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Liberal Judge Wins Wisconsin Supreme Court Race; Canada, Mexico Discuss Response to Trump Tariffs; Republicans Holds Seats in Florida; Liberal Judge Wins in Wisconsin, GOP Sweeps Florida; Mexico's Auto Workers Grapple with Impact of Trump's Tariffs. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired April 02, 2025 - 00:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[00:00:50]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, and welcome to our viewers here in the U.S. and around the world. I'm Jim Sciutto, live in Washington, where it is now midnight on the East Coast, 11:00 p.m. in Madison, Wisconsin.

The first major elections of Donald Trump's second term are now in the books, giving us a snapshot of voter sentiment in the early months of his presidency. In battleground Wisconsin, Democrats are celebrating a key victory in that state's Supreme Court race. And in Florida, Republicans held on to two U.S. House seats, although notably by smaller margins than President Trump's victory just a few weeks back in November 2024.

First to Wisconsin, where CNN projects that Democratic backed Judge Susan Crawford will defeat the conservative Brad Schimel there, maintaining the liberal majority on the state Supreme Court. This is undoubtedly a blow to Trump adviser Elon Musk, who sank more than $20 million of his own money into that race. The most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUSAN CRAWFORD, WISCONSIN SUPREME COURT JUSTICE-ELECT: And to the people of Wisconsin, thank you.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRAWFORD: Thank you for trusting me to serve you on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This campaign has been an incredible, life-altering experience.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Life-altering?

CRAWFORD: In so many ways. And I'm so grateful to have earned the trust and support of voters across this great state.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Life-altering experience, she says. In Florida, CNN projects Republican Jimmy Patronis will win the first House district race over the Democrat Gay Valimont. This is the seat that was vacated by Matt Gaetz. Patronis is the former chief financial officer of the state of Florida. He recently made headlines saying he would oppose any plans by President Trump to close military bases in northwest Florida.

And in Florida's Sixth House District, CNN projects that Republican Randy Fine will defeat Democrat Josh Weil. This is the seat formerly held by Trump National Security adviser Mike Waltz. The White House had grown frustrated with Fine over what they saw as a lackluster campaign and a 10 to 1 fundraising deficit.

The Trump administration will also surely be frustrated by the decisive defeat of the conservative candidate in Wisconsin Supreme Court race. Liberals breathing a sigh of relief.

CNN's Arlette Saenz reports from Madison, Wisconsin.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Liberal Judge Susan Crawford thanks supporters for helping elect her to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, saying that Wisconsin voters sent a real message about the influence of big money in her campaign.

Now, Crawford, in her victory speech, did not reference Elon Musk by name, but she did reference working to defeat the richest man in the world. Musk had poured more than $20 million of his own personal fortune into the state to try to boost the conservative candidate, Brad Schimel. Crawford really put Musk's involvement at the center of the strategy, and she said the election results showed where Wisconsin voters stood on that issue. Take a listen.

CRAWFORD: Today, Wisconsinites fended off an unprecedented attack on our democracy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.

(CHEERS AND APPLAUSE)

CRAWFORD: That's right. Our fair elections and our Supreme Court, and Wisconsin stood up and said loudly that justice does not have a price. Our courts are not for sale.

SAENZ: Crawford's victory will now ensure that liberals maintain the majority on Wisconsin Supreme Court. There are a number of hot button issues that could come before the court in the coming years, ranging from abortion rights to congressional maps.

Now, this was officially a nonpartisan race, but it attracted a lot of outside political attention from both national parties, as President Trump had endorsed the conservative candidate, Brad Schimel and Elon Musk also went big on his campaign.

[00:05:05]

Now, Crawford and her Democratic allies really tried to turn this race into a referendum of Musk, betting that those voters who are frustrated with the DOGE efforts and his big spending in the race would be motivated to turn out, and this marks the first real major electoral test in a battleground state of President Trump's second term.

Arlette Saenz, CNN, Madison, Wisconsin.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: All right, so how are the parties reading it? Joining me now, Maria Cardona, Democratic strategist, CNN political commentator, Bryan Lanza, senior adviser to the Trump 2024 campaign.

