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America's Choice 2022; Russia's War on Ukraine; Biden in Asia for ASEAN and G20. Aired 2-3a ET

Aired November 12, 2022 - 02:00   ET

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

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MICHAEL HOLMES, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Welcome to our viewers watching across the United States and all around the world, live from the CNN Center in Atlanta. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Well, Democratic fortunes shifted over the last several hours, with incumbent Mark Kelly expected to retain his Senate seat in Arizona. A win in Nevada would secure Democrat control of the upper chamber.

Now that state race is virtually tied. Just have a look at the numbers there. Republican Adam Laxalt has watched his narrow lead slip away with Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto now about just 800 votes behind.

But the big story tonight, Mark Kelly's projected win in Arizona, putting Democrats one seat closer to Senate control, with hundreds of thousands of ballots still to be counted. I spoke earlier with CNN's Manu Raju about what went wrong with Republicans.

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MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Inflation has been obviously a huge issue throughout this campaign season. They thought tying him to the national environment would be enough to knock him down. But he played in what turned out to be an underperforming candidate in the election.

Blake Masters, someone who'd been endorsed by the former president, Donald Trump, who'd been propped up because of that Trump endorsement but someone who never got the full support of the Republican establishment.

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HOLMES: Let's get straight to Arizona with CNN's Kyung Lah in Phoenix.

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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The vote count here in Maricopa County is still continuing. But CNN is now projecting that senator Mark Kelly, the Democratic incumbent, will defeat a challenge from Republican Blake Masters.

The vote count here is 82 percent complete, as workers, here you can see, are still going through the ballots. About 265,000 to 275,000 votes still remain to be counted.

The Masters campaign had hoped that this latest vote result would be the turnaround, clearing a path, a possible path to victory, where he could catch up and overtake the Democratic senator. That simply did not materialize.

Senator Kelly released a statement after multiple news organizations projected that he would indeed win, saying, quote, "I'm humbled by the trust our state has placed in me to continue this work."

And we're also getting reaction from Republicans here in the state of Arizona. The party here increasingly has seen a divide between the moderate McCain Republicans and the Trump wing.

Republican analyst and operative Barrett Marson tweeted, quote, "Arizona is a conservative state but not a Trump state and voters keep telling us that." -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix.

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HOLMES: Let's take you to Nevada now, where only about 800 votes separate two candidates in that crucial Senate contest. CNN's Gary Tuchman with our report.

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GARY TUCHMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Senate race here in the state of Nevada is so very close. Let us tell you where the mail-in ballots are that still need to be counted in this state.

First of all, in Washoe County, that's northern Nevada, where Reno is located, there's about 11,000 ballots still to be counted.

And Douglas County, a small county in Western Nevada, the county seat is Minden; the population is 50,000. It's very Republican. That county hasn't elected a president -- a Democratic president -- since before World War II. They have about 2,000 ballots outstanding.

But this is the big prize, this building behind me. This is the Clark County election department. Clark County is where Las Vegas is. About three-quarters of Nevadans live in this county. There's still 23,000 mail-in ballots to count inside this building.

And an additional 15,000 ballots are provisional ballots or ballots that need to be cured. What that means is some people don't put their signature on the ballot. As long as they put their signature on the ballot, it then gets counted.

So that's a total of 38,000 more ballots. So there's still a lot of counting to do in this race that's really tight -- this is Gary Tuchman, CNN, in Las Vegas.

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HOLMES: All right, joining me now is Natasha Lindstaedt, a professor of government at the University of Essex in England.

Really appreciate your time. A big night for Democrats. Republicans fancied themselves as taking Arizona, it was something they thought was vulnerable. And we've seen what's happened.

Why do you think that has been?

NATASHA LINDSTAEDT, UNIVERSITY OF ESSEX: Well, I think it's just the fact that this has been a rebuke of Trump and right-wing extremism. I think that you have a lot of Americans that actually don't want the country to be that divided.

And you saw that candidates that went too far extreme were punished for doing so. But you also saw there was a strong incumbency effect, which is interesting in a midterm. You know, in the House, there were only six Democrats that lost their seats that were running for re- election and only three Republicans.

