China Deal Done but US Gov Still Shuttered

Welcome to Inside Politics. Right now, President Trump is on his way back to Washington after a whirlwind three-country tour of Asia. And he's bringing home a trade deal between the world's largest economic superpowers. We're going to break down whether that trade truce is a benefit or a bust for the American consumer. But while the president was very busy with red carpets and golden gifts and getting those trade deals, there

Here in the United States are tens of millions of Americans worrying about putting food on the table. One man said, quote, do we eat or do we pay rent? Since Congress still can't reach a deal to fund the government, one in every eight people in this country would lose much needed food assistance this weekend.

Joining me now to discuss that is House Speaker Mike Johnson. Mr. Speaker, thank you so much for being here. I do want to get to the shutdown in just a second. But I also want to quickly talk about something that.

the president said pretty remarkable actually that he said he said that he instructed the pentagon to begin testing nuclear weapons again for the first time in more than 30 years it hasn't happened since 1992. have you been briefed about this or you okay with this move i haven't spoken to the president in about 48 hours so i did not know he was going to say that but i think it is an important thing for him to have said why because we have

demonstrated even in recent days that the only way to maintain peace is to show strength. It's peace through strength. That's one of our... principles that we try to advance here every day. We learned that during the Cold War. We know it's certainly true now. America is the last great superpower in the world. We do not have a peer-to-peer adversary. China is...

trying to become that. But in this dynamic that we have now on the world stage, America has to show strength. And I think it is an obvious and logical thing. to ensure that our weapons systems work as they're designed. I have a big Air Force Base in my district. Barksdale Air Force Base is the home of the Global Strike Command.

Two-thirds of the nuclear triad commanded there. And our airmen and all of those involved in our nuclear arsenal need to be well-practiced, and they certainly are. They're ready and prepared, but we need to make sure that we know that we know. that we can maintain our strength and I think that's an obvious and logical thing to do.

Okay, let's turn now to the now 30-day government shutdown. We are learning some new details about a series of negotiations that are underway across the Capitol from where you are in the Senate. And one of the options that they're discussing is reopening. a significant part of the government including the Department of Agriculture through next year. Now that would alleviate the pain of tens of millions of Americans who are about to feel

a lot of pain and hunger because the SNAP benefits are going to expire in just two days on Saturday. Would you accept a partial government funding deal? Well, there are a handful of moderate centrist Democrats left in the US Senate, and they are in panic mode right now because they recognize that their votes have been the reason that all this pain and hardship is being experienced by the American people. We're on day 30, as you said. They have voted.

now 14 times to impose this hardship and pain. They're doing it for political purposes, as I've explained in my press conference every single morning. They're worried about the radical left base that is rising in the Democrat Party and some of the leading politicians here, including the two New Yorkers who run both chambers, Hakeem Jeffries and...

Chuck Schumer are afraid they're going to get a challenge from a Mamdani-like candidate. And so they have to show a fight, and that's what this is about. It is senseless. It is unprecedented. This is the first time in U.S. history that any party has had the audacity to close down the government. for a simple CR, a clean nonpartisan measure. So here's the answer.

We cannot deviate from the number one job and responsibility of U.S. Congress, and that is to keep the government in operation for the people. And the simplest way to fix this is to reopen all of the government. not just parts of it, so they can alleviate a little bit of the pain that they themselves are causing. Let's alleviate all the pain and get that done. They have no logical argument why they would not do that. And that's why we're so angry and frustrated about this. So that's a no?

You would not support what the moderates in Republicans and Democrats are talking to one another in the Senate to at least partially reopen like the Department of Agriculture, which would make sure that tens of millions of people. would be able to eat those people who rely on government funding.

There's a very important point that everyone needs to understand. Republicans have voted 14 times to provide SNAP benefits, military pay, veterans health services, nutrition assistance for young women, the disabled, the elderly. We've done it 14 times. The Democrats have voted. 14 times to block all of that. We need to do all of those things simultaneously. You have to pay the troops. You have to pay Border Patrol, TSE, agents of air traffic controllers, and everybody else.

