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--:-- Shamita Basu: Good morning. It's Wednesday, November 5th. I'm Shamita Basu. This is Apple News Today.
--:-- Shamita Basu: On today's show, a clean sweep for Democrats on election night, a Supreme Court case that could define Trump's economic legacy, and the latest on the UPS plane crash in Kentucky. Let's start with last night's elections, which were seen as an early gauge of voter sentiment in President Trump's second term.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Democrats won key victories by large margins. CNN projects that Democratic Socialist Zoran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate, will be elected the next mayor of New York, New York. In neighboring New Jersey, the Fox News decision desk projects that Democrat Mikey Sherrill will become the state's next governor there. CNN has projected that former Democratic congresswoman and CIA case officer Abigail Spanberger will be elected governor of Virginia. NBC News projects that the Prop 50 race in California will be decided in favor.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yes, wins on Prop 50 in California. For progressives, Mamdani's victory was evidence that a left-wing economic agenda combined with clear messaging could build a new coalition of voters. He will be the first Muslim and first South Asian to lead New York City, and at 34, the youngest in over a century.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Last night in his victory speech, he alluded to the odds he was up against. Over the last 12 months, you have dared to reach for something greater. Tonight, against all odds, we have grasped it. The future is in our hands. My friends, we have toppled a political dynasty.
--:-- Shamita Basu: More than two million votes were counted in New York City Tuesday, making it the highest turnout in more than half a century. Speaking to CNN, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said it was a defeat for the old guard of her party.
--:-- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: The Democratic Party cannot last much longer by denying the future, by trying to undercut our young, by trying to undercut a next generation of diverse and upcoming Democrats that have the parties, the actual party, the actual electorate and voter support.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As recently as February, Mamdani was polling at 1% in the primaries, tied with the someone else option. Now, as the Wall Street Journal put it, a Democratic socialist has the chance to run a city regarded as the epicenter of global capitalism.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In recent days, President Trump has threatened to target New York if Mamdani won. Last night, the new mayor-elect said he believed Trump was watching and told him to, quote, turn the volume up.
--:-- Shamita Basu: New York will remain a city of immigrants a city built by immigrants powered by immigrants and as of tonight led by an immigrant So hear me, President Trump, when I say this, to get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us.
--:-- Shamita Basu: There were also two critical gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey that we've mentioned. In those states where President Trump improved on his margins in the 2024 election, Democrats running as self-styled moderates won easily.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Former Representative Abigail Spanberger will become Virginia's first ever female governor, defeating Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears. Virginia, along with Jersey, is one of two states that holds gubernatorial elections the year between a presidential contest and the midterms, making it a political bellwether for observers.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Spanberger won by more than 10 points, the largest Democratic margin in 40 years, according to Semaphore. We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025, Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our commonwealth over chaos.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Virginia is home to more than 147,000 federal workers, making it one of the most severely affected areas from the government shutdown. So far, most polls show voters place more blame on Republicans for the impasse.
--:-- Shamita Basu: In New Jersey, some polls suggested a closer race, but in the end, Democrat Mikey Sherrill easily beat Republican candidate Jack Cittarelli by double digits. It's the first time in decades that any party has led the state for three consecutive terms as she's following a two-term Democratic governor.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Sherrill focused her campaign on defending New Jersey from Trump, a theme that she returned to last night. We're going to follow Lady Liberty's beacon. We're not going to give in to our darker impulses. Here in New Jersey, we know that this nation has not ever been, nor will it ever be, ruled by kings.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Republican consultant and pollster Robert Cahaley offered his analysis on Fox News, saying the gridlock in Washington loomed big in these local elections.
--:-- Robert Cahaley: Shutdown, shutdown, shutdown. That had a big effect on this election. We saw many Republicans start to go down as the weeks continued to go with the shutdown.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Tomorrow, the legacy media is going to say it's Donald Trump. It's all his trouble. It's not. It was a shutdown.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Number two, the GOP has to figure out how to turn out races without Donald Trump on the ballot. And finally, in California, the yes win for Proposition 50 will give California Democrats the chance to redraw their maps in time for the midterms as a response to recent gerrymandering efforts by Republican states.
--:-- Shamita Basu: But Governor Gavin Newsom's speech was sober in tone, a stark contrast to the celebrations elsewhere. He called it an extraordinary night for his party, but there were no smiles or fist pumps as he addressed supporters.
