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CNN This Morning
Today: House Expected to Vote to Reopen Government; One-on-One with Former Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired November 12, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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AMANDA DAVIES, CNN SPORTS: It's been a real pleasure to speak to you.
[06:00:04]
CARLOS ALCARAZ, 6-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Thank you.
DAVIES: Thank you. And good luck, both.
ALCARAZ: Thank you very much.
JANNIK SINNER, 4-TIME GRAND SLAM CHAMPION: Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Thank you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BRIAN ABEL, CNN ANCHOR: And thank you, Amanda.
All right. Take a look at this stunning sight in the skies across the U.S. An aurora borealis seen in Iowa and Virginia. A powerful burst of energy from the sun. Solar wind crashing into Earth's atmosphere. The severe geomagnetic storm means the Northern lights could be seen as far South as Florida.
Thank you for joining us here on EARLY START. I'm Brian Abel in Washington, D.C. CNN THIS MORNING with Audie Cornish starts right now.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: Is today the day the shutdown ends and the government finally reopens? CNN THIS MORNING starts right now.
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REP. JIM MCGOVERN (D-MA): I'm glad that you're OK. I'm glad that you survived your nice two-month paid vacation.
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CORNISH: Lawmakers are back, but getting the country back on track won't happen overnight.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything is all messed up at this point, so I don't think anyone should try to take a plane. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Delayed and canceled flights by the thousands. And today could be worse with shortages in control towers.
A trusted partnership broken. The U.K. cutting back on intelligence sharing with the U.S. over the narco boat bombings.
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ADELITA GRIJALVA (D-AZ), CONGRESSWOMAN-ELECT: It's undemocratic. It's unconstitutional. It's illegal. Should never happen.
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CORNISH: Arizona's new congresswoman, set to be sworn in. Will that force a vote on releasing the Epstein files?
And fighting back? A federal judge joins CNN THIS MORNING to explain why he just stepped down from the bench.
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JACINDA ARDERN, FORMER NEW ZEALAND PRIME MINISTER: You can actually still be a human being in these jobs. In fact, we need you to be a human being in these jobs.
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CORNISH: OK. I go one-on-one with the former prime minister of New Zealand. Can vulnerability and humanity actually be a strength in politics?
It's 6 a.m. here on the East Coast. This is a live look at New York City. Good morning to everyone there.
And good morning to you. It's Wednesday, November 12. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin, just hours away from the end of potentially the longest government shutdown as the House returns to Washington after nearly a two-month absence.
Members are scrambling to get back to D.C. as those flight cancellations rise into the thousands because of the shutdown that they created.
SNAP benefits still in limbo for millions of Americans as the Supreme Court extends an order allowing the Trump administration to withhold full benefits for the month.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of hope. Everybody should feel the pain. Not just me working in the industry, but every human being should feel the pain of someone going hungry, someone in need. We should feel it.
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CORNISH: So, the House will be back in session for the first time since September. Last night, its Rules Committee gave us a preview of what we might hear today.
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REP. VIRGINIA FOXX (R-NC): The Democrat government shutdown that has lasted over 40 days did not have to happen. It did not have to be this way.
MCGOVERN: Nobody has seen you for eight weeks. But hey, I'm glad that you're OK. I'm glad that you survived your nice two-month paid vacation while Democrats stayed in Washington to try to end the shutdown.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now in the group chat, Alex Thompson, CNN political analyst and national political correspondent for Axios; Carrie Sheffield, conservative commentator and national editor at Accuracy in Media; and Antjuan Seawright, Democratic strategist.
Hello, folks. Thanks for being here.
So, Alex, I want to start with you. Obviously, the lawmakers are going to come back, and now it's this, like, fire those talking points in every direction.
But tell me, from the White House's perspective, are they looking at this moment and saying, OK, great. We -- the Democrats are back. This thing is solved. Republicans just need to do their job now.
ALEX THOMPSON, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes. I mean, if you're the White House, you believe that you won and that the Democrats folded because you essentially reopened the government and you didn't give anything up except for the promise of doing a vote in the Senate, but no promise of actually putting up that vote in the House, and no promise that President Trump would actually sign the bill even if it did pass the House.
So if you're, I think from the Republican perspective, the idea that you sent all of your members home and you still ended up, you know, in this case, like, winning the shutdown, despite the tremendous collateral damage that you showed here before. You know, I think if you're the Republicans. you feel that the Democrats blinked first. F
CORNISH: OK. So, I want to play tape over here to -- to my partisan friends; for you, Antjuan, the House speaker. I'm sorry, Hakeem Jeffries was saying that he believes his members are still going to vote no, despite all those senators who, like, got us to this point. Right? The ones who voted yes. Here's him.
