Global National; Nov. 3, 2026 ¦ US Congress up for grabs as Americans vote in midterm elections.

On this Tuesday night from Washington, America votes. Control of Congress hangs in the balance in pivotal midterm elections. And I'm just not happy with the current administration. It's been worse. It's been better. And we're praying for America. Signs the fortunes of Republicans could be dragged down by the president's own unpopularity and where Democrats could make big gains. Jeff Semple on the state of Maine. The tariffs that were designed to attract U.S. jobs and investment have done the complete opposite. How Trump's trade war with Canada is playing out politically. And how the U.S. president is transforming the American capital. Is this part of making America great again? No. From sweeping changes to botched remodeling and plans for a new monument. How Donald Trump is reshaping Washington in his own image. Global National with Donna Frazzetta, reporting tonight from Washington. Good evening and thanks for joining us. Voters in a divided United States are giving their verdict on President Donald Trump's second term. The midterm elections underway today won't change who is in the White House. Trump still has two more years, but those two years could look considerably different if Democrats take legislative control of both houses of Congress. Throughout this campaign, Trump repeatedly asked voters to act as if he is on the ballot. The results of the vote count will reveal. How that strategy worked out. Jackson Prosko begins our coverage tonight. At polling stations across the U.S., voters locked in their choices. How are you feeling about this election? Um, optimistic. In an election that seems to be all about President Donald Trump, who's not on the ballot, but is top of mind for many. Mostly just wanting the Democrats to have control of Congress so they can rein in Trump. Americans are so fired up that more than 58 million of them voted early. The Iran war, rising prices, and corruption are the top issues. I'm conservative. So, more Republican. Miles Sidowich says Trump's tariffs have driven up costs and hurt the economy, big factors for his vote. I wish we would have, like, zero tariffs. And then it's also stupid because we've started all these trade wars with all these companies that are our allies, including Canada. What is your final pitch to the voter today? Well, we have to keep America great. With voting underway, Trump struggled to define a closing message. He has refused to acknowledge the real pain felt by many, including his own supporters. They say right now we're the hottest country anywhere in the world. That has hurt Republicans up and down the ballot, leading to predictions of a blue wave for Democrats. We're going to win the election tonight. Republicans insist they can hold the line against all odds. And our base is fired up. They understand the risk. But the president increasingly seems to acknowledge it's too little, too late, and that his last two years in office may well be dominated by Democratic majorities in Congress. And we've been tracking how voting has been unfolding throughout the day. There are some small issues in one specific race in New York with ballot machines. Severe weather has displaced some voting locations in Arizona and Florida. But for the most part, things have gone smoothly. And we know there was a lot of concern about those federal election monitors that had been dispatched to all 50 states for the first time. But Donna, so far there's no sense that that's really changing the way people are voting. Well, that is good news. And, Jackson, President Trump called into Fox News this morning. He made a surprise announcement about U.S. military aid to Israel. Here's what he said. The Bibi Netanyahu and I have made a deal that we give Israel $4 billion a year. And we made a deal months ago that we're stopping at there. They're fine with it because, you know, they've become a very successful country that are needed. And we won't be paying any more. Trump has been such a strong supporter of being Bibi Netanyahu and of Israel. So why would he say this now? Surely it's political. It absolutely is. This is one of those issues that was hurting him from both ends of the political spectrum. Support for Israel was actually driving some Republicans toward Democrats. It's something Democrats like Abdul Al-Sayed in Michigan were campaigning on. And then those far-right Republicans were also sounding the alarm and raising concern about the amount of U.S. taxpayer dollars going to Israel. And so Trump feels like this is perhaps one of those issues he needs to dial things back on. We should point out, though, there There are questions as to whether this is real, and Israeli government officials are certainly not commenting yet. And Trump even said he wouldn't do it until the end of the year. So lots of time. Jackson, thank you. Well, tight races are expected in a number of Senate seats tonight. One of them is in Maine. It borders