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CNN Projects Democrats Will Keep the Senate; Kherson Residents Celebrate City's Liberation; Control of U.S. House of Representatives Still Undecided; Biden in Asia; Ukrainian President and First Lady Discuss Relationship; Surge in Cases of Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired November 13, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ALISON KOSIK, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and around the world. I'm Alison Kosik.
CNN now projects that Democrats will hold on to their control of the U.S. Senate for the next two years. It's a stunning turnaround from the predictions of a Republican red wave just one week ago.
The critical moment came a few hours ago, when Nevada's Senate race was called for Democratic incumbent Catherine Cortez Masto. After the milestone was reached, here's what U.S. President Joe Biden said from the ASEAN summit in Cambodia.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think it's a reflection of the quality of our candidates. And they're all running on the same program. Wasn't anybody who wasn't running on what we did. They're all sticking with it. So I feel good and I'm looking forward to the next couple years.
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KOSIK: Now by claiming at least 50 seats, Democrats will control the Senate, with the vice president casting any tiebreaking votes. But Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer says the vote result should send a clear message to Republicans.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: The American people rejected soundly rejected the anti-Democratic, authoritarian, nasty and divisive direction the MAGA Republicans wanted to take our country in.
And I'm making a plea to my Republican colleagues; we can disagree on so many issues. That's fair. But let's not have this kind of divisive negativity. Let's not have the condemnation of viciousness and even violence against poll workers against so many others. Let us try to come together.
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KOSIK: We want to take you straight to Nevada where CNN's Rosa Flores has the very latest from Las Vegas.
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ROSA FLORES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The stakes were high, the margins were razor thin but, in the end, the Democratic incumbent prevailed. Catherine Cortez Masto gets to stay as the senator from the state of Nevada.
And with that, the Democrats get to keep and maintain control of the U.S. Senate. Here's how it all went down.
The Republican, Adam Laxalt, was in the lead for days and then, on Saturday evening, Clark County released a batch of about 23,000 votes. And here is how those votes were divided.
Catherine Cortez Masto receiving about 14,000 of those votes or 60 percent of the vote. Laxalt received more than 8,000 votes or about 35 percent of that batch. Now that put Catherine Cortez Masto in the lead and CNN called the race at that point in time.
Her campaign taking to Twitter, saying, quote, "What did people get wrong about this race?
"The first Latina senator knows her community better than anonymous sources. The daughter of a Teamster knows how to fight for working families. And CCM's -- or Catherine Cortez Masto's -- a former AG and crime attacks couldn't stick."
Again, the Democrat here, Catherine Cortez Masto, keeps her seat and stays a senator of Nevada -- Rosa Flores, CNN, Las Vegas.
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KOSIK: As Republican fortunes fade following the midterms, Donald Trump and his supporters continue to try to cast doubt on the integrity of the voting process. The former president posting on his social media site a baseless claim that election officials in Nevada were "finding all sorts of ballots to steal the election" from Adam Laxalt.
Nevada election officials dismissed that as utter nonsense. Have a listen.
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JOE GARCIA, CLARK COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS: We're taking ballots in that we're required to take in, according to the law. There's no way that we could find ballots. They're brought here by the United States Postal Service. As long as it's postmarked, we process those ballots and put them in the count.
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KOSIK: Let's talk about the Nevada Senate race with professor Fred Lokken, who teaches political science at Truckee Meadows Community College in Reno, Nevada.
Thanks for being here.
FRED LOKKEN, TRUCKEE MEADOWS COMMUNITY COLLEGE: Thank you, Alison.
KOSIK: A blue Nevada means Democrats will keep control of the Senate. I'm curious to hear from you.
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KOSIK: What do the numbers of what's going on in Nevada tell you about how Cortez Masto was able to pull this off?
It was really, really close with Laxalt.
LOKKEN: Balloting in the state of Nevada changed during the pandemic when we adopted mail-in balloting. Honestly, that has changed the landscape, especially for reporting the results.
