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CNN International: Iran Stun Wales At The World Cup; Retailers Bet Big On Black Friday; Ukrainians Face More Blackouts As Temperatures Plunge; China Records COVID Case High For Second Day In A Row; Biden Renews Call For Assault Weapons Ban After Shootings. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 25, 2022 - 08:00   ET

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

[08:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST THIS MORNING: Christmas is like last, music last, maybe three to four weeks, and then you're, like, okay, I can't really do it anymore.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST THIS MORNING: Yeah. There is a time.

LEMON: I will ask you, this is weird. Do you watch some channels that have, like, the Christmas movies on, like, year round, do you ever do that? I know people who watch those Christmas movies on those channels year round.

COLLINS: There is some Christmas movies that I'll watch that are Christmas adjacent movies, but not like primarily Christmas movies. I would not watch that.

LEMON: Speaking of what's the movie, the Bruce Willis movie that one says --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Die Hard.

LEMON: -- is it Die Hard? Is it a Christmas movie?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, it is.

COLLINS: I am not getting in all those.

LEMON: Christmas movies?

COLLINS: It's too early for that.

LEMON: All right. We got to go. It's top of the hour. We've got to get the news in.

COLLINS: All right. See you then.

MAX FOSTER, CNN HOST NEWSROOM: Hello and welcome to CNN Newsroom. I'm Max Foster. Just ahead, struggling to stay warm, large parts of Ukraine remain without power, heat or water, as temperatures drop. We're live inside Ukraine this hour. Plus, World Cup stunner, Iran shock Wales on the pitch. We'll have a full report from Doha with all the reaction. And, are you spending big this Black Friday? Retailers are desperate for winning a holiday season. But, how the consumers feel? A closer look, just ahead.

Repair crews desperately trying to get Ukrainians reconnected to light and heat, fighting another enemy now and that is the weather. Energy Company officials say wind, rain and cold, are slowing down efforts to restore electricity. Half of Kyiv is reported to be in the dark, two days after Russian missiles knocked out the power across much of the country. And, you can see how essential it is to get hose back on the grid with temperatures at or below zero in the days ahead. People are being told to prepare for more blackouts as well. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said progress is being made slowly.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VOLODYMYR ZELENSKYY, PRESIDENT OF UKRAINE (TRANSLATED): The electricity situation remains difficult in almost all regions. We are gradually recovering from the blackout little by little. With every hour, we restore power to more consumers. The most difficult situation is now in the capital and 15 regions.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: There have been reports of more Russian shelling near Zaporizhzhia. Let's join Sam Kiley. He is over there in Ukraine. Sam, is this the effort than the current focus of the Russian Military to take out as much of the infrastructure as possible?

SAM KILEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, very much so, Max. Since the Russians were driven out of Kherson City and lost 40 percent of a province that they laid claim to, illegally conducting a referendum, a bogus referendum and incorporating it into Russian territory, they have switched their tactics to try to break the back of the energy generating structure here across Ukraine with what the government here say, have been seven waves of cruise missile swarms or storms of cruise missiles about once a week, I'm sorry, yeah, but once a week, once every 10 days, it takes them to wine these max attacks up. Most of the cruise missiles are getting shot down. But, those that get through, do cause damage, do cause extreme strain.

Of course, with each wave, the whole energy structures gets further denuded. It gets eroded, no matter how efficient the Ukrainians have been in repairing it. The energy system here is under extreme strain. Now, they're saying that in most cases, they are able to get up, back up to production of electricity, and get it to the essential locations for public transport, hospitals and so on. But, individuals are still struggling in different locations. It is different situations around the country. But, as winter approaches, of course, water is absolutely essential, and it is electricity that pumps water around the system. It is electricity that heats most homes and it is electricity that generates so much power for people to cook.

