FAA Cuts Flights, SNAP Ruling, Trump Focused Abroad

0:00Hey. Hey. Happy birthday! Oh, yeah. Halfway to 110. Wait, really? How old are you today? Yeah, halfway to 110. Are you 55? I had to do math and that was hard. I'm not a journalist because I can add. See, when I'm 110, I won't have to do any more math.

0:20The government shutdown is raising fears of nationwide travel delays. To put it in perspective, the impact here is about what we would expect from a medium-sized storm. The FAA ordered airlines to cut flights by 10 percent. I'm Leila Faldil, that's A Martinez, and this is Up First from NPR News. A judge orders President Trump to deliver full snap benefits by today. The administration is appealing. We can't have a federal court telling the president how he has to triage the situation. With the administration appealing the order, how long will families have to wait to get the food they need? And Trump hosts Hungary's Viktor Orban at the White House, while the president's allies warn he's spending more time focused abroad and not enough time on the issues at home.

1:05Stay with us. We've got all the news you need to start your day.

1:46This message comes from Comcast. Comcast operates the nation's largest converged network, reaching 64 million homes and businesses. With$80 billion invested to expand broadband infrastructure in the U.S., Comcast is actively supporting the goal of bringing broadband to everyone. Learn more about how Comcast is bringing high-speed internet to communities across the country at ComcastCorporation.com. Airlines have begun canceling hundreds of flights to comply with an order from the FAA directing airlines to gradually reduce air traffic by 10 % at dozens of major airports across the country. The agency says the move is necessary to keep the airspace safe as it deals with a shortage of air traffic controllers during the government shutdown.

2:33But there are still many questions about this planned reduction in air traffic and what it will mean for airlines and travelers. NPR's transportation correspondent Joel Rose hopefully will answer those questions. Joel, so what do you know about the FAA's plan? So late Thursday, the FAA officially released the list of 40 major airports where it's going to reduce the number of flights, including some big airline hubs, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Dallas, and more. The FAA's plan requires airlines to phase in these cuts gradually, so the airlines will cut about 4 % of their flights through this weekend and gradually work their way up to 10 % by next Friday.

3:09Airlines have some discretion to decide how they're going to hit those targets, and these reductions will not apply to international flights, only to domestic flights. And I should note, it's not just aviation. The plan will also limit space launches, which can be an extra demand for air traffic controllers to handle. So it sounds like it's going to be some kind of a disruption. How big of a mess is it going to be? It's really hard to say. I mean, Delta Airlines said that it would operate the vast majority of its flights as scheduled, but that the frequency of those flights to some destinations may be limited.

3:38United Airlines says this is not a high-demand time of year to fly, so the airline does have empty seats and is optimistic that it can accommodate many customers. United Senior Vice President David Kinzelman spoke with NPR's All Things Considered yesterday, and here's some of what he said. We have service disruptions frequently in the airline business. It could be storms. It could be staffing triggers. So we've got a good playbook. Just to put it in perspective, the impact here is about what we would expect from a medium-sized storm. But this is bigger than just a thunderstorm in one part of the country, with 40 airports all over the country having reduced capacity all at the same time.

4:16There's no real precedent for something like this at this scale, so it's hard to say how it's going to go. It's also hard to be patient when you have somewhere to go. So how are travelers handling it? Travelers are understandably pretty worried. Our member station WABE spoke to a woman named Ellen Silva who had just arrived in Atlanta yesterday. Silva is supposed to fly back to Baltimore on Tuesday, and she is concerned about what could happen if that flight is canceled. I would miss work, and I'd have some very unhappy people that I work for because they depend on me so they can travel. And if I'm not there, they can't leave.

4:47Now, a big question for a lot of those people is why all of this is happening right now. The official explanation from the FAA, as we heard, is that it is necessary for safety. The government shutdown is clearly taking a toll on air traffic controllers who are required to work without pay. Some have taken on second jobs. Many are calling out sick. Overall, the air traffic control system had been working fairly well during the shutdown until this past weekend, when we did see staffing shortages at dozens of facilities all at the same time. You know, and even last night, there were hour-long delays at several big airports, including Boston and Washington, D.C.

5:21But the administration's critics and some air traffic controllers are saying this is mostly a PR move or a political move that is related to talks around ending the government shutdown. It's also possible that more than one of those explanations could be true at the same time. In other words, it could be about safety or politics or both. NPR's Joel Rose. Joel, thanks. You're welcome, A.

5:51The Trump administration is appealing a court order requiring it to restore full-snap food benefits by today. The government had previously said it would only restore partial benefits in response to an earlier decision. A federal judge in Rhode Island issued the new order yesterday saying the government failed to consider the harm to individuals who rely on those benefits. NPR's Tovia Smith is following this. Tovia, that Rhode Island judge, that's the same one who last week forced the Trump administration to use emergency funding to keep SNAP going. So what's he saying now? Well, he's laying into the Trump administration again, accusing it of withholding and delaying SNAP benefits for, quote, political reasons.

6:32U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. called it astounding that the Trump administration didn't consider the harm it was causing to the millions of Americans who depend on this food assistance. As he put it in his order, this court is not naive to the administration's true motives. McConnell cited a post the president put up on social media this week declaring that SNAP benefits will only resume when, quote, the radical left Democrats open up government. And the judge said that was proof of Trump's intent to defy the original court order to keep SNAP going. And a big part of why he ordered the government to fully fund SNAP by today.

