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The Situation Room

Climate Impact of Inhalers; Mark Sanchez Facing Felony Charges; MAGA Outrage Grows Over Bad Bunny at Super Bowl; Impact of Shutdown on Federal Employees. Aired 11:30a-12p ET

Aired October 06, 2025 - 11:30   ET

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

[11:30:00]

EVERETT KELLEY, NATIONAL PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES: We will always defend the members that we represent in that manner.

So, the lawsuit has been filed. We believe that we will prevail. We believe that it's illegal. And this administration just needs to get their act together.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN HOST: So what do you say to Americans who aren't feeling the effects of this government shutdown right now and why they should care about what's happening?

KELLEY: Because it's just a matter of time before all of America will feel the effects of this shutdown.

Initially, veterans are probably getting the care that they need. Initially, the meats are probably still being inspected, but ultimately it's going to be a backlog, because the people are not there to do the work.

We're going to face that when the food that we eat are not safe anymore, right, because nobody's there to inspect that meat and that food that we eat. We're going to feel it with the EPA, when you start talking about the safety of the air that we breathe and when you start going to the airports and the lines are backed up, the federal Bureau of Prisons that protect our communities. You're going to feel it.

BROWN: So I want to note you also filed this lawsuit against the Department of Education arguing that these out-of-office messages sent on behalf of some employees was done without the consent and it's a violation of the First Amendment.

What can you tell us about that?

KELLEY: Not only that, but it's also a violation of the Hatch Act, which, as a federal employee, we always adhere to. We don't get involved in partisan politics.

And what this administration has done is directly involve every employee almost into the partisan politics by saying -- blaming one party over the other for these actions. And so we have filed a lawsuit. We think that, again, this is illegal and we intend on seeing it through.

BROWN: So what exactly happened, though? So these out-of-office messages were created by the Trump administration and sent on behalf of some of your members without their consent?

KELLEY: Absolutely.

BROWN: Tell us more about that.

KELLEY: Exactly right.

What has happened is, this Congress is doing the blank game, OK? So, when the employees are furloughed, the agency heads are going in and changing the out-of-office reply to say that I can't answer because of the Democrats have caused the shutdown. And they did that without the consent of the employee.

Matter of fact, they did it in the place of the employee. The employee didn't do it. The agency put those messages on the system.

BROWN: Wow. And just -- you represent more than 800,000 workers. As you take a step back, tell us what they're going through right now as this standoff drags on it and we really don't see an end in sight at this point right now in this moment?

KELLEY: That's my whole concern is the federal employees that I represent right now.

And they have been going through this for nine months now. And it's been dismantling of the agencies. It's been calling names. It's been, you name it, dismantling of the services, ripping away their union rights, and now the thought of being fired simply because they're in the middle of a political war, where they should not be.

And so my concern is that they should open the government, because these employees are very patriotic employees. They love providing the service for the American people. And they don't want to be in the middle of a political battle, used as pawns. They want to get to work.

They are very traumatized by what's going on, right? I mean, from one minute to the next, they don't know how to evaluate what tomorrow will bring.

BROWN: Do you have concern that Russ Vought, the head of OMB, had previously said before he took the position that he wants to create trauma for federal employees?

KELLEY: Well, he's done a good job at that. I have very, very -- a lot of concern with that. He's making good on his promise.

But I think he unestimated who the federal employees are, though, because they're going to do that job. They take pride in doing that job. A third of them are just like me. They are veterans that have taken on one uniform and put on another, and they're not going to allow these idle threats to hinder their ability to do that job and do it effectively. BROWN: Everett Kelley, thank you so much for coming on.

KELLEY: Thank you.

BROWN: We appreciate your time.

KELLEY: Thank you.

BROWN: Just ahead right here in THE SITUATION ROOM: MAGA outrage over Bad Bunny scoring the Super Bowl halftime gig. How the Puerto Rico superstar -- Rican superstar is punching back.

You're in THE SITUATION ROOM. We will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:39:05]

BROWN: Breaking news, Mark Sanchez is now facing a felony battery charge in Indianapolis for the fight that left him hospitalized with stab wounds. Prosecutors are upgrading the charges against this former NFL quarterback and FOX Sports analyst.

CNN sports anchor Coy Wire joins us.

What else are you learning, Coy?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Hi, Pamela. Yes, the former NFL quarterback turned FOX Sports analyst Mark Sanchez recovering after he was stabbed on Saturday in Indianapolis.

Now, the Indianapolis Police Department, they then announced that the 38-year-old was arrested at the hospital, originally with three misdemeanors for his role in an altercation, but the prosecutor just moments ago said a level five felony charge was added for battery involving serious bodily injury, which contains a potential penalty of one to six years in prison.

