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Arizona, Nevada Counting Tens of Thousands of Votes; Biden Basking in Democratic Midterm Election Results; Kevin McCarthy Faces Tough Road to Becoming Speaker; Biden to Arrive at U.N. Climate Conference in Coming Hours; Biden to Meet with Chinese Leader at G20 Conference; Zelenskyy on Negotiating with Putin; Kari Lake Accuses Election Officials of Slow-Walking Vote Count; Iranian Actress Posts Pictures without Hijab to Support Protests; Warnock, Walker Begin Run- Off Campaigns. Aired 12-1a ET

Aired November 11, 2022 - 00:00   ET

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

JOHN VAUSE, CNN INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. You're watching CNN. I'm John Vause. It's just gone midnight here in Atlanta, Georgia; 10 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona; 9 p.m. in Reno, Nevada. Three states with Senate races still undecided and votes still being counted.

[00:00:55]

And with Georgia now heading for a December runoff, the focus is now on two very close races in Arizona and Nevada. Two states where an incumbent Democrat is trying to hold onto their seat in the U.S. Senate.

At this hour, new vote tallies to report from both states. With half a million votes yet to be counted in Arizona, Democratic incumbent Mark Kelly expanding his lead over Republican challenger Blake Masters. Most of the votes being counted are from Maricopa County, Arizona's biggest county, with about half of the state's total population, including the city of Phoenix.

Kelly's campaign manager tells CNN they are confident and are expecting a win.

In Nevada, new numbers show Democrat incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto closing the gap on Republican Adam Laxalt. There are still tens of thousands of ballots yet to be counted from Clark County, the biggest county in Nevada, which includes Las Vegas, and the state's only county which leads Democrat.

Joining us now, live from Reno, Nevada, is Tabitha Mueller, political reporter for "The Nevada Independent"; and in Phoenix, Arizona, Mary Jo Pitzl with "The Arizona Republic." Thanks to you both for being with us.

TABITHA MUELLER, POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "THE NEVADA INDEPENDENT": Thanks for having us on.

MARY JO PITZL, REPORTER, "THE ARIZONA REPUBLIC": Good evening. VAUSE: OK. So with control of the Senate at stake here, the focus now

on your states and what is an incredibly slow process of counting votes. And over on FOX News, that's causing some unhappiness. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSE WATTERS, FOX NEWS HOST: Arizona doesn't even start counting early votes until election day. They want the drama. They want delayed results. They designed it this way.

They start with mail-in ballots. Then they count day of ballots, and then they finally get around to drop-off ballots. Heaven forbid you count everything at the same time. That would make too much sense.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So Mary Jo in Phoenix, to you, why is it taking this long in Arizona? And is it all because you want the drama?

PITZL: Yes, we love the drama.

No, this happens every two years, when we have statewide elections. It's just magnified this year, because the races are -- you know, the top ones are so competitive and so close.

The reason it takes time is that the majority of Arizonans mail in their ballots. Some of them, they drop off at the polls on election day. But they all come in in a sealed green envelope. The ballot's inside of there.

And it's not as simple as just opening the envelope and throw in the ballot into a counting machine. Elections officials have to verify that that ballot that came in the green envelope with the signature on the outside matches the signature on the voter registration rolls. That takes some time to do that.

Then they might have some problems. And then they'll reach out to the voter.

So, when you're dealing with, you know, more than 2 million ballots, you really can't get that done in a day. It does take some time. They do this for the interest of accuracy.

And I should note that from the clip you played, it is incorrect. Arizona does start counting early ballots early. They don't wait until election day.

VAUSE: Thank you.

And Tabitha, to you. The count seems to be even slower in Nevada, so same question. Why is that the case? And are their concerns that, because it is taking so long, it does open the door to conspiracy theorists and election deniers that there's something untoward taking place?

MUELLER: The reason it's taking so long is because they want to verify that those are -- that the votes are correct, right?

You have a lot of ballots that are being mailed in or dropped off. You have to open them. Sometimes those ballots have errors on them. Sometimes they need to verify signatures. It takes a little bit of time for the mail to come in.

We had -- you know, we had the county elections officials saying, look, this is going to take time, and it's because they want to get it right. It would be better to be accurate than just to rush results for the sake of rushing results.

And as for people saying this is opening the state up to conspiracy theories, I think it's actually making sure that everything is verified and correct. So that when, or if, those election deniers say, Hey, we're going to sue you, all of the data is there; and everything is checked.

