AMNA NAWAZ: Good evening.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

On the "News Hour" tonight: Democrats dominate election night, as economic anxieties and discontent with President Trump's leadership weighed heavily on Republican candidates.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Supreme Court hears arguments in a case questioning whether the president overstepped his authority when he imposed tariffs on nearly every country in the world.

GEOFF BENNETT: And it's now the longest government shutdown in U.S.

history.

Tonight, we speak with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about why Washington remains at an impasse.

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): People are suffering all across the country.

We need a bipartisan path forward to reopening the government.

(BREAK) GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

In the first major elections since President Trump's return to office, Democrats celebrated wins from coast to coast.

New York City's next mayor will be Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani.

And two moderate Democrats, Mikie Sherrill and Abigail Spanberger, will be the next governors of New Jersey and Virginia, respectively.

AMNA NAWAZ: Other wins went beyond the big races.

In Pennsylvania, voters kept three Democrats on the state's Supreme Court.

In Albany, they elected the city's first Black mayor.

All told, the elections made history in many ways and were very much a referendum on Mr.

Trump and his policies.

Our White House correspondent, Liz Landers, leads our coverage tonight.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: For Democrats across the country, a victory lap after big wins up and down the ballot last night, a clean sweep for the party in major races from coast to coast.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI (D), New York City Mayor-Elect: Hope is alive.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: Starting with big changes in the Big Apple.

New York City saw the largest turnout in a mayoral election in more than 50 years, and more than half of voters backed Zohran Mamdani.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI: New York, tonight you have delivered a mandate for change.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: The self-styled Democratic socialist makes history as the first Muslim elected mayor, and at only 34 years old, the youngest person to serve in more than a century.

The mayor-elect beat back a challenge from former Governor Andrew Cuomo, as well as incredible pressure from President Trump, who has threatened to cut federal support for the city.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI: So, Donald Trump, since I know you're watching... LIZ LANDERS: The mayor-elect took on the president directly.

ZOHRAN MAMDANI: If anyone can show a nation betrayed by Donald Trump how to defeat him, it is the city that gave rise to him.

(CHEERING) ZOHRAN MAMDANI: And if there is any way to terrify a despot, it is by dismantling the very conditions that allowed him to accumulate power.

(CHEERING)ú LIZ LANDERS: Across the river in New Jersey... MIKIE SHERRILL (D-NJ), Governor-Elect: And I am incredibly honored to be your next governor.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: ... Democrat Mikie Sherrill won a decisive victory over her Republican challenger and Trump ally Jack Ciattarelli in a state the president made significant gains in last year.

MIKIE SHERRILL: I have spoken with thousands of you over this last year.

I know your struggles.

I know your hopes.

I know your dreams.

So serving you is worth any tough fight I have to take on.

LIZ LANDERS: Sherrill's victory marks the first time a political party has held the governor's office in the Garden State for three consecutive terms in more than 50 years.

It was a good night for Democrats in Virginia as well.

ABIGAIL SPANBERGER (D-VA), Governor-Elect: Adam said to our daughters: "Your mom's going to be the governor of Virginia."

(CHEERING) ABIGAIL SPANBERGER: And I can guarantee those words have never been spoken in Virginia ever before.

(CHEERING) LIZ LANDERS: Abigail Spanberger will be the state's first female governor.

As well, her lieutenant governor, Ghazala Hashmi, will be the first Muslim woman elected to statewide office in the country.

And embattled candidate Jay Jones unseated the incumbent Republican attorney general, overcoming a scandal over violent text messages he sent back in 2022 suggesting a formal lawmaker should be shot.

Nearly every county in the state shifted in Democrats' favor from last year, helping usher in a large majority in the state legislature.

Those races weren't the only Democratic wins.

In Georgia, Democrats flipped two seats on a commission that regulates the state's utilities.

In Pennsylvania, three Democrats on the Supreme Court will keep their seats for 10 more years.

In Maine, voters rejected a Republican-backed effort to restrict voting access.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM (D-CA): But what a night for the Democratic Party.

LIZ LANDERS: The rising issue of redistricting was also on the ballot clear across the country in California.

Voters overwhelmingly approved a new congressional map that could potentially help Democrats win five additional seats next year in the U.S.

House.

Republicans quickly filed a lawsuit today to block it.

Governor Gavin Newsom launched the redistricting effort just a few months ago to push back on President Trump and Republican redistricting efforts that began in Texas and expanded to several other states.

GOV.

GAVIN NEWSOM: This is a pattern.

This is a practice.

Donald Trump's efforts to rig the midterm election continue to this day.

And, tonight, after poking the bear, this bear roared with an unprecedented turnout in a special election with an extraordinary result.

LIZ LANDERS: Speaking to Republican lawmakers today, President Trump had a different takeaway.

DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Last night, it was not expected to be a victory.

It was very Democrat areas.

But I don't think it was good for Republicans.

I don't think it was good.

I'm sure it was good for anybody.

But we had an interesting evening, and we learned a lot.

If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans.

And that was a big factor.

And they say that I wasn't on the ballot was the biggest factor.

LIZ LANDERS: The Republican candidates in both New Jersey and Virginia closely aligned themselves with the president.

