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Federal Judge Orders Trump Administration to Continue Funding Food Assistance Benefits Despite Ongoing Federal Government Shutdown; Former President Obama to Speak at Rallies for Democratic Virginia Gubernatorial Candidate Abigail Spanberger and Democratic New Jersey Gubernatorial Candidate Mikie Sherrill; FBI Says It Disrupted Potential ISIS Inspired Terror Attack in Michigan; Former Syrian Government Official Says American Journalist Austin Tice Who Disappeared in 2012 is Dead; Massachusetts Hospital Study Raises Concerns about Possible Link between COVID-19 and Autism; Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays to Play in Game Seven of Major League Baseball World Series. Aired 2-3p ET.

Aired November 01, 2025 - 14:00   ET

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

[14:00:00]

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Normally we would have several storms that would have either formed or passed through that area. The only storm that got close was this one, which actually formed in portions of the western Caribbean, crossed over the Yucatan before making its way into Mexico.

Now, the season is not over just yet. This is where we are. And you'll note those colors down there for the rest of November are very similar to where they would be in July. On average we still have one more named storm to get through in November.

Now, one thing to note, if it does develop, it does have more favorable regions. One of those is the portion of the western Caribbean, very similar to where Melissa just went through, another area right here around the Bahamas and off the southeastern coast of the U.S. The third area is just over here in the central Atlantic, focused more over just to the east of Bermuda. But time will tell whether or not we end up getting an extra storm this month.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right, Allison, thank you so much.

All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We're following major developments involving a critical federal food program. Starting today, millions of Americans no longer have access to SNAP benefits. The federal food assistance program serves as a lifeline for one in eight of the nation's most vulnerable people, and it's now out of funding because of the U.S. government shutdown, which is in its 32nd day now. On Friday, two federal judges in two separate states ruled that the Trump administration must partially fund SNAP with emergency funding, but it's not clear how soon that could happen. CNN's Rafael Romo is at a food bank in metro Atlanta, which is helping

to feed furloughed TSA workers and other federal employees who have not been paid in a month now. Rafeal, you've been there since early this morning. What have you been witnessing?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN SENIOR LATIN AMERICAN AFFAIRS EDITOR: Yes, Fred, some of these people are really hurting. And this drive is meant to help furloughed federal workers, especially Transportation Security Administration employees who work at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Organizers here at the Atlanta Community Food Bank told me they worked directly with TSA to notify and help furloughed employees, and officials with the Atlanta Community Food Bank told me earlier that during the food distribution event, they expected to serve anywhere between 800 to 1,000 families. And according to the organizers, Fred, in the first three hours after the food drive started, approximately 75 volunteers and staff had already donated 17,000 pounds of food to 335 families.

Nearly 42 million people, or about one in eight Americans, received food stamps in May according to the latest USDA data. Overall, 12 percent of the U.S. population relies on SNAP for food assistance. SNAP participation ranges widely across the United States, with the highest shares in New Mexico, Louisiana, and the District of Columbia.

And Fred, here in Georgia, an official with the Atlanta Community Food Bank told me the government shutdown has created new challenges on top of the ones they already had.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON WEST, VICE PRESIDENT OF PARTNER RELATIONS, ATLANTA COMMUNITY FOOD BANK: We have seen a significant jump in need just in the last week here in particular, and this is on top of already sort of historic need that we were responding to because of inflation, rising costs of living. But certainly, over the last week in particular, as a lot of uncertainty has come up around, is there going to be an interruption in SNAP benefits?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Fredricka, that's another concern for organizations like the Atlanta Community Food Bank, the uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits for tens of millions of Americans during the government shutdown. According to state government figures, in Georgia alone, 1.4 million people receive this kind of food assistance, including about 640,000 children. Fred, now back to you.

WHITFIELD: A very significant number. All right, Rafael Romo, thank you so much.

All right, right now, one of the Democratic Party's biggest names is back on the campaign trail ahead of Tuesday's elections. Former president Barack Obama is set to speak in just minutes from now at a rally for Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee in Virginia's gubernatorial race. Spanberger is hoping to defeat Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears as both women try to become the state's first ever female governor.

