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Democrats Sweep Races In New York City, New Jersey, Virginia As Voters Rebuke Trump; At Least 7 Killed 11 Injured In Louisville UPS Plane Crash; Supreme Court To Hear Arguments Of Legality Of Trump Tariffs. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 05, 2025 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[07:30:10]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: This morning Democrats waking up and tasting something that they haven't felt in a while, victory. The party sweeping elections across the country and voters also making history electing the first Muslim mayor of New York and the first woman governor of Virginia.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ABIGAIL SPANBERGER, (D) VIRGINIA GOVERNOR-ELECT: Tonight we sent a message.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: That was Abigail Spanberger thanking her supporters overnight to their cheers. She had a decisive victory over her Republican opponent after campaigning on affordability, the impact of the government shutdown on Virginia, and Trump firing federal workers.

CNN's Jeff Zeleny is in Richmond, Virginia for us. Jeff, what is her message to voters this morning because the work begins now?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Sara, good morning.

That Democratic sweep -- it did start here in Virginia because the polls closed at 7:00 last night and shortly after that it was becoming clear that Democrats were going to have a banner night. In the governor's race, as you mentioned there, a 15-point victory. That was more than even the most optimistic Democrats were projecting.

But Abigal Spanberger, the former member of Congress, a former CIA officer who really swept to power at first in 2018 as part of the -- as part of the blue wave in Donald Trump's first term -- now she said Virginians are ready for pragmatism over partisanship.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPANBERGER: Tonight we turned a page. We turned that page by listening to our neighbors, focusing on practical results, layout a clear agenda and leading with decency and determination. To those who have been impacted by the mass layoffs, by furloughs, by the hardships that you are experiencing, please know that I will direct the full power of the governor's office to support you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZELENY: So, of course, giving a nod there to the turmoil that has been going on throughout the federal government for the federal workforce, really throughout the Trump administration, but also a nod to the shutdown. She called explicitly last evening for Democrats, Republicans, and the president to come together to end the federal government shutdown, which now, of course, is the longest in U.S. history.

But how did she do it? She won through independence in the suburbs of Virginia, up and down the commonwealth. Also raising her support in rural areas as well.

Now, of course, there are limits to how much -- how many lessons can be drawn from last night's victory for Democrats writ large, but there is no doubt this is big shot in the arm for the Democratic Party also sweeping the House of Delegates here and now having a 60-seat majority. Sara, this is better than any Democrats could hope for going into election night.

SIDNER: It certainly was. Jeff Zeleny, you were there to witness it. Thank you so much. I do appreciate you -- Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: As we're talking about it, Democrats also scored a major victory in New Jersey overnight. CNN projects that Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, former -- will become the state's first female Democratic governor beating Trump-backed Republican Jack Ciattarelli.

Sherrill will now succeed the current governor -- the Democratic governor of New Jersey, Phil Murphy, which marks the first time in 50 years a party has held the office in New Jersey for more than two consecutive terms.

CNN's Arlette Saenz is live in New Jersey with more on what today means. And going into Election Day people did think this race would be closer than it ended up being.

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: They did, Kate. And Democratic Congresswoman Mikie Sherrill beat her Republican opponent Jack Ciattarelli by double digits -- a real boost for Democrats across the country and in New Jersey specifically as the state had shown signs of shifting towards President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

With about 95 percent of the vote total coming in, Sherrill beat Ciattarelli by 13 points and the way that she did that was by running against President Donald Trump. She really made opposition to the president in her agenda, a centerpiece of her campaign for governor here in New Jersey, along with a relentless focus on affordability, including trying to address high property taxes and energy costs in the state.

But as she spoke to her reporters last night, she talked about how she hopes that this race sends a message to the country. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL, (D) NEW JERSEY GOVERNOR-ELECT: Here in New Jersey we know that this nation has not ever been nor will it ever be ruled by kings. We take oaths to a constitution, not a king. We've chosen liberty, the very foundation of democracy, and we've chosen prosperity necessary to create opportunity for all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[07:35:10]

SAENZ: Now one of the things she repeatedly hammered President Trump on was his threat that he was terminating a $16 billion commuter rail project between New York City and New Jersey. That is something that she had hoped would resonate with New Jersey voters who are commuting between the two areas. But she also tried to tie her opponent, Ciattarelli, who had endorsed Trump -- earned Trump's endorsement -- directly to the president at event after event after event.

Now, the way that Mikie Sherrill won here in New Jersey was really trying to assemble the Democratic coalition that has been successful for Democrats in the state in the past, including winning back Black and Latino voters who had showed signs of shifting towards President Donald Trump.

