Travelers at airports across the U.S. are preparing to be grounded because of the record-long federal government shutdown.

The FAA announced this week it may reduce flights by up to 10% across 40 of the nation's busiest airports potentially causing delays and cancellations in and out of major hubs including Denver, New York, Houston and Chicago.

"When we see pressures building in these 40 markets, we just can't ignore it, and we're not going to wait for a safety problem to truly manifest itself when the early indicators are telling us we can take action today to prevent things from deteriorating," said FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford.

A 10% cut could affect as many as 1,800 flights, according to one estimate, plus slow down cargo jets.

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Ground stops are already snarling traffic at dozens of airports during the government shutdown. Some air traffic controllers are not showing up to work after not getting a full paycheck since October 1, straining an already understaffed system.

"The stresses, the pressure, the fatigue is setting in. Air traffic controllers are texting, 'I don't even have enough money to put gas in my car to come to work,'" said Nick Daniels, President of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

The U.S. saw more than 6,000 delays within, into our out of the country on Thursday, according to flight tracking site FlightAware. At least 190 flights were canceled.

As of Thursday evening, more than 800 flights had been canceled for Friday.

Airlines are now scrambling to review flight schedules, saying the vast majority will run as planned.

Delta and United say long-haul international flights won't be affected at all -- and are also offering refunds for any passengers who'd rather not fly.

Crafting for Evan Cordes-Stone and his daughter, Evie, looks different these days.

The two have been spending afternoons in their Chicago apartment assembling whistles for neighbors to use if they see federal agents carrying out detainment operations.

"I'm a fan of very simple solutions," Cordes-Stone said on Monday while putting together a batch of 600 whistles. "This seemed like a very simple, efficient way to keep the community safe if ICE came in."

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Across the Chicago area, whistles have become a symbol and sound of resistance to the Trump administration's efforts to deport undocumented migrants.

"If you see an ICE agent, just observe them in the area, it's (three short whistles)," Cordes-Smith demonstrated. "If you see an ICE agent actively abducting someone or actively being aggressive towards the community, it's three long whistles."

Cordes-Stone and some local groups have assembled the whistles and passed them out to neighbors, left them in pop-up corner library boxes that normally store used books and given them to small businesses to hand out to customers.

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"We wanted our neighbors to be prepared when it happened," he said.

In September, ICE launched Operation Midway Blitz to target undocumented migrants who it says are "terrorizing Americans" across the state of Illinois.

The Department of Homeland Security says it's arrested over 1,000 undocumented migrants, "including the worst of the worst pedophiles, child abusers, kidnappers, gang members, and armed robbers."

Critics of the Trump administration's operations say they've also detained undocumented migrants with no criminal record.

Cordes-Stone started assembling the whistles in early October. He and his daughter have since distributed more than 1,500 whistles.

"At the time we first started, ICE wasn't visible in our neighborhood yet, but we sensed that it was going to happen soon and we wanted our neighbors to be prepared when it happened," he said.

It happened on Oct. 24. In multiple operations, just blocks from where Cordes-Stone lives in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood, Customs and Border Protection agents made arrests.

Abby Nystedt says she was on a call in her home when she heard the sound of whistles.

"I got off the call that I was on and came out of my house and started protesting with other neighbors that don't want to see this type of activity happening in our neighborhood or any neighborhood in our city or in our country."

Neighbors say federal agents detained one man who was part of a construction crew working on a home on Nystedt's street.

Within moments, Nystedt and others formed a crowd around the federal agents protesting their actions. Many blew whistles to alert others of what was happening.

The legality of blowing the whistle

"Certainly, blowing a whistle is your right to do under free speech," said David S. Weinstein, a former federal prosecutor. "On the other hand, once you've done that, you cannot now go and impede that officer from performing a legitimate lawful function."

Neighbors in Chicago say their whistle-blowing is peaceful and say it's their duty to sound the alarm.

"These whistles just kind of enable the community to be aware of what these agents are doing and to come out and watch what they're doing," Cordes-Stone said. "If you as a federal, and or civil servant, don't want the community, don't want the people to see what you're doing, you're probably not doing the right thing."

The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment about locals using whistles to protest their operations.

Air traffic controllers are missing their first full paycheck on Tuesday due to the government shutdown.

The National Air Traffic Controllers Association, which represents those workers, is sharing the stories of those workers in an effort to push lawmakers to reopen the government.

The president of the union says the added stress can compromise controllers' ability to do their job safely.

