Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
White House: Will Continue Reaching Out to GOP in Congress; Georgia Senate Race to December Runoff; Ukraine Liberates Town on Main Road to Kherson City; Nicole Makes Landfall in Florida as Cat 1 Hurricane; Biden to Head to U.N. Climate Summit in Egypt. Aired 4:30- 5a ET
Aired November 10, 2022 - 04:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:30:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining me, do let me bring you up to date with the top stories this hour.
Control of the U.S. Congress is still up in the air as vote counting continues into the weekend and across several states. Republicans seem to be close to the majority in the House but it may take weeks to decide the Senate with at least one pivotal runoff race set for next month in Georgia.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: And a quick check of the U.S. futures ahead of today's opening bell on Wall Street. Of course, investors are looking for a rebound after Wednesday's selloff sent the Dow plunging almost 650 points. The markets had expected a more convincing showing from the Republicans on Tuesday and so as you can see, reacted negatively to that indecision that now hangs over control of Congress.
Now with the midterms behind them, investors are returning their focus to the economy. Polls showed that it was the number one concern for voters heading into the elections understandably. Central to that, the latest U.S. inflation figures that come out today and the annual inflation in the U.S. at about 8 percent.
If today's figures show the economy is still overheated, the Federal Reserve could come back with another aggressive rate hike. A series of earlier rate hikes is reflected in the rising cost of consumer debt. The average credit card is now charging just over 19 percent annual interest. The highest rate since 1985.
If Republicans do retake control of either the House or the Senate or both, come January it could greatly complicate the Biden administration's ability to pursue its legislative agenda. Even so, the White House Chief of Staff says President Biden will continue to reach out to Republicans in the meantime to try and get as much done as possible by the end of the year. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: We want to see as much progress made on the country's priorities in the lame-duck. When the president said today when he gets back from Asia, he's going to meet with Democratic and Republican leaders and talk about what kind of progress we can see in this lame duck. The government runs out of money in mid- December. We have to fund the government. We shouldn't have a government shut down right before Christmas. We have other priorities too. The Congress works all the way until January 3rd. We want to see progress in the lame duck session.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Now in the face of deja vu, Georgia is heading for a runoff that might decide which party controls the Senate. Less than a month from now Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock will once again face off against Republican challenger Herschel Walker after neither candidate received more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday. CNN's Jeff Zeleny has the details.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF U.S. NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: All eyes are again on Georgia for potential control of the U.S. Senate. Now even as votes are still being counted in Nevada and Arizona, Georgia is once again the epicenter for the fight for the majority in the U.S. Senate. This is why.
Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock is leading Republican challenger Herschel Walker by about 17,000 votes or so. But on Wednesday the Georgia Secretary of State said there would be a runoff election because neither candidate was able to reach the majority, that's 50 percent plus 1, that's required under a unique Georgia election law to win a general election campaign. So, both men are now going into a runoff campaign.
Four the next month a critical race here will be fought between both political parties. The White House also involved. Former president Donald Trump also eyeing this race very carefully. Depending on the outcome of Nevada and Arizona, Georgia could once again determine control of the U.S. Senate.
Now this race on December 6th -- the election on December 6th, a runoff contest is a rematch between Herschel Walker and Senator Raphael Warnock. Now President Biden has not visited Georgia for months but he is going to be front and center in this campaign, no question.
Republicans have tried to make this a referendum on him, on his policies. Democrats, of course, have tried to disqualify Herschel Walker. So again, a period of overtime in Georgia. This was already the second most expensive Senate race in the country right after Pennsylvania. Now it is going to certainly leap into the first. A quarter of a billion dollars already spent in ads in this cycle. That's certain to increase even more.
Jeff Zeleny, CNN, Atlanta.