Good to have you both on. Late in the evening. I want to give you both a chance to respond. I'll give ladies first.

Maria, is this a sign of a shift post-November election, or is this one of those special election anomalies, right, that doesn't quite reflect the broader electorate?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I don't think it's an anomaly, though we certainly can't predict what's going to happen, for example, in the 2026 midterm elections based on what happened tonight. But I will say that has given Democrats a very much needed but yet expected shot in the arm, Jim, because we have been seeing from the moment that Trump was elected, the massive voter anger and angst because of Trump and Musk and MAGA's overreach that they have been involved in since the moment Trump got elected.

And it's because of a couple things. The first one is that Trump promised to do one thing in this election, in this campaign, and that is reduce the cost of groceries, gas and rent, reduce inflation reduce costs of everyday working families. And he has not done that. And we have seen poll after poll after poll, Americans are frustrated and have said that he has not focused on that as much as he should.

And the second thing is that they have seen, Americans have seen Elon Musk, as somebody who was not elected, somebody who was not confirmed, and frankly, somebody who has no business doing what he's doing, firing hundreds of thousands of Americans and taking a wrecking ball to some of the most important programs that American working families count on. And Trump's own voters have been very frustrated and frankly pissed off about this, which is why you see all of the anger across the country during town halls.

So that's what you saw manifested tonight in both the Florida special elections, where Democrats totally overperformed, as well as the Wisconsin Supreme Court race that demonstrated that Elon Musk, the richest man in the world, cannot buy an election.

SCIUTTO: So, Bryan, your response? I mean, Maria is absolutely right, including on the Trump economic numbers. Right? Recent polling has shown that his -- reviews for his handling of the economy have fallen, the big advantage he had going into the November election.

BRYAN LANZA, SENIOR ADVISER, TRUMP 2024 CAMPAIGN: Yes. I mean, listen, what we saw today, the election today was a test, was a test of voters, you know, how did they feel about President Trump in Florida and the federal races. And they validated President Trump. You know, it's so funny that I hear this conversation, the Democrats saying we almost won. And it was -- let's not ignore the message. The message is clear. The voters, you know, reaffirmed President Trump's mandate from November to go forward by picking up those two congressional seats. That matters. You can't ignore those things and so --

SCIUTTO: By tighter margins, though, right, than Trump had a few weeks ago?

LANZA: Whatever.

CARDONA: Much tighter.

LANZA: Jim, winning is winning. It doesn't matter whether it's by one vote or by 30 points, which you won the last time. And the win is a win. Now you can try to hang your hat on saying, we almost won it, and try to make that a motivating factor. But the reality is, is the voters rejected what the policies that the Democrats were bringing, and they reaffirmed what President Trump was doing.

So, yes, I mean, that's what took -- that's what's taking place. And that's a good thing. You know, President Trump is going forward. You're right, Jim, he was brought in to lower the prices of gas, to lower the prices of eggs. Eggs are down over 50 percent from where they were when he took office. You know, gas is down 30 percent. You know, it takes time. I mean, what matters more than anything else is not what's happening today. It's what's going to happen in July of 2026.

That's when voters are going to make their decisions on what this economy looks like. And so right now you hear a lot of stuff. But at the end of the day, we know when voters are going to make those decisions.

SCIUTTO: You lost the race in Wisconsin, of course. And I wonder, Byan, and then I want to go to Maria, was Elon Musk an asset or a negative in Wisconsin? I mean, he spent a lot of money there. Certainly didn't win. It was a 10-point margin. Not even quite close. I wonder if he was arguably a motivating factor for Democrats more than for Republicans.

LANZA: Yes. Quite possibly. I mean, what it also shows is that money isn't everything. We learned that when Hillary Clinton lost against Donald Trump in 2016, when she vastly outspent Donald Trump and Elon just learned that today that message matters at some point.