So, the effort now by the Russians is to put pressure on the civilian population, whilst the fighting continues on the ground. Their main effort, Max, at the moment, seems to be in the East of the country where there have been reports from Ukrainian officials that they've seen a redeployment of elite troops, Russian troops, to the Eastern Front. That's the area in Donetsk where the Russians have now, for weeks, been concentrating their efforts in very very bitter fighting indeed.

But, generally speaking, the main effort could be described as one in the air, and it is in the air where the Ukrainians are asking for most help from the international community, asking for more remorse surface-to-air missiles so they can defend themselves against these cruise missiles swarm attacks, Max.

FOSTER: We'll see if it comes. Sam Kiley in Zaporizhzhia, thank you very much indeed.

Now, for the second consecutive day, China has recorded its highest number of COVID-19 cases ever. More than 32,000 locally transmitted cases have been reported by the National Health Commission. Keep in mind, these numbers are higher than in the initial days of the pandemic, when many cases went unreported.

Selina Wang joins us from Beijing with the details. And, this is why so many Chinese are getting frustrated, isn't it, because the conditions are very tight still that clamped down on movement, but the numbers are going up.

[08:05:00]

SELINA WANG, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, Max. I mean, we are seeing anger rising, tragedies mounting, in year three of the pandemic. We know that you cannot completely stamp out COVID. But, China right now shows no sign of budging on zero COVID. Authorities, they're clamping down with even more lockdowns, and this cycle of quarantines, lockdowns, mass testing, it continues. That is why we are seeing this frustration. Now, three years of all of this, that is why we're seeing more of this spill into public protests.

Last week, in the southern city of Guangzhou, some residents revolted, during lockdown, by tearing down barriers, marching through the streets. There, of course, were also the violent protests that we talked about yesterday at the Foxconn factory in Zhengzhou. Now, adding to that anger is a fire that broke out in the capital of China's far west Xinjiang region on Thursday night. 10 people were killed and nine injured in a fire at an apartment building in Urumqi.

Now, most parts of Xinjiang, Max, they've been under lockdown for more than 100 days. The deadly fire sparked nationwide outrage because widely circulated videos, which have now been censored, show that COVID lockdown measures may have delayed firefighters from getting to the scene. Well, as to the tragedy, Max, is that those who died in the fire likely spent their last three months largely confined to that building, if not entirely.

Now, state media claims that people in the compound were allowed to leave the building that was considered a low-risk COVID area. But, the video, some of which we have just shown, shows firetrucks unable to get close to the scene because the compound entrance is partially blocked. The video shows it's blocked with fences, tents and metal barriers that are likely because of COVID measures. And, the video we showed earlier shows smoke and flames coming from the high floor of the building, but the water from the fire trucks actually unable to reach the fire.

And, Max, this really strikes a chord with the public here, because we've seen these scenes of tragedy and suffering play out over and over again in these past three years, countless stories of people during lockdown struggling to get food, daily necessities and emergency care in lockdown.

FOSTER: Selina Wang, thank you for joining us from Beijing.

A verdict has been reached in a high profile trial in Hong Kong involving one of Asia's most Senior Roman Catholic clerics. 90-year- old Cardinal Joseph Zen and five other defendants have been found guilty of failing to register a relief fund that helped pro-democracy protesters. As CNN's Anna Coren reports, it comes at a sensitive time for the Vatican. Anna.

ANNA COREN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Max, 90-year-old Cardinal Joseph Zen, an outspoken critic of the Chinese Communist Party, has been found guilty of failing to register a humanitarian fund that supported Hong Kong protesters. Five activists, including Zen, were fined $510 each. Authorities arrested Zen back in May under Hong Kong's controversial National Security Law for colluding with foreign forces, which, if convicted, could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.

