NJ Gov Race Neck-and-Neck, US Nuclear Testing Resumes, Trump Meets Xi Jinping: AM Update 10/31

0:28Happy Halloween, everyone. I would say the meeting was at 12. President Trump returns from a marathon tour through Asia, culminating in significant progress on a new trade agreement with China. And it's that time of year again. The clock's set to fall back this weekend and regain a glorious hour of sleep. Is it worth it? All that and more coming up in just a moment on your AM Update.

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1:36Their story is just one example of how Walmart's U.S. manufacturing investment is supporting over 750 ,000 American jobs. Businesses across the country are empowered to sell more, hire more, and help their communities grow. From farms to factories to final shopping carts, learn how Walmart is fueling the future of U.S. manufacturing at walmart.com slash America at work. With election day just around the corner, New Jersey's governor race coming down to the wire. Republican candidate Jack Cittarelli and Democrat candidate Mikey Sherrill in a statistical tie, according to the latest poll by Emerson College.

2:16Sherrill leading Cittarelli by one point, 49 to 48 percent among likely voters. Three more polls released on Thursday showing wider margins, Cheryl leading 46 to 42, according to Suffolk University. Fox News has Cheryl with 52, Chattarelli with 45 percent, among likely voters. Quinnipiac has Cheryl up by eight points, 51 to 43, in a matchup deciding whether the Garden State stays blue or flips red. With early voting underway, we spoke to New Jersey Globe editor David Wildstein about the state of the race and the most recent polls. You know, at this point, I'm not really paying that much attention to polling because these numbers are all over the place.

3:00And we're not getting a really good read or at least an adequate read about where they projected electorate will be. At this point, there's just so much data out there that I'm just going with my gut feel, which is that this is a close race. With early voting beginning on Saturday, Wildstein notes a shift in voting behavior. What we're seeing is Republicans becoming increasingly more comfortable with voting in advance of Election Day. Republicans are now returning vote-by-mail ballots at roughly the same pace as Democrats. I haven't seen that before. What we saw in 2024 is Republicans love in-person early voting, and those numbers are good.

3:53But now Democrats are catching up there. So the advantage still belongs to the Democrats because they are more accustomed to voting by mail. So 60-plus percent of all the vote-by-mail ballots that have been sent out have been sent to Democrats. It's almost a three to one advantage. Republicans have a long time to get a long way to go before they catch up here. The environment and energy policies taking center stage in New Jersey. Cittarelli telling the Megyn Kelly show on Thursday he would roll back the plastic bag ban. Thank God. Try going to Bed Bath & Beyond and getting out to your car and then back from your car into your home with all that stuff and no bag.

4:39It's impossible. At least at the grocery store, they sell the bags that you can buy, but they don't sell them at the big home goods store. I speak from experience. Trigger. Also, he says he would block the horrible offshore wind projects that almost nobody likes or wants, characterizing his opponent as too liberal on environmental matters. So she's doubled down on the Green New Deal that the current governor's put in place that has two things that people can't stand. The first is the plastic bag ban. We're getting rid of that. And the second thing is wind farms off the Jersey Shore. We asked Wildstein how these issues play with voters.

5:16On the plastic bags, I've seen this in surveys over the last couple of years. This might be the most grassroots rank and file unpopular law of the last eight years. And Cittarelli gets it and he says it. I don't know that voters are going to make a decision about who they want to be their governor based upon plastic bags. I think energy costs are hugely important. People's electricity bills have gone through the roof over the last few months. And they look at affordability issues and they look at taxes. And, you know, this is going to make me sound really old, but this is my 14th New Jersey governor's race.

6:00And this is the 14th time candidates for governor have promised to cut property taxes. And the state has been disappointed in each of the last 13 times. It just never happens. The candidates also starkly divided on cultural issues. Mikey Sherrill reaffirming her support for LGBTQ curriculum in schools earlier this year on local station NJSN. I would push an LGBTQ education into our schools. Parents have a right to opt out of a lot of things, but this is not an area where they should be opting out because this is an area of understanding the background of people throughout our nation. Chattarelli leaning into parental rights and also protecting girls' sports from transgender insanity.