VAUSE: Sometimes you can't win, no matter what you do, I guess. But let's go to Arizona for a minute, because the Senate is looking to be likely Democrat -- Democratic win. But the race for governor remains very close.

[00:05:05]

And for a while now, the Republican challenger, Kari Lake, has been casting doubt over the final outcome. Here she is on election day.

I think. There we go.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARI LAKE (R), ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL NOMINEE: We are going to monitor the ballots. We've got to work in the system that we have right now. And as they continue to come in, and our numbers go up, up, up like they did last time, when we win, first line of action is to restore honesty to Arizona elections.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Mary Jo -- it seem -- Mary Jo, it's a bizarre sort of logic here. If she wins, the results are OK, but if there's any other result, it's dishonest. Has this sort of Trumpism in high heels actually cost her any support this time around?

PITZL: Well, I think the very fact that, as we speak, that the Democratic candidate, Katie Hobbs, is leading by a slender margin, like 1 percent, after not running a very good campaign, frankly, and you know, being out of the spotlight a lot.

I think the fact that the Democrat is still hanging onto a lead, sort of speaks to why a lot of people aren't necessarily falling in love with, as you say, this Trump in heels.

Her message is contradictory, because it's -- it's OK if she wins; but if she loses, then there's problems. Well, it's got to be one or the other. VAUSE: Yes, you can't have it each way, it seems. In an election, it's

all or nothing.

And back to you, Tabitha. The votes continue to arrive by mail there in Nevada. There's still about 100,000 ballots yet to be counted. So is there an idea of which way those votes are breaking? And is that enough to give you an indication of who will ultimately take that Senate race?

MUELLER: We're still seeing results coming in, of course, and obviously, nothing is certain until they come in. But we are seeing a lot of those -- those results breaking for Democrats. Right?

I think earlier last night, we were talking about how there were a margin of 2 to 1, roughly. And I'm not sure what that margin is off the top my head right now, but we are seeing Democrats slowly gaining leads in this election.

And there's still, I think, a pathway for Senator Catherine Cortez Masto to maintain her seat in the Senate. We'll just have to see what those votes say when they come in.

VAUSE: Tabitha there. Tabitha Mueller in Reno, Nevada. Mary Jo Pitzl there in Phoenix, Arizona. Thank you both for staying up late and being with us. We appreciate it. We know you've had long days of reporting so far. It's a long day still to come. Thank you.

MUELLER: Thank you for having us.

PITZL: Thank you.

VAUSE: Pleasure.

So, after Congress passed the biggest climate change bill in U.S. history, President Biden expected to take something of a victory lap at this year's COP27 summit in Egypt.

But before that, he was taking a victory lap at home over the results of the midterm elections, which he said were a good day for democracy and a strong night for Democrats.

While control of Congress is still unclear, there was no Republican red wave. And for Biden, the focus now is to prevent Republicans from undoing Democratic accomplishments like the climate change bill.

Here's CNN's Joe [SIC] Diamond reporting in from the White House.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, President Biden still riding high on Democrats' precedent-defying midterm showing on Tuesday, holding a rally with Democratic National Committee staffers.

DIAMOND (voice-over): The president thanking them for their work on the campaign. But what he was really trying to do was to capitalize on the energy

that has been buzzing in Democratic circles since that showing on Tuesday. And also trying to project strength.

DIAMOND: Despite what we saw, which appeared to be somewhat of a victory rally, Democrats, including those inside the White House behind me here, they certainly do acknowledge the very high likelihood that they will face a Republican majority in the House, come January.

And so that's part of why these optics were so important to the president and to his advisers.

Ss they were setting up these remarks, I'm told by a Biden advisor, that the goal was to project strength and to show that this energy in the Democratic Party is very real as they prepare for this possibility of a Republican House.

The president also, in his remarks, didn't acknowledge that that's going to happen, but you did hear him talk about how he is going to deal with Democrats [SIC].

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Republicans trying to walk away from the historic commitment we just made to deal with the climate crisis. I will not let that happen.

If Republicans try to cut Social Security and Medicare, I will not let that happen. If they try to cut taxes for the super wealthy again and the biggest corporations, like they did in the last administration, I will not let that happen either.

DIAMOND: Now, when I asked the White House press secretary what specifically the president would be willing to compromise on with Republicans, she couldn't point to any specific issue areas.

