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Bill to Reopen Government Heads to House After Passing Senate; Shutdown Pain Increases as Workers Miss Second Full Paycheck; U.K. Suspends Some Intel Sharing With U.S. Over Boat Strikes. Aired 10- 10:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Happening now, travel, chaos, new flight delays and cancelations this morning as the Trump administration is cutting 6 percent of flights nationwide. Airlines are already canceling flights this morning, and we are live at Newark Airport as this chaos intensifies.

Plus, President Trump is downplaying America's economic anxiety in a new interview.

And then later, we'll speak to the parents of a nine-year-old little girl killed in the devastating flood at Camp Mystic in Texas as they join other parents and new lawsuits against the camp.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Onto the House. After passing the Senate, the longest government shutdown in U.S. history is one step closer to being over, but not everyone is celebrating. I'll speak with the House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, about his plan to fight the deal when it reaches the chambers.

Plus, honoring our heroes, we're live over at Arlington National Cemetery as the nation salutes past and present members of the U.S. military. Why some service members, though, are feeling unappreciated on this Veteran's Day.

And a record setting blast of cold air freezes parts of the country.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer with Pamela Brown, and you're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news. What will the House of Representatives now do? Congress is one step closer to ending the longest government shutdown in U.S. history after the Senate voted yesterday to pass a new funding deal. Eight members of the Democratic caucus broke ranks and voted with Republicans to pass the bill.

Let's go live right now to CNN's Chief Congressional Correspondent Manu Raju, he is up on Capitol Hill. How soon, Manu, is the House of Representatives expected to vote? MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR AND CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We expect this vote to happen tomorrow, Wolf. In fact, today is a bit of a down day on Capitol Hill. The Senate is out of session after passing this bill by the narrowest of margins of 60-40 vote. A 60 vote minimum is needed to overcome Democratic attempts to block this legislation.

But now that it has passed, it moves over to the United States House. And the reason why they are not going to vote until tomorrow is not just because of the federal holiday, but because the speaker of the house, Mike Johnson, has kept the chamber out of session since September 19th, all in an effort to try to pressure Democrats in the Senate to pass the legislation to reopen the government, but as a result, members have not been in session doing legislative business and they are scattered all around the country, and now will have to come back into Washington.

The concern among Republican leaders is to ensure that there are no absences here because Democrats are trying to fight this very hard. And this is the very narrowly split House, meaning that Mike Johnson can only afford to lose two Republican votes on any party line votes. And Democrats are upset because this deal does not include an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies that are aspiring at year's end that have been a central demand at the onset of this fight. Instead, there'll be a separate vote on that issue in the United States Senate in December with no guarantee that that could become law.

And in talking to Democrats, they're making clear that they are very upset at this deal that eight of their fellow members in the Senate Democratic Caucus voted yesterday to pass.

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SEN. ANDY KIM (D-NJ): Well, look, what just happened in the Senate chamber was an absolute disgrace. I just -- I can't stress it enough.

I'm just so pissed off, and just what's going to happen to so many people.

RAJU: Is the shutdown worth it?

SEN. JOHN HICKENLOOPER (D-CO): Yes, I think so.

I hate it, but, yes, it was worth it, definitely. We got people to pay attention to the fact that this is a traumatic, in many cases, life or death situation for people all over this country.

RAJU: Was the shutdown worth it?

SEN. JACK REED (D-RI): I think it was because I think the perception, we made it clear that not just the healthcare issue, but the whole issue. I think it was remarkable when the president tried to use SNAP as the punishment to force us to capitulate.

(END VIDEO CLIP) RAJU: Now, as part of this bill, it would reopen parts of the federal government until the end of January, January 30th, and other parts of the federal government through September 30th of next year.

[10:05:02]

But that issue about healthcare is still dividing Democrats very badly at this moment. The speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, making no guarantees that he would put a healthcare bill on the floor of the United States House, which is one big reason why we expect the Democratic leader, Hakeem Jeffries, to fight this hard and urge his members to vote against this tomorrow.

