Jamaica’s PM: Hurricane Melissa Will Bring “Catastrophic Damage”

25:01The bigger question, though, here is the next stage of the agreement is about disarming Hamas. And we have seen no evidence right now that Hamas has signed on to that. Yeah, no evidence in the last 50 years. Let's turn to a different flashpoint because Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said that the U.S. military conducted strikes against four separate boats in the Eastern Pacific on Monday. That's 14 people killed, one survivor. It's the first time there have been multiple confirmed strikes in one day. You point out, quote, Mr. Trump refuses to provide Congress or the public a clear statement of his goal.

25:32I think a lot of people wonder, is this even legal? Like, I understand Trump's asserting the powers that Obama used against terrorists by just declaring drug dealers, narco traffickers, terrorists. But does that hold up anywhere in any court in any legal opinion? Jake, you and I have been doing this for a long time. I have never seen a situation like this where, first of all, the consensus of the legal community is that it's illegal under domestic law and it's illegal under international law and the laws of war because these are civilians. They're not shooting back, even if they are drug dealers.

26:05Do this comparison. Let's say that we had found a drug network in New York or Los Angeles or something, and the police or even the National Guard went after them. If they weren't actively shooting, could they just shoot them on the streets or would they have to try to arrest them? And that's the problem. Yeah. Not a lot of people on Capitol Hill talking about this. That's true. But we'll continue to cover it. Either way, David Sanger, always great to have you. Thank you. Coming up next, the search for journalist Austin Tice. What happened when CNN's Clarissa Ward went to Syria to try to retrace the steps of this missing American journalist?

26:43I'm looking for more information about my friend Austin Tice. Hear what that man told Clarissa after he invited her inside. That's next.

27:01In our world lead, an update on an enduring mystery that we've covered here on The Lead for years. Austin Tice was a Marine Corps veteran in law school at Georgetown, working as a freelance journalist. In the summer of 2012, Tice was in Syria working on a piece when his family says he was detained at a checkpoint, and then he disappeared. Thirteen years later, CNN's Clarissa Ward went to Syria again to find out what happened to Tice, and she confronted the man who held him captive.

27:33These are some of the last known videos of U.S. journalist Austin Tice, shown here for the first time. It's clearly a popular revolution, right? They were shot in the city of Yavrud in Syria in July 2012, shortly before Austin went missing 13 years ago. It's just so moving and peaceful. It's such an act of community. Ten months after the collapse of the brutal dictatorship of Bashar al-Assad, his dungeons have been emptied. But the ghosts of tens of thousands of his prisoners remain. Among the missing, Austin Tice, journalist, U.S. Marine captain, Georgetown law student, devoted son and brother, and my friend.

28:23For me, this is personal. I've come to Syria to find out what really happened to Austin and track down the shadowy figure who knows the answer. I'm just looking back through all of these emails that Austin and I were sending each other. And I have one from Sunday, August 12th. He was getting ready to cross into Lebanon. I was getting ready to meet him in Beirut. And he says, if I cross when I have plans to, we'll be throwing back those cocktails pretty soon. Of course, plans never really work out here. I never heard from him again.

29:07Oh, Jesus. Oh, Jesus.

29:13Weeks after Austin disappeared, a video surfaced online purporting to show him held by jihadists. Former U.S. officials tell CNN they quickly determined it was a ruse and that Austin was in the custody of the Assad regime.

29:32Safwan Bahloul was a general in external intelligence at the time and one of the last people to see Austin alive, summoned in by the man who was holding him. I was contacted by a forestand general at that time. he was called Bassam Al-Hassan. He's very close to the president and he told me, we have caught an American journalist. We want you to interrogate in a way or meet the guy and see the possibility if he's not a mere journalist, if he's a spy in a way. He told me that he's an ex-marine officer. He was brave. He was not a shaky character. He wasn't shaky. He was brave enough to face his custody.

30:28Did he ever ask you for help? If you mean help to be freed, no, not at all. But he told me if I could obtain some things to make his life easy in the cell he was kept there. I told him like what? He told me some magazines, journals to read and you know. Okay and what else? And he told me soap and a towel and I told him okay. And after that I think the next day I was called by another guy in Bassam's office. He told me in Arabic, which it means our pow just escaped. They discovered that he used the soap to rub his body, air body with the soap to lubricate his body. And he put the towel on broken shattered glass, which is cemented to the external fence.

31:33We managed to get into the compound where Safwan says he interrogated Austin. At the time, under the control of Assad's Republican Guard. It was never a formal prison. The perfect place to hide a high-value captive.

31:53It could be this. Look.

31:59obviously it's all been refurbished so it's hard to match the descriptions exactly but one thing particularly that Safuan talked about was this high window you can imagine he just spent days and days in here plotting how he was going to escape

32:29For more than 24 hours, we're told Austin was on the run in the upscale neighborhood of Meza, perhaps hoping to reach the many embassies and United Nations offices in the area. But he didn't get far. Every security apparatus in Damascus, which there are thousands of operatives, They started the search and he was caught by one of them. And he was re-delivered to the National Defense Forces militia, which headed at that time by Bessam al-Hassan. Al-Hassan brought Safwan in to see Austin one more time. It wasn't like the previous times I saw him. He was optimistic and energetic. But he had lost hope.

33:17Yeah, absolutely, absolutely. because I was talking to him and he was not responding. He was, in a way we could say, depressed, and I never saw the guy again. Did you understand when you left what was going to happen to him? It's unimaginable even. In my wildest thinking, I wouldn't suspect that he will be, let's say he will just disappear. So let me ask you this. who knows what happened to Austin? Who knows the truth? Is this him? Can I see him? Yeah, absolutely. 100%. 100%. For years, Bassam al-Hassan stayed in the shadows. Now, CNN has obtained new, never-before-seen images of him. Known in regime circles as Khal or Uncle, he was a top Assad advisor.

