What we covered here
• Shutdown drags on: Food stamp recipients face delays and more federal aid programs are running dry as the government shutdown extends into November. Congress remains at an impasse over whether to extend enhanced Obamacare subsidies. Health care costs will soar if the subsidies expire.
• What lawmakers are saying: GOP leaders claim Democrats are waiting until after Election Day to yield in their demand to extend the subsidies as part of a funding bill. Sources close to top Democrats insist the party will stand firm.
• Elections approach: The campaigns on key races in California, New York, Virginia and New Jersey are in a final sprint to the November 4 elections, which are providing an early test of voter reaction to Donald Trump’s presidency. Democrats are deploying top surrogates this weekend, including former President Barack Obama.
Our live coverage has concluded for the day. Follow the latest updates or read through the posts below.
Obama rallies New Jersey voters in closing weekend of campaign
Former President Barack Obama rallied voters Saturday evening in Newark, New Jersey, urging them to vote for Democratic gubernatorial nominee Mikie Sherrill after the state shifted right in 2024.
“There is absolutely no evidence that Republican policies have made life better for you, the people of New Jersey,” said Obama, who rallied earlier in the day for Virginia’s Democratic gubernatorial nominee, Abigail Spanberger.
Obama hammered Sherill’s Republican opponent, businessman Jack Ciattarelli.
Obama also criticized Ciattarelli for saying he would give President Donald Trump an “A” grade for his performance.
“I know there’s been grade inflation, but really? An A? This is the best we could do? I mean, these are the same folks who put secret war plans in a group chat,” referring to the Trump administration’s Signal chat scandal. “You don’t think there’s anything they could be doing better?”
Sherrill, for her part, echoed her stump speech, attacking Trump and casting herself as an antidote to his policies for the people of New Jersey.
“We’ve got to take on all those hits coming from Trump and Washington, DC,” she said. “Because right now, the president is running a worldwide extortion racket. You pay more for everything, from the coffee you drink in the morning to the groceries you’re cooking dinner with at night, as Trump pockets billions.”
Harris says California is prepared "to fight fire with fire" on redistricting
Former Vice President Kamala Harris on Saturday stressed that the Democratic-led ballot measure on redistricting in California is about protecting the voice of voters.
California voters on Tuesday will vote on Proposition 50, which would allow Democrats to replace maps drawn by an independent commission with new maps that could help the party flip as many as five GOP-held US House seats.
Golden State Democrats’ efforts are in response to Texas Republicans’ mid-decade redistricting, which sparked a gerrymandering arms race across the country.
Harris slammed Republicans’ redistricting efforts, saying, “What they are doing is about an implementation of a plan that has been long-standing, about taking the voice of the people, intimidating voters, suppressing the vote.”
The former vice president’s remarks come as she’s hinted that she could run for the White House again, telling BBC in a recent interview, “I am not done.”
If she does decide to run in 2028, one of her opponents could be California Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is considered a likely presidential candidate.
The two, who both began their careers in San Francisco politics, have a complicated relationship, sometimes described as “frenemies.”
Newsom — who hosted Saturday’s rally — has made himself the face of California’s redistricting efforts and nationalized the issue, investing his own political capital into his party’s efforts to win back control of the US House next year.
Trump to meet Syrian president in historic White House visit
President Donald Trump is set to host Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa at the White House this month, a White House official told CNN.
The meeting, expected to take place on November 10, will mark the first visit by a Syrian head of state to the White House.
Trump and al-Sharaa last met in May during the US president’s trip to Saudi Arabia. Trump had tea with the former jihadist, who previously had a $10 million US bounty on his head. It marked the first meeting between a US and Syrian president in 25 years.
The Syrian leader, once known by his militant nom de guerre Abu Mohammed al-Jolani, met Trump in Riyadh six months after leading a swift campaign that toppled the half-a-century-old Assad regime, ejecting Iran-backed armed groups and declaring himself leader of the country.
Both leaders were seen smiling in photos released by the White House and the Saudi foreign ministry. The Syrian foreign ministry said Trump committed to “standing by Syria at this critical juncture.”
CNN’s Mostafa Salem contributed to this post.
US and China agree to open up military-to-military communication channels, Hegseth says
US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced Saturday that the United States and China have agreed to set up new military-to-military communication channels “to deconflict and deescalate any problems that arise.”
Following President Donald Trump’s meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in South Korea this week, Hegseth said he held an “equally positive” meeting with China’s minister of national defense, Dong Jun, in Malaysia.
He added that both sides have scheduled additional meetings to formalize these coordination efforts.
