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Conservative Party Picks Its Next Leader; Boris Johnson Says He is Not Running; Voters Now Head to the Polls; Russia Spreads Lie After Lie; Ukrainians Reeling from Rolling Blackouts. Aired 3-4a ET

Aired October 24, 2022 - 03:00   ET

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

[03:00:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Christina Macfarlane in London where the country is waiting to see who will become the nation's third prime minister in less than two months.

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Rosemary Church in Atlanta where we are following the latest developments in the U.S. midterms. Voter turnout already hitting record highs, but political divisions running deep divisions running deep.

MACFARLANE: Well, here in London we could soon learn who will be the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party and the new prime minister. One thing is clear, it won't be Boris Johnson. He announced on Sunday he won't be entering the tory leadership race, though he claimed he had enough support to move forward. That narrows the field to former finance minister Rishi Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt.

The Conservative Party today will announce which candidates had reached the necessary 100 nominations and whether a vote will follow to determine the next leader of the party and the country. Whoever becomes out on top will be Britain's third prime minister in just a matter of weeks after Liz Truss stepped down on Thursday.

CNN's Scott McLean is following all developments for us and he is joining us now live from outside 10 Downing Street. And Scott, Johnson says he had the 100 votes but chose not to stand, as he couldn't guarantee the unity.

His withdrawal is likely going to be key for, in particular, Penny Mordaunt to reach that 100-vote mark. Even though it is considered that Sunak is definitely the front-runner here.

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, according to the British Press Association, Rishi Sunak, undoubtedly the front- runner. The former chancellor has the public support of more than 140 M.P.s. Of course, there may be plenty more who are privately supporting him but haven't said so publicly. While Penny Mordaunt has the public support of less than 30. So, there are still a few different possible scenarios as to how this

race ends. But the fact that Boris Johnson is no longer in it undoubtedly changes the calculus for everyone involved here. So, as you mentioned, Boris Johnson says that he had the support to not only get into the race but also to win it.

But he says, quote, "over the course of the last days, I have sadly come to the conclusion that this would simply not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party in parliament. Therefore, I am afraid the best thing is that I do not allow my nomination to go forward and commit my support to whoever succeeds. I believe I have much to offer, but I am afraid that this is simply not the right time."

So, clearly there leaving himself or leaving the door open for a possible leadership run in the future. Now he also says that he met with both Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt. The British press says that those meetings were likely to have consistent of Boris Johnson trying to convince either of the two to step down in exchange for a prominent role in his future cabinet, or perhaps vice versa.

In the statements that have now come out from Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt, perhaps, depending how you read them, hint that Boris Johnson may possibly be part of cabinet. So, Rishi Sunak said that he hopes is that he continues to contribute to public life. And then Penny Mordaunt put out her own tweet in response so Johnson's dropping out race.

Saying, quote, "in taking this difficult decision last night, Boris Johnson has put country before party and party before self. He worked to secure the mandate and the majority we now enjoy. We should put it to good use, and I know he will work with us to do so."

So, as I mentioned, Christina, if Penny Mordaunt gets to 100, the support of 100 M.P.s, that means that still this afternoon, all of the conservative M.P.s in parliament will vote for their preferred leader. And at that point if neither her nor Sunak has dropped out of the race, then this will go to a vote of the party membership online.

If she fails to reach 100 votes, and you can bet that she is trying hard to win over as many Boris Johnson voters as she possibly can at this moment, then that means that this will effectively be a coronation for Rishi Sunak.

[03:05:02]

MACFARLANE: I think for either candidate, managing Boris Johnson within cabinet is certainly going to be one of the challenges either of them will face.

Scott, Rishi Sunak, we know, largely predicted Liz Truss' mini budget would fail. And as chancellor we know he steered the British economy through Brexit. But he will now face the most enormic (Ph) -- enormous economic challenges. Just talk us through the entree he would have as prime minister. MCLEAN: Yes. So, this was one of the big things during the leadership

race over the summer that Rishi Sunak sort of painted himself as a realist, someone who understood the financial realities that this country was going to and realized that tax cuts were simply not going to fly in this kind of an economic environment.

