CNN Anchor Calls Trump Out For ‘Jetting Off To Florida’ While Trying To ‘Avoid’ Paying SNAP-Food Stamps
CNN anchor Erica Hill called out President Donald Trump for “jetting off to Florida” as his administration fights an order to pay SNAP benefits and “chaos” grips airports across the country.
On Friday night’s edition of CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins, the guest anchor led off the show with a rundown of how the government shutdown is causing chaos at airports and anxiety for the 42 million SNAP recipients.
Hill also called Trump out for claiming things are getting cheaper “despite what you see when you go to the store”:
ERICA HILL: Tonight, for the first time, many Americans find themselves feeling the effects of the longest government shutdown on record. The scene playing out repeat at airports, across the country today, hundreds of planes grounded, thousands of flights delayed or canceled, leaving travelers frustrated and concerned.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It’s absurd. I think it’s a complete failure of government, and there’s — the government’s serving itself and not the people. It’s driving me nuts.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Terrible. It’s just terrible. I feel like the American people are being held hostage, right now.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Planned to come back next Thursday, and I’m very concerned, because I need to be back. I need to be back home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coming back might be a little bit crazy. Might be a tad bit crazy. But got to get early. Hopefully, I’m not stuck.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And across the whole board, there were so many cancelations, so. So, we’re going to just rent a car and drive.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The anxiety from it was crazy, like all morning, just like seeing if we were going to be good to go, you know? So, I don’t know, it kind of sucks. But I think it’s just going to get worse, at this rate.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: Well, in fact, it could get worse. The Trump administration’s order to start shrinking the number of flights at 40 major airports, forcing airlines to scramble like a nationwide blizzard just rolled in.
If you were flying here, to Reagan National, the average inbound wait time for flights that didn’t get canceled hit four hours, on Friday. Going to Phoenix? 90-minute delays. Flying into Chicago’s O’Hare? You’re talking about over an hour. And for Houston Hobby? Nearly three hours.
And the air traffic control shortage this was intended to address? That’s only getting worse. During the course of the day, various air traffic control facilities were short-staffed, 32 times today. And remember, this is just the start.
Today’s chaos is the result of cutting just 4 percent of flights. That is a number, though, that will gradually increase in the coming days. It’s set to hit 10 percent, by this time next week.
And, of course, with Thanksgiving, three weeks away, the Transportation Secretary is already warning, looking ahead, warning that these cuts may need to go even further.
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SEAN DUFFY, TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: So if this shutdown doesn’t end relatively soon, the consequence of that is going to be more controllers don’t come to work, and then we’re going to have to continue to assess the pressure in the airspace and make decisions that may, again, move us from 10 percent to 15 percent, maybe to 20.
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HILL: So that fix, though, has to begin about five miles from here at the Capitol.
The President, who flew to Florida for the weekend, demanding on social media, that the Senate stay in town until there is a deal to end the shutdown.
Senate Democratic Leader, Chuck Schumer, taking to the floor today, with what he called a unified offer from his party.
Senate Republican Leader, John Thune, calling that plan a non-starter.
While in the House, this happened.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I hereby designate the period from Monday, November 10th, 2025, through Sunday, November 16th, 2025, as a district work period, under clause 13 of Rule I. Signed sincerely, Mike Johnson.
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HILL: So, just try to wrap your head around this. The House has been in session for just 20 days, over the course of the last five months.
Meantime, earlier at the White House, before jetting off to Florida, the President continued to insist that despite what you see, when you go to the store, or maybe when you pay a bill, he says, things are getting cheaper.
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DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: I will say this. If you look at affordability, which they campaigned on, they lied. Because they talked about, Oh, prices are up.
No, no. Prices are down under the Trump administration, and they’re down substantially.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[21:05:00]
HILL: Late tonight, the White House still trying to avoid paying full benefits to SNAP recipients, some 42 million Americans who rely on food assistance to feed their families. The administration making an emergency appeal to the Supreme Court, asking the court to rule by 09:30 p.m. We’re going to bring you that decision, as soon as it comes down.
Watch above via CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins.
