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U.S. Government Shutdown Threatens Lasting Damage to U.S. Economy; Candidates Rally Supporters Ahead of High-Stakes Elections in 3 U.S. States; Hamas Hands Over Deceased Hostages to Israel. Aired 5- 5:30a ET

Aired November 03, 2025 - 05:00   ET

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

[05:00:00]

BRIAN ABEL, ANCHOR, EARLY START: Good morning and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world, I'm Brian Abel, thank you so much for being with us this morning, it is Monday, November 3rd, 5:00 a.m. here in Washington, and straight ahead on EARLY START.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's the longest government shutdown in history.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This aren't fair for everybody to suffer because they want to do what they want to do.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Election day in America, voters will be heading back to the polls on Tuesday, and several high stakes elections across the country.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I already made up my mind. I'm very excited to cast my vote.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Israel has confirmed that the remains of three individuals handed over by Hamas are those of three deceased hostages.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The mission will not end until they ensure that all of the remains of the Israeli hostages that were taken have been returned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: U.S. senators are heading back to Capitol Hill in the coming hours as the government shutdown enters day 34 with no end in sight, keeping it on track to become the longest shutdown in U.S. history. President Donald Trump is showing no sign that he is willing to negotiate to end the shutdown.

Instead, he is putting pressure on Republican senators to scrap the filibuster, a 60-vote threshold required for most legislation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You have helped end these government shutdowns in the past --

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I did --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: When they came about --

TRUMP: I did --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And you did it by bringing --

TRUMP: I'm very good at it, but I'm not going to do it by --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You brought members of Congress in --

TRUMP: I'm not going to do it by extortion. I'm not going to do it by being extorted by the Democrats who have lost their way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sounds like it's not going to get solved, the shutdown.

TRUMP: It's going to get solved. Yes, oh, it's going to get solved.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How?

TRUMP: We'll get it solved. Eventually they're going to have to vote.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're saying the Democrats will capitulate?

TRUMP: I think they have to. And if they don't vote, that's their problem. Now, I happen to agree with something else. I think we should do the nuclear option. This is a totally different nuclear, by the way. It's called ending the filibuster.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: President Trump is preparing for a big week ahead, including elections tomorrow. Voters will head to the polls in several high stakes elections across the country, and it comes as new CNN polling reveals President Trump's approval rating has dropped to 37 percent. That is the worst of his second term.

The poll also shows that Americans aren't happy with how things are going in the country, 68 percent say things are going badly, and it's the same with the economy. The majority of people polled say, it's in poor shape. When it comes to the week's long government shutdown, 31 percent of voters believe it's a crisis, and 50 percent call it a major problem.

Only one in four of Americans surveyed approve of the way President Trump is handling the shutdown, while 61 percent disapprove. CNN's Kevin Liptak has the latest on the shutdown from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER (on camera): We are now butting up against the longest government shutdown in history, and it appears all but certain that, that record will be broken this week. Democrats and Republicans showing no signs that they're nearing an end to the stalemate. And in fact, President Trump and the White House on Sunday reiterating calls for Senate Republicans to do away with the filibuster.

That's that 60-vote threshold that would be needed to break the deadlock here. The President essentially calling on Republicans to do away with Senate precedent to reopen the government without Democrats support. Now, this could prove to be a decisive week. We have one, the off year elections on Tuesday, with which the government shutdown could prove to be an outsized factor in a place like Virginia, with a high number of military families and federal workers.

You also have open enrollment opening this week for health insurance and Americans beginning to see spikes in their healthcare premiums for next year. Remember, this is the core of Democrats' arguments. They're asking for an extension of health insurance subsidies, and you're starting to see the effects of the shutdown really beginning to take hold, including in air travel.

There have been delays at airports across the country amid staffing shortages, with air traffic controllers. The U.S. Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, said on Sunday that as air traffic controllers continue not getting paid, it's only, quote, "going to get worse".

[05:05:00]

And then, there's the question of those food assistance programs like SNAP. You have the House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries saying that Trump and Republicans were attempting to quote, "weaponize hunger". You also heard the Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent say that those benefits could restart as soon as this week, but that the administration continues to look for direction from the courts.

