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Benjamin Netanyahu To Become Israeli Prime Minister Again; No Evidence of Undeclared Nuclear Activities at Ukraine Sites; Bank of England Hikes Rates By 75 Basis Points To 3 Percent; Imran Khan Wounded in Attack at Rally; Itamar Ben-Gvir To Lead Third Largest Bloc In Knesset; Trump hints At Third Run For Presidency During Iowa Rally; Ecuador Vows To Take Back Control Of Its Prisons; Children's Death Fuels Outrage Against China's COVID Policy. Aired 1-2a ET
Aired November 04, 2022 - 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: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us all around the world. Appreciate your company. I'm Michael Holmes. Coming up on the program. Here we go again, soon Benjamin Netanyahu will once again be Prime Minister of Israel, why things are different this time around?
Assassination averted who Imran Khan blames for the attempt on his life.
And midterm countdown, we're just four days away from races that will change the shape of American politics.
Welcome everyone, just days after Israel's fifth general election in less than four years, a far right government is starting to take shape, one that could mark a divisive new era in Israeli politics, it could still take weeks to form that government after election results become official next week.
But by all indications, Benjamin Netanyahu will serve an unprecedented sixth term as Prime Minister. That's after his Likud Party and its ultranationalist allies won a better than expected 64 seats in the Knesset. They needed 61 to achieve a majority.
And this will be the first time since 2019, that Israel has had that outright majority governing. But Netanyahu needed the support of the far right fringe to make it happen. And there are concerns about what its members will expect in return.
The leader of the Jewish Power party wants to be in charge of police. It's not clear if that will happen. But it is likely Itamar Ben Gvir will get some kind of prominent role. That's despite his history of calling for Palestinians to be expelled and worse. He was also convicted of inciting anti-Arab racism and supporting terrorism in 2007. Now I want to bring in Yaakov Katz, who's editor-in-chief of Jerusalem Post, good to see you again. It would now seem there will be another Netanyahu government the most far right in a very long time and the potential to have at least one extremist in the cabinet. What might that government look like in terms of how Netanyahu will govern this time around?
YAAKOV KATZ, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, JERUSALEM POST: Well, Michael, I think it's you're 100 percent right in your description, but I'm not sure this is the government that Netanyahu who would have preferred if he was able to choose the type of government that he would have wanted, because this is going to be a complicated government to run and to rule over.
Itamar Ben-Gvir, a rabble rouser, known provocateur, unless there's some dramatic change in the way that he conducts himself is not someone who gives into, you know, politics and diplomacy and understands necessarily the fine issues of what it means to be a member of the Security cabinet than the likes, and therefore, it's going to be government that's potentially going to pull Netanyahu in a very far right direction.
And if you remember previous governments of Netanyahu, he always had someone to his left and to his right, the idea being that he's in the center. He's the adults in the room. He can help bring everyone to the middle of where decisions need to be made. This time he has no one to his left. I would say he's probably the most left wing person is government.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. And, Ben-Gvir why did he get so much support in this election? And what does his potential appointment if it's police or security? What would that say about where the government will be headed? What is (INAUDIBLE) owe him?
KATZ: Well, Ben-Gvir got a lot of support, I think for a couple of reasons. The first is that there were a lot of people who were upset. They were angry at the government that's outgoing now the one that they feel stole from them and took away and there was a right wing party. Remember Naftali Bennett, who served as prime minister and he switched sides in the middle after the last election and became part of the center Left Bloc and they felt that they were betrayed.
And Ben-Gvir also ran a very sophisticated and smart campaign where he spoke about who's in charge here. There were too many incidents in the last couple of years of riots between Arabs and Jews. There was a feeling that Israel was losing sovereignty --
HOLMES: Which many people thought he held for men, by the way.
KATZ: 100 percent but that did tap into a very visceral feeling of people who felt that they were no longer safe.
[01:05:04]
And he played that up really nicely. And I would say that when it comes to his request to be the Police Minister, the Public Security Minister, that's a direct continuation of that feeling of Israelis who don't have safety and security. And now Itamar Ben-Gvir who ran a successful campaign might be able to restore that with very, look, Michael, he's no different than any far right, potentially fascist politician you'll find in Europe, right? Very simple messages. Everything's black and white. We got to get rid of the immigrants, we got to get rid of, you know, the people who aren't loyal, it taps into people into an emotional feeling. And that brings out the votes.
HOLMES: Yes, it'd be him complaining about clashes between Israelis and Palestinians. In mixed towns, it's a bit like somebody starting a fire and then wanting praise for putting it out. We've already heard the U.S. State Department weigh in on this new government and in theory about, you know, the right wing aspect of it. Let's listen to spokesman Ned Price.
