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America's Choice 2022; Russia's War On Ukraine; Biden In Asia For ASEAN And G20. Aired 5-6a ET
Aired November 12, 2022 - 05:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers in the United States and around the world. I'm Laila Harrak. I want to get to our lead story.
Hundreds of thousands of votes are still being counted in Arizona and Nevada. But control of the U.S. Senate dramatically shifted overnight in the Democrats' favor. CNN now projects that Arizona's Democratic incumbent senator Mark Kelly will win against Republican Blake Masters.
Mr. Masters had the backing of Donald Trump but there was little enthusiasm for him among old guard Republicans like Mitch McConnell. And new vote totals are being released daily. And Arizona still has several hundred thousand yet to process.
And the next shoe to drop could be Nevada, where Republican Adam Laxalt has seen his lead evaporate to only about 800 votes head of Catherine Cortez Masto.
With races so tight, including for Arizona governor, some Republican candidates have complained about the slow pace of the vote counting, even hinting at nefarious motives. But election officials say state law dictates how quickly the process goes.
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JOE GLORIA, CLARK COUNTY REGISTRAR: We're not purposefully holding this process back. We're doing everything in our power to move ballots forward as quickly as we can. But the statutory deadlines that we have in place, I can't do -- finish all the mail until it all comes in.
That's a very small number but, still, I can't finish until Saturday even if I wanted to. Monday, we have the cured deadline. I've got to wait for those voters, to give them an opportunity to get their ballot cured.
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HARRAK: And Mr. Kelly's projected win in Arizona makes the Democrats and Republicans tied at 49 Senate seats apiece. And one more win for Democrats either in Nevada or Georgia's runoff could give them control of the upper chamber.
Democrats continue to pick up House seats but there the math is against them. Republicans only need seven more seats to control the House, which they are widely expected to do. CNN's Gary Tuchman is in Las Vegas with the latest on the Nevada race. But we begin with 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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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.
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TUCHMAN: 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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HARRAK: And political analyst Josh Rogin is joining us now from Washington, he's a columnist for "The Washington Post."
So good to see you, Josh. You are also the author of "Chaos Under Heaven." The nation's eyes are on the state of Nevada, where vote counting continues. Control of the Senate could come down to what happens there.
What does that tell you about the balance of power?
JOSH ROGIN, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: What it tells us is, if Nevada does go Democratic and the deadline for the counting ballots is Tuesday, then what we'll have is a few weeks of tens of millions of dollars being spent on the deciding race in that case, the runoff between Warnock and Walker in Georgia being essentially rendered meaningless.
If Republicans win, then that Georgia runoff will determine control of the Senate one way or the other. And that will become the defining political race for the next two years.
So I think between now and Tuesday there will be a lot of nervous people on both sides of the aisle. But if Democrats prevail, it means that Democrats will keep the Senate. Republicans are likely to take over the House.
And then we'll have split government, which will lead to political and policy paralysis as the 2024 presidential campaign kicks into high gear.
HARRAK: What is the biggest storyline coming out of the midterms for you?
ROGIN: There are two. Of course, first, that the red wave did not materialize, that Republicans underperformed expectations. And that is causing an internal fight inside the GOP on the Senate side between the leadership, led by minority leader Mitch McConnell, and Rick Scott, in charge of the Senate campaign infrastructure.
And the second narrative, of course, is that the new battle between Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, who won overwhelmingly, and Donald Trump, who is being blamed for most of the Republican losses, rightly or wrongly.
And we've seen Trump come out against DeSantis in the recent days. And that is a dynamic that is tearing the Republican Party apart from the inside. And that will only get worse, as both of those Republicans gear up for a possible presidential run.
HARRAK: Talk to us more about the rivalry that is emerging right now between DeSantis and Trump.
How do you see this playing out?
ROGIN: Just before the midterm election, it seemed as if DeSantis would back off and perhaps delay his presidential ambitions and allow Donald Trump to take one more crack at running for president.
