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Now: Hundreds Of Flights Already Canceled At U.S. Airports; Bloomberg: Shutdown Costs U.S. Economy $15B Weekly; NPR: DOJ Firings Hit Judges With Immigration Defense Backgrounds; Rep. Pelosi Announces She Will Not Run For Reelection. Aired 6:30-7a ET

Aired November 07, 2025 - 06:30   ET

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

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[06:33:24]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everybody. I'm Audie Cornish. Thank you for joining me on CNN THIS MORNING.

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

Multiple people sent to the hospital after a suspicious package was delivered to the Joint Base Andrews, the military base where President Trump flies in and out. Two sources telling CNN the package contained an unknown white substance.

The U.S. military has conducted another strike on an alleged drug boat. Three people were killed, bringing the total number of deaths to 70. Since the Trump administration began these strikes, Secretary Pete Hegseth said it will keep coming, writing, quote, if you keep trafficking deadly drugs, we will kill you.

And hundreds of flights now being canceled at dozens of airports nationwide. The cuts are part of the FAA's plan to reduce air traffic by up to 10 percent, as the government shutdown drags on.

So, we want to talk about those cuts because they are making travelers anxious at those impacted airports. I'm sure if you're watching this in the airport, I'm sorry to say yes, you're probably wondering if you're going to get to where you need to be.

So, Delta has already canceled about 170 flights. United Airlines cut about 200 trips. American Airlines reduced schedules by around 220 flights. Southwest cut 100.

The Frontier Airlines CEO this advice. If you're flying out, he says, quote, he highly recommends booking a backup ticket on another carrier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think it's ridiculous.

[06:35:00] REPORTER: Would you be open to getting a backup ticket?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You had to have backup money. I don't have that, you know. Yeah. No, I don't know. I don't know how I'm going to get back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Joining us from the busiest airport in the country, CNN's Ivan Rodriguez.

Good morning, Ivan. What's going on there?

IVAN RODRIGUEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Audie, here, if you just came to the world's busiest airport this morning, you really wouldn't think that anything is out of the ordinary. Yes, it's busy, but it's always busy here.

But it's all those underlying themes, right, of travelers stress, flight cancellations, everything else that's going on across the country that when you talk to people here at the airport, you really get a sense of some of the stress that they're going through as well.

And I think it's so interesting. It's definitely got the attention of a lot of people. Frontier Airlines CEO statement about possibly looking to book an extra ticket just for a backup plan, just to be safe. And I think that's an example of what we're all sort of feeling today in terms of that uncertainty.

I will say, though, that Delta, American, United and also Frontier, they will be waiving fees for passengers to either rebook, change a flight, cancel the flight, whatever that may be. A little bit of good news, Audie, is that a lot of these airlines are saying that passengers are already or have already been notified of these flight cancellations prior to them arriving at the airport, and they're saying they don't expect a lot of these passengers to be hit with a surprise cancellation once they're already out and about.

I spoke with a gentleman about 20 minutes ago who's traveling from Atlanta to Boston. Both of those major airports. And on that top 40 list of airports being impacted by those flight cancellations. And he told me that he, yes, was stressed, but he is constantly looking at his airlines app, constantly checking to see the status of his flight, and is hopeful and also thankful that he doesn't have a layover, which is something that those who do have spoken to us about, saying that they are a little skeptical about in terms of possibly that one being delayed or canceled, whatever that may be.

But again, more of this has to do with the fact that the Trump administration says that they are pushing back and canceling these flights, really to make it safe and ensure that everyone is able to fly safely. Starting today, it was 4 percent of cancellations across the country, and that's going to increase by 1 percent every day until we get to that 10 percent number next week.

CORNISH: Okay, that's Ivan Rodriguez at the airport. Thank you. So, at this point, we're talking about the longest shutdown in history

dealing a major blow to the U.S. economy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates between $7 billion and $14 billion will be permanently lost. We could also see a dip in GDP growth by more than a full percentage point for the fourth -- for the fourth quarter of this year. That's according to the investment bank Goldman Sachs, not to mention the economic data blackout, frankly, with no update so far this month on job growth or inflation.

