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Police Arrest Man in Stockton Suspected in Series of Killings; Fire at Iran's Notorious Evin Prison Injures Eight; Xi Jinping Poised to Rule with Iron Grip for Many Years; Gunmen Kill 11 at Russian Military Training Center; NYC Preparing to Open Emergency Migrant Shelters; New U.K. Finance Minister Admits PM Made Mistakes with Mini Budget; Climate Change, Extreme Weather's Toll on U.S. Schools. Aired 3-4a ET
Aired October 16, 2022 - 03:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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LAILA HARRAK, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us from the United States and all around the world. I'm Laila Harrak this hour on CNN NEWSROOM.
Police make an arrest in connection with a series of killings in California. Hear why they believe the suspect was out hunting for another victim.
Black smoke rises above Iran's most notorious prison, one that holds political dissidents, including some American citizens. A live report on the protest inside the facility.
And Chinese president Xi Jinping prepares to make history.
Meanwhile, Taiwan has its own response to Xi's address at the Chinese Communist Party Congress. We're live in Beijing and Taipei with details.
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HARRAK: Authorities in Stockton, California, have arrested a man they believe is connected to a series of killings. They say the suspect was armed and on a mission to kill another victim. CNN's Camila Bernal reports.
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CAMILA BERNAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We have been following this story for days and now authorities say they believe they have their suspect. This is 43-year-old Wesley Brownlee of Stockton.
And what authorities are saying is that they were able to arrest this man thanks to two things: the first being the tips and the help from the community and the second being old-fashioned police work.
They say they were able to zero in on one possible suspect thanks to all of these tips and they began following this man trying to figure out exactly where he was going, trying to see if there were any patterns to all of this. And the chief of police in Stockton saying this man was on a mission to kill.
Saturday at around 2:00 in the morning they were following him. They say he left his house, he was in dark areas, going to parks, stopping, looking around, then moving again and they decided to arrest him.
They say that he was wearing all black, that he had a mask around his neck and also that they found a gun. He was carrying a gun. Here is now what the mayor of Stockton, Kevin Lincoln, is saying about all of this.
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MAYOR KEVIN LINCOLN, STOCKTON, CALIFORNIA: We will use every resource at our disposal to make sure the people of our city are protected, it feels safe and that no parent has to worry about taking their kids to a park.
That nobody would have to worry about looking over their shoulder when they go to the grocery store and that our unhoused population here in the city of Stockton will be able to rest a little bit easier tonight, as we take the next steps towards getting them help and healing in their life.
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BERNAL: And authorities say they will announce the charges on Tuesday when this man is first set to appear in court. In terms of the motive, the chief of police still saying they do not know and do not have a motive.
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HARRAK: CNN's Camila Bernal reporting.
And there's been a grim discovery in northeastern Oklahoma. Police in Okmulgee say they pulled human remains of four adult males from a nearby river. It's unclear whether they are the four close friends last seen last weekend when they went for a bicycle ride.
The police chief suspects foul play but it's up to the medical examiner to determine how they died.
A fire is under control at a notoriously brutal prison in Tehran, where Iran's political dissidents are held. At least eight people were injured in Saturday's blaze, according to Iranian state media.
The governor of Tehran says the fire was started by prisoners inside the facility. At this point, CNN is not able to independently verify the situation. We do know that some Americans are imprisoned inside Evin and the U.S. State Department is responding.
Spokesman Ned Price says, "We're following reports from Evin prison with urgency. Iran is fully responsible for the safety of wrongfully detained citizens who should be released immediately."
For more on this developing story, CNN's Nada Bashir in London.
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HARRAK: Nada, this comes off the back of weeks of protests in Iran.
What are we learning?
NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Details are still coming in, still quite unclear. But this was extremely troubling and concerning. Late last night, videos emerging showing plumes of dark black smoke emerging from Evin prison as you laid out there.
A prison complex which houses political dissidents, according to human rights organizations. But we're talking about political activists, journalists, lawyers, professors, writers, some of Iran's best and brightest being detained by the Iranian regime in prison.
This has been deeply worrying many people across Iran and across the globe, indeed. We have heard from human rights organizations overnight, 1,500 which has been documenting many of the protests we've seen, sharing amongst the first videos of what appears to have been that fire coming from Evin prison, as well as videos which appear to show the sound of gunfire in the background.
