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The Global Brief with Bianca Nobilo
Zelenskyy: "Kherson is Ours"; Biden at COP27; FTX Group's Collapse. Aired 5-5:30p ET
Aired November 11, 2022 - 17:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[17:00:32]
RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN HOST: Hello, and warm welcome to you. I'm Rahel Solomon. It's 5:00 p.m. here in New York, 10:00 p.m. in London, and
midnight in a now liberated Kherson City of Ukraine.
And that's where we begin THE GLOBAL BRIEF. As Ukrainian soldiers have entered the city, after Russian troops withdrew from parts of the region.
Then, President Joe Biden says that the U.S. is serious about fighting climate change, and urges other countries to do their part.
Then, in a stunning downfall for one of the biggest companies in the crypto industry, FTX Group has collapsed into bankruptcy. We'll have the details.
And we start in the city of Kherson, which Ukrainian forces have just liberated from Russia. When Ukraine launched its counteroffensive in the
Kherson region in August, it set the ambitious goal of retaking most of the Russian occupied territory by the end of the year.
Now, the region's capital is, as we can see, flying the Ukrainian flag again and Ukraine's troops are receiving a hero's welcome.
Residents there are greeting the newly arrived Ukrainian forces with joy and relief, after spending months under harsh Russian rule. Ukraine has
also successfully liberated the western part of the Kherson region. After Russia's forces were treated to the east bank of the Dnipro River.
Ukraine says, as they were treated, Russian troops carved a path of destruction. According to new images, in the last day, at least seven
bridges were destroyed in parts of critical dam were also damaged. The reclaiming of Kherson City is a major blow to Russia's war effort.
Nic Robertson was at the scene, and tells us how the day unfolded.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Their long-awaited liberation, sweet, savored with the soldiers who gave it to them. Moments
for all those who survived rushes repressive rule in Kherson, to celebrate, a day like no other.
Putin's forces vanquished across the river. Freedom like this, coming in cities and towns all around. Arriving at Snihurivka on the road to Kherson,
remnants of Russia's rapid rivers under fire two days ago.
Lots of unexploded ammunition here, deadly mortar rounds, indications they could have fought longer if they hadn't been told to retreat.
Driving in everyone, waving. So many feelings all at once. Celebration, relief, and traumas relieved.
It was terrible, she tells us. The Russians threatened to kill me, to smash out my brain.
Raw emotions everywhere, tearful relatives embrace saying, knowing each other survived.
And stories of survival, bone-chilling.
A few days ago, the Russians kidnapped me. This 15-year-old girl tells us. They put a hood on me, took me to a house, asked me about the Ukrainian
troops. Told me, they had cut my fingers off. I thought I was going to be raped.
They behave like animals in the last few weeks, she says. They took people away for interrogation, beat them, accusing them of being, Ukrainian spies.
They stole cars, looted too.
At the town's bank, the security doors ripped off, the cash to.
You can see inside here, the bank is completely trashed, looted, there are money boxes. They're forced open.
At the town square, people gathered, and jubilation part in uncertainty. The city, without water and electricity, for months. The newly arrived
Ukrainian administrator, telling them, humanitarian supplies are on their way.
On the outskirts of town, residents benefiting from Russia's rapid retreat, abandon ammo cases, collected for winter firewood.
Nearby, the bridges to the south, destroyed. The Russians blew these bridges up just two days ago, trying to slow down the Ukrainians advance
south towards Kherson.
The tactic doesn't seem to be working. Ukraine's advance has been cautious, pauses to regroup and re-energize, but still relentless.
[17:05:04]
MYKHAILO, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Everything that's happening according to the plan. Russians are leaving so fast they're
losing their boots on the run. We'll take Kherson in two or three days.
ROBERTSON: It may be even sooner. Seconds after we talk, they get the call to move forward.
On their way, it appears to join the liberation, and celebrations in Kherson.
Nic Robertson, CNN, Snihurivka, Ukraine.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And Sam Kiley joins me now from Kyiv.
Sam, thanks for being with us tonight.
You know, you see signs of celebration, this was a monumental day for the Ukrainians, but you need to wonder Russia still claims this region as the
Russian territory. So, what happens now?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the Russians still control the west bank, sorry the east bank of the Dnipro River, about
40 percent of Kherson we think. That is the province rather than the city. They have they say, evacuated their troops entirely from the west bank,
that is this very important strategic bound for the next report, it was so brilliantly demonstrated there.
