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Kevin McCarthy Faces Rocky Road To Speakership After Lackluster Midterms; Democrats Keep Control Of The Senate; Interview With Sen. Tim Kaine (D-VA); Six Killed When Two World War II Era Planes Collided At Dallas Airshow; Istanbul Blast Kills Six, Injures At Least 81 People; Control Of The House Still Up For Grabs With 20 Races Uncalled; Biden, China's Xi Jinping To Hold First In-Person Meeting Monday. Aired 4-5p ET

Aired November 13, 2022 - 16:00   ET

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

[16:00:27]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN HOST: You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Jim Acosta in Washington.

We begin this hour with a major victory for Democrats in the fight of control of the United States Congress. CNN is projecting Nevada Senator Catherine Cortez Masto will win reelection, beating her Republican challenger Adam Laxalt in a very close and pivotal race. That means for at least two more years, Democrats will retain their Senate majority.

But the question remains, will Republicans or Democrats control the House? That's still up in the air. CNN projects Republicans have won 211 of the 218 seats they need for the House majority. Democrats have won 204. 20 races have yet to be decided as the ballot counting continues.

With those House races still uncalled, the chamber's leadership is also up in the air. If Republicans take the House, some members have said they will not support Kevin McCarthy's bid to become the next speaker of the House.

CNN's Melanie Zanon joins us now to break down what's next.

Melanie, we know McCarthy has been working the phones trying to line up the support that he needs. It's just not there yet.

MELANIE ZANONA, CNN CAPITOL HILL CORRESPONDENT: Right. And ultimately, it's going to come down to two things, Jim. One, what is the size of the Republican majority, assuming there is a majority. And number two, how willing is McCarthy to cut deals with these conservative hard liners? They want things that would potentially weaken McCarthy's speakership.

So far I'm told that he's been in listening mode. He's been hearing critics out, but he's not made any promises or given into their demands. However, he might not have a choice on the matter depending on what those margins are because if they have super slim majority, those numbers are going to have a ton of leverage. Now I will tell you that McCarthy's team right now saying they're

confident that he can get there. He also has the benefit of not having a challenger or a serious, you know, alternative right now. But it's going to be a messy few weeks for Kevin McCarthy, no doubt about it. And our Dana Bash asked Nancy Pelosi, who knows a thing or two about getting a speakership.

ACOSTA: Yes.

ZANONA: Whether she thinks Kevin McCarthy has it. And take a listen to her response.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. NANCY PELOSI (D-CA): But why would I make a judgment about something that may or may not ever happen? No, I don't think he has it. But that's up to his own people to make a decision as to how they want to be led or otherwise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ZANONA: Pelosi obviously not shy about her distaste for Kevin McCarthy. But she makes a point there. They don't even know if they're going have the majority just yet.

ACOSTA: Right. And I suppose Kevin McCarthy in those phone calls might want to reach out to people like Paul Ryan, John Boehner to see what it's like to deal with the House Freedom Caucus when you're also trying to negotiate with Republican moderates.

ZANONA: Yes.

ACOSTA: But what about Nancy Pelosi staying on as the speaker? I mean, as you noted, we should keep reminding our viewers there is still the chance, and maybe it's a better than an outside chance that Democrats hang on to the House here.

ZANONA: Yes. Yes. Pelosi is keeping her cards very close to her vest. Dana Bash also asked her about this. And she sidestepped those questions. She did promise to reveal her decision before November 30th, which is when Democrats are having their internal leadership elections. But honestly, if Democrats end up miraculously holding on to the House, it's a whole new ball game, and who knows what's going to happen.

ACOSTA: Yes. All right. We'll be watching. We know you will as well. Sorry, you're not going to get any rest.

ZANONA: No, no.

ACOSTA: We thought you might. But no chance.

ZANONA: I'm ready for it.

ACOSTA: All right, Melanie, thanks very much.

Joining us now is Democratic Senator from Virginia Tim Kaine, a member of the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committees.

Senator, thanks so much for being on with us. CNN and other outlets have projected that Democrats will hold the Senate. It's a rare feat obviously for the party holding the White House in a midterm. How did that happen?

Hang on a second. I'm being told right now that Tim Kaine's signal is frozen. Is it still frozen? All right. Stand by, Senator Kaine, we'll get back to you. Let me -- we do have our panel up. Let me go to them. Olivia Troye is there with us. It's always good to have a plan B. Stephanie Grisham is also with us, the former White House press secretary. Olivia Troye, she was an adviser to Vice President Mike Pence.

