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Latest news on Russia and war in Ukraine

Russia beefing up defenses in Belgorod needlessly, UK says

The U.K.’s Ministry of Defence said Russia’s decision to extend defensive positions along its international border with Ukraine, and deep inside the border region of Belgorod, reflects a misplaced belief that Ukraine could try to invade Russia.

A view of damaged structures in Belgorod in Russia after suspected attacks, seen on Nov. 6, 2022.

Anadolu Agency | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images

The U.K. said in its latest intelligence update that the recent beefing up of defenses in Belgorod could be due to Russian authorities wanting to promote a baseless idea that Ukraine could invade.

“There is a realistic possibility that the Russian authorities are promoting defensive preparations within internationally recognised Russian territory to burnish patriotic feeling. However, it probably illustrates some Russia decision-makers’ genuine (but false) belief that there is a credible threat of invasion by Ukrainian forces,” the U.K. said.

“Paucity in strategic assessment is one of the critical weaknesses in the central Russian government architecture: as highlighted by Russia’s original decision to invade Ukraine,” it noted, adding: “Impartial official analysis is almost certainly frequently undermined by a tendency toward group-think and politically expedient conclusions.”

In its latest intelligence update, the ministry noted that trench digging has been reported in Belgorod since at least April, “but the new constructions are probably more elaborate systems, designed to rebuff mechanised assault.” In addition, the governor of Belgorod announced Tuesday that he was establishing local “self-defence units.”

Russia has accused Ukrainian forces of shelling Belgorod and other border regions repeatedly during the war, killing a number of civilians in the process. Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for any incidents within Russian territory, and at one point accused Russia of staging an attack to whip up anti-Ukrainian sentiment.

— Holly Ellyatt

Belarus to move military equipment, personnel to check for ‘terrorism’ response

A Ukrainian border guard scouts with a monocular near the Ukrainian border with Russia and Belarus in November. The Ukrainian army has expressed alarm at the “growing threat” of a Russian offensive through Belarus.

Sergei Supinsky | Afp | Getty Images

Belarus is moving military equipment and its security forces on Wednesday and Thursday to check its response to possible “acts of terrorism.”

State news agency BelTA cited the country’s Security Council stating that during the checks it would temporarily restrict citizens’ movement on certain public roads, and said the use of imitation weapons for training purposes is planned.

Any military activity by Belarus is being watched closely in Ukraine for signs that its forces could enter the war and assist its ally Russia. Belarus has appeared reluctant to fight alongside Russia in Ukraine but it conducts joint military exercises with Russia and has a joint unit with its neighbor.

— Holly Ellyatt

Pro-Russian official claims conditions are ripe for the capturing of Bakhmut

Pro-Russian official Denis Pushilin, the acting head of the separatist “Donetsk People’s Republic” in eastern Ukraine, has claimed that Russian forces in the region — arguably the most hotly-contested region in the Ukraine war at the moment — could soon be in a position to advance and capture Bakhmut.

Denis Pushilin (C), leader of the separatists in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) arrives to deliver a press conference in Donetsk, on April 11, 2022.

Alexander Nemenov | AFP | Getty Images

Pushilin told the TASS news agency that the “liberation” of Mayorsk near Horlivka, just to the south of Bakhmut, “created the prerequisites for advancing to Dzerzhinsk [known as ‘Toretsk’ in Ukrainian] and the subsequent encirclement of Artemovsk” — the Russian name for Bakhmut.

He said units of the Russian state-sanctioned private military company, the Wagner Group, were working “in Bakhmut” and were seeing “certain successes,” echoing comments by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu who said on Tuesday that a number of settlements near Bakhmut had come under the control of the Russian armed forces.

Fighting in Donetsk has descended into bloody trench warfare in recent months with fierce battles over every mile of territory and settlement surrounding Bakhmut.

Russia is believed to see the city as a key target, believing that capturing it will enable it to sever Ukrainian supply lines and allow its forces to advance toward Sloviansk and Kramatorsk to the north of Bakhmut.

CNBC was unable to verify Pushilin’s claims. The General Staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said Wednesday morning that Russian forces continued to focus their efforts on “conducting offensive operations” in the area around Bakhmut.

It’s not the first time that Pushilin has claimed that Bakhmut is close to encirclement, having said the same thing last week. Ukraine vehemently denies it is even close to being semi-encircled, with one official telling CNBC that Russia is seeing masses of personnel losses in the area, and little gains, although the official admitted the fighting was intense.

— Holly Ellyatt

Blinken says U.S. neither encourages nor enables Ukraine to strike inside Russia

U.S. Secretary of State Blinken attends the Freedom of Expression Roundtable, in New York, U.S., September 19, 2022. 

Craig Ruttle | Reuters

The United States has neither encouraged nor enabled the Ukrainians to strike inside of Russia, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said, but repeated Washington’s determination to make sure Kyiv has the equipment it needs to defend itself.

A third Russian airfield was ablaze from a drone strike, a day after Ukraine demonstrated an apparent new ability to penetrate hundreds of miles (km) deep into Russian airspace with attacks on two Russian air bases. Kyiv did not directly claim responsibility for the strikes, but nonetheless celebrated them.

— Reuters

At U.N., U.S., Russia accuse each other of no interest in Ukraine talks

Russian Ambassador to the UN Vassily Nebenzia addresses journalists regarding the Russian invasion of Ukraine at the United Nations Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., April 4, 2022. 

Andrew Kelly | Reuters

The United States and Russia accused each other of not being interested in Ukraine peace talks as calls grow at the United Nations for a ceasefire and diplomacy to end the war started by Moscow’s invasion nine months ago.

Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia told a U.N. Security Council meeting on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine that Moscow had noted “interest from a significant majority” of U.N. member states in a diplomatic settlement.

“We are reacting to this very seriously. We confirm our willingness to conduct negotiations,” he said, but added that the aim would be to “eradicate the root causes that forced us to start our special military operation (SMO).”

— Reuters

Turkey says Finland must end arms embargo to join NATO

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu speaks during a press conference with in Istanbul, Türkiye, on Nov. 3, 2022.

Shadati | Xinhua News Agency | Getty Images

Finland must publicly declare that it’s lifting an arms embargo on Turkey to win Ankara’s approval for its membership to NATO, the Turkish foreign minister said.

Mevlut Cavusoglu made the comments ahead of visit by Finland’s Defense Minister Antti Kaikkonen, who will be discussing his nation’s bid to join the military alliance with his Turkish counterpart Hulusi Akar on Thursday.

“The Finnish defense minister’s visit to Turkey is important because we have not yet heard a statement from Finland saying they’ve lifted their arms embargo against us,” Cavusoglu told reporters. “We’re expecting such a statement from there.”