34:15and founder of the Iran-backed National Defense Forces militia, blamed for brutal massacres. After the fall of the Assad regime, Al-Hassan fled quickly to Iran. Then, in April of this year, he showed up in Beirut, Lebanon, and sat down with the FBI for a series of interrogations about Austin. We've been given a tip about where Al-Hassan is now hiding out. an upscale apartment complex in a suburb of Beirut. One balcony, and one man in particular, draws our attention. By the end of a long night of watching, we're convinced it's him.

35:01Wearing hidden cameras, producer Sara Sirgani and I go to confront him.

35:15He's the journalist for CNN. Can I ask you a couple of questions? I'm looking for more information about my friend Austin Tice.

35:34He invites us into the apartment, but he is clearly rattled and asks over and over again how we found him.

35:49I'm not going to tell you how we found out where you are. It's not important. We've been looking for you for a while. We know that you've given multiple different stories. Can you just tell me because he was my friend? Is Austin Tice dead?

36:11He tells us he explained to a team from the FBI that President Assad gave him the order to execute Austin and that the order was carried out by a subordinate.

36:27But you sent him to his death. I don't want to enter any details. I said these details. I said to them, I made a decision and made a decision. Can you just tell me one thing? Can you tell me when Austin died? 2012, October 2012. 2012, 2013? 2013. 2013? Or 2013? He refuses to give any more information. When he asks to take a photograph of us, we decide to leave. At the door, he talks about Austin's mother, Deborah Tice. His voice cracks.

37:09Understood.

37:16It is a gut punch to think that Austin may have been killed 12 years ago. One thing that he was very emphatic about is that Austin is dead. Austin is dead. And he wants to pass his condolences to Deborah.

37:44CNN has confirmed that Al-Hasan failed the FBI polygraph test. What is less clear is what parts of his story are a lie. In September, a U.S. delegation, including FBI investigators, came to Damascus to search for Austin's remains, based on a location given to them by al-Hassan. They came away empty-handed. The full truth of what happened to my friend may well never be known, like the fate of countless Syrians. Everyone was keeping so many secrets. Well, in a way, in a way. Everyone was lying. It's all about loyalty and worshiping, nearly worshiping the commander. The supreme commander, he's the president, da-da-da-da-da.

38:36He's everything. So, yeah, lying is widely spread in the exurging, yeah. It's nothing personal. I was doing my job. That's all it is. Austin may simply be remembered as yet another victim of the endless lies and senseless cruelty of a ruthless regime. Now, Jake, the Tice family has always maintained that Bassam al-Hassan is what they call a pathological liar. They did give CNN a statement with regards to this report saying simply, Austin Tice is alive. We look forward to seeing him walk free. And I should add as well with regards to the accusation that al-Hassan made that President Bashar al-Assad or former President Bashar al-Assad himself had ordered Austin's execution.

39:34Obviously, after the fall of the Assad regime, he fled to Russia. CNN has attempted to reach out without success. The Assad regime always maintained that they never had Austin. But as you can see very clearly from our report, that is absolutely not the case, Jake. Powerful and heartbreaking report. Clarissa Ward, thank you so much for that. Appreciate it. We're also following some breaking news here in our hemisphere. Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest on record in the Atlantic Ocean ever, slamming the island of Jamaica right now. Slamming it. We're going to go live to Jamaica next.

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40:53Melissa is still churning north. Corrine Hunter joins us now on the phone. She's the ministry coordinator for Praying Pelican Missions in Kingston, Jamaica. Corrine, thanks for joining us. What have conditions been like where you are? Are you safe? So, I mean, thank you for having me. I am in Kingston, close to the center of the island. That's the capital, Afritree, of Kingston. And it is extremely windy. The power has been on and off for the entire day. We have extensive rainfall and a lot of dwelling of wind, like violent wind, where I am located. Have you been able to get in touch with others in your group or family and friends?

41:43What are people experiencing outside of your immediate area? So currently where my parents are located in West Rural St. Andrew, they are currently maroon for the past two days. They are currently without electricity from Sunday, and I have not been able to make contact with my sister, who is over in Clarindon, and other family members across the island. Currently, the call lines for straight calls are not going through for the majority of the parishes. I'm not sure if it is as a result of the power outage across the island, but most of the calls are going through only on WhatsApp and not through the straight line that is provided by the network provider here on the island.

42:39And that's UG cell and flow. And for the most part, persons who I've been in communication with, they have suffered extensive damage on the hills that's upper St. Andrew. Roofs have been lost. Buildings, livestock. And so it's pretty sad here on the island for the most part. So currently we're just continuing to pray for the best at this time. All right, Corrine Hunter, thank you so much. Stay safe. We'll have much more from Jamaica in just a moment. And our health lead, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, announced today that he's suing the makers of Tylenol, claiming that the company Kenview and Johnson & Johnson deceptively marketed the drug to pregnant mothers and say Tylenol is tied to an increased risk of autism and ADHD in children, he asserts, although many experts disagree with that.

43:47CNN's Jacqueline Howard's with me. Jacqueline, break down the actual science of Tylenol and its safety for us, would you?

43:55Jake, experts say you don't have to be scared to take Tylenol during pregnancy. Now, of course, you should always discuss any medications that you take during pregnancy with your doctor, but major medical groups here in the United States, like the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, they say that the benefits of Tylenol to treat fever and pain in pregnancy outweigh potential risks. Earlier this year, a review of studies on the most commonly used pain medications during pregnancy was published. It found that other medications, so some drugs, can be risky.