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REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Our strong expectation is that Democrats will be strongly opposed. Many have issued statements. The New Dem Coalition came out today -- that's the largest caucus within the House Democratic Caucus -- opposed to this Republican spending bill, because it fails to address the healthcare crisis that Republicans have created.
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CORNISH: So, I'm trying to push back everyone saying someone else's fault and get to the getting out. Is that kind of commentary about getting out? Is this all over but the shouting? Like, what am I looking at when he gets up and says this?
ANTJUAN SEAWRIGHT, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think you have to deal with some realities.
One, you cannot govern if you do not win; or losers do not legislate. So, House Democrats and, for that matter, Senate Democrats were already punching above their political weight going into this healthcare discussion. This government healthcare crisis discussion created by Republicans.
But two, I think on the other side of this, Democrats were able to raise a very consequential issue in America: affordability aligned with health care.
The fact of the matter is, regardless of what you feel about what happened in the Senate or how strong the House "no" votes will be, the fact of the matter is, Republicans will still have to answer for these skyrocketing premiums that Americans are facing that started on November 1. And they will take a vote on that.
CORNISH: So, for you, it's linking them -- Carrie, I don't know if you hear this as well -- just linking health care to this overall thing. That was -- that's enough. That was the effective messaging; that Americans now see those as potentially linked issues.
SEAWRIGHT: Prior to this Republican government healthcare shutdown, I don't think many Americans were paying attention to this issue when it comes to healthcare subsidies that impact millions of Americans, including those in Trump-won states; 3.2 million, to be exact.
CORNISH: OK. So, the reason why I wanted to ask this is because you had Republican Congressman Tim Burchett, who was asked about, look, is the House going to do something on health care? He was on CNN yesterday. Here's what he had to say.
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REP. TIM BURCHETT (R-TN): I think we need to just start bringing stuff to the table and start voting on it. That's what America elected us to do.
And I think both parties would have to suck it up a little bit. I think it's -- everybody talks real tough on this issue, ma'am, but nobody wants to do anything about it.
In reality, the leadership's afraid of it. They want to kick that can down the road. But the American public is suffering in both parties.
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CARRIE SHEFFIELD, SENIOR POLICY ANALYST AT INDEPENDENT WOMEN'S VOICE: So, here's the reality. President Trump said it well. When you shovel billions of taxpayer dollars to big, fat health insurance companies, you're not doing anything to actually lower the price of health care.
It's the same with student loan spending. When you pile billions of dollars of taxpayer dollars to students, the universities keep raising the tuition higher than inflation, healthcare spending, and the prices are higher than inflation, because there's no incentive to actually lower it.
So, with all due respect to my Democratic friends, what you are proposing would actually do nothing but increase by -- by shoveling more spending.
(CROSSTALK)
CORNISH: Can I ask you about what Burchett said, where he said that thing about leadership's afraid of it. What do you think of him saying that?
SHEFFIELD: Well, I would love to see -- so, at Independent Women's Voice, where I'm a senior policy analyst, we are advocating for -- it's a bipartisan bill introduced in the Senate by Hickenlooper and Marshall.
It would basically say hospitals, you must list all of your prices. Price transparency. That is how you actually lower healthcare prices. Transparency.
CORNISH: Like for all the people who have had a Republican white paper somewhere or a bipartisan healthcare bill is now like, yes, people will finally listen to us.
SHEFFIELD: It should. I mean, this is common sense. You have to --
CORNISH: It should, Carrie Sheffield. But that does not mean it will.
Antjuan, what are you thinking?
SEAWRIGHT: Carrie, 70 times in 15 years, Republicans have tried to repeal and displace Americans who benefit from the Affordable Care Act.
There's a reason why Marjorie Taylor Greene, there's a reason why Josh Hawley and others on the Republican side are saying we need to extend these subsidies.
Why? Because in Trump's America, in everyday Americans will benefit and feel the brunt of these skyrocketing premiums.
Republicans have always offered to say they're going to do something on health care when we've seen zip, zero, nothing. So, this idea that somehow or another --
CORNISH: But can I do a reality check? Is this going to be the week that happens?
THOMPSON: First of all, can we wear hoodies on the set?
CORNISH: Yes.
THOMPSON: And -- and second of all, absolutely not.
CORNISH: Yes.
THOMPSON: The fact is that Donald Trump has been saying that his plan to replace Obamacare is coming just weeks from now, and he's been saying it for over ten years.
And the Republicans, you know, the reason why Representative Burchett said that is they are scared of the issue. Because it is consistently one of the issues where Democrats outpoll Republicans. And Republicans have not put forward a concrete plan of actually how the -- you know, despite there are these white papers going out, Donald Trump and the Republican caucus have not put forward a plan of how they intend to actually address. If you do not provide these subsidies, how do you actually make healthcare affordable?