But in the wake of the polls, it is clear that Ron DeSantis over overperformed. And that has given Republican donors and also a lot of the leadership a lot of confidence that DeSantis is their better chance to win back the presidency.
And Donald Trump responded by potentially announcing his run as early as Tuesday. And when that happens, all Republicans will be forced to choose sides. And all the fence sitting will end.
And already we have Elise Stefanik, the leadership member from New York, declaring she is in favor of Donald Trump even before he announced. And that puts a lot of Republicans in an uncomfortable position, especially Kevin McCarthy from California.
And he has got two bad options and he has to choose one of them. He will have to pick a side, probably before he runs for speaker. So what we'll see is a civil war inside the Republican Party. And it seems inevitable now -- and both can't win. One will win and one will lose.
HARRAK: The outcome of the midterms are consequential on a local and state and federal level. But they also have international ramifications. You argue that potential Republican control of Congress -- and it looks like it is going that way -- could have a massive impact on U.S. support for Ukraine.
Can you elaborate on that?
ROGIN: That's right.
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ROGIN: I reported in "The Washington Post" this week that there is an internal debate among Republicans, especially in the House, over whether or not to continue robust funding to aid Ukraine both militarily and economically in the new Congress.
And there are some on the far right who want to cut off all U.S. aid to Ukraine completely. There are many in the Republican Party who want to continue the military aid but cut the economic aid.
And talking to Ukrainian officials, they tell me that that would be disastrous because if the Ukrainian economy collapses, the military won't be able to fight. So the internal dynamics inside the Republican Party could have an outside effect on the Ukrainians' ability to prevail in their struggle against the Russian invasion.
There are many Republicans who are internally arguing that we must continue to support Ukraine, especially as winter comes and they gear up for another fighting season next spring and summer.
But Donald Trump and some of his allies have been undermining GOP support for Ukraine for quite some time and I don't know which way it will come out and neither do the people on Capitol Hill.
HARRAK: Josh, thank you so much for joining us.
U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting with world leaders in Cambodia as they gather for the ASEAN summit. We'll have a live report for you from Phnom Penh after the break. Plus --
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HARRAK (voice-over): Jubilation in Kherson one day after Russian troops pulled out. We'll go live to the Ukrainian city.
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HARRAK: A city that President Putin said would be Russia's forever now firmly in Ukrainian hands. And its residents couldn't be happier about it.
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HARRAK (voice-over): People in the city of Kherson welcomed Ukrainian troops Friday following months of Russian occupation. Hours earlier, Moscow announced it had pulled out from the west bank of the Dnipro River, conceding 40 percent of the Kherson region to Ukrainians, including the city itself.
Ukrainian troops also swept through other towns in the area, holding up their flag to mark the end of Russia's occupation. And they displayed ammunition and other military gear that Russians left behind.
That contradicts Russia's claim that they took all their equipment with them. And Ukraine also says Russian troops destroyed critical infrastructure on their way out, including bridges like this one on a dam northeast of Kherson.
President Zelenskyy said Ukrainians persevered because they always knew the Russians would be driven out.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): The people of Kherson waited. They never repudiated Ukraine. They were right to pin their hopes on Ukraine. And Ukraine always returns its own.
I'm glad to see those people, despite all dangers of repression and suffering inflicted by occupiers, held onto Ukrainian flags, believed in Ukraine.
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HARRAK: We want to take you straight to Kherson, where residents are euphoric after the Russian troops finally pulled out. And Nic Robertson is the only international reporter currently in the city center and he joins us now live -- Nic.
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, you are joining us here in the central square of Kherson. Our cameraman is up on a perch in front of me so he can give us a good view of the whole scene.
People are out. There is a real sense of euphoria here. Every time Ukrainian troops come by, a big cheer goes up from the crowd. And remember, it has only been in the past 48 hours that the Russians, who had been here for eight months, left.