Olivia, let me start with you first. These midterm elections did not bring the red wave many expected. What are your thoughts? You know, you were so close to the -- actually both of you were very close. You were involved in the inner workings of the Trump White House. I wonder if this was as much a referendum on the former president as it was on the president who is in White House right now.

OLIVIA TROYE, FORMER ADVISER TO VICE PRESIDENT MIKE PENCE: Yes, look, I think the American people voted for sanity. And their voices were heard. And I think that they're tired of the ugly politicking that's going on, especially in the Republican Party.

[16:05:01]

I think democracy did matter. I think President Biden was correct in calling it out and calling out the extreme MAGA and what it stands for. And I think -- you know, and I also think look, Dobbs, I think women came out, young people came out and they said enough. We don't like the direction that this is going in with all these crazy candidates that the GOP decided to run.

But, look, it's not just a referendum on Trump. It's a referendum on the GOP as a whole because he didn't run these candidates alone.

ACOSTA: And Stephanie, you know, your former boss has said he's going to make this special announcement on Tuesday. His own advisers are essentially saying now that he is going to have this announcement, that he is going to run for president in 2024. I mean, you and I, we used to be out there on the campaign trail together. You working for Donald Trump. I was there covering so we know what this is going to entail in the next couple of years. But do you think the party goes with him?

STEPHANIE GRISHAM, FORMER TRUMP WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: For the first time, and I want to say, I want to have a caveat here, we've all seen this movie before, right? I mean, right after January 6th, you had Lindsey Graham and McCarthy saying this is all Trump's fault, et cetera, et cetera, we need to move on, et cetera, et cetera. And then a few days later McCarthy was down at Mar-a-Lago to kiss the ring.

So with the caveat that we've seen this movie before, you know, I'm going echo a bit of what Olivia just said, like the voters have spoken and they have spoken. And I think the Republican Party really needs to look within right now and decide, are we going to go with the voters who hire us or are we going to go with this one man, Donald Trump? And sadly, I think Republicans are just going to keep with the people who keep them in office, the people who hire them on.

ACOSTA: And Olivia, I want to get your take on this tweet from Senator Josh Hawley. He tweeted this. "The old party is dead. Time to bury it, build something new." Of course, we remember it was Hawley who was pumping his fist on January 6th. What do you think of this call for a course correction? Because I suppose it is to some extent the senator saying it's time to move on.

TROYE: Yes. I find that interesting, especially coming from Josh Hawley, because the party that he enable and emboldened and that fist pump in the air is the party that lost. And so, you know, I'm a little bit confused and perplexed by that tweet. Is he saying that he is going to turn away from the extremists and MAGA and all of these kind of culture wars that are happening in? So I think that remains to be seen.

Look, I'm looking -- you know, I'm a life-long Republican voter, but I am sick of this. And I am so glad that moderates voted out there and had their voices heard. And look, I'm paying attention here. And I'm looking for sanity. I'm looking for a John McCain Republican. And I don't see one right now still.

ACOSTA: And Stephanie, let's listen to this comment from Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana earlier this morning when he was asked if Trump is still in control of the party. A really fascinating comment. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHUCK TODD, NBC NEWS ANCHOR: If this is the result of these elections, but the Republican Party still has sort of the same leadership at RNC, Ronna McDaniel, Kevin McCarthy of House Republicans, Mitch McConnell, the Senate Republicans, and of course Donald Trump is sort of the leader out there, if there is no change there, do you think that's a problem for Republicans going forward?

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): First, we're not a cult. We're not like, OK, there is one person who leads our party. If we have a sitting president, she or he will be the leader of our party.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: I mean, Stephanie, if you have to say it out loud, we're not a cult.

GRISHAM: Live TV. I apologize about my dog. Absolutely. I don't even know where that came from. That seemed very, very defensive to me. You know, again, and I don't mean to just keep repeating myself but the voters have spoken, and I'm really hopeful for that. And let's see what's to come. You know, Tuesday I'm hearing that Trump is inviting people who he endorsed, members of Congress to come down and be there for his big announcement. And let's see who shows up. Let's see who stands with him. And then

let's go from there and see, you know, who will be in a primary against him because I think now more than ever, I think there will be more people who could primary him, whether that is DeSantis. I know everybody is talking about that. But you've got some really other -- you've got Pence. You've got maybe a Kemp. You've got -- these are just my guesses.