They reported late last night Iran security forces had been seen being deployed to the prison. As you can imagine, the Iranian regime and authorities have been quick to quell any suggestion that this was perhaps linked or connected to the protests that have been taking place.
They have confirmed that eight inmates have been injured but said this fire was caused by what they described as "thugs" in the prison rioting. It was quickly brought under control after that fire ensued in a clothing warehouse on the complex.
But we've also heard from another human rights organization and from another -- IranWire, a pro-reform news outlet, they said they've been speaking to a source within the prison, who told them there was a revolt in the complex.
So there were clearly details there to be confirmed. It is unclear exactly what caused this fire. But it is significant given the context, weeks and weeks of protests gaining momentum. It doesn't appear as though they will be stopping anytime soon.
HARRAK: Nada Bashir, thanks so much for your reporting.
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HARRAK: Turning to the U.S. midterm elections, with just over three weeks to go before the crucial voting date, let's take a look at two key Senate battles.
One race that could decide which party controls the Senate is happening in the state of Georgia. The candidates facing off in a debate Friday, perhaps for the only time before Election Day.
The Democrat hoping to hold on to the seat is senator Raphael Warnock. In a poll last week, he had a 7-point lead over Republican Herschel Walker.
Mr. Walker only dropped by 1 point from a September poll after explosive reports surfaced that he, an abortion rights opponent, paid for his former girlfriend's abortion and encouraged her to get the procedure a second time.
And now we're learning that former president Barack Obama will campaign for Democrats in Georgia in these final weeks before the midterms.
And in Pennsylvania, where the Democrat lieutenant governor John Fetterman is taking on TV personality Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz.
Our CNN poll of polls shows Mr. Fetterman leading by only 5 points. Mr. Fetterman had an 11-point lead in one poll in August and in just a month, that got slashed to a 3-point gap. Mr. Fetterman is getting support from the country's top Democrat.
President Biden is expected to join him Thursday at a fundraiser in Philadelphia. No word if former president Donald Trump will campaign for Dr. Oz.
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DAVID SWERDLICK, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: For Oz, it depends on how he does in the next week or two. You've got that visit by Biden on Thursday. Then the two of them debate the following Tuesday.
If the race is tightening, you might see Oz and his team think, look, we don't need to bring in a big gun like a former president Trump. If the race widens in favor of Fetterman, you might see them thinking that they need to bring in someone else to remind voters what's at stake more nationally.
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HARRAK: Election Day is November 8th, with early voting starting in some states on Monday.
History is unfolding right now in Beijing, with Xi Jinping preparing to extend his iron grip well into the future while issuing a stark warning to Taiwan. Live reports from Beijing and Taipei are just ahead.
Plus a city in Russia takes a pounding as fighting rages across the border in Ukraine.
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HARRAK: The end result, an oil facility catches fire and military recruits lose their lives before they even get to the battlefield.
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HARRAK: An extraordinary moment in modern China's history is taking place in Beijing. Leader Xi Jinping is poised to rule that country unopposed for many years to come. This gathering of the Communist Party Congress only happens every five years.
After 10 years in power, Mr. Xi is now heading toward an unprecedented third term as the party's general secretary, the seat of ultimate authority. In his two-hour address, he had sharp words about Taiwan and warned other countries not to interfere, take a listen.
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XI JINPING, PRESIDENT OF CHINA (through translator): We firmly uphold international fairness and justice, advocate the practice of genuine multilateralism, take a clear stand against all hegemonies and power politics and unswervingly oppose unilateralism, protectionism, hegemony and bullying activities.
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HARRAK: We have team coverage for you with Will Ripley and Steven Jiang.
Steven, Mr. Xi with a very pointed message.
Who's the intended audience?
STEVEN JIANG, CNN SENIOR PRODUCER, BEIJING BUREAU: Not so subtle message against the U.S. and it's not a surprise because, for some time, he has made no secret of his desire to reshape the U.S.-led world order, to rewrite international rules from his perspective.
