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World's Largest Aircraft Carrier Arrives In The Caribbean As Trump Mulls Next Steps On Venezuela; Trump Feuds With Greene As House Vote On Epstein Files Looms; FAA Ends Emergency Order Mandating Flight Reductions. Aired 11-11:30a ET

Aired November 17, 2025 - 11:00   ET

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

[11:00:00]

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS ANCHOR: -- at least three passing and three rushing touchdowns in multiple career games. The only other player to do that was Otto Graham way back in 1954. Buffalo, they are seven and three. They know that they go as Josh goes. So, as a Florida Bills player, go Josh, go. All the way to the Super Bowl, baby.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: He was amazing and a frontrunner for MVP. Again, now everybody knows why I call him the Big Beautiful Bill.

WIRE: Let's go.

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ACNHOR: Wolf said he was nervous watching that game.

BLITZER: I was nervous. It was a very exciting game. But in the end, the Bills won and that makes me happy. Coy, thank you very, very much.

The next hour of The Situation Room starts right now.

BROWN: Happening now, immigration crackdown in Charlotte. Federal agents arresting more than 80 people in just hours as the Trump administration launches a new operation in North Carolina's largest city. We're going to speak to one of Charlotte's leaders about what's happening there in the city.

BLITZER: And "nothing to hide." President Trump changes his tune on the Jeffrey Epstein controversy as the House of Representatives prepares to vote seeking the release of more files. 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 this hour with very rapid developments. The U.S. says its largest aircraft carrier battle group is joining other U.S. warships in the Caribbean as tensions with Venezuela intensify. The Pentagon branding all of this part of Operation Southern Spear.

BROWN: A White House official tells CNN that President Trump has yet to make a decision on whether to attack Venezuela on land. So let's go live now to CNN senior White House reporter, Kevin Liptak. Kevin, is there still hope for a diplomatic solution here to resolve this tension with Venezuela?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Well, certainly President Trump seems to believe so as he weighs this decision on whether to begin strikes on land inside Venezuela.

You know, the President last week received updated briefings from his national security team on three consecutive days discussing potential options on how to proceed here. And on Friday evening he said that he had sort of made up his mind, but yesterday the President seemed to believe that there was a window of diplomacy opening. Listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: We may be having some discussions with Maduro and we'll see how that turns out. They would like -- they would like to talk.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LIPTAK: So you hear the President saying there that he believes the Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro might be opening to talk. And we don't know exactly at this point what those talks will look like, who will conduct them. Remember Wolf and Pam, the U.S. and the Trump administration had been in discussions with Maduro and senior Venezuelan officials as recently as last month before President Trump ordered a halt to those discussions and began building up this massive military escalation in the region. And you have seen that proceed over the last week or so.

The USS Gerald Ford, the most advanced aircraft carrier now in the region, 15,000 U.S. military personnel there, 12 warships, all sort of creating this pressure on Maduro as the President weighs his decision. You also see the U.S. continuing to conduct those strikes on what it says are drug boats over the weekend, another one adding up to 21 strikes in total, 83 killed in those actions.

Now, we also saw yesterday the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, say that he would designate the Cartel de las Solas as a foreign terrorist organization. That is a group that the U.S. says that Maduro is atop of and essentially sort of building out the legal case for this escalating campaign against Maduro and those in those -- in the region.

So clearly you see how all of this is attempting to build up pressure on Maduro. I think in the President's mind the hope is that he will voluntarily step down, and clearly the President sees some glimmer of option in the diplomatic front as he weighs his decision-making here.

BROWN: All right, Kevin Liptak from the White House for us. Thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: I want to continue this conversation. Joining us now, CNN military analyst, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel Cedric Leighton. Colonel, thanks very much for coming in. The Gerald R. Ford, this aircraft carrier battle group, with thousands of sailors, Marines, a lot of potential there, Operation Southern Spear, it's now being called. Does this -- does U.S. -- is it clear the U.S. is getting ready for a military strike on Venezuela?

COL. CEDRIC LEIGHTON (RET), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, certainly, Wolf, one of the key things that they have in there is a lot of firepower. So you've got 4,000 sailors and Marines on board just the Gerald Ford and, of course, all the associated aircraft with that, usually F-18 fighters, plus the F-35s that are in Puerto Rico, plus that armada of ships that Kevin was talking about. So that is the type of force that you would use for some kind of a strike on a particular target.