But clearly, what you see here is the White House setting the table for a prospect that they haven't experienced so far in President Biden's nearly two years in office. And that is divided government. Power sharing.

And we know that, if there is indeed a Republican House, there will be a series of showdowns and standoffs. And the White House very much trying to position itself from a place of strength for those potential negotiations.

[00:10:08]

DIAMOND (voice-over): Now the president, he isn't giving up entirely on the possibility of Democrats winning the House. Before heading off on his trip to Egypt and Asia, saying that he believes the chances Democrats could still win the House are, quote, "still alive."

He said he'd have to pull an inside straight to make it happen, but again, he said it's still alive.

Jeremy Diamond, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. KEVIN MCCARTHY (R-CA): What was our mission? To win the majority, to stop Biden's agenda, and fire Nancy Pelosi. All of that is accomplished.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: So what is it with Republicans and "mission accomplished"? That was the current minority leader in the lower House of -- lower House, rather, Republican Kevin McCarthy, spinning the outcome of the midterm elections.

And yes, the GOP is on track to win control of the House. It will not be with a majority of 20 or 30 seats, which they predicted, but likely fewer than five.

And yes, Nancy Pelosi will not be speaker of the House come January, but because of the Republicans' poor showing at the midterms, it's far from certain that Kevin McCarthy will get the job.

CNN's Manu Raju has the latest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No 2, Kevin McCarthy is confident that he ultimately will get the votes to become the next speaker of the House, but he is not there yet.

First, it is not certain that they will get that House majority, although it does appear that the Republicans are on track to at least get a narrow majority. That has not been called yet.

But more significantly, the margin is expected to be tight.

RAJU (voice-over): And if it is tight, that means that he cannot afford to lose more than a handful of votes when it comes time in January to elect the next House speaker.

And already, several members of the House Freedom Caucus -- that is that hard-right faction -- are threatening to vote against him; are saying that they want more commitments from him and some concessions before they agree to support him.

Among the things they are asking for is to have more leverage over him, to ensure that they have the ability to call for a vote on the House floor to essentially oust him from his position as speaker. That is something that McCarthy does not want to give them.

They also want more opportunity to review legislation, as well as better committee assignments. Some are pushing for McCarthy to make some assurances, or at least be open to the idea of launching impeachment proceedings against either Joe Biden or one -- some of his cabinet secretaries.

Now, over the last day, there have been meetings by the --

RAJU: -- with the House Freedom Caucus to strategy -- strategize about their decisions and their tactics going forward. And out of those meetings, many of the members indicated they still have not made a decision.

RAJU (voice-over): One member, Bob Good of Virginia, indicated that there would be a challenger to McCarthy. And that challenger would have a long-shot bid to knock off the Republican leader from ascending to the speakership, but it could force him to come to the bargaining table.

RAJU: Now, McCarthy indicated that he is open to talking to some of these members, and he's open to having meetings. And he told FOX News on Thursday evening that he does have the votes to become speaker.

He downplayed the idea that perhaps he will not ultimately get there.

And in talking to McCarthy allies and aides, they are confident that ultimately, McCarthy will become the next speaker of the House. But the narrow majority will only complicate things for him as he tries to move through an agenda, uniting both the conservatives on his right, as well as those moderate members and ones who won from districts that Joe Biden carried, to determine whether you can get legislation through. That will be a heavy lift.

Manu Raju, CNN, Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Well, later this hour, let the Senate runoff in Georgia begin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HERSCHEL WALKER (R), GEORGIA SENATORIAL NOMINEE: He hung around and got into this runoff, and he thinking he's going to win. We need to prove him wrong and let him get out of that office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And open the money taps, as both parties ramp up their spending, bigly.

Also ahead, a live report from the climate change summit in Egypt. First stop on President Biden's three-nation tour.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:18:11]

VAUSE: Welcome back. Right now, U.S. President Joe Biden is heading for Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, departing from the Joint Base Andrews late Thursday.

In the coming hours, he'll deliver remarks at the COP27 climate conference. He'll also meet with Egypt's president. Biden is expected to call on nations to, quote, "keep their eyes on

the ball" when it comes to reducing global emissions. He'll also focus on increased spending by the United States on renewable energy, part of stepped-up commitments to reduce the impact of climate change.

CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak is there in Sharm El-Sheikh. He joins us now live.