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NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: And we hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open democratic society, including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: So how might the Biden administration have to tiptoe through a potential minefield of a government with, you know, extremists in it, particularly someone like Ben-Gvir, who a lot of people have described as toxic in the US?
KATZ: Yes, I think this is going to be complicated for the Biden administration. And I hear from officials there, that they're still kind of figuring things out. But I wouldn't -- I wouldn't yet kind of bury the option that Netanyahu might try to entice the current defense minister Benny Gantz, who's a former chief of staff from the Israel Defense Forces, a very -- is proven to be something of a statesman, he joined Italia when a government in 2020.
Netanyahu might try to bring him in instead of Ben-Gvir, that won't be simple, but the Americans would love to see that happen. It's unlikely Benny Gantz said he won't allow that to happen. But Ben-Gvir into government will be something that the U.S. administration, and by the way, other allies of Israel throughout the world and in the West and Europe as well, will have difficulty sitting across the table from this man. And by the way, Michael, what happens if Ben-Gvir wants to travel to Washington for a meeting with the Homeland Security, you know, Secretary and the staff over there? Will the U,S, give him a visa? We don't know yet.
HOLMES: Yes, that's a really good point. I wish we had more time we do not have the deck of cards to do some posts always great to get your analysis. Thanks so much.
The UN nuclear watchdog has debunked Russian allegations that Ukraine is working to create a dirty bomb. The agency says it has not found any indications of undeclared nuclear activity or materials in Ukraine. That's after the agency inspected three Ukrainian sites at the invitation of its government.
Last month, Russia accused Ukraine of planning to use a dirty bomb, which combines conventional explosives with nuclear material to spread radioactivity. President Zelenskyy responding this way.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We have clear and irrefutable evidence that no one in Ukraine is created or is creating any dirty bomb. And the only thing that is dirty in our region now is the heads of those in Moscow, who unfortunately seize control the Russian state and are terrorizing Ukraine and the whole world.
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HOLMES: Now, Ukraine's foreign minister was even more blunt saying Russia has now confirmed its status as what he called the world's top liar.
A major victory or a dangerous trap? That's the question for Ukrainian troops advancing towards the southern city of her strong. A top pro- Russian official has suggested Russian troops will likely pull out of this strategic city but Ukrainian officials say they're not necessarily buying that, and they believe the statement could be an attempt to lure their forces into a trap. U.S. Defense Secretary is confident Ukraine can take the city.
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LLOYD AUSTIN, U.S. DEFENSE SECRETARY: On the issue of whether or not the Ukrainians can take the remaining territory on the west side of the Dnieper River in Kherson. I certainly believe that they have the capability to do that. Most importantly, the Ukrainians believe that they have the capability to do that.
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HOLMES: The situation in Kherson is unclear after the statement about a possible Russian fallout. CNN has reached out to some residents who still live inside the occupied city. They say they don't see signs of a mass Russian withdrawal. There is Nic Robertson now reports Moscow appears to be decreasing its footprint in the city.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Atop Kherson's main government building a change no Russian flag. On a bus nearby, residents cheer realizing a Russian checkpoint is gone. A city resident whom CNN is not identifying for their own security describes the changes. There's no large armored vehicles in the city during the day he says, and all the military checkpoints in the city are gone.
The region's Russian installed governor told her Russian media propagandists, Russian troops are holding the city for now, but added most likely our troops will leave for the east bank. What Russia is planning not clear. Ukrainian officials fear deception.
NATALIA HUMENIUK, SPOKESPOERSON, UKRAINE DEFENSE FORCES SOUTH (through translator): We see it and realize that these may be certain tricks, military maneuvers to build correct defenses as they see it. Nevertheless, we see that in Kherson there are still regular units wearing civilian clothes.
ROBERTSON: But Ukraine still claiming gains, Thursday destroying several boats in Kherson port. And Wednesday, destroying a Russian surface to air missile system often used to hit Ukrainian civilians in nearby Mykolaiv. In the Black Sea too, Russia appears on the backfoot as grain shipments resumed following Putin's reversal of his refusal this past weekend to cooperate with the UN brokered deal citing new guarantees from Ukraine.
VLADIMIR PUTIN, RUSSIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Russia reserves the right to withdraw from these agreements if the guarantees are breached by Ukraine.
ROBERTSON: Another side, according to Ukrainian president that Putin is being forced to change.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): 252 days ago, Russia demanded security guarantees from the United States of America. After eight months of the Russian so called special operation, the Kremlin is demanding security guarantees from Ukraine.
