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The Situation Room

The Government Shutdown is Over, But Things are Not Back to Normal; Rep. Mike Johnson (R-LA) Says, Epstein Files Vote Happening Next Week; Nearly 1,000 Flights Canceled Even as Government Shutdown Ends. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired November 13, 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, the government is back open but flights are still canceled this morning and full SNAP benefits are still undelivered. So, when will things return to normal? Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins joins us here live in The Situation Room.

Plus, a major blow to immigration crackdowns in Illinois, a federal judge orders the release of hundreds arrested under the Trump administration's efforts. We are live on the ground in Chicago.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: Epstein emails, the House planning to vote on whether to release the Justice Department's Jeffrey Epstein files as early as next week. Just ahead Epstein survivor Haley Robson is live right here in The Situation Room.

Plus, Lindsey Halligan in the hot seat. Any moment now, a judge will hear challenges to cases against two of President Trump's political foes, James Comey and Letitia James. The question, does Halligan have the authority to try these cases.

And later, making housing more affordable. The Trump administration is, quote, actively evaluating so-called portable mortgages. What is it and what this means for you?

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.

We begin with America's longest government shutdown over this morning. Finally, more than half a million federal workers are reporting back to work, but things are not back to normal by any means. Flight delays will linger. Workers have to wait for back pay, and the deal to fund the government goes only through the next three months.

Last night, President Trump signed the bill into law, but not before blasting Democrats for the record 43-day standoff.

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DONALD TRUMP, U.S. PRESIDENT: Today, we're sending a clear message that we will never give into extortion, because that's what it was. They tried to extort -- the Democrats tried to extort our country.

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BLITZER: Most Democrats opposed the bill after it failed to include their key demand extending healthcare subsidies. Today, emotions are raw among the millions of Americans whose premiums are set to skyrocket.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My health insurance premium is going to go up from $218 a month to $1,408 a month. Yes, that's a 546 percent increase.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don't understand how this is ethical. How am I supposed to do this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am mad as we are at the Democrats, right?

How are we going to get these cowardly people out of office?

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BLITZER: Let's go live right now to CNN's Arlette Saenz up on Capitol Hill. Arlette, as part of this deal, Democrats were promised to vote on extending these healthcare subsidies. Where does that stand?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, there will likely be a big battle over those expiring Obamacare subsidies, as lawmakers now have just weeks to avoid that January 1st deadline when health insurance premiums are set to skyrocket, if the subsidies expire. Six Democrats in the House sided with Republicans last night to reopen the government, funding the government until January 30th, raising the prospect that these lawmakers could be back in this very same situation in a little over two months.

But in the coming weeks, we really will be closely watching what happens relating to those Obamacare subsidies. Senate Majority Leader John Thune committed to holding a vote on a piece of legislation relating to the subsidies in December. But right now, it's unclear what exactly that would entail and if it would get enough Republican support to extend the subsidies.

Over in the House, House Speaker Mike Johnson has not committed to holding any type of vote. So, this is something lawmakers will be working towards in the coming months, as both sides have said that they want to address these high insurance prices, but have different tactics for how to do so.

There's another controversial element of this bill that the House wants to deal with next week. They want to make changes to a provision that allow senators to sue the DOJ or FBI if their records are subpoenaed or if they're investigated without notification from the Senate. It's unclear whether the Senate would agree to take that up, if the House does pass that provision.

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BLITZER: And it's important, Arlette, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, says the House vote will -- the House will vote next week on forcing the Justice Department to release all of its files on Jeffrey Epstein. This is going to set up a pretty contentious vote, as we all know. What are you hearing right now from Republicans?

SAENZ: Well, Wolf, House Speaker Mike Johnson is essentially fast tracking a vote to release the full Epstein file, saying it will come up on the House floor next week. His hand was basically forced after a bipartisan group of lawmakers secured the 218 signature needed to force a vote on releasing those files. This is something that both Johnson and the White House had resisted holding a vote on for quite some time. But now Johnson said they will move forward with it.

There are a number of Republicans, while four Republicans has signed on to the discharge petition, there are a number who have said that they are ready to vote to release the Epstein files. And the two co- sponsors, Thomas Massie, a Republican, and Ro Khanna, a Democrat, have predicted that they could have a cascade of Republicans siding with them to release these files.

But even if it passes the House, it faces a very uncertain future in the Senate. Thune has not said if he will bring this up for a vote, and over there, they would need 60 people to agree to pass that, something that will be a very tall order for this effort.

BLITZER: All right. Arlette Saenz up on Capitol Hill, thank you very, very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right, Wolf. We are learning more this morning about that new batch of Epstein emails released by House Democrats naming President Trump directly.