44:33Using the steroid Pregnizone during pregnancy may cause a cleft lip or palate birth defect. And research suggests that taking ibuprofen during the first trimester can cause miscarriage. It's also been linked to multiple birth defects. Some leaks to birth defects were also found in the third trimester, but Tylenol was considered to be generally safe. And Jake, the Trump administration's own FDA commissioner, Dr. Marty McCary, wrote in a letter to physicians in September, quote, acetaminophen is the safest over-the-counter alternative in pregnancy, end quote. Acetaminophen, that's the active ingredient in Tylenol.

45:13Another thing that is really important to know, it is important to reduce severe fevers during pregnancy. Separate research has found that a fever in the first trimester can be especially dangerous, raising the risk of congenital heart defects, neural tube defects, and oral clefts. And high-grade fevers during pregnancy can affect the fetus's brain development. So that's why many doctors may recommend Tylenol in these cases, specifically to treat fevers in pregnancy, Jake. All right, Dr. Kahn, thank you so much. Welcome to The Lead. I'm Jake Tapper. This hour it's being called the storm of the century.

45:51Hurricane Melissa making landfall this afternoon as a category five storm inundating towns in Jamaica, flooding roads and bridges, bringing down power lines, cutting off most forms of communication. We're going to check in with our reporters and others across the island. Plus, in his final days in the White House, President Biden pardoned people he thought Trump may target, including Dr. Anthony Fauci, Democratic Senator Adam Schiff. But now Republicans are claiming that those pardons are void. We heard the GOP explanation for their report last hour. In minutes, we're going to have a Democrat respond.

46:25And it is the top film on Netflix today. It's a thriller that explores the crisis that would unfold if a nuclear missile were launched at the United States. House of Dynamite is a great film. It's a work of fiction. So why is the Pentagon even talking about it? We're going to talk to the film's screenwriter, the immensely talented former journalist, Noah Oppenheim.

46:52The lead tonight, we are beginning to get glimpses of the devastation in Jamaica as Hurricane Melissa, currently a powerful Category 4 storm, makes its way across the island after making landfall as a Category 5 this afternoon. A Jamaican official telling CNN that schools, homes and hospitals are all affected. Another official saying some of Jamaica's main food producing regions are being battered. And we are getting reports of widespread Internet outages, flooded roads and bridges. As Melissa's center is moving off land, its winds and rain and storm surge are still slamming Jamaica, including slamming popular tourist areas on the northern coast.

47:29Next, the hurricane will take direct aim at Cuba, making landfall there sometime overnight. CNN's Derek Van Dam joins us on the phone from Kingston, Jamaica. Derek, how quickly are conditions worsening there? Look, Jake, we're in for the long haul here in Kingston. We've just been battered by very powerful winds, not equivalent to what they've experienced on the western side of the country, but enough to really make things very challenging across the nation's capital. We've seen limited amounts of damage, but, you know, traffic lights are generally out. You know, there's power that is flickering throughout the city.

48:15And, you know, we saw a couple of billboards that were turned over with power lines, you know, leaning on their side and some minor street flooding. But I think what's really important to convey to our viewers right now is the infrastructure and the demands that will be put on this already vulnerable infrastructure. Let's just put it this way. Gasoline will become, you know, a hot, very important commodity for this island nation. Gas stations in Kingston are completely closed. You know, so people are going to have to navigate that added dimension of this of the storm recovery going forward. Tonight is going to be a challenging night for, you know, the three million residents that call this this place home.

49:11And we know that the Western parishes, St. Elizabeth Parish, you know, taking the brunt of the most catastrophic winds. But the infrastructure and the roads that will be impassable will just make this recovery effort so challenging, getting aid, the need, the personnel to the locations. This is going to be a humanitarian disaster, and it is still unfolding and will continue to unfold in the days to come, Jake. Derek Van Dam in Kingston, Jamaica. Thank you. Stay safe. Let's check in with journalist and documentarian Jonathan Petromala. He's in Mandeville, Jamaica. It's about 45 miles east of where Melissa made landfall.

49:52And Jonathan, when we spoke yesterday, you cover natural disasters like this. You've covered hurricanes. But you said you've never covered one as forecast to be quite as bad as Melissa. What does it look like from your vantage point so far? I think the one thing we have to get out there right now is that no one really has seen the absolute worst of what this storm has done here on the island of Jamaica. The wind field was compact enough that it was like a buzzsaw coming on shore. But it's so difficult with the terrain, the road system here, combined with the mountains and the trees, and just the amount of wind speed we were looking at with this storm.

50:33Again, one of the most powerful hurricanes ever to make landfall in recorded history. And so we can't get that far west to see exactly what this storm has done. But we know with wind speeds that that storm is bringing the angle of approach with the storm surge it brought to that southern coast and the vulnerability that exists there. There is absolutely some human tragedy that is occurring and it's going to take a massive effort to clear the roads, to get the aid to the people as quickly as possible. Time is of the essence. How serious do you think this situation is compared to other disasters you've covered?

51:13I mean, you can imagine being isolated from everything. You're not having any sort of communication. And oftentimes in disasters like these, Jake, the not knowing is some of the worst part because family members are not able to communicate with other family members and they see and they hear what the worst case scenarios are. And so that makes the imagination run wild. And so it becomes very, very stressful as people wait and see. And even if people prepare, the storm was like an EF5 tornado. The winds were that powerful. And so when you think about an EF5 tornado, what's the only way to survive one of those?