ROBERTSON: In Kherson, Putin's intent still far from clear, residents report plenty of Russian heavy weapons on the edge of the city. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kramatorsk, Ukraine.
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HOLMES: Credit cards, mortgages and car loans are about to get more expensive in the United Kingdom. The Bank of England following the U.S. Federal Reserve's lead hiking its benchmark interest rates three quarters of a percentage point. CNN's Marc Stewart with more.
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MARC STEWART, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Like so many central banks around the world, the Bank of England is having to quell problematic and persistent inflation. And with inflation, recession often follows. If you look at the data, the UK economy began to contract in August. The central bank forecast a recession that could last into 2024, one of the longest on record, one of many factors prompting an interest rate hike of three quarters of a percent the biggest hike in 33 years. So what's driving this swift action? The war in Ukraine plays a role. Take a listen to the Governor of the Bank of England Andrew Bailey.
ANDREW BAILEY, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND: If we do not act forcefully now it will be worse later on. And as the forecast we are publishing today shows it is a tough road ahead. The sharp increase in energy prices caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine has made us poor as a nation. The level of economic activity is likely to be flat, and even fall for some time.
STEWART: Some context the annual rate of inflation in the United Kingdom is above 10 percent higher than what's been experienced here the United States. Global markets have been jolted in recent weeks by the UK amid an economic plan proposed by former Prime Minister Liz Truss and looking ahead November 17 will be a crucial date when the government's budget announcement will be made and that could influence future economic policy. Marc Stewart, CNN, New York.
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HOLMES: The British Home Secretary Suella Braverman visited two migrant processing centers in the southeast of England, where concerns have been raised about overcrowding and dire conditions. The Thursday visit follows controversial comments by Braverman in which she likened the influx of migrants to an invasion, the Albanian Prime Minister sharply criticizing her comments, some of which targeted Albanian migrants.
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EDI RAMA, ALBANIAN PRIME MINISTER: To single out a community and to talk about gangsters and about criminals doesn't sound really something that is very British. Sounds more like screens from a madhouse.
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HOLMES: The British government facing pressure over the conditions at the facilities one of them in Manston is said to be operating at more than double capacity. People reportedly staying much longer than the intended 24-hour period and sleeping on mats on the floor. Following her visit to the migrant centers, the Home Secretary dodged questions from reporters.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you concerned about the conditions at Manston, Home Secretary? Are the conditions in Manston inhumane? Is this crisis your fault? Home Secretary?
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HOLMES: Underscoring the desperate conditions at the facility in Manston is a heartbreaking note from a young girl at the processing center. It was thrown over the fence in a bottle addressed to journalists, organizations and everyone describing how deplorable the conditions are there with the girls saying she feels like she's in prison. She says she has no money, no phone and adds that the food makes them feel sick.
Also in the notes, she says quote, we want to talk to you but they don't even let us go outside. We really need your help. Please help us. Please.
Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan shot in what his supporters are calling an assassination attempt. We'll have the latest details coming up next on CNN Newsroom. Also, escalating tensions on the Korean peninsula as North Korea ramps up missile launchers and other provocations to their highest level in years.
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HOLMES: Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan in stable condition after being shot in the leg in what his political party calls an assassination attempt, a gunman opening fire at a political rally killing one person and wounding Khan and several others before being detained.
Khan, a former cricket star was on the seventh day of a nationwide tour, calling for new elections when the shooting happened. Protests broke out across Pakistan following the shooting in support of Khan, who accuses Pakistan's prime minister, interior minister and a senior intelligence official of being behind Thursday's attack. Anna Coren is following the story for us. She joins me now. So bring us up to date. What's the latest, Anna?
ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Michael, Imran Khan is in a stable condition, but there are real fears that this could see widespread protests erupt across Pakistan and escalate the political tension already in the country.
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Imran Khan, of course, is the most popular politician in Pakistan more so after he was ousted from power back in April, reportedly because he fell out with a very powerful Pakistani military.
Now, Imran Khan knew he was in danger. He said as much to the media last week. Let me read you some of those quotes. He said, there's always a threat when you're challenging the status quo that his campaign was a freedom struggle, and that it's better to die than live under these criminals. The criminals that he's referring to other Pakistani government.
As you mentioned, he blames the prime minister, the interior minister as well as a senior military official for this assassination attempt and has called for their ousting. The government says these are baseless accusations. There's no evidence that this was from the government and says that Khan's party, the PTI is stoking civil unrest and these quote, extremist views but let's now recap on this attempted assassination on Imran Khan's life.
