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CNN This Morning
Democrats Rebuke Trump with Election Sweeps in NYC, New Jersey, Virginia; New Jersey Governor Sherrill Wins as Latino Vote Shifts. Aired 6-6:30a ET
Aired November 05, 2025 - 06:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MARY SCHIAVO, CNN AVIATION ANALYST (via phone): -- for making the fuel less flammable. And doing something so that, when you have an accident, all this fuel doesn't combust and go up into flames.
[06:00:10]
For -- for civilian aircraft, that never occurred. And so, I think there will be some discussion on that.
AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR: All right. Mary Schiavo, thanks so much. Good reminder that there's very much still looking for other victims in that crash.
In the meantime, CNN THIS MORNING, "America's Choice" continues right now.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAYOR-ELECT ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), NEW YORK CITY: A city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants. And as of tonight, led by an immigrant.
GOVERNOR-ELECT ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D), VIRGINIA: Virginia, I cannot wait to get to work for you.
GOVERNOR-ELECT MIKIE SHERRILL (D), NEW JERSEY: We take oaths to a Constitution, not a king.
GOV. GAVIN NEWSOM (D), CALIFORNIA: After poking the bear, this bear roared.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: A decisive win from coast to coast: voters backing Democrats. But can they keep this momentum through the midterms?
New York City elects its first Muslim mayor and a Democratic socialist. How this win could shape the Democratic Party.
And in Virginia and New Jersey, women make history with their wins.
And they gave him a shot in 2024. Have Latino voters now moved on from President Trump?
Then, California will redraw their maps. But the GOP still has the edge in the gerrymandering wars.
Six a.m. here on the East Coast. Here's a live look at Times Square in New York City after a big race there.
Good morning, everybody. It's Wednesday, November 5. I want to thank you for waking up with me. I'm Audie Cornish, and here is where we begin.
The Democrats who are waking up this morning feeling something that, frankly, they probably haven't felt for the better part of a year. Hope.
Last night in the first major elections since Donald Trump's return to power, Democrats swept races up and down the ballot from coast to coast.
In Virginia and New Jersey, moderate Democrats Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won their races for governor, flipping the governor's mansion from red to blue in Virginia.
Meanwhile, in California, Governor Newsom scored a victory on Prop 50, which will redraw congressional districts in favor of Democrats ahead of next year's midterms.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NEWSOM: People waiting up to three hours to cast their vote to send a message to Donald Trump. No crowns, no thrones, no kings. That's what this victory represents.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: And in New York City, a dramatic shift is in store for city hall.
Thirty-four-year-old Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani capped his outsider campaign with a victory over political veteran Andrew Cuomo to become next the next mayor of New York. And it's a race which has split Democrats nationwide about the future of the party.
In a fiery victory speech, Mamdani had a message for the White House.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MAMDANI: If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Joining me now to discuss: Sara Fischer, CNN'S senior media analyst and senior media analyst at Axios; Joel Rubin, Democratic strategist and former deputy assistant secretary of state; and Joe Borelli, former Republican New York state legislator.
Welcome, Joe. Welcome to the show.
JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATOR: Thanks for having me.
CORNISH: OK, so everybody's talking about the various messages that were sent. I'm curious, in talking about some of their speeches.
So, take Governor Newsom, coming out and very much framing it as sort of a fight about democracy. But he didn't use the word "democracy." It wasn't Biden-like, in that way.
SARA FISCHER, CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Well, this is his 2028 campaign stump speech right here, right? He wants to tell everybody, I am the governor. I'm the person who's leading this state in a pro-democracy vote. That's the message that he wants to get out, which, by the way, so different from what you heard from Zohran Mamdani yesterday.
That was not necessarily a pro-democracy message. That was an anti- billionaire message. That was a pro-immigration message.
And then sitting somewhere in the middle where those two Democrat moderates who won in New Jersey and Virginia, both of them actually were not really focusing on this bigger issue of democracy. I think both of them were basically saying, we're here to.
