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Conservative Party Vote Results Expected in Hours Ahead; Canadian Police Search for Two Suspects in Mass Stabbing; Biden Visiting Battleground States Ahead of Midterms; U.S. West Sees Scorching Temperatures; Zelenskyy: 3 Settlements Liberated in South and East Ukraine; Europe Price Hikes After Russia Stops Gas Supply. Aired 4-4:30a ET

Aired September 05, 2022 - 04:00   ET

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

[04:00:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. It is 9 a.m. here in the U.K. and it is 4 a.m. on the East Coast of the United States. I'm outside the British Parliament. We've got some big announcements ahead.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Now I want to thank everybody here and hasta la vista baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I will make sure we're not taking money from people in tax and then giving it back.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Inflation is the number one priority facing our country. It will be my number one priority.

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic.

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: The enemy of the state is him and the group that control him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dangerous heat continues to build in the east and spread eastward.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Like the previous fires, they have progressively gotten worse over the years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.

FOSTER: It is Monday, September the 5th and we are expecting some big announcements here in the U.K. Boris Johnson set to hand over his role to the Conservative Party's next leader, and that leader will automatically become the Prime Minister. But first, we are following another big story coming to us out of

Saskatchewan in Canada where a manhunt is underway for two suspects in a deadly mass stabbing. We're just getting details about it now. Police say the attacks killed at least 10 people in more than a dozen crime scenes in the province. At least 15 people were taken to hospital for injuries. And leaders of the James Smith Cree Nation have declared a state of emergency. Police have identified the two suspects as Damien Sanderson and Myles Sanderson. They're considered armed and dangerous and believed to be traveling in a black Nissan Rogue with a Saskatchewan license plate. Authorities are urging residents to shelter in place.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ASST. COMMISSIONER RHONDA BLACKMORE, SASKATCHEWAN RCMP: We're taking all steps possible to track these individuals, and any information that comes in from the public or other sources that we obtain the information, we are following up on that information immediately.

CHIEF EVAN BRAY, SASKATCHEWAN POLICE: I think it's safe to say, someone knows potentially the whereabouts of the suspects. Someone knows information that might be helpful to police and so this is a time where we are asking the public to reach out and help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calls the attacks horrific and heartbreaking. We'll have much more on this story in the next hour on "EARLY START" where CNN's Paula Newton will be joining the team there.

We're now though going to the leadership race here in the United Kingdom. And in just a few hours' time, around lunchtime, U.K. time, the ruling conservative will announce its next to leader and the person will automatically become the British Prime Minister. The party will be voting in either the foreign secretary, Liz Truss, or former finance minister, Rishi Sunak. And it came two months after Boris Johnson announced he'd be leaving his post. On Tuesday he is expected to submit his resignation to Queen Elizabeth. She'll then appoint the next Prime Minister. So that'll all be unfolding tomorrow. Let's discuss today's events though. Bianca is here with me here in Westminster. We also have Nic over on Downing Street.

Bianca, just explain how the process works. We are not voting for a Prime Minister per se but they will become Prime Minister.

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's an oddity in one of the world's leading democracies of the United Kingdom. But actually today, the Prime Minister is being chosen not by the country at large but by a slither of the electorate -- less than 1 percent, around 160,000 Conservative members. And they are typically older, wealthier and whiter than the average voter. So, that is who the former finance minister Rishi Sunak and the foreign secretary Liz Truss have been trying to appeal to. One of them will be appointed today. And as a function of negative democracy, they will automatically become Prime Minister. [04:05:00]

That's something that frustrates a lot of people in the United Kingdom who feel like the Tories have had to long in power. They don't have a choice in all this. But whoever it is has a nightmare inheritance. The cost of living crisis, a war in Europe. They will have to hit the ground running and both candidates have promised to do so.

FOSTER: Liz Truss, by far out in front, according to all the polls throughout this election campaign. What do you know about her?

NOBILO: She is the bookies favorite. There could still be a surprise as we always have to caveat. But it does look most likely. Liz Truss is somebody who has had quite a colorful roller coaster of life. When she was at University, she was actually a Lib Dem -- which is the other side of the political spectrum, more in the center. She was also in favor of abolishing the monarchy, which is quite surprising For a Conservative, and legalizing cannabis. But she's now the darling of the right wing of the Conservative Party of law and order. So, a real shift in terms of her political strategy and beliefs. But those who are loyal to her say that she's warm, she's extremely ambitious. If she says she'll do something, she'll do it. Her supporters like to make analogies between her and Thatcher. But those who aren't so keen say she's very Gazprom, she's got her foot in it with Russia. She hasn't really had a smooth run as foreign secretary, so is really the person that should be at the helm at this juncture.