He reluctantly said at some point that there would be tax -- tax cuts, but only when the financial -- the financial realities actually allowed for it. And he correctly predicted, as you said, Christina, that Liz Truss' policies of tax cuts, even those for the richest in society and corporations, would have disastrous implications in terms of inflation. And that seems to have played out.

So, he is coming into this job undoubtedly with a lot of credibility when it comes to managing the finances of this country and getting the economy back on track. But he has some pretty eye-watering decisions ahead of him. That's how the current chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, described the challenges in trying to get -- balance the books in this country.

And Rishi Sunak also has the share of baggage coming into the job as well. He also has some scandals that have plagued him from when he was chancellor. Case in point, his wife, her tax status, she's not a British citizen. And she had nondomicile tax status, which saved her millions in taxes. She's an extremely wealthy individual.

He also held a U.S. green card residency permit up until late last year. And of course, he himself was also fined for taking part in parties that took place while this country was under lockdown during the pandemic, Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, well -- well, it will be interesting to see how all of that plays out with his popularity, not just in the party, but also the public as well. Scott, I know you're going to be keeping a close eye on things as we go through the morning here. Thanks very much for joining us for now.

The last time Britain held a general election was in 2019. But after Johnson's term ended in scandal and Truss' short premiership, calls are growing now for a new general election.

CNN's Anna Stewart went to a car boot sale and spoke with Britons about the political crisis.

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ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: Gravy boats and biscuit tins. This is a typical British car boot sale. Much like the American garage sale or the French flea market, it's an opportunity to sell unwanted items and buy something old. One person's trash is another person's treasure.

Now the great thing about a British car boot sale isn't just what's for sale, it's what's the topic of conversation for the week? Today, that's an easy one today, another prime minister has resigned.

UNKNOWN: The lady one is -- what is -- STEWART: Truss? Ms. Truss.

UNKNOWN: Yes. Yes, I don't even remember her name.

STEWART: Given Ms. Truss was only prime minister for six weeks, she may not be well remembered. But her impact on the pound and the economy at large may be. Some have ideas of who should come next.

UNKNOWN: Boris Johnson in the wings, no, thank you. Rishi Sunak? He knows what he's at. He's a calm character. He, so obviously I'm supporting him.

STEWART: Others aren't so sure.

UNKNOWN: They can't be any worse than what we've had, can they? You know? They can't be any worse than what we've had.

STEWART: Do you think at this stage we should have a general election?

UNKNOWN: Yes. Got to have one, haven't we? I mean, this is a joke. You know, it's a total joke. We're the laughingstock of Europe. Probably the rest of the world. You know?

STEWART: An opinion shared by many.

UNKNOWN: Everyone seems to think that the obvious thing is to have a general election. But the politicians seem to keep faffing about and trying to keep the power in their hands, which is understandable from their own point of view but not necessarily from the people.

UNKNOWN: A general election now so that people can say what they want.

UNKNOWN: Yes. Like, we can't keep having thousands of different prime ministers bursting and by like, such a small group of people. I feel a bigger voice is needed.

UNKNOWN: Yes.

STEWART: The last four prime ministers have resigned. It sounds like a broken record. The Conservative Party is running short on trust and possibly time, with growing calls for a snap election.

Anna Stewart, CNN, London.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: And I will have much more from London in a few minutes time. But for now, I'll hand it back to Rosemary. And Rosemary, I can tell you there were biblical storms in the U.K. overnight. I think kind of echoing the mood here as we wait to see what comes next.

[03:15:03]

CHURCH: Most definitely. It has been incredible. We'll see what's next. And we'll have you with us very soon, thanks so much, Christina.

Just over two weeks to go until the U.S. midterm elections. And right now, Democrats hold a slight majority in both the House and Senate, but that may change if the latest polls are any guide.

Inflation and the economy are at the top of voters' minds. And a new NBC poll shows more than three-quarters of both major parties view their opposition as a political threat to democracy.

U.S. President Joe Biden has a busy week ahead. He will attend a Democratic Party reception with Vice President Kamala Harris on Friday. Then on November 1st, just one week ahead of the elections, he'll be in south Florida for a Democratic National Committee rally. The White House says the president is making the visits that matter most.

