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Trump Raises Tariffs On Canada After Political Ad; U.S. Deploying USS Gerald Ford Strike Group To Caribbean; California In The Spotlight Ahead Of Election; Government Shutdown Enters Day 25 With No End In Sight; New Inflation Data Shows Prices Are Up; Early Voting Underway In High-Stakes Governor Races. Aired 7-8p ET

Aired October 25, 2025 - 19:00   ET

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

[19:00:32]

JESSICA DEAN, CNN HOST: You're in the CNN NEWSROOM. Hi, everyone. I'm Jessica Dean here in New York.

And happening now, President Trump says he believes a comprehensive deal with China is possible as he heads to Asia for high-stakes diplomatic talks. He is scheduled to stop in Malaysia, Japan and South Korea. Most notably, he is set to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping for their first sit-down since Trump was reelected.

The relationship between the U.S. and China fragile with the ongoing trade war causing tensions to escalate. Trump saying as he left the U.S. that China would need to make concessions to get to a deal, but that the U.S. would too.

Let's bring in Julia Benbrook right now.

The president also announcing he's increasing tariffs on Canada, Julia, by an additional 10 percent. That happening just within the last couple of hours. What more do we know about the president's decision here?

JULIA BENBROOK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in recent days, President Donald Trump said that he was ending trade negotiations with Canada. And then just in recent hours, he said that he was placing a 10 percent tariff on Canada above and beyond what they're already paying.

Let's take a step back here to what seemed to trigger his frustration. The Ontario government paid for an ad that used audio from a 1987 address by Ronald Reagan, where he criticized tariffs on foreign goods.

Now, the Reagan Foundation did come out and say that they believe that that ad misrepresents what Reagan said. And while it did lack context and was edited down for timing, the overall theme of the speech was support for free and fair trade. So it's not immediately clear which specifics they took issue with.

But Trump, he ramped up the stakes here. He took to social media and said this. "The Ronald Reagan Foundation has just announced that Canada has fraudulently used an advertisement which is fake, featuring Ronald Reagan speaking negatively about tariffs." He then added in all caps, "All trade negotiations with Canada are hereby terminated."

Now, the relationship between the United States and Canada has been tense in recent months, and that's in part due to Trump's tariff policies. Now, in recent remarks after Trump said that he was canceling trade talks, Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney, he was speaking with reporters and he said that his country is focused on what it can control, which includes developing new partnerships and opportunities.

Trump and Carney are both expected to be in Asia for these upcoming summits. They do not have plans to meet.

DEAN: And so tell us more about the president's trip to Asia. I know he stopped in Qatar on his travels today, and then he'll continue on to Malaysia, Japan and other stops as well.

BENBROOK: He's been traveling all day, and as you mentioned, he even made a stop as he refueled there in Qatar to have conversations. But this is leading up to a highly anticipated meeting with Chinese President Xi. This is the first time that the two have sat down during Trump's second term, and they are expected to talk trade. This comes as a precarious time for the relations between the United States and China, as they both recently slapped sweeping new measures on each other.

Now, Trump has been presenting some optimism as he's been speaking with reporters on Air Force One about this. He said he believes it will be a good meeting, maybe even a great meeting, and that he hopes to come out of it with a comprehensive deal. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think a complete deal. I want our farmers to be taken care of and he wants things also. We're going to be talking about fentanyl of course. Fentanyl is killing a lot of people, a lot of people. It comes from China. And we'll be talking about that. We'll be talking about a lot of things. I think we have -- I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BENBROOK: In earlier remarks, Trump did say that he believes China will have to make some concessions to get to a deal. He suggested he would be willing to do the same. The exact quote there was, "I guess we would too." Officials from both countries are expected to meet in the days prior to that high-stakes sit-down.

DEAN: All right. Julia Benbrook with the very latest, thanks so much.

Also happening now, President Trump hailing a $130 million donation to the Pentagon meant to pay members of the military. The president saying that donation came from a friend of his who wants to remain anonymous. Tonight, though, "The New York Times" is reporting that the donation came from Timothy Mellon, a reclusive billionaire.

Earlier, we spoke with Tyler Pager, the reporter who broke the story about Mellon and Trump's motivation for accepting that donation.