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COREN (voiceover): A political campaign turns deadly in Pakistan when gunshots erupt from the crowd. In the chaotic moments after the shooting, Imran Khan was carried out and whisked away from the crowd, a gunman had opened fire at a rally of tens of thousands of his supporters. The target Khan's party claims was the former prime minister himself.
Shot in the lower leg, he was bundled into a bulletproof car and driven two hours to Lahore for surgery.
A senior party leader released a statement from Khan saying the cricketing hero blamed the Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, his interior minister and a senior intelligence official for an attempt on his life, calling for their removal from office. The government responded saying this was a grievous accusation.
Outside the hospital, crowds gathered desperate for any updates. Protests broke out across the country as news of the shooting spread. Six others were injured in the attack and one was killed according to a senator from Khan's political party, the PTI.
Please pray for Imran Khan for our fellow workers who are injured the senator says, and for our party member who has died. Khan had been on the campaign trail to demand snap elections in Pakistan after he was ousted in a vote of no confidence in Parliament just six months ago, accused of bad governance and mismanaging the country's flailing economy.
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COREN: Now, Michael this long march, which began last week and is expected to end in Islamabad that the country's capital next week is about to kick off in about an hour. We don't know whether Imran Khan will be there but I think it's safe to say that there will be thousands of people on the streets. The fear obviously is this guy is -- this will become violent.
HOLMES: All right, Anna, thanks for following up for us. Anna Coren there in Hong Kong.
Now after a blistering round of missile launches this week, North Korea on Thursday turned to artillery to show its displeasure over ongoing U.S.-South Korean military drills. South Korea's military says the North fired about 80 artillery rounds into the maritime buffer known as the Northern Limit Line. Some experts believe the escalating provocations could be a prelude to another nuclear test by the North. We get the latest now from CNN's Will Ripley.
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WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONENT (voiceover): For the second time this year, a rare North Korean missile alert in Japan, triggered by a presumed long range ballistic missile fired from Pyongyang disappearing from radar just before reaching Japanese airspace when of several missiles test fired by North Korea Thursday morning local time, possibly to demonstrate its tactical nuclear strike capability against South Korea, Japan and Guam.
In South Korea, where North Korean nuclear threats often feel like background noise, this startling sound.
The first air raid sirens in six years, urging Ulleungdo residents to seek shelter in underground bunkers.
A North Korean missile came dangerously close to the island crossing the Northern Limit Line, a de facto maritime buffer zone between the North and the South. Pyongyang never officially recognized that line. Until Wednesday, they never fired a missile over it either.
[01:25:02]
South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol holding to his hawkish stance on North Korea, calling the launch and effective territorial invasion, actually fell just shy of the South's territorial waters.
He infuriated North Korea this week, forging ahead with Operation Vigilant Storm, South Korea's largest combined military air drills with the U.S. five days of war games, 240 aircraft, thousands of service members from both countries. Pyongyang's foreign ministry promising powerful follow up measures for the Korean Peninsula a day of unnerving firsts.
The first time North Korea launched at least 23 missiles in a single day, skyrocketing tensions two levels unseen and half a decade. The first time South Korea and the U.S. responded by firing surface to air missiles near the north territorial waters. CNN counts 30 North Korean missile launch events this year, including this week's unprecedented barrage.
Japan strongly condemning the latest launches, calling the blitz utterly unacceptable violating UN Security Council resolutions at an unprecedentedly high frequency. Tokyo's solemn protests via diplomatic channels in Beijing apparently falling on deaf ears.
China and Russia have veto power at the UN Security Council, both in no mood to work with the west on punishing Pyongyang as they bolster their authoritarian alliances. Raising fears North Korea's seven underground nuclear test could be next. Will Ripley, CNN, Seoul.
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HOLMES: And coming up on CNN Newsroom, the U.S. less than a week away from the critical midterm elections. We'll have more on the races that could determine control of the Senate.
Plus, former U.S. President Donald Trump hinting once again that he will make a third bid for the White House. We'll have that story and much more when we come back.
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HOLMES: And welcome back to our viewers all around the world. I'm Michael Holmes. You're watching CNN Newsroom. Let's get you up to date. Now on our top story, final results from Israel's general election confirming Benjamin Netanyahu will be returning to power. The acting prime minister conceding defeat and calling to congratulate Netanyahu.
But when the Likud celebrations die down (ph) the party will have to figure out how to form a government with members of the far-right fringe whose support was vital to this victory.
