Rep. Dan Crenshaw, Sen. Mark Warner and more — "Face the Nation" Full Broadcast - Nov. 2, 2025

[0:01] I'm Margaret Brennan in Washington, and this week on Face the Nation, [0:05] Americans are losing patience as the shutdown continues. [0:08] But are the politicians in Washington listening? [0:12] On the verge of earning the dubious distinction of being the longest government shutdown ever, [0:18] Americans are feeling the pain. [0:20] Benefits of social safety net programs like Snap and Head Start are in limbo. [0:24] Air traffic controllers are now working without pay, [0:27] and staffing shortages are causing flight delays, affecting millions. [0:32] Furloughed government workers are trying to figure out how to make ends meet. [0:36] The USDA oversees Snap food assistance benefits. [0:40] Agency Secretary Rollins put it bluntly just hours before they were frozen. [0:44] Your government is failing you right now. [0:48] If you are in a position where you can't feed your family, [0:53] and you're relying on that $187 a month for an average family in the Snap program, [0:59] that we have failed you. [1:01] Not so fast, corrected Speaker Johnson. [1:04] Clarifying, when she says we have failed you, she means we, the Democrats, okay? [1:08] Democrats see it differently. [1:10] Former President Barack Obama weighed in from the campaign trail ahead of Tuesday's off-year elections. [1:16] The Republicans who are running Congress right now, [1:19] they're not even pretending to solve, try to solve the problem. [1:23] They're not even going to work. [1:26] Our new CBS News survey shows that nearly three-quarters of Americans tell us that Congress is not working to end the shutdown. [1:34] And disapproval for both parties in Congress, as well as President Trump, [1:37] are all drawing increasingly negative marks for their handling of it as it has gone on. [1:42] They're fighting against each other, but they're not thinking about us civilized Americans out here. [1:47] It's what we're going through and how we're suffering. [1:50] We'll talk to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, Virginia's home to tens of thousands of federal workers. [1:57] Democratic Senator Mark Warner will join us, [1:59] as will Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw and Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey. [2:04] It's all just ahead on Face the Nation. [2:23] Good morning and welcome to Face the Nation. [2:25] Our CBS News poll out this morning shows that Americans are increasingly concerned about the consequences of the government shutdown. [2:34] 86% now say they're very or somewhat concerned about the impact on the economy, [2:39] and more than 7 in 10 say they are at least somewhat concerned about the impact on them personally. [2:45] We'll get to the shutdown in a moment, but we want to begin with a preview of Nora O'Donnell's exclusive interview [2:52] with President Donald Trump for 60 Minutes, taped Friday in Florida. [2:57] She asked about his meeting last week with the president of China, Xi Jinping. [3:01] One potential flashpoint with China, probably the potential flashpoint with China in the coming years, [3:07] is over the issue of Taiwan. [3:10] The Chinese military is encroaching on Taiwan's sea lanes, its airspace, its cyberspace. [3:16] I know you have said that Xi Jinping wouldn't dare move militarily on Taiwan while you're in office, [3:22] but what if he does? [3:24] Would you order U.S. forces to defend Taiwan? [3:27] You'll find out if it happens, and he understands the answer to that. [3:32] Why not say it? [3:32] This never even came up yesterday as a subject. [3:34] He never brought it up. [3:36] People were a little surprised at that he never brought it up, [3:39] because he understands it, and he understands it very well. [3:42] Do you mind if I ask, when you say he understands, [3:44] why not communicate that publicly to the rest of us? [3:47] What does he understand it? [3:48] Well, because I don't want to give away. [3:48] I can't give away my secrets. [3:50] I don't want to be one of these guys that tells you exactly what's going to happen if something happens. [3:54] The other side knows, but I'm not somebody that tells you everything because you're asking me a question. [4:00] But they understand what's going to happen. [4:02] And he has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, [4:06] we would never do anything while President Trump is president, because they know the consequences. [4:13] And stay tuned, following football tonight, to see more of Nora O'Donnell's 60 Minutes interview. [4:18] Again, that's tonight, after football on CBS. [4:21] And we're joined now by Virginia Democratic Senator Mark Warner. [4:25] Good morning, and good to have you here. [4:27] Good morning, Margaret. [4:27] So, on this shutdown, we have seen the CEO of all the major airlines come out. [4:34] The union that represents the air traffic controllers all support the Republican position of just quickly fund the government [4:42] with a short-term clean spending bill. [4:44] The American Federation of Government Employees also echoing that. [4:48] AFSA, which represents the diplomats our country has, are coming out and saying that. [4:54] They're saying in high-threat posts, they don't have armored vehicles because they can't afford to repair them. [4:59] Cyber attacks are up. [5:00] Consular officers are paying out-of-pocket to visit ill or incarcerated Americans. [5:05] Medication shipments aren't arriving. [5:07] Bills aren't being paid. [5:09] At what point does all of this pain and pressure end the shutdown? [5:15] I hope it ends it this week. [5:17] Frankly, I see it from my folks. [5:20] I was greeting voters yesterday. [5:22] We have early vote for our gubernatorial election. [5:25] But I hear people also very angry at this president. [5:29] I mean, we knew this wasn't going to end unless Donald Trump was back in the country. [5:33] He's now back in the country. [5:35] He ought to go ahead and put America first and sit down with us, deal with the health care shortage. [5:41] Deal as well to show the just cruelty of this administration. [5:45] There were $6 billion set aside for SNAP benefits. [5:49] He's had judges say, spend that money. [5:53] We're still waiting to see whether the administration wants to appeal that. [5:56] Get the money out to