6:50Here's a sampling from yesterday's MK Show. This mother of two daughters voted yes twice to allow biological boys to participate in girls sports. That's an 80-20 issue. And I just find this so hypocritical because you and I both know the Democrats will always talk about their defense of women. Well, you're undermining Title IX by allowing biological boys to participate in girls sports. But this is somebody that also supports one of Phil Murphy's policies, our current governor, where school districts keep secrets from parents, which I think is immoral, indecent, wrong, and dangerous. Cheryl's campaign working to tie Cittarelli closely to President Trump, who lost to Kamala Harris by about six points in the Garden State.

7:31Surrogate Pete Buttigieg yesterday morning on the campaign trail for Cheryl. The problem is that Jack Cittarelli knows that standing up for New Jersey would require standing up to Donald Trump. And he just doesn't have the backbone to do that. He would rather see those jobs destroyed. He'd rather see those workers get hurt and commuters get hurt than display one inch of independence from his dear leader. Here's Wildstein on how that messaging may resonate. Cheryl, you know, is is a middle of the road Democrat. You have a lot of progressive Democrats in New Jersey. And I don't I don't know if progressive Democrats are going to be incredibly motivated to vote for Cheryl.

8:20That's that's one of the things I'm going to be looking for on Election Day. But but she thinks that opposing Trump is going to be in her best interest. I think that every poll in whether it's a Democratic poll or Republican poll is showing Trump upside down in New Jersey. The question is, is that the issue that people are going to vote on? Cheryl is betting that it is and Cittarelli thinks it won't. As far as Wildstein's predictions for Tuesday? During a part of my life that I'm glad is over, I had the privilege of attending Federal Witness Academy at the U.S. Attorney's Office. And the first thing they taught me is don't answer a question unless you can answer it honestly.

9:06I have no idea. I think this could go either way. I think it's a close race. In a dramatic shift in U.S. nuclear policy, President Trump announcing Wednesday that the U.S. will resume nuclear weapons testing for the first time since 1992, according to the Associated Press. Just for some perspective, that was the year some of us graduated from college, and the number one song in the nation was I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston. Mr. Trump writing ominously on Truth Social, quote, the U.S. has more nuclear weapons than any other country. This was accomplished during my first term in office.

9:43Because of the tremendous destructive power, I hated to do it but had no choice. Because of other countries' testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our nuclear weapons on an equal basis. That process will begin immediately. Prior to Mr. Trump's post, the nonpartisan nuclear watchdog Federation of American Scientists, placing Russia ahead of America in total nuclear stockpile with about 4 ,300 active warheads compared to what they said was about 3 ,700 for the U.S. The announcement coming shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin announcing the successful test of an underwater nuclear-powered drone called the Poseidon, and just days after revealing a separate test of a nuclear-capable missile.

10:29Mr. Putin's saying of the Poseidon, quote, there is nothing like this in the world in terms of the speed and depth of the movement of this unmanned vehicle, and it is unlikely there ever will be. All of this unfolding amid a breakdown in talks for a planned summit between Presidents Trump and Putin. Overnight Wednesday, Mr. Trump speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One. We don't do testing. We've halted it years, many years ago. But with others doing testing, I think it's appropriate that we do also. I'd like to see a denuclearization because we have so many and Russia has some Russia's second and China's third.

11:08I think de-escalation would be they would call it denuclearization would be a tremendous thing. And it's something we are actually talking to Russia about that. And China would be added to that if we do something. Coming up, President Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping meet face-to-face for the first time in years to discuss a number of critical trade issues. And are you ready to fall back?

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12:46Again, that's allfamilypharmacy.com slash Megan. Overall, I guess on the scale of from zero to 10, with 10 being the best, I would say the meeting was a 12. I think it was a 12. The whole relationship is very, very important. I think it was very good. President Trump back in the U.S. after nearly one week in Asia on a multi-country diplomatic trip, culminating in a meeting in South Korea with Chinese President Xi Jinping. Over the last several months, U.S. and Chinese negotiators inching toward a deal as rising tensions between the two nations threatened to erupt in an all-out trade war. With crucial rare earth minerals, semiconductors, and billions in tariffs on the line, the talk's carrying major economic stakes, not just for those at the table, but the rest of the world as well.

