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John Pistole is Interviewed about Air Traffic Reductions; Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) is Interviewed about Anti-Semitism; Defining NYC's Mayor-Elect; Greene Distances Herself from QAnon. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 06, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

[06:30:00]

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Food stamps, EBT and (INAUDIBLE). We need things like this. We've got kids to feed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You see what's happening in D.C. I don't believe that they're going to solve problems on the SNAP anytime soon.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Detroit's mayor giving a helping hand to people who didn't get their SNAP benefits this month, as the USDA releases an updated plan on when food stamps could go out.

Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. And I want to thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

It's half past the hour. And here is what is happening right now.

The Department of Agriculture revising just how much people on SNAP will get this month. In a new court filing, the department said it would only reduce food stamps by 35 percent instead of the original 50 percent. It's still unclear when those could even go out. And some states say they could get theirs by next week. Others say it could take longer.

Mexico's president, Claudia Sheinbaum, is pressing charges against a man she says groped her. Sheinbaum said the man was drunk. We want to warn that video of this incident is here and it's disturbing. And this is the moment that the man broke through the crowd, groped the president, and tried to kiss her. The suspect has been arrested.

Today, a federal judge in Chicago could extend restrictions on federal agents over use of force. This comes after videos online showed elderly protesters pushed to the ground, a pastor pepper sprayed, and members of the media arrested. Yesterday, protesters testified that the agents were violating their constitutional rights with these forceful tactics.

And at least 40 of the nation's busiest airports are about to have 10 percent of their flights cut on Friday, as the longest government shutdown in history drags on. That means thousands of flights canceled and long airport delays just ahead of the busy holiday travel season. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYAN BEDFORD, FAA ADMINISTRATOR: When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can't ignore it, you know? And we're not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent, you know, things from deteriorating.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Air traffic controller shortages are already causing significant flight delays nationwide. Travel chaos during the holidays, frankly, appears inevitable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DARRELL ENGLISH, PRESIDENT, AFGE LOCAL 777: Even if you bring back the -- open the budget up now to -- and say it's open up again, they still don't have any money yet. So, they have to wait another two weeks, or whatever it is, to get paid. So, if you wait till the last minute and open it up, you're still having that problem running right into the holiday because they don't have that money, that cash on hand, to be able to make it back and forth to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Former TSA administrator John Pistole joins me now.

Good morning. Thank you for being with us.

JOHN PISTOLE, FORMER TSA SPECIAL AGENT: Good morning, Cora (ph). Audie.

CORNISH: So, tell me a little bit about what this shutdown could actually mean for air travelers, because, frankly, I didn't know the government ever did this outside of big, like, weather problems.

PISTOLE: Right, Audie. So, part of the challenge, obviously, for the air traffic controllers and the TSA frontline workforce that the travelers -- 2 million plus travelers encounter every day are not being paid for a record, as you mentioned, going on 36, 37 days. And so people who need that income are sometimes looking for other ways to supplement so they can pay their child care or buy their groceries, whatever it may be. And so, what's happening with Secretary Duffy at the Department of Transportation, which, of course, oversees the FAA, is announcing this reduction of 10 percent in terms of the air traffic that will be allowed to take off every day, land. And so that's clearly meaning a significant impact, especially when you're talking about the 40 largest airports in the country. So, given that, there still may be TSA workers who are on the job, and, of course, they will be, even though they're not getting paid, but there may be few of them --

CORNISH: Yes. And you've called it a prudent move. I'm sort of curious about this. Because is it a prudent move because we are at the point now where the system is vulnerable when it comes to safety? PISTOLE: Well, yes, I think that's a good point, Audie, because at

some point -- you think of FAA and TSA being the safety and security, the two wings of a plane, if you will, that without both wings working well, then there are safety and security issues. And so, this move, I think, is prudent because it's recognizing that there are vulnerabilities, not from terrorist attack per se, but from simple safety issues which are -- can be catastrophic. Obviously, as we saw, unfortunately, with that UPS flight in Louisville, for whatever reasons. And so, I think it is a prudent move, and it's probably a political move, to try to strongly encourage lawmakers to find some type of resolution so you don't have a 10 percent reduction, which would affect over a quarter of a million people a day until this is all resolved.

[06:35:09]

CORNISH: A quarter million people a day.