[00:10:09]

And in Wisconsin, Democrats seem to have found a message, local message, not a federal message, but a local message in Wisconsin that they don't want Elon coming in with his vast money and try to, you know, for lack of a better word, buy the election. But, you know, but also issues matter. And they had a better issue to run on. And the fact that they didn't want this, you know non-Wisconsin coming in and telling the state what to do. And that has a powerful effect. We've seen that happen in other

states. And sure it was a loss for Elon. It was a $20 million that they spent. And I'm sure there's some motivating factors in there. But, you know, he'll recalibrate. You know, listen, when you come up short, you don't quit. You don't go onto the sidelines and say, I don't want to play again. You're calibrating. You figure out how to go forward. And that's what we'll learn from Elon that when he fails, he fails fast and he moves forward fast.

SCIUTTO: So, Maria, to that point about Democratic message, because even Democrats, of course, have criticized their own party for not having, you know, the message that's going to win over voters, particularly as you come up to the midterm elections. Did you see -- did you see at least the makings of a message in some of these races? And of course, the candidates were testing them out, right? And this is a test.

CARDONA: Absolutely, absolutely, Jim, and I think that you are seeing Democrats across the country, including in the Florida special elections, where, you know, I know my dear friend Bryan doesn't want to accept that there is a message here for Republicans. And I hope he's right that they don't listen to it and don't pivot and continue to ignore America's economic woes. That'll be fine with me.

But the fact of the matter is that the message that Democrats are starting to coalesce around is the economic message, and specifically because what we are seeing and what voters are saying very vociferously across the country is that Donald Trump has betrayed them. Donald Trump is stabbing them in the back. Every time he talks about wanting to buy Greenland, instead of helping them to buy groceries, that is going to be a negative mark against him moving forward on this one issue that we all know is king and queen and everything else, which is the issue of the economy.

And what you're seeing across the board is that voters are hurting. People are losing their jobs specifically because of Elon Musk and his wrecking ball. People are still not able to make ends meet. People's mortgages are still too expensive. Inflation is actually not going down. And so what you're seeing is that what Trump promised is not coming to fruition. And, you know, Republicans are concerned when you had to have the president pull back his nominee for the United Nations because he was afraid that her district might be in trouble, a district where she won by 23 points.

And so the massive margins that Democrats cut in these two Florida districts do matter. But again, like I said, I hope Republicans ignore it as my friend Bryan is trying to do. That's just fine with us.

SCIUTTO: Well, listen, it's not the last time we talk about it. Appreciate having you both on. Hold those thoughts, Maria Cardona, Bryan Lanza, thanks so much.

In the coming hours, the U.S. president is expected to announce -- speaking of the economy -- his most aggressive tariff policy yet in a major escalation in what is becoming multiple trade wars, including with U.S. allies. Donald Trump is expected to reveal a slew of new tariffs at a Rose Garden ceremony at 4:00 p.m. on Wednesday. The White House says the tariffs will go into effect immediately as he announces them.

Now other countries, businesses, American consumers bracing for the impact. Economists warn prices of goods could skyrocket quickly at a time when the stock market is off to its worst start in three years. The White House press secretary is urging patience for, she says, the time needed for the president's economic plan to work.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAROLINE LEAVITT, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: Well, certainly they are legitimate concerns and the president takes those concerns very seriously, and he's addressing them every single day. And tomorrow's announcement is to protect future generations of the senior citizens you mentioned. It's for their kids and their grandkids, to ensure that there are jobs here in the United States of America for their children to live the American dream.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Earlier, I spoke with Canada's minister of foreign affairs, Melanie Joly, about what she says is now a trade war between the two neighbors and allies. She says that Mexico and Canada, two key trading partners for the U.S., are working together now to figure out a way to respond jointly to President Trump's expanding tariffs.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MELANIE JOLY, CANADIAN FOREIGN MINISTER: We've been working together, the foreign minister of Mexico and I have been in close contact for many weeks now.

[00:15:03]

It's been more than 90 days that we've been dealing with different executive orders coming out of the White House that are affecting our economies. But it was an introduction call. It was the first time that the prime minister of Canada, Prime Minister Carney, and President Sheinbaum were talking. And we're both very important trading partners. Mexico is the second biggest trading partner for Canada, but also we're part of the USMCA. This trade agreement that is also so key right now and that we need to see whether we can continue to work on to keep it strong.

And this is certainly a message that we wanted to make sure that the Mexican government heard from their Canadian friends.

