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Government Shutdown Enters Day 30; Pantries Prepare for Food Benefits to Lapse; Trump says U.S. and China "Have a Deal"; U.S. Hits Another Alleged Drug Boat; Blue Jays Dominates L.A. Dodgers. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired October 30, 2025 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, the country hurdles into day 30 of the government shutdown, and CNN is learning more about a bipartisan group of rank-and-file senators working on a possible path to end the stalemate. The hope is that the lawmakers can solve the impasse over those expiring health care subsidies and fund critical government departments. But this plan faces an uphill climb, and the human toll of the shutdown is only getting worse. Food banks across the country are grappling with higher demand and less supply, and people who rely on SNAP are about to be without those benefits.

Joining us now to share her story is LaShanda Palmer. She's a senior transportation security officer working without pay and also the president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 333. LaShanda, thank you for coming on. How is life different for you and your family since this shutdown started?

LASHANDA PALMER, SENIOR TRANSPORTATION SECURITY OFFICER AND PRESIDENT, AMERICAN FEDERATION OF GOVERNMENT EMPLOYEES LOCAL 333: Thank you for having me. It's starting to get really difficult. Working without a paycheck is always hard. It's not my first furlough. As you said, I'm a senior officer. I've been here 23 years. So, I'm second class. However, this particular shutdown has weighed the hardest on us, and that's just nationwide as far as not receiving a paycheck. Everything is totally different.

So, everything has raised. We don't have as much help. We don't have any help. We haven't received any help from anywhere. So, it's extremely difficult. I got officers when we received our allegedly partial check, which everybody says wasn't a partial check, that had our deductions and our taxes and all our allotments to come out, one officer called me, their check that hit that account was $114. I don't know what she was supposed to do with that. That's how much somebody paid to fill up that gas tank. So, it's extremely hard.

Personally, in my home, I deal with it. My children know what's going on. However, I don't have conversations about it. They may see me do an interview or hear me talking about it in meetings and things of that nature, but I'm the provider. They're not my provider. So, they know it's hard. However, I try to stay strong because this is a really difficult time. BROWN: And just for our viewers to understand, you are a single mom. You have, out of your five kids, two that are still under your roof, and you have a grandchild you're supporting as well. And you said that this time is harder because you've been through previous shutdowns. Why is this time harder? You're saying you're not getting the help that you got before?

PALMER: No. The last shutdown, whether some people say it's 34 days or we may say 37 days because we include weekends since we were the ones working without a paycheck, is extremely hard because there's no partnerships. We had Phil Abundance help. We had Oprah Winfrey help. We had so many donations coming in. The passengers, the public, were coming in and they were offering help.

[10:35:00]

Local leaders seem like -- because they were in the same boat as the -- BUEs, Bargaining Unit Employees, we were not receiving a check. So, with the economy being the way it is now, everything is completely high. You know, at one point in time, a dozen eggs cost $0.99. You might have got them for $0.79. You're not going to do that now. So, we have people who work with us who have children. I have officers calling me who can't afford their children formula. It's hard.

We had the help of SEPTA. We had the help of Port Authority who allowed us to come over the bridge because we have officers who live in New Jersey. SEPTA allowed us to ride SEPTA for free during the shutdown. So, those partnerships aren't there. And I understand that they're going through things. However, I don't want to say the lack of insensitivity because even our creditors don't accept our furlough letters.

The Welfare Office didn't accept our furlough letters this go around. Not that we could get unemployment. We can't collect cash benefits because we're employed. However, we, at least back in 2019, were able to collect food stamps since that's the only time we can ever collect anything anyway. Not this go around. You went to the Welfare Office, they gave you a letter to a pantry, a food pantry. So, this is why it's hard.

We can't afford gas. One of the officers called me yesterday while I was at work and said she got pulled over by the police because her registration expired. And she explained to them that I'm a furlough employee. As soon as I get paid, I can get it done. And he said, tell it to the judge. That's what I'm talking about, why it's harder. Because no one is listening to us. We're in a situation that we didn't ask to be placed in. However, we don't have anyone who seems to understand that.