But Trump did not hit the campaign trail for either.

In their concession speeches last night, Republicans congratulated their Democratic opponents, but were also unapologetic.

Virginia's candidate for governor, Winsome Earle-Sears: LT.

GOV.

WINSOME EARLE-SEARS (R-VA), Gubernatorial Candidate: Virginia is not a radical leftist state.

And we will hold to account anyone who tries to impose on us the ideology of the left.

LIZ LANDERS: The GOP tonight left to reexamine their strategy, while Democrats feel they may have discovered a blueprint for a blue wave next year.

For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Liz Landers.

GEOFF BENNETT: And let's hear now from one of last night's winners.

William Brangham spoke earlier today with the winner of Virginia's race for lieutenant governor about the issues that fueled her victory and those that powered Democratic gains across the country.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Last night, State Senator Ghazala Hashmi defeated former conservative talk radio host Republican John Reid.

And she will assume the second in command position in Virginia next year.

Lieutenant Governor-Elect, congratulations on your victory last night.

And thank you so much for being here on the program.

GHAZALA HASHMI (D-VA), Lieutenant Governor-Elect: Well, thank you so much.

Delighted to join you.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: In your victory speech last night, you talked about the challenges that Virginia faces, mentioning that some of those, you argued, were generations-old challenges.

What do you see as the biggest issues facing your state going forward?

GHAZALA HASHMI: Well, the immediate challenges that we are facing here in Virginia are really compounded by what's happening in Washington these days.

Virginia is home to tens of thousands of federal employees.

And the DOGE cuts that have started since January of this year have had a massive impact on so many Virginians.

Those loss of jobs have impacted the economy of Northern Virginia, but, most importantly, they have seriously impacted the lives of so many of our citizens.

And on top of that now, we have the compounding crisis of the federal shutdown, which is creating many hardships for those same families, but also accelerating the issues that we are seeing on a variety of issues, whether it's health care access, the cuts to SNAP benefits, and many of our issues around rising costs.

So those are the immediate concerns that we're facing here in Virginia.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: A lot of the narrative about your victory in Virginia and other Democrats around the country was that this was a repudiation of the Trump administration.

What do you make of that analysis?

GHAZALA HASHMI: I think, for us here in the commonwealth, that's certainly a very important part of it.

Donald Trump's policies are not popular, most especially because of the critical harms that we have seen on the ground here.

Our candidates, and myself included, we ran on the issues that are impacting Virginia's families.

I have been talking to constituents and Virginians for the past 20 months.

The cost of health care has been going up, the lack of access to affordable housing, the compounding crises of losing jobs and facing issues of concern around childcare.

All of these concerns have really been part of the conversations I have been having.

By contrast, our opponents ran on messages of bigotry, xenophobia, scapegoating.

That's not a winning message.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: Your new governor, Abigail Spanberger, told us before the election that, when we asked her about working with the Trump administration, she said that she didn't really foresee a way to do that, likening it to working with the arsonist who just burned down the building.

How do you see the role, your role, of working with the administration in Washington?

GHAZALA HASHMI: Well, one thing we have seen across states that have Democratic leadership is the opportunity to build coalitions and to respond to the unconstitutional actions and the direct attacks that we see coming out of the Trump White House.

And now that we are moving into Democratic leadership here in Virginia at the top with a governor and attorney general and myself, we are able to join those other states that have filed lawsuit after lawsuit and have challenged what the administration is doing.

We saw this most particularly last week, when 20-plus states with Democratic leadership filed lawsuit against cuts to SNAP benefits.

And two federal judges upheld that lawsuit and are now requiring the disbursement of those critical resources to cover SNAP costs.

And so this is the ability that we have in this new administration to challenge the Trump White House, rather than capitulate to it in the ways that we have seen our current governor and attorney general doing.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: I just want to ask you one personal question.

You did make history last night, not only as the first Muslim woman elected statewide in Virginia, but the first Muslim woman elected statewide anywhere in the country.

I mean, I imagine on some level you would rather your faith not be an issue at all.

But, personally, I wonder, does -- how does this moment feel for you?

GHAZALA HASHMI: Well, it feels tremendous, most especially because of the reactions and the responses that I'm hearing, not just from Virginians, but all across the country, especially from young women, women who come from diverse backgrounds and other faith traditions.

They see an opportunity, they value the representation, and they know how critical it is that diverse voices be at every level of government and also in those spaces where historically our perspectives and our representation has not been.

And they understand that value.

And I'm very delighted to be the first.

But I certainly know that I will not be the last.

The work that we're doing here in Virginia is really representative of the growing diversity of all of our communities and the need to ensure that multiple perspectives and backgrounds, ethnicities are truly present when decisions are being made.

WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, that is Lieutenant Governor-Elect Ghazala Hashmi of Virginia.

Thank you so much for joining us.

GHAZALA HASHMI: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we start the day's other news in Kentucky.

Federal safety officials say the wing of a UPS cargo plane caught fire and its engine fell off just before it crashed after takeoff yesterday.

Video shows a trail of smoke cutting across the sky in Louisville after the plane burst into flames.

At least 11 people were killed and more than a dozen injured.

Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says the plane narrowly missed a local restaurant and a major Ford factory nearby.

But the city's mayor said this afternoon the damage is still devastating.

CRAIG GREENBERG (D), Mayor of Louisville, Kentucky: The impact and intensity of the wreckage, of the charred wreckage is unlike anything I have ever seen before.

The vast size of the debris field where the plane crashed in flames is completely heartbreaking.

GEOFF BENNETT: The plane was fully loaded with fuel for a flight to Honolulu when it went down.

The airport has since resumed operations, but UPS has warned that some deliveries could be delayed.

U.S.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio briefed House and Senate leadership today about the Trump administration's strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The meeting comes a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth posted video of the latest deadly strike, which he said killed two people in the Eastern Pacific.

It's the 16th such attack since September.

At least 66 people have been killed.

President Trump has justified the strikes by saying the U.S.

is an armed conflict with drug cartels.

But lawmakers and legal experts have questioned the validity of that claim.

In Los Angeles, an immigration raid involving a toddler is raising new questions about the tactics being used by immigration agents.

The L.A.

times obtained this eyewitness video from outside a Home Depot yesterday.

It shows agents apprehending a 32-year-old U.S.

citizen as his toddler sits in the car.

Two heavily armed masked agents then drive away with the child in the back seat without the father.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security says the man had exited his vehicle wielding a hammer and threw rocks at law enforcement.

He was arrested for assault.

An immigrants rights group says the child, who turns 2 in January, has been reunited with family and is safe, while adding the family is obviously traumatized by the incident.

Separately, in Chicago, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley posted this video online, which he says shows a preschool teacher being dragged out of her school.

The woman is believed to be from Colombia and was reportedly heard saying in Spanish: "I have papers."

Chicago has become a focal point of the Trump administration's aggressive immigration crackdown.

A DHS official responded by saying Quigley had misrepresented the facts and that the officers were carrying out a -- quote -- "targeted traffic stop" of an illegal alien who had fled inside.

In the Middle East, Israel and Hamas have carried out their latest exchange, with Israel handing over the remains of 15 Palestinians and Hamas returning what is believed to be the body of an Israeli hostage.

The exchanges are part of the ongoing, yet fragile cease-fire agreement that took effect last month.

Meantime, in Gaza itself, residents are bracing for winter, with many having lost their homes to Israeli bombardments.

And while aid is getting into the territory, those who have returned home say conditions are dire.

UMM AMIR MUQAT, Displaced Palestinian (through translator): We have no life here.

We have lost all hope.

We have no water.

We have no food.

We came back to rubble.

We need a tent to live in for us and for our children and to have our lives back to the way it was before.

GEOFF BENNETT: Officials in Gaza say only about a quarter of the aid trucks agreed to in the cease-fire deal are reaching their destinations due to Israeli restrictions.

Israel says it's fulfilling its obligations under the agreement and blames Hamas fighters for any shortages.

On Wall Street today, stocks ended higher amid a steady stream of largely positive corporate earnings.

The Dow Jones industrial average added more than 200 points on the day.

The Nasdaq rose around 150 points.

The S&P 500 also closed in positive territory.

Still to come on the "News Hour": House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries on what is now the longest U.S.

government shutdown on record; we delve deeper into last night's election results and what they signal for next year's midterms; plus, Judy Woodruff reports on an effort to bridge political divides in what was once coal country.

AMNA NAWAZ: The Trump administration's sweeping tariff plan may be on shaky ground after a Supreme Court hearing focused on his authority to impose the measures.

Several justices on the court questioned the legality of the tariffs and how much power the president has to broadly enact his agenda.

Here's Justice Neil Gorsuch with U.S.

Solicitor General John Sauer.

NEIL GORSUCH, U.S.

Supreme Court Associate Justice: What would prohibit Congress from just abdicating all responsibility to regulate foreign commerce, for that matter, declare war to the president?

D. JOHN SAUER, U.S.

Solicitor General: We don't contend that he could do that.

If it did... NEIL GORSUCH: Why not?

D. JOHN SAUER: Well, because we're dealing with a statute, again, that has a whole set of... NEIL GORSUCH: I'm not asking about the statute.

General, I'm not asking about the statute.

I'm asking for your theory of the Constitution.

AMNA NAWAZ: Meanwhile, attorney Neal Katyal, arguing four small businesses challenging the tariffs, said the case was about more than the president's agenda.

NEAL KATYAL, Attorney for Tariff Opponents: This case is not about the president.

It's about the presidency.

It's not about partisanship.

It's about principle.

And, above all, it's about upholding the majestic separation of powers laced into our Constitution that is the foundation for our government.

AMNA NAWAZ: The case will have major implications for the global economy and the limits of future president's power.

For more on this, I'm joined by the "News Hour"'s Supreme Court analyst.

That is Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog.

Good to see you.

AMY HOWE: Good to see you too.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, before we jump into what happened today, what exactly is the question before the Supreme Court on this case?

AMY HOWE: So the question at the center of the case is the president's power to enact these sweeping tariffs.

And the president relies on a 1977 law called the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, the somewhat unwieldy acronym IEEPA.

And the challengers say that that law simply does not give him the authority that he's claiming.