[1:30:00]
And there are serious concerns about how much power these ultra- nationalists should have.
The Jewish power religious Zionism alliance won their most seats ever in parliament. The bloc's firebrand figurehead has a history of inciting anti-Arab hatred, and now, he wants authority over the police. CNN's Hadas Gold with the story.
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HADAS GOLD, CNN INTERNATIONAL MEDIA AND BUSINESS REPORTER: Until recently, this man, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was considered a fringe far right activist settler lawyer. His signature white kippah almost always askew on his head.
Now a leader of the projected third largest bloc in the Israeli parliament, set to be a key component of Benjamin Netanyahu's now likely come back as prime minister.
The 46-year-old has been a provocateur since his youth. Once a supporter of the Jewish nationalist Kach Party deemed a foreign terrorist organization by the United States and ultimately outlawed by Israel. He was once filmed holding a hood emblem he claimed was from the car, a former Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, an architect of the Israeli Palestinian peace process vowing, we got to his car and we'll get to him too. A Jewish extremist assassinated Rabin three weeks later.
Exempted from the military draft, he says he was denied for his political views. Ben-Gvir became a lawyer often representing Jewish extremist settlers, and famously hung a portrait in his home of Baruch Goldstein, an Israeli doctor who massacred 29 Palestinians in a mosque in the West Bank in 1994 before being killed himself. Ben-Gvir later tweeted he would take the portrait down.
In 2007, he told CNN the holiest most contested site in Jerusalem, third holiest site in Islam is for the Jews only.
ITAMAR BEN-GVIR, JEWISH POWER PARTY LEADER: Temple Mount is for Israel for the Jewish people. And not for the Islamic people. They have Mecca, Medina, we have the Temple Mount.
GOLD: That same year, he was convicted for inciting anti-Arab racism and supporting terrorism.
In 2020, his sights turned to politics, winning a seat in the Knesset in 2021 on a platform that included annexing the West Bank, relaxing the Israeli military open fire policy against Palestinian rioters, and pushed for the death penalty for terrorists.
He spent his time in Parliament attracting the spotlight from stunts like pulling a gun during clashes between Israelis and Palestinians in East Jerusalem, telling police to shoot Arabs who throw stones, to being forcibly removed from the floor of the Israeli parliament for calling a fellow member, the leader of the Arab movement party, who's also an Israeli citizen, a terrorist, saying he didn't belong in Israel.
Just last year, Netanyahu himself dismissed the idea of Ben-Gvir leading a government ministry, saying, a minister? No, not in my government.
But this year, his tune changed. Asked again if Ben-Gvir would be a minister, he answered, of course, he can be. Out vying to be put in charge of the police as a minister Ben-Gvir, that could affect Israel's relationship with its most important ally, the United States.
NED PRICE, U.S. STATE DEPARTMENT SPOKESPERSON: And we hope that all Israeli government officials will continue to share the values of an open democratic society including tolerance and respect for all in civil society, particularly for minority groups.
GOLD: The extremist who once shunned from Israeli politics now a top figure appearing on cooking shows and possibly soon, the Israeli cabinet.
Hadas Gold, CNN, Jerusalem.
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HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden telling voters that next Tuesday's midterm elections will be the most important vote of a lifetime. As campaigning heats up in the final stretch, the president traveled to New Mexico on Thursday to stump for that state's Democratic governor.
Besides the state offices up for grabs, the midterms also determine which party controls Congress next year. Mr. Biden had this warning if Republicans take control of the Senate.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Republican extremism is not limited to social programs and the economy. They're going after your right to vote and how we -- no, not a joke. Mark my words, they're going after your right to vote and who's going to count the vote.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: Former President Donald Trump, meanwhile, hinting once again at a third presidential bid. Trump appeared at a rally for Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley and Governor Kim Reynolds on Thursday night, the first of four campaign stops he will be making between now and Election Day Tuesday.
But just as he has done at other recent rallies, Trump signaled his interest in seeking the White House once again.
[1:35:05]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In order to make our country successful and safe and glorious, I will very, very, very probably do it again. OK? Very, very, very probably.
(CHANTING)
TRUMP: That's nice. Well, get ready. That's all I'm telling you. Very soon. Get ready. Get ready.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HOLMES: CNN's chief U.S. national affairs correspondent, Jeff Zeleny, has more on the impact of third Trump presidential run could have.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: To say Donald Trump is coming back to the campaign trail would suggest he's ever gone away.
TRUMP: Make America great again.
ZELENY: But starting tonight, he's back in a new way, four rallies in five days in a sprint to Election Day.
