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Senate Advances Deal To Reopen Government; USDA Orders States To Only Issue Partial SNAP Payments; Scientists Push Back On Bill Gates' Climate Memo; Former Biden Climate Czar In Brazil For Climate Summit; NBA Legend & Godfather Of Seattle Basketball Dead At 88. Aired 11p-12a ET

Aired November 09, 2025 - 23:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:00:57]

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN HOST: We want to begin with breaking news out of Washington, where senators are now one step closer to ending the longest shutdown in U.S. history. Just moments ago, the Senate voted to break a Democratic filibuster on government funding legislation.

Now, if it advances, it will still have to go to the House for a vote before heading to the U.S. President's desk. A group of Democrats and one Democratic leaning Independents, they agreed to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending Obamacare subsidies.

Let's break it all down. The measures -- the measure at least it extends the government funding through the end of January. It also reverses President Trump's mass firings of federal workers during the shutdown, and it would also ensure that food stamps are funded through Fiscal Year 2026. Some Democrats, they are slamming the deal, and that includes Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer.

Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK SCHUMER, U.S. SENATE DEMOCRATIC LEADER: This fight will and must continue. Democrats must fight because of millions of millions of families will lose health care coverage. We must fight because children who are dying of cancer will not get health care coverage. We must fight because a senior citizen cannot afford to pay $25,000 a year just for health insurance. We must fight to keep millions from financial ruin.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: You just heard from Speaker -- from Leader Schumer, I should say. I want to hear now from Larry Sabato, he's the director of the -- at the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia. Larry, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Certainly, Polo. Thank you.

SANDOVAL: So, Larry, I'm wondering what you make of the argument from -- you heard again from Chuck Schumer just now. What do you make of the argument, though, from some of the Democratic supporters of this procedural vote, if this measure that they see it not as as caving in, but instead as bringing the health care issue to the forefront, especially in what would seem to be a midterm year?

SABATO: Well, it had already been brought to the forefront. You know, I've got to tell you, there action on social media and take a look, don't take it from me, is as negative as it can possibly be from activist Democrats. They are furious. And they use the phrase cave in over and over and over again.

So the eight Democrats who have enabled the Republicans to do this, and basically they've given in to what the Republicans offered all the way along. They would differ with anybody in that group of eight who thinks that they got a great deal.

Remember, there's no guarantee at all that this vote on Obamacare that will be taken sometime in the coming weeks will pass even the Senate. And it may not even be taken up by the House, much less passed by the House. And if somehow it passed by the House, President Trump probably would veto it, or at least would cause problems for it.

So I'm not sure what they got. And I think most Democrats agree with that. They can't figure out what they got. These agreements with the Senate Majority Leader John Thune may be sincere on Senator Thune's part, may be sincere, but its difficult to believe that Trump or the minions around him who have no hesitation about ignoring the law will really obey them or will take them seriously. So it's a real let for Democrats after their landslide victory on Tuesday.

SANDOVAL: And Larry, I'm wondering, especially when you consider that landslide on Tuesday, when you're talking about the party in general and from your perspective, how do you see this really going over, not only for Democratic voters, which, as you said, you've seen plenty of fallout on on social media. But do you think that this perhaps deepens those divisions within the Democratic Party?

[23:05:02]

SABATO: It certainly does. You know, they disappeared on Tuesday because Democrats were celebrating their victories all over the country. Big victories way beyond what the polls had predicted, and not just in the few states that are talked about.

And now some of that, frankly, has been sacrificed on the altar of, well, caving in. I agree with that description. This is a cave in.

SANDOVAL: And in all fairness, we also have to talk about perhaps what some of the furloughed federal employees are feeling, and especially those who had been without their SNAP benefits. I mean, is there perhaps a silver lining for millions of people who at least will get their back pay and especially those who had no idea how they were going to fill their pantry? SABATO: Absolutely. I don't mean to ignore that. It will be an end to the suffering by those who have been working hard without pay, like the air traffic controllers and the TSA officers and the military. And, of course, they've been paid partially. And a lot of others who are under stress, wondering if the pay will stop at any given moment. That's absolutely true.

The air travelers will certainly feel better about this. Now, they'll -- I assume they'll be able to get to see their friends and families at Thanksgiving, though, it will take a while to recover, for the air system to recover from what's been going on.