SCIUTTO: As you know, the Prime Minister Carney, he warned that the old U.S. relationship that Canada had with the U.S. is overstating, quote, "The U.S. is no longer a reliable partner." I wonder, what does that mean exactly? How will the trading relationship change between the U.S. and Canada, but also the defense partnership?

JOLY: Well, we didn't launch a trade war against the U.S. The U.S. decided to put 25 percent tariffs against all our products, in their first executive order, then went after us by putting 25 percent tariffs on our steel and aluminum, then went after us putting 25 percent on our auto sector. And now we're looking at potentially being vulnerable to reciprocal tariffs. Meanwhile, we wanted to make sure that we were sending a clear message that we were retaliating. And at this point, we've put $60 billion worth of tariffs against products in Canada. And also we have $100 billion more of potential counter- tariffs against the U.S. so on American products in Canada.

Canada is the biggest client of the U.S., Jim, you've asked me that question in the past. You know, when you're in business, and I know many people watching us right now are in the business sector, you treat your client, your best client well. And so our goal is to make sure that we end this trade war, that we get to a common understanding that this is hurting Canadians and Americans, their wallets. And nobody is winning from it.

But at the same time, of course we want to make sure that we work with the White House. Of course we want to make sure that we find an off- ramp. Of course we're willing to have discussions. And that's my goal working with Marco Rubio. But also, this is the goal of the prime minister talking to the president and as well the secretary of Commerce and the minister of International Trade here in Canada.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: I also asked the foreign minister if the U.S. and Canada are now in a trade war. She answered, of course.

Much more to come on our special election coverage, including what those key races in Florida and Wisconsin tell us more broadly about voter sentiment, as well as Donald Trump's influence in those two states. And history made on the Senate floor by New Jersey Senator Cory Booker. We'll tell you why he spent more than an entire day, 24 hours, speaking out in protest.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that have given lane to this demagogue.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:22:26]

SCIUTTO: More now on our top story. Key wins for both Republicans and Democrats in the first major state races of President Trump's second term.

In Wisconsin CNN projects the Democratic backed candidate, Susan Crawford, will win the state Supreme Court race. A key one ensuring the liberal majority on the court in a key battleground state. Crawford beat out conservative judge Brad Schimel in what quickly became the most expensive judicial contest in U.S. history, by far. In Florida, the GOP can breathe a bit of a sigh of relief. CNN

projects that Republican Jimmy Patronis will win the state's First Congressional District, filling the House seat vacated by Matt Gaetz. Donald Trump's hand-picked candidate, Randy Fine, also projected to win Florida's Six District, filling the seat left open by Trump's National Security adviser Mike Waltz.

Both wins give Republicans a slight boost to their House majority, a narrow one, though those margins are tighter than in the November election, at least for Trump.

More now on those House races from CNN's Steve Contorno, who is in Daytona Beach.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN SENIOR CORRESPONDENT: House Speaker Mike Johnson is getting reinforcements to pad his slim Republican majority, and they're coming from Florida. Former chief financial officer Jimmy Patronis has won a special election to represent the First Congressional District in Florida. And former state senator Randy Fine has won a race for Florida's Sixth Congressional District.

Both races were much narrower than they were just five months ago, when Republicans captured these districts by more than 30 points. Republicans were especially concerned about Florida's Sixth Congressional District. There the Democratic candidate, Josh Weil, sent shockwaves from Florida to Washington when he announced last month that he had raised almost $10 million in his race against Fine.

Speaking to CNN shortly after his concession speech on Tuesday night, Weil said that Democrats still have a long way to go to win back some of these Republican parts of the country.

JOSH WEIL, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE: These districts are not worth giving up on. And that they will respond to a progressive message, that there is no -- nothing to be scared of in talking to them about strengthening and investing in federal government systems that benefit the people who live here.

CONTORNO: Democrats looking for silver linings on Tuesday can at least point to the narrower margin in these races. And Republican Randy Fine acknowledged that Democratic anger was palpable in his district and fueling some of the energy and enthusiasm for his opponent.

[00:25:05]

RANDY FINE, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN-ELECT: I want to start by thanking my opponent for investing $14 million into our local economy. Clearly it didn't work, but our local businesses certainly appreciated it.