TRUMP: Hello, Iowa.
ZELENY: Iowa is hardly the hottest spot on the map of 2022 battlegrounds. But the state has something even more enticing, it hopes during the opening bell of the next Republican presidential race.
(MUSIC)
ZELENY: As Republicans ride a wave of optimism in the final days of the midterm elections, the 2024 campaign is about to burst from the shadows. And the former President is eager to solidify his role as the party's top leader, inching ever closer to announcing another bid for the White House.
TRUMP: In order to make our country successful, safe, and glorious again, I will probably have to do it again.
ZELENY: The question is whether potential rivals would join him or step aside. A parade of Republicans with presidential ambitions have already visited Iowa this year, including former Vice President Mike Pence, former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Senators Tim Scott of South Carolina, Rick Scott of Florida, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Ted Cruz of Texas, and outgoing Maryland Governor Larry Hogan.
GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Aren't you glad you live in a free state of Florida? ZELENY: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is eying an Iowa trip of his own after his reelection campaign is complete. CNN has learned further fueling and intensifying duel with the former president. While his loyal base of supporters is already lining up behind him, a Trump candidacy would test the full party's appetite for reliving the 2020 campaign and litigating a string of his legal challenges.
Suzan Stewart is an Iowa Republican who voted for Trump.
SUZAN STEWART, IOWA REPUBLICAN VOTER: There are Republicans who never supported him in the first place. There are others who have mixed feelings about him. But by and large, I would say there's more diehard Trump supporters in any of those other categories.
ZELENY: Conversations with Republicans and other states reveal a measure of hesitation.
LINDA FRANK, PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICAN VOTER: I am perplexed because I was a Trump supporter. And I don't know where I stand now.
BILL SUPRENANT, NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICAN VOTER: I feel like we got betrayed, and especially when he attacked the -- you know, attacked the Capitol, that's for sure.
ZELENY (on camera): So you wouldn't want to see him run again?
SUPRENANT: Oh, definitely not.
ZELENY (voice over): But many Trump loyalists do and the former President has repeatedly signaled he's poised to launch a new campaign built around false questions about the last one.
TRUMP: May just have to do it again. Stay tuned, everybody. Stay tuned.
ZELENY (on camera): As the former president holds four rallies in five days leading to Election Day, there is no question he is trying to step into what he believes will be a Republican wave next Tuesday. The only remaining question is what his next move will be, aides say expect some type of announcement before the end of November.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Sioux City, Iowa.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
HOLMES: Now the upcoming midterm elections in the U.S. will determine which party controls Congress, of course, commanded the Senate will likely come down to just four races; Arizona, Nevada, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Arizona Senator Mark Kelly is fighting for his seat against Republican Blake Masters. Kelly has led in all publicly released polls and experts say the outcome does tilt towards Democrats.
Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto is also defending her seat. The most recent polling average shows her tied with Republican challenger, Adam Laxalt. And in Georgia, Senator Raphael Warnock is in a tight race with Republican Herschel Walker. The winner will need an outright majority to avoid a runoff.
While in Pennsylvania, Democrat John Fetterman has a small lead over Republican Mehmet Oz.
All right. Ron Brownstein is CNN senior political analyst and senior editor of The Atlantic. He joins me now from Los Angeles. Always a pleasure, Ron.
Now, you wrote on cnn.com about the vital role of independence and how they can be swayed, specifically when it comes to the Senate. What have you seen in that particular fight to woo those voters who don't like Republican candidates but at the same time don't like the Joe Bidens on what you call the double negative election?
[1:40:09]
RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: Yes, those double negative voters, I think, are going to decide control of the Senate. If you look across the key states that you identify, those four Plus, you know, throw in Wisconsin, Ohio, maybe New Hampshire for the Republicans, if you look at all the states that are likely to decide control of the Senate, you have a double negative verdict.
In the electorate, you have most voters saying they disapprove the way Biden has handled the presidency, disapproved of how he's handled crime and the border, but especially the economy and inflation. And historically, that has been kind of a death sentence for candidates from the president's own party.
There are very few examples in the 21st century of candidates winning in states where the president's approval rating is down -- from their own party is down around 40 percent or below, which is what we see from Biden in many of these critical states.
But there's another factor here, which is that in those same places, a majority of voters in many cases, or at least a plurality, say they have an unfavorable view about the Republican nominee, they view them as extreme or unqualified or both. So I think the critical question is, how are those conflicted voters who are down on Biden, but also negative toward the Republican nominee, how they come out in the end will probably decide which side controls the Senate.