So, sure, there are pluses to this, but there are pluses that were offered weeks ago. What's new about this offer that was agreed to by the two parties in the Senate or by eight Democrats and all the Republicans, except for one.

SANDOVAL: And then there's also the question, though, for for constituents who are left with questions, which is really lets flip that coin, those constituents who are now left wondering what about their health care. I mean, they're putting it in their hands of lawmakers. they're guaranteed a vote, but as we've discussed already at quite at length, is there are no guarantees of any sort of passage.

SABATO: Sure. And of course, if nothing is done to enable millions, literally millions of Americans to afford Obamacare, afford health care, and the premiums are skyrocketing all over the country, then that's where Republicans may and should pay a price, because they're the ones responsible, controlling the white House, the Senate and the House for what is passed on health care.

Now, maybe those eight Democrats can manage to leverage what they've done into some agreement on Obamacare, though we all know President Trump does not have a positive feeling about Obamacare and never has.

SANDOVAL: This measure is supposed to fund the government, at least until January, given those -- that friction that will remain not just across party lines, but also within the Democratic Party itself. I mean, do you see perhaps another funding fight on the horizon, Larry?

SABATO: Absolutely. In fact, Senator Shaheen, to her credit, when asked that question at the end of the press conference they had this evening, suggested that, yes, there might be another fight then. Every vote is different. Every circumstance is different. So its possible that it will be taken up again then. But given the fact that the Democrats caved this time, it's difficult for the Republicans to take that seriously.

SANDOVAL: Larry Sabato, always grateful for your time and your valuable perspective. Thank you so much. Have a good week, Larry.

SABATO: Thank you, Polo.

All right, let's go now to CNN's Senior Political Commentator Scott Jennings. Joining me live from Washington. Scott, good evening. Thank you so much for joining us. Let's just pick up where we left off with Larry. The Democrats cave. In your opinion?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Yes, I mean, I -- they did, but it was predictable. I said on Tuesday night during our election night coverage that I expected the Democrats to cave because the election is over. This shutdown was always a political shutdown.

They knew that they would try to gin up their base for the Tuesday elections. And once the elections were over, they didn't really know what to do next or how to get out of it, so they just caved in. And I'm, you know, I'm not sad they didn't get anything for it. I feel something like Judge Smails in the movie "Caddyshack," you'll get nothing and like it because bad behavior should never be rewarded.

And this was all bad behavior. They had this deal on the table 30 something days ago, and yet they put the American people, they put federal workers, they put SNAP beneficiaries, they put all these people through this pain for political reasons. And now we see that.

And, you know, I'm glad the government is going to be opened up. But I'm not sad for these Democrats on social media tonight who are having a meltdown because this is their -- their party went into this for purely political reasons. They never really knew how to get out of it. And this was always going to be the end result.

SANDOVAL: Scott, I'm sure you've had some time to to read over some of the different provisions of this measure. I mean, in your assessment of it, is it how you would have envisioned it, that this standalone ACA vote potentially down the road, is this how you potentially expected it to go down?

[23:10:14]

JENNINGS: Sure. Look, its fine. And they'll have a debate over that. And, by the way, there are probably a handful of Republicans in the Senate and maybe a handful in the House that may want to talk about or negotiate over what to do about these Obamacare subsidies.

I'm not ruling out the idea that something could happen here because, look, nobody wants peoples health care premiums to skyrocket. I'll tell you one thing. This has exposed, though the complete and total failure of Obamacare. I mean, it's not affordable.

You know, people that have it don't feel like it even is real insurance. And now we see, I mean -- it's a mess. And if anytime the government is having to subsidize something like this, it's not working in the first place. And so I think the American people are realizing just how messed up the American health care system is. And the regime under which we live is Obamacare.

But look, I think a lot of Republicans do not want people to see skyrocketing premiums and so well see what that debate looks like. But in terms of funding, the government, look, they attached three big spending bills. That's a good thing. There are several more teed up, including the military appropriations bill, the defense approps, which we desperately need to replenish America's arsenal. So if this moves us back towards getting the government funded and everything else going, you know that will be a good outcome for the American people.

SANDOVAL: And I see your point about waiting and seeing exactly how that debate plays out among lawmakers. But I'm curious from your perspective, I mean, how much pressure -- o r let me ask you this, how -- what should be the role of Republicans when it comes to an ACA vote? I mean, they have guaranteed a vote, but what should we see from the House speaker, especially to try to compromise with Democrats?