It requires a great deal more patience because of a lot of stipulations that were put in place to make sure it would be an honest and fair counting of the ballots. So this last four days has been a very painful period of waiting for this to happen.
Really what did happen is we saw the results of the Election Day but not 50 percent of the ballots that had been cast prior to Election Day and on Election Day. So we've been waiting for those to come in and be opened and processed and verified and counted. Very happy to be at this point.
KOSIK: Talk with me about voter turnout in Nevada.
What was it like?
What were the top issues that drove voters to the polls?
LOKKEN: Well, the senator is a very popular first-term senator. It seems like a close election and seems very dramatic. But this is the record-breaking election in Nevada. Over $200 million were spent on this campaign. And much of it was from outside the state and much of it was incredibly negative.
So the senator dealt with a barrage over the months, dating back to spring, of very negative attack attacks. Crime emerged as a topic. We were wondering about whether or not abortion was still relevant.
Certainly the economy has been a major issue over all of us. But as you indicated in your reports, it ultimately did not stick. People thought that she was a very sincere candidate and that the attacks were unfair. And she weathered it, she made it.
KOSIK: There was so much talk of a red wave in the midterms.
Why do you think that didn't materialize?
LOKKEN: I don't think it existed. I sometimes am skeptical enough to think that we live in an age now where the United States where to say something seemingly makes it true. Perhaps there were those who thought, if they said it enough and loud enough, it would materialize.
But Nevada has been emerging as a blue state. If you look at the results of the elections, very few Republicans actually won top spots in the state. So there never really was a wave here.
And I think that we also saw Democrats motivated. Their enthusiasm peaked right at the election, matching the Republicans'. There are a number of things that really helped out the Democrats.
KOSIK: So it is very possible we're going to see split leadership for Congress for the next two years, Democrats in control of the Senate, Republicans likely to control the House.
How do you see this affecting the remainder of President Biden's first term?
LOKKEN: Well, it risks being problematic. We saw little cooperation during the first two years, when the Democrats controlled both houses but by a thin margin in the Senate.
We're in the same situation in the Senate, which is, after 100 years of a pattern where it should have been quite the opposite, that we actually saw the Democrats hang on to the exact same margin, possibly improving it by one.
That it's going to be really up to the Republicans on the House side, if they come to control the chamber, to be willing to work together, rather than just engage in shenanigans and attacks.
The messages coming so far suggests this could be a very difficult relationship. But the voters are going to be watching. and I think both Democrats and Republicans are going to want to have some wins over the next two years.
KOSIK: I'm curious what you think is the biggest surprise that came out of the midterms?
LOKKEN: Well, I guess the biggest surprise in some ways was this unprecedented result. It was a stunning outcome across this country and here in Nevada. There were concerns that we might be swept up in something that was very much based on the economy.
And the economy issue -- there's guilt frankly on both sides with Democrats and Republicans. But there was the concern it might stick to just one party. That didn't happen. And abortion did re-emerge.
So I think I'm happy and surprised that people were motivated by the personal health issues of women, their personal choices, their right of privacy was respected by a lot of voters in Nevada. And we are a good state that way. We do respect each other. I think that was exemplified in her outcome.
KOSIK: OK. Fred Lokken, thanks so much for your perspective today.
LOKKEN: Thank you for having me.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: Maricopa County continues to hold the biggest number of outstanding votes in the state of Arizona. While CNN and other networks have called that Senate race for Democrat Mark Kelly, it is still too early to call the governor's race. CNN's Kyung Lah has more from Phoenix.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. CORRESPONDENT: The count continues in Maricopa County; 85,000 votes released here in the county, still more votes to be counted. And still no clear answer on the governor's race here in the state of Arizona.
Republican Kari Lake did manage to close the gap just a bit on Democrat Katie Hobbs, who remains the leader. If you look at the numbers, the margin has shrunk just a tad but not enough to determine if there is a clear winner at this point.