Now all eyes will be on what happens with her U.S. House seat -- whether she might resign early and trigger a special election or they will have to wait to fill it until next midterm elections.

BOLDUAN: Arlette, thank you so much for that.

And later this morning in our 9:00 hour we will be speaking to the governor-elect. Mikie Sherrill will be joining the show. You will not want to miss that -- John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right. With us now an all-New Jersey panel. Democratic strategist Julia Roginsky and Republican strategist Mike Duhaime.

In an off-year election like this there are dangers of overinterpreting the results and also under-interpreting. So instead of making you choose, I think I'm going to give you a chance to do both, right? So overinterpret what we saw in New Jersey and Virginia because actually I think it's pretty much the same thing.

JULIA ROGINSKY, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST, CO-FOUNDER, LIFT OUR VOICES: Yeah. I mean, look, the overinterpretation of this is that this is a permanent majority that Republicans -- that Democrats will be able to keep. And what you saw, at least in New Jersey -- I have to look at the numbers in Virginia -- is there are cohorts of voters who came our very strongly for Mikie Sherrill who are not necessarily Democratic voters anymore.

And specifically, the Latino community, which Democrats I think for many, many years used to take for granted, and you cannot take that community for granted anymore. They performed for her last night. They did not perform for Kamala Harris last time. And Democrats better make sure that they deliver for that community in a real and meaningful way to keep that community in the tent. That's just one example of a community (INAUDIBLE).

BERMAN: An overinterpretation would be --

ROGINSKY: An overinterpretation --

BERMAN: -- Democrats have Latinos back.

ROGINSKY: We don't have Latinos, but yeah.

BERMAN: Right, but that's the concern.

ROGINSKY: Right.

BERMAN: You could read this.

And let me just show what people you mean. Passaic County, which is -- has got the largest population of Hispanics in the state. Passaic County -- Mikie Sherrill won 57 to 42, so a 15-point spread in Passaic County. You're like, oh, you know, it's largely Hispanic. This is New Jersey. You would think that this would always be the case -- uh-uh. Donald Trump won this county by about three points just last year.

So Mike Duhaime, again, overinterpret these results.

MIKE DUHAIME, REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST, CEO, MAD GLOBAL STRATEGY GROUP: I grew up in Passaic County, so I know that area very well. I think the overinterpretation is Democrats looking at this and saying oh, we're going to sweep everything next year. We're going to get back the U.S. Senate. We're going to win back all these governors' races.

I think in reality what you learned last night was where Donald Trump is strong it's unique to him. He has some downsides certainly and we saw that last night, but I think the overinterpretation would be hey, we're going to sail forward whether we have a socialist in New York or more centrist candidates in New Jersey and Virginia. I think you really have to look state by state and district by district.

BERMAN: So what's the under-interpretation though, because maybe the White House is waking up and saying this isn't our problem. We just had weak candidates in this state.

DUHAIME: Yeah. The under-interpretation is when you lose by double digits in both these states it certainly says something.

When Republicans have won New Jersey in the past, and Virginia in 2009 -- presaged a big -- a big year for Republicans in 2010. In 1993, presaged. In 1994, Republicans taking back the House.

I mean, you cannot sugarcoat this. This was a blowout, and it wasn't just New Jersey and Virginia. Local races in Connecticut --

BERMAN: Yeah.

DUHAIME: -- statewide races in Georgia, county races in Pennsylvania. This was -- this was an epic blowout. This was a bloodbath for the Republican Party.

BERMAN: Pretty much 100 percent across the board or hundo p, as my 18- year-old boys would say. This was like a hundo p night --

ROGINSKY: Yes.

BERMAN: -- for Democrats.

So all the Sherrill people and people close to the Sherrill campaign last night -- I kept on asking them what's the lesson for Democrats going forward. And what they said is look at the combination that we ran on. We -- yes, we ran against Donald Trump, and we held him up because he's deeply unpopular in the state, but we kept on tying him to the economy and affordability. And when you do both that puts Democrats in a better position.

ROGINSKY: No, look, they're probably going to take exception to this but there is not much difference between the campaign -- not the quality of the campaign but the messaging that Zohran Mamdani ran here in New York, Mikie Sherrill ran in New Jersey, Abigail Spanberger ran in Virginia. All of it was tied to the issue of affordability.

All of that was pointing out that Donald Trump made a whole lot of promises that got him elected last year that he's not kept. And I think what you saw was anger from the voters and saying listen, Mr. President, we gave you a chance. You said you were going to lower prices, you said you were going to make our lives better, and the reality is we're struggling more than ever.