CNN's Eva McKend is in Norfolk, Virginia, where Obama is. Is he speaking now or soon to speak, right? So what is the message going to be today?

EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS REPORTER: Yes, he hasn't taken the stage quite yet, Fred. But listen, it is in these pivotal off year contests that we finally get a chance to get the pulse of the electorate.

[14:05:00]

That is why Abigail Spanberger has called in President Obama in the final days of this pivotal off year contest to drum up excitement and enthusiasm here on the ground. I've spoken to so many volunteers, and they are feeling really motivated to get out and go back to their communities and encourage Virginians to participate in this final day of early voting.

Spanberger has benefited mightily from the climate that we are in. So many people angry here with the White House, with the direction of the country, with the aggressive federal cuts that have impacted hundreds of thousands of federal workers across this state, or hundreds of thousands of federal workers across the state, some of which have been impacted by these aggressive cuts.

And Spanberger has led her Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, in public polling, sometimes by more than 10 points. But what I'm hearing here from Democrats is that they don't want to take this race for granted.

The real wild card, though, Fred, is going to be what happens in the attorney general contest. The Democratic nominee for attorney general, Jay Jones, it was discovered that he sent violent text messages back in 2022. And Republicans are hoping that Jones drags down the entire Democratic ticket. But I can tell you, not long ago, he was on this stage, and many Democrats here are continuing to support him. Pretty soon, Fred, we'll hear from Abigail Spanberger, and then soon after, President Barack Obama. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, let us know when both of them take the stage there in Norfolk, Virginia. Eva McKend, thanks so much.

All right, let's discuss more now with director of the University of Virginia Center for Politics, Larry Sabato. Larry, great to see you. And congratulations. You're also the coauthor of the book "Campaign of Chaos, Trump, Biden, Harris, and the 2024 American election."

All right, so let's first talk about this race, a gubernatorial race there in Virginia. Obama is out on the campaign trail for Spanberger there in Virginia, but also for Mikie Sherrill, the Democratic nominee for governor in New Jersey. I mean, wow, this is pretty significant. Might Obama's appearance help push Dems over the finish line in both of these critical races?

LARRY SABATO, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Sure, Obama carried both New Jersey and Virginia twice in 2008 and 2012. Of course, the last time he was on the ballot, that was 13 years ago, so. But I would say his influence is almost as great as it was when he was the president. So it probably will, as Eva was suggesting, build some enthusiasm among the Democratic base.

The problem in Virginia is that Spanberger has led so many polls by such a wide margin that there is a natural tendency by volunteers and activists to say, well, I don't have to put those extra hours in. Looks like we've got this one in the bag. But there is no such thing anymore. And I think they get it.

One other thing, Fred. Notice that they are bringing in Obama. Yes, they're bringing him in in New Jersey, too, and he's going to help Sherrill, for sure. But in Virginia, it's important to note, Obama carried Virginia twice, is still popular in Virginia, and they're bringing him in because Donald Trump has never even endorsed the Republican candidate for governor. I think it's because he thinks that she's going to lose. Now, she did have some unflattering remarks about him two or three years ago, and, as we all know, he has a long memory.

WHITFIELD: But Trump did endorse the gubernatorial candidate in New Jersey. So while obviously there's a lot at stake for Democrats in both of those states, what about for Republicans? How much is at stake for Republicans?

SABATO: In 2024, Republicans made more progress, arguably in New Jersey, than they did in almost any other state. Donald Trump had lost by double digits in 2020, and he only lost by six. He still lost, still a Democratic state, but six points to lose by is not bad for someone like Trump.

So Republicans would like to continue these gains, particularly with Latinos. The certain areas like Passaic County and city really went strongly in Trump's direction. He didn't carry all the areas, but in some he did get over 50 percent. So they'd like to see that continued. And they're going to find out whether a Trump substitute who has embraced Trump, Ciattarelli, the Republican nominee for governor, can bring out the Hispanic vote for a Republican like Trump did.