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RON KLAIN, WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF: Both president Obama -- I was here, I'll share responsibility for it -- and President Trump got walloped in the midterms. I don't think it should surprise anyone we're not using the tragedy that failed in 2010 and the strategy that failed in 2018.

Instead, what you're seeing is the president is traveling the country with Democrat elected officials with Democratic candidates, and he is talking about the issues that really impact people.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, in the state of Georgia, there's been massive voter turnout during the first week of in-person early voting.

CNN's Nadia Romero has more.

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NADIA ROMERO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: record turnout here in Georgia for this midterm election. We're outside a polling location here in Dekalb County, and at this location alone the poll workers told me that in the first two hours of voting, they saw 200 people come in. That just speaks to the excitement of people wanting to get out and make sure that they cast their ballot.

But let's look at those statewide numbers. Across the state of Georgia already more than 740,000 people have voted. And we saw a dip when you look at Saturday compared to Friday. Saturday only about 80,000 people voted compared to more than 140,000 on Friday alone. But still, those numbers are quite impressive, especially compared to 2018.

Now we know that people want to come out and vote, and that voter turnout is really record-breaking at this point. But there are -- there are still some concerns about voter insecurity, voter fraud, voter integrity. So, we spoke with an election official about how they're working on that in this county. Take a listen. KEISHA SMITH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, DEKALB COUNTY REGISTRATION &

ELECTIONS: We are excited to see so many of our voters coming out in historic numbers during advance voting in Georgia. So, we are processing record numbers. And when we compare it with is last midterm in 2018, we're outpacing those numbers for sure.

We're here working 365 days a year to prepare for operating efficient and safe elections. And so that's what we're doing. And that's what they'll see.

ROMERO: Now voters tell me that they're being driven to the polls by key issues like abortion, inflation, and immigration. But also, key races like Georgia's Senate race that has national attention as well.

Nadia Romero, CNN, Dekalb County, Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: And earlier, I spoke with political analyst Michael Genevese about changing voter trends leading up to this election, and I asked him what issues were making the biggest waves ahead of November, and how they could potentially shake up Congress.

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MICHAEL GENOVESE, POLITICAL ANALYST: You know, about six months ago it looked like a runaway for the Republicans. A red tsunami. But two months ago, the Democrats kind of caught up with the Republicans. And in the last few weeks, the issues have become more focused on things like voters' concern about inflation, crime, immigration. Those have really become the keys.

For the Democrats, the big issue is, of course, abortion. That looked like, a year ago, it was going to be a hugely important issue for turnout. Less so now because a lot of the suburban women who want to vote for Democrats because of abortion issues now are saying, wait a minute, it's the economy, it's inflation, it's pocketbook issues.

CHURCH: Right. And of course, inflation, the economy, crime, as you say, top issues for voters. So, what's likely to happen in the Senate when it comes to the critical battleground states of Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, and of course Georgia?

GENOVESE: Well, a lot there depends on the quality of candidates. Donald Trump is not literally on the ballot, but a lot of his hand- picked candidates are. For example, over half of the Republican nominees for positions this time are election deniers.

And so, a lot is going to depend on whether voters are interested in the national concerns with Donald Trump at the lead, or if it's going to be local issues and local candidates.

[03:15:03]

Now Pennsylvania is a good example where you've got some really, tight races going on for governor, but even more so for the Senate. And it's going to be turnout. You mentioned turnout. That's going to be the important thing. The enthusiasm gap, if there is one, could turn the tide in the election.

CHURCH: And what do you expect to happen in the House?

GENOVESE: I expect in the House -- if past is prelude, the president's party loses about 25, 26 seats in the House and 5 in the Senate. My pick right now is the Democrats will lose about 20 in the House and maybe one or two in the Senate. That doesn't sound like a lot, and it's better than historical standards.

But remember, if that happens, Republicans win control of the House and the Senate, and therefore, President Biden will not be able to get legislation through. He will have to govern more as an administrative or managerial president.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: And many thanks to Michael Genovese joining me there.