But the Lake campaign releasing a little information about what it's inside their campaign headquarters, saying they believe these numbers offer a glimmer of hope, the campaign saying, "There is 100 percent a path and because the vote is still going on, that there is so much we do not know at this stage."
We do know CNN has projected a winner in the U.S. Senate race in Arizona. Mark Kelly, the senator, will maintain his seat. The race was called in his favor by CNN. Today thanking his supporters who backed his race.
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SEN. MARK KELLY (D-AZ): You are all the reason that we are successful. I also want to thank our state's election officials, honorable Republicans and Democrats, who were doing the important work of making sure that Arizonans' votes and voices are heard, their votes are counted as quickly and as transparently as possible.
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LAH: Blake Masters has not conceded but indicated in a tweet he would be open to it after every legal vote is counted.
How many votes do remain? In Maricopa County there's about 185,000 to 195,000 votes remaining. The anticipation is, on Sunday evening, another release of votes of about 80,000 here in this county -- Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix.
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KOSIK: Joy and relief in a war-torn city. Ahead, Ukrainians in Kherson celebrate their liberation after Russian soldiers are forced out. Hear from residents who endured months of occupation.
Plus U.S. President Joe Biden beefing up alliances in Asia just before his face-to-face meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping. We'll get a live report from the ASEAN summit in Cambodia.
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KOSIK: After a long and brutal counteroffensive, Ukraine says it has liberated more than 60 settlements in the Kherson region. Its biggest victory has been in the city of Kherson itself, where Ukrainian forces pushed out Russian troops earlier this week.
Residents there have been celebrating their long-awaited freedom, many taking to the streets, waving flags and cheering for the soldiers as they try to restore order in the city. CNN's Nic Robertson is in the now-liberated city of Kherson.
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NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voice-over): This is what liberation looks like.
And this is what it feels like. For the people of Kherson, euphoria; eight dark months of oppressive occupation over, their troops greeted as conquering heroes.
Residents cut off from the world: no internet, no electricity, no water and no TV, gathering in the city's central square, coming over to hear our broadcast and tell us what the past eight months have been like.
ROBERTSON: I'm joined here by Yulia (ph) and Olga (ph) and we'll have a quick conversation about how it's been.
Tell us about the last eight months under occupation.
YULIA (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: It was a really hard time for everyone. Every Ukrainian family waited for our soldiers, for our army.
ROBERTSON: How does it feel now today to see them?
YULIA (PH): It is amazing, wonderful. Thank you very much for supporting us. We feel every day your support. Thank you so much.
Can I huge you?
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ROBERTSON: Thank you very much.
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ROBERTSON: Olga (ph), can we talk?
OLGA (PH), KHERSON RESIDENT: Yes, sure.
ROBERTSON: Can you tell us about your experiences over the last eight months?
OLGA (PH): We were waiting so long. But we were sure that this day will come. And we will celebrate together with our people here and everywhere in the world.
Thanks for all the world that supported us, that help us. And this day we're so happy to be here. We are so happy with our people to celebrate this day. This is something amazing. But it was hard but we always knew that this day will come.
ROBERTSON: And I think what everyone wants to know now, who is outside of here, what is the situation here now?
Please tell us about that.
OLGA (PH): The situation is very terrible. No gas -- no, sorry; gas we had. Electricity, no; power, no. Connection, connection, this is very important for people. People are lost. We don't know that --
ROBERTSON: No internet connection?
YULIA (PH): No internet connection, right. No water. But it is OK. We can wait. We can wait but, more important, Ukraine back here. We can call to our families, to our relatives and friends, and we want to say we are together.
ROBERTSON: And I think a lot of people were worried and the government was worried about, if the Russian soldiers would stay behind, if there would be a battle here.
Do you feel the city is safe now?
YULIA (PH): Yes, the city is safe for us.
ROBERTSON: And tell us how it was, because, again, we haven't had good information here.
What was the situation like, living with Russian soldiers in control?