"Every single day that this goes on, tomorrow is now less safe than today," said National Air Traffic Controllers Association president Nick Daniels. "Because we're supposed to go to work and be 100%, 100% of the time. 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 gas in my car just to show up to work?'"

More controllers are now calling in sick.

Some are working second jobs to make ends meet, according to union officials.

In one case, a control facility had 11 of 25 workers call in sick, according to Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.

"What that means for the American people is that means more delays. That means more cancellations," Duffy said.

On Tuesday, the FAA reported staffing shortages impacting airports in Atlanta and Denver.

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Chris Dane is a travel expert. He says travelers should consider the time of day they fly to avoid potential headaches.

"Be patient. It is not the people involved that are causing this," Dane said. "The best advice I can give anybody is to take the first flights or as early flights in the morning as possible. They're the most likely to be on time."

"The later you go in a day, the greater the delays become."

The shutdown in Washington has caused grounded or delayed flights in airports across the country.

Air travel was crippled across the U.S. this weekend. Blame is on staffing shortages.

TSA agents and air traffic controllers are still on the job, but they're not being paid. Controllers will miss their first full paycheck on Tuesday.

"They get a notice of what they're going to be paid on Tuesday, and they got a big fat zero, no paycheck is coming on Tuesday, and so I've been out talking to our air traffic controllers. And you can see the stress," Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy told Fox News Channel's "Sunday Morning Futures."

The FAA issued 22 "staffing triggers" on Saturday a designation of understaffing of air traffic controllers.

More than 8,000 U.S. flights were delayed on Sunday and nearly 200 more were cancelled, according to tracking site FlightAware.

Duffy says that trend could continue, with the potential for more air traffic controllers to call in sick in order to work second jobs to make ends meet.

"You're going to see more staffing shortages in towers which means more delays, more cancellations," Duffy said.

RELATED STORY | Federal workers miss first full paychecks as shutdown becomes second-longest in US history

Many travelers are growing frustrated, but say they're sympathetic to air traffic controllers' dilemma.

"Well, I'm thinking if I weren't getting paid, I would be very angry. That would make it difficult to do my job. I'm hoping someone is taking care of them," one traveler said.

The union that represents air traffic controllers says it doesn't support any sort of organized work stoppage but acknowledges that its workers are growing more stressed.

"So, air traffic controllers, we didn't start a shutdown. We don't end the shutdown. Our elected officials do, and our message is simple: End the shutdown today," said Nick Daniels, president of the National Air Traffic Controllers Association.

Chicago residents say ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents carried out multiple operations across the city on Friday.

In one incident, neighbors in the Lakeview neighborhood told Scripps News that agents detained a man who was working on construction outside of a home. Neighbors say that four men were part of a construction crew that was working on the home and that one man was detained.

Witnesses say CBP agents deployed tear gas in a Chicago neighborhood following arrest operation

Dozens of people nearby gathered at the scene some drawn by others who blew whistles to draw attention to what was happening.

"I think it's important that everybody stay vigilant." said Bennett Lawson, the Alderman of Chicago's 44th Ward, which includes the neighborhood in which the incident happened. "The more noise you make, the more likely that others are going to join you, so you're not going to be alone, and certainly I think in every neighborhood around this city no one is alone when it comes to what ICE is doing."

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Abbey Nystedt lives across the street from where the operation took place and came outside when she heard the commotion.

She and other neighbors say that agents deployed tear gas about a block away from the site of the arrest.

"We were yelling. We were protesting, but there wasn't any physical altercations happening," Nystedt said. "It was really frustrating to see people who were close to the tear gas were in front yards using hoses to get it out of their faces and eyes."

The scene of the operation on Friday was several blocks from an elementary school.

Earlier this month, a court order limited the use of tear gas by federal agents in Chicago.

CBP and ICE have not returned Scripps News' request for comment regarding the details of the operation and the use of tear gas.

Some relief for drivers: While $2-a-gallon gas may be a far-off dream, prices have still inched lower recently.

"The national average at a moment's notice earlier this week fell below $3 a gallon," said Patrick De Haan, Head of Petroleum Analysis at GasBuddy.

That dip below $3 was a four-year low, but the price of gas has ticked up since then, averaging $3.07 per gallon as of midday Thursday.

Meanwhile, for many Americans, money saved at the pump is going toward other rising energy bills.

At a recent rally against rising energy costs, Vick Petersen told Scripps News Group Phoenix that his electric bill has gone up about $150 per month compared to last year.

"My bill runs about close to $600 per month," Petersen said.

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One factor in that is the growth of artificial intelligence, says De Haan.