Well, still to come, western officials slam Russia after an unfounded claim on Ukrainian weapons. Why some western officials believe it's an attempt by Moscow to escalate the war.

And later, we'll head back to London for the latest on the race to become Britain's next prime minister. Back in just a moment.

[03:20:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. The U.S., U.K., and France are joining Ukraine in rejecting an unsupported claim from Russia that Kyiv may use a dirty bomb. Russia's defense minister made the claim during calls with his western counterpart, including the U.S. defense secretary. But Ukraine says it's an attempt by Moscow to escalate the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (through translator): If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing. Russia has already prepared all this. I believe that now the world should react in the toughest possible way. If Russia has prepared another round of raising stakes and another escalating step, it must see now, pre-emptively, and before it's any new dirt that the world will not swallow that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Meantime, Russia appears to be losing more ground in the Kherson region. Ukraine says some Russian troops are pulling back from their positions near a strategic river. With a frigid winter fast approaching, Ukrainians officials say Russia is increasingly targeting critical infrastructure, cutting off access to power, water, and the internet for thousands. For those who remain in the country, that means major changes to their daily routine, to either conserve energy or live without it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDRYI OVCHARENKO, SALES MANAGER (through translator): We live this way because of the frequent strikes by the Russian Federation on Ukraine. Almost every day, electricity is cut off. Therefore, sometimes we have no water for two, four, or even six hours a day. We can't work, even remotely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: President Zelenskyy said last week that around one-third of Ukraine's power grid had been knocked out, and another official says at least 90 percent of the country's wind power is destroyed.

So, let's get more from CNN's Nic Robertson in Kyiv and Clare Sebastian in London. Good to see you both.

Nic, let's start with you. Russia continuing to target Ukrainian civilian infrastructure and power stations, which is a concern, of course, with winter setting in. What is the latest on the impact of these attacks?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Still having an impact. Repairs are under way. The difficulty with some of the repairs is, the equipment that's been destroyed is quite large. And in some cases, large transformers that are on the sort of outside of the power generating stations, and therefore vulnerable. These are large and complex, so it's not as easy as reconnecting a couple of wires. So, when this is happening in multiple places, as it is, it eats into the country's capacity to find replacement transformers.

That's the challenge for the repair workers. And President Zelenskyy is nightly praising them for their efforts. But Russia, the Ukrainian officials believe, are systematically targeting the weaker spots. The bits that are exposed outdoors to these strikes.

They say that they believe that they're working -- the military, Russian military's working hand in hand with Russian power engineers to do this strategically. And a couple of examples Ukrainian officials are giving.

In one area it was the power supply to a coal mine. And there aren't many coal mines left working in Ukraine at the moment. The power supply to a coal mine that was hit, which means that that mine can't produce coal. And so many of the power plants in the country rely on coal. So, it's a systematic effort to take out the supply network and the resources to actually generate the electricity.

So, the warnings continue to come from the government. Conserve, don't use high-powered items, don't use them during peak hours in the evening. And the reality of those blackouts for many people for hours without power, six hours with, four hours without. And the example you were giving there, many people left because of that, without water and, of course, heating. CHURCH: Yes. It is a critical situation. And Clare, Moscow alleges

that Ukraine plans to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. How is the international community responding to this accusation?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Rosemary, with a high degree of alarm. I think any mention of any nuclear activity by Russia raises the stakes. In the west, the ministers who he spoke to in their countries now openly calling for Russia not to use this as a way to justify escalation. And perhaps made more dangerous, these comments by how implausible they are.

[03:24:57]

Ukraine does not have a nuclear weapons program. It voluntarily gave up its Soviet-era weapons in 1994. And then, so on addition to the readouts of these calls with the British, the U.S., the French, and the Turkish defense ministers, we then got a joint statement from the British, the American, and the French ministers in the early hours of the morning European time. And this is what it said.

It said, our countries made clear that we all reject Russia's transparently false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb on its own territory. The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation. We further reject any pretext for escalation by Russia.