(END VIDEOTAPE) NOBILO: Meantime, Republican Brian Kemp defeated Democrat Stacey Abrams to win reelection as Georgia Governor. In her concession speech Abrams said that although she may not have crossed the finish line, she'll never stop running for a better Georgia. And a CNN political expert is supporting your cause.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:35:00]
VAN JONES, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: I just want to give Stacey Abrams a little bit of acknowledgment here. She's not going to be governor. She's probably never going to be governor. But you can have a cause that succeeds when the candidacy fails. Her candidacy failed but her cause has succeeded. It is possible now for black folks to win statewide in Georgia in both parties. And so, I think that's a big deal. Now I think that Warnock is going to need an awful lot of help. I don't think that he should keep anybody out of the state wants to calm and help him. And I think that, you know, my belief we're going to have another repeat. It's going to come back down. And if in fact he pulls it off, Warnock, he will owe Stacey Abrams.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NOBILO: That was CNN political commentator Van Jones.
Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is opening up about events in the run-up to the capital insurrection. You'll hear about the conversation he says he had with former President Trump just hours before a violent mob stormed the building.
FOSTER: Later, Florida takes a beating from Nicole. We're on the ground with a look at the latest conditions there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NOBILO: Former U.S. Vice President Mike Pence is revealing what happened between him and former President Trump just before the Capitol insurrection. Pence had been under pressure by Trump to reject the certification of election results in Congress on January 6th last year. Now in an op ed in "The Wall Street Journal," Pence writes that on the morning he told Trump he didn't have the power to decide which votes could count. That he intended to send a statement to Congress to that effect. Then according to Pence, Trump laid into him saying, quote, you'll go down as a wimp if you do that. I made a big mistake five years ago.
FOSTER: Criminal charges are piling up for the man suspected of attacking House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's husband. On Wednesday David DePape was indicted on federal charges of attempted kidnapping and attacking a family member of a federal official.
[04:40:02]
He could face decades in prison if he's convicted. DePape is already facing a slew of state charges as well. But he's pleaded not guilty. Court documents show he attacked Paul Pelosi at the couple's home in San Francisco last month as part of a plan to take the House Speaker hostage. Paul Pelosi was seriously injured and is recovering but Nancy Pelosi wasn't home at the time.
NOBILO: America's top general is giving his assessment on where the casualties stand in Russia's war on Ukraine. Joint Chiefs Chair General Mark Milley says that Russia has suffered more than 100,000 killed and wounded soldiers. And he thinks Ukraine is probably looking at similar numbers on its side.
FOSTER: Milley also says the U.S. is seeing initial signs of Russia pulling out of the Kherson region. That's where this Ukrainian flag now flies over the recently reclaimed village there. Moscow has ordered its forces to withdraw from areas west of the Dnipro River including the strategic city of Kherson. Salma Abdelaziz joins us now from Kyiv with the very latest. There's some suspicion though here about why Russia has pulled back and whether or not it's a trap -- Salma.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Absolutely, Max, but overall, I mean this is just a stunning admission of defeat from the Kremlin. And already Ukraine appears to be reaping the rewards of it. They've just claimed in the last hour, they've just claimed taking a village that's to the south of Kherson, in the Mykolaiv region. Right on the road, on the path to Kherson city itself.
But don't expect everything to change overnight here, Max. As you said, President Zelenskyy says he's going to proceed cautiously. In his nightly address he said the enemy does not give us gifts. Meaning that he's worried that this is potentially a trap to lure Ukrainian forces into the city of Kherson. And yes, again a huge defeat. A huge loss here for President Putin. But in some ways not surprising, Max.
We had seen signs now for weeks that Russia was struggling to hold on to this very important strategic city. There were less Russian checkpoints. Less of a Russian presence in the city. They been evacuated -- evacuating rather, tens of thousands of people forcing them out of their homes.
And already Ukrainian officials say they are seeing movement on the ground. Russian forces are withdrawing from some of the front line villages. They are also blowing up the bridges all along the Dnipro River. Remember, the plan here is, the orders here are that Russian forces pull away from the west bank across the river into the east side and fortify those positions there.
Now there's questions about what the state of Kherson will be once they pull out if they pull out. Will they booby trap it? Will they plant mines? That's, again, why everybody is proceeding with caution here in Ukraine.
