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The Situation Room

Senate to Reconvene After Breakthrough Vote to End Shutdown; Trump Pardons Allies Accused of Trying to Overturn 2020 Election; Supreme Court Declines to Revisit Same-Sex Marriage Precedent; Funeral Held for Israeli-American Itay Chen. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 10, 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: Well, senators are about to reconvene on Capitol Hill and possibly take the next step toward ending the government shutdown. While the lawmakers try to hash out the politics of it all, there's tens of millions of Americans who just want to know when they're going to get help paying for food.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: It's so critically important. Between the shutdown and the ongoing court battle, it's still not clear when SNAP recipients will start getting their full benefits back. CNN's Rene Marsh is here with us in the Situation Room. Rene, many people who rely on these food stamp benefits, SNAP as it's called, to feed themselves, to feed their families, young kids, and others, may have to hurry up and wait even if the government actually does reopen in the coming days.

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's absolutely right. And really, this has become the issue representing the pain that Americans are feeling with this longest shutdown in American history. We were just talking about this issue on Friday, and I would love for you to just join me on this legal journey to where we are today.

We started on Friday, where the USDA was facing this order from a Boston federal judge to essentially pay full benefits for the month of November. And by Friday morning, the USDA had appealed that. They were trying to get out of paying these full payments. But by the end of Friday, they sent a letter out to states saying, you know what, we appealed it, but we plan on dispersing the funds. We're in the process right now of dispersing these full funds. You'll have it at the end of the day. States jumped on that. They started dispersing the funds as soon as they received it to people within their states.

And then while they were doing that, they went to the Supreme Court because they had not heard from the appeals court and asked for a pause. They got the pause late Friday night. Then by Saturday, they wrote another letter to states saying, stop what you're doing. Undo any full payments that you may have paid. And if you continue to make payments, it's considered unauthorized.

So, now it's Monday. And where we're at right now is that this appeals court finally made their decision. They said that the administration does have to pay these full benefits. If you're confused, imagine the people who are relying on this decision and clarity in order to just eat. It is quite confusing for people to follow what really has become this, you know, lengthy legal back and forth because at the core here is the shutdown. The program ran out of money officially. And the Trump administration has been resistant to find money in other places, even dip into emergency funds to keep it going. They didn't want to do that. The courts had to push them every step of the way to either, A, dip into an emergency fund or move money around.

So, where we're at today, again, is that this appeals court said that the administration has to pay these full payments. But the confusion doesn't end. I mean, right now it's unclear when those payments will come. Some people have received nothing at this point and they're all just --

BLITZER: You keep referring to the USDA, the United States Department of Agriculture, which is responsible for distributing these food stamps, the snap funds.

MARSH: Yes, that's right. And because this process has been really like whiplash, what you have is there are some people who have received partial payments at this point. Some have received full payments and some have not received anything. It really just depends on the state that you're in and where you live.

BLITZER: Rene, thank you very much.

BROWN: Thank you so much, Rene. Appreciate it. So, important.

BLITZER: And just ahead, another sports betting scheme revealed in professional leagues. How prosecutors now say two Major League Baseball pitchers rigged bets during the games.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

BROWN: Well, new this morning, President Trump issued a new round of presidential pardons for a lengthy list of political allies, including his former attorney Rudy Giuliani. All of these 77 individuals named were accused of trying to overturn Trump's defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

I want to bring in CNN crime and justice correspondent Katelyn Polantz. Tell us more about these pardons and the why now.

KATELYN POLANTZ, CNN CRIME AND JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pam and Wolf, we're in a moment where it's in vogue for presidents to issue pardons when federal charges may not be pending. These people are not facing any federal criminal charges. And in fact, we're well after the time period where federal charges could be brought or we're about to be after the time period, five years.

And so, this is a real head scratcher in some ways about why Trump is doing this now. Is there a legal reason to do this or is it a political reason? These people who are being pardoned, many of them are facing charges in different states at the state level. The charges in Georgia that also Donald Trump had been facing, those have essentially stalled out because the prosecutor needed to be replaced there. But there's a question of is there any way that this could have an impact on state charges against some of these people with many of them already pleading not guilty?

One of the things to note here, too, is that the way this is written, it carves out Donald Trump itself. It says it's not applicable to him. So, even though the White House often is talking about how broad the pardon power is, here they are not saying that the president is pardoning himself even preemptively for anything. But the very top statement here in how these pardons are structured sort of underlines the political message. The proclamation ends a grave national injustice perpetrated upon the American people following the 2020 presidential election and continues the process of national reconciliation. So, that's the message that both Donald Trump and his pardon attorney, Ed Martin, at the Justice Department are trying to send.