So, it makes it hard to figure out how the economy is actually doing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEROME POWELL, FEDERAL RESERVE CHAIR: I don't think we'll be able to have the very the very the very granular understanding of the economy while this -- while this data is not available. What do you do if you're driving in the fog? You slow down.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: James Atkinson, V.P. of Thought Leadership at SHRM, joins us in the chat.

Welcome.

JAMES ATKINSON, VP OF THOUGHT LEADERSHIP, SHRM: Thank you so much.

CORNISH: So usually, I ask people to help me interpret what the Fed chair has said, but he actually used a pretty good metaphor. And is that correct? Are we now in the dark as the public versus what the government might know about how the shutdown is affecting the economy?

ATKINSON: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, today marks the second consecutive month that we do not have the BLS jobs report. And why that's important. That tends to be that single source of truth that really can move markets and help us understand what is happening --

CORNISH: But I feel like the private sector, I feel like there's a whole finance sector where all they do, because they're playing the markets is have their own numbers. Has that not filled the void from the Bureau of Labor Statistics?

ATKINSON: So, it is filling that void to an extent. And so, we certainly look at other alternative data sources like the ADP national employment report, for example, which came out a couple of days ago. And that can help us to get a sense of what is happening. But again, all of these types of alternative sources really kind of anchor on that BLS jobs report, which we don't have today.

CORNISH: Which also would help counter or bolster what Jonah has now coined as the ground truth.

JONAH GOLDBERG, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I don't think that's original to me.

CORNISH: Oh, really? I was trying to give you some extra credit. GOLDBERG: It's okay.

CORNISH: Well, it's better than alternative facts, I'll tell you that much. It's going to live rent free in my head. That woman saying you got to have backup money for a backup ticket. That sums up this economy.

What are you thinking now? This headline from "Bloomberg": Longest shutdown in history costs U.S. economy $15 billion each week.

[06:40:01]

NOEL KING, CO-HOST & EDITORIAL DIRECTOR, "TODAY, EXPLAINED" PODCAST: So, the economy will bounce back. We know that, right? But here's the problem with the lack of data, the economy -- I covered the economy for a long time.

It is vibes. And everybody always thinks the economy is bad and the counterweight is data from the government saying, hey guys, calm down. The economy is not as bad as you think. Now, we don't have that data and everybody feels like the economy is bad and were stuck at the airport and, and, and -- it's just kind of a mess.

CORNISH: Yeah. And it's not the kind of thing I think the Biden folks learned a long time ago. If you're in a vibe session, data doesn't even solve like once that shifts. I think the thing I'm wrestling with is you have the Trump administration making decisions on its own like this airport issue, or like fighting the SNAP order that are just like firmly in their court. And can you spin those as Democrat problems, Democrat induced problems?

GOLDBERG: Look, I've long argued that we in our business, we talk about the macro economy, but everybody lives in the micro economy. And the reality on the ground, you know, like it's like all this A.I. chatter, right? We don't know what A.I. is going to do, but a lot of people feel like maybe they're going to lose their job.

CORNISH: Yeah.

GOLDBERG: A lot of bosses don't know what's going to happen with tariffs. Right? They don't know what's going to happen with A.I.

And so, there's this -- this general sort of wet blanket of uncertainty that creates more agita, more sort of, like I really shouldn't spend more, I shouldn't -- I shouldn't do this. Maybe I should just hold on to my money. That -- and there's -- that's the slowing down in the fog thing that Chairman Powell is talking about.

CORNISH: We'll take credit for wet blanket, Ashley.

ASHLEY ETIENNE, FORMER COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, VICE PRESIDENT KAMALA HARRIS: I mean, what I'm -- what I'm so struck by is how the president -- I mean, he's -- he's the wild card here. I'm not so sure that he wants to open up the government. I mean, he continues to weaponize this shutdown to his advantage, not just to punish Democrats, but I'm starting to question whether or not he really has it out for the American people.

I mean, look at the economy is already in the tank. And he continues to compound the situation with no, no, sort of leadership coming from the president to say, enough already. We learned the lessons from Tuesday. We need to recalibrate.

I mean, there is no discussion within the Democratic -- I mean, the Republican Party about that. In fact, everybody is double downing. And that's the part that's most scary for me, because the question is you have to start questioning the motivation of the president of the United States.