--:-- Gavin Newsom: We stood tall and we stood firm in response to Donald Trump recklessness. And tonight after poking the bear this bear roared with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Yesterday, Trump's press secretary, Caroline Levitt, said the administration was looking into executive action after Trump made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud in California. California's agency in charge of elections described that claim as baseless.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Late into the night, Democratic strategists poured over the results in search of takeaways. The party has spent the past year debating what lessons to take from a punishing 2024 defeat. Today, for the first time in a while, the key question is how to understand their success.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Now to the Supreme Court, which today will consider whether President Trump had the legal authority to impose many of his sweeping global tariffs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Their decision could define a central plank of Trump's agenda and send ripples through the global economy. The Constitution grants Congress the power to impose tariffs. But to get around that, Trump has relied on a decades-old Emergency Economic Powers Act.
--:-- Shamita Basu: As Bloomberg's Supreme Court reporter George Storr told us, the case today rests on a key question. Does Donald Trump need clear congressional authorization to do what he wants to do?
--:-- George Storr: And the president is arguing that notion doesn't apply here because we're dealing with foreign affairs and national security. And those are areas where usually the court defers to the president because the president does have constitutional authority over those areas.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Storr said that Trump's argument rests on two claims, that both the trade deficit and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S. amount to emergencies that he should be able to address using tariffs.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If the Supreme Court disagrees, it's unclear how easily the White House could achieve their goals by other means, or if Trump has to completely unwind this crucial pillar of his economic agenda and geopolitical strategy.
--:-- Shamita Basu: They would also raise questions about the fate of tariff revenue that's been collected so far. According to data collated by U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, American businesses have paid the government almost $90 billion to cover the specific tariffs being challenged here.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If the court rules against the president, it would seem as though the people who paid the tariffs, U.S. companies, importers, are entitled to a refund. How exactly that happens, though, may be complicated for multiple reasons.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Trump has acknowledged that a ruling against him would mean that refunds could potentially be issued. A ruling against the administration could also impact the way in which it's used tariffs and the threat of them to negotiate with other countries.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Treasury Secretary Scott Besant told CNBC yesterday there were, quote, other options, but he conceded they were cumbersome and less effective.
--:-- Shamita Basu: It gives the U.S. and the president the most negotiating authority. And again, this is a signature policy for the president. And traditionally, SCOTUS has been loath to interfere with these signature policies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Besant has acknowledged in court papers that the legal challenges have left some world leaders wondering about the president's authority on the matter. And countries have begun planning their domestic policy on the assumption of tariffs sticking around.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Just yesterday, Canada unveiled its federal budget that outlined new spending plans in response to Trump's policies.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Storr said that the administration could have some pathways to continue with tariffs, even with an unfavorable ruling. There's a lot of trade laws out there. So what we'll probably see is the administration trying to reimpose at least some of these tariffs using those different tools and the president continuing to say, oh, we can still slap you with tariffs. We just have to go through this other process.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If Trump wins and the court disagrees with the plaintiffs, they could further legitimize his authority to regulate aspects of the economy without the input of Congress.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Before we let you go, a few other stories we're following. The UPS plane crash has left at least seven people dead in Louisville, Kentucky. The cargo plane erupted into a fireball moments after takeoff.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Reuters reports that authorities were forced to halt flight operations after several buildings near the runway also caught fire after the crash. The Louisville Airport is a global hub for the shipping company's air cargo operations. And its largest package handling facility worldwide.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Eleven people on the ground were left with significant injuries. An investigation is now underway to determine the cause.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The government shutdown is now the longest in history, but lawmakers are starting to talk with a little more optimism than before.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Republican Senator Mark Wayne Mullen suggested to NBC he was, quote, pretty confident of a deal this week, and that Democrats had privately indicated they could vote for a short-term funding bill.
--:-- Shamita Basu: While Politico reports that up to a dozen Democrats now privately believe it's time to vote to reopen the government.
--:-- Shamita Basu: A 14th vote failed yesterday, with no change to the voting dynamics. Meanwhile, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned on Tuesday of mass chaos if the shutdown continues into next week, and said he may be forced to close some airspace.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And in a somewhat eerie mistake, the state of Maine's biggest health care system inadvertently sent condolence letters to more than 500 of its patients who are still alive, effectively informing them of their own death.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Maine Health said the letters were the result of a computer error and apologized.
--:-- Shamita Basu: The Guardian reports when one woman who received a letter called Maine Health to let them know about the error, an employee told her they were glad to hear she was alive and well, to which she responded, yeah, me too.
--:-- Shamita Basu: You can find all these stories and more in the Apple News app. And if you're already listening in the News app right now, we've got a narrated article coming up next.
--:-- Shamita Basu: Rolling Stone reports on a company in Tennessee selling plots of land in the hopes of building a new town for conservative Christians. But even in a deep red state, the plan is raising eyebrows.
--:-- Shamita Basu: If you're listening in the podcast app, follow Apple News Plus Narrated to find that story.
--:-- Shamita Basu: And I'll be back with the news tomorrow.
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