JENNINGS: Here's what we need to do. We need to get people some health insurance that isn't just us forking over billions of tax dollars to insurance companies. I mean, that's the thing. This money goes right from taxpayer money right into the hands of insurance companies.

I think the President is exactly right about this. And I think what Republicans want to do is find a way, like, look, if were going to spend billions of dollars on health care, I don't want to give it to insurance companies. I want to give it directly to people, patients, you know, people who who can use it directly on health care.

This whole thing has exposed this outlandish money laundering scheme where your tax dollars go right into insurance companies and your health insurance never gets better, your healthcare never gets better, your health outcomes never get better. That's what we have exposed here.

So what our responsibility is as a Republican Party, how do we stop getting your tax money to insurance companies? And how do we put more money into the health care of the American people? Because I can assure you, writing a bunch of checks to insurance companies doesn't make your health care any better.

SANDOVAL: Scott, the agreement that was reached tonight, I mean, what do you think it does to perhaps what we heard from from President Trump, where he repeatedly claimed that Democrats wanted to give free health care to, as he put it, to illegal aliens, as he said. I mean, now, part of this agreement is to fund SNAP for another year. So, essentially, I mean, should we revisit the claim that the President never really provided evidence for?

JENNINGS: Well, look, in the beginning, Democrats absolutely did want to repeal part of the Big Beautiful Bill that does strictly prohibit illegal aliens from getting Medicaid benefits. That's a separate issue from SNAP. Look, what happened tonight is what's been happening.

Republicans have repeatedly voted to fund SNAP. Democrats have been voting to not fund SNAP by, of course, voting to keep the government closed. And only a handful of Democrats tonight voted to fund SNAP. I'm glad those brave Democrats stepped forward to fund SNAP because people absolutely need it.

If this were really about SNAP, if it were really about starving families, Democrats on Twitter and Democrats on social media and Democrats on some of the other networks wouldn't be having the meltdown that they're having tonight. But one good outcome here is that Republicans finally got their way.

People will get their SNAP benefits just the way the Republicans have been voting, since day one. I'm shocked, frankly, that Democrats have been voting to defund SNAP. It's pretty shocking, really, that they held these SNAP beneficiaries hostage.

And now here at the end of it, again, it's all political. They got nothing. They held these poor people hostage and literally got nothing. They got nothing except a bunch of anxiety and a bunch of pain throughout the American people. Terrible.

SANDOVAL: Yes. As we heard from some Democrats, they would say, as we've made clear from the Hill, that at least they got a promise of a fight down the road here, at least of a conversation down the road. But to your earlier point, well see how that pans out.

Help us look into the future for what this means for Republicans. How do they build momentum on this, do you think?

JENNINGS: Well, look, one of the things Republicans could now do is seize on the opportunity to have a real conversation about health care and affordability. I mean, everybody knows that health care is not getting any better in this country. The health insurance system is screwed.

[23:15:04]

Obamacare is not working. People can't afford it. I mean, I'm sure, you know, people like this. There are a lot of people out there that have insurance, they pay their premiums, they have outrageous deductibles.

It doesn't even feel like you have insurance at all. You try to use it. You can't use it. You know, you end up -- it's crazy. And so there may be an opportunity now for us to all have an honest conversation about this issue. Health care is broken. The health care insurance system is broken.

Obamacare is now revealed as a failure. What can we actually do to get people so they can go to the doctor and feel like they can get taken care of? I mean, that's ultimately not, you know, break the bank every time they do it. That is an opportunity for Republicans. It's an opportunity for President Trump.

And I'm sure he's thinking about that right now. We've exposed the current system as a failure. We're the governing party. What can we do to make it a little better? I hope that's what's on the mind of the Republican leaders.

SANDOVAL: For Americans who may see tonight as a step towards bipartisanship, I mean, is that wishful thinking on their part?

JENNINGS: Look, I mean, there was bipartisanship in the Senate. And, look, by the way, the filibuster worked and we got a bipartisan group of 60 senators to get together to finally open up the government. So, you know, that's a good thing. And there's still obviously some goodwill enough between the two parties to do the responsible thing.