Trump doubles down on urging GOP leaders to end filibuster
President Donald Trump on Saturday again called on Senate Republicans to abolish the filibuster, saying it is the only way to end the government shutdown and push through his legislative priorities.
“Remember, Republicans, regardless of the Schumer Shutdown, the Democrats will terminate the Filibuster the first chance they get. They will Pack the Supreme Court, pick up two States, and add at least 8 Electoral Votes,” he posted on social media.
The post escalates pressure on Republican leaders, some of whom have resisted eliminating the 60-vote threshold for passing legislation.
Earlier this week, Trump urged his party to take the unprecedented step of ending the filibuster unilaterally, a move GOP leaders have long opposed.
Top GOP lawmakers have long argued for keeping the threshold in place, asserting that the filibuster benefits Republicans — and will serve as a key safeguard against Democrats passing transformative legislation the next time they’re in power.
The filibuster rule is unique to the Senate, and it gives the minority the power to block a bill from coming up for a vote as long as at least 41 senators oppose it. Since one party rarely wins more than 60 seats, proponents have argued that the filibuster encourages compromise and makes it more difficult to enact massive partisan reforms.
DHS says "Happy Halloween!" when asked about immigration agents wearing Chucky and Momo masks
“Happy Halloween!” Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin told CNN, when asked about images that showed immigration agents in Los Angeles wearing Halloween masks during operations earlier this week.
Harbor Area Peace Patrol, a group of community activists that monitor immigration authorities around LA, shared with CNN photos its members took that showed federal agents wearing eerie Chucky and Momo masks. According to the group, the photos were taken in Terminal Island, just outside the Coast Guard Base at the Port of Los Angeles.
When CNN asked DHS to explain why its personnel wore these masks and if such costumes during operations could affect officer or public safety, McLaughlin replied, “Happy Halloween! Let me be clear: Anyone who assaults, impedes, obstructs, or threatens the lives of federal officers will be arrested and prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Local outlet L.A. Taco was one of the first publications to report on this incident.
CNN’s David Williams contributed to this report.
Trump says he's ordered Pentagon to “prepare for possible action” in Nigeria
President Donald Trump said today that he has ordered the Defense Department to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria.
Trump this week has accused the West African nation of severe religious freedom violations — an accusation Nigeria has repeatedly denied.
In a social media post that criticized what he called the “mass slaughter” of Christians in the country, Trump wrote that the United States would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” and warned the government there to “move fast.”
In the lengthy post, Trump wrote that the US “may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
Some context: Both Christians and Muslims have been victims of attacks by radical Islamists in Nigeria.
The violence in the country is driven by varying factors. Some incidents are religiously motivated and affect both groups, while others arise from disputes between farmers and herders over limited resources, as well as communal and ethnic tensions.
Although Christians are among those targeted, local reports indicate that most victims are Muslims living in Nigeria’s predominantly Muslim north.
Nigerian response: “The characterisation of Nigeria as religiously intolerant does not reflect our national reality, nor does it take into consideration the consistent and sincere efforts of the government to safeguard freedom of religion and beliefs for all Nigerians,” Nigerian President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said in a social media post today.
Tinubu added that Nigeria is “working with the United States government and the international community to deepen understanding and cooperation on protection of communities of all faiths.”
GOP candidate projects confidence in final days of New Jersey governor race
Republican gubernatorial nominee Jack Ciattarelli rallied voters in Fairfield, New Jersey, this afternoon, urging them to head to the polls on the final weekend of early voting and expressing confidence in his success in Tuesday’s election.
Ciattarelli criticized his Democratic opponent, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, saying she’s “no moderate” and would extend the policies of outgoing Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy. “She’s Phil Murphy 2.0,” Ciattarelli said.
He argued Sherrill has spent too much time focusing her campaign on opposition to President Donald Trump.
“If you get a flat tire today, it’s President Trump’s fault. There is nothing she won’t blame on the president,” Ciattarelli said.
The Republican also criticized Sherrill’s promise to freeze utility rates as part of a plan to address rising costs in New Jersey. Ciattarelli said it didn’t make sense to freeze the rates when they’re already “at an all-time high,” saying utility costs need to be brought down instead.
Obama asks voters to "set a glorious example for the nation" in Virginia gubernatorial race
Former President Barack Obama urged voters to break with President Donald Trump and send a message across the country when they head to the polls in Virginia on Tuesday.
