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CNN Projects Democrats Will Keep the Senate; Biden in Asia; Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Says Putin's Proposal to End War Lacks Substance; Congressional GOP Leaders Face Internal Challenges; Kherson Residents Celebrate City's Liberation; Big Ben Is Back. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 13, 2021 - 01:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to all of our viewers watching across the United States and around the world. Live from Studio 7 at the CNN Center in Atlanta, I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.
CNN now projecting Democrats will hold onto their control of the U.S. Senate for the next two years. It's a stunning turnaround from dire predictions of a Republican red wave just a week ago.
Nevada's Senate race was called for Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto. She was closing the gap in recent days and the latest batch of votes pushed her to the lead. The win mirrors the state Senate seat in Arizona that's now projected for Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly. His opponent has not yet conceded.
By claiming 50 seats, Democrats will control the Senate, with the vice president casting any tie-breaking votes. Coming up in the runoff in Georgia, that would give Democrats a clear majority of 51.
Still undecided, the Arizona governor's race, where election denier Kari Lake is trailing the Democrat Katie Hobbs by over 30,000 votes. Let's take you to Nevada, where CNN's Rosa Flores has the very latest from Las Vegas.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The stakes were high, the margins were razor thin but, in the end, the Democratic incumbent prevailed. Catherine Cortez Masto gets to stay as the senator from the state of Nevada.
And with that, the Democrats get to keep and maintain control of the U.S. Senate. Here's how it all went down.
The Republican, Adam Laxalt, was in the lead for days and then, on Saturday evening, Clark County released a batch of about 23,000 votes. And here is how those votes were divided. Catherine Cortez Masto receiving about 14,000 of those votes or 60
percent of the vote. Laxalt received more than 8,000 votes or about 35 percent of that batch. Now that put Catherine Cortez Masto in the lead and CNN called the race at that point in time.
Her campaign taking to Twitter, saying, quote, "What did people get wrong about this race?
"The first Latina senator knows her community better than anonymous sources. The daughter of a Teamster knows how to fight for working families. And CCM's -- or Catherine Cortez Masto's -- a former AG and crime attacks couldn't stick."
Again, the Democrat here, Catherine Cortez Masto, keeps her seat and stays a senator of Nevada -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Las Vegas.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: With Arizona's governor's race still hanging in the balance, state election workers are processing hundreds of thousands of outstanding ballots. But some Republicans have complained the count is going too slow, falsely suggesting that's deliberate.
It's attracted small gatherings of protesters, as you see there. Adding to the mistrust, state Republicans sent out a tweet that also seemed to suggest the vote count in Maricopa County was not happening fast enough. But the county's top election official says those kinds of false claims are based on ignorance of Arizona law.
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BILL GATES (R-GA), CHAIR, MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: These allegations that are being made by some of the candidates and other political activists that this count is taking too long is simply -- those folks are not paying attention to the history of how we have counted votes here in Arizona for decades now.
The average time over the last couple of decades to get through our count is 10 to 12 days.
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HOLMES: I want to bring in law professor Jessica Levinson at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
Always good to see you.
Would you have imagined this landscape a few weeks ago and how the votes have gone?
JESSICA LEVINSON, LOYOLA UNIVERSITY LAW SCHOOL: No. I wish I could make myself sound so smart and say I predicted all of this. And I have to say I am surprised. I didn't think that historically how much the minority party wins
would hold because there are things that were just so different because there are election deniers, because with the former president hanging over the Republican Party, that they wouldn't win as much.
I really thought because of inflation, because, very rationally, people vote based on their pocketbooks and what things are costing them on a daily basis, that they would blame the party in power. Certainly some of that happened.
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LEVINSON: But what we're seeing here is this red wave really evaporated.
HOLMES: Where did Republicans most misjudge?
They ran on the economic situation; not a whole lot else. Democrats chose abortion rights and democracy.
But most pointers didn't show how much abortion and rejection of election denial would resonate, right?
LEVINSON: I think that's right. One of the things we all underestimated is the youth vote and we always say this but it's true, if that 18-24, 26 group if they show up in the numbers anywhere near the 65+ group, they can swing elections.
And they did show up more than a lot anticipated. What we are also seeing now is as you mentioned Democrats really went after democracy, reproductive choice and, in regions where that was the key issue, Democrats really outperformed expectations, even in places where economics and inflation -- all of that was important to people.