The other part of this, Rosemary, is that the calls themselves are unusual. Sergei Shoigu, the Russia defense minister is not exactly a regular on the diplomatic circuit, he's really more of a behind the scenes guy, that has been his style really over the past decade that he's been defense minister.

So, four calls in one day, two calls with his U.S. counterpart in three days, this is highly unusual. Taking that -- take that with the situation on the battlefield where Russia has already escalated attacks as Nic was talking about, on the power grid.

This dangerous situation brewing in the south of the country in Kherson where the Ukrainians and the west allege that Russia has mined a critical dam there. And I think you are already seeing signs of escalation, and this just raising those concerns. Now on the -- now we're getting into the ninth month of the war.

CHURCH: Yes, indeed. Nic Robertson, Clare Sebastian, many thanks to you both.

Well, students marched and demonstrated across Iran Sunday in the latest show of anti-government sentiment sweeping the country. This video from the pro-reform outlet Iran Wire shows women confronting paramilitary forces at a university outside Tehran. And in this Iran Wire video, you can see high school students marching in a Kurdish city.

Demonstrations over the death of Mahsa Amini while she was in the custody of the morality police have gone on for weeks now. They have evolved into protest against the government itself. Coming up next, who will replace Liz Truss? We will return to London

for the latest on the race for Britain's next prime minister.

Plus, a federal court hits pause on President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. We will have a report on what's at stake for millions of people who owe money on student loans.

We're back in just a moment.

[03:30:00]

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MACFARLANE: Welcome back to London with me, Christina Macfarlane, where we could find out later today who will become the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party and the new prime minister. We do know it won't be Boris Johnson, who announced on Sunday he won't be entering the Tory leadership race. That leaves former finance minister Rishi Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt in the running.

In the coming hours the Conservative Party will announce which candidates have receipts -- received the necessary 100 nominations and whether a vote will follow to determine the next leader of the party and the country.

Well, this comes days after Liz Truss stepped down as prime minister after only 45 days in office. The potential return of Boris Johnson as prime minister had split opinions within the Conservative Party.

And now CNN's Bianca Nobilo has this tracking developments.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson has ruled out taking another shot at Number 10 last week. After intense speculation that Johnson would run in the Tory leadership contest to replace Liz Truss, who resigned in ignominious fashion to become Britain's shortest-serving prime minister, Johnson released a statement Sunday evening confirming that he would not.

Johnson claimed that he had reached the necessary threshold of 100 M.P. support and said that he'd been overwhelmed by the number of people who suggested that he should contest the leadership. Again, Johnson said that he was attracted to running because he'd won a big election victory back in 2019 and said that he believed he was uniquely placed to avert a general election in the short-term and win big for the party in 2024.

He acknowledged that there was a very good chance that he would be successful if he stood and the election went to a vote of party members. But he said that sadly, he came to the conclusion that, quote, "this would not be the right thing to do. You can't govern effectively unless you have a united party."

Intriguingly, Johnson said that he'd reached out to contenders Rishi Sunak and Penny Mordaunt to see if they could work together in the national interests, but said that sadly, they couldn't work out how to do that. Then tantalizingly for Johnson's supporters, in his final remark he said that, I believe I have much to offer, but I'm afraid that this is simply not the right time.

Bianca Nobilo, CNN, Surrey.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, joining me now here in London is Tim Bale, he is a professor of politics at Queen Mary University of London.

Tim, thank you so much for joining us this morning.

Let's first discuss how Johnson's withdrawal is going to play out here. Because we have not yet heard from the Mordaunt camp about anything to do with her dropping out. So, one presumes that Mordaunt is trying to pick up enough supporters to secure that 100-vote count.

How much of a moral dilemma is that going to present to Mordaunt? Because if she reaches that, we know she would potentially go through to the members who may end up picking her over the will of the M.P.s here.

TIM BALE, PROFESSOR OF POLITICS, QUEEN MARY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON: Well, I might regret saying this, but I don't think there's very much chance that she will pick up sufficient nominations to go through. I think it's fairly clear now that the momentum is behind Rishi Sunak.

I think many of those who might have thought of moving across to Mordaunt will be thinking now about jobs under Rishi Sunak and will be more likely to break for him than for her. There is still some bad blood towards Sunak among those who resented his role in ditching Boris Johnson. But I think most people can now see the writing on the wall.

