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"Red Wave" Fails To Materialize For Republicans; Biden On Midterms: It Was A Good Day For Democracy; Republicans Poised To Take House, Senate Undecided. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 10, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

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[02:00:40]

KIM BRUNHUBER, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Welcome to all of you watching us here in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Kim Brunhuber. The U.S. midterm elections were supposed to be a giant red wave for republicans. Instead they turned up to be more of a trickle at best. The GOP is poised to take control of the House of Representatives, but their final margin will be much smaller than many had predicted.

And with three races yet to be called control of the senate is still undecided. So right now democrats hold 48 seats, republicans 49. In Arizona, incumbent Democrat Mark Kelly is leading republican Blake Masters but there are still hundreds of thousands of votes to count. Now Nevada, republican Adam Laxalt is leading in common Democrat Senator Catherine Cortez Masto. State officials say final results may not come until Thursday.

And in Georgia, the race between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and republican Herschel Walker won't be settled until next month. Now state rules require a run off if no candidate gets at least 50 percent of the vote. republican control of either house of congress will make President Biden's job a lot more difficult over the next two years, but he's breathing a little easier after the lackluster showing for the GOP. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: While we don't know all the results yet, at least I don't know them all yet. Here's what we do know. While the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn't happen.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: And live now to Capitol Hill and CNN's Sunlen Serfaty. So, talk to me about the mood on Capitol Hill right now. Are republicans sort of celebrating the fact that they make -- take control of congress or are they really disappointed at the -- at the showing?

SUNLEN SERFATY, CNN WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: Good morning to you. It certainly is a mixed bag from both parties in essence. The dust is still starting to set -- essentially starting to settle now on Capitol Hill. But it does look increasingly likely that this is going to be a divided Washington and that amounts to a huge power shift that both parties are going to have to get used to.

Now the house while CNN is not projecting whether the republicans will take the majority yet or not. There are still many outstanding races. The republicans are on a path to likely taking the majority but he here, as you mentioned, is by how much? And it looks much smaller than many republicans had hoped. And that is going to put some real pressure on House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

He of course is likely to go on to be the next speaker and he will likely be facing a lot of headwinds and headaches from the House Freedom Caucus and the more conservative elements of his party. And we've already seen that play out over the last 24 hours as they try to leverage their power over him as he tries to woo these folks to support him to be speaker. Of course over in the Senate that is still yet to be decided. Democrats feeling good.

House majority -- excuse me, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer yesterday told me he felt good. republicans of course in a much different tone really. They are still waiting on Arizona and Nevada. And of course the run off in Georgia. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, he was asked yesterday, how's he feeling. And he, you know, currently responded, I don't deal in feelings. There is a considerable amount of Monday morning quarterbacking in essence going on among the republicans in the senate about the quality of their candidates.

And that was a statement that Mitch McConnell said just a few months ago that got a lot of attention that certainly people are remembering now that the candidate quality is going to have a lot to do with it. When he predicted that likely the republicans would take control of the House but not the senate. Certainly a lot of republicans are thinking about those candidates in Pennsylvania that loss Mehmet Oz and also, of course, Herschel Walker in that race yet to be decided in Georgia.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Thanks so much. Sunlen Serfaty in Washington. Appreciate it. I want to bring in CNN's political commentators, republican strategist Alice Stewart and democratic strategist, Maria Cardona. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, all right, unpopular president plus broad dissatisfaction with the economy, plus the historical midterm headwinds.

[02:05:05]

Almost every president faces all the conditions for a red wave that didn't happen. So Maria, , I want to start with you all along. You've been, you know, pretty bullish on democrats' chances. So what did you see that many experts and the pollsters seem to have missed?

MARIA CARDONA, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I'm so glad you asked that, Kim. Because what I have been seeing for months now, is that the energy and the mobilization that democrats saw right after the Supreme Court strike down Roe v. Wade was something that continued. It was a little bit more muted in terms of it wasn't front and center. But what we did see was in the five special elections earlier this year.

Democrats completely over performed and one of them in the -- in the special election of New York '19 where Pat Ryan won, he was not supposed to have won every single poll up until the day of had him losing. And he won by two. The Kansas referendum. That was earth shattering for something like that to happen in a deeply red state. And I worked with a lot of democratic campaigns, both senate as well as House.

