November 3, 2025 • 9 mins
The government shutdown is about to be the longest ever. NewsNation's Chief Washington Anchor Leland Vittert talks about who holds the leverage and what’s really at risk for everyday Americans. Plus, what to watch for in Tuesday’s elections, from key battlegrounds to shifting voter sentiment.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's go to the hotline and bring in News Nation
chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance with Leland Viddter.
Leland Vinter is with us. You can watch him on
NewsNation weeknights at nine. You could also check out his
free War Notes newsletter at war notes dot com and
you can pick up his brand new book Born Lucky
on Amazon. So, Leland, let's start with the government shutdown,
(00:23):
which more and more Americans are feeling the impact of
now with the freezing of snap benefits not maybe they
come back this week, maybe they don't.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
But where do you see this headed?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Do you see any kind of resolution coming in the
next still week or two.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
My reporting Ryan shows that there is likely to be
some movement this week with Democrats that after the election
on Tuesday, Chuck Schumer is going to release his senators
to vote their conscience. So you may end up with
about two Democratic senators who will defect, break whatever you
(01:04):
want to call it, and vote with Republicans to reopen
the government. There's a few things that has to happen
sort of in order for that to happen, But that's
my reporting that that's the best chance of government reopening.
Snap benefits coming back, you know, air air traffic control
getting paid and the like.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, there's there's no doubt that this can't. I don't
think continue into the Thanksgiving holiday because you know what
we're already seeing that's only going to continue to get worse.
And then you know, if you're you're leading into Thanksgiving
with that very busy travel week and you know, families
(01:45):
in need of help right before the holiday, long lines
at food banks and things like that, I mean, that's
just the disaster.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
For everybody, well, unquestionably, and you point out the real
point is that it's a disaster for everyone who's sitting
there and involved in the pictures and the stories over
and over again of people at food banks and they're
being empty. Food banks is going to be a very
difficult one for politicians to explain away, and Democrats are
(02:16):
going to have to explain why it's worth it, right
because Republicans have to their credit message pretty well on
this that this is a choice by Democrats.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Now let's move forward to tomorrow's elections, and again we're
joined by News Nation Chief Washington anchor Leland Viddert. You
mentioned them and the impact they could have on the
government shutdown.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
What are some of the races that you're watching.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So tomorrow night starting seven pm Eastern, and you'll have Elizabeth,
Elizabeth Vargus, Chris Cormer and myself. We're going to do
primarily looking at Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City.
The one that's the most interesting to me in terms
of where it's going to go is New Jersey. If Ciarelli,
(03:02):
who's the Republican, wins in New Jersey, that shows that
somebody can broaden the mega coalition as a Republican who
can do better than Donald Trump does, which would be fascinating.
And I think more importantly, it's going to show if
Ciarelli wins, that the Democratic Party's center is now you know,
(03:24):
gone right, it does not have a place anymore, because
if you have my mom, Domi win et Cinerelli, when
it shows the center's not there. I just got back
from California and landed about an hour ago, and what
was amazing to me was the ads for Proposition fifty,
which is their desire to you know, a congressional how
(03:45):
it was all about standing up to Trump. It was
all about taking on vote yes, take on Donald Trump.
And I didn't really realize that was the messaging, and
that is very telling.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So yeah, there was. I was talking earlier this morning
about new Pew survey and it found that sixty seven
percent of Democrats they're frustrated with their party, which is
up a lot from recent years, and the main complaint
is that they feel congressional Democrats haven't been pushing back
hard enough against Trump's agenda. So if you wonder why
we're in a government shutdown right now and you're seeing
(04:22):
that kind of messaging for Prop fifty out in California,
I think that plays a big role. Where did you
Where did you think that proposition was at in terms
of passing? What were you hearing when you were out there?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
My very brief understanding of it is that it has
a almost certain key of passing. And look at the
advertising I was watching. You know, this is all anecdotal,
but is when you do politics, you sort of into
paying attention to local television. So I was watching the
NFL games and it was all vote yes as and
(05:01):
there were no vote no ads. So that kind of
tells you where the money and the energy is. What
about the race for mayor in New York City and again.
We're joined by Leland Viddert, host of On Balance with
Leland Vidert, which you can watch weeknights at nine on
News Nation. There's been some recent polling that maybe show
(05:22):
the race was tightening a bit between Cuomo and Mom Donnie,
but generally it seems like Mum Donnie's got a pretty
good lead. Do you think he sales to victory there
or do you think it winds up being closer than
we expected. Well, you know, as somebody who has to
anchored those those hours of television, I would like there
to be drama. Yeah, right of course, But right I
(05:47):
think as you look at it, it's unlikely just because
of where the polling is and where the energy seems
to be, we could be surprised. And that's why we
have elections, and that's why you have coverage, and that's
why we have the decision desk scheme there. I mean,
if you know, if every election was decided by a
poll of a thousand people, it wouldn't be that interesting.