There is this growing sense of besiegement by the U.S. and its allies, both strategically and economically, to contain China's rise on the global stage. And that kind of sentiment is actually what's been bonding him and his Russian counterpart, Putin, to form that so-called no-limits partnership.
That's also why Beijing continues to support Moscow on so many different levels -- deepening economic ties, coordinating propaganda campaigns, despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine was not mentioned by Xi Jinping either specifically.
But the one word he kept using in that speech was struggle, sometimes better translated as fight. He talked about not only fighting unilateralism and hegemony but also fighting COVID, fighting corruption within the party, fighting subversive forces in Hong Kong, fighting separatists in Taiwan. I think that's a very telling word that reflects his philosophy and
attitude. It really is a indication that he's unlikely to back down from many if not all of his hardline positions and policies, both domestically and internationally. Laila.
HARRAK: Let's go to Taipei where Will is standing by.
Will, to continue on that theme that Steven just pointed out, very strident words from Mr. Xi on Taiwan.
WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: And certainly it's nothing new. It's nothing that we haven't heard before. But every time Xi Jinping reasserts his belief and the belief of the Communist rulers in Beijing, that this self-governing democracy that's had its own, not just government but military, and has evolved into a democracy over more than 70 years of separation from the Mainland's Communist rulers and this government itself has been essentially delegitimized on the global stage or at least they've attempted to delegitimize the government here by icing out this island diplomatically, by icing them out economically, and threatening, the ever-present looming threat of a military takeover.
And Xi Jinping once again refusing to rule that out, unsettling clearly for the leadership on this island, elected by the 23 million people who live here. The leaders who say they will not accept a unilateral reunification with a mainland that they do not feel should control them, should not control the future of the people who live here.
They say the people on this island should be the ones to choose. But that certainly, as we heard earlier, is not the view from the Chinese leader, Xi Jinping. Listen.
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XI (through translator): We will continue to strive for peaceful reunification with the greatest of sincerity and the utmost efforts but we will never promise to renounce the use of force. And we reserve the option of taking all measures necessarily.
This is directed solely at interference by outside forces and a few separatists seeking Taiwan independence.
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RIPLEY: Again, the separatist forces he's referring to, the leaders of this democracy, who their people chose to put into power. The Communist rulers in Beijing say they are the leaders, they are the ones who will decide eventually one way or another.
If you look at, in the United States, for example, the public perception of China as a result of these and other policies, you will see that, according to the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the opinion of Americans of China has fallen to the lowest level in the more than 40 years that the Chicago Council has been conducting these surveys. The author of the survey says the Americans are not alone in these
views. They point to public polls around the region, including Japan, Korea, Australia, that have all turned against the People's Republic of China in recent years as a result of Beijing's own policies.
So the Western world certainly alienated by what they are hearing out of Beijing. But that does not matter to Xi Jinping, who commands absolute power, power that is consolidating as we speak and is set to only grow in the coming months and years ahead.
HARRAK: Will Ripley and Steven Jiang, thank you both.
The Biden administration says China poses the top geopolitical challenge for the U.S. Earlier I spoke with Willy Lam from the Center for China Studies at Chinese University of Hong Kong. And he says Beijing is showing no signs of compromising with Washington.
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WILLY LAM, CENTER FOR CHINA STUDIES, CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG: Xi Jinping is anxious to show the delegates to the congress that he is strong enough to stand up to the Americans.
So he has instead served a warning on Washington that the Chinese people are good at waging so-called struggles against any China foreign forces and that Beijing is opposed to so-called hegemonies and powerful (INAUDIBLE) by big countries to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries.
So Xi Jinping is not showing any signs that -- because the Chinese economy is not doing so well due to sanctions and boycotts imposed by the U.S. Beijing is not about to make compromise with the U.S.
HARRAK: In terms of foreign policy, how has Mr. Xi changed China's position on the world stage?
LAM: Well, Xi Jinping has stood on its head a major, very wise principle laid down by a former leader Deng Xiaoping (INAUDIBLE) to keep a low profile and never take the lead.
So Xi Jinping hopes that China will emerge as the leader of the developing world, just as Mao Zedong in the '50s was aspiring to be the leader of the socialist Communist countries.
