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The Lead with Jake Tapper
Countdown To Key Races In New York City, Virginia, New Jersey, And California; Health Premiums Spike Amid Open Enrollment; Trump Claims He Doesn't Know Binance Billionaire He Pardoned Who Has Links To Family's Crypto Dealings; Trump Sits Down For Wide-Ranging "60 Minutes" Interview; Catastrophic Loss In Western Jamaica After Hurricane Melissa. Aired 5-6p ET
Aired November 03, 2025 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:00]
KASIE HUNT, HOST: Really appreciate you, guys. Thanks to all of you at home for watching as well. Don't forget, you can now stream "The Arena" live. You can catch up whenever you want. If you're in the CNN app, go ahead, scan the Q.R. code below. You can also catch up by listening to "The Arena" podcast. There's another Q.R. code for that. You can also follow the show on X and on Instagram @TheArenaCNN.
Jake Tapper is standing by for "The Lead." It is 4:59:50. Jake, I'm so excited to be part of your election night panel tomorrow night.
JAKE TAPPER, CNN HOST: It's very exciting. It's very exciting. I wish I had a Q.R. code for that.
HUNT: Right, you know.
TAPPER: But -- but -- but I'm the left.
HUNT: Let's get one.
(LAUGHTER)
TAPPER: All right. Kasie, we'll see you back in "The Arena" tomorrow.
HUNT: See you.
TAPPER: The hot races that have America's attention. "The Lead" starts right now. Virginia, New Jersey, New York, California. We are just hours from Election Day, America. We're going to run down the key moments that could set the tone for politics in the United States going forward. Plus, the cost of health insurance. Premiums are -- for Obamacare are not the only premiums going up. What about your premiums? Why is it going up? And the moments you did not see in President Trump's full CBS's "60 Minutes" interview. Edit it out for time, understandably, and why you probably won't see the president try to sue this time around.
Welcome to "The Lead." I'm Jake Tapper. All right, it's the day before. Let's hear that sweet, mellifluous election music. Very nice. It's good, right? We're just a few hours away from Election Day. Then the kickoff of election night in America here on CNN, 24 hours from right now. I'll be standing right here with all sorts of splashy maps and graphics and my hugely talented colleagues surrounding me.
From California to New York to New Jersey and Virginia to mayor's races across the country, American voters are going to be lining up to make their voices heard on everything from redistricting in the Golden State to a generation defining Democratic Party split in the Big Apple. In Virginia, a bellwether election where no matter the outcome, voters will elect the Commonwealth's very first woman governor.
Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears and Democratic former congresswoman Abigail Spanberger spent this last day campaigning across Virginia. Spanberger is ahead in the polls, if you believe the polls, and she has made the government shutdown a keep rallying point in the Commonwealth with hundreds of thousands of federal workers, this despite a thorn down ballot for Virginia Democrats, and that's the attorney general candidate, Jay Jones, and his relatively recently surfaced violent text messages directed at a legislative colleague and his family, while Earle-Sears, the current lieutenant governor, made opposing transgender policies a cornerstone of her message, arguing that her opponent is for they, them and is woke.
In less than two hours, Trump will rally Virginia voters, but he'll do so over the phone, despite declining to endorse Earle-Sears officially.
We're going to kick this off with CNN's Eva McKend in Manassas with the Earle-Sears campaign. CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Richmond with the Spanberger, uh, campaign. And Eva, I have to say, I saw Earle-Sears' campaign ad over the weekend and -- well, let's play a part of it for viewers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WINSOME EARLE-SEARS, LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR OF VIRGINIA, VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: They pick your worst day.
UNKNOWN: I'm speaking now.
EARLE-SEARS: They twist your words.
UNKNOWN (voice-over): And I think that's good.
EARLE-SEARS: They say you're not polished. As your governor, I won't be a polished politician. But as the United States Marine, I'll always fight for Virginia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: A somewhat defensive closing message there, Eva.
EVA MCKEND, CNN NATIONAL POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Jake, clearly, she feels the need to speak to this caricature of her. I can tell you, from following her on the campaign trail for many months, it's maybe both a blessing and a curse for this campaign that she is really off the cuff. There's no standard stump speech with the lieutenant governor. And that, of course, has earned her the affection of a lot of conservatives in this state, but it can easily be repackaged to make her look bad, and that's what her opponents have done.
But I can tell you, in more recent days, beyond the cultural battles that she previously elevated, it's really an economic message that she's closing on, talking about extending the economic policies of the Youngkin-Earle-Sears administration. She says that this state should continue to be known to be open for business and have promoting deregulatory policies.