But it took Democrats almost 40 days to get there. But really the issue was the election. They wanted to use this election (ph). And then the other issue is, of course, I think the Senate Democrats were hoping, hoping the Republicans would nuke the filibuster. They ultimately didn't do that.

But, yes, look, I think as long as the filibuster is in the Senate, you're always going to have some bipartisanship, because to get to 60, you got to get both parties together in part. And that's happened tonight, and that's a good thing.

SANDOVAL: And as you and I were speaking just now, Scott, it looks like the Senate has officially adjourned for the night. Business picks up on Monday.

As always, really appreciate you joining us.

JENNINGS: Good.

SANDOVAL: Thanks for joining us on a Sunday night. Have a good week ahead.

JENNINGS: Hey, glad to be here. And thanks for covering the news. It's a big night and I'm glad for the federal workers and the TSA guys and the air traffic controllers who are all going to get their paychecks. They deserve it. They've been working hard.

SANDOVAL: Appreciate you, Scott.

So as the shutdown appears to be coming to an end, people on SNAP benefits, they may still be in limbo. You see, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ordered states to stop issuing full food SNAP benefits on Saturday. That followed a court ruling. So instead, the USDA is telling states to only issue partial payments for 65 percent of what recipients are usually allotted.

They are also ordering states to undo any full payments that they already sent out. This latest directive, this comes after a lower court Friday order for the federal government to fund SNAP. After that ruling, some states immediately sent out payments.

Maryland's Democratic Governor Wes Moore, he said on Sunday that there is no clarity at all in the guidance and also that the administration is causing, quote, "intentional chaos."

So that key Senate vote toward reopening the government is also good news for the airline industry, as we just discussed with Scott. According to tracking website FlightAware, thousands in the United States were delayed on Sunday, and also there were hundreds of outright cancellations. So a lot of people spending a really bad weekend at many airports. Severe staffing issues have also plagued airlines and air traffic controllers due to some workers who are being forced to work without pay.

And still to come here on CNN, well have much, much more on the breaking news out of Washington, D.C. Stay with us. You're watching CNN's breaking news coverage.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:23:02]

SANDOVAL: Welcome back to CNN. I want to get you back to our top story now, where the U.S. Senate has now adjourned until 11:00 a.m. Monday morning just under 12 hours from now. And that's when they're expected to begin the debate on a plan to extend government funding and unlock a path forward out, finally, out of this record breaking government shutdown.

Earlier, the Senate voted to break a Democratic filibuster, and that clears the way for that debate to finally get started. If the measure passes, it will still have to go to the House for a vote before then eventually heading to U.S. President Donald Trump, where he signs it.

A group of Democrats and one Democratic aligned Independents, they agreed to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on extending Obamacare subsidies, which, again, that's exactly what brought us here. That debate is what brought us to this shutdown initially.

Earlier, Senator Bernie Sanders explained why securing that vote now is so critical.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BERNIE SANDERS, U.S. SENATOR: I know its part of this resolution that the Majority Leader is going to say, well, Democrats can create, put together their own bill and it will come to the floor here in the Senate for a vote. As everybody here knows, that is a totally meaningless gesture.

You can get 100 votes here in the Senate, won't mean anything because the House is not going to take it up and the President of the United States certainly will not sign it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANDOVAL: Joining me now is Nathan Gonzales, Editor and Publisher of Inside Elections. Nathan, thank you so much for joining us on what has been an extremely busy Sunday night.

NATHAN GONZALES, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, INSIDE ELECTIONS: Exactly. Good evening.

SANDOVAL: Good evening. So, look, the Senate is adjourned. We can finally take a moment here to just look back at the last few hours of what we've seen play out. I'm curious what what really stood out to you, especially as we saw some of these Democrats cross party lines and join Republicans, as they put it, for the sake of reopening the government?

[23:25:02]

GONZALES: Well, I think what stood out to me is the overall timing of it. I mean, we are just a few days from a huge set of elections, specifically a huge set of elections that Democrats did very well from New Jersey, Virginia, California down to Georgia. And so I thought that Democrats would be digging in their heels.

And what we found tonight is that there were seven Democrats and the Independent Leaning Democrat Angus King, you know, decided to cut this deal. And what were seeing over the last few minutes or last hour or so is that those Democrats are really on an island.

