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CNN International: Balance Of Power In U.S. Congress Now In The Hands Of Voters; Ruto: Kenya Suffering Worst Drought In 40 Years; Report: Poorer Nations Need $1T Per Year In Climate Funding; CNN Speaks To COP27 President Egyptian FM Sameh Shoukry; Is Russia Still Meddling In American Democracy?; Apple Supplier Foxconn Is Recruiting After Weeks Of Lockdowns. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 08, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:11]

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

Just ahead, the polls are open. The midterm election in America as both parties grapple for control of Congress. Plus, world leaders and poor nations take center stage of the crucial climate conference. My colleague Becky Anderson will have all the latest live from Sharm El Sheikh. And pledging support. We hear from the U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. on whether America's help for Ukraine will continue.

By this time tomorrow, we could know which party has control of the U.S. Congress. The polls are open across the U.S. and Americans are lined up to cast their votes in what analysts say is a pivotal midterm election. All 435 seats in the U.S. House are up for grabs, as are 35 of the 100 Senate seats. Republicans are confident they can win both the House and the Senate. That's partially because Democrats are largely on the defensive over inflation and President Joe Biden's low approval ratings.

For his part, Mr. Biden is keeping the election in perspective.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you feeling about tomorrow, sir?

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Well, I'm feeling -- I'm optimistic. And I'm always optimistic.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Can Democrats win the House?

BIDEN: I think it's going to be tough, but I think we can. I think we'll win the Senate, and I think the House as well.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Our Jeff Zeleny is in Marietta, Georgia, where one of the more contentious Senate races is taking place. So Jeff, when do you think we'll get that final result? JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Well, Max, there's no doubt that the Georgia Senate race is certainly one of the most closely watched here in the U.S. largely because it was just the last election when President Joe Biden narrowly won what was a red state of Georgia. And Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock also won on the President's coattails.

Well, now it's the President's policies that are front and center in this race. This race is indeed here in Georgia and in battleground states across the United States, shaping up as a referendum on President Biden. And if history is any guide, and indeed, it is our best guide on midterm elections, the President's party suffers, the President's party often loses control of one if not two chambers of the Congress.

So the President Biden there, his comments a short time ago, saying that, you know, he not sure if they can hold the House, only five seats are in Democratic majority that makes up that. So Republicans are almost certain to capture control of the House of Representatives. That has dramatic implications for the White House as well.

But here in Georgia, it's a prime example. The Senate is what this midterm election day. The suspense is all about. The Senate race here between Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker is very close, it is neck and neck as a handful of others are across the country. So how does this race goes will certainly determine the rest of the Biden agenda.

But Georgia has a particular rule. If neither candidate gets over 50 percent of the vote, 50 percent plus one, it goes into a runoff race. So if control of the Senate hinges upon that, the runoff is December 6. So we might be at this for a while to determine which party controls the U.S. Senate. Max?

FOSTER: Jeff, thank you. Back with you lots the other day next week in fact. We'll have much more on the U.S. midterms as well and today's other top stories coming up this hour. But first, my colleague Becky Anderson is live from the crucial COP27 Climate Summit in Sharm El- Sheikh in Egypt. Becky?

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN ANCHOR, CONNECT THE WORLD: Max, thank you very much. Indeed, yes, this is arguably the most consequential Global Climate Summit to date. Let me explain why, who's who of heads of state business leaders and others. So I hear all trying to hash out how to manage our growing climate crisis.

And one of the very big topics this year is that of loss and damage financing. The idea that rich countries which emit the most planet warming gases should pay poor countries that are being hit the hardest by disasters, like droughts and floods. On Monday, Kenyan President William Ruto chastise the international community here for failing to deliver on their promises to help developing nations. Earlier, he described some of the trade-offs his government is forced to make as it deals with the climate emergency. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) WILLIAM RUTO, KENYAN PRESIDENT: Two days ago, I was in the northern part of Kenya, where we are intervening because of food insecurity. We have to provide food stamps for 4.3 million Kenyans who are facing that starvation because we have the worst drought in 40 years. We've had three or four consecutive years of failed reign.

[08:05:04]

And as a result, we have to allocate resources, men for hospitals, men for drugs and hospitals, men for education of our children, to be able to feed the population. The reality of climate change is here with us. It's not in the future, it is in the present.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: That is the President of Kenya speaking out. Let's bring in CNN's David McKenzie. David, trillions and trillions of dollars per year. That's what one new report says it will cost for to help developing nations deal with climate damage. This has become the key issue here, hasn't it?