Meanwhile, I want to play for you the president of the Air Traffic Controllers Union. He's talking about what his workers are facing as people are hearing reports of them, you know, maybe calling in sick, that sort of thing.

Here's what he has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

NICK DANIELS, PRESIDENT, AIR TRAFFIC CONTROLLERS UNION: Air traffic controllers are showing up to work every day to deal with issues that we've never seen before. A 36-day shutdown. The stresses, the pressure, the fatigue is setting in. Air traffic controllers are texting, I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Secretary Duffy has suggested that this is going to somehow ease the burden on those unpaid federal workers, but it feels like that's revenue, right? Every plane that lands is revenue. So, help me understand the math here. How is this helpful for the workers?

PISTOLE: Yes, I think there's a dynamic tension at play here, Audie, that -- in terms of how -- how that -- there's -- I don't see the direct correlation that the secretary is referring to. But it means if there are morale issues, which, of course there would be in any workforce if you're required to work but you're not being paid. And so, how does that help in that regard? And, obviously, the traveling public, the last thing they want is a distracted safety or security government process, either with FAA or TSA, to ensure that they can get to their destination safely and securely.

CORNISH: I want to ask you about just the stress of all of this, because it feels like, especially if you're an air traffic controller, but to some extent TSA, you've already been hearing about the government shutdown, about DOGE. You've had a government that says DEI is a problem. And now you're going through kind of a gutting of your finances in real time.

Is this going to have lasting effects on the system?

PISTOLE: I think that's an intriguing question, Audie, and I think it's something that we'll have to wait and see with these significant reductions already. And then people who are looking for other work now, because they're not sure whether they're going to get paid again. And what happens if this happens again next year if the Congress and the administration can't reach an agreement on a budget? And so I think it will cause some long term impact. And how attractive are those jobs to future prospects to say, well, maybe you'll get paid, maybe you won't, oh, but you'll have to work. We expect you to show up because if you don't show up we'll fire you. So, it's just a terrible situation for the frontline workforce, who, again, are responsible for the safety and security of the traveling public every day, over 425 airports in the U.S., take off, landings. It's just -- it's, I would say, unacceptable. So.

CORNISH: John Pistole, thanks so much for speaking with us.

PISTOLE: Thank you, Audie.

CORNISH: And meanwhile, if you missed any of this conversation, if you ever miss an episode later in the day, know that we're a podcast. Just scan the QR code down here. It's where you find it. CNN THIS MORNING is available anywhere where you get your podcasts.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, MAGA infighting. Is a new GOP civil war brewing.

Plus --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Their party installed a communist as the mayor.

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): He is truly a committed Marxist.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: His opponents try to define him as Zohran Mamdani gets ready to govern.

And breaking ranks. What's really behind the Marjorie Taylor Greene rebrand.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:42:45]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. RANDY FINE (R-FL): Tucker Carlson is the most dangerous anti- Semite in America. He has chosen -- he has chosen to take in all -- take on the mantle of leader of a modern day Hitler youth. (END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Congressman Randy Fine weighing in on what has rapidly turned into a MAGA civil war as they wrestle over anti-Semitism in their party.

Here's how Ben Shapiro describes it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEN SHAPIRO, HOST, "THE BEN SHAPIRO SHOW": That topic is the fragmentation of the political right. That fragmentation is being caused purposefully by a splinter faction of people led by a young man named Nick Fuentes. They call themselves the Groypers. They are white supremacists. They hate women, Jews, Hindus, many types of Christians, brown people of a wide variety of backgrounds, blacks, America's foreign policy, and America's Constitution. They admire Hitler and Stalin. And that splinter faction is now being facilitated and normalized within the mainstream Republican Party. The main agent in that normalization is Tucker Carlson, who is an intellectual coward, a dishonest interlocutor, and a terrible friend.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, this all started when Tucker Carlson hosted Nick Fuentes, an avowed white nationalist, for a friendly interview on the podcast. Fuentes, as I said, he's not just a white nationalist, he's an anti- Semite. He's a Holocaust denier. And this interview now has more than 5.5 million views on YouTube.

The conflict grew more tense when the conservative Heritage Foundation weighed in.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN ROBERTS, PRESIDENT, HERITAGE FOUNDATION: We will always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else's agenda. That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and as I have said before, always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation. The venomous coalition attacking him are sowing division.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: CNN has new reporting this morning that Heritage Foundation Kevin Roberts has now actually apologized to staffers for his handling of this controversy. And he told them, quote, "I made a mistake, and I let you down, and I let down the institution, and I'm sorry, full stop." He also says he has "no intention of resigning."