So for the first time in a really long time I'm hopeful. And I don't care what anybody says. I don't think that the base will ever leave Trump until, you know, he's completely long gone conclusion, forgone conclusion. Again, sorry about my dog. But I think that at the end of the day, he cannot win a general, and people are seeing that now. And everybody wants to vote, you know, for the good guy.

ACOSTA: Yes. And Olivia, let's switch gears a little bit. Democrats had a lot going against them, inflation, you know, those high gas prices. People would drive by the gas station and see the high gas prices. Crime was on the minds of many voters, depending on where they live in this country.

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Yet Democrats managed to control, managed to keep control of the Senate. What do you think it was? Do you think maybe it was partly the Dobbs decision, I suppose? But also what about President Biden's appeal to Americans to hang on to their democracy, to defend democracy?

TROYE: Yes, I think, again, I think that played a big role. I think, look, Americans came out and they voted for Democrats. You know, Republicans don't want to say that out loud, and they're kind of sitting there looking at each other thinking what happened? Oh, are we at bad messaging? No, you ran terrible candidates.

And we told you that you would lose and we told you that this would destroy the party if you went down that route, and you still did it. And so I think, look, Democrats had better candidates this time around. And I think the GOP will continue to see losses again in the future if they continue to allow these sort of narratives to take hold in the party.

And look, I also think they need to stop with this anti-immigrant stuff. You know, I know everyone is glorifying DeSantis' win in Florida. Well, I don't know. I don't know if the rest of the country stands for, you know, bussing people out of the -- across the country like cattle and having immigrants shipped around like that.

I mean, if you're actually going the talk about immigration and border security, I need to see some real policies here, and I don't see that coming out of these people.

ACOSTA: Yes, Stephanie, I think that was a big I think message sent by the voters in these midterms is that they're -- I think a lot of voters out there are tired of the nastiness and the meanness and the cruelty. People making jokes about Nancy Pelosi's husband, that sort of thing. You know, Kari Lake is one of those politicians who did that. And I'm curious. I know you came out of Arizona Republican politics.

I mean, this is pretty fascinating to watch here, what happens if Kari Lake loses to Katie Hobbs? Does the Arizona Republican Party only have themselves to blame if that happens? S

GRISHAM: I think so. I mean, and I think that can go for a lot of the Trump-backed candidates. I mean, you know, I know I'm moving away from Kari Lake for a minute, but you think about Blake Masters. Doug Ducey, the current governor, could have been in line for that Senate seat, and he would have won. He would have won handily or a little bit really good race against Mark Kelly. Instead we had Blake Masters.

And so I do think the Republican Party, again, they're going have to do some soul-searching on a state level and a national level. You know, what happens if Kari loses? I will be very, very happy. I believe in my state of Arizona. I've said that for months now. I've openly endorsed and been happy for Katie Hobbs. I've been texting with her and cheering her on. So I really hope Katie Hobbs wins, because, again, it will be the voters speaking about, you know, no more chaos, no more election denials, no more lies.

Just govern. Just do what's best for state. And this is in a state, a border state where I'm an immigration hawk. I am very clear about my views on immigration having lived in Arizona for 20 years. But she will be what's best for that state and our country. And the same with that secretary of state race. Mark Finchem is an election denier. He is already of course stoking that this is, you know, cheating.

But I'm really proud of the state of Arizona thus far. And I think, again, this is just the voters have spoken in a really big way. And the Republican Party needs to sit and think for a minute.

ACOSTA: All right. Olivia Troye, Stephanie Grisham. Stephanie, say hello to your little dog for us as well. Nice family there.

GRISHAM: Sorry.

ACOSTA: That's all right. Thanks, ladies, very much for your time. We appreciate it.

All right. That's the Republican side. Let's turn to the Democrats. Joining us now is Democratic senator from Virginia Tim Kaine.

Senator Kaine, thanks so much for being with us. Glad we got the shot going. I know all of that. We're always, you know, worried about the live shot, being a live reporter for so many years. But let me ask you this. You know, CNN and other outlets have projected the Democrats will hold the Senate, that your party will hold the Senate. There were all of these predictions of a red wave.

