animals killed in this country. now about 378,000 last year. and best friends is the leader in that movement. they'd like to get to this place where the united states is a no-kill country, essentially, by 2025. >> the benchmark for no kill is 90%. roughly 10% of animals that are entering america's shelters probably are too sick to be saved. so it's that 90% benchmark that we're after. >> you think it's possible? >> absolutely. >> are you showing off? yes! >> from rescuing man's best friend to serving humanity itself, there are countless people out there quietly making a difference. i hope the stories we shared with you tonight inspire you to become a champion for change as well. i'm dr. sanjay gupta. thanks for watching.

♪ hello, welcome to all our viewers joining us from the united states and around the world. i'm laila harrak. on "cnn newsroom," teetering on the brink. just a week to go. u.s. lawmakers have yet to reach a deal to avoid a government shutdown. moscow ramps up rhetoric. russia's foreign minister calling the west an empire of lies as he unleashed a barrage of attacks on the u.s. and its allies. a texas border city hits a breaking point with more than 2,000 people a day seeking asylum amid a surge in migrants at the southern u.s. border. we begin this hour focused on the looming deadline to fund the u.s. government and house republicans floundering efforts to work out a deal. on saturday, gop leaders tried

to find agreement among their fractious caucus in a conference call, but house speaker kevin mccarthy admitted later that a number of hardliners were unmoved. with the september 30th deadline less than a week away, president joe biden expressed his frustrations saturday evening. at a congressional black caucus awards dinner, he slammed house republicans for hurting americans and failing to handle what he called one of lawmakers' most basic obligations. >> let's be clear. if the government shuts down, that means members of congress, members of the u.s. military, are going to have to continue to work and not get paid. a government shutdown could affect everything from food safety to cancer research to head start programs for children. funding the government is among the most basic responsibilities of congress. and it's time for the republicans to start doing the

job america elected them to do. >> right now, mccarthy is planning votes next week on several individual spending measures, but it's not clear if they can pass. they all are dead on arrival in the senate, and they don't avert a shutdown. still, mccarthy said he hopes hardliner opposition will soften as zero hour approaches. >> crunch time, we've been holding off all this time, letting everybody else -- shutting down -- [ inaudible ] -- >> cnn white house reporter priscilla alvarez has more on what the federal government is doing to prepare for potential disruption. >> reporter: the biden administration is preparing for a potential government shutdown next week if a short-term funding bill is not passed in the coming days. on friday, the office of management and budget formally

initiated the process, essentially telling federal agencies to dust off their plans in the event of a government shutdown. that includes, for example, how many employees would be furloughed, how many would be considered essential and would have to work without pay, as well as what activities and services may be disrupted. there are some services that will continue, be it federal law enforcement activities, border protection, or air traffic control. but the white house making clear over the course the last week that it is incumbent on republicans to get these bills passed. we heard from republicans saturday who tried to lay out a path forward and also project some confidence, saying the majority of their conference does not want to see a government shutdown happen. but the reality is that they just don't have enough votes. and for those bills they do have enough votes, those are dead on arrival in the senate. all of this raising the question that there's about -- about whether there will be a government shutdown a week from now.

embattled u.s. senator bob menendez of new jersey is facing calls to resign from inside the senate itself. fellow democratic senator john fetterman of pennsylvania became the first senator of either party to say menendez should step down following his indictment on corruption charges. other democratic lawmakers and officials have also called for his resignation. the justice department named menendez, his wife, and three other people in friday's indictment. all deny any wrongdoing. the senator faced similar charges in 2015, but that case was dropped after a mistrial. friday's indictment alleges menendez accepted bribes in exchange for his influence as chairman of the powerful foreign relations committee. those bribes allegedly included mortgage payments, a luxury car, gold bars, and nearly $500,000

in cash. americans' views of the country's current political climate are going bad to worse. a recent survey by the pew research center found that just 16% of u.s. adults say they trust the federal government most of the time. overall, public trust in government has plummeted to some of the lowest levels in decades. meanwhile, just 10% of americans say they often feel hopeful thinking about politics. while nearly two-thirds report they usually feel exhausted. joining me to talk about all of that, thomas gift is director of the center on u.s. politics at university college, london. so good to have you with us. start with the potential government shutdown. we've seen this before. is it becoming normalized? why does the nation find itself time and again in this situation around this time of the year, and what does it say about the state of politics in this country?

