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Key Congressional Seats at Stake Ahead of Midterm Elections; Voters See Restraining Order to Stop Intimidation; Rishi Sunak Set to Become the Next U.K. Prime Minister; RSV Cases Straining Children's Hospitals in the U.S. Doctors Warn of Triple Threat This Winter; Two Killed in St. Louis School Shooting. Aired 4:00-4:30a ET
Aired October 25, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and all around the world. I'm Max Foster in London. Just ahead --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You would think you were in, you know, some autocratic nation and not the United States of America.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why are you in camouflage?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're losing rationality.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I am humbled and honored to have the support of my parliamentary colleagues, but there is no doubt we face a profound economic challenge.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Doctors across the country are warning of a triple threat. The big three of viruses.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'll be honest, I think we're in for a tough several months. We're seeing a high number of children who are getting sick who are actually needing support to breathe.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Max Foster.
FOSTER: It's Tuesday, October 25th, 9 a.m. here in London, 4 a.m. on the U.S. East Coast where the nation's midterm elections are just two weeks away. More than 7 million ballots have already been cast between early voting and absentee ballots across 39 states -- according to election officials.
The new CNN polling shows the U.S. economy and inflation are the most important issues to voters in key battleground states. More than half of registered voters in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin say it'll determine who gets their vote in Congressional races. We're also keeping an eye on the governor's race in the key state of Florida. Incumbent Republican Ron DeSantis and Democratic candidate Charlie Crist landed a set of blows. Watch this testy exchange over whether DeSantis if reelected would serve a full term or he would duck out early to run for the White House.
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CHARLIE CRIST, FLORIDA DEMOCRATIC GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: You're running for governor. Why don't you look in the eyes of the people of the state of Florida and say to them if you're re-elected you will serve a full four-year term as governor. Yes, or no? Yes or no, Ron? Will you serve a full four-year term if you're reelected as governor of Florida? It's not a tough question. It's a fair question. He won't tell you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We did not agree on the candidates asking each other questions.
CRIST: Is it my time?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's your turn.
RON DESANTIS (R) FLORIDA GOVERNOR: Well, listen, I know Charlie is interested in talking about 2024 and Joe Biden. But I just want to make things very, very clear, the only worn out old donkey I'm looking to put out to pasture is Charlie Crist.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: They also argued over abortion, as well as Florida's pandemic response with DeSantis boasting that he lifted up the state instead of locking it down. But Crist pointed out that Florida had one of the highest COVID death rates in the U.S. and said that's nothing to boast about.
The highly anticipated Senate debate will get underway later today. In the swing state of Pennsylvania, that could affect the Congressional balance of power. Democratic Lieutenant Governor John Fetterman will take on his Republican rival, celebrity Dr. Mehmet Oz. And the polls showing likely voters are leaning towards Fetterman but he only has a narrow lead but just outside the margin of error. Pennsylvania voters list the economy as their main issue.
U.S. President Joe Biden has been relatively quiet during the campaign season doing just a small handful of appearances. But on Monday, he addressed the Democratic National Committee rallying party members to finish strong as election day nears. CNN's Phil Mattingly has more from the White House.
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PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: President Biden over the course of the last several months has really eschewed major campaign events and rallies. Instead, he was focusing on individual elements that White House officials believe underscore the fact that his administration has been successful. It's created progress, it's help the economy and essentially at large really recovered from the pandemic that destroyed the economy and really the entire public health system. Now they're trying to sharpen that message. They're definitely trying to sharpen the political bent of that message and they're trying to underscore that this is the moment to close. Take a listen.
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So far, we're running against the tide and we're beating the tide. But we just have 15 days until one of the most important elections in our lifetime.
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Democrats are building a better America for everyone with an economy that grows from the bottom up and middle out where everyone does well. Republicans are doubling down on the mega MAGA trickle-down economics that benefits the very wealthy. It failed the country before and will fail it again if they win.
MATTINGLY: On that last part in particular is important when you talk to White House advisers. They are very cognizant of the fact that inflation remains at a 40-year high. And that is something they are having to grapple with. However, they believe that if it's not an ultimatum or not a referendum on the administration and on Democrats in power and instead a choice between what Democrats will do going forward and what Republicans will do going forward, they have a fighting chance. That they're working against history, six decades of election results. The first midterm of a new president and the party in power isn't going to go that route.
However, they looked at polling and see that they're within a point or two and even ahead in all of the critical races in the Senate and a lot of the critical races in the House. They believe if they're able to sharpen that message, particularly on the economy, about what Democrats would do versus what Republicans can do, they have a fighting chance.
They should get some data that can help them as well. GDP report coming out later this week. Expected to show the economy growing again after two negative months. Gas prices continue to tick downwards. Something White House officials view as critical and its correlation to the president's approval.