Appearing at a rally in Norfolk earlier today, Obama said Virginia voters could “set a glorious example for the nation” in supporting the state’s Democratic candidate for governor, former Rep. Abigail Spanberger, over GOP Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears.
Obama told the crowd that after the first nine months of Trump’s second term in office, “the stakes are now clear.”
Why this matters: With the Democratic Party out of power in Washington and without a clear national leader, Obama is reprising his role as the party’s biggest and most unifying draw, delivering a closing message in the final days of elections that will serve as a temperature check on Trump’s first year and set the stage for next year’s midterms.
Coming up: Obama is also appearing on the campaign trail tonight with the New Jersey Democratic gubernatorial candidate, Rep. Mikie Sherrill, in Newark.
Obama calls Mamdani again and offers to be a "sounding board," source tells CNN
Before heading out to the campaign trail today, former President Barack Obama called Zohran Mamdani, the Democratic nominee for mayor in New York City.
Obama has not endorsed Mamdani — aides attribute that to a policy of generally not getting involved in mayoral elections — and that did not change in the call.
But according to a person familiar with the conversation, he called Mamdani’s campaign “impressive to watch” and offered to be a “sounding board” going forward.
Mamdani is the front-runner in polls ahead of Tuesday’s mayoral election. Today’s conversation was at least the second call they are known to have had.
The New York Times first reported the call.
The big picture: Next week’s off-cycle elections are being watched closely as an indicator of how voters are reacting to President Donald Trump’s second term, the government shutdown and a soul-searching Democratic Party.
Democrats are deploying their most powerful surrogate this weekend: Obama is campaigning today for two other candidates in Tuesday’s elections.
He already spoke at an event for Abigail Spanberger, the Democratic nominee for Virginia governor, and will appear this evening alongside US Rep. Mikie Sherrill, the Democrat running for governor in New Jersey.
Volunteers see growing need at food banks as uncertainty surrounds SNAP benefits
At a food bank in northern Maryland, cars lined up one behind the other this morning with their trunks open to receive groceries. While people waited to pick up boxes filled with pumpkins, fresh vegetables and fruit, volunteers checked people in and filled empty bags with food.
Yonushonis told CNN the organization has been stretched thin.
“We don’t have a good capacity to surge. We need more volunteers and funding to hire staff, but we were already running at full capacity before any of these recent changes,” he said.
Around 45 volunteers worked through the morning, loading trunks and greeting families, as demand for food assistance continues to rise amid growing uncertainty surrounding SNAP benefits and federal support.
Griselda, a mother of two who did not want her last name used for privacy reasons, came to the food bank for the first time.
Federal workers, some affected by recent furloughs, were among those volunteering at the site. Others, like essential workers, came during their time off — unpaid — to help members in their community get through a difficult stretch.
Several volunteers told CNN they have seen a huge uptick in the number of people that are now coming to the food bank.
Here's what NYC voters say is determining their choice for mayor
The country’s largest city is voting for its next mayor on Tuesday.
Will President Donald Trump’s hometown vote for the anti-Trump candidate?
CNN’s John King spoke to NYC voters across all five boroughs to get their thoughts:
John King speaks to voters across all five of New York City's boroughs on the eve of what could be a historic choice for mayor. It's the city that launched President Donald Trump. Is it about to elect the anti-Trump?
Johnson claims Democrats don’t want to "fold" on ending shutdown until after Election Day
House Speaker Mike Johnson is weighing in on the government shutdown today, suggesting there could be progress next week after Election Day in the congressional stalemate that has shut down the government for a month.
“We do have a sense that something may change next week,” Johnson said during a virtual appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition leadership summit.
Johnson claimed Democrats are waiting until after Tuesday next week to make any progress because they believe ending the shutdown could harm voter turnout, with key races taking place in New Jersey, Virginia and New York City.
Democrats in turn have blamed Republicans and President Donald Trump for the shutdown, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer saying this week “it’s time for Republicans to start getting serious about ending this shutdown” as millions of Americans are facing delays in receiving benefit payments.
White House restricts reporters’ access to press secretary office
Members of the White House press corps are now restricted from the press secretary’s office, the latest in a series of Trump administration actions to limit media access.
The new rule says journalists cannot enter what’s known as the “Upper Press” office space, where White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt works, without an appointment.
This area has been accessible to White House correspondents for decades, supporting a free flow of information between the president and the public.
The White House says the clampdown is due to security concerns.
But the White House Correspondents’ Association said it “unequivocally opposes any effort” to limit journalists from areas that have long been accessible to news outlets.
Here’s a deeper look at why this matters to reporting on the White House.