I think the rest of the Democratic Party, including other senators, candidates running for office, or just general activists or Democratic voters, are really upset because they feel like they had the upper hand. And here we are, where Democrats are compromising, doesn't look like they really got a lot out of the deal. And so that's why you're feeling that frustration on the Democratic side.

SANDOVAL: Nathan, you mentioned the election that's in the rearview mirror. Now, what about the one that's on the horizon? Lets talk midterms. How do you think this will play over to tonight's developments? How that will play over for Democrats, especially those in swing states?

GONZALES: Well, one of the things that were seeing is there's a cry for primarying the Democratic senators who voted for this bill. But we have to remember that of those eight, none of them are going to be on the ballot in the 2026 election. So they are either senators who are not up for election in 2026, or they have already decided that they're not going to run for reelection, such as Senator Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire or Senator Dick Durbin of Illinois.

So the idea that, you know, the Democratic base is going to hold these Democrats accountable for not fighting, not staying in the fight, that opportunities just aren't going to be there. Looking ahead, I'm not sure were actually going to be talking about this shutdown. We're going to have dozens of other news events that are going to happen.

We have to remember that as this goes to the House, that bringing the House back into session, that Speaker Mike Johnson will have fewer excuses to swear in the Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, that will give the discharge petition for the Epstein files 218 votes. And so probably pretty quickly, we're going to be talking about Epstein and other things that happen over the next few days.

SANDOVAL: Yes, we've heard from other experts, such as yourself say that, like, there's no promise that we won't be talking about yet another funding fight after January since this measure only funds the government through January.

Now, in terms of perhaps what people are going to be left asking themselves, and that's without ignoring how this is certainly a concrete step towards the restoration of SNAP benefits, all of those federal employees who have been just incredibly showing up to work without pay, that's certainly a potential positive here. But what about perhaps some of the constituents who may be left asking, what about my health care? Some of those ACA recipients, especially those who may say that their Democratic leaders may have caved to Republicans when it comes to that vote?

GONZALES: Right. It really comes down to outcomes. And how do people feel about their day to day life, the day to day cost of living? I don't know that, you know, a lot of people are watching, you know, CNN or C-SPAN votes at midnight on Sunday nights, but they want to know, as we look into the next few days, weeks and months, is their life better or worse off? And they're ultimately going usually look to the party that's in power and holding them responsible.

So over the next year before the midterms, if the economy is still stumbling along, if peoples health care benefits, if their health care costs are going up, I think Republicans are at risk of being held more responsible for that because they are still the party in power. But if things start clicking, you know, the economy and people's confidence in the economy starts to -- that starts to tick up, the Presidents job approval rating improves, then Republicans have a better chance of holding Congress, even though the House -- the majority in the House was at risk before all of this. And it's at risk of a Democratic takeover after all of this.

SANDOVAL: Taking advantage of your perspective at Inside Elections and your expertise, I'm wondering if you could just offer some insight on what could be happening inside these huddles between Republicans and Democrats? That the next -- we know what will be next for these measures, as the Senate will take it up, will potentially approve it. The head to the House and then eventually to the White House.

But what about when that ACA vote comes up? I mean, there's certainly will have to be some compromising that happens then.

GONZALES: Yes. I mean, well, the most pessimistic thing I'll say during our time together is that both parties will be looking to blame the other party for as much as possible. And that is -- but specifically with this promise of the ACA this upcoming vote, I think that puts more responsibility on Republicans. It puts it more in their -- on their side.

But I agree with a few minutes ago, when you were interviewing Larry Sabato, that this administration has shown that it can just choose to not do what it said it's going to do. Or maybe Senator John Thune made promises that the White House has no intention of really taking up.

[23:30:08]

And so -- but, again, Republicans -- I know Republicans, ever since the 2024 elections have been extremely confident that they're just doing the will of the people, just doing fulfilling promises. But over the last year, President Trump's job approval rating has been sliding.

Voters are not confident in specific issues that are important to them. And as -- if his job approval rating is down, Republicans are at risk of getting the similar treatment that voters gave them in these elections just a few days ago.

SANDOVAL: You know, the Speaker of the House, always a player, a key player in all of this. However, now do you think more so than ever for Mike Johnson to really gather some support among Republicans and try to compromise with Democrats? What will you be looking for out of the House Speaker in the next weeks or months?

