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Republicans Move Closer to House Majority with Key Wins; Democrat Katie Hobbs Beats Kari Lake for Arizona Governor; Justice Department Disputes Trump's Claim to Documents; G20 Leaders Focus on Ending Russia's War on Ukraine; Student Accused in Shooting Deaths of 3 University of Virginia Football Players. Aired 4 -4:30a ET
Aired November 15, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster and Bianca Nobilo.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Bianca Nobilo.
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Max Foster joining you live from London. Just ahead on CNN NEWSROOM.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Katie Hobbs will be the next governor of Arizona.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This election was the funeral for the Republican Party.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trump is saying essentially, I was president and presidents get to decide what are personal records, what are presidential records.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The notion that a document could be both executive privilege and personal at the same time is completely nonsense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My heart is broken for the victims and their families.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So much pride in these students and the way that they take care of each other.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: It is Tuesday, November 15th 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. in Washington. And we begin with new key race alerts in the U.S. midterm elections which are pushing Republicans even closer for the 218 seats they need to win a majority in the U.S. House.
Now in Arizona CNN projects Juan Ciscomani will win the sixth district House seat there. And his win against Democrat Kirsten Engel gives Republicans a total of 215 seats in the House.
And in Arizona's first congressional district Republican Congressman David Schweikert will beat his Democratic challenger Jevin Hodge. And in New York's 27th district Republican Brandon Williams defeats his Democrat Francis Conole.
FOSTER: With 16 races still of for grabs in the House, Democrats still have a slim chance to maintain a majority. We'll keep an eye on those races for you.
Just a week after the elections, Democrats have scored a major win in Arizona. CNN projects Democrat Katie Hobbs will beat Trump favorite Kari Lake for the governor's race. Kyung Lah reports.
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KYUNG LAH, CNN SENIOR U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: The very latest from Phoenix and Maricopa County. Katie Hobbs, the Democrat will be the projected leader of the Arizona governor's race. You can see the figures right there. The Democrat, Katie Hobbs barely edging Republican Kari Lake. Now there are about 5 to 15,000 votes still left to count here in Maricopa County. Those are votes that need to be cured. The election workers continuing to do that but that number too low for Lake to continue to catch up.
We are also hearing from a source within the Lake campaign about the reaction and that source is characterizing as, quote, a massive disappointment tonight. That the election day drop-offs that they had anticipated would break in Lake's favor simply did not happen.
And I'm also hearing from sources across Arizona, Republicans who work on campaigns, these are moderate Republicans and strategists, longtime Republicans who have strong reactions to the Lake loss. John Brand an Arizona Republican who led Republicans and independents for Katie Hobbs.
A lifelong Republican who raised money for a Democrat, says, quote, civility has won here in Arizona and across the country.
Another Republican strategist who asked to not be named because he is an active campaign employee said, quote, Kari Lake told a legion of John McCain supporters across Arizona that they could go to hell. Tonight, they returned the favor.
Kyung Lah, CNN, Phoenix.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
NOBILO: Now while poll workers are still counting the ballots in Arizona, Kari Lake is already crying foul about the handling of the election and accusing Katie Hobbs of interfering with the race in her role as Arizona's Secretary of State.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KARI LAKE, REPUBLICAN ARIZONA GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATE: I don't believe that people of Arizona would vote for her and that she would win. But if that's what happens at the end of the day, how do you certify an election that is this botched.
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And she's the one that would certify her own election where it was botched. Where the machines didn't work in more than a third of the polling centers. I don't know how we remedy this, but the people of Arizona are furious. They're reaching out to us by the thousands saying, I don't think my vote even was counted.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: Well, Lake had been calling for Hobbs to recuse herself in overseeing Arizona's elections but the assistant Secretary of State explained to CNN that Arizona's election structure made that unnecessary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALLIE BONES, ARIZONA ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF STATE: If there is no reason that there is any kind of conflict or we aren't in a recount territory. There really doesn't make any sense for the secretary to not perform what is a minuscule act in signing the canvas. And so, our position has been that unless there is a conflict related to the governor's race, then it doesn't -- there's no reason for the secretary to recuse herself.