Sweden and Finland abandoned their longstanding policies of military nonalignment and applied for membership in the alliance after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in February, amid concerns that Russia might target them next.

— Associated Press

Hungary vetoes 18 billion euro EU aid package for Ukraine

Hungary vetoed an 18 billion euro ($18.9 billion) EU aid package for Ukraine, meaning it cannot go forward and the European Commission will have to find other ways to continue providing aid to Ukraine into 2023.

“Orban is going into full escalation,” a Green Party member of the European Parliament tweeted in response to the news.

The move is seen as a way for Hungarian President Viktor Orban, a longtime ally of Putin, to force the EU into giving Hungary its share of recovery funds, some of which have been blocked by the EU because of breaches of the bloc’s laws.

The European Commission will now examine ways to “provide the necessary solution to Ukraine already as of January,” EU budget commissioner Johannes Hahn said.

Czech Finance Minister Zbynek Stanjura said he asked his EU colleagues to work toward “a solution supported by 26 member states” that could bypass Hungary’s veto.

“We were not able to adopt the package as a whole but we will not be discouraged,” Stanjura said. “Our ambition remains that we will start disbursements to Ukraine in January.”

— Natasha Turak

Kremlin says no prospect for peace talks with Ukraine at the moment

Moscow says it agrees with the U.S. in that lasting peace is needed in Ukraine, but that it sees no prospect for talks in that direction at the present time.

“That the outcome should be a just and durable peace, one can agree with this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told press, in reference to remarks U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made on Monday. Blinken said that the Ukraine war “would end almost certainly with diplomacy” and that a “just and durable peace” was essential.

“But as for the prospects for some sort of negotiations, we do not see any at the moment,” Peskov said.

He added that for talks to take place, Russia would need to have completed the objectives of its “special military operation,” the term the Kremlin has used since February to describe its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

— Natasha Turak

Read CNBC’s previous live coverage:

China eases some of its Covid restrictions, in significant step toward reopening



CNN
 — 

China announced sweeping changes to its national pandemic response on Wednesday, the clearest and most significant sign yet that the central government is moving away from its strict zero-Covid approach that prompted protests across the country.

In a statement reported by state broadcaster CCTV, China’s State Council unveiled 10 new guidelines that loosen some restrictions – most notably, allowing home quarantine and largely scrapping the health QR code that has been mandatory for entering most public places.

Local governments had already taken steps this week that indicated a possible change in direction – including some major cities loosening requirements on Covid testing.

But this is the first official change in Covid policy on a national level – a notable turnaround by Beijing, which for the past three years has insisted that unwavering restrictions are the only effective way to stamp out the highly transmissible virus.

Here are some of the biggest changes.

People shopping at a supermarket in Urumqi, China, on December 5.

Since early in the pandemic, China has used health codes on mobile phones to track individuals’ health statuses. The color of these codes – in red, amber or green – decides whether users can leave their homes, use public transport and enter public places, or potentially need to quarantine.

Under the guidelines released Wednesday, people will be able to enter most places without showing a negative test result or their health code – a significant step after nearly three years of disruption to people’s daily routines and livelihoods.

Only a few exceptions will still require these checks, including nursing homes, medical institutions and secondary schools. Businesses can now determine their own prevention and control policies, the report added.

In another massive change, asymptomatic Covid patients or those with mild symptoms will be allowed to quarantine at home instead of being taken to a government facility, unless they choose otherwise.

Patients whose condition deteriorates will be transferred to hospital for treatment, the report said. Close contacts can also quarantine at home.

Throughout the pandemic, Chinese residents have described the chaos and stress of going into quarantine camps, many saying it was unclear when they would be allowed to leave, and others complaining of crowded or poor conditions.

In several cases, health workers reportedly killed the pets of those taken to government quarantine, citing health risks – triggering outrage on Chinese social media each time. Others criticized the policy after reports earlier this year of elderly residents being forced out of their homes in the middle of the night for transport to quarantine.

VIDEO THUMBNAIL china covid Hangzhou resident dragged

Man dragged out of home after allegedly refusing to go to quarantine facility


00:59

– Source:
CNN

The new guidelines also urge authorities to “ensure the normal functioning of society and basic medical services,” saying areas that aren’t designated high-risk should not restrict people’s movements or close businesses.

Lockdowns are only allowed in “high-risk areas,” and even then, should be “promptly” lifted if no new cases are found for five consecutive days, it said. It added that authorities are forbidden from blocking fire escapes, apartment or building entrances, and other gates, so residents can still evacuate and seek medical attention if needed.

This particular guideline comes at a particularly sensitive time, with China still reeling from a wave of rare public protest in late November and early December, that had been triggered by a deadly fire in the far western Xinjiang region. Public fury had swept the nation after videos of the incident appeared to show lockdown measures had delayed firefighters from reaching the victims.

During the protests, thousands across the country took to the streets to call for an end to lockdowns and other zero-Covid measures – with some voicing broader grievances against censorship and the ruling Communist Party’s authoritarian leadership.

Police officers block Wulumuqi street, named for Urumqi in Mandarin, in Shanghai on November 27, 2022, in the area where protests against China's zero-Covid policy took place the night before following a deadly fire in Urumqi, the capital of the Xinjiang region. (Photo by Hector RETAMAL / AFP) (Photo by HECTOR RETAMAL/AFP via Getty Images)

‘Chilling’: Protester tells CNN what the atmosphere is like in China

The State Council on Wednesday also emphasized the need to accelerate Covid vaccination among the elderly, saying all locations should be “administrating as many vaccinations as possible.”

While the Omicron variant is milder than previous strains and China’s overall vaccination rate is high, experts say even a small number of severe cases among vulnerable and under-vaccinated groups like the elderly could overwhelm hospitals if infections spike across the country of 1.4 billion.

More than 86% of China’s population over 60 are fully vaccinated, according to China’s National Health Commission. That leaves around 25 million who have not received any shot, according to a comparison of official population figures and November 28 vaccination data. But booster rates are lower, with more than 45 million of the fully vaccinated elderly yet to receive an additional shot.

For the most at-risk over 80 age group, around two-thirds were fully vaccinated, but only 40% had received booster shots as of November 11, according to state media.

The rules also make domestic travel within China easier, with cross-regional travelers no longer needing to provide a negative test result or their health code – or test upon arrival.

These former requirements, as well as other travel restrictions such as provincial border closures and provincial train and bus suspensions, have made domestic travel difficult over the last few years.

For the many in China who left their hometowns to find work in other cities and provinces, that meant being separated from family for long stretches – or being stranded far from home without an income during snap lockdowns.

Residents line up for Covid tests in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China on December 1.