FOSTER: And Nic, you dealt with her as foreign secretary, a lot of people say she does have an eye for detail. But she's managed to convince her party at least that she's got the right strategies going ahead.

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: She has. She's going to take up this post -- if it is her at a hugely challenging time. It'll be challenging for anyone. The internal division within her own party, not least of it. This seven week campaign between her and Rishi Sunak to see to sort of slug it out in a popularity contest, as Bianca was saying, there are 160,000 Conservative Party members, has led to division. So, there'll be a need to heal that.

But perhaps the biggest priority for her is going to be the cost of living. Inflation here in this country running at over 10 percent and energy bill's the real issue that most people in this country are worried about at the moment, the soaring cost of energy.

Now speaking to the BBC over the weekend, Liz Truss said if she becomes Prime Minister, she will be taking quick action on that issue.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LIZ TRUSS, U.K. FOREIGN SECRETARY: If I'm elected as Prime Minister, within one week I will make sure there is an announcement on how we are going to deal with the issue of energy bills and of long-term supply to put this country on the right footing for winter.

(END VIDEO CLIP) ROBERTSON: So, a couple of questions about that -- and she didn't get into the details. She said it wasn't appropriate to get into the details just now. But if this is support for people, the general public in their homes, that's one thing. But a lot of small businesses in the U.K. will be looking to the next Prime Minister to help them out with their energy bills as well. So, would her solutions include small businesses?

What would those solutions look like? Which is likely to go in the opposite direction of Boris Johnson who was planning to raise taxes. She's likely to take taxes down, reduce taxes, borrow money and in that way pay off some of what the expected heating and energy costs for the country will be this year, maybe next year, maybe longer than that.

That's speculation at the moment but these are the expectations. Challenges internationally, obviously, the war in Europe. Russia pushing that war. Liz Truss didn't win herself any friends whatsoever in her last visit to Russia earlier this year. Really, she got trolled by the Russian Foreign Ministry after those meetings.

And with the European Union coming up on some issues, particularly on the Brexit issues -- the remaining outstanding issues, the Northern Ireland protocols. Expected to take a tough line on that in the European Union's views. And that will lead to likely no easy relationship on that account there either.

OK, Nic at Downing St., Bianca here at Westminster. Lots more from you throughout the day. We're expecting that announcement in a few hours. And Liz Truss still the front-runner as Bianca said. Not a definite winner at this point.

Now we are just nine weeks away, meanwhile, from the critical mid-term elections in the United States. And in just a few hours ahead as well President Joe Biden will be heading to the battleground states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania to mark Labor Day.

Former President Donald Trump will also be visiting Pennsylvania. He was in the state on Saturday to promote Doug Mastriano, the Republican nominee for governor and Senate candidate Dr. Mehmet Oz as well. CNN's Jim Johns has more now on Mr. Biden's key visits I had of the midterms.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: The president heading out to Labor Day celebrations in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania as well as Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

[04:10:00]

He is expected to talk about his Infrastructure Act as well as his Inflation Reduction Act that was passed just last month.

Later in the week the president is expected to fly over to central Ohio to attend a ground breaking. What all of these places have in common is that they are battleground states and Labor Day is traditionally the time when campaigns start bearing down and voters start paying more attention to the candidates.

Joe Biden is not on the ballot but all of this travel does indicate what the Biden people may be thinking as we head into the midterm elections. It was originally thought that the president would not be doing that much travel, simply because of the challenges back here at the White House, including the issue of inflation as well as the president's approval ratings.

Still now that people look at it more closely, there have been some changes to the challenges that eased up just a bit. And there is some hope among Democrats that this election will not be as bad for them as first thought.

Still, Democrats are well aware of the fact that first-term presidents tend to lose seats in their first midterm election.

Joe Johns, CNN, the White House.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: All right, this is our third -- our fourth flood. So, this is my house in the middle of all of this water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: People in the U.S. state of Georgia struggling with catastrophic flooding as flash floods overwhelmed roads, homes, businesses. The gas station here was completely flooded and it's not over yet. More rain expected through Tuesday. Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has issued a state of emergency there.

In northern California the raging Mill Wildfire has killed at least two people in the town of Weed. The sheriff's office says both of the victims were women. The size of the fire has almost doubled since Friday. Officials say 50 structures have been destroyed and about 1,000 people have been forced to evacuate. Those fires have been fueled by a suffocating heat wave with intense dangerous temperatures gripping areas from Southern California to the eastern Arizona and north to Idaho as well. Right now, nearly 50 million people under heat alerts and it could get even hotter into Tuesday, we're told -- Gene Norman.