people in need. [5:58] Sit down with us. [5:59] Get this resolved this week. [6:01] And let's get everybody back to work. [6:02] When you say it's going to end this week, does that mean you're going to see more Democrats cross the aisle and agree to vote for a short-term spending bill? [6:10] What we've seen from your polling and everything else, it's a pox on both your houses. [6:14] Yeah. [6:15] We've got to put this to bed. [6:17] It's going to require Trump in the room. [6:19] It's why the bipartisan conversation so far, I don't think we'll ever get to yes, [6:25] because unfortunately, my Republican colleagues can't move on anything without a Trump sign-off. [6:31] Trump has spent enough time going out there now trying to audition for a Nobel Prize running around the world. [6:36] Come back and put America first, sit down, and let's get this resolved. [6:40] It could be done in an hour using Donald Trump terms. [6:43] But to be clear, what is the Democratic ask at this point to get that? [6:47] Because Leader Thune has said, hey, I'll talk to you about health care, open the government first. [6:51] The Democratic ask is everyone as of Saturday saw health care rates skyrocket. [6:56] Right. [6:56] This is an immediate crisis, too. [6:58] Right. [6:58] We've blown past that. [6:59] We can deal with this jointly, but it's going to require the active intervention of the president. [7:06] Meaning you need to see some sort of negotiation on an extension to government health care subsidies before voting to reopen the government? [7:13] President Trump has ended up, and I'm a big supporter of Ukraine, has met more with Vladimir Zelensky this year than he's met with any Democratic leadership. [7:20] So the ask is the meeting? [7:21] The meeting is, let's sit down and resolve it. [7:23] I can't believe Donald Trump, the great dealmaker of dealmakers, who at least how he presents himself, sitting down with us, we couldn't reach an agreement in an hour. [7:31] But at this point, what I hear you saying is you are not willing to cross the aisle for an immediate short-term funding bill that is clean. [7:40] You still need a negotiation over health care. [7:42] If the notion of at least sitting down to talk about health care, making sure that $6 billion that is set aside for SNAP benefits gets paid out so people don't go hungry, and we get the government reopened, again, the president of the United States has said when he was not president that it's the responsibility of a president to end shutdowns. [8:03] He has paid no attention to the shutdown. [8:06] He stopped his many international trips. [8:09] Come sit down and let's get this resolved. [8:11] And there's been outreach or there hasn't been outreach? [8:13] There's lots of conversations. [8:15] So when you say you're optimistic, or would you say you're optimistic about it happening this week? [8:20] As what your poll indicated, people are pox on both your houses at this point. [8:27] Get the darn thing open. [8:29] Deal with the health care cliff. [8:30] Don't let people go hungry when we've got money set aside on SNAP. [8:34] That can all be accomplished. [8:36] Sooner the better. [8:37] And we'll be talking about those food stamps later in the program. [8:39] I want to ask you about your national security portfolio. [8:44] Just overnight, there was another U.S. strike on an alleged drug vote. [8:48] I know you have been concerned that Democrats are being excluded, particularly from a key meeting that happened this past week with only Republicans in the room. [8:58] Secretary Hegseth was asked shortly after your press conference by our Ellie Watson of CBS about his plans to share evidence with Congress. [9:07] Take a listen. [9:08] We are presenting it to Congress. [9:09] We have time and time again. [9:10] On a bipartisan basis, they have been given the evidence directly. [9:14] He says it's been given. [9:15] So is your complaint that the evidence is not sufficient or you disagree with the... [9:19] Secretary of Defense doesn't tell the truth on this matter. [9:22] We asked for the legal opinion back in July when it was first written. [9:28] We've been promised it time and again. [9:30] The Secretary of State, my former colleague and friend, Marco Rubio, looked me in the eye nine days ago and said, [9:36] Mark, you're going to get it right away. [9:38] We still didn't get the legal opinion. [9:40] And then a group of random Republican senators was shared on a partisan basis what is the president's understanding of why these, why it's legal to take these actions. [9:52] That, you know, Margaret, that is not the way the system is supposed to work. [9:55] When you further partisan national security, when we're putting troops in harm's way, I got an aircraft carrier from Norfolk that's in the Caribbean right now. [10:04] How do I answer the families of those sailors about whether this operation is even legal? [10:10] This document needs to be shared with every member of the Senate this week so that as we get into this discussion about war powers, [10:19] we've got the basis of how the administration is claiming that it's legal. [10:22] You know, the administration says this isn't about war powers, that the president has authorities under Title II. [10:28] But let me read to you, because the White House knew you were coming on. [10:31] They reached out to us yesterday to assert they've provided six bipartisan briefings to members or staff, including your staff, plus the Gang of Eight. [10:40] A senior administration official also said classified documents were made available. [10:44] There were no classified documents made available to the Gang of Eight members until after a partisan briefing was made to Republicans only. [10:55] That is not the way our system is supposed to work. [10:58] If you want to put Americans in harm's way, it needs to be done on a bipartisan basis. [11:04] My Republican colleagues, many of them afterwards said, oh, yeah, that was not really good. [11:07] Well, I wish they would have got up and walked out of the damn room, because everyone knows partisanship should not be involved in these national security matters, [11:18] particularly when we're putting our soldiers and sailors in harm's way. [11:21] So it wasn't just you. [11:23] The Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Roger Wicker, a Republican, and