In recent days, some social media users have pointed out that Lunar New Year is just a month away – the country’s biggest annual holiday, a time when people typically travel home to gather with family, akin to the American Thanksgiving.

For some, the prospect of mass nationwide travel has raised concern of the virus spreading once more. Others, long fatigued with the toll of zero-Covid, greeted the news with relief.

“I haven’t been home for Chinese New Year for two years now, I’m crying,” one person said on Weibo. Another wrote: “It’s been a long time. Welcome home.”

A few other guidelines are also likely to ease the transition away from zero-Covid toward a less disruptive model.

For instance, schools without Covid outbreaks are now asked to carry out “normal offline teaching activities,” and to reopen on-campus facilities such as cafeterias, libraries and sports venues. Schools with Covid cases can continue “normal teaching and living,” as long as they designate certain “risk areas” with control measures.

The guidelines also emphasize the need to make medicine widely accessible, dropping restrictions that previously made it difficult to buy cold and fever medication in pharmacies. Since early in the pandemic, China has required a prescription and negative Covid test to buy these.

Perhaps reflecting public concern that the relaxation in rules could cause a surge in cases, residents have rushed to drug stores, with reports last week that cold and fever medicines were flying off shelves.

The State Council also urged doctors and local medical institutions to continue closely monitoring the health situation of key populations, including the risks posed to elderly or immunocompromised residents.

Some experts have warned that a broader reopening inevitably brings health risks, especially to those vulnerable groups.

“The key risk when countries decide to move away from a zero-Covid policy is really the strain this will exert on the health care system,” said Ruklanthi de Alwis, deputy director for the Centre for Outbreak Preparedness at the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore.

Raphael Warnock wins Georgia runoff, growing Democrats’ Senate majority

Comment

ATLANTA — Democrat Raphael G. Warnock on Tuesday was projected to win reelection to represent Georgia in the Senate, defeating Republican Herschel Walker in a tight runoff and expanding his party’s slim majority in the chamber.

It was a hard-fought victory for Democrats in an increasingly purple state that was central to the party’s gains last election cycle and is expected to be a key battleground in 2024. Rural turnout for Walker, 60, a former Georgia football star, was not enough to offset a strong Atlanta-area performance by Warnock, 53, a pastor at a historic church in the city.

Warnock’s win gave Democrats their 51st Senate seat — handing them more leverage in a chamber that for two years has been evenly split, with Vice President Harris empowered to break ties and two swing-vote Democrats able to make or break their party’s plans.

The result also capped a disappointing midterm cycle for Republicans, who expected a red wave but fell short of retaking the Senate and reclaimed the House majority by a margin of just a few seats. Walker, a first-time candidate ridiculed for gaffes, accused of serious misconduct and elevated by former president Donald Trump, exemplified broader Republican concerns that their nominees — and Trump — undermined their chances. His loss spurred more calls to rethink the party’s direction and strategy.

With more than 97 percent of the vote counted Tuesday night, Warnock led Walker by nearly 2.5 percentage points. An estimated 3.5 million people voted in the runoff, slightly down from the 3.9 million ballots cast in the general election.

The DJ at Warnock’s election night party played “All I Do Is Win” by DJ Khaled right after CNN posted that Warnock was projected to win. Declaring victory late Tuesday, Warnock said he was honored to “utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy” — “the people have spoken.”

“I’m proud of the bipartisan work I’ve done,” he said, “and I intend to do more because I actually believe that at the end of the day, we’re all Americans.”

Walker’s supporters gathered in a prayer circle at the College Football Hall of Fame in Atlanta as media outlets began to call the race. Conceding Tuesday night, Walker said he would not be making excuses for his loss because “we put out one heck of a fight.” Throughout the campaign, he criticized the incumbent as a reliable vote for President Biden’s agenda and said he would check Democrats’ power in Washington and represent “Georgia values.”

Analysis: The difference that 51 votes makes for Democrats in the Georgia runoff

Warnock campaigned on Democratic priorities such as legislation to cap drug prices and appealed directly to independents and moderate Republicans, calling Walker unfit for public office and saying the race should come down to “character and competence.” He also promised to support abortion access, as his opponent embraced strict bans that took effect in Georgia and other states after the fall of Roe v. Wade — setting up a stark contrast on an issue that helped galvanize Democrats nationally in an otherwise daunting election year.

Kyle Cartledge, an independent, said he backed Warnock because Walker’s gaffes and the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe alienated him from Republicans this year.

“I wish we had more of a middle, but we don’t seem to have one these days,” said William Shank, who voted for Walker but said he was unenthused about his options.

In a statement, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Warnock would serve as “the last brick in our firewall” against GOP threats to democracy.

Both parties always expected a close contest and lined up colossal resources, with candidates and outside groups spending a combined $380 million on ads for the seat throughout the election cycle. The campaigns focused heavily on in-person get-out-the-vote efforts during the runoff, saying the result would hinge on each candidate’s ability to turn out their base a second time.

Georgia GOP Senate candidate Herschel Walker on Dec. 6 said his campaign was the “best thing” he had done after losing to Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D-Ga.). (Video: The Washington Post)

Republicans hoped that frustration with Biden and the economy would remain powerful motivators and enlisted surrogates for Walker, including Gov. Brian Kemp (R), who had kept a distance from the Senate nominee during his own reelection fight.

But as Tuesday neared, some expressed growing doubts about Walker’s ability to bring out a winning coalition without more popular Republicans such as Kemp on the ballot. The GOP’s challenges only seemed to compound in the runoff, with Republicans feuding openly and Democrats growing their spending advantage.

Outside groups helped Walker try to catch up to Warnock’s record-breaking fundraising in the general election and invested more the past four weeks. But Democrats ultimately spent about twice as much as Republicans on ads in the runoff, pumping roughly $60 million more into the race.

In Georgia runoff, GOP worries about Walker, Trump and party’s future

While Democrats entered the runoff with the Senate majority in hand, a 51st seat will still have big consequences. Democrats are now expected to get a one-seat majority on committees, which are currently evenly split under a power-sharing agreement with Republicans. That will speed up the confirmation process for judicial and executive nominees by averting tied votes and give Democrats more leverage in oversight hearings.

Another seat will also allow Democrats more room to confirm appointees and pass bills over objections from within their caucus. Two moderate senators, Joe Manchin III (D-W.Va.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), currently wield tremendous power to reshape or scuttle legislation. And it boosts Democrats’ position heading into an ominous 2024 Senate map, where they will have to defend many vulnerable incumbents and have tougher odds for a pickup.

Warnock’s win marks the first time in more than a century that all incumbent senators were reelected, and the first time since 1934 that a president’s party gained both Senate and governor’s seats in a midterm. Democrats won two more governorships this cycle.

