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CNN International: Soon: Biden to arrive at Climate Summit; Pelosi: Climate Action Should be Transformative; Republicans Inch Toward House Control, Senate in Flux; Ukrainian Troops Enter Kherson after Russia Withdrawal; Group Aims to Recover Servicemen Killed on Remote Island. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 11, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

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MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST: Hello and welcome to CNN News, I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead a key bridge in Kherson region is destroyed. As Russian troops retreat from the narrow. We have the report newly liberated town.

Plus, the U.S. President set to touchdown at a crucial climate summit this hour. But it's a meeting with a Chinese President next week that has everyone talking and Twitter's Titanic moments. We'll take a closer look at what Elon Musk's plans are for the social media giants.

Ukrainian troops are closing in on Kherson entering the western edge of the key city as Russia sounds a note of caution. The Kremlin says the Kherson region remains part of Russia, even as its Defense Ministry says Russian forces have completed their withdrawal from Kherson City as well as areas west of the Dnipro River. Social media shows residents have raised the Ukrainian flag and ripped down Russian propaganda billboards in a town on the outskirts of Kherson city.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops are receiving a hero's welcome as they liberate dozens of towns. Since Russia analysis pulls out on Wednesday, Ukraine accuses Russia of leaving behind mines and destroying infrastructure on its way out. CNN's Nic Robertson and his crew made it to a Ukrainian town liberated from Russian troops over the past 48 hours. And he shows us what they found in Snihurivka on the Southeastern part of Ukraine.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: It's quite an incredible everyone's telling us we are the first reporters here literally the Ukrainian troops only arrived here yesterday and liberated the town. The Russians left two days before as you drive into the town here, everyone's waving. Everyone's happy people talk to here has horror stories to tell about their treatment by the Russians, particularly over the last few days.

I give you an idea of what you're seeing behind me. You see a couple of young teenagers here with Ukrainian flags on their shoulders. They were the first to raise the flag when the Russians left even before the troops arrived so sort of pre liberation by teenagers here.

And they tell us that a month ago somebody had been shot here, shot and killed for raising a Ukrainian flag. And in the middle of the crowd here, everyone's gathered; we're sort of in the center of the town outside the administrative buildings here. That's the Regional Governor, he's just visiting here.

He's just arrived in the last few minutes is explaining to people how they're going to get support from the Ukrainian government in the coming days, that they're going to be bringing humanitarian aid, supplies and support into the town here. The situation for people here is really difficult. There's no electricity, there's no gas.

So they've had a very difficult time just in terms of surviving under the Russians. But what's happened in this town over the past few days as the Russians and past couple of weeks, as the Russians knew that they were going to pull out there was widespread looting vehicles looted. We've been to the bank here; it's completely ransacked and looted.

The police station here was told was used as a base of torture that people would be taken in here and tortured. And if they want to extract more information, and they would take them there 45 kilometers on to Kherson I spoke to a young girl here and I'm telling you a lot of things here because everybody wants to talk everyone you speak to at the roadside here, wants to talk.

This young lady 15 year's old, she told me her mother confirmed her story, that in the past over the last few days, or the Russians being here, she was taken away kidnapped to hurt put over her head. She told her she was afraid of being raped. She was only released yesterday.

This is a town that is only just now getting to grips with the idea of liberation of what it means to be free of what it means not to have Russian rule here. And I think people are in all of it. We've seen people on the streets, meeting friends they haven't seen for a long time hugging each other in tears. But I think also there's a sense of OK, what's going to happen now.

FOSTER: Now, elsewhere in a matter of minutes, U.S. President Joe Biden set to land in Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt, where he'll soon take center stage at this year's top 27 Climate Summit is expected to tout inroads. The U.S. has made to combat global warming in the passage of a bill that diverts $370 billion to clean energy measures for slashing greenhouse gases.

U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is also at the summit to show congressional commitment to dealing with this crisis. Moments ago, at a press conference she said the thinking around the climate crisis needs to shift. Take a listen.

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REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): As we have discussed these issues for decades, many of us. It's always been about survival of the planet, survival of the vulnerable countries in the rest. We want more than survival. We want more than success.

[08:05:00]

PELOSI: With our Ira legislation, we have crossed the threshold of transformation. We want it to be transformative.

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FOSTER: CNN's David McKenzie has been there a week in Sharm el-Sheikh. And, you know, we don't get sort of massive announcements do we have these types of events. But when the U.S. President flies in, it does tend to shake things up, because he's such a key player.

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: He is a key player. And in certain case, he has a story to tell. And that's very important for the U.S. President, because prior to the inflation Reduction Act, which House Speaker Pelosi was referring to the American government didn't necessarily have the best story to tell.

