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Moment of Truth for Candidates on Tuesday; Democrats Show Their Best Campaigners; Ukraine Begs U.S. Lawmakers to Continue Their Support; Ukrainians Bracing for Freezing Winter; Protest Erupted in Iran. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired November 07, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us here in the United States and all around the world. You are watching CNN Newsroom. And I'm Rosemary Church.

Just ahead, we are just one day away from the 2022 midterms pivotal elections that will determine what the Biden administration will be able to get done in the next two years.

Candidates are battling it out for the will of the voters across the country. We'll bring you details of the key races. And A, to Ukraine could be at risk if Republicans take control of Congress. A Ukrainian M.P. shares her message

UNKNOWN: Live from CNN center, this is CNN Newsroom with Rosemary Church.

CHURCH: Good to have you with us. Well, candidates across the United States are gearing up to make their final pitch to voters with just one day to go before the critical midterm elections. And the stakes could not be higher. On the ballot, all 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats. The outcome of this vote will determine who controls Congress.

In the House, race ratings by inside elections shows Republicans appear to have the advantage heading into Tuesday, a party needs 218 seats to control the chamber. And with 20 seats rated as a tossup, Republicans would only need to win a few of those to take back control.

In the Senate, control still appears up for grabs of the 35 seats on the ballot. Three are considered a tossup. And those key Senate races may end up determining which party will lead the Senate. They are playing out now in Nevada, Georgia, and in the battleground state of Pennsylvania. And that's where the race remains tight between Democrat John Fetterman and Republican Mehmet Oz.

President Joe Biden, and former President Barack Obama traveled to the state to campaign for Fetterman while former President Donald Trump attended a rally for Oz. And CNN's Athena Jones joins us now live from Pennsylvania. So, talk to us about what's at stake here, how close this race is and what people are saying about the likely outcome here.

ATHENA JONES, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, we're all waiting to see what happens, what happens with turnout, what happens in the final accounting of all of this. We know that polls suggests that John Fetterman is still ahead of Dr. Oz in this race, but it's really going to come down to Tuesday night.

Because it's a close race, and so these last several days, bringing out those big guns like former President Barack Obama, former President Donald Trump and Biden are meant to try to drive turnout here in the state of New Hampshire.

Of course, this is a challenging environment -- to the state of Pennsylvania, I should say. This is a challenging environment here and across the country because the peoples worry about the economy, about rising inflation, about the impact on their pocketbooks, and concerns about the country not going in the right direction.

Also, a lot of voters disapproving of the job that President Biden is doing. But when it comes to turnout, you've seen already in this state of Pennsylvania about a million, more than a million people cast their votes early. That is a pretty large number. That's about 20 percent of the total votes cast in the 2018 midterm.

So, it gives you a sense of the kind of enthusiasm we're seeing already on the ground with voters wanting to have their voices heard. But it also adds another potential wrinkle because Pennsylvania is one of the states where election officials cannot begin opening and looking at those early voted -- voting ballots until election day so that with at least a million votes to count, we don't know how quickly we're going to get results here, especially if the race is close.

Bottom line here, it's going to come down to turnout and you have each side hoping to urge their voters and their base to make it to the polls.

CHURCH: Yes.

JONES: Rosemary?

CHURCH: It's all about turnout. We'll see what happens. Athena Jones in Pennsylvania joining us live, many thanks.

Well, President Joe Biden was in New York on Sunday rallying support for Governor Kathy Hochul who's in an unexpectedly close race against Republican Lee Zeldin. Mr. Biden urged New Yorkers to vote, warning that U.S. democracy is at stake.

[03:05:01]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: If you all show up and vote, Democracy sustained. Not a joke. This is not hyperbole. For the second time, not a joke. It matters. It's in your hands. And look, you're one of the reasons why, as I said, I've never been more optimistic about the future of this country.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meanwhile, in Florida, it was a clash of two political rivals. Former President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis held competing rallies. Trump, who was stumping for Senator Marco Rubio once again pushed his false election claims.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The election was rigged and sold, and now our country is being destroyed. I ran twice. I won twice and I did much better the second time than I did the first.