But just take a look at the overall picture. I me, for weeks now President Putin has been losing to this very successful Ukrainian counteroffensive. Now having to concede the one and only regional capital Russian forces were able to take since the start of this invasion in February. And it was just a few weeks ago, Max, that President Putin was in this glitzy ceremony signing a decree that Kherson belonged to Russia, illegally annexing it, and now having to pull that back, having to withdraw. I think the only word you can think of here is humiliation. This is absolutely humiliating for Russia.
OK, Salma in Kyiv. Thank you very much indeed. Interesting to see how that develops.
NOBILO: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is taking Russia's Kherson announcement with a grain of salt. As you were saying, this is concern whether or not it's a trap. He and Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska sat down for an exclusive interview with CNN's Christiane Amanpour. Here's President Zelenskyy's take on Russia's latest moves.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): So, they are ready to defend this region and they're not ready to leave the 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.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: You can see Christiane Amanpour's full exclusive interview with the Zelenskyy's on her program on Thursday, that's 6:00 in the evening here in London, 8:00 p.m. in Kyiv, Right Here on CNN.
Russian President Vladimir Putin will not attend next week's G20 summit in person -- that's according to the Russian Embassy in Indonesia. Which says that he'll be represented at the event in Bali by foreign minister Sergey Lavrov and an Embassy official.
NOBILO: Mr. Putin is said to still be deciding whether if he will join one of the meetings virtually. The decision not to attend in person saves him the embarrassment of being confronted or shunned by other world leaders over his invasion of Ukraine.
FOSTER: U.S. President Joe Biden will try to give a shot in the arm to efforts to fight climate change.
[04:45:00]
We'll have a live report from the COP27 Summit in Egypt where he'll be heading later today.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WES MOORE, MARYLAND GOVERNOR-ELECT: That I've made a little history tonight myself as well. This is just more proof that progress is not inevitable but progress is possible in the state of Maryland.
(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: A new class of representatives coming to Congress in January -- although it remains unclear which party will control which chamber -- but we do know that some of the new lawmakers are really making history.
NOBILO: Maryland elected its first black governor with Democrat Wes Moore. In Florida, Democrat Maxwell Alejandro Frost became the first member of gen Z to serve in Congress. And another Democrat Maura Healey became Massachusetts first female and first lesbian to be elected governor in the U.S. Healey spoke about what her victory meant to her shortly after the win was announced. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[04:50:00]
MAURA HEALEY, MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR-ELECT: For me, this just brings about all these feelings I had as I was running and looking into the eyes of little girls, of young women, talking to young people from the LBGTQ community. You know, representation matters and seeing is believing. And I hope that my election will affirm in those young people this idea so important that they can be anything they want to be.
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 seen 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 moments that are defining for our generation. And I think I'm taking that perspective to Congress and the urgency these issues really deserve.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: We're following what's now a tropical storm Nicole as it moves across the state of Florida. It was a category 1 hurricane when it made landfall a couple of hours ago. It's the first hurricane to make a November landfall in the U.S. in nearly 40 years.
FOSTER: Although the storm is weakening a bit as it moves over land. The storm has made an impact in Florida. CNN's Chris Nguyen was on the scene in Coco Beach and filed this report a short while ago before Nicole was downgraded to the tropical storm.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRIS NGUYEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: High winds, heavy rains and significant flooding were expected throughout the night. You can see the intensity of the conditions here in Coco Beach, which is why officials were urging the public to stay home as the hurricane got closer to making landfall here in Florida.
Now earlier today we were at a local supermarket as folks were stocking up on the necessities really preparing for the potential for power outages for the next day or so. At least 16,000 utility workers are currently on standby here in Florida to help with power restoration efforts.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also saying that he's activated at least 600 Florida National Guard troops to assist with search and rescue efforts if and when necessary. Residents here in Brevard County were not required to undergo a mandatory evacuation. It was simply an advisory. But you can sense that folks were serious in terms of taking the advice of officials.
