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Biden Limiting His Appearance on the Campaign Trail; Conservative Lawmakers Set to Choose Next Leader and Prime Minister; Students Rally in Iran Amid Ongoing Anti-Government Protests; Phillies Will Play Astros in World Series. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 24, 2022 - 04:30   ET

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

[04:30:00]

PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: So, any rainfall in this region is going be beneficial. We talked about the Mississippi River and of course, the drought situation in that landscape. And here comes, additional rounds of rainfall is going to be in store in the coming days that will certainly help the situation. And you'll notice, Christina, the Western U.S. much colder air. The Eastern U.S. plenty warmth in store at least over the next couple days.

CHRISTINA MACFARLANE, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, Pedram. I wish we had a chance to seek out the epic biblical storms that blew through here in the U.K. last night. But sadly, we do not have time. Thanks very much for now, Pedram.

All right, still ahead, why some members of the President Joe Biden's own party don't want him at their rallies.

Plus, who will replace Liz Truss? We'll have the latest on the race for Britain's next Prime Minister just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Christina MacFarlane. If you're just joining us, let me bring you up to date with our top stories of this hour.

Jury selection begins in the coming hours in the tax fraud trial of Donald Trump's company. The Trump Organization has been charged in a scheme that allegedly made off the books payments to executives. The company's former CFO Allen Weisselberg will testify as part of a plea deal.

And we're just two weeks away and a day away from election night in America. Democrats are hoping to hold on to a majority in both the House and Senate as Republicans use inflation to reel in voters who are feeling the impact of rising prices.

And we want to touch on Asia markets briefly. One standing out is Hong Kong ended the day down more than 6 percent. Shanghai lost 2 percent. And here is a quick look at how markets in Europe are doing right now. Shares have been mostly mixed. Meantime, in the U.S., Wall Street is just hours away from the opening bell. And here is a look at where futures stand right now. All three indexes are looking to open in the red just below nearly half a percent.

Well, let's look ahead to a crucial U.S. economic report coming out this week. The Gross Domestic Product report card for the third quarter comes out on Thursday. And despite the volatile stock market rising interest rates, high inflation and a housing market that's losing steam, economists are predicting decent if not spectacular growth between 2.1 to 2.9 percent and that's because Americans are still spending despite rising prices and inflation. The GDP is largely based on consumer spending and according to government figures, retail sales were up more than 8 percent in September from a year ago.

So, the economy has become a focal point in U.S. midterm elections with some blaming President Joe Biden for failing to turn things around. And with Mr. Biden's low approval ratings his own party appears to be keeping him away from the campaign trail. CNN's Joe Johns report.

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JOE JOHNS, CNN SENIOR WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT: : With the midterm election bearing down, we got word from the White House over the weekend that the president plans to attend a closed door reception in Philadelphia on Friday. Also, word that the president is going to attend a rally for the Democratic National Committee in south Florida on November 1st. That is exactly one week before the midterm election.

Previously we heard from the White House that the president will attend a closed door reception with Charlie Crist the Democratic candidate for governor in the state of Florida. All of this showing a bit of a pattern as the campaigns and the candidates kind of do a cost/benefit analysis to determine whether an appearance with the president will help or hurt their cause as the midterm approaches. Ron Klain, the White House chief of staff, was asked on CNN last week about the president's travel schedule and why he's not attending many rallies. Here is what he said.

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. So, I don't think it should surprise anyone their we're not using the strategy that failed in 2010 and the strategy that failed in 2018. Instead, what you're seeing is the president is traveling the country with Democratic elected officials, with Democratic candidates and he's talking about the issues that really impact people.

JOHNS: The problem for the president, low approval ratings, high inflation and concerns about a possible recession, forcing the White House to plan issues based events to highlight the president's record.

Joe Johns, CNN, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MACFARLANE: Well, here in London, all eyes are fixed on the Tory leadership race. And today we could find out who will become the next leader of the ruling Conservative Party and the new Prime Minister. Former finance minister Rishi Sunak and House of Commons leader Penny Mordaunt are in the running. The Conservative Party will announce which candidates have received the necessary 100 nominations and whether a vote will follow.

