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Russia's War on Ukraine; Ukraine's Counteroffensive in Bakhmut Pushed Russians Back At Least Two Kilometers; Top 5 Drugs in the U.S. Most Impacted by Shortages Include Cancer Drugs; Elon Musk Claims to Have Found a New Twitter CEO; Subway Chokehold Death Suspect to be Arraigned; Texas' Southern Border Expected to Experience Heavy Rain and Wind; Chain Stores Closing in Major Cities "Overstated" Crime as Main Reason; Price of Pasta Rises, Italian Government Holds Crisis Talks. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired May 12, 2023 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

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[10:30:00]

SARA SIDNER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to "CNN News Central." Our top stories this hour, Ukrainian forces are making significant advances in Bakhmut now. Brand new video into CNN this morning appears to show hand-to-hand combat and around that city. Ukraine's deputy defense minister says, his troops have pushed the Russians back at least two kilometers there.

And right now, a crucial moment at the southern border. Overnight, a COVID immigration policy known as Title 42 expired. And this morning a federal judge has temporarily blocked a migrant release policy which could have helped with the overcrowding at holding facilities. The Biden administration warns the situation at the border could get worse.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: The United States is faced -- facing a near record number of drug shortages. Among the hardest hit is actually cancer treatments. According to a new report, there is currently an active shortage of about two dozen chemotherapy drugs, and nine out of 10 oncologists say drug shortages have led to patient harm, even death.

CNN's Elizabeth Cohen is joining us now. She's taking a look at this. Elizabeth, what does this mean for the cancer patients?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Kate, I will tell you, this is so scary. I have spoken with cancer patients, I spoke with a woman whose child had cancer and the doctor just said we'll get that chemotherapy we were supposed to give your child, we can't give it to her. I spoke with a man who have prostate cancer and he was told we know that this drug would extend your life. We know that from studies and we can't give it to you.

So, it is so devastating and doctors are really working so hard to come up with the plan Bs and Cs and Ds to try to make this work. But it's tough, sometimes there's no substitute for these. Let's take a look at drugs in general, so this report from the University of Utah says there have been more than 300 drugs in shortage this year. The last time we had this many, it was 2014.

The big question, of course, is why? So, according to the study, what they say is the number -- the top three reasons in this order are unknown shortages, and -- supply and demand, rather, and manufacturing. I want to focus on that first one. More than half of the reasons that drugmakers gave for these shortages were unknown. And that's really a problem. When you speak to the experts on this, they say we can't solve this until drug companies open up about why they are experiencing these shortages. Kate.

BOLDUAN: And that answer would be infuriating to any family that's facing this and having to -- and doctors, as well, who just want to provide the care that science affords to their patients to extend their lives. That is something -- OK. You're definitely going to keep following that. Thank you on that one.

I do want to ask you while I have you, we were earlier in the show about the new FDA rules. FDA just finalized new rules allowing -- that are going to allow more gay and bisexual men to donate blood. Tell us about this. What are you hearing about the rules?

COHEN: Right, the FDA used to say, in effect, you know, if you are a gay man, we don't want your blood. Now, what they're saying is if you are -- to everyone, if you are monogamous and you're having anal sex, that's OK. We want your blood. They're telling men and women, if you have multiple partners, if you have new partners and you're having anal sex, then we want you to wait three months before we take your blood. So, now this makes much more sense. It should be about the activity, not about sexual orientation of the person.

BOLDUAN: It's good to see you, Elizabeth. Thank you so much.

John.

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: So, this morning, Elon Musk says he has found a new CEO for Twitter. Musk did not name his pick publicly but "The Wall Street Journal" is reporting that it is Linda Yaccarino.

[10:35:00]

She was the head advertising executive at NBC Universal until this morning if she is, indeed, Musk's replacement as CEO, she's got a pretty tough job.

CNN Senior Media Reporter Oliver Darcy is here. So, what's the significance here?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA REPORTER: Yes. Well, she's going to inherit a company in complete turmoil, right. So, since Elon Musk took over last year, he has made a number of moves that have really caused mayhem on Twitter, on the actual platform and in the company. So, the first thing he did was he dissolved the board of directors over at Twitter. He laid off most of the staff, other staffs quit in protest.

And since then, he has done a number of things, like, attacking news organizations resulting in companies like NPR stopping the use of the app on Twitter. He's alienated advertisers by spreading conspiracy theories or -- you remember what posted about Paul Pelosi before having to walk that back. He has done so much in the last several months that has really thrown this company to turmoil.