CONTORNO: The results are a major victory for Donald Trump, who had endorsed both victorious candidates in their Republican primaries. And now he will have help trying to get his agenda through Congress.

Steve Contorno CNN, Daytona Beach, Florida. (END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Joining me now is Larry Sabato, director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Larry, always good to talk to you. Particularly grateful after midnight.

LARRY SABATO, DIRECTOR, CENTER FOR POLITICS, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, listen, Democrats are celebrating, at least in Wisconsin, but also tighter margins in those districts in Florida. I wonder how you read the message from these races. And would you say that these are just, you know, these kinds of things happen in special elections don't necessarily mean the same things going to happen in the big races?

SABATO: Well, yes, it was a good night for Democrats. They won the big one that really counted in Wisconsin. I don't think anybody is surprised that the Republicans kept two ruby red districts in Florida, which has become almost the new Texas. Democrats are barely competitive in the state anymore. But Wisconsin is the great swing state. It's one of the big seven, but it's also the one that tends to be the closest.

This turned out to be something of a rout. Now, it was somewhat similar to the last Supreme Court race in Wisconsin back in 2023, but that doesn't minimize it. These were under difficult circumstances, and you had the richest person in the world spending over $20 million of his own money, handing out million-dollar checks to a couple of individual voters and gathering all the media steam, the media coverage in the last few days of the campaign. It's a lesson for Trump about Musk and it's a lesson to Musk if he cares to learn it.

SCIUTTO: So, is that lesson that Musk, even with his endless supplies of money, could prove more damaging for Republican candidates than an advantage for them?

SABATO: Yes. Incredibly, there are things in politics that are more important than money. I know that's revolutionary to suggest that, but it's absolutely true. And you cannot buy elections. I've seen this so many times. Candidates who are outspent often win, and they win because they've tapped into the public mood, whatever it may be, on whatever subjects they're focused on.

And I think Musk has become radioactive because of DOGE and because of all the massive cuts. And people are really concerned about what's going on. So he's as much of a minus as he is a plus, probably more of a minus than he's a plus.

SCIUTTO: Yes, he's seeing that, I mean, the effect on sales of Teslas, for instance.

Connect the dots for me here if you can. So tighter margins in those two Florida congressional districts, a big win for Democrats in the Wisconsin race. You had a couple state races recently, including in Pennsylvania, where Democrats outperformed over the November results. Does that -- you've looked at a lot of numbers in your time as a political analyst, does that show to you that the country is, the electorate is turning somewhat or trying to send a message to Trump?

SABATO: Well, they're certainly trying to send a message, at least in these individual places. But you know what's interesting, Jim? I was looking at the averages from the Trump first term in his first two years, 2017 and 2018. And the same thing happened starting about now and it continued through the midterm year. And, gee, what did that produce? It produced a Democratic House of Representatives and a significant turnover in the House.

It didn't win the Senate. Probably not going to win the Senate in 2026. But the House is the Democrats' great prize that they can win in 2026. And so this is just one data point along the long road between now and the midterms. But it's a very positive sign, early sign for Democrats that they're on the same road as they were in 2017 and 2018.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, one other important factor from this Wisconsin judge's race is that that court will have a role in potentially redistricting in that state, which also could have an effect. I mean, we're talking one or two seats, but, you know, in a tight margin midterm race that that could be impactful.

SABATO: Oh, absolutely. You know, we're really back to where we were on election night. Republicans just went back up to 220. The two vacant seats are Democratic. Democrats are 213. They'll be 215 once those two seats are filled.

[00:30:10]

So, we're right back to where we were. And actually, that's good news for Democrats. They're right on the edge of taking control. And almost always, the out of power party from the White House ends up winning additional seats, sometimes substantial numbers of additional seats, in the midterms.

So, again, Democrats have plenty of time to blow it. But they're on the right road early on.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Larry Sabato, Charlottesville, Virginia, thanks so much for joining.

SABATO: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Democratic Senator Cory Booker has now made history by speaking on the Senate floor for a record: more than 25 hours.

The New Jersey senator began speaking Monday night at 7 p.m., protesting the actions of President Trump and his administration.

