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CNN's Breaking News Coverage on the Beginning of the Federal Shutdown After Failed Attempts by Both Houses of the U.S. Congress. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 01, 2025 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

UNKNOWN (voice-over): This is CNN Breaking News

LYNDA KINKADE, CNN CORRESPONDENT AND ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the U.S. and all around the world. I'm Lynda Kinkade. Good to have you with us.

Well, for the first time in almost seven years, the U.S. government has shut down after congressional lawmakers failed to agree on a new funding plan ahead of the deadline three hours ago. Some essential services will keep going, but many other key parts of the federal government will freeze or become non-operational, while lawmakers remain engaged in a standoff.

Each side blames the other, and each side appears convinced the American public will do the same. Both Republicans and Democrats held last-ditch funding votes on Tuesday, and both votes failed. One of the main sticking points, the Affordable Care Act's subsidies, due to expire later this year.

Democrats are fighting to extend them, but Republicans are unwilling to negotiate and seem confident their opponents will eventually cave.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: We can do things during the shutdown that are irreversible, that are bad for them and irreversible by them, like cutting vast numbers of people out, cutting things that they like, cutting programs that they like.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Well party leaders are doubling down on their arguments, releasing statements as soon as the clock struck midnight in Washington. Democrats say they're willing to make a deal as long as it addresses health care. The top Republicans say they will not negotiate until the government reopens.

Here's what some lawmakers had to say before the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): He is admitting that he is doing the firing of people, if God forbid it happens. He's using Americans as pawns, as I said. Democrats do not want a shutdown.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: We want to keep the government open to serve the people. Chuck Schumer and the Democrats have decided to close it. We'll see how long this standoff continues, but it's real people that get harmed in the process.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: CNN's Sunlen Serfaty reports now from Capitol Hill.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The government shutdown is in effect and there is no off-ramp in sight. Senate Republicans have been very clear about their strategy going forward. They intend to keep holding vote after vote on their failed funding plan, an attempt to try to coerce more Senate Democrats to cross the aisle and vote with them on their clean funding plan that will extend funding for seven more weeks without any additions on it.

Here's the Senate Majority Leader on Tuesday night.

SEN. JOHN THUNE (R-SD): Democrats may have chosen to shut down the government tonight, but we can reopen it tomorrow. All it takes is a handful of Democrats to join Republicans to pass the clean, nonpartisan funding bill that's in front of us. And I hope -- I really hope that some of them will join us to reopen the government, resume bipartisan appropriations work.

SERFATY: Now part of Senate Republicans' calculus here is that they feel that this pressure, now that the government is shut down, will continue to increase on Senate Democrats. They only need eight Democrats to cross the aisle and vote with the Republicans on their funding plan.

Last night, on Tuesday night, they got three Senate Democrats to vote with them. So they, in essence, only need five more Senate Democrats. And their hope here, and part of their calculation, is that the ramped up pressure that the government funding causes, the fact that it is now shut down and that critical services will now start being effective, many government workers will start being furloughed, potentially many more losing their job, that pressure will start to build on Senate Democrats.

But as of this hour, it is very unclear how they get out of this and both sides are dug in.

Sunlen Serfaty, CNN, on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, I want to discuss this further with Caroline Heldman, a democratic strategist and professor of critical theory and social justice at Occidental College.

Also joining us is Mike Madrid, co-founder of the Lincoln Project and founder of the Latino Working Class Project. Great to have you both with us.

CAROLINE HELDMAN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, AND PROF. OF CRITICAL THEORY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE, OCCIDENTAL COLLEGE: Good to see you.

MIKE MADRID, CO-FOUNDER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT, AND FOUNDER, LATINO WORKING CLASS PROJECT: Good to be with you.

KINKADE: Caroline, I want to start with you, because this is the first shutdown we've seen in the U.S. in six years. It's going to affect thousands of people who won't be getting paychecks and certain benefits. How does this shutdown affect everyday people in ways that may go unseen or unreported?