Karen Schultz, 66, said she almost didn’t come out to vote given the rain and foggy weather in the metro Atlanta area. But “I felt so guilty and I told my husband, ‘We just have to go vote. We have to do our part,’” she said.

Republicans did well in Georgia last month despite their national shortfalls; Kemp won handily in a rematch with Democrat Stacey Abrams. Yet Walker got about 200,000 fewer votes than Kemp, becoming the only statewide GOP candidate not victorious on Nov. 8. Warnock ran about 1 percentage point ahead of Walker in the general election but fell short of the 50 percent required to win outright in Georgia.

Walker gave his final rally in Kennesaw, Ga., flanked by GOP leaders including Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, who called his race a “critical seat that will allow us to stop Joe Biden and the Warnock disastrous agenda that is killing our country.”

Speaking at the same event, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley called the runoff an opportunity for Republicans to show that the state’s recent election of Biden and two Democratic senators was a “hiccup.”

In an interview Tuesday night, Dianne Putnam, the chair of the Whitfield County Republican Party, insisted that Georgia remains “a red state.”

“The people just didn’t vote straight down like they should have and that’s usually what Republicans do,” she said of Walker trailing Kemp in November. “I don’t understand that, I really don’t. It’s a mystery to me.”

Ben Burnett, a conservative podcast host and former city councilman in a suburb of Atlanta, echoed calls for the GOP to take a hard look at its strategy. “Winning in the suburbs needs to be the first question that the GOP asks, not the last question that we never answer,” he said.

With nearly 2 million ballots cast before Tuesday, the runoff stoked increasingly vocal GOP concerns about their party’s reliance on a big turnout Tuesday over early voting. Democrats were buoyed by high Black voter turnout last week and said they believed they had the GOP outmatched on the ground, despite Republican investments to repurpose Kemp’s get-out-the-vote operation the past month.

Warnock, the senior pastor at Ebenezer Baptist Church — where the Rev. Martin Luther King once preached — will now serve a full, six-year term. Last year, he won a special election to replace Republican Johnny Isakson, who stepped down over health concerns, and became Georgia’s first Black senator.

He and fellow senator from Georgia, Jon Ossoff (D), both prevailed in a January 2021 runoff that gave Democrats control of the Senate and underscored the state’s shifting political identity. In 2020, Biden was the first Democratic presidential candidate to win the traditionally conservative state since Bill Clinton in 1992.

Some Republicans blamed Trump for undermining their party’s chances in the runoff by focusing on his own loss in the lead-up, pressuring Georgia officials to overturn the results and spreading GOP distrust of the voting system.

Trump also loomed over the 2022 midterms, often boosting inexperienced or polarizing candidates to primary victories in battleground races. He endorsed Walker but stayed away from Georgia during the general election.

“It’s not his time to come — not his time and place right now,” Fulton County Republican Party Chairman Trey Kelly said of Trump on Tuesday evening.

Trump and Walker’s teams agreed the former president’s presence would not be helpful during the runoff, according to Trump advisers who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share private conversations. Walker did not advertise a Monday tele-rally with Trump on social media or allow reporters to attend. He did tout the endorsement of another Republican on Facebook that same day — Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, an increasingly formidable rival to Trump who could challenge him for the presidency in 2024.

Biden also avoided campaigning in Georgia, as Republicans emphasized that Warnock has voted with the president 96 percent of the time and sought to harness widespread dissatisfaction with the direction of the country.

While both Senate candidates attacked each other’s character, allegations from Walker’s past dominated the race. Ex-partners of Walker accused him of domestic violence, said he had little contact with his children and alleged that he paid for their abortions despite his antiabortion views. One of Walker’s sons, who is conservative, harshly criticized Walker this fall and responded scathingly to the outcome on Tuesday, tweeting, “Don’t beat women … fund abortions then pretend [you’re] pro-life … leave your multiple minor children alone to chase more fame, lie … And then maybe you can win a senate seat.”

Walker has spoken openly about a struggle with dissociative identity disorder, and allies pitched him on the trail as a devout Christian who has been redeemed for past mistakes. The GOP nominee denied the abortion claims and some allegations of violence, while saying he cannot remember other incidents.

Democrats worked to highlight Walker’s most puzzling comments from the campaign trail, including a riff about vampires and werewolves, releasing one runoff ad that featured voters listening to sound bites and calling the candidate embarrassing.

Republicans defended Walker’s personal record while leaning into his celebrity status as a former running back at the University of Georgia. They said Warnock was not the “saint” Democrats portrayed, broadcasting allegations from Warnock’s ex-wife that he ran over her foot with a car during an argument. Warnock denies the claim, and law enforcement did not file charges.

Knowles reported from Washington. Rodriguez reported from Atlanta and Norcross, Ga. Wells reported from Marietta, Ga, and Atlanta. Amy B Wang, Liz Goodwin and Scott Clement in Washington contributed to this report.

NFL Week 14 picks: Tom Brady leads Buccaneers to upset of 49ers, Chargers shock Dolphins, Lions beat Vikings

It took 13 weeks, but we finally have our first team eliminated from playoff contention this year and to no one’s surprise, that team is the Houston Texans (the Bears were also eliminated on Sunday, but the Texans won the honor of officially being the first team).

Houston, you have a problem and your problem is that the Texans are the worst team in football this year and their loss on Sunday pretty much sums up everything that’s wrong with them. The Texans didn’t give up a single offensive touchdown to the Browns in Week 13, and yet, they still somehow managed to lose by 13 points, which is so bad that it’s actually impressive. 

One thing I know for sure is that I won’t be picking the Texans to win any of their remaining games, and crap, now that I’ve told you that, that means I’ve now spoiled one of my picks for Week 14, because now you know that I’m picking the Texans to lose to the Cowboys. I don’t want to spoil any more of my picks, so let’s hurry up and get to the Week 14 picks. 

Actually, before we get to the picks, here’s a quick reminder that you can check out the weekly picks from every CBSSports.com NFL expert by clicking here. If you don’t click over, I won’t be offended. However, I will be offended if you don’t sign up for CBSSports.com’s NFL newsletter, which I pump out four days per week. I also have a newsletter about what it’s like to write newsletters, but I won’t ask you to subscribe to that one.

As for the football newsletter, if you want to subscribe, all you have to do is click here and enter your email address. It takes 9.3 seconds to sign up and if you’re wondering how I know that, it’s because I got bored and timed it once. One thing that’s not boring is the podcast the early picks podcast that I recorded with Will Brinson this week. You can find out our four favorite early picks for Week 14 by listening below. 

Alright, I think that’s all the self-promotion I have for the week. Let’s get to the picks. 