I think we all missed that, particularly for women, Democrats and independents in red states or purple states, they are really feeling the impact of their representatives and how much their representatives have power over their lives after that Dobbs decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
So I think it was a bunch of things and it really shows how much regional politics played into this national outcome.
HOLMES: I don't think you can understate in a Democratic sense going forward the involvement of Gen Z and the Millennials, because it's a good sign, whoever you vote for, that return to involvement.
An undeniable strong performance by Democrats; a failure on the Republican side but it doesn't matter how close it is. Biden won't get anything passed in this climate with the House in Republican hands.
Is that fair to say?
You will get a lot of judges in the Senate.
LEVINSON: Of course that's hugely important and Democrats will control the committees when it comes to the Senate. And there will be that shared power agreements that we have.
But you are right, when it comes to big pieces of legislation, not only do you need 60 votes in the Senate, which Democrats still don't have, but you obviously need the votes in the House.
Maybe there are some places where there will be some compromise. But I largely think that Joe Biden, who really said I want big, bold legislative changes, it's hard to imagine that those will be enacted if the House in fact does flip and is controlled by Republicans.
HOLMES: There are hundreds of judgeships up for grabs. And the Senate control is vital for that.
When it comes to the absence of a red wave, what does it mean for Republican leadership going forward?
Kevin McCarthy will be struggling and dealing with the Right of his party, the Freedom Caucus. He even said Mitch McConnell might have to fight for his minority leader status in the Senate.
What is the damage done to the leadership?
LEVINSON: I think if -- let's start with the House. If Kevin McCarthy is in fact the Speaker and there is a thin majority, where there is a Republican majority by about 6-7 seats, he will have to keep that whole caucus together a whole lot of time.
They really don't vote in lockstep the way they used to. The same will be true for senator Mitch McConnell.
And people will be asking, where was the miscalculation?
We are expecting on Tuesday there will be a big announcement from the former president that will throw all of this into disarray if he does say, I'm a candidate again. Then the Republican establishment has the same question that has been asked of them so many times when he was a candidate, when he was the president and then on January 6th, which is, at what point will they say, you know what?
We are abandoning you. Maybe we are not the party of Trumpism but not the party of Trump.
HOLMES: Yes, Always good to get your analysis. Jessica Levinson, thanks so much.
LEVINSON: Thank you.
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HOLMES: A war-torn Ukrainian city freed from Russian occupation. We will take you live to Kherson, where thousands are celebrating their long-awaited liberation.
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HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden highlighting America's commitment to Asia at a series of summits in the region. He met with the Cambodian prime minister and other Southeast Asian leaders at the ASEAN summit, as he looks to counter China's growing influence. Here's part of what he said about the details of a new strategic partnership.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Today, we take another critical step, beginning a new era in our cooperation with the launch of the U.S.-ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.
Together we'll tackle the biggest issues of our time, from climate to health security, defend against the significant threats of rule based order and to threats to the rule of law.
And to build an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure.
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HOLMES: In the coming hours, the president meets with the leaders of Japan and South Korea at the East Asian summit, also held in Cambodia. Despite historic tensions, both countries now united in concerns over North Korea's missile tests.
On Monday, Mr. Biden heads to Bali for the Group of 20 summit. He is expected to hold his first in-person talks with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, since taking office. The meeting will include the issue of Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as its own territory.
Joining me now from Bali is CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak.
Good to see you, Kevin. High-stakes meeting between Biden and Xi. Relations between the two countries, fair to say, their lowest ever in a long time.
What are the expectations?
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Frankly, the expectations are quite low. When you talk to American officials, they are quite frank about that. There won't be a joint statement between the two leaders after this meeting concludes.
The most they can hope for is for these two leaders to sit down and define the parameters of where they see the U.S. and China at this moment. And, of course, they really hope that can prevent relations from deteriorating further.
One White House official says they really want to build the floor of this relationship. So sort of the upside of that is it can only go up from there.
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LIPTAK: There are a lot of issues that these men do want to cooperate on things like climate change, North Korea; certainly President Biden wants to talk about the war in Ukraine and suss out where he stands. The U.S. has been watching that very closely.