I was wondering, were you anticipating a red wave? You used to be the head of the Democratic Party. What do you think happened? What happened? SEN. TIM KAINE (D-VA): Well, Jim, yes, if you'd asked me in May and

forced me to be really honest, I would have said things looked tough. But after the Dobbs decision and the August referendum result in Kansas, I felt very confident that we would hold on to the Senate. If you told me we would advance and get more seats in the Senate, I would have been somewhat surprised, but we have a chance to do that.

My only surprise, frankly, was that I thought we were going get hit a little harder in the House than we did. But it was a great night for Democrats. Holding the Senate, minimizing damage in the House, and obviously we still have a chance to take the majority. But also, governorships and secretaries of state and state legislatures.

In a time where President Biden's approval rating is bumping around 40 and people are really worried about inflation, crime and some other issues, the fact that the party with the White House advance in the Senate, advance in statehouses, and essentially held the House even, it's a remarkable evening, a remarkable victory.

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And I think it's a real tribute to the American voters who figured out, well, we've got problems now. But one side is trying to deal with them. One side is standing in the way on a good day. And on a bad day, preaching weird conspiracies and trying to take our personal freedoms away.

ACOSTA: And let me ask you this, because there is still a race to come. This Georgia Senate runoff that's going to be held on December 6th. Do you view that runoff as critical to your party's agenda? I suppose it's better to have 51 votes than 50 votes for a whole host of reasons. In particular, to be able to continue to put President Biden's judicial appointments on the bench. And I suppose there is always the prospect of a vacancy on the Supreme Court to keep in mind as well.

KAINE: Absolutely, Jim. We feel very, very good about Senator Warnock. The fact that the special election on the 6th is just one race. Raphael Warnock against Herschel Walker. Brian Kemp, the governor, is not on the ballot. It's not going to determine whether Republicans get a majority. And so I think that will be dispiriting to Republican voters. I think their nominee is dispiriting to Republican voters. He got hundreds of thousands fewer votes than Brian Kemp did.

But you're right. To the outside world, what's the difference between a 50-50 majority and a 51-49 majority? Well, on legislation like the Inflation Reduction Act, you don't have to get every Democrat on board. You can lose one and still get it passed with the vice president. And then the second one, as you point out, judges and Biden nominees to keep positions in the Pentagon and state.

With a 50-50 Senate, every committee is tied. And that means Republicans that want to block Biden nominees all vote no. So they don't get reported to the floor. You have to undergo a laborious motion to discharge the committee on the floor before you can even then turn to the nominee. And the Republicans use that to chew up time, even on noncontroversial nominees. So we don't get important business at hand.

So 51-49 would make Chuck Schumer's life so much better than it's been in the last two years. And frankly we'll get a lot more done.

ACOSTA: Let me ask you this. President Biden was pretty outspoken about threats to democracy that some of these candidates, Republican candidates pose across the country. People running for secretary of state, running for the United States Senate, governor, all sorts of things. One of those races might get resolved this evening out in Arizona.

What did you make of that? Did you think that was the right strategy? There were a lot of folks in the Democratic Party who were saying no, no, no, the president is getting this all wrong. He should be focused on bread and butter issues, gas prices, and all those sorts of things. But he really stuck to his guns. And I'm just wondering what your thoughts were on that.

KAINE: Jim, I think the president was right. And most of my campaigning was in Virginia with congressional candidates, although I also did some work in other states with Senate candidates. And both hearing them, but hearing the dialogue with voters. Voters were concerned with the economy. But just because they said that, that didn't mean they were voting for Republicans. They were unhappy with some economic trends, but they often felt like Democrats were at least trying to address them. Republicans weren't.

They were concerned with autonomy, including abortion rights. But they were very concerned with democracy and extremism. And a whole series of issues bundled into that. This was the first federal election since January 6th. We've got the January 6th Committee. You had the attack on Speaker Pelosi's husband. You had the proliferation of election deniers. You had President Trump injecting himself into the midterm, which was stupid. He should have stayed quiet.

The fact he injected, he is the only thing that unifies every Democrat in the United States, Donald J. Trump. And he put himself right in the middle of it. And all of those issues together raised real concerns in voters' minds. Even though who weren't necessarily thrilled with the economy that this is more than a midterm. This is about patriotic people standing up to protect our Democratic values. And that that energized a lot of voters.

