Return to Transcripts main page

The Situation Room

Venezuela Launches Military Drills; U.K. Suspends Some Intelligence Sharing with U.S.; Supreme Court Extends Pause of Full SNAP Benefits; Epstein Mentioned Trump Multiple Times in Private Emails; ByHeart Recalls All of its Baby Formula in the U.S. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 12, 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]

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: -- I think to do that. And one of the things, though, that's interesting about this, this gets us into the realm of intelligence sharing where Great Britain has reportedly said that they are not going to be sharing intelligence in this area with the U.S., that is a signal to the U.S. to pull back and to do the kinds of things that it needs to do to comply with international law.

The type of operations that we have right now are really not compliant with international law because the types of force that are being used are disproportionately heavy compared to the threat that's out there. So, that's going to be one of those difficult areas. But international pressure could potentially stop the U.S., but this administration is not really interested in following the dictates of international opinion.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes. I mean, how much latitude does it have to justify these strikes? Because as you know the administration is saying this is about protecting the homeland against these drug cartels that's why we're doing this, although it hasn't released the evidence to prove that the 76 people it has killed are actually all part of drug cartels. And then you have Venezuela that's saying, this is about regime change.

LEIGHTON: Yes. So, you know, it's interesting because the U.S. is saying that it's not about regime change and yet the types of forces that are arrayed are much more in terms of quantity and quality of the weaponry. They're much more apt to be used for that kind of a mission but they're not necessarily sufficient to actually affect regime change unless there's help from within Venezuela to do something like that, and that's really the key thing if they really wanted to do this, if they really wanted to affect regime change, they really should be working with the opposition forces in Venezuela and do so in a covert fashion instead of an overt fashion.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And how significant is the fact that Britain, one of the closest if not the closest U.S. as far as intelligence cooperation is concerned, is now stepping back and saying it's no longer going to cooperate on intelligence issues in the Caribbean with the U.S. because it regards what the U.S. is doing as a violation of international law?

LEIGHTON: It's extremely significant, Wolf. And the reason it's significant is because when -- the way British -- the British have set up their intelligence services they really look at the long-term. They have experts that focus on a target area for 20, 30 years. So, they understand those. We are much more tactical in our approach to intelligence. We're very good at what we do, but we don't understand the nuances of things like language and things like the way the forces are deployed and all the political aspects of that as well as the British tend to.

I know we do have obviously have experts on Latin America who've studied the region for years, but it's a very different style of intelligence and a very different style of intelligence dissemination between the two countries, and the Brits complement us quite a bit in the way they conduct their intelligence operations. We complement them because of our tactical intelligence prowess, they complement us because of their strategic intelligence prowess.

BLITZER: Colonel Cedric Leighton, as always, thank you very much for joining us.

LEIGHTON: You bet, Wolf.

BROWN: Always great to have you here. And just ahead in the Situation Room, we have a health alert, ByHeart recalling all of its baby formula in the U.S. after a multi-state outbreak of infant botulism may be linked to its products. What parents need to know up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

BROWN: Happening now, millions of Americans might be worrying about where their next meal will come from after the Supreme Court keeps full SNAP payments on hold.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JEANNE NIHART, SNAP BENEFITS RECIPIENT: When I logged into the app and saw that my SNAP benefits were distributed, I cried in relief. But the very next day I found out the news that the administration is trying to reverse those SNAP benefits that were distributed. So, even after getting my SNAP, I still don't feel relief.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: The high court extended a short-term order that allows the Trump administration to withhold November food stamp benefits. Standing correspondent Rene Marsh has been following all of this. She joins us now in the Situation Room. So, Rene, why are the justices giving the Trump administration more time?

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, this pauses in place until Thursday around midnight, and this really seems designed to put off this case for a few days in hopes that the shutdown wraps up. We know that there is this pending deal in Congress. And so, the hope is that this doesn't have to go through the courts, it doesn't have to go through SCOTUS, that once the government opens up, this will all really -- all these legal battles will become moot.

Now, remember, this is a food assistance program that's really been in limbo for this entire shutdown, because the question is, you know, where people were going to get funding for as far as their November payments. There are 42 million Americans who rely on this program, and it really has become this flashpoint, this issue, the issue that really illustrated the pain that Americans were feeling as a result of this shutdown.