And as of yet, we haven't had any incumbent from the Senate that has lost yet. So people seem to be sticking with what they know. And this is really a big change from just even the 2010 midterm election, when Obama was in his first term. The Democrats last 63 seats. That's not what happened in this midterm.

And so I think that the Republicans were overly optimistic that they were going to capitalize on American frustration with the economy, with inflation.

And it turned out that a lot of American voters were really concerned about the state of democracy, about the direction that Trump and his grassroots movement were going and wanted to put a stop to this.

HOLMES: And abortion as well, I think, factored in heavily in the eyes of many and perhaps Republicans underestimated how much.

Where do you think all of what's happened leaves Donald Trump?

We've seen what happened in Florida, a big win there for Ron DeSantis. And he's been sort of hailed as the shining light.

Do you think, as some do, that Trump is done?

LINDSTAEDT: So Trump is never done. He seems to always have a hold, psychological hold on the Republican Party. They are transfixed by him. What I do think this does to the Republican Party is puts it in complete disarray.

Ron DeSantis had a very decisive victory in Florida. He's very popular in Florida. He was managing to win over Hispanic voters, which is also very important to the Republicans, because they are making some gains with Hispanic voters.

And so you see the Republicans have a big choice ahead of them. They know after this midterm that Trump was a liability. Trump and his values were hurting the Republicans, not helping them.

But the question is whether or not they're going to be able to -- to oust him in the primaries. And he's probably going to make his announcement he's running, of course. And this is going to lead to a huge disagreement in the Republican Party and that exactly is what the Democrats want.

HOLMES: Yes, which kind of brings me to, you know, we talked about Arizona. We haven't talked about Nevada yet. But Georgia is going to be having this runoff election. And that's going to be in a couple weeks in December. Trump may well, as you point out, announce before then.

How much might that hurt Republicans in that runoff election?

You've got to remember a lot of people, you know, voted for Raphael Warnock, the Democrat, because they didn't like Trump.

So if he's announced a campaign, do you think that hurts the Republican runoff chances?

LINDSTAEDT: Yes, I think that would be a huge mistake. And I think Republicans are trying to get him to not do that because that Senate race is so important to them. And I think that Warnock is going to try to connect Herschel Walker to Trump and to the fact these are both inexperienced politicians that don't know what they're doing.

That's going to be part of the campaign by Warnock, to really portray Herschel Walker as just completely unfit for this Senate seat and tie him to Trump and all of the chaos and disarray that followed that presidency.

HOLMES: The -- I mean there was only a runoff because there was a third candidate, who was a libertarian.

Do you have any sense of where those libertarian votes would go in a runoff?

LINDSTAEDT: I mean, that's also a really good question. And normally you think libertarian voters might vote Republican because those are the values that they share in term of taxes and the way they want the economy to be run.

And then they don't vote for Walker because they just don't think he's a particularly good candidate. But what might happen in the runoff is you see these types of voters just don't end up voting in the runoff.

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LINDSTAEDT: That's going to be really the key factor is how well the Republicans and how well the Democrats can get their voters to the polls again and vote. What we saw with the election of Warnock, in the previous election, is he was able to capitalize on all the work Stacey Abrams had done in getting the vote out for Democratic voters.

HOLMES: It's going to be interesting in the House of Representatives, of course, the red wave became a red trickle. It's embarrassing how narrow their lead is going to be in holding the House. But the truth is they will likely hold it.

That doesn't matter by how many. That kind of ruins the next two years for Joe Biden, doesn't it, legislatively?

LINDSTAEDT: It definitely makes it incredibly complicated and I think we're going to see political paralysis here, where there's not going to be much that gets done, much to the frustration of American citizens that are hoping for something from Congress, some sort of effvns from Congress.

I think what we're going to see is more disputes within the Republican Party, though, because they don't have a big enough victory. And we know they're not going to have a huge victory. It's going to require a lot of discipline in the House among Republicans.