[11:05:23]

Now, it's not sufficient to actually affect regime change under normal circumstances, but what it could do is it could serve to precipitate certain actions. Perhaps what they want to do from the administration standpoint is have the Venezuelan opposition do some things after there's a strike on certain targets within Venezuela. We don't know that to be a fact, but that is something that could be happening.

So this is definitely the type of movement that you would have in the military before you went to strike something. It doesn't mean it's going to happen, but what it does mean is it could happen.

BROWN: We know the U.S. has designated an alleged Venezuelan drug gang as a terrorist organization. Does the U.S. have the resources now to conduct attacks on specific targets inside the country?

LEIGHTON: Yes, Pamela, there -- there are certain specific resources to, if you're going to go after pinpoint targets, for example, let's say there's a drug processing lab that they're interested in getting at, they would have the capability of doing that. They also have the capability of going after specific targets like a military base. There are two air bases on the Venezuelan coast that could potentially serve as targets right there.

There are communications facilities that could also be targeted, plus there are intelligence facilities, some of which are manned by Cubans, that could also be potential targets for a strike by the administration.

BLITZER: The Venezuelan president, as you know, Nicolas Maduro, over the weekend warned of a protracted conflict if the U.S. attacks inside Venezuela. Could we see a war with insurgents if the U.S. puts boots on the ground inside that country?

LEIGHTON: Yes. Wolf, if -- it's actually highly likely because Venezuela has plans to do that exact thing. Basically what they would plan to do is if the U.S. attacked and put boots on the ground, they would melt into the countryside or into the slums of the cities like Caracas, the main city in the capital, and they would use those points of -- of basically where they would be hiding, and they would use those points as jumping off places to attack U.S. forces.

So it could become something like we saw in Iraq. It could become something that, you know, involves an insurgency like we saw even back during the days of the Spanish-American War. So this is the kind of thing that Venezuelans have actually practiced. They don't have all the capabilities that they would need for a conventional war, but they definitely have certain capabilities for a guerrilla-type conflict.

BROWN: We had reporting this morning that President Trump has yet to decide on conducting attacks in Venezuela, but he has been briefed on options. What would those options look like?

LEIGHTON: So they could be a range of all kinds of things, Pamela. They could be, you know, use diplomatic leverage first. That's why this is actually kind of important, what Kevin just talked about in his reporting, that there's a diplomatic opening potentially with Maduro, but the forces there are kind of serving as a pressure point on the Venezuelans. So that's one option.

The other option from a purely military standpoint is go after some certain specific targets, also in hopes of pressuring the Venezuelan government, possibly pressuring Maduro to -- to even leave office. He is there based on not following the results of an election, so his tenure as president could be considered illegal in and of itself. So there are certain things that could happen there.

Of course, then the other option would be a full-blown assault on the country, or at least on certain parts of the country.

That would require a lot more troops than we currently see. Yes, we have 15,000 or so troops, sailors, Marines, and -- and Army and Air Force personnel, but they would need more to do that. When we went into Panama, we had about 26,000 troops back in 1989 to do that operation, and Panama is a much easier target to deal with than Venezuela is.

BLITZER: Colonel Cedric Leighton, excellent analysis. Thank you very, very much.

LEIGHTON: You bet Wolf.

BROWN: Thank you so much.

BLITZER: And still ahead, falling out. President Trump breaks ties with his longtime ally, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, over the Epstein files.

[11:09:23]

BROWN: And cleared for departure, the FAA reverses its mandatory flight cuts after hundreds of cancellations a day during the government shutdown. But will you see smoother skies before the holidays? Stay with us. You're in The Situation Room.

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BROWN: With the House vote expected on the Epstein investigation files, tomorrow, President Trump is changing his position. The President is now encouraging House Republicans to vote in favor of releasing the document, saying they, "have nothing to hide." His reversal comes as multiple Republicans signaled they were prepared to break with President Trump and vote in support of the bill, including one of his most loyal supporters at one time, Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene.