[19:05:04]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TYLER PAGER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Yes, what's really interesting about him, Jessica, is he is a very reclusive billionaire. He's someone that was not a prolific Republican or even political donor for much of his life. Really only in the last few years or so has he really stepped up as someone who has poured millions, hundreds of millions of dollars into Republican campaigns.

But we know that Trump has been committed to trying to pay people during this government shutdown that he's worried about the military, law enforcement officials, immigration agents, and he's trying to remove some of those political pain points that presidents often feel during a government shutdown.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Now, there are still a lot of questions about the legality of accepting the donation and the donor's motivations. And because there are about 1.3 service members in the U.S., the donation ends up being about $100 for each of them.

The Trump administration, meantime, is ramping up military pressure on Venezuela over alleged drug trafficking, sending the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford into the Caribbean. It is the largest warship the U.S. has ever put to sea and the most advanced carrier in the world.

We are joined now by former NATO Supreme Allied commander, General Wesley Clark.

General Clark, good evening to you. Thanks for being here with us. This carrier is billed by the U.S. Navy as the most capable, adaptable and lethal combat platform in the world. What message does this send? And if Trump wanted to really use this or give an order, how might it be used?

GEN. WESLEY CLARK (RET.), FORMER NATO SUPREME ALLIED COMMANDER: It certainly a message of threat and intimidation to Venezuela. We don't actually know what the plan is. It may be a snatch job in which some special forces or agency people are inside Caracas, maybe already. Maybe they know where he is. Maybe the carrier air wing goes in, takes out some air defense, protects the rest of the ships from any air attack by Maduro's air force. And then maybe people go on shore and see certain assets. It's really hard to project this.

You know, Jessica, we have intervened in the Caribbean twice -- three times, actually, significantly in the last 40 years. We did go into Grenada in 1983 at the request of the CARICOM nations to stop a communist takeover of the government of Grenada. We went after Panamanian President Manuel Noriega in 1989. We took him out and then we went into Haiti to restore democracy against the junta in Haiti in 1994. But in every case, there's been some legal basis for this. There have

been warnings and so forth. And the use of force has been calibrated and effective. And to go into Venezuela, it's a very big country. There's a whole lot of people. You can't deal with it the way we did with the island of Grenada, or even the country of Panama. And we chased down Noriega for several days in Panama. He finally hid himself in the house of the papal representative there. And then we coaxed him out. This is going to be entirely different.

So it looks like it's aimed at Maduro. It looks like it's aimed at a snatch job on Maduro. And you could say, well, he promised to go along with democracy, but he didn't. So it's difficult to do diplomacy this way, I think, because normally the big eight members of Congress are briefed. Normally there's some legal basis for it. Normally there's some effort to secure a settlement before force is used. Doesn't seem to be the case here.

DEAN: And to your point, three U.S. officials are telling CNN that Trump is considering plans here to target cocaine facilities and drug trafficking routes inside Venezuela. And so -- and obviously you have your theories around exactly what that might look like. At what risk are -- you know, does -- what risk are the U.S. troops? What kind of capabilities does Maduro have to potentially respond?

CLARK: He does have naval vessels. He has air force. He has a lot of armed people, militia. He's given out AK-47 seconds everywhere. He's got diplomatic support and presence from China and Russia. There's a lot of Iranian influence there. And if you're going in after drug sites and so forth, it's -- you're really playing a sort of whack-a- mole game in Venezuela.

[19:10:02]

First of all, Venezuela is not the major drug source in the United States. If you were going to do that, you'd go after Peru. You go after Colombia, you'd go after Mexico. So maybe this is the first step in that. We don't know. But it's going to be hard to attain decisive results against Venezuela on this issue.

DEAN: And the Trump administration appears to have expanded its campaign against these alleged drug smuggling boats this week, striking a boat in the now the Pacific Ocean. So I'm curious what that tells you now about this overall strategy and goals moving forward now that they've expanded into the Pacific Ocean?

CLARK: Well, the president has and the government has sanctioned the president of Colombia. And so they don't get along. The president of Colombia has called out the United States for its actions against Venezuela. So now in the Pacific, these boats are coming either from Peru or Colombia. So it's a broader campaign.

But still, Jessica, if it's really a campaign against drugs, you've got to do something on the demand side in the United States. And really, if you want to stop it, you've got to stop it at the border and at Mexico. That's where the real threat is. So this is a large demonstration of force. It's not going to be painful to the United States. Could be sustained for a long time. But you have to question its effectiveness and whether it's efficient, proper use of resources to accomplish the goal if it is attacking a drug imports into the United States.