That'll play to the advantage of Democrats. In the last two years, Democrats have been criticized for fighting amongst themselves, not getting anything done and having a lot of polarization within their own party. I think that's what we're going to see on the Republican side in the next two years.

HOLMES: And to that point, Kevin McCarthy, to become speaker, he's going to have to deal with that, right, the Freedom Caucus as they're called, who are going to make demands upon him. There are plenty of moderate Republicans in the House as well.

How is that going to play out?

That a very fine line for him to walk. And the reality is the Freedom Caucus has the leverage.

LINDSTAEDT: That's right. And I think the Republicans are really at a crossroads here because even though the Freedom Caucus does have the leverage, the electoral results show that, if they go too far to the Right, they're going to get punished and they're going to go down the road of, you know, selecting Trump in the primaries.

And he will not win. So if they go too far -- and we saw this happened with the tea party movement in 2010. They went too far and Obama was re-elected in 2012. That's something that the Republicans have to be really cautious of, because, if they overreach, they're going to get punished in two years.

HOLMES: Fascinating. Interesting to see how it's going to play out. Natasha, always good to speak with you. Thanks so much.

LINDSTAEDT: Thanks for having me.

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HOLMES: The Ukrainian city of Kherson is enjoying the first full day of freedom after months of Russian occupation.

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HOLMES (voice-over): Still to come, Ukrainians rejoice after Russian troops leave their city.

Plus U.S. President Joe Biden is on the next leg of his diplomatic mission and preparing for a series of meetings with Asian leaders. We'll have the latest in a live report from our Will Ripley in Cambodia.

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HOLMES: The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, calls it a historic day. Celebrations breaking out in Kherson on Friday after Russian troops pulled out of the city. It's one of the biggest setbacks for Moscow since its invasion began.

But before leaving, Ukraine said Russia destroyed some of the key infrastructure in the region, including at least seven bridges, as you can see there. Ukraine also warning that some Russian troops might be staying behind and trying to blend in with the local population.

It's not just the city that Russia has given up on for now. Its troops have pulled out from the entire western bank of the Dnipro River, conceding about 40 percent of the Kherson region to Ukraine. CNN's Nic Robertson went to a town that's experiencing its first taste of freedom after months of Russian occupation.

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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Their long-awaited liberation, sweet, savored with the soldiers who gave it to them. Moments for all those who survived rushes repressive rule in Kherson, to celebrate, a day like no other.

Putin's forces vanquished across the river. Freedom like this, coming in cities and towns all around. Arriving at Snihurivka on the road to Kherson, remnants of Russia's rapid rivers under fire two days ago.

Lots of unexploded ammunition here, deadly mortar rounds, indications they could have fought longer if they hadn't been told to retreat.

Driving in everyone, waving. So many feelings all at once. Celebration, relief and traumas relieved.

It was terrible, she tells us. The Russians threatened to kill me, to smash out my brain. Raw emotions everywhere, tearful relatives embrace saying, knowing each other survived.

And stories of survival, bone-chilling.

A few days ago, the Russians kidnapped me. This 15-year-old girl tells us. They put a hood on me, took me to a house, asked me about the Ukrainian troops. Told me, they had cut my fingers off. I thought I was going to be raped.

They behave like animals in the last few weeks, she says. They took people away for interrogation, beat them, accusing them of being, Ukrainian spies.

They stole cars, looted too.

At the town's bank, the security doors ripped off, the cash too.

You can see inside here, the bank is completely trashed, looted, there are money boxes. They're forced open.

At the town square, people gathered and jubilation part in uncertainty. The city, without water and electricity, for months.

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ROBERTSON (voice-over): The newly arrived Ukrainian administrator, telling them, humanitarian supplies are on their way.

On the outskirts of town, residents benefiting from Russia's rapid retreat, abandon ammo cases, collected for winter firewood.

Nearby, the bridges to the south, destroyed. The Russians blew these bridges up just two days ago, trying to slow down the Ukrainians advance south toward Kherson.

The tactic doesn't seem to be working. Ukraine's advance has been cautious, pauses to regroup and re-energize but still relentless.

