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Brands Drop Kanye West After Antisemitic Comments; Older Americans Feeling the Squeeze of Rising Inflation; U.N. Experts to Visit Alleged Dirty Bomb-Making Sites; Nigeria Flooding the Worst in a Decade; Anti-Government Protests in Iran Rock Universities Amid Crackdown. Aired 4:30-5a ET

Aired October 26, 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]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Welcome back to CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster. If you are just joining us, do let me bring you up to date with our top stories this hour. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak starting day two on the job. He is expected to face his first questions in parliament in just a few hours. How Sunak plans to handle Britain's economic crisis will most likely be addressed and be top of that agenda.

Americans will decide the fate of the House and Senate in just over two weeks from today. More than 9 million early and absentee ballots have already been cast for the U.S. midterm elections on November 8. More on both these stories in "EARLY START."

Now it's a bad day to be Ye brands. It's a tough time for the rapper who formerly went by Kanye West after he doubled down on anti-Semitic comments made online. The company is saying nay to Ye, and that includes Adidas, which worked with West for nearly a decade. Forbes has dropped him from billionaires list saying the botch deals now make him worth a mere $400 million. Former fans torched their Yeezy, protests that the former with one Florida man saying that he's burned $15,000 worth of his 40 pair Yeezy collection. Two high profile athletes have also left Ye's sports agency. Aron Donald with the LA Rams, and Jaylen Brown from the Boston Celtics, both said they oppose hate speech and antisemitism, though neither mentioned Ye in their statements. The CEO of the Anti-Defamation League says now is the time for Ye to learn from his mistakes.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JONATHAN GREENBLATT, CEO, ANTI-DEFAMATION LEAGUE: I wish it had happened sooner but this does send a strong statement that there are consequences when you express antisemitism in any form of hate. It's just not in line with our values in society.

I don't believe in cancel culture, I believe in council culture. You need to embrace the sinner and help him understand why what they did offends so they won't do it again and they are enlightened as a result. That's how in society we move forward. Which is why with Kanye it was so problematic. Because when offered, for example, to visit the Holocaust Museum or when individuals like me and others said, hey, let's work together, he not only rejected them, he used those as opportunities to spout even more anti-Semitic toxins. So, look, whether it's happening, you know, on the public stage, on a college campus, you know, at the voting booth antisemitism and hate should never be tolerated no matter what the source.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Meanwhile, clothing brands like the Gap and Foot Locker have pulled all Yeezy merchandise from the shelves. The Gap says hate in any form is inexcusable and not in accordance with its values.

Investors are hoping to ride the momentum into another winning day on Wall Street. Meanwhile, let's take a look at how U.S. futures are faring. They are down sadly, particularly for the Nasdaq. But that could change by the open. Tuesday saw the Dow gain 337 points in the end to finish more than 1 percent higher. The Nasdaq gained 2 1/4 percent. The S&P 500 added more than 1 1/2 percent.

Recession fears also ranked down Google's core business. Its parent company Alphabet is reporting its earnings for the third quarter and Google's advertising revenues fell short of Wall Street's expectations growing just 2 1/2 percent year on year. Compare that to 43 percent growth a year ago.

America's outlook on the economy declining after two months of positive reports of the confidence reports, the consumer confidence index slumped in October. The numbers for August and September were both higher. September -- well, spending rather has remained strong since the start of the pandemic but economists warned persistent inflation could bring a challenging holiday season for all retailers.

Holiday shopping is the last thing on the minds of some Americans as they struggle simply to put food on the table. And for retirees living on a fixed income, the increase in prices is taking a toll especially on them forcing some to make extremely hard choices.

[04:35:03]

Gabe Cohen reports.

(BEGIN VIDEO TAPE)

GABE COHEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): At the senior friendship center in Sarasota, Florida, asked about inflation, it will strike a chord with nearly everyone.