And so that's the kind of message that I think you see both with somebody like Zohran Mamdani, and Abigail Spanberger, and Mikie Sherrill, who probably don't think they have much in common with each other -- at least the two governors don't think they have much in common with the mayor of New York. But the reality is very much laser focused, as Mike pointed out, on the economy. On an affordability message.

[07:40:00]

If I were the Republicans today, I would take very, very, very strong heed of that and I would say we need to deliver quickly because if we don't deliver, we control everything, and that's not going to bode well for us next year.

DUHAIME: I think Democrats nominated a centrist in New Jersey who ran on a -- on a bio that stuck her squarely in the center of the electorate. She did not fall into the trap of going too far to the left on these progressive issues. And when you basically can stay in the center or center-left as a Democrat in a blue state, you're going to win. If you get caricatured as a far left Democrat, you can lose even a blue state.

But I think the Sherrill campaign did a very good job of keeping her centered, not going too far to the left, and letting Donald Trump essentially motivate both sides. But in New Jersey there's a lot more Democrats than Republicans.

BERMAN: Ten seconds each. We're a year, minus one day, from the midterms. If you're a Republican, this morning how nervous are you?

DUHAIME: I'd look at it and say hey, get prepared to lose the House unless some crazy redistricting. We probably keep the Senate because of the map but you should be worried.

BERMAN: Flip it over. How excited should Democrats be?

ROGINSKY: Democrats should be excited. Democrats now, especially if they're somebody like a Mikie Sherrill or Abigail Spanberger, certainly if you're Zohran Mamdani, you need to deliver quickly. I mean, people put their faith in you that you're going to make their quality of life better. You're going to make the economy better for them. You're going to make life affordable. You need to deliver quickly. Democrats need to think about how that message communicates next year in house races. They need to paint Republicans as the people who are causing the pain, which they can because they control everything.

BERMAN: Julie Roginsky, Mike Duhaime, I've been in New Jersey for two days and I've heard a lifetime's worth of Bruce Springsteen.

ROGINSKY: Oh.

BERMAN: It's been great. Thank you very much --

ROGINSKY: Thanks.

BERMAN: -- for that -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

This morning families in Louisville, Kentucky anxiously waiting to learn the fate of their loved ones after this incredibly terrifying video. Yeah, that is a UPS cargo plane crashing just after it took off from the airport there. The plane ripped through multiple businesses, including a waste recycling facility and an auto parts shop sparking what you see there -- that massive explosion.

At least seven people are believed to be dead in that crash, including all three crew members on the UPS plane, the others on the ground.

A shelter-in-place order has been reduced now from a five-mile radius where it was initially to now just a quarter of a mile radius surrounding the crash site itself.

Joining us now CNN transportation analyst and former inspector general at the Department of Transportation, Mary Schiavo.

I don't think we have seen a picture of a crash quite like this one in a very, very, very long time, if ever. That video just terrifying.

We've got some new video now that just came in to us that shows one of the plane's engines pretty much intact on the ground.

Does that -- does that give you some kind of a clue as to what went wrong here?

MARY SCHIAVO, CNN TRANSPORTATION ANALYST, FORMER INSPECTOR GENERAL, DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION: Yes, and that's a very important video. The NTSB often collects, and does collect, and asks for videos anyone might have of accident scenes.

And, of course, yesterday, with all the big fires burning, we couldn't see that detail. But the fact that that engine came off of the plane before the final impact and fireball suggests that whatever initially started that engine failure -- probably what's called an uncontained engine failure where the engine itself starts to disintegrate and spews parts -- caused that to detach. The engines are attached with pylons -- with structures that hold it on -- but something caused that to detach. And, of course, after that there was really not anything that the poor pilots could do.

So that's a huge clue and does give us -- the NTSB a pretty good idea of what started this all off.

SIDNER: Does it complicate things though that it did blow up the way it did? I'm assuming because it was taking a long flight that it was full of fuel. It had just taken off and then it hit a couple of different businesses that had sort of explosive materials in them. Does that complicate their job?

SCHIAVO: Well, it does and that's why this engine having detached before the final fireball will be so important. That fireball is 36,000 gallons of jet fuel burning.

But they will have the maintenance records, most importantly. They will go back and there's some indication that this had just had a major maintenance -- had major maintenance work done in October. They will see what was done to the engines -- in particular what new parts or replacement parts, or maybe even used parts were put on that plane.