BLITZER: We'll see what happens. All right, Manu Raju, lots at stake right now. Thank you very, very much.

And coming up in just a few minutes right here in The Situation Room, I'll speak live with the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, important interview coming up. Pamela?

BROWN: It certainly is. We have some other news to get to.

Happening now, real world aim because of the government shutdown, we were just talking about that. One TSA worker says she is struggling to help her sick daughter.

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MARY BECKER, TSA AGENT: And then she got sick during all this, so it was having to ask the pediatrician's office to delay payment because like I can't afford the $50 co-pay right now. I've missed two paychecks now.

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BROWN: And many of those workers missed that second full paycheck yesterday.

Meanwhile, airlines are increasing the number of FAA mandated cancelations, turning up the chaos for the flying public.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was canceled, canceled, canceled, or delayed, delayed, delayed, delayed, and canceled.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I pray that we can get out of here.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm trying to get home.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN Correspondent Gloria Pazmino at Newark Liberty International Airport. Gloria, what are you seeing there? GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, Pamela, even though this shutdown is still very much ongoing and even though the House is preparing to take up that vote, and we are starting to see the potential end of the shutdown in the horizon, travelers here are still experiencing the consequences of that shutdown. And even if the shutdown ends soon, they are likely to continue to experience those consequences through the end of this week, if not even after that because of the domino effect that so many of the cancelations are having.

Now, one thing I will say is that many of the travelers we've spoken to here today are prepared. They have been in communication with the airlines. In fact, many of them have said that the airlines have been very good about notifying them about cancelations and about changes, some of them knowing that this cancelation is expected to scale up by the end of the week as a result of this executive order, this emergency order by the FAA. They have used the flexibility that the airlines are providing to move up their travel plans so that they are not getting delayed or canceled later in the week. Take a listen.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hopefully, I'll get out to L.A. today and hopefully I'll get back on Thursday. So, so far, so good, you know, I think they the coast to coast flights haven't been impacted as much, so I keep my fingers crossed.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We had one delay. We came from Cape Town to New York first. But it was like an hour.

We were scared that it was going to delay like a whole day or more, but, luckily, it was only an hour. But, hopefully, this isn't delay more.

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PAZMINO: Some of the passengers we spoke to here today said that their destination flights are not canceled, but they don't know what's going to happen when they're making their way back home. That is in the back of many people's heads here today, but they're still going out and carrying on with their plans.

So far, here at Newark Airport, just around 62 cancelations so far, more than 1,100 across the entire U.S. and more than 500 delays. And as the week goes on, those numbers are expected to increase. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Gloria Pazmino, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And more cancelations than delays, which are a little bit surprising, at least to me.

BROWN: Yes.

BLITZER: All right, thanks very much.

Still ahead, we're going to go one on one with the Democratic House of minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, as the bill to reopen the federal government is now in the House's hands.

Stay with us, lots going on right here in The Situation Room.

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BLITZER: A breaking news exclusive now coming into The Situation Room, watch this, the United Kingdom is suspending, listen to this, suspending some of its intelligence sharing with the U.S. because of the Trump administration's strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean.

BROWN: We are joined now by Senior White House Reporter Kevin Liptak and CNN National Security Correspondent Natasha Bertrand.

Natasha, do you first with this exclusive reporting. I mean, this is a big deal. The U.K. is arguably the closest ally to the United States when it comes to intelligence sharing. What else do we know?

NATASHA BERTRAND, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Pam. It's a really significant rupture here. Essentially, what we're learning is that the U.K. is no longer sharing intelligence with the U.S. about these suspected drug trafficking vessels in the Caribbean because it does not want to be complicit in the U.S. military's strikes on these drug vessels and believes fundamentally that the U.S. military's use of force against these vessels violates international law, according to multiple sources that we spoke to.