"Because of the advent of AI, natural gas has continued to see kind of upward pressure, electricity prices have seen upward pressure, because of the insatiable demand now for energy for AI. And a lot of that was electricity," De Haan said.

De Haan notes that natural gas that heats your home is different from gasoline that fuels your car, so the price of each can move in different directions.

A projection from the Energy Department shows residential electricity prices will be almost 5% higher this winter compared to last.

Millions of Americans across the U.S. are expected to take to the streets on Saturday as part of the No Kings protests, demonstrating against President Donald Trump and his administrations policies.

The organizers behind the protests say there are over 2,600 registered events across all 50 states.

Saturdays protests come three months after the initial nationwide No Kings demonstrations on June 14, organized as a counter-protest to the U.S. Army 250th Anniversary Parade in Washington, D.C., which fell on President Trumps birthday.

Over the past few months thousands of people have organized once again in their communities, on the ground locally, volunteering to bring their neighbors, families and friends together to say unequivocally, We have no kings, said No Kings organizer Eunice Epstein-Ortiz.

Protests come as new poll shows a majority still disapprove of Trumps performance

On Friday, new polling from The Associated Press and NORC Center for Public Affairs Research revealed 61% of U.S. adults disapprove of the way President Trump is handling his job, up from 53% in August.

Nearly half of Americans say they approve of the presidents handling of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians, a significant increase from September, but on domestic issues hes received lower marks.

Republican leaders reject No Kings rallies

Republican lawmakers like House Speaker Mike Johnson have labeled the No Kings protests as Hate America rallies.

It'll be a collection of Antifa, BLM, the Marxist, Johnson said Thursday. You'll see pro-Hamas flags out there, I'm sure. It'll be a collection of wild leftist policy priorities, and that'll be on display for the whole country.

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Organizers emphasize nonviolence

Organizers behind the No Kings events say a commitment to nonviolent action is a core principle behind the demonstrations.

Theyve led sessions leading up to Saturday in which speakers have shared tips for de-escalating potential confrontations and have prepared for cases in which the National Guard could get called in, given the Trump administrations decision to authorize their presence in Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Memphis, Tenn., and in the Chicago area.

There is nothing more American than saying that we don't have kings and exercising our right to peaceful protest, said Leah Greenberg, a co-founder of Indivisible, a group partnering with No Kings on the day of protests.

Over 200 organizations have partnered to put the protests together, including the American Federation of Teachers and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

Our movement is a peaceful nonviolent movement, and we believe in nonviolence, said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers. Everyone who we have talked to about this understands the principles of nonviolence.

History and political analysis shows massive movements like this that remain nonviolent often drive change more effectively. The 3.5% rule refers to the claim originally researched by human rights and international affairs researcher Erica Chenoweth, that no government has withstood a challenge of 3.5% of their population mobilized against it, that demands cannot go unanswered. The analysis notes this is simply a descriptive statistic, noting momentum, organization and strategic leadership is key. In the U.S., 3.5% of the population equates to about 12 million people, though the research notes that movements have succeeded with even less participation than the noted benchmark.

Research shows acceptance of violent dissent growing

Americans appear to be more accepting of violence as a means of protest.

Three in ten Americans now say violence may be necessary to get the country back on track, according to a recent poll from NPR, PBS News and Marist. Thats up 10 points from last year. A separate poll from the University of Chicago and NORC found 27% of Democrats agreed the use of force is justified to remove Trump from the presidency.

During this summers No Kings protests, there were dozens of arrests reported across several cities due to some instances of violence.

Homebuilders and homebuyers are facing a tricky calculation in trying to nail down the cost of construction due to tariffs.

Beginning Tuesday, the Trump administration added a 10% tariff on imports of timber and lumber and a 25% tariff on kitchen cabinets and bathroom vanities and some furniture.

"The obvious implication is they make home building more expensive," said economist Zack Fritz.

Fritz works with The Associated Builders and Contractors, a construction trade group. He notes home building costs were already rising.

They accounted for over 64% of the price of a new home last year, up from about 61% in 2022.

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"I think in the current environment, home builders will eat some of those costs," Fritz said. "The more immediate implication is they'll build fewer homes."

That's happening already, according to data from the Commerce Department. Home-building dropped more than 8% in August.

"Long-term when we increase the cost of building homes that means builders will just build fewer homes and that means that buying a home or renting a home will be more expensive in the future," said Redfin economist Chen Zhao.

That could lead to even more challenges for buyers in a market that already saw homes hit a record average price this year.