So that's why, despite problems in the economy this year, Xi Jinping is still spending a lot of money and rewarding results as to both hard and soft power projection. And through international undertakings, like the Belt and Road Initiative (ph), he's trying to enlarge China's footprint around the world.
And this is why Washington sees China as the most dangerous country in upsetting the current international rules of international intercourse.
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HARRAK: Thanks to professor Willy Lam for speaking with CNN earlier.
North Korea is reaffirming its ties with Beijing to mark China's 20th National Party Congress. North Korean state media says Pyongyang received a message from Xi Jinping this week, in which the Chinese leader emphasized how the two countries should continue to strengthen their relationship.
North Korea in turn sent a congratulatory message, praising Xi's leadership and thanking the Chinese president for his support.
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HARRAK: Military training came to a deadly end for some Russian recruits near the border with Ukraine. Russia's Tass state news agency says 11 were killed when two gunmen opened fire at a training center in Belgorod on Saturday.
Hours earlier, Russia said a Ukrainian missile hit an oil depot in the same region, causing it to catch fire. While across the border, Ukraine says 11 people were killed in a barrage of Russian strikes across the country.
Moscow was also stepping up pressure on Ukrainian troops with a push toward the eastern city of Bakhmut. President Zelenskyy says the situation there is tough.
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VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translator): A very difficult situation persists in Donetsk region and Luhansk region. The most difficult is the Bakhmut direction as in the previous days.
We hold our positions in general in the east and south. We do everything to make the occupiers feel that they have no prospects. No matter who they send to fight against us, it will only end in defeat for them.
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HARRAK: And we're just getting word that Russian missile strikes in the Zaporizhzhya region destroyed two schools there. A Ukrainian official says no casualties have been reported. Scott McLean is monitoring developments in Ukraine, joining us from London.
Let's start with the shooting at the training center.
What else do we know about that?
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The governor of the Belgorod region in Russia says this shooting at the military training center was a terrorist attack. He says 11 people were killed, 15 were injured, none of them were civilians.
Russian media reported that it happened during a training session involving troops who were on their way to go and train or go and take part in the special military operation, what Russia calls the war in Ukraine.
Specifically what was taking place at that time was a drill involving shooting. You can imagine the chaos of the situation, where you have these Russian troops that are firing at targets; we assume, then all of a sudden, you have some of those who are doing the shooting actually taking fire themselves.
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MCLEAN: Russian state media reported that the shooters were shot and killed. It says they were from former Soviet states, though it doesn't say which ones. It also doesn't give any details as to exactly what their role was in this training, if they had any at all.
That media report also goes to lengths to point out that these were volunteers, who were taking part in this training rather than conscripts, people conscripted against their will.
Of course, the partial military mobilization announced by Russian president Vladimir Putin involving 300,000 troops has been extremely controversial in the country, leading to widespread protests, resistance and of course, a lot of people heading for the exits as well.
Putin said last week it was nearing its completion, with 220,000 troops having been called up already. This attack at this training center comes the same day, as you mentioned, as a strike on an oil depot also in the Belgorod region.
The local governor blames the Ukrainians on that. It is one of just a string of recent attacks in the region. For instance, on Friday, Russia says that its air defense system shot down an incoming Ukrainian missile.
On Thursday, excuse me, an ammunition depot in the Belgorod region was hit. There was also an apartment building hit by debris. The Russians say that it was debris that was caused by the air defense system shooting down incoming Ukrainian fire.
The Ukrainians say that this was a Russian missile aimed at Ukraine that had misfired. Either way, last month, Russian president Vladimir Putin acknowledged that there were attacks taking place on Russian soil. The FSB, the Russian intelligence service, says those attacks have ramped up since the beginning of October.
The Ukrainians, though, have not acknowledged any attacks on Russian soil, Laila.
HARRAK: Scott McLean reporting, thanks so much.
Still to come on CNN, new, extraordinary exclusive of video of congressional leaders on January 6th as the U.S. Capitol was under attack. Plus New York City is preparing new emergency shelters for the influx
of migrants arriving there. But officials warn it's not a permanent fix to a very large problem.
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HARRAK: Welcome back to our viewers around the world. I'm Laila Harrak and you're watching CNN NEWSROOM.