his Democratic colleague Jack Reed, [11:29] said they have twice written to Secretary Heigsaw asking for execute orders, specifically legal justifications, [11:35] and the list of terror organizations tied to these strikes. [11:38] They don't have that information, and they have oversight of the military. [11:42] I rest my case. [11:43] This is what we're all saying. [11:44] Come clean. [11:46] And the fact is, if, as the administration says, these are all bad guys, and they're all drugs on these boats, [11:53] interdict these boats and show the world. [11:56] Listen, the Maduro government in Venezuela, and by the way, none of this legal opinion has anything to do with the Venezuelan government. [12:03] Maduro is a bad guy. [12:04] We should have pushed harder on him when the people of Venezuela voted him out under President Biden. [12:09] Biden didn't do enough. [12:11] The drugs are all cocaine. [12:12] It has nothing to do with fentanyl. [12:14] If you were going to try to make a case to the American public, make it publicly. [12:20] Don't do this and then try to hide the legal justification and give it out only on a partisan basis. [12:25] Does your Republican colleague, the chair of the Intelligence Committee, Tom Cotton, hear you on this? [12:30] Is he working with you on this? [12:31] To his credit, he did not attend this Republican-only briefing that took place earlier this week. [12:36] And neither did Roger Wicker, Armed Services. [12:39] The notion here is... [12:40] So the White House and the Republicans are in disagreement on this? [12:43] Well, there is not a lack of disagreement from members of the Senate that we've been asking for this legal justification for months. [12:51] And they are now hiding the ball and only giving it out on a partisan basis. [12:55] All right. [12:56] Senator Warner, thank you for your time today. [12:58] Thank you, Margaret. [12:59] Face the Nation will be back in one minute. [13:00] Stay with us. [13:01] We go now to the Secretary of Transportation, Sean Duffy, who joins us this morning from Far Hills, New Jersey. [13:13] Welcome to Face the Nation. [13:15] Hey, thanks, Margaret. [13:16] Good to be with you. [13:17] So our CBS polling shows that there is real concern among Americans regarding the effect of the shutdown on all transportation. [13:25] Should Americans also have safety concerns at this point? [13:30] Listen, I think that's a great question. [13:31] We work overtime to make sure the system is safe, and we will slow traffic down. [13:36] You'll see delays. [13:37] We'll have flights canceled to make sure the system is safe. [13:40] But we have to be honest, when we have controllers where we have shortages in towers and TRACONs doing two jobs, does it add more risk into the system? [13:49] Sure, it does. [13:50] But, again, we're always managing that. [13:52] Again, we don't want crashes. [13:53] We want people to go safely. [13:55] And so we will slow and stop traffic if we don't think we can manage it in a way that keeps people safe as they go from point A to point B. [14:03] Well, I did see that the FAA said up in New York, 80 percent of air traffic controllers were absent from New York-area airports. [14:11] And that same day, there was a near-miss at LaGuardia Airport. [14:15] One United plane clipped another one. [14:17] Was that pilot error, or was that linked to some kind of shortage? [14:22] Well, you mentioned the shortages of air traffic controllers in the New York airspace. [14:27] We had, a couple days ago, three-hour delays throughout New York. [14:31] And, again, I haven't got the readout yet on whether that was pilot error. [14:35] And usually when these planes are traveling very close to each other, it's their job to stay away from one another. [14:40] That's not controllers. [14:42] It's usually pilot error. [14:43] But, again, I'll have to look and see what directive was given by the air traffic controllers. [14:49] But it's normally the pilot's responsibility to stay away from aircraft on the tarmac. [14:53] So, if this shutdown continues, how – when does it become an emergency in terms of passenger safety and the safety of those who are trying to, for example, get home for Thanksgiving in a few weeks? [15:11] Well, does it become a flight emergency, a safety issue? [15:15] No, we will stop traffic. [15:16] So, we're not going to let that happen. [15:18] And I think the real consequence is what kind of rolling delays do you have throughout the system, right? [15:23] We've seen problems at L.A., in Dallas, in D.C., Boston, Atlanta. [15:29] And so, I think it's only going to get worse. [15:32] We have controllers who – some of them are new controllers. [15:35] We have trainee controllers who are very helpful in the tower. [15:38] They don't make a lot of money. [15:39] And they're now confronted. [15:40] They haven't had a paycheck for over a month. [15:42] They're confronted with a decision, do I put food on my kid's table? [15:45] Do I put gas in the car? [15:46] Do I pay my rent or do I go to work and not get paid? [15:49] And they're making decisions. [15:51] I've encouraged them all to come to work. [15:53] I want them to come to work. [15:54] But they're making life decisions that they shouldn't have to make. [15:58] Let's open the government up. [15:59] Let's pay these people, these young controllers. [16:02] Margaret, it's really important. [16:04] I think you've covered this. [16:05] We don't have the best equipment in our towers and centers for air traffic control. [16:10] But we have the safest airspace. [16:11] We have the most efficient airspace because we have the best controllers in the world [16:16] that work our skies and keep our people safe. [16:18] They deserve a paycheck. [16:20] Well, given that they are so essential, is there any way the administration can find [16:26] a pot of money, like seems to be getting found for others, like the military, to pay [16:31] controllers so they can show up to work? [16:34] Why isn't the administration able to do that? [16:36] Well, I think that's a great question. [16:38] So we have done all we can. [16:39] President Trump has done all he can to minimize the pain of the shutdown on the American people. [16:44] Again, you remember under Barack Obama's shutdown, he was trying to gate off open air monuments [16:49] in Washington, D.C. and was shutting down parks, just