Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Democrats Gain Ground In Crucial Senate Contests In Nevada And Arizona; Biden To Tout US Climate Legislation At COP27 Summit; Ukrainian Fears 'City Of Death' As Troops Approach Kherson; Mixed Midterm Results for Republican Election Deniers; Government Data Suggests Fed Rate Hikes are Working; At Least 2 Killed in the Wake of Hurricane Nicole; Nearly 1 Million People Across the U.S. Under Winter Threat; Female Ukrainian Soldiers Getting Proper Military Supplies. Aired 1-2a ET

Aired November 11, 2022 - 01:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:00:32]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone, great to have you with us here on CNN. I'm John Vause. It's 1:00 here in Atlanta, Georgia, 11:00 p.m. in Phoenix, Arizona, 10:00 p.m. in Reno, Nevada, three states with Senate races still undecided and votes still being counted.

Georgia now heading for a December runoff. The focus is on two very close races in Arizona and Nevada, two states where incumbent Democrats are trying to hold on to their seats in the U.S. Senate. Let's take a look at the latest updates 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 are being counted from Maricopa County, Arizona is biggest county with about half of the state's total population that includes the city of Phoenix. Kelly's campaign manager has told CNN they are confident and expect to win.

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

CNNs Gary Tuchman has the very latest report again from Las Vegas, Nevada, but first he is CNN's Kyung Lah in Phoenix, Arizona.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (on camera): 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 pat. 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 is 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 VIDEO TAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (on camera): Here in the largest county in the state of Nevada Clark County at the Clark County Election center. We could tell you that the tabulators are done tabulating for the evening. They will resume on Friday. And the 17 counties in the state of Nevada, the Democratic candidate for Senate who was an incumbent, the Democratic candidate for governor who is an incumbent are making up ground with the counting of mail-in ballots. Tens of thousands of ballots still need to be counted in the state of Nevada.

But right now, Catherine Cortez Masto, the Democratic senator has made up about 7,000 votes today is now behind a Republican challenger by 8,000 votes. Meanwhile, Governor Steve Sisolak has made up about 7,000 votes and is behind by 27,000 votes.

So here in Clark County alone the largest county in the state, there are at least 50,000 ballots still the count. These are not ballots that were done in person on election day. These are ballots that were mailed in or dropped in drop boxes on election day.

Now the ballots can come until Saturday. That's the rule here in Nevada. So either way they would have been counted. They're not counted because it's close. They're counting because that's the law. As long as the ballots were postmarked by Tuesday, they could arrive by Saturday and be counted.

So, this will continue totally Saturday. The counting will continue to last until Saturday. And we still don't know who the winners of these very high profile races will be. This is Gary Tuchman, CNN in Las Vegas.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Even with some key races yet to be decided the Biden White House is breathing easy after unexpected Republican blowout never happened. U.S. President Joe Biden says Tuesday's election was the first crucial test of democracy since the January 6 insurrection. Speaking to Democratic campaign workers Thursday, (INAUDIBLE) also want that the ongoing threat posed by Republican election deniers.

[01:05:05]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: Thank you for fighting like the devil to make sure that we had a free and fair election. And you know, all those election deniers so far best of my knowledge, none of them has not said they when they lost, they said we lost. That's a big deal. No, I really mean it. You know, Tuesday was a good day for America. A good day for democracy. And it was a strong night for Democrats.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: Standing by for us this hour in New York is Ron Brownstein, CNN senior political analyst and senior editor for The Atlantic. Thanks for being with us. Ron, I know you've had a long couple days.

RON BROWNSTEIN, CNN Senior Political Analyst: Yes, John, what a week.

VAUSE: What a week, and it's not over yet. Let's look at the chat on Tuesday, because Republican voters outnumber Democrat voters by a significant number. Now, at the same time, a CNN exit poll found that in the House 49 percent of independent voters went for a Democrat candidate while 47 percent went for a Republican. And according to David Shor, from the Blue Rose Research group, Democrats, one independent voters, which may be the first time that a party that controls the presidency, has won independence in the midterms since 2002. They got a lot of self-identified Republicans to vote for them. That's the Democrats. And they did these things, especially well, inclusive races.