And I want to give a shoutout especially to young voters. Participated in unusual turnout levels in a midterm election in this one. Latino voters, African-American voters, women voters. Once that Dobbs decision came down and you saw the Kansas referendum, there were six referendums on abortion rights in very different states, red, blue and battleground. And they all ended up landing easily on the pro-choice side of this and energized voters.

ACOSTA: And you sit on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee. I want to ask a foreign policy question. With Democrats holding the Senate and it being very tight in the House, no matter who ultimately controls the House, what does that mean for military and humanitarian aid continuing to flow to Ukraine? Does that make the situation a little bit better?

[16:20:02]

There were some rumblings before the midterm about, you know, Republicans saying well, we want to dial that back, revisit some of those questions. What do you think?

KAINE: Jim, we're going to continue to stick by Ukraine, a democratic ally in a consortium where we're linking arms with democracies around the globe to show Vladimir Putin or any other would-be authoritarian invader that they can't invade the sovereignty of a democratic nation and expect the world just to go to sleep on it.

President Biden has done a superb job of getting the democracies of the world to link arms. And the support thus far in Congress has been bipartisan. As you know we voted in the Senate for a treaty. We don't do a lot of treaties in the Senate. But this was to let Sweden and Finland into NATO. It was a 95-1 vote.

We may not get unanimity on votes about Ukraine, but I'm convinced we're going to get a solid consensus and it will continue to be a bipartisan one to support Ukraine and show any dictator around the world that democracies are not giving up on our allies.

ACOSTA: And just very last question very quickly, President Biden is set to sit down with Chinese leader Xi Jinping in his first face-to- face meeting. Is it -- what do you hope to come out of that meeting? Does he need to issue a warning to the Chinese leader regarding Taiwan?

KAINE: I think, Jim, it's going to be a really important meeting. And both Xi Jinping and Joe Biden have just gotten real political wind in their sails. Xi Jinping with another five-year term. Joe Biden with a very solid midterm victory. I'm glad he is walking into that meeting with a tailwind.

And I think he needs to be real clear that we're not allowing nations to just casually invade others and, if they wonder whether it's words or deeds, just look what we've done in Ukraine. Xi Jinping looks at the democracies of the world standing together. And we knows we'll do the same thing. What I hope, though, that the leaders will do, these are the two most powerful nations in the world, maybe in an unexpected way they can find something where China and the United States could work on together, humanitarian project, you know.

Something we could work on together. Because, look, the China relationship, we are economic partners. We're economic competitors. We're sometimes in competition. Other times in direct confrontation. It's a multilevel relationship with a lot of challenges. But I think the world would sleep a little bit easier if U.S. and China could find something, maybe in the humanitarian space where we could link arms and try to help people out.

ACOSTA: All right. Very good. Senator Tim Kaine, thanks so much for the time. Appreciate it. Glad the signal held up. It looked great the whole time. We really appreciate it. KAINE: Thank you.

ACOSTA: Thanks, Senator. Thanks for your time.

All right, still ahead. We're learning new details about a midair crash at a Dallas airshow and the victims. Just a devastating situation. We'll have more on that just ahead.

You're live in the CNN NEWSROOM.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:27:13]

ACOSTA: Texas officials have now confirmed that six people were killed when two vintage airplanes collided in midair at an airshow in Dallas yesterday. Video captured the moments before the collision. And we want to warn you, it is disturbing to watch. Officials say the World War II era military aircraft were doing routine maneuvers when they collided and crashed during the Wings Over Dallas airshow.

You see the image right there freezing on your screen. That's so we don't show you the moment of impact there. But CNN aviation correspondent Pete Muntean joins me now.

Pete, these don't happen all the time. They do happen from time to time. Obviously devastating when it occurs. Do we know more about how this happened? And what does it tell us about whether or not these kinds of shows should continue?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's all valid questions. And you see the video, which is horrific.

ACOSTA: Yes.

MUNTEAN: You know, the NTSB is holding a briefing right now on this very topic.

ACOSTA: OK.

MUNTEAN: And they arrived on the scene just yesterday and they really have their work cut out for them. Not only is there one airplane involved here but two airplanes involved. So the scene is very dynamic. They have a lot of work to do. They mentioned the fact that there are these two airplanes also from World War II. So B-17 bomber. You've seen it in televisions and films. Four engines, typically carried a crew of 10.