Quebec and New Brunswick, and the punitive tariffs the president imposed on Canada have hit hard. The incumbent senator, Susan Collins, is fighting to hold onto her seat by distancing herself from Trump. Jeff Semple went to Maine to find out what's on the line. Oh, everyone actually filed through that door over there. In many ways, the small town of Millinocket is a quintessential Maine community. Its century-old paper mill once employed half the population until it closed in 2008. You wonder, what does that mean for the community? How low do you go? But a couple of years ago, Millinocket seemed poised for a comeback. A $300 million proposal to turn the old mill site's lagoons into a massive salmon farm. But in August, with construction just weeks away from completion, investors pulled back, the company blaming U.S. tariffs on Norway and Canada. The tariffs that were designed to attract U.S. jobs and investment have done the complete opposite. Now residents are taking those frustrations to the ballot box. The tariffs are crazy. Many here, like this woman, voted for Trump in 2016, but are now voting Democrat. I am not a Trump fan by any means, so I'm looking forward to seeing him gone. Maine has emerged as a key swing state in these midterms, with its longtime Republican senator now fighting for her political life. Republican Susan Collins has held Maine's Senate seat for three decades through five presidents, but polls suggest these midterms may finally see her undone by Trump's unpopularity. Well, I think Trump being elected president was one of the worst things for her career because that's not her style of Republican. Collins has tried to walk a fine line. Susan is America's most independent senator. Sometimes supporting Trump, sometimes not. Canada is our friend. She voted against tariffs on Canada and recently received a rare reprieve, the White House cancelling duties on several Canadian imports. But some say it's too little, too late. Her ads say that she is, you know, neutral and will go both ways, but it seems like when it's really counted. And made a difference that hasn't been the case. Collins initially supported Trump's war in Iran, which has sent diesel prices soaring for Maine's forestry sector. The cost of furnace oil, which nearly half of Maine's households rely on for heat, has nearly doubled. The war in Iran is a double whammy in combination with the tariffs. This expert estimates that combination is costing Maine households more than $2,000 more per year on average. And may ultimately cost the Republicans this crucial Senate seat. Jeff Semple, Global News, Millinocket, Maine. King Charles said today he is filled with profound sorrow over the transatlantic slave trade. He said it as he opened a summit of Commonwealth leaders in the Caribbean. But he stopped short of an apology. The issue dominated that summit, which Canada's Prime Minister is also attending. As David Aitken explains, it's hoped the gathering, representing the Commonwealth's almost 3 billion people, will strengthen trade ties. Prime Minister Mark Carney had a packed agenda on the Caribbean island of Antigua and Barbuda at the biannual meeting of Commonwealth leaders. I'll just underscore the importance of these meetings. We have a unique gathering, 56 nations, 2.7 billion people, 70% of whom are under the age of 30. Carney met with Caribbean leaders and had one-on-one meetings, including with Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. He also attended a reception given by King Charles III. The objective was to... But Canada was largely on the sidelines for one of the dominant topics at this year's Commonwealth Summit, demands by Caribbean nations for financial reparations from the United Kingdom for Great Britain's role in the slave trade from the 16th to early 19th centuries. The transatlantic trade in enslaved persons still casts a shadow. Over these islands and other members of our Commonwealth. U.K. Prime Minister Andy Burnham has said he is open to considering a formal apology, but he is not prepared to make financial reparations. The slave trade also touched the colonies that would become Canada, where a few thousand indigenous people and black people were held as slaves in the 18th and early 19th centuries until Great Britain abolished the practice in 1833. Carney says Canada is a voice in public and in today's closed-door discussions. For justice, Donna. David, Mark Carney spoke to reporters late today. What did he say about trade talks? Well, with U.S. President Donald Trump telling U.S. voters today that a trade deal with Canada was very close, here's what the Prime Minister said about his recent comments that there may indeed be a framework for a deal. We have made progress, and because we have made progress, it felt important to acknowledge that publicly, including as per the question that there would be more formal negotiations if I were to. To paraphrase it, it's they're asking less and they're offering more. Details very sketchy, though. Difficult to