But we have elections in America, which is a great thing,
(06:10):
and you get there on Tuesday evening and buckle up
and see where everything goes.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
How significant did you think it was that former President
Barack Obama reached out to Zora Mumdani didn't endorse him,
but certainly, you know, he knew that story was going
to get out there, and it shows that he's willing
to help and praise Mumdanni.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, I find Mumdami to be really a individually troubling
and I used that org sort of the is the
nicest thing I can say about him. You know, you
have somebody who is without question, at the very best
(07:00):
boss adjacent, and the the comments he's made about about
Jees and about Israel and about the the his view,
his world view is so warped and so hypocritical. I
think it's really very, very troubling in America that we're
(07:22):
going to elect somebody who is that transparently political and
that that sort of transparently willing to say truly whatever
is necessary at the moment, especially after having such really
(07:45):
appalling views.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And last thing, for you, how troubling is it on
the other side that we saw a group like the
Heritage Foundation, which used to be a bastion of conservatism,
come out into fan Tucker Carlson and his guest Nick
Puinte or at least having that guest on who is
you know, obviously as anti semitic as you can get.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Well, he's more than anti semitic. Anti semitic is not
liking bagels or in the country. This is somebody who
celebrates the Holocaust. Fentes does, and Tucker Carlson is trading
in all of the same anti semitic tropes and you know,
Jews control of the world and you know is realzievil
and everything else. What I would tell you is that
(08:28):
I think it is terrible. We covered it and I
found encouraging. Is it? Over the weekend you had the
conservative movement in America come out very strongly against Tucker
and against Flente and really help will shine a very
(08:51):
bright spotlight on this problem and call it what it is.
And that is not something that we've seen on the
left over the past two years be troubling or perhaps
in some ways even more troubling things. You know, you've
now got a guy, you the mayor of New York,
who can't even say Hamas is bad.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Right, Yeah, it's a big problem.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Leland vidtert News Nation Chief Washington anchor host of On
Balance with Leland Vidert. You can watch them weeknights at
nine on NewsNation, and you can check out his free
Warnes newsletter at warnoes dot com for more. Plus, don't
forget to check out his book Born Lucky on Amazon.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Leland really appreciate it. We'll be watching you tomorrow night.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Thanks Ryan.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
The Ryan Gorman Show five to nine every weekday morning
on News Radio two u f LA
Let's go to the hotline and bring in News Nation
chief Washington anchor and host of On Balance with Leland Viddter.
Leland Vinter is with us. You can watch him on
NewsNation weeknights at nine. You could also check out his
free War Notes newsletter at war notes dot com and
you can pick up his brand new book Born Lucky
on Amazon. So, Leland, let's start with the government shutdown,
(00:23):
which more and more Americans are feeling the impact of
now with the freezing of snap benefits not maybe they
come back this week, maybe they don't.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
But where do you see this headed?
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Do you see any kind of resolution coming in the
next still week or two.
Speaker 3 (00:42):
My reporting Ryan shows that there is likely to be
some movement this week with Democrats that after the election
on Tuesday, Chuck Schumer is going to release his senators
to vote their conscience. So you may end up with
about two Democratic senators who will defect, break whatever you
(01:04):
want to call it, and vote with Republicans to reopen
the government. There's a few things that has to happen
sort of in order for that to happen, But that's
my reporting that that's the best chance of government reopening.
Snap benefits coming back, you know, air air traffic control
getting paid and the like.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
Yeah, there's there's no doubt that this can't. I don't
think continue into the Thanksgiving holiday because you know what
we're already seeing that's only going to continue to get worse.
And then you know, if you're you're leading into Thanksgiving
with that very busy travel week and you know, families
(01:45):
in need of help right before the holiday, long lines
at food banks and things like that, I mean, that's
just the disaster.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
For everybody, well, unquestionably, and you point out the real
point is that it's a disaster for everyone who's sitting
there and involved in the pictures and the stories over
and over again of people at food banks and they're
being empty. Food banks is going to be a very
difficult one for politicians to explain away, and Democrats are
(02:16):
going to have to explain why it's worth it, right
because Republicans have to their credit message pretty well on
this that this is a choice by Democrats.
Speaker 1 (02:27):
Now let's move forward to tomorrow's elections, and again we're
joined by News Nation Chief Washington anchor Leland Viddert. You
mentioned them and the impact they could have on the
government shutdown.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
What are some of the races that you're watching.
Speaker 3 (02:42):
So tomorrow night starting seven pm Eastern, and you'll have Elizabeth,
Elizabeth Vargus, Chris Cormer and myself. We're going to do
primarily looking at Virginia, New Jersey, and New York City.
The one that's the most interesting to me in terms
of where it's going to go is New Jersey. If Ciarelli,
(03:02):
who's the Republican, wins in New Jersey, that shows that
somebody can broaden the mega coalition as a Republican who
can do better than Donald Trump does, which would be fascinating.