That's the how Democrats managed to defy the odds. But what about the why? Why did independents go for Democrats over Republicans?

BROWNSTEIN: Yes, look, you know, I described this in October as a double negative election. As we saw in the exit poll, a majority of voters disapprove of the way Joe Biden is handling the presidency. You have incredible numbers 75 or 80 percent saying the economy is only fair or poor. Large numbers, as you as you know in the exit poll, saying that inflation has been a moderate or severe hardship on them. And historically, those are the kinds of numbers that produce, you know, a route for the party holding the White House, particularly among those independent voters.

But there was a second negative judgment that bounded and limited the impact of the first, which is that many of those same voters have deep concerns about the Republican Party in the Trump era. And what Democrats were able to do was focused just enough voters not only on the question of what Democrats had done with power, but on the question of what Republicans would do with power.

And I think the reluctance to give Republicans unified control, symbolized and crystallized by the issue of abortion, and also about democracy, is what allowed Democrats to really avoid the worst in this midterm, especially given those underlying economic attitudes and attitudes about bite.

VAUSE: As for American democracy, let's get to that, because the nonpartisan States United Action reporting a bad night for candidates who ran on a platform refusing to recognize the legitimacy of the 2020 vote. They report election denialism has failed to green new ground in most of the statewide races, which have already been called, it seems the status quo then will remain. That's not a loss for the American democracy. But is it a win?

BROWNSTEIN: You know, I would say no, I would say the threat is still there. I mean, because what we've seen happen since 2020, is the kind of germ of election denial has spread through the Republican Party and the idea that it will now go away if and when Trump ever does, you know, seems very naive. It can you -- in Arizona, the final outcome is Kari Lake losing by a few 1,000 votes, which is possible, and that's probably going to be cited by a few 1,000. Either way, if she loses by a few 1,000 votes, does anybody thinks she just walks away.

VAUSE: That's pretty close to Donald Trump. A lot of speculation now over his hold on the Republican Party. Trumpty Dumpty was the headline on the front page of the Murdoch own traditionally Trump friendly New York Post saying perhaps that maybe the Republican establishment is turning on Trump.

This is a Republican Party, which stood by him despite the January 6 uprising, despite his attempts to overturn a legitimate election, despite the harm is done to democratic values, despite the discovery of hundreds of classified documents at Trump. I mean, this list goes on but if Trump becomes an election liability that's what finally do that?

BROWNSTEIN: His electoral superpower is turning out low propensity white voters, right. I mean, there's no question that he brought in a lot of non-college non-urban voters who had not previously been regular participants and Republicans have always wanted the best of both worlds. They have wanted to benefit from that without necessarily alienating the suburban voters who continue by the way and Tuesday's results to recoil from Trump.

So you know, now I think you will see more of a desire for an alternative, but it's not simple, John and something that viewers around the world need to understand is that the rules by which Republican --Republicans pick a presidential nominee are very different than the rules by which a Democrat picks a presidential nominee.

The Republican rules really advantage whoever has the single largest block of support, even if that's less majority, it has many more winner take all features.

[01:10:05]

So even if there's a 55 or 58 percent majority of Republican voters who don't want Trump again, if he can hold 40 to 42 to 44, that is going to make it very hard for anyone else to get past them. I would just parenthetically note that in 2016, he had become the presumptive nominee, pulling away from the field before he reached 50% of the vote in any state. And that is something that could happen again, unless the party consolidates more quickly than it did in 16. The honest single alternative to Trump

VAUSE: Yes, two years until then we'll see what that was a year or so we get to that point, Ron, it's coming up soon. Thanks for being with us.