13:37Mr. Trump leaving the meeting without inking the deal, though on Air Force One noting it could be signed pretty soon. What can I say? It was an outstanding group of decisions. I think it was made. A lot of decisions were made. There wasn't too much left out there. And we've come to conclusion on many very important points. We have a deal. Now, every year we'll renegotiate the deal. But I think the deal will go on for a long time. Long beyond the year. We'll negotiate at the end of the year. But all of the rare earth has been settled. And that's for the world. I mean, you know, worldwide, I guess you could really say this was a worldwide situation, not just the U.S.

14:18situation. So we continue to produce the rare earths and buy the rare earths and everything else, you know, when you see from other countries. But China is that whole situation that roadblock has gone now. There's no roadblock at all. It's a one year deal that will, I think, be very neatly extended as time goes by. The flow of fentanyl and the chemical precursors used by cartels to make the deadly drug, often originating in China and then processed in Mexico before these materials are funneled into the U.S., a key sticking point between Washington and Beijing. U.S. officials previously accusing the Chinese of not doing enough to crack down on illegal precursor exports.

15:02On fentanyl, we agreed that he was going to work very hard to stop the flow. You know, It's a very complex subject because it's used for lots of different reasons, including anesthetics and things. But he's going to work very hard on it, precursors. And I think you're going to see some real action taken. I've agreed, as you know, I put a 20 percent tariff on China because of the Penta Hill coming in, which is a big tariff. And based on his statements today, I reduced it by 10 percent. I believe he's going to work very hard to stop the death that's coming in. But again, it's complex because of what fentanyl is, what the precursors do.

15:49Mr. Trump saying the overall tariff rate will be reduced from 57 percent to 47 percent effective immediately. President Xi echoing the goodwill, saying at the start of the meeting, quote, quote, in the face of winds, waves, and challenges, you and I, at the helm of China-U.S. relations, should stay the right course and ensure the steady sailing forward of the giant ship of Chinese-U.S. relations. President Trump set to visit China along with the First Lady in April, with the Chinese president visiting the U.S. sometime after that. Goodbye, sunshine. This Sunday at 2 a.m., the clocks fall back one hour, thrusting the nation into early sunsets until March.

16:32Earlier this year, President Trump calling on Congress to lock the clock, making daylight savings time permanent, meaning we would eliminate the twice-a-year change of clocks and keep the time one hour ahead where we set it in the spring-forward part of daylight savings. The change would require congressional approval. Over the years, a bipartisan group of legislators introducing and then reintroducing bills to put an end to daylight savings time, always, though, facing opposition. Earlier this week, U.S. Senator from Florida, Republican Rick Scott, calling to pass the latest bill dubbed the Sunshine Protection Act by unanimous consent.

17:11A bipartisan group of senators promoting the bill in the chamber, Senator Tommy Tuberville of Alabama, Rick Scott, and Democrat Senator from Rhode Island, Sheldon Whitehouse. Switching the clock back and forth is the exact opposite of making America Health Again movement. The American people are sick and tired of changing their clocks twice a year. It's confusing, unnecessary, and completely outdated. I don't always agree with President Trump and with former Senator and now Secretary Rubio, but I sure do agree about this. But Republican Senator from Arkansas, Tom Cotton, blocking the motion. If permanent daylight savings time becomes the law of the land, it will again make winter.

17:51a dark and dismal time for millions of Americans. Permanent daylight savings time would push winter sunrises to an absurdly late hour, depriving Americans of morning sunshine that's essential for our safety and well-being. For many Arkansans, permanent daylight savings time would mean the sun wouldn't rise until after 8 or even 8.30 a.m. Americans in northern states and on the western side of time zones would be even worse off. For instance, the sun wouldn't rise until nearly nine o 'clock during winter in Seattle. The darkness of permanent daylight savings time would be especially harmful for school children and working Americans.

18:32As much as I love the extra hour of sleep on this one day, I think I'd rather have the light in the evenings when we're fully awake and alert. Since here in the Northeast, you lose morning sunshine really fast, pretty much as soon as December arrives with or without daylight savings time. What do you think? Email me. It's megan at megankelly.com. And that'll do it for your AM update. I'm Megan Kelly. Join me back here for the Megan Kelly show live on Sirius XM Triumph Channel 111 at noon east on youtube.com slash Megan Kelly and on all podcast platforms.