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Senate Plans To Take Vote Today On Bid To Reopen Federal Government; Launch Window On Hold For Blue Origin's New Glenn Rocket; Newsom Speaks Out On Shutdown, Trump And 2028 Rumors. Aired 3-4p ET

Aired November 09, 2025 - 15:00   ET

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

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: All right, hello again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Sunday. I am Fredricka Whitfield.

The longest U.S. government shutdown in U.S. history is in its 40th day as frustration and anxiety mount for millions of Americans. At airports across the country this weekend, thousands of flights cancelled or delayed due to the shutdown and it is expected to get even worse. The situation is also growing more desperate and chaotic for 42 million Americans who rely on food stamps to buy groceries.

The USDA is now ordering all states to stop issuing full SNAP benefits and quoting them, "undo any benefits sent for the month of November."

[15:00:19]

It is all adding to the hardships for hundreds of thousands of families who are also not getting paychecks because of federal furloughs.

And as American misery rises and the pressure builds to end the shutdown, the U.S. Senate is holding a rare Sunday session and vowing to continue to meet until the government reopens.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is on Capitol Hill for us.

Arlette, are senators optimistic at all that a vote, some sort of change is soon to happen?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fred, Senate Republicans have shown some signs of hope that they could take a first procedural vote to reopen the government a bit later this evening. Now, several Democratic senators are beginning to signal that they could be willing to reopen the government if The White House were to make some concessions, that would mark a major breakthrough in these talks, as this shutdown is currently in its 40th day.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters earlier today that he is hoping to bring a procedural vote up on the Senate floor a bit later this evening. It is still unclear what that timing would look like, but if that procedural vote were held, that would be on that House passed bill that funds the government until November 21st.

If that passes, later, the Senate would enter in some amendments that would extend government funding until late January, along with a few bills to fund certain agencies for an entire year. But one of the big sticking points or catch points in all of this has been those Affordable Care Act subsidies. It is not expected that any vote to reopen the government would include an extension of those ACA subsidies. Instead, they would try to offer Democrats a date for a vote certain on subsidies, with no guarantee that that would actually pass.

Now, one of the sticking points that remains in these negotiations is some Democratic senators want to see The White House reverse those cuts that they had made, the firings of some federal workers during this shutdown. It remains to be seen whether that is something that The White House might agree to, but as the contours of a potential deal come together, there are still major questions about whether enough Democrats will get on board with this plan.

There are some Democratic senators who really feel emboldened after Democrats' success in Tuesday night's elections, but behind-the- scenes, there have still been others who have been participating in these bipartisan talks. Moderate senators with an eye on reopening the government as soon as possible. So we will be watching, really this afternoon to see how Democratic senators are reacting as a deal begins to come together.

Still no guarantees that this procedural vote that Thune is planning to hold tonight will pass, but the hope among Republican senators is that it will and that will really jumpstart these efforts to reopen the government after it gets through the Senate. It would still need to make its way through the house, where House Speaker Mike Johnson would have a lot of work to do with his own Republican Caucus, which has been gone from the U.S. Capitol since September 19th.

WHITFIELD: All right, still lots of hurdles to go.

Arlette Saenz, thanks so much.

All right now to the breaking news on SNAP benefits. The U.S. Department of Agriculture is ordering states to stop issuing full food stamp benefits and issue partial ones instead. A directive obtained by CNN says the states must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full November benefits after a U.S. Supreme Court justice temporarily blocked a lower court ruling that required those payments, all as part of the appellate court considerations.

And all of this is adding to the uncertainty and confusion surrounding the food aid that one in eight Americans rely on.

CNN's Kevin Liptak is joining us now from Florida, where the President is wrapping up his weekend visit. So, Kevin, what can you tell us about this new directive from the Trump administration on these SNAP benefits?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and this is really just the latest curveball for those 42 million Americans who rely on these benefits to buy their groceries each month, and it is kind of the latest turn in this ongoing legal battle that, at its heart, is about whether the Trump administration can or indeed must provide full payments using stores of emergency funding, and what the administration is saying today is that any state who put out full SNAP benefits before the Supreme Court put a pause on them must now immediately undo those steps and instead proceed with paying partial payments, that add up to about 65 percent of the normal monthly allotment.