BLITZER: In one message sent back in 2018, Epstein referenced the potential scandal that might come out about Trump writing to former Obama White House Lawyer Kathryn Ruemmler, I know how dirty Donald is.

BROWN: Epstein also discussed Trump's mental state in a 2018 exchange with former Treasury Secretary Larry Summers, Epstein called Trump, quote, borderline insane.

BLITZER: And in another email from Trump's first term, Epstein disputed the president's claim that he kicked the convicted sex offender out of his Mar-a-Lago club down in Florida, telling author Michael Wolf, Trump said, he asked me to resign, adding never a member ever. Of course, he knew about the girls as he asked Ghislaine to stop.

The president has not been accused of any criminal wrongdoing in connection with Epstein or Maxwell.

BROWN: So, as these details from these emails come to light, the White House is upping the pressure on house Republicans not to vote for releasing them. And we have this exclusive CNN reporting that reveals top administration officials held a meeting in the White House Situation Room yesterday with GOP Congresswoman Lauren Boebert. That's one of the biggest proponents for releasing the documents. Boebert had this to say about her White House meeting.

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REP. LAUREN BOEBERT (R-CO): The president never asked me to take my name off of the discharge petition.

The president has not forced me to do anything. The president has not put pressure on me. I was not asked by the president to remove my name.

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BROWN: So, let's go live now to CNN's Alayna Treene at the White House. So, Alayna, what was the point of that Situation Room meeting with Congresswoman Boebert if, as she says, the president wasn't trying to press her to take her name off this petition?

ALAYNA TREENE, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Look, I think what the White House was trying to do was see which Republicans they could peel off, because, of course, only four Republicans ultimately voted, Pamela and Wolf, for that House discharge position to force a vote for the Justice Department to release all of these files. And they wanted to see who they could remove.

And so what my colleagues and I broke yesterday was essentially that -- and what I find so interesting about this is it wasn't just a meeting at the White House. It was a meeting in the Situation Room, a place where White House is and the president talk through war plans. This is where they were having this meeting. And they also had very high level officials go through it, including the attorney general, Pam Bondi, or the FBI director, Kash Patel. They were part of that meeting as well, trying to talk through the reasoning not to do this.

Now, the White House for their part has argued that this is all about transparency.

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KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Doesn't that show the level of transparency when we are willing to sit down with members of Congress and address their concerns?

That's a defining factor of transparency, having discussions with members of Congress about various issues. And I'm not going to detail conversations that took place in the Situation Room in the press briefing room.

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TREENE: Now, look, Wolf and Pamela, I think one thing we have to be, of course, very clear on is that this trove of documents, these private emails from Jeffrey Epstein that mentioned Donald Trump, none of them appear to implicate or create any more legal implications, I should argue, for the president. Of course, he has denied any wrongdoing and he hasn't been charged with any crimes connected to the Epstein case.

But what this really presents, and I think the most serious question that this White House is facing today after all of this, is whether or not the president was being as transparent as he has promised, and whether he knew a lot more than he has been letting on publicly.

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And, of course, it comes as not just many Americans, but many Republicans, some of the president's fiercest supporters have long been fixated on this idea of having all of this evidence, all of the documents be publicly released and really ensuring that a lot of these women who were abused and trafficked by Epstein get their chance to name their abusers.

BROWN: All right. Alayna Treene live for us at the White House, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: And still ahead, we're going to hear from a survivor of Jeffrey Epstein on why she wants all of the Justice Department's files to be released.

And later, the agriculture secretary, Brooke Rollins, is here in The Situation Room as many Americans are still waiting for their full food assistance benefits for the month of November.

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BLITZER: The government shutdown is over, but at airports across the country, things are not back to normal, not yet. This morning, nearly 1,000 flights are already canceled. Many are part of the FAA's mandated cuts, which were set to increase today, but the FAA now says it will pause additional cuts because more air traffic controllers are now back at work, and passengers are voicing their relief this morning.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm really happy about that for the people that are traveling for the holidays, you know? At least that takes it off their plate.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I am happy that it'll get back to some kind of normalcy or just a little bit better before the holidays. I know it's important for people to see their families, especially right now because things are a little bit crazy, you know? You might need that comfort of your families.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Family time is so important and during the holidays and travel. So, getting everybody back to work with flights and airplanes is very important.

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BROWN: All right. Let's go live now to CNN's Isabel Rosales at Hartsfield Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. How are things looking there today, Isabel?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Pam, Wolf, good morning. What I am seeing right now from this bird's eye view would make anybody weep out of happiness when it comes to the world's busiest airport. Look at this. Look at all this gap. Look at all this space. Normally, this would be crowded, elbow to elbow, especially when we're seeing so many unusual disruptions when it comes to cancelations and delays. I mean, look up there at the board for Delta. This is the headquarters here, by the way. Look at all that white, meaning not a lot of flights that have been canceled or delayed.