All of these things need to be done, not just part of them. The White House has bent over backwards to try to mitigate, reduce the pain as much as possible. We've gotten troops paid for part of October. Those funds are running out. We got WIC funding, women, infants and children nutrition programs funded thanks to the president. But that money is running out as well. This is very real. The pain is very serious. And Democrats are playing games with this. Well, by the way, no one's disputing what.

you just said, that you have voted or the Senate has voted after you passed a clean CR. But the reality is that this has been a stalemate for 30 days. And it's not just Democrats. You also have one of the most conservative Republican senators, Josh Hawley, who says at least please move money around to feed people.

Why not consider that? Because if you deviate from the goal of reopening the entire government, Chuck Schumer and the radicals over there will continue to play games with people's paychecks, their livelihoods. And if you do just part of this. It will reduce the pressure for them to do all of it, to do their basic job, and that is reopen the government. This is very real and very serious and they can end it today.

They can do it right now. All they have to do is we just need five more Democrats in the Senate to help us reach the 60-vote threshold. We don't have enough Republicans to do the right thing on our own. We need them to do the right thing. Does it give you some hope? that regardless of the reason they're doing it, that there are Republicans and Democrats talking to one another right now about finding some way out of this?

But sure, I think they're responding to the public pressure and we need more of that. If you're listening to this interview, you need to call the Democrat senators and tell them to do the right thing. Also, the unions, the largest unions of federal employees, over 800,000 have come out and said.

Please, Democrats, stop the nonsense and vote for the clean, nonpartisan CR. It's so important to remember we don't have any Republican or conservative priorities on the CR. These are Biden-level policies and spending that we're just asking them to extend for.

several more weeks so we can finish the work of Congress and the appropriations process. That's it. It's all a game so they can show a fight against Republicans. That's clearly what's going on and they can end it immediately. So just to put a pin in it, all or nothing. full government funding for the entire government or you're not going to bring anything up on the House floor even if the Senate finds some sort of compromise.

Yeah, because they're trying to play games, and we are not interested in doing that. That's the position of the leadership, Republican leadership in the Senate and the House and the White House as well. We have to do well and right by all the American people. Yeah, we need to do it now. Can I just ask you, because you mentioned it.

that you all have found ways to pay members of the military, which people understand, and WIC, which people also understand. But why are you drawing the line now on 40 million americans who literally will not be able to eat without government assistance why not help them in the short term and why are they why are they Wait a minute. Wait. I reject the premise of the question. I'm not drawing the line. The Democrats are drawing the line. If we had a contingency fund that we could use.

That would be done. The White House has demonstrated over and over, the executive branch. All the cabinet secretaries are doing everything they can to mitigate and reduce the pain. That ability is not available for SNAP because a contingency fund had to be prior authorized by Congress. Well, they say that that's not what the law shows. No, that's ridiculous. Certainly the administration has shown that they are very happy to move money around without Congress saying yes.

No, Dan, it's just simply not true. It's already been adjudicated. When they tried to do that in the first Trump administration, the GAO, for example, determined it was illegal. And the Democrats, when they voted against the clean CR, they voted down that possibility. So it is not legal.

available to do that believe me the White House has already demonstrated over and over they would use it if it was available it's not the Democrats have put the American people in this crisis and they are the ones that have the power to end it they could do it today if they feel enough pressure to do so

The president is on Air Force One right now. He's headed home. You and other Republican leaders, I think it's fair to say, have been okay with him not getting very involved. Is it now time for him to sit down with you and other leaders and try to work this out? Will there be a meeting, forgive me, in the next few days now that he's going to be back?