Will that be enough? Again, history would say probably not. White House advisers and clearly the president, say they at least have a fighting chance a couple of weeks before the votes are counted.
Phil Mattingly, CNN, the White House.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
FOSTER: Some voters in Arizona are seeking a temporary restraining order against a group that's allegedly intimidating them. They're asking a federal judge to take action against Clean Elections U.S.A. who they say are photographing and following voters at ballot drop boxes. In another instance, two armed people in tactical gear are seen near a drop box in Mesa, Arizona, but left when authorities arrived. U.S. Attorney General says such actions will not stand.
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MERRICK GARLAND, U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL: The Justice Department has an obligation to prevent, to guarantee a free and fair vote by everyone who's qualified to vote and will not permit voters to be intimidated.
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FOSTER: The U.S. Department of Homeland Security says it's focused on the heightened threat environment blaming the situation on conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
And now to an historic moment for the U.K. In the hours ahead, Rishi Sunak will become the country's new Prime Minister -- the third in just seven weeks. Sunak will be the first person of color or the first Hindi to lead the U.K. and at 42 years old he'll be the youngest person to take office in more than 200 years.
This hour outgoing Prime Minister Liz Truss is set to chair her last cabinet meeting before leaning 10 Downing Street for the last time to meet King Charles III. Later Sunak will also have an audience with the King where he'll officially be appointed to the post.
Once at 10 Downing Street, Sunak faces an enormous task ahead as he begins to adjust a number of challenges facing the U.K. The economy is the biggest issue. Liz Truss's mini budget caused a meltdown in the U.K.'s financial markets. And he'll also need to tackle inflation and soaring energy prices. And then there's the political turmoil as well, not least within his own party. Sunak has promised to work on uniting the Conservative Party from months of infighting.
CNN's Anna Stewart checking developments here in London, as is Bianca Nobilo who standing by for us live in Downing Street. Normally these moments are full of excitement. But it just doesn't feel the same this time because he's been there many times in the last couple of months.
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, that's true. I feel like I've said the new Prime Minister X, X, X several times over the last 50 days. But the Conservative Party will be hoping that this Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, when he's appointed later today, will be staying in office for a little while longer at least than his predecessor, which will be Liz Truss.
At the moment Liz Truss is chairing her final cabinet. That's happening now. We've been watching all the members of cabinet go into number 10 Downing Street. And the question will be how many of those members of cabinet will be returning next week. Because Rishi Sunak's first order of business will be to make those key appointments. Mainly the great officers of state, Chancellor, will he keep Jeremy Hunt in place to further stabilize the markets. He'll have his own choice as a former chancellor himself and he might have some quite strong views on that. Home secretary, foreign secretary, that's been said to be probably going to Penny Mordaunt.
But as you mentioned, the priority is the economy. Communicating with the markets, communicating with the nation and that's what we'll be seeing in about 2 1/2 hours when Sunak will make a speech from outside here about a meter from me in front of number 10. And he'll have to address the nation and try and reassure them that he empathizes with the struggles that they're going through. And in some way, try and nip these arguments in the bud that the Labour Party is starting to press ahead with which is because of his gigantic wealth, being the richest member of Parliament. His father-in-law is an Indian billionaire, so- called Indian Bill Gates.
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That he is the right person to understand the nation's problems and steer them through this crisis. That will be very important to him. But as you say, his entree, formidable. Not only is the Conservative Party taking a hammering in the polls, you have Labour pushing for a general election, the SNP pushing for a Scottish referendum. And of course, that famously divided Conservative Party, all to attend to.
FOSTER: Anna, he's got to restore Britain's economic credibility at the same time retain that party unity. And the two things are often in conflict, aren't they?
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: And he's going to have to delegate. And this is a man who was Chancellor until July and he's going to have to let someone else do that job which I think will be quite hard for him. Bianca mentioned that he will be delivering a speech. He only had eight sentences in the speech yesterday and the economy was a short line in that. People want to have more detail.
He is looking at an economy with double digit inflation, recession certainly looming. And of course, cost of living crisis. All of the issues that were there when he was chancellor have just got worse. We know from the first leadership contest this is a man keen on tough love in terms of fiscal policies and the economy. I think we'll more likely to see actually tax rises and spending cuts and the other way around. So, a complete reversal of what we saw from Liz Truss. That is what markets ultimately want. But the devil will be in the detail. And we'll get a lot of detail on Monday, actually next week, if in course he sticks to that date.
FOSTER: OK, much more from you today. Thank you, Anna, also Bianca. We'll get reaction to those key speeches today.
Meanwhile, back in the U.S. health experts are warning of a triple threat of infections this winter from COVID, the flu and the RSV respiratory virus. These illnesses have been straining children's hospitals nationwide with some already maxed out. The biggest driver appears to be an unusually high rise in the RSV cases, as CNN's Brian Todd reports.