DAVID MCKENZIE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: It has become a key issue. And the problem is, is these negotiations are very difficult, just getting it on the table was challenging. The problem is, is if you do nothing, the cost of it will be that much more. But it's crossing, I think, a threshold that needs to happen for rich countries to realize that they need to make those negotiations now to stave off future loss and damage.

ANDERSON: And the prime minister of Barbados not mincing her words, when she said that she warned at least of billions, she said billions of refugees by mid-century and less governments act now to tackle this crisis. You're right to point on that -- the success here is even getting the idea of loss and damage onto the agenda.

The Egyptian president has said this meeting is not about ambition, it's more about implementation. Implementation of some of the issues that have in the past just been talked about. Are we seeing that sort of implementation, or at least the burgeoning of it happening here?

MCKENZIE: I think time will tell. This is a two-week meeting. You have to see some kind of concrete steps. I was just speaking to the head of the United Nations Environmental Program, she felt that they needed to see something concrete on this issue, because otherwise you're just kicking the can down the road.

And in the time of economic struggles for many nations, including rich nations, there's a tendency for parts of Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere to make sure they secure their energy security before they worry about future problems of other nations. But it's again, trying to have that vision that this will be a problem into the future and not deal with it. Now, you're going to have far bigger problems in the years ahead.

ANDERSON: Take a listen to what he said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SANAA SEIF, SISTER OF ALAA ABD EL-FATTAH: So we have not yet been defeated. But right now, all we know is that let's stop drinking water 50 hours ago. We don't know where he is. We don't know if he's alive. My mother waited outside the prison gates for 10 hours yesterday for her weekly letter. They didn't give her one. She's back at those gates right now.

I asked the British authorities to get us some proof that Alaa is alive and conscience. I did not get any response.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKENZIE: Well that, of course, was the sister, in fact, of the activist that is held in prison and on hunger strike. Now, Abd El- Fattah has been in prison for many months now. And this strike is something that his sister said he could be dying in the days. In the backdrop of what we're talking about and loss and damage and all of these other issues is this question about Egypt and its human rights record.

And this issue is something that they've taken as a dual citizen to the British government. They haven't had any answer yet. But they feel that he could die in the coming days if action isn't taken.

ANDERSON: David, thank you. David McKenzie with us.

Well, Egypt's Foreign Minister is taking on the crucial role of COP27 President Sameh Shoukry, is setting out an ambitious vision for this conference with a focus on the implementation of previous pledges. Shoukry says global climate action is at a watershed moment. Well earlier, I spoke to the Foreign Minister about what he hopes to achieve over the next two weeks.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SAMEH SHOUKRY, COP27 PRESIDENT: We want to see a clear commitment towards more reduction of greenhouse gases, more reduction of emissions, more recognition of the importance of adaptation for developing countries and the provision of the finance to enable developing countries to undertake the responsibilities.

ANDERSON: Do you worry that the world's richest are backtracking?

SHOUKRY: Absolutely. It's a worry for any of the parties, of the conference to backtrack and certainly those in the developed world who have the resources, who have the resilience to be backtracking would send the devastating message and would have a very negative impact on the issue of trust. The issue of trust is an important one where there's a feeling of commonality and that we're all in this together and must shoulder the responsibilities, differentiated responsibilities.

[08:10:29]

ANDERSON: You have talked about the pressing issue of funding arrangements specifically for developing nations under what's known as loss and damage. Now, last year, high income rich countries blocked a proposal for a financing body under that scheme. How can you be sure that that won't happen again this year?

SHOUKRY: Well, I think what we have achieved after 30 years of discussion of this item, during this COP, after very strenuous negotiations that the presidency team led to incorporate. We had on the agenda, an item related to loss and damage in itself and achievement, but we are not going to limit ourselves to that but we also have to be practical.

This is an issue of sensitivity and complexity. And we will be confident to move it ahead in terms of discussion. And within a specific timeframe that the parties can come to an understanding on the finance mechanisms that would provide the assistance to developing countries when it comes to loss and damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well Sameh Shoukry speaking to me earlier, a lot more from him. And from here in Sharm El-Sheikh throughout the day. For now, it is back to London and to my colleague, Max Foster. Max?