So, joining me now, Congressman Randy Fine of Florida to help us make sense of this.

I know you actually canceled an event with the Heritage Foundation over their support, those comments we heard earlier.

[06:45:04] But here's the thing. You had those leaked messages from national young republican leaders saying, I love Hitler, joking about atrocities. The -- I remember the appointee, was it Paul Ingrassia, had to withdraw after his own scandal, where he bragged about having a Nazi streak. Is Tucker the problem or is this systemic through the Republican Party?

REP. RANDY FINE (R-FL): Well, no.

Thanks for having me this morning.

It's not systemic, but we are having a fight that the Democrats refused to have a few years ago when anti-Semitism crept into their party and they refused to do anything about it, and look what they have become. What we have is issues in our party. It's a minority, but it's a loud minority. And it is a growing minority. And the question people like me have to face --

CORNISH: Congressman, can I stop you here for a second.

FINE: Sure. Yes.

CORNISH: Because you have spoken so strongly on this. And, honestly, it sounds like you're minimizing it when you say it this way.

FINE: Oh, no. No, no.

CORNISH: I mean, obviously, I understand what people have said about Democrats, especially in the light of the attack in Gaza on Israel. But this is so specific. These are the most high-profile voices on the right.

FINE: No, I don't want to minimize it because it is a big deal. And Tucker Carlson has a huge platform. He was the dominant conservative voice for many years. I'm not minimizing it. But, for example, I serve with 219 Republicans in the Florida house. Only two of them are anti- Semites. So, it is small, but it is growing. That is the threat, not what it is today, but what it could be if we don't do something about it.

So, do not say that I am minimizing the problem. I don't want to end up where the Democrats are. And that's where we will end up if we don't do something about it. So, I am not minimizing the problem, I just don't think it is the overwhelming majority.

And that's why the Heritage Foundation's decision was such a big deal, because they're one of the linchpins of the conservative movement. And for them to take the position that they did was so shocking it showed the advance of this horrible ideology.

CORNISH: Yes.

I think the other area where this has surfaced has been in the fallout, in the aftermath of the legacy of the death of Charlie Kirk. Instead of a kind of mass mourning, there has been widespread conspiracy mongering about Israel. I believe the -- Benjamin Netanyahu had to answer to. Carlson is also a part of this. And yet we don't hear national leaders like, say, a J.D. Vance, who has sat in Kirk's chair, refuting this.

FINE: Well, I think part of it is because the allegations are so insane. I mean, the notion that anyone other than this crazy guy killed Charlie Kirk is lunacy.

But again, you make the point, there is this small, growing, loud and often young part of the MAGA movement that has decided to adopt this.

Now, I reject that they're part of MAGA because so many of the things, for example, Tucker Carlson is doing, he's disagreeing with everything President Trump is doing these days. Whether it's Venezuela or Russia or China, he's saying President Trump is wrong on everything. But they are becoming louder. And if we want to end up like the Democrats, we won't say anything. That's why I've leaned into the fight, and I'm going to continue to do it.

CORNISH: What do you make of the youth that have embraced this? When you heard Ben Shapiro talking about this online movement called the Groypers, these are people who are also showing up at Turning Point USA events. They are -- in fact, one of them posed a question to the president. So, they are very much part of, when you say it's small, it's small, but it's in the pipeline.

FINE: Yes. No, and so I'll tell you why. First, they're impressionable. Second, much of the content that has been pushed on them through vehicles like TikTok, which is controlled by a foreign country, has made them anti-Semitic. I mean we have seen that in terms of the content and the algorithms that are out there. And then when widely respected conservative thought leaders like Tucker Carlson go insane, because that's what he has become, people start to believe it. And that's why it's incumbent on people like me and my colleagues to stand up and speak out about it. This is a real problem, and the problem will get worse if we don't stand up and fight back.

CORNISH: Should the White House say something?

FINE: Well, look, the president says things all the time. I mean American Jews have never had a greater friend than the president. And he says things all the time. And where he stands on these issues, it's not in dispute.

CORNISH: I only raise it because he's actually dined with Fuentes, right? So, it's not a random question. It's very specific because this name has come up before.