At least now they can say domestically, there are congressional acts in place that will reduce emissions by what is historically the world's largest emitter. And it's important to note that Xi Jinping is not here, Vladimir Putin is not here, and Narendra Modi is not here. But Biden is coming.

And it shows that the American government, at least from their perspective, wants to show that there's leadership. But the message might not be 100 percent accepted, just because it seems like many people here based on my discussions this week have moved on a little bit. Yes, there is, if not excitement, there is recognition the U.S. is reducing its emissions.

But there is a call for rich countries, especially the U.S. and the European Union to help poorer countries and vulnerable nations finance the worst impacts of the climate crisis. And while that has officially been put on the list of topics of discussion that don't expect U.S. government or other rich nations to come up with concrete plans to give the trillions of dollars that is needed for what some are calling climate reparations.

But what is rarely money to help stave off the worst crisis of today and tomorrow. We will see what Biden has to say in his speech in the coming hours. But I do think that issue will be the key issue in the coming months and years ahead, Max.

FOSTER: OK, back with you, David. So we watched Mr. Biden arrive there will also attend the G-20 summit in Bali on Monday. That's where he plans to meet with the Chinese Leader Xi Jinping for the first in person Presidential meeting. The Chinese Foreign Ministry says the meeting is aimed at easing the tense relationship with no specific outcomes as part of a week-long trip that will take Mr. Biden to several other major summits as well.

Selina Wang joins us live from Beijing with the details. I mean, this is a really central meeting isn't it to the world. There's tension between these two key leaders and we're really looking to whether or not they can dissipate that.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Exactly Max, incredibly high stakes you have the leaders of the two largest economies global peace hinges on the relationship between these countries. But the expectations out of this meeting are low. The U.S. side has said they just want to build a floor under the relationship so that it doesn't tip over into conflict here.

We are expecting there to be multiple topics up for discussion, including tensions over Taiwan, the war in Ukraine, as well as concerns over human rights abuses in China. Also potential discussions for areas of cooperation like over North Korea and climate change. But there are just too many fundamental differences between these two countries for any one face to face meeting to even begin to address all of these challenges.

We know that fundamentally, Beijing is increasingly seeing Washington's moves as trying to contain and suppress its rise. They would point to the recent sweeping new restrictions from Washington that chokes off China's access to critical semiconductor chips. Whereas Washington is also seeing Beijing more skeptically, they are labeling China as the most consequential long term national strategic challenge for the United States.

We know that Taiwan is going to be a key priority for discussion, because this is the area where there's the highest risk of miscalculation that could turn into actual conflict. The other dynamics that could play into this are the current political positions of both leaders back at home of course, the midterms hanging in the balance for President Joe Biden.

Meanwhile, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping is walking into this meeting more powerful than ever. He has recently re anointed for an unprecedented third term. He has stack all of the top leadership positions with his closest allies and proteges.

We know that these two men Biden and Xi do have a long history. They spent a lot of time together before Joe Biden became President. But is that enough to cause any significant easing of tensions? Well, Max, the expectation is it will not.

FOSTER: Selina Wang in Beijing, thank you. Hurry up and wait. Matt describes the sense in the United States right now voters or votes rather, are still being counted after three days after the midterm elections. And no one knows yet if the balance of power in Congress will tilt towards Republicans or Democrats.

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FOSTER: Republicans are inching their way to a majority in the House of Representatives. They need seven more seats to take control there. But the Senate could go either way. In two States, Nevada and Arizona there are still hundreds of thousands of ballots to count in races still too close to call. CNN's Josh Campbell joins us from Phoenix, Arizona. And Josh, one of the counties that they still want lots of outstanding ballots when to expect to hear the result. JOSH CAMPBELL, CNN SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: That's right, Max, hundreds of thousands of ballots remained to be counted here in Maricopa County. This is the largest most populated county in the state of Arizona. And of course, it's so key because two of the races that the essentially the world is watching because it could actually impact the balance of the United States Senate and a potential Presidential contender down the road.

It's the U.S. Senate race here and the governor's race. And these margins are very, very narrow. We're talking about on the Senate side, just about 115,000 votes separate the Republican and the Democrat on the governor's race is much, much closer, we're looking at about 27,000 votes. Here in Maricopa County, there are still about 350,000 votes that are yet to be counted.

And that is because 290,000 of those votes were voters who had ballots that were mailed to them. Here in the U.S., you can do in certain States with cold vote by mail. They send you a ballot ahead of time you mark it you mail it in as long as it's in by election-day. It counts but for some reason voters here in Phoenix decided to take those mail in ballots and deliver them in person which is really caused this backlog here in Maricopa County.