[03:34:48]

MACFARLANE: And we know, of course, Sunak predicted the fallout from Liz Truss' mini budget. And if he is going to be the next prime minister, as you say, we all expect that to be announced later today, is he going to be skillful enough to navigate the fractious Conservative Party on the one hand, and the financial markets on the other, who of course demand fiscal security?

BALE: Well, that is a very good question. Rishi Sunak was promoted to be chancellor of the exchequer without relatively little high-level cabinet experience. He did quite well in the beginning as chancellor. Obviously, his job was made slightly easier in the sense that he was the chancellor during COVID, and he was giving out lots and lots of money which lots of voters, and indeed, lots of his M.P.s, fellow M.P.s liked.

He's in a much more difficult position now. And we also know from the row over his wife's non-dom status and his own green card problems that he isn't necessarily the most thick-skinned or skillful politician. So, I think this will be a big, big test for him. He's stepping into a very big job, and I'm not sure that he is necessarily the right politician to do it. But let's see.

MACFARLANE: Well, I just want to get your thoughts on that. You know, as the idea of Sunak as being this unity candidate. As you mentioned, he's been held responsible by many of Johnson's supporters for bringing about his downfall earlier this summer. How likely is it that he's going to be able to unify the party, and how much time do you expect the party are going to give him in order to do that?

BALE: Well, Conservative Party has also cycled through a number of leaders recently. It doesn't seem prepared to give leaders very long. On the other hand, I think most M.P.s realize now that the party really is in a very deep hole, and unless they hang together, as it were, they will be hanged separately.

So, I think there will be a lot of M.P.s, even those who were perhaps unhappy with Rishi Sunak in the last few months, they will be prepared to give him a chance. Because I can't imagine that it will be possible for the Conservative Party to roll the dice once again before the next general election, whatever Boris Johnson may imagine. So, I think it's really Rishi Sunak or bust, as far as most conservative M.P.s are concerned.

MACFARLANE: We've heard this morning that the pound has rallied at the news that Sunak is the potential front-runner. And we've also heard that Jeremy Hunt has come out in support of Rishi Sunak. How important is that as we look ahead to this budget that's due to be announced Monday?

BALE: I mean, that is really, really important. I mean, I think most M.P.s would see Jeremy Hunt remaining as chancellor of the exchequer, as the sine qua non of keeping the markets happy. If he has given his endorsement to Rishi Sunak, I think that confirms really, for most of us, that Rishi Sunak has won.

There may be some delay on that statement, but there may not need to be if, as we assume, Sunak keep thumping in post. I think the combination of both of them will calm markets. The Conservative Party certainly better hope so. But of course, calming the markets is one thing, and impressing voters is quite another.

And given that the Conservative Party, they may get a balance with Sunak replacing Truss, will still be a long way behind the opposition Labour Party. I don't think by any stretch of the imagination that they are out of the woods yet.

MACFARLANE: Yes, Rishi Sunak is going to have to fighting on multiple fronts here. Tim Bale, great to have your thoughts this morning. Thank you so much for joining us.

And I will have much more from London in our next hour. But right now, let's toss it back to Rosemary Church who is at CNN center in Atlanta. Rosemary?

ROSEMARY CHURCH, CNN ANCHOR: Wonderful, thank you so much, Christina. We'll look forward to seeing you at the top of the hour. All right. More now on the upcoming U.S. midterm elections. We're just

over two weeks from a deciding vote that could shift the balance of power in Congress. Early voting is under way across the nation, and many Democrats are worried that Republicans could win both the House and Senate, as inflation becomes the top issue for many voters.

Senator Bernie Sanders says Democrats should take cues from the Republicans on economic policy. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (D-VT): I am worried about the level of voter turnout among young people and working people who will be voting Democratic. And I think, again, what Democrats have got to do is contrast their economic plan with the Republicans.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: One issue on many young voters' minds is President Biden's student loan forgiveness plan. It was supposed to start Sunday, but a federal appeals court paused the program while it reviews a legal challenge.