Now, Sanchez allegedly approached a 69-year-old man in a loading dock area of a hotel and escalated a dispute regarding the man's parked vehicle. Sanchez was in Indianapolis to call the Colts-Raiders game, which was yesterday. He was the fifth overall pick in the 2009 draft, selected by the New York Jets out of USC. He spent four years there before joining a number of teams, including the Eagles, Cowboys, and in Washington.

[11:40:16]

In his first two seasons, Sanchez did win four playoff games with the Jets, reaching back-to-back AFC Championship Games. Lots of fans remember Sanchez from the infamous fumble in 2012 when he played for the Jets. It was on Thanksgiving Day against Tom Brady's Patriots.

But as the Marion County, Indiana, prosecutor Ryan Mears said just moments ago at a press conference, Pamela, he said: "We are literally talking about people fighting over a parking space and/or dispute where people were parking, and it resulted in someone just incredible, significant injuries," he said.

So we will stay on top of this as more developments come.

BROWN: I know you will.

Coy Wire, thank you so much.

WIRE: You got it.

BROWN: Well, Bad Bunny digs in, as MAGA world slams the NFL's decision to name him this season's Super Bowl halftime performer. He addressed the controversy on "Saturday Night Live."

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAD BUNNY, MUSICIAN (through translator): No one can ever erase or take away Latinos' mark and our contributing to this country.

(CHEERING)

BAD BUNNY: And if you didn't understand what I just said, you have four months to learn.

(LAUGHTER)

(CHEERING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: And that, of course, sparked more controversy among those on the right. The Grammy winner says he intentionally left the mainland U.S. off his latest touring schedule in part due to concerns over potential ICE raids at his concerts.

And joining us now in THE SITUATION ROOM is Lulu Garcia-Navarro, a CNN contributor and "New York Times" journalist and podcast host, along with Felix Contreras, co-creator and co-host of "Alt.Latino" on NPR.

Thank you both for coming on to talk about this. It is quite a talker.

So, Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has confirmed that ICE will be at the Super Bowl. I want to listen to this and then talk on the other side.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KRISTI NOEM, U.S. HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We will be all over that place. And I can't -- we're going to enforce the law. So I think people should not be coming to the Super Bowl unless they're law- abiding Americans who love this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: So, if you would, set the stage for us, Lulu, on the politics around this. LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, the politics around this

are that Bad Bunny is beloved by the Latino community. He is a very political artist, has always been. If you listen to his lyrics, they reference all sorts of different issues to do with Puerto Rican nationalism and other things.

This administration and that message, Americans should only be there, first of all, Bad Bunny is American. Puerto Ricans are American. This idea of Spanish being spoken, part of this controversy, I just want to highlight the fact that, 1513, Florida was discovered by Juan Ponce de Leon, a Spanish speaker.

Spanish is part of the history of this country, the founding of this country. And so the somehow outrage that you're seeing on the right is very offensive to Latinos across the country.

But the reason why Bad Bunny was chosen, and I think this is the most important number you're going to hear today, $4.1 trillion. That's the U.S. Latino GDP. They are huge consumers. And what the Super Bowl wants to do here is attract new audiences and new people who have spending power.

BROWN: So, Felix, you have met Bad Bunny. Tell us why he is so big among Latinos.

FELIX CONTRERAS, CO-CREATOR AND CO-HOST, "ALT.LATINO": I think that what started out as essentially a Puerto Rican career, he started out on the island singing, coming out of the reggaeton movement and the trap movement and then progressing from there.

I interviewed him back in 2018, just starting. Just, like, he was like every other artist. But along the way, his own special brand of social messaging, a little bit of politics, but then the music itself, when he released his album earlier this year, "Debi Tirar Mas Fotos," it was a return to Puerto Rican salsa, to Puerto Rican folk music, bomba and plena, all these other things that were part of the Puerto Rican experience.

And it was in a sense going back to his roots, going back to who he -- where he came from. And I think that that just exploded and that that resonated not just on the island, but anywhere in Latin America where there is a strong folk tradition, a strong African-based folk tradition. And that's where all that came from.

And I think that it just -- plus, he's a nice guy. He's funny. He's friendly. He's in the Adam Sandler movie. He's at this moment now where his personality and who he is, is having a huge impact.

BROWN: If you would, Lulu, tell us more about his politics and how that fits into sort of the controversy and why it is such a big deal that the NFL picked him for the halftime show, what you think about that decision.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, I mean, first of all, I will just say that this, again, as so much that we have seen in these cultural war battles, is a bit of a manufactured controversy. [11:45:04]

The fact that the NFL chose him, he is, I think the third largest streaming artist on Spotify. I mean, he's just like huge in the world. He's a huge artist. So, just economically, it makes sense.