This is closed up early and for the most part roads remained bare throughout the day. We also know it's going to take a little while for the airports to catch up with all of the flight cancellations that happened today and yesterday.
Reporting from Coco Beach, I'm Chris Nguyen. Max and Bianca, back to you.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Thanks, Chris.
U.S. President Joe Biden expected to leave Washington Thursday night heading to the U.N. climate summit in Egypt. He scheduled to be at the COP27 Summit in Sharm el-Sheikh on Friday where other world leaders are already meeting.
NOBILO: They're pondering their next move in an effort to tackle climate change. At the time their reports show they're not only off the mark -- and their not only off the mark to meet their goals. But also, that they're running out of time. David McKenzie joins us now from Sharm el-Sheikh. David, what do you think will tangibly be achieved from this summit? What are the signs suggesting?
DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, there has been a great deal of discussion, Bianca, about funding poorer nations for the impact of climate change that can't be adapted to as we run out of time for the worst climate catastrophes. We've already seen that obviously this year in Florida, in Pakistan, in the Horn of Africa and east Africa.
President Biden will be flying into Sharm el-Sheikh in the coming hours. We'll have to see if the U.S. can push their leadership, obviously, what the U.S. and in particular China do in terms of the two biggest emitters is very important both in terms of meeting emissions targets and showing leadership for other nations. But right now, there is a deep freeze between the U.S. and China and it runs all the way to climate negotiations.
Secretary Kerry, John Kerry the special envoy for climate saying there is no formal discussions going on. That's a problem for many people who are watching any kind of progress on the climate. The U.S. did announce a carbon credit voluntary program for corporations to offset their carbon emissions by buying carbon credits from poorer nations. That has come under fierce criticism from some quarters who say it's a greenwashing, which means is what they really need is to announce and implement deep emissions cuts. I think this first week is critical because of the world leaders descending on this Red Sea resort, whether they can come up with concrete plans remains to be seen -- Bianca, Max.
[04:55:00]
NOBILO: David McKenzie live in Sharm el-Sheikh, thank you.
FOSTER: Maybe time to pack something different for lunch. The CDC announced a deadly listeria outbreak in at least six states linked to contaminated deli meats and cheese. A Maryland resident died from the infection. More than a dozen others have been hospitalized across the United States.
NOBILO: The CDC says that symptoms include stomach issues, headache and fever among other things. And while symptoms can occur within four weeks of an infection, they can take as long as 70 days to appear.
Twitter's new owner Elon Musk has a simple message for advertisers, don't go.
FOSTER: Yes, the billionaire spoke in front of a live audience of over 100,000 users on Wednesday, including representatives from Adidas, Chevron and Walgreens pleading his case why they should keep using the platform despite recent controversy. Musk is being criticized after unveiling his plan to offer blue check marks to users who agree to pay $8 a month.
NOBILO: And Twitter's new system to flush out fake accounts is apparently no match for imposters. The company started requiring users to buy that blue check mark which should prove that their account is legit or a real person. But just hours later Twitter appeared to be flooded with imposters who created blue chip accounts posing as politicians, celebrities or major companies.
FOSTER: Those impersonators include former U.S. President Donald Trump, basketball star LeBron James and videogame company Nintendo of America. Some users said creating fake accounts was easy even though Twitters Elon Musk said the new system would deter imposters.
So, that's one thing. And then they had the secondary level which was a gray mark for officials. So, people like Reinaldo had that and NASA and then that was killed. And then Musk said we're getting rid of the system. And then someone else in the company said we're going to do it, but not just for individuals, just companies but then NASA had lost theirs.
NOBILO: And Musk said that people need to prepare themselves because Twitter's going to do some, quote, a lot of dumb things in the next few months.
FOSTER: Let's get some more.
NOBILO: Yes, that's why investors --
FOSTER: Thanks for joining us here on NEWSROOM. "THIS MORNING" is next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[05:00:00]