Well, let me correct that question as well. The president was deeply involved. Remember, he brought in the Democrat leaders to meet with us in the White House, in the Oval Office, before all this began. And he urged Schumer and Hakeem to keep the government open, and they rejected it. The president has been involved and he has told them that he will talk about any issue under the sun.

as soon as they do the obvious thing to reopen the government first. That is our job here. We're going to wrestle over all these policy questions.

Make a deal on this in five minutes. He can't but there's no deal to be made remember the CR does not have Trump or Republican priorities on it at all there's nothing we can pull off of that to make it more palatable for the democrats i would have done that a long time ago but we operated in good faith from day one back in september on september 19th we voted for a clean non-partisan cr it's only 24 pages in length it just says

keep everything at status quo so we can all finish our jobs here. The Democrats rejected it for the first time in their lives. They did the same type of CR, voted for it 13 times during the Biden administration. The only reason they did it right now is because they're afraid of the rise of the far-left Marxists in their party, and they have to show them that they're going to fight.

And real people are hurting during this political game, this showmanship. Chuck Schumer is trying to save his own political hide in New York. And he's willing to put the American people through this great hardship.

for that reason alone, and it is shocking to us. I want to ask about something that has been going on for a long time, or maybe not been going on for a long time in the House of Representatives, and that is... Congresswoman-elect Adelita Grijalva has not yet been sworn in. Today's her birthday. She was elected on September 23rd. She's now the longest elected member of Congress.

who has, she's waited the longest to be sworn in of anybody. You say you're going to swear her in when the government reopens, but you know, you've sworn in Republicans during pro forma sessions before. Different times, different circumstances. No, Rep Grijalva, Rep Elet Grijalva.

is also a victim of the democrats political games as soon as we return to regular legislative session we will do that i'm following the pelosi precedent as i've explained on cnn many times with similar circumstances i can name you the members of congress who were elected in special elections and she

She waited, like for example, when two were elected during an August recess, she waited until Congress came back into regular session to administer the oath. That's a logical thing to do. We will do the same thing. We haven't had floor business now. As long as the government has been shut down. As soon as we return to the regular legislative session, of course we'll give her the oath. And in the meantime, by the way, she has every ability.

to do everything that every other member is doing. She has keys to her office. She has 16 employees. She has an ID badge to get into the building. She can work on constituent services. She can do all those things. There's no reason for her not to. And if she isn't, she's the one who has...

answer for that, not us. I'm going to do exactly the right and traditional thing, and we're going to give her the oath as soon as we get back to session. That can happen tomorrow if the Democrats will get busy. put a button on this if she were a republican she would be in the same position you would not be swearing her absolutely absolutely because we're not here in session that's the whole point

This has happened to Republicans and Democrats under Nancy Pelosi and now under Speaker Johnson. This is the way the institution works. House Speaker Mike Johnson, thank you so much for your time. I appreciate it. Thank you.

And coming up, we're going to go live to the Virginia courtroom where a first grade teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student is on the stand in a $40 million civil trial. Stay with us. Hey friends, this is Audie Cornish, host of CNN This Morning and The Assignment, and guess what? Every story you care about, every angle you want unpacked, is now streaming on CNN. That means you can catch my show or other CNN programming whenever you want on your favorite device.

And a subscription also gets you access to exclusive video series and unlimited articles. So subscribe to CNN at CNN.com slash subscription. Breaking news out of Virginia. First grade teacher who was shot in her classroom by a six year old student is on the stand right now in Newport News. The teacher, Abby's Werner.

brought a $40 million lawsuit against the school's assistant principal, who she says failed to act after reports the student brought a gun to school in 2023. Let's go live now to CNN's Jean Casares, who has been tracking the testimony. Jean.

Well, they're on cross-examination right now, but on direct examination when she took the stand, it was very difficult for the plaintiff's attorney to actually get her to... to verbalize what had happened to her it was like her mind was reliving it but she did talk about that on that day that the teacher that was next door to her and at the school also with the first grade class to her and said that two of her students had seen that one of her students had a gun in his backpack.