CORNISH: Well, some of this is compounded by the DOGE cuts right from earlier in the year. And speaking of that, the world's richest man -- well, he's getting richer.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With over 75 percent voting in favor, approved.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Tesla shareholders approved a pay package on Thursday that could make CEO Elon Musk the world's first trillionaire.

If you're having trouble wrapping your head around that, I'm going to help you. So, one box represents $1 billion, 1,000 of those boxes gets you to a trillion.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ELON MUSK, TESLA CEO: First of all, I'd like to just give a heartfelt thanks to everyone who supported the shareholder votes. I super appreciate it. Thank you, everyone.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Noel, I know you used to cover tech. I'm under the impression when I go on tech Twitter, his home, people are like, look, he doesn't get it all at once. He's got to hit these very special benchmarks.

Tell me more like what is known.

KING: The benchmarks are big things, right? So what? The shareholders have said is you must do X before you get that trillion dollars, which will be paid out over the course of a decade.

The benchmarks are not easy. He's got to get 20 million Teslas on the road. He's got to get robots, humanoid robots in our homes, one million of those over the next decade.

Nobody is exactly even really clear where humanoid robots stand. But like, I'm not going to be getting you one for Christmas next year and probably not.

So -- so, they have set real goals for him. And the idea is they believe really seem to believe that Elon Musk can deliver.

CORNISH: Yeah, especially if he doesn't go jaunting off into politics. You think that's it?

KING: Yeah.

CORNISH: They're trying to say --

KING: They're trying to keep him stable. They're like, focus, buddy, focus.

CORNISH: All right. I want to share with you guys what you can buy with $1 trillion because frankly, I'm obsessed. One of the things is 1,400 or so Shohei Ohtani contracts, 333 super tall skyscrapers, 465 icon of the seas. Oh, Switzerland, Switzerland, and then 8.2 billion 12 packs of -- I don't even know what that means. You can get all the Cokes and the entire Coca-Cola company.

GOLDBERG: You definitely of all those you want. Switzerland, you know, that's a no brainer.

CORNISH: That's the only sort of. Yeah, low stress. One.

This -- I would go as far as to say he's kind of an icon of this administration. He is a symbol of the relationship with billionaires. Am I making that up? You're from the financial sector, right? He's -- he means something to Americans now in the context of Trump.

[06:45:05]

ATKINSON: Yeah. No, I definitely think that's true. He is associated with the layoffs that we've seen with the federal government. And again, I think this is playing out in the backdrop of the shutdown itself where we're seeing, you know, up to one in three federal workers that are furloughed on any given day and so, you're seeing that juxtaposition of -- of these two things happening in real time.

CORNISH: Yeah, I feel like there's an uncle on a porch somewhere saying, the rich get richer, you know, and like, leaning.

GOLDBERG: Back, I mean, look back in the before times when earth logic applied.

CORNISH: Do you mean 2024 or what are we -- how far back?

GOLDBERG: 2014.

CORNISH: Got it.

GOLDBERG: During a government shutdown the week you're reducing everyone, getting rid of everyone's SNAP benefits, you wouldn't throw a Great Gatsby party at Mar-a-Lago, and you wouldn't want to talk about a close White House ally becoming the first trillionaire, even though he's not anywhere close to getting there yet. These are --

ETIENNE: People are in lines at food banks, like --

GOLDBERG: Why are people standing in line at airports looking at the in-house TV and like, but there's a problem with the strange world that were in now and that the messaging, it's sort of like losing the BLS reports. The logic of what -- how the messaging is supposed to play out in polls. It's hard to see into it.

CORNISH: Well, it's not hard to see. I mean, I would wager if you have someone like Billie Eilish going in front of a bunch of billionaires and saying, why are you even billionaires? And you have a lot of Gen Z saying that they are against billionaires? It feels like, why is everyone so shocked that you would then elect like a socialist in New York, like the sentiment seems pretty but obvious.

GOLDBERG: But there's another segment of American life that loves Elon Musk that buys his products precisely because he's Elon Musk. And so, if all you're doing is like the drunk looking for his car keys under the streetlight because that's where the light is good. If you're looking at the people who love Zohran Mamdani, of course, they don't like --

CORNISH: People are in these food bank lines while he's dancing on stage. Like, I don't --

KING: Americans always think they'll get there. That is -- it's a great American trait. We always think we will be rich someday. And that is what keeps a lot of people.