AMNA NAWAZ: You heard in that exchange there Justice Gorsuch injecting a little skepticism in that line of questioning.

Did we hear that from other conservatives on the court as well?

AMY HOWE: We did.

We heard from -- Chief Justice John Roberts, for example, told Solicitor General John Sauer that perhaps the major questions doctrine, which is the idea that if Congress wants to give the power to make decisions of vast economic and political significance, it needs to say so clearly, and he suggested that the president's tariffs might run afoul of that doctrine.

And it's interesting because this was a doctrine on which the Supreme Court relied to strike down several Biden era policies, like the student loan debt relief program, the COVID era restriction on evictions, one of the vaccine mandates for COVID-19.

And so it will be interesting to see whether or not the conservative justices also apply this to the tariffs.

AMNA NAWAZ: We also did hear some sympathy toward the argument from the president's lawyers here that the president does have broad authority when it comes to things like foreign affairs.

That includes trade in some cases.

Does any of this give us any indication of how this case will go?

AMY HOWE: You know, we did hear from Justice Samuel Alito, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Brett Kavanaugh.

Justice Samuel Alito, for example, said that this was intended to be a statute in which Congress gave the president broad powers to deal with emergencies.

And so he seemed sympathetic.

And so I think it will be a close vote.

And, certainly, when the U.S.

Court of Appeals for the federal circuit heard this case, the lower court, it divided 7-4.

It did not necessarily divide on ideological lines.

The dissent in that case was written by a judge who was an Obama appointee.

So it certainly seemed like Justice Gorsuch was skeptical of Trump's tariffs.

And this one too might not divide on ideological lines.

AMNA NAWAZ: There's clearly a lot at stake.

We know the treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, the commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick, were both at the hearing today.

We saw President Trump himself last night post online that this was a life-or-death case in terms of the country.

If they lose, what's at stake?

What could that look like, not just with regard specifically to tariffs, but for the broader agenda here?

AMY HOWE: Yes, so, as you say, there are a couple of -- we're operating at a couple of different levels.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett asked, like, what happens if we rule for you talking to Neal Katyal?

And she suggested that it would be a mess if the government had to give refunds of these billions of dollars' worth of tariffs.

And Neal Katyal gave the justices a smorgasbord of options that they could go with if they decided that the tariffs were illegal, rather than just sort of order the government to give everyone their money back.

But then there's the question of the tariffs, that, certainly, one of the challengers arguments for why Congress in this statute, IEEPA, didn't give the president the power to impose tariffs is that there are other laws that allow the president to impose tariffs, but with some restrictions.

And so the Trump administration could try to impose the tariffs relying on other laws.

They could go to Congress.

And then, with the broader question, this is the first test of several tests that we're going to see at the Supreme Court this term involving the president's powers.

AMNA NAWAZ: Any indication how quickly they will move on this case?

AMY HOWE: It's a really good question.

And, certainly, we know that they can move quickly.

In January, they issued a decision in a week in the TikTok case.

I certainly don't think that they're going to move that quickly in this one, but the Trump administration did ask the justices to move quickly in this case.

This case was highly expedited.

So I don't think this is going to be one of those cases where we're going to be here at the end of June talking about it.

I think it's more likely to be sometime this winter or early spring at the latest.

AMNA NAWAZ: All right, that is "News Hour" Supreme Court analyst Amy Howe of SCOTUSblog.

Amy, thank you so much.

AMY HOWE: Thanks for having me.

GEOFF BENNETT: Today marks day 36 of the government shutdown, setting a record for the longest in U.S.

history.

And after Democrats' strong showing on election night, President Trump this morning conceded that his party is shouldering more of the blame for the shutdown.

I spoke earlier with House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries about what comes next.

House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, welcome back to the "News Hour."

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Good evening.

Great to be back.

GEOFF BENNETT: So this is now the longest government shutdown in U.S.

history.

Earlier today, you and Senator Schumer demanded a meeting with President Trump, the House speaker, Mike Johnson, the Senate Republican leader, John Thune.

Have you heard anything back?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: We haven't heard anything yet from either the president or our Republican colleagues, unfortunately.

They remain missing in action.

The House has now canceled votes six consecutive weeks.

House Republicans are literally on a taxpayer-funded vacation, even though we're in a government shutdown, the longest one in history, as you just mentioned.

People are suffering all across the country.

We need a bipartisan path forward to reopening the government, to entering into a spending agreement that actually makes life better for the American people, while decisively addressing the Republican health care crisis.

GEOFF BENNETT: Democrats' strong showing in the elections last night, how does that shape your thinking or strengthen your hand in this shutdown fight?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we don't view this shutdown as something that should be assessed through a partisan lens.

We're fighting hard to make life better for the American people, to make sure that taxpayer dollars are spent in a way that is effective and efficient, while at the same time dealing with the issues that we know are important to the American people, particularly driving down the high cost of living in an environment where costs haven't gone down, despite what Donald Trump promised on day one.

Costs have gone up,housing costs up, electricity prices through the roof, childcare costs up, grocery costs up.