And I saw this energy on the ground, I talked to a lot of voters and so many districts across the country. And undoubtedly, what I heard is that this was absolutely a motivational issue for women, for men, for republican women who said that they're not going to stand for taking away their rights, they were going to go to the polls, vote for the democrat and many of them weren't even going to tell their husbands.

And so to me, that said, and what the results of this election told us is that Americans liked their democracy. American women like their freedom, and they're not going to stand around while others get elected, especially republican men get elected and tell them they cannot do what they feel is the best thing for themselves, their bodies, their families, their futures.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Alice, So Marc Thiessen, the former George W. Bush speechwriter, call it an absolute disaster for the GOP. I mean, is that too strong?

ALICE STEWART, CNN REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST: Kim, I think it's a little too strong because while we had hoped for a big red wave, we did get a good red win. And that's ultimately what we wanted, at least in terms of that's what we anticipate to happen, at least in the House, still to be determined in the senate.

Look, granted with all of the factors that you outlined at the beginning, with regard to really tough economic times with a president that's low in the poll numbers and strong republican enthusiasm heading into these elections. We thought we were going to do much better. But the reality is, my friend Maria has been saying this, she was right. There was a lot more enthusiasm or encouragement or motivation by voters on the abortion issue.

And that was an under polled topic. And we're seeing a lot of women that did come out on that issue. But also what republicans really need to reevaluate moving forward is, as Sunlen had suggested that the candidate quality. We had a lot of candidates out there that were appointed and really anointed by former President Trump. There were election deniers that were OK with the storming of the Capitol on January 6. That did not sit well with many voters.

And we suffered for that at the, you know, on Election Day. And what we need to do moving forward is focus on candidates that are more about the policies of the Republican Party than about trying to navigate past grievances of the former president, and that's incumbent upon republicans moving forward to find candidates that are more about reflecting what people want, as opposed to past grievances. BRUNHUBER: But a lot of those candidates are still in Congress. And, you know, even if republicans do control congress, they'll -- the margins will be extremely thin. So the MAGA members of the republican caucus, they'll have an outsized influence. So how will, you know, whoever is the majority leader. How will they be able to stick handle this?

STEWART: Well, Kim, right now it looks like it might possibly be Kevin McCarthy, and he has to navigate that. He has to try and reel in the far right part of the Republican Party. And I hope that he's able to do so because the fringes on either side, democrats have this as well with progressives. The fringes really are alienating a lot of voters. And as he makes -- tries to make his case to become speaker, he needs to bring in republicans on the issues that he has vowed to really try and reinforce and his commitment to America in terms of improving the economy, fighting crime and securing the border.,

But it's also incumbent upon democrats and President Biden to realize now we have a divided government and everyone needs to have a more bipartisan approach to working across the aisle to get anything done in Washington.

[02:10:09]

BRUNHUBER: Yes. They have tried that. But everything has generally been blocked. So I'll ask you, Maria. I mean, is there anything you think that the Biden administration would be able to get done on a bipartisan basis?

CARDONA: I hope so. And, you know, we all know that one of President Biden's best and biggest qualities is his desire and frankly, his ability to get things done across the aisle in a bipartisan manner. It's one of the things that he touted during his campaign. And frankly, we saw the reality of it, right? The so-called Infrastructure week, well, it actually did happen under President Biden.

And he got a great infrastructure bill with the help of republicans. That I think was one of the things that democrats were able to tout across the country for these midterms as an economic driver in all of these districts and states. And so, you already have proof that President Biden and the democrats do have the ability to do this, republicans as well. Obviously, they were part of this.

Now I think that there are certain issues that we do have an opportunity to be transformational on together, democrats and republicans, for example, immigration. I think that the Biden presidency, the Biden administration would be thrilled to be able to do something on immigration. And I hope that republicans will be able to join him and able to do that without it -- demanding for it to be we have to secure the border first which has been, you know, a big talking point for republicans, we have an opportunity, and we should try it.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. All right. Well, we'll see whether that happens. Before we go, I just want to ask you both quickly, we saw, you know, Fox News and a number of conservative media outlets with two -- sort of twin narratives here that Ron DeSantis is effectively the party's new leader and that Donald Trump has never been weaker. So, you see them really sort of putting their thumb on the scale here. So first of all, is it possible to uncouple from Donald Trump?

STEWART: I'll jump in. I've heard from a lot of top republican donors, as well as former Trump allies that are saying it's time to turn the page. With Trump we've lost the House and the senate in the White House and we lost a lot of races this cycle due to his support and many are ready to move on. He has a super strong base, but we need to win general elections moving forward. And fortunately, the republicans have an embarrassment of riches in terms of candidates waiting in the wings to step up to the plate. Ron DeSantis comes to mind, Glenn Youngkin and several others.

