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Villagers Trapped After Pakistan's Largest Lake Overflows; Somalia Threatened by Historic Drought and Famine; Concerns Mount Over Partisan Election Training in Michigan; CDC: More Adults Got Mental Health Treatment in 2021; American Frances Tiafoe Advances to U.S. Open Semifinals. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired September 08, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.

Four people are dead in a shooting rampage in Memphis, Tennessee. Authorities have the 19-year-old suspect Ezekiel Kelly in custody. The rampage is believed to have stretched across eight crime scenes and lasted nearly 24 hours.

The United Nations says it has documented cases of mistreatment of Ukrainian civilians during so-called filtration checks by Russia. The U.S. says Moscow is doing this to preparing for attempted annexation. Much more on both these stories coming up on "EARLY START".

Now there's a deepening sense of dread in Pakistan as residents try to escape the floodwaters that are still rising. Some are terrified for their lives after the country's largest lake overflowed for a third time on Tuesday. Many people have been forced into temporary shelter whilst others are trapped by the flooding. Susannah George, "The Washington Post" Pakistan bureau chief shows us how the area is affected.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSANNAH GEORGE, PAKISTAN BUREAU CHIEF, THE WASHINGTON POST: We're in Lal Bagh. This is one of the largest makeshift camps outside of seven in Sindh province. As you can see, people here are living in tents that they built for themselves out of plastic tarps and sticks from nearby trees. Some people don't even have coverings over their heads.

When we first arrived, families rushed towards us holding their children that they said are getting sicker by the day because of the lack of sanitation at this camp and because humanitarian aid or government assistance has not yet reached people here.

There are hundreds of tents and thousands of people, many of them children. This crisis has been particularly hard on children here in Sindh province. Many of these people have fled from incredibly poor rural villages, and their children were already malnourished before the floodwaters hit. When people arrived to camps like this with even less food to eat, their children's health deteriorated.

We spoke to a pregnant woman at this camp. She's in her eighth month of pregnancy and said she can't imagine delivering a child into conditions like this. She said that there isn't even clean water to drink. You need to walk two hours to the nearest town in order to get that water, and so she's been forced to drink from the floodwaters. And it's been making her and her children sick.

Floodwaters are continuing to rise in this area, cutting off roads leading in and out of the main town near here. And as that continues, it's going to be even more difficult for aid agencies and the government to get the help that people here need to them.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Nearly half of Somalia has been hit by the country's worst drought in nearly 40 years. The U.S. humanitarian chief says unless the area get unprecedented rain or about $1 billion in relief, Somalia will also experience a devastating famine. And aid organizations are also sounding the alarm for more international relief.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BAIMANKAY SANKOH, DEP. COUNTRY DIRECTOR FOR SOMALIA, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: Famine in Somalia is closer than ever. It's an imminent reality if we do not act immediately. We know from experience that we cannot, we cannot wait for a formal declaration of famine to act.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The problem isn't new to Somalia though. The Mercy Corps country director for Somalia says, quote: We are burying babies and watching with heartbreak as mothers cry because they don't know what to feed their children, now dying of hunger and thirst, and drought robs families of crops and livestock's, their only source of income.

Some of Somalia's Africa neighbors are also at risk. The World Food Programme warns that Ethiopia and Kenya face the same threat. Joining me now is Michael Dunford, regional director for East Africa with the World Food Programme. Just tell us how many children for example are vulnerable right now.

MICHAEL DUNFORD, REGIONAL DIRECTOR FOR EAST AFRICA, WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME: We estimate in Somalia alone there are 1.5 million children who are acutely malnourished. And that means they are on the cusp of death unless the international community, the World Food Programme and others provide them with the life-saving food and nutrition products that will make the difference.

FOSTER: And this is a combination of factors as it always is, but particularly the drought as I understand it but also the lack of grain coming out of Ukraine as well having a knock-on effect.