BROWN: And we should note, I mean, that's basically an attempt to rewrite history right there. Ed Martin, who's now at DOJ, was part of the Stop the Steal movement.

[10:40:00]

POLANTZ: He was. He was also a lawyer for some of the people who were Capitol rioters. And this is one of those pardon discourse moments that builds upon other things Ed Martin has been working on, including Trump pardoning all of the January 6th Capitol riot defendants, all of them, more than a thousand, many of whom had been convicted. In this case, there are people, Rudy Giuliani, who has lost his law license over this. Sidney Powell, who I believe had pleaded guilty in Georgia to charges and had faced some bar proceedings, though, kept her law license. This is another political statement saying, we do not believe that the 2020 election was stolen.

And then, of course, there's people out there in jail like Tina Peters in the state of Colorado that GOP official who is behind bars for nine years on state charges. It's a question of whether this federal move will have some sort of impact in the politics around that.

BROWN: All right. Katelyn Polantz, thanks so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: And Rudy Giuliani, who was once the nation's mayor, now being pardoned for all of this. It's amazing what's going on.

Also breaking this morning, the United States Supreme Court has declined, declined an opportunity to overturn its landmark precedent recognizing a constitutional right to same-sex marriage. LGBTQ advocates have long feared the conservative court might revisit the decades-old decision. The court instead denied an appeal from former Kentucky clerk, county clerk Kim Davis, who now faces hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The court did not explain why it denied the appeal.

And coming up, a final farewell. The family of former hostage and Israeli-American citizen Itay Chen gives him a proper burial in Israel years after being held by Hamas in Gaza. Itay's father, Ruby Chen, standing by to join us next.

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[10:45:00]

BLITZER: A funeral was held yesterday for 19-year-old Israeli- American Itay Chen. His body was handed over by Hamas last week as part of the U.S. brokered ceasefire. Chen was an Israeli soldier who was killed along the Gaza border during the October 7th attacks and his body was taken into Gaza. He was also a dual Israeli-American citizen who spent plenty of time in the United States visiting with his family in the New York City area. This is some of what his mother said in her eulogy.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HAGIT CHEN, ITAY CHEN'S MOTHER (through translator): It was so important for me to see you one more time -- one last time. To hug you, and yesterday I could finally do it. Itay, forgive me that you waited so long to come home. I don't know how one can live with such a broken heart. How one can breathe? I wanted you so much to come back, but not in a coffin. That you would be a hero, but without paying with your life.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: His parents also gave their son one last salute at the funeral in Tel Aviv at a military cemetery. Itay Chen's father, Ruby Chen, is with us right now. Ruby, thank you so much for being with us and I think I speak for so many millions of people out there. We are so, so sorry for your loss. You've finally been able to bury your son and begin the mourning process, say the Kaddish, the memorial prayer for the dead, an important ritual in Judaism as we know. Tell us what that experience was like for you.

RUBY CHEN, ITAY CHEN'S FATHER: You know, it was difficult being, you know, at the cemetery where we felt happiness. I won't say joy, but it's kind of mixed in with the sorrow that comes because we waited two years to be in this situation where we could actually bring him back to burial where he should be and we being able to mourn for him. So, it was a mixed bag of emotions where we have been in a suspended type of environment I mentioned for over two years.

BLITZER: I know you fought so long and hard to ensure that Itay's remains were returned to Israel. What emotions are you feeling now, Ruby, that you've laid him to rest finally? And who do you credit for making sure your family's wishes were heard?

CHEN: Yes, so you know, Wolf, we've been dozens of times to Washington, D.C. and the White House and both administrations. You know, I think the most important thing to highlight was when the change of the administrations happened. We asked Mr. Jake Sullivan and Brett McGurk not to drop the ball on this and not wait for the new administration to come in and we lose more time. And God bless Steve Witkoff. He immediately got into it and we saw that initial deal happen in January.

We've been in this fight for over two years and now maybe it's the time finally, finally to be sad and weep for the loss of my son and start thinking how to learn to walk again in a different way. But it's something that now we could be focused on as we finally have been able to complete the mission that we had in front of us. And we will never understand, I think, ever what type of human beings take someone that most likely was killed and use him as a negotiation chip for something in the future. That is against any religion that I could think of.

[10:50:00]

BLITZER: And like so many hostage families, Ruby, I know you vowed to try to make accountable those who failed Israel's security back on October 7th. What do you want to see happen now that the first part of the ceasefire is in place and let's hope it continues?

CHEN: The prime minister said in the past that it would be time to have an investigation committee when the war is over. I think after two years, this is the best we could see of the ceasefire. And I think that for over 2,000 families that lost their loved ones, including 47 U.S. citizens, it is time to look back and see who failed and who was responsible and for us to see justice. And when I say justice, Wolf, if I also would like to see justice for the U.S. citizens, that those people that caused this to happen.