BROWN: Yes. Everett Kelley, the national president of the American Federation of Government Employees, your union, recently called on Congress to pass a clean short-term funding bill to end this shutdown immediately. I want to play how the top Senate Democrat, Chuck Schumer, responded.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MINORITY LEADER: I told him we can do both and we need to do both. Both have federal workers get paid in every way and negotiate a way to resolve the American's pain in the healthcare crisis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What is your message to political leaders in Washington as this partisan standoff continues?

PALMER: I want them to do what we elected them to do. They are supposed to be the voice of the people. We entrusted them. That's why they're there. I want them to do what they know is right. I want everyone to come back into the room. Everybody who's supposed to be there. I want everyone to come in and do what they've always done and get it done. I don't want to say in a timely manner because I feel like that time has already passed.

We're on day 30. We could not prepare for this. We live paycheck to paycheck, a government agency. We're government employees and we're not the only ones. All of my brothers and sisters across the nation who work for a government, who are government employees, we do our job. All of us took oaths of some kind. I want everyone to do their job, do what they have us doing, our job, unpaid, because at least they receiving a paycheck. And their families aren't affected by this, ours are.

BROWN: LaShanda Palmer, thank you so much for coming on to share your story. It's really important as we continue to highlight the real- world impact of this government shutdown on fellow Americans like yourself. Thank you and best of luck to you. Keep us posted on your situation.

PALMER: Thank you. Thank you for having me.

BROWN: Thank you. Coming up, my colleague Dana Bash will ask House Speaker Mike Johnson about the shutdown. That's at noon on Inside Politics right here on CNN.

Coming up, the military hits another alleged drug boat as lawmakers are getting a classified briefing on these deadly strikes. But one Democrat says they were left out of a recent briefing on purpose. We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, we are learning more about the deal between the U.S. and China, with President Trump vowing to shave 10 percent off tariffs on Chinese goods as Beijing promises to crack down on fentanyl. It could give some relief to Americans, but also it marks a significant gamble for the Trump administration in its unprecedented trade war.

Joining us now to discuss is a China expert, Gordon Chang. He is the author of "Plan Red: China's Project to Destroy America." Hi, Gordon, great to see you. So, you say that President Xi Jinping does not respect the United States. Do you think China is the bigger winner in this deal?

GORDON CHANG, AUTHOR, "PLAN RED: CHINA'S PROJECT TO DESTROY AMERICA": Well, right now, Pamela, we just really don't know. I mean, there are two very different versions of what happened a few hours ago. There's the Ministry of Commerce, and then there's President Trump. And it will take a little while for us to figure out what's going on.

You know, clearly the U.S. has got more leverage in this contest, but also President Trump hasn't been using it. And the Chinese have been making great gains. So, that's one thing.

[10:45:00]

Second thing about this meeting, it was only an hour and 40 minutes long. So, if you take out the translation time, it was basically 50 minutes. President Trump said a lot of it was talking about Ukraine, which means they didn't talk very much about trade, and that certainly is curious.

BROWN: But yet, there was this deal, and Trump has said, look, I'm satisfied. He gave it a 12 out of a 10 in terms of his meeting with Xi. The readout, though, from Xi was much more restrained, shall we say, where Xi said it was a pleasure to meet with Trump. You just said that Trump hasn't taken advantage of the leverage with China. What do you mean by that?

CHANG: Well, we're the trade deficit country. Last year, China ran a $295.5 billion trade surplus against the U.S. And in trade wars, it's the trade surplus countries that have much more to lose. And also, we've got a number of products that China can't source anyplace else. And Trump has not used that as a point of bargaining. So, you know, there are things that President Trump can do. I think that Trump is giving Xi Jinping an off-ramp, just like he gave Vladimir Putin an off-ramp. Putin obviously didn't take advantage of that. I don't think Xi Jinping will either.

BROWN: Why do you think that is?