But certainly they are coming to this meeting at one of the lowest points between these two sides in decades. And I think it's important to note that this meeting is taking place on neutral ground here in Bali, here on the sidelines of the international summit.
It wasn't all that long ago it was fairly common for a U.S. President to go to Beijing, for the Chinese president to go to the White House. I covered many of those visits. Now it's almost untenable to imagine that happening at this point in the relationship. So this meeting will be very important.
Of course, President Biden puts a lot of stake in meeting a leader face-to-face. He can suss out their personality, develop this interpersonal relationship which he has already developed that.
They met for hours and traveled for several thousand miles together when they were both vice president. Biden now comes into this as the leader of the country. Now they are both coming into this at a very interesting political moment. Certainly President Biden feeling some wind at his back because of Democrat success in the midterm elections.
President Xi coming out of the Communist Party congress, having been elevated to an unprecedented third term. How those dynamics will affect this meeting is also going to be very interesting to watch, when they sit down on Monday.
President Biden, to just talk about this meeting within the last hour or two, he said he feels he's coming into it with a stronger position and he really wants to hear from Xi what his red lines are over the next several years to prevent any misunderstandings -- Michael.
HOLMES: When it comes to Taiwan, is there any wiggle room for easing tensions, given what are pretty entrenched positions on that topic?
Or is it a matter of trying to keep the status quo cool?
LIPTAK: I think that is what President Biden is hoping for, trying to gain some insight into where he stands on this issue at this point in time. President Biden has not necessarily contributed to easing those tensions over the last two years.
He has said four separate times that the U.S. would respond with military force if China were to move on Taiwan. That is well past the long-standing strategic and big U.S. policy the U.S. has upheld for so long.
And certainly the tensions were aggravated over the summer when the American House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan. You saw tensions really sort of escalate to new levels after that point.
During this meeting, White House officials say President Biden is going to be honest about where he sees this issue at this point in time. One thing that Xi's very fond of doing when it comes to this issue is using a metaphor when he's talking to President Biden.
He said it in various iterations, which is, if you play with fire, you will get burned. When you're using language like that, I don't think there's any great expectation that the tensions will be eased.
But they want to get a greater understanding about where they stand so there's no misunderstandings so even if these tensions continue over the next couple of years, months, there isn't a miscalculation that could tip over into an all-out conflict.
HOLMES: That's always the big risk. Kevin Liptak, good to have you in Bali, Indonesia.
In the hours ahead, Israel's president is expected to ask Benjamin Netanyahu to form the country's next government. It comes after 64 members of parliament recommended that Netanyahu assembled the new coalition.
If he can do so by next month, he could become the nation's prime minister for a sixth time. That would further extend his record as Israel's longest-serving leader.
Iranian security forces have killed more than 300 people since nationwide protests started in September. That's according to a new tally from the Iran Human Rights, an NGO based in Norway.
The group estimates that of at least 326 people killed, 25 were women, 43 were children. The group adds the toll is likely much higher. CNN has not been able to independently verify the numbers.
Iran is being gripped by antigovernment protests since the death of Mahsa Amini for allegedly breaking Iran's hijab rule.
We will take a quick break and we will be right back.
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HOLMES: It has been more than 250 days since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. And despite having far more troops and firepower so far, Moscow has failed to bring the nation to its knees; far from it.
Ukraine's president and first lady credit their country's unwavering resolve, saying they will never give up or give in to Russia's aggression. Recently they spoke about that with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still stand by what you said a few months ago, that you would not negotiate with Vladimir Putin?
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): His proposal has no substance with regards of ending the war. Other than the ultimatums, I've not heard anything from the current president of the Russian Federation.
Starting for the 24th of February, there have been only ultimatums: denazification, denationalization; every issue they raise starts with a D. They always want to deprive us of something violently on our own land.
So I said that I'm not going to talk to this person if this person conducts these sham referendums and recognizes all of those sham authorities that they set up as legal.
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ZELENSKYY (through translator): We said this clearly. And I said that if they do that, then this means they don't respect our people, our sovereignty, our rights and our freedoms.
What is there to talk to them about?
But I haven't closed the door. I said, we would be ready to talk to Russia but with a different Russia. One that is truly ready for peace. One that is ready to recognize that they are occupiers. Ready to reimburse our people. That's not about money; they need to return everything: land, rights, freedom, money and, most importantly, justice.