WHITFIELD: Now, what about this ongoing government shutdown? How do you see it making an impact on these races, perhaps particularly in Virginia, where you do have many federal workers who reside in northern Virginia?

SABATO: Oh, it's had a major impact, Fred. I've run into people myself who are furloughed or think they might be, and they're angry, and they probably would vote against anybody who was associated with the current federal government.

[14:10:09]

But they're particularly angry at Trump. Trump has never done well in the areas where federal employees are concentrated. So I think you'll see a very strong Democratic vote in the areas like northern Virginia.

WHITFIELD: OK, and then back to New Jersey. You know, we're polling does show that the Republican in the campaign, Jack Ciattarelli, he is coming within single digits of his Democratic opponent. Is that surprising to you?

SABATO: Well, you know, four years ago, he came within three points of defeating the incumbent Democratic governor, Phil Murphy. And that was a shock to people, which is why everyone is watching New Jersey so carefully. It could be another surprise. It's possible.

So he's done it before. He didn't win. And it may be tougher now because Trump wasn't president four years ago. Biden was. Now Trump is back and Trump isn't popular in New Jersey. But it's possible. That's why were watching New Jersey so carefully.

WHITFIELD: All right, Larry Sabato, always great to see you. Thanks so much.

SABATO: Thank you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, this election night, streaming exclusively on the CNN app, join Charlamagne Tha God, Ben Shapiro, and other big voices as they react to all the big races in real time. The CNN election live cast streams Tuesday at 8:30 p.m. exclusively on the CNN app.

All right, still ahead, it has been 13 years since American journalist Austin Tice disappeared while reporting in Syria. His family still believes that he is alive. Later this hour, CNN goes inside Syria in an exclusive report in search of the person who may have been the last to see Tice alive.

Also, the FBI says it stopped a suspected ISIS inspired terror plot in Michigan. A live report on the suspects that were as young as 16 years old.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:16:49]

WHITFIELD: All right, we're learning new details about a potential terror attack plot in Michigan. The FBI says an ISIS inspired attack was being planned online. Law enforcement sources say an FBI undercover person was brought into the online chat, which included a cryptic reference to "pumpkin day." The officials say two people have been arrested, three others are being questioned.

CNN correspondent Leigh Waldman is on the ground in Dearborn, Michigan. Leigh, what more are you learning about how this alleged plot was uncovered?

LEIGH WALDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, like you mentioned, we heard from FBI Director Kash Patel in a tweet he put out there talking about how they referenced "pumpkin day" in this online chat room, and that's what prompted the FBI to jump into action there. But all day long so far, we've been here in this neighborhood in Dearborn, where some of that FBI activity was centered on Friday. And we're speaking with neighbors who still have a lot of questions. They're confused over what actually prompted this. They say the neighborhood is close.

We spoke with a gentleman who lives just two houses down from where that FBI activity was happening on Friday morning. He said the people who lived there, he knows them well. They're almost like family to them. But he heard what sounded like bombs going off. He said that they were smoke bombs that he saw. He saw FBI agents filling the street here, going inside of that house, his neighbors being asked to come outside with their hands up. Several people had handcuffs.

We asked him about what he thinks, about what the FBI Director Kash Patel, had said about stopping a potential terrorist attack. Take a listen to what he had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LARAIB IRFAN, NEIGHBOR: I'm not sure where they actually stopped the terrorist attack at, but if that's what he's saying, then, you know, it's just like, wow. Like, I can't believe that something like that would even go down on my block.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALDMAN: Were also hearing from a lawyer who says that he is representing one of the people who has been arrested. He said his client is 20 years old, a U.S. born citizen. He's also very critical of the statement that was put out by the FBI director, Kash Patel, saying that this information was put out there too early, and saying that his client still has not faced any charges. Part of that statement reads in part, quote, "We are confident that once the facts are reviewed objectively, it will be clear there was never any planned mass casualty event or coordinated terror plot of any kind." We're hearing from another lawyer who represents someone who lives inside of that house as well. They're delivering that same kind of message.