CNN's Camila Bernal has details.

[03:40:05]

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It may take a little longer, bud Cody Hounanian is still expecting a third of his student loan to be forgiven.

CODY HOUNANIAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, STUDENT DEBT CRISIS CENTER: It's a light at the end of the tunnel.

BERNAL: He's referring to President Joe Biden's student loan forgiveness program that would cover $10,000 of his student debt. Because while he's been out of college for nine years, he still owes $30,000.

HOUNANIAN: I recently married. Me and my wife are going to be thinking about purchasing a home. So, it's all of a sudden, kind of right in front of me again. Because I'm thinking about the kind of debt I have, and I need to finance my future and get a home.

BERNAL: But while the administration was expected to start granting loan discharges as early as Sunday, a federal appeals court put a temporary administrative hold on the program. A move being argued in and out of the courtroom.

USC economic professor Robert Dekle says that while all his students support the program, he had some to consider different perspectives.

ROBERT DEKLE, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA: Relative to defense spending and the overall government budget, the annual cost is not huge. But it -- there is -- it's going to be a burden on current taxpayers.

BERNAL: He also says if the goal is to help low-income families, the government should instead invest in, say, early childhood education. As an economist, Dekle says he thinks short-term loan forgiveness will only make inflation worse. But as a professor, he believes long-term, this will make the U.S. more competitive.

DEKLE: We need people with skills. And the way to get it is in higher education.

BERNAL: And it's that education that Hounanian says got him to where he is today. Now the executive director of the Student Debt Crisis Center, a nonprofit focused on ending the student debt crisis.

HOUNANIAN: For me, the only way to open door was to take on student loan debt, even though it's created really, unnecessary challenges. And you know, we've had to -- stress and all that. But my future is brighter nonetheless.

BERNAL: Now he's not only waiting for his loan forgiveness but also fighting so that others can also get the relief.

HOUNANIAN: My dream, my vision for a better America in the future, is one where my kids don't even have to consider student loan debt.

BERNAL: And it will take at least a couple of days for this legal process to play out. But people are still applying for this program. Cody Hounanian who you met in the story telling me that it took him one minute to complete his application. He hopes that one minute could translate into a significant portion of his loan to be forgiven.

Camila Bernal, CNN, Los Angeles.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CHURCH: Republican Congresswoman Liz Cheney says she expects former President Donald Trump to comply with a subpoena and testify before the House committee investigating the January 6th attack on the capitol. The committee formerly sent its subpoena to Trump's attorneys last week.

The subpoena orders Trump to turn over documents by November 4th and to give deposition testimony before the committee beginning about November 14th. Cheney says the committee will treat Trump's testimony with great seriousness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. LIZ CHENEY (R-WY): It will be done with a level of rigor and discipline and seriousness that it deserves. We are not going to allow --

(CROSSTALK)

CHUCK TODD, HOST, NBC NEWS: Television spectacle is not going to be? CHENEY: -- the former president -- he's not going to turn this into a

circus. This isn't going to be, you know, his first debate against Joe Biden, and the circus and food fight that that became. This is far too serious set of issues.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Respiratory illnesses are surging in the United States, and pediatric hospitals warn that they have more patients now than they did during the pandemic. That story still to come here on CNN. Do stay with us.

[03:45:00]

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CHURCH: Welcome back, everyone. Hurricane Roslyn roared ashore in western Mexico on Sunday. Roslyn had sustained winds of more than 190 kilometers an hour when it hit the shoreline. At least two deaths have been reported in Mexico. Since then, the storm has broken up over the mountains. Some of Roslyn's heavy rains left a thick coating of mud behind. Emergency services, and even children pitched in to try to clean it up with hand shovels.

But it will probably take more than just a few people with shovels to get this one tractor trailer back on the road. I'd say so.

Well snow is blanketing parts of the United States right now even before Halloween. And while you've heard of the dog days of summer, these four-legged friends are enjoying a pause for powder. The video was shot in Montana where the trees also got a beautiful coating.

Is more snow in the forecast though for the continental U.S. over the next few days. We want to bring in meteorologist Pedram Javaheri at the CNN weather center to find out. So, what are you seeing, Pedram?