OLGA (PH): The people you can see here now, I think that many of them were hiding. They are hiding their Ukrainian flag somewhere in the corner. We were terrified by Russian army.
We were terrified by soldiers that could come any moment in our house, in our home, just open the door like they are living here and steal, kidnap, torture. And this was very, very terrible. I have goose bumps now when I'm talking but we did that. We wait and we celebrate it now.
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ROBERTSON: This is what liberation looks like. This is what liberation feels like. The people of this city tried to resist the Russians. The Russians suppressed them. This is what Ukrainians are like when that suppression comes off --
ROBERTSON (voice-over): Nic Robertson, CNN, liberated Kherson, Ukraine.
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KOSIK: CNN's Sam Kiley joins us from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
Sam, what's next for the settlements that have been liberated?
SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, from the Ukrainian perspectives, including the city of Kherson, it is a humanitarian issue, the humanitarian issues that they have to address.
The retreating Russians destroyed communications systems, as Nic was saying in his report, during his remarkable lives yesterday. They have destroyed the water capacity for pumping water around the system. They've destroyed the power systems. So all of those have to be restored.
That is the pattern elsewhere in the country, when the Russians have been driven out or withdrawn. They do leave wreckage behind them in an effort to try to slow the abilities of the Ukrainians to consolidate and then push on.
Of course, the Russians have the natural barrier of the Dnipro River between them and the Ukrainian forces now. And they have put out a statement, saying that, to the north of Kherson, they're going to be evacuating civilians 15 kilometers away from the river.
There was a very important dam at Nova Kakhovka, which is the -- essentially the bridge bridgehead for the supply of fresh water into the Russian-held Crimea. That is a very, very important strategic location for the Russians.
They have said that they are investing it with a lot of heavy weapons. Clearly they're trying to move civilians out of that area, perhaps trying to signal that they fear the Ukrainians would blow up their own dam.
This has been a pattern, of course, that the Russians have made these sorts of claims, frequently very ludicrous, such that the Ukrainians are bombing their own nuclear power station in Zaporizhzhya. So we've seen this before. But really the Ukrainians now will need to
consolidate that area they've held and captured on the west bank before figuring out what they do next. Arguably, I think, Alison, they'll be able to release troops into the very bitter fighting that's continuing much further to the east and north of that location -- Alison.
KOSIK: OK, Sam Kiley live in Kyiv, thanks very much.
In the hours ahead, Israel's president is expected to ask Benjamin Netanyahu to form the country's next government. It comes after 64 members of parliament recommended that Netanyahu assembled the new coalition.
If he can do so by next month, he could become the nation's prime minister for a sixth time. That would further extend his record as Israel's longest-serving leader.
Coming up, as more election returns come in across the U.S., we'll take a look at where the balance of power stands in the U.S. Congress.
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KOSIK: Welcome back to our viewers in the United States, Canada and around the world. I'm Alison Kosik. Let's return to our top story, the results from Tuesday's midterm elections.
CNN can now project Democrats will retain control of the U.S. Senate. Incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto will hold on to her Nevada Senate city, defeating Republican Adam Laxalt.
In the House of Representatives, control is not yet decided, with Democrats holding 204 seats and Republicans, 211; 218 is the threshold needed to control the lower house. CNN's John Berman has more now on how the balance of power in the Senate shifted in favor of Democrats and what could happen in the House of Representatives.
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JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So this is currently the makeup of the U.S. Senate. The Democrats have 50 seats, the Republicans have 49. There is still a runoff in Georgia, which takes place on December 6th.
But no matter what happens there, the Democrats will maintain control of the Senate. If the Republicans manage to win that runoff in Georgia, it will be a 50-50 split. The Vice President Kamala Harris would break the tie.
But if the incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock does win in this runoff in December, the Democrats would have a 51-49 advantage, an outright majority, which, believe me, they would enjoy. It would mean the committee assignments don't have to be even.
It would mean they could lose at least one Democratic vote in key moments in the Senate. So this is what it could look like going forward.