[03:05:02]

HELDMAN: If you're going to be flying, you might run into TSA delays. The national parks are going to be understaffed, perhaps closed with garbage overflowing if the previous shutdown is any indication. But also all of these folks in the military and all of these other jobs where they're simply not going to be getting paid but will be negotiating with their banks and their landlords, their lending agencies to make sure that things are still on track, that will have a ripple effect.

We do know that the last time the government was shut down, which was under the Trump administration, over the building of his wall, it was historic. It was the longest, right? It was 35 days, and it cost us $11 billion in economic loss.

So the ripple effects of this will obviously span out, but also just to point out, there will be some social safety net programs that Trump said he will be going after. He didn't mention it by name, but WIC, Women, Infants, and Children, support for low-income mothers as well as SNAP benefits or food stamp benefits. We should expect some pretty severe impacts if this drags out.

KINKADE: Yes, I want to ask you a little bit more about that in a moment, Caroline, but I want to go to Mike, because you've been critical of blatant political bias in the past. I just want to play some sound of what Democrats had to say last time they were facing a government shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCHUMER: To hold these people hostage instead of just letting them do their jobs, which they want to do while we work out our differences, so wrong.

SEN. AMY KLOBUCHAR (D-MN): Shutdowns are not good for the economy.

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): Shutdowns cost taxpayers billions of dollars per week. SEN. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): The longer that this shutdown goes on, the more Americans it will be affected.

KLOBUCHAR: Critical services and our economy are being threatened with poison pill partisanship. Shutting down the government should not be a negotiating tactic.

SEN ELIZABETH WARREN (D-MS): Hostage taking is all they have left.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: Now, the White House compiled that and they were playing that in the briefing room today. Mike, how have the tables turned and how do you interpret this shutdown? Is it just gridlock or perhaps something more destructive?

MADRID: I think it's something more destructive, I think it's something that, frankly, the White House has wanted. It's clear that they have not been negotiating in good faith and certainly weren't in the last waning hours heading up to this shutdown.

Their calculation, it would seem as they've already got their numbers baked in. They don't feel that the numbers can go any lower. Trump and Republicans are hovering around a historically low range right now.

They're at base Republican support, but Democrats are at a historic low range as well. And I think with that calculation, they're saying, let's just take the opportunity to get some of these massive cuts. And as the president alluded to, permanent cuts and Democrats, I think, find themselves in a very difficult, challenging situation.

They're going to have to either upset their base by acquiescing again and putting up the votes for a bill to keep the government going or demonstrate that they're willing to fight. And the fight, of course, gets more thornier for them the longer that this goes on. And as real people, as Christine mentioned just a second ago, gets more and more difficult for more and more people.

I think that the White House, rather than learning the lesson from the last shutdown, has dug in and is committed to a very long, protracted battle where they see permanent reformation of the government being made easier by and the possibility of blaming Democrats.

KINKADE: Yes. And Caroline, as you mentioned, social safety net programs are under immediate threat. What does it say about our national priorities when programs that serve women and children are first on the chopping block?

HELDMAN: Well, I, it says that, right, we don't value certain lives in our country as much as others. And it's interesting to see the Democrats take this stance on health care. I think of this in terms of the politics of it and then the policy side of it.

On the politics side of it, I think the Democrats are doing exactly what the Democratic Party wants it to do, which is fight and show some leadership and push back against the Trump administration, despite the fact that they don't hold power really in any of the branches of government.

On the policy side, you know, as Mike is pointing out, there's nothing to be gained from this. I don't think. And so what they're trying to get is the health care premiums to not be doubled, right, which is what the new estimate is.

Once these cuts go into effect, we're looking at about four million people who will not have health care who have it today that will drive up everyone's premiums. So the Democrats have a good message. But the thing is that that's Republicans kind of punching themselves in the face in a way that's going to hit them next year.

So first, I don't think Democrats are going to get those concessions. But secondly, and from a purely political standpoint, it's terrible when people lose health care. I mean, people literally die right when they don't have the health care they need.

[03:10:02]

But from a political perspective, the Democrats should just let the Republicans do this. It will harm them considerably in the midterm elections from their own Republican internal polling. We know that when health care premiums go up, this is going to hurt the party that did it.