You all know, you've seen me here in the last five days. I've been talking to you. We have not had the secretary talking about anything related to the processing of this election. And again, the counties are handling the administration of the election at the local level.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: After learning of her victory Katie Hobbs tweeted her thanks to voters saying democracy is worth the wait.
NOBILO: Kari Lake chose not even to acknowledge Hobbs' win. Instead tweeting -- Arizonans know BS when they see it.
FOSTER: Now an adviser to Donald Trump says he'll announce his third presidential bid in the coming hours despite a growing number of Republicans saying they're against it. Many in the GOP blame Trump for the parties lackluster results in the midterms and say he doesn't have the same magnetism that swept him into the White House six years ago.
NOBILO: But Trump is not backing down. And appears either to launch his 2024 campaign early for a variety of reasons including his desire to get ahead of other contenders like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. Meantime, Trump's former Vice President Mike Pence is hinting at his own presidential run in 2024 and he says that Trump is not the best choice to lead the country again.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe that Donald Trump should ever be president again?
MIKE PENCE, FORMER U.S. VICE PRESIDENT: David, I think that's up to the American people but I think we'll have better choices in the future.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Better choices than Donald Trump?
PENCE: And for me and my family, we will be reflecting about what our role is in that.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Will you run for president in 2024?
PENCE: Well, we're giving it consideration in our house, personal consideration.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
FOSTER: You can hear more from Mike Pence when CNN hosts a town hall with the former vice president. He'll take questions from Jake Tapper and a live studio audience, that's Wednesday, 9 p.m. in New York, 10 a.m. Thursday in Hong Kong.
NOBILO: And this expected declaration from the former President Donald Trump is very early. Usually, presidential candidates will announce the spring before the election or a few months before the primary, so he's definitely getting out in front.
FOSTER: Suggestion that Rupert Murdoch has told him that he's not going to have the support.
NOBILO: Yes, well based on coverage last week.
FOSTER: Yes, we'll see. CNN has learned that a former White House aide is set to testify in Georgia on Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election in that state.
NOBILO: A source says that Cassie Hutchinson will appear before a special grand jury on Wednesday and she could reveal more details about the former president's actions. The investigation stems from a 2021 phone call in which Trump asked the Georgia Secretary of State to find nonexistent votes that would have helped him to win in the state.
FOSTER: The grand jury is expected to hear from Georgia Governor Brian Kemp. Prosecutors expected to ask him about another phone call in which Trump allegedly asked him to convince state legislatures to overturn election results in the state.
Now the January 6th select committee says it'll evaluate next steps as Donald Trump has failed to comply with the subpoena for documents and testimony. In a statement the committee said Trump had initially suggested he would testify before the panel but he has since filed a lawsuit asking the court to protect him from giving testimony. And his attorneys have made no attempt to negotiate an appearance. Of any sort, and his lawsuit parades out many of the same arguments that courts have rejected repeatedly over the last year. NOBILO: Donald Trump is also trying to keep Congress from getting hold
of his tax returns. His legal team is telling the Supreme Court it doesn't need to act quickly on whether his tax information should be turned over to the House since there'll be a new Congress sworn in soon. The case is one of several lawsuits where the Democratic-led House is trying to access years of financial records related to Trump, especially his tax returns.
FOSTER: The U.S. Justice Department says Donald Trump can't designate presidential records as his personal documents just by saying so.
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Trump claims several hundred items seized from his Mar-a-Lago estate belonged to him.
NOBILO: The Justice Department says even if that were the case, the documents should not be kept from prosecutors investigating Trump's handling of classified materials. Trump previously said he could be declassify documents just by thinking about it. Federal prosecutors have ended their investigation of former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani without filing any charges. They were looking into his activities in Ukraine for possible violation of foreign lobbying laws.
FOSTER: An attorney for Giuliani called it wonderful, long expected news now that Giuliani spent two years with a cloud over his head.