Now, for his part, President Trump spent the weekend in Florida at his Palm Beach estate. On Halloween, he attended a great Gatsby-themed costume party, and on Sunday, before departing back here to Washington, he inspected his private Boeing 757 that he used to campaign around the country. He is now back in Washington as Democrats call on the President to really begin to engage in these negotiations. Kevin Liptak, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: And joining me now is Natasha Lindstaedt; Professor of Government at the University of Essex. Always great to see you, Natasha. First, let's start with this. We are getting a look at how voters feel about the country. Trump administration policies and the government shutdown with our new CNN poll, 68 percent say things are going badly.

About 6 in 10 say Trump's policies have worsened economic conditions, and eight out of ten consider the government shutdown a crisis or a major problem with 61 percent disapproving of Trump's handling of that. What's your analysis of all of that, and does any of it change lawmakers' decisions on the shutdown? NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: So,

this new poll isn't good for Trump at all, as you spelled out, he's doing really poorly on the economy, that people don't think that the country is going in the right direction. And as the poll showed, that more people are blaming Trump. So if we were to compare this with the shutdown that took place in 2018, 2019, at that point, though, most people did blame Trump for it, the economy was in much better shape.

So, if we fast-forward to today, we're dealing with a much bigger crisis for Trump, because not only do people blame him more for the shutdown, but they're also much more angry and frustrated at the state of the economy and whatever direction he's moving the country in. And I mean, this was one of his big promises that he was going to improve the economy.

And you have another poll from "The Guardian" recently showing that 75 percent of Americans think that inflation is getting worse, not better. And pretty much if you were to survey a lot of the other polls, they're really in line with what's been revealed in the CNN poll that people don't have a lot of optimism about the state of the economy. And that used to be a really strong issue for him.

ABEL: Well, let's make those comparisons back to his first term a little bit more. There's been a lot of talk and posturing over the 2026 midterms. State legislatures redrawing maps to try and gain seat advantages. This new poll gives us a snapshot comparison of where Democrats are now compared to the midterms.

During that first Trump presidency, showing that Dems are trailing the advantage they had a year out from the 2018 midterms, then it was an 11 percent advantage. Now, it's a 5-point advantage. What do you -- what do you make of that difference?

LINDSTAEDT: I think some of it is that the Democrats have really lost a lot of support because many Americans feel that they're out of touch with the average American and what their needs are, and that they don't have a very clear message, and they're lacking a leader. And so, all these factors are making it really difficult for the Democrats at a time when they need leadership to counter Trump.

Trump at the same time isn't very popular either, but they seem to be almost neck-and-neck in just not having enough popularity to have any kind of certainty going into the midterms. But of course, these elections that are coming up on Tuesday are going to be a real test here. We'll be able to see a little bit more how popular or unpopular the Democrats and Trump are.

ABEL: And Natasha, as we head into Tuesday, there's much talk of the New York City mayoral race. Zohran Mamdani, is he where the Dem party is moving toward as Dems wrestle with ongoing internal image troubles? It shows in the poll that 65 percent of Dems aligned -- Dem-aligned voters have a favorable view of the party, compared to 80 percent for Republicans.

But even Dem voters with a negative party view say they back the Dem candidate in their district. So, could this be a sign that the perceived identity crisis in the Dem party and the consequences of that are much ado about nothing?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, it's a good question, and it's going to be difficult to tell because actually the Democrats have been a party that have appealed to a wide range of both moderate Democrats and also progressive. And of course, it depends on the district. I mean, we have really different races going on in these elections on Tuesday.

[05:10:00]

You have the race for the mayoral candidate, where you have Mamdani, who is clearly a progressive, and he's likely to win, and he's really energizing younger voters, and we're seeing record levels of younger people coming out to vote early. But in the races in New Jersey and Virginia, these are really more moderate candidates that are trying to appeal more to the center.

I think the biggest issue is that the Democrats are lacking clear messaging of what they're going to do. And Mamdani's strength has been, he's really focused on affordability and the economy. And these are issues that I think all Democrats should focus on. If they want to bring Trump in there, what they need to do is point out that his authoritarianism is the reason why the economy is not doing well. I think the messaging on the economy, healthcare and affordability are things that the Democrats really need to hone in on.