The challenge, of course, with this, uh, Jake, talking about eliminating the car tax in the last closing weeks and keeping taxes low more broadly, is that it's a tough argument to make in this environment given the current mood in this state, given how uncertain things are and the amounts of federal workers in this state whose jobs have been cut.
[17:05:01]
But still, that is what she's trying to communicate in these closing hours.
TAPPER: All right. Jeff, Abigail Spanberger, the former Democratic congresswoman, she's seeming pretty confident despite the fact that the attorney general candidate, the Democrat there, Jay Jones, has been a real thorn in the side of Democrats in Virginia.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Jake, there is no doubt that Abigail Spanberger is closing this governor's race with an air of confidence, so much so she's not scheduled to hold an evening rally on the eve of the election. She closed her campaign earlier today with a rally at Virginia Commonwealth University with Elissa Slotkin, the Michigan Democratic senator by her side, a key point there because both of these women were elected into Congress in 2018, back in that first blue wave of the first Trump administration, as was Mikie Sherrill, who's running for governor up in New Jersey.
But Abigail Spanberger is specifically pushing back against key elements of the Trump administration, not making broader arguments against a democracy but specific elements of what Trump has done in office this first year as well as the government shutdown. But again, she said Virginia, she believes, will send a message to the nation.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, VIRGINIA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I'm excited because I plan on sending an extraordinary message to the rest of the country. I plan on ensuring that we don't just win tomorrow, but that we crush it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZELENY: So, she is looking for a decisive win. Advisors tell me that would be a double-digit win. And to your point about the attorney general candidate, they believe that a very strong top of the ticket here may even be able to be enough to pull Jay Jones over the finish line. We shall see about that, Jake. But there is no question that Democrats are confident here in Virginia. One thing is clear, history will be made. Virginia has never had a woman elected governor. Tomorrow, there will be one.
TAPPER: All right. Jeff Zeleny and Eva McKend on the trail in the Commonwealth of Virginia, thanks to both of you. We'll see you out there tomorrow. Joining us now in studio, the former Virginia governor and former chairman of the Democratic National Committee, Terry McAuliffe. Thanks so much for being here, governor. Good to see you.
TERRY MCAULIFFE, FORMER VIRGINIA GOVERNOR, FORMER CHAIRMAN OF DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: Great to be with you, sir.
TAPPER: Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, posted on X or Twitter, "Two bullets in the head of our former speaker, watching his children die in their mother's arms, killing a few cops, these are the values Abigail Spanberger, Barack Obama, and the entire Democrat establishment fully embraced today as they campaigned with their demented attorney general candidate, Jay Jones."
That -- that is obviously a reference to the Jay Jones scandal, the text messages he sent in 2023 that came out, or 2022 that came out about a month or so ago. That's a pretty strong language. Do you think -- how do you think that's playing with Virginia voters?
MCAULIFFE: It's not playing with them. Governor Youngkin should have been focused on the economy. Same thing for the lieutenant governor candidate. I mean, Virginia has now seen its unemployment go up for the last seven months straight. We just came out with our third quarter GDP numbers. We went from 6 to 1.7. Our economy is getting crushed under Donald Trump.
And that's what everybody is focused on. And that's what the governor and others ought to be focusing on instead of kowtowing to Donald Trump. What can I do to help Virginia? What can I do to help Virginians? You've seen the tariffs destroy our soybean farmers. They're not selling their soybeans. They're going bankrupt.
TAPPER: You don't think the Jones stuff has any impact? I mean, they are pretty awful, those texts.
MCAULIFFE: Yeah, the texts are horrible. I don't like it. I don't like it when Donald Trump said, I'd shoot someone on Fifth Avenue, they still vote for me.
TAPPER: Right.
MCAULIFFE: I don't like that either. Uh, but, you know, I've known Jay for a long time. He'll be a great attorney general. I know his parents. Both of were judges. His grandfather was a famous civil rights attorney. Jay comes -- will be a great attorney general. And you want to go with someone like Jason Miyares as attorney general, who will do everything Donald Trump asked him to do.
I can't stress to you, we have 500,000 federal workers in Virginia, the number one state in America. We are getting crushed through the federal contract cuts, through the DOGE cuts, now with a government shutdown and Trump saying, I may not pay them back --
TAPPER: Yeah.
MCAULIFFE: -- devastating for Republicans.
TAPPER: Let me ask you especially --
MCAULIFFE: Yeah.