[15:05:07]

And just to rewind a little bit here, several states had sued the administration, saying that they were obligated to use this emergency funding to pay those full monthly benefits, and a federal judge ordered the administration to do just that. And several states, including New York, Pennsylvania, Oregon rushed to get those payments out to recipients.

Now, the administration asked the Supreme Court to step in as they appealed this case. They put a pause on it as a lower court sort of comes to a more definitive ruling. And now, what the Agriculture Department is saying today, is that any state who rushed out those payments must now undo it and they write in this memo that: SNAP payment files for November were unauthorized. And accordingly, states must immediately undo any steps taken to issue full SNAP benefits for November 2025.

And they go on to say that failure to comply with that directive might result in cancellation of the federal share of state administrative costs, but also that they may hold states liable for any overage issuances that result from the noncompliance. So laying out some of the potential consequences here. And of course, this will leave in limbo the one in eight Americans who rely on these programs as these legal battles unfold.

Youve seen multiple memos come out from the Agriculture Department to states on what to do, and it has all created an outcry among Democrats. You heard Wes Moore, who is the Democratic Governor of Maryland, say that there was no clarity at all, that it was all causing "intentional chaos." And from Amy Klobuchar, the Democratic senator from Minnesota, saying that the cruelty is the point.

Now, President Trump is now on his way back to Washington after a weekend here in Palm Beach as negotiations seem to be heating up on Capitol Hill. Certainly, the hope among the administration and at The White House is that this shutdown will come to an end fairly quickly.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kevin Liptak, thanks so much.

All right, also happening right now, we are awaiting for the launch of Blue Origin's new Glenn Rocket from Cape Canaveral. The launch window has just been put on hold. The rocket is a massive 28-storeys tall and will carry satellites for NASA's Escapade Mission to Mars.

With us now is CNN's space and defense analyst, Kristin Fisher.

All right, so, you know, take us through why todays test launch is so important to Blue Origin and to NASA. KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE ANALYST: Fredricka, this is about as big as it gets for Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin. This is the second test flight of its orbital class rocket, New Glenn, the first rocket in Blue Origin's -- you know, that Blue Origin has in order to send a rocket up into actual orbit.

And so this is designed to compete with SpaceX's Falcon class rockets, and what is really fascinating here, sorry, I am getting a bit of the -- bit of my -- here we go -- I've got the launch in my ear right there, sorry about that.

So what is really at stake here today is Blue Origin is trying to do two things. They are trying to make sure that they are able to get this NASA payload up into orbit, which is the NASA Escapade Mission, which is going to be going to Mars. Two satellites to study the atmosphere, or lack of atmosphere around Mars, why it lost its atmosphere and how solar storms may impact future astronauts on the Martian surface.

And then the other big goal for Blue Origin today, Fred, is can they land this booster on a drone ship in the middle of the ocean? This was supposed to be something that they did in that first test flight back in January. They weren't able to do it. So will they be able to do it today? So those are the two big things that we are watching here today -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: Wow. I mean, and so this rocket you know, carrying two satellite probes with it as well, what will they do?

FISHER: So it is part of NASA's Escapade Mission and what they're going to be doing is studying why Mars no longer has an atmosphere. It is thought that it once did. And so they're going to be doing that. So you see those two different spacecrafts, they are going to be on opposite sides of the planet, Fred.

And one of them will be able to monitor the conditions around Mars, while the other one tracks electromagnetic radiation from the sun's solar storms. And so the goal is to try to be able to better predict space weather for future unmanned probes and rovers on Mars, but also, for future astronauts someday.

WHITFIELD: Wow, and then, you know, Kristin, I saw before we went on the air, you know, I saw some pictures of that landing pad, that floating landing pad, and I was wondering I was like -- now, is that -- you know, that barge -- is it moving? Is it anchored? I mean, that seems like a pretty ambitious kind of project to land on it.

[15:10:19]

FISHER: Totally. I mean, think about this, Fred.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FISHER: Right? You are trying to land a rocket booster, right? Something that has just propelled something up into space.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

FISHER: And you're trying to land it on a barge that is rocking up and down in the waves in the middle of the ocean. It is incredibly difficult to do. Only SpaceX is able to do it reliably, and so Blue Origin really wants to do this, Fred, because remember, right now, Blue Origin is in a big competition with SpaceX to see if perhaps they can get that Artemis 3 lunar landing contract from SpaceX, which it currently has.