NFL Week 14 Picks

Minnesota (10-2) at Detroit (5-7)

1 p.m. ET (Fox)

Featured Game | Detroit Lions vs. Minnesota Vikings

When two division rivals play each other for the second time in a season, I usually throw the results of the first game out the window, but I’m writing this pick from a windowless closet, so I can’t do that, which is probably for the best, because I think that first game gives us a small hint of what’s going to happen this time around.

In that first game, the Lions jumped out to a 14-0 lead before doing what you would expect the Lions to do in that situation: Fully imploding and losing. The Lions shot themselves in the foot so many times in that game that you’d think they would’ve have run out of bullets or even feet, but nope, they just kept doing it. 

They missed two field goals in the first game, they had two failed fourth downs and Jared Goff threw an interception in the final minute that iced the game. No one is better at giving away games than the Lions and it really felt like they gave away the first game. However, that was the old Lions. Now, the Vikings will be dealing with the new Lions, who are suddenly one of the hottest teams in the NFL. 

The new Lions don’t blow games, unless you count the Buffalo loss on Thanksgiving. OK, the new Lions do blow games, but not as often as the old Lions. 

The last four games between these two teams have been decided by an average 2.5 points per game, so I fully expect things to get crazy once again on Sunday and crazy would be the Lions actually holding on to beat a good team at home. So yes, I’m picking the Lions here, but that’s arguably a good thing for the Vikings since I’ve whiffed on four straight games involving Minnesota. I need this streak to end. Don’t let me down Lions. 

I think we might see a shootout here and that’s because we have the the team that’s given up the most points in the NFL this year (Lions) going up against the team that’s surrendering the most passing yards per game (Vikings). 

The pick: Lions 34-31 over Vikings

Baltimore (8-4) at Pittsburgh (5-7)

1 p.m. ET (CBS)

Featured Game | Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Baltimore Ravens

If you would have asked me five weeks ago who I thought was going to win this game, I probably would’ve picked the Ravens by seven touchdowns. I’m not sure why you would have asked me about this game back then, but I’m a nice person, so I would have answered your question even if I thought it was weird. 

After nine weeks of play, the Steelers were 2-6 and it looked like they were going toe-to-toe with the Texans for the unofficial title of worst team in the AFC. As for the Ravens, they were 6-3 after 10 weeks and they easily could have been 9-0 with all three losses coming by four points or less. However, things have slightly changed over the past few weeks. On the Steelers’ end, they got T.J. Watt back in Week 10 and they’ve been nearly unbeatable ever since. Watt is one of the most dominant players in the NFL and since his return, the Steelers have gone 3-1, which makes them 4-1 on the season in any game where Watt plays. If the NFL was fair, it would only count the games this season that Watt has played and the Steelers would be in the thick of the playoff hunt, but the NFL isn’t fair and no one knows that more than the Ravens, who will likely be playing without Lamar Jackson on Sunday. 

Normally, when a starting QB goes down, that’s when a team will hit the panic button, but I don’t think that will be the case for Baltimore. The Ravens have Tyler Huntley to take his place and Huntley is like the store-brand Lamar Jackson, and let me just say, that’s not necessarily an insult. If you’ve ever had store-brand Froot Loops, then you know that sometimes the store-brand is better than the national brand and Huntley has the talent to be store-brand Froot Loops. 

Huntley is basically a mini-me version of Lamar Jackson and based on what he did in four starts last year, he might actually be able to provide a spark for a Ravens offense that’s been in a rut over the past few weeks.

I think we’ll see a minor drop-off from the Ravens offense without Jackson, but I also think that Huntley plays well enough to lead Baltimore to a win. 

The pick: Ravens 20-17 over Steelers. 

Tampa Bay (6-6) at San Francisco (8-4)

4:25 p.m. ET (Fox)

Featured Game | San Francisco 49ers vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

This game was supposed to be giving us Tom Brady against Jimmy Garoppolo for the FIRST TIME ever, but apparently, that’s too much handsomeness on the field at one time, so the Football Gods decided not to let it happen. With Garoppolo now out for the season, we’ll instead be getting Brady against Brock Purdy. We’re getting a QB who made his first career start 21 years ago against a QB who will be making his first career start on Sunday. 

We’re getting a QB who has seven Super Bowl rings against a QB who was literally selected with the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. The final player taken in the draft is known as “Mr. Irrelevant” and I’m guessing that’s because they almost always end up having an irrelevant NFL career. 

If you’re a seventh-round pick trying to play quarterback in the NFL, the deck is pretty stacked against you. Over the past 15 years, there have been exactly 26 quarterbacks taken in the seventh-round and of those 26 quarterbacks, only six of them ended up starting a game and those six quarterbacks have combined to go 17-35. Trevor Siemian is carrying a lot of the load there with a career record of 13-17 and if you don’t include him, then the record for seventh-round draft picks drops to 4-18 over the past 15 years. 

Purdy actually looked purdy good (HA HA) against the Dolphins, going 25 of 37 for 210 yards and two touchdowns, but that was against a defense that wasn’t prepared to face him. The Buccaneers will be prepared to face him and he will not be catching them by surprise. 

The only upside for Purdy is that he’s in an offensive system where nearly any QB can thrive. Thanks to Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers offense is essentially a self-driving car that can function with anyone behind the wheel. The only way it doesn’t work is if the driver somehow crashes it and that’s what I’m afraid might happen with a seventh-round pick behind the wheel. 

Also, I should probably point out that Tom Brady has never lost in a game where the opposing QB was making his first career start. 

Since Purdy is a Mr. Irrelevant, I think it only makes sense here to predict that the game is going to be won by another Mr. Irrelevant: Ryan Succop. The Buccaneers kicker was the final pick of the 2009 NFL Draft and as the most successful Mr. Irrelevant in history, I’m going to say he continues that success by kicking the Bucs to an upset win on Sunday. 

The pick: Buccaneers 23-20 over 49ers

Miami (8-4) at L.A. Chargers (6-6)

8:20 p.m. ET (NBC)

Featured Game | Los Angeles Chargers vs. Miami Dolphins

If I’ve learned one thing about Chargers fans over the past 48 hours, it’s that I think they’ve all given up on Brandon Staley. As a matter of fact, I’m pretty sure that “fire Brandon Staley” was trending on Twitter after the Chargers lost to the Raiders. 

I’m not sure the Chargers should be making large organizational decisions based on what they read on Twitter, but I have to say, these fans are pretty persuasive. Not only do they want to see Staley canned, but they also know who they want to replace him: Sean Payton. 

One reason fans are so upset with Staley is because the Chargers haven’t quite lived up to expectations this year. The Chargers were supposed to be contending for an AFC West title, but instead, they’re sitting at 6-6, a full three games behind the Chiefs. 