BRUNHUBER: Maria, do you think this will have any impact on Trump's possible announcement about the presidency?

CARDONA: I think if it was up to him, he would have announced the night of the midterms. You had to pull them back I think is what I'm hearing. I don't think that it'll have an effect on him. I think even more so he will want to do it. Because I don't think he looks at these headlines. And he likes them from everything that we've seen and the reporting from CNN is that he's very bothered that he's beside himself about the outcome of this.

And we all know that Donald Trump wants everything to be about Donald Trump. He's going to look at DeSantis, he already has a nickname for him. I think this is going to be sort of Clash of the Titans on the side of the republicans. And they're going to have to decide. I think the republicans in Congress are going to finally have to decide whether they now have the backbone to stand up to Donald Trump if in fact, what my friend Alice says is true.

And they would be smart to do that to put Donald Trump aside and to finally say, OK, we have to revive the Republican Party to actually have it be a sane, common sense party without any election deniers, without any conspiracy theorists and with the focus on trying to work with democrats to get things done.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. The reality though, easier said than done.

CARDONA: That's right.

BRUNHUBER: I have to leave it there. Alice Stewart and Maria Cardona. Thank you so much for being here with us. I really appreciate it.

STEWART: Thank you, Kim.

CARDONA: Thanks, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Well, President Joe Biden may be breathing a little easier after lackluster showing for republicans but how much credit should Gen Z voters get for preventing the red wave? We'll have details straight ahead.

Plus, Florida braces for a rare November hurricane. PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN WEATHER ANCHOR: Up here. Well, you're looking at a category one hurricane. We think the storm will make landfall within the hour here across the areas of Eastern Florida. Of course you look at the numbers. We got to go back to the 1980s, the last time or hurricane made landfall in the month of November, break this down, coming up in a few minutes.

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[02:18:38]

BRUNHUBER: Well, so not clear which party will control congress but we do know that some of the newly elected lawmakers are making history. Maryland elected its first black governor with Democrat Wes Moore. Another democrat, Maura Healey became Massachusetts' first female and first lesbian to be elected governor in Florida. Democrats Maxwell Frost became the first member of Generation Z to serve in congress. Here he is.

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MAXWELL FROST, U.S. HOUSE DEMOCRAT-ELECT: When people ask me what does Gen Z care about. I think we all really care about the same issues but Generation Z is seeing them through a different lens, right? Through the life we've been through. I think about my timeline growing up seeing Occupy Wall Street, learning about Trayvon Martin who was murdered just 30 minutes north of me. Parkland, March for our Lives.

These are the moments that are dividing for our generation. And I think I'm taking that perspective the Congress and the urgency that these issues really deserve.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: A local content creator Ariana Afshar joins me now. She also goes by the Handle Progressive Brat on Twitch. Thanks so much for being here with us. So, if there was a blue wall holding back the red wave, it was built in no small part by young voters. Exit polls kind of differ but according to the National Election poll, voters aged 18 to 29 voted overwhelmingly for democrats. 63 percent in that age group.

Now conventional wisdom is that young people just don't turn up So what was the difference here?

[02:20:02]

ARIAN AFSHAR, POLITICAL CONTENT CREATOR: Oh yes. Absolutely. I mean, Gen Z literally made history with these midterms. And I think one of the really important things that we need to talk about is that Gen Z is highly under looked. I mean, a lot of people just kind of overlook them, they don't really care about Gen Z, they don't speak to them when they're campaigning. But you know, time and time after, again, after 2022, after 2020, these -- both of these past elections, we're seeing that they're coming out in numbers. They're really mobilizing and they're telling people hey, listen, stop messing with our reproductive rights, stop continuously attacking the LGBTQ plus community. I mean, Gen Z is ready to fight, they are showing that they are ready to fight. And every single exit poll that we are seeing right now is showing that Gen Z came out in a really large number. And it's just so amazing to watch.

And I think the whole entire nation is just absolutely impressed. We should be impressed, by the way that they have been able to mobilize and really come out and change the trajectory of this whole entire race. I mean, every single analyst was saying that this was going to -- I mean, most analysts were really saying that it was going to be a red wave. We're really seeing a pink puddle. It's not a red wave at all. And Gen Z is taking a lot of the credit for that. I think they should.