How did we get to this point?
The last Senate seat to be called was in Nevada. It was Catherine Cortez Masto over Adam Laxalt. Some of the mail vote that came in over the last several days helped her make up a deficit. She had been trailing by more than 22,000 votes just a few days ago; now leading by several thousand. So the Senate has been decided.
That leaves the U.S. House of Representatives. This is something. Not many people would have thought that the Senate would be called for the Democrats before the House would be called for Republicans. But we just can't yet. There are too many outstanding races.
Right now, the Republicans control 211 seats. We projected they will win at least 211 seats. The Democrats, 204. You need 218 seats in the House of Representatives to have a majority, 218, which means the Republicans need seven more. The Democrats would need 14 more.
There are currently 20 seats that have not been called, 20 races that have yet to be called. In these races right now, the Republicans lead in 10. They only need seven. They lead in 10. The Democrats lead in 10, they need 14. So you can see, it's an uphill battle.
The Democrats on this map right now would need to hold every district that is currently blue and then pick up four of the uncalled races that are still in red. Some of them are quite close.
Let me just show you.
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BERMAN: In California, California's 13th congressional district for instance right now, there's just a margin of 84 votes with 46 percent reporting. So the Democrats could potentially, potentially pick up a few of these seats.
This seat, district right here, you can see Riverside County, that's just a county there but you can see in this district right now, California's 41st, the Republican leads by 2,100 votes with just 53 remaining.
So again, if the Democrats were to hold every blue district, every blue congressional district on this map and pick up four of these red Republican ones, they would maintain control of the House. It's an uphill battle but at this point, not impossible -- John Berman, CNN, New York.
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KOSIK: U.S. President Joe Biden is in the middle of an international trip that includes the ASEAN summit, where he's looking to counter China's growing influence. The president is meeting today with the leaders of Japan and South Korea in Cambodia.
Their discussions focusing on the threat posed by North Korea's missile and nuclear programs. On Monday, Mr. Biden heads to Bali for the Group of 20 summit. He's expected to hold an in-person meeting with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.
Joining me now from Phnom Penh, Cambodia, is CNN's senior international correspondent, Will Ripley.
Great to see you.
What's come out of the meeting in the past hour?
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We expect that meeting actually to be happening right now. We are waiting for an update on what the result was.
We do know in the lead-up to the talks between President Biden and the leaders of Japan and South Korea, that would be prime minister Kishida and president Yoon, all three obviously trying to be in lockstep about a couple of key issues that are potentially facing this region right now.
One of them being the North Korean nuclear threat and also the upcoming meeting between President Biden and president Xi of China. President Biden has stated he's looking for input from his allies as to what the United States should try to gain going into this crucial talk that will be happening next week in Bali at the G20.
One thing, obviously, the issue of Taiwan. And the United States definitely has a lot of -- wants to know about China and president Xi's intentions for Taiwan, given that he has this unprecedented third term as China's leader, potentially paving the way for unchecked power as he checks off the items on his agenda.
The United States and President Biden would like to know more about what that agenda is.
President Xi, of course, may want to get reinforcement from the United States about what its views are on Taiwan, whether it continues to adhere to this One China policy that the United States has helped achieve stability in the region over the last 40 or so years.
And then, of course, there's also the issue of North Korea as well, with President Biden hoping president Xi would do more on that to help the United States pressure Pyongyang not to continue provocative missile tests.
President Biden doesn't seem too preoccupied with the high stakes nature of this meeting, given that he does have a relationship with Xi that goes back over decades of their shared political careers. He talked about that here in Phnom Penh earlier today.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I know Xi Jinping. I spent more time with him than any other world leader. I know him well; he knows me. There's no -- we have very little misunderstanding.
We've just got to figure out where the red lines are and what are the most important things to each of us and within the next two years. And as circumstances change, to state the obvious.