It is a huge, tactical and indeed strategic success for the Ukrainians but they now have the Dnipro River between them and the Russians along that
line, that gives them a breathing faces to consolidate the required reckon gains but it gives the Russians solid their defenses because this was a
very efficient withdrawal by the Russians, rather than a chaotic rout of the sort I also reported from a few months ago in Izyum, for example, where
they abandoned enormous and material. This was a much more organized withdrawal.
And they followed themselves out, left and then blew the bridges across the Dnipro to prevent them from being chased along that eastern bank. They will
have dug again. They'll already prepare artillery positions, rockets and so on to -- with which to bombard and to continue to threaten the Ukrainian
forces.
But it also means they can advance anymore and that is very important for Ukraine, it means that other areas where the fighting's been extremely
intense, particularly in the east around Bakhmut. That is to the east of Kramatorsk, very close to the original front lines that were frozen back in
2015, those areas have been very, very bloodily fought over in recent weeks.
And it could mean, Ukrainians can divert more troops there and hold back intense by the Russians to advance their. So, this is far from over, it's a
very, a very important strategic -- for the Ukrainians.
SOLOMON: And, Sam, as you said it's a much needed breathing room for the Ukrainians. Sam Kiley, thank you.
U.S. President Joe Biden made a shortstop in Egypt to visit the COP27 summit. He's traveling to Cambodia for the summit of the ASEAN summit of
Southeast Asian nations.
In his address to the climate conference, President Biden called on other countries to step up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Let's build an argument climate -- raising both our ambition, and the speed of our efforts. The science is devastatingly
clear. We need to make vital progress by the end of this decade.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And on Monday, President Biden will meet with one world leader who was absent from COP27. That was China's President Xi Jinping. Officials
are expecting the issue of Taiwan to be among the subjects they discuss.
CNN's Selina Wang is in Beijing with a preview.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: President Joe Biden will meet with Chinese leadership, Xi Jinping, face to face on Monday, at the sidelines of the
G20. This will be their very first in-person meeting since Biden took office. This is a high stakes meeting. But no breakthroughs are expected.
The goal from the U.S. side is to build the floor of a relationship that doesn't tip over into contact. The White House press secretary said that
the two leaders will, quote, discuss efforts to maintain, deep in lines of communication between the United States and the PRC, responsibly managed
competition, and work together where our interests align. These two men have a history. They spent a lot of time together when Biden was vice
president.
But they're also too many fundamental differences between the U.S. and China for anyone face to face meeting to solve them. On the table for
discussion, is Taiwan. The word Ukraine, and when rights concerns, that may also be talks on areas where there could be cooperation between the U.S.
and China, including on issues like climate change in North Korea. Expectations are low, because there's a lot of distrust going into this
meeting.
The Biden administration sees China as America's most consequential geopolitical challenge, whereas Beijing seems Washington as trying to
contain and suppress its rise.
[17:10:00]
The latest example Beijing points to as Washington's sweeping restrictions that choke off China's access to advanced chips. Discussion about Taiwan is
going to be a key priority for this meeting, because this is where the greatest risk for miscalculation. That could turn into actual conflict.
Ever since how Speaker Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan in August, China's ramped up its military pressure on the island.
But could also impact the dynamics of this meeting is the domestic political situation for each leader. She's coming into the stronger than
ever. Last month, he was reunited for an unprecedented third term as China's supreme leader, stacking all the top positions of power with his
loyalists and protegees.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And now to the U.S. midterms, where we're expecting the next batch of election results from Arizona soon, as one of several U.S. states
that will decide the balance of power in the Senate. Ballots are still being counted from Tuesday's midterms. In Nevada, a Democratic incumbent is
gaining on her Republican rival. While in Arizona, the Democratic front runner has a bit more breathing room, but it's still too close to call. And
a third Senate race is at play in Georgia. That one is heading for a runoff next month.
Republicans are inching towards retaking the House, that promise red wave well that never materialized, making these contests closer than expected.
So, let's get more now from CNN's Kyung Lah, live in Phoenix.
Kyung, thanks for being with us tonight. Set the scene for us tonight what are we expecting to learn, what's the timeline?
KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: Well, we expect to know just a few more details at the top of the hour. That's when election officials in
Maricopa county army talking to the press they've been holding these nightly briefings to explain what we're going to see throughout the evening
and the days to come.
But we already know a few details from election officials in Maricopa County. Actually, I want to give you a live look on in this room behind me
look closer. You can see workers here, they're working around the call, working 18 hours to try to get these ballots. There is about 350,000
ballots still being worked through in Maricopa County, the most populous county in the state of Arizona.