>> thanks so much for having me. it's great to be with you. it does seem like this has become the norm, unfortunately. and in this case, as in past cases, the house speaker here, kevin mccarthy, really has nowhere to turn. because he's being dragged across the political embers by a small number of hardline fiscal hawks in the freedom caucus. and what we're seeing as largely performative politics. it's underpinned by this feeling we're accustomed to, that politics as normal isn't working for us so let's blow up the system, light it on fire. it's a style of politics more concerned with maintaining ideological purity and ensuring that the other side loses than it is concerned with what's right for the american people, unfortunately. and it's really hard to negotiate with a cadre of politicians like that because they're essentially willing to take the country to the brink. there's no doubt that america has a spending problem. its deficits are enormous and they're growing.

and there's a real cost to that in terms of servicing the debt over the long term, kicking financial obligations to the next generation, et cetera. but like we saw with the debt ceiling debate earlier, there's a right way to address a problem and there's a wrong way to address a problem. holding the federal government hostage by threatening a shutdown really isn't the solution. but it's the dysfunction that we've become so used to. >> but it's difficult to see who is winning here. it looks like a lose-lose situation. is there an off-ramp? >> i'm not sure if there's a clear off-ramp. there are a couple of options. one that is the hard line of the republican party really just folds, kind of like what we saw with the debate over who was going to get the speaker's gavel to begin with. there's also a possibility that kevin mccarthy may have to go across the partisan divide and work with some democrats and try to get a majority there. but it does look like a lose-lose situation. certainly for the american

people. and of course federal workers who have the real potential to be furloughed. this has the possibility of broad ripple effects throughout the economy at a time when the economy could be stronger. so it's again the dysfunction that americans i think will be quite dissatisfied with. >> let's talk about that dissatisfaction americans are feeling. according to a new report by the pew research center, the words most used by americans to describe national politics are divisive and corrupt. the findings don't make for very pleasant reading. are you surprised by the level of disillusionment that americans feel when it comes to their elected officials? >> i'm really not. and as you suggest, the poll does make for depressing reading. to me, what it shows is that americans are not just angry about the country's politics, which we hear about a lot. they're really xuds. and they're embarrassed, i think. more broadly, what this tracks is a wealth of other data that

we see, that americans have lost trust not just in their political parties or their leaders or their institutions, but the very idea of democracy itself. it's kind of stunning. one of the data points that i saw in the poll was less than 1 in 10 respondents say freedoms and democratic values are a strong point of the nation's political system. it is worth noting, i think, that support for democracy generally has really eroded, not just in the u.s. but other advanced oecd democracies. so this is part of a broader-level trend. fewer people say living in a democracy is essential. i think that's especially true if you look at data among young cohorts. in the u.s., you can kind of see why. because for millennials and younger generations, what do they see from democracy and what do they see from their political leaders? they see standoffs like the one we just talked about, endless wars, financial crisis, stalled economic mobility, mismanaged

pandemic, highest inflation in four decades, former president who says that their vote can't be trusted. so there are lots of trends, i think, that are creating this dissatisfaction. but certainly the disillusionment with democracy generally i think is really concerning. >> i wish we could end on a more positive note. but that's the state of things right now. thomas gift, thank you so much for your time. russia's foreign minister unleashed a flurry of unfounded accusations in his speech at the united nations saturday. the forum was the u.n. general assembly. sergey lavrov spelling out russia's take on the war in ukraine. he claimed ukraine is led by a racist regime propped up by the west, that the u.s. or britain don't want the war to end, and that russia recognizes ukraine's sovereignty despite invading that country and trying to annex parts of it. lavrov was later asked when he would consider the u.s. to be at