Throughout his remarks, he mentioned the stories of Americans who rely on federal programs, which are now threatened by the administration's mass defunding of those programs. Booker called on the rising generation to fix the problems inside the Democratic Party and also bring the nation together.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. CORY BOOKER (D-NJ): I confess that I've been inadequate to the moment. I confess that the Democratic Party has made terrible mistakes that have given a lane to this demagogue. I confess we all must look in the mirror and say, we will do better.

And it's not just defining ourselves what we're against. We, the next generation, as the Baby Boomers are leaving the stage, the last Baby Boomer president, we have to say that we're going to redeem the dream. We're going to dream America anew. We're going to start talking about bold things that don't divide people, that unite people; bold things that excite the moral imagination of a country to do better, to go higher, to call us together.

This is the time where new leaders in our country must emerge. I'm not talking about senators. I'm talking about citizens.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Take note of the history, as well, because Senator Booker has broken the record previously held by a lawmaker who spoke protesting the 1957 Civil Rights Act.

Well, liberals are celebrating a crucial win in a key swing state after the most expensive judicial race in U.S. history. The takeaways from the battle over the Wisconsin Supreme Court.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:35:55]

SCIUTTO: Welcome back to CNN's special live election coverage. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. And let's check in on today's top stories.

CNN projects liberals will keep their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court. This after the Democrat-backed Susan Crawford won about 54 percent of the vote, 10-point margin there.

The circuit court judge defeated Trump-backed conservative Judge Brad Schimel. This despite Elon Musk pouring millions -- $20 million -- into the race on his behalf.

The Republican Party will hold onto two House seats in Florida, however. CNN projects that Randy Fine will win the 6th District. Jimmy Patronis will win the 1st District.

Their margins of victory, though, about half of President Trump's in those same districts in the 2024 presidential race.

President Donald Trump is expected to reveal new tariffs in the coming hours, marking an escalation of what is now a global trade war. The White House has not shared details but says the tariffs will take effect immediately upon his announcement of them. Economists are warning this could lead to sharp increases in the

prices of goods for U.S. consumers, as well as potentially wipe out millions of jobs.

U.S. state judicial races usually do not make national or international headlines, but Wisconsin is a battleground state that helped determines who wins the U.S. presidency, and its Supreme Court will have the final say on election disputes, as well as congressional mapping. Also, issues such as abortion.

Anthony Chergosky is an assistant professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, Lacrosse. Good to have you on tonight. Thanks so much for joining.

ANTHONY CHERGOSKY, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN: Thank you, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, I wonder how the great state of Wisconsin is reading these results here. Obviously, Donald Trump won Wisconsin just a few weeks ago, but this is a ten-point margin for a liberal, a Democratic- backed judge.

Does that signal, in your view, a shift in the state just in the first few weeks of Trump's presidency?

CHERGOSKY: Well, by Wisconsin standards, a ten-point victory is absolutely massive. This is one of the most closely divided states in the nation. It is a premier swing state.

So, people around the nation are understandably focusing on Wisconsin to try to get some insight into where the political state of the nation is in these first few weeks of the Trump administration.

Elon Musk, of course, figured heavily; played a major role in this campaign. So, I think there's a lot of significant lessons to be learned from this election outcome.

SCIUTTO: Is the makeup of voters in a race such as this one significantly different from the makeup of voters in a presidential election cycle?

CHERGOSKY: It's a bit different, and we do know that, in this day and age, high turnout elections tend to favor the Republican Party, because those higher propensity voters have gone more into the Democratic Party coalition.

But it's worth noting that all indications show that this election had very high voter turnout, turnout perhaps on par with almost a midterm election, not quite presidential election turnout.

But April elections in Wisconsin are notorious for being sleepy, low voter turnout affairs, and this was quite different. The voters were fired up, the voters were energized, and there were strong turnout numbers.

SCIUTTO: Tell me about the impact of this liberal majority. The big decisions that this court is going to face in the coming months and years, where that majority will matter.

CHERGOSKY: The Wisconsin state Supreme Court has played a very important role in Wisconsin government. Already, the four-member liberal majority has made important rulings on gerrymandering and the district maps for the state legislature.