FOSTER: Yes, Becky. I just wondered, I know you've covered the 2009 Copenhagen conference, didn't you, which was seen as a really pivotal moment in this whole process. You're now looking back on that time. Perhaps you didn't know we're going to get to 27. But what do you make of the progress that has been made since then?

ANDERSON: Yes, it's interesting, isn't it? I mean, if COP26 in Glasgow was all about ambition, as David and I were discussing, the promise, at least in principle from President El-Sisi here was this would be about implementation, implementation, implementation. And it is about time that we begin to see some of the talk that we have seen over the years, translated into action. So there's a sort of divide really.

As you listen to those from the global south from poorer nations talk about the importance of getting this issue of loss and damage on the agenda. And believe me, when we talk about loss and damage, there isn't even a proper definition of it, let alone a financial mechanism to make it work. So when you get a report saying, it'll cost trillions and trillions, that's in principle great to have, it's physically how we start talking about and implementing mechanisms that will make this financing available to poorer nations. That's one thing.

The other side is, you know, a narrative from the likes of Saudi Arabia, for example, or the UAE. These are fossil fuel providers, these are countries that make no bones about the fact that they will squeeze the life out of the industry. But they are embedding energy diversification into not only their own economic plans for the future, but they are providing billions of dollars in financing that they hope and others hope, including the United States, and Western countries, will catalyze financing for developing countries to actually start investing themselves in cleaner energy.

So you ask, you know, how far have we come? I think the jury is out to a certain extent, but I'm certainly seeing the bones now of work that has been done on implementation. But there's still so much to do. And when you get the Prime Minister Mia Mottley today saying we are looking at the threat of billions of refugees, where we not to address this issue of climate justice. And that was, you know, she did not mince her words when she spoke to delegates here, I think that really sort of remind you of where we are at.

I mean, as the U.N. Secretary General suggested just yesterday, we aren't on a road to climate hell, unless we get on and do some anything about it. So I would say jury's out but I am seeing some progress certainly. Max?

FOSTER: Something at least. Beck, thank you very much indeed.

[08:15:10]

Still to come on the program, as Americans begin voting in midterm elections, one prominent Putin ally says Russia is still meddling. A closer look after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Welcome back, it's finally here. It's midterm elections day in the United States. But while Americans go to the polls, a familiar question is being asked yet again there. Is Russia still meddling in American democracy? Well, yes, according to this man. He is Yevgeny Prigozhin and he is known as Putin's chef. He is a Kremlin-linked oligarch. And he's been sanctioned by the United States for financing a troll farm which allegedly interfered in elections.

Now, on telegram he got in a debate with some journalists. And this is what he said, "Gentlemen, we interfered, we interfere and we will interfere. Carefully, precisely, surgically and in our own way, as we know how." He went on, "During our pinpoint operations, we will remove both kidneys and liver at once."

We don't know if he's being sarcastic. We don't know if any of this is true, but it feels pretty threatening from a very senior figure in Moscow. And if that isn't undermining the legitimacy of the U.S. election, then some say what the former president has been doing. Does do that.

Donald Trump again questioning whether or not anyone can trust the voting system in the United States. This is what he said most recently about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They take boxes of ballots, and they put them here and they take a wheelbarrow full, they put it there. You got some nobody knows what's going on. Why are they moving all those ballots? Why are they going? This is the most corrupt system.

(END VIDEO CLIP) FOSTER: Let's bring CNN's Clare Sebastian, because she'd been tracking this story for us. First of all, Prigozhin, what do we know about him? How much can we rely on these threats from him?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I mean, we can't rely on these threats from him, Max, but that doesn't mean they're not significant. Yevgeny Prigozhin has been around for a long time, but he's become increasingly public. In recent months, really, very recently, he is known in the past for his one legitimate business, which was his catering business, which earned him the sort of moniker of Putin chef.

He got a lot of government contracts for his catering business. He now is known or strongly believed in intelligence circles to be behind to other non-legitimate businesses, the Internet Research Agency, which is the troll factory, that's the reason why he was sanctioned by the U.S. And, of course, now publicly, the Wagner group which is that mercenary group, which has been so are active in Ukraine and of course in other theatres of war before that.