DEAN: All right. General Wesley Clark, great to have your thoughts on this. Thank you very much.

CLARK: Thank you, Jessica.

DEAN: Still ahead tonight, the spotlight is again shining on California. There is a monitored election. A stark warning over ICE agents and a possible attack on a coast guard station. We're going to talk with the state's attorney general when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:16:44]

DEAN: We're now less than two weeks away from election day. The Justice Department says it does plan to monitor polling sites in two Democratic-led states. That would be California and New Jersey. The move comes after Republican parties in both states sent letters to the Justice Department requesting monitors in specific counties alleging election irregularities. And now DOJ officials will be sent to six counties in those states.

Since President Trump's return to office, CNN has reported on several ways the administration has moved to assert federal authority over elections.

Joining us now, California Attorney General Rob Bonita.

Attorney General, thank you so much for being here with us. First, I just do want to start there with this election, this polling site monitoring. Have you heard anything from the administration about how they plan to carry this out? And what's your plan?

ROB BONTA, ATTORNEY GENERAL OF CALIFORNIA: Well, thanks for having me. I'm honored to be with you, and we are just aware of their intent They've named five counties, including Orange County and L.A. County, Fresno, Riverside, Kern as places where they're going to send observers. We welcome the transparency. We have transparency and observers all the time. That's a regular part of elections as long as there's no interference with, you know, poll workers and voters and counting.

But it's important to just emphasize California elections are secure. They are reliable. They are accurate. So this is unnecessary. We hope that it's not an intent for -- to participate in any voter intimidation or voter suppression, but observation without more is something the U.S. DOJ has done in the past. And that's all they do here. No worries. Have at it. We have -- all the way our elections are secure and safe and reliable.

DEAN: Just to underscore here, have you ever had -- have you all in the in the state of California had to investigate irregularities at these voting in these various counties?

BONTA: We've never had anything at scale, where there is any irregularity that could, impact an election or, you know, certainly there's, individual incidents here and there. And we've heard about that. But, you know, this conspiracy about mass scale election fraud is in, you know, is a figment of Trump's imagination. He still thinks he won the 2020 election. Come on. So you know, having DOJ come into California is nothing new. Usually it's because they usually move into states where there's some pattern or history of some problems.

I don't know what they think the problems are in these five counties. But U.S. DOJ has come in before observers are common. But we just hope that this is not an effort to suppress, bully, intimidate, and as a precursor for next year's elections, where we have a lot on the line with Congress and other elections, of course.

DEAN: I also want to talk to you about another story that has been in the news this week. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has been warning California officials, including yourself, against arresting federal law enforcement. He's posted on social media, in his words, "stand down or face prosecution." What was your reaction to that warning?

[19:20:03]

BONTA: It's sort of typical of what this administration does unfortunately when they feel like they're being criticized or called out, they lash out. And they try to bully and intimidate and so I'm not really sure what they're referencing with respect to me in that letter. All I've said, and I'll say it again now, is that federal immigration enforcement officials absolutely have a right to do their job. And as long as they're doing it lawfully. And it is unlawful for anyone to obstruct or interfere, and people ought not do that because it's unlawful.

And everyone is subject to the -- and must follow the Constitution and the law. And we are very well-versed on what the Constitution requires and what it requires of which people and what the law requires as well.

DEAN: So more specifically, obviously, there has been an intense amount of immigration activity by ICE and other agents in your state of California. What is California's long-term strategy as it comes to that particular piece of this, not just federal agents generally, but when obviously the immigration crackdown is driving a lot of this?

BONTA: Well, first, I'll say the -- you know, this is a policy of the president that is cruel. It's inhumane. This sort of mass deportation machine that he's trying to create, they're trying to achieve quotas, it seems. And they're not going after violent criminals, who are also unlawfully present, as they said they would. They're going after U.S. citizens and people lawfully present, and pregnant women and deporting U.S. citizen children.

They're doing all that. And so this is a highly problematic as a policy. And the president won an election and is allowed to implement his policy lawfully, but he can't do it unlawfully. And that's why we brought him to court 44 times in 38 weeks. We're winning 80 percent of the time, beating him in court time and time again because of his unlawfulness. So we are keeping an eye, of course, on what's happening with respect to immigration enforcement.