You're watching CNN. And there's a lot more to come including a live report from the climate change summit in Egypt. The first stop on the U.S. President's three nation tour, also had the Ukrainian flag flying high over once occupied liberated territory, liberated by Ukrainian offensive which is inching closer to the city of Kherson.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:15:07]

VAUSE: Welcome back, everyone, U.S. President Joe Biden. They're heading for Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt departing from Joint Base Andrews late Thursday. Coming hours he'll deliver remarks at the COP27 Climate Conference. He'll also meet with Egypt's President. Biden is expected to call for nations to quote keep their eyes on the ball when it comes to reducing global emissions. It also focused on increased spending by the U.S. on renewable energy part of a stepped up commitment to reduce the impact of climate change.

CNN White House reporter Kevin Liptak, is there in Sharm el-Sheikh waiting for the president. He joins us now live. So just a year ago, what COP26 and Glasgow, Biden turned up empty handed received a lot of criticism for that. Not this time.

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, he walked into that summit in Scotland just as his proposed climate plan was totally falling apart. Republicans opposed to there were key Democrats that were holdouts. And it is interesting how much difference a year has made. Eventually that bill passed, it was sort of a slog for the President, but it did include $370 billion to combat climate change. That was the largest investment in American history. And the President certainly does feel like he's entering this conference.

Now, a year later, having put his money where his mouth is when it comes to sort of goading other nations into making their own significantly ambitious climate pledges. And White House officials say that he does plan to try and leverage those commitments when he speaks later today in Sharm el-Sheikh to try and tell leaders that now is the time for the -- for their own countries to step up, for the for their own countries to make very, very significant investments to try and curb global warming.

The President does feel like he has his wind at his back when he's coming into this summit and onto the rest of the trip, in part because of the midterm elections, which seemed as if they were a referendum on his choices over the last year. And so the President does feel pretty good.

What White House officials say that he'll say in his remarks is that other leaders need to keep their eye on the ball when it comes to curbing greenhouse gases and stay focused on this specific issue. One issue that he will confront here is that a lot of leaders are focused on a different issue, which is the issue of climate reparations.

Basically, some poor countries who are being adversely affected by climate change are asking for wealthier nations, who are the largest emitters of greenhouse gases to pay up to essentially pay them to help build resilience for issues like floods, fires, other extreme events that are directly related to climate change.

What the President's dilemma is, is that there really is no support for that politically, particularly if Republicans take control of the Congress. And that is sort of the issue, the dynamic that the President has, as he embarks on this round the world seven day trip, certainly the President will tell these leaders as he does everywhere around the world that America is back that its renewing its commitments to allies, to things like democracy and climate change.

And certainly the biggest threat to that is President Trump and he does appear politically weakened, but at the same time for Republicans take control of one or more chambers of the Congress, the President's agenda will be severely corrupt. So those are the two things that the President is balancing as he arrives here in a few hours in Sharm el- Sheikh. John.

VAUSE: Kevin, we appreciate the update. Kevin Liptak live for us in Sharm el-Sheikh . Well the COP27 summit is part of a week-long trip that will take President Biden to several major summits. From Egypt, he heads to Phnom Penh in Cambodia for the Asia Summit on Saturday and Sunday, then it's on to Bali, Indonesia for the G20. And then he said to meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on the sidelines. First time the two have met in person since Biden was elected president.

Ukrainian troops continue to close in on the occupied city of Kherson slowly and with caution along the way, liberating more than 40 settlements in the south since Wednesday, when Russia announced its troops would begin to withdraw from Kherson.

These images appear to show destroyed military hardware left behind by the Russians. Ukrainian military leaders say there are signs that Russia has started to pull out but officials remain doubtful during 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 ADVISER: First, this is a significant military milestone for the Ukrainians if in fact it happens that Russia follows through and withdraws to the far side of the Dnipro River. Of course we're going to watch actions and not just announcements to see what actually unfold.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: The Russian retreat from Kherson is a major blow to the Kremlin and Vladimir Putin. Kherson was the first one Each city that Russia captured and held since its invasion began in February and for Ukrainians they doubt the Russian soldiers are ready to give up the city and go quietly into the night.