(APPLAUSE)

TRUMP: Getting millions and millions more votes in 2020 than we got in 2016. And now in order to make our country successful, safe and glorious, I will probably have to do it again, but stay tuned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Trump and DeSantis are both eyeing a possible presidential run in 2024, and the rallies may be a preview of a potential GOP presidential primary showdown.

So, let's bring in Natasha Lindstaedt, professor of government at the University of Essex, joining us from Colchester in England. She has taught American politics for many years. Great to have you with us.

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, PROFESSOR OF GOVERNMENT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Thanks for having.

CHURCH: So, I do want to start with the fact that, you know, we do have to talk to our viewers, certainly those who live across the globe who maybe don't understand what a midterm does. And of course, it's supposed to be a referendum on the government that's currently in power.

But what we are seeing here is, is quite interesting because many of these states and these House seats as well are quite competitive, which is very odd. What do you think is going on here? Why is this midterm 2022 so different to others?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, the number one reason why this midterm is so different is this is probably one of the most important midterms for the state of U.S. democracy. I've never seen a midterm where we're literally fighting to maintain U.S. democracy. You have not just people running in the House and the Senate, but you also have these other races that are going on. The governor, the state attorney general, the secretary of state. And they're going to play a really important role in what happens in

the 2024 presidential and congressional election because the governors are there to ratify the election rules. You have secretaries of state that oversee voting in ballot counting.

You have attorney generals that are handling all the litigation of the election results. And it's scary because you have Republican candidates and according to the Washington Post, there have been 291 Republicans that are election deniers. You have some candidates in the case of Pennsylvania and Arizona that are claiming that if they win that they're just not going to accept the election, that if they don't win, I should say, that they're just not going to accept the election result.

And that if they were in power, like for example, Doug Mastriano in who's running for governor in Pennsylvania, he's basically saying that if a Democrat wins, he's just not going to accept it. And so, he's going to be there if Trump decides to run, which I know he says he's going to anyways. And if Trump loses, he will refuse to accept that result. So, this could tilt the balance of our election results, and that really goes to the heart of the integrity of our democracy.

CHURCH: Yes, it is fascinating for those of us watching that, a lot of these Republicans are saying, if I win, I accept it. If I lose, I don't. I mean, I think a lot of the voters must find that quite uncanny.

But I do want to talk about the importance of turnout. Because I come from Australia where it's compulsory to vote. If you don't vote, you get fined which I'm sure would be interesting to a lot of those voters here in the United States. Why is it that so few really turn out when you look at the population it's quite shocking, isn't it?

I mean, I guess people are feeling mobilized this time around with not just inflation, the economy and abortion rights, gun violence. But really, there should be more Americans out there voting. They don't seem to value the fact that they have a voice here. Why is that?

LINDSTAEDT: Well, it's really interesting that a lot of studies have looked at our voting rights and the rules for voting and for registering, and it's just comparatively speaking compared to all kinds of other democracies around the world, much more difficult to vote in the U.S.

There're stricter laws just getting you registered to vote in other countries, other democracies the onus is on the party to ensure that you are registered. You mentioned the case of Australia with compulsory voting. There are other countries that have compulsory voting.

[03:10:01]

And but it's just also since 2020 there have been 30 new laws that make it more difficult to vote, make it more difficult to vote by absentee, more difficult to vote from abroad, a mail-in voting, making it more difficult to use your voter identification to vote. So, there are lots of obstacles in the way for voters. And there is a

sense of helplessness for many, when we have cases of voter intimidation that people are being threatened. There were reports that were people with guns that are threatening people who are trying to vote properly. That's going to depress voter turnout.

And we see this type of thing happening in hybrid regimes around the world. And that will make it more difficult for people to say, you know what, I'm going to take all this effort and possibly even take on huge risks to vote, particularly when there's also this feeling that their vote doesn't matter and that the out outcome is a foregone conclusion.