And now, because of the Republican refusal to extend the Affordable Care Act tax credits, we know that tens of millions of Americans throughout the country are about to experience dramatically increased health insurance premiums, including in some cases people being forced to pay either $1,000 or $2,000 more per month.

This cannot be allowed to occur in this country, the wealthiest country in the history of the world.

GEOFF BENNETT: As you mentioned, as this shutdown persists, the human toll is mounting, no paychecks for federal workers, SNAP benefits running dry.

The FAA said today they will cut air traffic by 10 percent if the shutdown continues through Friday.

If Democrats say they're the party that believes that government should work, especially for folks on the margins, how do you explain to voters that the shutdown is continuing on Democrats' watch as well?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, we want a country to work, a country that works for working-class Americans, for everyday Americans, and for middle-class Americans.

And what's clear is that there are far too many people who are struggling to live paycheck to paycheck.

They're working hard.

They're playing by the rules, but they can't get ahead and they can barely get by.

And that should not be the case in this great country, where you have people, the wealthy, the well-off, and the well-connected, who are continuing to benefit from Republican policies, including the one big ugly bill that enacted the largest cut to Medicaid in American history, ripped $186 billion from SNAP, in terms of what was done in that legislation, literally stealing food from the mouths of hungry children, seniors, and veterans.

And all of that was done by Republicans to enact massive tax breaks for their billionaire donors, and they made those tax breaks permanent.

And what we're fighting for at this moment is for a country that actually delivers on its promise.

And in order to do that, we have to address the fact that life is too expensive for far too many people.

And we're on the wrong path.

The American people understand that.

And we need to change course.

GEOFF BENNETT: Separate from the shutdown, I do want to ask you about the takeaways from last night's elections, because you had a Democratic socialist in New York win.

You had a centrist figure like Abigail Spanberger in Virginia win.

What's the broader message for your party?

And what warning do you think Democrats' wins send to Republicans?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Well, it was a decisive set of victories for the American people, who are crying out for public servants who are actually going to put everyday Americans first, as opposed to what Republicans have done, which is to prioritize their billionaire donors.

And the common narrative that connected what happened in New York to what happened in Virginia to what happened in New Jersey and other parts of the country, including in Georgia or Pennsylvania or Mississippi, where Democrats flipped seats, in some instances for the first time in decades, is that we are focused on the affordability crisis, on driving down the high cost of living, on fixing our broken health care system and making sure that people have a path toward experiencing the American dream.

Hopefully, my Republican colleagues will process that and change course, because the Trump presidency has been a disaster, including as it relates to the Trump tariffs, which have actually increased costs by thousands and thousands of dollars per year on working-class Americans.

GEOFF BENNETT: With President Trump reportedly telling Republicans that they're getting politically killed by the shutdown, does that give you an opening?

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: We want the president to come to the negotiating table.

Understand that, during this 36-day Trump Republican shutdown, Donald Trump has spent more time on the golf course, weekend after weekend after weekend, than he has in talking to Democrats on Capitol Hill, who represent half of the country.

He has shown no interest in solving problems for everyday Americans.

It's been a problem since day one of his presidency, and hopefully he will now change course.

GEOFF BENNETT: House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, thanks again for your time this evening.

Good to see you.

REP.

HAKEEM JEFFRIES: Thank you.

GEOFF BENNETT: And we should note the "News Hour" this week requested interviews with the two Republican leaders in Congress, but has not yet secured commitments.

AMNA NAWAZ: Well, as we have been discussing, last night saw resounding wins for Democrats across several states.

But how did the winning coalition come together?

For a deeper dive into the results, I'm joined now by Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter.

Good to see you.

AMY WALTER, The Cook Political Report: Hello.

AMNA NAWAZ: Let's jump in.

Let's start with Virginia, first of all.

We saw there Democrat Abigail Spanberger with more than 57 percent of the vote to win over the Republican, who had about 43 percent, a similar margin of victory in New Jersey, where the Democrat Mikie Sherrill got more than 56 percent of the vote.

So let's just start with the elephant in the room, right?

How much did President Trump and his policies have to do with these wins?

AMY WALTER: There's no doubt that he was a central factor in these.

These are not federal races, right?

These are gubernatorial races.

And yet when you look at the margins of both of those candidates, they basically matched Trump's disapproval rating in the state.

So, for example, Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey, she won her race by 14 points, Donald Trump's disapproval rating in the state basically minus-14.

In other words, what the Republican candidate got in that race matched the vote -- I'm sorry -- matched Trump's approval rating there.

So what we also see is that overall voters were maybe not necessarily unhappy with what was happening in their state.

That was true in Virginia, where they thought Virginia was pretty much on the right track.

They felt pretty good about the Republican governor, but they thought that things in the country were going off track.

I think, in Virginia, 80 percent of voters there said they think things in the country are going off on the wrong track, close to that in the state of New Jersey.

And independent voters, who we know are traditionally the swing voters, moved overwhelmingly in favor of both Democrats in those races.

Again, I would argue this was much more about how those voters felt about Donald Trump than it was -- than it being about what was going on in those specific states.

AMNA NAWAZ: I know you and I have also talked a lot over the last year or so about how much the president, President Trump, the inroads that he made with minority groups to secure his last victory.

What did we see with regards to that last night?