MYKHAILO, UKRAINIAN SOLDIER (through translator): Everything that's happening according to the plan. Russians are leaving so fast they're losing their boots on the run. We'll take Kherson in two or three days.

ROBERTSON: It may be even sooner. Seconds after we talk, they get the call to move forward. On their way, it appears to join the liberation and celebrations in Kherson -- Nic Robertson, CNN, Snihurivka, Ukraine.

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HOLMES: Let's bring in Jill Dougherty, a CNN contributor, and put some perspective on what's happening on the ground. She's a former CNN Moscow bureau chief and also an adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington.

Good to see you, Jill.

Let's talk about how much of an embarrassment is it for Vladimir Putin personally, this loss of this key city of Kherson, given the region, of course, was annexed by him?

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Yes, I think definitely it is an embarrassment. There's no question for Vladimir Putin. But even beyond that, you know, it's a military and a political defeat, especially political.

He is the person who really led the charge on this. As you mentioned, that region was annexed by him. And even today, even now, the Kremlin is still saying it's legally part of Russia and nothing is going to change. So the fact the capital of Kherson is now held by Ukrainians is really an embarrassment.

HOLMES: Is news of Russian losses territorial but also particularly young soldiers being killed in great numbers, even described by some in Russia as cannon fodder, is that getting through to the average Russian?

I know you watch Russian television a lot.

DOUGHERTY: You know, I think in a way it is. If you look at what the military said in terms of justifying why they pulled out of Kherson, they said it was to protect our troops.

Now one of the reasons I think they're sensitive is because of that globalization that brought in young people from big cities, you know, people more getting, let's say, closer to the elite. And so there is a sensitivity.

And I think particularly that line stood out to me by the defense minister, you know, protecting our troops because those -- a lot of the troops -- and we know this from their own postings and their own families that they went into the fight with sometimes very bad equipment, almost none, and very bad training.

HOLMES: Yes, to that point, you had General Sorovkin, who was appointed commander of Russian forces in Ukraine last month. He appeared on television to say what you were saying, that it was necessary to preserve the lives of soldiers.

But is that a sign that Russian patience is wearing thin at the heavy casualties?

I mean the Americans say maybe 100,000.

What are you seeing on media about how this war is going?

DOUGHERTY: Well, it's very -- really a bad sign when you have 100,000. Certainly that number is not talked about in the Russian media.

But I think, you know, if you look at the way the debate is going, the discussion, you have a lot of disparate groups right now, who are mouthing off -- and that really has to be the word -- about their particular view of what's going on in Kherson.

And it's everything from, well, this is very difficult to who do we blame, to this is not a conflict with Ukraine; this is really a conflict with NATO. And interestingly they're saying NATO is a lot stronger than Russia. So we have to -- you know, we're the underdog and we have to fight back.

I think the only thing you're getting as a coherent strategy or, let's say, narrative coming from the Kremlin is, well, don't panic, it's OK. We had to pull out but we will eventually come back and take it over. Of course, there's no guarantee that that is going to happen.

HOLMES: It's been interesting to see the Wagner group, which was so secretive for so many years.

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HOLMES: Now basically setting up storefronts around Russia to regroup. But -- you know -- and while that's happening, are there any signs you see -- and we talked about this a lot -- of a possible challenge to Putin?

Any sort of opposition breaking through?

DOUGHERTY: You know, you don't see it because I think, you know, Putin has pretty much decimated any pretender to the throne. There's really nobody you can point to realistically who has kind of the oomph that Putin does.

But that said, Putin himself is getting a lot more criticism. It's muted and maybe the word is not "a lot more" but significantly he is getting some criticism and that means something.

But what's the option?

Right now, there's still no political option to Putin.

DOUGHERTY: Yes. Jill, always great to get your analysis. Always appreciate the time.

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HOLMES: Coming up, why a move by one athlete in Iran drew cheers.

You're watching CNN NEWSROOM. We'll be right back.

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(MUSIC PLAYING) HOLMES: U.S. President Joe Biden arrived in Cambodia a few hours ago

on the next leg of his international diplomatic mission. After speaking at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt, he's now preparing for the ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders.