ETIENNE: You can see in the polls. Even in Virginia before the election, where people were saying that they think that the economy is only going to get worse, that they're tightening their pocketbooks right now because they anticipate, I don't know that American people any longer, maybe pre-2014, to your point, I don't know that they buy into that notion anymore or believe that that's even possible for them, especially when you see someone you know at a trillionaire and you've got a president who's living in a billionaire bubble and living out of reality.

CORNISH: Okay, you guys, stay with us. James, thank you for jumping into the chat. You can see we got a lot of energy.

ATKINSON: Absolutely.

CORNISH: If you want to catch any of James' comments or any of the conversation you missed earlier, know that were a podcast and you can catch up during the day. Scan this QR code now to find it. CNN THIS MORNING is available anywhere you get your podcasts.

And next on CNN THIS MORNING, the DOJ firing judges, and they all have a similar background. We're going to dig into that when we lawyer up next.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): I will praise Nancy Pelosi. She had an incredible career for her party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Even her biggest political rivals are praising Nancy Pelosi as she announces her long career in Congress is coming to an end.

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[06:52:33]

CORNISH: So, is the Justice Department firing judges with immigration, defense backgrounds? That's the question at the center of a new NPR report.

It found that judges with backgrounds defending immigrants and no prior work history at DHS made up 44 percent of recent firings at the DOJ. And the firings come at a time when there's also a huge backlog of immigration cases. We're talking in the millions.

So, time to lawyer up with CNN legal analyst Elliot Williams.

Elliot, tell me a little bit more about this, because I would think you want these immigration defense folks there just to get these courts moving faster.

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. I mean, absolutely. Now, step back. What are immigration judges? They are actually employees of the Justice Department. They're not what we think of when we think of judges. They're the people that adjudicate immigration cases. Every individual, quite frankly, who comes for asylum, but also people who are unlawfully present in the country, go before an immigration judge -- this arm of the Justice Department.

Well, if it's an arm of the Justice Department, they can also fire people who are doing the role. And pursuant to the broader push that you're seeing within the Justice Department, they're aggressively firing a number of folks.

You know, what I would say is that --

CORNISH: Doing -- using administrative power for policy, if you don't want the immigration system to really move, then this is a good way to further sort of gum up the works.

WILLIAMS: Yeah. And here's a hot take, I would actually say, and I helped screen immigration judges in my final stint at the Justice Department. If you want people to get out of the country faster, which I think is the push of this administration, you actually want more immigration judges because you can get more people through the system.

It's this idea that these immigration judges are all woke immigration activists, and that therefore they're slowing things down. If you want people to get hearings, open question, but if you wish for people to have hearings and get them out, then yes, get more judges, hire them up and that's what they should be doing. CORNISH: Okay. Here's one that I sent you. I think we were texting a

bit. This Spotify class action lawsuit. It involved major record labels, companies and musicians, which on its surface, the headlines are sort of funny. It was like they're recommending too much Drake.

WILLIAMS: Yes.

CORNISH: But what actually was the issue?

WILLIAMS: And one can never recommend too much Drake.

CORNISH: I mean, we can debate that after the show.

WILLIAMS: We can say that after the show.

CORNISH: Yeah.

WILLIAMS: But, you know, Freud would actually say that sometimes a lawsuit against a music company is not just a lawsuit against the music company. But I think he would -- I think he would if he were here today, Sigmund Freud, forget cigars. And the point is, this is actually a lawsuit about our relationship to algorithms as a people.

[06:55:00]

And Spotify claims -- at least -- and this is pursuant to this class action lawsuit, Spotify claims that we recommend music for you based on your tastes. Well, they also recommend music to you based on which record company can pay more and who can actually swallow the most hits. And if you look at --

CORNISH: Yeah. So, in the filing, it says the company represented that this deejay would constantly refresh its lineup, quote, based on your feedback. And the more you listen and tell the deejay what you like, but the better the recommendation gets. Spotify summed it up as the very best of Spotify's personalization, but as an A.I. deejay in your pocket.

So, many words there. What are they really trying to say is happening?