One reason they’ve struggled is because their defense can’t stop the run. And when I say their defense can’t stop the run, I mean that they are literally the worst team at stopping the run in more than 60 years. They are giving up more than 5.4 yards per carry which is more than any other team since 1960. 

The problem for Staley is that he’s supposed to be a defensive mastermind, but I’m not sure you’re allowed to have that title if you’re on a list like this. I mean, the 1933 Cincinnati Reds were so bad that they folded after two seasons, which is kind of a weird coincidence, because at the rate things are going, Staley might only last two seasons with the Chargers. 

Fortunately for Staley, if there’s one team that might not be able to run the ball on the Chargers, it’s Miami. The Dolphins are averaging just 89.7 yards per game on the ground, which makes them one of just five teams averaging under 100 yards per game for the season. They also have the fifth-worst yards per carry rate in the NFL. If the Chargers defense can’t slow down the Dolphins’ rushing attack, then Staley might just want to go ahead and call it quits. 

If I know one thing about the Chargers, it’s that they love to tease their fans and a big tease would be beating the Dolphins this week only to lose all that momentum by losing next week, so that’s exactly what I’m going to say happens. 

The pick: Chargers 30-27 over Dolphins

New England (6-6) at Arizona (4-8)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. ET (ESPN)

Featured Game | Arizona Cardinals vs. New England Patriots

If I’ve learned one thing about the Patriots this season, it’s that the key to beating them is to have a mobile quarterback. Bill Belichick is arguably the best defensive mind in NFL history, but when you throw a mobile quarterback at him, it’s like he forgets how to coach. In three games this season against mobile quarterbacks, New England has gone 0-3 and you know what, let’s go ahead and quickly recount how the Patriots’ defense fared in each of those games: 

  • Week 3: Ravens 37-26 over Patriots. Lamar Jackson throws for 218 yards and four touchdowns while adding another 107 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown. 
  • Week 6: Bears 33-14 over Patriots. Justin Fields throws for 179 yards and a touchdown while adding another 82 yards on the ground with a rushing touchdown. 
  • Week 13: Bills 24-10 over Patriots. Josh Allen throws for 222 yards and two touchdowns while adding another 20 yards rushing on the ground.  

In each game, the quarterback’s ability to run the ball opened things up on the ground and the Patriots ended up surrendering an average of 187.7 rush yards per game in these three losses. What this means is that Kyler Murray could give New England fits, but that’s only if he’s not throwing his own fits. 

One thing that makes this game hard to pick is that I’m not sure which quarterback is more frustrated right now. On one hand, you have Murray, who will yell at anyone and everyone when he gets frustrated. 

Murray yelling at Kliff Kingsbury? We’ve seen plenty of that this year. 

However, it’s not just Kingsbury who’s been yelled at by Murray. He’s also expressed frustrations with DeAndre Hopkins. 

Of course, the only person more frustrated than Murray with his offense right now might be Mac Jones. 

So we have two frustrated quarterbacks going at it on Monday night in a game where the guy who gets more frustrated is probably going to lose. Due to the fact that the Patriots can’t seem to stop mobile quarterbacks, I’m going to say Belichick ends up getting frustrated, but in the end, I’m going to say that Kliff Kingsbury ends up as the most frustrated guy on the field because his team is going to find a way to lose another close game. 

The pick: Patriots 19-16 over Cardinals

NFL Week 14 picks: All the rest

Raiders 27-17 over Rams
Bengals 30-20 over Browns
Bills 27-20 over Jets|
Cowboys 31-17 over Texans
Titans 24-16 over Jaguars
Eagles 34-24 over Giants
Chiefs 24-13 over Broncos
Seahawks 26-23 over Panthers

BYES: Falcons, Bears, Packers, Saints, Commanders, Colts

Last Week 

Best pick: Last week, I predicted that the Bengals would beat the Chiefs by exactly three points and guess what happened? The Bengals beat the Chiefs by exactly three points. When it comes to picking Chiefs games, there are only two rules: If they’re not playing the Bengals, you pick them to win. If they ARE playing the Bengals, you pick them to lose. It’s that simple. Since the start of the 2019 season, Mahomes has a record of 33-4 in the months of November, December and January: He’s 0-3 against the Bengals and 33-1 against everyone else. 

Worst pick: I only missed three picks in Week 13, but I won’t be taking a victory lap and that’s because if I try to take one, I’ll trip over my own feet and fall flat on my face, kind of like I did with all my upset picks. Last week, I predicted that we’d see three big upsets in Week 13 — Titans over Eagles, Jets over Vikings and Dolphins over 49ers — and every single one of those predictions backfired on me. The worst part isn’t that I got the picks wrong, it’s how I got them wrong. The Titans forgot that A.J. Brown existed, the Dolphins couldn’t beat a rookie seventh-round QB who was playing the first game of his career and the Jets had THREE chances to score from the one-yard line with under two minutes left to play and they couldn’t do it. And since you’re now probably wondering, yes, I did cry myself to sleep on Sunday night. 

Finally, if you guys have ever wondered which teams I’m actually good at picking, here’s a quick look at my best and worst teams when it comes to picks this year. 

Teams I’m 11-1 picking this year (Straight up): Chiefs.
Longest winning streak: Chiefs (Nine straight games picked correctly)

Team I’ve been the worst at picking this year (Straight up): Raiders (4-8).
Longest losing streak: Vikings (Four straight games picked incorrectly) 

Every other team is somewhere in the middle. 

Picks Record

Straight up in Week 13: 11-3-1
SU overall: 117-76-1

Against the spread in Week 13: 9-6
ATS overall: 92-95-8 

You can find John Breech on Facebook or Twitter and if he’s not doing one of those things, he’s probably eating store-brand froot loops by himself while searching online for any merchandise he can find that features the 1933 Cincinnati Reds.

China eases Covid restrictions on travel and production

Starting Tuesday, public venues such as this supermarkets in Beijing no longer required people to show proof of a recent negative virus test.

China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images

BEIJING — In a significant easing of Covid controls, the Chinese government said Wednesday that people will no longer need to show negative virus tests or health codes in order to travel between different parts of the country.

Chinese authorities also said that unless an area is designated as high-risk, work and local production cannot be stopped.

The announcement on the National Health Commission’s website formalized other recent changes to Covid controls, such as allowing more people to quarantine at home.

The measures also said that other than facilities such as retirement homes, elementary and middle schools and health clinics, venues should not require negative virus tests or health code checks.

In an example of how strict Covid controls had become in mainland China, the capital city of Beijing this year increasingly required people to scan a health code with a smartphone app in order to enter public venues. The health code then had to show a negative virus test result from within the last two or three days.