So this mission really critical because if it goes well, the next New Glenn will be carrying Blue Moon, an actual lunar lander to the surface of the moon -- Fred.

WHITFIELD: That's all so crazy. I mean, competition and inspiration, right? I mean, they're competing, but then they are also inspiring one another in what is turning out to be a pretty incredible race. The latest race.

FISHER: Competition fuels great things.

WHITFIELD: There you go.

All right, Kristin Fisher, great to see you. Thanks so much.

FISHER: See you, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, federally funded schools like those on military bases and near Native American reservations, they're feeling the effects of the shutdown. We will be joined by the superintendent of a Texas district on why his students and staff are and how they're all handling the financial pressures.

And CNN sits down with California Governor Gavin Newsom to talk about partisan redistricting, a possible 2028 presidential run for him? And why he thinks President Trump needs to do more to end the shutdown.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): Donald Trump needs to act like the president, not just be president. He needs to do the job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:16:47]

WHITFIELD: All right, energized after his state's decisive win in the national redistricting fight, California's Democratic Governor Gavin Newsom is taking a victory lap and speaking out.

In an exclusive CNN interview, Newsom is taking President Trump to task for the ongoing government shutdown and talking more about a possible run for The White House or at least he is asked about it, you see, you decipher how he answers it.

Here is what he told our Jake Tapper.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JAKE TAPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Democrats are the ones keeping this government shutdown going. Do you agree with the strategy?

NEWSOM: Well, bottom line is the President of the United States cancelled a meeting with the two leaders because of public pressure before the government shutdown, he decided to have that meeting. He didn't invite you and others in which for Donald Trump, in and of itself, is remarkable.

He just instead sent out a Truth Social with Trump 2028 hats and then he went golfing that weekend before the shutdown, shortly thereafter. He had no interest or energy into avoiding this government shutdown. He has no interest or energy to end it today. He is the President of the United States.

As someone who is an executive chief, an executive of a state larger than 21-state populations combined, the fourth largest economy, you have a responsibility in that role to convene to bring people together. That's why there is a government shutdown. Period. Full stop.

What the Democrats, though, have done, and I give Jeffries and Schumer tremendous credit, is they've galvanized people of all political stripes, rural, urban, suburban on the issue that defines so many problems in so many ways and so many days and that's health care and the anxiety people are about to feel with 100 to 388 percent in California, up to 388 percent increase in premiums and costs.

So I think they've been right, but Donald Trump needs to act like the president, not just be president. He needs to do the job.

TAPPER: When are you going to make a decision officially about 2028?

NEWSOM: That's the third time you've pushed me on this. I am impressed. I respect that. I actually respect it.

TAPPER: I cited Al Green, I asked you about the other prop and now I am just saying, when will you make a decision? That's a perfectly reasonable question. When will you make a decision?

NEWSOM: I just said--

TAPPER: After the midterms?

NEWSOM: Of course, but it is not -- do you meet the moment. Do you have a big enough why? Do you have a what and how you actually can accomplish something?

TAPPER: Do you have a why?

NEWSOM: You have to find that. You have to meet that moment.

TAPPER: Biden was -- NEWSOM: But that's two years from now.

TAPPER: Biden in 2020, bring back normalcy. Trump in 2024, bring down prices.

NEWSOM: Well, I will tell you what I mean. One thing I will say, it has nothing to do with me, but I think it has everything to do with all of us, is we've got to deal with the issue of our time that we have to democratize this economy if we are going to save democracy.

You can't have 10 percent of people owning two-thirds of the wealth in this country. You can't have that 30-year-old that is doing worse than his parents' generation for the first time in U.S. history.

And so those are fundamental issues that were obviously present in this election on Tuesday and Donald Trump got it for a moment, and now his defensively suggesting he has solved it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, New York City's next First Lady is drawing lots of intrigue after her husband's election as mayor. Zohran Mamdani's wife, Rama Duwaji is 28 years old and has managed to stay out of the spotlight. That is, at least until now.

[15:20:18]

CNN's Gloria Pazmino looks at how Duwaji is garnering lots of intrigue, along with some criticism.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY MAYOR-ELECT: To my incredible wife, Rama.

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani isn't the only one making history in New York City.

MAMDANI: There is no one I would rather have by my side in this moment and in every moment.