Now, we've spoken with the Dearborn Police Department and heard from the Inkster Police Department. Both confirmed that there was FBI activity in both of their communities but are letting the community here know there is no threat to the public. Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, Leigh Waldman in Dearborn, Michigan, thank you so much.

All right, coming up, it's been 13 years since American journalist Austin Tice vanished while reporting in Syria. Up next, an exclusive look inside Syria and the search for the man accused of holding Tice captive.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, Now to a CNN exclusive on the search for an American journalist and Marine Corps veteran who has been missing in Syria for 13 years. Austin Tice disappeared as the Assad regime was cracking down on protests. Now, the Assad, no longer in power. We are hearing from people with direct knowledge of Tice's capture, captivity, and attempted escape. CNN chief international correspondent Clarissa Ward reports. (BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: These are some of the last known videos of U.S. Journalist Austin Tice, shown here for the first time.

[14:25:04]

AUSTIN TICE, JOURNALIST: It's clearly a popular revolution, right?

WARD: They were shot in the city of Yabroud in Syria in July 2012, shortly before Austin went missing 13 years ago.

TICE: It's just, it's so moving and peaceful. It's such like an act of A community.

WARD: Ten months after the collapse of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, his dungeons have been emptied, but the ghosts of tens of thousands of his prisoners remain. Among the missing, Austin Tice -- journalist, U.S. marine captain, Georgetown law student, devoted son and brother, and my friend.

For me, this is personal. I've come to Syria to find out what really happened to Austin and track down the shadowy figure who knows the answer.

I'm just looking back through all of these emails that Austin and I were sending each other, and I have one from Sunday, August 12th. He was getting ready to cross into Lebanon. I was getting ready to meet him in Beirut. And he says, "If I cross when I have plans to, we'll be throwing back those cocktails pretty soon." Of course, plans never really work out here.

I never heard from him again.

Weeks after Austin disappeared, a video surfaced online purporting to show him held by jihadists. Former U.S. officials tell CNN they quickly determined it was a ruse and that Austin was in the custody of the Assad regime.

Safwan Bahloul was a general in external intelligence at the time, and one of the last people to see Austin alive, summoned in by the man who was holding him.

SAFWAN BAHLOUL, FORMER SYRIAN EXTERNAL INTELLIGENCE GENERAL: I was contacted by a four-star general. At that time, he was called Bassam al-Hassan. He was very close to the president. And he told me we have caught an American journalist. We want you to interrogate in a way, or meet the guy and see the possibility if he's not a mere journalist, if he's a spy in in in a way. He told me that he's an ex marine officer. He was brave. He was not a shaky character. He wasn't shaky. He was brave enough to face his custody.

WARD: Did he ever ask you for help?

BAHLOUL: If you mean help to be freed, no, not at all. But he told me if I could obtain some things to make his life easy in the cell. He was kept there. I told him, like what? He told me, you know, some magazines, journals to read, and, you know. OK. And what else? And he told me soap and a towel. And I told him OK.

And after that, I think the next day I was called by another guy in Bassam's office. He told me in Arabic, which it means our pal just escaped. They discovered that he used the soap to rub his body with the soap to lubricate his body. And he put the towel on broken, shattered glass, which is cemented to the external fence.

WARD: We managed to get into the compound where Safwan says he interrogated Austin, at the time under the control of Assad's Republican Guard. It was never a formal prison, the perfect place to hide a high value captive.

It could be this. Look. Obviously, it's all been refurbished, so it's hard to match the descriptions exactly. But one thing particularly that Safwan talked about was this high window. You can imagine he just spent days and days in here, plotting how he was going to escape.

For more than 24 hours, we're told Austin was on the run in the upscale neighborhood of Mesa, perhaps hoping to reach the many embassies and United Nations offices in the area. But he didn't get far.