[04:35:00]

DUNFORD: This drought, the worst in 40 years where we've had four failed rainy seasons and we are projecting another one in October to December. This coming at the worst possible time. Somalia has been in conflict for the last 30 years. We're now seeing the drought. The effects of COVID and of course this spike in costs that is impacting the rest of the world but it's particularly severe in countries such as Somalia.

FOSTER: And you've got the added challenge that much of the Western world is heading towards recession. So presumably tougher to raise the funds that you need there.

DUNFORD: Yes, the international community, the World Food Programme has been highlighting the needs to react for over 12 months. We knew that this was coming. Unfortunately, it's taken much longer to mobilize the resources. Clearly the Ukraine conflict has been a major distraction. Fortunately, the United States government particularly and others are starting to respond. But it is coming very late in the day. The World Food Programme and others need funding and we need it on a massive scale. I think the Martin Griffiths the emergency response coordinator has indicated we need $1 billion to meet the needs of this population if we want to keep famine at bay.

FOSTER: And in terms of the upcoming drought, is it going to be as bad do you think?

DUNFORD: Well, it's a continuation of the existing. The trouble is that we've had four failed rains as I said, the next and possibly the one after that because of the effects of climate change are going to underperform. So, we could be in a situation in 12 months' time where there has been no substantial rain for over three years and the population continues to bear the brunt of this.

FOSTER: What are they saying when you talk to them as you move through these villages?

DUNFORD: They are absolutely desperate. I met a woman recently when I was there, she had walked for 28 days with seven children to reach one of the IDP camps to receive humanitarian assistance. She made that journey because she had exhausted all of her stocks, all of her commodities, her livestock had died, and she had no alternatives.

I met another woman who had walked for four days with one child having left two other children with her husband behind. So desperate stories. People really living on the brink. And it's only the likes of the World Food Programme and others who are now providing the lifesaving support that is required to keep these people alive.

FOSTER: And your concern obviously is that you won't be able to help everyone if they keep coming and you are not getting the resources.

DUNFORD: Completely. You know, we need the international community to continue to make contributions. As I said, the United States government has been very generous. But we need those donors in the Middle East, in the rest of Europe, in Asia, even China to make contributions to keep the population of Somalia alive. If not, we're facing a famine.

OK, Michael Dunford, thank you for joining us with your perspective.

And if you would like to help those impacted by extreme flooding in Pakistan or by drought and famine in Somalia in other nations around the world, do visit CNN.com/impact. We'll give you some directions there. We'll be right back.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A CNN investigation reveals an alarming effort to break rules and possibly disrupt elections in Michigan, a key U.S. swing state. At least one county -- in at least one county conspiracy theorists and 2020 election deniers have been training current poll workers as, quote, undercover agents. It's an approach critics fear could cause chaos and conflict in the crucial November midterms. CNN's Drew Griffin has this exclusive report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

PATRICK COLBECK, FORMER MEMBER OF THE MICHIGAN SENATE: Don't be fearful guys --

DREW GRIFFIN, CNN SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE CORRESPONDENT (voice over): CNN obtained this recording of a Wayne County GOP training session over Zoom the night before the Michigan primary last month.

CHERYL COSTANTINO, GOP COUNTY CHAIRWOMAN: So, you're all really undercover agents. Congratulations. That's undercover training.

GRIFFIN (voice over): It is extra training, partisan training, not just for volunteers observing elections, but including the actual paid election workers who will check in voters, hand out ballots, even help in the counting, which is why what they are being told is alarming.

COLBECK: There's a lot of bad stuff that's happening in this upcoming election. So, we're going to have to keep our heads on a swivel and just start documenting irregularities.

GRIFFIN (voice over): The poll workers are hired by towns and clerks and Wayne County's Republican chairperson, Cheryl Costantino tells them they may need to break the rules to uncover fraud.

COSTANTINO: They were told by their trainers that they could not have their phones with them.

So, I would say maybe just hide it and maybe hide a small pad and a small pen. You need to take accurate notes.

LARRY LUDKE, TRAINEE: If we are observed with a pen and a piece of paper writing on anything, they, they just said they would -- they would ask us that, that they would remove us.

COSTANTINO: That's why you got to do it secretly.