The teacher said, I'm going to go down and tell the vice principal, you just stay with your class, but keep your eye on him. So that's what she did. And then they had research. And you have over 20 students in your class right here. She kept watching him, observing him. She didn't realize that other teachers were asking the vice principal, who is the defendant, by the way, her last name, her name is Ebony Parker.

to to do something because she was in charge of crisis management at the school that's what she was trained for as the vice principal as the administrator she was to handle something like this so as you see abby kept teaching her class believing that

Word was getting to the vice principal and the vice principal would do something well nothing was done and Finally she testified that she saw that gun and she was shot. She went black. She thought she was dying. She said she saw black she really believed she was going to heaven but then she suddenly

felt and saw people around her trying to help her and these were school teachers they were trying to stop the bleeding because paramedics hadn't arrived and she realized that she was alive now on cross-examination the focus is really to place a responsibility on Abby. Why didn't Abby go down to the vice principal? Why didn't Abby go to the child and ask the child, do you have a gun on you? So they're really...

blaming the victim in a sense, but this is she's trying to defend Ebony Parker, trying to defend in this litigation. And so how will that fare with the jury? Because she's definitely. emotionally disturbed from this. You see it in her eyes and the soul of her eyes. But the defense continues to bring out also she went to a Taylor Swift concert. She wrote to Taylor Swift. That's coming out as part of the defense saying you're really not injured.

You don't have all those emotions because you're attending a concert. Her sister had gotten those tickets for them to try to help her. Yeah, I mean... so much to unpack there not the least of which the most important of which is that a six-year-old had a gun yeah at all never mind in school and never mind shot uh his teacher all right let's thank you for bringing us up to speed let's listen into the trial a bit

okay so we can publish this as shown on my screen all right have you had a chance to look at yes And did you find an Aveda school for cosmetology and send it to Ms. List? Yes. You told her that they had a school in Arlington? Mm-hmm. Mr. Coleman, can you please show the witness Exhibit 96J?

Ms. Werner, is this a text you sent to Ms. List on October 18, 2022? I'm not sure who I sent it to, but yeah, it's a text I sent. Okay. It says to Rosalie List. Is that... correct i can't tell from here can you see yes i did and that's about a year later correct the fall before the events that bring us here today Yes. Any objection? Move to admit it. Okay. All right. As shown on my screen. And Ms. Warner, in the text you told Ms. List that you didn't even know if you wanted to teach anymore.

but you didn't want to waste all the money that you had spent going to school. Is that correct? Yes, I said that. And you said that you would love to go to cosmetology school. Yeah. cosmetology school correct about a year after the events that bring us here today yes mr coleman can you please show the witness only in council defense exhibit 127. Page 3.

Okay, you can keep following this trial on CNN All Access. Please go to CNN.com slash watch to keep it up on your browser or on your phone or wherever you're watching us right now. Still ahead here on Inside Politics. The Democrats' Garden State Gauntlet. I'm going to speak with New Jersey Senator Cory Booker about the razor close race for governor in his state. It's exposing some...

real vulnerabilities within the Democratic Party. Stay with us. President Trump is raving about his trade truce with China. He claims Chinese leader Xi Jinping quote agreed to almost everything in their meeting in South Korea. Here's what we know about the deal between the world's largest economic superpowers. The U.S. will reduce tariffs on most Chinese goods. by 10%, while China will crack down on fentanyl, purchase more U.S. soybeans, and pause some restrictions on rare earth mineral exports.

I want to bring in CNN's Jim Sciuto, who once served as chief of staff for the U.S. ambassador to China. Jim, is this agreement as great as both presidents say it is? Listen, it's not a breakthrough, certainly. It's more a truce and a de-escalation because it didn't address the major driving issues which Trump himself said had drawn him into this trade war. One, for instance, somehow returned.

manufacturing jobs to the U.S. from China or stopping what Trump has described as China's cheating on trade. Trump gets in return really is a return to the status quo prior to the trade war. China will be buying soybeans again. They bought them before. China will be allowing the U.S. to import rare earths again. They allowed it before before they restricted that.