FINE: Yes, but the -- sure. And, look, when that happened, the president didn't know who he was and who he was eating with. Frankly, back at that time. I'll tell you, I work on this issue every day, and I'd never heard of Nick Fuentes. I, unfortunately, have now. And so, this is a guy who's profile has exploded as he's embraced this hatred of Jews and American values.

[06:50:07] CORNISH: I have to ask one question. It's a criticism that I hear from Democrats, which goes something like this. You know, someone like you, who has made comments that have been considered anti-Muslim, Islamophobic, against LGBTQ communities, they will say, bigotry begets bigotry. And that once you open the door to a certain kind of comment and rhetoric, others come in, like anti-Semitism. What's your response to that?

FINE: Well, I reject the premise of the question. I don't make comments that are anti anyone. I make comments that are factual. And so, for example, on the Islamophobia comment, I've made statements which are true, that it is rational to fear Islam given the number of terrorist attacks that have happened. That's not -- that's not racist rhetoric. Those are just factual statements. And the fact that I've said in the past that children should not have surgeries that mutilate their bodies does not mean that I'm LGBT negative. I mean, so I make statements of fact. And I think it's important that I call out evil wherever I happen to see it.

CORNISH: What we hear in the response from someone like Tucker Carlson, and actually I can play that for you as well, it has a similar kind of logic to it. Here -- here is that one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TUCKER CARLSON, MEDIA PERSONALITY: What happens after Trump goes? And that's what this is about. That's why they're investing the energy in this. That's what the rage is about because they don't want to lose control of foreign policy. I just can't say that enough, it's about foreign policy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I hear this all the time. He says that his issue with Israel is a factual, foreign policy, valid argument to make. Again, I'm raising this because of what you -- you have just said, right? Is that -- does that logic work here?

FINE: No. And let me address the comment. The reason I speak out is not because of Israel. It's because about the safety to American Jews. American Jews. Not Israeli Jews. American Jews who are facing anti- Semitic attacks in their own country. So, the notion that being worried about anti-Semitism only means you're worried about Israel, it's not only a lie, it feeds the underlying issue of anti-Semitism. The night after Mamdani was elected, people woke up to swastikas being spray painted on Jewish institutions in New York. If I'm upset about that, that has nothing to do with Israel. That has to do with what happens to Jewish Americans right here in our own country.

CORNISH: What do you plan to do now? I mean how do you have this conversation going forward?

FINE: Well, I appreciate the opportunity to speak about it here. We ended our relationship with Heritage. We're working with many Jewish groups that have ended their relationship with Heritage. And, really, I have to do, is talk to my colleagues, because the biggest issue we have with Tucker Carlson is people remember the Tucker Carlson of five years ago. That's what makes him so dangerous. He's trading on a brand as the leader of conservative thought, when he was just a conservative guy, but not a lunatic. And so, it's incumbent on me to make people understand, he's not the same guy that you remember from being on Fox News. And I'll continue to speak out to my colleagues, to conservative groups and to say to American Jews, you have a warrior that's going to fight for you to make sure you're safe in your own country.

CORNISH: OK. That's Congressman Randy Fine of Florida.

Thank you for being with us.

FINE: Thanks for having me.

CORNISH: Now, in the meantime, in New York, Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani firm and his goals for the city. He's getting ready, starting to take over. Mamdani is actually putting together an all-female transition team for when he takes office in January.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK MAYOR-ELECT: We will form an administration that is in equal parts capable and compassionate, driven by integrity and willing to work just as hard as the millions of New Yorkers who call this city home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, he's the city's first Muslim mayor, the youngest in more than a decade. He's defined himself as a Democratic socialist. And while other leaders want to define him, some are trying to avoid talking about him altogether.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA): Zohran Mamdani is without a doubt the biggest win for socialism in the history of the country. And it is the biggest loss for the American people. He is truly a committed Marxist. And the results of that race tell you everything you need to know about where the Democrats in their party are headed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, the group chat is back.

You guys, I'm happy to talk about this or even what we heard earlier with the congressman. They're somewhat related given the concerns that American Jews in New York had about the election of Mamdani. And in some ways I think Republicans, I don't know, Zach, if you've sensed this, it's hard to talk about when you have this very public conversation spilling into view before the voters.