DOM ISTORICO, SARASOTA RESIDENT: I've seen it as an excuse for people to take advantage of other people.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nice hands

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you.

COHEN (voice-over): Around the bridge table, these retirees are feeling the squeeze.

CATHERINE JAMES: Everything is expensive.

COHEN (voice-over): Eighty-one-year-old Catherine James turn to her son for financial help.

JAMES: It makes things a little easier.

COHEN (voice-over): Seventy-nine-year-old Ron Longhurst cut back on evening socializing.

RON LONGHURST, SARASOTA RESIDENT: Your bar stool viewers may note that I'm taking maybe a week or two longer between haircuts.

COHEN (voice-over): And 82 year old Ann Smith cut down on her favorite simple pleasure, drinking soda.

COHEN: You're actually watching your Coca Cola budget.

ANN SMITH, SARASOTA RESIDENT: Yes, it's tripled.

COHEN (voice-over): Seniors on a fixed income had been hit particularly hard by inflation, with September prices up 8.2 percent from a year ago. Even worse in areas like Tampa, Florida where the housing market has exploded.

SHARON JOHNSON, TAMPA RESIDENT: Everything is going up except our income.

COHEN (voice-over): Sixty-seven-year-old Sharon Johnson says her family's rent in Tampa jumped $350 this year to 3100 a month, and with other bills surging it's thrown their budget into chaos.

JOHNSON: I never had to worry about how we were going to eat.

COHEN (voice-over): They already have boxes packed expecting another rent hike when their lease ends. The retired university counselor and her husband, a retired engineer and teacher moved here from Michigan, but so far price hikes are stealing their retirement dream.

JOHNSON: We are middle income with the less to work within when we worked full time and we have worked hard and we've been honest. Then why is it going in reverse?

COHEN (voice-over): Next year Social Security recipients will receive an annual cost of living adjustment of 8.7 percent, the largest increase since 1981.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The salad smells good.

COHEN (voice-over): But for now, seniors like Barb Smith have felt little relief. The 70-year-old volunteers at a free restaurant, a modern day soup kitchen for the less fortunate. But she's coming to rely on the take home meal she gets after her shift.

BARBARA SMITH, VOLUNTEER, FEEDING TAMPA BAY: I do have bills that have to be paid and those have to be paid. And I have bought some groceries but I ended up having to take it back because something else came up that was more important than what I bought. And sometimes I only eat one meal a day.

COHEN: So that meal means a lot?

B. SMITH: Yes.

COHEN (voice-over): She works as a caretaker living without family. She stopped buying puzzles, her favorite hobby. The strain from these price hikes is isolating.

B. SMITH: If it hasn't been for voluntary, I would probably be insane by now.

COHEN (voice-over): The same concern brings this group to their card game, with tighter budgets they're finding joy in things that don't get more expensive.

A. SMITH: When I go home on Thursdays, I'm a much happier person.

COHEN: And many seniors have seen their retirement funds take a big hit this year as the markets have dipped making it even harder to make ends meet. Now some are choosing to go back to work or put off retiring.

Gabe Cohen, CNN, Washington.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Still ahead, progressive Democrats backtrack on their call for U.S. diplomacy with Russia. One senior party member says people are furious.

Plus, weeks of devastating flooding are taking a heavy toll on Nigeria killing hundreds and displacing more than a million people. CNN is there.

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: This is what it looks like when your city turns into a lake. They've been living like this for at least three weeks and the warnings that it could get worse before it gets better. When we come back where else Nigeria is affected straight after the break.

[04:40:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Progressive Democrats are pulling back on their call for U.S. diplomacy with Russia to end the war in Ukraine. Caucus chair Pramila Jayapal has withdrawn her letter pushing for the Biden administration to pursue talks with Moscow. The letter was written several months ago but sent on Monday. Top Democrats were furious saying the letter undercut U.S. support for Ukraine especially given Russia's recent struggles.