GRIFFIN (voice over): This training for the primary was just practice for the upcoming midterms according to Costantino. And it's not just what's being taught, it is who is doing the teaching.

COLBECK: We think a lot of the monkey business that's happening is happening at the vote aggregation location.

GRIFFIN (voice over): That is election denier Patrick Colbeck, who co- led this training session. He is a former state senator who wrote a book called "The 2020 Coup" and has a blog filled with debunked conspiracy theories about voting machines.

He spread so much disinformation about the 2020 election, he got this cease and desist letter from Dominion, the voting machine company saying: You are knowingly sowing discord in our democracy, all the while soliciting exorbitant amounts of money.

He has appeared on Steve Bannon's show and with the My Pillow guy, Mike Lindell.

COLBECK: We did see evidence that it was connected to the internet.

GRIFFIN (voice over): There is no evidence any voting machines were connected to the internet in the 2020 election, but Colbeck is still asking Republican poll workers to check.

COLBECK: There's this little icon down the very bottom right-hand corner, and what I'm trying to do is to see whether or not these machines are indeed connected to the internet.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Colbeck refused to speak to CNN, but the other leader of the training, Cheryl Costantino did.

GRIFFIN: You were training these people to be undercover spies. That was the words you are using. And I'm wondering why?

COSTANTINO: Well, first of all, if you remember in the election two years ago, there were so many problems.

GRIFFIN (voice over): With election staffing, she said, with who counted ballots, but she is an election denier, too. She filed a baseless lawsuit in Detroit alleging election fraud in 2020.

[04:45:00]

It was thrown out.

Why did she tell election workers to act like spies?

COSTANTINO: To kind of reframe it and make it more fun and interesting. I said, just, you know, instead of causing a bunch of scenes and things like that, just write it down, just kind of be like spies and let me -- you know, let me know what's going on.

GRIFFIN (voice over): While Michigan's primary election went smoothly.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I did nothing wrong.

GRIFFIN (voice over): A poll challenger affiliated with Colbeck and his training was thrown out of Detroit's ballot counting center for repeatedly getting too close to workers.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I told them that they were breaking the law.

GRIFFIN (voice over): What's happening in Michigan is happening across the nation. Attempts are underway to make sure the ultra-MAGA run the election process from poll workers all the way up to candidates for Secretary of State and Attorney General.

Trump attorney Cleta Mitchell has led seminars in eight swing states all under the presumption Democrats cheat.

CNN caught up with her in Wisconsin.

CLETA MITCHELL, DONALD TRUMP ATTORNEY: So that we'll be able to make sure that there's another set of eyes going on watching the ballots, watching the voting, watching the process, knowing what's going on in the election offices.

JEFF TIMMER, SENIOR ADVISER, THE LINCOLN PROJECT: These training sessions are planned chaos. These people are being radicalized.

GRIFFIN (voice over): Jeff Timmer used to lead the Michigan Republican Party.

TIMMER: They think they're saving democracy from the cannibal socialists where in fact what they're doing is eroding the public's faith in elections.

GRIFFIN: Michigan Secretary of State says the state is ready for the election and its clerks can remove anyone who is violating the rules. But on a more positive note, the clerks who actually run the local elections say most of the suspicions is brought upon by ignorance of the system and once these suspicious poll workers actually see how the system works, how we vote, they become believers.

Drew Griffin, CNN, Atlanta.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Who doesn't love a good underdog story. Meanwhile, after taking down Grand Slam legend Rafael Nadal at the U.S. Open, 22 seed Frances Tiafoe just served up another victory would you believe. Details next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: More American adults are seeking out mental health care in the wake of the pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control says nearly one in four adults in the U.S. under the age of 45 received treatment for mental health in 2021. That's up nearly five percentage points from 2019. CNN's new medical correspondent Dr. Tara Narula breaks it all down for us.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN HEALTH CORRESPONDENT: Thank you so much, Max. This was a CDC study that looked at the percentage of American adults who received mental health care treatment during the pandemic years of 2019 to 2021. When they looked at the numbers, they saw some significant increases in the population that ranged in age between 18 and 44. This was actually the population that was least likely to receive treatment in 2019 and the most likely to receive treatment in 2021. There was about a 5 percent increase from about 18.5 percent in 2019 up to about 23 percent in 2021.