To parents who lost their children, money is not enough. It's not a priority. Bring back justice. And so far, I have not heard statements like that from the Russian Federation, either from Putin or from anyone else.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, after all of your powerful calls to the world for help, weaponry most especially, training, all that kind of intelligence help you've needed, are they finally delivering what you need to win?
And do you feel that you're getting enough to win or just not to lose?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): It's enough when you can no longer hear explosions. It's enough when the air defense system ensure no missiles hit the ground or buildings. It's enough when you are not being fired at and no missiles are launched against you because Russia is working together with its partner, if I may call it that, with Iran.
Since the 10th of October, we've seen them use around 450 kamikaze drones, attack drones, air reconnaissance, attack drones, kamikaze drones, missiles. Over this time, we've had over 2,500 hits, that's without artillery, 2,500 hits by drones, explosives or missiles. That is a large number.
Do we have enough defenses?
No, I don't think we have enough at all.
Is it enough to make 100 or 1,000 calls?
Probably not enough either, too few. But I'm ready to make 1,000 calls if every call I make results in more air defense systems. I'm ready to stay on the phone and just do that. It's difficult.
A joint decision on the protection of Ukraine and Ukrainian airspace will definitely help us. And all the answers are there. I'm sorry, it's not even like the start of the COVID epidemic, when people didn't know what to do about it, when we needed to create a vaccine and it didn't exist.
There is a vaccine against Russian strikes and we know it. There is a vaccine against Russia and we know exactly which countries have it and in what amount. And I would say, frankly, there are even countries that have a surplus amount, from my point of view.
So I guess an answer to your question, there is not enough willingness, I would say.
AMANPOUR: What strength do you get from each other?
ZELENSKA: (Speaking foreign language).
ZELENSKYY: No, not together. Not together. It means, how we help each other.
AMANPOUR: Yes and what strength do you get from each other?
ZELENSKYY: What I have from you and what you have from me.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
ZELENSKYY: I know what you have from me.
ZELENSKA: Exactly, you know.
ZELENSKYY: If I can.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): That is my love and that is my best friend. So that is my energy. I wanted to answer your question at the very beginning, when Olena told you like she prepared breakfast for the children in the morning and prepare clothes and et cetera.
And what I wanted to tell you that -- but I have no such possibilities. So nobody gives me breakfast in the morning. I mean, that it's such a difficult period.
AMANPOUR: Because you're living apart?
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
AMANPOUR: Is it true that you said to President Biden, when they offered to evacuate you at the beginning, that you said, "I don't need a ride. I need ammunition"?
ZELENSKYY: Yes, that's right. Nothing changed. You know, my answer is still the same.
AMANPOUR: And I want to ask you another question, because I've noticed that Ukrainians are not afraid to poke the bear. So the bear is the Russian bear. And you guys are constantly poking on the ground, in the battle, in the airwaves, in the Twitter accounts of the ministry of defense, all over.
A lot of people outside are afraid of Russia and what Russia might do.
Where did this come from?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): You know, I think that Russia feeds on these fears.
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ZELENSKYY (through translator): And I think this is a big mistake over the last few decades. Russia feels it has this power. The more you give it, the more it fuels your fear. It lives by it.
ZELENSKA (through translator): I think historically, we've been under pressure for so long, it's no longer scary. It's not even interesting. We just want it to stop. It's more of an emotion rather than a fear.
Centuries of Russian empire, then dozens of years of Soviet Union, with all of these famines, with all the repressions, with all the expulsions of Ukrainians to Siberia and Kazakhstan. We've suffered so much from them that if we don't put an end to this now, there may be no chance in the future. This is our last stand.
And when it is a last stand, we've all seen it in the movies, there is only one winner. And of course, our soul desire is to be that winner. Otherwise, we will have no future for this nation because everything that's happening is elimination on ethnic grounds.
All these calls for denazification, this is all about the Ukrainian nation being wrong, not having a right of -- to exist; the Ukrainian language is not a real language, it's just bad Russian. It's all about losing the values -- there are no values for humanity.