I've always had straightforward discussions with him. There was never any miscalculation about where each of us stand. I think that's critically important in our relationship.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RIPLEY: One thing that the United States does hope is that China has perhaps more influence over Russia than they have exerted so far in this conflict. Of course, China, led by president Xi, has refused to condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
If President Biden could get president Xi to come out publicly and call for a cease-fire, call for some sort of action to stop the fighting on the Russian side, exerting some of that Chinese influence that may or may not exist.
That would be a major win on the Biden side, analysts say, as we prepare to watch with bated breath to see what these two leaders discuss and what comes out of this crucial face-to-face meeting at the coming days at the G20 in Bali, Alison.
KOSIK: You talked about what could possibly come out from China based on Ukraine.
What about Taiwan?
I know that the relationship between Xi and Biden goes back a ways. And Biden is talking about how they've known each other a while. But each has a very different focus when it comes to Taiwan.
RIPLEY: Well, you've heard President Biden say several times in recent months that the United States would come to Taiwan's defense militarily if China were to make a unilateral move on that self- governing democracy, that's had its own government and military for more than 70 years.
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RIPLEY: You've heard Xi Jinping state recently at China's party Congress, when he was given that unprecedented third term, that reunification with Taiwan, which China's Communist leaders have long viewed as a part of Mainland China, even though they've never controlled it, that was something that got him a tremendous amount of support from within the halls of that party Congress in Beijing.
So both Biden and Xi know Taiwan is the number one red line issue that could potentially spark a conflict between the United States and China, a conflict that could happen at the Taiwan Strait.
The island of Taiwan and its 24 million people would be caught in the middle of that. So it's crucial, from the Biden perspective. We haven't heard Xi talk yet about this upcoming meeting -- but from Biden's perspective, the face-to-face meeting is crucial because they can clearly let each other know what their priorities are, objectives are and hopefully avoid a misunderstanding or miscalculation that could trigger a military conflict down the road.
KOSIK: OK, Will Ripley, thanks for that great context.
Still ahead this hour, an exclusive interview with the president and first lady of Ukraine. Why they believe their country will prevail against Russia, despite being outgunned and outmanned.
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KOSIK: It's been more than 250 days since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. And despite having far more troops and firepower, so far Moscow has failed to bring the nation to its knees. Ukraine's president and first lady credit their country's unwavering resolve, saying they will never give up or give in to Russia's aggression.
Recently they spoke about that with CNN's Christiane Amanpour in a wide-ranging exclusive interview.
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CHRISTIANE AMANPOUR, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Do you still stand by what you said a few months ago, that you would not negotiate with Vladimir Putin?
[03:40:00]
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): His proposal has no substance with regards of ending the war. Other than the ultimatums, I've not heard anything from the current president of the Russian Federation.
Starting for the 24th of February, there have been only ultimatums: denazification, denationalization; every issue they raise starts with a D. They always want to deprive us of something violently on our own land.
So I said that I'm not going to talk to this person if this person conducts these sham referendums and recognizes all of those sham authorities that they set up as legal. We said this clearly. And I said that if they do that, then this means they don't respect our people, our sovereignty, our rights and our freedoms.
What is there to talk to them about?
But I haven't closed the door. I said, we would be ready to talk to Russia but with a different Russia. One that is truly ready for peace. One that is ready to recognize that they are occupiers. Ready to reimburse our people. That's not about money; they need to return everything: land, rights, freedom, money and, most importantly, justice.
To parents who lost their children, money is not enough. It's not a priority. Bring back justice. And so far, I have not heard statements like that from the Russian Federation, either from Putin or from anyone else.
AMANPOUR: Mr. President, after all of your powerful calls to the world for help, weaponry most especially, training, all that kind of intelligence help you've needed, are they finally delivering what you need to win?
And do you feel that you're getting enough to win or just not to lose?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): It's enough when you can no longer hear explosions. It's enough when the air defense system ensure no missiles hit the ground or buildings. It's enough when you are not being fired at and no missiles are launched against you because Russia is working together with its partner, if I may call it that, with Iran.