CHURCH: Yes. I mean, it is certainly shocking to think that the superpower has barriers to voting it. It's not very democratic at all, is it? So overall, Natasha, talk to us about how you think this will shake out in terms of the House and the Senate.

LINDSTAEDT: Well, I think it's going to be nearly impossible for the Democrats to maintain their majority in the House. They have to really have a miracle and the Republicans only have to turn five seats and there are 40 seats that are competitive and it just doesn't look likely that, that the Democrats can hold onto that.

In terms of the Senate, that's more of a tossup, but again, the Republicans only have to turn just one seat and there's really competitive races where the Democrats are the incumbents or have that seat in Georgia, in Arizona and Nevada, and it's not likely that they can hold on to all of them.

Now they do have a chance of maybe winning the state, the Senate seat in Pennsylvania. Maybe they could overturn Ron Johnson in Wisconsin. But again, these are a lot of unknowns and everything will have to line up perfectly for the Democrats on election night if they're able to maintain the Senate.

But as I mentioned, some of these other races for governor are much more important in some ways, if you think about the state of democracy. And at the moment these races are incredibly tight. And so, everything would have to align for the Democrats. And then you also have on the other side, Republicans claiming that they're not going to accept the election results if it doesn't go their way anyways.

CHURCH: Yes, which is just fascinating. Natasha Lindstaedt, thank you so much for your analysis. I appreciate it.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having.

CHURCH: Well, an envelope per containing suspicious white powder was sent to the campaign headquarters of Kari Lake, the Republican nominee for Arizona governor. A staffer opened the envelope on Saturday and is now under medical supervision.

So far, no reports of injuries. That envelope was one of two that were confiscated by law enforcement and sent to professionals for examination according to a campaign spokesman. Lake is condemning the incident saying quote, "we are living in dangerous times." The team said it was taking the threat incredibly seriously and thanked authorities for investigating the incident.

And do join us Tuesday for in-depth special coverage of the crucial U.S. midterm elections that will determine control of Congress starting at 4 p.m Eastern.

And still to calm, some U.S. lawmakers argue Americans are tired of sending money and aid to Ukraine amid the war. Why one Ukrainian lawmaker says that is simply not the case.

Plus, protests erupt in Iran after the alleged killing of a Kurdish Iranian woman by Iranian security forces. We'll have a live report after the break.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Democrats have pulled out their biggest political messengers ahead of Tuesday's midterm elections. On Saturday, President Joe Biden and Barack Obama came together in Pennsylvania to rally for Senate candidate John Fetterman. They urged people to vote for their party saying democracy itself was at stake.

One of the people in attendance was Kira Rudik, a member of the Ukrainian Parliament. She tweeted this image of the event saying Obama was discussing, quote, "the values we should all be fighting for."

Support for USA to Ukraine has started to falter in some places ahead of Tuesday's vote. Since Russia's invasion in February, the U.S. has committed more than $17 billion in assistance to Ukraine. This has included artillery vehicles and medical supplies, but not every U.S. lawmaker wants that aid to continue.

And Kira Rudik joins me now from Washington, D.C. Thank you so much for being with us.

KIRA RUDIK, MEMBER, UKRAINIAN PARLIAMENT: Hello. Thank you so much for having me.

CHURCH: So, one day to go until the midterm elections here in the United States, so how much do you worry about the cracks emerging in support for Ukraine as Russia continues its war on your country. We've been hearing increasing calls from the right and the left for President Biden to push harder for peace talks. What's your reaction to all of this?

RUDIK: Of course, I'm concern. Because the United States is the key ally of Ukraine in this war. We rely on the support a lot and all the statements regarding potential decreasing this support are worrying for Ukrainian people because in fact, closer to the winter, we would need more of the support.

This is why I'm here attending both Democratic and Republican rallies, hoping to deliver my message to candidate.

