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CNN INTERNATIONAL: Russia Targets Infrastructure In Strikes Across Ukraine; Brazil's Supreme Court Orders All Roads Cleared Amid Protests; Voting Underway In Fifth In Less Than Four Years; Police Chief: Response Before Crush Was "Inadequate"; Indian PM Modi Visits Site Of Bridge Accident; U.K. Govt. Under Fire For Calling Migrant Crisis "Invasion"; California Drought Brings Shortages, Skyrocketing Prices. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 01, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

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[08:00:29]

MAX FOSTER, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster in London.

Just ahead, sources tell CNN Iran is prepared to send new weapons to Russia. Will that move change the trajectory of the war in Ukraine? Israelis go to the polls for the fifth time in less than four years. Can current Prime Minister Yair Lapid stave off a challenge on Benjamin Netanyahu? And a U.K. government minister is under fire for inflammatory comments over immigration. Will explain this hour.

We are hearing that Iran plans to send about 1,000 more weapons to Russia, including advanced guided missiles for Moscow's war in Ukraine. Tehran has already supplied deadly drones. This comes a short time after the mayor of Kyiv announced full power is back on in the capital. It was restored 24 hours after Russian missiles targeted critical infrastructure in Kyiv and across the country.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says most of the missiles Moscow fired were brought down by air defenses and the repair work goes on. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, UKRAINIAN PRESIDENT (through translation): As of now, restoration works are still ongoing in those regions where there were hits by Russian missiles today. We are doing everything possible to restore the energy and water supply. And we will restore it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Clarissa Ward is in Zaporizhzhia for us today. Clarissa, will these extra weapons have an impact on the ground where you are, do you think?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, we don't really know yet when these weapons would actually arrive in Russia and so when they would start being used, but obviously, there is going to be a large amount of concern about this, particularly when you're talking about precision guided missiles and drones, which have had such a devastating effect on the battlefield, particularly in the last month.

I am standing here right behind me, you can probably see, this is what it looks like when a large missiles slams into a residential area. This actually happened a few weeks ago, but it gives you a picture for just the level of weaponry that we're talking about and that you're dealing with here. This is a normal apartment building. Three people were killed, seven people were injured.

And just yesterday, you mentioned in your introduction 50, more than 50 missiles fired at Ukraine. Ukrainian Air Force saying that they were able to intercept more than 40 of them, which is a tremendous success rate. But as you know, Max, even just a few that managed to get through if they hit those targets, and the target now is very much of course civilian infrastructure, then they still can have a devastating impact. So yes, there will certainly be a great deal of concern about more weaponry being pumped into Russia at this crucial point in the war, Max.

FOSTER: You're about to get into this very cold period, aren't you, in Ukraine? How concerned are people about these attacks on the heating system, for example?

WARD: Well, I mean, listen, Max, you've heard from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He has told the Ukrainian people in very sort of bear terms, this is going to be the hardest winter ever. Ukrainian officials have also said, if you're living outside the country, or you've gone outside the country for a while, don't come back home. Because the grid as it stands cannot cope with more people living here.

They're being asked to, you know, shops can't have lights on, restaurants, everyone has to minimize the amount of electricity they use. And still, every time you have these attacks, you are having rolling blackouts, you have situations like yesterday in Kyiv where 40 percent of the city were without water, where you were suddenly seeing lines of people collecting water to stock up in preparation for more of these attacks on civilian infrastructure, because the feeling here on the ground is that this problem isn't going to go away.

And that's why you're seeing Ukrainian officials calling for more air defense and also calling on more support and materials for trying to rebuild the grid. They are trying to keep up, but it is very, very challenging. And that's why they're asking for more support, Max.

FOSTER: Clarissa Ward in Zaporizhzhia, thank you very much indeed for joining us today. Now in Brazil, President Jair Bolsonaro is expected to make a speech sometime today. The big question is will he concede two days after he lost a very close election? His silence has been deafening. His supporters are anything but silent.

Truck drivers have blocked roads in at least 90 of Brazil's 26 states causing major delays and disruptions that literally are keeping society from moving forward.

[08:05:07]

Brazil Supreme Court has seen enough. It has ordered highway and military police to clear the protests from all public roads and highways and threatened drivers with hefty fines. CNN's Paula Newton joins us live from Sao Paulo. What do you make of this silence from the President, Paula?

PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, look here in Sao Paulo, things are a bit better, but not by much. You have to think the road going into the airport is already blocked by protesters, not entirely, but it is still continues to cause a lot of chaos. You know, what's going on here, Max, is that perhaps Bolsonaro has unleashed, you know, a certain force here, a certain movement that perhaps even he will not be able to contain. These are voters who honestly believe that the election was stolen. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): We have a president that won at the ballot box and they diverted the ballot boxes and put the other candidate ahead, and we're against that.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE (through translation): Even if Bolsonaro accepts, the people will not accept it because the power comes from the people. The people were the ones who put Bolsonaro there, and we're the ones who would remove him as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NEWTON: Now, Max, the voters that I spoke to who were Bolsonaro supporters, they are on the road said, look, we will stay here as long as it takes. What does that mean? That means they believe Bolsonaro should continue to be their president. That puts many officials and allies of Bolsonaro in a really tough spot. This is not good for an economy that is already basically challenged with so many different issues.

In the meantime, President-elect Lula has tried to get on with the process of transition. But that'll be difficult until Bolsonaro actually comes out we hope in the next few hours and says exactly how he interprets these results, and if he's willing to step down and speak to Lula.

FOSTER: We'll bring it live as it happens. Paula, thank you for joining us from Sao Paulo.

Now this hour, Israelis are voting in the country's fifth election in less than four years. The results will have major implications for the country, the region and beyond. These are pictures of a polling station in Jerusalem with early turnout exceeding the last election. Centrist Prime Minister Yair Lapid seen voting here, hopes to defy predictions and remain in power.

Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party could get the most votes in Israel's parliament, the Knesset. In every prior election, the winning party has had to form a coalition government to gain or retain power. CNN's Hadas Gold is outside a polling station in Jerusalem. When do you expect that result, Hadas?

HADAS GOLD, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, we're expecting polls to close at 10:00 p.m. when we'll get those first exit poll results. I'm standing outside of a polling station in Jerusalem, you can see candidates have plastered the fence here with their posters trying to convince voters last minute to vote for them instead of their competitors.

But this -- although this is the fifth time in just over three years that the Israelis are going to the polls, it is different because for the first time in 13 years, it's not Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the sitting Prime Minister. He actually came and cast his ballot here, was his first time in 13 years that he was casting his ballot not as a sitting Prime Minister, of course, now it is Yair Lapid in power.

And also, what's at stake this time around is the rise of the far- right in Israel. And that's because in any governing coalition that Benjamin Netanyahu will be able to put together, it will likely rely on the growing popularity of a far-right party, one of whose leaders was once convicted for inciting racism. I asked Benjamin Netanyahu about relying on their support while he voted earlier today. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BENJAMIN NETANYAHU, FORMER ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER: We don't want a government with the Muslim Brotherhood, who support terrorists and deny the existence of Israel. And I'm pretty hostile to the United States to -- that's what we're going to bring.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GOLD: So as you can tell, he didn't quite answer my question here. But when you look at the numbers, you will have to likely rely on that party for support. Now polls do show that the pro-Benjamin Netanyahu bloc, I should note Netanyahu still faces an ongoing corruption trial, is closest to obtaining that magic 61 seat majority number they need to be able to form a government. But it still seems to be very, very close.

And as with any election around the world, that all comes down to voter turnout, and whose voters will actually turn out to vote. And Max, what's really interesting today is so far we've heard news that the voter turnout this time, despite the fact that it's the fifth time, Israelis are heading to the polls in three and a half years, it's higher so far than it has ever been since 1999. Max?

FOSTER: It's going to be very interesting. Hadas Gold, in Jerusalem, thank you.

Do be sure to watch our live coverage of the Israel election results as polls close later. That's 8:00 p.m. in London, that's 10:00 p.m. in Tel Aviv right here on CNN. Now South Korea mourns. The Prime Minister says lack of knowledge and crowd consideration were partly to blame for Saturday's tragedy. At least 156 people were killed when Halloween party goers were trapped in a massive crowd surge Seoul.

[08:10:12]

The police chief says the response to emergency calls was inadequate. Meanwhile, grieving families are collecting the belongings of their loved ones, neatly arranged at the gym.

Our CNN's Ivan Watson joins us live from Seoul at a memorial site for the crash victims. I mean, it's such a powerful image, isn't it, that one behind you. But that frustration really boiling over now with the response.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and concessions now coming from senior South Korean government officials that something really did go wrong on Saturday night, that there was a lack of preparation or as the Prime Minister put it, a lack of institutional knowledge and consideration for crowd management. And concessions from the South Korean police that they'd been getting warnings from people who were in the crowds that swelled to numbers upwards of 100,000 people, that there were going to be problems, and that there was not an adequate response.

Listen to a senior South Korean police official.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

YOON HEE-KEUN, KOREAN NATIONAL POLICE AGENCY COMMISSIONER GENERAL: The calls were about emergencies telling the danger and urgency of the situation that a large crowd had gathered before the accident occurred. However, we think the police response to the 112 calls was inadequate.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WATSON: Now, Max, this is a memorial that has gathered here and people are coming. As you can see, they're praying, some people are crying. It's a moving scene as people try to pay respects to the 156 victims of this disaster. But just beyond this barrier is the entrance to a subway station here. And there are estimates there were more than 130,000 people that came through that subway station on Saturday.