Just per month, it costs about $9 million. That's what this program costs, and that was at the heart of a lot of these legal battles. The Trump administration, in the very beginning, did not want to tap into emergency funds when the -- you know, the traditional funding for this program had depleted, but then the courts compelled them to do that. They did do that, but it was still short because that emergency funds only had about $5 billion. Again, total cost is $9 million and -- $9 billion,

And so, the courts and what is before the Supreme Court right now is whether they need to move money around, roughly $4 billion, to fully fund it for the month of November. Because of this pause that we saw, they will not have to do that right now, and again, the hope is that as soon as this shutdown is over, this will all be moot. We will likely see these cases just kind of fall by the wayside because it becomes a non-issue.

[10:40:00]

One interesting bit at the end of this order from the Supreme Court, Justice Jackson made the point, and she noted, that she would have required that the administration make full benefits now. So, even though she issued this pause, she made it clear that she believed that the administration should have made paid these full benefits at this point during the shutdown.

BROWN: And to be clear, I mean, right now, it's sort of a patchwork, right? If you're one of the 42 million Americans relying on SNAP benefits, some are getting them in full, others aren't, depending on where they live in the country.

MARSH: Yes. I mean, some people -- because again, there's just been this back and forth, some people ended up getting a partial payment, others got nothing. So, it certainly depends on where you live, and when people will actually get all that they need for November, that too is up in the air.

BROWN: And some of the states have stepped up as well.

MARSH: Correct. Yes.

BROWN: All right. Rene Marsh, thank you so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: And thanks for me as well. There's other news coming in this morning, video showing a San Francisco light rail train speeding up around a corner, causing several passengers to topple over.

And now, officials are saying it was the result of what they call operator fatigue. You can see in the video the train was going nearly 50 miles an hour.

BROWN: Oh, my goodness. You can just see the fear in their faces.

BLITZER: Very disturbing.

BROWN: Yes. Well, coming up, we are following breaking news this morning. Newly released emails show that Jeffrey Epstein mentioned Donald Trump multiple times in private conversations before he was president. We have some reaction from Capitol Hill next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

BLITZER: Right now, lawmakers are getting set to return to the House chamber up on Capitol Hill. A vote is expected later today on the Senate-passed bill to end the federal government shutdown. I want to bring in Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana right now. Congressman, thanks so much for joining us.

Before we get to all of that, I want to get your response to the breaking news we've been following this hour that the House Oversight Committee has just released emails showing that Jeffrey Epstein mentioned Donald Trump by name multiple times in various private correspondence with Ghislaine Maxwell and the author Michael Wolff. What's your reaction to that?

REP. MARLIN STUTZMAN (R-IN), BUDGET AND FINANCIAL SERVICES COMMITTEES: Yes, good morning, Wolf. Great to be with you again. You know, I think that we all know President Trump has been the most investigated person probably in the world over the last several years. And, you know, of course, the information that was released this morning by the Democrats, for one, I would say, you know, it shows up on the day that we're going to open up the government again in the House. We're voting this afternoon.

But also, the Oversight Committee, led by the Republican Chairman James Comer, is always going to be looking at the facts and whatever the facts lead. And again, as I say, you know, President Trump has been the most investigated president that we probably will ever have. And so, the fact that this information comes out today, I think, is a bit ironic. But at the same time, any information that's released has to be taken seriously. And I know that the Oversight Committee will do that.

BLITZER: When Adelita Grijalva of Arizona, a Democrat, is sworn in later today, two months after her election, by the way, she's expected to be the 218th signature needed to force a vote to release all of the Epstein files. Do you think those files should be released?

STUTZMAN: Well, again, I think James Comer, the Oversight Committee chair, as well as the others who are responsible for these files, have done a very good job handling them methodically and making sure that the victims are protected, that Epstein, of course, was a monster that we know of, and the fact that these files are being released and information is coming out is good for all of us.

I mean, we want transparency in our government. And I trust that James Comer, you know, Congressman Jim Jordan, they are the ones that are truly handling this very well in the House of Representatives. Democrats are doing, you know, their job, of course, as the opposition, and making sure that information is out there. But, again, I think that -- you know, it's interesting that they release those files today, on the day that the government shutdown is going to end, and that it's a positive for Republicans that we're going to continue funding the government as we planned on, and that the government's going to be open.

SNAP benefits are going to start being released back to the American people, that we're truly counting them on them over the past month. And because the Democrats weren't able to get those SNAP benefits, and, of course, a lot of other just problems that we didn't need to have and force on the American people, but that's what the Democrats chose.