And we are well aware that the federal administration may lawfully engage in immigration enforcement. It's unfortunate that they're being very targeting, seemingly going after blue cities and blue states. The biggest blue state, in particular, California, the biggest city in California, L.A. in particular as well. So this is not some sort of, you know, impartial, data driven, fair approach. They're trying to go after who they see as their enemies and who they see as blue cities and blue states.

DEAN: Yes. And it sounds like the courts that that is your strategy at this moment. Going -- taking it to the courts.

All right. California Attorney General Rob Bonta, thank you so much. We really appreciate it.

BONTA: Thanks for having me.

DEAN: We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:27:35]

DEAN: It is now day 25 of the government shutdown. Neither side shows any sign of backing down. Thousands of federal workers just missed their first full paycheck. Some are now turning to food banks just to make ends meet. Meanwhile, there is no substantial dialogue happening to make any sort of compromise at the moment.

We're joined now by the staff writer at the "Atlantic," Toluse Olorunnipa.

Toluse, good to see you. Thanks for being here. I know you've done some extensive reporting on the president's efforts to shield his base from the fallout of this ongoing seems-to-not-be-ending-any-time-soon shutdown. What did you find?

TOLUSE OLORUNNIPA, STAFF WRITER, THE ATLANTIC: Well, the first question that I was trying to answer was, why is the president seem to be so nonchalant about this shutdown? He's not giving primetime addresses. He's not going up to Congress to try to get everyone in a room to solve this problem. And I looked over his remarks every time he's asked about the shutdown by reporters, he often says, you know, this is the Democrats that are being hurt.

Democrats are being harmed. We're protecting our Republican friends. And, you know, the Democrats need to come to the table because they're the ones who are finding their agencies and their programs being shut down and harmed by this. And what we found was that the president is really trying to weaponize the shutdown to hurt Democrats by pulling billions of dollars in grants and other funding from Democratic states, and then shielding his own voters by, you know, trying to steer money towards the people that he thinks would support him, including members of the military.

Now, there are some limits to that strategy as I found in my reporting. There are lots of people who voted for Trump who are being hurt by this shutdown in very significant ways. People in rural America, farmers and other folks who are just being caught up as collateral damage in this shutdown. And Trump does not seem to be focusing on them or speaking to their needs. And so I spoke to a number of them in places, including Montana, Arkansas, West Virginia, and they are really struggling.

They are really seeing this shutdown as a big challenge to their pocketbooks. And if we enter into November, when these SNAP benefits would run out, it would be even more of a hard, blunt hit to Trump's own base and the voters that he seems to care about more than anything else. And that could be what takes us from, you know, a president that seems very nonchalant and disengaged to a president who feels like he needs to solve this problem because his own voters are the ones being hurt.

DEAN: Right. Because those SNAP benefits are going to expire November 1st. And that's where we're going to see that playing out all across the country. I know some states are trying to do what they can, but that's going to have far-reaching implications as you note.

[19:30:04]

Did you get the sense in your reporting that the president connects with that kind of as potentially a moment where things may shift?

OLORUNNIPA: We haven't heard the President really talk about this at all. He's talked about how he's tried to protect his own base by steering money towards the military, getting his friends to donate hundreds of millions of dollars to support the military. He hasn't really seemed to engage with this idea that on November 1st, this is going to get real for tens of millions of people who rely on SNAP benefits to keep food on the table for their families.

And so, this is the President that's been focused on his ballroom. He's done a lot of stuff about foreign policy over the last couple of weeks, but he hasn't really spent a lot of time engaging on the shutdown, the way that we typically see presidents do when the government runs out of money.

Normally we see them calling members of Congress trying to cut deals. Even the President, before he became President, said that the way you solve problems in the government shutdown in 2013, when Obama was the one who was president, is that you get everyone in the room.

And so, as this prepares to become a much more significant economic issue for a number of people, it is going to be incumbent upon the President to engage, to showcase that he cares about the people that are being hurt by this and that he's willing to take the steps that are necessary as a dealmaker to get everyone in the room and solve this problem, as opposed to just trying to weaponize it or create this broader partisan fight that we've been seeing for the last 25 days with no resolution in sight.