KINKADE: Yes. And to you, Mike, it seems the Republican Party is quite split on how to handle this shutdown, he basically explained how damaging this was going to be for the U.S. Quite a contrast to what we saw from the U.S. President, he said it could be a good thing because they could be permanent cuts, more federal workers who will lose their job.

Mike, what does it reveal about the party's internal direction and its relationship with governing?

MADRID: I think there's another important point that Caroline brought up, which is a lot of these people that are going to be hurt the most are going to be in red states. A lot of these are these kind of deep- maga countries and counties, counties, excuse me, not countries, where a lot of these people are getting this kind of health care aid, health care benefit, SNAP benefits only last 30 days, people are going to be literally running out of food.

So a lot of these, again, are going to be in red states, red counties. And we're going to see just how much glue is holding together this constituency, which has defied most political gravity for the better part of six, eight years in supporting Donald Trump.

Does that continue? Do they believe a lot of the messaging coming from the White House that this is the Democrats fault?

The White House is betting that that will be the case. We're going to have I don't think there's anything we can do but wait and see when they start losing their health care, when they start losing food benefits, if they stick with Donald Trump, if they stick with the Republicans or if they finally, finally break that fever that has consumed them for the better part of again, eight years.

KINKADE: Yes, we shall see how it plays out. Mike Madrid, Caroline Heldman, great to have you both with us. Thanks so much.

HELDMAN: Thank you.

MADRID: Thank you.

KINKADE: Still to come, President Trump gives Amas a deadline to respond to his 20 point Gaza peace plan. Just ahead, we'll have the details of what, he says, will happen if the militant group rejects it.

Plus, a frantic search in Indonesia, where dozens of students have been trapped under the rubble of their collapsed school for two days. We'll have a live update next.

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[03:15:00]

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KINKADE: The U.S. President says he's giving Amas three to four days to respond to his Gaza peace plan. A source tells CNN the U.S. is willing to discuss Hamas' counter proposals, but won't engage in lengthy negotiations with the militant group. When pressed on what would happen if Hamas doesn't agree, Donald Trump says it's going to be, quote, "very sad."

And CNN's Paula Hancocks joins us now live from Abu Dhabi. So Paula, this sounds again like an all or nothing proposal, heavy on conditions, timelines and outside oversight. How is this being received on the ground, especially by Palestinians in Gaza and the wider region?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, with cynicism, to be honest, Lynda, people in Gaza have been here many times before. We have seen in the past months when it appeared that a ceasefire was close celebrations in the street only to be dashed once again when one or other of the sides pulled back or rejected conditions from the other side.

Now, both sides are blaming the other for this having taken so long. But for the civilians in Gaza, it is a desperate situation. They believe that the world has ignored them, that the world is just watching as they are suffering.

So when we ask them, are the teams on the ground who are working with us as we're not allowed into Gaza per the Israeli government, they say that they feel as though their conditions are not being taken into consideration. They just see this as politicians talking while they suffer. Let's listen to what a couple of them said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ATTALAH YAGHI, DISPLACED GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): The plan he presented is a plan of surrender and it's a difficult decision to be made. Whether they accept it, that's a hard decision, and whether they reject it, that's also a hard decision.

It's the people who will pay for it, the people who are dying and the homeland is getting destroyed.

MUHAMMED NASSER, DISPLACED GAZA RESIDENT (through translator): Who's going to take control of Gaza? Who's going to solve the current situation? The important thing is they find a solution. Whoever takes it, let them. What matters is they find a solution for us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HANCOCKS: And there were more civilians killed yesterday. There will be more today as we wait for Hamas to make its decision. Lynda.

KINKADE: Yes, Hamas is certainly studying the proposal, so they say. This plan, of course, calls for transitional technocratic government overseen by an international board potentially led by Donald Trump and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair. How are regional leaders and ordinary people reacting to that idea?