If the health code decided the user had come into contact with an infection or Covid risk area, the app would show a pop-up window, making it impossible for the person to enter public areas, or board a train or airplane until the pop-up was resolved.

China can't take a 'one-size-fits-all' approach to Covid, Singapore's foreign minister says

The capital city relaxed its health code scanning requirements on Tuesday.

Despite a national easing in Covid measures in mid-November, a surge of infections and the ensuing local implementation of China’s stringent zero-Covid policy added to people’s frustration with the controls. Students and groups of people held public protests during the last weekend of November.

In the last several days, local authorities across the country have removed many virus testing requirements.

“When it comes to implementation, there are a lot of inconsistencies between different departments and different regions,” Dan Wang, Shanghai-based chief economist at Hang Seng China, said Wednesday morning on CNBC’s “Squawk Box Asia.”

“We don’t know if the true restrictions, or the ‘return to normal’ can happen, actually, within the next six months, because we can see that for the smaller cities, for example. like Taiyuan and Xi’an, their changes within the Covid restrictions are still very much behind what’s going on in Beijing and Shanghai.”

— CNBC’s Jihye Lee contributed to this report.

Microsoft says Nintendo would get Call of Duty if acquisition okayed

Comment

Microsoft has signed a deal to bring the Activision Blizzard-published Call of Duty franchise to Nintendo for the first time, the company announced Tuesday night, pending approval of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The deal guarantees that Microsoft, which is awaiting federal approval of its acquisition of Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, would make available the popular first-person shooter series on Nintendo Switch for 10 years. It also announced a ten year deal to keep Call of Duty on the PC game store Steam.

The deal does not specify the first year a Call of Duty title would be available on the Nintendo Switch. A new Call of Duty title coming out would likely to be the first to arrive on the Nintendo Switch, though Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer told The Washington Post in an interview that the entire portfolio would still have be looked at to see which titles make it over to the Switch. There’s no set date yet for when Call of Duty would first arrive on the Switch.

“You can imagine if [the deal] closed on that date, starting to do development work to make that happen would likely take a little bit of time,” Spencer said, referring to the June 2023 date the merger is supposed to close, if it is not blocked by regulators. “Once we get into the rhythm of this, our plan would be that when [a Call of Duty game] launches on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC, that it would also be available on Nintendo at the same time.”

Spencer pointed to Microsoft-owned titles like “Minecraft” making their way to the Switch as examples of how the company has experience bringing games to different platforms.

“We would do this with Minecraft as well, where we would do specific work to make the game run well on Nintendo Switch and their silicon and support their platform completely,” Spencer said. “We do the same when we ship on PlayStation 5.”

When asked if the Switch had enough technical specifications to run Call of Duty smoothly, Spencer said, “Minecraft and Call of Duty are different games. But from how you get games onto Nintendo, how you run a development team that is targeting multiple platforms, that’s experience we have.”

Spencer said the agreement between Nintendo and Microsoft specifies ten years, because that length of time will be comforting to gamers, and it’s likely the companies will continue working together.

“It’s just about picking an expiration date, not with the goal of ever expiring, but just like, the legalese of a document has to say this goes through some date,” Spencer said. “But once we start working with a platform, just like we have with with Minecraft, both on PlayStation and on on Nintendo’s platform, our goal would be to continue to support those customers.”

The move comes as Microsoft awaits the Federal Trade Commission’s regulatory scrutiny over its proposed acquisition, which has faced a significant challenge from Sony, the rival maker of the PlayStation console that believes the potential of Call of Duty becoming exclusive to Microsoft platforms would give the company an unfair advantage in the video game market. Sony has not accepted a deal with Microsoft that would keep Call of Duty on PlayStation for ten years. Sony declined to comment.

The announcement comes shortly before a Dec. 8 closed meeting of the FTC. While the FTC declined to comment on whether it is meeting with Microsoft this week, Bloomberg reported that Microsoft plans to meet with FTC Chair Lina Khan on Wednesday to persuade her to approve the deal. When asked if there was any significance to the announcement coming relative to the FTC meeting, Spencer responded, “The things I’ve heard and seen written in the press is maybe some intent on our side when we make public commitments to Sony, that our private commitments are untenable or don’t work for partners, or for Sony specifically.”

He added that he wanted to show major industry partners like Nintendo and Valve that agreements can be reached, even if Sony did not accept. “Maybe some aura gets put around our words that maybe they’re not genuine, that when you have a company like Nintendo or a company like Valve believing in the commitment and reaching agreement with Nintendo on something like this, we think it’s an important point to have out in the market.”

One common line of inquiry among international regulators evaluating the acquisition has been whether Call of Duty, one of Activision Blizzard’s most successful franchises, will be made unavailable to PlayStation users. Microsoft has repeatedly assured regulators that the series would stay on all current platforms — which currently includes Xbox, PlayStation and PC — and said it would be financially imprudent to discontinue publishing for PlayStation.

Activision Blizzard and Nintendo did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.

Activision Blizzard has been made aware of the agreement, and Spencer said they were in a planning phase.

Cat Zakrzewski and Jonathan Lee contributed to this report.

Bounou the calm presence behind Morocco’s World Cup success

EDUCATION CITY, Qatar — Yassine Bounou was the last one to leave the Morocco dressing room, clearly exhausted mentally but with a huge smile on his face. And because Bounou (or Bono) is one of the nicest guys in football, his evening was not done just yet. Two hours after his team’s historic victory against Spain, he was still giving interviews to pretty much anyone who was asking for one. For radio, for TV, for written press, in English, in Spanish, in Arabic, in French. Every time, he recalled his incredible heroics during the penalty shootout.

“It was incredible,” he told ESPN. “It is a historical moment. I hadn’t even prepared for the shootout that much. There was so much pressure in the game so I just tried to enjoy it.

“For the penalties, it is about instinct, a bit of luck and that’s it, there is not much else.”

– World Cup 2022: News and features | Bracket | Schedule | Squads

And every time he speaks, his gentle voice and his big grin highlight once more what this historic FIFA World Cup result means to him, to his teammates, and to their people.

“We are so happy for the fans, for our people, for our families,” he said. “We are starting to realise what this win represents for Morocco but also all around the world. We felt the incredible support from our fans and we used it today.”

Whether Morocco beat Portugal in the quarterfinals or not, Bounou will be a hero forever. The Atlas Lions have reached the last eight of a World Cup for the first time, and it is mostly thanks to him. He stopped the penalties from Carlos Soler and Sergio Busquets, and if Pablo Sarabia‘s spot-kick hadn’t hit the post, Bounou had dived the right way anyway and would have saved it had it been on target.