DEAN: And what about the Democrats in all of this? Obviously, they have been holding out for these healthcare subsidies. But now as we get into as we've noted, day 25, trying to make sure that these workers get paid, it's hurting people beyond that who rely on benefits from the federal government and from federal programs. How are you or what are you hearing about how Democrats are framing this? Do they still think, I mean, they'll tell you publicly they think this is worth it. Do you think that there is a line in which they'll start to give?

OLORUNNIPA: They also feel the pressure and they feel the pressure from their constituents, who also rely on a number of these benefits and government programs. What I've heard from Democrats so far is that they've heard from their constituents up to this point, that they want them to keep fighting.

This is one of the few opportunities they have to fight back against a President who breaks norms on a regular basis, who does not listen to the co-equal branch of government in Congress. And the polling right now shows that Republicans are taking slightly more of the blame than Democrats.

So, for the time being, Democrats feel like this is the fight that they want to have and the fight that they can potentially win. But as we enter into November, as the shutdown goes longer and longer and people miss more and more paychecks, a number of Democratic lawmakers are going to be hearing from their constituents that they're really struggling, that they're really hurting from this shutdown. And they may also feel pressure to come to the table and put something that potentially Republicans could agree to.

And so this is a point in time where the heat is going to be turning up on both parties to try to come to a solution, because there's a lot of collateral damage, even as they're trying to parse out who's winning the political fight. There are a lot of people, everyday citizens, nonpolitical people who are being hurt by this. And both Republicans and Democrats are hearing that from their constituents.

DEAN: Yes, a lot of people out there being hurt by this in red and blue states, Democrats and Republicans alike.

Toluse, thank you so much. Good to see you.

OLORUNNIPA: Thank you.

DEAN: President Trump says grocery prices are coming down, but the numbers tell a different story. New inflation data shows food prices in September were up 1.4 percent compared to January, the month that the President took office. CNN's Daniel Dale breaks down which items are seeing the biggest spike in tonight's fact check.

DANIEL DALE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: President. Trump has said over and over in recent weeks that prices are down and inflation has been vanquished. Listen to just some of his recent comments.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP (R) PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: Inflation, I've already taken care of. Economically, the country is the strongest it's ever been.

Prices are way down in our country.

And inflation has been defeated.

And now our inflation is down to a perfect number, a beautiful number, hardly any at all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: None of that is true. Prices are up, not down and inflation is accelerating. The latest Consumer Price Index Report that came out on Friday showed that overall consumer prices rose 0.3 percent from August to September. They were up about 1.7 percent from the beginning of President Trump's term in January and up about three percent from September 2024.

Now, that year over year increase was actually a smidge over three percent if you go to multiple decimal places, which means that it was the biggest year over year jump since May 2024.

Now, it's still certainly much lower than the Biden era inflation peak, above nine percent in 2022, but it is simply not the case that, as President Trump is saying, prices are down, inflation no longer exists.

Now, President Trump is also making repeated false claims about grocery prices, in particular. Listen to some of the comments he's made about that subject.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Grocery prices are way down.

Groceries are down.

And now, as you know, groceries are down.

We've gotten prices way down for groceries.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DALE: All of that is also false. Grocery prices continue to increase.

The Consumer Price Index Report showed that they increased 0.3 percent from August to September, that followed a 0.6 percent grocery prices continue to increase from July to August, which was the biggest jump in three years. They're up about 1.4 percent from the beginning of this Trump term, up about 2.7 percent from September 2024.

[19:35:29] Now, if you talk to food economists, as I did, I'll tell you there are all sorts of reasons unrelated to the President that grocery prices might increase, but they'll also tell you that it very much appears that two of this President's signature policies appear to be significantly contributing to the increases we're seeing right now.

And those are a crackdown on undocumented immigrants who make up a large percentage of the U.S. farm workforce and significant tariffs on many imported goods, including food. And if you go to the list of grocery items and see that price increases over time, you'll see that some of the products with the biggest increases right now are products that are almost entirely imported, for example, bananas and coffee.

Now, also on the list is beef. There are a lot of domestic beef production as well. There are multiple factors at play and that increase, but economists say that tariffs are still one of them.

Daniel Dale, CNN.

DEAN: All right, Daniel thank you.

After the break, he was handcuffed by police because an A.I. security system thought his bag of chips was a gun. We're hearing from the teenager who was shaken up by this and the company behind the technology.

You're in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:41:09]

DEAN: One Baltimore high school student is reacting to a frightening experience. Police ambushed and handcuffed him after an artificial intelligence security system mistook his bag of chips for a gun.

