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Protests Erupt Across Iran Following Death of Young Woman; Growing Spotlight on U.S. Asylum Seekers Amid Worker Shortage; NASA's DART Spacecraft Nearing Impact with Asteroid. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired September 26, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

[10:30:00]

MASIH ALINEJAD, IRANIAN JOURNALIST AND ACTIVIST: So, it is the most visible symbol of oppression. It is the main pillar of the Islamic republic.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: We have seen protests before, and I don't mean to diminish the significance of this because the numbers and the expanse are significant. And, by the way as we said, people are taking enormous risk to do so.

That said, if then the past, when protests like this have erupted, they've later faded in part because the Iranian government has such an iron group there. Are these protests, in your view, more of a challenge to Iranian leadership?

ALINEJAD: It is. Because, look, as I said, while it is a turning point for women, it is a tipping point for the Islamic republic, because for the Islamic republic, compulsory hijab is like the Berlin Wall. So, that is why if women and men now get successful, like in a large number, to burn head scarves and bring this wall down, the Islamic republic won't exist. That is why they are really scared and they open fire at people to kill them. They cut off the internet right now because they don't want the rest of the world to see the crackdown, the brutality of such a regime.

What makes this protest different, clearly, let me tell you something, three years ago in bloody November, 1,500 people got killed. It seems that Iranian people know that but they're saying that enough is enough. We are facing guns and bullets but we are ready to pay the price to have a secular democratic country. Can you believe that a woman filmed herself and saying that -- or tweeted about it, saying, I don't know whether I'm going to go back home or not. But what I care about it is just free freedom. These are the free feminists, the true leaders within society.

SCIUTTO: I'm seen it and I've spoken to Iranian woman how it is more than about their appearance, it is about control. You have overcome a challenge for many exiled dissidents in that you've stayed relevant, stayed influential in Iran despite being forced out of the country via really a truly remarkable use of social media to amplify voices from inside the country. And I wonder how you manage that. ALINEJAD: Look, because social media is our weapon. To be honest, now, Iranians are brave enough to be their own storytellers. All I do is, I just echo their voices to different media. Why? Because the Iranian regime have their own lobbyist, apologists, they're all over -- around the world just trying to convince the west to get a nuclear deal.

But I'm here to echo the voice of the Iranian people within the society actually asking a simple demand that while we're getting killed in Iran, stop negotiating with our murderers. Cut off all your ties with this Islamic republic. So, I'm echoing their voice.

You don't see that Iranians right now are getting -- facing guns and bullets burning American flags, no? They don't even ask for nuclear deal. They are not even chanting against sanctions. They're chanting against the Islamic republic. And that is why I'm here to ask the Biden administration, hear this voice and ask your European allies to recall their ambassadors because people are getting killed. I'm asking my sisters in America, feminist global movement, I was one of them, I took to the streets in New York for chanting my body, my choice, for women's march.

But Iranians' version of women's march is bloody. Women are getting killed. I'm asking my sisters in America to take to the streets. In Europe, when George Floyd brutally got killed, the whole world rightfully got united. Now, Mahsa Amini and many other people are getting killed. I'm begging you, take to the streets and giving voice to Iranian true leaders.

SCIUTTO: Well, I'm going to share your post online so folks at home who are watching can also do their part to spread the word. And I'll tell you, some of those videos, they're just truly inspiring to see. So, Masih, it's great to have you on, we wish you the best of luck and we wish the people protesting now the best of luck.

ALINEJAD: I appreciate that. Thank you so much for having us.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, Republican governors shipping asylum-seekers out of their states but doing so in the midst of a worker shortage. CNN is speaking to small business owners who say that strategy doesn't make any sense.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JESSICA COOPER, OWNER, SUGAR TOP FARMS: It is hard to watch willing workers leave your state with tax dollars.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:35:00]

SCIUTTO: The U.S. worker shortage is far from over. Latest numbers from the Labor Department show that there are more than 11 million jobs to fill, almost double the number of unemployed Americans looking for work.

The crisis is putting a new spotlight on legal foreign workers, as some Republicans states are moving asylum-seekers who, by the way, are here legally within that process, away from places where they might be able to help the labor shortage.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich has more on this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COOPER: It didn't make any sense.

JAN GAUTEM, PRESIDENT, IHRMC: Why are they sending them there when we need the people here?

MARCELA RESTREPO, OWNER, SKY BUILDERS USA: Help us to help the economy grow.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Dozens of asylum-seekers were sent on flights from Texas to Martha's Vineyard, lured with the promise of a job. While Florida's Governor Ron DeSantis arranged the flights, business owners in his own state are struggling to find anyone to fill their open jobs.

COOPER: We know that we have a massive labor shortage in Florida.

YURKEVICH: there are at least 670,000 asylum-seekers in the U.S. awaiting their cases to be heard. The average wait time, four and a half years.