This specific airplane was painted in the paint scheme of Eighth Air Force daylight bombings raids of World War II. The other airplane, a P-63, a pursuit airplane, that ran into that bomber. The big question here is whether or not the pilot in that other airplane saw the bomber as it was on a converging course. What we can see from multiple videos surfacing online, from witnesses at the airshow, also people surrounding the scene, the investigators will want to collect all of this from the NTSB. It is an advantage for them because they were able to gather so much

data just from short little video clips. We've heard from this briefing that the NTSB is holding that they will want to also listen to the audio of the radio transmissions from the air traffic control tower and also from pilot to pilot. They will want to interview the pilots who were involved. Also in the air at the same time, who were not involved directly in this accident.

They will also want to interview witnesses on the ground and those behind the airshow. The Wings Over Dallas airshow has an impeccable safety record. And airshows in the United States have a safety record that is very good on their own. Nobody on the ground hurt in this instance. No fatalities at an airshow in the United States for more than 50 years.

ACOSTA: Wow.

MUNTEAN: So of course people are concerned about those on the ground, although in this case nothing happened here. These are heavily choreographed. And the point is to put this living history into the air. It's like having veterans. We lose them all the time. When you lose these airplanes, they don't come back.

They essentially tell the story of what our veterans went through in World War II.

[16:30:00]

And that is why so many people volunteer their time, risk life and limb in air shows to show people what this was like. It's a really important thing to do. And they were doing exactly that just yesterday. It's very sad.

ACOSTA: It is very sad, and it's important to honor the people that -- who used to fly these types of planes. It's remarkable, but obviously, the safety issue has to be addressed and that's what the investigators are looking into right out now.

Pete Muntean, thank you very much as always. We appreciate it.

Turkey's President says today's deadly explosion in Istanbul, quote, smells of terrorism. The U.S. is condemning the blast that killed at least six people and wounded dozens that happened on the street in one of the city's busiest areas filled with tourists and shoppers. And video posted on social media shows the moment of the explosion. Take a look at this.

CNN Scott McLean joins me now. Scott, that video is just chilling to watch. What more are you learning?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says that those responsible for this will be identified and they will be prosecuted. The Vice President said that he believes that this is an act of terror because the suspect whom he believes is actually a woman detonated a bomb. And then not long ago, Jim, we actually got more from the Justice Minister of the country who did a local news interview. And in that interview, he said that the security footage from the scene shows that there was a woman, clearly a woman, he says, in the video who was sitting on a bench for more than 40 minutes, and then one, two minutes after she gets up from that bench, that is when the blast goes off.

So, obviously, that leaves a lot of open questions about how that blast was triggered. He described it as a bag or a plastic bag that actually had the explosives in it. So it's not really clear whether she would have detonated herself, whether she was even involved in this at all or whether this had a timer, was remotely detonated.

But officials are trying to track this woman down right now to figure out what she knows or if she's even, as I said, a suspect or potentially involved in this. This was an absolutely horrific scene, this street. Many people, if they've been to Istanbul will know by name, Istiklal Street. It is the beating heart of the city really. There's restaurants, cafes, bars, galleries, it's popular with locals, it's popular with tourists as well.

And on this day, the weather was absolutely perfect. And so you had a lot of families out, you had a lot of young people out as well when this blast went off. We actually spoke to one witness, a freelance journalist who was in a store nearby when the blast went off, maybe only 15 yards away from the detonation site. And this is what he said that he saw when he came out of that source (ph).

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TARIQ KEBLAOUI, FREELANCE JOURNALIST AND WITNESS: There was a fire on the ground that scattered beside it were a few dead bodies, missing ligaments, one man and missing a leg. And it was a very gruesome sight as everyone around me was totally scattered and panicked. And several people injured, bleeding from their ears, bleeding from their legs, and several people crying all around.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCLEAN: It's amazing how many people actually did survive, Jim. Six people killed are the latest numbers. The health minister just gave us an update. More than 80 wounded, about half of those have been released from the hospital, two, though, are in serious condition. Jim?

ACOSTA: All right, Scott McLean, thank you very much for that update. We appreciate it.