U.S. President Joe Biden says video and testimony shown Thursday at the January 6th hearing was, quote, "devastating." He said that the House committee probing the attack on the Capitol has made an overwhelming case. He made the remarks in Oregon while campaigning for Democrats ahead of the midterm elections.
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JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I think the testimony and the video are actually devastating. And I've been going out of my way not to comment. We'll see what happens. But it's -- I think it's been devastating.
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HARRAK: Meantime, we have new video of congressional leaders on January 6th as they fled the Capitol while it was overrun by rioters. The footage shows how the designation's top lawmakers transformed a nearby military base into a command center. CNN's Zachary Cohen reports.
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ZACH COHEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: This exclusive CNN video shows new details of what was happening behind the scenes at Ft. McNair after congressional leaders were evacuated from the U.S. Capitol during the insurrection on January 6th.
The new footage shows top lawmakers discussing whether they should go back to the Capitol that day or if a backup plan needed to be put in motion so they could vote to certify the 2020 election. Take a look at this.
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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY), MAJORITY LEADER: So let's say we finish at midnight or 1:00 in the morning.
How does it -- you're going to them all back to the Capitol and let them disperse?
How would we look out for their safety once we're finished?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We will make sure they are safe getting back to where they need to be. We will have time as we set up this operation and move forward with this democratic process and we'll adjust accordingly. But obviously the Capitol is, is no condition to go back to.
COHEN (voice-over): You can see just how concerned congressional leaders like Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer were but also their focus on moving forward with the election certification either from the Capitol or another backup location if needed.
We know lawmakers ultimately returned to the Capitol on January 6th and certified Joe Biden's electoral victory.
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COHEN: But the video sheds new light on what was happening behind the scenes in this secure location as the riot was unfolding -- Zachary Cohen, CNN, Washington.
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HARRAK: Large numbers of migrants continue to arrive in New York putting a severe strain on the city's resources. Officials say more than 19,000 people have been through this shelter system in recent months.
To help relieve some of that pressure, a new facility is set to open where migrants can stay temporarily. CNN's Gloria Pazmino has a closer look.
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GLORIA PAZMINO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I'm on Randall's Island, which is actually home to several sporting facilities and fields. But this is also where the city in the last week or so has been building these tents, which will be used to house thousands of migrants which have been coming through the city in the last several months.
More than 19,000 people have been processed through the Department of Homeless Services. The city tells us that they are hoping to open up the tents that you see behind me at the end of this month.
There's capacity here for 500 single adults. We took a ride around the island to just get a closer look at exactly what is going on. We can see that the structures are almost fully built.
And inside of them they're beginning to lay out beds and cots. Each bed has a blanket, a pillow and around the property there are also several units, mobile units with showers, a laundry, Laundromats and bathrooms.
These are just some of the facilities that the city is trying to set up so that migrants can access them while they are here. This is not supposed to be a permanent solution. The mayor of New
York, Eric Adams, has made it clear he wants people to only be here for a couple of days while they get connected to a more permanent housing option, while they get connected with relatives --
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PAZMINO: -- or family in other places where they are trying to go. This will be a place where they can get food, medical attention if they need it and, as they get settled and on their way to their next stop.
The mayor has also said he needs help from the federal government. He's asking the federal government to step up and help as this influx of migrants continues.
Now this site here will only serve single adults. And families will be served in a hotel in Midtown Manhattan. That is going to house up to 200 families over the next couple of months. They will have a place to stay as the city tries to connect them to resources.
But this is going to continue to be an issue for the mayor and local elected officials as they try to provide services in what is already a system that is extremely stretched out and running out of resources -- in Randall's Island, Gloria Pazmino, CNN.
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HARRAK: Still to come, the U.K.'s new finance minister admitting mistakes were made with a controversial mini budget. Details after the break.
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HARRAK: The Bank of England is expected to announce its decision on whether to raise interest rates on November 3rd, just days after the finance minister reveals his fiscal plan.
An IMF meeting in Washington on Saturday, the bank's governor explained that two factors are behind the need for higher interest rates, the government's plan to support residents during the energy crisis and prime minister Truss' plans to cut taxes.