HANCOCKS: Well, this plan does have the approval of Arab and Muslim leaders. It's a plan that the U.S. President gave to these leaders on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly last week. They accepted some of the proposals they had, suggestions that they wanted to put forward.

We know that it went through the Israeli government as well, they accepted certain parts and had suggestions about others. So this has had a give and take and a to and fro from the region and also from Israel. Now, what it is waiting for is that response from Hamas.

Now, we did hear from one U.S. official who's part of these negotiations that there will be some acceptance of a pushback from Hamas, or at least the way they said is the U.S. is willing to engage with reasonable Hamas counter proposals.

[03:19:56]

They don't want a long or protracted negotiation with Hamas, but that they're suggesting that they are open to some pushback, at least from Hamas as well as they have had from the Arab and Muslim leaders and from Israel itself.

Now, there is a deadline on this. We heard from the U.S. President yesterday on Tuesday that he would give it three to four days, which potentially takes us to the end of the week, saying that if Hamas does say no to it, then it would be very sad.

But it is also a plan that has, if you like, two pathways, one if Hamas accepts the plan, one if Hamas rejects it. So it appears that this technocratic government or entity that would be put in place, supported internationally with this international security force on the ground as well, will happen whether Hamas agrees or not.

Of course, what wouldn't happen if Hamas doesn't agree is the release of those hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners, and Israel would be given carte blanche for as long, effectively, as it thinks it needs to carry out continued military operations. So you wouldn't have that immediate ceasefire either. Lynda.

KINKADE: All right, Paula Hancocks for us in Abu Dhabi. Great to have you breaking that down for us. Thanks so much.

Ukraine's President is urging allies to impose more sanctions on Russia to make it a much more painful for Vladimir Putin to carry out his war. Volodymyr Zelenskyy condemned the rare daytime attack on the city of Dnipro on Tuesday. One man was killed, 20 others injured when Russian drones struck the city center as people were working or in school, local officials say the attack damaged medical facilities, office buildings, residential buildings and cars.

Britain's Princess Anne is showing her support for Ukraine and for victims of Russia's war. King Charles III's sister visited Ukraine Tuesday, meeting with President Zelenskyy and touring Kyiv; Princess left a toy bear at a memorial for children killed in Russia's attacks. Buckingham Palace says the princess also met with Ukrainian police to discuss disabled veterans and Ukrainian children kidnapped and taken to Russia.

Indonesian rescue teams are desperately racing to find dozens of students buried for two days now under rubble after their school collapsed. It happened Monday during afternoon prayers at a century- old Islamic boarding school. At least three people have died, 100 others injured.

CNN's Ivan Watson is following the developments for us live from Hong Kong. Ivan, good to have you with us. This is certainly a horrific tragedy. How many children are thought to be buried beneath the rubble right now?

IVAN WATSON, CNN SR. INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Lynda, the authorities are saying they believe that up to 91 or more people may be buried in the rubble of this Islamic boys boarding school. It's now been nearly 48 hours since it suddenly collapsed on Monday as boys ages 12 to 18 were gathered for afternoon prayers.

So the authorities there, the rescue workers, they're working in very difficult conditions. They say that the rubble is unstable. They've brought in special equipment, search cameras and a heart monitor to try to identify some of the survivors.

One official has told CNN that they have communicated within the last couple of hours with at least six boys who've been able to answer back and they've been able to deliver to them food and water, which they say should extend the likelihood of their potential survival. At least three people have been confirmed dead thus far. There were rescues conducted throughout Tuesday and in the pre-dawn hours on Wednesday, though two of the people that were rescued subsequently died of their injuries in the hospital. And this is a frantic and, as you can imagine, desperate period for

hundreds of parents who have gathered around the scene of this disaster, desperate to hear about any possible news about their missing children.

Now, there have been reports that cement was being laid on the roof of this school at the time of the collapse, with the A.P. reporting, the Associated Press, that there was not a construction permit at the time when this took place. You have a government minister who has gone on record saying that this is a wakeup call, that some of these Islamic schools are built through community efforts and not enough adequate precautions are taken when something like this happens and saying that more needs to be done to make sure that you cannot have a repeat of a disaster like this.