CORNISH: But still affordability.
FISCHER: Yes.
CORNISH: That is the thing over and over again. Everyone' s kind of got the message on affordability and the economy and how people feel the economy versus numbers.
Joel, I want to ask you, because I know within Democratic circles, there have been so many questions about whether the party is heading in a Bernie Sanders-ish direction or all these pragmatists or the kind of polish of Newsome. Like, was there any clarity out of last night?
JOEL RUBIN, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: The answer is yes. To everything.
CORNISH: Everybody's happy?
RUBIN: Everybody's happy.
CORNISH: Everybody won something last night.
RUBIN: Yes. You know, I think what you'll hear, and I think there's real plausible reason to believe this, is that it's a big -- we're a big tent party.
You know, Democrats, we can't win if one wing of the party dominates, the other retreats.
[06:05:00]
CORNISH: Yes, but --
RUBIN: It's going to be --
CORNISH: Jewish voters were very unhappy with this Mamdani message.
RUBIN: Jewish voters, very unhappy in New York.
CORNISH: And is this further pushing them away, out of the Democratic Party.
RUBIN: Look, if we want to get into Jewish politics, without a doubt, this is a scary moment for Jewish Democrats, in particular, about where do we go from here?
If two to one voted for Cuomo, and Cuomo lost, what is our political influence in terms of voting going forward?
But outside of that, between progressives and moderates, I think you saw both sides pulling similar messaging. But the key question now is governing.
What is Mamdani going to do when he's governing? What are the two governors going to do when they're leading? And we're going to have a whole year to see. And I think that's going to very much impact the messaging in the midterms.
CORNISH: I've got to ask our legislator then. You know the reality check that comes when, all of a sudden, you've got to deal with the governor's office, when you've got to deal with state legislatures.
And it's not unusual for a more like if you have a more Republican- leaning state leadership to be at odds with a Democratic-leaning city. But is there something that's going to be, you think, a roadblock here?
JOE BORELLI, FORMER REPUBLICAN NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATOR: Look, I think Mamdani is going to have a tough time taking the bull by the horns and trying to get his agenda going.
The city is actually facing a $6 billion gap in year one. So, while he promises free. Buses and free childcare and all these things that propelled him for victory, his ability to deliver that is not only limited by the city's charter in the state constitution, it's limited by the city's dollars and cents.
That's a problem. He's going to have to come up with in January when he takes office. He's due to give a first budget presentation in January.
That's when we're going to see whether the rubber meets the road on the progressive wing, the socialist wing of the party.
CORNISH: I think the biggest thing was messaging like going into this. It was very like, what's the right message? Are you a pragmatist who's like, I'm not, like, flashy. Like, I'm just getting the job done?
Or can you be the flashy, very online Internet mayor, as "Wired" called him?
And I do wonder if there's a path forward for how to talk about certain things. The fact that he was, like, willing to talk about immigrants, which I think Democrats have not really been excited. He said "trans," which is now a word that Democrats are warning each other from even saying.
FISCHER: It depends on where you are. Like that message would not have resonated at all for Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey. I can tell you that as a Jersey girl.
In New York, it made a lot of sense, because he's up against Andrew Cuomo, who had gotten an endorsement, a last -- a late-hour endorsement from Donald Trump. And so, separating himself in the most extreme way from Andrew Cuomo was the path to victory.
One thing I want to note, though, about Mamdani and his message. Actually, if you take a look at the numbers, it's an indictment against him in his message. The fact that he only won with a 50 percent margin.
Previous Democratic mayors won by way more. So, it seems like he came out with this very winning strategy. In reality, if it was that good, Audie, the numbers would have been much better.
The fact that 41 percent of voters still voted for Andrew Cuomo is an indictment, in my opinion, against some of his more extremist messaging.
Well, we're going to dig into some of those numbers this hour, so you guys stay with me.
Coming up on CNN THIS MORNING, the government shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history. So, can a bipartisan bill end it any time soon?