SHEFFIELD: I literally just said there's a bill that will do this.
THOMPSON: Yes, but Donald Trump --
CORNISH: We know there's a bill. We just don't know if anyone wants to pass it. That's the deal with all bills.
SHEFFIELD: Well, my question is Senate Democrats, why didn't you support this bill? There is almost universal support for price transparency in hospitals.
CORNISH: Well, I --
SHEFFIELD: If you go to a hospital, you should know exactly what you're going to pay upfront.
SEAWRIGHT: That doesn't change the affordability piece.
CORNISH: I want you guys to know.
SHEFFIELD: Excuse me. You interrupted me, Antjuan. I didn't interrupt you.
CORNISH: No, Carrie, I'm sorry.
SHEFFIELD: Yes, but --
CORNISH: Because I do have to go. But what I want to say, we're not doubting that bills exist. We're saying collectively, is there bipartisan effort, will to move forward on any of it?
Or maybe they'll just be mired in SNAP benefits and things like that.
We're not saying that bill doesn't exist or isn't good or anything like that. It's where's the political will around an issue that's been dragging out for a decade.
You guys stay with me, because CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump says that the U.S. needs talent. Apparently, his immigration crackdown is about certain types of immigrants.
Plus, art for a cause. A Bob Ross painting gets thousands of dollars for public TV stations.
And is the economy booming? Depends on who you ask. Either way, grocery prices are out of control.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They're ridiculous. It's out of hand.
I buy what I need. I don't buy nothing extra.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I feel like they're very out of hand right now.
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CORNISH: So, it's almost 15 minutes past the hour. Here is your morning roundup.
President Trump's immigration crackdown has been the center of his platform, but only for certain types of immigrants. He's now defending the H-1B visa program.
When asked by FOX News if he would limit visas over concerns it hurts wages for American workers, he said this.
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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Do have to bring in talent when a country --
LAURA INGRAHAM, FOX NEWS HOST: We have plenty of talented people.
TRUMP: No, you don't. No, you don't.
INGRAHAM: We don't have talented people here?
TRUMP: No, you don't have -- you don't have certain talents. And you have to -- people have to learn.
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CORNISH: So, this comes just two months after he signed an executive action imposing a 100,000 application fee for H-1B visas. So basically, wealthy talented people.
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JACK SCHLOSSBERG (D), NEW YORK CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE: Our Country is at a Turning point. It's a crisis at every level.
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CORNISH: That's JFK's grandson running for Congress. Jack Schlossberg is running to replace a retiring Jerry Nadler, who represents New York City.
Schlossberg told CNN he wants to represent a new generation of Democrats. He's been a vocal critic of his cousin RFK Jr., calling him a threat to public health.
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BOB ROSS, FORMER TELEVISION HOST: Hi. I'm Bob Ross, and for the next 13 weeks, I'll be your host as we experience the joy of painting.
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CORNISH: That is Bob Ross. We grew up learning about the joy of painting, watching him on PBS. Now his paintings are helping save public television.
Three of them sold for more than $600,000 at auction. These were the first of 30 paintings that will be sold to benefit public TV stations, after they were hurt by federal funding cuts. 4
And this week, you don't have to travel to Alaska to see the Northern lights. This is an image out of Iowa.
A rare geomagnetic storm is setting off the lights, making them visible across nearly half the U.S. This was the sky in Colorado. Similar scenes were seen as far South as Florida and Texas.
And if you didn't catch him last night, you've got another shot tonight.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, vulnerability and politics. Can the two go hand in hand? I spoke to New Zealand's former prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, about how she did it.
Plus, it's the source of food for many families. But the Supreme Court will not force the White House to pay out SNAP benefits.
And good morning to Miami.
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CORNISH: So, former New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern stepped into the global limelight at a really dark time for her country. There was a series of natural disasters, a terror attack at a mosque
in Christchurch, New Zealand. That's where more than 50 people were killed. And she won global praise for leading through that crisis with this combination of transparency and heart.
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ARDERN: Christchurch was the home of these victims. For many, this may not have been the place they were born. In fact, for many, New Zealand was their choice. The place they actively came to and committed themselves to, the place they were raising their families, where they were part of communities that they loved and who loved them.
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CORNISH: So, I sat down with her for the new CNN film, "Prime Minister," and she spoke really candidly about how showing humanity as a leader can actually inspire change.
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CORNISH: One of the reasons why I don't typically interview politicians, or I don't like to, honestly --
ARDERN: I understand.
CORNISH: -- is they can't be vulnerable. It's a lot of talking points. And I understand why they can't be vulnerable, because it can be used against them.