BRUNHUBER: In previous years, I mean, polling was off because they under polled republicans, this time polling was off so much. How do you think it, you know, does it come down to the fact that they're just not reaching youth where they live?

AFSHAR: Absolutely. I think it's a number of different things. I mean, the youth is really, like I said, they're under looked . And also we're really not meeting the youth where they're at. Truth be told. The youth isn't really looking at traditional media, the youth is on social media. They're on TikTok, they're on Twitter, they're on Instagram and Twitch. They're not consuming the media the way that older generations do.

And so we really need to focus not just the polls, but also the races and even the Democrat Party, we really need to focus on meeting the Gen Z and the younger voters where they're at, which is primarily social media.

BRUNHUBER: People were wondering whether influencers would actually have an influence this time. Do you -- do you think that played a part? I mean, it's hard to know, but what do you -- what do you get the sense?

AFSHAR: Absolutely. I mean, I might be a little biased because I am the progressive route. But, you know, I would say so. Yes, absolutely. We look at different races. Even the primaries. There were a lot of candidate -- candidates that used social media especially TikTok to really reach the voters. And it worked. I mean, we saw how Beto ran his, you know, campaign. Obviously Beto loss. But, you know, I think it's a really good marker to see, you know, what can candidates do?

And how can they utilize TikTok and different social media platforms to really reach their constituents and just like being able to fundraise money and different things like that? I do think social media had a really big role in this whole entire midterm and the outcomes as well, especially when it comes to Gen , because like I said, Gen Z is just not really in taking news the way that the older generations do.

And like I said, we really need to start working on meeting them where they're at, which is social media. But like I said, I might be a little bias.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. Well, I wonder what republicans make of all of this. I mean, we -- you know, that youthful activism can often be a useful foil for them. Here we have republican Governor Ron DeSantis. Just listen to a bit of his victory speech from the other night. Here he is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): Florida was a refuge of sanity when the world went mad. We stood as the citadel of freedom for people across this country and indeed, across the world.

We will never ever surrender to the woke mob. Florida is where woke goes to die.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BRUNHUBER: All right. So I guess you would be part of the woke mob. I mean, it seems the culture war particularly against issues championed by the next generation Gen Z, you know, will be -- will be targeted here.

AFSHAR: Yes, absolutely. I mean, if you can't tell from my background, obviously, I am the woke mob. But I mean, let's really look at what happened in Florida. Yes, we did see a large red push in Florida. But also Maxwell Frost was elected. And Maxwell Frost really ran a progressive campaign. And he's also the First Gen Zer to be placed in Congress. And you actually spoke about it before I came on as well.

You know, yes. You know, the woke mob that might be scary to republicans and traditional voters or -- excuse me, traditional candidates that, you know, run the GOP, but that doesn't really matter because young voters are voting really largely with the Democrat Party. I mean, the republicans do not resonate with them in a larger scale and at the end of the day it doesn't even matter in my opinion because young voters are voting democrat in droves anyways.

[02:25:08]

BRUNHUBER: All right. Well, I appreciate your perspective on this. Ariana Afshar, thanks so much.

AFSHAR: Thank you.

BRUNHUBER: American voters denied republicans who predicted red wave on Tuesday, but key House and senate races are still up in the air and few won't be settled for a week. So we'll speak with our political analyst after a short break. Please stay with us.

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BRUNHUBER: Well, votes are still being counted to decide which part will take control of Congress. A razor-thin republican takeover of the House is widely expected but their final margin will be much smaller than many had predicted. And with three races yet to be called, control of the Senate is still up in the air. I'm now joined by political analyst, Michael Genovese. He's also the president of the Global Policy Institute at Loyola Marymount University.

Thanks so much for being here with us. So, looking at the historical patterns, not to mention Biden's popularity, the economy. I mean, it wasn't supposed to go like this. Why weren't Biden and the Democrats punished more at the polls?

MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: Well, color me surprised and color all of the analysts and pundits a bit surprised. The Democrats did far better than anyone expected. And I think there are a couple of reasons why they did better than they had predicted. One is that we thought that the abortion issue was going to fade. It seems to have had legs and a number of suburban women voters, who we thought were going to vote pocketbook inflation, may have voted on abortion.

Young voters really came out in droves, and overwhelmingly, as your last story suggested, voted with the Democratic Party. You know, I think, also, black and Hispanic voters came out Democrats. In most states, Florida being the exception, perhaps. And independents, I think, swung towards the Democrats. And that was a big surprise as well.