And Biden arrives at Sharm El-Sheikh, I guess, with the very good story to tell, accomplishments which have been made by his administration, that weren't there in previous years?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, certainly the president does believe he's arriving here in Egypt with the wind at his back.

And you heard the national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, say yesterday that the president believes the results from this midterm election really put him in a position of strength as he embarks on this trip.

And of course, his goal here, just as his goal on all of his trips abroad, is really to tell foreign leaders that America is back, that it remains committed to all of its global allies and alliances and to subjects like climate change.

And the president does have some backing to those commitments when he arrived here. He will walk into this summit having passed the most significant investment towards combatting climate change in American history. Some $370 billion that were included in the Inflation Reduction Act.

The president also planning to talk about a new proposed rule that would require federal contractors to submit their own carbon reduction plans.

Also, some initiatives towards cutting methane.

And so the president does hope to use those items as leverage to convince other world leaders to make their own similarly ambitious commitments towards cutting carbon, towards cutting greenhouse gases. And sort of getting all on the same page as they try and limit the effects of global warming.

[00:20:09]

And what one White House official says is that they want the president to tell these other leaders to keep their eye on the ball and to stay focused on this specific issue of reducing emissions.

But it's sort of interesting, because there are a lot of leaders who are focused on another issue at this summit, which is the issue of climate reparations. They essentially want wealthy countries to pay poorer countries to help build resilience. That's not something that seems politically tenable at the moment. So when you hear the president speak later today, he will really call

on leaders to stay focused on this issue of emissions when he speaks here in Sharm later -- John.

VAUSE: Kevin, thank you. Kevin Liptak, live for us there in Sharm El- Sheikh. We appreciate the update.

The COP27 summit is part of a weeklong trip that will take President Biden to several major summits. From Egypt, he heads to Phnom Penh in Cambodia for the ASEAN summit on Saturday and Sunday.

Then it's on to Bali, Indonesia, for the G20 summit. And there, he is set to meet with the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines, the first time the two have met in person since Joe Biden became U.S. president.

Steven Jiang joins us live from Beijing with more on this. So, this will be an interesting meeting. Xi Jinping and Donald Trump certainly had their own dynamic going. What is expected when Xi Jinping meets Joe Biden?

STEVEN JIANG, CNN BEIJING BUREAU CHIEF: Well, John, I think the prospect of this so-called world's most important bilateral relationship is as gloomy as Beijing's weather today.

That is something, actually, even acknowledged by U.S. officials ahead of this meeting. A senior Biden administration official told reporters on Thursday, there's not going to be a joint statement after this meeting, and they're not expecting any so-called deliverables.

And there might not even be significant easing of tensions after this meeting.

Now, the reason is quite clear, but Xi insists that this meeting is all about building rapport between the two men and building the floor in this relationship.

But the problem here is rapport doesn't seem to be the problem. The two men obviously have known each other for years, spending a lot of time together as vice presidents. And they have talked five times on the phone or via video link since Biden took office. And each time, they always reminisced about the good old times.

But the problem here is, really, the fundamental differences between the two governments, how they see themselves, and how they see the other. That's been driving them apart.

Now, from Washington's perspective, China under Xi Jinping has grown increasingly authoritarian at home and increasingly assertive and even aggressive abroad. That's why Biden plans to raise the issue of human rights abuses. For example, Beijing's crackdown on the Uyghur Muslim minority in Xinjiang, but also the issue of Taiwan, of course.

But from Beijing's perspective, of course, Biden -- under Biden, the U.S. and its allies increasingly aim to contain China's rise, to contain China's rightful place on the global stage. Biden not only has kept most of the Trump-era U.S. tariffs on Chinese

imports, he has been ramping up restrictions on technology exports to China, including crucial semiconductors.

So, that's why, you know, Xi Jinping has really made no secret of reshaping this world order led by the U.S.

And not to mention, both men face a lot of domestic problems, Xi Jinping, you know, under growing pressure on the economy, because of zero-COVID policy, so whipping up nationalism always part of the playbook.

So that's why, John, the stakes are so high; expectations are very low -- John.

VAUSE: Yes. Just for the record, it's 1:23 in the afternoon there, in Beijing. And it looks awful behind you. That's not weather. That's pollution.

Steven, thank you. Bureau chief there in Beijing. Thank you.

Ukrainian troops continue to close in on the city of Kherson slowly and with caution.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: But they were given a heroes' welcome from local residents on Thursday after reportedly liberating more than 40 settlements in the South.