Current U.S. President Joe Biden is at the G20 Summit at Bali, Indonesia, at this hour where he's hoping to rally support for a communique condemning the war in Ukraine. Mr. Biden has been meeting with world leaders including the new Prime Minister of Italy and the president of the European commission. He's also announcing global infrastructure projects including investments in solar power and clean energy.
NOBILO: Ukraine's president addressed the G20 by video link and he laid out a 10-step peace plan to and Russia's invasion. It includes proposals on nuclear safety, resuming grain shipments and an all for all prison swaps with Russia.
Let's go live now to Bali, Indonesia, and CNN's Kevin Liptak and Ivan Watson. Ivan starting with you. Tell us more about what President Zelenskyy said and how it was received by the G20 nations. Because of course, there isn't unity on the approach to Russia.
IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: No, there isn't. You know, he was invited and he did addressed the summit. One of the notable absences was the Russia's President Vladimir Putin. Who had been personally invited by Indonesia's president, who is the host of the summit, who traveled all the way to Moscow to invite Putin. He is one of three invited heads of state who did not make it to the G20. Instead sending his foreign minister. So, that left the Ukrainian president to take the center stage with his speech where he, of course, denounced Russia's invasion of his country. He repeatedly referred to the gathered leaders as the G19 which is quite an open insult against the absence of Russian president. And here's another flavor of what he had to say to the assembly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): We will not allow Russia to wait it out, build up its forces and then start a new series of terror and global destabilization. I am convinced now is the time when the Russian destructive war must and can be stopped.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
WATSON: Now Zelenskyy spoke a day after he traveled to the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson which the Russian military occupied for months and then surrendered last week making a humiliating withdrawal leaving the scenes of Ukrainian residents dancing in the central square of that city when it was liberated. He compared the Russian surrender of Kherson to the D-Day invasion of Normandy during World War II.
He is also saying that in his proposed peace plan, it's basically Russia withdraw completely. Surrender, end its invasion and then you have a plan towards peace. Release all Ukrainian prisoners, for example.
Now the U.S. -- the U.S. President Joe Biden, he has come from the ASEAN Summit in Cambodia where he's gotten statements, for example, from the Japanese and Korean leaders denouncing the Russian invasion. You have European heads of state here, the Canadian Prime Minister, the EU president. They have all been very outspoken condemning Russia's invasion of Ukraine. But it's going to be -- we'll have to wait and see what other countries that are members of the G20 whether they too will sign on to criticize Russia. Some of them have been much more hesitant though the Indonesian president has said that this war has had devastating impacts on global food prices and energy prices.
FOSTER: Yes, Kevin, that's interesting, isn't it. You're unlikely to get the widespread condemnation because countries like China don't play it like that, do they. They're not going to call out Russia specifically. But they can perhaps deal with the side effect which is this food security issue.
KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and I think that that has always been one of the down sides of the G20 when you compare it to something like the G7 which has been so unified in isolating Russia and supporting Ukraine. And the way the White House views it, is they call the G7 the steering committee of the free world.
The G20 is far more wide ranging in terms of ideology, in terms of geography even. And so, going into these talks this week, the president's advisers weren't necessarily hopeful that they would get every country on board with their objective.
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Instead that they wanted to convince these countries that they thought were still a little more equivocal like your India's, your Indonesia's, to show some support to sort of bring them over the line in terms of isolating Russia. Now they do feel like they've been successful on some front, as Ivan said. An administration official says that most countries will sign onto the declaration condemning Russia's war and specifically condemning the after-effects of the war. Things like high energy prices and high food prices.
But really the war in Ukraine has been looming over these talks ever since the war began in February. The president's advisers were looking ahead months and months to this very summit wondering how they would manage it. And of course, President Biden has been explicit that he doesn't think Russia should be a part of the G20 but expelling them at this point is sort of a non-starter given all of the other country's views on it. But certainly, the president will be wanting to talk to all of these leaders as the summit continues until tomorrow -- Max and Bianca.