[03:25:02]

On top of all the challenges being faced, there was an earthquake in eastern Java on Tuesday that was felt in the area of this disaster, triggering some panic as well. Lynda.

KINKADE: Those rescuers can find more of those boys. Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks very much.

More than 60 people are dead in the Philippines after a 6.9 magnitude earthquake, which Ivan just mentioned, struck near the middle of the country. The Philippine Red Cross says first responders and citizens were killed when a sports complex collapsed Tuesday, dozens more have been treated for injuries.

Videos from social media show damaged fast food restaurants, buildings on fire and even video of a bridge swaying as it was shaken by the quake. Officials have reported multiple damaged structures, power outages and even a minor eruption from a volcano near Manila.

The last time the U.S. government shutdown was during Donald Trump's first term in office. Now it's happened again just nine months into his second term. What the shutdown means for federal workers and the U.S. credibility abroad is still ahead.

And the U.S. President suggests that using American cities could be a good idea for training grounds for troops. We'll take a closer look at Donald Trump's remarks to a rare meeting of top U.S. military commanders.

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[03:30:00]

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KINKADE: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," I'm Lynda Kinkade. Let's check today's top stories.

U.S. President Trump says he's giving Hamas three to four days to respond to his Gaza peace plan. A source telling CNN the U.S. is willing to discuss Hamas's counter proposals but won't engage in lengthy negotiations. President Trump says if Hamas doesn't agree it's going to be a very sad end.

Ukrainian officials say one person was killed and 20 wounded by a brazen Russian air attack on Dnipro. Russian drones struck the city center in the middle of the day when people were at work and children were in school. Ukraine's president says Russia was specifically targeting civilian infrastructure.

The U.S. government is officially shut down after lawmakers failed to agree on legislation to fund it. Democrats and Republicans are blaming each other. Some lawmakers say they won't accept to pay during the shutdown since some service members and federal workers won't receive their paychecks.

I'm going to go to Los Angeles and Benjamin Radd is a political scientist and senior fellow at the UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations. Great to have you with us.

BENJAMIN RADD, POLITICAL SCIENTIST, UCLA-BURKLE CENTER FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS: Thank you.

KINKADE: So I want to get a global perspective from you on what this shutdown means beyond Washington. What are allies and rivals taking away from this political gridlock?

RADD: Well sadly it just underscores the state of dysfunction that currently plagues the U.S. government. What we're seeing here are differences not just in governance style but also political positions, ideologies taking shape and being displayed for the world to see.

And with a Congress and an executive branch here in the United States and even a court that's pretty much dominated by Republicans, it might be astounding to those outside the borders here to understand how this gridlock can persist despite the levers of power all being in the hands of one party.

KINKADE: And of course the last shutdown began in late 2018 and continued for some 35 days into 2019. How long could this one last?

RADD: Well the situation is different now from last time and it sadly reflects I think the state of polarization in the rest of the world. What we've seen now is a U.S. Congress that is far less moderate than it was then and it wasn't that moderate in 2018. But you had Democrats who were from conservative states, conservative districts I should say, or states, red states, and they were inclined to meet in the middle and support positions that Republicans held.

And you also had Republicans who were moderates and willing to negotiate with Democrats. Those members are now long gone and so what the result now is are senators who are more sensitive to their party's beliefs, their ideologies, and not willing to give up things without a huge fight or concessions. So unfortunately what we see now is a situation where no one seems inclined to budge at least until public opinion starts to shift.

KINKADE: Yes and of course we heard late night host Jimmy Kimmel weighing in on this. I just want to play some sound for our viewers.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JIMMY KIMMEL, HOST, "JIMMY KIMMEL LIVE": Democrats want Republicans to agree to continue funding the Affordable Care Act whereas Republicans want to use that money to add crab legs to the omelet station at Mar- a-Lago. Trump is threatening to make irreversible cuts if there's a shutdown, which, you know what, I was recently the victim of a government shutdown; they are reversible I will tell you that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: I have to ask, how does all of this affect America's credibility on the global stage?