So, I think there are some factors in terms of the way the electorate perceived issues and candidates. And I think that the Democrats, while they are not going to be thrilled with the outcome, but their plays. The Republicans are very upset, I think.

BRUNHUBER: Well, then the bright side for Republicans, Ron DeSantis, and we've seen the conservative media, sort of, pivot from Trump to DeSantis. So, before we talk about Trump -- I mean, what do you think that means for him, for DeSantis?

GENOVESE: Well, you know, the postmortems are already starting and Republicans are trying to figure out if the reason why they lost is Donald Trump. And when you contrast Donald Trump with DeSantis who did very, very well in Florida, and is now the titular head of the party. You know I think that Trump was the big loser, DeSantis the big winner.

And so, the question is, will Republicans now start to put Donald Trump in their rearview mirror? Believing that, you know, he had trouble in 2018, in 2020, and in 2022. Is he at the top of the ticket, at the head of the party, the person you want, or do you need to, sort of, may basically say that, well, today is the first day of the end of the Trump era. And the Republicans will have to make that decision. Donald Trump will not go quietly.

BRUNHUBER: Yes. No kidding. Former White House Press Secretary, Jen Psaki, tweeted, so Dems have a Florida problem, but Republicans have a Trump problem, and that seems harder to solve. So, putting aside the Florida problem, which is a big one, the GOP's Donald Trump problem -- I mean, how possible -- you talk about them, sort of, you know, just moving on from him. But you know, still plenty of MAGA Republicans out there who won't let the party move on especially in these primaries. GENOVESE: That's right. And DeSantis's job for the next six-10 months is to make peace with those people. To basically give them permission to leave Donald Trump by not attacking Trump but by saying, Trump did us a service. He was one of our standard bearers. But he was yesterday, I'm today, and I'm tomorrow. And if you want to win, you got to come with me.

BRUNHUBER: All right, before we go, I want to ask you, Republicans might still control both Houses of Congress, but no side was given a real mandate. So. looking at governing over the next two years, I mean, you've written about the trend of the so-called two-year presidency, because the president's party almost always loses control in the midterms and can't get anything done for the rest of the time. But that may even be more true now with so many hard right Republicans still in Congress. And with the added chaos of them pursuing also to hearings, even possibly impeachments. So, what do you see happening over the next two years?

GENOVESE: Well, I do see a two-term -- two-year presidency in effect again. In his first two years, Biden had control of both Houses in Congress. He got a lot of legislation, threw some big ticket items. And the next two years, he will not have the luxury of having control of either this House and maybe not the Senate.

And therefore, he's going to have to switch his governing strategy. He's got to move from landmark legislation for his two years to an administrative strategy. He'll be still able to govern. He'll still be relevant. He'll still have power. But he's not going to be able to get legislation through the Congress, at least not big ticket items.

So, he's going to have to govern through administrative actions such as executive orders and administrative tools, which is actually what most presidents have learned in the last couple of cycles.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Still so much in the air but we'll have to leave there. Michael Genovese, thanks so much. Appreciate it.

GENOVESE: Thank you, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right, still to come, right wing conspiracy theorists cry fraud after a ballot printer issue in Arizona. We'll look at what election officials are saying, next.

[02:35:00]

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BRUNHUBER: Right-wing personalities who spent the past two years convincing Americans the election system can't be trusted are pointing to a printer issue at some Arizona polling location, has proof that they're right. The Maricopa County's top elections officials are pushing back saying it didn't stop anyone from voting, and vowing to get to the bottom of the issue. They even went before a judge who said, there was no evidence that anyone who wanted to vote wasn't unable to. Twitter's new system to flush out fake accounts is apparently no match for impostors. The company has started requiring users to buy a blue check marks, which should prove their account is legit. But just hours later, Twitter appeared to be a flooded with impostors who created blue check counts posing as politicians, celebrities, or major companies.

[02:40:00]

Now, those impersonated included former U.S President Donald Trump, Basketball star LeBron James, and video game company Nintendo of America. And some users said creating fake accounts was easy, even though Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, said the new system would deter impostors.

I'm Kim Brunhuber. For our international viewers, world sport is next. Everyone else, please stay with us. I'll be back with more CNN Newsroom after the break.

