hello, again, everyone. we begin with breaking news on ukraine. russia says it will suspend its participation in the grain export deal that it made and had gotten under way with ukraine. cnn s nic robertson is in kyiv. nic, what s the significance of this? reporter: very significant. russia says it is withdrawing from this deal for an indefinite period. it agreed the deal brokered by the u.n. in a similar deal with ukraine back at the end of july. back then it was anticipated that this would allow all the grain that was backing up in ukrainian ports to get to all those hard-hit, third-world countries in desperate need of food supplies. anticipated that tons of grain could be shifted. the ukrainians said the russians have been dragging their feet. the russians are saying share not sure they woul with this grain deal. so far some 405 ships have been involved in the deal moving 9.1 million tons, which is less than half of what was originally anticipated. but what precipitated
to earth cam, thousands of revellers are expecting a soggy countdown. we ll go live to the big apple later in the show. gillian: first to our top story this hour, the world is now mourning of loss of a historical religious figure. the vatican is announcing death of pope emeritus benedict xvi. and charles has more on his long lasting legacy. what a story he had. pope benedict xvi had an impact on catholics across the world in a position he never imagined himself in. for decades cardinal joseph ratsinger had been a key advisor to pope john paul ii, as a staunch conservative. and took the cardinals just two days to give the job to a german, scholarly man who didn t appear to want it. as pope benedict xvi, he rattled relativism, what might be true for someone, might not be true for someone else. and he will be remembered not only for his birthday celebration in the white house, a stop at ground zero and a mass in yankee stadium, but also, by the way in which he addressed the ca
island, complete with amenities, wait for it, that include x box game consoles, ping pong tables, fluff and fold laundry, plenty of controversy, with residents housed in homeless shelters, a stark contrast to rundown conditions they live in. meanwhile, the situation at the southern border is spiralling out of control. the el paso mayor is denying the white house asked him not to declare a state of emergency over the influx of illegal immigrants, but comments at a city council meeting last month suggest otherwise. did the white house ask you not to declare a state of emergency? absolutely not. one of the things i m thankful for the white house, the federal government, they ve done a really, really good job working with us, helping us to make sure we get funding to be able to do the job that border cities are required to do. i had a conversation this morning or yesterday with the chief of the u.s. border patrol, chief ortiz, and he does not support declaring a state of emer
i m harris faulkner. the commander-in-chief spent just three hours on the ground in el paso, texas, number one place where people are entering the nation illegally. in the first 100 days of the new fiscal year 2023, more than 718,000 illegals have come. nearly 200,000 of them have been expelled under title 42. that argument alone for keeping it in place as long as we can until they figure something out. let s do the math. more than a half million illegal immigrants released into the country in just those 100 days. with little to no action. some now tagging the president s visit as an appearance for appearance s sake. the president didn t come away, at least publicly, with any sense of outrage that the circumstances here needs to be receive his significant attention. his administration s effort. a partisan trip made as a photo op. it took the president 80 years to get to the border, another 80 years before he comes back. harris: want to see fake news take a look at the
the polls have just opened in hawaii meaning voters in all 50 states are making their voices heard. we want to welcome our viewers here in the united states and around the world. i m wolf blitzer. and i m erin burnett and this is cnn s continuing coverage of election day in america. take a look. we ve got live pictures. this is a polling location we re showing you just outside the philadelphia. so far only minor glitches with officials reporting no major voting issues so far, wolf. here s what s at stake today, erin. all 435 seats are up for grabs, republicans need to turn five seats red to take it back. over in the democratic controlled senate, 35 of the 100 seats are also in play today. all republicans need there is a net gain of one seat to change the balance of power in the u.s. congress and here in washington. as always we have our correspondents all over the map covering all the key races along with our entire cnn election team. let s get straight to pennsylvani