GENE NORMAN, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Exactly right, Max. In fact, this is the time of the year in the U.S. when we mark the unofficial end of summer, Labor Day. But tell that to the weather. It's not paying attention to any kind of calendar because it's juiced up on that warmer temperatures that we've been experiencing all summer long.

45 records set on Sunday in most of the Western United States -- those black dots that I just showed you. Meanwhile, heat advisories, excessive heat warnings they continue on into today, and they'll probably be extended into Tuesday or Wednesday. Because that's when the worst of this heat wave is expected to arrive. As you see nothing but trouble digits on the board here, as all of these temperatures are anywhere from 15 to 25 degrees higher above normal.

And soon will be asking the question -- what is normal? Because things are changing all the time. We've got the heat dome which is now parked over the West but watch what happens throughout the week. This dome expands and then it moves to the east before it finally begins to weaken just a little bit towards the end of the week.

Now on the other side of the coin, we've got storms and rain as you mentioned and show that flooding in Georgia. There are showers and thunderstorms developing here, mainly into the Mississippi as a large plume of moisture comes out of the Gulf of Mexico and spreads northward producing that flood threat.

Now as we take a look at the forecast -- rather, the flood watches, they were just recently extended. They now include 75 million people. And when you look at a map like this, it doesn't mean that every place that's shaded green is going to have flash flooding. It means there is a potential. We already have a flash flood warning here just south of Cincinnati. That just popped up within the last hour. And we have another one just north of Boston. So, throughout the day, we'll be watching as these storms fire up, they're slow movers -- meaning they'll dump heavy amounts of rain in a short period of time.

Here's a forecast model showing these storms parade up the East Coast. Great beach weather along the East Coast but not so great for your barbecues in inland areas. And in fact, we could be seeing rainfall totals anywhere from 2 to 4 inches in the yellow and orange shaded areas that you see here in parts of the Northeast. So, Max, places like Connecticut, Massachusetts, they've been under a drought. This will certainly help. But it doesn't help if it falls all at once and causes a flooding situation.

[04:15:00]

FOSTER: Gene, thank you so much. It's been a really rough summer really for air travel as well. A lot of it linked to the weather of course. It looks like autumn won't be any better either sadly. Thousands of flights have been canceled in the U.S. since Friday, the start of a Labor Day holiday weekend. According to Flight Aware, more than 3,600 flights into or out of the U.S. were delayed on Sunday. There were more than 200 cancellations. More than four hundred flights are already canceled or delayed for today.

Now New York police are investigating the death of an executive with the company Bed, Bath and Beyond. We'll have a report from New York after the break on that for you.

And new details on the Ukraine's counteroffensive to take back a town in the southern region of Kherson.

Plus, members of Congress in Pakistan. U.S. lawmakers assess the damage as the death toll from historic flooding continues to rise. We'll have the latest on that.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:20:00]

FOSTER: The retailer Bed, Bath & Beyond is taking what it calls a shocking loss this weekend after the death of one of its executives. It comes as the company tried to avoid bankruptcy by shrinking its operations. CNN's Polo Sandoval has more on this story for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The NYPD identifying him as Gustavo Arnal. A law enforcement source telling CNN's Brynn Gingras that the 53-year-old was the chief financial officer of the company Bed, Bath & Beyond and that he died after jumping from his high rise luxury apartment in Manhattan on Friday. No suicide note was discovered, according to investigators.

SEC records saying that he was appointed to his executive post back in 2020. In fact, Arnal was recently named as a defendant in a class action lawsuit that accused him, Ryan Cohen and other large stakeholders of engaging in a pump and dump scheme to artificially inflate the price of the company's stock. A statement from Bed, Bath & Beyond that was released over the weekend reading in part --

The entire Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. organization is profoundly saddened by this shocking loss. Our focus is on supporting his family and his team and our thoughts are with them during this sad and difficult time.

This comes during a very difficult time for Bed, Bath & Beyond as they recently announced that they were in deep financial turmoil and had announced that they would lay off about 20 percent of their corporate workforce and proceeding to close roughly 150 stores in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. This in addition to also securing more than $500 million in financing as well to try to avoid that bankruptcy.

The Medical Examiner's Office here in New York City saying that they are still not officially calling this a suicide. Though they are ruling out a potential for foul play.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: The Palestinian ministry of health say Israeli soldiers shot and killed a 19-year-old Palestinian in the West Bank today. Officials say he was taken to hospital with multiple gunshot wounds. Israeli authorities say they were conducting counterterrorism activities in the area and made several arrests. But it's not clear if the shooting is related. Today's violence came after seven Israelis were injured when a gunman opened fire on a bus traveling through the West Bank on Sunday. This According to the Israeli Defense Forces.