Cardinal Zen and five others, including a famous singer, veteran lawyer, and legislator, were trustees of the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, providing legal and financial aid to more than 2,000 protesters who had been arrested during the 2019 pro-democracy protests. The fund which raised almost $35 million disbanded in 2021 after police ordered them to hand over information on donors and beneficiaries, while freezing their assets. But, in the end, the prosecution was forced to downgrade the NSL charge to an administrative technicality. Pope Francis is yet to comment on the case. However, it comes at a sensitive time for the Vatican as it renews its controversial agreement with Beijing over the appointment of bishops in China.

Cardinal Zen has called the deal a sellout of China's underground Catholics who have faced persecution for remaining loyal to Rome, claiming it's like giving the flock into the mouth of the wolves. Max, back to you.

FOSTER: Thank you to Anna Coren, there in Hong Kong.

U.S. President Joe Biden reviewing calls for an assault weapons ban. This follows a recent spate of deadly mass shootings in the states of Virginia, the Colorado. So far in the U.S. this year, there have been more than 600 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. On Thursday, Mr. Biden said Americans shouldn't be able to buy semi- automatic weapons. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The idea we still allow semi-automatic weapons to be purchased is sick, just sick. It has no social redeeming values, zero, none.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: CNN's Jeremy Diamond is at the White House this hour for you. As much as he says and describes that intention, how much can he actually do to ban those assault weapons, Jeremy?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: To be frank with you, Max, very little, very little, because the numbers in Congress just don't allow for it, whether right now during the lame duck session of Congress and certainly after January when a new Congress is seated when that Republican House Majority comes into power.

[08:10:00]

President Biden has been seeking an assault weapons ban for years now. He was responsible, in large part, for the assault weapons ban that passed in 1994, that expired after 10 years, and was not renewed under President George W. Bush. And, since coming into office, the president has said that he would like to do this once again. He was able to get some common sense gun reform legislation, as he calls it, on a bipartisan basis earlier this year, but it did not include that assault weapons ban for the very reason that in order to get it through the Senate, you would need 60 votes. That would mean 10 Republicans based on the current makeup of the Senate, and the numbers simply are not there.

So, the president saying here that he is sick and tired of these shootings, that he would like to see this get passed, and that he would try during this lame duck session. But, the fact of the matter is that, it's not the Democratic House or it's not the House that's the problem. It's the Senate, and those numbers have not changed and will not change going forward.

The president also has a number of other top priorities to get through this lame duck session, including government funding. He is seeking about $10 billion in COVID funding. He is seeking billions of dollars more in funding for Ukraine, and also seeking to avert a government shutdown. So, all of that on the president's agenda over the coming weeks. He is expected to sit down with congressional leaders from both parties sometime after the Thanksgiving holiday. The president right now is spending that holiday in Nantucket, away from Washington. Max.

FOSTER: Jeremy Diamond at the White House, thank you.

A dramatic ending to the first match of the day at the World Cup in Qatar, Iran scored two goals, late in stoppage time, to defeat Wales 2-0. Wales played the last part of the match with 10 men after their goalkeeper was red carded for a reckless challenge. Host nation Qatar and Senegal are underway in the day's second match. Later, Ecuador plays the Netherlands, and then the highly anticipated match between the U.S. and England. Amanda Davies watching all of the action for us from in Doha, some pretty rough play there in that Iran-Wales match. AMANDA DAVIES, CNN WORLD SPORT: Yeah. It was a really incredibly emotionally charged affair, Max, but, as you mentioned, ultimately an Iran win which really gives their hopes of making it out of the group stage at a World Cup for the first time, a massive, massive boost. In the build-up, the Iran Boss Carlos Queiroz had pleaded really with the media to allow his players to focus on the job in hand, which is the football, to stop asking them questions about the politics and the anti-government protests at home, because of how we saw it impacts them, affect them, in their performance against England earlier this week.