[01:20:10]

Here's more now from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (on camera): A Trump is what Ukrainian officials say they are concerned about as they advance towards Kherson. They say that they are going to complete this operation with military secrecy to protect their forces. But even so, through Thursday, they were making gains on the ground.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Today, the village of Snihurivka is liberated the soldier announces. His handful of troops claiming a small victory on the road to Kherson, well received by an apparently appreciative crowd.

Elsewhere on Ukraine's cautious advanced to liberate the port city, another tiny band of soldiers celebrate an objective secured. Since Russia's announced retreat, villages are being taken quickly. In Kalynivka (ph), Russians fled so fast, they left their flag rapidly removed by the Ukrainians.

Meanwhile, Russian troops retreating under orders east across the strategic Dnipro River characterize their ignominious exit as smart, noting the damage to the bridge that supplied them.

Russia's defense chiefs are also spinning the withdrawal as a smart move to save soldier's lives, but is in stark contrast to their callous and calamitous loss of soldiers in the war so far.

ROBERTSON (on camera): What was once the jaw and Putin's conquest this year and illegally declared part of Russia less than six weeks ago is becoming the most embarrassing setback for Putin so far. Failure to spend retreat as smart strategy will undermine his leadership.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Ukrainian officials continue to be skeptical of Putin's motives question whether retreat is also a trap.

NATALIA GUMENIUK, UKRAINIAN MILITARY SPOKESPERSON (through translator): The process of poor shook they are simply searching for a way out of a difficult situation. The fact that they so deliberately announced that they were moving to the left bank did not surprise anyone. But we understand that we will still have to fight.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): On the battlefield, Ukrainian soldiers appear to be gaining momentum. Nevertheless, officials warn it could be days even longer, before Kherson safely under control again. ROBERTSON (on camera): How safe it will actually be as unclear Russian commanders say they're pulling their troops back to form defensive positions on the other side of the Dnipo River on the east bank. Both Ukrainians and Russians, however, after these battles are fought for Kherson will be able to redeploy forces to other parts of the country and that's a significant gain for both forces. Nic Robertson, CNN, Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

VAUSE: Ukraine will soon receive new air defenses to combat drone attacks as part of a new $400 million U.S. aid package, which includes four Avenger air defense systems, which can shoot down helicopters, as well as drones, also Hawk missiles and other ammunition. In total, the U.S. has provided $18.6 billion in security assistance to Ukraine since the war began.

U.S. officials have been urging the Ukrainian president Zelenskyy in recent weeks to show he's at least open to talks with Russia. CNN's Christiane Amanpour sat down with Zelenskyy and Ukraine's First Lady for an exclusive interview, and she pressed the president if he's being pressured to negotiate.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: Mr. President, you've obviously heard there all these articles being written there, these foreign policy analysts who are saying, isn't enough already for you do should you go to the negotiating table? Some of these countries with economic pressures on their own who is supporting you now? Are they -- are you feeling any pressure to go to the negotiating table?

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): Look, they don't want this war to be finished. Now, before having any fatigue. Everyone has to understand that it's only the Kremlin and only one person, the head of the Russian Federation who's not tired or the war.

For our part, we say Please respect our principles of the UN Charter. Please respect our territorial integrity. Please respect our people, our rights, our freedom, our land, and our choice. That's it. So, this word fatigue is a big word. You can't get fatigued. So it's too early for all of us to get fatigued.

[01:25:10]

But when Russia truly wants speaks, we will definitely feel and I see that. But you know, you can't wish for peace with words alone, the amount of words are not enough, stop the war, withdraw from a territory, stop killing people, start reimbursing the damages inflicted on our countrymen, criminals must be prosecuted. So words are not enough.

AMANPOUR: Do you think the women are getting enough support? Tell me what this says about your country that there's a huge level of women comparative to other NATO countries in the military. And actually on the front line.

OLENA ZELENSKA, UKRAINIAN FIRST LADY (through translator): I think it's that the number of women who volunteered to join the armed forces, there's almost 40,000 that speaks for itself. These are the women who chose the path of the military in wartime, not in peacetime, when it will be more of a military romantic idea. The shortage of purely female things in the uniform. There's only male underwear in the army. Women in the armed forces are still unique. But it's not unique in Ukraine anymore.