PAZMINO (voice over): At just 28 years old, Rama Duwaji is also making history. The first Muslim member of Gen Z to become First Lady of New York City. Duwaji hasn't played the traditional role of First Lady in waiting. She didn't campaign alongside her husband during the heated race for City Hall. She skipped interviews and television talk shows.

While Mamdani was on the trail, the self-described illustrator and animator's work appeared in "Vogue," the BBC, and "New York" Magazine.

Behind-the-scenes, a source tells CNN, Duwaji weighed in on the campaign's brand identity and advised Mamdani on how to better use social media.

MAMDANI: My wife is big into thrifting, but knowing that I was going to do the polar bear plunge and that I would ruin the suit, I thought it best to be a thrift guy.

PAZMINO (voice over): Despite her quiet persona, Duwaji speaks loudly through her art. Her work features illustrations of Middle Eastern women, the plight of Palestinians, the conflict in the Middle East, and the hunger crisis in Gaza.

In an April interview with "Yung," a quarterly art magazine, Duwaji said her art was an effort to speak about what's happening in the U.S. and Palestine, in Syria, as much as I can. In the same interview, Duwaji talked about using art to process the current political climate, saying, things are dark right now in NYC. I worry for my friends and family and things feel completely out of my hands.

During the campaign, a social media post mourning the death of Palestinian journalist Saleh al-Jafarawi sparked some criticism. The IDF alleged Jafarawi was affiliated with Hamas. The claim has never been verified.

Of Syrian descent and a Houston native, Duwaji moved to Dubai when she was nine, attending the Virginia Commonwealth University School of the Arts in Qatar. The couple met in 2021 on the dating app, Hinge, shortly after Mamdani was elected to the New York State Assembly.

By October 2024, they were engaged. They celebrated in Dubai, followed by a courthouse wedding at the city clerk's office in Lower Manhattan.

Shortly after, Mamdani launched his campaign for mayor, questions began to swirl about the couple. A "New York Post" headline suggested their relationship was a secret. Days later, Mamdani released photos of their civil ceremony on Instagram, writing, "Rama isn't just my wife, she's an incredible artist who deserves to be known on her own terms."

Already, Duwaji is sparking trends.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Rachel, no girl. The Rama.

PAZMINO (voice over): Social media is abuzz with posts about Duwaji's haircut.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Super short, chic artist. Cool girl haircut.

PAZMINO (voice over): Her fashion choices.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear independent designers, when they could wear anything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The sheath dress is dead. Rama Duwaji killed it.

PAZMINO (voice over): And the symbolism behind her election night outfit.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The frequency topped by Palestinian Jordanian designer Zeid Hijazi.

PAZMINO (voice over): We asked Mamdani how he and Duwaji are adjusting to all the new attention.

MAMDANI: Life is very different. It is -- it is different in some ways that are beautiful, in some ways that are tough.

PAZMINO (voice over): Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right, coming up, accusations of taking bribes to tip off bettors, this time in Major League Baseball. The pitchers who are accused of letting bettors know what pitches they were going to throw.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:28:36]

WHITFIELD: All right, welcome back.

Happening right now, President Trump is preparing to welcome Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa for a historic visit to The White House on Monday. It is the first ever visit by a Syrian head of state. It is also a remarkable turnaround for al-Sharaa, who was once a jihadist militant and had a $10 million U.S. bounty on him. His forces overthrew the Assad regime at the end of last year, and al-Sharaa met Trump in May in Saudi Arabia, just a few months after he took power in Damascus, Syria.

And with me now is CNN global affairs analyst, Kim Dozier.

I mean, this is pretty remarkable, you know, on the eve of this meeting. So what is the Syrian leader hoping to get out of the meeting? And what is Trump hoping to get out of the meeting?

KIMBERLY DOZIER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: Well, what the. Syrian leader needs is the lifting of the Caesar Act, which has put sanctions on his government and cash to rebuild.

The country, has almost half a million people displaced. It just had a million refugees returned, but it is flattened. Most people are living on a few hundred dollars a month, if that, they can't get access to regular food, medicine, and if al-Sharaa can't turn it around, Syria has the prospect of sliding back into being a failed state that would retard stability across the region, and most of all, it could impact expanding the Abraham Accords, which is key to Donald Trump and The White House and Trump's goals for winning a Nobel Peace Prize.