HOLMES: And to that point, I mean, you're talking about quality of candidates that a lot of Republican voters aren't thrilled with it. I mean, there aren't many non-partisan who view Herschel Walker, for example, as a qualified Senate candidate, yet, he could win against Raphael Warnock. What does that say about some of the GOP candidate choices that to say the least, flawed candidates are in striking distance of victory?
BROWNSTEIN: Well, it says a couple of things. One, it says that in this environment, where you have this level of discontent over the direction of the country and the President. If the Republicans that pick more generic kind of anonymous, inoffensive candidates, they would be in a very, very strong position in many of these states.
But it was not an accident that they ended up with these candidates, they ended up with candidates who are very much in the mold of Donald Trump, and they are facing the same challenges that Trump does, which is a lot of resistance among younger voters, among college educated voters. And among women.
Polls out tonight in Pennsylvania, and Arizona, and Georgia, are all showing Democrats, even or ahead, in states they have to win and doing very well among those three key groups. But the fact that Republicans, with as many, with as much baggage as a Walker in Georgia or Blake Masters in Arizona, or Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, the fact that they still have a chance to win, shows how much our elections are becoming like the rest of the world, they're becoming parliamentary. They're less about comparing the two individuals and more about which party you want to have in control of Congress. And in the States at this moment, most voters, I think, want Republicans in control, but that parliamentary instinct is being constrained by their doubts about these individual candidates.
HOLMES: Yes, which sort of brings me to, you know, how Democrats have handled the election. I mean, abortion was the big issue Democrats initially push, and now the president focusing on, you know, the threat to democracy. But what's been missing is focused on the economy, according to a lot of critics, which poll say is the major voter concern, and which Democrats do have policy achievements on. What do you make of Democrat messaging as the campaign has gone up?
BROWNSTEIN: You know, absolutely. Look, I mean, Democrats have gotten a lot of mileage out of focusing on abortion and threats to democracy and gun violence, all of that, as we've talked about, enable them to activate more of those their voters, particularly white collar voters, and close the enthusiasm gap that was enormous in the spring and winter, and threatened them with, you know, kind of catastrophic losses in the midterms.
But they have probably, as you suggest, taking that about as far as they can go, they've squeezed as many votes out of the voters who are focused on those issues as they can. And the fact that they really have not had a better answer on the question of inflation and the economy, and they -- and Republicans have opened a substantial lead on that, that is the biggest challenge they face.
You know, for a lot of voters without families, without a lot of economic margin, who don't have a big financial cushion, abortion or democracy is kind of a nice to have, not a have to have, I think, you know, it's a little bit abstract for people who are focused about worrying about keeping food on the table and soaring cost of rent, and obviously, the price of gas.
And as you say, Democrats did do a bunch of stuff in the Inflation Reduction Act, but there is -- I don't think, Michael, there is fully a policy answer when inflation is this high. The party in power is going to pay at least some price.
HOLMES: Yes, yes. Always a fascinating conversation with Ron Brownstein. Appreciate it, Ron. Thanks.
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BROWNSTEIN: Thanks for having me.
HOLMES: And do join us on Tuesday for in depth special coverage of the crucial U.S. midterm elections which will determine control of Congress. It all starts at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time in the U.S. at 9:00 in the evening in London.
Ecuador reeling from a wave of violence related to its prison. Still ahead, the government steps up security measures trying to take back control.
And three years into the COVID pandemic lockdowns, constant testing and children's deaths, triggering a fresh wave of outrage and desperation for people in parts of China. We'll have a report after the break.
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HOLMES: In North Central Iran on Thursday, a member of a volunteer paramilitary militia was killed and five others injured in clashes with protesters. We want to warn you the video of the following incident is pretty graphic. Protesters, you'll see are throwing rocks at a police truck. Its doors spattered with blood and injured officer inside.
One activist group says a rock throwing came after police chased and fired at protesters. Now, top U.N. official says as many as 14,000 people have been arrested during these protests which began in September, after the death of a young woman detained by the so-called morality police.
Ecuador vowing to take back control of its prison facilities. Extraordinary scenes gunfights and attacks with explosives had broken out at multiple detention facilities leading to the deaths of at least five police officers. It started after officials tried to transfer some inmates to other prisons.
Stefano Pozzebon has the details.
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STEFANO POZZEBON, JOURNALIST: The government of Ecuador is stepping up security operations and vowing to take back control of penitentiary centers in the country after the Andean nation experienced an escalation of violence in recent days.