And so we're just waiting to see we've seen a lot of the candidates coming out expressing optimism. They think they will come out ahead we'll of course have to wait and see what the results are. Finally, it's worth noting that this election has also been plagued by Conspiracy theories, particularly the Republican candidate for governor here in Arizona is accusing election officials who are behind me counting the votes, accusing them of slow walking and slow rolling the vote for political reasons saying that is intended to help Democrats.

Of course, it's worth pointing out that the head of elections here in this county is a Republican. He came out and blasting the Republican candidate, his own party's candidate saying that her comments was inappropriate defending his workers. And of course, we'll have to wait and see how long this process actually takes place. Of course, all eyes on the U.S. state of Arizona because of how this could impact the balance of power in Washington, Max.

FOSTER: OK, Josh, appreciate that, thank you. Now coming up Russia in retreats more on our top story is a key Bridge in Ukraine's Kherson region is destroyed. Christiane Amanpour joins us live after the break.

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FOSTER: Ukrainian troops have entered the Western edge of the key city of Kherson. CNN has witnessed residents out on the street waving the Ukrainian flag. Ukrainian troops are receiving a hero's welcome as they liberate dozens of towns since Russia announced its pull out on Wednesday.

[08:15:00] FOSTER: CNN's Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour is live in Kyiv. She joins us now. Christiane there seems to be a rapid movement here.

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Rapid movement and very important movement. We've said many, many times throughout this wall and throughout the last few days, of course, that Kherson is a vitally important city and an area for both Russia and Ukraine. It is the first major and the only major regional capital that Russia was able to seize and occupy since its invasion on February 24.

So the fact of the matter is, as you've just reported in the CNN has confirmed soldiers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces have moved into the Western part of the city itself, which is very important. They've been ripping down some Russian billboards; they put up a Ukrainian flag. But as ever, there is what's known as the fog of war, the Kremlin is still insisting that the Kherson region remains a vital part of Russia.

What does that mean on the ground we will see in the next few days, is this counter offensive and counter attack proceeds? Here in Ukraine, we don't have actual full-full confirmation of the minute by minute progress that the troops seem to be making. And we'll get that as soon as we possibly can.

But you've seen from the visuals, that the Russians have blown up key bridges as they've retreated, that we spoke to the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, a couple of days ago. He did not want to tell me for obvious reasons. The battle plan, but just said, you and your viewers and all countries that are supporting us should know that we have a plan and a strategy for Kherson to liberate or territory. That's what he said to me.

So again, this was an anticipated counter-offensive, it's going somewhat faster than Ukrainians led us, or thought it might. And we'll see how it plays out, because the fact of the matter is that Russians remain dug in on that bank that's closer to the East, closer to the Russian border. They might have evacuated the city, but they remained again in the region and the region is also vitally important. But this is a huge step and we wait to hear details from this side, Max.

FOSTER: Some talk about, you know, more suspicion from Zelenskyy's office at least that, this might not be as simple as it looks, it might not be a straight withdrawal. It could be a trap that could be mines lay there's talk about a dam being burst and flooding Ukrainian soldiers on their way into Kherson. What do you make of all of that chatter?

AMANPOUR: Well, as far as we know, that hasn't happened. But actually, to me himself, the President was very concerned about Russia's threats against that dam. And there have been threats and counter threats about that damage, because if it was attack, that would be an absolute disaster because it would flood the lower plains. And it would be absolutely catastrophic.

We hope, obviously, most people here hope that that doesn't come to pass. But it does seem that the Russians have moved by, as far as we can see from here, without having created a mass, you know, damage more than they have already done during these five or are the nine months of occupation there. Again, as soon as the press as soon as more soldiers get into Ukrainians into the city, we'll see what they left behind.

You know, we just don't know, will it be the same as what we saw. And we were here and our Correspondents, and everybody saw what the Russians left behind when they retreated and were forced out of the Kyiv region back at the end of March, the beginning of April. That was just a shocking discovery of war crimes and destruction.

That just, I mean, just absolutely terrible turning point in the war. So we wait to see what is discovered down there. But nonetheless, yes, the Ukrainians are concerned that they will definitely be heavily seeded minefields. And again, up until a couple of days ago, they were saying that they had also perceived Russians having dug in on the side, closest to the Russian border, I on the east side of the river Dnipro.

They had seen them digging in several layers deep and apparently all the way down to; you know, closer to the Crimea, bridge, et cetera. So they're not yet willing to give the region up as the President told me and the fight might be hard, or the Russians may just decide that they've had enough. What we're picking up Max and it's always hard to read the signals.