[03:19:51]

And hoping that these statements about decreasing the support for Ukraine are just pre-election statements that people are doing in the rallies, and that at the end after the elections, they would not result in the actions of decreasing the support that would be critical.

Yesterday I attended Democratic rally in Pennsylvania, and President Biden and President Obama spoke there about the protection of the democracy. And when President Biden and President Obama are saying that we need to keep up this fight, that the fight for the democracy is crucial. I want to stand up and scream.

Yes, it is crucial because this is what Ukrainian people are fighting for. This is what my country is standing for. Democratic values, ability to define our own future. This is the thing that is so valuable for us, that we are willing to sacrifice our lives for it.

CHURCH: Right.

RUDIK: So, what we need from the United States right now is the support in weapons, in finance, in sanctions.

CHURCH: As you mentioned there, bipartisan support for Ukraine is crucial for your country in the midst of this brutal war. But that bipartisan support is starting to crumble. Let's just listen to what Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene had to say about U.S. aid to Ukraine. We'll bring that sound up.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. MARJORIE TAYLOR GREENE (R-GA): Democrats have ripped our border wide open, but the only border they care about is Ukraine, not America's southern border. Under Republicans, not another penny will go to Ukraine. Our country comes first.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Under Republicans not another penny will go to Ukraine. What's your reaction to that and what would happen to your country if U.S aid were to stop as Taylor Greene suggests there.

RUDIK: You see, right now in Ukraine, we do not manufacture weapons. We have $5 billion debt in our budget every single month, and we depend on our allies because we need to win this war.

If we have the support decreased, this winter will be extremely hard. It will be a winter that we may not survive standing up to Vladimir Putin and his forces. All the victories that, and all the success that we had so far was because of the bravery of Ukrainian people, but also because of their supplies and weapons and finance that we received from the United States and European countries.

And the price of the decrease in the support could be crucial. And basically, stopping to support Ukraine would mean that it is OK for the United States to accept that in 21st century it could be possible that one country is annexing territories of another country committing all kinds of war crimes, breaking all international laws.

And the United States as leader of Democratic countries would be just standing inside and saying, yes, we are OK with that. And I'm asking, are you really OK with that? And I don't think so. I've been through those rallies. I spoke to people both in the Republican and Democratic rallies, and I do not believe that this is what people want.

People are hugging me and saying that they are supporting Ukraine and they are standing with Ukraine. And I think politicians need to be speaking on behalf of their people. And I do believe that American people care about democracy and care about Ukraine and people who are dying there to protect the values that they believe at.

CHURCH: Kira Rudik, thank you so much for joining us.

RUDIK: Thank you and glory to Ukraine.

CHURCH: Well, Ukraine's president warns Russian forces may try to disable the country's infrastructure with missiles obtained from Iran. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made the claim during his nightly address on Sunday. Millions of people in cities like Kyiv have seen electricity and water knocked out because of Russian airstrikes over the last few weeks.

Kyiv's mayor says Russia means to make them suffer. So, they're preparing for the worst, a complete loss of all utilities.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VITALI KLITSCHKO, MAYOR, KYIV, UKRAINE (through translator): This is not a war. This is terrorism. This is genocide. Putin doesn't need us, Ukrainians. He needs territory. He needs Ukraine without us. That's why everything that is happening now is genocide. His task is for us to die, to freeze, or to make us flee our land so that he can have it. That's what the aggressor wants to achieve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Further south in Kherson, residents are also without power and water. Major power lines in the area have been heavily damaged with both Ukrainian and Russian forces blaming each other for the blackouts.

[03:25:02]

Ukraine's state energy company will implement scheduled power outages on Monday. The company announced the cuts stating Ukraine's power grid is not able to resume full operation yet.

In Iran, protests erupted after the alleged killing of a Kurdish Iranian woman by Iranian security forces. CNN obtained this video from the pro-reform outlet IranWire. The woman died in Tehran after suffering severe injuries on Friday caused by a baton blows to the head, according to a Kurdish human rights group and IranWire.