[10:40:00]

In the meantime, they can apply to legally work, a process that can take several months. DeSantis said he believes these asylum-seekers were coming to Florida from Texas, so he used funds allocated to move migrants out of Florida with the planes made a stopover.

COOPER: It is hard to watch willing workers leave your state with tax dollars.

YURKEVICH: Jessica Cooper owns a small farm outside of Orlando. She sells to restaurants at major attractions, like Disney World. It is a year round operation.

COOPER: We're finding that it is hard to keep domestic labor. This is a hard job, right? This is not for everyone.

YURKEVICH: It is a problem throughout the agriculture industry, the second largest industry in Florida. Cooper says she's advertised everywhere to find help with no luck.

Whether these asylum-seekers were intending to come to Florida on their own --

COOPER: Actually, I would have welcomed them. Why not lift up the small businesses in a way that they're also being helped on their labor?

YURKEVICH: The construction industry is facing an aging workforce. The average age of asylum-seekers, 35. The industry is short 650,000 workers but has an average wage of $35 an hour.

MICHELE DAUGHERTY, PRESIDENT, FLORIDA ASSOCIATED BUSINESS AND CONTRACTORS: If they are able to legally work here, we have jobs for them. We have opportunities for them to not just take care of themselves, but their families.

YURKEVICH: There are major construction projects underway in Florida, like Universal Epic in Orlando aimed at attracting tourists to the state, and billions of dollars more allocated to state projects but not enough people to do the work.

And it is not just in Florida. There are 11.2 million open jobs in the U.S., more than last year.

RESTREPO: You just see Orlando, the way that it is growing, the way the construction is growing, job is there and there is a quality people coming from other countries.

YURKEVICH: The hospitality industry has been slow to recover from the pandemic. There are still 1.5 million open hospitality jobs in the U.S. and about 1,800 at Jan Gautem's hotel management company.

GAUTEM: 60 percent of the employees, they decide to go back and work from home.

YURKEVICH: Leaving Gautem with very few people to run 50 of his Florida hotels.

GAUTEM: It is very tough to find those employees. I mean, I was making beds a couple of days ago.

YURKEVICH: You, as the president, were making beds?

GAUTEM: That is correct. Yes, that is correct.

YURKEVICH: Because you couldn't find anyone to do it?

GAUTEM: No.

YURKEVICH: As an migrant from India who arrived to the U.S. with just $6, he says understands the value of a job and the chance to work to achieve a dream. He says if he were DeSantis, he would have done things differently.

GAUTEM: I would have kept them here. I mean, I realize in my hotels, trust me.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH (on camera): Now, the business owners that we spoke to say that critical immigration reform is one way to help them and it needs to be done by the federal government. But, Jim, as we know for decades now, Republicans and Democrats have sparred over this hot button issue, not really pushing much legislation forward in terms of comprehensive reform.

And one study from Texas A&M University actually, really shows how immigration relates to the economy. It revealed that more immigration to the U.S. actually could help lower inflation. That is another key issue for these business owners, Jim.

SCIUTTO: Yes. That is why many big businesses, big corporations have been pushing for immigration reform for some time. Vanessa Yurkevich, thanks so much for covering.

YURKEVICH: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Well, tonight, NASA will attempt to slam, you heard it right, a spacecraft into a giant asteroid, not moving. So, what is the point and what will we get to see here on Earth? You're going to see it live. Those details are next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:45:00]

SCIUTTO: It sounds like the plot of a sci-fi blockbuster, it was a few times, but NASA is attempting to make it a reality. Tonight, the aptly named DART spacecraft will strike an asteroid, if it works, whirling in outer space hoping, get a little nudge, to knock it off course. The asteroid poses no threat to Earth but this is a test that could give scientists and engineers the knowledge needed to stop a future potentially extinction level event.

Here now to discuss, Astrophysicist at Harvard and Smithsonian Jonathan McDowell. Good to have you on, sir.

JONATHAN MCDOWELL, ASTROPHYSICIST, CENTER FOR ASTROPHYSICS, HARVARD AND SMITHSONIAN: Hi, Jim.

SCIUTTO: So, first of all, statistically, for those of us down here who might look at the sky nervously now, what is the risk in our lifetime that an asteroid actually threatens Earth?

MCDOWELL: Very, very low. We may see more things like we saw in Chelyabinsk a few years ago, things that could really damage a city if they hit us, but something that would be existential, end of the world stuff, that is every many million years. And so the risk is low but it is not zero.

SCIUTTO: Fair enough. And it's like one of those like low risk by high impact events, so to speak.

So, describe how this DART works here, right? I mean, is it -- it is giving it a steer, right, it's giving it a push, if this works?