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ANDREW BAILEY, GOVERNOR, BANK OF ENGLAND: We will not hesitate to raise interest rates to meet the inflation target. And as things stand today, my best guess is that inflationary pressures will require a stronger response than we perhaps thought in August.
(END VIDEO CLIP) HARRAK: The U.K.'s new finance minister is warning difficult decisions will have to be made to get the British economy back on track.
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HARRAK: Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to unveil the government's medium-term fiscal plan at the end of this month. He says the recent economic policy from prime minister Liz Truss and his predecessor, Kwasi Kwarteng, went, quote, "too far, too fast."
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JEREMY HUNT, U.K. CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQUER: It was a mistake when we're going to be asking for difficult decisions across the board on tax and spending to cut the rate of tax paid by the very wealthiest.
It was a mistake to fly blind and to do these forecasts without giving people the confidence of the Office for Budget Responsibility saying that the sums add up. And the prime minister's recognized that. That's why I'm here.
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HARRAK: Meantime, the opposition leader describes the PM's sacking of Kwarteng on Friday as "grotesque chaos." Labour Party leader Keir Starmer says Liz Truss and her Conservative Party, quote, "no longer have a mandate from the British people."
With the many U-turns and political detours in the U.K. in the last few weeks, it might be hard for some of us to keep up. Let's get clarity from John Rentoul. He is the chief political commentator at "The Independent" newspaper and visiting professor at King's College London.
So good to have you with us. I really hope you can shed light for us on what is going on in the U.K. British finance minister Jeremy Hunt promising to restore economic stability.
But can he repair the damage?
JOHN RENTOUL, "THE INDEPENDENT": Well, he can't totally repair the damage. Some of that damage is lasting. This is the biggest U-turn in British politics in my lifetime. And it comes from a prime minister who models herself on Margaret Thatcher, who, of course, said that she wasn't going to U-turn. And she didn't U-turn.
She came under a lot of pressure to change her economic policy but she persisted with it. Liz Truss is not in such a happy position. She has just reversed the entire policy on which she ran for the leadership of the Conservative Party.
She's reversed her appointment of Kwasi Kwarteng as chancellor. And in effect, she's reversed the results of that leadership, that Tory leadership, that she's now pursuing the policy set out by Rishi Sunak, who was her opponent in that leadership election and who was the chancellor before all of this began.
HARRAK: So where does this all leave prime minister Truss?
Is she now a lame duck prime minister?
And is Mr. Hunt calling the shots?
RENTOUL: Absolutely. Jeremy Hunt is, in effect, the prime minister now. Liz Truss is locked in a side room and she can doodle on bits of paper. But she doesn't make any of the important decisions.
Jeremy Hunt will decide how to make the government's -- the public finances add up, because he has an agreed target, which Liz Truss and Kwasi Kwarteng had set out, which is to stabilize national debt within five years.
But they couldn't make the sums add up and their tax cuts made it worse. So they've got to be reversed. And Jeremy Hunt will set out a new program for an entirely new government at the end of this month.
HARRAK: There seems to be lots of policy confusion; not just now, for the past six years. The focus is now firmly on prime minister Truss, especially her inauspicious start in office.
But this predates her, doesn't it?
Especially after Brexit, which was supposed to usher in this era of economic boom for the U.K.
Where has it all gone wrong?
RENTOUL: Well, I mean, to be fair to the government, a number of outside crises have hit it, the coronavirus and now we've got the world energy crisis. And that's really what's destabilized the public finances.
But Liz Truss pursued a quixotic approach to the public finances, which was to make them worse by cutting taxes in the middle of a crisis. Unfunded tax cuts were never a good idea, were never going to add up. It was unsustainable, it was a crime against arithmetic, let alone politics. So it's no wonder she has come a cropper.
And she certainly has. And the government will struggle to survive. There's going to be a general election within about two years. And it's very hard to see how the Conservative Party can claw back any credibility after this.
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HARRAK: That was going to be my final question from you. I'd love to get your final thoughts on what the fallout has been for the Tories, the prime minister's political party?
RENTOUL: Well, there seems to be a settled assumption among Conservative MPs that Liz Truss cannot lead them into the next election. She is so unpopular. She started off badly and managed to make it 10 times worse by provoking an astonishing crisis in the markets, which Jeremy Hunt has come in to try and stabilize.