And in return for that, China gets a fair amount in return, right? Reduction in tariffs. It gets him to delay expanded technology sanctions on Chinese companies.

really when you look at this he calls it a 12 but by his own definition of success prior to the trade war he's not meeting those marks right i mean it's really looks a lot like where we were before the trade war started listen to what the chinese leader said about the meeting or at the meeting rather given our different national conditions we do not always see eye to eye with each other. And it is normal for the two leading economies of the world to have frictions now and then.

And in the face of winds, waves and challenges, you and I, at the helm of China-US relations, should stay the right course. and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of China-U.S. relations.

whether or not there's enough trust to verify between these two powers listen to hear those words from the chinese president sitting across from the u.s president with a smile on his face that's a good thing right we certainly don't want the u.s and china at war in a trade war certainly a military conflict or in danger of escalation to some sort of military exchange so that's good

But remember, as the Chinese president utters those friendly words, he retains an enormous amount of leverage, right? This is punting these issues a year. He can, again, stop buying soybeans. he can again reimpose those rare earths restrictions.

And he knows that those have political implications in this country as well. That one-year timing struck me, Danith, you know better than me, Danith, extends it beyond those midterm elections, right? Or close to beyond the midterm elections. And those soybean purchases, for instance, they have big... political implications to this country because U.S. farmers didn't like them. Xi Jinping does not forget that he retains that leverage. Yeah.

That's very clear. Jim, thank you so much. Appreciate you putting it all in perspective for us. Up next, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker joins us to talk about his state's very important governor's race. CNN has launched CNN All Access, so make sure to visit cnn.com backslash watch or scan the QR code you see on your screen.

What's happening now is there is testimony that is continuing from the Virginia teacher who was shot by a six-year-old student. You can watch that on your phone, but stay with us on whatever other platform you're watching us because you want to...

definitely tune in to this political discussion. Five days from now, New Jersey will vote on their next governor. Democrat Mikey Sherrill is leading in the polls, but...

Those polls have gotten tighter in the campaign's final days. If Republicans can pull up an upset or even come close, it could be a big psychological blow for Democrats who are trying to... find their way in this second trump era joining me now is the senior senator from the great state of new jersey democrat cory booker thank you so much for being here before we get to the new jersey election i just want to talk about your day job which is

what's happening or not happening in the United States Senate, and that is the shutdown. I know you've signed on to Republican Senator Josh Hawley's bipartisan bill to fund SNAP. which is something that's going to run out of money on Saturday. It funds and helps feed like 40 million people in this country. You say the Trump administration could tap into emergency funds to keep it afloat.

House Speaker Mike Johnson on earlier this hour, who insists that that is not constitutional. Talk about that in a second, but just kind of the big picture here. Democrats have been consistently voting no on just keeping the government. running, opening the government. Are there some Democrats, do you sir, because you voted no, bear some responsibility for endangering people's food aid?

Well, you know, Donald Trump has said very bluntly that I'm going to cause maximum pain. And so his intention really is to use hunger as a political weapon, hunger of our children, families, disabled.

uh it's it's really striking to me especially because we do have the constitutional authority to use the discretionary funds because it's been done before And that's what really surprises me is the level of cruelty that is marking Republican leadership right now that they would put children and families at risk during this fight.

really what it's a fight over is exactly that that there are too many families in america that work full-time jobs that have to make the tough decision between health care and feeding their families or between paying the rent and having enough money for groceries This is an America where Donald Trump continues to pass bills that give billionaires and the wealthiest corporations tax breaks and cuts and guts.

school lunch programs cuts they already cut a billion dollars out of snap payments that it cuts medicaid and so i i don't understand this level of cruelty from uh the republican party right now especially because when i talk to new jerseyans and i've been meeting with people from hospital boards to people who run our food banks many of them republicans actually

who can't understand why we as a country would cause this much intentional pain to about half of our country that are struggling right now to make it. Well, I want you to listen to Elizabeth Austin. She's a single mom of two who relies on SNAP. She was on CNN this morning and she was talking about what happens if and when that money runs out on Saturday.