RADD: Well it makes it difficult to understand how our system is supposed to operate. We have a system of government where Congress is in charge of disbursement of funds. It has what's referred to as the power of the purse.

And for the President to be able to unilaterally decide what to cut, whom to fire, what programs to obliterate, what programs to fund, bypassing Congress, a Congress that more or less has abdicated its authority, really makes it look like as I stated earlier a dysfunctional system. And it's difficult for the United States to project any semblance of stable functioning effective democratic leadership when its own mechanisms, its own system is in such disarray. So I can't imagine it looks appealing to anybody from the outside.

KINKADE: And so should U.S. allies be concerned about stability in the U.S. headed into 2026 and beyond?

RADD: No, I think what they should be concerned with is any attempt to get consensus from this government. Consensus that reflects a broad perspective of American views, the views that many American voters have which is neither to the far left nor the far right but most end up somewhere in the middle.

[03:35:07]

But we have a system because of the way that the electoral college and other apportionment of seats are set up. It's difficult for that middle to have its views reflected in those elected to serve. So I think for what the international community this means is that expect everything to take longer and be more arduous as it goes through this grinding system.

KINKADE: So if you were advising a foreign government, what would you tell them to watch most closely over the next, say, 72 hours?

RADD: It would be to look for possible shifts in public opinion. If there are any polls that come out, any indications that senators who are opposed to a deal are getting any pushback from their voters back home. Really that's what's going to ultimately sway their votes and we've seen polls have an impact on how President Trump reacts and what policy decisions he makes and decides to pursue.

So I think gauging public opinion to the extent possible within the next few days will tell us probably more than anything else will.

KINKADE: We will be watching those polls closely. Benjamin Radd, great to get your analysis. Thanks very much.

RADD: Thank you.

KINKADE: Well for some in the U.S. the government shutdown is sparking concerns about whether they'll be able to feed their families. Many people rely on government assistance to help make ends meet including the USDA's Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants and children. WIC provides a range of support for new mothers from pregnancy until their child turns five. Those benefits include free healthy foods, breastfeeding support, nutrition education and help connecting with medical professionals.

A prolonged government shutdown puts those families at risk of losing critical everyday resources.

Georgia Machell is the President and CEO of the National WIC Association, it's the non-profit education and advocacy arm of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for women, infants and children. Great to have you with us.

GEORGIA MACHELL, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NATIONAL WIC ASSOCIATION: It's great to be with you today. Thank you for having me.

KINKADE: So the WIC has a 50-year history of improving health outcomes for low-income pregnant women, new mothers and young children. What are you hearing directly from WIC clinics and families right now? How are local agencies preparing and what's the mood?

MACHELL: Yes, I think just to kind of level set right now and just to kind of give some background as to what WIC is, WIC currently serves almost 7 million women, infants and children across America and provides access to healthy food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support and referrals to really critical health and social services.

So as programs are, you know, thinking about what a federal shutdown might mean to them, there are a couple of really important things to keep in mind. One is to kind of reflect on history and what has happened in the past when there's been a shutdown.

One of the things that we're pretty confident in saying is that WIC should be able to stay open for at least a week, if not two. And I think there are ways that the USDA can support the program to stay open by drawing on various mechanisms.

KINKADE: And right, and Georgia, you've said that this shutdown is uniquely dangerous because of its timing. What makes this time different?

MACHELL: Yes, well, it's the end of the fiscal year. So right now, this is a time where in an ideal situation, WIC would have a brand new budget for the brand new fiscal year, and that would just, one year would roll into the next and there'd be no disruption to service.

I think the challenge that we have right now, if there's a government shutdown, is we don't want to see any lapse in service. And we don't want to see, you know, we really want to make sure that WIC continues to receive the bipartisan support that it always has received, and that Congress can pass legislation to make sure that WIC has a budget and that state directors who run WIC programs are not put into a scenario where they're being asked to manage a program without sufficient resources.

KINKADE: And talk to us about how quickly families could start to feel the effects if a shutdown stretches beyond a week. What does that look like for a mother who relies on WIC?