These images appear to show destroyed military hardware that the Russians left behind.

The U.S. top general says there are signs that Russia has started a withdrawal from Kherson, but Ukrainian officials warn, Moscow may turn Kherson into, quote, "a city of death" by booby-trapping whatever it can and shelling Ukrainians as they move in.

The White House is taking a wait-and-see approach.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAKE SULLIVAN, U.S. NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR: First, this is a significant military milestone for the Ukrainians, if, in fact, it happens that Russia falls through and withdraws to the far side of the Dnieper River. Of course, we're going to watch actions and not just announcements to see what -- what actually unfolds.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Ukraine will soon receive more air defenses to combat drone attacks, part of a $400 million U.S. aid package that includes four Avenger air defense systems, which can shoot down helicopters and drones; as well as Hawk missiles and other ammunition.

[00:20:04]

In total, the U.S. has provided $18.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the war began.

CNN reported this week the U.S. has been urging Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to signal he's still open to talks with Russia. That's because Washington is concerned the international support for Ukraine could wane if this war drags on for much longer.

CNN's Christiane Amanpour sat down for an exclusive interview with Mr. Zelenskyy and Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska. Here's part of the conversation about possible talks with Russia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT/ANCHOR: Do you still stand by what you said a few months ago, that you would not negotiate with Vladimir Putin?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): His proposal has no substance, as regards ending the war. Other than ultimatums, I have not heard anything from the current president of the Russian Federation.

Starting from the 24th of February, there have been only ultimatums. De-Nazification, de-nationalization. Every issue they raise starts with a "de."

They always want to deprive us of something, violently, on our own land.

So I said that I'm not going to talk to this person, if this person conducts these sham referendums, and recognizes always sham authorities that they set up as legal.

We said this clearly. And I said that, if they do that, then this means they don't respect our people, our sovereignty, our rights and our freedoms. What is there to talk to them about?

But I haven't closed the door. I said, we would be ready to talk to Russia, but with a different Russia. One that is truly ready for peace.

AMANPOUR: I'm going to ask you this, because you went not so many months ago, to the Congress, actually. You also met with President Biden. You met with the first lady.

And you actually said, We need weapons. Send us the weapons.

Do you feel that you have the weapons now to actually win? Do you feel that NATO is here to help you win? Or just to stop you losing?

OLEG ZELENSKA, WIFE OF PRESIDENT ZELENSKYY (through translator): I think the president knows better how much more we need. I'm sure we need much more.

But as a citizen of Ukraine, as a mother and a wife, I can feel that we need it. Because the missiles keep coming. When they stop coming, when our people stop dying in their beds in the morning, I will feel OK. Maybe that's enough.

But we can't wait for Russians to run out of their supplies. It would be wonderful for them to run out, but I guess that's fantasy.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: President Zelenskyy told CNN he will know when Russia is serious about peace talks. For that, stay tuned for more of our exclusive interview next hour.

In the meantime, we'll take a short break. When we come back, control of the U.S. Senate remains in limbo, with three pivotal races up for grabs. We'll have the very latest from Arizona, where hundreds of thousands of ballots are yet to be counted.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:32:27]

VAUSE: Thirty-two minutes past the hour. Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm John Vause.

Three days after the midterm elections, hundreds of thousands of ballots are still being counted at this hour in two key Western states: Arizona and Nevada.

The outcomes, along with a runoff in Georgia, will decide the future of the U.S. Senate. Election officials say counting is underway as quickly as possible. Final results, though, are not expected until next week.

With Arizona's race for governor still too close to call, Republican candidate Kari Lake publicly accusing, without any evidence, election officials of deliberately slowing down the vote count.

CNN's Kyung Lah has the latest now from Phoenix.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Here in Maricopa County, the tedious work of democracy continues: counting the vote. Hanging in the balance is control of the U.S. Senate.

Some 78,000 vote results were released this evening by Maricopa County. Didn't really change the races all that much, percentage-wise. But the Democrats, who are currently on a razor lead -- a razor-thin lead -- they got just a bit more vote pad. Now, this is a slow process, and it is a careful process. What we're

hearing, though, on the edges, are some of the Republicans on this ballot who are frustrated, have been talking about some of these election officials might be doing this on purpose, releasing this slowly, on purpose.

And we got strong pushback by election officials here.