BLITZER: And now, that the federal government shutdown seems to be coming to an end, and could be coming to an end later today, how confident are you, Congressman, that the funding bill will eventually pass tonight?

STUTZMAN: Well, I think that there shouldn't be really much debate over funding the government and opening it back up from Republicans or Democrats.

[10:50:00]

I mean, what we have seen over the past 40-some days has just been ridiculous, because, like I mentioned, the SNAP benefits, of course, you have 510(k)s for orthopedic and medical devices sitting over at the FDA that couldn't be processed. SBA couldn't process loans for small businesses. Of course, the air traffic control problem that is really unnecessary.

And so, I think both, you know, Democrats and Republicans should be voting for this bill. It's a clean CR. The only thing that Democrats got out of it was to reverse the RIFs that President Trump had implemented during the shutdown, so that means that more federal government employees will be employed after this, but that's it.

And I think that this is really an unnecessary shutdown that the Democrats forced on the American people. Let's all vote together and say, you know, move forward, let's support the American people and get this economy and the government opened back up so we can move forward.

BLITZER: What's your message, Congressman, to your constituents in Indiana who have seen their paychecks, their SNAP benefits, their food stamps, their travel plans upended by the shutdown?

STUTZMAN: Yes, and you know what, Wolf, I've heard from a lot of them. I've heard from single mothers, you know, with kids who are, you know, trying to make ends meet and they're having to borrow money from family members to pay their rent. And this has been just so unnecessary. Again, you know, the fact that the only thing that is changing in this bill is that the RIFs that were implemented during the shutdown will be reversed.

The Senate is going to have a vote on the ACA. That's the other thing that the Democrats were fighting for. They wanted subsidies for the insurance companies to reduce the premiums on the American people. I think those -- any subsidy should go straight to the American people. Let's let the American people decide how they want to handle health insurance rather than the big insurance companies.

So, I think this vote is going to be really telling for Republicans and Democrats, but especially Democrats. Do they want to continue to fight for the big insurance companies? Do they want to fight for bigger government? We're living in this world of $37 trillion of debt. We have to control spending. And so, I hope that Democrats vote for this bill this afternoon as well.

BLITZER: Republican Congressman Marlin Stutzman of Indiana, thanks so much for joining us.

STUTZMAN: You bet. Thank you, Wolf. Great to be with you.

BLITZER: And coming up in our next hour, by the way, Democratic Senator Tim Kaine of Virginia standing by to join us live right here in the Situation Room after breaking with his party to vote to reopen the federal government. We'll have more news right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:55:00]

BROWN: Well, we have a breaking health alert this morning. The baby formula company ByHeart is recalling all of its infant formula nationwide. The recall comes as the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention investigate an outbreak of infant botulism. That may be tied to its products.

I want to bring in Jacqueline Howard. Jacqueline this is a popular brand of formula. I used it for my own child last year. What is, what's the latest on this? Where do things stand today in this investigation?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Pam, the latest is 15 cases of infant botulism have been identified so far in 12 different states tied to this recall. And we know that these children, they range in age from just 16 days old to 157 days old. They were all hospitalized. They have been treated, and thankfully no deaths have been reported.

The company ByHeart did say that it's working closely with the FDA. In this investigation, it says the FDA has full access to all of its facilities and products, but the company does say at this time, Pam, that all ByHeart products must be discarded. And that's because infant botulism, it is a serious illness. It occurs when a baby swallows the spores of the bacterium that causes the illness.

And when that happens, the bacterium can grow in the gut and produce a neurotoxin that causes symptoms like poor feeding, constipation, loss of head control, even decreased facial expression. Again, this is a neurotoxin. You may see difficulty swallowing or your baby may have a weak or altered cry, and this can progress to difficulty breathing or even respiratory arrest. So, that's why for parents out there who may have been using these products, now is the time to switch your infant to another formula.

And again, this is an ongoing investigation, so I'm sure we'll hear more from the FDA, CDC and the company ByHeart itself in the coming days, Pam.

BROWN: What else is ByHeart saying?

HOWARD: Yes, the company says that it also wants people to know it. In its statement it, it said it's sorry that this is happening. It's working closely with FDA and CDC. They are testing products. So, again, we're really waiting to see what these tests show as investigations and lab analyses continue as part of the investigation overall.

BROWN: All right. Jacqueline Howard, thank you so much. Wolf.

BLITZER: The Northern Lights are on display caused by a powerful burst of energy from the sun. Take a look at the stunning time lapse of last night's Aurora --

[11:00:00]