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Britain Has New Prime Minister; Johnson Officially Steps Down; Midterm Countdown; Russia Buying Weapons from North Korea. Aired 9:30- 10a ET

Aired September 06, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR AND CORRESPONDENT: But also increasing energy prices, which are escalating, doubling, tripling in the next couple of months, and it's seen as a massive crisis. And this really dominated much of the campaign to elect Liz Truss. But she's been really unspecific about what she's going to do. At the same time, she campaigned on reducing taxes. So there's huge questions about how she's going to pay for any price freeze on energy.

So, that's the big sort of immediate challenge, but she's got a much broader challenge, which is that people just don't know who she is. And by her own admission, she hasn't got the charisma of Boris Johnson. So there are huge questions about whether or not she would ever be able to win a general election because she's very much pitched herself at right wing British conservative voters. And they like her. But it's a much broader church in the U.K., of course, and can she repeat that massive election victory that Boris Johnson achieved? There's a huge question around that.

In terms of her place in the world, or Britain's place in the world, she's been foreign secretary. So you have a sense of that already. But she certainly sees the U.K. as a more independent nation than Boris Johnson.

So, while the special relationship with America is important to her, it's not as important and it's not the be all and end all for her. So I think there might be a bit of a shift there as well.

HARLOW: That's really a fascinating point, Max.

And, Nadia, to you. I mean Boris Johnson, right before she met with the queen to take over, he tendered his resignation this morning, also to the queen. So he's now a private citizen.

Beyond sort of the most recent headlines and party-gate, et cetera, there is a lot that he'll be remembered for, right? What do you expect his legacy to be?

NADA BASHIR, CNN INTERNATIONAL REPORTER: Yes, absolutely, Poppy. He leaves behind a significant legacy. And he has, as prime minister, presided over some pretty key moments in British politics. And he was careful to highlight those in his farewell speech earlier this morning from outside 10 Downing Street. His final speech from Downing Street as prime minister.

Of course, the key thing that he wanted to highlight was Brexit. Getting Brexit done, the catch phrase there, taking back Britain's laws from the European Union. That is something that he has long championed and remains proud to have achieved and seen through.

Of course, we heard from him during his announcement of his resignation back in July saying that he had some regrets about not being able to see through some political programs that he had hoped to achieve. But, of course, there were other key moments, including the Covid-19 pandemic. The prime minister oversaw the swift vaccine rollout campaign here in the United Kingdom. He was careful to highlight that Britain rolled out that vaccine at a faster rate than much of its European neighbors.

And, of course, the war in Ukraine. Prime Minister Boris Johnson - or rather outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson, noting that Britain has supplied weapons to the Ukrainian armed forces, and in his words, standing up to President Putin. And that was the message he wanted to reiterate this morning.

Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BORIS JOHNSON, FORMER BRITISH PRIME MINISTER: Together, we have laid foundations that will stand the test of time, whether by taking back control of our laws or putting in vital new infrastructure. Great solid masonry on which we will continue to build together. Paving the path of prosperity now and for future generations. And I will be supporting Liz Truss and the new government every step of the way.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, as you mentioned, Poppy, there is, obviously, a downside to that legacy, and that is, of course, the months and months of the party-gate scandal, allegations of sleaze (ph) within the conservative party, and a general crisis, which has really embroiled the British government under Prime Minister Boris Johnson. That is often what many ordinary people will remember of this government, particularly, of course, as Max touched on there earlier, the cost of living crisis, which has impacted families up and down the country, and continues to impact families up and down the country. That is a real concern and will be something that Prime Minister Boris Johnson, will, of course, be remembered for.

SCIUTTO: So much so that his own party forced him out, even after bit election wins just three years ago.

Nada Bashir, Max Foster, in the U.K., thanks so much.

We are counting down to elections here in the U.S. The midterms. And the race to win key battleground states, as always. Will the balance of power swing over the next 60 days? Lots of questions. We'll discuss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:39:00]

SCIUTTO: Kids are going back to school. Today, Congress returns from summer break with the Senate going back into session. And with just 60 days left until the midterms, Democrats are hoping a series of unexpected victories for President Biden and the Democrats could help them, if not keep control of Congress in November, perhaps blunt Republican gains.

HARLOW: There you go.

So, let's bring in "Puck" senior political correspondent Tara Palmeri and "Politico" investigations contributor Heidi Przybyla.

Great to have you both. Thank you so much.

Tara, I want to start with you because I thought your reporting was so interesting in terms of your exhaustive, if you will, conversation with that Democratic pollster, John Anzalone. Really, I mean, he's the one who called it exhausting, right?

TARA PALMERI, SENIOR POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT, "PUCK": Yes, he said -

HARLOW: That you went through everything. So what stood out to you most in terms of his outlook in terms of what's helpful to the Democrats, but also potentially not so helpful right now?