GONZALES: Well, you know, in order to -- he doesn't need compromise unless there are members of his party that don't -- that choose not to support individual bills. You know, he doesn't have to get the compromise that is required in the Senate because of the filibuster. But, ultimately, Speaker Johnson is also at the mercy of the President.

And if the President doesn't like a particular bill or a particular deal, he will -- he'll say so. He'll go on social media or he'll give an interview. And then the rank and file Republican members will be leery of opposing the President.

I don't think rank and file Republican House members fear Mike Johnson, but they do fear the President because the President will threaten primary challengers or finding primary challengers to them. So Speaker Johnson, he doesn't have many votes to spare, but he's also at the mercy of whatever President Trump wants to do.

SANDOVAL: Nathan Gonzales, I always appreciate you taking the time to join us. Have a good week.

GONZALES: No problem. See you next time.

SANDOVAL: Our breaking news coverage continues next here on CNN with more on the Senate vote that's moving the U.S. one step closer to reopening the government after a 40-day shutdown. You're watching CNN.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[23:36:48]

SANDOVAL: And welcome back to CNN's breaking news coverage where we're following developments out of Washington D.C. where the U.S. Senate has broken a Democratic filibuster on government funding with a vote of 60 to 40. Just a few moments ago, they went into recess after what was extraordinary and a rare Senate session this Sunday night.

Republicans were able to recruit enough Democratic support in exchange for a future vote on extending health care subsidies, which was really the main sticking point for Democrats and what they had been fighting for, I should say. Senate Republican Leader John Thune committed to a vote on health care no later than the second week of December.

So that's something to add to your calendar and to watch closely. The House must still approve the reopening deal before it then heads to President Trump to sign. So there are still a lot of moving parts in all this but it shouldn't be lost on us. This is certainly a concrete step in the direction that millions of Americans wanted to see. Already 40 days into the shutdown. Let's get some perspective now from Samantha -- some reporting from Samantha-Jo Roth. She's a national political correspondent from the Washington Examiner. Samantha-Jo, thank you so much for joining us tonight.

SAMANTHA-JO ROTH, NATIONAL POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON EXAMINER: Thank you so much. Yes, so this is obviously a huge development. Democrats didn't get their two main goals and that was extending the expiring health insurance subsidies and ending those Trump era rescissions. So obviously, they are losers in that particular part of this deal.

And, you know, Progressives who thought that this party was finally holding firm really do see this as pulling back under pressure and that definitely risks deflating energy heading into 2026. Now here is where they did succeed. They were able to put back those health care back at the center of national conversation.

And, you know, as you mentioned earlier, the December vote on those subsidies does guarantee another fight over this issue and Democrats really do believe that they can win on this one. They also believed that, you know, federal employees that were fired during the shutdown, you know, they're going to be able to get that full pay and that was, you know, a huge win for senators like Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia, where they have so many federal workers. So, you know, both sides are just trying to hedge their bets on how -- who's going to come out on top, obviously here.

SANDOVAL: Yes, I was listening to Independent Senator Angus King from Maine saying that they, as a body, were closer to the, as he put it, possibility of working on the ACA. Obviously, there's certainly recipients of that that are left with some doubts, especially when they hear that.

I'm wondering if you could just give a -- what your reporting shows on the timing all of this. I mean, how soon, based on what you've seen thus far, how soon could we see the government reopen? And what needs to happen before we get to that point?

ROTH: Well, as we know, you know, the Senate is going to have to vote tomorrow. You know, they could do this relatively quickly or they could do it slowly if somebody like Senator Rand Paul decides to hold up this process. Then they're going to boot it over to the House of Representatives.

And as we know, all of these folks are now rushing back to Washington, D.C. And they're, you know, many of them are going to be facing the same very problems that are now rushing back to Washington, D.C. And they're, you know, many of them are going to be facing the same very problems that many Americans are dealing with. And that is the airports.

[23:40:12]

They're going to be dealing with major delays. And, you know, I really do believe that this is one of the major issues that caused a lot of these Democrats to come to the table. I -- over the last couple of days, I've been reporting on the FAA, these air traffic controllers, telling me that the cuts at the airports were not actually making a huge difference for them, telling me that they're dealing with 25 aircraft in one hour. They're not getting any breaks.