Coming up, Democrats are projected to keep control of the Senate but who will win the House? We'll break down some of these tight races next. You're live in the CNN Newsroom.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:38:08] ACOSTA: Democrats have clinch control of the Senate for the next two years. But the House is still up for grabs. Right now, we're watching some very tight House races. 218 is the magic number needed and so far, Democrats have 204 seats while Republicans have 211.

CNN Senior Data Reporter Harry Enten is here to break down where things stand. Harry, what do you think, do the Democrats actually have a chance in the House. I mean, I suppose they have a chance. It's just how, you know, likely is the path at this point, right?

HARRY ENTEN, CNN SENIOR DATA REPORTER: Yes, I mean, look, they have a chance. But I think the basic way you can kind of look at it right is look at how many seats Democrats are currently leading and how many seats Republicans are currently leading in. And what you see is that Republicans at this particular point are leading in the majority of seats, you see on it your screen right now.

221 of the Democrats, 214. So clearly, what's going to need to happen is some seats that Republicans are leading, and right now Democrats are going to have to take advantage of. It's plausible, but it's an uphill climb at this point.

ACOSTA: And where are Democrats likely to make up some ground do you think, because they will some -- in some places?

ENTEN: Yes. So, I think California is where you want to look. And there are basically two seats in California to kind of tell the story, right. So we can look at one of those. And what you essentially see in California's 13th District John Duarte, it has a lead. The Republican has a lead, but Adam Gray has been closing, closing, closing, closing closing. You can see less than 50 percent of the vote is in there.

So that to me is an easy pickup for Democrats, excuse me. But then you look at the 22nd District, OK? And what you see there is you see that David Valadao, the Republican has an advantage of 5 percentage points. But when I looked at this race on Friday, it was an 8-point lead. And this is a race -- this district was one that back in 2018. David Valadao left for about a month, left for about a month until finally giving up the advantage.

So this is the type of district that I'm watching. But this gives you an idea of how uphill the climb is for Democrats that they have to come back in a district where they're currently trailing by 5 points.

[16:40:00]

ACOSTA: And Harry, what is the deal with these California races and why it's taking them so long? You know, I keep looking at the screen and I'm like, what's the deal with California, it's 39 percent in, should they be in a little bit more of a hurry? Forgive me for saying that Californians, but --

ENTEN: I mean, look, they have a mail-in process, it takes a long time for those male votes to come in. That's the way it is. You know, a lot of these western states have mail ballot. And as I like to always say, it's better to be accurate than it is to be fast. Obviously, you prefer to be both, but in this case, accuracy is better than quickness.

ACOSTA: And Democrats could lose ground in some districts that is imperiling them in terms of trying to take control the House?

ENTEN: Yes, exactly right. So, you know, they had to come back in districts but they also have to hold the lead in the districts in which they're currently ahead. And you can essentially see an Arizona's first congressional district right now. What you see is that Hodge, the Democrats up by 1 point but the fact is, is that Schweikert has been closing, closing, closing and that's the type of district, right. I wouldn't be surprised if the Republican ends up winning and furthering and paralleling the Democrats a path that you enter in 18 seats.

ACOSTA: All right, Harry Enten, thanks for breaking down the numbers for us.

ENTEN: Thank you.

ACOSTA: I just did an explanation on the California thing. It was very -- just been on my mind.

ENTEN: I hope I provided one for you.

ACOSTA: You did. Thanks, Harry. I appreciate it.

ENTEN: Thanks.

ACOSTA: Coming up, President Biden taking a victory lap overseas as CNN projects Democrats will retain control of the Senate, much more on that. And his high stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping that is next. You're live in CNN Newsroom.

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[16:45:30]

ACOSTA: President Biden touching down in Indonesia ahead of the G20 Summit and a high stakes meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The President's trip turning into a victory lap as his party defies history back home with a better-than-expected midterm performance. Democrats clinching the Senate last night and still in the fight for control of the House.

CNN's Phil Mattingly joins us now from Indonesia. Phil, you know, I have to imagine they've got his spring in their step. And maybe just a tad surprised as to how well things are going in these midterms? What's the reaction over there?