And at the beginning of the war, people gathered in the square to try to oppose the Russian occupation. People were taken away, people were beaten, people disappeared.
And I'm joined here by a couple of gentlemen, by Igor (ph) and Viktor (ph). And we'll talk to them a little bit about what they have experienced here.
And I will when my microphone gets free.
Igor (ph), tell me, Igor (ph), how has it been, living under the Russian occupation and how does it feel today?
IGOR (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: Today feels very amazing. I've been waiting for eight months, eight months sitting in my home, doing nothing. I don't studying, I don't have anywhere to go. I can nothing to do yet, just sitting here.
And when you just look in the window and see them walking past the street, fully armed, you can lose the war with the will of (INAUDIBLE) giving people and feeling -- people feeling free. Very (INAUDIBLE). It feels amazing (ph).
ROBERTSON: Describe to me that moment when you realized the Russians were gone and your own troops were here?
IGOR (PH): It was yesterday, if I remember right. And I was walking my friend. We were just walking out in the street and seeing there the Ukrainian flags. And we were like, what the hell is this?
Walking up, we see the flags in the corner, people cheering up. Next morning we wake up, we see Ukrainian armed forces soldiers.
Then we are like, why don't we go to center?
We get here, people are cheering, we are cheering. Basically big emotions. Very happy.
ROBERTSON: And Viktor (ph), how do you feel?
VIKTOR (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: Yes, sorry. My name is Viktor (ph) (INAUDIBLE), I'm from this block. I'm local inhabitant. I'm very, very happy and I want to say big very great thanks for Great Britain, for your help and for your friendship.
ROBERTSON: And what were your thoughts when you realized the Russians had gone?
How did you feel when you realized the Russians had gone?
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VIKTOR (PH): Because this occupation, from first day, from 1st of March until yesterday, 11th of November, of course, we all of us had big suffer. From yesterday, yesterday and today, I'm very, very happy. I'm full of happiness.
ROBERTSON: And tell me about that time for you with the Russian troops here.
How was it for you?
Tell me about -- we don't know about your experiences here.
VIKTOR (PH): We resisted this time. We feel very, very bad. Very bad. We got big, big suffer. And all this time, we hope for this day. We waited for this moment eight months and 10 days.
ROBERTSON: And what do you want now to happen?
VIKTOR (PH): I want to be peace everywhere. No war. (INAUDIBLE) Russia and our Kherson (INAUDIBLE). Ukraine forever, always and forever.
ROBERTSON: Thank you, Viktor (ph), thank you very much.
VIKTOR (PH): And one more time, big, big very thanks for Great Britain. Very big thanks.
ROBERTSON: Thank you.
And Igor (ph), one last question, what do you want the government to do?
How do you -- part of the country is still occupied. What would you like to see?
IGOR (PH): (INAUDIBLE) just (INAUDIBLE), just get away from my land, leave peacefully. Then get back (INAUDIBLE). I just don't want hearing bombs over my head, bombs shooting down, seeing Russian people because when you see them, you are full of fear, you are scary and nothing more.
ROBERTSON: Thank you very much indeed.
I think it is going to be day here of many emotions for people. It is that sense of freedom that this is a city without electricity, without water, TV station just down the street from here, that was blown up by the Russians before they left.
The dam up the river from here has been damaged. That will be a big worry because if the dam breaks, that could bring about flooding in this area.
But I think that for today, most people here really want to savor the moment. And it is hard to put into words, a feeling, a feeling as deep, as going from fear to the absence of fear in a matter of hours. And that is what people here are experiencing.
It is being here together on the streets, being able to wave their own flag, being able to feel free, enjoy themselves and look forward to a little stability.
And also, of course, a lot of concern. The Russians have only pulled back just across the river, just a few kilometers from here. And it is still not clear what their intentions are. They talk about taking out all the military equipment. They are sitting across the river.