But a lot of chatter is coming out of the Russian Military bloggers, and those who are actually with the Russian forces in Ukraine, who are criticizing the Defense Ministry who are criticizing the Russian plans and orders that have been given spirit, especially lately now in this part of Eastern Ukraine and Southern Ukraine. So there does seem to be a big split emerging between the Kremlin who insists today that Kherson remains part of Russia, the Russian Federation.

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AMANPOUR: And what we're hearing from Senior Military bloggers who are allowed to travel with the Russian army on the ground you know from the Military side.

FOSTER: In terms of what happens from here, have Ukraine got the sort of impetus and resources to keep pushing onwards then and potentially go to where the Russians are now?

AMANPOUR: Well, they seem to say that they do, obviously, as he told me, the President; they always want more weapons and more ammunition. The United States just last night, announced a whole new security package, including the vitally needed Air Defense Systems. And, you know, Ukraine is not out of the woods yet, because even last night, there was a missile attack reported by the Ukrainians on an energy plant.

And that, again, has messed up there, you know, efforts to remake and rebuild the energy infrastructure in the grid. So again, there's rolling blackouts and energy and electricity shortages. So that part of the threat, you know, has not gone but more air defenses will help.

They have got many military Analysts believe that the Ukrainians do have the momentum when it comes to artillery, now. They can reach the Russian forces and, and even, you know, behind the lines, I'm not talking about going into Russia itself. But they can project a lot more than they were able to do before.

But of course, if you look at the City of Kherson, and if they really have left the Russians they still have, you know, shooting capacity and artillery capacity. So the Ukrainians moving in behind them are going to have to watch out for that as well.

You know, it could become another front line, where both sides start shooting against each other. We'll wait to see how this plays out. But every move that Ukraine make south and east is another piece of liberated territory.

And the President said they are going to go to the end. There's no question of surrender. There is no question of being forced into negotiations. There is no question of giving up any time at all he said.

FOSTER: OK, Christiane, thank you very much indeed. And we've just heard that from Kherson official that the city is almost under the control of Ukrainian forces. So incredible progress there we'll keep you updated throughout the day.

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FOSTER: It's Remembrance Day in many countries around the world and one of the tenants of Veterans Day in the United States is "No One Left Behind". For years after the Battle of Tarawa that wasn't the case only about half of the 1000 U.S. servicemen killed in World War Two in that battle were recovered. But now there's an effort on the tiny remote island to find and identify those who gave their lives there. Mike Valerio has the story.

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MIKE VALERIO, CNN REPORTER (voice over): It's a precious relic returned from the sands of what once was a lonely Pacific battlefield possessions from Don and David McCannel's Uncle. Marine Corps Gunnery Sergeant Arthur summers and American hero they never knew.

VALERIO (on camera): Do you have any memories from back then of just what your family said about Arthur?

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DAVID MCCANNEL, NEPHEW OF GUNNERY SERGEANT ARTHUR SUMMERS: My mother said to me my brother was killed in Tarawa and his body was never recovered.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For Four solid hours they found Tarawa with high explosion. VALERIO (voice over): Tarawa, November 20 1943. It was a brutal battle during World War Two. American troops confronting Japanese forces on a sandbar the size of the National Mall. It may seem like paradise in the middle of the Pacific. But it's a place replete with the ravages of war.

Japanese cannons, bunkers, and stunningly hundreds of unmarked graves. Resting places with the remains of U.S. Marines and Sailors killed nearly 80 years ago.

PAUL SCHWIMMER, HISTORY FLIGHT: When I said that I'm scarred you know, this is not a normal thing for somebody to be doing.

VALERIO (voice over): Paul Schwimmer is a retired Army Reservist and Volunteer with the group History Flight. Its work is often solemn and scarring. Veterans in archaeologists digging on Tarawa since 2009 have helped the U.S. government identify at least 96 sets of American remains. Schwimmer remembers the remains of one of the first Marines he found.

SCHWIMMER: And if the kid that was staring me out of that picture was 16 years old. And I had the office time the next day.

VALERIO (voice over): The remains of Sergeant Summers are among the latest discovered by History Flight. And here in East Wenatchee, Washington, a burial with full military honors for summers, killed at 27. His nephews and descendants, now proudly looking on the promise of "No One Left Behind", finally fulfilled.

MCCANNEL The thing about this that's important is that this is how we bury the dead. We do not leave them in the middle of nowhere. This is the best country in the world. And this is part of it.

VALERIO (voice over): In East Wenatchee, Washington. I'm Mike Valerio reporting.

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FOSTER: I'm Max Foster in London; "World Sport" with Amanda Davis is up next.

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