war with russia, which led to this. >> translator: so you can call this whatever you want to call this, but they are directly at war with us. we call this a hybrid war, but that doesn't change the reality. >> let's get more now, nada bashir joins us from london. what else did mr. lavrov say? >> reporter: certainly strong words from the russian foreign minister directed towards ukraine and, of course, ukraine's western allies, namely the united states and britain as you heard there. saying that the u.s. is already directly at war with russia, but also accusing the united states and britain of not wanting the war in ukraine to end. dissuading others in the international community from coming to the negotiating table with russia. and he was pressed by journalists around the possibility of negotiations, of a peace plan. he actually poured water on president zelenskyy's own 10-point proposal for peace, which has been out in the public

eye for some time now. we've heard repeatedly from the kremlin its views on this peace plan, and that was reiterated by sergey lavrov speaking yesterday in new york. he said this plan simply isn't feasible in russia's eyes, that it is unrealistic. and of course as you would expect, that peace plan proffered by president zelenskyy makes no mention of ceding ukrainian territory to russia, nor does it shut down ukraine's hopes of one day joining the nato alliance, two sticking points in the eyes of the kremlin. when it comes to negotiations and the potential for peace, there are also as expected questions around the grain deal, in particular the u.n. secretary-general, antonio guterres' proposals put forward earlier this month in the hope of bringing russia back to that grain deal. we heard from lavrov yesterday expressing russia's respect, in his words, for the attempts of antonio guterres to revive this deal. once again, he said in the kremlin's eyes, this simply is

not feasible, that these plans won't work in action. he accused the united nations and ukraine of essentially failing to uphold their end of the bargain when it comes to the grain deal, failing to protect russia's interests when it comes to the export of russian agricultural goods through the safe black sea corridor. he accused ukraine of exploiting this safe corridor, of using the black sea to launch surface drones against russian vessels. of course, it is important to note that russia has over recent weeks and months repeatedly targeted ukrainian port and grain infrastructure along the black sea. while we have seen ukraine in recent days using this backup corridor unilaterally established through the black sea, there are now concerns, particularly after lavrov's remarks, over the long-term viability and security of this corridor. >> nada bashir reporting in london, thank you. for more, we're joined by lex

barnoff, a senior fellow at the carnegie endowment for international peace from florence, italy. let me get your reaction to mr. lavrov's fiery speech to the u.n. where he said that the u.s. is directly at war with russia. but stopped short of addressing directly the war in ukraine. >> it's quite typical speech of a russian diplomat of recent months or even years. because even before the war, russian diplomacy was busy justifying the decision of its leader and the worldview of its leader, russia's leader. partly it became a sort of propaganda agency even before the war. we have three main audiences for russian speech. russian domestic audience, not

for a main audience of diplomats, but russian domestic audience when the russian diplomats are competing with the state propagandists. putin himself. but of course, these parts of the world who are sympathizers of russia, russian diplomacy is trying to replace its ties with the west by switching to the domestic market and looking to the places other than the west. and this ridiculousization of the language of russian diplomats have its audience in developing countries or even inside the western countries. >> now, he has also gone as far as to dismiss ukraine's peace

plan, unsurprisingly. i'm wondering what he's signaling with that. are we do make of this that the kremlin is in this for the long haul? what's your read? >> nobody in the kremlin is seriously discussing the ukrainian peace plan. there is sort of competition who is worst in insulting ukraine and ukrainians. no surprise in this radicalization of the language. what they really want is to sell themselves to the world as a country who is speaking on behalf of the non-western world as they put it, global south, global majority. imitating this way the glorious days of the soviet union when soviet union was ahead of anti-colonial struggle, of