On the right, what you're seeing is this, idea that somehow a Latino artist is un-American. That seems to me and to many other people as being just a fundamental misunderstanding of what this country is. That's the first thing.

The second thing is that he has said he is not going to tour in the United States previously because he was worried that Latinos coming to see him might be the target of additional enforcement. That might put them at risk. And so that is him stepping into what has become a very, very loaded and difficult debate in this country.

And what you have seen from the administration is them saying, oh, if you want to go to the Super Bowl, by all means, but we're going to have ICE there to enforce the rule of law. So it does come at a very fraught time, but, at the end of the day, this is a musical and a cultural moment.

And so the political ramifications of this, I think, are being played out on different sides in different ways, but ultimately this is about music and it's about the NFL wanting to make money.

BROWN: So then, Felix, what do you make of the fact that he wouldn't play in the U.S. previously because of the concerns about ICE operations? Now he's going to be playing at the Super Bowl. You have DHS saying, ICE is going to be there. What do you make of that?

CONTRERAS: I don't know how many people that ICE is trying to pick up are going to be attending the Super Bowl, first of all. It's a very exclusively -- very expensive proposition to attend.

And I think that him -- he's doing this to make a statement and not putting his fans at risk at the same time. So it's kind of the best of both worlds in a sense that he's -- ICE is going to be there, but I'm not really sure who they're going to be looking for and who they're going to try to -- who they possibly pick up.

GARCIA-NAVARRO: Yes, I don't know that ICE wants going to go into what is, like, one of the biggest events of the year, one of the most unifying events of the year, just like the biggest stage that you can have, and start dragging people away.

I think this is posturing from the administration, but also I think Bad Bunny is really, by standing on this biggest of stages and the comments that he made on "SNL" basically standing up for Latinos, Hispanics, and saying, hey, we are a part of this country and we deserve the biggest stages, and I am here representing all of you.

He has said that explicitly. And so I think that is a message that is resonating. Politically, right now, Trump is underwater with Latinos. I mean, he almost won 50 percent of the vote in the last election. You're seeing 31, 32 percent approval ratings right now. A lot of people, especially in the Latino community, do not like what they are seeing in terms of how ICE has been acting.

They see these videos of people being dragged away from their families, people crying. This is, on my feed, just a constant drumbeat. And so it comes at a very fraught time, when we're having a national debate in this country about what we want America to be and where are Latinos in that debate.

Bad Bunny is positioning himself, I think, right in the center of it. And he's taking a stand. Now, that said, people are going to come for the music.

BROWN: Yes, there you go.

All right, Lulu Garcia-Navarro, Felix Contreras, thank you both. Great discussion.

CONTRERAS: Thank you. Thank you.

BROWN: Coming up: They're supposed to help you breathe, but could they actually be making it harder? A new study says one year of inhaler emissions does as much damage to the climate as half-a-million cars. What?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:53:19]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, a study reveals a hidden source of greenhouse gases, asthma and COPD inhalers. We're learning how much of an impact they're having on the environment. It's pretty shocking.

So I want to bring in our health reporter, Jacqueline Howard. What does the study say exactly, Jacqueline?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Well, Pamela, scientists have known for some time now that inhalers rely on what are called hydrofluorocarbon propellants.

That's the propellant that helps deliver the medication to the patient. And this type of propellant, also known as HFAs specifically, it's a potent greenhouse gas. So what researchers are now learning in this new study is that, when you look at these emissions tied to inhalers collectively, they found that the average amount of inhaler- related emissions each year here in the United States is similar to the climate impact of about half-a-million cars on the road each year.

And that's what is concerning when we think about how inhalers collectively could play a role in our country's climate.

BROWN: Wow, OK. And you got climate change, but you also have a really serious issue with asthma and inhalers help tremendously with that. So what can be done to reduce those emissions?

HOWARD: Well, the good news here is that we do know that many of these emissions are coming from a specific type of inhaler called the metered dose inhalers.

And researchers say two other types of inhalers like soft mist inhalers or the dry powder inhalers, those are actually kind of a safer option when we think about climate change. And the VA, Pamela, actually switched to dry powder inhalers. And, according to research, they reduced inhaler-related emissions by more than 68 percent. So there are some other options.

[11:55:15]

But talk with your doctor seriously. If you use an inhaler and you're interested in your options, you still want to have that conversation with your physician before you change anything at this time.

BROWN: All right, Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much.

And we will be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROWN: Happening now: Taylor Swift takes over the charts and the box office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That's her new song "The Fate of Ophelia."