Plus, in Virginia, a candidate survives a texting scandal to take one of the most powerful offices in the state.
And tragedy in Louisville. A UPS plane crashes at takeoff. Officials warn the death toll could rise.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Over the past week, as people came together to donate to area food banks, to donate food to individuals that are going hungry, that are losing their SNAP benefits. I'm confident that once again, in this tragedy, Louisville will come together.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:13:21]
CORNISH: It's now 15 minutes past the hour. Here's your morning roundup.
Democrat Jay Jones defeated Republican incumbent Jason Miyares to become Virginia's next attorney general. That's even after old texts Jones sent went public, which revealed that Jones fantasized about shooting a fellow Virginia Republican state lawmaker.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY JONES (D), VIRGINIA ATTORNEY GENERAL-ELECT: I want to thank every Virginian tonight who's placed their trust in me. The weight of that trust is not lost on me at all.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: Jones is set to become the first black attorney general in Virginias history.
And in Pennsylvania, Democrats preserved the Supreme Court majority. All three justices on the ballot maintained their seats, blocking GOP efforts to flip the balance of power in this critical swing state. And this could have huge implications if future election results are challenged in court, as Trump did in 2020.
And Texas's 18th congressional district will remain in Democratic hands. Two of the party's candidates, former Houston city councilwoman Amanda Edwards and acting Harris County attorney Christian Menefee, both advancing to a runoff to fill a vacant seat.
And it will be several more months before the district has representation in Washington.
And after the break on CNN THIS MORNING, President Trump built a coalition of Latino voters in 2024. But has that key voting bloc soured on him?
Plus, I'll talk live to the chair of the Democratic National Convention. Can they keep up this momentum?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[06:19:17]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SHERRILL: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
GRAPHIC: This state is not red. It is not purple. It is blue!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: That is now Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill on the campaign trail just a few days ago, looking to make inroads with Latino voters in her state, a state where Latinos moved towards President Trump in the last election cycle.
One focal point is Passaic County, New Jersey, which is 43 percent Hispanic and a county Donald Trump won by three points. That was a massive shift from when Joe Biden won the county in 2020. But last night, Democrat Mikie Sherrill seemed to dismantle that
coalition that the president built a year ago. She won the county by double digits overall. CNN projects she'll win the Latino vote in the state by 39 points.
CNN spoke with several voters in this critical county about their vote.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DANNY FREEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: What made you come out and vote today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, it's so very important. We have to save the, you know, the democracy and the right to vote and the right to speech.
FREEMAN: A lot of Latinos, though, in this area, they went for Trump last time. Do you think that's going to happen again?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No. I think no. I'm doing Uber. Yesterday, I picked like ten passenger between the age 22 and 30, and mostly say they vote in the first time for Donald Trump. No, this time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CORNISH: OK. Joining me now to discuss: Christina Greer, associate professor of political science at Fordham University; and Juan Manuel Benitez, journalism professor at Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism. Thank you both for being here.
Juan, we were talking during the break about this, this long-running conversation about the sleeping giant of Latino politics. And as a measure of how wild and woolly that's gotten, we're having this conversation about New Jersey, not Arizona, not a border state.
What did you see in what Democrats were able to do last night, or what Republicans were not able to do?
JUAN MANUEL BENITEZ, JOURNALISM PROFESSOR, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY'S GRADUATE SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM: Well, sometimes Democrats forget, is that Hispanic voters are working-class voters first. So, whenever the Democrats are addressing the issues of working-class Americans, then Hispanics are going to follow.
Now, last night, it does help when you have an administration in the White House that is persecuting anybody who looks Latino in this country right now and trying to deport them.
So, I think that combination of both things -- Democrats talking about working class issues and now also having an administration with Donald Trump trying to deport a record number --
CORNISH: Yes.