MACHELL: Yes, I mean, I think, you know, families across the country do rely on WIC to access healthy food and breastfeeding support, nutrition education and referrals to health and social services. I think one of the things to keep in mind is that things are going to vary slightly from state to state depending on how much operating funds they have on hand. B So I think there could be some variation in terms of how long various programs across the country could operate.

[03:40:09]

KINKADE: And so what is your message right now to lawmakers who may be using this shutdown as political leverage?

MACHELL: Yes, I mean, I think it's really simple. I think every day that action is not taken by Congress to pass a budget, it gets us closer to a crisis.

You know, we want to make sure that every eligible family can access WIC services. And the longer a shutdown goes on, the closer we get to a crisis. And that's absolutely what we want to avoid.

WIC has historically received really strong bipartisan support. And that's something we need to see continue. And it's something that we know the families who rely on WIC need to see continue as well.

KINKADE: And so if WIC funding lapses, what are the longer term risks beyond the initial missed benefits in terms of child nutrition, and public health, and even trust in government programs?

MACHELL: Yes, I think that's a big one. I think the trust in programs is something that would obviously be impacted. And I think just the disruption to service, I think whenever there is disruption to service, that does have an impact ultimately on trust.

And I think one of the things that, you know, WIC has been around for over 50 years. And so one of the things that WIC has plenty of is trust and also efficacy. We know this is a program that has really strong short and long term impacts.

And so we just want to make sure that WIC can continue serving every eligible family.

KINKADE: Absolutely. Georgia Machell, we appreciate your time and all the work you and your team are doing. Thanks so much.

MACHELL: Thank you so much for having me.

KINKADE: U.S. President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth are laying out a new vision for the U.S. military. They addressed an unprecedented gathering of top admirals and generals, with Hegseth detailing new directives, slamming diversity, and bashing what he called "stupid rules of engagement." The defense chief also said combat troops will have to meet the highest male standard.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE HEGSETH, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: This is not about preventing women from serving. We very much value the impact of female troops.

If women can make it, excellent. If not, it is what it is. If that means no women qualify for some combat jobs, so be it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KINKADE: President Trump followed Hegseth with his own remarks, telling America's military brass that the U.S. is under an invasion from within. CNN's Julia Benbrook reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Top generals and admirals stationed around the world, hundreds of them, were told to travel to Virginia for this highly unusual meeting with very little notice. Sources say the idea for the gathering originated with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and was intended to describe the administration's reinvention of the Department of Defense to the Department of War, as well as outline new standards for military personnel.

In his remarks, Hegseth vowed to end diversity efforts and went as far as to say that if senior military officers do not agree with his views on diversity and other matters in the military, that they should, quote, "do the honorable thing and resign."

HEGSETH: For too long, we've promoted too many uniformed leaders for the wrong reasons based on their race, based on gender quotas, based on historic so-called firsts.

BENBROOK: President Donald Trump spoke later. His remarks lasted for over an hour and touched on a wide range of topics, including his recent efforts to deploy troops to American cities.

TRUMP: And it's really a very important mission. And I told Pete we should use some of these dangerous cities as training grounds for our military, National Guard, but military. It's still unclear why hundreds of military officials had to travel in to attend this meeting.

And several sources have expressed concern about the cost of getting them there. On his way to the gathering, Trump admitted that there was, quote, a little bit of expense involved. At the White House, I'm Julia Benbrook.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KINKADE: Well, ChatGPT is rolling out new safety controls for parents. Details on the new features to protect the growing number of teenagers using AI chatbots. That story next.

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[03:45:00]

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KINKADE: Welcome back to "CNN Newsroom," this is your Business Breakout.

It was a mixed trading day across Asia following the U.S. government shutdown. Japan's Nikkei closed lower, while the KOSPI in South Korea ended the day in positive territory. Markets in mainland China and Hong Kong were closed for a holiday.

We're checking some of today's other business headlines.