On Thursday, the National Security Council, which comprises all the major state officials, as well as the heads of the armed forces, met for over two hours in the city of Guayaquil to address a wave of coordinated attacks against police forces that killed at least five policemen on Tuesday, according to the Ecuadorian police.
In response to these attacks, the president of the country, Guillermo Lasso, had already declared a 45 days a state of emergency in the two provinces that have seen the largest number of violent episodes. Much of these violence is preyed in from penitentiary centers that have seen a real escalation of clashes in recent years.
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On Thursday, at least, 15 servicemen were injured during an operation from the police forces to try regain control of parts of the Litoral penitentiary in Guayaquil. The government is blaming the violence on international drug cartels, but saying these actions will not be left unpunished.
For CNN, this is Stefano Pozzebon, Bogota.
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HOLMES: China's strict zero-COVID policy and lockdown causing a tragic situation become even more desperate by the day. Children are dying from COVID and other illnesses due to lockdown restrictions. As CNN Selina Wang reports now from Beijing, these deaths are fueling more outrage at China's zero-COVID policy.
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SELINA WANG, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: A 14-year-old girl lies in bed convulsing at a COVID quarantine facility in China. Someone comes over saying the kid has a fever of 104 degrees Fahrenheit and no one is coming. She died soon after.
A man who says he's the girl's father posted this video online filming his daughter's body. He's demanding justice. I beg the Communist Party to investigate, he says. CNN hasn't been able to independently verify the videos. They've been censored in China.
Along with these videos of a father desperately trying to revive his 3-year-old son. He can't get his child to the hospital fast enough because of COVID restrictions in Lanzhou City. The boy later died.
Enraged residents took to the streets, swarms of armed police held them back. In Lanzhou City, some were forced to quarantine outside in the cold in parking lots. This viral video, which CNN could not verify, shows others forced to stay in male bathrooms sleeping under urinals.
In year three of the pandemic, every positive case and close contact is still sent to government quarantine facilities like these. And this one, the video says it's a quarantine site for kids in (inaudible) province. A little boy jumping on bricks to avoid the pool of dirty liquid. This is where they use the bathroom.
Distraught parents crowd outside to protest. Protesters rushed to the streets in Lhasa Tibet, demanding the end of a lockdown that's lasted for more than 80 days. And in Zhengzhou city workers are fleeing, Apple's biggest iPhone plant after a COVID outbreak. Masses of workers carrying their luggage walk long distances across highways through villages, even farm fields. Those left behind at the factory claimed living conditions are subpar. Videos appear to show workers literally fighting for boxes of supplies.
China's leader Xi Jinping claims zero-COVID puts lives above all else. But for many, it's precisely the policy itself that's ruining their lives.
This woman sobs on the ground crying that after she was caught with her mask pulled down, the government suspended her business for 30 days, losing a month's income. Metal spikes, which the man filming, says were installed on a compound gate to prevent residents from leaving or red plastic barriers. This one separating a father from his daughter. The little girl (inaudible) asks her dad how he's going to get home. But her father, like millions across China, likely has no idea when he can go home or when all of this will end.
Selina Wang, CNN, Beijing.
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HOLMES: And we will be right back.
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HOLMES: The world of Marvel's Black Panther is coming back to the big screen, this time in a sequel to the 2018 smash called Wakanda Forever. Front and center in the film are the women that surrounded Black Panther's lead character ,T'Challa. Director Ryan Coogler said they weren't thinking about gender when they wrote the sequel, they just wanted to explore the characters who cared about to T' Challa the most.
A sequel had been in the works when actor Chad Boseman died of cancer in 2010. Rather than recasting his role, the script was rewritten. The stars of the new film talked about how important the legacy of the lead actor was to the film.
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LETITIA WRIGHT, ACTRESS: It's important for me to understand why we're moving forward, and I feel like he would have really wanted us to move forward to inspire the next generation.
DANAI GURIRA, ACTRESS: Losing Chadwick was, of course, a very much something that led us to create the film in this way. It was about honoring him. It was about honoring his legacy and living in something that felt as he was authentic, real, truthful, courageous.
LUPITA NYONG'O, KENYAN ACTRESS: T'Challa was surrounded by powerful women, women with agency and very specific women, distinct women. And so in his absence, it's only natural and organic that these women will come to the core of the story.
In Wakanda, it is unremarkable for a woman to be powerful. And wouldn't that be nice for the world we live in today?
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HOLMES: Chad Boseman, of course, died in 2020. Wakanda Forever hits theaters internationally starting on Wednesday.
Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram, @holmescnn. Do stick around, Kim Brunhuber is saddling up to pick up things after the break.
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