developing nations. anti-colonial, anti-imperialist. narratives of the soviet union trying to sell again to the rest of the world, to oppose russia as leader of the nonwestern world, to sell its role to the nonwestern world. which is not very logical. because russia is a, well, old colonial empire trying to imitate its discourse, its diplomats' grievances of old colonial and now-developing countries. >> my final question to you. this all comes at a time when ukraine has launched one of its most ambitious strikes on russian targets in the occupied crimea, targeting now the russian black sea fleet. what kind of impact does this

have on the kremlin? how is this seen in russia? and what does it mean for the war? >> trying to play down, again, inside russia, to play down the consequences of the strikes. and if they mention the strikes, it's only to justify the idea that russia, in fact, is waging war against the west. and its real enemy is the west and not ukraine because if it were ukraine, russia would be victorious, well, a long time ago. but the west, of course, is much more powerful, much more dangerous, and these successful strikes by ukrainian forces onto russian targets is proof for domestic audience, but also for the sympathizers around the world who are totally indifferent, by the way, to ukraine and russia, but they are

rejoicing the simple fact of russia's -- even if this proposing takes shape of a brutal war of aggression. these sympathizers, however, are not keen to become allies. russia is fighting without allies. but it has its fan club, let's say. sympathizers who are, as i said, rejoicing the very fact that russia is fighting against the west. so they stress this fact of fighting against the west. >> so it's resonating with a segment of supporters there. alexander bonoff, thank you so much for this conversation. thank you for joining us. >> thank you for inviting me. still ahead, the state of texas, the u.s., and mexico have their own plans to handle an influx of migrants at the southern u.s. border. how trains, buses, and the military all play a part in

schemes to slow down the surge. 12 hours!! not coughing? hashtag still not coughing?! mucinex dm gives you 12 hours of relief from chest congestion and any type of cough, day or night. mucicinex dm. it's comomeback season. (female announcer) attention! medare has expanded dexcom coverage -for people with diabete -if you have diabetes, gettg on dexcom g7 is the single most important thing you can do. it eliminates painful fingersticks, helps lower a1c, and is covered by medicare. before using the dexcom g7, i was really frustrated. my a1c was stuck. (female announcer) dexcom g7 sends your glucose numbers to your phone or dexcom receiver without painful fingersticks. the arrow shows the direction your glucose is heading-- up, down, or steady. and because dexcom g7 is the most accurate cgm,

you can make better decisions about food, medication, and activity in the moment. after using the dexcom g7, my a1c has never been lower. i lead line dancing three times a week, and i'm just living a great life now. (woman) it's so easy to use. dexcom g7 has given me confidence and control that everything i need is right there on my phone. (female announcer) now, millions more are covered by medicare. take advantage of the expanded coverage by calling today.

want your clothes to smell freshly washed all day without heavy perfumes? try downy light in-wash freshness boosters. it has long-lasting light scent, no heavy perfumes, and no dyes. finally, a light scent that lasts all day. downy light! feeling sluggish or weighed down? could be a sign you're not getting enough daily fiber. metamucil capsules can help. psyllium fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down. promoting digestive health, for a better you. metamucil capsules an easy way to get more daily fiber.

how do i love thee? ...let me count the ways. ♪ love can get a little messy... good thing there's resolve. love the love. resolve the mess. after nearly five months of deadlock, there is hope the ongoing hollywood writers'

strike could soon come to an end. a source tells cnn the major film and television studios sent their best and final offer to the striking writers on saturday. it comes after four straight days of intense negotiations. both sides will meet again in the coming hours. the writers guild of america, which has over 11,000 members, has been on strike since may over wages, worker protections, and the use of artificial intelligence. united auto workers are walking picket lines again this weekend against ford, general motors, and stellantis facilities in 20 states. there is a glimmer of hope progress is being made in this increasingly contentious labor dispute. the uaw expanded its strike friday targeting 38 auto parts and distribution centers, but talks continued saturday between the union and all three automakers. and the new strike sites did not include ford.