51:54A concrete bunker underground. So there's going to be a lot of infrastructure that we're going to see some homes and buildings that are just going to be shredded by the powerful winds that Hurricane Melissa brought on shore. And so even if people had prepared with water and food, it's not even certain 100 percent that their shelter was able to survive the impact of that storm. So we're going to be eventually, hopefully tomorrow or within the next day or so, when we are able to reach that part of the island, the western part of Jamaica, it's going to be a scene that is going to open a lot of eyes.

52:27Because here in the eastern part of Jamaica, it's a whole different story where people are able to get outside. They're able to kind of take a breath. The storm has missed them and they haven't seen the worst of the impacts. It's a completely different story on the western side of Jamaica. Have you talked to anybody in the western side? Have you talked to anybody riding out the storm there, going through the worst of it? As close as we were able to reach was around the middle part of the island. And there, folks were in the middle of flash flooding. It was all hands on deck panic mode in terms of the flash flooding combined with hurricane force winds.

53:06So you had trees falling over, power lines being knocked down, power poles as well, signs being ripped away. we shot roofs being ripped off of houses as well and again that was a few dozen miles away from the strongest winds of Hurricane Melissa so it's really difficult when you're in the middle of a storm like this to be able to communicate with people out on the street like I normally am able to do because you know it's survival mode at that point you're trying to you have your head on the swivel trying to make sure you're not putting yourself in any danger people were trying to get there to clear the roadways as much as possible because there is a limited roadway system in the western part and the central part of jamaica and so um guys with machetes are out there chopping the trees trying to move them off the road so people can get around and people were people were driving around um they're either changing where their shelter was they're they're looking for family members they're trying to check on friends and loved ones so it's a very difficult situation when you're in a storm like this and it's also very easy to panic as well and you do see that often.

54:10Jonathan Petromala in Mandeville Jamaica thank you stay safe much more on our breaking news this hour Hurricane Melissa lashing Jamaica with torrential winds and rains we are already seeing reports of extensive damage on parts of the island the storm is set to bear down in Cuba next. Plus last hour you heard the House Oversight Committee Chairman James Comer explaining why he thinks some of former President Biden's bar pardons are now void a Democrat from the The House Oversight Committee is going to respond in just moments.

54:40In our politics, the House Oversight Committee Democrats are calling the Republicans' investigation into President Biden's autopan usage a sham after the Republican-led committee alleged in its report that there was a cover-up of Biden's cognitive decline and sent a letter to the Justice Department saying that legal consequences are warranted. Ranking Democrat on the committee, Robert Garcia as aides testify that Biden fully executed his duties and authorized every executive order, pardon, and use of the auto pen. Let's bring in Democratic Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury, who sits on the committee.

55:13Congresswoman, the conclusion of this 93-page report hinges on the lack of written approval traceable to the president's own consent when it comes to these pardons and highlights staffers' confusion about the paper flow. Democrats drew their own conclusions. What evidence are you pointing to that refutes this report? Well, Jake, thank you so much for having me on. I have to say that I am deeply disturbed that this is a lead story on national network television. Tonight, as we are four days away from 42 million Americans losing food assistance, as literally the White House is building a$300 million ballroom, and they are choosing to cut off food assistance and SNAP to 42 million Americans.

55:59They are going to let seniors, children, veterans, and millions of Americans starve. And this is what we're covering. So let me just say this. The bizarre obsession that House Republicans have with Biden is exactly that. He's not even president right now. Donald Trump is president. He is literally overseas. He is not trying to reopen the government. He is not trying to feed the American people. He is not trying to deal with the health care crisis. And he literally was being led around a ballroom by the Japanese prime minister last night in the apparent confusion that he himself is unable to perform the duties as the duly elected president.

56:40So I have to say, I'm disturbed to hear that this is even a story as most of our country is literally in crisis right now. So I actually do have questions for you about the cuts to the SNAP program and the fact that 42 million Americans will not have food stamp coverage as of Saturday. And we covered it yesterday and I covered it earlier today and I covered it tomorrow as well. But this is a report from the House Oversight Committee, the majority. And I talked to the chairman of the committee who suggested that more legislation would be needed to outline exactly who a president should be able to grant a pardon to.

57:16Is that something that you think both parties could agree upon? Well, I think, first of all, the House needs to come back in session. Mike Johnson has now canceled the House of Representatives for 39 straight days. We are on day 28 of a House shutdown. They are literally not here. The president is overseas, as I just said, and they are about to cut off food assistance to millions of Americans. And so I think it's bizarre that Chairman Comer is going on TV talking about an investigation into a former president who's not even a sitting president over a non-issue while literally Americans are about to starve.

57:54So the reason that SNAP is running out of funding, I understand there's a disagreement about the contingency plan. It's not a disagreement. Literally, Congress approved money for this scenario. The White House is choosing to let Americans go without. Well, the Agriculture Department The government argues that the contingency funds,$6 billion, is there for natural disaster. I know that that's disputed. But if you are so concerned about SNAP funds running out, why not ask Democrats in the Senate to vote to open up the government? And then the SNAP funding would go. I mean, I understand the dispute about the contingency fund.

58:34And that's a real dispute. and that's$6 billion that could fund the SNAP program for two to three more weeks. But if we're actually talking about long term, why not have Senate Democrats vote to open up the government? Well, so first of all, I filed legislation in the House of Representatives today. Even though Mike Johnson has shut down the House, there are pro forma sessions happening on the House floor. And today I filed the SNAP back legislation that would force the administration to release those funds, to not cut off EBT cards to millions of Americans, and that would reimburse states and tribes.