It won't stretch. It doesn't. So we'll pull from other parts of our budget. And that means my kids will go without. My daughter's birthday is coming up. It means I'll compensate in other areas. that I shouldn't have to compensate. So you say that Republicans are being cruel, but it's also true that you just have to vote yes and for other.

Democratic senators have to vote yes and the government will be reopened and Elizabeth and 800,000 constituents of yours in New Jersey will at least in the short term not go without food. Well, you see the choice that the Republicans are trying to force here. Choose between New Jersey's health insurance and health coverage or feeding New Jerseyans. This is a cruel choice that they're trying to make.

We're saying that the richest country in the planet Earth has the ability to do both, to lower people's health care costs and to give people the resources they need to eat. This is very personal to me. As you know, I'm the only United States senator.

that lives in an inner city area where the majority of my community they're working families but are are you know we don't mistake wealth with worth but are we're about at the poverty line my community where i live i see families that every day work hard and play by the rules and are getting screwed by a rigged economy and that is of the republicans making since donald trump has been in office their grocery prices have gone up their energy prices have gone up

their health care costs have gone up. And what we're simply saying is this is one of those moments where the majority of Americans, they're Republicans or independents or Democrats, the majority of Americans are hurting right now under Donald Trump's economy. And I'm not giving my vote away to just see more of them plunged into further pain. People are about to get the sticker shock.

November 1st most Americans will now know that their health insurance will rise astronomically and as a result of that millions will lose health insurance. And what that means is I've talked to families in New Jersey. I talked to a dad of a special needs daughter who said him and his wife are going to have to give up their health insurance to keep their child covered.

These are real stories of real people. And so don't tell me we as the United States of America have to choose between feeding families and giving families health insurance. We can do both. The Republicans have shown their ability to come up with tens of billions of dollars.

to give tax breaks to corporations and to the wealthiest. It's about time we started investing in American families. I want to ask you about the governor's race in New Jersey. It is a blue state. President Trump is historically unpopular right now, but polls in the Garden State show that it's pretty close. Republican Jack Cittarelli could win. Why do you think it's been so difficult for Mikey Sherrill in this race? Well, you know, again, Mikey is extraordinary. She's a veteran.

helicopter pilot in the Armed Forces. She's a former U.S. attorney, one of the more capable people I've ever seen. But she said from the very beginning, I'm going to have to run through the tape. We're going to have to work very, very hard, which is astonishing.

to me in New Jersey where so many people are hurting right now is that Cittarelli has said, the Republican candidate has said, I'm 100% MAGA. I'm with Donald Trump. Well, I'll tell you, Mikey Sherrill is with the people of New Jersey and fighting back against what Donald Trump is doing to our state from sacrificing tens of thousands of jobs by canceling infrastructure projects or.

jacking up our health care costs. And so this is one of those elections where if you are frustrated with this economy and what Donald Trump is doing, If you're frustrated about your health care costs, then put somebody in the governor's seat that's going to fight for New Jerseyans, not somebody that's going to practice the advanced yoga that I see a lot of congressional Republicans doing, which is bending over backwards to give Donald Trump whatever he wants.

You know, Democrats have spent more than $3 million on the kind of message that we just heard from you tying Cittarelli to President Trump. The Democratic mayor of Patterson, who's backing Cheryl, told my colleague Jeff Zeleny that people, quite frankly, may have voters remorse. We're banking on that voters remorse. Is there too much of a reliance, do you think?

on the anti-Trump sentiment to push Mikey Sherrill through the tape, as you put it? I don't think so. I think that right now I see this with Phil Murphy, our current governor, that as the... federal government cuts and guts programs from the Department of Education, Health and Human Services.