Now, previously, the U.K. had been happy to help the United States locate and interdict vessels that were transiting the Caribbean that appeared to be trafficking drugs. But the key difference, of course, is that it was helping the Coast Guard intercept those vessels, arrest those on board, seize the drugs, and allowing these individuals to have some semblance of due process.

But now the U.S., of course, has started striking these boats unilaterally with military force, killing everyone on board.

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The total now for number of people killed is around 76. And we're told that the U.K. is deeply uncomfortable with that and they believe that it is pretty blatantly illegal.

Now, it is unclear exactly how long this intelligence sharing suspension is going to last, but we're told that it has been going on for well over a month now, essentially since the U.S. began its bombing campaign. And it really underscores the continued questions surrounding the legality of this U.S. military campaign, which, of course, the U.S. government, the Trump administration has insisted is part of an armed conflict, that it is waging against cartel members and criminal organizations, but much of the international community, as well as legal experts inside the U.S. do not see it that way.

BLITZER: Stand by, Natasha. I want to bring in our White House reporter, Kevin Liptak. How is the Trump administration responding to this extraordinary move by the United Kingdom?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes. And in Natasha's reporting, it's clear that the White House hasn't commented on this particular suspension, but it's clear that the administration has not been deterred in this strategy so far. You know, the president and top officials have insisted that these boats are carrying drugs and that the intelligence bears that out, and you have seen them over and over again target these boats in the Caribbean Sea, you know, multiple times per week.

Now, this question of the intelligence, it is not necessarily a new one. You've heard a real outcry from members of Congress at what was initially relatively slow pace in delivering briefings on what the rationale for these actions were. You have seen that ramp up over the last few weeks. But Democrats at least have not been convinced. You know, they've emerged from these briefings saying that the intelligence is relatively thin and sort of firm in their view that the administration's actions are illegal.

I think this will also raise some questions about what the U.S.-U.K. relationship is and where precisely it stands. You know, the Prime Minister Keir Starmer has spent a lot of time trying to maintain a relationship with President Trump, trying not to upend what is, you know, the, quote, special relationship. And we should note this comes at another moment of tension between the U.S. and the U.K. as the president sues the BBC for allegedly doctoring an interview that aired on the Panorama program. And so you do see those tensions building there as well.

You know, the president has raised in the past the prospect that the campaign in Venezuela could potentially expand to land strikes in that country. He hasn't made a decision on that front yet. He has offered somewhat contradictory views. He's told 60 Minutes a couple weeks ago that he did not think that that would happen.

But, clearly, the U.S. is engaging in this massive military buildup in the region now with the revelation that the U.K. has suspended intelligence sharing, it all leaves open the question of where potentially this is all leading.

BROWN: Yes, some very serious questions now.

Natasha Bertrand, Kevin Liptak, thank you so much, big deal.

BLITZER: And let's get some analysis right now. Joining us, CNN Military Analyst, retired Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel Leighton, thanks so much for joining us.

Based on my experience, this marks a very significant break from the U.S.'s closest ally, Britain, an intelligence sharing partner. I don't remember a time when Britain has publicly announced it was suspending intelligence cooperation in a certain area because it suspects what the US is doing was illegal. Are you surprised?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Oh, yes. I'm surprised that it has come to this stage right here, but I'm not surprised with the British action, Wolf. The British relationship, the intelligence sharing relationship that we have with the Brits really goes back all the way to World War II and even before that, to some extent. So, this is a very significant break in that relationship.

It's part of the Five Eyes Program, basically a bunch of countries, including the U.K., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, all working together. And, basically, what they've done is they've split up the world in different areas and they use resources. In essence, it's a resource sharing arrangement, plus an intelligence sharing arrangement. And it's particularly noteworthy within the realm of signals intelligence, but it also goes into the realm of human intelligence and other technical intelligence disciplines.

