the united states and around the world. welcome to cnn newsroom. the final stretch. 16 days to go until the u.s. elections, the candidates are pulling out the stops and pulling in high-profile support. xi jinping secures an unprecedented third term, cementing his iron grip over china s future. we re live in beijing and taipei with the latest. and ukraine s power grid under attack with frigid winter just around the corner. russia takes aim at critical infrastructure. a live report from kyiv is just ahead. the u.s. is just over two weeks away from the tightly contested and deeply consequential midterm elections. at stake this november, control of congress. and by extension, the president s political agenda. joe biden s democratic party currently holds 220 seats in the house, and to keep its majority, it must hold on to 218 of them. right now, though, republicans have a slight lead in the polls with 18 seats still up for grabs. in the senate, 35 seats are in play. cnn