the union president said ford appears serious about reaching a deal, and there reportedly has been progress on some key issues. mexico says it has a plan to depressurize the migrant surge at its border with the u.s. officials have agreed to implement 15 actions in places that border cities like eagle pass, texas, where the mayor has declared a state of emergency. mexico also says they will deport migrants who are seeking entry into the u.s. and prevent them from using its railway system to reach the border. mexican officials also say they will allow u.s. border patrol agents to expel migrants through an international bridge which connects el paso, texas, to juarez, mexico. el paso officials say the city has reached a breaking point as it struggles to deal with the influx. the city has opened an overflow shelter for the unprecedented surge in arrivals. it claims to be receiving more than 2,000 migrants every day.

the governor of texas is pledging to send more buses to trcht the migrants to other cities. cnn's rafael romo reports. >> reporter: texas governor greg abbott is railing against the biden administration saying border communities are overwhelmed and overrun by the large number of migrants arriving there and calling the situation a crisis. governor abbott announced he had directed the texas division of emergency management to deploy additional buses to the border cities of eagle pass and el paso. the purpose is transporting immigrants to what abbott calls a self-declared sanctuary city, municipals mostly run by democrats. abbott said texas has bused nearly 12,000 migrants to our nation's capital, 15,000 to new york, 8,700 to chicago. in a statement, abbott said that until president biden upholds his constitutional duty to secure america's southern border, texas will continue to deploy as many buses as needed

to relieve the strain cause by the surge of illegal crossings. the biden administration has announced several steps being taken to address the situation, including the deployment of 800 active-duty military personnel, adding capacity to border facilities, and continuing to conduct deportation flights. the problem goes beyond the migrants who have already made it to the u.s. southern border. take a look at how these migrants are traveling through mexico on cargo trains, using bedsheets as tents to protect themselves from the sun during the long trip north. there may also be tens of thousands of others on their way north. on tuesday, mexico's largest railroad operator suspended service of northbound train lines after reporting half a dozen injuries and deaths of migrants. we reached out to the government of panama, a country that serves as transit point for many

immigrants coming from south america and other parts of the world. they told us in august nearly 82,000 migrants crossed through their territory. so far this month, more than 55,000 have done the same. so far this year, nearly 400,000 migrants have traveled through panamanian territory. rafael romo, cnn, atlanta. grain imports complicate ukraine's relations with one of its closest allies. still ahead, a former polish foreign minister will join me to talk about the dispute between warsaw and kyiv. venezuela takes back a major prison in that nation. a prison that had been run by gangs for years. we'll tell you what they found inside.

ukraine's backup plan for exporting grain through the black sea is picking up steam. the u.s. ambassador in kyiv says three more cargo ships have passed this week through a black sea corridor set up by ukraine. they're set to load grain in ukrainian ports. two other vessels are already heading out taking grain to asia, africa, and the middle east. the temporary route was announced last month after russia pulled out of a grain deal brokered by the u.n. moscow is not guaranteeing the safety of ships using the new route. grain exports are putting ukraine at loggerheads with one of its closest european allies, poland. this week the polish prime minister threatened to pull the plug on all weapons deliveries to ukraine. that's after poland extended its ban on importing ukrainian grain to protect its farmers. the move prompted ukraine to sue

poland and two other eu countries that have similar policies. president zelenskyy later slammed those bans as political theater in his speech at the u.n. polish president andre duda later walked back his prime minister's comments, but the prime minister still took a parting shot at mr. zelenskyy, telling him on friday never to insult poles again. for more analysis, we're joined by a former foreign minister and defense minister and poland, current member of the european parliament. sir, a very good morning. let me ask you right off the bat if i may, is poland contemplating changing its policy when it comes to ukraine? >> i hope not. and this public spat is completely unnecessary. what should have happened more than a year ago when putin imposed his ban for ukrainian exports across the black sea was to have upgraded our rail commission, our ports, and for