She's is going to have to pick it up. There's failing, really -- the subscription business that he's tried to launch has not really done well. So, she's going to have to inherit that mess, and she's got her work cut out for her, John.

BERMAN: It really seems that he's tinkering here and there. He makes a change, he goes back on it. He makes another change and he goes back on it. Then he goes back to something that was done several years ago, and one of those things is video, right? He's going to allow much longer videos to be posted?

DARCY: Well, you remember Tucker Carlson said he's going to take a show to Twitter. And so, he's going to need, obviously, the ability to post longer video. Now, with Twitter blew the subscription product that Elon Musk has launched on there, he says up to 60 minutes of video can be posted. So, someone like Tucker Carlson could post a very lengthy episode of their show on there. He's also trying to, obviously, recruit other people to host their shows on Twitter. And so, we will see what happens on that front, John.

BERMAN: We'll see how long that change sticks if it does. Oliver Darcy, great to see you. Thank you very much.

Sara

SIDNER: Coming up on "CNN News Central," a big step that could help victims caught in the violence in Sudan. The agreement the two warring leaders has just -- have just signed.

Plus, severe weather could slam a large swath of south Texas and the southern border today as thousands of migrants wait there hoping for asylum. An update from our weather center, just ahead.

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[10:40:00]

BERMAN: We have some new video just into CNN. It is of Daniel Penny, he is the man accused of choking Jordan Neely to death on the subway. You can see Daniel Penny now leaving a police precinct here in New York City. He is heading to a court where he faces arraignment today. We understand, are charges of second-degree manslaughter.

And again, Jordan Neely was on the subway, a homeless man on the subway. Witnesses say, he got on the subway and was shouting but had not physically attacked anyone. At which point, Daniel Penny put him in a chokehold and Neely died. Neely was known around the city for his Michael Jackson impersonations. But much more recently again, he had been homeless and had been suffering, his family said, from mental illness.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: An arraignment today. We also are following this around the world, The two sides fighting in Sudan have now agreed to do more to help the civilians who have just been caught up in the middle of this deadly crisis. The deal reached will allow essential services, like electricity and water, the very basics to be restored and for much needed humanitarian aid to start flowing once again back into the country. Both sides also warn, however, this is not a ceasefire to end the fighting.

Overnight, a tense quiet was shattered when Islamic militants in Gaza fired rockets toward Israeli cities, including Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. The Israeli military responded by launching airstrikes into heavily populated areas of Gaza. Egyptian and Qatari officials have been trying to broker a ceasefire to no avail.

And Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, he will not be speaking during the Eurovision song competition this week. And announcing its decision, the European Broadcasting Union stressed that the contest finale to be held in Liverpool, England on Saturday is strictly a nonpolitical event. Zelenskyy's office, though, denies ever even asking for a chance to speak during the show. For context, Zelenskyy has spoken at other major entertainment events. He spoke at the 2022 Grammy Awards. But also, he was not granted the chance to speak at the Oscars.

Sara.

SIDNER: All right. We're keeping a close eye on potentially severe weather across southern Texas today. Including border town already very busy with arriving migrants.

Derek Van Dam is joining me now from the CNN weather center with more. Derek, we have seen such rough weather. And now I can see things are about to get rougher.

DEREK VAN DAM, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Sara, you know, the threat of severe thunderstorms and flash flooding is only going to compound the challenges that, not only the migrants have on the ground but also the authorities that are having to contend with the large masses of people on our southern border.

Now, the bulk of the rain that we've had this week has been just east of the Rio Grande valley, but that is about to change. Let's focus in on -- let's say, the Del Rio to Laredo region, this includes Eagle Pass, Laredo, these are popular and highly trafficked border crossing areas.

[10:45:00]

And you could see the projected (ph) rainfall, six to 10 inches, and that's in the matter of a very short period of time that's valid right through about Sunday. Weather Prediction Center picking up on that and you could see that moderate risk, that's a level of three of four for excessive flooding. And this moves a little further to the south for the day on Saturday, and here's why, it's kind of two different pulses of rain that's going to form. You could see later this evening between 8:00 and 10:00 p.m., Laredo to Del Rio, that's where we're anticipating the heavy rain that could cause the localized flash flooding. And then it focuses at little further to the south, near Brownsville to Laredo, and that is why we have that two-day excessive rainfall outlook that you just saw a moment ago.