PALMERI: So, I think what John -- his main -- my main takeaway from our conversation was that he thought that this was going to be a huge massacre for the Democrats, that this might be one of the worst election cycles they ever suffered from.

[09:40:09]

You know, Biden, just five, six weeks ago was really suffering in the polls, with very few legislative achievements. And then the -- I guess the script was flipped with the Roe v. Wade overturning and the Dobbs decision. And he said that he was among many other people in D.C. who believed it only had a marginal role and it wouldn't actually have any real value in the midterm turnout or the elections. But already his polling shows on the ground, across the country, that women are really charged up and they are leaning Democrat and this could be a huge deciding factor.

Plus, you couple in some of Biden's legislative wins, changing the narrative that Democrats aren't able to do anything with power in the Senate and the House and White House and suddenly he feels like the entire game has changed. Now, I think we'll temper that a little bit. We still have 60 days to go.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

PALMERI: But there's definitely been a momentum change and mood shift for Democrats that's undeniable. And you're just seeing voters who are unlikely really, you know, paying attention and wanting to go out and they see this as a referendum on abortion more so than on Biden, which was what was feared before the overturning of Roe.

SCIUTTO: So, Heidi, on the other side of the ledger, I mean even with his average approval rating in the CNN poll of polls up four points since last month, it's still low. It's still in, well, 40 percent, there you have it right there. And you have other issues. You know, inflation down from its peak but still high. Other economic concerns as well, particularly as we head into the winter and energy prices.

Where do you see the scales as it were coming down and, again, with the proviso we're 60 days out and God knows what could happen between now and then.

HEIDI PRZYBYLA, INVESTIGATIONS CONTRIBUTOR, "POLITICO": Yes, and it's great that Tara talked to as many pollsters as possible because when you talk to them they're all saying, this is really different from your traditional midterm landscape here, when it is traditionally a referendum on the president, it is a referendum on the economy. When you look at those issues, now, inflation is improving. It's coming down. .It - there's another thing to say what will happen over the next two months, but right now that key indicator is looking good for Democrats.

And then you have these issues that traditionally we couldn't have expected, right, with the overturning of Roe. And when you look at the special elections that have played out across the country, just within the past month or so, there's been a dramatic shift there in the overperformance of Democrats. And we're not just talking here about this upstate New York race. We're talking about in Alaska, in Nebraska, in Minnesota. The reason for that is, like Tara said, these suburban white women who are always that swing vote. You can take it back to George Bush, who called them the security moms, who were named the soccer moms prior to that. We don't have a name for them now post Roe. But these are the same women who waited in the rain to cast their referendum against President Trump after his election and the election, the gubernatorial election in Virginia.

So, this is what is at play here. This is the wild card. It has already fundamentally shifted what might happen in the Senate, which at one time was favored to go to the Republicans, and now Democrats are looking like they might hold on to it.

HARLOW: Candidate quality, if you ask Mitch McConnell.

Tara, I thought it was interesting that that pollster also told you about, I don't know if he used the term swing voters or what, but the voters still up for grabs, if you will -

PALMERI: Right.

HARLOW: That they tend to be independent and under 50, saying there's a larger universe of undecided and persuadables that are people of color and I think we keep forgetting that. Does he mean, we, the party, the Democratic Party?

PALMERI: Yes, he means the Democratic Party, that we can't be looking at African American - well, they can't be looking at African American voters or Latino voters or AAPI voters as a homogenous group, that we have to treat them - or they have to treat them as persuadable voters. It's really interesting because I think for a long time the Democratic Party took them for granted and they - they had definitely made sure that all of their -- most of their campaigns are talking to them in a more aggressive way.

Another interesting point on the Roe decision, how it's changed the game, he did point out that the Roe -- Roe was overturned around May, right, or it was leaked out in May, and a lot of these GOP primaries were going on and these Senate candidates like Blake Masters and Tudor Dixon in Michigan, they were going to the far extreme on the abortion issues, saying that they believed in all cases that there should be no abortion, even in rape and incest.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

PALMERI: And now they're sort of having to face that now going into a general election and they've already started moderating their tone. You're seeing Republicans now campaigning out there with their wives, talking about abortion in a more -- in a softer way, kind of a more compassionate way, rather than the hardline they took during the primary. And I think Republicans are starting to realize, this could actually really affect them coming into the generals.

[09:45:02]

SCIUTTO: Marco Rubio, though, interestingly enough, the exception to that, in what could be a tight race there.

Heidi, just before we go, if I remember the climate two years ago prior to the 2020 cycle, the polls showed Trump way behind and it -- there were a lot of Senate races rated as locks. Think of -- look at Susan Collins, for instance, for Democrats. It didn't turn out that way. Are pollsters more confident in their numbers today than they were two years ago?

PRZYBYLA: Well, they're confident in them at this -- in this moment. But two months is a lifetime in politics and especially if inflation rears its head again, which we have no reason to believe that we're done with that. Things could dramatically shift. I think they're confident in their numbers, where we are right now.