Since the 10th of October, we've seen them use around 450 kamikaze drones, attack drones, air reconnaissance, attack drones, kamikaze drones, missiles. Over this time, we've had over 2,500 hits, that's without artillery, 2,500 hits by drones, explosives or missiles. That is a large number.
Do we have enough defenses?
No, I don't think we have enough at all.
Is it enough to make 100 or 1,000 calls?
Probably not enough either, too few. But I'm ready to make 1,000 calls if every call I make results in more air defense systems. I'm ready to stay on the phone and just do that. It's difficult.
A joint decision on the protection of Ukraine and Ukrainian airspace will definitely help us. And all the answers are there. I'm sorry, it's not even like the start of the COVID epidemic, when people didn't know what to do about it, when we needed to create a vaccine and it didn't exist.
There is a vaccine against Russian strikes and we know it. There is a vaccine against Russia and we know exactly which countries have it and in what amount. And I would say, frankly, there are even countries that have a surplus amount, from my point of view.
So I guess an answer to your question, there is not enough willingness, I would say.
AMANPOUR: What strength do you get from each other?
ZELENSKA: (Speaking foreign language). ZELENSKYY: No, not together. Not together. It means, how we help each other.
AMANPOUR: Yes and what strength do you get from each other?
ZELENSKYY: What I have from you and what you have from me.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
ZELENSKYY: I know what you have from me.
ZELENSKA: Exactly, you know.
ZELENSKYY: If I can.
AMANPOUR: Yes.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): That is my love and that is my best friend. So that is my energy. I wanted to answer your question at the very beginning, when Olena told you like she prepared breakfast for the children in the morning and prepare clothes and et cetera.
And what I wanted to tell you that -- but I have no such possibilities. So nobody gives me breakfast in the morning. I mean, that it's such a difficult period.
AMANPOUR: Because you're living apart?
ZELENSKYY: Yes.
AMANPOUR: Is it true that you said to President Biden, when they offered to evacuate you at the beginning, that you said, "I don't need a ride. I need ammunition"?
[03:45:00]
ZELENSKYY (through translator): Yes, that's right. Nothing changed. You know, my answer is still the same.
AMANPOUR: And I want to ask you another question, because I've noticed that Ukrainians are not afraid to poke the bear. So the bear is the Russian bear. And you guys are constantly poking on the ground, in the battle, in the airwaves, in the Twitter accounts of the ministry of defense, all over.
A lot of people outside are afraid of Russia and what Russia might do.
Where did this come from?
ZELENSKYY (through translator): You know, I think that Russia feeds on these fears. And I think this is a big mistake over the last few decades. Russia feels it has this power. The more you give it, the more it fuels your fear. It lives by it.
ZELENSKA (through translator): I think historically, we've been under pressure for so long, it's no longer scary. It's not even interesting. We just want it to stop. It's more of an emotion rather than a fear.
Centuries of Russian empire, then dozens of years of Soviet Union, with all of these famines, with all the repressions, with all the expulsions of Ukrainians to Siberia and Kazakhstan. We've suffered so much from them that if we don't put an end to this now, there may be no chance in the future. This is our last stand.
And when it is a last stand, we've all seen it in the movies, there is only one winner. And of course, our soul desire is to be that winner. Otherwise, we will have no future for this nation because everything that's happening is elimination on ethnic grounds.
All these calls for denazification, this is all about the Ukrainian nation being wrong, not having a right of -- to exist; the Ukrainian language is not a real language, it's just bad Russian. It's all about losing the values -- there are no values for humanity.
This is something we can never put up with really because it would mean rejecting ourselves. Therefore, there is no fear. There is resilience. There is bravery. All we need is swifter and more powerful support than we are getting now.
ZELENSKYY (through translator): And this dignity, this Ukrainian dignity, is very important. And that's why we have this resilience.
Russia keeps wondering, what's happening here?