And I think more importantly, it's going to show if
Ciarelli wins, that the Democratic Party's center is now you know,
(03:24):
gone right, it does not have a place anymore, because
if you have my mom, Domi win et Cinerelli, when
it shows the center's not there. I just got back
from California and landed about an hour ago, and what
was amazing to me was the ads for Proposition fifty,
which is their desire to you know, a congressional how
(03:45):
it was all about standing up to Trump. It was
all about taking on vote yes, take on Donald Trump.
And I didn't really realize that was the messaging, and
that is very telling.
Speaker 1 (04:00):
So yeah, there was. I was talking earlier this morning
about new Pew survey and it found that sixty seven
percent of Democrats they're frustrated with their party, which is
up a lot from recent years, and the main complaint
is that they feel congressional Democrats haven't been pushing back
hard enough against Trump's agenda. So if you wonder why
we're in a government shutdown right now and you're seeing
(04:22):
that kind of messaging for Prop fifty out in California,
I think that plays a big role. Where did you
Where did you think that proposition was at in terms
of passing? What were you hearing when you were out there?
Speaker 3 (04:37):
My very brief understanding of it is that it has
a almost certain key of passing. And look at the
advertising I was watching. You know, this is all anecdotal,
but is when you do politics, you sort of into
paying attention to local television. So I was watching the
NFL games and it was all vote yes as and
(05:01):
there were no vote no ads. So that kind of
tells you where the money and the energy is. What
about the race for mayor in New York City and again.
We're joined by Leland Viddert, host of On Balance with
Leland Vidert, which you can watch weeknights at nine on
News Nation. There's been some recent polling that maybe show
(05:22):
the race was tightening a bit between Cuomo and Mom Donnie,
but generally it seems like Mum Donnie's got a pretty
good lead. Do you think he sales to victory there
or do you think it winds up being closer than
we expected. Well, you know, as somebody who has to
anchored those those hours of television, I would like there
to be drama. Yeah, right of course, But right I
(05:47):
think as you look at it, it's unlikely just because
of where the polling is and where the energy seems
to be, we could be surprised. And that's why we
have elections, and that's why you have coverage, and that's
why we have the decision desk scheme there. I mean,
if you know, if every election was decided by a
poll of a thousand people, it wouldn't be that interesting.
But we have elections in America, which is a great thing,
(06:10):
and you get there on Tuesday evening and buckle up
and see where everything goes.
Speaker 1 (06:16):
How significant did you think it was that former President
Barack Obama reached out to Zora Mumdani didn't endorse him,
but certainly, you know, he knew that story was going
to get out there, and it shows that he's willing
to help and praise Mumdanni.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Well, I find Mumdami to be really a individually troubling
and I used that org sort of the is the
nicest thing I can say about him. You know, you
have somebody who is without question, at the very best
(07:00):
boss adjacent, and the the comments he's made about about
Jees and about Israel and about the the his view,
his world view is so warped and so hypocritical. I
think it's really very, very troubling in America that we're
(07:22):
going to elect somebody who is that transparently political and
that that sort of transparently willing to say truly whatever
is necessary at the moment, especially after having such really
(07:45):
appalling views.
Speaker 1 (07:47):
And last thing, for you, how troubling is it on
the other side that we saw a group like the
Heritage Foundation, which used to be a bastion of conservatism,
come out into fan Tucker Carlson and his guest Nick
Puinte or at least having that guest on who is
you know, obviously as anti semitic as you can get.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Well, he's more than anti semitic. Anti semitic is not
liking bagels or in the country. This is somebody who
celebrates the Holocaust. Fentes does, and Tucker Carlson is trading
in all of the same anti semitic tropes and you know,
Jews control of the world and you know is realzievil
and everything else. What I would tell you is that
(08:28):
I think it is terrible. We covered it and I
found encouraging. Is it? Over the weekend you had the
conservative movement in America come out very strongly against Tucker
and against Flente and really help will shine a very
(08:51):
bright spotlight on this problem and call it what it is.
And that is not something that we've seen on the
left over the past two years be troubling or perhaps
in some ways even more troubling things. You know, you've
now got a guy, you the mayor of New York,
who can't even say Hamas is bad.
Speaker 2 (09:10):
Right, Yeah, it's a big problem.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
Leland vidtert News Nation Chief Washington anchor host of On
Balance with Leland Vidert. You can watch them weeknights at
nine on NewsNation, and you can check out his free
Warnes newsletter at warnoes dot com for more. Plus, don't
forget to check out his book Born Lucky on Amazon.
Speaker 2 (09:28):
Leland really appreciate it. We'll be watching you tomorrow night.
Speaker 3 (09:32):
Thanks Ryan.
Speaker 2 (09:33):
The Ryan Gorman Show five to nine every weekday morning
on News Radio two u f LA
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