies?

BRYAN LANZA, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, FORMER SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Yeah, open up a real debate on the issue. You know, Obamacare was supposed to drive down prices and we've not had Obamacare for more than 15 years. And what have we learned economically? What have we learned in real data? Obamacare drives up the cost. So if it's driving up the cost, why does the government still have to be subsidizing it?

It is clear that Obamacare is broken. It doesn't work. It has done zero to drive down the costs and it actually made care worse.

I think this is a debate Republicans can win only if they actually have a plan to deal with health care rather than just criticizing it, I think, and there are plans that exist.

SIDNER: What are they because --

LANZA: They're just afraid to put it forward.

SIDNER: I mean, that is one of the big problems. Donald Trump has talked about a plan. He has slammed Obamacare over and over and over again. Not once have we seen a robust plan -- not from the president and not from Republicans.

So what is the plan?

LANZA: Well listen, there hasn't been a robust plan by anybody to drive down the price. If the solution to drive the price was Obamacare, I think it's clear to say it's a failure. I think you can say it's a failure. The media can actually Obamacare is a failure to address prices because they've just gone up nearly 40 percent since Obamacare has -- actually, more than 40 percent it's gone up.

The plan is ultimately to deal with cost and the only way you deal with cost is with litigation reform. They're the ones driving up the cost. And unless you bring litigation reform into the -- into the -- into the health care debate you're never going to drive down the cost.

And here's the reality. Democrats will never deal with the cost of health care because it's their trial lawyers -- their base that's actually making money from health care litigation. So that's not -- there's no reason for them to deal with it. So it's just a dishonest debate.

A real debate on health care is we bring accessibility. We bring driving down costs, which is dealing with -- you know, with malpractice lawsuits -- with all these frivolous lawsuits. And then you sort of put everything in the soup and you come up with a solution. But the fact is Obamacare did nothing to drive down the cost, which is why we're here trying to subsidize it for the -- bail it out basically for the third time. Taxpayers shouldn't bail out a failing program, and President Trump is saying that. Even Democrats don't want to bail out a failing program. They want it fully subsidized because they know they can't have the discussion over and over again how Obamacare drives up prices. It doesn't drive it down.

SIDNER: Yeah. I mean, listen, Meghan, it's still -- with all the things that Bryan is saying Americans seem to like having access to Obamacare. I mean, there is -- what are you hearing from Democrats whose constituents are terrified about this? It's a life and death situation for them.

And you can argue about we need to fix this but there are literally people who will not have health care because it's tripled. We listened to someone who had cancer -- late-stage cancer. Hers is tripling. So while there's this argument going on and we need to do this better there are people that are, like, we want our Obamacare.

Meghan, what should be done here?

HAYS: So there's a short-term problem and a long-term problem. The short-term problem is we need to fund the subsidies to keep people on their health care. And the long-term debate, like Bryan said, is we should figure out how to bring costs down in general. That is the whole point.

We are the richest country in the world, and we have the most expensive health care, and we have the most people not on health care. So when people are on health care -- affordable health care, that's better for the economy and it's better for the entire country.

But the short-term solution here is we need to get the subsidies passed and then have a long-term debate on how to fix out health care costs, and that is -- I don't think Democrats would disagree with that.

SIDNER: Bryan Lanza, Meghan Hays, thank you so much. I do appreciate it.

And right over to you, Miss Kate.

BOLDUAN: Thank you, darling.

New this morning a whistleblower now alleges that Ghislaine Maxwell is preparing to ask President Trump to commute her 20-year sentence. That whistleblower also claims that Jeffrey Epstein's convicted co- conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell is getting pretty wild, special treatment in prison. Customized meals, a service dog to play with, and other perks that very clearly other inmates are definitely not offered.

This is all coming from Democratic Congressman Jamie Raskin who says that this whistleblower reached out to him. CNN has not independently verified these claims. More now from CNN's MJ Lee.

[07:40:00]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MJ LEE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voiceover): Convicted child sex trafficker Ghislaine Maxwell is hoping to reverse her fortunes with help from President Donald Trump.

REPORTER: Would you consider a pardon or a commutation for Ghislaine Maxwell if she's cooperating?

TRUMP: It's something I haven't thought about. It really --

REPORTER: If it was recommended to you.