The fresh protests come as Iranian lawmakers on Sunday called on the country's judiciary to give severe punishments to rioters.

And CNN's Jomana Karadsheh joins us now from Istanbul. So, Jomana, what more are you learning about these shocking developments?

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Rosemary, what people believe the lawmakers in this letter to the judiciary, to the authorities are calling for is death sentences for protesters. They're basically describing these demonstrators as ISIS fighters and calling on the judiciary to issue speedy verdicts and real severe sentences to deter others.

Now this is shocking, but not really surprising. These are hardliners who are repeating what we have been hearing from this hardliner government for weeks now dismissing the protest movement as riots, as some sort of a foreign plot to destabilize the Islamic republic.

But Rosemary, when you hear these sort of statements, the concern is that this could be an indication of what might be coming soon. There are more than 14,000 men, women, and children who have been arrested since the protest began in September. More than a thousand have been indicted in Iran alone. Many of them facing charges that carry the death penalty in the Islamic republic.

So human rights groups are very concerned that we soon will be seeing authorities handing these protesters death sentences in what they're describing as this sham and show trials to try and contain this national uprising that nearly two months into it the authorities haven't been able to suppress so far.

But despite the violence, Rosemary, despite the threat of the death penalty, we're still seeing protests continuing on Sunday across different parts of the country. According to the Kurdish human rights group Hengaw, protesters in the Kurdish city of Marivan were met with gunfire. Security Forces opening fire, injuring 35 people according to Hengaw.

They say that these protests erupted after the death of a Kurdish Iranian woman, Nasrin Ghaderi, who they say was killed by the security forces. They say she was hit on the head with batons in Tehran and that she died on Saturday. And this caused these protests in her hometown.

Now, authorities are saying that she died of poisoning and that she had a preexisting medical condition. Her father telling state media that she died of the flu. But according to the human rights group Hengaw, they say that she was active in the protest movement and that she was active on social media as well.

Unfortunately, this is something that we have been seeing time and time again over the past couple of months where authorities are blaming the deaths of female protestors, young protestors on natural causes, on suicides. And according to human rights groups and the United Nations, Rosemary,

many of the families of the victims are under immense pressure. They're constantly harassed by authorities to hide the truth.

CHURCH: It is a horrifying situation in Iran. Jomana Karadsheh bringing us the latest on those developments. I appreciate it.

Well, still to come, the two Senate candidates in Wisconsin are in attack mode as they wrap up the race and the hours before election day. Hear their final pitches to voters. That's just ahead.

And with the COP 27 climate conference underway in Egypt, we will look at unique proposals to reduce the carbon footprints of humans.

[03:30:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. We are now just one day away from the critical midterm elections in the United States, and the stakes could not be higher. All 435 House seats and 35 of the 100 Senate seats are up for grabs. While Democrats currently hold a slim majority, it remains unclear if they'll be able to hang onto power.

In addition, 36 states will be electing governors. Candidates in key states have ramped up their campaigning in the lead up to Tuesday's election in an effort to sway undecided voters and get their base to the polls.

In Wisconsin, a hotly contested race for the Senate with Republican Senator Ron Johnson running for reelection against Democratic Challenger Mandela Barnes.

CNN's Omar Jimenez is in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and has details.

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, as in many places we are past the marathon mindset and in the final sprint, this close to election day, both candidates are trying to find some sort of daylight in a race that has shown no clear leader to this point.

The Democratic candidate, Lieutenant Governor Mandela Barnes was campaigning with the president of Planned Parenthood along with the chair of the DNC. They told us their mindset or their strategy, I should say, in this final stretch was really to meet as many people as they could, to meet them where they are and not to take any vote for granted, particularly on some of the state's most important issues.

Now, Senator Ron Johnson is on the tail end of his own bus tour, and clearly both of these candidates are in attack mode.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RON JOHNSON (R-WI): I'll tell you what, I don't think we ever really thought we'd have a political party here that first of all, has no problem lying and who elects leaders that don't particularly like this country and don't particularly love or like, like half of us. OK. Let's face it, that is what we have.