Now a daring move by an Iranian athlete in Tehran indicating her support for the anti-government protests sweeping Iran. CNN's Melissa Bell with more on that.

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MELISSA BELL, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yet another act of defiance in Iran by an Iranian athlete; this time, an archer. She's been seen at an awards ceremony on a video widely shared on social media, allowing her hijab to slip.

This was an awards ceremony taking place this week in Tehran. You can see her teammate try and help her get her hijab back on but she leaves it falling off and walks off the stage.

And you can hear people in the crowd there, watching that award ceremony, cheering her on. These extraordinary acts of defiance from figures, personalities, not just in the world of acting, those kind of personalities, but also athletes.

It's not the first time, of course, Iranian athletes have taken a stand. We saw earlier this week from Dubai an Iran member of the soccer team, making a haircutting gesture. We've seen a member of Iran's climbing team competing in South Korea without her hijab and then explaining she'd simply allowed it to slip.

We heard this week from Iran's deputy sports minister, explaining those athletes had not been endearing to what she described as Islamic norms, have then regretted their action, which speaks to how rattled the regime is by these acts of defiance.

Those coming from inside Iran all the braver, of course, even if they have a status of personalities, nonetheless taking tremendous risks.

It is, of course, these kind of acts shared on social media, where ordinary Iranians can, by going from VPN to VPN, continue to get access to the internet, despite the ban. These important acts of defiance that inspired people to go out into the streets and continue these protests, now into their eighth week -- Melissa Bell, CNN, Paris.

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HOLMES: Still to come here on the program, much more on the midterm elections, including a surprisingly close race in Colorado. Why the Republican incumbent is struggling to keep the lead. We'll be right back.

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HOLMES: And welcome back. I'm Michael Holmes. Appreciate your company.

Now Democrats claiming a key victory in the fight to control the U.S. Senate. CNN projecting senator Mark Kelly will defeat his Republican challenger in Arizona to retain his seat. This gives both parties 49 each, two races remaining. Democrats hoping to keep their seat in Nevada, which would effectively give them control of the Senate.

Right now a tight race with incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto, trailing slightly to the Republican Adam Laxalt. Another close race we're following is the House race for Colorado's third congressional district.

Incumbent Republican Lauren Boebert barely edging out her Republican challenger Adam Frisch. It's been a much tighter election than many expected. Lucy Kafanov has more.

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LUCY KAFANOV, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right, this race now taking a surprising turn. We could potentially be looking at the possibility of a recount, something that's not going to be more clear until at least next week, in part because government offices here are closed for the Veterans Day holiday.

And also because outstanding military and cured ballots have yet to be returned and counted. That deadline November 16th. But Lauren Boebert was trailing behind her opponent until early Thursday morning.

As of Friday afternoon, she was ahead by roughly 1,100 votes. A mandatory recount in the state of California is triggered if the margin is 0.5 percent or less. Here's the state's secretary of state weighing in on the possibility of a recount.

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JENA GRISWOLD, COLORADO SECRETARY OF STATE: It's too early to tell. We need to be able to process the rest of the ballots. And then after that we will do a bipartisan risk limiting audit which confirms the results followed by a bipartisan canvas and then only then do I certify the election and it's determined whether we go into recount.

There's two ways to do a recount in the state of Colorado. One is mandatory, which you just mentioned. But then candidates can also pay for a recount if they so choose.

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KAFANOV: But the fact we're talking about this race, the fact that the margins are so very thin took at least political experts by surprise. Lauren Boebert entered this race in a strong position, the 3rd Congressional District she represents was made more favorable to Republicans when its borders were redrawn last year.

Unlike most of the Colorado delegation, she entered the race with a sizable campaign war chest and she also had national name recognition, making headlines as a staunch ally of former president Donald Trump, a major big gun rights advocate.

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KAFANOV: Which, when she was sworn in, she released a video of herself walking around Capitol Hill with a gun. She's promoted conspiracy theories, for example, about the outcome of the previous presidential election.

And some analysts say one of the reasons why this race became so close is, in part, because her opponent used her behavior against her. Now Adam Frisch served on the Aspen city council. He ran a pro-business, pro-energy platform.