7:11And it was just about an hour later that the Trump administration appealed the court order. attorneys offered no arguments just yet, just saying they're appealing. I know the administration has said that it doesn't have the money to fully fund SNAP during the government shutdown. So did the judge address where the money will come from now? Yes. Remember last week, he said the government had to use an emergency fund to keep SNAP going, though that was only enough to pay partial benefits. This time, he said the administration must also cover the rest by tapping into a much bigger source of money from customs revenues, which the government said it was saving just in case it was needed for things like child nutrition programs.

7:52But yesterday, the judge wasn't having it. He said it defies belief that the administration would prioritize a hypothetical need over the, quote, very real and imminent risk of children being deprived of their food assistance today. Now, what are you hearing from the administration and from the groups that brought the lawsuit to get the SNAP money reinstated? So a spokesperson for the Agriculture Department, which administers SNAP, blamed Democrats for the lapse in benefits, accusing them of using the shutdown as leverage for their political agenda. And on the other side, the cities and nonprofits that brought the case to court were celebrating the judge's order, calling it a major victory, until the government appealed.

8:33As one leader of an anti-hunger group put it, the thrill didn't last long. And the fear is now that it could still be a while before this gets resolved. So what about today's deadline to restore funding? It sounds like not a lot of time to do a lot of stuff. Yes. And just to note, the deadline today is for the government to get the money to states, which is just step one. So even if they manage that, it's hard to imagine the money could get all the way to individuals so quickly. Remember, the administration had said reducing benefits is complicated and could take weeks or months. So now it's unclear if any processing that was done now needs to be undone.

9:13And the government may seek to stay the judge's order while the appeal plays out. So meantime, millions of people are still left trying to scrape by with whatever they can afford and whatever they can get at food pantries, for example, which are already straining to keep up with demand. NPR's Tovia Smith. Thank you, Tovia. Thank you.

9:42President Trump is hosting Prime Minister Viktor Orban of Hungary at the White House. Last night, he had dinner with Central Asian leaders and expanded the Abraham Accords. Earlier, he threatened strikes against Nigeria. This on the same week that the government shutdown became the longest ever. And election results suggest Trump's edge on the economy is waning. It's raising concerns among some of Trump's allies that he's spending too much time focused on the rest of the world and not enough at home. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez joins us now. So what's this meeting with Orbán about?

10:16Yeah, I mean, the meeting is expected to be about the war in Ukraine and pressing Hungary to stop buying Russian oil as a means to pressure Moscow to end the war. Though the concern is not about Orbán specifically, but all the time and effort put on foreign policy. I mean, A, it's not just one week. In the past month, Trump's helped broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas. He continues to threaten Venezuela. He's trekked across Asia, struck a deal with China, and even started to plan a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. It's just a tremendous amount of foreign policy work. And then the timing, too, because right now many Americans are struggling with the cost of living.

10:53I mean, so some of Trump allies feel like he really needs to be talking more about the economy instead. Yeah, I mean, and it's not just about the election results either, but also Trump's low approval ratings. Stephen Bannon told Politico that Trump shouldn't spend so much time on the Middle East and Ukraine and needs to pivot to the economy. Vivek Ramaswamy, a candidate for Ohio governor, said Republicans can't mess around. Our side needs to focus on affordability. Make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs, electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs and housing costs. and lay out how we're going to do it.

11:29And J.D. Vance, the vice president, while downplaying the Democrats' victories, also said Republicans need to, quote, focus on the home front. So people close to the president are asking for a pivot. Will he? I mean, he's talking a lot about the economy now, but he's largely blaming allies in Congress, Republicans, for not touting his work. The affordability is much better with the Republicans. The only problem is the Republicans don't talk about it. And Republicans should start talking about it and use their heads. Yeah, and the White House told me that there will be more of a focus on the home front and cited yesterday's announcement on lowering drug prices.

12:04But they push back on the idea that his work overseas isn't in U.S. interest, saying new trade deals, for example, brings money home and killing drug traffickers keeps Americans safer. Do you think, Franco, that all of this might be an issue for the midterms or coming up in less than a year? It probably will. I mean, I was talking with John McHenry, a Republican pollster, who said the economy is always going to be the most important issue for voters. People expect you to do well on foreign policy, but they expect you to do well on foreign policy while you're also laser focused on domestic issues.

12:39You know, the foreign policy is a kind of a nice to have and the domestic policy is a must have. Franco, are Republicans nervous? Yeah, I mean, McHenry also pointed to an NBC poll that shows two-thirds of Americans feel Trump has fallen short on the economy, which were similar numbers that former President Barack Obama had in 2010. And that year, Obama's party lost 63 House seats in the midterm elections. All right, that's NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Thanks a lot. Thank you, A, and happy birthday. Same thing.

13:14And that's up first for Friday, November 7th. I'm Amy Martinez. And I'm Leila Faldil. This weekend on The Sunday Story, there are tens of thousands of veterans in the U.S. behind bars, often without any of the mental health services they may need. When you go to prison, you automatically lose your benefits as a soldier, as a veteran. You become a ward of the state. How much do we owe these veterans who fought our wars? I think that throughout all of this, that's all I've been looking for, is just for people to see that I've met well and that I went down the wrong road. This weekend, on the Sunday Story, one vet's journey from war to incarceration to redemption.

13:52Listen right here in the Up First podcast. Today's episode of Up First was edited by Russell Lewis, Catherine Laidlaw, Dana Farrington, Mohamed El Bardisi, and Alice Wolfley. It was produced by Ziad Butch, Nia Dumas, and Lindsay Totti. We get engineering support from David Greenberg. Our technical director is Carly Strange, and our executive producer is Jay Shaler. Join us again wherever you get your podcasts.

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