ABEL: And I do want to talk a little bit more about the President, his approval rating in the poll stands at 37 percent, the worst of his second term in CNN polling, and just a point away from this moment in time in his first term, his disapproval rating 63 percent, the highest at any point of either term, surpassing 62 percent as he left office in January of 2021.

And Natasha, we know what was happening then, how high tensions were that led to January 6th. So, to be close to even now, as then, is really something.

LINDSTAEDT: No it is. I mean, he had campaigned on a promise of improving the economy and fixing all these different issues, as I mentioned. And he's actually underwater on every issue including immigration, which probably was his best issue because he's overreaching with some of these ICE raids. So, he's losing support from some key constituents that helped him get into office in 2024, namely Hispanics who overwhelmingly moved towards Trump than they had in the past.

And he's losing support from them due to these ICE raids, and also due to the state of the economy. He's also losing support from independents who basically voted for him because they thought he was going to improve the economy. And we're seeing with the tariffs, with the big beautiful bill, with rising healthcare costs and with inflation not really improved at all since he took office in January.

He's not making due on any of his promises. That coupled with sort of the chaos that he creates, and using National Guard men on U.S. citizens, hasn't really been very favorable for Trump. So, he always has his base. It doesn't seem to move well very much. But I think it's important to underscore this CNN poll, having him at 37 percent, that's really a little bit lower than some of the national polls have showed around 40 percent-41 percent.

ABEL: All right, Natasha Lindstaedt, appreciate your analysis as always. Thank you.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

ABEL: In New York, all three mayoral candidates are touting their plans on how to make the city more affordable. And CNN's Gloria Pazmino has more on that key race.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Well, we've been speaking with New Yorkers throughout this entire campaign, and so far, the issues continue to be the same affordability, the cost of living, public safety, and also how the city of New York is going to respond to threats from the Trump administration. There are three candidates running in this race.

The Democratic mayoral nominee, Zohran Mamdani, the Republican Curtis Sliwa, and independent former Governor Andrew Cuomo, who lost to Mamdani in the primary but re-launched his campaign. Now, as I said, we've been speaking to voters, and I want to note that while we do not know the results of this race yet, we do know that there's just so much enthusiasm for the outcome of this election.

More than 500,000 New Yorkers have already cast their vote during the early voting period. We've heard from people here today who are supporting Andrew Cuomo, some who are supporting Zohran Mamdani, all of them talking about this same issue, affordability.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm most concerned about getting the right leaders in place. So, in particular, the mayor, I already have made it my -- I'm very excited to pass my vote.

PAZMINO: Can you tell me who you're voting for?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm voting for Cuomo.

PAZMINO: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think he's just a proven juggernaut in terms of -- he's a political animal. He gets things done. He's not the perfect candidate. But you know, my goal isn't to find Jesus or anything to run for office, it's to find someone who gets the job done. And he does it for me.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The rhetoric towards Mamdani and just being like -- just like a lot of racism and all that, it's just really disgusting, and especially from the other two candidates who are like the big candidates, Cuomo and -- yes, it's just like really -- makes it even like -- makes me want to root for Mamdani even more.

PAZMINO: Now, Sunday is the last time that New Yorkers can cast their vote. Early polls will reopen on Tuesday for election day. We have heard from all of the candidates throughout the day. Zohran Mamdani telling me earlier today that he is taking nothing for granted, even though he's got a double-digit lead in the polls.

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He's continuing to campaign until the very last minute, but so are his opponents. Andrew Cuomo and Curtis Sliwa have spread out across the city, also meeting with New Yorkers trying to shore up their support. Cuomo speaking in some of the churches throughout the day on Sunday, and Curtis Sliwa also meeting with his supporters. Gloria Pazmino, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ABEL: The early voting numbers have increased since this report was filed. More than 735,000 New Yorkers turned out for early voting this year. That's more than four times the number from four years ago. Early voting data suggests the Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia are in strong positions heading into Tuesday's election day.

In Virginia, the Democratic nominee, Abigail Spanberger is appealing to voters for a decisive win over her Republican opponent, Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears. Meanwhile, the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial nominee is campaigning with Senator Cory Booker. Mikie Sherrill is asking supporters to help turn out voters and ensure Democrats take the governor's office.