walking paths. [16:53] President Trump has tried to make it less painful on the American people. [16:56] So we're looking for pots of money to pay essential workers. [17:00] But there's really strict rules around what money we can use and how we can use it. [17:04] And we have to follow the law. [17:06] And so we were able to fund a central air service, service to more rural communities. [17:11] We've kept our academy up and running thus far. [17:14] We don't have a ton of time, a couple more weeks of that funding. [17:18] But I don't have the resources to do that. [17:21] And the simple answer is vote to open the government, negotiate your differences. [17:26] That's fine. [17:27] That's fair. [17:28] But again, these people should be paid. [17:30] And to say that it's Donald Trump's fault to say he has to find money when Democrats have [17:35] said there's no money for you because we've shut the government down, I mean, that's a [17:38] contorted analysis. [17:40] And Democrats are trying to do that. [17:41] And I don't think it really works. [17:43] Give the money and we'll pay the controllers. [17:45] Yeah. [17:45] Well, I saw reports that air traffic controllers only received partial pay mid-October. [17:50] And this past week, they missed a paycheck altogether. [17:53] So practically speaking, for those who are in these jobs, would you advise them to pick [17:59] up part-time work elsewhere? [18:02] No, I'm clearly asking them, come to work. [18:05] It is your job to come to work. [18:07] And eventually, you will be paid. [18:09] But as I've traveled around the country and talked to air traffic controllers, they've [18:13] told me that a lot of them can navigate missing one paycheck. [18:17] None of them can manage missing two paychecks. [18:19] And they're like every American family. [18:21] Everyone watching your show today, as they think about their own finances, how many paychecks [18:26] can they miss before it becomes real stress, real strife in their life? [18:31] And so next week, they're going to get a notice of what their next paycheck is going [18:36] to be. [18:37] And if the government doesn't open, the notice will be another big fat zero. [18:40] And you're going to see more of them probably make the decisions of funding their families, [18:45] putting food on their table, gas in their cars versus coming into work. [18:48] That's not what I want. [18:49] But I'm a realist as well, Margaret. [18:51] These are the decisions of life and survival that these controllers have to make. [18:55] By the way, it's the technicians also. [18:58] We have old equipment. [18:58] We have technicians that work in the towers that keep the equipment operational. [19:01] They're not getting paid. [19:03] I have train inspectors who are working to keep our trains running and running safely. [19:08] They're working without pay. [19:09] I have pipeline inspectors. [19:10] Same thing. [19:11] Across the system, we have a number of people who are working without pay. [19:15] We talk about the air traffic controllers. [19:16] But I have thousands of employees who are showing up, doing the work, and trying to keep this [19:20] system safe for the American people, all the while they don't get paid to do it. [19:24] Understood. [19:25] So you said back on Fox Business on October 9th that I can't have people not showing up [19:29] for work and that they may be let go. [19:32] There's a shortage of 4,000 controllers already. [19:37] You're not firing people, are you? [19:38] You can't afford to. [19:40] No. [19:41] So we're 2,000 to 3,000 controllers short, but that's a huge number. [19:45] And you make an interesting point because I've tried to surge air traffic controllers [19:50] into the system through our academy. [19:52] Margaret, we're up 20% of controllers through the academy this year alone. [19:55] It takes them about a year to two to get certified in a tower. [19:59] But this shutdown is impacting my pipeline of controllers. [20:03] And so when everyone forgets about air traffic control and the shutdown, I'm going to deal [20:08] with the consequences of, again, delivering for the American people and getting more controllers [20:13] in the towers, not less. [20:14] And you bring up a good point. [20:15] We're already stressed in that we don't have enough controllers in our system. [20:19] And this shutdown, when we have staffing triggers where they're not coming in because they're [20:23] funding their families and food on their tables, that makes it more difficult because we're [20:27] already short. [20:28] So you're not going to fire them? [20:30] I don't plan on firing controllers. [20:31] Okay. [20:32] No, listen, I have, no, again, when they're making decisions to feed their families, I'm [20:37] not going to fire air traffic controllers. [20:39] I have loved them and supported them as they're trying to go through this process, and it's [20:43] challenging for them. [20:44] They need support. [20:45] They need money. [20:46] They need a paycheck. [20:47] They don't need to be fired. [20:49] All right. [20:49] Secretary Duffy, thank you for your time this morning. [20:51] We'll be right back. [20:52] For more from our latest CBS News poll, we turn to our Executive Director of Elections [21:00] and Surveys, Anthony Salvato. [21:03] So, Anthony, how are people feeling about the economy? [21:06] I'll start with prices because that's where people tell us they start. [21:09] They see prices as still high. [21:10] They expect prices to keep going up. [21:13] In some respects, that's not new. [21:14] That's been the case for years. [21:15] But that's rather the point. [21:17] Things haven't changed. [21:18] So the ratings are still very low for the economy. [21:21] On the other front, you know, the stock market's going up. [21:23] There's been an AI boom helping fuel that. [21:26] But people have very mixed views of the U.S. job market, and part of that is they think [21:30] AI may come along and take their jobs, they tell us, right? [21:33] Now, here's how that all plays politically, Margaret. [21:36] And that is on ratings for handling the economy, handling inflation, the president's ratings [21:41] have been ticking down for the course of his term and continue to do so. [21:45] That's a big reason that he won a year ago. [21:48] That's one of the things that people tell us. [21:50] The