I don't understand why they're so keen to know what we're up to. I think there should be more interested in their own country, in their own history, in their own culture to preserve it, if they still have it.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KOSIK: For more information on how you can help the people of Ukraine, log on to cnn.com/impact. We'll be right back.
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KOSIK: At least two people were killed Saturday when two planes collided at an air show in Dallas, Texas. We have to warn you the video may be disturbing to some viewers. The B-17 Flying Fortress and a Bell P-63 Kingcobra collided and then crashed to the ground.
Officials have not confirmed the number of casualties. An NTSB investigation is underway.
The U.S. is seeing an uptick in RSV, a respiratory illness which affects children under 5 years old. A recently released police body cam video shows just how frightening the disease can be. Here it is, this is what happened when two Kansas City officers scrambled to help a 1-month old who stopped breathing. Have a listen.
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OFFICER RICHARD DUCHAINE, KANSAS CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: Come on. Come on.
OFFICER CHARLES OWEN, KANSAS CITY POLICE DEPARTMENT: I can -- I can -- she's breathing now.
DUCHAINE: She is breathing.
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KOSIK: Well, thankfully, baby Kamiyah is doing well but she is just one of the many infants who have had scary runnings during what some health officials are calling an unprecedented surge of RSV over the last few weeks. CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains the latest on this active respiratory season.
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DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It is really incredible video to watch that and to see that baby be revived like that. And thankfully, look, situations like that are going to be rare.
But there's no questions that we are seeing a lot of respiratory illness out there right now and sometimes it can be challenging for parents, especially of young babies, to know when a child is starting to develop some sort of respiratory distress.
The signals can be subtle. So here's a few of them. Keep in mind that you you're your child better than anyone. So if breathing is different, sounds different, looks different, pay attention to that.
The breathing is faster, shorter, quick breaths, that is of concern. If they are making unusual noises as you see there. Obviously if there is any signs of blue or purple around the lips, that means they are not getting enough oxygen. But again, it can be subtle.
Let me show you a couple of things here. And sometimes these videos are really instructive but not meant to frighten you at all but if you take a look at this baby here, breathing using abdominal muscles.
That's abdominal breathing. That is usually a sign the baby is starting to have difficulty breathing, actually using those accessory muscles.
Also here you see the head-bopping. That's of concern. It means that the baby may be having struggles. Looks very comfortable but starting to use additional muscles to actually be able to breathe. So these are the sorts of things.
Pay attention, especially during respiratory virus season. Again, you have RSV, flu, COVID-19, all these things sort of happening at the same time. We know in Boston, one of the children's hospitals, the situation there has been described as severe and escalating.
At the University of Michigan Mott Children's Hospital, we know that the hospital is basically 100 percent full.
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GUPTA: So elective cases are getting canceled. It's tough to admit new patients for unrelated things.
So that's the situation. Flu, a big concern as well. About half the country now experiencing very high levels of flu. If you get a sense of how things are changing over the past few weeks, you look to the numbers here.
October 22nd week, you had close to 900,000 cases of flu; a week later, it almost doubled. Then this most recent week, about 1 million, more than 1 million new cases. So that's the real concern.
One thing to point out, when it comes to flu, trying to figure out who's most affected, take a look at this graph. Older people, people over the age of 65, that's the red line. The line just below that is young kids, 0-4.
Unlike with COVID, with flu you're going to affect the very old and the very young. We don't know how this is all going to play out, if there's going to be a significant number of cases over the next few weeks, then it comes down or what.
But sometimes we look to the Southern Hemisphere to get some sort of clue as to what's going on there. Their flu season is earlier than ours. It's typically April to October. Ours comes after that.
But take a look, we picked on Australia here and compared it to the last five years. The red line this year is Australia. You can see flu season happened at a higher peak and much earlier than in years past.
That could be a sign of what's going to be happening here as well. So as we get more of these numbers in, find out what's going on with children's hospitals around the country, we'll bring that information to you.
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KOSIK: All right, Sanjay, thanks very much.
There's much more news ahead. I'll be back after a quick break.
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