59:07So I'm doing my part here in the House. But I cannot vote for a bill until it comes to the House. And Mike Johnson has shut down the House, and the president is nowhere to be found. Now, I'm a former OMB official, and I can tell you that OMB is breaking the law right now. Congress has appropriated the dollars. And state attorney generals have filed suit today in federal court to compel the administration to release those funds because they are breaking the law. And we know that they know that they're breaking the law because just a couple of weeks ago, they moved funds into WIC to save WIC. But they think that they can use the hunger of children to try to leverage Democrats rather than feeding 42 million Americans.

59:48And we're not gonna stand for it. We're gonna sue them. We're gonna use the courts. We're gonna use Congress. And we're gonna do everything we can at the community level to make sure that Americans can put food on the table this weekend. And we're not going to stand for it. Should the Democratic senators from New Mexico, your home state, vote to open the government so that these SNAP funds are not at risk? Let me be clear. The administration is choosing to starve American children with money that they already have appropriated. I'm not applauding their tactics. This is a choice by the White House.

1:00:25This is a choice by the White House. They are choosing to cut off food assistance. This is also a choice by Senate Democrats to not vote to open the government. Yes, it is. I understand why they're doing it. They're doing it because they want Medicaid funds restored. They're doing it because they want Obamacare premiums to be extended past the end of the year. I understand the reasoning. Let me just be clear. The money for contingency plans is sitting there. That is why the states are suing. The White House is withholding funds from children to have food. Two to three weeks worth of SNAP funds.

1:00:56Yeah. Yeah, well, it may not be a big deal to you, but let me tell you that for the grandparents, for grandparents that literally are feeding their children, to not have money in those accounts, it doesn't matter. At the end of the day, people need to be able to feed their families, and Saturday is when those funds run out, and we are fighting to get that funding. Congresswoman, why not ask the Senate Democrats from New Mexico to vote to open the government so that the SNAP funds— I am here in the House of Representatives. It is shut down. I am fighting to get the government reopened. I am fighting to get funding put back into SNAP that is already existent.

1:01:34And I am fighting for the American people. I am here. But show me a single Republican that is here. Not a single one is here to make sure that Americans are fed on Saturday. That is why I am here. Democratic Congresswoman Melanie Stansbury from New Mexico. Thanks so much. Appreciate it. Our next guest went to Jamaica for vacation and ended up stranded there as one of the most powerful hurricanes in history made landfall. We're going to head back to Jamaica to see how she's holding up as the monster storm unleashes on the island.

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1:02:45Let's check in with Debra Shields. Debra's a tourist who's currently at a seaside resort that's 15 minutes outside of Montego Bay. She tried to make it home, but her flight was canceled, so she's stuck riding out the storm. Debra, what are conditions like right now where you are? Do you feel safe? Yes, I feel safe, personally. It's still really windy where we are, and it's raining. So, yeah, it's still not over. We didn't quite finish it yet, but it's definitely quieted down since earlier. I've been to Montego Bay, and that whole part of Jamaica is so gorgeous. You're traveling with a group of 16 people.

1:03:21How's everyone handling this so far? Do you think you're going to have enough food and drinkable water to ride out whatever situation is going to present itself once the storm passes? I definitely believe we'll have enough water, probably not enough food, but I think they're going to start opening up one of the banquet halls and letting people get food pretty soon, shortly this evening. So we're so grateful for that. We're so hungry. We've been eating chips and crackers all day, so we're really hungry, so we're grateful. So you're from Houston. That's a city that has hurricanes hit on occasion.

1:03:55Have you ever experienced anything like this one, though? Nothing like this. The worst hurricane that I've ever been a part of was Hurricane Harvey in 2017. team. And this by far does not even compare. I think being right on the coast, definitely amped that up and it being a category five because Harvey was a four. The wind that I've experienced, I've never heard or felt anything like that in my life. The wind was so strong. We now have a crack in the door, in the room. Trees are uprooted. Everything's off the roof. The resort is a little messed up. Hopefully they can get it fixed, you know, in time to start welcoming future guests in.

1:04:38But yeah, it did a little bit of damage over here. Is your window there or is it boarded up? No, they didn't board up any of the guest room windows. Some of the main dining rooms. So no, it's right here. It's right here. Well, Debra Shields, we're thinking about you. We're praying for you. Thank you so much and stay safe. Thank you so much. Thank you for having me. More staffing problems are expected at airports across the U.S. tonight as air traffic controllers miss their first full paycheck. We're live at Washington's Reagan Airport. That's next.

1:05:14In our politics lead, more staffing shortages are expected at airports this evening as air traffic controllers miss their first paycheck because of this federal government shutdown. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy says some controllers have called in sick in protest, while others are calling out so they can work other jobs to make money. CNN's Pete Muntean has the details. The end of the shutdown, the air traffic controllers. From LAX in Los Angeles to New York's LaGuardia, air traffic controllers are taking to airport curbsides, calling for the government shutdown to end. It's frustration.

1:05:51It's disappointment. in. Pete Lefevre is one of 10 ,000 controllers who just received their first zero dollar paycheck of this shutdown. He's still showing up to the tower at Dulles International Airport in Virginia, while his wife, also a federal worker, isn't getting paid either. Just don't know how long this is going to go. So right now, when you don't know when your next check is going to come, you have to make tough choices. I'm an air traffic controller. We're just helping him to shut down. Controllers are handing out these leaflets at airports nationwide, their latest effort to remind travelers they're still working without pay.