So this is a city and a moment of a great happiness and euphoria but there's a sense of not knowing what will come next.
HARRAK: Nic, thank you so much.
Southeast Asian leaders have gathered for the ASEAN summit in Cambodia. Joe Biden is there with a full agenda and plans to boost the strength of U.S.-Indo-Pacific relations. Earlier President Biden met with Cambodia's prime minister.
And while in Phnom Penh, Biden will also meet with Japanese prime minister and South Korea's president. Next week he'll meet with Chinese leader Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Indonesia.
Senior international correspondent Will Ripley is there for you in Phnom Penh and he is joining us live.
Will, first of all, what are we expecting to come out of the ASEAN summit?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We're waiting to hear President Biden speak, possibly any minute now, so that could happen during this report. We'll see. And we expect nothing in terms of major momentous announcements to
come out of this or the G20. But we are expecting President Biden to reaffirm his key messages, that he is bringing from the United States to allies here in Asia.
One of those a theme that got him voter support during the U.S. midterm elections, which is this fight to defend democracy. President Biden spoke repeatedly about it in the U.S.
And it is a message that he brings here as well, at a time that the U.S. is vying for international support with China and with China's substantial investments in countries like Cambodia, where you can walk around this city and others and see Chinese owned operations, businesses and infrastructure investments.
Some were just announced recently on the heels of the prime minister of Cambodia's meeting yesterday with the Chinese premier.
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RIPLEY: Now meeting briefly today with President Biden. President Biden will be meeting -- actually, he is speaking right now. Let's listen.
JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Here in Cambodia, I look forward to building even stronger progress than we've already made. I want to thank the prime minister for his leadership in the ASEAN chair and for hosting all of us.
And also I want to recognize that we're going to be on all the work that Indonesia has done this year. Mr. President, thank you very much, as the country coordinator for the United States.
And in fact, this is, as I said, my third trip, my third summit, second in person. And it is a testament to the importance the United States places on the relationship with ASEAN and our commitment to ASEAN's neutrality.
ASEAN is the heart of my administration's Indo-Pacific strategy. And we continue to strengthen our commitment to work in lockstep with an empowered, unified ASEAN. Today, we take another critical step, beginning a new era in our cooperation with the launch of the U.S.- ASEAN comprehensive strategic partnership.
Together we'll tackle the biggest issues of our time, from climate to health security, defend against the significant threats of rule based order and to threats to the rule of law.
And to build an Indo-Pacific that is free and open, stable and prosperous, resilient and secure. And we're putting real resources behind our approach, not just rhetoric.
Over the last year, my administration has announced more than $250 million in new initiatives with ASEAN. And for 2023, I requested $850 million in assistance for Southeast Asia. We're continuing to build on that progress following through on our
commitments and launching concrete, new initiatives that further strengthen ASEAN and increase connectivity across Southeast Asia.
Through our new U.S.-ASEAN electric vehicle infrastructure initiative, we'll work together to develop an integrated electric vehicle ecosystem in Southeast Asia, enabling the region to pursue clean energy economic development and ambitious emissions reductions targets.
Similarly, we're launching a U.S.-ASEAN platform for infrastructure and connectivity to bring the benefits of the partnership for global infrastructure and investment to the ASEAN countries.
Through this platform, we'll develop projects together based on a need you identify to create sustainable, high standard infrastructure that supports the people of the region.
We'll build a better future we all say we want to see -- and we're going to see -- for all 1 billion people in our countries. We'll also discuss Russia's brutal war against Ukraine and our efforts to address the war's global impacts, including in southeast Asia.
So I look forward to continuing our work together with the ASEAN and with each one of you to deepen peace and prosperity throughout the region, to resolve challenges from the South China Sea to Myanmar and to find innovative new solutions to shared challenges.
Thank you again for the 45 years of partnership between ASEAN and the United States and for all that we can accomplish together. Thank you.