Retailers can’t give SNAP recipients preferential treatment, including discounts, USDA says
As millions of Americans face potential delays to critical food assistance, the Department of Agriculture is reminding retailers that giving Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program recipients discounts or other preferential treatment is not permitted.
“You must offer eligible foods at the same prices and on the same terms and conditions to SNAP-EBT customers as other customers, except that sales tax cannot be charged on SNAP purchases,” the USDA said in a statement yesterday, citing SNAP equal treatment provisions.
“Offering discounts or services only to SNAP paying customers is a SNAP violation unless you have a SNAP equal treatment waiver,” the department said.
Remember: Two federal judges ruled yesterday that the Trump administration must use emergency funds to at least partially cover food stamp benefits this month. President Donald Trump has since said that administration lawyers are seeking clarity from the courts on how to do so.
But the process of distributing SNAP benefits — which were scheduled to go out today, but did not have funding due to the federal government shutdown — has already been disrupted.
States stopped the process of issuing benefits for November last month after the USDA indicated it would not tap into its contingency fund for the program.
In light of the delay to this month’s benefits and broader uncertainty surrounding safety net programs during the shutdown, some businesses had started advertising that they would provide free or discounted food for SNAP recipients.
CNN’s Tami Luhby, Alex Leeds Matthews and Kate Carroll contributed reporting.
Trump administration won't send any US officials to consequential climate summit
The United States is not sending any high-level officials to the COP30 climate summit in Brazil coming up this month, a White House official told CNN.
“The US is not sending any high-level representatives to COP30,” according to the official. “The President is directly engaging with leaders around the world on energy issues, which you can see from the historic trade deals and peace deals that all have a significant focus on energy partnerships.”
Remember: Upon returning to the White House in January, Trump withdrew the US from the Paris climate agreement for a second time.
But although the US president was not expected to attend the summit, some speculated that he might still dispatch senior negotiators to the meetings, scheduled for November 10 to 21, continuing a decades-long tradition of sending a US delegation to United Nations climate summits, including during Trump’s first administration.
The administration fired the last of the US climate negotiators earlier this year, helping cement America’s withdrawal from international climate diplomacy.
The elimination of the State Department’s Office of Global Change — which represents the United States in climate change negotiations between countries — leaves the world’s largest historical polluter with no official presence at one of the most consequential climate summits in a decade.
COP30 is intended to be a landmark summit, setting the global climate agenda for the next 10 years — an absolutely crucial decade as the world hurtles toward ever more catastrophic levels of warming.
CNN’s Ella Nilsen and Laura Paddison contributed to this report.
Jeffries condemns Trump administration for delay in funding SNAP benefits
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries criticized President Donald Trump today for not acting immediately after two judges ruled that the administration must tap into emergency funds to cover at least some critical food assistance that is lapsing due to the government shutdown.
“The courts have been clear, and the morality of it is clear,” Jeffries said on MSNBC.
Trump said yesterday evening that he’s instructed administration lawyers to ask the courts how to legally fund the benefits as quickly as possible. But Trump acknowledged that food stamps will be delayed this month.
Before the rulings, the US Department of Agriculture had refused to tap into a contingency fund for the benefits.
Jeffries tied the fight over SNAP benefits to the broader standoff between Republicans and Democrats over the government shutdown, which hinges on Democratic demands to renew enhanced Obamacare subsidies.
Zohran Mamdani wins Al Sharpton’s support in critical final days of NYC mayoral campaign
Rev. Al Sharpton offered his support to Zohran Mamdani with two days to go in the New York City mayoral race, giving the Democratic nominee a key vote of confidence from one of the nation’s most prominent civil rights leaders.
Mamdani joined Sharpton for an event at the House of Justice, Sharpton’s National Action Network headquarters in Harlem.
Mamdani has been courting Sharpton and his congregations for months throughout the campaign.
The big picture: While Mamdani often pivots from media questions about national issues to make his answer focused on New York City residents, the country’s political climate under President Donald Trump has undeniably influenced the race.
Trump himself has weighed in frequently, referring to Mamdani — a democratic socialist — as a “communist” and questioning his experience.
We’re closely tracking the New York race and contests in several other states on November 4. Off-cycle elections are often considered the first test of voter sentiment during the first year of a president’s term.
The shutdown could affect how Americans vote on Tuesday
We’re days away from the first significant election of President Donald Trump’s second term — and the government shutdown hangs over it.
CNN’s David Chalian explores the possible impact it could have on voters:
David Chalian explains how the government shutdown will impact upcoming elections.