TRUMP: I'm allowed to do it.

LEE (voiceover): Trump, when asked, has repeatedly not ruled out the possibility of leniency for the late Jeffrey Epstein's notorious right-hand woman. According to a whistleblower who was making new allegations, Maxwell is currently working on filing an application for a commutation.

REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): She's basically being treated like an honored guest at a Trump hotel rather than a federal prisoner.

LEE (voiceover): Congressman Jamie Raskin, the House Judiciary Committee's top Democrat, says the whistleblower also claims that Maxwell is receiving preferential treatment at the prison camp in Bryan, Texas where she's currently serving out her 20-year sentence.

The favorable concierge-style treatment is said to include private meetings with visitors, including snacks and refreshments for her guests, Maxwell's guests being allowed to bring in computers during their visits, and the camps warden personally helping to send emails on Maxwell's behalf.

Maxwell's lawyer and the Justice Department did not comment.

TODD BLANCHE, U.S. DEPUTY ATTORNEY GENERAL: Did you ever observe President Trump receive a massage?

GHISLAINE MAXWELL, CONVICTED CHILD SEX OFFENDER: Never.

LEE (voiceover): These new revelations coming less than four months after Trump's deputy attorney general and former personal lawyer Todd Blanche met in person with Maxwell at her previous prison in Florida.

MAXWELL: I never witnessed the president in any inappropriate setting in any way. In the times that I was with him, he was a gentleman in all respects.

LEE (voiceover): During the course of two days of interviews Maxwell telling Blanche that she had never seen Trump behave inappropriately. Trump, who was friends with Epstein decades ago, has not been accused of any wrongdoing related to Epstein.

DAVID OSCAR MARKUS, ATTORNEY FOR GHISLAINE MAXWELL: Ghislaine answered every single question asked of her over the last day and a half. Ms. Maxwell would welcome any relief.

LEE (voiceover): Just days after Blanche's unusual July meeting with Maxwell the convicted felon was transferred out of a low security federal prison in Tallahassee to a minimum security facility in Texas. The move drew the ire of critics -- Democrats and Epstein survivors alike.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We were horrified to learn that she had been transferred to a prison camp.

ANOUSKA DE GEORGIOU, EPSTEIN ABUSE SURVIVOR: It's one of my worst nightmares that she not only be transferred but the possibility that's very much going around that she might be pardoned.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BOLDUAN: Hmm. MJ Lee, thank you so much for that.

Next hour we will be speaking with family members of one of Epstein's most outspoken, well-known accusers, the late Virginia Guiffre -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

New this morning new data on the financial stress many Americans are facing right now. A Bank of America report finding nearly a quarter of all households this year are living paycheck to paycheck, spending almost all of their income on necessities.

CNN's Matt Egan is joining me now for more on this. This sounds really dire for so many families.

MATT EGAN, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well Sara, look, living paycheck to paycheck -- that's a financial high-wire act and yet it's something that a growing number of Americans are experiencing right now.

Now, Bank of America -- by looking at their internal data, they're estimating that about a quarter -- 24 percent of all households are living paycheck to paycheck this year. Now that is a slight increase from last year and it continues a trend where this figure of people who are living paycheck to paycheck is moving in the wrong direction.

So what exactly does it mean to live paycheck to paycheck? Well, Bank of America defined it as households that are spending over 95 percent of their income on necessities, right? Stuff like housing, gasoline, groceries, and child care as well. Of course, that leaves little to nothing left over for the nice "to haves" like going out to dinner --

SIDNER: Right.

EGAN: -- let alone for savings for a rainy day. This can really be financially stressful. Now the good news here is that Bank of America said that the increase of people who are living paycheck to paycheck -- that has slowed a bit. And that's because middle-income households and higher income households -- it's been kind of status quo there.

The bad news is that there's been a significant increase in lower- income households that are living paycheck to paycheck -- going from about 27 percent in 2023 to 29 percent now. Now this is because a lot of people -- their paychecks are not keeping up with prices, particularly lower-income households. Their wages are not going up by as much as they were and not by as much as prices are right now.

Now as you can imagine, some of this kind of varies geographically. Bank of America said this is a particular problem along the mid- Atlantic and the East Coast, right? States like Delaware, North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Georgia. Also out West in a number of different states -- Nevada, New Mexico, Arizona, and Colorado as well.