TAPPER: -- about the government shutdown because just as a factual matter, I understand why Democrats are doing in in terms of fighting for Medicaid and fighting for the Obamacare premiums to be extended.
MCAULIFFE: Yeah.
TAPPER: But Democrats are the ones -- Kaine and Warner, the Senate Democrats from the Commonwealth of Virginia, they're the ones not voting to reopen the government. Again, I understand why.
MCAULIFFE: Yeah.
TAPPER: That resentment, though, people are not blaming Democrats when they go to the polls, you think?
MCAULIFFE: They're absolutely not blaming the Democrats because they know Republicans control the House, the Senate, and the White House. And this shutdown is Donald Trump. And now we've seen in Virginia so many people now worried about the SNAP benefits and so many people now average $2,000 increase, Jake, on their insurance for health coverage.
TAPPER: Yeah.
MCAULIFFE: And that's what everybody is focused on this election. And I remind you, we are so tied to the federal government for 48 straight years in Virginia, the party that wins the White House.
[17:10:00]
The next year, the other party wins a governor's match.
TAPPER: Yeah, that -- that worked to your benefit when you buck that trend --
MCAULIFFE: The only man who buck it --
TAPPER: -- in 2013.
MCAULIFFE: -- in 12 elections.
TAPPER: It didn't help you four years ago.
MCAULIFFE: Well, we had to -- we had to --
TAPPER: Yeah, of course. Spanberger and New York mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani have been pitting each other kind of like -- any time I bring up Mamdani to Rahm Emanuel, he will bring up Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill, right?
Spanberger tells CNN that she thinks there's a level of dishonesty in some of Mamdani's pitches to voters, government-run grocery stores, and that voters are going to lose confidence in Democrats if he can't deliver. Do you think that's a risk?
MCAULIFFE: If he can't deliver, he wins and he can't deliver, absolutely. I think it's a risk for any politician. You run -- when I ran for governor, I put every one of my pledges on the website, put little check marks when I did it. Very important. You run out of platform and you got to deliver on that platform. Everybody pays a price for that.
But listen, tomorrow is going to be a great, great night for the Democrats. I think we're going to see Mikie Sherrill win up in New Jersey. We're going to win in Virginia. Not only the three statewide. I would predict to you, today, we have 51 House of Delegates, we might hit 60 tomorrow. That would be historic.
TAPPER: You think the wins are that good? It's because of anti-Trump sentiment in Virginia? Is that the main thing? Not -- not necessarily enthusiasm for Democrats?
MCAULIFFE: A lot of great candidates. Donald Trump is minus 17 today in Virginia. People are so upset over the shutdown, over the DOGE cuts, over the federal contract.
TAPPER: Where was Biden when you ran four years ago? Where was he?
(LAUGHTER)
MCAULIFFE: Minus 17.
TAPPER: He was minus 17. He was the exact same.
MCAULIFFE: Yeah.
TAPPER: All right. Say no more. It's always good to have you --
MCAULIFFE: All right. Good to be with you, Jake.
TAPPER: -- Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe. Appreciate it. Next hour, we're going to go live to New Jersey and New York City for key races there. And when the final votes come in tomorrow, CNN will have special coverage, maybe take bets on how many times I say key race alert. The night kicks off at 5 o'clock Eastern. Look for that here on CNN and on our new CNN streaming app.
CNN's brand-new interview moments ago with the former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. What did she have to say about her political future? There are reports today that she might be considering not running for re-election.
CNN staying on top of the devastation since Hurricane Melissa and life in survival mode right now in Jamaica. We will bring you that as well.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:15:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: We are back with our politics lead and brand-new comments from former House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who just wrapped up an interview with CNN's Elex Michaelson. Elex, what did she have to tell you?
ELEX MICHAELSON, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Jake. Right now, Californians are voting on Proposition 50. She hosted a big rally for that with Governor Newsom. They're framing this whole thing as a way to push back against President Trump, someone she's clearly not a huge fan of.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA), FORMER SPEAKER OF THE UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: He's just a vile creature. The worst thing on the face of the Earth. But anyway.
MICHAELSON: You think he's the worst thing on the face of the Earth?
PELOSI: I do. Yeah, I do.
MICHAELSON: Why is that?
PELOSI: Because he's the president of the United States and he does not honor the Constitution of the United States. In fact, he has turned the Supreme Court into a rogue court. He has abolished the House of Representatives. He has chilled the press. He has chilled the press. He scared people who or in our country legally.