And this whole war, it continues our path towards gender equality. And we've already made great strides in this. So this (INAUDIBLE) is as equal as Ukrainian society. I'm certain that after this war, women's rights will be even stronger. We've already made strides and we already have women generals.

ZELENSKYY (through translator): Bravery has no gender.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VAUSE: And later this hour, Christiane will report on the women fighting on the frontlines of Ukraine finally about to receive that equipment designed specifically for women, not men. It's a breakthrough inequality born in a moment of crisis.

Well, still to come, U.S. central bank has been attacking sky high inflation for months. Now the latest government figures appear to show those Fed rate hikes are doing the job. These details in just a moment. Also ahead, control of the U.S. Congress in limbo. Dozens of races still too close to call. We'll take a closer look and how Republican election deniers have fared.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[01:31:41]

JOHN VAUSE, CNN ANCHOR: It has just got 31 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 in two key western states -- Arizona and Nevada. The outcomes, along with the runoff in Georgia will decide the future of the U.S. Senate.

Election officials say counting is underway as quickly as possible but still final results are expected until next week. Right now CNN projects Republicans will have 49 Senate seats to the Democrats 48. That means Democrats would have to two of the three outstanding Senate races to be in the majority.

Republicans are just 7 seats shy of claiming control of the U.S. House but with more than 30 races still undecided, it is still mathematically possible for Democrats to hit that 218 threshold.

These midterms are the first national elections in the United States since the January 6 insurrection at the Capitol. Republicans did not see the dramatic wins which they'd expected and results were a mixed bag for the GOP elections deniers. Several won or could still win their races but others just didn't fare so well.

CNN's Brian Todd breaks down the numbers.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: A big theme in these midterms, the prominence of election deniers. We are focusing on those prominent deniers starting in the states were deniers can still win really important races for senator, governor AND secretary of state.

One of the most well-known and aggressive deniers in the Arizona, Republican Kari Lake, still in a tightly contested race for governor. She has falsely declare that President Biden's win there in 2020 was stolen and demanded this year that Biden's 2020 win in Arizona be decertified which is an impossibility.

Another denier, Republican Blake Masters, still in that close race in Arizona for senator.

In Nevada, a tight race could put denier Adam Laxalt in office as a U.S. senator. Laxalt made several false claims about the 2020 election saying it was rigged and he's made baseless claims about the integrity of the vote count in that state.

But there are also very important races for secretary of state in Arizona and Nevada that have not been called yet. These are critical because the secretary of state basically runs the election process in both states.

And in those two states, aggressive election deniers are still in the running. In Nevada, Jim Marchant could be on the cusp of a victory. He has insisted that it was, quote, "almost statistically impossible that Joe Biden won in Nevada in 2020," which is flat out wrong.

And these claims that election winners in Nevada since 2006 have been, quote, "installed by the deep state cabal".

In Arizona, Mark Finchem is still in a tight race for secretary of state. He's called for the arrest of Democrats who were involved in overseeing the 2020 election.

These are men who could be running elections, certifying election results in those crucial states.

Now, let's look at the prominent candidates among election deniers who have already won or lost. One of the big winners among deniers, J.D. Vance. He's going to be the next Republican senator from Ohio. Vance has claimed that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. He claimed that people were voting illegally on a large-scale basis -- both completely false claims.

Among the prominent losers, Don Bolduc, the Senate candidate from New Hampshire. And Doug Mastriano, the gubernatorial candidate from Pennsylvania. His campaign chartered buses to Donald Trump's rally in Washington on January 6, and he was photographed on Capitol grounds that they though he was never charged with anything.

[01:34:58]

TODD: Brian Todd, CNN -- Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

VAUSE: Voters consistently named the economy as their number one concern at the midterm elections. And Thursday, there are some encouraging news on inflation.

The latest numbers for October show inflation has eased to 7.7 percent over the past year; much better than the 8 percent many analysts had expected.