[02:45:00]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, Kim, looking at the storm system, we do believe it's going to be making landfall officially inside the next 30, maybe 45 minutes as it takes its track up north towards Fort Pierce, just south of Melbourne where we think landfall will be made again. Category one storm, first time since November 21, 1985. But in November system made landfall across the United States as a hurricane.

So, pretty impressive storms system when you take a look at how things are playing out with this feature. And of course, winds are gusting about 90 miles per hour. It is moving west northwest at around 14 miles per hour. And the track of this system will bring with it a dangerous amount of storm surge, possibly up to four, maybe five feet on this immediate coast of Florida. And hurricane warnings have been prompted across where landfall is expected.

But even as far north as Savannah on into Charleston, tropical storm warnings remain in effect. And notice, even on the western side there of the state, tropical storm warnings in effect as well as the system has an incredibly wide-reaching impact with its wind field.

You kind of compare this to the storm that made landfall 42 days ago, that was Hurricane Ian. That was a category four. A significantly stronger storm. But the winds from the center of the storm expanded about, say, 320 miles away as far as how far the impacts were felt. With this feature, it is a much weaker category one storm, but the winds -- tropical storm force winds are expanding as much as 500 miles from the center.

So, even though it's making landfall here across Southern Florida, we're still seeing winds that are close to 40, 45 miles per hour in Southern Georgia and parts of South Carolina. Notice the area in yellow, which are those regions of tropical force winds, it does shrink quite a bit as this interacts with land in the coming hours. And we do expect it to weaken rather quickly as well. But the flooding potential remains very high here as the system moves inland. As much as, say, four, maybe five inches widespread, and notice how quickly it skirts off towards the northeast. So, by the time we get to, say, Thursday night, Friday morning, the system is really screaming across portions of the northeastern U.S. And enough cold air up there to produce some wintry weather as well as Nicole makes its -- what is left of it, at this point, across that region.

But notice, just go back to the three systems on record, dating back to the 1860s, just going to show you how rare it is to see a hurricane make landfall in the month of November. It was Kate back in November of 1985. There was a hurricane by the name of Yankee back in 1935. And the Expedition hurricane, as it's known, in the 1860s. That is how unusual it is to see a system again make landfall across the United States in the month of November.

Hurricane season officially ends on the 30th of November, but very rarely, Kim, do we see a storm push ashore and it is happening at this hour across south Florida. And again, notice widespread coverage of these wind gusts that are currently at 30, 40 miles per hour. And we do have upwards of 55,000 customers right now across the state of Florida that are in the dark as the system approaches land. So, we do expect that number to pick up here in the coming hours as Nicole makes landfall. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. We will keep monitoring that. Thanks so much. Let's go live to Cocoa Beach where CNN's Chris Nguyen is standing by. So, Chris, what are the conditions there where you are right now?

CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, high winds, heavy rain, and significant flooding were. of course, expected throughout the night. But here in Cocoa Beach, conditions continue to deteriorate.

Kim, I have to be honest with you, it's hard for me to hear you because of these powerful wind gusts that we are experiencing. That storm surge has arrived here in this area, here in Brevard County. And so, officials are really urging folks to stay off the roadways, to stay home, especially as this hurricane inches its way into Florida.

Now, up in Volusia County, at least 22 homes have already been deemed unsafe. Evacuations are in place there. And a coastal erosion plus high tides, major concerns right now in that area. Overall, here in Florida, 45 counties are currently under a state of emergency, Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, you are talking about the warnings that officials have been putting out. Are you getting the sense that people are taking safety precautions seriously?

NGUYEN: Yes, that's a really great question. Earlier today, we were at a local supermarket where it was completely packed with folks trying to pick up necessities, stocking up their carts with nonperishable goods, really preparing for the possibility of power outages for the next day or two. 16,000 utility workers are currently on standby throughout the state of Florida to help with power restoration when it is safe for them to do so. Governor Ron DeSantis has also said that 600 Florida national guard troop are also ready to assist with search and rescue efforts.

[08:50:00]

So, a lot of coordination happening between agencies here as the state really prepares -- these gusts are powerful. They have been up in the 60s in the past couple of hours. And so, residents here in Brevard County, Kim, they were not put under a mandatory evacuation. There was an evacuation advisory that was issued. But you got the sense that -- I got the sense that folks were taking the warning seriously, staying off the roads, the roads were pretty rare -- bare earlier today. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: All right. Listen, stay safe out there. Thank you so much, Chris Nguyen. I really appreciate it.