AMY WALTER: Well, you can see in a state here like New Jersey, back in 2024, President Trump made pretty significant gains in that state, winning 43 percent of the Latino vote.

In this election, those gains really evaporated, the Republican getting 31 percent of the Latino vote.

We saw in Virginia, for example, in the most heavily Hispanic district in the state, the Democrat, Abigail Spanberger, improved on Harris' margin with those voters by 20 points, so did 20 points better in Latino areas.

Now -- than Harris did.

Now, I talked to a Democratic strategist today who works very closely with Latino voters who said, put the brakes on this, Democrats who think that this means everything's fixed, everything's solved, and that Republicans' gains with Latinos are going to SNAP back to where they were before Trump was in office.

His argument is, yes, this was a good night for Democrats, but it doesn't mean that the Republican movement among Latino voters is going away.

AMNA NAWAZ: So, in the minute or so we have left, what does it mean big picture?

What can we pull from last night in terms of looking ahead to the 2026 midterms?

AMY WALTER: Yes, so I said the other night on Politics Monday that it's sort of a reset.

We basically get to move away from 2024 and look ahead now on what the political environment looks 2025 and going forward into the '26 election.

Combine what happened in those New Jersey-Virginia races with other races taking place in more purple states, like Georgia and Pennsylvania, where Democrats had really good nights in some statewide local races.

Combine that with special elections, where Democratic candidates are outperforming Kamala Harris by 15 points on average, that adds up to a very difficult political environment for Republicans going into 2026, a much better environment for Democrats.

AMNA NAWAZ: Amy Walter, always great to have you help us make sense of it all.

AMY WALTER: Thank you very much, Amna.

AMNA NAWAZ: Thank you so much.

GEOFF BENNETT: And joining us now for more political analysis are two political strategists.

That's Democrat Ameshia Cross and Republican Whit Ayres.

It's great to see you both.

So, Ameshia, we will start with you.

Democrats claiming those decisive wins in New York City and in the Virginia and New Jersey governor's races, what lessons, if any, can Democrats take away from those victories as they head toward the midterms?

AMESHIA CROSS, Democratic Strategist: Affordability, affordability, affordability, and nailing Trump where it hits the hardest.

I think that the economic downturn as it relates to people's pocketbooks and not being able to go to the grocery store, not being able to feed their families, the SNAP cuts that are coming from the Big Beautiful Bill Act, but, moreover, the government shutdown, where millions of families across this country who are in poverty don't have access to those SNAP food stamp benefits.

You name the cost, it has gone up.

And the families are really hurting.

I think that, for Zohran Mamdani, huge night, but also for Mikie Sherrill.

Also, we saw great wins in Virginia.

We also saw it in a red state.

I have family in Mississippi.

To see a Black statewide senator run and bust up what is a supermajority in Mississippi, which is a highly red state, I think is a very big deal.

So up and down the ballot, I think that Democratic voters showed up, showed out that their voices be heard.

But they also have seen an authoritarian slide of this administration that really brought them out to the polls.

And I think that Democrats have to continue telling that story.

They have to continue leaning in on the cost of goods, services, how people need to and what the government can and should be doing for them.

And that's a path to victory.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Whit, if you look at the margins of those races, those key races, it was a blowout.

We have some of the data we can put up there right now.

And if you look at the exit polls, it showed that voters were deeply concerned about the economy jobs, the cost of living, as Ameshia was discussing.

President Trump's inability to deliver on the economic turnaround that he promised, how much of a liability for Republicans is that in the months and years to come?

WHIT AYRES, Republican Strategist: There's no question that the economy and the cost of living was a major factor.

And Donald Trump was elected in large part to juice the economy and bring down inflation.

So anything that works opposite that is a problem for Republicans.

They have got a year to figure it out.

Most economists that I talk to seem to think that tariffs increase inflation, rather than lower prices.

And so they're going to have to figure out how to deal with both tariffs and the inflation, which seems to be creeping up.

GEOFF BENNETT: And, Ameshia, there will inevitably be a debate about which model the Democrats should follow heading into 2026.

Is it the pragmatic centrism of a Spanberger and a Sherrill or the populist progressivism of a Mamdani?

How do you see that shaping up?

AMESHIA CROSS: I think it depends on where you're running.

All politics is local.

We know that.

And adapting your message to your audience is always going to be extremely important.

Affordability is the name of the game.

And, at the end of the day, if you're running in New York, if you're running in South Carolina, if you're running in Georgia, if you're running in Massachusetts, people are still going to care about affordability.

There's a way to carry that message without being extremely far left.

There's a way to carry that message and being moderate, right down the middle, center-left.

And I think that we saw in multiple states yesterday that they figured it out based on the populations that they serve.

That could be on the national level as well.

Anybody running for president in 2028, as well as those who are running throughout the midterms next year, they recognize who their constituents are.

They're going to talk to them and meet them where they are.

The best learning lesson I think they came out of last night's races was that you had people who listened to their constituents.

They heard their cries.

They paid attention to what people wanted to see out of their government, and they gave them a message that worked.

They included them in their campaigns.

And they utilized that messaging strategy to get out the vote.

And that's what really mattered.