BILL GATES, CHAIRMAN, MARICOPA COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS: Quite frankly, it is offensive for Kari Lake to say that these people behind me are slow-rolling this, when they're working 14 to 18 hours. So, I really hope this is the end of that now; we can be patient; and respect the results when they come out.

LAH: The count continues. The election is not over in Maricopa County. Election officials are looking to start to zoom in on some of those election-day ballots.

Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix, Arizona.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Anti-government protestors in Iran are getting some star power backing from a popular Iranian actress, who defied the Morality Police. When we come back, details on who she is and what she's doing.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:38:39]

VAUSE: Anti-government protesters in Iran have received a boost from an Iranian actress, who starred in an Academy Award movie, "The Salesman."

CNN's Jomana Karadsheh has details on who she is and what she did in protest.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOMANA KARADSHEH, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: One prominent Iranian activist outside Iran described this bold move by actress Taraneh Alidoosti as a cultural earthquake.

The actress, with a following of nearly 8 million people on Instagram, very popular, very famous in Iran for the role she played in the Oscar-winning film, the Iranian film "The Salesman," shocked so many around the world by posting a photo of herself, while still inside Iran, with a -- without her mandatory head scarf, the hijab, and holding up a sign with the Kurdish words "(SPEAKING FOREIGN LANGUAGE)," which translates into, "Women, life, freedom," what has become the slogan of the protest, the women's movement, and what has become this national uprising in Iran.

Alidoosti has also been known for speaking out, criticizing the regime. She is a human rights and women's rights defender. In recent days, she's also posted on social media, saying that she is not going to leave her homeland, that she is going to stay in Iran, that she is going to defend those behind bars and the families of those who have been killed.

[00:40:04]

And she said she is ready to pay a price for that.

Now, we don't know if there's been any consequences after she posted this photo. But she is the latest in a series of high-profile figures in the country who have been speaking out, showing their support, showing solidarity with the protesters, something that is probably very embarrassing for the Iranian regime that, for nearly two months now, has been really pushing this narrative that the protests in this country -- in the country are a foreign conspiracy, a foreign plot that is aimed at destabilizing the country, that this is not a people's movement.

Jomana Karadsheh, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: I'm John Vause. For our viewers here in the United States, please stay with us we for continued election coverage.

But for our international viewers, WORLD SPORT is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[00:45:19]

VAUSE: Welcome back, 15 minutes before the top of the hour. And the money taps have been turned on, with millions of dollars about to be spent in Georgia's Senate runoff election.

Democrats plan to spend at least $7 million campaigning for incumbent Senator Ralph [SIC] Warnock -- Raphael Warnock. Republican Herschel Walker's campaign received a $1 million donation from one group opposing abortion rights. Another $2 million came from the Senate minority leader's super PAC.

On Tuesday -- or Wednesday, rather, both men hit the campaign trail.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. RAPHAEL WARNOCK (D-GA), RUNNING FOR REELECTION: I came, really, to ask you one question. Are you ready to do this one more time? I did warn you all that we might be spending Thanksgiving together. And here we are.

WALKER: You get to get out and vote, because you know, he hung around; he hung around and got into this runoff, and he thinking he's going to win. We need to prove him wrong and let him get out of that office.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: For the very latest, here's CNN's Nick Valencia, reporting in from Canton, Georgia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NICK VALENCIA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Thursday was the start of what will no doubt be a very long four weeks for Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker.

The Republican challenger, Herschel Walker, kicked off his run-off campaign --

VALENCIA (voice-over): -- here in Canton, Georgia, in front of a very sizeable crowd, alongside Republican Senator Ted Cruz, the first in what will likely be a cavalry of Republican leaders to come down here to the Southern state over the next four weeks to help Walker with his runoff race.

Addressing a crowd, a very sizeable crowd here in a deeply-red part of the state. A source close to the Walker campaign tells me that it is part of Walker's strategy to get out the vote and focus on red counties where they underperformed, compared to Republican incumbent Governor Brian Kemp, who was able to win his midterm election outright and avoid a runoff.

VALENCIA: At the rally, both Cruz and Walker boldly predicted a win during the run-off. We were also able to catch up with Cruz afterwards and ask him Walker if he thought it was a good idea to invite former president Donald Trump to campaign alongside him, as well.

SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Herschel's made clear he will welcome the support from President Trump, who's supporting him. He said he would welcome the support of Ron DeSantis. He would welcome the support of anyone coming to campaign.