Drugmaker Pfizer will lower its prices in the U.S. in exchange for tariff relief under a deal with the Trump administration. President Trump says Pfizer will give Americans the, quote, "most-favored-nation price for its prescriptions. Drug companies typically charge more for their medications in the U.S. than other countries." Mr. Trump has also announced a direct-to-consumer website called TrumpRx for Americans to buy medicine at discounted prices.

The U.S. President claims his administration is close to finalizing with Harvard, where it will pay about $500 million and operate trade schools. Harvard officials in the White House have been discussing a deal to restore more than $2 billion in federal funding that President Trump revoked, the Trump administration has targeted Harvard and other major universities for alleged anti-Semitism on campus.

The government tax credit for E.V. buyers expires in the U.S. today. The $7,500 tax credit was passed by the Biden administration back in 2022 to support electric vehicle sales but it was scrapped as part of President Trump's spending and tax bill. Both automakers and car buyers remain uncertain on how the tax credit's removal could affect the future of E.V. prices.

And growing concerns about the safety of teens using A.I. chatbots. OpenAI says the new safety feature allows parents to reduce exposure to sensitive content and block access during selected times, among other tools. CNN's Clare Duffy reports.

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CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yes, this comes weeks after OpenAI was sued by the parents of 16-year-old Adam Rain, claiming that ChatGPT contributed to his suicide, including by advising him on methods. Days after that lawsuit was filed, OpenAI said it was working on new teen safety features, and now this new parental control offering has become available to all ChatGPT users as of Monday.

[03:50:01]

Now, these parental control features are going to depend on both parents and teens opting in to linking their accounts. But once they do that, the teen users will be placed under new content restrictions. So the chatbot will be less likely to serve them graphic content, also less likely to engage in romantic or sexual role play.

And then parents will have a number of additional controls that they can turn on, things like quiet mode, where ChatGPT won't be available to their teen. They can turn off the ability to generate images, they can turn off voice mode, which we know is often the thing that draws people into deeper relationships with these chatbots.

Parents will also be able to opt out of having their teen's data used to train OpenAI's model. So a privacy feature there. And then on top of that, OpenAI says it's going to be trying to notify parents if their teen's conversation with ChatGPT indicates that their child might be at risk of self-harm.

So an effort to avoid any future parents having to go through the same kind of tragedy that the Reigns endured.

Now, I think it's worth noting that when it comes to social media, in many cases, it took the platforms years to roll out similar safety concerns. It's interesting to see how quickly OpenAI has moved here but the company is acknowledging that more work is needed to be done. These features will be limited by the fact that teens have to be honest about the fact that they're using ChatGPT, they have to opt in to linking their accounts.

But OpenAI says it's working on an age estimation feature where it will guess how old users are and place suspected teen users under those content restrictions. Certainly, we'll be keeping an eye on how well all of this works as more parents and teens begin to use these features. Back to you.

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KINKADE: Our thanks to Clare.

With two hurricanes stirring up trouble along the U.S. East Coast, coming up, see the damage done to several beach homes by the high surf from those storms.

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[03:55:00]

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KINKADE: Hurricane Humberto and Imelda triggering flood warnings for parts of the U.S. East Coast. The video shows the moment a house on North Carolina's outer banks collapsed due to the high surf from the storms. It's one of at least five homes that were swept into the ocean on Tuesday.

Authorities are warning people to avoid collapsed homes in coastal areas because of potentially hazardous debris. While neither storm is expected to make landfall in the U.S., the National Weather Service says some vulnerable areas could see waves as high as 12 feet.

A two-year-old girl in Nepal is starting a new life after being chosen as the country's new living goddess. As the new Kumari, she will be revered by both Hindus and Buddhists in the predominantly Hindu nation. Friends, family and devotees carry the child from her home to the temple palace, where she will live until she hits puberty.

At that time, she shifts from being the Kumari to being a mere mortal. In the meantime, she will live a sequestered life, allowed only a few select playmates, and going outside only a few times a year for festivals.

Well, thanks so much for your company this hour, I'm Lynda Kinkade. Stay with us, "Early Start" with my friend and colleague, Brian Abel, who's up next

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