So Liz Truss is on borrowed time. I think her party will get rid of her. But once again, we're in the same position that we were in at the beginning of this year, when the Conservative MPs wanted to get rid of Boris Johnson as prime minister but they couldn't agree on who to replace him with. They ended up replacing him with someone worse.
So they're worried that's going to happen again. They're conspiring with each other to try and impose a consensus candidate on the party members, who normally get the final say. But they can't agree on who the consensus candidate should be.
HARRAK: John Rentoul, thank you so much.
RENTOUL: My pleasure.
HARRAK: Millions of Americans are under flood watches this weekend, with heavy rains expected in the Southwest. We get the latest forecast straight ahead.
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HARRAK: Millions of people in the U.S. Southwest are currently under flood watches. Forecasts are calling for heavy rain from Texas to California.
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HARRAK: Now much of Florida is still reeling from hurricane Ian more than two weeks after the powerful storm slammed into the state. Schools there have been particularly hardhit. As CNN's Rene Marsh reports, it's just the latest example of extreme weather, brought on by the climate crisis, impacting education in the U.S.
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MELISSA WRIGHT, SON'S SCHOOL DESTROYED: My goodness gracious.
RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT ( voice-over): Melissa Wright sees the destruction at her ten-year-old son Zane's school for the first time.
WRIGHT: That's the sign he stands in for the first day of school every year.
MARSH (voice-over): Fort Myers Beach Elementary, is one block from the ocean as Hurricane Ian's powerful winds tore down walls in the storm surge approach the top of the doors to throwing everything inside.
WRIGHT: Losing that school is probably what I've cried about most. MARSH (voice-over): It has been more than two weeks and the entirely Lee County School District remains shut down.
CHRISTOPHER BERNIER, SUPERINTENDENT, LEE COUNTY SCHOOLS: We do have schools that remain in a high need category, suffering significant damage.
WRIGHT: He has said most years are this year is tougher than him than most and I'm worried about him falling behind.
MARSH (voice-over): Lee County schools are emblematic of a growing trend, the climate crisis disrupting school systems nationwide for months and, in some cases, years.
In California, wildfires have been the leading cause of school closures. From 2018 until 2019, a record 2295 schools closed. Last year in Louisiana, Hurricane Ida, a devastating category four storm ripped off roofs and destroyed schools. More than a year later, two schools were close to 900 students are still inoperable.
And in Tennessee, 17 inches of rain fell in 24 hours, flooding Waverly Elementary and Junior High School. More than a year later, some students are using an auditorium with partitions for classrooms.
A government study found that, since 2017, more than 300 presidentially declared major disasters have occurred across all 50 states and U.S. territories. With devastating effects on K-12 schools, including trauma and mental health issues, lost instructional time and financial strain.
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MARSH (voice-over): Something Waverly, Tennessee schools no well. After the flood there, student test scores like mine the rest of the state.
RICHARD RYE, WAVERLY SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT: Some of our staff and teachers lost their homes, they lost their loved ones and learn classrooms. So mentally wise, that has put a toll on them.
MARSH (voice-over): As schools struggled to recuperate from extreme weather, experts say they must better understand future risk and rebuild more resilient structures.
LAURA SCHIFTER, ASPEN INSTITUTE: Our public schools right now, they received a D+ on America's infrastructure report card.
MARSH (voice-over): Until then, when extreme weather strikes, all that is lost will undoubtedly also include quality instructional time in school.
MARSH: Extreme weather has already had a multifaceted impact on America's schools. Several school systems tell me the mental health of students and teachers who are coping with personal losses as they try to resume learning is a major issue. And supply chain issues have made rebuilding schools a drawn-out
process, so students are in temporary learning environments for extremely long stretches of time -- Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington.
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HARRAK: More than 1,000 teddy bears left in tribute to the late Queen Elizabeth will be donated to charity.
The stuffed animals, including many Paddington bears, were left outside of Buckingham Palace by mourners paying their respects following the queen's death last month. Officials say the teddy bears will be professionally cleaned and delivered to Barnardo's Children's Services in the coming weeks.
That wraps up this hour of CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Laila Harrak. Kim Brunhuber picks up our coverage after a quick break.
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