MICHAELSON: I know you've said the focus is on Prop 50. I know you've said you won't talk about your future --
PELOSI: Right.
MICHAELSON: -- until after Prop 50. But there is speculation about what you're going to do next. Can you talk to us just about what the thought process is? How do you weigh the personal and the political?
PELOSI: Well, first of all, when people start, as in the press, speculating, is she's going to run, is she not going to run other people's file or say they're going to run, you know what that does? That gives me so much support. People calling me, saying, I'm for you, I'm for you, I'm for you. Representing organizations, representing communities that some of these people are leaders in but calling and saying, if you go, I'm with you. So, it's a lovely thing to see it as a friendship.
I have no doubt that if I decided to run, I would win. That -- that isn't even a question. It isn't arrogant, it's competent. I know my district. I live here. I'm with them all the -- much of the time. They've given me the latitude when I was speaker and leader to be around the country and around the world, and I'm grateful to them for that. But I'd always keep the home fires burning as I have always done.
So, for me, it's just a question of one thing, winning the House for the Democrats, and that's what we're doing with Proposition 50. It's the first step. And then we go from there to winning. And my only reason I'm in Congress this term is to win the House for the Democrats, to protect us from the poison of the Trump administration.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAELSON: So, she did not give a specific timeline on when she was going to make a decision. She did say, though, that tomorrow night will be -- quote -- "very fraught." We'll have our full interview tonight on our new show, "The Story Is" at 9 p.m. Pacific, midnight Eastern. Jake?
TAPPER: All right. Elex, thanks so much. Appreciate it. Elex, of course, as you just said, he's going to have much more of Pelosi interview on "The Story Is with Elex Michaelson." That's coming up at midnight Eastern, 9 p.m. Pacific, only here on CNN.
Coming up next here on "The Lead," the cost of your health care and your health insurance. If you start to enroll in plans for next year, why do premiums seem to be skyrocketing? What CNN found when we did some digging.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
TAPPER: In our health lead, the open enrollment sticker shock you're likely experiencing as you line up health benefits for you and your family next year. All health care premiums seem to be spiking, not just those in Obamacare, which has been the key flashpoint in this government shutdown. Here's President Trump in his "60 Minutes" interview.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Obamacare is terrible. It's bad health care at far too high a price. We should fix that. We should fix it. And we can fix it with the Democrats. All they have to do is let the country open, and we'll fix it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Let's bring in CNN's Tom Foreman. Tom, how many people are using Obamacare and how much are premiums going to rise in that program?
TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: About 24 million signed up this year, a little bit more there. On average, it's going to rise about 26% in the premium.
TAPPER: A lot.
FOREMAN: That is a lot. That's a lot of money. But that's not the worst of it. If the enhanced subsidies go away -- remember, this is aimed at people who don't work for big corporations so they don't have employment from their employer, don't have insurance from their employer, they're not very poor so they're not on Medicaid, they're not older or disabled so they're not on Medicare.
[17:24:59]
These are people who work for smaller firms who have to be insured, 24 million, 26% increase. If you get rid of the enhanced subsidy, which was put there a few years ago to protect people who still thought it was too expensive, if you get rid of that, the average family could watch their -- their annual premium go from $888 a year to $1,900. That's a big amount there.
TAPPER: Yeah. And -- and what about outside of Obamacare? Because health insurance premiums seem to be skyrocketing for everyone, right?
FOREMAN: Yeah. This is all being fed off the same problem in many ways. If you look at the increases out there, hospitals and staff operating them, it's more expensive. There's competition for people out there. As people use it lot, you have to pay more for that. Drugs. There are specific drugs, cancer drugs, weight loss drugs. Very expensive. The insurers want protection against that.
Tariffs and marketing instability. This is basically the notion that insurance companies don't want to be caught holding the bag if this economy goes crazy in six months. They want to make sure they have enough profit to protect themselves. And usage. As we have insured more people, people have used services more.
The other big thing driving it up is employers. A hundred and fifty- four million Americans get their insurance through their employer. The employers look at all those rising costs and say, hey, we can shoulder all of that ourselves.
TAPPER: Right.
FOREMAN: We have to ask our employees to pay more. That's one of the reasons that everybody, as you noted, is looking at their enrollment guidance and saying, looks like it's going to cost more this year.
And the other part that adds to all of these is the more you do that, the more the cost goes up, the more people start dropping out of the system. And you know who drops out? Healthy people. Healthy people. That's who you want in an insurance program because they pay money in, they don't take a lot out. As you have healthy people stepping out, you make it less profitable and you squeeze everybody else a little bit more in those premiums.