1:06:28Since the shutdown began, FAA air traffic facilities have seen more than 275 staffing shortages, more than four times the number from a year ago. The anger is at level 10. Nick Daniels heads the union of controllers. I'm going to work right now, and I'm thinking about how do I pay my rent? rent's due in a few days. How do I put food on the table? How do I put, you know, gas in my car just to show up to work? And those are levels of safety that are being reduced in the system and the flying public doesn't deserve. The frustration is being felt by passengers, too, now caught in the middle of delays.

1:07:02People need to be able to work and they need to be able to get paid for their work. I do feel for them and for everybody who's not getting paid and still having work because they need to get money to bring food to their families. At a news conference Since Tuesday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said nearly half of Sunday's 8 ,000 delays were caused by air traffic control staffing shortages, with L.A. and Atlanta emerging as new hotspots for controllers calling out sick. Almost every controller can't make it two paychecks. They can't make it without two paychecks. In his 16 years as a controller, this is not Pete Lefevre's first government shutdown, but he says hopefully it's his last.

1:07:43Air traffic control, just by the nature of the job, is very stressful. Adding on the financial uncertainty of not knowing when I'm going to be paid again adds an extra layer of stress onto an already stressful job.

1:07:59Thankfully, delays today have remained low, even though the Federal Aviation Administration has warned of staffing shortages today in Dallas, in Denver, in Atlanta, in Newark. The FAA administrator, Brian Bedford, just sent out a memo to all 46 ,000 workers of the Federal Aviation Administration to warn as this shutdown drags into a fourth week, there could be even more air traffic control-related delays. By the way, Jake, the rhetoric from the Trump administration has not really changed on this. And Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said one more time today that he puts the blame for this shutdown on Democrats like Chuck Schumer, even though it is Republicans who control the House, the Senate and the White House.

1:08:39Jake. Pete Monteney at the Washington's Reagan National Airport. Thanks so much. Also in our politics lead, a fervent call for an end to the government shutdown, which is now in its 28th day. The president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which is the country's largest union for federal workers, 800 ,000 members, wrote in a new op-ed, quote, it's time for our leaders to start focusing on how to solve problems for the American people rather than on who is going to get the blame for a shutdown. And that union president, Everett Kelly, joins me now. Everett, thanks so much for joining us once again.

1:09:07Good to see you. So earlier today, the Senate Democratic leader, Chuck Schumer, rejected your plea to pass a short-term funding bill. Take a listen. I told him we can do both, and we need to do both. Both have federal workers get paid in every way, and negotiate a way to resolve the Americans' pain in the healthcare crisis. Now, that last part, the resolve Americans pain in health care crisis, is a reference to what Democrats say they are fighting for here in refusing to reopen the government. They want Republicans to extend Obamacare credits so people can afford health insurance, which those credits expire at the end of the year.

1:09:50Do you accept his response? Well, this is the thing. You know, I think that it's vitally important to have health care for everyone. I think that is absolutely American. However, I don't think that this should be built on the backs of federal employees who are hardworking employees providing a service for the American people. So your labor union has strong connections with Democrats. Can you describe what conversations you've had with Democrats like Senator Schumer or others about ending the shutdown? Well, from the very beginning, they've always known my position. I've never supported a government shutdown.

1:10:23They've known that from the very beginning. And those are the sentiments that I've shared with all of the leadership. Prior to the shutdown, you called on Republicans to negotiate with Democrats to avoid the shutdown. Today, you're calling for Democrats to vote for the clean CR, the continuing resolution, the government funding bill, which would not include what Schumer wants to include and the other Senate Democrats, the Obamacare premiums. Democrats might say or somebody watching might say you're effectively siding with Republicans on this issue. What would you say to that? I would say that I'm not siding with anyone on this issue because it has nothing.

1:10:59My position has nothing to do with politics. My position has to do with the 800 ,000 federal employees that I represent. And to see them standing in food lines hungry, you know, says that there's something need to be done and it needs to be done quickly. And the only way to resolve that is to end this shutdown. To open the government. Absolutely. Speaking of hunger, 42 million Americans are at risk of losing out on the food stamp or SNAP program, special nutritional assistance program. Here is Manu Raju asking Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley if the president should step in when it comes to the lack of funding for food stamps or SNAP.

1:11:40Take a listen. This is Congress's fault, not his fault. This is Congress's fault. So when it comes to SNAP, the only solution here is we need to appropriate the money. I mean, even if he could put a Band-Aid on it, he couldn't pay all of it. So we need to appropriate the money. Now, one of the reasons that Mano was asking about that is because there's this SNAP contingency fund that the Department of Agriculture has. And there was a memo as recently as September 30th saying the contingency fund could be used to pay for SNAP, even in the event of a government shutdown. But the Department of Agriculture has since taken that memo away and said that's no longer their position.

1:12:19Those funds are only for natural disasters. What do you think about all that? Well, I think that, you know, this whole fiesto need to be resolved. It need to be ended and people need to do their job. Right. And if people are doing their job, guess what? America wouldn't be hungry. Guess what? Federal employees wouldn't be standing in lines to get food. People just need to do their job. So is your message right now to Democrats in the Senate open to reopen the government and then get back to work? Is that what you're saying? Absolutely. I'm saying that the American workforce should be at work providing the services for the American people.

1:12:58And in the process, they should get paid because they're just like the rest of America. Sixty five percent of America live from paycheck to paycheck. And when these employees are providing the services for the American people, They should get paid so that they can make sure that a single mom that I've talked to over the course of the last few weeks that need to make sure that they have child care taken care of. They need medication, you know, mortgages are due. You know, they need gas to put in their car to go to work. So, sure, I'm saying that it needs to be resolved and it needs to be resolved now.