WHIT AYRES: Geoff, let's keep that New York election in perspective here.

A very talented socialist got about half the vote in one of the most liberal Democratic-dominated cities in the entire country.

This is not a formula you can take on the road in most of America, with possible exception of maybe a San Francisco or a Portland.

GEOFF BENNETT: The two losing candidates in the New Jersey governor's race, the Virginia governor's race, they were so closely aligned with President Trump and refused to distance themselves from his policies.

So to what degree should last night's results be seen as a referendum on Donald Trump and Trumpism?

WHIT AYRES: Well, Amy has already made the point that Donald Trump was a major factor, but it was also a curious strategy on the part of both of these Republican candidates.

Donald Trump lost both states three times.

The best he did was in 2024, when he got 46 percent in both states.

I fail to see how running as a clone of Donald Trump in a state that he lost three times is a path to victory.

And it wasn't for either one of these Republican candidates.

GEOFF BENNETT: Ameshia, the flip side of Mamdani's rise and his win in New York City is that Republicans will be eager to make him the new face of the Democratic Party.

Could that be a risky proposition for Democrats heading into a general election and the midterms?

AMESHIA CROSS: Well, we have watched them try this before.

They tried to make AOC the face of the Democratic Party.

They have tried to make several leaders of New York's the face of Democratic Party.

It is the most populous city in America, the most diverse one and one with an economy larger than most nations.

We have been here, done that, seen this page before out of the Republican Party.

What they have to understand here is that most people in New York could have cared less whether Mamdani was a Democratic socialist or not.

If you ask most of them, they don't know what a Democratic socialist is.

What they cared about was the fact that this man was running on a platform of affordability, making sure their grocery prices were lower, ensuring that they had a childcare affordability, you name it, so that they could reach what we all consider the American dream.

That's a message that can work across the country.

And I think the Republicans need to focus more on opening the government, which is one of the major reasons they also lost the ballot box, in addition to ensuring that the very things that Trump ran on that got him the votes in 2024, which were largely affordability, he can bring to pass.

If he can't, then he's just going to continue to rack up losses and so will his party.

GEOFF BENNETT: Whit, in the time that remains, I want to draw on your vast experience here in Washington and ask you about the shutdown, because in this closed-door meeting today with Senate Republicans, the president said: "The election results prove that the government shutdown has been worse for us than for Democrats and that Republicans are getting killed."

That's according to multiple Republican senators.

This is a complete contradiction of the message that GOP leaders, congressional leaders are trying to put forward.

What's the impact?

WHIT AYRES: I think most of America is disgusted with a Congress that can't pass a budget and keep the government open.

I think they blame Republicans, they blame Democrats, they blame anybody who's involved.

They need to get this government open and get people back to work.

And, otherwise, I think America is going to blame everybody involved and congressional job approval will go into the single digits.

It's not real good right now.

GEOFF BENNETT: Whit Ayres, Ameshia Cross, our thanks to you both.

Good to speak with you.

WHIT AYRES: My pleasure.

Good to see you.

AMNA NAWAZ: For decades in Pike County, Kentucky, coal was more than an industry.

It was a way of life, powering homes, paychecks and a deep sense of identity.

But as the economy shifts, residents are also grappling with growing political divisions within their community.

Judy Woodruff reports from Pike County in the latest installment of her series America at a Crossroads.

JUDY WOODRUFF: In the hills of Eastern Kentucky, fall colors streak across the Appalachian Mountains, a reminder of the area's beauty and resilience.

But over the past four decades, the population has fallen sharply, down by nearly a third, following the collapse of the region's main industry.

Traces of the old coal economy are still visible in a region once hailed as America's energy capital.

Those who've left to find jobs elsewhere face a stigma.

JAMES BROWNING, Liberal: If you venture outside of here, as someone from Appalachia, immediately feel defense and shame, like I'm from a lesser part of the country.

I'm from -- I'm a dumb hillbilly, and that's what everybody thinks.

JUDY WOODRUFF: What do you say to them, people you know about this part of the country, about Pikeville?

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD, Author, "Stolen Pride": I say come with me.

Get to know people outside your bubble.

It's not that hard.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Sociologist and author Arlie Hochschild has spent more than seven years getting to know the people here in Pike County, Kentucky, the state's largest and most eastern county.

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: I often heard, oh, we kept the lights on.

We won World War I. We won World War II.

We provided the electricity and energy that helped build the weapons we needed to win that war.

And now we're forgotten.

That is the basic feeling here.

Who knows where we're here?

Who's going to help us?

JUDY WOODRUFF: A far right rally here in 2017 sparked her interest, which grew into her latest book, "Stolen Pride: Loss, Shame, and the Rise of the Right."

It seeks to understand how a once overwhelmingly Democratic region became overwhelmingly Republican as the economy changed.

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: What's happened, I think, the whole sector of American society has experienced this scary slide downward and has felt, wait a minute, the other sector is going up and we're going down.

And they have turned to both parties, Democratic Party, Republican Party, haven't found answers.

JUDY WOODRUFF: I met up with some of the people Hochschild profiled, including Republican businessman Roger Ford.

His family has lived here for generations.

ROGER FORD, Conservative: The national Democratic Party's policies are way off-center.