economy. [21:50] On the economy. [21:51] People tell us today they still rate him on that and on handling immigration, where [21:56] he does relatively a little bit better, especially with the base. [21:59] But what I did was I asked people, OK, compared to a year ago, do you think the president [22:04] is trying to keep his campaign promises? [22:06] And most people say, yes, there's a but there, and there's a substantial number who say, but [22:11] his approach isn't what they expected. [22:14] And they're more mixed on that. [22:15] So they see, and some give credit for trying, but for things like tariffs as it regards to [22:20] the economy, the approach is much more mixed. [22:22] And that underlines all those ratings for him. [22:25] So we have an election in some states Tuesday. [22:28] What should we be watching for? [22:29] Well, he will certainly be a factor. [22:31] I think the question for Democrats, as you watch these races, is can they just run against [22:36] him? [22:37] So what I did was I asked them, asked folks to compare nationally Donald Trump's approach [22:42] and what they perceive as the Democrats' approach. [22:46] And Donald Trump still leads the Democrats on those measures for the economy and on immigration. [22:52] And what that tells you is, it may be, as you watch these races, Democrats can't just [22:57] run against Donald Trump. [22:58] They've got to have ideas of their own. [23:00] We will see these races as sort of testing labs for what the parties may do ahead of [23:06] 2026. [23:07] We'll be watching that closely. [23:08] Anthony Salvato, busy week for you. [23:11] Indeed. [23:11] We'll be right back. [23:21] Welcome back to Face the Nation. [23:22] We turn now to Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw, who joins us this morning from [23:27] Humboldt, Texas. [23:28] Welcome to Face the Nation. [23:33] Thanks for having me. [23:34] Congressman, I know you've been in and out of Washington, but largely the House members [23:38] have not been here in town. [23:40] The House hasn't voted since September 19th. [23:43] It'll be the seventh consecutive week now that they've been working from home. [23:46] Would you urge Speaker Johnson to bring everyone back to try to break the impasse over government [23:53] funding? [23:56] It's up to the Speaker. [23:58] House Republicans and House Democrats coming back to Washington will not break the impasse. [24:02] Let's not forget that the House passed a clean CR. [24:06] It was a temporary CR. [24:08] Okay. [24:09] And, you know, Democrats keep saying, you know, the Republicans have no intent to negotiate. [24:14] We can't trust them to want to negotiate if we reopen the government. [24:17] That's nonsense. [24:18] If we look, if we had passed a year long CR, I think they could make that argument. [24:22] That's usually an indicator that we really don't want to talk about the budget right now. [24:26] We want to kick the can down the road for a year. [24:28] But when you pass a very short-term duration CR, a seven-week one, it is a clear indication [24:35] that we intend on continuing those conversations. [24:38] So, look, there's other things we could do. [24:41] The reason I keep going back is because I work on the Intelligence Committee, and I have [24:46] to do that work from inside D.C. [24:48] There's a number of reasons people go back. [24:49] But, look, in the end, the Senate has to deal with this, and Senate Democrats just have [24:55] to reopen the government. [24:56] It's that simple. [24:57] They voted, I don't even, what is it, 15 times now to keep it closed? [25:00] They wouldn't even vote to keep federal workers paid. [25:03] That was a crazy lifeline that Senator Thune gave them, allowing them to vote, almost have [25:09] the easy way out, allow them to at least vote to take the pain off of federal workers, and [25:14] they voted that down, too. [25:15] I really don't know what their strategy is at this point. [25:18] They're the ones who need to figure this out. [25:19] So, you heard, perhaps you heard Senator Warner at the top of the program say, you know, [25:24] conversations are happening this week. [25:26] He was hoping that there would be some end. [25:29] On your side of the Capitol, you're saying you don't see signs of this ending this week? [25:40] Don't see what? [25:41] Sorry. [25:41] Yeah, I don't see us going back into session. [25:44] I think we would have been notified by now. [25:46] Yeah. [25:46] But, again, the impasse is not in the House. [25:48] You know, we passed it out of the House. [25:50] You have to come to an agreement, which is what he was – the senator was talking about [25:54] everyone getting together and going to the White House with the president to hammer this [25:58] out, the speaker at least. [26:00] It doesn't sound like you have that level of optimism. [26:03] But let's talk about the impact where you are. [26:05] Your district includes parts of Houston. [26:08] We checked the numbers, and it appears 350,000 Houston-area families may have some difficulty [26:15] with their food stamps, these SNAP benefits, because of the standoff. [26:19] Have you gotten any guidance from the state or from the administration about whether people [26:24] get food payments this week? [26:26] Well, from what I can tell from the administration's statements, I mean, they're going to try to [26:32] use the emergency contingency fund on a temporary basis. [26:37] But, look, I think there's about $6 billion in that fund. [26:41] Yeah. [26:42] Monthly SNAP benefits cost Americans $9 billion. [26:45] So that is a very, very small Band-Aid. [26:48] And the only way you're going to get SNAP benefits back on track is if Democrats vote for our [26:54] clean CR. [26:56] I visited a food bank recently. [26:58] Yeah, they're preparing for a huge influx in demand. [27:04] You know, the state can only do so much on this. [27:07] All of us can only do so much. [27:09] There's a really simple solution to this, which is just keep the government open. [27:13] And, you know, you want to negotiate this very complex health care issue, which is what [27:16] Democrats say they want. [27:17] I think they kind of chose it out of randomly and all of a sudden decided to throw this temper [27:22] tantrum. [27:23] But fine, let's negotiate it. [27:24] But you have to do it with the government open and