1:13:29You know what government employees get paid during shutdowns? They don't get paid anything. You know, but some do. Members of the House and Senate. Yeah, the ones that they want. The members of the House and Senate get paid. Everett Kelly, thanks so much. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene once again blasting the GOP over its shutdown strategy. How she's talking to Speaker Johnson and taking him to task today. That's next.

1:13:56Our politics lead now 28 days and counting of this government shutdown. Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene's relentless chastising of her fellow Republican, House Speaker Mike Johnson, is on full display once again today. This afternoon on a House GOP conference call, Green claims she ripped into Speaker Johnson and her party. On Twitter or X, she wrote, quote, I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for health care is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the Obamacare or ACA tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans, unquote. My panel joins me now.

1:14:28Katie Miller, what do you make of Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene breaking ranks with her party throughout the shutdown? It's always nice to see somebody change their mind, especially a politician. I would encourage other Senate Democrats to do the same in the wake of their continuous no votes to keep the government shut down and closed and to prevent millions of Americans from receiving their SNAP benefits next week. So if some other Democrat would have the courage to do the same thing Marjorie Taylor Greene would have, then we'd have an open government. Yeah. Look, I think what you're seeing is Marjorie Taylor Greene being kind of wedged between the Republican politics and her own voters who probably are very soon, if they haven't already received letters from their health insurance companies, a lot of the window has opened for the Affordable Care Act in a lot of states.

1:15:12so people can go into the exchanges and see how much their costs are going to go up. And I suspect she's probably hearing from constituents who are saying, wait a second, what are you doing about this? What is the plan for this? And so she's probably wedged between those politics, as a lot of members of Congress are, but they don't admit it publicly. After the shutdown's over, this is an issue Republicans are going to have to deal with. Why are Obamacare premiums higher? It's because there are illegal aliens and legal immigrants who are receiving health care at the cost of me and you, Jake, who do you think is paying and picking up the tab for when a green card holder goes in to deliver their baby?

1:15:48I know I pay lots of money. I just looked at what I paid for my daughter's surgery,$3 ,000. But if a legal immigrant went in the same way I did, they're paying$0. Well, if you have a green card, you are probably here legally. And I should think that if a woman was in labor, we would want to help her no matter what her status was. But let's also remember that, I mean, think about the fact that Republicans in Congress were willing to find the money to extend the 2017 tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires, but we're saying we can't find the money to extend subsidies for health care while we try to decide how do we fix the system so we don't need those subsidies.

1:16:24I mean, I think that's part of what is galling the American people is we can't find the money to help average Americans, but we can find the money to help millionaires and billionaires. You can find the money to help illegal aliens. 40 % of illegal alien head of households are on health care that is being paid for by you and me right now. No, they're not, actually. They can't buy into the exchange, actually. They are, actually, because what happens... But again, I think if anybody comes into an ER with, you know, they're bleeding, I should hope no matter who they are, we would want to help them.

1:16:53I don't know what this... I don't know why insurance premiums are going up. I'm sure that some of it is uninsured people who are on the system. But I also wonder if there are enough controls when it comes to these premiums going up. I mean, one of the reasons I think the White House has been against, at least purportedly, one of the reasons the White House has been against this extending the Obamacare subsidies is because they think it's a big giveaway to insurance companies, right? I mean, that's what James Blair said, I think, of the White House aid. Obamacare is a broken system from the first day it was passed.

1:17:22Why is premiums consistently going up? It's because it's filled with government regulations at the cost of, again, people like you and me. Private insurance is still going up, again, in our country. Yet at the same time, I'm not getting better health care. Right. Well, I'll tell you, if people are not able to afford their premiums and make the decision to just not have health care and then start going back to using emergency rooms as their health care, all of our costs are going to go up anyway. Let's turn to another subject. In a new book, former Biden White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre announces that she's leaving the Democratic Party.

1:17:58Her reasoning, it's unusual. She says, quote, I watched Democratic leadership abandon and in the end betray a man who'd led our country through a pandemic at a time of historical political turmoil. Well, unquote, the Washington Post had a really scathing review. I don't know if you read it. I do recommend it for everybody in which they said, like, the only thing that the reviewer, this is the reviewer, I'm paraphrasing, said something like the only thing that the Democratic Party has done right in the last couple of years was force Joe Biden off the ticket. And that's the reason why Karine Jean-Pierre is leaving the Democratic Party.

1:18:30What's your overall suggestion or view of this? You know, the thing that bothers me about her, this position that she's taken is, well, what is your plan to help the party? So you're saying, because two things can be true. It can be true that you thought that Joe Biden did a good job getting us out of COVID. You thought that how he was treated was horrible. But you also, I mean, as I believed, he should not have been our nominee. And I wish others had been more honest about that earlier on, like someone like a Kareem Jean-Pierre, who was supposedly very close to him. But to me, the real issue is if you're going to attack, then what is your what are your ideas what are your ideas to make it better because it's easy to just say I'm out and that's what bothers me about this attitude what's what's your reaction to the book I don't know if you've read it or read the reviews but it must be just like popcorn for Republicans I saw her interview this morning in the New Yorker if it came out today or yesterday but what I think you're seeing and what Karen is attesting to is that she is quite incompetent to do the job right this is what Republicans have been saying for years now is that she is just another evidence that DEI doesn't work, whether that's in the White House in your press secretary role or whether that's a, you know, an air traffic controller, an air pilot, whether that's your doctor, you know, you don't you want to hire the best for the role, not not just based on skin color.