The police say they had deployed only about 136 police officers, mostly to engage in trying to stop illicit drugs and sexual assault and abuse taking place. Clearly not enough for the huge numbers of young people that gathered to go to the dozens, the scores of bars and nightclubs in the narrow alleyways beyond where I'm standing right now.

In addition to the shock, the grief here, there is also a very difficult process underway identifying the objects that belong to these many victims arrayed in a gym here in Seoul. And you can imagine grieving family members going to try to identify the clothing, the shoes left behind by some of these victims of this terrible, terrible tragedy. Max?

FOSTER: Ivan, thank you. Those images incredibly powerful looking at the shoes. Thank you.

India's Prime Minister has visited the site of a tragic bridge collapse. Narendra Modi's visit comes as Gujarat state prepares to observe a day of mourning for those who died there. The death toll is now 135. 200 people were believed to be on the bridge when it buckled apparently due to a snapped cable. Divers are searching for more bodies. Nine people are under arrest. They're connected to the company that did maintenance work on the bridge.

Now in just one week, Americans will head to the polls for the key midterm elections. The results could tip the balance of power in Washington. That's why both parties have their big names on the campaign trail. Among them, President Joe Biden and former President Barack Obama. Later in the week, former President Donald Trump will also be on the trail.

In the coming hours, the man accused of attacking Paul Pelosi will be in court. He is the husband of the U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. He was attacked in their San Francisco home last week by a man wielding a hammer. Prosecutors say David DePape broke into the home through a glass window looking for the Speaker. They add that DePape was carrying two hammers, zip ties, rope and a roll of tape.

Still to come, the new U.K. government under fire over immigration after an attack on a migrant detention center. The issue is once again dominating headlines here in the U.K. A closer look after the break.

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[08:16:37]

FOSTER: Welcome back here in the U.K. The Home Secretary is calling an illegal immigration, all illegal immigration on the south coast, at least, an invasion. But the government is facing criticism today for using that kind of language. Just really blew up after a fire bomb attack on an overcrowded immigration center there on the south coast.

Here's the Daily Mail, Suella -- that is Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary -- channel migrant crisis out of control, out of a newspaper here. This is the Metro, Welcome to the U.K. No beds, no fresh air, no toilet doors, no compassion. This is the state of these immigration centers down there on the south coast that got attacked.

And here's The Times, alarm at Braverman's immigration rhetoric. This is really about that idea that there's an invasion on the south coast. But this is what Braverman is facing in her challenge. 40,000 people have arrived in boats like this on the south coast of England so far this year. And they're having to spend nearly $8 million a day in hotel costs to house them once they get here.

The surge in arrivals from Albania has been particularly noticed and you see that in the numbers and we're looking into why that might be. Let's bring in Bianca, though, because she's been looking into this. And it has been quite noticeable, hasn't it, the reaction to Braverman's language here?

BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, conservative lawmakers from her own party distancing themselves from what she said today. Just reminds our viewers on the context. So Braverman made these comments in the House of Commons yesterday on Monday, following the attack by petrol bombs on the Dover migration processing center, which the shadow Home Secretary has said shows that the current Home Secretary Braverman has no regard for national security or the safety of people in this country if she's going to be using escalatory and inflammatory rhetoric after an attack has just been perpetrated.

Let's take a listen to what Braverman had to say in the chamber.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SUELLA BRAVERMAN, BRITISH HOME SECRETARY: Let's be clear about what's really going on here, Madam Speaker. The British people deserve to know which party is serious about stopping the invasion on our southern coast and which party is not. Some 40,000 people have arrived on the south coast this year alone. Many of them facilitated by criminal gangs, some of them actual members of criminal gangs. So let's stop pretending that they are all refugees in distress. The whole country knows that that is not true.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

NOBILO: Now even by parliamentary standards, Max, you, as well as our viewers can recognize that that was a particularly combustible and tense exchange. Her supporters of course are fully behind this because of what they see as the scale of the challenge and the unprecedented figures of people trying to cross the channel and get into the United Kingdom via the south coast.

The Home Secretary was also under fire for the conditions at the processing centers. Manston, for example, one on the south coast of England, you're supposed to clear that in a day, just 24 hours. There are now families that have been that 32 days with cases of MRSA and diphtheria reported as well as a lack of beds and significantly deteriorating conditions.

FOSTER: Each Western nation seems to have a different solution to this migration issue. They've all got it, haven't they?