say, for example, when such a deal might be negotiated. They're good lines of communications. They're open. Progress is being made. So I would say, in effect, those... I'm not splitting hairs, but that process of more intense negotiations has begun. The Prime Minister's day-long summit in the Caribbean is coming to an end. He will be back in Canada tonight, ready to make final preparations for the federal budget, which will be delivered here in Ottawa on Thursday. Donna. Okay, David Akin, thank you. Lingering questions on immigration coming up, how the federal government is planning to change immigration targets. The latest federal budget will be unveiled on Thursday. It's expected to be an economic blueprint for navigating the trade war, the economic uncertainty, and even immigration. Canada's population growth has slowed over the last two years. Targets were lowered after several years of rapid increases. A senior government source tells Global News updated immigration levels are expected in the budget, though as Tariya Isri reports, there are mixed signals on what to expect. Will Canada boost immigration, cut it, or hold steady? The federal budget is expected to deliver the answer. I think it would be a massive mistake, perhaps the first huge mistake of the government, if they were only to listen to some selective voices in the business lobby and go back to unsustainably high levels of immigration. Speaking to a business crowd Monday, the finance minister acknowledged the previous strategy was flawed. Too much of our growth has depended on expanding population rather than increasing what each worker in business can produce. After years of rapid population growth, the federal government cut immigration targets, saying it was necessary to ease pressure on housing and health care. A key driver of the influx, non-permanent residents. Statistics Canada estimates as of July 1st, they made up 6.7% of the population. Ottawa wants that number down to 5 by 2027. I just want to underscore, we will... Not budge from overall levels that are sustainable. We're getting them to that level now. But weeks earlier, in an interview with the New York Times, Prime Minister Mark Carney did not rule anything out, saying Canada will eventually resume some controlled increase in the population. A report last month from the Bank of Canada found the older population and fewer immigrants are changing the economy by shrinking the workforce. Any increase needs to be very carefully calibrated in order to to solve the bottlenecks and not to create new issues. Another issue, the provinces. Several are pushing for more control over immigration, including Alberta, which wants a Quebec-style agreement giving it more say on who can settle there. Donna. All right, Turiya Isri in Montreal, thanks. Concerning new data from Toronto's Daily Bread food bank shows the number of children struggling with food insecurity has risen significantly this year. The report found more than one in eight children in Toronto rely on food banks. That is nearly double the rate from 2022. The data shows 67% of parents gave up a meal in the last year to make sure their children had enough to eat. And 17% had a child in their household go hungry. At least once a week. Those findings mirror the Salvation Army's annual poverty and socioeconomic analysis. 31% of Canadians polled said they are skipping meals. The numbers are even worse for younger adults. 41% of those aged 18 to 34 reported skipping meals or reducing meals because they couldn't afford groceries. Ahead, what's driving Americans to the polls in the U.S. midterms? And who seems to be more motivated? This is the Jefferson Memorial, a towering marble structure honoring one of America's founding fathers, Thomas Jefferson, the third U.S. president. We're back from D.C. in a moment. Welcome back to Washington. The votes in the midterm elections have yet to be counted, but respected political forecasters are pretty confident of a blue wave. Larry Sabato's crystal ball at the University of Virginia forecasts 53 seats in the Senate are leaning towards the Democrats, 47 to the Republicans, and in the House of Representatives, 239 seats are leaning Democrat, 196 Republican. If those numbers are accurate, Democrats would control both houses of Congress Earlier today, I spoke with political scientist and professor Larry Sabato. Larry, thanks for joining us. You are forecasting some big wins for Democrats, something that was really unthinkable two years ago. What is driving voters to the Democrats? Mainly, it's dislike of Donald Trump. He has one of the lowest popularity ratings the president has ever had at midterm season. In fact, the lowest in modern history, around 30%. And what is it that people are, I mean, apart from him as an individual, what are they objecting to? Well, a lot of it is him, but of course they're very unhappy because he pledged to lower prices on day one and prices have only gone up and the prices have skyrocketed for gasoline, for diesel, and