There are also potential rulings on the way regarding abortion, regarding Act X, which is the law that deals with collective bargaining rights for public employee unions.

[00:40:04]

Obviously, in Wisconsin, elections are really close and often very controversial. And so, the state Supreme Court can weigh in with rulings on election laws, election procedures.

So, there's all kinds of issues that the state Supreme Court could weigh in on with concrete impacts for Wisconsin.

SCIUTTO: Before we go, was Elon Musk a positive or a negative for the Republican-backed candidate in this race?

CHERGOSKY: Well, Democrats insisted that there would be a backlash to Musk and the role that he played in this election. And I think it's going to take a little time to sort that out.

But I do think it's a critical question for Republicans. Did Musk do more harm than good? He invested an enormous amount of money. He came here to campaign personally.

It's worth noting, though, Jim, that the Susan Crawford campaign focused much more on an anti-Musk message than an anti-Trump message. And maybe there's something to be learned in that.

SCIUTTO: No question. Anthony Chergosky, thanks so much for joining.

CHERGOSKY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still to come, the steel and auto industries in Mexico are already grappling with President Trump's tariffs. Now they're bracing for more tariffs, set to take effect this week. We're going to have the details just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:44:29]

SCIUTTO: Breaking news out of the Middle East. Just moments ago, Israel's defense minister announced a major expansion of the military's operation inside Gaza. This would involve, Israelis, say, the seizure of large areas of land that would be, quote, "incorporated into Israel's security zones."

The operation would also include -- again, quoting here -- "the large- scale evacuation" of Gaza's population from combat zones. Israel did not give further details. Last month, sources told CNN that

Israel was making plans for a potential major ground offensive in Gaza, in which tens of thousands of troops would be sent in to clear and occupy large portions of the enclave.

A quick recap now of the first election night in this country during President Trump's second term. CNN projects that liberals will keep their majority on the Wisconsin Supreme Court, as circuit court Judge Susan Crawford has beaten Brad Schimel. That is President Trump's pick for the job.

The race is officially nonpartisan. However, Crawford is a liberal judge backed by Democrats.

In Florida, CNN projects that Republican Jimmy Patronis will win the first House district race over Democrat Gay Valimont. This is the seat that was vacated by Matt Gaetz.

Former Florida state Senator Randy Fine is projected to fill the spot left by national security adviser to Trump, Mike Waltz. Those two wins mean the Republicans will hold onto their narrow House majority, expand it by two seats.

In fact, though, the margins in those races tighter than what we saw in the presidential election just a few weeks ago.

Another story we're following closely. That is an escalation of Chinese drills in and around Taiwan, as the Chinese military launches live fire exercises in the East China Sea.

The exercises, dubbed Strait Thunder, as in Taiwan Strait, are said to be focused on testing the troops' capabilities of joint blockade and precision strikes. That's notable, because there is fear -- fears that China might blockade the island to try to force it into submission.

On Tuesday, the Trump White House issued a warning to China after it launched the exercises, which involved the country's army, navy, air force and rocket force.

America's trade partners around the globe are bracing for President Trump's sweeping new tariffs, which he says he will announce on Wednesday. The White House says those tariffs will take effect immediately as he announces them, while a 25 percent tariff on auto imports will take effect on Thursday.

Trump has already imposed tariffs on aluminum and steel imports into this country. Steel and auto workers in one Mexican town are now looking for ways to minimize the economic costs.

CNN's Valeria Leon has more.

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VALERIA LEON, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): As the effect of a 25 percent tariff on steel and aluminum imports to the United States begins to take its toll, uncertainty looms for workers in the assembly line of the Maindsteel manufacturing plant in the central Mexican state of Aguascalientes.

EDUARDO SILVA, WORKER (through translator): It's a little worrying for us as suppliers, because there could even be staff cuts. We're worried, because we don't know what will happen later.

LEON (voice-over): The tariffs package, which went into effect on March 12th, was imposed by President Donald Trump, who claimed it would correct trade imbalances and reactivate the domestic U.S. manufacturing industry.

According to the Mexican government, this measure is not justified, especially since the trade balance favors the United States in these sectors.