The student says eight police cars pulled up to the school while he was waiting for with friends for a ride home after football practice. And now, the Maryland High School is facing some tough questions, including county officials calling for a review of how Kenwood High School uses that A.I. system.

Let's bring in Julia Vargas Jones who's been following this story. So what happens now, Julia?

JULIA VARGAS JONES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that is exactly what these officials are asking the school board. How is it that they use this A.I. enhanced security system? And how is it that it escalated, Jessica, to the point of police officers actually going onto school property and pulling a gun on one of their students? What happened here and what we know from the school and communications that they sent to parents earlier this week is that that Security Department of the of the school reviewed that footage and actually flagged it as non-threatening. They realized that that was just a bag of chips.

But another flag continued to go up and the school's principal said that she received that alert and then didn't realize that it had been canceled and allowed that to continue and escalate until those eight police cars arrived on school property. But I want you to hear from that student what that moment was like.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TAKI ALLEN, HIGH SCHOOL STUDENT: At first, I didn't know where they was going until they started walking towards me with guns, talking about get on the ground, and I was like, what? They made me get on my knees and put my hands behind my back and cuffed me and then they searched me, and then they figured out I didn't have nothing. Then they went over there to where I was standing, found a bag of chips on the floor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JONES: And in the body camera footage, Jessica, you can actually hear the police officers explaining to the kid how A.I. doesn't always get things right and kind of saying, yes, we did think that that was a bag of chips, looking at it now, of course. This company is called Omni Alert, it is a company that is used by a lot of different high schools and elementary schools around the United States.

They say, though, they warn those schools that that still needs to be reviewed by a human, that you can't just rely on their alert alone. And they say that this system is designed to identify a threat and then elevate it. And that's when a human has to look at it to make that decision, Jessica.

A lot of the experts that CNN spoke to as well, they say you can't just rely on those systems alone.

DEAN: All right. Julia Vargas Jones, thanks so much.

A family spokesperson has confirmed actress, June Lockhart, who was a mother figure to an entire generation of television viewers, has died of natural causes at 100.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUNE LOCKHART, AMERICAN ACTRESS: Now, none of us here would like that at all.

UNIDENTIFIED CHILD: I won't get any pleasure out of it either.

LOCKHART: Well, if you did leave, don't you think that would be a little bit like running away?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: Lockhart soared to fame in 1958 for her roles in the classic T.V. series "Lassie" and "Lost In Space."

Her portrayals of warm, compassionate mothers captured young viewers hearts for decades. Off camera, though, she was nothing like the women she portrayed. She was quoted as saying, "I love rock and roll and going to the concerts. I have driven Army tanks and flown in hot air balloons and I go plane gliding, the ones with no motors. I do a lot of things that don't go with my image."

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:49:21]

DEAN: Happening now, early voting is underway in two high stakes governors races in New Jersey and Virginia, both contests could offer clues about how Democrats might perform in next year's midterms. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has a closer look at the candidates and what's at stake.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REP. ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA): Are you ready to win?

JEFF ZELENY, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT (voice over): There's little doubt Democrats are ready to win. The more pressing question is how. As the party searches for a way back to power, in Virginia --

SPANBERGER: It's not just vote against something but we will vote for the policies that we believe in.

ZELENY (voice over): And Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey.

REP. MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ): As Governor, I'm going to be accountable to all of you. You should demand nothing less.

ZELENY (voice over): Are in the home stretch of their races for governor, which many Democrats hope could offer a roadmap for the way forward again.

[19:50:12]

It was 2018 when Spanberger and Sherrill were stars of a blue wave. As Democrats swept control of the House and the party began to roar back. Two years after President Trump's first election.

SPANBERGER: We brought respect and decency back to the political process.

SHERRILL: We know that in chaos lies opportunity.

ZELENY (voice over): Back then, these Democrats won red seats through the power of their biographies. Sherrill, a Navy helicopter pilot. Spanberger, a federal agent and CIA officer. They forged a friendship, becoming roommates on Capitol Hill.

VOICE OVER: Navy helicopter pilot, Mikie Sherrill.

ZELENY (voice over): Their National Security credentials are front and center again as they run for governor.

SHERRILL: The Navy taught me in a crisis, you either find a way or make one.

SPANBERGER: After 9/11, I walked the halls of CIA as a case officer working counterterrorism.