U.S. president Joe Biden is warning Russia it will be a mistake to use tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine. American officials say they see no evidence Moscow's planning such a move. But Russia meanwhile claims Ukraine is working on a dirty bomb. But Western leaders say it's a false flag operation which Moscow could use to escalate the war.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Let me just say, Russia would be making an incredibly serious mistake to use a tactical nuclear weapon. I'm not guaranteeing you that it's a false flag operation yet, don't know, but it would be a serious, serious mistake.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Ukraine has invited U.N. nuclear experts to visit two facilities implicated by Russia in the alleged dirty bomb plot. The government in Kyiv says that it has nothing to hide. More now from CNN's Nic Robertson.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Ukrainian officials are expecting those IAEA inspectors to be here in the coming days. They hope and expect that the inspectors will give them a clean bill of health to completely put an end to Russia's false allegations -- as they say and their Western backers say -- full transparency of false allegations that Ukraine is preparing to make a dirty bomb.

Now Russian officials said that there are two sites in Ukraine that they want the inspectors to go to. A scientific academy here in the capital of Kyiv and a mining facility in the center of the country. A Russian diplomat attached to the IAEA has said that the inspectors might take weeks or even months to come up with a full report. The expectation here in Ukraine, however, is that it won't take long but that they are absolutely not producing a dirty bomb, that this is Russia trying to find a pretexts for an escalation that President Biden on Tuesday warned Russia against.

Precisely when those inspectors arrive on site, that's still TBD. Everyone here though hoping their job can get done quickly.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Kyiv, Ukraine.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

[04:45:00]

FOSTER: It turns out that North Korean nuclear test are not letting up. According to a South Korean official, the U.S., South Korea and Japan all agreed to join a meeting in Tokyo where they, quote, unparalleled response will be necessary if the North conduct a seventh nuclear test. North Korea has fired off dozens of missiles this year fueling fears its first nuclear test since 2017 could be eminent.

The worse flooding Nigeria has seen in a decade is putting many people at grave risk of cholera and other serious health dangers. And the International Rescue Committee warns more than a million children in the country's north could suffer from acute food insecurity this year. CNN's Larry Madowo joins me now from southern Nigeria. Larry, what's

the latest from where you are? I mean, we can see the scene.

MADOWO: Max, that's the reality of life for so many people here, that their life, so much of what they know is under water. We are in the capital Bayelsa, this is in southern Nigeria. An oil rich state and yet it's been like this for weeks. In fact, the waters have receded now but here is no end in sight.

The Nigerian government is warning that Bayelsa and four other states that are the worst affected could see even more rainfall until the end of November which means the waters could come much higher.

And you already see this. This is a main street in the capital and this is a reality. So many people are only getting by using boats. They used to be able to walk here and drive here. Only the brave are willing to drive here. You see cars over there are underwater. The man across the street has got the water all the way down to his waist. And some people are still living in those homes. Do you see across the street, you see buildings that are completely shut down. The business cannot operate because the water gets all the way to the steps and the ground floor is completely written off.

But this is not just happening in this state of southern Nigeria, 33 other Nigerian -- 36 states have been affected by flooding this year. It's the worst flooding in a decade and it's because of poor infrastructure, well-above average rainfall and especially climate change.

But the government has used that climate change as an excuse angry some Nigerians who say this is just a result of negligence. That the government didn't prepare even when there was a forecast and after the floods affected so much of the country, it didn't respond adequately. There are people sleeping right on the streets.

The kids who are bathing with the water, who are cooking with it, who are washing with it and preparing food. So, one of the real fears here is cholera and other water-borne diseases very likely could be an outbreak in parts of the country.

But here in Yenagoa, Bayelsa state, they have residents who've reporting seeing bodies floating on the streets because of just how much of the city and how much of the state is underwater. It's a truly tragic situation that people feel the government has not responded to effectively. And they want it declared a national emergency which the government still has not done. Because according to the Nigerian government, they are not yet overwhelmed. Though from here it doesn't look like that -- Max.