With the tariffs now in place, the director of Maindsteel told CNN that the measure has already caused disruptions for this industry.

CUITLAHUAC PEREZ, PRESIDENT, MAINDSTEEL (through translator): We've had delays in export processes, because customs sometimes doesn't operate at the border, waiting to see if tariffs will actually be enforced or not.

You can imagine the number of trucks that pass through the border every day. It affects us a lot.

LEON (voice-over): Maindsteel exports 60 percent of its products to the United States. And although the automotive industry is its main source of revenue, it also assembles a variety of products, including parts for machines for casinos in Las Vegas and New Orleans. But the consequences are still unclear.

ARMANDO AVILA MORENO, PRESIDENT, AGUASCALIENTES INDUSTRIAL CENTER (through translator): We still can't fully assess what the final impact could be.

What we do know is that, in the case of the United States, it has a very large deficit and is searching under every stone for where it can find the missing funds.

So far, we can't know or calculate anything. What is very clear is that Mexico is heavily dependent on the automotive industry.

LEON (voice-over): But tariffs on aluminum and steel are not the only concern for Mexican exports, especially since new tariffs on automotive products shipped to the United States are set to take place on Wednesday, creating uncertainty in the automotive industry, as well.

LEON: Mexico is the seventh largest car producer in the world, with an annual production of 3.5 million vehicles, 76 percent of which are exported to the U.S.

LEON (voice-over): Aguascalientes is the Mexican state with the third highest number of automotive factories, which is why the state government says it has prepared a program to assist workers that could be laid off as a result of the new tariffs. ENRIQUE DE LA TORRE, SPOKESPERSON, GOVERNMENT OF AGUASCALIENTES,

MEXICO (through translator): I would ask that here in Aguascalientes, we remain calm, as everything necessary is being done to prevent the impact from causing unemployment.

With the tariffs on steel and aluminum already placing Mexico's manufacturing sector under severe strain, employees and industry leaders are worried the new auto tariffs will mark a tipping point for Mexico's economy.

ALFONSO RAMIREZ, AUTO INDUSTRY WORKER (through translator): There is concern. We depend so much on trade from here to there, as well as from there to here.

LEON (voice-over): Valeria Leon, CNN, Mexico city.

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SCIUTTO: The U.S. Justice Department now plans to seek the death penalty for accused CEO killer Luigi Mangione if he is convicted on capital murder charges.

The 26-year-old faces life in prison without parole if he's convicted on the state charges for allegedly shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in New York in December.

Mangione has pleaded not guilty. His attorney says the Justice Department's push for the death penalty shows it has, quote, "moved from the dysfunctional to the barbaric."

Attorney General Pam Bondi's office declined to comment.

The federal criminal complaint charges Mangione with murder through use of a firearm, along with two stalking charges and a firearms offense.

We are going to pause to take a short break. We will be back in a moment with more.

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[00:55:20]

SCIUTTO: Breaking news this hour. And it's sad news to report: the actor Val Kilmer has died at the age of 65.

His daughter released a statement to "The New York Times," saying that her father died of pneumonia.

Kilmer, best known for his roles in films like "Top Gun," "Tombstone," "The Doors," and "Batman Forever."

CNN has reached out to representatives for the Kilmer family. We'll continue to follow this breaking news. And of course, our thoughts go out to his family and close friends. And recapping our top story. Voters in Wisconsin delivered a blow to

U.S. President Donald Trump and Republicans, electing a Democratic- backed judge, Susan Crawford, to the state Supreme Court.

The race was officially nonpartisan, but the result ensures the court will maintain a liberal majority, with a lot of issues before that court in the coming months and years.

Meanwhile, Donald Trump's preferred congressional candidates won their special elections in Florida. Republican Jimmy Patronis in the state's 1st District, that replaces Matt Gaetz.

Republican Randy Fine won Florida's 6th.

The margins of victory, though, in those districts were smaller -- smaller, measurably smaller than President Trump's just a few weeks ago in November.

But those two states will give the Republican-led Congress a little bit more breathing room for its majority, with lots of business before it coming up.

That's all we have time for this hour. I'm Jim Sciutto in Washington. I will be back with much more of CNN's live election coverage in just a moment.

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