She called New Jersey a blue state and criticized her Republican opponent, Jack Ciattarelli for embracing President Trump's policies. Still to come, as the government shutdown continues, flight delays are becoming more common. Why officials say they are about to get even worse. Plus, we'll look at the severe weather expected in parts of California and Oregon this week.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ABEL: Government shutdown is leading to even more flight delays across the U.S. This past weekend was the worst for air traffic control, staffing shortages since the shutdown began. That's according to a CNN analysis of Federal Aviation Administration operation's plans. Between Friday morning and Sunday night, nearly 100 FAA facilities reported what's known as a staffing trigger.

That means air traffic controllers had to alter operations just to keep the airspace safe with fewer people working. Meanwhile, the U.S. Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, says he only expects things to get worse. The death toll from Hurricane Melissa has risen to at least 59 people across the Caribbean. That is according to the "Associated Press".

Twenty eight of those deaths are in Jamaica where Melissa was the most powerful storm to ever hit the island there. New images you see here show the extent of the damage with buildings caved in and whole blocks of houses just wiped out. U.S. forecaster AccuWeather estimates that Melissa caused up to $52 billion in damage in the Caribbean, and the death toll is expected to keep rising.

Meanwhile, heavy rain and strong winds are expected in parts of northern California and Oregon due to what's known as an atmospheric river. Our meteorologist Allison Chinchar has a closer look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: An unusually strong November storm is set to impact the west coast beginning tomorrow, but really peaking Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of this week. And you can see, here's the Monday morning, you've got a few light showers across portions of Washington and Oregon, but it's really Monday night that's when you start to see some of the heavier bands of rain and yes, even snow for the higher elevations begin to slide into these areas.

It will continue Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, just shifting into different areas. As you can see, that big low pressure system funneling all of that moisture, and also some very strong wind-gusts up around 40 to 60 miles per hour are expected with this next system. In terms of rainfall, it is certainly going to be heaviest along the coast.

You've got widespread totals here of about 2 inches to 4 inches, but it's not out of the question for some of these areas to possibly get as much as 6 or even 7 inches of rain by the time we get to early Friday morning. This also means very heavy snow for the cascades, the Olympic Mountains, and even portions of the Sierras as we head through the rest of the week.

Flooding is also going to be a concern. Keep in mind too, there is a full moon this week that will have an impact on some of the coastal flooding, but even some of these other areas. Notice for Tuesday, the main focus is across portions of northern California and southwestern Oregon. We start to see Washington get in, getting in on the mix for the flooding potential on Wednesday, and then it's pretty much up and down the west coast, all the way from Washington into northern California as the storm wraps up on Thursday.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ABEL: Allison, thank you. At least 19 people are dead and many more injured after a powerful earthquake in northern Afghanistan. The 6.3 magnitude quake struck near Mazar-i-Sharif. That's one of the most populated cities in that part of the country. Video shows damage to the Blue Mosque, a local landmark.

Afghanistan is often hit by powerful earthquakes. In August, for example, more than 2,000 people died after a quake struck the eastern part of the country. Still ahead, charges have been filed against a man for the mass stabbing on a U.K. train. The latest details. Plus, forensic analysis in Israel has confirmed the identities of three deceased hostages following the latest handover of remains from Hamas. An update on the ceasefire after the break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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ABEL: A 32-year-old British man has been charged with ten counts of attempted murder after a mass stabbing attack on a train in England. The suspect also faces another charge of attempted murder for an earlier incident in London. Police have now revealed a motive, but say there is nothing to suggest the train attack was a terrorist incident.

As of Sunday evening, a railway worker who tried to stop the attacker was still fighting for his life in the hospital. Israel has confirmed that remains handed over by Hamas are those of three deceased hostages. The Prime Minister's office says they are Captain Omer Neutra, Colonel Assaf Hamami and Staff Sergeant Oz Daniel.

Omer Neutra is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Israel. U.S. President Donald Trump saying he's already spoken with Neutra's parents. Joining me now with the latest on the hostage returns and the ceasefire is in Abu Dhabi, is CNN's Paula Hancocks. Paula?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Brian, the remains of the three hostages that have now been returned to Israel and positively ID'ed are three soldiers who were fighting against Hamas on October 7th. All three of them were fighting in the Kibbutzim just along the border with Gaza. They were all killed.