MANDELA BARNES (D), WISCONSIN SENATORIAL CANDIDATE: It's terrifying what's going on to be quite honest with you, especially given the fact that he still has not committed to accepting the results of this election.

[03:35:03]

Still hasn't accepted the results of the election two years ago. He's a person who's living completely in the past.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: Now, Johnson did accept the results of the 2020 election, but he also held a Senate hearing looking at alleged irregularities in the voting despite no widespread fraud and none that affected any voting. That said, this week, Johnson did not commit to accepting the result of Tuesday's election, saying he wants full transparency and he doesn't know what the Democrats will have planned. It's unclear what he means by that.

But of course, as we close in on election day itself, it will be the ultimate poll of polls between these two and a race that has been neck and neck to this point not long left.

Omar Jimenez, CNN, Milwaukee.

CHURCH: And as Americans gear up for election day, there are two tropical disturbances in the Atlantic, one of which may bring troubling weather to Florida on Tuesday.

Let's turn to our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri, he's joining us now from the CNN weather center. Great to see you again, Pedram.

So, what is the latest unlikely weather conditions for election day?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, we're watching these carefully. There is a couple disturbances, as you noted out there across portions of the Atlantic. And this particular one. Ninety percent chance of warming has what it takes to become Tropical Storm Nicole, if it forms in the next couple of days here, and it will begin to kind of approach portions of the Bahamas and eventually parts of Florida as we go in from Tuesday into Wednesday.

So, we pause for you early Tuesday morning, election day. Notice, the system sits about 500 miles away from the east coast of Florida. Certainly, some clouds, maybe a few showers could push in towards the eastern most regions of Florida. But we think really later on Tuesday night, maybe early Wednesday morning, we'd begin to see more cloud cover, and then by possibly Wednesday night into Thursday the system works its way on shore here.

Possibly again, a tropical depression or a tropical storm at this point does not look like to be a major weather maker, but going to bring in quite a bit of rainfall towards the latter portion of the week around the eastern part of Florida and possibly portions of northern Florida, eastern Georgia as well.

Now when it comes to this afternoon's forecast a few scattered showers across portions of the southern United States, while areas of the Northeast also could see a few pockets of showers. But generally speaking, for election day it looks very quiet across a large area of the eastern U.S.

The temps are going to be running above average for a lot of these region. Well into the 70s across the south, while climbing up into the 70s on Monday in Philadelphia, but dropping sharply down to 58 degrees. Again, sunny skies don't see much in the way of wet weather across the eastern United States.

The Western us, a different story here. Multiple systems working their way across portions of Nevada, California certainly as well. You'll notice the wet weather translates to high elevation, snow showers, some very heavy rainfall possible even into Southern California as we go in from Monday into Tuesday. And parts of Nevada will tap into some moisture as well.

So, when you look at some of these studies that have actually analyzed how weather plays a role when it comes to election day, we do know Republicans typically tend to turn out in higher numbers than Democrats when it comes to wet weather days. That has historically been the case. And voter participation, Rosemary, typically does drop about a percent for every inch of rainfall.

Now, parts of California maybe tap into about an inch or so, maybe two inches at the most. So maybe a negligible difference, but sometimes in these close races even a small nun makes a big difference.

CHURCH: Yes, understandably, yes. Pedram Javaheri, many thanks as always. I appreciate it.

Well, U.S. President Joe Biden is expected to travel to the U.N.'s annual climate summit later this week after the midterms. He's expected to tap programs he signed into law to expand clean energy and reduce pollution across the U.S.

Researchers, advocates, and the United Nations itself are warning that the world is nowhere near its goal of keeping global warming under 1.5 degrees Celsius. Mr. Biden is expected to deliver remarks on Friday.

And reports from the U.N. and the World Meteorological Association show carbon and methane emissions hit record levels in 2021. And plans that countries have submitted to slash those emissions are beyond insufficient.