In terms of the scenes at the ground, as the anthem was played, some of the Iranian fans did boo it, a number held up T-Shirts and messages against the government, supporting the protesters at home. There were a member -- few members of the crowd in tears. But, when it came to the match, you could see the players had regrouped. They put in a really dogged performance against a Welsh side who equally wanted a result in this match. As you said, there was a very reckless challenge from the Welsh goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey with six minutes to go. Iran took advantage. So, they get the victory that they were looking for. And, what that does, is set up a fascinating climax to this Group B.

The second match from that group, as you mentioned, England against the USA, the one we've very much been building up to here, the England boss, Gareth Southgate, ramping up the pressure on his players despite the fact they won 6-2 in their opening encounter. He said they need to do better against the U.S. He wants them to book their place in the next round with a game to spare to really take the pressure off.

But, this is a USA who are young. They're excited about being at this tournament. 25 out of the 26 members of the squad are playing in a World Cup for the first time, and they really don't need any extra motivation for this match against England, a team for whom there is now something of a historic tradition with the U.S. They caused upsets against England, as they did in 1950 when they beat them. There was a shock draw in 2010. And, this young group of players that are confident of a three peat. That one much later on, myself and a lot of members of the team heading there.

But, as you mentioned, Qatar against Senegal, now 15 minutes in, Qatar hoping to show something of a display as the host of this tournament, after a real disappointment in their opening encounter, but currently, still goal-less, Max.

FOSTER: Amanda, thank you very much indeed.

[08:15:00]

Lots of talk about, I was trying to call it soccer instead of football, if America win. But, let's hope that doesn't happen.

Much more still to come this hour on the Qatar World Cup. Amanda, we'll be back in about 15 minutes time with CNN World Sport, of course. Still to come, are you spending big this Black Friday? Retailers are hoping holiday shoppers will. But, amid economic uncertainty, will consumers be willing to open their wallets? We are live in New York for you, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: Are you spending big this Black Friday? For most retailers, it's a make or break time of the year. But, with consumers worldwide worried about rising prices, could this holiday season be a retail bust? Let's go to the place where Black Friday began, the United States, and this is how much a Thanksgiving meal has gone up over the last year, turkey up by a quarter. And, the problem we've got is prices aren't just rising. Wages aren't rising by as much. So, have a look at this graphic from the U.S. Again, you can see how prices are rising well above the rate of wage increases. That simply means we can't afford to buy as much stuff. Let's hear from a retail analyst. He is the President of Shopify, and this is how he sees this Black Friday playing out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLEY FINKELSTEIN, PRESIDENT, SHOPIFY: We were already seeing numbers slightly up from last year based on Thanksgiving peak sales per minute. And, I think that one of the other major takeaways from this season is this Black Friday-Cyber Monday period is no longer just a weekend. It's really become a season. And, I think that a lot of consumers were shopping earlier and looking for discounts. But, the major trend here is intentionality. We really are seeing that consumers are buying in a very intentional way. They want to buy from their favorite brands. They do want to find discounts, but they want to support their favorite brands, and they want to buy direct as much as possible.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FOSTER: Let's speak to CNN's Alison Kosik. She is getting a taste of that fever, as it was usually at the beginning of Black Friday, Macy's department store in New York. What are you finding then? What are the early signs, Alison?

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Max, I think the holiday spirit, at least the shopping spirit, definitely is still in play here, at least here at the iconic Macy's store in Herald Square here in New York City. A couple hundred people were waiting out in line, outside the store, before doors opened. It was dark. It was cold, and they waited, and those doors opened to cheers, and everybody looked so excited to come spend their money.

I want to go talk with some of those shoppers, because of the elephant in the room, inflation. How are you going to handle the higher costs and buy all of these gifts, I asked them? And, they remain positive overall, many telling me they're sticking to their budgets, or they're looking for discounts, which is why they came so early today.

[08:20:00]

Signs like this, Special 60 percent off on original price, this is the kind of thing that draws people into stores to try to get those deals, to get those discounts, because they're managing a higher cost for everything and trying to get as many gifts to try to keep that magic alive during the holiday season. Max.