We have a governor right now in New Jersey that's compassionate, stepping up and saying, you know what? We need to fight to fill the gaps. We need to push really hard against this president. We need to speak out against the extrajudicial things that he's doing coming out of. unmarked cars and mask agents running into New Jersey churches, running into New Jersey schools, running into New Jersey hospitals, and arresting often American citizens.

that this is a state that's going to push back against those things that aren't right. We'll partner with the president where he's doing things to lower people's costs or make us safer. But if he is attacking New Jersey values, Jersey is going to push back.

And so, yeah, I want Mikey Sherrill there because she's a proven fighter. Heck, her service in our military, her decade of honorable service is enough to show that she's a fighter. And so, again, I'm tired of the complicity. Congress right now is refusing. to do what our framers intended us to do which is to offer checks and balances to the president of the united states could you imagine this we have been blowing up speed boats in international waters

Taking military action. Clearly the Constitution states that these kind of war acts have to come through Congress, but we haven't even had a hearing on it yet. In fact, the House of Representatives have been out for five weeks. And so... Congress is not doing its job. No one is providing the check and balance to this president. I want a governor that stands up and says I'm fighting for Jersey.

This is not about right or left. It's about right or wrong. And I'm going to do what's right for Jersey. That's Mikey Sherrill.

All right. Let's get real Jersey here. And that is earlier this month, the Trump administration suspended funding for the Gateway Tunnel. It's a project that connects New Jersey to New York City. Really important. I don't need to tell you both. Mikey Sherrill and Jack Cittarelli say they want that funding restored. Cittarelli says his relationship with President Trump makes him better suited to negotiate with the White House. Does he have a point?

Well, first of all, I think you should disclose to your viewers that you are real Jersey yourself. You come with some serious Jersey cred. Let's just say, let's just... Let's just out this that you and I are both two Jerseyans talking about this. When I go out and visit with the unions, the hard hats, the people that are building those construction projects.

They know how vital that work is. And there's no BS about these men and women that are doing that work. It's dangerous work. We had a horrific incident recently and I'm praying for that family.

but these folks want to get that job done. And they know that when somebody pauses a project, uh it sets that project back it's not a pause it's pushing a project back it's endangering jobs businesses who are relying on contracts suddenly are put into crisis because of the money that they've put out uh this is not about

negotiating and who could be a better negotiating it this is about fighting because donald trump has consistently shown by taking away new jersey and state and local tax deduction by freezing our infrastructure projects even the bipartisan gun bill

that I played a significant role in getting resources for people to do uh community violence intervention that money that grant money was frozen so i'm sorry somebody that praises donald trump who says i'm 100 maga who says i stand by the president uh is ill-fitted to actually fight and negotiate for New Jersey. He is complicit in the pain that New Jerseyans are experiencing right now. I want a fighter. That's why I'm fighting for Mikey Sherrill and hoping people will go out and vote.

Senator Cory Booker from the great state of New Jersey. Thank you so much for being here. Appreciate it. And up next, Governor Gavin Newsom is just days away from finding out if his big bet will pay off. Will California's redistricting plan pass?