CHANG: Because China right now, Xi Jinping has got trouble at home politically. There's a lot of infighting at the top of the Communist Party, especially the military. And whenever a government goes into that type of situation, people don't want to make concessions because they're worried about what may happen afterwards, that they may be blamed for something. And so, I think that right now you have China basically frozen.

And, you know, if Trump wants to make concessions, which he did yesterday, he can do it. But I don't know if the Chinese are going to be in any mood to give in to Trump.

BROWN: You say that the U.S. and China are in a new Cold War. What exactly do you mean? And doesn't a deal like what President Trump announced help that relationship? CHANG: Well, you know, all we have to do is look at what the Chinese propaganda has said. People's Daily, the most authoritative publication in China, declared a people's war on the U.S. in May 2019 in a landmark editorial. That's a phrase that has great resonance in Communist Party thought. And in March of 2023, PLA Daily, which is the main propaganda organ of the Chinese military defined people's war as total war.

So, you know, we've got to pay attention to what these guys are saying. We didn't pay attention to Osama bin Laden, and we know what happened then. And clearly, China's got much more power to harm us than al Qaeda ever did.

BROWN: Well, and just before his meeting with Xi, President Trump, on that note, vowed to begin testing U.S. nuclear powers for the first time in more than 30 years on a, quote, "equal basis" with China and Russia. He was asked about that right in front of Xi. I want to watch and get your reaction.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President, why did you change your nuclear plans? Why are you going to be doing more nuclear testing?

DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: That's a pretty remarkable moment. What did you make of it?

CHANG: Well, you know, Trump should have been very clear about this. We suspect that China has been testing very -- has been exploding nuclear devices, which are very small. There are a lot of earthquakes at China's National Test Center, which can't be explained by natural phenomena. And, you know, the president of the United States needed to say that.

You know, the last thing the U.S. wants to do is to detonate nuclear devices. That has all sorts of negative blowback around the world. But the president needed to say, look, China's doing it, we're going to do it too. And until he does that, China's going to win the propaganda war, which is really, really important, Pamela.

BROWN: So, based on what you know about Xi, what do you suspect was going through his head when he learned about this shift in policy on U.S. nuclear testing?

CHANG: I think that he probably was not very happy because he can see that Trump is reacting. And, you know, previous presidents have been very generous in allowing the Chinese to get away with all sorts of stuff. Trump has been a little bit less tolerant. And I think Xi Jinping can see that that change is probably motivated by a change in the way the American people view China. So, there is a lot going on here, and Xi Jinping is just trying to push us as far as he can.

BROWN: Gordon Chang, thank you so much, as always, for your analysis.

CHANG: Thank you, Pamela.

BROWN: Breaking news, the military says it's taken out another alleged drug boat right in the Pacific, killing four people. This is the 14th known strike, and today the Pentagon is giving one of its first briefings to Congress on these operations as lawmakers in both parties voice concerns.

Our senior reporter on Capitol Hill, Annie Grayer, is with us now. So, Annie, the administration has been pretty tight-lipped about the evidence used to justify these strikes. What more can you tell us about this hearing?

[10:50:00]

ANNIE GRAYER, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: Well, Pamela, right now, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers are getting a classified briefing from Pentagon officials about this escalating situation, and it comes as lawmakers, particularly Democrats, Democrats are raising concerns about the lack of information that Congress is receiving.

Just yesterday, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, Mark Warner, put out a scathing statement saying that he was left out of a key briefing with Republicans and administration officials. I'm going to read for you a portion of that statement now, where Warner says, quote, "This partisan stunt is a slap in the face to Congress' war powers responsibilities and to the men and women who serve this country. It also sets a reckless and deeply troubling precedent," end quote.

But the administration maintains that they have kept Congress in the loop, that they have given Congress a total of seven briefings throughout this escalating situation. I reached out to all of those committees of jurisdiction, Pamela, and it's notable that the Republicans who responded to me said that they were getting enough information, whereas Democrats who responded said that they felt like it was really not enough information.