1:19:49Jake, why did she get the job over John Kirby? Why are we assuming that she is a black LGBT, you know, gay woman is DEI, but a white woman who is behind the podium right now, which DEI initially started as affirmative action, which was about affirmatively hiring women and minorities, why is one DEI and the other is not? Why did she get the job over John Kirby? Because as everyone has said this week, she is woefully incompetent. She had the job long before John Kirby. I will just say she used to be a commentator on CNN, then she was one on MSNBC, and she was good at that. Like, I mean, without getting into the job I thought she did as press secretary, I thought it didn't seem crazy to me because she was eloquent as a commentator.

1:20:31Why is she trained every four sentences to say she is a black, queer, LGBTQ woman? Because that's how she's been promoted her entire career. Anyway, Katie Miller and Karen Finney, thank you so much. Why is the Pentagon taking issue with the top movie on Netflix right now? I'm going to ask the screenwriter behind the film, A House of Dynamite. That's next.

1:20:56In our pop culture lead, a new film streaming on Netflix called A House of Dynamite is sending up flares at the Pentagon. It's a nuclear disaster thriller. It's exciting. I've seen it. It's really good. It explores a nearly real-time response to an imminent nuclear missile strike on the U.S., including not one but two failed attempts to stop said missile. Here's just a taste for you. Approximately three minutes ago, we detected an ICBM over the Pacific. Current flight trajectory is consistent with impact somewhere in the continental United States. If we get this wrong, none of us are going to be alive tomorrow.

1:21:35There is no plan B. We did everything right, right. It's really good. It's really terrifying. Joining us now is Emmy Award winning writer and producer Noah Oppenheim. Noah, you say you and director Catherine Bigelow, who did The Hurt Locker, did an extraordinary amount of research for the movie. I want to read what the Pentagon put out in a recent memo obtained by CNN and have you respond. Quote, the fictional interceptors in the movie missed their target. And we understand this is intended to be part of a, to be a compelling part of the drama intended for the entertainment, emphasis is the Pentagon's, intended for the entertainment of the audience.

1:22:10However, the following facts and results from real world testing tell a vastly different story about the actual GMD system currently on alert. unquote. First of all, did you expect the Pentagon to give you any pushback? Well, I'd say we first and foremost, we welcome it. I mean, Catherine and I made the movie to invite a conversation about an issue which we think is tremendously important and doesn't get enough attention, which is the fact that we have all these nuclear weapons that exist in the world and that pose a great threat to all mankind. With all due respect to the Pentagon, They assert in that memo that our current missile defense system is 100 percent effective.

1:22:52This is not a debate between the Pentagon and us as filmmakers. It's become a debate between the Pentagon and subject matter experts in missile defense. You know, Senator Ed Markey, retired General Doug Lute, folks like Tom Nichols, who've covered this issue for Slate, for the Atlantic magazine for decades. Fred Kaplan, who covers it for Slate. They've all come out since the Pentagon's memo was released and said, this is preposterous. Our missile defense system is nowhere close to 100%. 100%. Always question anybody claiming anything is 100%. You spoke of a Democratic Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.

1:23:28Let me quote from him. He wrote this opinion piece on House Dynamite saying, quote, U.S. missile defenses against intercontinental weapons have succeeded only about 55 % of the time under ideal conditions with known targets. No decoys. and perfectly timed launches, adding, quote, the system is brittle. A silver bullet defense is a fantasy. And the subtitle of part two is hitting a bullet with a bullet in your show. Is that what you found in your research, that this stuff is actually not reliable? That is how missile defense experts refer to the challenge of intercepting an intercontinental ballistic missile.

1:24:08Senator Markey, in his essay, cites that 55 % statistic. It comes from an analysis by the APS, which is a nonpartisan group of physicists who are assessing, who have assessed the challenge of intercepting these kinds of weapons. This is an important conversation because it begs the question, how do we make ourselves safer? You know, President Trump has suggested we need to build a bigger, better missile defense system in the form of Iron Dome. You know, that is one way to approach it, if that's in fact achievable. The other way to approach it would be to reduce the number of these weapons that exist in the world.

1:24:44You know, New START, the only remaining treaty we have with Russia to reduce our nuclear arsenal is set to expire after the first of the year. You know, negotiating a new arms reduction treaty is another step that President Trump could take. But this is what we should be talking about. How do we make the country safer? But of course, this movie is a thriller. It's exciting. It's not a lot of wonky talk like you and I are doing right now. So let me turn it back to the subject, because I've already told you my favorite scene, but I'm going to tell everyone else. So there's a scene where all the important players from the White House and the military, they're on an emergency video conference call.

1:25:20The national security advisor is getting like a colonoscopy or something. And so the deputy national security advisor is called to do this. He's walking to the office on the call, falling in, falling out, and then like having to talk about the end of the world while trying to go through White House security and put his phone on the conveyor belt. How did you come up with that? Did you go to the White House one day, because I know you're a former journalist, see something like that happening and it inspired you? I never saw that specifically, but what I saw at the White House and the other government buildings I've been to is ordinary people trying to do their jobs under extreme pressure and extraordinary circumstances, and we wanted to depict that reality.

1:26:00These are just regular people. Well, it's a great film. Congratulations, Noah Oppenheim. Thank you so much for joining us. This is a big day for CNN. We're now streaming in the U.S. This gives you another place to watch this show, The Lead. Or you can catch up later in the CNN app. There's a lot more to stream, see live, raw feeds, exclusive reporting, award-winning original series, films. CNN.com slash watch. CNN.com slash watch. I will see you tomorrow. Aaron Burnett out front. Starts right now.

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