The Georgia Republican spoke exclusively with our Dana Bash, our friend and colleague, as we call her here on the show this weekend, about her recent falling out with the President.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): The most hurtful thing he said, which is absolutely untrue, is he called me a traitor. And that is -- that is so extremely wrong. And those are the types of words used that can radicalize people against me and put my life in danger.

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TRUMP: Marjorie "Traitor" Greene, I don't think her life is in danger. I don't think -- frankly, I don't think anybody cares about her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: Let's bring in CNN anchor and chief political correspondent, Dana Bash. She's with us here in The Situation Room. Dana, these comments about this rift over the Epstein issue, what else did he say, did she say to you yesterday that jumped out at you?

DANA BASH, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, that there is clearly a crack. And the question is how deep it's going to get within MAGA. Epstein is kind of at the beginning of that crack, but there are so many other issues. It's her opposition to the President giving more H-1B visas for people to come and -- and students and -- and adults to come and work in this country. She says it's taking away American jobs. It's the so-called America First agenda.

And the opposition to the President putting military assets in South America. And it goes on and on and on. And so what the Epstein fight is exposing is not just about Epstein, it's about many other issues. And, look, Donald Trump is a lame duck. And I really think that what we're starting to see is a shift in the way that people who have been so loyal to him are viewing not just the present, but the future.

BROWN: And you feel like this really shows that, so true. Yes.

BASH: Yes, it could be. And -- and I'm not saying that he's not, you know, he says I -- the MAGA movement is me, I'm in charge of the MAGA movement. That's probably still true. It is still true. But it's also true that they are trying to figure out the what next. And whether it's explicit or it's just kind of organic, that seems to be what is happening.

BROWN: And you also press screen on her past rhetoric against political opponents, noting that she's speaking out now because she's concerned her life, her own life is threatened. Here is what she said. Let's play that. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: We have seen these kinds of attacks or criticism from the President at other people. It's not new. And with respect, I haven't heard you speak out about it until it was directed at you.

GREENE: Dana, I think that's fair criticism. And I would like to say humbly, I'm sorry for taking part in the toxic politics. It's -- it's very bad for our country. And I -- it's been something I've thought about a lot, especially since Charlie Kirk was assassinated, is that we -- I'm only responsible for myself and my own words and actions. And I am going -- I am committed, and I've been working on this a lot lately, to put down the knives in politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROWN: What did you make of that?

BASH: I was surprised. I mean, I really was. I didn't know what she was going to say, but I wanted to point it out because, look, what happened over the weekend with the President calling her a traitor over and over again, and with her saying that she was getting death threats, and then, by the way, after that interview, she was posting more that -- that she and members of her family, she said, were getting doxed. I mean, it is dangerous.

But it is also true that Marjorie Taylor Greene came into office trafficking in that kind of rhetoric that was also dangerous. And there are lots and lots of examples, which I mentioned to her, examples of her posting a picture which Facebook took down, holding a gun with members of the squad saying, go after socialists, liking a post which said that Nancy Pelosi and Barack Obama should be executed.

She had apologized for that in the past, but it's definitely something that she was maybe among the most aggressive at doing. And, you know, that was an important moment. We'll see if that is contagious, if other people say, you know what, I'm not going to do this anymore as well. The President certainly is not taking a page from her book. But I do think we should be hopeful that there is the opportunity for people to reform and see things differently.

I will tell you that I got a text from a Democrat who was tangled with her before, who said, I'm glad to see her do this and say this, but it is too bad that it only happens when that kind of hate and those kinds of threats are directed at her, and she didn't see it when it was happening to other people.

BLITZER: And -- and when Trump keeps calling her a traitor, that clearly potentially threatens her because some crazy people out there might say, well, she's a traitor. Yes.

[11:20:06]

BASH: Yes. She's saying it is, that she is getting threats.

BLITZER: That she's worried about her. BASH: But the point was that the President is very, is not shy when he is angry at somebody, and that kind of -- those kinds of ramifications happen to people all the time.

BROWN: Yes, I mean, he's gone after CNN, and we've been on the receiving end of our own threats. But I do think it's notable that when you asked that question, Dana, she said that's fair criticism.

BASH: Yes.

BROWN: You don't often hear that.

BASH: No. As I said, I was -- I was surprised. And I -- let's, you know, let's -- let's make it a moment where we can all say --

BROWN: Yes.