Now Ukrainian forces say they are -- Ukrainian forces say they are gaining ground in the counter offensive against Russian forces. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says two settlements in the south and one settlement in eastern Donetsk region have been liberated. And the Ukrainian military says it's hit another Russian ammunition depot.

Ukrainian troops also appeared to have taken control of a town in the Kherson region. This social media photo shows Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag on a building though CNN hasn't independently verified this location.

CNN's Melissa Bell joins us live now from Kyiv. Melissa, take us through the latest developments, particularly in the offensive that I was talking about earlier on.

MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It's been a week exactly now, Max, that Ukrainians launched this major counteroffensive aiming to take back some of that lost territories specifically in the south in the Kherson region. And what we've been hearing yesterday and seeing tweeted out by one of Zelenskyy's aides. That picture as you say Vysokopillya. Now that is a town of some 5,000 people to the north of Russian-controlled land in the Kherson region that the Ukrainians are trying to take back along the Inhulets River. That is the front line.

And that fact that they may have taken that town cooperated by those pro-Russian telegram channels who've been speaking about the tactical retreat of Russian forces from it. So, clearly this is important and will make a difference to morale on this side of things. But it is also going to be slow going. So, the Ukrainian military has been insisting on the fact that no one should expect this to be quick. That there will be -- this is a counteroffensive that aims to degrade the military capabilities opposite and to take out some of the infrastructure that allows the Russians to resupply Kherson itself. But clearly significant and important that they've taken this.

We've also been hearing from President Zelenskyy last night that it isn't just the town in Kherson, but there's a second in the southern region that's also been taken by Ukrainian forces. And interestingly one or so in eastern Donetsk. And of course, that's important because that was a region where Russian forces had continued their advance and things had seemed fairly stable. That they should be managing to take back settlements there also significant -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Melissa in Kyiv. Thank you.

Now European energy markets bracing for a price surge after Russia said one of the pipe lines would remain shut indefinitely.

[04:25:00]

Europe has accused Russia of weapon eyes in the energy crisis sending EU leaders scrambling for alternative measures. And Ukraine's president is warning the Europeans -- or what rather warning the Europeans that Russia is preparing for a, quote, decisive energy blow.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): By the way, it is the same as with the gas issue. Ukraine has repeatedly warned Europe that maintaining Nord Stream ties with Russia would be a problem that could become a disaster at any moment. That's exactly what happened. These omnivorousness regarding citizens of the aggressor state. Financial ties with Russia, energy dependence on Russia are the things that are used against Europe in Moscow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Well, let's cross to Fred, who's live in Moscow for us. Fred how is Russia responding to these allegations from Europe and President Zelenskyy.

FREDERIK PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hi there, Max. Well, the Russians completely deny any of this. In fact, senior Russian officials came out and said that Gazprom is a company that can be relied upon and has been a company that Europe relied on them for a very, very long time.

Now we're talking of course about the Nord Stream 1 pipeline. But the Russians claim after they had been sending 20 percent of the capacity through that pipeline of gas and then there were three days of maintenance that the Russians said were sort of out of schedule. Afterwards they claim that in one of the pumping stations, the Port Avilla station, which is one we been talking about quite a lot over the past couple of weeks. That there was an oil leak that was discovered and so therefore the pipeline cannot be used safely and therefore it will be shut down indefinitely.

Now what the Russians are essentially saying is that all of the reasons why this pipeline isn't functioning are down to Europe itself. They say that it's the sanctions that Europe did not put on actual Russian oil and gas but the ones that have put on technological sectors. Specifically in this case the maintenance of these pumps are the reason why this pipeline cannot be used at this point in time.

Now the European obviously don't buy that at all. In fact, the Germans have said -- and Siemens, the company which is supposed to maintain those pumps says has said that they're pretty easy to fix and actually they can work even when there is some oil leakage going on.

But Gazprom for itself has said in general, that the things that have been inflicted on Europe, the issues that Europe has right now economically, the fact that there's so little energy in Europe and a drive for energy is down to European sanctions themselves. And so, they say that this is all self-inflicted by the Europeans. That's the view from the Russians. Vladimir Putin, of course, today is heading to the far east, to the Eastern Economic Forum. Where once again the Russians are saying that they want to move large parts of their economy further to the east. But at the same time, they blame the Europeans themselves for inflicting those wounds and saying, Russia is a reliable energy supplier. That's something that Vladimir Putin has set himself and is willing to be so in the future -- Max.

FOSTER: OK, Fred in Moscow, thank you very much indeed for that.

Now soaring energy bills across the U.K. just one major issue facing the next British Prime Minister set to be announced in just a few hours. We'll dive deeper into the issues next. And Pope Francis vows to rid the Catholic Church of sexual abuse.

Excerpts from an exclusive interview with the positive ahead in a live report.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[04:30:00]