TAPPER: But the economic instability because of the tariffs and such, that's also feeding into all of this. FOREMAN: Yeah, it is. And some of the various claims that people say about why it's going up, they may be partially right, but it is this entire picture that's feeding into it. That's a big issue. When President Trump says, oh, people hate Obamacare, well, that's actually not true. One of the problems Republicans have is, well, Republicans like Obamacare.
TAPPER: All right. Tom Foreman, thanks so much. Once again, President Trump insisted he knows nothing about the billionaire that he pardoned, the former CEO of Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, who pleaded guilty to crimes related to money laundering. So, why pardon someone you don't know who he is? And is that same someone and that same company helping the Trump family make money?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:32:00]
TAPPER: Our Politics Lead now, the founder of the crypto exchange Binance, a man named Changpeng Zhao, also known simply as CZ, is one of the latest recipients of a controversial presidential pardon. President Trump told CNN's Kaitlan Collins last month that the pardon, "Was recommended by a lot of people." And in an interview with "60 Minutes" that aired last night, he reiterated a striking admission about the pardon.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why did you pardon him?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: OK, are you ready? I don't know who he is. I know he got a four month sentence or something like that. And I heard it was a Biden witch hunt. I can only tell you this. My sons are into it. I'm glad they are because it's probably a great industry crypto.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: The President, they're saying that he gave a pardon to someone that he has no idea who he is, which is a very interesting claim, considering that his own Justice Department, as well as the House Oversight Committee, are currently investigating whether President Biden knew whom he was pardoning towards the end of his presidency.
We'll go back to that in a sec. But let's answer the question who CZ is because President Trump says he doesn't know who he is. He is the billionaire founder and former CEO of Binance. And Binance is the largest crypto exchange business in the world.
Now, as to the Trump claim that the case against him was a Biden witch hunt, it was not. We should note that in November 2023, Binance and CZ pleaded guilty. The company paid more than $4 billion in fines and penalties. CZ resigned as CEO and was sentenced to four months in prison for failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering program as U.S. law requires. So what specifically does that mean? Well, according to the attorney general at the time, Merrick Garland, Binance became the largest cryptocurrency exchange, in part because of the crimes it committed. And here is then Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen explaining the company's practices.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JANET YELLEN, TREASURY SECRETARY: Supporting activities from child sexual abuse to illegal narcotics to terrorism across more than 100,000 transactions. That includes transactions associated with terrorist groups like Hamas's Al-Qassam Brigades, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Al Qaeda and ISIS.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, to the extent that there's any question out there about whether Binance executives were aware of what was taking place. Well, according to prosecutors, one of Binance's compliance employees, compliance, meaning the person in charge of making sure that they abide by law, said in an internal company communication, "We need a banner, is washing drug money too hard these days. Come to Binance. We got cake for you."
[17:34:55]
Now, let's flash forward a year after that plea agreement in November of 2024, just after President Trump won reelection. And at that point, according to "The Wall Street Journal," Binance formed a high level task force to strike a deal with World Liberty Financial, a cryptocurrency venture founded in part by the Trump family last fall. That report goes on to say, "Binance took steps that catapulted the Trump family ventures, new stable coin product, enhancing its credibility and pushing its market capitalization up from $127 million dollars to over $2.1 billion."
And then last month, Trump pardoned the man behind the company. That's who CZ is. He's a man whose company enriched the Trump family to the tune of at least tens of millions of dollars. But of course, the President says he doesn't know anything about any of that.
CNN's Manu Raju earlier today asked Speaker Johnson about House Republicans interest in this pardon given their investigation into President Biden. Here's Johnson's response.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: I don't know anything about that. I didn't see the interview. You have to ask the President about that. I'm not sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I see nothing. The pardon no one seems to know anything about from a man that the President doesn't know who he is. And there were quite a few notable moments from Trump's interview with "60 Minutes" that you did not see on CBS last night. We're going to play some of them for you.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:40:51]
TAPPER: In our Politics Lead, President Trump sat down with "60 Minutes" for an interview that lasted more than an hour. CBS, of course, only broadcast about 30 minutes of that, put the full interview online. Here are a few of the President's answers that you did not see if you just watched what aired on CBS last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: But "60 Minutes" was forced to pay me a lot of money because they took her answer out that was so bad it was election changing two nights before the election. And they put a new answer in. And they paid me a lot of money for that. You can't have fake news. They had no respect for Biden falling up the stairs, going to an airplane three times.