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BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A baby with trouble breathing, it's why this mom in Columbus, Ohio took her two month old to the hospital.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just declined super rapidly.
TODD (voice-over): Doctors across the country are warning of a triple threat, the big three of viruses. One doctor calls them --
DR. FRANK ESPER, INFECTIOUS SPECIALIST, CLEVELAND CLINIC CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: We certainly we know all about COVID, we certainly know about influenza, but RSV, again, is known by every pediatrician because it fills up our hospitals every year.
TODD (voice-over): RSV or respiratory syncytial virus, a common respiratory illness that is occasionally severe in babies and young children. Experts say RSV and the flu are both hitting earlier this year than they normally do.
DR. AMY EDWARDS, PEDIATRIC INFECTION CONTROL, UH RAINBOW CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL: If you look in the southern United States, we're already starting to see flu cases take a really big high jump. And so, we're really a little bit concerned about this overlapping of all these different viruses because usually RSV comes a little bit later and then flu comes very nicely after -- they take their turn.
TODD (voice-over): The number of RSV cases in the U.S. detected by PCR tests in the second week of October was higher than any other week in the past two years, according to the CDC. And across the country, about three quarters of pediatric hospital beds are currently in use, a larger share than at any time over the past two years. Three states have more than 90 percent of those beds in use right now, Maine, Rhode Island and Delaware.
At this high school in Stafford County, Virginia, nearly half the student body was out at one point last week with flu like symptoms. And after falling for months, COVID cases have recently flattened out in the U.S.
DR. SARAH COMBS, EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN, CHILDREN'S NATIONAL HOSPITAL: I'll be honest, I think we're in for a tough several months. We're seeing high numbers of children who are getting sick, who are actually needing support to breath and we've seen earlier than expected seasons.
TODD (voice-over): RSV and the flu have similar symptoms experts say, runny nose, decrease in appetite, coughing, sneezing, wheezing, fever, so it's not always easy to tell which illness your child has. And it can be challenging to know if you should bring them to a hospital.
COMBS: Maybe they have a sniffle, a cough, congestion, but they're doing OK in the home, or is your child really struggling or working to breathe such that they need to come see us in the hospital and in the emergency department.
TODD (voice-over): What about infants and newborns who can't tell their parents how they feel? What should those parents look for?
EDWARDS: Babies should not be refusing their bottle and that's often one of the first signs we see that RSV is getting out of control in these infants as they start to refuse their bottle, you start to have trouble waking them up.
TODD: The doctors we spoke to have this advice for the parents of young children on preventive measures against the flu, RSV and COVID. Wash your hands often. Everyone should cover their mouths when they cough or sneeze. Wear masks if you have symptoms. And even though there is no vaccine for RSV, there are vaccines for the flu and COVID. You can get those for children as young as 6 months old and now is an important time to get them.
Brian Todd, CNN, Washington.
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FOSTER: Another school shooting has left at least two people dead in the U.S. state of Missouri. We'll have a report from St. Louis coming up.
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And extreme weather in parts of the U.S. put states at risk. But will storms be enough to improve drought conditions? We'll have the latest forecast.
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: And across the U.S. generally quiet conditions with the exception of the southern and southeastern U.S. Parts of this region could see some severe weather. We'll break this down coming up in a few minutes.
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FOSTER: A shooting at a performing arts high school in St. Louis, Missouri, has left at least two people dead. Officials say there were seven security personnel at the school when the shooting happened and the gunman was also killed. CNN's Adrienne Broaddus explains from the scene of the attack.
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ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Once again, a high school in America has become a crime scene. This time in St. Louis, Missouri. Investigators say the 19-year-old tutor graduated from this St. Louis high school last year. The motive still unclear. But investigators believe mental illness may have played a role. It's unclear how the 19-year-old was able to get inside of the school because investigators say the building was locked.
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Among the injured, teenagers, 15 and 16-year-olds with a variety of injuries including an ankle fracture wound as well as gunshot wounds. Among the deceased, a 61-year-old female and a 16-year-old student. Investigators say when the person entered this building, the weapon was not concealed.
LT. COL. MICHAEL SACK, INTERIM COMMISSIONER, ST. LOUIS POLICE DEPARTMENT: When he entered it was out. There was no mystery about what was going to happen. He had it out and entered in an aggressive, violent manner. This could have been much worse. The individual had almost a dozen 30-
round high capacity magazines on him. So, that's a whole lot of victims there. But because of the quick response, that suspect didn't have the opportunity to turn this into -- it's certainly tragic for the families and is tragic for community but it could have been a whole lot worse.
BROADDUS: It could have been much worse. The commissioner also adding, he doesn't know if the security guards at this school had guns.
Adrienne Broaddus, CNN, St. Louis, Missouri.