[07:45:00]

Bottom line, Sara, I do think that this all just speaks to the economic anxiety --

SIDNER: Yeah.

EGAN: -- that's out there.

President Trump -- in that clip we played earlier with Kevin, he sounded kind of dismissive, right? He said that the U.S. economy has never been stronger. That this is a con job conjured up by the Democrats and that the polls are fake. But this is not based on polling, right? This is based on internal Bank of America account data that shows that this financial stress is all too real.

SIDNER: Yeah, and Americans are talking about this and talking about the stresses. It's sort of the same thing that happened in the Biden administration --

EGAN: Yes.

SIDNER: -- where the Biden administration kept pointing to the economic numbers, but Americans were not feeling that, and that is what fueled Trump's win.

EGAN: Right, right. President Biden often talked about Bidenomics and GDP, but people were worried about the cost of living and that didn't go well. And right now in the polls it shows it's not going too well for President Trump either.

SIDNER: That is true.

Matt Egan, thank you --

EGAN: Thank you, Sara.

SIDNER: -- so much. I do appreciate it.

All right. Ahead, new details about the two people killed after a plane carrying hurricane relief to Jamaica crashes into a pond. We'll bring you that story.

And first comes love then comes tariffs. A new breakdown about how tariffs are tearing into wedding budgets. That story and more ahead.

(COMMERCIAL)

[07:51:00]

SIDNER: This morning more than four months after 27 campers and staffers died in catastrophic flooding that swept through Camp Mystic, a number of families are now suing the Texas camp and its owners. Three separate lawsuits were filed this week accusing the camp of gross negligence. One lawsuit saying this. "These young girls died because a for-profit camp put profit over safety."

Now the lawsuits mark the first legal action against the camp since the flooding back in July in Texas.

The camp responding. Here is part of their statement from the lawyer. He said that "We intend to demonstrate and prove that this sudden surge of floodwaters far exceeded any previous flood in the area by several magnitudes, that is was unexpected, and that no adequate warning systems existed in the area."

Each lawsuit seeks more than a million dollars in damages -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: We are going to show you live pictures of Hartfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta, one of the airports feeling these shutdown-induced cancellations in a pretty big way.

Across the board at these big airports, yesterday was the worst day for weekday air traffic control staffing since the shutdown began. And today air traffic controllers are set to miss their second full paycheck.

Passengers are dealing with thousands of canceled flights and delays. Data showing that may are now resorting to and just simply choosing to rent cars and drive to their destination rather than waiting around for the chance that their flight does take off. Others are just frustrated.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's frustrating and I'm just hoping our politicians can come together and not act like children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I didn't even get a text message to let me know that my flight was canceled. So yeah, it's very frustrating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: And flight attendants are also among those feeling this disruption speaking up -- and speaking up now about the growing staffing issues that they're facing all throughout the system. Their focus: safety, number one.

Joining me right now is Sara Nelson, the international president of the Association of Flight Attendants. It's good to see you again, Sara. Thanks for coming in.

Air travel has been rough since the shutdown set in.

SARA NELSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS (via Webex by Cisco): Good morning, Kate.

BOLDUAN: There's no question. And now add to this the FAA is posing further restrictions today. They're going from a four percent reduction in air traffic to a six percent reduction at America's busiest airports.

What is the impact going to be based on what your -- what your members -- what you've already seen?

NELSON: Well Kate, first of all, I just want to recognize our veterans and recognize that many of our air traffic controllers and many of our TSA officers, our flight attendants, and pilots are all veterans, and we thank them so much for their service.

They have been under incredible stress and strain on the frontlines without getting a paycheck and when that happens that introduces incredible risk into the system. And so when there is additional risk into the system, we slow things down -- cancellations, delays. That is all a product of keeping things safe.

These flight reductions -- this proactive maneuver should be helpful to that. Many of the airlines have listed the flights that have already been canceled. This will help passengers look to see if their flight is canceled and to see if they can make plans around that and be proactive about that. So as much as possible the airlines are trying to tell people in advance.

And this is an action by the FAA to try to keep us safe in a moment when our air traffic controllers are really stretched to their -- to their very limits.