I mean, this is a man who should have never been president. This was a rigged election. Look, they call me a Nazi all the time. I'm not a Nazi. I'm the opposite. I'm somebody that's saving our country. But they call me Nazi.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: Now, critics say that CBS's edits made the President's answers more cogent and it made him seem more sane. But we should note this is what editors do. And this is exactly what the President sued CBS over one year ago, accusing the network of editing its interview with Kamala Harris unfairly when all they were doing was providing the best answers they could for a limited amount of time.
Parent company Paramount settled for $16 million, but that had a lot more to do with the merger going through. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer today called out this edited Trump interview, perhaps a little tongue in cheek, saying "Maybe I should file a complaint with the FCC against the Trump White House for editing his unhinged "60 Minutes" interview. It will use the exact same language Trump lodged against Vice President Harris."
My panel joins me now. Now, look, I don't think that Schumer would have an argument. It's just called editing, right? You have a 72 minute argue -- interview. You bring it down to 28 minutes, whatever. That's what happens. But here's another question. Why do you think he agreed to sit for this interview?
ARSHI SIDDIQUI, FOUNDER, BELLWETHER GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS: I think he got a great settlement and he thought he had a little bit of leverage. And -- and I think he wanted to use the platform. And I think also the President is riding high. He -- he's come back from abroad. He's had a lot of wins under his belt and he is -- he's -- he's moving forward now. Now, we obviously have a shutdown and there's some real consequences for millions of Americans. And I think that's the reality facing the President now. TAPPER: Mark, let's move on to the election tomorrow. One issue on top of mind for voters is immigration. Obviously, a lot of images of ice raids playing out nationwide, some stark and upsetting videos. The President defended them during his sit down with "60 Minutes" last night.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUMP: I think they haven't gone far enough because we've been held back by the -- by the judges, by the liberal judges that were put in by Biden and by Obama.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're OK with those tactics?
TRUMP: Yes, because you have to get the people out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is it your intent to deport people who do not have a criminal record?
TRUMP: We have to start off with a policy and the policy has to be you came into the country illegally, you're going to go out. However, you've also seen you're going to go out, we're going to work with you and you're going to come back into our country legally.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: So one thing that a lot of pundits are going to be looking at tomorrow is the gains that President Trump made last year with men of color, particularly Latino men and African-American men, to see if that was a fluke or if they are now in the Republican column. And I wonder if you think that any of these immigration raids are going to play any role.
MARC SHORT, FORMER CHIEF OF STAFF TO VP MIKE PENCE: Well, I think that honestly, he's done a very effective job addressing that seminal issue from the 2024 election that gave a lot of people concerns. I think there's often this assumption that Hispanics view this one way is if they're monolithic and they're not.
TAPPER: Oh, I know they don't.
SHORT: I previously served as chief of staff in the Texas delegation. The vote for Hispanics along the border in many cases are we got here legally. We don't want to wait for people who got here illegally.
TAPPER: Right. Yes.
SHORT: Having said that, Jake, I think his challenge is that when you solve the problem, then a lot of Americans looking for what else. And I think the other factor in his election was the economy. And I think that the administration has gotten so intoxicated on seeing the market hit new highs. Their blurry vision about what is actually happening for real American families with this trade policy is hurting. And I think that part of the economy is really going to play a role in the elections tomorrow night.
[17:45:09]
TAPPER: You agree. I mean there's obviously, we have 42 million Americans now whose food stamps are not happening because of the government shutdown. There were a whole bunch of DOGE cuts in government offices, which is going to have an impact perhaps in the Virginia election.
And then, of course, you just have an economy that is not as strong as people thought it was going to be, largely because of the instability caused by the tariffs.
SIDDIQUI: Yes, absolutely. I think that was a key driver of the -- of the election. And I think the President did a really good job of capturing that cost of living piece. But when you look at tariffs, attacks on families, you look at health care, you look at all these issues coming together. And it is a -- it's a really significant burden on working families.
And so I think as we kind of get into further into this year, it's -- it's going to be something that's going to need to be addressed. And the question also is in Congress is, do Republicans go along and start putting these -- these issues back on the table as well? Because so far, we just haven't seen it.
TAPPER: On Wednesday, the U.S. Supreme Court is going to take on whether or not the tariffs are constitutional, given the fact that it says in the Constitution that Congress is supposed to be doing them. Here's what President Trump said when asked about that.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What happens to your economic plan if the Supreme Court invalidates your tariffs?