ukrainian grain to be transported overland to its traditional markets in africa and northern china. and we could have got eu support for the upgrade and for the higher cost of such transit. instead, two-thirds of the grain that ukraine moved into the european union actually stayed in poland and polish farmers are understandably angry about that. but it was actually our government that failed to perform the original plan. slovakia has made a deal with ukraine, and i hope poland does so soon. >> so are you optimistic this issue will be resolved after the polish elections? >> it should be resolved, it must be resolved. it's not just a short-term issue. the average landholding in europe in the european union, is between 10 and 20 hectares. whereas in ukraine, you have some of the best soil in the

world. and these texas-sized farms. so ukraine is more competitive, and in the process of ukraine joining the european union, we will have to find inventive solutions for the imbalance. >> let's take a big-picture view. i'm going to ask you whether poland supports ukraine's accession to the eu, an aspiration ukraine has had for decades. this grain fight laid bare warsaw's misgivings about the prospect of ukraine maybe joining the eu one day, for reasons you outlined a little bit in terms of the farmers' interests. does ukraine joining the eu in the future pose a problem for poland? >> well, the treaty of rome, the original treaty, says that any european country can join, can apply. i define a european country as a country whose majority territory

is in europe. so ukraine clearly qualifies. and ukraine has earned the right to apply through the valor and the sacrifice of its soldiers and of its people. but there will be 35 chapters to negotiate. i hope we start negotiating in december. and agriculture will probably be the hardest one. >> let's turn attention back to the war in ukraine. tensions between warsaw and kyiv aside, hungary's foreign minister said that new sanctions against russia caused more harm to europe than russia. he made that statement after meeting with the russian foreign minister, sergey lavrov, on the sidelines of the united nations meeting in new york. is the eu capable of speaking with one voice on russia? we've heard, of course, this spat that broke out between poland and ukraine. now the hungarian foreign minister basically saying, we should stop sanctioning russia. what's going on?

>> he has a medal from putin and a recent one, so i'm not surprised. we are so much richer than russia, we can afford these sanctions. remember, they have three components. the freezing of central bank reserves, and those will only be released when russia pays compensation to ukraine. restrictions on the purchases of russian oil and gas, and those are working. russia has far less revenue. but perhaps the most important one is restrictions on russia being able to purdue wall-use technology microchips and so on, which is making it more difficult for russia to rebuild the army that ukraine so effectively destroys. >> in a few words, is the eu united still in its support for ukraine? >> the west is united. the eu, united states, japan, other democracies. remember, there was an

overwhelming vote in the u.n. general assembly to condemn russia's act of aggression. this may not stand. ukraine has to win this. and so far, i think the democratic world has overperformed in this emergency, and russia has underperformed. >> all right. we'll leave it there. radoslav sikorski, thank you. regaining control of one of the large esprisons of the country, which had been run by an international gang for years. this is video the government says is the operation in progress on wednesday. authorities say that while the gang ran the prison, they installed several amenities that must have made incarceration more like a vacation. stefano potsaban has details.

>> reporter: members of the media were invited to tour the prison. the penitentiary center in the central venezuelan state is one of the largest in the country. according to the venezuelan information ministry, it was run by criminal gangs. but last wednesday, the government deployed over 11,000 security forces, including members of the national guard, to take control of the prison. when the cameras were allowed in on saturday, the journalists, including a crew of cnn, were able to see where the inmates had built recreational structures, including a swimming pool, several restaurants, one of them a steak house, all inside the prison walls. the government has dubbed the operation a success, but relatives of some of the inmates who spoke with cnn said they had no idea of where their loved ones had been taken following the takeover. >> translator: what really

worries me is that they've transferred my son just today, the last group, four days since the takeover. and right now they haven't told us where they've taken him. we don't know what's happened to him. >> reporter: when the security forces took back control of the prison, they seized heavy weaponry, including machine guns, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition. saturday, the venezuelan minister of interior denied the allegations that the takeover was in some way negotiated with the criminal gangs. he said that the operation had been a total success and dismantled the leadership group of a powerful criminal gang who was known to operate from inside the prison. stefano pozzobon, bogota. asian leaders are urging the world to act quickly to restore order to a country racked by gang violence. on friday, prime minister henri asked the united nations to deploy a multinational mission of police and military personnel to haiti.