The House is still looking like it's going to go to Republicans. There are so many entrenched infrastructural issues there with redistricting, with just so many Democrats retiring that it's looking like it's going to be - really be difficult for Democrats to hold on to the House. But the Senate is what to watch. That is what is kind of teetering back and forth. And right now, if you look at all of the top pollsters and election forecasters, they are now rating that as leaning Democratic, that Democrats are favored to hold on to the Senate.

HARLOW: Heidi, Tara, thank you, both, very much.

PALMERI: Thank you. HARLOW: Next, sources say Russia is buying millions of rockets and

artillery from North Korea to use on the battlefield in Ukraine. We have this new CNN reporting straight ahead. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:50:57]

HARLOW: Welcome back.

CNN has learned Russia is now turning to North Korea to refill its weapons stock. A U.S. officials tell CNN the Kremlin is buying millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea to be used against Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: CNN's Barbara Starr joins us now from the Pentagon.

Barbara, drones from Iran, now ammunition from North Korea. I mean Russia used to be the supplier to these countries. Now it's asking for help. What does it say about the challenges they're facing?

BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is really one of the key questions, isn't it? I mean we've all been led to believe, led to understand over the years that Russia has a massive weapons inventory and that they still had plenty in stock to use against Ukraine if it came to that. But now very open acknowledgment from the U.S. administration, and there's no way to independently confirm it, we should say, that Russia is buying weapons from North Korea.

Let me read a statement to you from a senior defense official that puts some context on this. The official says, the Russian Ministry of Defense is in the process of purchasing millions of rockets and artillery shells from North Korea for use on the battlefield in Ukraine. This purchase indicates that the Russian military continues to suffer from severe supply shortages in Ukraine due to, in part, export controls and sanctions. We expect Russia could try to purchase additional North Korean military equipment going forward.

So, this comes from U.S. intelligence. Clearly, it is the assessment of what is going on. Again, no way to independently confirm it. But the fact that it's North Korea at this point is pretty interesting. The North Koreans also, of course, have a massive weapons stockpile. Not known in particular to store it in a secure technical manner. So, we don't know how efficient those munitions may be. Will they really work once and if they get to the battlefield in Ukraine?

Jim. Poppy.

SCIUTTO: North Korea faces its own import and export controls.

I wonder, there have been a lot of questions about whether China was going to step in and help Russia with weapons, et cetera. Is this an indication that China is not doing so, or do we have any update?

STARR: I don't think we know absolutely for sure yet. It does not seem at the moment that China is necessarily anxious to get involved because they would have perhaps already. SCIUTTO: Yes.

STARR: It looks right now like Russia turning to Iran possibly for drones and North Korea for munitions.

HARLOW: Barbara Starr live for us at the Pentagon. Thanks very much, Barbara.

STARR: Sure.

HARLOW: Well, Pakistan really on the verge of -- in the midst of a humanitarian crisis. One-third of the country is now estimated to be under water. We have been covering this catastrophic flooding for weeks now and it just continues. Officials say cases of typhoid, malaria, other infections are reaching epic proportions there. More than 1,300 people have died because of this, including at least 400 children. About 1 million pregnant women are among the 33 million who have been displaced by this.

SCIUTTO: Thirty-three million in one country. The government intentionally breached the country's largest freshwater lake Sunday, hoping to control the flooding. That doesn't appear to have worked. I mean the scale of this is just alarming.

Here is "The Washington Post" Pakistan bureau chief, Susannah George, with more.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSANNAH GEORGE, PAKISTAN BUREAU CHIEF, "THE WASHINGTON POST": You can see behind me some of the fields that have been most recently flooded here in Sindh province. These fields were flooded when the Pakistani government made the controversial decision to intentionally breach a lake upstream from here. That move displaced tens of thousands of people and flooded hundreds of more villages downstream.

But we're hearing that water levels in the lake are continuing to rise. And that may force the Pakistani government to make another breach of the lake's retaining wall. That would only add to the growing humanitarian crisis here.

Where we are now is in Sevan (ph).

[09:55:01]

That's just south of some of the worst hit villages further north from here. These are villages that are still under water. We visited families at some of these villages, and they told us they don't want to leave their homes because they know even if they reach dry land, there will not be shelter for them and there won't be aid.

These floods have been going on for weeks, for months, since June, but the Pakistani government only declared a state of national emergency a few weeks ago, and then began appealing for outside aid. So, there's growing anger here among Pakistanis that the government has acted too slow and even those who have been able to be rescued from the flooded waters are not receiving the humanitarian assistance that they need once on dry land.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SCIUTTO: Lord, biblical. Thanks so much to "The Washington Post" Pakistan bureau chief Susannah George for that report from the ground.

Still ahead, newly obtained video to CNN shows a form Georgia Republican county official escorting two pro-Trump operatives into the country's election offices on the same day a voting system there was illegally breached. We're going to have a live report coming up.

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