TRUMP: I think our country will be immeasurably hurt. I think our economy will go to hell. I think it's the most important subject discussed by the Supreme Court in 100 years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
TAPPER: I don't know about that, but it is a pretty big case. Key Republicans, including your former boss, former Vice President Mike Pence, have split with President Trump on the tariff policy. What -- what do you think is going to happen?
SHORT: Well, too few have split with him on this, honestly. I mean, this is a protectionist Democrat policy for many years the President has embraced. And the reality is he says America would turn to a third world country for 249 years of our republic. No president has used this authority. So I don't know if that means we've been a third world country for 249 years.
And the reality is when you're saying that under IEPA, you have the authority to blanket tariffs anywhere. I mean, does that include that you're now saying that if Canada runs ads with Ronald Reagan, that's a national emergency? TAPPER: I guess.
SHORT: Does that include these national emergencies? And so, and -- and is it because you don't like they're prosecuting Bolsonaro in Brazil? We're basically using any umbrella here. And of course, that's never what our founders intended. This -- this authority belongs to Congress.
TAPPER: Arshi?
SIDDIQUI: Well, Marc, I mean, I think Democrats will join with Republicans. And we've seen this in the Senate. So I think there is a real opportunity for Republicans to really take a stand here because American families are paying the price. And so we saw some of that in the Senate. But certainly you could even see, you know, health care isn't going to work in the shutdown negotiation. I mean, there are other issues on affordability that can.
TAPPER: All right. Thanks to both you. Appreciate it. CNN is on the ground in Jamaica, looking at the unbelievable destruction after one of the most powerful hurricanes on record swept through Jamaica last week. We're going to go there live, next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[17:52:11]
TAPPER: Tomorrow will mark one week since Hurricane Melissa hit the Caribbean, killing 32 people in Jamaica alone. CNN's David Culver went to the western part of the island. And as you'll see, people are doing what they got to do to survive. A warning, some of the content here is a bit difficult to watch.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ALANDREA BROWN, DISPLACED BY HURRICANE MELISSA: We are catching some water because that's the only way we can get water. We are damaged here in Jamaica. Real bad.
DAVID CULVER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Across much of western Jamaica, the storm has passed, but you feel it everywhere. Survival mode has kicked in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In here in Belmont, we are very distraught and we really need some help because you have persons who are very homeless and we don't really have any food supplies.
CULVER: This is where you live here?
BROWN: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): Now they're coming to terms with what's left, and for many here, it's not much.
GIRL: My bed.
CULVER: This was your bed?
GIRL: Yes. I have another bed. Look how the bed mashed up.
CULVER: It's all mashed up. You're right. You're right.
BROWN: Everyone here, this is one of our neighbor's house also. Her house destroyed also. Everybody who's in this community is very distraught. You don't see nobody, and that I keep on wondering. We have suffered here and nobody comes to assist. You know how we -- we even get some things like these? It's persons who are going around in vehicle and giving out a little portion of tokens.
CULVER: As one resident pointed out, even if a house is still standing because of concrete, most likely the windows were shattered and water got in, sand got in, furniture closed, all their belongings destroyed. I mean, it just continues. It's endless. I mean, you look up there and it just goes all the way up.
CULVER (voice-over): As we're heading out, a man points to a nearby house.
CULVER: He just told us that there's somebody in this house up here still, that his body hasn't been recovered yet.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
CULVER: Right there?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE).
CULVER: Did you know this gentleman?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: His mom supposed to be here. His mom live at White House.
CULVER: But no -- nobody has come to collect his -- collect his body?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, not yet. Not -- not everybody know that he died.
CULVER: Just lying lifeless in there. I mean, it's absolutely horrible just by himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And nobody's not sure when he's dead. They're not sure when he died.
CULVER: They're not sure when he died.
I mean, seeing that is -- is obviously very, very difficult. And it's worth pointing out, I mean, the neighbors there, it's not neglect on their part. They simply don't have cell service or any sort of connectivity to be able to report that. And they say that they were trying to tell passersby, but nobody came in to actually inspect. So for them, we were the only ones who they could tell. And we ultimately, once we had connectivity here, our colleague Omar here made the call to report that that body was in fact still in the house. [17:55:25]
CULVER (voice-over): Night brings relief from the day's heat and humidity.
CULVER: You get around with the flashlight on your phone, huh?
ANDREZ ANDERSON, BLACK RIVER RESIDENT: Yes, yes, man. So this -- this is --
CULVER (voice-over): But there's no water.