BENITEZ: -- of undocumented Immigrants. CORNISH: But in the past, I think Democrats almost leaned too hard of saying this immigration hardliner is going to tear apart your families. Latinos, as far as I can see, did not respond to that. Right? Which is why Trump was able to make gains where he did.
What do you think is different? And does New Jersey actually reveal a response to the actual Trump implementation of his policies?
CHRISTINA GREER, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: Well, I think what we've seen in the past is all voters vote for pocketbook issues. That's -- that -- across race and ethnic lines.
And so oftentimes, Democrats will talk to Latinos and want to lean into immigration. Sure. But at the end of the day, Donald Trump in 2024 said, I'm going to lower the price of groceries. I'm going to make you be able to afford eggs. I'm going to help the economy, which a lot of people bought into.
But as Juan so astutely said, this was before anyone who looks brown is being rounded up on the streets. And maybe not just necessarily in Passaic, New Jersey.
CORNISH: Yes.
GREER: But they're watching it across the country. And, you know, many people are wondering, when does it come to my community?
CORNISH: Right. Because I think one of the things we had heard from political scientists is that there are great many of Hispanic Latino voters who, like, were citizens. And so, they had a different point of view on illegal immigration and sometimes voted in ways that Democrats weren't expecting.
Is that --
BENITEZ: You know what happened with Donald Trump last year? Was that there was a huge influx of migrants in the last, from 2001 to 2003 and four. Sorry, 2021 and 2024.
And what happened is that many Latinos, working-class Latinos in cities like New York City, they were seeing how all these new migrants were coming in, and they were competing for the same jobs that they were -- they compete for.
So, they saw the policies for the newly-arrived being too generous to them. And that was hurting their prospects. And that's why they went with a leader like Donald Trump, someone who was talking to them, saying, listen, I'm here for you. I hear you. We need to stop this migration policy. And now we need to focus on you.
It's more about the candidate -- like what happened last night here in New York City with Zohran Mamdani -- less than the party.
CORNISH: Last thing I want to ask you, Christina, is just the identity politics of it all. Obviously, Democrats have been struggling to figure out what they talk about, how they talk about it. What's too much to talk about? What's pandering? There's been a real handwringing about that.
When you look at the moderates who won, when you look at those shifts there, do you see a different path? Or is there something about Mamdani that's different? But outside of New York?
GREER: Yes. I mean, New York is such a unique place.
CORNISH: Yes. Like, I kind of don't want to use that as the example.
GREER: And also, running citywide is not running statewide. And we know that the vast majority -- look at the state of New York. Red, red, red, red, red. We just have blue cities that turn it blue every four years.
So, I think each state has to look at the composition of their state and ask their voters what the issues are.
CORNISH: Yes. Maybe the only thing they have in common was affordability. Saying that phrase, using that word and talking about the economy in that way.
[06:25:07]
GREER: Right.
BENITEZ: Yes, it's all about affordability right now when it comes to New York City.
And remember one thing, and that's why Democrats need to pay attention to Mamdani. He expanded the electorate.
Andrew Cuomo last night got more votes last night got more votes than Bill de Blasio and Eric Adams got and became mayor. Mayors of the city of New York. So, that means that turnout twice as much --
CORNISH: Yes.
BENITEZ: -- last night. It doubled. So, that means that you have a candidate that is really getting people excited to participate in democracy in a city like New York, where very few New Yorkers end up going to vote.
CORNISH: And I think overall, going forward, people are going to be looking at what I call the new swing voter, which is the person who swings from their couch to voting.
GREER: Right.
CORNISH: Can you actually get that person to turn out?
GREER: Yes, right.
CORNISH: Because you know what the partisans are going to do?
Christina and Juan, thank you so much for being here.
BENITEZ: Thank you.
CORNISH: Straight ahead on CNN THIS MORNING, Zohran Mamdani, as we talked about, elected as New York's next mayor. He's already facing the White House's wrath.
Plus, a test of presidential power. I'll talk to an attorney general who wants President Trump's tariffs to stick around.
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