CNN's Bill Weir has more on what's at stake for the future of the planet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): If Paris was about exuberant hope, and Glasgow about time lost to COVID, then an ideal U.N. climate conference in Sharm el-Sheikh would rally the world around even bolder climate goals because both levels of heat trapping pollution and average temperatures are higher than ever.

And while 150 years of industrial revolution have overheated earth by 1.2 degrees Celsius, we are on track to blast past the Paris target of 1.5 by a full degree or more. But thanks to Vladimir Putin and his war in Ukraine, the goals of Paris have been throttled by a global energy crisis, even as big oil racks up record profits.

[03:39:59]

And while the Paris agreement never would've happened without U.S./Chinese cooperation, now a boiling trade war over semiconductors could turn the superpowers from clean tech partners to rivals. This could upend the entire solar supply chain. Just as a new U.N. study finds that even if every country somehow meets its 2030 targets, planet cooking pollution would only fall by 5 percent. To hold it 1.5 degrees, it must drop by 45 percent.

GRETA THUNBERG, CLIMATE ACTIVIST: I'm doing this for my son. The government's inaction on climate change is a death sentence to us all.

WEIR: In an age of viral climate protests, Greta Thunberg will not attend, calling it an exercise in greenwashing. And pointing to President Sisi's Egyptian crackdown on free speech. Amnesty International worries this could be the most restricted COP ever, which is ironic because a main theme is fairness for the voiceless.

Like those in Pakistan, still suffering from apocalyptic floods are countries with tiny carbon footprints entitled to loss and damage claims from those with the biggest. The U.S. and other rich nations have yet to make good on a $100 billion dollar pledge to the global south but John Kerry says he will keep loss and damage on the agenda.

JOHN KERRY, U.S. CLIMATE ENVOY: I think we are anxious to do this in a very cooperative, non-confrontational way. We don't feel that this has to be an issue that's, you know, sort of pounded at people because we agree as do almost all nations now, that much more has to happen faster.

WEIR: Joe Biden has the clean energy incentives of the Inflation Reduction Act to show the world modest American progress. But he may have lost Congress by the time he touches down in Egypt.

The first green king won't attend, but after waffling his new Prime Minister will, and maybe the most welcome world leader will come from Brazil for a change.

Lula da Silva is vowing to end the destruction of the Amazon, but Bolsonaro supporters in those regions don't seem ready to comply. Another example of how another COP brings urgent need, high hopes and endless complications.

Bill Weir, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And still to come, a deadly plane crash in Tanzania. What may have caused the aircraft to plunge into Lake Victoria.

[03:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is now out of the hospital days after being wounded in a shooting. He was struck in the leg Thursday during a nationwide tour demanding new elections.

On Sunday, he called for an independent inquiry into the apparent assassination attempt, and he again claimed without proof that Pakistan's prime minister was one of several officials behind the attack, which also left one person and 11 injured.

Khan says he will resume his political tour on Tuesday after it was paused due to that attack.

Nineteen people are dead after a Tanzania commercial flight crashed into Lake Victoria on Sunday. The airline says there are 24 survivors.

For more on this story I'm joined now by Larry Madowo who joins us live from Johannesburg. So, Larry, what more were you learning about this plane crash, and of course it's possible cause?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, there is some concern that the 19 people that died in this plane crash probably died not from the impact of the crash, but from drowning because based on eyewitness accounts, survivors of the aircraft, some public statements and the reconstruction of what might have happened in the final minutes before this plane plunged into Lake Victoria, it seems clear that after the plane ditched into the lake, they quickly started taking in water.

Those seated at the front were almost immediately submerged. And officials yesterday initially claimed that they were in contact with the pilots. But at night when they finally released the names of the 19 people who were killed, the pilot, the captain, and the first officer were among the dead.