So, actually, if we take a look at overall flights here, in the United States here over the past week or so, you can see that on the trend is going down, which is great news. This is all reason to be optimistic. On Sunday, there were nearly 3,000 cancelations. Today, we're seeing a third of that. So I'm building a beautiful, optimistic picture here, but there's a caveat here. We are not out of the woods. It takes time for airlines to bounce back completely back to normal after a government shutdown ends. And that's what we're hearing from insiders here, from airlines directly who are warning that it could take a week or more for them to be able to snap back.

We also heard from Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta Air Lines, when he was talking specifically about holiday travel. Take a listen to this.

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ED BASTIAN, CEO, DELTA AIR LINES: We will be back to normal this weekend. Yesterday, we were over 90 percent on time system-wide every flight all day long.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And no concerns about Thanksgiving?

BASTIAN: No concerns.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Okay.

BASTIAN: Thanksgiving's going to be a great holiday period of travel.

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ROSALES: So, bottom line, the government shutdown is over, but we are not out of the woods when it comes to the airlines. There's still a 6 percent reduction of flights. The Department of Transportation froze it at that amount. It should have been 8 today. It's staying at 6 percent. Guys?

BROWN: All right. Thank you so much, Isabel Rosales. We really appreciate it. And it's good to hear that from the CEO, right?

BLITZER: Yes. I hope he's right.

BROWN: It should be smooth sailing for Thanksgiving. We hope so. I know we're both traveling.

All right, happening now, a federal judge is hearing a challenge from former FBI Director James Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James to disqualify the attorney who brought criminal cases against them, the U.S. attorney. We're digging deeper, next.

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BROWN: Happening now, the criminal cases against two of President Trump's biggest political adversaries face a critical test. A federal judge is hearing arguments in a bid from James Comey and Letitia James to disqualify prosecutor Lindsey Halligan. Their attorneys argue Halligan was handpicked by President Trump and is serving as interim U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia unlawfully.

BLITZER: And joining us now to discuss what's going on, CNN Senior Legal Analyst Elie Honig. Elie, explained the arguments that attorneys for James Comey and Leticia James are making right now.

ELIE HONIG, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: So, Wolf, ordinarily, the way we get U.S. attorneys is the president nominates, and then the Senate confirms. But federal law tells us that where that process has not happened, the attorney general has the authority to choose somebody to serve as a temporary U.S. attorney for up to 120 days. After that 120 days, it then goes to the federal district court judges of that district to choose somebody.

Now, that's what happened here in the Eastern District of Virginia. A man named Eric Siebert was put in. He did his 120 days, and then the judges chose him, Eric Siebert. But the problem is Siebert then resigned, leaving a vacancy. He resigned under pressure. And at that point, the attorney general put in a new person, Lindsey Halligan, who's now the U.S. attorney.

So, Comey and James are arguing that was improper. The law only allows the A.G. to make one of those 120-day appointments and not serially, not one after another after another. That's the argument they're making right in court right now today.

BROWN: Yes. And tell us more about how you think Lindsey Halligan will respond and how Trump's Truth Social posts that he later removed could play into all of this.

HONIG: So, the first argument that the Justice Department has made is that the law does not say there can only be one 120-day appointment. It doesn't actually say anything about a limit. The second argument is that the attorney general also named Lindsey Halligan as a, quote, special attorney, and that's good enough.

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And the final argument that DOJ is making then is even if Lindsey Halligan was improperly appointed, that does not mean these indictments should be thrown out. The prosecutor's signature is not an actual substantive part of the indictment. It's just an administrative step. What really matters is that the grand jurors heard the evidence and voted for an indictment. So, that's the counterargument.

BLITZER: Amidst all of this, as you know, Elie, the case is now being heard by a judge from another district. Why is that?

HONIG: Because as we said before, the Eastern District of Virginia judges, they had a part in this. They were the ones who chose Eric Siebert at the end of his first 120 days. So, because they had some small role in this, all of those judges technically have a conflict of interest. So, they've done the right thing here. They've decided we, the judges here in Virginia can't hear the case. That's why they've brought in a federal judge from a different federal district down in South Carolina to hear this matter.

BLITZER: Interesting. All right, Elie Honig, thanks as usual. I appreciate it very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Thanks so much, Elie.

And just ahead here in The Situation Room, survivors put pressure on the house to release the Justice Department files on Jeffrey Epstein. We're going to speak to one of those survivors up next,

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