What officials have told us is that into tonight's release of ballots, they anticipate it will be about the same as last night as far as size, about
60,000 to 70,000 ballots. Those are the election results of 60 to 70,000 ballots. But here is why we're paying such close attention. More than half
of them will be mail-in ballots that were dropped off on election day.
Now, why is that important? Well, we had a background call with the Blake Masters campaign. He is the Republican senator nominee. The Republican
Senate nominee for the state of Arizona. And what his campaign is saying is that they anticipate that those drop if mail-in ballots from election day,
they anticipate will swing their way. That is their anticipation.
But here is a wild card, Rahel, we don't know what that's going to be the case. They're trying to predict the behavior. And voter behavior has been
wildly unpredictable here in Arizona since the 2018 election because of the influence of Donald Trump, frankly, because of the influence of conspiracy
theories and election lies, and then, as well as the pandemic.
It's very difficult to predict what voters are going to do this election, this time around. But Rahel, we'll be here we expect an update of the top
of the hour. And those ballot results, critical ballot results that could be very telling this evening. They will be replaced at 10:00 p.m. Eastern
Time -- Rahel.
SOLOMON: OK. Kyung Lah, thank you. All keys on that key Arizona race there.
And let's take a look now through the key stories making international headlines today.
We began in Iran with another show of support for anti-government protests. Archer Parmida Ghasemi removed her hijab during an awards ceremony on
Thursday. She now joins other Iranian athletes and celebrities who have also shown their support. Iran's deputy sports minister says, those
athletes have later, quote, regretted their actions, and are looking for an opportunity to make up for their mistake.
And South Korea now, a senior police inspector under investigation in the deadly Halloween crowd crush, has been found dead at his home. The public
has been holding vigils, and calling for police to be held accountable for failing to prevent the tragedy, which killed 156 people. Police are accused
of ignoring numerous phone calls, about overcrowding hours before the crush.
And some good news for travelers to China, the country loosening its strict zero COVID policy. China now lifting its international travel ban. Reducing
testing requirements for inbound travelers and cutting quarantine times. The tweaks to the policy come amid growing public resentment.
[17:15:02]
And, Israel's president says that he will invite Benjamin Netanyahu to form Israel's next government. So, this is going to extend Netanyahu's record as
the country's longest-serving prime minister. That would give him the job for the sixth time. Netanyahu's party came in first in last week's
election, and in a stalemate that involved five elections in less than four years.
And still to come, crypto chaos, FTX, one of the world's biggest exchanges, files for bankruptcy, and its CEO resigns. We'll explain why.
Also ahead, inside Denmark's mysterious brain collection, with CNN's Sanjay Gupta.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOLOMON: Welcome back. The twists and turns in the twitter saga, they keep on coming. After growing chaos over fake accounts, Twitter has now
suspended its latest paid verification system just two days after launching it. At the same time, it's re-introducing other verification to some
accounts. It really caps a week that has seen several senior executives quit, including its chief information security officer and thousands of
employees have been let go.
Then on Thursday, CEO Elon Musk hinted that the social media platform might go bankrupt, as advertisers leave in droves.
The huge crypto exchange, FTX, announced hours ago that is filing for bankruptcy and that the CEO had to resign. Sam Bankman-Fried said on
Twitter that, in part, he was really sorry. The exchange is already under federal investigation for its practices and marks a stunning downfall for
one of the biggest and most powerful players in the crypto industry and for its now former CEO who is often spotted with celebrities and former world
leaders.
CNN's Matt Egan spoke earlier to our Richard Quest about what bankruptcy means for FTX. Take a look.
[17:20:02]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: It's a chapter 11 filing, so it does mean that they want to restructure, that is what Sam Bankman-Fried has indicated,
saying that he thinks that there is potential future for this firm, but we have to back for a second and talk about how stunning this implosion is.
It's one of the most staggering things that I have seen in my career, not just because of the speed that it happened, which is mind-boggling, right?
It did not happen months or weeks, but really just days but because of who is involved here. I mean, FTX is not just some, you know, fly by night
organization. It's one of the leading crypto exchange, at least it was.
Sam Bankman-Fried has been one of the faces of crypto. I mean, he was the white Knight that's swooped in to rescue others, and now he has become so
toxic that he can't get a bill out of his own. FTX is backed by some of the biggest, most sophisticated investors, Blackrock and Sequoia. It had
endorsement deals with Tom Brady, Steph Curry, its logo is blast on the home of the NBA's Miami Heat.
And now, it has filed for bankruptcy, which, you know, means that investors have lost a lot of money. The investors on FTX likely getting wiped out.
The employees may be out of a job and unfortunately, some of the users, through no fault of their own, they may be out of a lot of money or at
least unable to access it anytime soon.