HARRAK: And that was the U.S. President Joe Biden there, addressing delegates at the ASEAN summit. Let's bring back our senior international correspondent, Will Ripley, who is in Phnom Penh for you.
And what jumped out was him stressing the importance of ASEAN for his Indo-Pacific policy.
How receptive do you think the leaders are to his message?
RIPLEY: This is a critical time for the United States because there is increasing pressure from an assertive and affluent authoritarian China, which now has a leader, Xi Jinping, with an unprecedented third term and, what some might argue, an echo chamber of yes men in the top levels of Chinese leadership.
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RIPLEY: Allowing him to basically move forward with any initiative that he deems important.
And China has a considerable amount of influence in this region because of their diplomacy and their economic diplomacy, as some have called it, including substantial investments in smaller countries like Cambodia, where they just announced billions of dollars in new Chinese investments.
And you can walk around and see that infrastructure, those Chinese owned businesses pretty much everywhere here in Phnom Penh. And then you have the China military influence, with dozens more warships than the United States.
So really the U.S. supremacy in the Indo-Pacific is being challenged for the first time in more than 70 years. And you heard President Biden mention the South China Sea and Myanmar as well. He will also talk about North Korea.
But really it is the China influence that will be top of the agenda. He wants to know what key U.S. allies are hoping what will come out of that meeting, not any concrete deliverables expected.
But certainly a time for a face-to-face interaction between the two leaders of the two biggest economies, two biggest militaries the world, when they very much need to talk.
HARRAK: Will Ripley, thank you so much.
For more analysis, we're joined by Aaron Connelly. He is a senior fellow for Southeast Asian politics and foreign policy with the International Institute for Strategic Studies. He joins us from Oslo.
Sir, thank you so much for joining us. I don't know if you had the opportunity to listen to Mr. Biden's opening address at the ASEAN there just moments as go. I'd like you to characterize for us how Southeast Asian nations view the U.S.-China competition in the region.
AARON CONNELLY, SENIOR FELLOW, INTERNATIONAL INSTITUTE FOR STRATEGIC STUDIES: I think this will be a really difficult meeting for President Biden, because the views are so far apart.
The United States views China's aggressive actions, as you heard Will Ripley describe, as the main threat to security in the region. And Southeast Asian countries see U.S.-China tension as the main problem. They don't care who is responsible for it, they just want to stop.
So they have been asking the United States to try to reduce tensions in the Taiwan Strait, in the South China Sea. And so there is a fundamental divergence of threat perspectives and viewpoints between President Biden and Southeast Asian leaders.
HARRAK: And I hope that you can you can talk more about that. The U.S. sees China's growing power in the region as fundamentally problematic.
How is China viewed?
CONNELLY: Traditionally Southeast Asian leaders have viewed China as a source of prosperity. As China rose over the last 30 years, Southeast Asian leaders benefited enormously.
But part of that was the globalization going on at the same time and the integration of U.S.-Chinese and southeast Asian supply chains. And what we're seeing now with the U.S. sanctions on semiconductor manufacturers in China, the trade war that the Trump administration waged against China, we're seeing a kind of deglobalization, some say decoupling between the U.S. and China.
And that really affects Southeast Asian economies. Of course, they are worried about the prospect of war over Taiwan as well. So those are their primary concerns.
HARRAK: What is the U.S. standing in the region overall?
What will Southeast Asian leaders want to see from the Biden administration?
CONNELLY: I think that they will be asking for a few things. They want that reduction in tensions. But they also want the United States to reengage in trade diplomacy. The largest trading partner is China. They want the United States to get back in that game.
President Trump took the United States out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership three days into his administration. And they had hoped that the Biden administration might reengage and offer market access.
But instead what they have offered is known as the Indo-Pacific economic framework talks. And the Biden administration has said that additional access to the U.S. market is off the table.
So the United States is participating in these talks, asking Southeast Asian countries to adjust their regulatory standards on things like data but not offering anything in return. And so it is a kind of nonstarter. They have been very polite about it but it's not exactly what they have asked for.