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is very true. White House officials were bracing for losses. They certainly felt like they had a path to hang on to the Senate. But the fact that they've hung on to it and have a chance to actually gain a seat, I think as one White House official I was texting with earlier today said I asked how what's the mood like in there right now. And the official said it gets better every single day. And I think that's how they viewed these results or something underscored by the President himself. Jim, you know, how tightly scheduled these trips are. The President popping out for an impromptu Q&A with reporters after Nevada was called. This is what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I tell you what -- congratulations to Senator Schumer. He's got a majority again. And we're focusing now on Georgia. We feel good about where we are.

And I know I'm a cockeyed optimist, I understand that, from the beginning, but I'm not surprised by the turnout. I'm incredibly pleased by the turnout. And I think it's a reflection of the quality of our candidates. And the -- they're all running on the same program.

There wasn't anybody who wasn't running on what we did. They're all staying with -- sticking with it. And so I feel good, and I'm looking forward to the next couple of years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Yes, I think even just that framing there, Jim, that he's looking forward to the next two years that may be a little bit different than perhaps White House officials reviewing things in the days leading up to the election just underscores how different of a moment this is than people expected even inside the White House.

ACOSTA: Absolutely. But, you know, the President has bigger things to focus on at this point, arguably, and that he's going to be meeting with the Chinese leader Xi Jinping. What do you expect there?

MATTINGLY: Yes, look, if the midterms are the most consequential moment of his first two years in office on the domestic front, certainly this sit down the first face to face meeting with President Xi Jinping is the most consequential on the international stage. And this comes at a absolute low point in the relations between the two countries.

And there's one White House officials have set expectations quite low for. They're saying, we want to do this to kind of set the floor for the relationship. That's how bad things have been. And I think that's the focus right now. A better understanding between the two leaders of each side's red lines, each side's perspectives really trying to sharpen where there are areas that they can actually work together and where there are areas where they can't but they don't actually tip from competition into conflict.

Obviously, the President has known President Xi for more than a decade believes he has a good relationship, working relationship with him whether that portends any type of positive steps coming out of this meeting, we'll have to see in a couple hours, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right, very good. Well, you're in Bali, which is nice. So perhaps that'll put people in a good mood. I never got to Bali on all my travels. I'm jealous right now having some FOMO. Phil Mattingly, enjoy the trip. Thanks so much and we'll be right back.

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[16:53:23]

ACOSTA: Dolly Parton is being honored and it's not for her many musical talents. The country music legend and longtime philanthropist is the latest recipient of the Jeff Bezos Courage and Civility Award it comes with $100 million that have no strings attached. You heard that right. Parton has donated various causes for decades, she donated $1 million toward vaccine research during the pandemic. The singer also has a library initiative and scholarship program. And Bezos spoke with our very own Chloe Melas about the decision.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHLOE MELAS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Talk to me about choosing Dolly Parton.

JEFF BEZOS, FOUNDER, AMAZON: Well, look at what she's done and how she's led her life and the way she's done it. She's bold things always with civility and kindness. She's is a unifier. You know, we have big problems in the world. And the way to get big problems done is you have to work together.

We have too many examples in the world of conflict and people using ad hominem attacks on social media and so on and so on. You will find Dolly Parton doing that.

LAUREN SANCHEZ, JEFF BEZO'S PARTNER: And when you think of Dolly, look, everyone smiles, right? And all she wants to do is bring light into other people's world. That's all. And so, we couldn't have thought of someone better than to give this award to Dolly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: Everybody loves Dolly. It's true. We'll have more of the exclusive interview airing tomorrow on CNN this morning.

And the top 10 CNN Heroes of 2022 have been announced. One of whom will be named the CNN Hero of the Year by our viewers. So we're reintroducing each of our top 10 as you vote for your favorite in the next few weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Art is so emotional and vulnerable. It's what allows you to understand that it's OK to not be OK.

[16:55:03]

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My artwork is kind of presentation of some of the guys that we lost when we were deployed. They built a complete mock up of a casket.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Josh. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, David.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is Josh.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up, Josh?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Most of the veterans have never really told their story to anybody before.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They will shoulder the burden as they already have done.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I tried to explain to him in the beginning, it's going to be easier to tell your story once you create your art piece because you're not going to be talking about you, you're be talking about your art piece and focus on it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's something breaking out of me, I know that it was alive.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Chorus.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I want them to know that arts and option for healing.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've seen some things a man just can't unsee. I'm dealing with demons. I'm dealing with me.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ACOSTA: And go to cnnheroes.com right now to vote for any of your favorite top 10 heroes. And we'll be right back.

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