VALENCIA (voice-over): Meanwhile Democratic incumbent Senator Raphael Warnock also kicked off his run-off campaigning just a couple blocks away from Ebenezer Baptist Church. Standing in front of a mural of the famed civil rights icon, John Lewis, Warnock appeared to make a plea to those who may not have voted for him in the midterm.

WARNOCK: And for those of you who made a different choice this time, whether for Herschel Walker or someone else, I want to speak directly to you. Over the next four weeks, I hope you will give me the opportunity to earn your vote.

VALENCIA: But just how important will Georgia be in controlling the Senate? We won't know that until the races in Arizona and Nevada are wrapped up.

But one thing is clear, for the second consecutive election cycle, Georgians find themselves right in the middle of the center of the political universe.

Nick Valencia, CNN, Canton, Georgia.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: To Washington now. Nathan Gonzales, editor and publisher of "Inside Elections." Thank you for being with us. We know it's late.

NATHAN GONZALES, EDITOR AND PUBLISHER, "INSIDE ELECTIONS": No problem. I was in my basement anyway in a suit, so I'm glad you called.

VAUSE: That worked out well.

Very quickly, before we get into sort of the big picture here, is it really much of an advantage to have Senator Ted Cruz come and campaign for you?

GONZALES: I -- I don't think there are many voters in Georgia who are waiting around, they're on the fence, not sure what to do, but waiting for Senator Cruz to tell them what to do.

I mean, if it -- in a close race, everything could matter. And so if it does inspire some voters to turn out. But I think this is probably more about Ted Cruz than it is about Herschel Walker.

VAUSE: Seems it's always about Ted Cruz in some way.

OK. Let's look at the big picture here. Because a month before the elections, I think you had the Republicans gaining between eight and 20 seats in the lower House. So there was a month out. Fair enough, it was a long-range forecast. What changed between then and election day?

GONZALES: Well, what happened, the surprise on election night was not in individual races. It's that the toss-up races broke disproportionately for the Democrats.

It looked like, heading into election day, that Republicans were going to do well with independent, undecided voters who didn't like the job President Biden was doing. They were prioritizing the economy over abortion access and other issues

But in the end, independent voters actually broke slightly for Democratic candidates an either didn't -- those independents either didn't punish Democrats for what they don't like about Joe Biden, or they were uncomfortable voting for Republican candidates.

So the surprise was those -- were those toss-up races.

And now the fight for their House is not over. There is still a narrow path for the Democrats to maintain control which is not something, I think, really anyone envisioned 6 or 12 months ago.

[00:50:0]

VAUSE: Yes. Democrats did very well on a national level in terms of defying traditional trends. What hasn't been talked about a lot is that Democrats did really, really well on state houses across the country, especially in like Michigan, Maryland, Minnesota, Massachusetts. They all start with "M" for some reason.

GONZALES: Well, and picked up the Pennsylvania state house, as well.

I mean, so this is a trend that we're not just seeing at the federal level. Right? That there was -- there was something larger going on.

Part of it had to do with candidate quality. where Republicans in some key races, some key governor's races didn't nominate candidates that were acceptable alternatives for voters who want change.

That's what's remarkable about the cycle, is that voters were primed for change. There's uncertainty with the economy or unrest with gas prices or the cost of living. But Republicans just couldn't pull -- they couldn't make -- close the deal or make the argument that they were ready to take control. And Democrats are -- it looks like Democrats are going to hold the Senate and very narrowly miss keeping the House.

VAUSE: Just how important will those wins be at a state level with this country now facing, you know, divided government in Washington, likely congressional gridlock for the next two years?

GONZALES: I could be huge, because there isn't likely to get much -- anything big done in Washington. You're going to have very narrow majorities in Congress. And even if one party controls both chambers, that doesn't -- they have to get everyone on their own party on the same page.

But you also could have a Republican Congress, part of a Republican Congress, and a Democratic president. Those are not the ingredients for major things.

So it's going to fall to a state level and governors and state houses, where some of the major policy issues could take place over the next two years.

VAUSE: Very quickly. Some of those policy issues that were voted on were all related to climate change and taking action on climate change. There was very sort of a green wave, if you like, at a state level.

GONZALES: I mean, yes. I mean, it depends on which state and which party's in control. But I think when we're talking about -- we could be talking about climate change. But also, do Republicans try to address economic issues, or economic concerns, and Democrats as well.

And abortion access is going to continue to be an issue post-Dobbs. And so the states are really where -- the thing to watch when Washington, if nothing's going to get done.