ZACHARY WOLF, CNN SENIOR POLITICS WRITER: Yes, it is hard to talk about. And it strikes me that, you know, we're having the same conversation, really, in both parties at the same time but, you know, kind of on different tracks. [06:55:09]

Democrats have been talking about anti-Semitism in their party. Now Republicans are talking about it. So, it's a problem across the country. And I think that's what everybody needs to realize here, you know?

But with Mamdani, you know, you're going to start to hear his name all the time from Republicans. That name -- it's -- he will replace Pelosi, I think, as the person that they talk about more than anybody else. It's -- it's a -- get ready for that, just because of the socialism issue. So, it's like -- there's the -- you know, he's a Muslim and a Democratic socialist. It's like central casting for, you know, who Republicans will target.

CORNISH: Mike.

MIKE DUBKE, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR: I love the fact that folks think that we have this cabal of central casting where we try to pick these Democrats out that we talk about. But you're absolutely correct. But we're going to be talking about his programs. I mean he wants government grocery stores and other things in New York City. We'll see if he's able to govern through that.

But as -- if you take his programs and you look at whether or not it's a great juxtaposition to conservative values and conservative economic programs, I absolutely will be talking about Mamdani going forward.

So, I don't -- I don't disagree with you. I -- the Democrats though, you know, look, they've got the same, I don't want to call it civil war, but they've got the same issues as Republicans, as we're looking at -- as we're getting through, you know, understanding what it means to be a Democrat, what it means to be a Republican now.

CORNISH: OK. Somewhat related, Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene is going through this, I don't know, nothing short of a rebrand. She's criticizing her party over the shutdown. And then she said this on "The View."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Would you say you don't believe in the QAnon conspiracies anymore?

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Oh, I went over that a long time ago. I mean we can --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, you've changed?

GREENE: Well, no, I haven't changed. I was a victim, just like you were, of media lies and stuff you read on social media. You all have attacked me many times on this show because --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We have.

GREENE: Because of things that you read about me that weren't true. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Or clips we've seen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: OK, group chat is back.

I had to play this for you. As soon as I heard her say, a victim. Just because that is not how I think of this person.

Meghan, what were your thoughts watching her go before this particular audience and really try to reshape how people see her?

MEGHAN HAYS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Look, I think it's extremely smart politically for her. I think she was shut down in running for Senate. And so I think it's smart for her to get out there and have a more national profile. She has taken a stance on two things that are extremely important to the American people, and that's the government shutdown and fixing the health care subsidies. And also the Epstein files.

So, I do think that she has -- is making her own way. She is not disparaging the president in "The View" interview. She actually said, you know, I love the president. But I also give it to "The View" for bringing a Republican on. I know that they were getting some flak for only having left leaning voices on.

So, you know, people watch these shows. It is important for everyone to be out there. I don't necessarily -- I do not think she is a victim of media lies or critics, but I think that people should evolve. And she's evolving in her views, and I appreciate that.

CORNISH: OK, your fellow Democrat, Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio- Cortez, thinks there's something more going on. The tea, as she calls it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. ALEXANDRIA OCASIO-CORTEZ (D-NY): The White House and Trump land shut down Marjorie Taylor Greene's personal ambitions to run for Senate. And she has been on a revenge tour ever since. And so all of this stuff that you're like, oh, my God, like, it is all personally motivated.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: I'm not going to lie, I have heard this as well.

Mike, you're shaking your head.

DUBKE: Well, I just think it's funny that AOC thinks that politics isn't personal. I mean, of course it is. She's a living example of this.

CORNISH: Yes, but this is interesting, thwarted ambition, right? And it's not just her. It's also another one. The New York lawmaker who was supposed to be at the U.N. There is this kind of conversation going on in the Republican Party.

DUBKE: Look, we want -- we want our politicians to grow and to change their positions. And then we have this argument, oh my gosh, they changed their mind on something. They've lost their way. Or they're on a revenge tour. I just find it rich that that's -- we have to keep defining things like this.

I'm not a big fan of Marjorie Taylor Greene. But on the other hand, she has every right to change her mind when she -- when she's facing these public policy issues.

CORNISH: Yes. And someone who also, I remember at one point, someone raised the anti-Semitism issue with her as well. It's something she has denied. And so, to your point, yes, I do hope there is a path for people to change and that we allow for that in politics.

I want to thank you guys for waking up with me being in this little "Hollywood Squares." Appreciate you.

[07:00:04]

I want to thank you for waking up with us. I'm Audie Cornish. We've got the headlines, next.