FOSTER: Extraordinary scenes. Larry, thank you so much for bringing us that. We'll be back in just a moment.

[04:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) FOSTER: Cries of anger and frustration are getting louder across Iran

as antigovernment protesters call for a regime change after a young woman, Mahsa Amini, died in police custody 40 days ago now. A Kurdish rights group has released this video showing what appears to be security forces in Amini's hometown on Tuesday night. A Norway based rights group says more than 200 people have been killed since the government crackdown began last month. CNN's Nada Bashir has been following the developments from London and has this report.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER (voice over): from the streets to the classroom, at least a dozen universities in Iran now gripped by anti- regime demonstrations. Students at the forefront of a protest movement which is posing the biggest threat to the Iranian regime in years.

In Tehran, government spokesperson Ali Bahadori Jahromi was met with crowds chanting against the regime.

The familiar rallying cry of women, life, freedom, followed by some calling for the spokesman to, quote get lost, forcing him to abandon his talk ahead of schedule.

And in the holy city of Qum, another frosty reception for the government official. Their message, we do not want a murderous guest at our university.

But the movement has also spread to the country's high schools. Young girls in here bravely defying the regime's strict dress code, some even joining the call for regime change.

But just as protests continue to gain momentum, so does the regime's brutal crackdown.

College students in Hamadan seen here mourning the death of their classmate, Negin Abdolmaleki. According to Human Rights Group Hengaw, the 21-year-old was killed by Iran security forces during protest. Hengaw alleges she was beaten by a baton, sustaining injuries to her head and scalp.

The Iran semiofficial news agency denies those reports. Another name another life added to the growing list of those been hailed as martyrs. Each death only galvanizing the country's youth in their growing fight for change.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOSTER: Nada joins me now. 40 days and it just feels like, you know, the motivation for these protests continues and she's really the figure head of them even though she's no longer with us.

BASHIR (on camera): Yes, absolutely. I mean, these protests are not losing steam. We're in the sixth week of demonstrations now and this is the 40th day since Mahsa Amini died -- when she was killed. And this is an important moment in Iran, and there's an important marker of remembrance, of mourning in Iranian tradition. And we are expecting to see further protests today. There has been

calls circulating on social media for widespread protests in her remembrance. But of course, there is the concern around the security forces crackdown on these demonstrations and protests.

[04:55:00]

And we've already heard from Iranian state-run media claiming that that Mahsa Amini's family have said they won't be holding any sort of remembrance ceremonies for Mahsa Amini given the current circumstances. But we know we've heard from human rights groups in the past that the families and loved ones of those who have lost relatives to the security forces and in this brutal crackdown are often facing pressure by the government, by the regime to really stand against these demonstrations and protests. So, that may be a statement coming under duress. We are still expecting to see those demonstrations. And look, over the last few days we've seen widespread protests being driven really by students and by young people. At least a dozen universities now gripped by daily demonstrations as these protests pile on.

FOSTER: Yes, incredible scenes, isn't it, and motivation. Thank you so much, Nada.

Amazon customers will have a new way to pay at checkout with Venmo. The PayPal owned payment service is now an option for select customers with a full rollout for all U.S. customers expected by Black Friday. Amazon says busy holiday season is a great time to offer easy and secure payment options.

Halloween is just a few days away but Disney and Marvel are already making plans for the later holiday season. They released a trailer for a new special starring the "Guardians of the Galaxy" in search of the perfect present.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Something special you will never forget.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What about someone special?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: The special will feature an appearance by actor Kevin Bacon. He's been part of an ongoing joke through the Guardian movie. For now, it's unclear whether he'll travel to space or help save the holidays. This special is set to hit Disney+ on November 25th.

Thanks for joining me here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Max Foster in London. "EARLY START" with Christine is next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

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