[15:30:15]

WHITFIELD: What are the chances of Syria being able to walk away feeling like it has gained something, especially financial help? Were in the middle of a U.S. government shutdown. USAID is virtually no longer, so how hopeful should al-Sharaa be?

DOZIER: al-Sharaa is not looking so much for a handout as a lifting of the sanctions restrictions so that international businesses feel like they can invest in Syria without threat of sanctions and with sort of more long term prospects. Youve had Saudi Arabia and Qatar both handing up billions of dollars, and they've also impressed upon The White House that, you know, we have to work with this guy. He might not have been the one you would have chosen. Yes, he is a former jihadist. But in a way, you needed a former jihadist because he could corral all the other jihadist groups.

One of the problems, though, is he hasn't stopped the sectarian violence. He hasn't cracked down on members of his own forces that have committed some of that sectarian violence or started hunting down members of the Assad regime who have done the same.

So he has a tall order of trying to impose stability, and it is unlikely that The White House can get Congress to lift the Caesar Act unless they can convince Congress that al-Sharaa will be able to pull this off.

WHITFIELD: Is ISIS still a threat within and around Syria?

DOZIER: ISIS is not the threat it once was. There will be individual members who would like to coalesce again, but the real threat is you've got the Kurdish forces that the U.S. was allied with in the north. Al-Sharaa hasn't yet agreed as part of his new constitution, to recognize their religion. The same thing with the Druze in the south, who are allied with the Israelis. The Alawites along the coast were hit by, sectarian forces, including some of al-Sharaa's own forces.

So basically, what you have is a civil war that is stopped in name, but all of the hatreds, all of the fears are still there and they're not resolved.

WHITFIELD: That is very complicated. All right, let's talk about Russia now for a moment, because Russia's Foreign Minister says they're looking at proposals for nuclear weapons tests and that follows President Trump's call for a similar kind of testing.

Does this tell us that Trump's announcement might have rattled the Russian President at all, or is it the other way around?

DOZIER: I think what we are seeing is just rhetoric on top of rhetoric, like, okay, if you threaten to do that, then we will threaten to do this. At this point, we haven't seen Russia stop fighting on the ground in Ukraine, and we haven't seen Trump do a lot to sort of take further action.

Yes, the U.S. has sanctioned a couple of the two top energy companies in Russia, but the U.S. hasn't done anything to stop the fighting. And right now, Russian forces are on the verge of winning some key territory right before the winter really stops a lot of the fighting, and they'll be able to make P.R. hay out of that once they capture that territory. And, you know, at this point, it looks like Trump is letting them do that.

WHITFIELD: Yes, they are further crippling the ability for Ukrainians to keep themselves warm this winter and eat, cook food.

DOZIER: That's right. WHITFIELD: All right, Kim Dozier, thanks so much. Good to see you.

All right, coming up, history is about to be made at The White House. A high profile visit, as we were just talking about with this Middle East leader that required U.N. approval to lift sanctions just to make all of this possible.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:38:33]

WHITFIELD: All right, today, the NFL is remembering one of its most influential leaders after the league announced former Commissioner Paul Tagliabue died this morning.

During his 17 years as commissioner, Tagliabue expanded the league to 32 teams and guided the NFL through greatly challenging moments like 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Current Commissioner Roger Goodell said the league is deeply saddened by his passing, calling Tagliabue a man of integrity, vision and steady leadership who helped turn the NFL into the global powerhouse that it is today.

Tagliabue was 84 years old.

All right, and this just in, two pitchers for the Cleveland Guardians have been indicted for allegedly taking part in a scheme to rig bets on Major League Baseball games, according to federal prosecutors. Both were put on non-disciplinary leave in relation to a sports betting probe.

Let's get right to CNN's Sports anchor, Don Riddell. What is happening?

DON RIDDELL, CNN WORLD SPORT HOST: Well, let's tell you what the prosecutors are saying. The Cleveland Guardians pitchers, Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz are facing charges on multiple counts of wire fraud, conspiracy, conspiracy to influence sporting contests by bribery, money laundering, conspiracy and more. Ortiz has been arrested and is in custody. His lawyer told CNN that his client is innocent, adding that there is no credible evidence Ortiz did anything other than try to win games.