This is something we can never put up with really because it would mean rejecting ourselves. Therefore, there is no fear. There is resilience. There is bravery. All we need is swifter and more powerful support than we are getting now.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): And this dignity, this Ukrainian dignity, is very important. And that's why we have this resilience.
Russia keeps wondering, what's happening here?
I don't understand why they're so keen to know what we're up to. I think there should be more interested in their own country, in their own history, in their own culture to preserve it, if they still have it.
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HOLMES: Much more to come here on the program. We will take a look at where the balance of power stands in the U.S. Congress. Stay with us, we will be right back.
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HOLMES: Welcome back to our viewers across the United States. You are watching CNN NEWSROOM.
Now to the top story, the results from Tuesday's midterm election. CNN projects Democrats will retain control of the U.S. Senate. Catherine Cortez Masto will hold onto her Nevada Senate seat, defeating the Republican.
In the House of Representatives, control still not decided. Democrats have 204 seats. The threshold needed to control the House is 218. John Berman now with more on the balance of power in the Senate and how it shifted in favor of the Democrats.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this is currently the makeup of the U.S. Senate. The Democrats have 50 seats, the Republicans have 49. There is still a runoff in Georgia, which takes place on December 6th.
But no matter what happens there, the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate. If the Republicans manage to win that runoff in Georgia, it will be a 50-50 split. The Vice President Kamala Harris would break the tie.
But if the incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock does win in this runoff in December, the Democrats would have a 51-49 advantage, an outright majority, which, believe me, they would enjoy. It would mean the committee assignments don't have to be even.
It would mean they could lose at least one Democratic vote in key moments in the Senate. So this is what it could look like going forward.
How did we get to this point? The last Senate seat to be called was in Nevada. It was Catherine Cortez Masto over Adam Laxalt. Some of the mail vote that came in over the last several days helped her make up a deficit. She had been trailing by more than 22,000 votes just a few days ago; now leading by several thousand. So the Senate has been decided.
That leaves the U.S. House of Representatives. This is something. Not many people would have thought that the Senate would be called for the Democrats before the House would be called for Republicans. But we just can't yet. There are too many outstanding races.
Right now, the Republicans control 211 seats. We projected they will win at least 211 seats. The Democrats, 204. You need 218 seats in the House of Representatives to have a majority, 218, which means the Republicans need seven more. The Democrats would need 14 more.
There are currently 20 seats that have not been called, 20 races that have yet to be called. In these races right now, the Republicans lead in 10. They only need seven. They lead in 10. The Democrats lead in 10, they need 14. So you can see, it's an uphill battle.
The Democrats on this map right now would need to hold every district that is currently blue and then pick up four of the uncalled races that are still in red. Some of them are quite close.
Let me just show you. In California, California's 13th congressional district for instance right now, there's just a margin of 84 votes with 46 percent reporting. So the Democrats could potentially, potentially pick up a few of these seats.
This seat, district right here, you can see Riverside County, that's just a county there but you can see in this district right now, California's 41st, the Republican leads by 2,100 votes with just 53 remaining.
So again, if the Democrats were to hold every blue district, every blue congressional district on this map and pick up four of these red Republican ones, they would maintain control of the House. It's an uphill battle but at this point, not impossible -- John Berman, CNN, New York.
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HOLMES: Maricopa County continues to hold the biggest number of outstanding votes in the state of Arizona. CNN and other networks have called that Senate race for Mark Kelly. But it's still too early to call the governor's race. Kyung Lah with more from Phoenix.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The count continues in Maricopa County; 85,000 votes released here in the county, still more votes to be counted. And still no clear answer on the governor's race here in the state of Arizona. Republican Kari Lake did manage to close the gap just a bit on
Democrat Katie Hobbs, who remains the leader. If you look at the numbers, the margin has shrunk just a tad but not enough to determine if there is a clear winner at this point.
But the Lake campaign releasing a little information about what it's inside their campaign headquarters, saying they believe these numbers offer a glimmer of hope, the campaign saying, "There is 100 percent a path and because the vote is still going on, that there is so much we do not know at this stage."
We do know CNN has projected a winner in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona. Mark Kelly, the senator, will maintain his seat. The race was called in his favor by CNN. Today thanking his supporters who backed his race.