[08:20:06]

So that is where he wields his influence. He has been coming out of the shadows. Recently, we've seen videos of him, recruiting prisoners for the war effort in Ukraine. And to hear him admit openly, Max, after years of denying any election interference, really denying any involvement, even with the troll factory with which he was associated is an extraordinary development. I think it shows a deliberate move by him to sort of move into the public domain more efficiently this time.

FOSTER: What is the White House saying about these claims from him?

SEBASTIAN: Yes, so I think clearly, it was considered important enough by the White House to address it. Take a listen to what the White House Press Secretary said about this on Monday.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KARINE JEAN-PIERRE, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: We also know that part of Russia's efforts includes promoting narratives aimed at undermining democracy, and sowing division and discord. It's not surprising that Russia would be highlighting their attempted efforts and fabricating a story about their successes on the eve of election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SEBASTIAN: So I think this reveals my scrutiny that Russia doesn't actually have to interfere or even do it successfully to achieve some goals to sow distrust, which is clearly already there, if only if you listen to the comments by former President Trump in the U.S. elections. This is clearly a big concern to the White House. They don't want to make -- to create any sense that any interference is going on.

And actually there is no sign at the moment that any interference is going on despite precautions, comments, because that will further weaken trust in the system. So it was, I think, really important that the White House Press Secretary came out to try to sort of debunk these claims by precaution. And it shows just how influential he is becoming.

FOSTER: And this misinformation can be dangerous, can't it? Nancy Pelosi, U.S. House Speaker has been talking about how her husband was attacked on the basis of what she calls misinformation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR, AC360: The President said, and I quote, "The assailant entered the home asking where is Nancy, where is Nancy? Those were the very same words used by the mob when they stormed the United States Capitol on January 6.

NANCY PELOSI, U.S. HOUSE SPEAKER: That's right.

COOPER: Do you draw that same line?

PELOSI: Absolutely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: All of this is a whole new sort of atmosphere, isn't it, to elections. And there's real fear that, you know, right-wing populist leaders around the world will pick up on what's happening in America and elections will just become generally less legitimate.

SEBASTIAN: Yes, and I think, Max, the threat of violence from misinformation is something that we have seen before. This was clearly related more to sort of comments and actions by former President Trump and then Russia. But we've certainly seen it from Russia in the past, where their attempts to sow chaos have led to sort of real-world actions, real-world violence.

Chaos, clearly, a major motive for Russia, they want to make it look like things are sort of disintegrating in the United States and other Western democracies, really to not only do that, but also to make it look like Russia is the superior society. So that really furthers their aim. But clearly, very concerning that we're seeing suggestions that this is happening sort of organically within the United States as well.

FOSTER: Clare Sebastian, appreciate it. Thank you very much, indeed.

Join us on Tuesday for in-depth special coverage of the crucial U.S. midterm elections that will determine the control of Congress starting at 4:00 p.m. Eastern time. Stay with us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[08:25:16]

FOSTER: Apple device supplier Foxconn is now recruiting for one of its plants in China after weeks of lockdowns and decreased production. China's harsh zero COVID policy is taking a bite out of Apple which says production of its latest iPhones will be temporarily affected. Selina Wang has the latest.

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, Apple supplier Foxconn has started recruiting workers for its Zhengzhou factory. This facility located in central China is Apple's biggest iPhone assembly factory, and now it desperately needs more workers.

After a COVID outbreak at Zhengzhou in mid-October, there has been chaos at the factory. Viral videos have shown masses of workers walking miles across highways trying to flee the factories COVID restrictions. Workers had complained about subpar living conditions and the poor quality of food. All of this has put huge strain on Apple right before the key holiday shopping season.

Apple says that its key factory is operating at significantly reduced capacity. And this means that shipments of its newest products are temporarily impacted and delayed. Foxconn said it is going to offer a one-time bonus equivalent to $69 for workers who left and choose to return. It says new workers will get an hourly wage equivalent to $4.

Now the factory is operating in a closed loop system which means that workers have to live and work on site. This is a COVID restriction. Apple is just the latest victim of China's zero COVID policy. The country is stuck in this endless cycle of lockdowns, mass quarantines, and mass testing. It is taking a huge toll on the country's economy and people's lives.

It means that China is more and more isolated from the rest of the world and it's also a much less attractive place for foreign business. Max?

FOSTER: Thank you, Selina.

I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport is next with Alex Thomas.

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