[15:40:08]

Both men were placed on non-disciplinary leave by the league back in July. In a statement to CNN, the Guardians told us: "We are aware of the recent law enforcement action. We will continue to fully cooperate with both law enforcement and Major League Baseball as their investigations continue." MLB also says that it is cooperating with the investigation by the Department of Justice, and the accusations are serious, if proven, these players could be looking at decades behind bars. Of course, all this coming barely two weeks after a similar scandal rocked the National Basketball Association. Two players and a coach were arrested for their roles in insider trading in sports betting and rigged high stakes poker games.

In both cases, the NBA and the MLB, the indictments, Fred, are coming from the same U.S. Attorney's Office in Brooklyn.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh! Oh. This is -- that's a hard hit. That is really terrible.

All right, now let's talk about a big hitter that you spoke to. I mean, this is a tennis and humanitarian rights icon, Billie Jean King. Tell me what that conversation was all about.

RIDDELL: Yes, well, we caught up this week and we discussed a number of things. Billie Jean King is always an amazing person to hang out with and catch up with.

WHITFIELD: Yes.

RIDDELL: And she told me that at the age of 81, she has gone back to college.

WHITFIELD: Wow!

RIDDELL: So she began a History Degree back in the 1960s, and she realized that she couldn't continue studying if she wanted to go off and become the best player in the world. So she went off and did that. And now, in her ninth decade, she is like, you know what? I should go back to college. This is what she had to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILLIE JEAN KING, FORMER PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: So, lately, in the last few years, I've been going, you know what? I should finish. And I was a History Major. Of course, in those days, women didn't have very many opportunities on what to major in, but I do love history. I think that's how you help shape the future.

RIDDELL: How do you think it feels for your professors to be teaching someone who themselves has contributed so much towards the history that I guess they are now teaching?

KING: I don't know what they think, to be honest. They're being very strict. They're not giving me any breaks, I can tell you that, which is good.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: They're probably speechless because she is a history maker.

RIDDELL: I know. I was a little disappointed to hear that she is not going to the frat parties on Friday nights, because she is doing a lot of these classes remotely, and she is doing the classes remotely because she is still so busy, she is still traveling the world.

WHITFIELD: Oh my gosh.

RIDDELL: She reminded me that when she was winning Wimbledon, she was making $18.00 a day. And just this weekend, the WTA Finals champion, Elena Rybakina won more than $5 million.

WHITFIELD: She is the reason why.

RIDDELL: Exactly.

WHITFIELD: All of these -- and I love that most of these young players know this. I mean, they are thanking her from Coco Gauff and beyond who say were making this kind of bank now because of Billie Jean.

RIDDELL: Billie Jean risked everything, she risked her career. She founded the Women's Tennis Association. Of course, there was the battle of the sexes against Bobby Riggs, and you know, everything that that set in motion. So, yes.

WHITFIELD: I love it.

RIDDELL: A legend in her own lifetime.

WHITFIELD: She really is. I love it, and she is making history some more. Why not?

All right, Don Riddell, thank you so much for bringing that to us. Appreciate it.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:48:06]

WHITFIELD: All right, the U.S. government shutdown is particularly hurting school districts that largely rely on federal dollars through a $1.5 billion a year program called Impact Aid. Most public school budgets largely lean on local property taxes, but public schools near Native American reservations, U.S. military bases, and other federal properties rely greatly on the federal Impact Aid program to function. With the U.S. government closed, that means no impact aid funding.

For Texas Lackland Independent School District near Lackland Air Force Base, Burnie Roper is the School District Superintendent and is joining us right now. Superintendent Roper, great to see you.

I mean, you say this Impact Aid program makes up some 42 percent of your budget. So what does that money usually help do? And what are you and your students now having to do without?

BURNIE ROPER, SCHOOL DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT: Good afternoon and thank you for having me.

That money is about 42 percent of our budget and Impact Aid dollars that we get from the Impact Aid program can be used for anything. It can be used to pay teachers, buy busses, buy computers. Any of those things that we need. So there are no restrictions on the money after we receive it.

WHITFIELD: So have you had to make certain accommodations or adjustments since the federal government is closed, perhaps no new moneys are coming in. What are you having to do?

ROPER: So right now were having to dip in what we call our fund balance. So that is our savings account. So that is money that we store up. Being on the military installation, we do not have access to taxes and things like that. So we have to save our money in order to do the things that we need to do, such as construction, renovations to our buildings, those types of things.