Joining me now from Oxford is Anand Menon, the director of the initiative U.K. in Changing Europe. Thank you so much for joining us this morning. As we understand it, Rishi Sunak is out in the lead. We know that he largely predicted Liz Truss's -- the failure of Liz Truss's mini budget and as chancellor he steered the U.K. economy through COVID. But is Sunak going to be skillful enough if he is to be the next Prime Minister to navigate a fractious Conservative Party on the one side and financial markets on the other side who are going to demand fiscal discipline?

ANAND MENON, DIRECTOR, U.K. IN A CHANGING EUROPE: Well, I think you put your finger on problems that Rishi Sunak faces. We don't know what he's going to do. One of the curious things about this leadership contest, because it has been all about MPs, nothing's been said publicly about what the different candidates will do.

So, Rishi Sunak's economic policy at the moment amounts to saying, I will fix the British economy. Now, no one knows what that means. So, the first thing is he has to spell out his plans. After that, as you quite rightly say, it's not just a matter of whether he can calm the markets. It's also a question as to whether or not he can bring the Conservative Party with him. Because, yes, he has got the support of almost half of Conservative MPs at the moment, I think. That means he hasn't got the support of another half.

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And with the majority of 80 he needs to bring the bulk of those MPs with him if he tries to pass legislation, for instance, raising taxes or if he tries to cut spending. So, there are real hurdles ahead for him even if he sort of has a coronation today around mid-day today.

MACFARLANE: Yes, absolutely right. And where the economy is concerned, we are hearing this morning that the pound has rallied at the news of Sunak as a potential front-runner. And we're hearing as well that Jeremy Hunt has given Sunak his endorsement. In the broader scheme of things, how important is that that Hunt has come out and endorsed Sunak ahead of this budget we know will be announced on Monday. Is this, you know, Britain's stability potentially getting back on the right track here?

MENON: Well, I suppose it's important in two ways. It's important one in terms of helping get other undecided conservative MPs to back Sunak if Hunter is backing him. And two, I suppose it will act as some sort of reassurance to the markets.

But bear in mind all that Jeremy Hunt has done to date is say I'm not going to be a maverick like Kwasi Kwarteng was. I'm going to do things, you know, the old way, using the office of budget responsibility, taking forecasts seriously, bearing in mind the need to balance the books in the medium term. So that has reassured the markets.

What Jeremy Hunt absolutely hasn't done yet is give any indication of where -- of how he's going to address what he himself calls these terribly difficult decisions that face him. Are we going to pay for our debts by raising taxes? Are we going to pay for them by cutting public spending? Those are the real political decisions that we're going to have to wait for his budget to see how he intends to address.

MACFARLANE: And Anand, we know that they're beyond, you know, the markets here in the U.K., the instability here, there are global efforts sort of buffeting the U.K. government at the moment. One of them of course is the war in Ukraine. Is he going to -- is Sunak or Hunt going to have to recommit to the ongoing commitment spending on defense for Ukraine? We know that in the past, for instance, Defense Minister Ben Wallace has come out and said that is absolutely necessary that, you know, they continue with that. Can we expect Sunak to keep that position?

MENON: Well, I think back in the days a few weeks ago where money seemed to come freely and promises could be made with no thought of their implications for the public finances, Liz Truss said we're going to raise defense spending to 3 percent. Ben Wallace is very committed to that 3 percent number. Subsequently Liz Truss rolled back slightly by saying we will reach 3 percent by 2030. So, it's unclear where we are on that.

Rishi Sunak, I think, is quite reluctant to pledge 3 percent to defense at a time when other budgets are going to be squeezed. So, for instance, the National Health Service already in crisis. If there's talk of cutting the budget of the health service, that's going to be politically very, very difficult indeed. So, Sunak is holding off the promise of 3 percent. One of the interesting see, is whether Ben Wallace, if he's offered the defense post will decide to keep it absent that promise. Because he has hinted if that 3 percent promise is watered down, he might walk.

MACFARLANE: Yes, well a close eye will be kept obviously on that budget announcement on Monday. And by then we will know next Monday who the Prime Minister is. Anand Menon, thank you very much for your perspective this morning. Appreciate it.