ARDERN: Yes. Yes.
CORNISH: What -- how do you think about that?
ARDERN: Well, when you think about vulnerability, you think about being someone, you know, potentially exposing something which may become fodder for their opponents, or that it may portray -- or betray some kind of weakness.
But I think in the process of trying to protect against those things, we might have -- we might have just put up too much of a wall. And lost -- lost our sense that you can actually still be a human being in these jobs. In fact, we need you to be a human being in these jobs.
And voters will be -- will be a little more accepting of that than I think we give them credit for.
CORNISH: I think a lot of politicians in the U.S., like, they are now frequently being more called on it, called out. You're not very authentic. You're not fun to be around. You're not this.
It's like people are more willing to say that this is a requirement also of being a politician; is coming across like a person.
ARDERN: If we want good people to run for public office, I think we have to show that you can be human. CORNISH: Yes.
ARDERN: Because otherwise, people will think, I'll make mistakes. I won't get everything right, and there's no space for that in politics.
CORNISH: And you get picked apart.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CORNISH: OK. So, it's that kind of straightforward authenticity that Americans want from their elected officials. I was looking at a recent IPSOS poll that found that nearly 60 percent of Americans rank honesty as being a top trait for elected officials.
[06:25:05]
Group chat is back. I'm bringing it to you guys, because we're always talking about politicians here. We're always trying to figure out their motivations. We never quite get there.
But one of the things about her, she did a lot one of the things that I think in the U.S. would have been considered, like, just over the top, right? Massive gun buyback after a mass shooting; wearing a hijab; speaking up for immigrants.
It was -- it was a different time. But she was also a very different kind of leader.
THOMPSON: Well, and you really got at what she was effective at; is that she was herself and that people --
CORNISH: She was also 37. And I wonder if age had something to do with that generational approach.
THOMPSON: Well, and I also think, you know, it's a different country, different -- like, the limits of the politics are different in New Zealand than they are here.
But I do think her appeal was because she -- you know, especially in this social media era, you really can't get by, you know, doing like the five -- you know, the five-sentence answer and, like, the very -- you know, the way that you communicate to the public is just so different.
And what's effective is just so different in the social media, you know, smartphone era than it was in the, you know, 30-minute nightly news era.
CORNISH: Yes. In fairness, she also had a kind of Americanized politics come to New Zealand, especially after the pandemic. They now have a right-wing government. There was blowback to her, just like there was against Obama.
SHEFFIELD: Yes, well, I mean, look, I respect anybody who steps into the arena, so kudos to her for that. I will say, though, I strongly disagreed with her methods to the shutdown during COVID. Very draconian.
CORNISH: She was known, for people to know, closed-down borders and did nationwide quarantine.
SHEFFIELD: Yes. And to me that was incredibly draconian. It was not driven or supported by -- It's very interesting to see scientists now stepping back and saying, hey, you know what? We overreacted.
And I mean, you see the learning loss in children. Some of them might never recover their learning loss because of draconian shutdowns led by people like her.
And so, to your point, that is why conservatives have risen, because she was so draconian. She was. If you want to talk about no kings, no queens, the backlash is against what she did.
CORNISH: I want to talk about this thing of authenticity, which is now the, like, rare earths minerals of politics. It's like, can you be on a podcast for three hours? Will you make jokes? Not too many jokes.
Like, there's just a weird sense that you have to convey something. I feel like for Democrats, this is like all the conversation.
SEAWRIGHT: Well, I think it's about -- more about relatability. And that's something that gets lost sometimes in the era of high tech, and we lose the high touch aspect of just politics and campaigning.
But the one thing I kind of gleaned from that interview was, and it reminded me that every community is different. And you have to be able to relate to not only the community, but the people in that community if you want to effectively represent them -- represent them.
That means that you have to understand that politics is a game of addition and multiplication, not subtraction or division. And I think the more U.S. politicians, the more people on my side of the aisle understand that, I think the better we will have -- the better angle we will have in terms of taking our country back.
CORNISH: OK, well, you guys stay with me, especially you, Carrie, because I have to say your title. You are the senior policy analyst at Independent Women's Voice.
All right. In the meantime, you guys can watch the story of the political life and career of Jacinda Ardern, the former prime minister of New Zealand. It's in a new CNN film called "Prime Minister," and it premieres Sunday at 9 p.m. on CNN and all access next day on the CNN app.
And straight ahead this morning, there will be more pain before airports return to normal.
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SEAN DUFFY, U.S. TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: The problem is with air traffic controllers. The American people feel that probably most acutely. (END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: But is it really safe to fly? I'm going to speak to an expert next.
Plus, the congresswoman-elect that will be the final signature on the Epstein discharge petition will be sworn in today.
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