FOSTER: So, they are shopping. They're out trying to buy stuff. Are they spending as much? I heard that they're not buying as widely. They're being more discerning.

KOSIK: Yeah. I talked with a couple of economists who told me that, what you're probably going to see is, in dollar figures, it will go up. So, the figures that we're getting from the National Retail Federation are this, that spending will increase about eight percent over last year's numbers, adding up to about $940 billion to $960 billion in holiday spending. I'm talking about for November and December.

But, the economists tell me that when you factor in inflation, that's higher dollars, but when you factor in inflation, it's actually people aren't spending as much on many things. So, they're not buying as many things because they're spending more on the things that they are buying. However, the economists does say although we're not going to see the mass spending that we saw last year, which was actually out of the ordinary, we are not going to see a significant decline either. So, how the economists explained it to me was, we're kind of getting back to normal that although the spending this year, once you adjust for inflation, it's flat. It still is along the normal area, especially in a time when we're seeing record high inflation here in the United States.

FOSTER: We know how much pressure the retailers are under. They really need to make this season work, don't they? Because, we've gone into a recession and much of the world already, the Western world. Are the clever shoppers actually going to hold off, because the sales, potentially after Christmas, are even -- going to be even more striking because the retailer is going to be desperate to get rid of what stock remains after this part of the season?

KOSIK: I think that these sales started one month, if not two months ago. Black Friday, it feels like it's been happening since September. So, I think the discounts have started earlier, and I feel like that they're going to continue late into the season. So, yes, I think retailers have a lot to contend with. They still have the COVID surge of inventory they need to get off their shelves. And, at the same time, they've got the uncertainty about what's going to happen in the U.S. economy and the global economy next year.

We've heard economists after economists, after analysts, with the expectation of a recession. I'm hitting at least the global economy, if not the U.S. economy alone. So, I think, at this point, retailers are really trying to give these discounts to draw consumers in and get them to spend. Max.

FOSTER: Alison Kosik at Macy's, where else. Thank you for joining us.

Now, still to come on CNN, former U.S. President Donald Trump could face a civil jury over a decades-old allegation because of a law passed this year in New York. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

FOSTER: A law that allows adults in New York to sue their abusers long after the statute of limitations has expired is about to be put to the test on former President Donald Trump. Ex-magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll sued Trump for battery and defamation on Thursday in connection with a social assault in a New York Department Store that she says took place in the mid-1990s.

[08:25:00]

FOSTER: Thursday was the first day the lawsuits could be brought under the Adult Survivors Act, which allows adults alleging sexual assault a year window to file a claim. CNN's Kara Scannell has more.

KARA SCANNELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Ex-magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll has filed a new lawsuit against former President Donald Trump. Carroll is suing Trump for battery and defamation. She says the former president had raped her in the mid-1990s in the dressing room of a New York City Department Store. She also says he defamed her when he denied the allegations of rape, saying that he didn't know who she was, and that she made up the assault to boost sales of her new book.

This is the second lawsuit brought by Carroll, but the first to try to hold the former president accountable for the alleged assault. Carroll is bringing this lawsuit under a new New York State law called the Adult Survivors Act. That law allows any adult to bring a lawsuit against someone that they say sexually assaulted them, no matter how long ago the alleged attack occurred. Trump attorney Alina Habba responded to the lawsuit, saying, well, I respect and admire individuals that come forward. This case is unfortunately an abuse of the purpose of this Act, which creates a terrible precedent and runs the risk of de- legitimizing the credibility of actual victims.

Lawyers say to expect a flood of lawsuits under this new law. He looked to a 2019 law that was passed that allowed child victims to bring claims. There were 11,000 lawsuits brought in that two-year window. Back to you.

FOSTER: Thanks to Kara. Now, thanks for joining me here on CNN Newsroom as well. I'm Max Foster in London. World Sport with Alex Thomas and Amanda Davies is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)