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FOSTER: In the aftermath of a different U.S. shooting 16-year-old gunman Ethan Crumbley pled guilty to all 24 charges against him in a Michigan courtroom on Monday. His guilty plea includes one count of terrorism causing death which prosecutors are calling a landmark case. A mass shooter convicted of terrorism on state charges. Crumbley shot and killed four students and wounded seven others at Oxford High School in November 2021. He faces up to life in prison without parole. His parents have pled not guilty to related charges and are set to be tried in January.
A member of the Texas Rangers unit has been suspended and now being investigated for his inaction during the Uvalde school massacre when the shooter was left unchallenged for more than an hour. That's according to sources close to the investigation. They say Christopher Kindell told investigators he focused on supplying updates to his bosses on the day of the shooting in May but he had no discussions about options to breach the classroom as someone in his position would have been expected to do. Kindell is one of seven officers in the Texas Department of Public Safety who'd been referred for investigation. 19 children and 2 teachers were killed in the massacre at Robb Elementary School.
Police have arrested a suspect after a shocking incident at the New York subway. I have to warn you, this next video is quite disturbing. You can see a commuter pushed from the platform on the tracks in what police say was an unprovoked attack. Police have arrested 41-year-old Lamar McCray and are recommending multiple charges including attempted murder.
Parts of the U.S. that have faced drought could see rain this week. The Mississippi River has reached historic lows because of the current drought along with much of the Great Plains. But they get some rain and more than they bargained for. Meteorologist Pedram Javaheri has the very latest from Atlanta.
JAVAHERI: Yes, good morning, Max. Watching the areas of the southern United States are in for some strong storms potentially in-store. And you'll notice the weather map generally quiet across a large area of the United States especially in parts of the central plains for now.
But you notice areas of the southeast here, a disturbance moving right through this region could cause some active weather generally into the afternoon hours and quick moving system here. The primary concerns is going to be related to some straight line winds, maybe winds of 50, 60 miles an hour with the incoming system. But between and around places such as Memphis, Birmingham, Jackson, a level 2 on a scale of 1 to 4, which is a slight risk. Again, a primary threat being for straight- line winds and some hail and maybe an isolated tornado scattered about this region. But you want to watch this into the afternoon hours for these storms.
But I think what really will come out of this is going to be the beneficial amount of rainfall across an area that has been so drought stricken. So, whether we get severe weather or not, it's going to be slight risk. But we're going to get plenty of rainfall across the region that is going to help of the situation. And you'll notice some areas could see as much as 2 to 4 inches moving forward over the next several days. And again, parts of Dallas, portions of eastern Oklahoma, into areas of Arkansas, Louisiana and on into Mississippi. Very beneficial rainfall and we'll take anything we can.
Now notice across areas of the Western U.S., it is an entirely different story. The first significant snow event has been in place in the last couple of days and beginning to taper off for most. But have accumulated about 29 inches across west Yellowstone, Montana. And a couple of pockets of winter weather are still in place. Talking about the highest elevations across the U.S./Canadian border, parts of the Siskiyou, parts of the northern Rockies, certainly, the Olympic Mountains, parts of the Cascades as well, could see about 8 inches of snowfall in those high elevations. And when you look at this region, also very much drought stricken. So, anything you get is going to be beneficial. And we expect more of it here going into what is essentially going to be the wettest time of year, which is going to be the month of November just a few days away across that region here.
Now across the Eastern U.S. again, there is the pocket of wet weather we expect. That will be very helpful in this region.
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Temps will be above average here going into the first few days of November especially around parts of the Great Lakes and parts of the northeast as well. 66 in Chicago, aiming for about 74 in Cleveland. Can't complain when the last few days of October bring you near 70 degree weather across parts of the Northeast. So, there's the latest here across areas of the United States -- Max.
FOSTER: Thank you to Pedram.
Russia insisting Ukraine may use a dirty bomb on the battlefield. Ahead how the Ukrainians are trying to disprove that claim.
Plus, falling test scores in America's schools. We'll explain what's behind the poor results and what officials are doing about it.
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FOSTER: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you're just joining me, let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour.
We are just two weeks away from the critical U.S. midterm elections where voters will decide which party gets control of Congress. Key issues driving voters to the polls are the economy and inflation.
While in the U.K. Rishi Sunak is set to become the country's new Prime Minister in the next few hours. Sunak will be Britain's third Prime Minister in just seven weeks.
According to Reuters, Russia will address the UN Security Council in the coming hours about its claim that Ukraine might use a so-called dirty bomb on its own territory. Russia has insisted without proof that Ukraine plan to use an explosive mixed with radioactive material in a false flag operation.
Ukraine denies this and has invited nuclear inspectors from the UN to disprove the claim. NATO's Secretary General also rejects the allegation saying Russia must not use it as a pretexts to escalate the conflict. The U.S. has suggested is actually Russia which might use a dirty bomb and warned of consequences if it does.
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