The most recent maintenance, because it was clearly an engine failure -- engine detachment -- will be the focus of the -- of the start of the investigation. And I'm sure the NTSB has already pulled those. They are kept electronically. Pulled those records already and that will give the biggest clue. But the final impact because they do have that engine will be a big help.

SIDNER: Yeah.

[07:45:00]

I just want to go back if we can to that initial video where you see the plane taking off and it is already, like, on fire.

Does that tell you anything? Obviously, it's -- it was on fire literally as it's going up off the -- off the tarmac.

SCHIAVO: Again, going back to, you know, prior accidents that I've worked on, when you have an engine failure and an engine fire on takeoff it has most often been what -- referred to as an uncontained engine failure, meaning that the engine itself starts spewing parts and they aren't contained within the engine.

SIDNER: Uh-huh.

SCHIAVO: So that's what it's usually been in the past, but every accident is different.

SIDNER: Thank you so much, Mary. You always are a wealth of information on these -- on these investigations. But man, those pictures are just terrifying. I do appreciate you coming on this morning -- Kate.

BOLDUAN: Yeah.

Also happening today the cornerstone of President Trump's economic agenda faces a major test at the Supreme Court. The justices will hear oral arguments over his sweeping global tariffs and determine whether he has the legal authority to do it. It's the most significant economic case to reach the high court in years.

And President Trump clearly is raising the stakes as well, saying that this literally -- has called this case -- this case "life or death" for the country.

CNN's chief Supreme Court analyst Joan Biskupic joins me now with much more. What are -- what are we expecting today?

JOAN BISKUPIC, CNN CHIEF SUPREME COURT ANALYST: Yeah, Kate, good morning.

You have not exaggerated this at all. This is the most important Trump case to reach the Supreme Court in his second term. The amount of money at stake -- already $90 billion have been collected from his tariffs. Potentially trillions could be collected. So that's a lot of money for the U.S. Treasury but it's also a lot of pain for consumers who have had to be paying more. A lot of uncertainty for small businesses and for businesses across the board with these tariffs.

And that goes to the people who have challenged this. A group of states have challenged these tariffs, as well as small businesses, an educational toymaker, and a wine importer, saying that President Trump exceeded his powers when he imposed these emergency tariffs.

The Constitution gives the tariff power to Congress just as it gives the taxing power to Congress. But President Trump has invoked something called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and for anybody who is going to listen today at 10:00 they'll hear the abbreviation, IEEPA, said repeatedly. And that law does give the president emergency economic powers at times, but it does not mention tariffs. It's usually been used for economic sanctions and lower courts have all ruled against President Trump in this case. Now, he is -- he is saying that the law is written broadly enough to encompass the powers that he's used here. But I also have to say that the kind of rhetoric that you're going to hear from President Trump's lawyer today will be almost of the nature that you see in that social media post that you referred to about this being a matter of life and death.

And let me just tell you what has emerged in one of the legal filings. "One year ago, the United States was a dead country and now because of the trillions of dollars being paid by countries that have badly abused us, America is strong."

One last thing. Let me tell you who to listen for. Two of Donald Trump's own appointees -- Neil Gorsuch, his first appointee, and his third, Amy Coney Barrett -- they will probably be pivotal in this case. Listen for how they parse the separation of powers of what the president can do and what Congress can do. And one last thing, Kate. When you hear questions from them, they usually are legitimate. Sometimes the others might be throwing you a bit.

So there will be a lot to listen for when the court begins at 10:00 a.m. Eastern today, Kate.

BOLDUAN: So much to listen to. This is an important day at the court --

BISKUPIC: Yeah.

BOLDUAN: -- as they all are. But this one especially when you think of how even the administration would unwind said tariff regime if deemed illegal.

Joan, it's great to see you. Thank you so much -- John.

BERMAN: All right, it smelled of onions and mustard. New testimony in the trial of a man who threw a sandwich at a border patrol officer.

And how do you like your boss? Well, how would you like an AI version of your boss?

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[07:53:25]

BOLDUAN: So Washington made history overnight and not the kind anyone should hope for. The government has now been shut down for 36 days making this the longest in history surpassing the previous record of 35 days that happened during the -- during President Trump's first term.

This morning, though, a sign of progress, maybe. I hesitate even to put words to it, or at least maybe there is quite talk about talks, maybe. Sources tell CNN roughly a dozen Senate Democrats have privately signaled they are willing to support a stopgap funding deal to reopen the government in exchange for a future vote on health care.

Joining me right now is Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo of Rhode Island for much more on this.

So with this reporting, is this shutdown about to end, Congressman?