ZELENY (on camera): What is it like to be both in governor's races? You guys talk about that or --

SHERRILL: It's hard to believe. Here is somebody who comes from that national service background like I do. Someone who's a mom, like I am. She has three kids. I have four, they're roughly the same ages.

Abigail and I, I don't think either of us thought we were going to run for office until in 2018, we felt called to serve again and have been in it ever since.

ZELENY (voice over): Across the river in New York City, a far different approach for Democrats is unfolding. In a mayor's race that has emerged as an epic, generational and ideological clash between Andrew Cuomo and Zohran Mamdani.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D) NEW YORK CITY MAYORAL NOMINEE: It is the power of a movement that won the battle over the soul of the Democratic Party.

ZELENY (voice over): But that battle for the party's soul may just be getting started.

Bernie Sanders and the progressive wing are all in for Mamdani. While most other big name Democrats are hitting the campaign trail in support of a far more moderate direction.

PETE BUTTIGIEG, (D) FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Everything about her turns the GOP narrative about who Democrats are upside down.

ZELENY (voice over): Barbara Lee is among the voters we met who is often frustrated by her fellow Democrats.

BARBARA LEE, VIRGINIA DEMOCRAT: Let me tell you about the Democrats.

ZELENY (on camera): Yes, tell me.

LEE: We just had too many people to please. That's why it's so hard for us. We are being attacked from all areas, not just Republicans, but from my own party. So, let's get that out of the way and we can go on with the next.

ZELENY (on camera): And heading into the final stretch. Spanberger in Virginia appears to be in a much stronger position than Sherrill does in New Jersey. One reason that argument for change is different.

Sherrill is running to succeed Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat. Not since 1961 have New Jersey voters elected three Democratic governors in a row.

Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

DEAN: All right, Jeff, thank you so much. Tonight, Jamaica is bracing for the arrival of Hurricane Melissa, which is expected to become a dangerous Category 5 before slamming into the island. We will update you on the storm's track next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[19:57:52]

DEAN: A short time ago, President Trump warned Hamas to return all hostage remains, saying he's watching closely over the next 48 hours. Now, his announcement comes after Secretary of State, Marco Rubio and U.S. Ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee met with American-Israeli hostage families this afternoon. The U.S. official's meeting with those families of hostages whose bodies are still being held in Gaza. Hamas has returned 18 of the 25 bodies it pledged to return under that U.S. brokered ceasefire.

Just hours after becoming a hurricane, Melissa now expected to intensify into a rare Category 5 by Monday. Right now, parts of Jamaica are under a hurricane warning. Businesses and people are rushing to prepare for potentially life threatening winds and rain.

Tonight, a new episode of "Have I Got News for You." The crew jumps into this week's headlines, here's a preview.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROY WOOD, JR., COMEDIAN AND ACTOR: MSNBC confirmed the existence of a memo written by one of the career prosecutors, who was fired by Lindsey Halligan and the memo doesn't look great for the prosecution's case.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Remember that prosecutors alleged that the profit that James made on this mortgage favorable interest rate, they allege that she got on the second home amounted to about $50.00 a month.

PAULA POUNDSTONE, AMERICAN COMEDIAN AND AUTHOR: In the picture there, it was with a sketch artist. Of all the things that we've done to our justice system, where it's just not right. They were still hanging on to that, no cameras, no cameras in the courtroom, I feel like coming out naked except for band aides over your nipples, do you know what I mean? Like, at this point, who cares if there's cameras in the courtroom? It doesn't matter. The poor sketch guy -- no, okay, you can only see him at charcoal. That's so silly.

WOOD, JR.: Paula Poundstone, not a fan of the sketch artist union.

POUNDSTONE: That's not what I'm saying.

WOOD, JR.: That's what you said. I heard you taking jobs away from sketch artists.

POUNDSTONE: No, I have a background in courtroom sketch artists.

WOOD, JR.: Now, on to Halligan's the other day. POUNDSTONE: My whole family was in the courtroom to sketch. There was the criminal element of the Poundstone family and then there were the sketchers.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

DEAN: A new episode airs tonight at 9:00 P.M. Eastern and Pacific, it is only here on CNN. Thank you so much for joining me this evening.

I'm Jessica Dean. I'm going to see you again tomorrow night. We start at five right here, "Real Time with Bill Maher" starts right now. Have a great night everyone.