he says armed gangs are committing kidnappings, sexual violence, human trafficking, recruitment of child soldiers, and murders. and that's just a partial list. the prime minister warning there's no time to waste. >> democracy is at peril. our country needs a return to normalcy, in order thereafter to be able to address the major challenges it faces. >> meanwhile, the united states is announcing $65 million in new funding to haiti's police and other measures to support the country. cnn's patrick offman has more on this that. >> reporter: the united states government announcing further steps to help haiti crack down on its out-of-control gang violence problem. u.s. secretary of state antony blinken saying that five haitian individuals, including former and current haitian officials, will now be under visa restrictions. they will be unable to travel to the united states.

blinken as well saying that the u.s. will send $65 million to help professionalize haiti's national police force. this is a police force that is increasingly finding its outgunned by haiti's violent gangs. the police over the past several months on occasion say when they're sent to the street to fight these gangs that have taken over large areas of the country and the capital, port-au-prince, they are certainly unable to do so because they do not have the manpower and they do not have the resources they need to fight against the gangs. millions of dollars have flowed to haiti over the years to help haiti following natural disasters, but so much of that money, investigations have uncovered, is either stolen or misspent. over the years it has been proven that haiti's problems, many deep, systematic problems, are ones money alone cannot solve.

patrick oppmann, cnn, havana, cuba. coming up, chinese leader xi jinping is facing questions after two high-profile ministers disappeared from public view.a r . unlike some others, it supports 7 braiain health indicators, including mentntal alertness from one serving. to help keep me sharp. trtry new neuriva ultra. think bigger. i have moderate severe crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are lookinup ♪ ♪ i've got symptom relief ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements at 4 weeks. skyrizi is the first and only il-23 inhibitor

for crohn's that can deliver both clinical remission and endoscopic improvement. the majority of people on skyrizi achieved long lasting remission at 1 year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. only the new sleep number smart beds let you both sleep at your ideal level of comfort. your sleep number setting. and now, all of our new next gen smart beds have temperature benefits. save $400 on the new sleep number c4 smart bed. now only $1,499. sleep next level. shop now only at sleep number

♪ the largest-ever asian games are under way in hangzhou, china. they opened saturday with a massive light show and digital fireworks. host nation china has already claimed the first gold medals, winning the lightweight women's double skulls in rowing. the two-week event is showing how much the country has opened up since its draconian covid-19 lockdowns. chinese leader xi jinping has been hosting other leaders and dig nate tears from around is world, including syrian president bashar al assad. as mr. xi puts on a glamorous

show for the world to see, there are questions about whether cracks of beginning to emerge among his hand-picked ruling elite. that comes after the sudden disappearance of two senior chinese cabinet members in recent months. cnn's will ripley reports. >> reporter: away from the great halls' glaring heats in the shadows of xi jinping's china, a silent storm is brewing. trouble at the top of the communist party. two high-profile senior officials, once trusted members of xmt i's inner circle, abruptly vanished from public view with little explanation. first it was foreign minister qin gang, china's second most powerful diplomat. on cnn last year -- >> we are justified to do what we must. >> reporter: a close aide of the chinese leader winning favor with the help of his wife's homemade moon cakes, "the washington post" reports. seven months into the job, a dramatic fall. in june, he disappeared.