[14:30:06]

BAHLOUL: Every security apparatus in Damascus, which they are thousands of operatives, they started a search. And he was caught by one of them, and he was redelivered to the national defense forces militia, which headed at that time by Bassam al-Hassan.

WARD: Al-Hassan brought Safwan in to see Austin one more time.

BAHLOUL: It wasn't like the previous times I saw him. He was optimistic and energetic and --

WARD: But he had lost hope.

BAHLOUL: Yes, absolutely, absolutely. Because I was talking to him and he was not responding. He was, in a way, we could say, depressed. And I never saw the guy again.

WARD: Did you understand when you left what was going to happen to him?

BAHLOUL: It's unimaginable even. In my wildest thinking, I wouldn't suspect that he would be, let's say he would just disappear.

WARD: So let me ask you this. Who knows what happened to Austin? Who knows the truth?

BAHLOUL: Bassam.

WARD: Is this him?

BAHLOUL: Can I see him? Yes, absolutely, 100 percent, 100 percent.

WARD: For years, Bassam al-Hassan stayed in the shadows. Now CNN has obtained new, never before seen images of him. Known in regime circles as uncle, he was a top Assad advisor and founder of the Iran backed National Defense Forces Militia, blamed for brutal massacres. After the fall of the Assad regime, al-Hassan fled quickly to Iran. Then, in April of this year, he showed up in Beirut, Lebanon, and sat down with the FBI for a series of interrogations about Austin. Weve been given a tip about where al-Hassan is now hiding out an, upscale apartment complex in a suburb of Beirut. One balcony and one man in particular draws our attention. By the end of a long night of watching, we're convinced it's him.

Wearing hidden cameras, producer Sar (ph) El (ph) Sirgany (ph) and I go to confront him.

Hi. How are you? My name is Clarissa Ward. I'm a journalist for CNN. Can I ask you a couple of questions? I'm looking for more information about my friend Austin Tice.

He invites us into the apartment, but he is clearly rattled, and asks over and over again how we found him.

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): I insist to know who told you about this place. No one knows where I live.

WARD: I'm not going to tell you how we found out where you are. It's not important. We've been looking for you for a while. We know that you've given multiple different stories. Can you just tell me, because he was my friend, is Austin Tice dead?

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): Of course Austin is dead. Austin is dead.

WARD: He tells us he explained to a team from the FBI that President Assad gave him the order to execute Austin, and that the order was carried out by a subordinate.

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): I don't want to protect Bashar al-Assad, because he abandoned us and left us. This relates to President Bashar only.

WARD: But you sent him to his death. Can you just tell me one thing? Can you tell me when Austin died?

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): I don't want to go into any details. These are details that I told the team. I told the team I received the order and I passed it on. That's it.

WARD: Can you just tell me one thing? Can you tell me when Austin died?

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): He passed away 2012, 2013?

WARD: He refuses to give any more information. When he asked to take a photograph of us, we decide to leave. At the door, he talks about Austin's mother, Debra Tice. His voice cracks.

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): I owe her an apology, and it upsets me to remember it. Truly.

WARD: Understood.

BASSAM AL-HASSAN (through translator): I wish what happened hadn't happened.

WARD: It is a gut punch to think that Aaustin may have been killed 12 years ago.

One thing that he was very emphatic about is that Austin is dead. Austin is dead. And he wants to pass his condolences to Debra.

[14:35:06]

CNN has confirmed that al-Hassan failed the FBI polygraph test. What is less clear is what parts of his story are lie. In September, a U.S. delegation, including FBI investigators, came to Damascus to search for Austin's remains based on a location given to them by al-Hassan. They came away emptyhanded. The full truth of what happened to my friend may well never be known, like the fate of countless Syrians.

Everyone was keeping so many secrets.

BAHLOUL: Well, in a way, in a way.

WARD: Everyone was lying?

BAHLOUL: It's all about loyalty and worshiping, and nearly worshiping the commander. The supreme commander. He's a president, da, da, da, da. He's everything. So, yes, lying is widely spread in in the ex- regime, yes. It's nothing personal. I was doing my job. That's all it is.