It's a really tragic situation. This aircraft had only been in operation for about 12 years. This airline, Precision Air, which flies regionally East Africa has a decent safety record. So, this is one of the worst accidents in its entire history. And now an investigation begins as to how something this tragic could have happened.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MADOWO: Rescuers desperately search for survivors among the wreckage of an aircraft submerged in Africa's largest freshwater lake. Videos posted to social media show the plane almost entirely underwater with only the tail visible. Nearby onlookers and fishermen join in on the search and rescue operations.

Officials say 19 of the 43 people who were on board have died, including the captain and first officer after the passenger plane crashed in Tanzania. The Precision Air operated flight had taken off from Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam, and was destined for the northwestern city of Bukoba. But heavy rainfall and strong winds led the flight to plunge into Lake Victoria, officials reported.

The CEO of Precision Air fought back tears as the updated reporters in Dar es Salaam.

PATRICK WANRI, CEO, PRECISION AIR (through translator): Our team and the authorities are heading to Bukoba to investigate what caused this accident. So, I'd like to give my condolences to all Tanzanians and the Precision Air families. Let's be united in this tragedy and may God help us.

MADOWO: Tanzania's Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said, officials believe all bodies have been recovered. Names of the 18 dead were released apart from one woman who remains unidentified. The airline has also opened a crisis management center to communicate with families as they continue to investigate what went so wrong.

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MADOWO (on camera): A funeral service is taking place for the 19 people who died in this accident in Bukoba. It's a really striking scene to see all 19 coffins lined up speaks to this sense of the strategy. One Tanzania organization lost five employees, Rosemary, in this, and now the investigation begins. We'll wait to hear if their flight data recorder and the cockpit recorder have been retrieved.

CHURCH: It is a heartbreaking situation. Larry Madowo bringing us the latest on that. I appreciate it.

And still to come, we will break down how Benjamin Netanyahu looks set to lead a coalition government with a small but clear majority of seats in the Israeli parliament.

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Back with that in just a moment.

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Well, voters across the United States will be casting their ballots in the high stakes midterm elections taking place just one day from now. All 435 House seats, 35 Senate seats and 36 governor's officers are up the grabs.

Stay with CNN as we track the latest developments and results on election.

An Israeli election rule has given Benjamin Netanyahu an even bigger majority in the Knesset than his popular vote. Netanyahu won his most recent bid to take back the office of prime minister from Yair Lapid in an election that saw Israel's highest voter turnout since 2015.

CNN's Hadas Gold joins me now live from Jerusalem with more. Good to see you, Hadas. So, what are you learning about this threshold rule that has given Netanyahu a boost? [03:54:53]

HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, Rosemary, Netanyahu will have 64 seats, him and his -- him and his block will have 64 seats in the next parliament. But when you look into the math, when you look into the numbers, when you look at the popular vote, he actually should not have had that big of a majority or even possibly a majority in the parliament at all.

Some pollsters say that he should have had about 60 seats if they just do a popular vote, but that's not how it works in Israel. Israeli voters vote for a specific party and then the party has a list of candidates who take up the seats. But there is a rule that the party has to pass a threshold of the popular vote of 3.25 percent before they can be considered for the parliament.

Otherwise, Rosemary, those votes just get thrown away. And we look at the parties that didn't pass a threshold, that was some almost 300,000 votes that essentially got thrown away. And so therefore they were not counted. They most of those votes were on the sort of anti-Netanyahu block.

So, when you look at the actual numbers, less than 40,000 votes separate the pro-Benjamin Netanyahu block and the anti-Benjamin Netanyahu block. So, Benjamin Netanyahu would've gotten about 49.6. percent of the popular vote and the anti-Netanyahu block would've had 48.9 percent.

So, it's really interesting when you look at just how, you know, these sort of electoral rules work. And it's very similar in the United States with the electoral college that sometimes the popular vote, but then what actually happens doesn't end up being the same thing. Rosemary?

CHURCH: All right. Hadas Gold explaining that for us. Many thanks.

And thank you for spending part of your day with me. I'm Rosemary Church. CNN Newsroom continues with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo, next.

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