And then on top of that, you have, you know, some of these air traffic controllers who simply cannot afford to continue working and, you know, unfortunately, had to leave and do other second jobs. So I truly believe that is going to make a lot of this very complicated over the next couple of days. So we're going to have to watch and see how exactly that's all going to play out.

SANDOVAL: Because you've covered this very deeply, I'm wondering if you could just offer a sort of a reality check. I heard from Sean Duffy earlier this morning in his interview to say that, you know, even when they flip the government switch where it opens again, there's still the potential for residual impact because there's so many air traffic controllers who have essentially retired early in some cases.

So I'm wondering if you could just tell us exactly what challenges should Americans who are perhaps planning Thanksgiving travel, can they expect if they plan to take to the skies, even in a government that's open again?

ROTH: Absolutely. This crisis is going to be felt, you know, even when the government reopens. TSA -- or FAA rather, was dealing with a major crisis with staffing. And a lot of that was really, you know, put into the spotlight after the DCA crash in January.

It was very clear that there were not enough air traffic controllers. These people are overworked. Many of them tell me that they are underpaid. You know, this is not an issue that is going to be resolved overnight. Of course, Secretary Duffy has really led the charge in trying to, you know, do these hiring surges.

But you have to remember that it takes a really long time for a lot of the people who are trainees to actually make their way to being fully certified air traffic controllers. So even if there is a surge, you know, at the level there is right now, it's going to take a while. So, you know, Americans are going to have to really be patient as they're waiting. If you're waiting on the tarmac, just know a lot of it is going to have to do with you being safe.

You know, and unfortunately, I'm hearing from a lot of people who are air traffic controllers that they are, you know, worried that this is going to hurt them with recruitment. Nobody wants to go into a job where they're going to be working six-hour -- six -- rather six-day weeks, 10 to 12-hour days and not be paid, that a shutdown could happen at any time and this might happen again. So, you know, this certainly may have implications moving into the future.

SANDOVAL: And then finally, you know, in your reporting, what do you -- what kind of questions do you expect to have for lawmakers, especially some of those Democrats that cross party lines and that Independent? You know, they certainly -- when we heard from them after their vote, they certainly painted it in a way that perhaps some of their constituents won't see it, that they might see it as caving in.

ROTH: Yes, I think that's certainly something that they're going to have to, you know, be ready to answer over the next couple of days and weeks, whether, you know, this was caving. As we heard from those Democratic senators earlier tonight, you know, they believe that this was a win, that they were, you know, no people were no longer, you know, suffering if once the government is opening, that they were getting phone calls, they were getting, you know, emails from distressed constituents.

So they believe in their minds that this is a win. But the big question for them is, you know, with this healthcare subsidy fight, you know, is this the fight that they're going to want to carry into 2026? We saw healthcare take a huge focus during the last couple of election cycles. So they're going to have to figure out whether that's a winning message for them.

You know, the ACA subsidy fight is something that they're also going to be really using. And Republicans too, are going to have to figure out how they're going to message on this. We know that the ACA subsidies seem to be very popular with voters.

So, you know, what's going to happen next, nobody knows, but you know, all eyes are going to be on that vote in December, I can tell you that.

SANDOVAL: One thing is for certain, healthcare will be a theme that will dominate midterm election ads for sure. And we know that you will be watching that closely.

Samantha-Jo Roth, thank you so much for sharing your reporting with us tonight.

ROTH: Thank you.

SANDOVAL: Of course.

[23:45:02]

And we're going to have much, much more of our breaking news out of Washington as the longest government shutdown in U.S. history could be coming to an end. Stay with us.

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SANDOVAL: Welcome back. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York.

We have been bringing you breaking news coverage from the U.S. Senate. Lawmakers there have passed a procedural measure to break a Democratic filibuster on government funding legislation. This took place in a rare late-night voting session.

[23:50:04]

And the reason why this is so important is because it's a key step toward ending the U.S. government's longest ever shutdown. It comes after eight Democrats voted with Senate Republican leaders to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on health care subsidies. However, the deal still faces many hurdles. So we're going to be watching that closely.

Another story that we're closely following, the world's biggest climate summit, it is happening right now in Brazil. Politicians, scientists and diplomats are gathered at COP-30 to talk about ways to minimize a worsening environmental crisis. Among those not in attendance, members of the Trump administration. The U.S. President has repeatedly called climate change and the science behind it, quote, "the greatest con job."