WARD: Austin may simply be remembered as yet another victim of the endless lies and senseless cruelty of a ruthless regime.

Clarissa Ward, CNN.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

WHITFIELD: And Clarissa, thank you so much for that reporting.

The Tice family has repeatedly described Bassam al-Hassan as a liar, and in a statement to CNN, the family said, quote, "Austin Tice is alive. We look forward to seeing him walk free," end quote. For 13 years, the Assad government denied ever holding Tice captive. Bashar al-Assad fled to Russia after his regime collapsed. Attempts by CNN to reach him for comment were unsuccessful. And you can find much more on the search for Austin Tice by scanning that QR code on your screen, or just head to CNN.com/AllAccess.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:41:47]

WHITFIELD: All right, today open enrollment for 2026 Affordable Care Act coverage begins. And there's going to be some sticker shock for millions of Americans who get their health coverage through the Obamacare exchange. The monthly premium for the benchmark plan will soar about 30 percent on average, but those prices are expected to actually double for participants without those enhanced premium subsidies. Last hour, one of the key architects of Obamacare told me the price increase could force healthy people to drop their insurance, which would ultimately drive up premiums for everyone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. EZEKIEL EMANUEL, KEY ARCHITECT OF ACA: The people who are going to drop their health insurance are not people who are sick., because they really recognize they use a lot of health care. It's the people who are largely healthy, and they actually keep the premiums lower for everyone. So if these enhanced subsidies actually end, the consequences, not only are premiums going to go up, they're going to go up even more than anticipated because the healthy people will no longer be buying.

We call this in the health care field, adverse selection. And it can lead to a bad spiral.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: The standoff over those subsidies led to the U.S. government shutdown on October 1st. Democrats are demanding that a short-term funding package include an extension of the enhanced assistance. Republicans say they won't negotiate until the government reopens.

All right, a new Massachusetts hospital study this week is raising some concerns about a possible link between COVID-19 and autism. Researchers found that children may be more likely to be diagnosed with autism or other developmental disorders if their mothers had COVID-19 while pregnant. CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard has more.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: This new study is getting a lot of attention. The researchers analyzed data on more than 18,000 births that happened between March 2020 and May 2021. They found that among the mothers who had COVID-19 while pregnant, about 16 percent of them gave birth to a child who was diagnosed with a neurodevelopmental disorder by age three. But in comparison, fewer than 10 percent of the babies born to mothers who did not have COVID during pregnancy had a neurodevelopmental diagnosis by age three. And these findings, they were most pronounced for two factors. One, if the child was a boy, and two, if the mother had COVID in her third trimester.

So we already know that when a pregnant mother's immune response is activated because she has an infection like COVID-19, then that can have impacts on the fetus's brain development. We also know that when a high fever occurs during pregnancy, that can impact fetal brain development. So another possible factor could be how many of the mothers in the study had a high fever as a symptom of COVID-19.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[14:45:01]

WHITFIELD: Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.

All right, coming up, it's do-or-die time. Game seven of the World Series, the Toronto Blue Jays and Los Angeles dodgers square off tonight. And only one team gets to call themselves champion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:50:00]

WHITFIELD: Oh yes, it all comes down to this. After a thrilling game six in Toronto last night, the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays have one final chance at World Series victory in this winner-take-all game seven. Who is going to be the champ, the king of the world, all that good stuff?

CNN sports anchor Patrick Snell here with us now. I'm not asking for predictions, but this has been really an exciting series.

PATRICK SNELL, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: It's been, yes, the gift that just keeps on giving.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

SNELL: It's a shame, then, we're down to the final game of the whole season.

(LAUGHTER)

WHITFIELD: It's a shame it's over. I know they're glad.

SNELL: The final game of the whole season. So much on the line over here in North America. Will it be the Dodgers or the Blue Jays celebrating their own remarkable piece of history? It was another raucous atmosphere in Toronto, I will say, on Friday night, as they had the chance, the Blue Jays, to win their first title since 1993. That's over 30 years ago now.