BOLDUAN: I think the big question now as we see a deal making its way through Congress and the assumption, I guess you could say, that the government could soon be reopened is how long it takes for things to get back to "normal" when it comes to, well, so many things, but let's focus on air travel? How long do you think it does take?

[07:55:00]

NELSON: Well, let's recognize that the air traffic controllers and other federal workers who were deemed essential and have been forced to come to work without pay -- that is not something that happens anywhere else, including in the private sector even in a bankruptcy. The first day orders from a judge is to pay the workers because they understand that they can't continue the business without doing that. These are people who are incredible heroes and have been working at superhuman levels, frankly, and they have been stretched to the limit -- stressed to the limit. They are going to have to get those paychecks. They're going to have to check themselves again to see how they're doing. And this doesn't just snap back immediately. We also have people who have said I can't do this at all and have decided to put in for early retirement, so we're going to have to staff up again.

Americans need to remember that we went into this shutdown with an already massively understaffed air traffic control system -- under resourced system that we're trying to build back up again, and that is simply going to take time. I think that we will see this -- the delays and cancellations have a ripple effect likely into the Thanksgiving holidays.

BOLDUAN: And that was -- that is a big question -- into the Thanksgiving holiday.

And now add into this President Trump inserting himself and sending out a message yesterday essentially demanding that air traffic controller return to work and putting blame on them. First and foremost, many of them are at work, we should say, and are now doing it without a second paycheck.

The statement from the president -- he said, in part -- reads "All air traffic controllers must go back to work now. Anyone who doesn't will be substantially docked." And then he goes on to say that air traffic -- that controllers that didn't take time off should possibly get a $10,000 bonus. And then says this. "For those that did nothing but complain and took time off, even though everyone knew they would be paid in full shortly into the future, I am not happy with you."

What is your reaction to hearing that from the White House?

NELSON: Well, not only is this disgraceful coming from the President of the United States -- not only is it disgraceful, it is another way that we are making it unsettled for these air traffic controllers who have worked through this miraculously without getting paid. It also shows that the president does not understand where Americans are living paycheck to paycheck these days and stressed to the max.

He doesn't understand that people are human beings and may be getting cancer treatments. May be having other medical appointments. May be having an emergency at home. These are still people even though they acted heroically during this government shutdown.

We are disgusted with those statements. They need to be rescinded. And we just want the air traffic controllers and all Americans to stand up and say thank you to them for everything that they have done for all of us, and to say that we will not in any way entertain those comments from the president.

We appreciate the empathy that Secretary Duffy has expressed towards the air traffic controllers during this time. We should all be expressing empathy and thank you.

BOLDUAN: Sara Nelson, thank you very much -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right. On our radar for you this morning two people have been killed after a small plane crash on a hurricane relief mission to Jamaica. That plane crashed into a pond in Coral Springs, Florida. You can see in this video what happened. The plane crashing just a couple of minutes after takeoff from Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport narrowly missing homes nearby.

A father and daughter have been identified as the victims who were trying to take that mission to help hurricane victims, Alexander and Serena Wurm. Federal investigators are now working to determine what caused that crash.

Police in Louisiana looking for a man who used a fake injury to rob a bank. Investigators say he walked into a Fidelity in a neck brace and cane. You see him there pretending to sort of limp in, and then he handed the teller a note, shouted that it was a robbery, and demanded cash. The moment he got the money -- well, that limp certainly disappeared. He ran away. No word on how much cash he was able to get out of that bank.

And new video shows a volnado. No, I am not making that up. That's when a volcano creates a tornado. It happened at Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano while lava shoots more than 1,000 feet into the air. Volnados are tornado-like swirls of dust and ash caused by the contrast of intense heat near the lava and the cooler air around it. Look at that.

I think that's all I have to say, Miss Kate. That was a pretty wild picture there. Over to you.

BOLDUAN: This is when you say the pictures tell the story.

SIDNER: They do. I could just shut my mouth.

BOLDUAN: Never, though -- never.

Also new this morning the cost of saying "I do" was already high in America and then came President Trump's tariffs. Now, this year, couples are seeing tariffs drive up the cost of everything even more, from the ring to the dress to the cake.

Here's CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Weddings can be expensive and they can be stressful, but this year brides and grooms are dealing with an added layer, and it's not the cake, it's tariffs.