So, this is very significant because the British have a very robust intelligence capability. That intelligence capability extends into the Caribbean. A lot of British territories, as Natasha reports are, you know, part of this, they have intelligence sites in those territories. And they provide basically a clearer picture of the types of events that are going on in the Caribbean and in the adjacent waters.

[10:20:03]

So, this lack of intelligence support from Britain is going to have a significant impact on the accuracy of the intelligence that the U.S. uses in prosecuting the so-called war on drugs. So, this is a major, major issue.

BLITZER: Do you remember a time when the U.S. -- when the U.K. has accused the U.S. of violating international law?

LEIGHTON: No. I know that elements within U.K. society have made those accusations going back to certain operations back in the 1980s. But -- and they were also, of course, opposed to Reagan's deployment of missiles back in the 80s, you know, to get the Soviets to back down. But that was never the position of the British government.

The British government always ensured that there was a robust intelligence sharing architecture. During the Cold War, we had a massive exchange of data with the grids in Europe. We also worked with them extensively in both the Iraq war and the Afghanistan conflict.

So, the relationship with Britain was always very, very solid and was basically as if they were an extension of us and we were an extension of them. And it was one of those operations, one of those relationships really that allowed us to have the type of robust intelligence collection efforts that allowed us to ensure our security after 9/11. It's also a major effort on the part of Britain to really help us in a lot of the conflicts that ensued as a result of the war on terror.

So, this is a significant blow, and what it could also portend, Wolf, is it could portend other countries pulling their intelligence support from us, not only in the Caribbean, but in other areas of the world as well.

BLITZER: Yes. BROWN: That would certainly be a troubling development. All right, Colonel Cedric Leighton, thank you.

BLITZER: And coming up, it's still fall, but it's feeling more and more like winter in parts of the United States. Take a look at this, a live picture of my hometown of Buffalo, New York, and you can see snow. Where else are the temperatures dropping?

Stay with us. When I woke up this morning, it was in the 20s here in Washington, D.C.

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BLITZER: Happening now, record-breaking cold temperatures are now setting in over much of the southeast today, and there are very dangerous conditions for states surrounding the Great Lakes. Snow is already piling up on the ground and there's more to come.

BROWN: That is a lot of snow. Let's go live now to CNN Meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Derek, we were just talking about how cold it is here in Washington. We woke up this morning, we're like, wait, isn't it supposed to be fall? How many records were broken this morning and how long will this cold snap last?

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: All right, Pamela. I'm going to give you a little secret here. It's that time of the year, stunned iguanas falling from the trees in Central Florida. Yes, these are pictures taken this morning and, no, they are not dead. They are in a state of torpor, which is -- think of it as a kind of a temporary state of dormancy, lowered metabolism, lowered heart rate lowered body temperature as well. So, they relax their muscles and they fall off the trees, but they're not dead. And the Fish and Wildlife Commission of Florida warns people not to take them indoors because they recover a lot quicker than you think. You don't want an iguana running around the back of your car, right?

So, look at these temperatures and the records that have fallen nearly a century-old record in some location, Huntsville, look at Tampa, dropped to 39 overnight. Some locations across the Florida Panhandle dropping below freezing, that's a hard freeze for this part of the southeast.

And, yes, we're recovering nicely, but, of course, you factor in the wind and that's when things get really nasty outside. So, I've called this actually more of a winter sandwich because we've got the fall- like temperatures on either side. So temperature recovery for the rest of the week, no more falling iguanas from the trees, and we'll get back to normal tomorrow and the rest of this week.

BROWN: I didn't know about these falling iguanas. Do you?

BLITZER: No.

VAN DAM: It's a thing. BROWN: All right, well now we know. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much.

VAN DAM: You got it.

BLITZER: And still ahead, our one-on-one with the Democratic House minority leader, Hakeem Jeffries, as House lawmakers make their way back to Capitol Hill to vote on the bill to reopen the federal government.

Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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