The market responded, the Dow gaining 1,200 points. But experts warned not enough and the Federal Reserve is widely expected to continue raising interest rates, maybe not as aggressively as before.

To Los Angeles now, Ryan Patel, a senior fellow at the Drucker School of Management at Claremont Graduate University. It is good to see you.

RYAN PATEL, SENIOR FELLOW, DRUCKER SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT AT CLAREMONT GRADUATE UNIVERSITY: Good seeing you, John.

VAUSE: So the latest numbers are out, and on Wall Street the clouds have cleared, the sun is shining, birds are singing and the Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman has tweeted from on high.

A soft landing for the economy is looking increasingly plausible. "Plausible" is an interesting choice of words because it means you could really make the case for something to happen to be true, or possible means in fact capable of becoming true. Where do you stand? Are you with the very nuanced Mr. Krugman or with Wall Street investors who seem to believe the days of sky-high inflation could be coming to an end.

PATEL: John, do you hear that? That is just a sigh of relief but we're not over it yet. You know, it is nice to see that we are seeing some traction. I still don't know if we're at the peak yet.

We've seen this John before a handful of months ago, thinking we're at the peak. But I think it's showing that the inflation, you know, what the Fed is doing is working. Let's just sigh.

However, we are not out of the woods yet. We're still -- we're trying to get the 2 percent inflation, where you just mentioned we're just at a coming down. It's going to take a little bit while, especially when you think about wage growth at the same time.

So, I'm not sitting here. Yes I'm glad the market -- this would feel like it's a good day John. It's great of this high volume that we're seeing but we're not there yet. VAUSE: I think it's always to good to check in with the Chamber of

Commerce president in Delmarva, Maryland Bill Chambers and you want to have some good old fashioned, you know, nuanced advice here.

He says inflation bumping down 8.2 percent to 7.7 percent doesn't make a hill of beans in how a family is able to operate in this economy.

You know what, he's narrow on the head because prices are still high, the impact of really high inflation hasn't gone away. Prices haven't come down.

Price increases has slowed. So what does the average family here have to celebrate?

PATEL: Yes. I mean I think what you're going to see these prices -- it's great that we this news but it's not going to help the change the cost in childcare, health care, or even food or restaurants. I think when you also see that wages are rising, or wage prices are also rising. So companies are going to do what? They're going to pass that cost to the consumers. So we're still going to see some price increases that you're going to pay.

Just that inflation is coming down. But not coming down quick enough. And I think that is where the Fed, what we're going to see in December up 50 basis points. Most likely in January, another 25 basis points.

For those who are taking this news that the market is happy, thinking that the Fed is going to not increase anything. That is a false tense. Because you're going to see them still be aggressive in the next couple of meetings.

VAUSE: Do we know what the Federal Reserve, in particular, you know, the torturer in chief Jerome Powell who keeps turning the screws. What are they actually looking for here in terms of, you know, falling inflation though? One month, two months, three months? What is the number? Put a number on it.

PATEL: Well, I would say two months. Because they really need to kind of ratchet this back down. So the next month of the CPI index with inflation will be telling to see if there's an actual pricing dropping, not just inflation, but also prices, John, the everyday items.

That is important in this, as well as jobs. Don't forget. Unemployment is the number that you're looking at. They're seeing the growth -- job growth as well. So ideally too, but conservatively, I have a feeling the Fed is not going to let off -- you know, let off the gas until they see a couple of months and then feel really comfortable.

Also I think the January meeting would be interesting, if they were going to come off of anything it would be that meeting. Or maybe the next one after that.

VAUSE: And this gets into the timing of everything. Because as Mr. Krugman pointed out, it is plausible at this point that we could have that, you know, that soft landing that seems so unobtainable. So off there in the distance.

What is the risk though that they do go too far here and they do put the economy into recession?

PATEL: Yes. I mean the soft landing. And I hat to disagree it's like the soft landing means there is a clear path John, that I could see that we're getting there. There's too many variables, and too many data points that are all over the place.