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, Rosemary, plenty of snow in place across parts of the northwest, and I do believe we'll get another round of it here across some of these high elevations. Upwards of 20 plus inches observed across these areas of Montana where you saw the footage come out of 22 inches, the max amounts. And parts of nine states dealing with winter weather alerts where another five, maybe six inches possible across these regions.

So, certainly the first round of significant snowfall is coming out across these areas and kind of ushering in that Christmas Eve is about two months away. It's October 24th today. And you'll notice across areas of the western U.S. we do have cold weather alerts, some spots down as cold as 19 degrees here in the coming several days.

And I want to talk about this because of course the cold is getting a lot of attention, the snowfall, certainly as well. But we know the drought situation has been expansive across the northwest. And there is beneficial wet weather in store across these regions for the first time in quite some time here, getting a significant amount of rainfall and also, some high elevation snowfall that's in store.

You know, as that shifts a little farther towards the east, portions of the plains and areas of the central United States that have seen significant drought as well. We're talking parts of Texas, Oklahoma, to Arkansas, where up to 100 percent of the state of Oklahoma, for example, underneath drought conditions is going to get some very beneficial rainfall in the coming days.

So great news here in regards to getting in some much-needed rainfall. And look at the significant divide of where the colder air is locked in in the western states, the 30s and 40s for highs from Rapid City out towards Minot.

Well, just to the east there, Chicago, St. Louis, Louisville temps almost at 80 degrees. We do expect the cooler air to shift a little farther towards the east, but the long-term forecast does want to keep the eastern United States going into the beginning of November, Rosemary, above average yet again. So, the short-lived cooler air is going to be in place for just a couple days.

[03:50:01]

CHURCH: All right. Our thanks to you, Pedram. I appreciate it.

Well, local health departments in the U.S. are confirming the deaths of at least six people who tested positive for monkeypox. Two deaths were reported in New York, two in Chicago, one in Nevada, and one in Maryland. At least three of the people who died had compromised immune systems.

New monkeypox cases have been falling in the U.S. recently, but there are still concerns about severe illness or death, especially in immunocompromised people. U.S. case numbers for the respiratory virus known as RSV are higher than they've been in two years. This according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. And health officials warn respiratory viruses are making children's hospitals busier now than they were during the height of the COVID pandemic.

About 75 percent of pediatric hospital beds in the U.S. are currently occupied, according to federal data. RSV is a common cold-like virus, but it can cause serious illness, especially in younger children. Former FDA commissioner Dr. Scott Gottlieb says parents should remain vigilant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER COMMISSIONER, FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION: For parents who have children who have an upper respiratory infection, many times they're testing them finding out it's not COVID, and feeling relieved. I think they still need to be vigilant that it could be RSV, could be early flu. So, if you see progressive symptoms, seek out help from a doctor. There are treatments that are available that could help children with RSV.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CHURCH: Symptoms include runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing and wheezing, sneezing, and fever.

Just ahead, the stage is set for baseball's World Series after two thrilling games that went down to the wire on Sunday. We'll have that on the other side of the break. Stay with us.

[03:55:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CHURCH: On the streets of Madrid, instead of cars, there were sheep and shepherds laid their flocks along ancient herding routes through the city center. They were herded to southerly pastures for winter grazing. How about that?

Well, the World Series is now set. The Philadelphia Phillies will play the Houston Astros starting Friday. The Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres four to three on Sunday to clinch the National League crown. The Phillies were behind in the eighth inning when designated hitter Bryce Harper put them in the lead with a two-run home run. Harper was named the most valuable player of the National League Championship Series. The Phillies will be playing in their first World Series since 2009.

Houston beat the New York Yankees six to five, sweeping them in four games in the American League Championship Series. The game was tied in the seventh inning when Astros third baseman Alex Bregman hit the go- ahead run. And this will be the Astros' fourth trip to the World Series in the last six seasons.

And thank you so much for your company. I'm Rosemary Church. Have yourselves a wonderful day. CNN Newsroom continues with Christina Macfarlane in London. That's next.

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