FOSTER: Kevin, Ivan, thank you very much indeed. It was very powerful just having Lavrov in the room there, wasn't it, when he was hearing from the Ukrainian president. So, having them there certainly plays a role.
The U.S. and Russia have confirmed that their top intelligence officials, meanwhile, held a meeting in Turkey.
NOBILO: Washington said the CIA director spoke with his Russian counterpart about security risks and Ukraine. And he warned Russia's spy chief against the use of nuclear weapons. CNN's Scott McLean joins us now with more. Scott, talk about the significance -- that's my mike pack hitting the floor. The significance of this meeting even occurring and also what we've learned about what was discussed?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I definitely should give the disclaimer first that when two spies have a meeting it's pretty difficult --
FOSTER: Full information on that meeting?
MCLEAN: Yes, exactly.
NOBILO: A blow-by-blow --
MCLEAN: Precisely what he said. The fact that we know about it maybe tells you something and who we know the information tells you something as well. The Kremlin at first declined to even confirm or deny that this meeting had taken place at all. Then later they confirmed it but said, look, this was at the invitation of the Americans. They didn't say anything about what was discussed. So, we really only have one side of this. And a pretty boilerplate statement from the American officials who say, that look, this was, as you said, a chance for CIA Director Bill Burns, the guy who's a former ambassador to Russia. He speaks Russian, he has done the sort of diplomatic dance before.
To convey a message, which is what would happen if Russia were to use nuclear weapons. This is a message that the Americans were trying to really hammer home lately. At different levels you had the Defense Secretary, Lloyd Austin. You have the National Security Adviser, Jake Sullivan. Both men in recent months picking up the phone trying to make this message crystal clear to the Russians.
One of the things to note here, and that is that the Turkish side -- obviously they were hosting this meeting. They were quite keen to -- seemingly quite keen to confirm this because, look, they have portrayed themselves as the peace makers here. They have good relations with Kyiv, with Moscow as well. And so, they insist on, look, we're going to continue to try to get both sides back to the table. Ukrainians and Russians to try to broker some kind of a deal.
NOBILO: Fascinating.
MCLEAN: Yes.
NOBILO: Well, Scott McLean, thank you so much for giving us what is available about that.
FOSTER: Yes, great to know that it happened.
Still ahead on CNN NEWSROOM, memorials are growing around the University of Virginia campus after three members of the school's football team were gunned down by a student. We'll have the latest on that investigation.
FOSTER: Plus, we'll get a check on the U.S. economy with a new inflation report and earnings from Walmart and Home Depot.
FOSTER: And even the winter is weeks away. Many in the U.S. will need those coats and gloves a lot sooner. Our meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has our forecast.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning. Temperatures definitely going to be felt across a wide reach of the U.S. The upper Midwest temps into the 20s and 30s and only getting colder in the coming days. The details coming up in a few minutes.
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NOBILO: Students gathered for a solemn vigil at the University of Virginia Monday night to pay respect for the three members of the football team gunned down on a bus after a field trip.
FOSTER: A former teammate is being blamed for the massacre. CNN's Miguel Marquez reports from Charlottesville, Virginia.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MIGUEL MARQUEZ, CNN U.S. NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): 10:15 Sunday night, police say, gunshots fired on the University of Virginia campus.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We heard some of the shots and almost immediately bullets were flying. MARQUEZ (voice-over): One witness told CNN they heard shots inside the
bus as it pulled up to campus. The doors flying open, people tumbling out.
JIM RYAN, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA PRESIDENT: The shootings occurred on a bus full of students returning from a field trip. Three of the victims did not survive.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): 10:40 p.m. UVA police tweet a shelter in place order. For the next 12 hours students trapped wherever they were -- in libraries and dorms.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We were basically to turn the lights off, hunker down, trying to just stay put. I was feeling pretty anxious.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): The dead all football players all with their lives ahead. Devin Chandler, D'Sean Perry and Lavel Davis Jr.
In a statement their coach said: These were incredible young men with huge aspirations and extremely bright futures. Our hearts ache for their families, their classmates and their friends. These precious young men were called away too soon.