But really what is in front of Congress now is a large, looming question, which is, what role does Congress have to play in an administration's ability to go to war? The Constitution is pretty clear about that, but the Trump administration feels like it doesn't need Congress's approval here.

Next week, the Senate is going to vote on a war powers resolution. It's led by a Democrat and a Republican. But there has not been broad appetite in the Republican Party to vote for this war powers resolution. Think back to earlier this year when the Trump administration launched missiles in Iran and the Congress did not pass a war powers resolution there.

So, we will see if there's appetite this time and what comes out of this House Armed Services briefing, which is currently ongoing.

BROWN: And I know you will keep track of that. Annie Grayer, thank you so much live for us from Capitol Hill.

Coming up here in the Situation Room, a savage moment in game five of the World Series. The rookie pitcher who struck out a dozen Dodgers and brought the Blue Jays within one win from the title.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Well, the Toronto Blue Jays are one win away from another World Series title. Its rookie Pitcher had the standout performance of the night. CNN's Sports Anchor Andy Scholes joins us now. Andy?

ANDY SCHOLES, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: Yes, Pam. I mean these Blue Jays, they are just a resilient bunch and they really kind of do have that team of destiny feel to them, and now they're going back to Toronto. A win away from their first World Series saddle since 1993 and the Jays is jumping on Dodger starter Blake Snell immediately.

First pitch of the game, Davis Schneider hit this one deep to left. Jays go up one to nothing on the leadoff home run. And then two pitches later. Vlad Guerrero Jr. connects. This was the first time in World Series history a game started with back-to-back homeruns and that's all Jay's rookie starter, Trey Yesavage would need. The 22- year-old striking out 12 Dodgers, that broke a rookie record for a starter in the World Series, that was set way back in 1949.

Yesavage, he was a first round pick last year, seven innings gave up just one run. Toronto wins game five, 6 to 1. And Yesavage who had only three regular season starts now has five in this amazing post- season run for the Jays.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TREY YESAVAGE, TORONTO BLUE JAYS PITCHER: It's a crazy world, crazy world. Hollywood couldn't have made it this good. So, just being a part of this, I'm just very blessed. I'm waiting for life to slow down in this off season and just be able to collect my thoughts and my feelings on this crazy year.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. Game six is tomorrow night in Toronto. Meanwhile, in the NBA, Lakers down one to the T-Wolves with six seconds left. Austin Reeves is going to get the ball, split the defenders and he hits the floater at the buzzer. His teammates mob him as the Lakers get to win, 116 to 115. And what a start for Reeves. He's averaging 34 points a game so far this season. And that Lakers win helping to soften the blow of the Dodgers loss in the World Series, maybe just a little bit.

All right. And finally, Louisiana. Governor Jeff Landry says, athletic director Scott Woodward will not be involved in selecting their next head football coach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) GOV. JEFF LANDRY (R-LA): Going to trump pick it. He loves winners. You know, I'm not going to be picking the next coach, but I can promise you we're going to pick a coach and we are going to make sure that that coach is successful. I'm tired of rewarding failure in this country and then leaving the taxpayers on the foot, you know, to foot the bill.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCHOLES: All right. So, LSU and Woodward fired Brian Kelly this week, owing him $54 million. Now, Woodward was also the athletic (INAUDIBLE) at Texas A&M when they hired Jimbo Fisher, he was eventually fired being owed the largest buyout ever, $76 million. So, Pam, a lot of LSU fans and you see Louisiana Governor do not want Woodward picking the next head coach, considering the last two he's hired are now some of the most expensive buyouts in all of college football.

BROWN: 54 million. Oh, my goodness.

SCHOLES: Yes.

BROWN: Andy Scholes, thank you so much. Always great to see you. Well, the next hour of the situation room starts right now.

ANNOUNCER: This is CNN Breaking News.

BROWN: Breaking news. The former Virginia teacher who was shot by her six-year-old student is set to take the stand. She says the former --

[11:00:00]