CNN's Bill Weir looks at what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Ten years ago, humanity was burning so much fossil fuel that Earth was on track to overheat by a catastrophic 4 degrees Celsius by century's end.

But then came Paris, when nearly 200 nations agreed to wean themselves off of oil, gas and coal, protect more nature and hold the global warming line at 1.5. The Paris Accords led to innovation and market forces that now make sun, wind and storage cheaper and more popular than ever.

But humanity is still burning way too much carbon. And the U.N. announced this week that Earth will likely overshoot 1.5 on the way to around 2.6, which would still mean the end of coral reefs and mountain glaciers, coastal cities and island nations as we know them. So going into history's 30th conference on climate change in Brazil, the stakes could not be higher.

WEIR: And then at this pivotal moment comes a second coming of Donald Trump, who is actively trying to force all of these countries to go backwards on climate. And then Bill Gates drops a 5,000-word memo in which he argues that less money should go towards the climate buckets and a lot more should be poured into solving global poverty and global health.

But Katharine Hayhoe, climate scientist at Texas Tech, argues climate is not a bucket. Climate is the hole in every other bucket. The hole that makes solving these problems that much harder and more expensive.

KATHARINE HAYHOE, CHIEF SCIENTIST, THE NATURE CONSERVANCY: And that hole is getting bigger and bigger, the more carbon emissions we produce. And if we don't patch that hole, we are never going to be able to address any of the other issues he cares about. His premise that climate change is just a separate bucket at the end is profoundly flawed.

WEIR (voice-over): She is among the chorus of top climate scientists who spent the week trying to debunk the billionaire's confusing new message, that rich cities will be immune from the worst effects and that technology can save us.

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Those coal mines are opening up one after another, clean, beautiful coal.

WEIR (voice-over): Even if Republicans refuse to even try.

ZEKE HAUSFATHER, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, BERKELEY EARTH: Technology doesn't descend from the heavens on magical stone tablets. It comes from decades of important R&D work, most of which is funded by governments and deployment work, which is funded by governments like tax credits for clean energy. And so, this idea that we can somehow rely on technology to save us independent of policy, independent of what we actually do to get that technology out there, I think is worrying.

DANIEL SWAIN, CLIMATE SCIENTIST, UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA: They had just fired their entire climate team at CBS. I was literally reading this instead of going to do that interview. At the same time, there was a torrential downpour. Multiple people drowned in New York City.

And in the interviews that Bill Gates has given in response to the criticisms, specifically pointed out it's -- that it was ridiculous to think that New York City was going to have problems with climate change. I was reading this as people were actively underwater in their basement apartments in New York City last week. So the rhetoric just isn't matching the real world here.

WEIR (voice-over): Meanwhile, former Biden climate czar Gina McCarthy is in Brazil, along with a group that includes California Governor Gavin Newsom and others, who will try to convince the world that blue states and big cities are still in the fight with pledges to keep.

GINA MCCARTHY, FORMER EPA ADMINISTRATOR: This is a difficult time, Bill, that you know, and I've never been at a time when I felt that the federal government was as much out of the loop as this federal government is. But that can't be what we focus on.

We have a chance to go to Belem and let people know that America is all in. There are solutions. There are opportunities. There is hope in the United States.

HAYHOE: We also see that businesses, organizations, nonprofits, churches, tribal nations, universities, all kinds of different entities are taking climate action. So when Gina is going to Brazil to tell people that people in America, organizations in America are still acting, she's right.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[23:55:11]

SANDOVAL: And we want to close tonight memorializing NBA Legend and Hall of Famer Lenny Wilkens. He died at the age of 88. Wilkens was a nine-time all-star and three-time inductee into the basketball hall of fame as a player, coach, and he was also part of the 1992 U.S. Olympic Dream Team.

He led the Seattle Supersonics to their only NBA championship title in 1979. He was long celebrated as the godfather of Seattle basketball. He retired in 2005. He was also one of the coaches in the NBA that had the most wins.

And with that, we do want to thank you so much for joining us here on CNN. I'm Polo Sandoval in New York. I'll be right back with you with much more of the breaking news coming out of Washington with a significant step towards ending this historic government shutdown. We'll take you to Washington in just a few moments.

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