BASH: -- maybe we can all take a beat, particularly the politicians -- particularly the politicians.

BLITZER: Yes. Dana, thank you. Excellent interview. Thank you very much.

BASH: Yes. Thank you.

BROWN: Thank you.

BLITZER: On this note, you can see more of Dana's reporting coming up in the next hour, right at the top of the hour, Inside Politics. That's coming up.

And new this morning, good news if you're headed to the airport in the coming days, the FAA has now ended the emergency flight reductions at dozens of airports around the country. Officials now say the staffing issues that plagued air traffic control during the government shutdown have stabilized, and that has freed up the skies after more than a month of mass delays and cancellations.

BROWN: CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean is here. Pete, the number of delays and cancellations, it looks like it's -- it's on its way down from last week, right? How quickly, though, will the recovery be able to happen?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: Well, so many people are thinking about Thanksgiving with it on the horizon. The deeper issue of air traffic control staffing here still very much remains, although this does officially signal the end of the shutdown's impact on air travel.

The Federal Aviation Administration just said that air traffic control staffing numbers have gone back to pre-shutdown levels, so it is now ending the Trump administration mandate that airlines cut schedules at 40 airports nationwide. That went into effect ten days ago, really angered the airlines. The FAA's emergency order ultimately ramped up to making airlines slash 6 percent of flights, including at some major hubs. It also restricted private flights, space launches, and other activities that can snarl air traffic. And all airlines were forced to cancel about 7,000 flights over the length of this order. The FAA says it's ending that mandate in part because of this. These are the FAA air traffic control facilities with short staffing, what the FAA calls a staffing trigger.

Two Saturdays ago, that number hit the high of the shutdown, 81 on November 8th. This Saturday, it was only eight. And yesterday, there was only one air traffic control facility nationwide with short staffing, so nearly a 100% drop. Airlines are pretty giddy about the end of this and say they'll be able to spool up their normal schedules pretty quickly. Hard to believe that Thanksgiving's already on the horizon, and AAA estimates about 6 million people will take to the skies.

What is interesting, though, is the number of flight cancellations was actually very low. It sort of started to taper off the last couple days, and the Federal Aviation Administration says it's investigating airlines now that may have not been fully complying with this order in the first place.

BROWN: Very interesting. All right, Pete Muntean, things are looking up, it appears, for Thanksgiving.

MUNTEAN: That's right.

BROWN: We'll take it. Thanks so much.

[11:23:15]

Coming up here in The Situation Room, a new report reveals a troubling trend among expecting mothers that doctors say puts them and their babies at risk. Our Women's Health Watch, next.

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BROWN: And now to our women's health watch. While many women may head straight to the doctor once they get that positive pregnancy test, more expectant moms in the U.S. aren't seeing their doctor for that first prenatal visit until they're well into their second or even third trimester. That's according to a new report out this morning. And that could have health ramifications.

So I want to go live now to CNN health reporter Jacqueline Howard to get a better sense of what's going on here, Jacqueline. How many women are not getting this care earlier in their pregnancies?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Pam, this new report shows about a quarter of women here in the United States are not getting that prenatal care in their first trimester. And this is an ongoing trend. It's actually the fourth straight year in a row that we're seeing this decline in early prenatal care. And doctors I've talked to say that there are many different reasons why this is happening.

One main reason, many women may not have insurance coverage to cover that first prenatal visit. So they need the time to figure out, OK, how will they have their prenatal care covered? They may need time to work things out with Medicaid. They may not have the access. So that's one reason. Another reason is some women live in what are called maternity care deserts where there is no doctor in their local area.

They may have to drive for over an hour or even two hours to see a physician, and they may not be able to take the time off of work. We all know that here in the United States there is an ongoing physician shortage, so there are fewer providers to see patients. So those are just some of the examples and some of the stories we're hearing about how for many women, there are barriers to even accessing that care that they need.

BROWN: And what are some of the risks that come with delaying the start of prenatal care?

[11:29:52]

HOWARD: There are so many risks. I mean, that initial prenatal care visit in the first trimester is so important so that doctors can identify whether a patient's at an increased risk for complications. And we know here in the United States the March of Dimes gave the U.S. a D plus.