not hold it. [27:27] You're not holding a gun to our heads. [27:28] You're holding a gun to the regular American people's heads. [27:32] You are on the Intelligence Committee. [27:34] You mentioned you have had to come back here to view what I assume is classified intelligence. [27:39] The president confirmed a few weeks back that he had authorized some CIA activity in [27:44] Venezuela. [27:45] He didn't give detail on that. [27:46] But have you seen any evidence that the U.S. pressure campaign on Nicolas Maduro is working, [27:53] that all this military hardware that's being moved around into the region is doing something? [28:01] I can only tell you what I can assume. [28:04] Look, having been out of session, we aren't getting the briefings because we aren't there. [28:09] One of the reasons I keep going back is to look into these things. [28:14] The broader question, this is more of a geopolitical question, is the pressure campaign working? [28:20] Well, look, deterrence almost always works, especially when you're dealing with dictators [28:25] like Maduro. [28:26] They only listen to one thing, which is power. [28:30] And Venezuela has been largely left alone by American administrations. [28:34] The Western Hemisphere has been left alone. [28:37] And I think this president is taking it much more seriously. [28:39] Look, the Venezuelan government is a fake government, right? [28:44] He ran a rigged election. [28:45] Everyone knows that. [28:47] It's propped up by the Cubans and by the Russians. [28:50] They have been in collusion with terrorist groups like the FARC for years. [28:53] It has been an annoyance to countries like Colombia for years. [28:56] There's many high-ranking officials in Venezuelan government that are literally under indictment [29:01] for drug trafficking. [29:02] It is effectively a narco-terrorist state supporting narco-terrorists. [29:07] Yeah. [29:09] Maduro what? [29:10] Sorry? [29:10] But he still is in power. [29:12] We were just talking about that with Senator Warner, the need for more information to go [29:18] to lawmakers about exactly what the extent is going to be of U.S. military involvement. [29:25] Would you support U.S. land strikes in Venezuela? [29:31] Actually, roots on the ground in Venezuela. [29:34] Land strikes. [29:34] I think we would have to have a longer conversation about doing something to that extent. [29:39] But I think what the president is doing right now is very much within rational, legal means, [29:45] looking at drug boats that we have. [29:48] People ask, do we have the intelligence to really know what these drug boats are and who's [29:51] on them? [29:51] Yes, we do. [29:52] That I can say. [29:53] Right? [29:54] We have multi-source intelligence. [29:56] So we know for sure what we're actually shooting at. [29:59] And we don't even shoot at all the targets. [30:02] And people say, well, why can't you just interject at all? [30:04] And I say, well, how many boats do you think we have? [30:06] How many boats and helicopters do you think you have? [30:09] And you know how risky an interdiction operation is? [30:11] You're going to put people's lives at stake. [30:14] And, you know, we've been doing that for years and it hasn't worked. [30:16] So you do need to try something new because it is an imminent harm to the United States. [30:20] And that's clearly within the president's authority under Article 2. [30:22] So I don't wring my hands over what's going on right now. [30:26] Talking hypotheticals about invading Venezuela, I mean, that's not really what we're talking about [30:31] right now. [30:32] No, no, I was asking about land strikes, but let me ask you about something some of your fellow [30:36] conservatives have been talking quite a lot about, including Mitch McConnell. [30:39] He's been concerned about anti-Semitism on the right. [30:43] Senator Ted Cruz of Texas said he's seen more anti-Semitism in the past six months than in his [30:48] entire life. [30:50] Take a listen. [30:51] This is a poison, and I believe we are facing an existential crisis in our party and in our [30:59] country. [31:00] If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool, and that their [31:07] mission is to combat and defeat global Jewry, and you say nothing, then you are a coward and [31:19] you are complicit in that evil. [31:21] He was specifically referring there to a widely watched interview Tucker Carlson did with far-right [31:28] commentator and Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes. [31:31] Do you share Senator Cruz's concern about your party? [31:38] Oh, yeah. [31:39] I'd say Mr. Cruz put it pretty well. [31:43] I've had a longstanding feud with Tucker Carlson. [31:45] I'm glad everyone else is. [31:46] It's also waking up now to how bad of a person he is. [31:50] He's changed a lot over the last 20 years. [31:54] Hard to say why, but it doesn't really matter why. [31:59] I mean, you have a guy like Fuentes on your show. [32:01] You're uplifting what is a guy who has really fallen off the radar. [32:06] He used to send his followers to my events and try to ask me a bunch of questions about [32:12] the Jews and Israel support and all that and try to disrupt events, and they would try [32:17] to infiltrate the MAGA movement. [32:18] You know, they were really on a downhill slide. [32:22] And for Tucker to have him on, Senator Cruz is exactly right. [32:26] And this idea that we have to, you know, that it's cancel culture if we keep Tucker out of [32:35] our circles from now on is just nonsense. [32:37] It's a, I literally wrote a book on cancel culture. [32:39] So, you know, I've thought deeply about this. [32:41] Cancel culture means you're canceling someone for what is basically a mainstream belief or [32:47] maybe a small, like honest mistake they made. [32:50] That would be maybe considered cancel culture. [32:52] It's not cancel culture when you say, look, I want to disassociate myself from you because [32:57] your beliefs are crazy and you're psychopathic and you are falling apart in front of everyone. [33:04] You know, disassociation is not canceling anyone. [33:06] And I know some have suggested it is. [33:09] So I think moral clarity is a lot more important in this case. [33:15] Congressman Crenshaw, we have to leave it there. [33:17] Thank you for your time this morning. [33:20] We'll be right