MCDOWELL: Right. I mean, it is basic high school physics. A little thing going very fast hitting a big thing, it is a 5 million ton rock flying through space. [10:50:02]

We want to just change its speed a little bit, just ever so slightly. And a lot of the trick is being able to measure that tiny change in the speed to check that, yes, we could really can do this, we really can shift the motion of a celestial body.

SCIUTTO: Force equals mass times acceleration, was that the right one from high school physics?

MCDOWELL: That's right. And momentum is mass times velocity. That is the key thing here.

SCIUTTO: Well, now you're confusing me. But, no, I get it.

So, if folks are going to watch tonight, I believe it's like just after 7:00 Eastern Time, what do you see? Are you going to see like a little puff of smoke as it happens, something bigger? I mean, what is it going to look like physically?

MCDOWELL: I think it is going to be pretty dramatic but it may take some time for the images to get relayed back to Earth because they got really bad Wi-Fi out there at the asteroid, right? So, it is -- but you will see a big, big puff of dust come out. It is going to carve out a crater in this tiny little asteroid. And I think it is going to be quite a spectacular smash. But we'll see.

SCIUTTO: I'm definitely going to watch it.

Okay, just another quick question because we've been following the Artemis launch, the test for the eventual journey back to the moon. It looks like they're going to not only delay it but have to roll that rocket back because of the storm. How long does that push things back longer term?

MCDOWELL: Well, the next launch opportunity isn't until the 17th of October. And so, hopefully, they'll be able to go in that time. It is -- they're having a lot of trouble with this system, but rather safe than sorry, right?

SCIUTTO: You told me during the break that the longer it is delayed, that actually might cause its own problems. How would that work?

MCDOWELL: Right. Well, if you keep fueling up the rocket and then unfueling it again, if you keep rolling it out and back, each time the sort of various components that get closer to their life limit, you might have to requalify some things. The batteries on the cube sets aboard could run down, all kinds of issues that crop up if you delay it too long. So nothing fatal, I think, but it adds to the stress.

SCIUTTO: All right. Finger crossed for them. Jonathan McDowell, always good to have you on.

MCDOWELL: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Coming up next, an important warning for parents about these brightly colored pills. They're dangerous. They're actually fentanyl. And law enforcement around the country is worried the deadly pills could be end up being appealing to kids.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

SCIUTTO: After a six-year hiatus, Superstar Rihanna is finally making her long-awaited return to music at the Super Bowl.

It is going to be fun. The Barbados-born singer announced yesterday she will be taking the stage for the first ever Apple Music Super Bowl halftime show in February. The NFL and Rihanna both tweeted this image of a football in Rihanna's hands. No word on if she will release new music ahead of that performance.

Since 2019, Rihanna has hinted that her ninth studio album is nearly finished and will be infused with reggae.

Well, the story we're following this morning, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is warning Americans about an emerging trend in the Opioid epidemic, and that is rainbow fentanyl. These brightly colored pills and powders look very similar to candy, even sidewalk chalk. But, to be clear, they're dangerous. They contain the highly addictive, highly powerful drug, fentanyl.

Joining me now is CNN's Jacqueline Howard. Jacqueline, I mean, listen, fentanyl is responsible for so many addictions and deaths in this country. To see it like this, I mean, it looks like a child's vitamin. How concerned are authorities now?

JACQUELINE HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: That is right. You know, Jim, authorities are really raising awareness around this. They have seized rainbow fentanyl in 18 states. This was reported just last month. So, they are reporting that they're seeing more of these types of products out there when it comes to monitoring the opioid epidemic.

But I will say that colored fentanyl pills are not something new. Fentanyl is typically seen in counterfeit pills. So, we have seen counterfeit pills that come in blue colors, for instance, and other colors containing fentanyl.

But what is concerning here, according to drug authorities, is that the rainbow colors could be accidently appealing to young children if someone in the home has these products and a child comes across it. There is the risk of accidental exposure.

The rainbow colors, some experts say, could be a way to differentiate between different batches of the substance. That is why we could see more of these different colors emerging. But, again, Jim, this does seem to be the next thing on drug authority's radar when it comes to the opioid epidemic.

And just to tell you, Jim, a little bit more about fentanyl for our audience, to put this in perspective, fentanyl is a synthetic opioid. It is 50 times more potent than heroin, 100 times more potent than morphine, and just two milligrams of the substance is considered to be a lethal dose. So, that is why brightly colored fentanyl in this form is, again, getting some attention, but this is just part of the ongoing opioid epidemic. It's one small part of this larger public health crisis.

SCIUTTO: No question, I mean, responsible for so many deaths, fentanyl, just so powerful.

HOWARD: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Jacqueline Howard, thanks so much. We'll continue to get the word out on a threat like this.

And thanks so much to all of you for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

[11:00:00]

My colleague, Boris Sanchez, picks up with At This Hour right now.

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