We'll talk about that next. Governor Gavin Newsom says he sees a path out of the wilderness for his party. It starts on Tuesday with wins in New Jersey and New York and Virginia and where I am today, California. Here he is talking this week to our own Alex Michelson. It's a different Democratic Party out here. And by the way,

Let me make this crystal clear. I'm so optimistic about where we're going to be on election night, November 4th. We're going to win in Proposition 50 and the narrative is going to shift. Democrats are finally now no longer on their back heels. They're on their toes. Again, it's about weakness versus strength. And the challenge the Democrats have had is we've appeared weak and meek. And now we are asserting ourselves. And that's what 50s also represent.

an assertion that we're back on the playing field and we are going to fight fire with fire. Alex joins me now here in Los Angeles. He is the host of the new CNN show, The Story Is, which airs midnight Eastern time, 9 p.m. Pacific time. Also with us, our friend Maeve Reston of The Washington Post. Hi guys. Hi there. Such a great interview. Can we just start on Prop 50, which is what he was talking about, and the new CBS YouGov poll? I mean, it's like not even close.

Yes. People say they're voting yes. 62 percent. No. 38 percent. There won't be any surprises, right? Like this seems to be.

in the bag for Democrats? You don't want to be too predictive, Dana. That was not a nice question. It is a special election, so who ultimately turns out on Tuesday could play a big role. But it basically feels as though the no side... collapsed over the last couple of weeks they went dark on television and you know Newsom very early on framed this as a referendum on Trump and Democrats in this state as you know are just dying to do something that they perceive as

a check on his power. And so it does look like sort of an easy win. But we'll see what happens after that with this huge redistricting fight ahead. That number is essentially the Democrats and Democrat leading independents versus the Republicans. And so this is breaking almost entirely along partisan lines. Which is interesting given the fact that

I mean, you both know better than I that when this state formed independent commissions for redistricting, it got even more popular as the years went on. But now it's just. you know, skins and shirts. Well, it was something that the Republican governor, Arnold Schwarzenegger, was a big champion of, and it was bipartisan in its support. The way that the Yes on 50 team has done this is they inserted the word temporary. That's right. They say

that's the key to getting this thing over the top, that it's just temporary. We've got to respond to what's happening in Texas. We're not getting rid of it forever. It would come back in 2031. Let's hear a little bit more of your interview with Gavin Newsom. You asked the key question looking ahead in 2028.

For many years, you've said to me and several other people that you had sub-zero interest in running. And that how many ways can I say no? So has something changed? Yeah, everything's changed. Everything changed. And here in L.A., you were part of it. You saw it with the federalization. of the National Guard. I just think we're on the other side of something radically different, not marginally different. Everything has changed in terms of my mindset and my...

my energy, my perspective on the world we're living in, Trump and Trumpism, what he represents, and how serious and precious this moment is. Look, if this is, if he wins, this is a huge moment for his presidential campaign wins prop prop 50 because you get to the point that that would be one of the first w's on the board for a democrat in the second trump administration and and clearly he's nationalized this race and probably part of the reason he wanted to come on cnn in the first place

Well, it's also because of you. Oh, okay. Maeve, I also, we don't have time to play the sound, but I do want to talk about Kamala Harris, Gavin Newsom's very old friend. They knew each other back in the day. Complicated relationship. Okay. That's a whole other segment. in San Francisco, but she is now not ruling out at 2028. Now, that's maybe a smart thing to do for a young woman like her with many, many years ahead.

you've covered her for a long time. What's your take on that? I think that, you know, she at this point it's clear from all of the people in her inner circle that she's keeping all of her options open. There's a lot of different things that she wants to do. There's absolutely no reason for her to take herself out of the running at this point. And of course, it would be very complicated because Governor Newsom would be one of the potential top candidates and they've had this

frenemy relationship for years and years and always been in close contention on so many things. But they now also will have probably the two top donor lists in politics after this initiative coming up. up. Gavin Newsom has raised tons of money from contributors in all 50 states. It has a massive list now, as does Kamala Harris. And so it would be fascinating to see that competition play out again.

once again. And they've had the same consultants for years, so they know a lot of the good and the bad about each other. Yeah, it's kind of dangerous in many, many ways. Alex, thank you. Maeve, thank you. And don't forget, you can see Alex every weeknight on CNN. Eastern, 9 p.m. Pacific, right here on CNN. Thanks for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts right now.

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