Now, respiratory illnesses are surging in the U.S. and pediatric hospitals warn they have more patients now than they did during the pandemic. That story still to come here on CNN. Stay with us.

[04:45:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MACFARLANE: Hi, welcome back. A former top U.S. health official is sounding the alarm on RSV, a respiratory virus that's putting a major strain on pediatric hospitals across the country. RSV case numbers in the U.S. are at their highest level in two years. This, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control. RSV is a common cold- like virus but can make younger children seriously ill. Former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb says parents should remain vigilant. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. SCOTT GOTTLIEB, FORMER FDA COMMISSIONER: 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, it 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.

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MACFARLANE: Well, symptoms include a runny nose, decreased appetite, coughing and wheezing, sneezing and hay fever.

We have new details on author Salman Rushdie's injuries from a stabbing attack New York state in August. Rushdie's literary agent told a Spanish newspaper is client has lost sight in one eye and one of his hands is incapacitated. Andrew Wylie says the author also has about 15 more wounds in his chest and torso. Rushdie's attacker has pleaded not guilty to attempted murder and assault charges.

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 IranWire shows women confronting paramilitary forces at a university outside Tehran. In this IranWire 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. And they've now evolved into protests against the government itself. CNN's Anna Coren joins us live from Hong Kong where she's been tracking all of these developments in Iran. And protests now, Anna, entering their sixth week, I believe, and are being echoed with solidarity protests now we're seeing across the globe. What impact is all of this having in Iran?

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT Yes, it's quite extraordinary, Christina, that these students and these Iranian citizens are just continuing to take to the streets. We saw them on university campuses and school campuses over the weekend voicing their vehement opposition against the Iranian government. As you say these protests were sparked by the death of Mahsa Amini back in September after she was arrested by the morality police for wearing improper hijab and also spread to workers and labor unions and businesses and factories call for strikes. And it comes, as you say, when we've seen this show of solidarity amongst the Iranian diaspora around the world.

[04:50:00]

The largest being staged in Berlin where 80,000 people turned out in a sea of red, white and green waving the Iranian flag, calling for an end to the Iranian regime.

Well, meantime, the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran is confirmed its email system was hacked. The government claims that it was a foreign country behind the hack. Well, the anti-government hacker group Black Reward, which has been encouraging people to take to the streets confirmed that it was behind the breach, publishing email messages and plans of the Bushehr nuclear power plant. It's also taken responsibility for the hacking of Iranian state TV, Press TV last week -- Christina.

MACFARLANE: Yes, extraordinary scenes, Anna Coren for us life live there in Hong Kong. Thanks very much, Anna, on this for now.

Now the Philadelphia Phillies are headed to their first World Series in more than a decade. And their opponent hasn't lost a game yet in the post season.

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[04:55:00]

MACFARLANE: Phillies fans cheering their team's return to the World Series for the first time in 13 years. Philadelphia defeated the San Diego Padres 4-3 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.

Houston beat the New York Yankees, 6-5. 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 with hit the go ahead run. This would be the Astros fourth trip to the World Series in the last six seasons.

And in the National Football League, Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa returns to the field on Sunday as the Dolphins beat the Steelers, 16- 10. The home game was his first start in nearly a month since sustaining a concussion and he made the most of it. He completed 21 of 35 passes and threw for 261 yards and a touchdown.

And there's a new number one at the U.S. box office.

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DWAYNE "THE ROCK" JOHNSON, ACTOR: The My son sacrificed his life to save me. Now I kneel before no one.

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MACFARLANE: "Black Adam" starring Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson opened the movie theaters over the weekend. Scoring Johnson his largest U.S. film opening ever in a leading role. The film earned an estimated $67 million also claiming the largest box office opening since Marvel's latest "Thor" film in July.

Now starting today, a team of scientists and experts will meet to try and find an answer that -- to the age-old question, is anybody out there? NASA's nine month independent study of unidentified aerial phenomena also called UFOs will study unclassified data and how to improve its analysis. Findings released next year. Interesting, looking forward to that.

Thanks for joining me. I'm Christina Macfarlane. Stay tuned for "EARLY START" coming up next with Christine Romans.

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