in july, he was dismissed. the foreign ministry in beijing refusing to address reporting by "the wall street journal" saying they are not aware of claims qin was ousted for an extra marriage affair during his stint as china's u.s. ambassador in washington. citing sources familiar with a communist party investigation, the "journal" claims qin's affair led to the birth of ann american-born child, a potential problem for china's national security. >> so there's a question as to, well, are there such people in china still who xi jinping can trust and rely upon to be his closest aides and associates? >> reporter: palace intrigue at a fever pitch. speculation swirling over another apparent disappearance, china's defense minister, li shangfu, last seen in late august, more than three weeks ago. back in june, he briefly shook

hands but refused to meet with u.s. defense minister lloyd austin in singapore. now li is under investigation, reuters said last week. a government probe reportedly over the purchase of military equipment. last month, a surprise shakeup in the people's liberation army rocket force. two leaders suddenly replaced without explanation. beijing notoriously nebulous when it comes to bad-behaving senior leaders. this latest scandal involving a defense minister setting china's heavily censored social media on fire. from the foreign ministry -- >> translator: i'm not aware of the situation. >> reporter: a familiar response. no answers, but plenty of questions about instability at the top and the potential danger it brings. >> i do think there's more to it. xi jinping, he would not take these measures against such high-level military and diplomatic figures unless he felt some kind of genuine risk. >> reporter: what these purges do is raise a question about

president xi's judgment. qin and li were considered loyalists, hand-picked from the president himself. their removal from visible positions so abruptly, it raises questions in the international community about the stability of the chinese system. chinese leaders have long said their stability makes their system superior to democracies. president xi, however, might be sending a message to the world that no matter who he has put by his side, if they fall out of favor, no one is indispensable, no one is irreplaceable under his one-man rule. will ripley, cnn, taipei. we'll be right back. but she had enough. she took mucinex instasoothe sore throat lozenges. showow your sore throat who's boss. mucinex instasoothe. works in seconds. lasts for hours.

hi, i'm sharon, and i lost 52 pounds on lo. on other diets, i could barely lose 10-15 pounds. thanks to golo, i've lost 27% of my body weight, and it was easy. (soft music)

- [announcer] do you have an invention idea but don't know what to do next? call invent help today. they can help you get started with your idea. call now 800-710-0020. anti-monarchy campaigners staged a demonstration inside buckingham palace on saturday. the group calling itself "republic" said it was the first-ever protest inside the palace. they released a picture of demonstrators wearing shirts that when placed together spelled out "not my king." the group says the participants were briefly detained before being escorted out of the front gates. the head of the group says king

charles iii does not enjoy the deference that protected the monarchy while his mother was on the throne. festivalgoers in plains, georgia, received an unexpected surprise on saturday. the sight of a black suv carrying none other than the former u.s. president, jimmy carter, and first lady rosalynn carter at the annual peanut festival. the carter center noted that carter, who has been in hospice care since february, turns 99 next sunday. one person said the crowd sang happy birthday once they recognized the former president. mr. carter, of course, was a well-known peanut farmer in plains before entering politics. finally this hour, the woman who could go down in history as one of the greatest female athletes of all-time has won m one more international soccer match to play before retirement. saturday megan rapinoe was asked

about some of the highlights of her 17-year career. she mentioned her team's advocacy for lgbtq rights and racial justice. >> i'm incredibly proud of everything that we've done on the field. obviously we've been, you know, a really special generation of players. but i think it says a lot about us that everything on field i feel kind of pales in comparison to what we've achieved off the field. >> rapinoe's farewell international match will be later today in chicago. that wraps up this hour of "cnn newsroom." i'm laila harrak. kim brunhuber picks up our coverage after a quick break.

the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book!

who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. loving this pay bump on our allowance. wonder where mom and dad got the extra money? maybe they won the lottery? maybe they inherited a fortune? maybe buried treasure? maybe it fell off a truck? or maybe they switched to xfinity mobile - the fastest mobile service. save hundreds a year over t-mobile, at&t and verizon. now i can buy that electric scooter. i'm starting a private equity fund that specializes in midcap. you do you. switch to xfinity mobile today.