back. [33:24] We go now to Massachusetts Democratic Governor Maura Healey, who joins us this morning from Boston. [33:30] Governor, welcome to Face the Nation. [33:33] Good morning. [33:34] A family of four receiving food stamps makes $31,000 or less per year. [33:41] That program gives less than $200 a month to one in eight Americans. [33:46] That's 42 million people. [33:50] I know you joined this lawsuit to try to sue the administration to get them to use emergency [33:55] funding to pay for food stamps during the government shutdown. [33:59] Given what happened with the courts Friday, will food stamp payments be going out this [34:05] week? [34:05] It's your state that has to administer the program, right? [34:11] Yeah. [34:12] I don't know, Margaret, because the president hasn't said whether he's going to approve the [34:16] release of those contingency funds. [34:19] I mean, the impact of this is just devastating. [34:22] One in eight Americans, you say. [34:23] I have about one in seven Massachusetts residents who are on SNAP. [34:28] I was at food pantries yesterday. [34:30] I mean, people across our state do not want to see people go hungry, but people woke up [34:36] on Saturday morning not having access to their benefits. [34:39] The reason we sued, Margaret, 28 states, and I'm glad and grateful to the AGs for getting [34:44] the favorable ruling, it basically tells the president, do what you're supposed to do, [34:48] which is use the contingency funds that have been set aside for exactly this purpose. [34:53] When there is a shutdown, among other things, release those funds, continue the SNAP payments [34:59] to our states. [35:00] I strongly urge that. [35:02] I hope it happens immediately on Monday. [35:04] People in this country should not go hungry. [35:06] And I think Americans don't want to see their brothers and sisters go hungry. [35:11] Well, that federal judge in Rhode Island ordered full payments by Monday or partial SNAP payments [35:17] by Wednesday on another network. [35:18] The Treasury secretary was asked if the administration would do just that, and he said, could be. [35:27] Practically speaking, how quickly can you turn it on? [35:30] I mean, if that comes through Wednesday, do people in Massachusetts get to eat on Thursday? [35:36] No. [35:37] I mean, the problem, Margaret, with what the president has done is that he cut this off. [35:41] And it takes a few days to load up those cards. [35:43] I mean, anywhere between two and five days. [35:46] I will tell you what I am doing as governor because I've got to protect my residents. [35:50] I've got to work with others to make sure that they are fed. [35:52] We've advanced funding to our food pantries. [35:55] We stood up a United Way fund. [35:57] And already, you know, $3 million, I think, in contributions have come through this week. [36:02] We have seen an incredible outpouring of volunteers. [36:05] I was at food pantries yesterday. [36:07] And the turnout is something. [36:09] And, you know, but this is not sustainable, right? [36:12] I mean, we cannot continue along this path, which is why he needs to release those funds, [36:17] as at least one court told him to do, right now, as soon as possible, because it takes [36:22] us time to load up those cards. [36:24] So here's how President Trump described the shutdown impact Friday. [36:28] Take a listen. [36:29] All they have to do is say, the government is open, and that's the end of it. [36:34] And, you know, largely, when you talk about SNAP, you're talking about largely Democrats. [36:38] But I'm president. [36:39] I want to help everybody. [36:40] I want to help Democrats and the Republicans. [36:42] But when you're talking about SNAP, if you look, it's largely Democrats. [36:46] They're hurting their own people. [36:47] Doesn't he have a point that your party is responsible for some of this pain? [36:55] Absolutely not. [36:56] And, frankly, that's a really insulting comment. [36:59] You know, Margaret, I've got 21,000 veterans, men and women who have served our country, [37:03] who are SNAP beneficiaries in Massachusetts, who had their benefits turned off, who face hunger [37:10] right now, to be clear. [37:12] You want to know who SNAP beneficiaries are in this country? [37:15] There are seniors, there are kids, and there are people with disabilities. [37:19] They live in every state, in every city and town around this country. [37:22] And for the president to even suggest something like that or to say something like that is [37:27] insulting. [37:27] And this is the part—this is the problem with D.C. [37:30] You showed the poll, right? [37:31] I mean, at the end of the day, the president and Republicans control the House, the Senate, [37:36] and the White House. [37:37] And, you know, Mike Johnson hasn't had these guys back in session, I think, but for 12 out [37:43] of 100 of the last days. [37:45] So get back to Washington. [37:47] Get back to the table. [37:48] Sort this out. [37:49] Americans want to see that people are fed. [37:53] They want to make sure that they have access to child care, because health—Head Start's [37:57] getting turned off, too. [37:58] And they don't want to see their health premiums go up. [38:01] I mean, that's what's happening right now, and the impact is being felt everywhere. [38:05] We checked, and the top five states or districts with the highest percentage of residents who [38:09] use food stamps are New Mexico, D.C., Louisiana, Oregon, and Oklahoma. [38:13] Two of those states are ruby red and voted for President Trump in last election. [38:18] I think that's what you're pointing to in terms of insult. [38:21] But on the substance of why we are in this shutdown, Democrats have refused to sign on to a clean [38:27] government funding bill. [38:28] On that point, don't Democrats bear some responsibility? [38:33] What Democrats in Congress did is stand with hundreds of thousands, millions of Americans [38:38] right now who are seeing their premiums go up. [38:41] I've got people in Massachusetts who just got notices because of the expiration of these [38:46] subsidies. [38:47] They're going to see their premiums rise as much as $20,000. [38:52] American families can't afford that. [38:54] You know, and I'm focused on economic hardship and what I can do to protect my people, and [38:59] I think most of us are in our states