[08:20:03]

I want to show you this video, Bianca. This is from Texas and this is law enforcement officers firing pepper bullets, I believe, at migrants there, they're trying to control them. This has had a huge impact in America, this imagery. But it does show how different nations are responding in different ways.

NOBILO: It certainly does. And it's the continuous debate that we see in liberal democracies at the moment. And it's an extension of that idea of freedom and security. And it does tend to fall along political lines. By and large, we see the parties on the right and the far right, often using heavy anti-immigrant rhetoric, which is more supportive of a much harder line and a much more aggressive response to things like this.

But as policymakers have commented, the world over. The problem with dehumanizing rhetoric, or inflammatory rhetoric, like we heard from the British Home Secretary, is that it does tend to relax the natural human aversion to violence, and it dehumanizes these people that are trying to come into the countries. But, of course, there are legitimate points to be made about the threats to security that can sometimes be presented as the Home Secretary was alluding to.

But it just indicates how thorny this problem is and how it's very difficult to navigate while preserving the safety of the country in question. And also treating people in a humane way. I think one of the issues that we've seen in the U.S. and in the U.K. is the fact that these processing centers are just too full and are not in fit condition to deal with the problem. And that's exacerbating things.

FOSTER: OK, Bianca, thank you very much indeed for joining us.

Now, this is what a city on the brink of running out of water looks like. Just ahead, we'll zoom in on California, where water crisis are soaring. We'll explain next.

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FOSTER: Wells running dry, farmers losing their crops, the mega drought gripping. California has been a major problem for years now. But now, soaring water prices could make a bad situation even worse. CNN's Rene Marsh explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RENE MARSH, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Miles of brittle uprooted almond trees lay flat across dry farmland in Coalinga, California. Drought tightening water restrictions and now skyrocketing water prices have forced farmers to sacrifice their crops. This is what a thirsty city on the verge of running out of water looks like.

ADAM ADKISSON, COALINGA CITY COUNCIL: We can't continue this. It's not sustainable for our community.

MARSH (voice-over): City Councilman Adam Adkisson says Coalinga was set to run out of water by mid to late November and had to turn to the open market to buy water to make up the shortfall. The city was short about 600-acre feet of water. That's the equivalent of about 300 Olympic-sized pools.

Last week, Coalinga finalize the water purchase from a California public irrigation district. The price tag for one of life's most basic necessities, roughly $1.1 million. Adkisson says the same amount of water used to cost the city $114,000.

ADKISSON: I was just floored. I cannot believe that they could sell water at that price. But that was actually a cheap rate. That's the cheapest rate we found.

MARSH (voice-over): The index that tracks water transactions in California shows the price of water has gone from just over $200 in 2019 to more than $1,000 today for the amount of water it would take to fill half of an Olympic-sized pool.

[08:25:05]

MELISSA HURTADO, CALIFORNIA STATE SENATE DEMOCRAT: People are making money off of less water availability and that's hurting real people, real farmers and rural communities.

Hi everybody.

MARSH (voice-over): California state Senator Melissa Hurtado, in a bipartisan group of California legislators in a letter sent this August urged the U.S. Justice Department to investigate, quote, potential drought profiteering. Hurtado suspects there could be water price gouging in drought stricken western states.

HURTADO: I'm not a farmer, and this keeps me up at night.

MARSH (voice-over): CNN was there as Hurtado met with a living room full of farmers raising alarm about high water prices.

DEEDEE GRUBER, GRUBER FARMS: How can we work out a plan to where it's not going to bankrupt us?

MARSH (voice-over): Deedee Gruber and her husband Tom, grow 11 different crops. They estimate the water needed to grow one of their crops, walnuts, will cost $40,000.

GRUBER: It would have cost us more in water than what we're going to get for our walnuts.

MARSH (voice-over): The Justice Department in an email to Hurtado this month said her complaint was forwarded to the appropriate legal staff for further review. The agency declined comment to CNN on what if any investigative actions it might take as this dwindling resource becomes more expensive to come by.

ADKISSON: We're very poor community. These people out here cannot afford 1,000 percent increase in their water bills.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: The city of Coalinga announced recently that California approved a grant to help offset its $1 million water bill which is good news for the people in the city, but the larger problem prevails. And that's the $1 million price tag for a relatively small amount of water. So can California afford to keep compensating drought stricken cities like Coalinga as the climate crisis intensifies?

We should also know that this grant will not cover the costs for farmers and the water that they pay for. And CNN spoke to farmers who are warning that the current high-water prices in this state will drive food prices nationwide even higher.

Rene Marsh, CNN, Washington. FOSTER: Thank you for joining me here on CNN Newseum. I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport with Amanda Davies is up next.

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