Around 11:15 Monday morning in the middle of a press conference the news everyone was waiting for.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We just received informs the suspect is in custody.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): UVA Police say the picked up that suspect. A University of Virginia student and former football player, about 75 miles away from the Charlottesville campus. UVA's campus said he wounded two additional students. One in good condition, the another critically injured.
RYAN: My heart is broken for the victims and their families and for all those who knew and loved them.
MARQUEZ (voice-over): This is not the first time the suspect has come to the UVA police department's attention. They say he was involved in a threat assessment with the investigation revealing a 2021 concealed weapon violation.
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The accused shooter, for now, faces multiple murder and handgun charges.
MARQUEZ: A vigil was held on the University of Virginia campus. Students pouring out from around the university to attend after a very, very somber day. And also, all around campus now signs popping up, Charlottesville strong, UVA strong and the numbers, 1, 15 and 41, the jersey numbers of those three players who died.
Miguel Marquez, CNN, Charlottesville, Virginia.
(END VIDEOTAPE) FOSTER: Says here you may want to dig out your snow shovel before you have to dig your car out. Snow is expected in parts of the Midwest on Tuesday. Pedram is keeping an eye on all of this for us -- Pedram.
JAVAHERI: Yes, Max, good morning. Good morning, Bianca. Winter is certainly in the air here across portions of the Midwest, guys. We're seeing snowfall potentials beginning to build in the coming days here and the temperatures absolutely going to supported as well. Widespread coverage of 20s and 30s across the Midwest, parts of the Northeastern U.S. already into the 30s. And really a quick-moving system that'll move right across the eastern third of the U.S. in the coming hours bringing with it a shot of snow showers. The first here for a lot of the areas of the season.
About five weeks away from the official start of the winter season. But you'll notice accumulations and really not a blockbuster event quite yet. But about 2 to 4 inches of coverage there across the areas of the Midwest in parts of the Northeast.
So, that's we're watching from areas around say Chicago, points just to the west, areas Iowa, northern Missouri as well. Some accumulations possible there. But factor in the winds certainly going to get a lot of people's attention in Chicago. 25 degrees is what it feels like this morning. 22 degrees what it feelings like across Minneapolis. In New York City feels right around the freezing mark there at around 32.
But the trend is that it's going to stay cold for a couple of days. So, Atlanta should be in the middle 60s this time of year. Will go from 51 on Tuesday to 48 over the next couple of days. And Washington, D.C. should be near 60 degrees and temps should be in the middle 40ed by this afternoon.
Now when you compare this to where typically these sort of temperatures are expected, you'll notice in Atlanta, St. Louis and Washington you'll typically find these temperatures in mid-December to late January and in Chicago takes a couple more weeks before we get to these sort of temperatures. So that cold trend is expected to continue across a large area of the United States. And another shot expected into early next week as well.
In fact, look at these temps drop off in Minneapolis down to the teens and single digits by early next week. And we'll leave you with this, Max, across California a Santa Ana wind event in the works here with some gusty winds and even milder temperatures in store over the coming couple of days. Winds up to tropical storm force across some of these areas.
FOSTER: Thank you so much, Pedram.
NOBILO: The U.N. says that there will be a new milestone in human development as the world population is expected to hit 8 billion today. The agency adds that this unprecedented growth is due to improvements in public health, medicine and high levels of fertility in some countries. However, the U.N. is also warning that the growth is transient and will start shrinking soon. This is staggering when you consider that 100 years ago according to the U.N. the global population was 2 billion or under. Now it's 8 billion.
FOSTER: Unreal. Do we know where the growth is?
NOBILO: No, but we'll look that up as should you at home if you've got the time.
FOSTER: Meanwhile, there's chaos in the crypto markets as federal prosecutors join the investigation into what caused the implosion of a massive FTX exchange. And customers wonder if they'll ever see their money again.
NOBILO: Plus, Kherson rebuilds after Russia's occupation. What residence are doing to pick themselves up and how authorities are providing support.
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