He also asked voters if they wanted two more years of what he described as her angertainment brand. It also didn't hurt that he outraised and outspent Boebert. She, for one, is expressing optimism about her chances.

She blamed the closeness of the race on a lack of voter enthusiasm for the Republican candidates for Senate and governor. But she did start fund-raising for a possible recount on Friday -- Lucy Kafanov, CNN, Colorado.

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HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. For our international viewers, "MARKETPLACE ASIA" is coming up next. For viewers in the U.S., do stick around. I'll have more CNN NEWSROOM after the break.

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HOLMES: The ASEAN summit of Southeast Asian leaders underway in Cambodia and the U.S. President Joe Biden is going to be there. He arrived earlier with a full agenda and plans to boost the strength of U.S.-Indo Pacific relations. Will Ripley is there as well and joins me now live.

Fill us in on the agenda priorities for the president.

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, tonight he'll give his opening remarks. They'll have the gala and he'll be with the prime minister, the typical first day events.

But the big agenda takes off tomorrow here for President Biden, when he meets with two key U.S. allies in the region, the prime minister of Japan and the president of South Korea.

They're going to be talking about President Biden's upcoming face-to- face bilateral meeting in Bali at the G20 with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. This is a very big deal. Biden has met Xi many times over the decades of his political career. But this is the first time of his presidency.

They have a lot to talk about. Xi Jinping was given an unprecedented third presidential term in China. So he's in this region and traveling to the G20 really with the perception of almost unchecked power from the viewpoint of those outside of China certainly.

President Biden is actually coming into this region srongerr than expected after the midterms. And Biden's message ahead of those midterms was about defending and protecting democracy, a message he was delivering to a domestic audience in the U.S. But a message he's also carrying with him here to Asia, to his democratic allies.

They're talking about issues with China, specifically with Taiwan. It's interesting that here in Cambodia, this country has come out publicly, stating their support for China's position, that Taiwan, that island governing itself for more than 70 years, is actually a part of China.

They say here in Cambodia. And they're also the beneficiaries of billions of dollars of Chinese investment.

You can walk around the city and see the economic influence of China not just here in Cambodia but in countries across the Indo Pacific region and some smaller economies have basically fallen in line with the Chinese position as the United States tries to reassert its own influence here in this part of the world.

They're going be talking about that bilateral meeting, Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea, and they're also going to be talking about North Korea and the nuclear threat. There's potentially a seventh underground nuclear test happening at any time.

The fact Biden is here in the region certainly a time to monitor, watching for any provocations from North Korea. Biden hoping for China's cooperation on that issue when he meets with president Xi in Bali and he's also hoping for a solid and unified response from those key allies, South Korea and Japan.

HOLMES: Appreciate it, Will.

Now before he arrived in Cambodia, Mr. Biden spoke to delegates at the COP27 climate conference in Egypt. He called the climate crisis a matter of security and said all nations, including the U.S., must rise to the challenge. CNN senior international correspondent Davis McKenzie with more.

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DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The message that President Biden clearly wanted to give at the Sharm El Sheikh meetings here in Egypt was that the U.S. is ready to lead again on climate change.

He's touted his own legislative achievements and also, with a view possibly to a domestic audience, said good climate policy is good economic policy, saying the U.S. is ready to make deep cuts in their emissions in the years ahead.

He said countries that are looking, particularly with the crisis in Ukraine, for fossil fuels elsewhere should instead move to a green transition.

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BIDEN: It's more urgent than ever we double down on our climate commitments. Russia's war only enhances the urgency of the need to transition the world off its dependence on fossil fuels.

No action -- no action -- can be taken without a nation understanding that it can use energy as a weapon and hold the global economy hostage. It must stop. And so this gathering must be the moment to recommit our future and our shared capacity to write a better story for the world.

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MCKENZIE: Some developing nations will likely be disappointed that President Biden didn't give enough attention to the issue of loss and damage.