HARRAK: And interestingly, in Mr. Biden's very short address moments ago, he referenced the war in Ukraine.
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HARRAK: Does that resonate at all with leaders who are there?
CONNELLY: The 10 members of Association of Southeast Asian Nations that are there, really nine, because Myanmar has been excluded from the meeting as a result of the coup d'etat last year, they all have very different views on the war in Ukraine.
And so Singapore has sanctioned Russia. But you also have a number of countries with very close relationships with Russia. So not a lot of sympathy for the U.S. or European perspective in Southeast Asia, not as much as there would be in Europe or the U.S. And there is more sympathy for Russia, which was invited to the meeting but President Putin chose not to attend. Sergey Lavrov is there in his place.
HARRAK: In terms of deliverables, what will come out of this meeting?
CONNELLY: Not very much, because again there is a bit of a divergence of perspective. You heard President Biden announce that ASEAN and the United States will elevate their partnership to what is known as a comprehensive strategic partnership.
That is the same level that China achieved last year. But ASEAN diplomats say that they granted the United States this elevation in partnership status because they didn't want to seem unbalanced.
But they believe the United States should have done more to earn it, as China did, that they should engage more on trade, for instance, and that they haven't done that.
HARRAK: Aaron Connelly, thank you so much for joining us.
CONNELLY: Thank you.
HARRAK: Still ahead, more on the midterm elections, including a closer look at the races that will determine control of the Senate.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers here in the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak and this is CNN NEWSROOM.
Democrats are claiming a key victory in the fight to control the U.S. Senate. CNN projects that Mark Kelly will retain his seat in Arizona. And Democrats are also hoping to win a re-election in Nevada, where their candidate is currently in a tight race.
If they can claim that contest, they would have 50 seats, enough to control the Senate, since the Democratic vice president holds the tie breaking vote.
And meantime in the House, Democrats have also picked up a few more seats but Republicans only need seven more to control that chamber.
And Kevin McCarthy is facing hurdles. If his party takes the House with a slim majority, he may not have enough votes to secure the job, because hardliners are withholding their support until some of their demands are met. Some say that he will need to adopt far right policies of former president Donald Trump.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I do think that Kevin McCarthy, if he wants to have a chance of being speaker, he needs to be much more declarative that he is supporting Donald Trump. I thought what Elise Stefanik did yesterday was very smart.
And it will be a MAGA centric caucus for the Republicans in the House and even from the Senate with leadership to match.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: Donald Trump has sued the select committee, the House Select Committee, investigating the January 6th attack on the Capitol in 2021. What he's doing is 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.
We'll be right back.
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HARRAK (voice-over): Optimism is making a comeback on Wall Street after this week's encouraging report showing inflation cooling. Investors are hoping it means that the Federal Reserve may opt for smaller interest rate hikes going forward.
At the closing bell on Friday, the Dow was up about a 10th of a percent while the Nasdaq and the S&P 500 saw even bigger gains. This was the best week for the S&P since June and for the Nasdaq since March.
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HARRAK: Twitter could be facing legal trouble just weeks after Elon Musk took it over and he warned that the platform could go bankrupt. And experts say it may have violated its concept agreement with the Federal Trade Commission and that could result in legal and financial penalties.
As Brian Fung reports, just one more issue hitting Twitter since Musk assumed control.
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BRIAN FUNG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The chaos continues. Elon Musk has now owned Twitter for two weeks and the company's future has never seemed so in doubt. In recent days, Twitter has seen an exodus of top level executives, alienated powerful advertisers, blown up key aspects of its product and it has launched and then unlaunched other features designed to compensate for those choices repeatedly.
Also in the early days, Twitter has battled a wave of fake, verified accounts posing as Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, LeBron James, Nintendo and others. Impostors have even forced Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company, to apologize for misinformation spread under parody accounts it didn't create.