The Ukrainian flag is flying once again over recently reclaimed villages in the Southern Kherson region, that's after Moscow ordered its forces to withdraw from the strategic city of Kherson and other areas west of Dnipro River. Ukrainian forces have been advancing from multiple directions. Officials are skeptical that Russia will really give up so easily.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says, Russia could be making a strategic move to regroup forces. And he still expects a battle for Kherson. Here's what he told CNN's Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview.

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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So, they are ready to defend this region and they're not ready to leave this city. And the fact that they are in these homes means that they are seriously preparing. But we are also seriously prepared for these developments. But we are not considering this as just one single operation. We have a strategy and different directions.

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BRUNHUBER: And you can see Christiane Amanpour's full exclusive interview with Zelenskyy on her program on Thursday at 6:00 in the evening in London, 8:00 p.m. in Kyiv right here on CNN.

Now, Salma Abdelaziz joins me live from Kyiv with the latest. And, Salma, so in Kherson again, we see Ukraine wary of being lured into a trap.

SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely, Kim. But really a stunning admission of defeat here from Moscow. In this very orchestrated press conference yesterday, we saw Russia's defense minister standing alongside the top general for this so-called special military operation, Sergey Surovikin. Saying that in order to save the lives of Russian soldiers, they had to retreat. They have to withdraw. That they're unable to continue supplying the city of Kherson

And, yes, you did hear from President Zelenskyy in his nightly address that there is no gift from our enemies, that was the quote that he used. Essentially, he wants to proceed with caution. Concerned that this could be a trap to lure Ukrainian forces in. But already, Ukrainian officials are seeing movement on the ground. They say Russian troops are withdrawing from the frontline villages in Kherson. They're also blowing up all these bridges along the Dnipro River.

Just to give you an outline of the plan, the I.D. here is that these Russian soldiers would pull back from the city, which is on the west side of the river, across the river to the eastern side of Kherson, fortify those positions there. Now, Ukraine, for its part again, saying it's going to proceed cautiously. It will wait and see what happens on the ground.

But just the overall picture here, Kim, I mean, for weeks now, President Putin has faced major battlefield losses to this Ukrainian counter-offensive that's been extremely successful. They look set to recapture the one and only capital -- regional capital rather, that Russia has been able to claim in this conflict since the start of the invasion in February.

So, a major, major setback for President Putin, who just six weeks ago, Kim, was signing a decree in this very glitzy ceremony declaring that Kherson is part of Russia and illegally annexed. And now this defeat, the only word you can really think of, Kim, here is humiliation. This is an absolutely humiliating defeat for Russia.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. In the meantime, in the quest for peace here, our reporting suggests the U.S. has been, sort of, quietly putting a bit of pressure on Ukraine to at least explore the idea of a diplomatic solution. Do you think that is feasible at all? What's been the response generally from Ukraine?

ABDELAZIZ: Yes. So, we do have this reporting, Kim, that privately behind closed doors, the United States wants some reassurances that President Zelenskyy would negotiate when the time does come to negotiate. And they seem to be expressing this in part because of European partners, as well where some fatigued Ukraine or fatigue appears to be setting in. Obviously, heading into the winter, Europe is concern about gas prices, about inflation. So, a concern that President Zelenskyy would come to the table.

Now, President Zelenskyy for his support has been absolutely clear. He will not cede any territory to Russia. He has vowed to win back every inch of land that Russian forces have taken. He's even gone so far after that illegal annexation, I mentioned, he went so far as to say, I'm not going to discuss anything with President Putin at all.

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I would rather speak to the next leader of Russia when and if that happens. So, very clear messaging there from President Zelenskyy that he is not ready to come to the table. But again, that concern about Ukraine war fatigue. Kim.

BRUNHUBER: Yes, absolutely. All right. thank you so much. Salma Abdelaziz in Kyiv.

After Sean Penn is showing his support for Ukraine by loaning President Zelenskyy one of his two Oscars. The Hollywood star and activist is seen handing Zelenskyy the statuette in a video posted on the president's social media account. Zelenskyy, for his part, presented Penn with the Order of Merit. Thanking him for the symbol of faith in Ukraine's victory. Penn told Zelenskyy, when you win, bring the Oscar back to Malibu.

All right. That wraps this hour of CNN Newsroom. I'm Kim Brunhuber. You can follow me on Twitter, @kimbrunhuber. I'll be back in just a moment with more news. Please do stay with us.

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