REP. GABE AMO (D-RI) (via Webex by Cisco): Well, thanks for having me.

Look, I believe that the American people want us to focus, as we saw in last night's election results, on their needs. And this Republican- created health care crisis requires action.

And so if what we're hearing out of the Senate results in real action on the spiking health care costs that I've heard from my constituents here in Rhode Island, that's progress. But anything that does not include real, meaningful action to deal with people's health care premiums doubling won't meet the moment. So I look forward to learning more about what my colleagues in the Senate are talking about.

[07:55:00]

BOLDUAN: This may come down to the definition of action.

If a -- if a dozen Senate Democrats are privately now signaling that they're ready to vote to open the government in exchange for a future vote that would mean a promise of a future vote on health care, are you OK with a promise for a future vote on health care?

AMO: Well look, I'm not sure that meets the moment. So again, I look forward to learning more. There are a lot of caveats there and so the devil is certainly in the details.

And the fact of the matter is the people across this country and people in my district are talking about a cost of living crisis that includes high health care costs. That they're going on ACA marketplaces in the absence of the extended premium tax credit and want to see their costs go down. And so we've got to address that head on.

BOLDUAN: About last night -- what is the one singular message coming from last night's big wins for Democrats?

AMO: Well look, I think it's one, that we have an electorate that wants Democrats to be -- and Americans to see their interests reflected in their politics. And specifically, that means that we address the cost of living crisis. It means that we stand up and fight for people across this country. And it means that we reject Donald Trump and his cruelty, his corruption, and the chaos that we've seen. That's the message.

And I think all combined in those results across this country from statewide races in Georgia to county races in Pennsylvania, from California to New Jersey and Virginia, we saw that in one resounding action from voters across this country.

BOLDUAN: It seems the chair of the Democratic National Committee, Ken Martin, seems to agree with you. But he was asked pointblank about the -- what the message is from the win from Zohran Mamdani in New York City. Let me play this. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEN MARTIN, CHAIR, DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE: As much as people want to focus on the differences within the Democratic Party -- of course, we have conservative Democrats, centrists, progressives, and leftists -- the reality is there is a lot that all of these candidates had in common last night, right? There was a throughline, and the throughline is that all three candidates -- Zohran Mamdani, Abigail Spanberger, and Mikie Sherrill -- were focused on kitchen table issues, not on a gilded ballroom.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BOLDUAN: But Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez actually said that when it comes to Mamdani, folks are being put on notice now. Either they need to go -- we're going to go -- we're going to do that together, meaning move forward with unity, or you're going to be left behind. She's saying that about the party and that he is -- Mamdani is a leader, if not the leader, of the Democratic Party and its path forward.

Do you think he is a leader in the Democratic Party now?

AMO: He is a leader amongst many. We don't have a singular leader in the Democratic Party. I think there's this fallacy that there has to be one leader. Leaders are people who step up and authentically reflect the communities that they're serving.

And so what I saw last night -- and I spent some time campaigning for Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey. I saw that people want a politics that is laser focused on making their lives better. That has got to be our mission.

Our mission can't be the sort of intraparty conversation about who is in charge. We have a great big tent, and we have a mandate to go out and focus on the needs of people and their cost of living challenges. That's got to be what our focus is and less on, you know, what the titular leadership represents. It's got to be reflective of our people.

BOLDUAN: Democratic Congressman Gabe Amo, thank you so much for coming in. I appreciate it -- Sara.

SIDNER: All right.

New this morning artificial intelligence is now being used to clone the CEOs of some companies. So what is the goal of creating virtual versions of top leadership?

CNN tech reporter Clare Duffy is here to explain. I guess the big question is why? Why do this?

CLARE DUFFY, CNN TECH REPORTER: Yeah. This is so interesting because we have been having these conversations about sort of lower-level workers --

SIDNER: Yeah. DUFFY: -- being worried that AI is going to be taking their jobs. But now some companies are actually training these AI clones of their CEOs in most cases to take on pretty specific targeted tasks.

So our colleague Lisa Eadicicco -- she spoke with Alex Alonso. He's the chief data and analytics officer at the Society for Human Resource Management. He created an AI clone of his CEO based on emails and public appearances. He uses it to pitch the AI -- his ideas first -- refine his ideas before he takes them to the CEO. So he's got better ideas to bring to the human CEO.

The finance company Klarna created an AI chatbot of its CEO that people can call or chat with. It's open to the public. And it says since June, 3,000 people have contacted the AI version of its CEO to ask questions about how the app works or how to get refunds.