They saw that there were increases across the country in rural areas and large, small, medium and metropolitan areas. There were some differences when it came to race. So, non-Hispanic whites were the most likely group to receive mental health care treatment. And finally, there were gender differences. Women really outpacing men almost every year in terms of the numbers that received mental health care treatment. So, in 2021 for example, there were about 29 percent of women receiving mental health care treatment as opposed to about 18 percent of men.

So really interesting findings and really highlighting the fact that there's no doubt that the pandemic really exacerbated what was already mental health crisis in this country before and the pandemic with the challenges that we faced as a society to our health, to our economy, to our social life, we're going to be seeing no doubt the ripple effects for many years to come. And I think that it's really important that we start to reframe how we look at mental health, treating it as seriously and as importantly as we treat our physical health. Recognizing there's an interaction between mental health and physical health and that poor mental health can worsen physical health.

And finally taking a preventive lens when we look at mental health and starting to screen and treat earlier. And then lastly, I really think opening the door to conversation is so important to decrease the stigma and shame around mental health issues. So, so much here to unpack. Bottom line I think silver lining of the pandemic is that we've seen an increase in terms of telehealth access to care. But still, lots of issues around lack of insurance coverage, high out of pocket costs, high drug prescription costs and even lack of mental health care providers. So, a lot more we need to do when it comes to mental health in this country.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Thanks to Dr. Narula.

Now New York City is easing its mask mandates. Face coverings will no longer be required on buses, subways, taxis or airports. The governor says the masks are encouraged but are optional. Masking requirements remain in effect at adult care and other health facilities regulated by the Department of Health.

The world's second largest movie theater chain is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Cineworld Group is the parent company of Regal Cinemas and own more than 500 theaters across the U.S. The company says it expects to keep operating as usual during the process as its finances are restructured. Like many theaters, Cineworld has struggled during the COVID pandemic and people shift to streaming movies as well.

Streaming service Netflix is being put on notice that some of its content is offensive to Islamic values and must be taken down in parts of Middle East. On Tuesday Saudi Arabia led the Gulf Cooperation Council to threaten legal action against Netflix if it doesn't comply. The statement didn't identify what the Gulf states object to precisely, but programs aimed at children seem to be at the heart of dispute especially shows with LBGTQ themes and same sex couples.

[04:55:00]

American pro tennis player Frances Tiafoe is one step closer to completing what he calls his Cinderella story at this year's U.S. Open. He beat Andrey Rublev of Russia on Wednesday, advancing to the semifinals. CNN's Carolyn Manno has that story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAROLYN MANNO, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: On the heels of Serena Williams' memorable exit from tennis, there is another compelling story unfolding here in the second week of the U.S. Open. 24-year-old American Frances Tiafoe, the son of immigrants from Sierra Leone, advancing to the semifinals and becoming the first American man to do so here in 16 years. Tiafoe taking down Andrey Rublev in straight sets after what he described as the biggest win of his life again as none other than Rafael Nadal. Tiafoe's confidence on full display once again, that massive serve, his aggressive style of play at the net and ice in his veins during both of the tie breaks. He's calling the moment a dream come true.

FRANCES TIAFOE, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I just love playing in front of a packed crowd. I feel like, you know, that's why you train hard and show the world what you can do. Seeing people just like screaming your name, you know, just loving what you're doing. I mean, that's awesome. That's what it's all about. You know, everyone loves a Cinderella story, so I mean let's try and make one.

MANNO: Coming into this year, American men have gone 74 straight majors without a win, but there is no reason to think that Frances Tiafoe can't break that streak with the style of tennis that he has played over the last week and a half. One thing we know for sure, the affable American will have the crowd on his side.

At the U.S. Open, Carolyn Manno, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Definitely want to watch. Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine Romans is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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