Let me read a statement from Sam Bankman-Fried, who said on Twitter today, after the filing. He said, quote, I am really sorry, again, that we ended
up here. Hopefully, we can find a way to recover. Hopefully this can bring some amount of transparency, trust and governance to them.
Ultimately, hopefully, it can be better for customers. It's a stunning collapse of one of the biggest players in crypto.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOLOMON: And now you want to share a story about a massive collection in Denmark that you won't find anywhere else in the world. From 1945 to 1982,
nearly 10,000 human brains were taken from a psychiatric patients who died in Danish hospitals throughout the country. They now formed Denmark's brain
collection.
The focus of a special documentary premiering this weekend on CNN, reported by our chief medical correspondent, Sanjay Gupta. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): It begins here in Denmark, a place of contrasts, as you're about to see. Among the
happiest countries in the world, the results of a deep history here of mental illness, psychiatric disorders and brutal therapies that took us all
by surprise.
Over the course of reporting for a year now, we told a story to a lot of people. The reaction, largely the same. First, morbid fascination and then
the questions begin.
DR. MARTIN WIRENFELDT NIELSEN, DIRECTOR, THE BRAIN COLLECTION: All these buckets hold one burn each. You see they have numbers like 187, and they're
actually going down to -- we have bright number two. We don't know where brain number one is, no one really knows.
GUPTA: Martin Wirenfeldt Nielsen is a pathologist. And since 2018, he's been a keeper of this room, a room full of brains, 9,479 brains to be
exact, believed to be the largest collection of human brains anywhere in the world.
It gives you a little bit of a pain or stomach.
NIELSEN: It does, yeah.
GUPTA: It takes about the enormity and history, what was happening in the world, happening in Denmark --
NIELSEN: Yeah.
GUPTA: -- what was happening with all these people?
NIELSEN: Yeah.
GUPTA: How did this happen? Well, the brains were simply taken from men and women who died in Danish psychiatric hospitals from 1945 to 1982.
But the biggest question of all maybe why, why are they just sitting in a basement in Denmark?
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: Be sure to catch a special documentary, "Worlds Untold Stories: The Brain Collectors", airing throughout the weekend here on CNN.
And as we end the show, we return to Ukraine, where the capital of Kyiv, life is carrying on under the shadow of war, as chief international anchor
Christiane Amanpour shows us, most museums are open, as are some comedy clubs, theaters and even circus.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): The show must go on, even in wartime, perhaps especially in wartime. Patrons, young
and old, stream into the national circus of Ukraine in historic downtown Kyiv. This is their Halloween show, extended by popular demand.
[17:25:07]
Everyone tells us coming here is like a breath of fresh air, relief during this suffocating wartime atmosphere.
Amid air raid sirens and dashes to the basement, Alex Maliy tells us rehearsal is difficult, but each performance for this aerial acrobat so
rewarding.
ALEX MALIY, ACROBAT, NATIONAL CIRCUS OF UKRAINE: We give people energy. You know, artists give energy for audience. Audience gives fro us -- for
artists, energy also. No, this so hard time, people sit at home, nothing to do, nothing at work, like this. But here in the circus, they have a smile.
AMANPOUR: Nataliya Solyanek (ph) started as an aerial acrobat 25 years ago. Now she is the assistant director. She tells us coming here is like
therapy for even the most hardened vets.
This psychologist came to, she says, and told us that the circus takes easement back to their childhood, and it becomes much easier to work with.
Men came back from the war with wounded souls, says Nataliya. After the shows, some have tears of their eyes.
The razzle-dazzle performance for an almost full house takes everyone out of their daily drudgery and fears for at least this one hour. It keeps the
fantasy alive.
Our circus is super, our artist is incredible, says Nataliya. We are so thrilled, we even took the day off the color with the kids.
Catarina said her daughter Eva becomes transported.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loves everything. When she's at the circus, feels everything.
AMANPOUR: And to the naysayers wondered why this is even happening in the midst of war, circus spokeswoman Bohdana Korniienko has a ready respond.
BOHDANA-VALERIIA KORNIIENKO, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER, NATIONAL CIRCUS OF UKRAINE: When you expected them that it's really good for the economy of
the country, and that is good for a motion of everyone, civilians and army, because they both come here, and they're like, OK, well, that makes sense.
AMANPOUR: A much-needed escape to a place that feels human again.
Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kyiv.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
SOLOMON: And that's THE GLOBAL BRIEF. I'm Rahel Solomon.
"WORLD SPORT" is up next.
END