for certain food products that people need. And then there's the war in Iran, which pretty much connects to what we have just been talking about, plus corruption. And yet, President Trump, when he's campaigning, has repeatedly told voters to act as if he is on the ballot. Why is he doing that? Is he trying to just get his diehard voters to show up at the polls? He's trying to gin up the MAGA vote, or as we like to call it, the super MAGA vote, the people who believe anything he says and will do anything he asks them to do. Problem is, that's a diminishing part of the American voting population, and it isn't nearly enough to elect the candidates he wants. Now, turnout, of course, matters. Do you think the Republicans or the Democrats are most motivated to vote today? Oh, there's no question it's the Democrats. Now, more Republicans may show up today simply because Democrats have so dominated the early voting, which began in some states in late September. But the early vote almost everywhere is substantially Democratic, and that's what gives Democrats a big edge. Okay, and I want to ask you about Texas. We have heard before that a Democrat could win a statewide election, and it hasn't happened for a long time. How certain are you about James Tallarico for Senate, and why? I'm never certain about Texas voting for a Democrat because I've been around for all the 30-plus years when they've lost every single race for every single statewide office, and I've heard this before. But this is a special year. The Republicans blew it and nominated the worst possible candidate endorsed by Donald Trump. He defeated an incumbent who would have won this election. We wouldn't even be talking about it. And for all the factors that we've discussed, the war, higher costs, corruption, all of these things give Democrat James Tallarico the best chance any Democrat has had in decades. Okay, fair enough. Larry Sabato, thanks for joining us. I enjoyed being with you. Thank you. Next, we explore the legacy of Washington, D.C.'s landscape and how Donald Trump is trying to reshape it in his image. This is the Lincoln Memorial honoring former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln. We're back in a moment. Washington, D.C. is not just the political capital of the U.S. It is a showcase of the country's history, values, and achievements, a keeper of collective memory. There are over 100 monuments here, and if President Trump gets his way, construction could start next week on a new one. I met a man who knows every angle of every monument to find out how Trump is trying to leave his mark. It is a rite of passage for every visitor to Washington, D.C., capturing images of the monuments, tributes to the Founding Fathers, and the principles that shape America's democratic ideals. Lincoln faces east. It's best done in the morning. Professional architectural photographer David Luria knows all the right angles. He founded Washington Photo Safari to help tourists take breathtaking pictures like his. Over 27 years, he's guided tens of thousands of people. That's really good. David, this is the 250th anniversary of the United States. I imagine your business this year would be booming. No. He says bookings are down 50% because so many of D.C.'s landmarks are fenced off, closed, or under repair. The Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool was closed for eight months because of a botched $14 million repair job and repainting ordered by President Trump. It became a symbol of the Trump administration's dysfunction. The fences finally came down last week in time for the president to do a little reflecting of his own. Now we're giving serious thought to changing the name to the Trump. Reflecting pool? No. I'm only kidding. He wasn't kidding when he tried to add his name to the Kennedy Center until a judge ordered it removed. There's a legal battle still underway and the building is closed. It's just the way a wolf in the forest urinates on trees to leave his scent. Even the White House is fenced off. Tourists can barely get a glimpse of it. And the East Wing has been demolished to build Trump's ballroom. Is this part of making America great again? No. To Trump, it is. Construction of a new massive arch that would tower over Arlington National Cemetery could start next week. We're going for a final approval of the... Triumphal arch, military complex. It's a middle finger sticking up at the world saying, I was here, don't forget me. It troubles Luria, whose Jewish parents fled Germany in 1938 when he was a young child. We've seen how a cultured, highly educated people in society can get entranced into a cult of personality. So we have to learn the lessons of the past. And I feel very strongly, I feel an obligation. Hopeful about the future of America and determined to help people capture D.C. in its most beautiful light. That is Global National for this Tuesday. I'm Donna Friesen. Thanks for watching and hope to see you here again tomorrow. For now, good night from Washington, D.C.