[15:50:03]

And so as we wait for this money to come, we basically have to dip into our savings and wait for the money to get there.

WHITFIELD: How long do you think you can make ends meet? Because you just mentioned you're paying salaries. You're paying for funding, perhaps food for lunches, and maybe even breakfasts for some of the kids. How long can you do this without the Impact Aid? The U.S. government money?

ROPER: So for us right now, we are in a really good position, but there are several school districts across the country, my colleagues that really depend on this money. Those that are on Indian lands, other military school districts, they are not in a position to wait.

So some of them even have to go to get loans at banks and things like that to make it through the year. We are okay for a little while because we've learned how to save. But other school districts are not in the same predicament. They need that money now.

WHITFIELD: Like you mentioned, a lot of the kids in your schools, parents are in the military, which means they're probably not getting paychecks with these government shutdowns right now. What are some of the kids, maybe their parents, and what are some of the teachers saying to you about their worries, their needs right now?

ROPER: Well, because we, again, have done a good job at savings, we've had meetings with our teachers to let them know for now that we are okay. But that is not necessarily the case with our military service members. I believe up to this point, they have gotten paid. But if the shutdown continues, it may be a problem for them. And a lot of them live paycheck to paycheck. So it is really critical that the shutdown ends as soon as possible so that the service members are able to have a peace of mind so that they can provide for their families.

WHITFIELD: Thank goodness your school district has savings as you just mentioned with the Impact Aid money not coming in. But overall, when you hear the President of the United States say that he wants to do away with the Department of Education overall, what kind of contingency plans are you able to make in your school district? What are your worries about the days and months ahead? You know, long term, as you think, even beyond this current government shutdown.

ROPER: So the Impact Aid office, which is located within the Department of Education, is a critical piece of what we do, those analysts that are there who process our payments, who make sure that our applications are processed, are critical. Now, they were recently either furloughed or terminated, the majority of that office. But we need those people back in that office in order to process applications, in order to process payments, so that program can serve the over 1,000 school districts that it serves.

So without those people in that office, they cannot get the job done. And so we need those analysts back into the Impact Aid office, which again, is a part of the Department of Education.

WHITFIELD: Burnie Roper, superintendent of Lackland Independent School District, thank you so much for your time and all the best.

ROPER: Appreciate it. Thank you.

WHITFIELD: All right, don't forget, in the United States, you can now stream CNN whenever you want on the CNN app. Just visit cnn.com/watchformore and we will be right back.

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WHITFIELD: All right, a sure sign of the holiday season and that it has just begun right there in New York, the arrival of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. It just arrived. You see it right there, 75 foot Norway spruce, weighing 11 tons. It is a gift of Judi Ross in honor of her husband, Dan, who died five years ago.

When Rockefeller Center's head gardener saw the tree, he just had to get that.

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ERIK PAUZE, HEAD GARDENER, ROCKEFELLER CENTER: It is very exciting. It is a great tradition here at Rockefeller Center. There is a lot of people around. Everybody is having a great time.

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WHITFIELD: The tree was on the Russ home property in Upstate New York. It will now sparkle with 50,000 colored lights and a nine-foot star when lit on December 3rd.

All right, King Charles appeared at London's Annual Remembrance Day ceremony today. King Charles appeared at London's ceremony, the special service at the Cenotaph Honors the country's military, veterans, and it happens on the Sunday closest to November 11th, the day when World War I ended in 1918. King Charles led a two-minute moment of silence to commemorate the fallen. Queen Camilla and the Princess of Wales also attended the service, observing from a balcony there.

All right, let's take an intimate look into the extraordinary political career and life of New Zealand's former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in the new CNN film, "Prime Minister."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you think you can credibly lead a government.

JACINDA ARDERN, NEW ZEALAND'S FORMER PRIME MINISTER: Would you like to tell me why you don't think I can?

We will remain relentlessly positive. That is who we are as New Zealanders.

REPORTER: All eyes have now turned to Jacinda Ardern.

ARDERN: I have three years to do as much as we can. I thought, how am I going to do this with a baby?

Crises make governments and they break governments. You can lead just like me.

ANNOUNCER: "Prime Minister" premieres November 16th on CNN and next day on the CNN App.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

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