as governors, which is why the folks in D.C. need to get [39:05] back to work. [39:06] Mike Johnson needs to call his members back, because how are you going to get a negotiation [39:10] if you're not even in D.C.? [39:12] Right? [39:12] You've got to get back to D.C. [39:14] The president has got to give a clear directive to Republicans that they need to reopen government, [39:21] because Americans are suffering and continue to suffer every single day. [39:26] Governor Haley, thank you for your time this morning. [39:28] We'll be back in a moment. [39:33] We're joined now by Juan Andrade, CEO of financial services company USAA. [39:38] Many of its nearly 14 million customers are in the military or veterans, and he joins us [39:42] from San Antonio. [39:46] Secretary Vesant said on this program just last Sunday that by November 15th, the troops [39:51] and service members aren't going to be paid. What level of anxiety are you seeing among [39:57] your customers? [39:59] Argrid, thank you for having me on your show. What we're seeing today is uncertainty, anxiety, [40:06] and for some real hardship, and that's really within the active duty community. It's also [40:11] important to note that 30 percent of federal employees are also veterans or military spouses. [40:17] So this is more than an impact to a household budget. This can really undermine morale and focus. [40:24] And our goal is to provide stability for people who are living paycheck to paycheck and who are [40:29] frankly losing ground. [40:31] Well, I've seen that you're offering interest-free loans to customers. Is that everyone or just [40:37] specifically active duty military? And if they can't qualify for a loan, what do they do? [40:42] So we're offering our government shutdown program to all eligible members of USA. So as you said, [40:50] that's currently about 14 and a half million people. And at this point, we've acted swiftly [40:55] and decisively. In the first 48 hours of the shutdown, we funded 150 million in zero interest loans. [41:02] We are now up to 400 million to date. But that's also in addition to payment extensions that we've [41:08] done on credit cards, auto loans, mortgages. We've also waived fees for overdraft. And we've also had [41:14] flexible insurance arrangements across our property casualty life and health insurance businesses. [41:21] 400 million in zero interest loans. So people are already looking to try to figure out how to make [41:27] ends meet. We looked and a quarter of all active duty military members are food insecure, according to [41:34] the Department of Agriculture. That was well before this shutdown. That means they don't have a good diet [41:39] or they're not able to afford food. We already saw strain on a lot of that active duty military. [41:48] Can you give us a sense of what this means for someone now to look at the calendar and know [41:54] November 15th, there's no pay coming? Yeah. And I agree. This is one of the reasons why [42:00] we've already funded 400 million in loans at this point in time. People are preparing for an uncertain [42:06] period of time. And this is very important to them, particularly if we think about our younger [42:11] enlisted and particularly those with families. Dual incomes in military families is not a luxury, [42:17] it's a necessity. So these are people that we're very worried about. And we want to make sure that [42:22] they're stable through this period of time. The other part of this, and frankly, the reason for doing [42:26] these zero interest loans, is we want to make sure that they don't turn to high interest rate payday [42:31] loans or high interest rate credit cards at the same time. And the unemployment rate among civilian [42:38] military spouses is almost five times the national average, to your point, that they need dual income. [42:44] Many can't do that. But the Congressional Budget Office projection is that there will be an economic [42:50] cost, that the shutdown itself could lead to $7 to $14 billion in lost growth. What's the impact on the [42:58] communities like yours, where you were living down in Texas, you know, in areas where there are bases [43:02] around this country? Sure. I think you see it in a few ways. I think one is definitely on consumer [43:08] spending. Right now, people are prioritizing basic needs, whether it's health or food at this point [43:15] in time. So they're definitely cutting back on discretionary spending. I think that's part of that. [43:20] The other aspect of it is you're going to see more people who are food insecure. And this is one of the [43:25] reasons why we have also been supporting our local communities. Our offices are all located near major [43:30] military installations. And we have donated millions to military aid societies who are best [43:36] positioned to provide food and other services in installations. And we've also been donating to [43:42] local food banks in our communities. So how does this compare to the last extended shutdown that we [43:48] had during the first Trump administration? The last shutdown basically has not did not last as long. [43:55] I think that was a big part of that. And we also had the certainty that the military would be getting [44:01] paid. Now, clearly, up until now, they have been getting paid. The question of the uncertainty that [44:06] we're seeing from our members is what happens over the next couple of weeks. Because you were already [44:11] planning for that November 15th. When you say the shutdown wasn't this long, you're assuming the [44:18] government does not get funded for how long? How long can you keep doing this? [44:25] We're already planning for a second loan to members. So we've had a number take us up certainly on the [44:33] first off-road loan. Now they're taking us up on the second off-road loan. And we're prepared to [44:37] assist. That's our job and to take care of our members in the military community. So we will keep [44:42] up with this. And if we have to do more, we will do more. [44:45] All right. Well, we are thinking of your customers at this time. We'll continue to track [44:53] what happens with that real-world impact. Thank you, Mr. Andrade. [44:58] Thank you, Margaret. [45:00] We'll be right back. [45:05] That's it for us today. Thank you for watching. Until next week, for Face the Nation, I'm Margaret Brennan.