WILLIAMS: Yeah, what are they saying? The lawsuit says that that claims like that, that we are just recommending music for you based on your taste, no matter what they are is number one a deceptive trade practice. It's almost false advertising by Spotify, but also, it induces people to pay Spotify because they think they're hearing the music they want to hear, when in reality, what they're hearing is Jason Aldean and Drake and Rihanna and these big music stars that maybe they didn't want to see.

The woman who filed the lawsuit as the main plaintiff said, I came here and I'm trying to game the algorithm to get these indie artists that I want to hear, and they won't play them.

CORNISH: Yeah, because people have talked about recommendation services kind of killing off discovery. And so, this is part of it too, right? Like, I'm not -- I can't actually discover things because you're not actually recommending things I might like. You're recommending things that labels have encouraged.

WILLIAMS: And again, all of this is couched in the language of trade and advertising and business. This, according to this lawsuit, is not a fair trade practice and this kind of thing, like I said, starting with the Freud quote that you didn't like, but I'm saying no, but this is real. Every entity that relies on pushing information out by algorithm is subject to lawsuits like this, because they make different claims about we're just providing you what you want to see but --

CORNISH: Yeah, okay. In the meantime, I'm going to start using legal terms. I'm just going to be like objection, relevance and like stop you from these jokes.

There's one other thing I want to talk about before we get to group chats, which is the retirement of Nancy Pelosi. After more than three decades in Congress. She says she's stepping away.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): I will not be seeking reelection to Congress. With a grateful heart, I look forward to my final year of service as your proud representative. As we go forward, my message to the city I love is this -- San Francisco, know your power. We have made history. We have made progress. We have always led the way. And now we must continue to do so.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, Pelosi, of course, made history back in 2007 when she became the first and to date, only woman to be house speaker, and even some of her biggest political rivals had to acknowledge what she's accomplished.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREENE: I will praise Nancy Pelosi. She had an incredible career for her party. I served under her speakership and my first term of Congress, and I'm very impressed at her ability to get things done. I wish we could get things done for our party, like Nancy Pelosi was able to deliver for her party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: Yeah, group chat is back, but this one's for Ashley because you used to work at her office.

ETIENNE: Absolutely.

CORNISH: The thing that I always think about when I think of Nancy Pelosi is the power is taken. It's not given.

ETIENNE: Yeah.

CORNISH: And coming up as a congressional reporter, it's like I learned of so many lawmakers who thought they'd be speaker before she decided she would be speaker. What are you going to remember about how she wields power?

ETIENNE: I mean, the reality is that phrase is transferable to every aspect of your life. And so, that's really her greatest impression on me is I was in the rooms with her, and I was able to see that, you know, she is by far the GOAT. The most effective speaker in our lifetime and legislator in our lifetime.

You know, she's an object lesson. Remove gender from it, remove party from it. You know, the way that she led with the clarity of purpose, conviction, and a deep sense of responsibility to the nation should be studied by all of us and to your point.

CORNISH: Clearly studied by Republicans, because I hear so many times every few months there's a thing they want to do and they go, well, Pelosi did it. Yeah. And I think that's kind of a compliment.

GOLDBERG: No, it's definitely a compliment. She's hugely successful, accomplished woman who did a lot of very impressive things politically. She's also a symptom of the way in which Newt Gingrich broke the U.S. Congress and has made it a dysfunctional institution that doesn't do the job the way it's supposed to.

They put too much power in the speakership, too much power in leadership. We don't have real hearings. We don't have regular order. We don't have the kind of give and take that the country needs to soak up politics.

It's not Nancy Pelosi's fault. She inherited it. She wielded it expertly. But at the same time, Congress needs to get fixed.

CORNISH: Yeah. Noel, do you think well be saying her name the way people say Tip O'Neill or Newt Gingrich?

GOLDBERG: For sure.

CORNISH: Yeah, there's a way that certain speakers do live in the political imagination.

KING: Forever, forever. And good for her at 85, for deciding it's time. I think there are others in her age cohort who might make similar decisions.

CORNISH: Age cohort. That's a nice way of saying it, because the youngs are saying gerontocracy. Right? Yeah, it's pretty intense.

WILLIAMS: I still can't get over the fact she ran for office for the first time at age 47, and really almost like a second chapter or a last chapter ending up being chair of the intelligence committee. Speaker, that, my goodness, people don't do that.

CORNISH: You guys, thanks for waking up with me.

The headlines start now.