The Moroccan is a very good penalty stopper. He stopped two spot-kicks in the same game once: against FC Salzburg in the UEFA Champions League in Sep. 2021. In the calendar year 2021, he saved five of the 13 penalties that he faced. Before the shootout against Spain, he had saved 13 of the past 50 taken against him. Not a bad ratio at all. And maybe because Walid Regragui trusted his keeper so much, or maybe because he didn’t want to tempt fate either, the Morocco head coach didn’t ask his players to practise penalties the day before the game. He let them play with their flair and guts, and it worked so well.

Romain Saiss, the Morocco captain, was full of praise for his teammate.

“It is amazing for him,” Saiss told ESPN. “He had a heroic game today, not only during the penalties. He just wanted to show why he was named best LaLiga goalkeeper last season. He is a great keeper, he proved it against Spain. We owe him a lot today.”

Saiss and Bounou have been playing together for years. The keeper is different to his captain: he is more introverted, calm, reserved but so efficient. The only goal he has conceded in this World Cup is that scored by teammate Nayef Aguerd against Canada. Together with Achraf Hakimi, Aguerd and Noussair Mazraoui, Saiss forms the best defence in the competition. And Bounou commands his back four so well; he has natural leadership qualities even if he doesn’t talk too much.

“We trust him,” Azzedine Ounahi, Morocco’s brilliant midfielder, told ESPN. “We know he is an excellent keeper. We knew that if we got to the penalties, he would do the job for us. And he did. Spain didn’t even score a single penalty.

“He is among the best goalkeepers in the world, and he proved it today.”

The belief and trust in Bounou from Regragui and the squad is clearly one of the keys of the Moroccan success in Qatar. At 31, this is the stage Bounou has dreamed of since he was growing up in Montreal, Canada. With Sevilla, whom he joined in the summer of 2019 from Girona, he has achieved great things, won big trophies such as the UEFA Europa League, and created big upsets.

Now he wants to do it with Morocco, and he will be confident that he and his teammates can reproduce their efforts when they face Portugal Saturday. The celebrations will continue awhile, but Bounou, despite standing 191cm (6-foot-3), will not be noticed or put himself forward. However, as soon as the ball is kicked against Portugal, he will feel like he is on a mission again.

Raphael Warnock will win Georgia Senate runoff, CNN projects, in final midterm rebuke of Trump’s influence



CNN
 — 

Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock will win Georgia’s Senate runoff, CNN projects, giving Democrats greater leverage in the Senate next year and delivering a critical blow to former President Donald Trump after a defeat of yet another one of his hand-picked candidates.

With Warnock’s defeat of Republican challenger Herschel Walker, Democrats will control 51 seats to the GOP’s 49.

The race closes out a difficult midterm cycle for Republicans – who won the House majority but saw their hopes for Capitol Hill dominance dashed by the troubled candidacies of some Trump-backed Senate nominees.

“There are no excuses in life and I’m not going to make any excuses now because we put up one heck of a fight,” Walker told supporters after calling Warnock.

The runoff was a final midterm test of the former president’s influence as he embarks on a third White House bid. It was also a sign that – in the wake of President Joe Biden narrowly carrying the state in 2020, combined with two Senate runoff wins that handed him a Democratic Senate in 2021 – Georgia is now definitively a purple state.

In his victory speech, Warnock alluded to the fact that the runoff was his fourth campaign in two years. “After a hard-fought campaign – or should I say campaigns – it is my honor to utter the four most powerful words ever spoken in a democracy: The people have spoken.”

“I often say that a vote is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and for our children,” Warnock continued. “You have put in the hard work and here we are standing together.”

The recriminations arrived swiftly for the GOP late Tuesday night.

“The only way to explain this is candidate quality,” Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan said on CNN, noting the delta between Gov. Brian Kemp’s November victory and where it appears that Walker will end up when all the votes are counted.

He said he hoped Warnock’s victory would serve as a wake-up call for the GOP. “If we don’t take our medicine here, it’s our fault. … Every Republican in this country ought to hold Donald Trump accountable for this.”

Many Republicans attributed the closeness of the race on Tuesday night to the fact that Kemp came to Walker’s rescue in the runoff after keeping his distance during last month’s general election. He not only campaigned for him but put the muscle of his own turnout operation into efforts to help the GOP Senate nominee.

Democratic control of the Senate next year was already settled by hard-fought contests in states like Nevada, where Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto clung to her seat despite economic headwinds, and in Pennsylvania, where Democrat John Fetterman picked up a GOP-held seat.

The Senate has been evenly divided 50-50 with Vice President Kamala Harris casting tie-breaking votes. That has given inordinate power to moderate figures like Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona, who have often single-handedly curbed the ambitions of their party. Warnock securing a full six-year term will allow Democrats to dispense with the current power-sharing agreement with Republicans, while making it easier to advance Biden’s nominees.

Though Warnock gained more votes than Walker in last month’s general election, he did not earn the majority needed to win outright. The ensuing runoff had attracted more than $80 million in ad spending, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact, with Democrats spending about twice as much as Republicans.

Warnock held a narrow lead over Walker in a CNN poll released last week. Walker had a negative favorability rating as voters questioned his honesty after a series of scandals. He’s denied reports that he pressured or encouraged women to have abortions, despite previously advocating for bans on the procedure without exceptions on the campaign trail. CNN’s KFile has reported that he is getting a tax break intended only for a primary residence this year on his home in the Dallas, Texas, area – while running for the seat in Georgia.

The state broke single-day early voting records last week, but the early voting period was significantly condensed from 2021. The overall number of voters decreased from roughly 3.1 million last year to about 1.87 million in 2022. Democrats were optimistic, in part, because of Black voters – who strongly favored Warnock in CNN’s poll. They accounted for nearly 32% of the turnout in early voting, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

Walker, however, was counting on robust turnout among GOP voters, who tend to vote in greater numbers on Election Day.

But Trump – who, like Biden, steered clear of the Peach State during the runoff – complicated GOP fortunes across the country this year as voters rejected many of his election-denying candidates in swing states.

Some of the earliest signs of that were in Georgia two years ago, when his efforts to raise doubts about mail-in ballots and vote counting were blamed, in part, for the GOP’s 2021 losses in twin runoffs that handed Democrats control of the Senate.

This year, the former president’s efforts to exact revenge on Kemp – who rebuffed Trump’s demands to overturn the 2020 election – were soundly rejected by voters in the primary. Kemp went on to handily defeat Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams last month, garnering about 200,000 more votes than Walker.

After watching losses in key states like Arizona and Pennsylvania, top Republicans are planning a more aggressive push to prop up candidates in primaries that they deem as more electable. The incoming chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Montana Sen. Steve Daines, told CNN: “Clearly you want to see candidates who can win general elections and we’re gonna keep working that in.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.