National Weather Service picking up on that, hoisting flood watches for the area. This has been part of a larger storm system that helps spawn off some severe weather across the Northern Plains, even tornadoes into eastern Nebraska and western Iowa today. But focusing on the larger story that we're covering, the bigger context here is that severe weather and excessive rainfall leading to flash flooding is a real threat for people across our borders. Back to you.

SIDNER: All right. Derek Van Dam, thank you so much for that.

John.

BERMAN: So, if you are wondering why so many of your favorite stores are shutting the doors, we have unraveled the mystery. And is it a pasta predicament or a spaghetti saga? Whatever you call it, it's a real problem. It has the Italian government in crisis mode. No joke.

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[10:50:00]

BOLDUAN: Nordstrom, Whole Foods, CVS, more chains -- chain stores closing up shop in major cities and rising crime is not the main reason. Experts say several trends have converged now to put retail at risk. So, what really is going on?

CNN's Nathaniel Meyersohn is joining us now. Nathaniel, first and foremost, how big of a trend is this?

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Right, Kate. So, you zoom out a little bit and this is a significant trend. San Francisco has lost six percent of its retail stores from 2019 to 2021, retail stores down four percent in Los Angeles, New York City has lost three percent of its stores during that stretch, and Seattle has lost two percent. So, not just these recent closures but a longer trend here.

BOLDUAN: So, as I mentioned, the experts say that crime, while there has been a big focus on crime being a reason why some stores -- chains are closing down some of their shops, that's not what is driving this one. So, what is?

MEYERSOHN: Right. So, there's a broader trend here. The rise of remote work has really hurt cities, fewer people going into offices, then shopping at the stores. Online shopping has also really hurt these stores, more people buying online and through Amazon instead of in-person. And these cities have some of the highest rents in the country. San Francisco, the retail rents are double the national average, also much higher in New York, Washington, D.C.

And then over the past several years, these stores have overexpanded. Think about how many CVS stores there are. There are stores just about every block. And it's not just CVS closing in the cities, CVS is closing around the country, about 900 stores over the next three years.

BOLDUAN: What can cities do about this?

MEYERSOHN: So, it's time to reinvent retail in cities. First of all, potentially converting some of these vacant office buildings into affordable housing, that's a crisis right now, so switching that up. Also, trying to make these cities more livable, walkable, outdoor dining really popped up during the pandemic, but it's often an inconsistent experience. Maybe we start closing some of the streets down to cars on weekends or other hours.

And then we also really want to see different types of stores come in, pop-up stores, temporary stores, really try to create some more energy in cities. So, those are some of the ways that stores and cities can reinvent themselves.

BOLDUAN: All right. It's great to see you, Nathaniel. Thank you.

John.

BOLDUAN: So, this morning, an emergency government meeting to navigate the growing pasta crisis. You didn't know there was such a thing? Well, indeed there is in Italy. The average price of one box of spaghetti, rigatoni, or penne has gone up from $1.86 to $2.33, that is a big jump. And the price has soared despite the cost of wheat, the main ingredient, actually falling. CNN's Barbie Nadeau has the latest.

BARBIE LATZA NADEAU, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: John, the rising cost of pasta in a country like Italy is not banal (ph). You know, this is the number one food that Italians use to feed their families, and it's costing them a lot more to put food on the table. We're talking about an average of 17.5 percent across the board for pasta. We're talking about spaghetti, penne, rigatoni past that you find in the supermarket.

But in some cities and in some regions, the prices gone up 25 to 28 percent. Now, that really has an effect on Italian families. This crisis meeting in Rome was held to try to understand why the prices are so high. One of the theories is, of course, that these boxes of pasta on the supermarket shelves right now were produces last year when there was a rise in the cost of wheat because of the war in Ukraine.

But they're trying to determine if the prices are just staying high. If they should be -- if that's because of the supermarkets, if that's because of the producers, or if there's something else in the works. John.

BERMAN: All right. Barbie Nadeau for us in Rome. Barbie, thank you very much. Sara.

[10:55:00]

SIDNER: Coming up, the ex-marine accused of killing a New York man struggling with mental illness on the subway turned himself in to be arrested today.

Also, an inmate who escaped from a correctional facility near Philadelphia is back behind bars. But another inmate is still on the loose. And yet, a third person is now under arrest in that case. We'll explain.

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BERMAN: We have real time look at the border in the first hours of the post-Title 42 era. Some of what our reporters are seeing, perhaps unexpected.

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