VAUSE: Yes. The states have -- the Democrats have the states, which has, you know, really reversed a trend which has been happening for some time in those state house races around the country.

Nathan, thank you for staying up late, back to the basement. We appreciate you being with us.

GONZALES: See next time, John

VAUSE: Thank you. Well, the U.S. will have a record number of female governors in 2023. Tuesday's elections, Arkansas with Sarah Huckabee Sanders; Massachusetts with Maura Healey. They elected their first female governors.

As a result, 12 women will hold the top state spots across the country. That includes two races where CNN has not projected a winner, but all the candidates are female.

Still, the record-setting number will represent a fraction of governments across all 50 states. The old record of nine female governors serving concurrently was set in 2004.

Well, at least two people have died because of Hurricane Nicole -- what was Hurricane Nicole. the powerful storm made landfall early Thursday along Florida's east coast.

Dozens of beachfront homes and hotels have been declared unsafe in the wake of the storm.

Images from a dorm room at a college in St. Augustine in Florida shows streets flooded after the hurricane hit. Student Cameron Kraft told CNN the water was about waist-deep.

Nicole has now weakened to a tropical depression. It's expected to produce significant rainfall as it heads North.

Close to a million people across the U.S. are under a winter threat, including blizzard warnings. Some areas could see a foot of snow.

The latest now from CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam. Snowing in parts, but it's, what, 70 degrees here in Georgia, 70 degrees in Chicago. It's nuts.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's hard to believe we're talking about a blizzard and a tropical storm all at the same time. And believe it or not John, and for our people watching at home, these storms are going to kind of merge together, do a little dance over the next 24 hours; and they're going to greatly impact The Eastern Seaboard of the country.

That means travel headaches, travel nightmares for many people will continue.

Let me explain. Here's a look at the 1 million people under the blizzard and winter weather alerts, I should say. This is really the upper Midwest. You can see North Dakota, into Minnesota, winter weather advisories.

These are quickly starting to be eliminated or run out. The storm system is winding down relatively quickly. Just a little bit of light slow left over across Northwestern Minnesota.

There is significant wind behind the system, so that's creating a prompt to the National Weather Service for those blizzard warnings that are still in effect through Friday morning. But we zoom into the Southeastern United States. Here's Tropical

Depression Nicole, drawing in moisture off the Atlantic Seaboard. And look at this. It's also spinning up a few tornadoes across South Carolina and into North Carolina.

And I talked about these two storm systems merging together. Well, look at the copious amounts of precipitation expected around the next two days over the Eastern Seaboard.

[00:55:01]

The blizzard or the low-pressure and cold front that you saw just a moment ago, creating the winter weather across the Northern Plains, that is going to merge with the moisture from the remnants of what was Nicole.

And that is going to produce a significant amount of rainfall, especially from the I-95 corridor to the West. And a lot of wind will also be also included within this forecast for much of the Eastern third of the country.

Just look how these two kind of merge together. There's the cold front responsible for the blizzard and the snow, wintry weather to the North and West. And that is again the remnants of what was Nicole.

They're going to pick up, kind of absorb into each other, produce a significant amount of rain, and then just as quickly as it enters, it exits, because it sweeps off East of the country as we head into the second half of the weekend.

But in the meantime, weather predictions center has a slight risk of flash flooding. This includes places like Rhona (Ph), Charleston, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, the Central Appalachians. This area greatly prone to some of that localized flash flooding, especially when those rainfall totals exceed four inches, which they could possibly do, especially with the remnants of this tropical system moving through.

There's a lot of wind associated with it. This could bring down some branches, some smaller trees, across the Carolinas into the Appalachians, as well as Northern and Central Georgia. You can see the storm system just winding up on itself. Lots of precipitation.

So if you're traveling this weekend, specifically today into Saturday -- D.C., New York, Boston, Syracuse, all the way to Pittsburgh, as well as Columbus and Cincinnati -- it is -- you'll want to double check your flight. You'll want to add extra time, because things are going to get a bit messy out there -- John.

VAUSE: Derek, thank you.

Not since has there been a hurricane and a winter storm at the same time. So how about that?

VAN DAM: You know your weather.

VAUSE: I was checking on the Google machine. Thanks. Thanks, Derek. I'm John Vause. Please stay with us. I'll be back with more of our

special coverage of the midterm elections in just a moment.

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