In response, Twitter has temporarily stopped taking assignments for Twitter Blue, the new paid subscription service it launched just days ago, offering a verified blue check mark to anyone who pays $8 a month, no questions asked.
According to multiple reports Musk has canceled the company's remote work policy and even warned the company could potentially face bankruptcy.
That's not all. According to legal experts, Twitter's layoffs and resignations have jeopardized its ability to comply with government regulations that protect the security and privacy of user data.
Violations could lead to hefty fines and even personal liability for Musk that would tie his hands at Twitter and wherever he may go next -- Brian Fung, CNN, Washington.
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HARRAK: The crypto industry may see more regulation in the future. With a leading crypto executive warning of a possible regulatory crackdown, the industry is in chaos due to the implosion of the exchange, FTX.
The firm announced that it was filing for bankruptcy. Its chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned from his position. The 30-year- old was behind the early success of FTX. On Friday he apologized for what happened at his firm and said he hoped the company could recover.
There's no business like show business, even in the midst of a warzone. Our Christiane Amanpour tells us why the show must go on in Ukraine. Her report just ahead.
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HARRAK: Even in the shadow of war, life has its bright moments in the Ukrainian capital. As chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour shows us, some museums and theaters are open. And, yes, even Kyiv's circus. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL ANCHOR (voice-over): The show must go on, even in wartime, perhaps especially in wartime. Patrons, young and old, stream into the national circus of Ukraine in historic downtown Kyiv. This is their Halloween show, extended by popular demand.
Everyone tells us coming here is like a breath of fresh air, relief during this suffocating wartime atmosphere.
Amid air raid sirens and dashes to the basement, Alex Maliy tells us rehearsal is difficult but each performance for this aerial acrobat so rewarding.
ALEX MALIY, ACROBAT, NATIONAL CIRCUS OF UKRAINE: We give people energy. You know, artists give energy for audience. Audience gives for us -- for artists, energy also. No, this so hard time, people sit at home, nothing to do, nothing at work, like this. But here in the circus, they have a smile.
AMANPOUR: Nataliya Solyanek (ph) started as an aerial acrobat 25 years ago. Now she is the assistant director. She tells us coming here is like therapy for even the most hardened vets.
This psychologist came to, she says and told us that the circus takes easement back to their childhood and it becomes much easier to work with.
Men came back from the war with wounded souls, says Nataliya (ph). After the shows, some have tears of their eyes.
The razzle-dazzle performance for an almost full house takes everyone out of their daily drudgery --
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AMANPOUR (voice-over): -- and fears for at least this one hour. It keeps the fantasy alive.
Our circus is super, our artist is incredible, says Nataliya (ph). We are so thrilled, we even took the day off the color with the kids.
Catarina (ph) said her daughter Eva (ph) becomes transported.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She loves everything. When she's at the circus, feels everything.
AMANPOUR: And to the naysayers wondered why this is even happening in the midst of war, circus spokeswoman Bohdana Korniienko has a ready respond.
BOHDANA-VALERIIA KORNIIENKO, SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER, NATIONAL CIRCUS OF UKRAINE: When you expected them that it's really good for the economy of the country and that is good for a motion of everyone, civilians and army, because they both come here and they're like, OK, well, that makes sense.
AMANPOUR: A much-needed escape to a place that feels human again -- Christiane Amanpour, CNN, Kyiv.
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HARRAK: And before we go, one of the most celebrated artists of our time is showing graffiti resistance against Vladimir Putin. The elusive street artist known as Banksy painted this image of a gymnast bouncing on the rubble of a destroyed building of Ukraine.
Banksy posted the image on Instagram, seemingly confirming speculation that he is in the wartorn country.
I'm Laila Harrak. Thank you so much for your company. For international viewers, "Decoded" is up next. For viewers in the U.S., "CNN THIS MORNING WEEKEND" is up next.