And I'm not just talking about the guy at the end that pulled the gun, I'm also talking about the money flow that enabled Hamas to build a war machine in Gaza to attack Israel on October 7th. Those would be banks, those would be charity funds that allowed all that money to go into Gaza to build that war machine. And they also should be accountable for the fact that 47 U.S. citizens were killed that day.

BLITZER: And as I've often said to you, Ruby, our deepest, deepest condolences to you and your family. And may he rest in peace. And as we say, may his memory be a blessing. Thanks so much for joining us.

CHEN: God bless both. Thank you.

BLITZER: Thank you. And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Well, today two more professional athletes are caught up in a sports betting and money laundering scheme. This time it's in Major League Baseball. Prosecutors indicted Cleveland Guardians players Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz, accusing them of rigging specific pitches and giving betters the information on those pitches in advance.

BLITZER: And both are now facing charges of wire fraud conspiracy. Conspiracy to influence sports betting contests and money laundering conspiracy. CNN Sports Anchor Coy Wire is joining us right now. Coy, how long did this alleged betting scheme go on and what is Major League Baseball saying?

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: MLB says they're fully cooperating with investigators and that this goes back a couple of years now. Wolf and Pam, good to see you. Just weeks after the NBA was hit with a betting scandal, we now have these two Major League Baseball players indicted for allegedly league taking part in a scheme to rig bets on MLB games.

The indictment alleges that the defendants agreed in advance with their co-conspirators on specific pitches that they would throw. The co-conspirators then used that information to place hundreds of fraudulent bets on those pitches. Clase's involvement in the scheme is alleged to have started in 2023. Prosecutors say the three-time all- star coordinated with corrupt sports bets to rig proposition bets or prop bets on particular pitches he would throw. The bets would then wager on the speed and the type of pitches Clase would throw based on information they received in advance from Clase and sometimes even during games, per the indictment. The DOJ says betters won at least $400,000 using inside information on Clase's pitches.

Now, Ortiz is accused of joining the enterprise in 2025, working alongside Clase to coordinate with betters on rigged pitches he would throw. Major League Baseball says it has also been cooperating with the DOJ investigation saying, quote, "MLB contacted federal law enforcement at the outset of its investigation has fully cooperated throughout the process." A league spokesperson said in a statement to CNN, we are aware of the indictment and the arrest, and our investigation is ongoing. Now, if convicted of all charges, Clase and Ortiz, Wolf and Pam, could potentially face decades behind bars.

BROWN: Yes, very serious. All right. So, I want to bring in our legal analyst, Elliot Williams, to help us better understand this. So, these alleged bets occur during the games. How did the feds connect the dots back to these pitchers?

ELLIOT WILLIAMS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the Major League Baseball last summer, I believe, noted regular or unusual betting activity. Now, we live in a world where A.I. is sophisticated enough that it can start spotting things like, wait a second, why is it that frequently when Emmanuel Clase throws a certain number of breaking balls we see a bunch of spikes and bets and so on? So, that, that's part of it, number one.

Number two, like any other investigation these days there's always a paper trail. There's the text messages and so on. There's one exchange in which Emmanuel Clase, I believe, had texted a sad dogface emoji when he'd sort of failed to deliver for these -- allegedly, these individuals for, you know, that he was working with on these bets. And so, it's -- building investigations is always complex and I think they did a great job here.

BLITZER: Elliot, what do you make of the evidence in the indictment?

WILLIAMS: Again, it's the text messages. It's always the electronic footprint of individuals. And here what you are looking at is linking betting activity that is often electronic. Statements and communications and conversations between people. And then people immediately after bets are being placed, commenting, saying, OK, in either in code language or quite specifically, whether thanking an individual, or something like that. And the indictment does walk through in pretty great detail, some of these exchanges that happened over telephone.

BROWN: And I just want to note to our viewers, these pictures right here of the pitchers throwing the ball allegedly to the ground. So, this is coming straight from the court documents we received. How is this case different than the one involving the NBA and do we know of any connection between the two?

WILLIAMS: Not -- connections not yet. But they're -- at their core they're fundamentally the same. This idea of what are called prop bets, and Coy had talked about this concept, where you're not betting on the outcome of a game, you're betting on instances that might happen. And this -- what we're showing on the screen right here is an example of will he bounce the ball before it gets to home plate? Will he throw a pitch below a certain number of miles per hour? Will he throw a fast ball as his first pitch? These are all bets on not the outcome of the game, but some things that happen in the game, that's similar to what happened in some of the NBA bets as well.

And you had folks on the inside feeding information to folks on the outside --

[11:00:00]