The issues that they seem to want to focus on cater more to urban areas.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Many liberals like James Browning now feel outnumbered and silenced in a county that President Trump carried with 82 percent of the vote last November.

JAMES BROWNING: The reds are saying all the right things, I think.

They're not in touch with reality, in my opinion, much less the working class.

JUDY WOODRUFF: The political divisions here, like in the rest of the country, are now more visible, according to Robert Musick, a religious studies instructor at the University of Pikeville.

REV.

ROBERT MUSICK, St.

James Episcopal Church: It's beginning to really start dividing some places that were traditionally neutral grounds.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Musick also pastors an Episcopalian church and preaches at other churches in the community.

REV.

ROBERT MUSICK: People are just now kind of a little bit hesitant, or maybe they're not having the same type of dialogues that they used to have, because they're just so afraid of hitting a button that people are going to be too hot and bothered about.

JUDY WOODRUFF: After Hochschild's book was published, some of her subjects connected and wanted to meet in person.

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: What we need to do is actively depolarize ourselves.

It won't happen automatically.

We need to build the bridges.

JUDY WOODRUFF: They named the get-together holler log, a nod to the valleys they call home, combined with a spirit of dialogue.

It was held in the coal-run community center and firehouse, and Musick helped coordinate the all-day event.

REV.

ROBERT MUSICK: What I hope we can do today is truly be honest without fear of judgment or fear of someone stepping out of the room.

JUDY WOODRUFF: After introductions, participants shared some of the thinking behind their views and spoke about the immediate struggles they faced.

JAMES BROWNING: It wasn't getting better with blue, and it's not getting better with red.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Tommy Ratliff describes himself as a liberal-leaning independent.

TOMMY RATLIFF, Independent: Tax time comes around and you don't know.

Well, I can pay my taxes early and get a discount and sacrifice some Christmas presents, you know?

That's worth that.

And the flood comes, things like that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: This area has been hit by increasingly frequent and severe weather events, including flooding earlier this year.

And government regulations are slowing down local mitigation efforts, charges conservative Roger Ford.

ROGER FORD: They're creating the disaster by not letting us fix these Crooks and streams that are filled up.

NATHAN LITTLE, Conservative: What's going to work here in Eastern Kentucky in the head of this holler or in this county is not going to work for -- like up in the Northeast.

It's not going to work.

We have different viewpoints, different people.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As the day went on and participants got to know each other, they tackled more difficult subjects, including the impact of President Trump's spending bill past this summer.

JAMES BROWNING: Kids not being able to eat three meals a day, granny not being able to go to her dialysis.

NATHAN LITTLE: I have a hard time coming to the fact that everyone's going to be kicked off and then everyone has to reapply and then get, like -- work requirements is all that I have read that would affect Medicaid.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And in this county that's overwhelmingly white, the issue of race came up toward the end of the day.

JAMES BROWNING: If I drive 15 to 20 minutes in any direction outside of the city of Pikeville is when I begin to see Confederate Flags on flagpoles and in people's bedroom windows.

ROGER FORD: Do you think just because that Confederate Flags is there, do you think that makes them racist?

JAMES BROWNING: Yes.

ROGER FORD: Do you?

OK.

I don't -- I don't necessarily subscribe to that.

JUDY WOODRUFF: But throughout the seven hour day, Trump was not a central topic.

REV.

ROBERT MUSICK: We haven't mentioned President Trump very much.

We haven't talked about him at all.

JAMES BROWNING: I think we have been talking about President Trump all day.

ROGER FORD: I think it's worn out.

I think you have beat it to death.

JUDY WOODRUFF: As it came to a close, they celebrated with bluegrass music and dinner, and agreed it wouldn't be their last meeting.

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: People really agree that actually a lot of these cuts to services that have happened will hurt this area.

We have also agreed that getting some federal funds in to diversify this economy, get solar panels on those sawed-off... (CROSSTALK) ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: ... that would be a good thing for this area.

And we mainly agree we ought to get to know each other's cultures respectfully and stop stereotyping each other.

JUDY WOODRUFF: Is this the kind of thing that you think is easy to replicate in other places, or is it unique because of your book?

ARLIE HOCHSCHILD: I won't say easy to replicate, but, yes, it's completely replicable, but with a few rules about listening and about taking your alarm system off and really actively listening and looking for what you actually do agree on.

JUDY WOODRUFF: And, for some, there were surprises.

JAMES BROWNING: I expected when I started out yesterday morning these base values and things that people, all people, all humans are concerned with, and I had it in my head that was the only things I would find commonality with these guys.

I was wrong?

ROGER FORD: I think, as long as you're talking, that beats the alternative.

Solutions I think at this point are not found in the halls of Congress.

I think the solutions are people outside of that coming together and saying, OK, how much are we really in disagreement with each other?

JUDY WOODRUFF: For the "PBS News Hour," I'm Judy Woodruff in Pikeville, Kentucky.

AMNA NAWAZ: And that is the "News Hour" for tonight.

I'm Amna Nawaz.

GEOFF BENNETT: And I'm Geoff Bennett.

For all of us here at the "PBS News Hour," thanks for spending part of your evening with us.