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SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): You are all the reason that we are successful. I also want to thank our state's election officials, honorable Republicans and Democrats, who were doing the important work of making sure that Arizonans' votes and voices are heard, their votes are counted as quickly and as transparently as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LAH: Blake Masters has not conceded but indicated in a tweet he would be open to it after every legal vote is counted.
How many votes do remain?
In Maricopa County there's about 185,000 to 195,000 votes remaining. The anticipation is, on Sunday evening, another release of votes of about 80,000 here in this county -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Donald Trump is wasting no time assigning the blame for his party's losses, taking aim at Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell. It comes as the Senate minority leader is facing dissent within the Republican Party.
Some members calling for a delay in congressional leadership elections next week. But even some conservatives say Trump himself is to blame for the lackluster GOP performance.
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PAUL RYAN, FORMER REPUBLICAN HOUSE SPEAKER: I think Trump's kind of a drag on our ticket. I think Donald Trump gives us problems politically. We lost the House, the Senate and the White House in two years when Trump was on the ballot or in office.
And I think we just have some Trump hangover. I think he's a drag on our offices, in our races.
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HOLMES: Now after the Republicans' much anticipated red wave turned out to be barely a ripple, many of them are trying to figure out just how it went wrong. Our panel of experts breaks down the results and what it means for the Republican Party.
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GLORIA BORGER, CNN CHIEF POLITICAL ANALYST: This may be the moment that we discovered that Donald Trump is not a kingmaker any longer. This is it. His candidates did not do well.
His election denial was not a big issue in this campaign. And I think that Republicans are going to have to do an awful lot of soul searching about whether they actually ran on issues that were geared to them and how they could have lost the senate with an election that was about inflation that was about crime that was about immigration.
Yes, it was also about abortion rights. But I and democracy, but I think that the fact that the Republicans couldn't pull this off is going to force them to go to the couch and have a little bit of therapy and say, why did we do this? Were we following the wrong leaders? And how can we fix this?
One short term answer might be to tell your voters that they should vote by mail, because maybe it's easier and maybe more people do it. And, you know, if you don't want to show up on Election Day, as Donald Trump wants you to show up, just vote any way you want.
MARK PRESTON, CNN POLITICAL DIRECTOR: You know, I think what's interesting, too, is we talk about the problems that Kevin McCarthy is going to have over in the House of Representatives regardless of what happens in Republicans. But look what's happening in the United States senate right now.
You have the Head of the of the campaign arm calling, questioning Mitch McConnell and in the future of the conference, you have Josh Hawley doing the same thing in Missouri Senator, you have Marco Rubio from Florida as well, somebody who you would think would be lining up behind Mitch McConnell.
Republicans are going to have their own issues in the senate right now, just trying to stay together and Mitch McConnell who has been bulletproof now for decades.
Because he has really done such a very good job of keeping the Republican conference.
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PRESTON: And he has done an amazing job getting judicial nominees through now, he's going to have a fight on his own hands.
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(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: Two days after being liberated from Russian occupation, the
Ukrainian city of Kherson is celebrating its long awaited freedom.
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HOLMES (voice-over): On Saturday, hundreds of excited residents filled the streets, cheering, waving flags, jumping for joy. They gave a hero's welcome to Ukrainian troops as they entered the area to restore security.
This woman greeting the soldiers with flowers and hugs, thanking them for pushing the Russians out.
Now have a look at this. Just four days ago, Moscow's army still controlled Kherson and several areas in the west. But now, have a look. By Friday, Ukraine took back the city and has now liberated some 60 settlements nearby. Ukraine's president says it's just the beginning.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): And the world sees it now. It sees what it means when Ukrainians meet their own people. It sees what the unity of Ukrainians means. And it sees why we should liberate our entire land from the invaders.
We will see many more such greetings in those cities and villages that are still under occupation.
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HOLMES: As Ukraine's offensive continues, a Russian-occupied city in eastern Kherson region has announced it would start evacuating officials and civilians.
But in neighboring Zaporizhzhya, Russian-backed officials say they have no plans to leave, despite the retreats in Kherson. CNN's Nic Robertson is in Kherson and shows us the euphoria that now prevails in that city.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): This is what liberation looks like.
And this is what it feels like. For the people of Kherson, euphoria; eight dark months of oppressive occupation over, their troops greeted as conquering heroes.