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MCKENZIE: That's a concept that they need billions, if not trillions of dollars, to deal with the worst impacts of the climate crisis from rich countries. That's a major theme of this conference. They will hope perhaps that this is an issue that is dealt with at the G20 meetings next week -- David McKenzie, CNN, Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.

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HOLMES: Mike Pence's new book about his time as vice president details his final days in the White House and, in particular, his tense interaction with then president Donald Trump after losing the 2020 election. CNN's Brian Todd with more.

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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): The former vice president's new accounts depict a convenient political partnership deteriorating in a matter of a few short weeks.

MIKE PENCE, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT: We forged a close personal relationship. But in the end came on difficult times.

TODD: As he rolls out his book, "So Help Me God," excerpted by "The Wall Street Journal," Mike Pence for the first time reveals specific quotes from then President Donald Trump as Trump tried to persuade, cajole and then arm twist Pence to reject the election results on January 6th.

In the weeks leading up to January 6th, Pence writes, he tried to convince Trump that he didn't have the authority to decide which electoral votes should count. Pence says Trump told him, quote, you're too honest. Hundreds of thousands are going to hate your guts. People are going to think you're stupid.

SUSAN GLASSER, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: This is a classic Trump interaction. It's all about him. He has no interest in principle.

TODD: On the morning of January 6th, Pence writes, he got a call from the president. Pence says he reiterated that he didn't have the power to decide which votes should count. Quote, the president laid into me. You'll go down as a wimp, he said. If you do that, I made a big mistake five years ago.

MICHAEL D'ANTONIO, TRUMP BIOGRAPHER: Trump always tries to eviscerate people that he deems to be disloyal, especially at key moments. So it's no surprise that he went after Mike Pence.

TODD: In these excerpts, Pence gives new detail on the harrowing moments when rioters inside the Capitol and outside were looking for him.

The Secret Service, Pence writes, wanted to get him out of the building. Pence says he argued with his lead agent. Quote, I pointed my finger at his chest and said, You're not hearing me. I'm not leaving. I'm not giving those people the sight of a 16-car motorcade speeding away from the Capitol.

They agreed to move the vice president to a more secure spot at the loading dock.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were doing it in the blind. They didn't realize what was going on outside because the incident command structure had fallen apart at the U.S. Capitol.

Pence's new book could be the opening salvo in a dual between the former allies for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination. For months, they've been sparring from a distance.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT: Mike and I say it sadly, because I like him but Mike did not have the courage to act.

TODD: How might Donald Trump wage what will likely be a very personal battle?

D'ANTONIO: He will use every private conversation the two of them ever had. He will use the accusation of disloyalty. He'll do whatever he can to both shame Pence and out him as something other than what he claims to be.

TODD: CNN has reached out to Donald Trump's camp for a response to the new excerpts from Mike Pence's book. We have not heard back. But Trump just a few days ago again criticized Pence for not sending the 2020 electoral votes back to the states -- Brian Todd, CNN, Washington. (END VIDEOTAPE)

HOLMES: Donald Trump has sued the House Select Committee, investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol in 2021. He's challenging their subpoena for his documents and testimony, saying he should be immune from testifying about his time as president.

He's also challenging the committee's actual legitimacy, which multiple courts have upheld.

In the lawsuit, his attorneys argue, quote, "The subpoena's request for testimony and documents from president Trump is an unwarranted intrusion upon the institution of the presidency, because there are other sources of the requested information.

"Because of this obvious availability to obtain testimony and documents from other readily available sources, the subpoena is invalid," unquote.

A spokesperson from the January 6th committee declined to comment.

And it is looking like Donald Trump could have a serious rival for the 2024 nomination if he decides to run. Ron DeSantis, just three days after winning re-election by 1.5 votes, Florida's governor toured two of some of the areas worst hit by Nicole.

Dozens of beachfront homes and buildings have been declared unsafe in the wake of the storm. And thousands of homes and businesses still without power.

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[02:55:00]

HOLMES: Thanks for spending part of your day with me. I'm Michael Holmes. You can follow me on Twitter and Instagram @HolmesCNN. Do stick around. Our continuing coverage of the U.S. elections after a quick break. I'll see you tomorrow.