Game six, the Dodgers Mookie Betts, who has been struggling, I will say, this postseason, coming through with the two RBI single there, which would make it three-one. We'd go all the way to the ninth inning with that being the score, thanks to another great outing from Dodgers ace Yoshi Yamamoto. Addison Barger getting a hold of this one. Look where he goes. It gets wedged at the bottom of the wall there. Justin Dean throwing up his hands.

Now, the umpires then ruled a ground rule double for a large ball. What that means, Fred, is effectively a dead ball. Lots of Blue Jays fans not too happy about it. It seems like he could have just grabbed the ball. He didn't touch it. The ball's natural trajectory interrupted. So it's a judgment call by the umpire. The excitement and tension mounting. The Blue Jays Venezuelan star Andres Gimenez then hits a liner to left and the Dodgers Kiki Hernandez, there you see him making that great running catch, and then firing it to second to double off Barger to end the game. And this was the first double play like that to end a postseason game.

You wanted drama. Well, you got drama there. Dodgers win it three one to level the series at three games apiece.

WHITFIELD: Wow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOHN SCHNEIDER, BLUE JAYS MANAGER: That's the two best words in sports, you know, "game seven." No better guy to have on the mound to kind of navigate the emotions, the stuff. Max has been getting ready for game seven when he knew he was pitching game three. So all the confidence in the world in him and everyone.

DAVE ROBERTS, DODGERS MANAGER: We're just, it's going to -- we're going to leave it out there. I don't think that the pressure, the moment is going to be too big for us. We'VE got to go out there and win one baseball game.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SNELL: The two best words in sports, Fred, "game seven."

WHITFIELD: "Game seven."

SNELL: Just a few hours from right now. I know you'll be watching, the last game of the whole season. As I say, Dodgers looking as well to be the first team to win back-to-back titles in a quarter of a century.

WHITFIELD: It's incredible. I know I say I'm going to make myself do that, only because these games have been really long, right?

SNELL: Yes, they have. As I said, the gift that keeps on giving.

WHITFIELD: And it's hard for me to stay up at night, especially on this schedule.

SNELL: I'll be juggling early shifts as well. They're fun. Fun and tough at the same time.

WHITFIELD: I know. It's been very exciting. I'll look for some more highlights tomorrow. Patrick Snell, so great to see you. Thanks so much.

All right, podcaster Jennifer Welch and journalist Max Chafkin weigh in on the biggest headlines of the week on tonight's "Have I Got News for You." Here's a sneak preview. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is the prime minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, who was jailed in 1999 and 2015 for charges that included corruption and sodomy. Does anyone know who he offended?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it a felon? Donald Trump?

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Take a look.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We share a lot of things in common. I was in prison, but he almost got there.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, run it back. You've got to play it again, and just watch Trump's head. Just watch the twitch.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We share a lot of things in common. I was in prison, but he almost got there.

(LAUGHTER)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They about to bomb some boats off the coast of Malaysia.

(LAUGHTER)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: A new episode of "Have I Got News for You" premieres tonight, 9:00 p.m. eastern, right here on CNN.

All right, coming up, more than 40 million Americans rely on federal food assistance, and there's growing uncertainty today over their benefits after a federal judge, despite the fact that the federal judge ordered the Trump administration to keep them flowing during the shutdown.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm very concerned. I don't know what I'm going to do. I know you can go to food pantries and stuff, but it's going to be so out of control, I mean, you might be standing there five, six hours to get any food.

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[14:59:32]

WHITFIELD: All right, new today, Ukraine is now waiting to see if the U.S. will supply it with long range tomahawk missiles. CNN's senior international correspondent Melissa Bell explains why the decision now rests solely on President Trump.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Pentagon has given the White House it's green light for giving Kyiv tomahawk missiles, saying that this would not damage U.S. stockpiles. It was last month when President Zelensky had visited Washington and gone home emptyhanded, that there had been a lot of surprise at the fact that President Trump should announce that, contrary to what he'd been saying before, he would not be providing Ukraine --