Residents cut off from the world: no internet, no electricity, no water and no TV, gathering in the city's central square, coming over to hear our broadcast and tell us what the past eight months have been like.
ROBERTSON: I'm joined here by Yulia (ph) and Olga (ph) and we'll have a quick conversation about how it's been.
Tell us about the last eight months under occupation.
YULIA (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: It was a really hard time for everyone. Every Ukrainian family waited for our soldiers, for our army.
ROBERTSON: How does it feel now today to see them?
YULIA (PH): It is amazing, wonderful. Thank you very much for supporting us. We feel every day your support. Thank you so much.
Can I huge you?
(LAUGHTER)
ROBERTSON: Thank you very much.
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ROBERTSON: Olga (ph), can we talk?
OLGA (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: Yes, sure.
ROBERTSON: Can you tell us about your experiences over the last eight months?
OLGA (PH): We were waiting so long. But we were sure that this day will come. And we will celebrate together with our people here and everywhere in the world.
Thanks for all the world that supported us, that help us. And this day we're so happy to be here. We are so happy with our people to celebrate this day. This is something amazing. But it was hard but we always knew that this day will come.
ROBERTSON: And I think what everyone wants to know now, who is outside of here, what is the situation here now?
Please tell us about that.
OLGA (PH): The situation is very terrible. No gas -- no, sorry; gas we had. Electricity, no; power, no. Connection, connection, this is very important for people. People are lost. We don't know that --
ROBERTSON: No internet connection?
YULIA (PH): No internet connection, right. No water. But it is OK. We can wait. We can wait but, more important, Ukraine back here. We can call to our families, to our relatives and friends, and we want to say we are together.
ROBERTSON: And I think a lot of people were worried and the government was worried about, if the Russian soldiers would stay behind, if there would be a battle here.
Do you feel the city is safe now? YULIA (PH): Yes, the city is safe for us.
ROBERTSON: And tell us how it was, because, again, we haven't had good information here.
What was the situation like, living with Russian soldiers in control?
OLGA (PH): The people you can see here now, I think that many of them were hiding. They are hiding their Ukrainian flag somewhere in the corner. We were terrified by Russian army.
We were terrified by soldiers that could come any moment in our house, in our home, just open the door like they are living here and steal, kidnap, torture. And this was very, very terrible. I have goose bumps now when I'm talking but we did that. We wait and we celebrate it now.
ROBERTSON: This is what liberation looks like. This is what liberation feels like. The people of this city tried to resist the Russians. The Russians suppressed them. This is what Ukrainians are like when that suppression comes off --
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ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nic Robertson, CNN, liberated Kherson, Ukraine.
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HOLMES: Incredible scenes.
Well, Turkiye's President reportedly trying to mediate peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, just like he mediated a grain shipment deal between both countries. According to Turkish media, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan says he wants to open what he calls a peace corridor, similar to the shipment corridor.
He helped to open it on the Black Sea, which allowed Ukrainian grain to start moving again. The grain agreement is set to expire next week. Russia still hasn't agreed to extend it, saying it's not satisfied with the way part of it has been implemented.
A piece of history has regained its full voice. We'll tell you about the return of Big Ben after five years.
You're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
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HOLMES: Now Big Ben's five-year long restoration is over. And in the coming day, it will be officially returned to duty, ringing out the somber notes of Remembrance Sunday at 11 am in London.
We've heard the enormous bell peal occasionally recently, such as last New Year's Eve.
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HOLMES: But now its full booming voice will be back and on its old schedule. Parliament clockmakers tell us all about it.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is going to be the first time since 2017 that the clock itself will be ringing all the four quarter bells and Big Ben for Remembrance Sunday.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's 1,000 pieces to this clock. Every piece was taken apart and it was approached with conservation best practice in mind.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And this is where they took sections out to actually see how far the crack went in, some 11 inches thick.
It's the sound of London back again. You know, the bells sounded through wars. And we just try and imagine what these bells have actually seen, 160 years in London.
Even though everybody carries a wristwatch or looks at the computer, they love listening to Big Ben. So we started again striking it this week. And all we've gotten is praise, people going, oh, that's brilliant to hear Big Ben back again.
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HOLMES: Great behind the scenes there.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram. Stick around. I'll have another hour of views in just a moment.
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