ANDERSON: This is only water we have here, see.
CULVER (voice-over): And no power.
ANDERSON: We have no roof there, you know, partially just this alone. So the rain actually coming now so you feel it inside.
CULVER: Yes.
ANDERSON: You know, so it would be more damages, you know, as the rain comes by. So we just keep deteriorating until we can get some --
CULVER: Yes. But how do you live in this? ANDERSON: All right. It's -- it's really rough. It's very hard. It's hard to cope. We just have to try to keep the kids mentally stable and try tough it out, you know. So, you know, we are just grateful here right now to know that we are alive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Line up, line up, line up, line up.
CULVER (voice-over): Mornings bring no rest, just long lines. People here waiting for hours for gas.
CULVER: You've been out here for this morning?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We've been here around 4 o'clock.
CULVER: Which, gosh, seven hours.
CULVER (voice-over): And if water's not running in your home, you go to the source. Nearby, along the riverbed, dozens gather.
CULVER: They're saying that nobody has come to help at all.
SIMONE GARDON, MONTEGO BAY RESIDENT: I guess it doesn't really hit us yet. Because after two weeks, when it's all settled down, and we're all like, wow.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I start hungry and then --
GARDON: And the hunger kick in.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So we need help.
GARDON: Worse than water. So we need a lot of help.
DR. SHERIFF IMORU, SENIOR MEDICAL OFFICER, BLACK RIVER HOSPITAL: You have to understand that even up to this point in time, we don't even know what our death toll is.
CULVER: Do you think you're going to find more bodies?
IMORU: Yes, man. I would think so. I hope not. But I think so.
CULVER: But the reality --
IMORU: Yes, man. The reality is there. Reality is there.
CULVER (voice-over): At the hospital in Black River, no power.
CULVER: No power.
IMORU: No water. No water.
CULVER: No water.
IMORU: No.
CULVER: But the emergency room is still operating.
IMORU: Yes.
CULVER (voice-over): Dr. Sheriff Imoru walks us through what's left.
CULVER: I mean, this is your hospital.
IMORU: Yes, yes.
CULVER: And when you look out now, I mean, I know you're focused on patients day to day as well.
IMORU: Yes, yes.
CULVER: But like, have you been able to process this moment?
IMORU: No, no, no. The one thing I can tell is that I'm very heartbroken, extremely heartbroken when I see this. I can tell it's very difficult for me to even to come through the -- the gates in the mornings and leave in the evenings. My house is close, fairly close to here. And my house was destroyed. I mean, the roof is gone.
CULVER (voice-over): And still his staff shows up.
IMORU: Every single person you see here.
CULVER (voice-over): Even though, like him, many have lost their own homes.
IMORU: There are no words to describe it. As I said to you, apocalyptic. That's the only thing I can use. SHANIEL TOMLIN, SON INJURED DURING STORM: No, everything is gone. Everything in the house is gone. I need help towards my kids, my house and everything.
CULVER (voice-over): Shaniel Tomlin's baby, Jamar, just a year old, fell after the storm.
TOMLIN: Yes, they're going to look up this stitch, but they give me a prescription to fill.
CULVER (voice-over): But where do you fill a prescription around here?
TOMLIN: I don't even know.
CULVER: It's tough to find the words to describe the level of devastation, destruction and loss that we're seeing here. And perhaps it's best to just look at the visuals, which, yes, are overwhelming, but really tell the story of several communities, not just towns like this one, Black River, where we are. But we go mile after mile after mile along the southwest coast of this country. And you see communities that are simply wiped away. You see people also trying to continue on with some sense of normality. And for them that might be trying to continue on with business.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scaling some rights to feed -- feed the nation. So we got to get them scaled and get them fried and we can make a little money.
CULVER (voice-over): It's the sound of defiance, of life pushing back.
LISA HANNA, FORMER MEMBER OF PARLIAMENT, JAMAICA: We are resilient people. Already there -- there is almost an empathetic solidarity across the island and across the world to get things here. We're not going to make our people starve. And anyone that comes here and visits us are not going to starve.
CULVER (voice-over): Officials are here trying, but it's a lot. And when you're desperate, help can't come soon enough.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are Jamaicans. We are the strongest people in our world.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is ground zero. This is terrible.
CULVER (voice-over): Aid from abroad here, too, setting up for the long haul. But first, it's Jamaicans helping Jamaicans.
[18:00:07]
David Culver, CNN, Montego Bay, Jamaica.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