So the soft landing, yes, it is possible. But is it a highly likely? I mean probably not. Even the Federal chairman said that's probably not in the summer of that aspect. So I think what we're going to see, and more importantly the economy continues to be resilient. It's actually to cause some issues with the Federal Reserve and how they approach this.

[01:39:50]

PATEL: Again, I want to say we're not out of the woods yet. We see the international conflict. We see Europe in an inflation crisis, they're all going to have an impact. We've see companies having cuts to job growth, issues going into the (INAUDIBLE) -- we're going to also see retail sales of course. John, you've got to pay attention to see if we're going to hit those same numbers that consumers are spending.

And then we're going to go to the first couple of quarters next year and see where we are in the state of the economy and the Fed is going to be paying attention to see if it got better or did it take a step back.

VAUSE: I need a spreadsheet for all of this. Got to follow it all the time.

Ryan, that's why we have you. Thank you Ryan Patel.

PATEL: Thanks, John.

VAUSE: Cheers, mate.

We'll take a break. When we come back, Hurricane Nicole takes its toll across parts of Florida, destroying homes, leaving thousands without electricity. It's not over yet, the latest forecast in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: At least two people have died due to what was Hurricane Nicole. The powerful storm made landfall early Thursday along Florida's east coast. Dozens of beach front homes and hotels have been declared unsafe in the wake of the storm.

These images captured from a dorm room at (INAUDIBLE) college in St. Augustine, Florida show streets flooded once the hurricane hit.

[01:44:56]

VAUSE: Student Cameron Kraft (ph) told CNN the water was about waist deep. They were trapped inside the dormitory.

The storm has now weakened to a tropical depression but expected to produce significant rainfall as it continues to head north.

Nearly a million people across the U.S. are under a winter threat, including blizzard warnings. Some areas might receive a foot of snow.

Let's go to CNN meteorologist Derek Van Dam for details on this. You've got a tropical storm at one end and you've got a snowstorm at the other.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's crazy to think that we are talking about that, right? I believe I learned something from you the last hour, something like the last time we had a blizzard warning and a tropical storm warning was back in Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

So pretty interesting to see that we are talking about both a tropical system and a winter system at the same time, right? The change of seasons.

Well, this is what is left of the winter storm across the Northern Plains and into the Midwest. Not much, just a few more inches of snow anticipated across North Dakota and extreme northwestern sections of Minnesota.

There is a lot of wind associated with it. So it's blowing and drifting the snowfall. But what I'm going to show you now -- here is the weather alerts that are currently ongoing. By the way, that ice storm warning, that's all thanks to the kind of a spray coming off of Lake Superior. But this is the remnants of what was Hurricane Nicole spiraling across the southeastern U.S.

And so there it is, there you have it. The winter storm to the north, the tropical storm impacting the southeast. And this is going to usher and garner (ph) in a complete change in our weather pattern across the U.S. And I will show you that in just one second. By the way, we have a tornado watch in place for places across South Carolina and portions of North Carolina as well. That severe weather shifts into portions of the mid-Atlantic for the day on Friday.

These two systems are almost going to do a dance over the next 24 hours. What I mean by that is, the moisture, that is the rainfall associated with the remnants of Nicole is going to actually get swept up by this cold front that is producing the snowfall across the upper Midwest. They combine to produce an extremely wet weekend for the East Coast.

So, we've got travel headaches in place if you are traveling anywhere across the I-95 corridor. Some of the airports -- Syracuse, Pittsburgh through Columbus as well as Cleveland, Roanoke to Richmond -- the potential here for flash flooding exists anywhere you see that shading of yellow. That is for the mid-Atlantic, northern sections of New England into the central Appalachians. We have the potential for flash flooding across that area.

Again, that is all thanks to the remnants of Nicole that continue to move across the region, bringing wind as well as the potential of heavier rainfall onset across this particular region. Both of these systems working in tandem to produce this extremely wet weekend across areas.

So do take care and double check those travel plans if you are traveling this weekend, John.

VAUSE: The climate is a-changing, Derek. Thank you, Derek Van Dam. Appreciate that.

We'll take a short break here on CNN. Back in a moment.

[01:47:42]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

VAUSE: Tens of thousands of Ukrainian women fighting against Russia's invasion are now getting supplies that will help them in battle, supplies specifically made for women in war.

For more on that here's CNN's Christiane Amanpour.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR: At a nondescript store front in Kyiv covered with plastic against prying eyes, a major war effort is underway. Boxes of kit reveal a first of its kind -- fatigues designed for a mother to be.

So was there never, Andre, anything for pregnant women before?

ANDRE KOLESNYK, COFOUNDER, ZEMLYACHKI: Never, ever.

AMANPOUR: How many pregnant women are fighting the Russians?

KOLESNYK: I'm not sure there's a lot. But there are.

AMANPOUR: Andre and Casenia (ph) are married TV journalists in real life who now do this work. A female friend turned frontline sniper told them that she was pregnant and needed a new uniform. They are also sending female soldiers smaller boots, lighter Kevlar plates for their flatbed (ph).

On this day Roxelana (ph) comes in for a new uniform. She's in an intelligence unit near the front and joined up in March, totally unprepared.

"It's so valuable to have these people who understand that we are tired of wearing clothes that are three sizes too big," she tells me. We had no helmets. We had old flap jackets. We were tracksuits and sneakers. Now we feel that we are human.

The Ukrainian ministry of defense says there are more than 50,000 women under arms. More than 5,000 of them on the front line -- amongst them, Andre's sister.

KOLESNYK: She received a men's uniform, men's underwear, everything that's designed for men.

AMANPOUR: Females also need customized sanitary, medical and humanitarian supplies. Casenia and Andre have sent out 3,000 of these care packages. They produced 300 uniforms and planned for at least another 2,000, all winterized.

And then there is this vital tool.

Oh, my, god, I have never seen that. A feminine urinary director for women of all ages. Basically, they pee in that, right, if there's not toilet?

KOLESNYK: No. Not in, they pee like men.

AMANPOUR: Look at that. Oh my God. If only I had known that in all the years I was in the field.

And as a parting gift, they throw in this book on resilience and courage amid battle and in captivity, which happened to Elina Panina (ph), five months ago after the fall of Mariupol.

She's part of a canine border guard unit and like so many of the port cities defenders, she had been hunkering down in the giant Azovstal Steel Plant. She was recently released as part of an all-female prisoner exchange with Russia.

We meet at this pizza bar run by vets. Were you prepared for life as the POW?

"No, I was not," she says. And we discussed this a lot with the other women prisoners, that life has not trained us for such an ordeal. While in captivity, though, I said I will continue my service. And I have no plans to stop.

Back at their private procurement center, Andre says he wishes he could join his sister, father and brother in law all at the front. But a physical disability means that he is not eligible.

[01:55:00]

KOLESNYK: For a man, it's kind of hard though to understand that you can't go there and your sister is there. So I am trying to do my best here to help not only my family but the whole army.

AMANPOUR: And the reviews from the battlefield are in.

"It is just amazing," says Anastasia. "I'm happy as a child. The uniform is ideal, it looks great and the fabric is very sturdy.

Meantime, Roxelana's new boots are made for marching all the way back to the front.

Christiane Amanpour, CNN -- Kyiv.

(END VIDEOTAPE) VAUSE: Before we go, we've got an update now. Three days after midterm elections, hundreds of thousands of ballots are still being counted in two key western states -- Arizona and Nevada.

Right now CNN projecting Republicans will have 49 senate seats, Democrats 48, which means Democrats would have to take two of the three outstanding senate races for control of the upper house.

Republicans are just seven seats shy from claiming control of the U.S. House -- the lower house, that is -- but with more than 30 races still undecided, it's mathematically possible for Democrats to reach the 218 threshold.

Well, thank you for watching. I'm John Vause.

Our special coverage of the midterm elections in the United States continues with Kim Brunhuber after a very short break.

See you next week.

[01:56:19]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)