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Twitter Suspends Kanye West's Account for Incitement to Violence; New Study Reveals Teens' Brain Aged Faster During Pandemic; USA Faces Netherlands Tomorrow at the World Cup; Protests in China Surge Amid Strict COVID-19 Lockdown Measures; Ukraine Says Russia Firing Dummy Missiles to Exhaust Air Defenses. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired December 02, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:30:00]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Talking about this once again because I'm afraid that we'll normalize this conversation which in 2022 is ridiculous that we're even having, but yet again this rapper, Kanye, has a lot of followers. What does it mean to have this account suspended? He's been here before, and can we expect it to be reinstated?

OLIVER DARCY, CNN SENIOR MEDIA CORRESPONDENT: Yes. I mean, he has 35 million followers or had 35 million followers, I should say, on Twitter when he was spewing this antisemitism on his platform. He's been locked out before, and Elon Musk did reinstate him after he took over the platform or he was reinstated under Elon Musk's purview, and Musk seemed to give him a chance.

You know, he actually said this yesterday. He wanted to give Kanye West this chance, but he was posting, you know, the most vile things on the platform. He went on Alex Jones' platform yesterday on Infowars and flat out said he admired Adolf Hitler.

GOLODRYGA: With Nick Fuentes.

DARCY: With Nick Fuentes who's a white supremacist. And so I think now you're seeing people like Elon Musk and Alex Jones, even they are now having to push back against these antisemitism from Kanye West. It's really sad.

GOLODRYGA: And so what does that say about the fact that someone like Alex Jones is having to sort of throw him a lifeline to say, listen, you're not as bad as the Nazis only to have Kanye come back and say, no, you know, Nazis did great things.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. It's really -- I mean, it's unbelievable. You're watching Alex Jones look almost like the reasonable person in the room. Think about how, you know, how far out there you have to go to end up in that position. And what's also remarkable is, you know, Kanye West for a few moments was celebrated in the Republican Party. You remember, he went on Tucker Carlson's program and Tucker Carlson looked at the audience and the camera and said, you know, does this sound like a crazy person to you, no? GOLODRYGA: There was a House GOP tweet that was up forever.

DARCY: There was. Forever. It said Kanye, Elon, and Trump. And they finally deleted that tweet yesterday after he went on this antisemitic you know, rant on Infowars. But it really shows, you know, Kanye's progression from music icon to GOP star and now to antisemite and Nazi lover.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. There is no bottom. He's proven that there isn't. And, you know, if he's reinstated, he'll likely do the very same thing. And all of it has to be condemned.

Oliver Darcy, thank you for coming on.

DARCY: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Jim?

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, new research suggests the impact of pandemic stress on teenagers. Aged their brains faster than normal. Listen to this. The new study is among the first to look at physical changes in teens' brains brought on by stress and anxiety. We all saw this stress in action. This would be a remarkable result, Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, we saw it firsthand. It's quite something else to see it playing out in their brains over that period of time.

Let's bring in CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta for more.

So tell us more about this study. What were researchers specifically looking for here?

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, you know, I got to first of all say that, just like you, I have three teenagers at home. A lot of people watching, you know, this is very personal. You know, sort of seeing what has happened to them overall in terms of mental health. But now getting a look inside their brains specifically.

We know rates of anxiety and depression have been going up. These internalizing symptoms as they're referred to, social isolation, loneliness, some of that was already going on even before the pandemic, but there seems to have been this significant acceleration of these symptoms and now we know, as you point out, changes in the brain as well.

I want to show you what some of those changes were but what was happening here is that there was a study that was ongoing even before the pandemic. They were imaging people's adolescent brains from time to time. And then when the pandemic happened, they continued the study. So they had brains that had been imaged before the pandemic and then in the pandemic. Now what they saw was pretty stunning.

If you look at the brain overall the cortex, which is sort of the bark-like outer layer of the brain, that was greatly thinned in these children who in the first year of the pandemic. So it was a thinning of this area. That's typically associated with executive judgment, reasoning, things like that. But also if you look inside the brain, areas over here which are typically responsible for regulating emotions, the amygdala, those had aged quickly as well.

So these were areas of the brain that over time do change in all of us. But at that young age, there would seem to be, again, this acceleration of that aging during that first year of the pandemic when the study was conducted.

SCIUTTO: So a couple of questions. What are the consequences for young people with aging brains and is any of this reversible over time?

GUPTA: Well, you know, Jim, with regard to the first question, the most honest answer is we don't know. I mean, we are dealing with something that doesn't really have precedent here. I mean, we've gone through significant cataclysmic events before, even a big pandemic back 100 years ago, but we didn't have MRI technology to be able to look inside the brains at that point.

[09:35:00]

So whether this is sort of now a trajectory that's going to happen to these children's brains over their lifetime or whether or not it can sort of correct over time, we don't know. That's going to be a big question. Consequence wise, what it seemed to be most associated with are again these internalizing symptoms, anxiety, depression, social isolation, loneliness. Not so much externalizing symptoms, violence, anger, rule breaking, and things like that. That's what we know so far in terms of consequences, but long term, a little bit harder to say.

SCIUTTO: Yes, look for help, right? I mean, for young people and for adults. Look for help.

GOLODRYGA: Talk to your kids. Yes.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GUPTA: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Dr. Gupta, thanks so much. Alarming to hear. We'll keep talking about this to see how we can help parents handle.

GUPTA: You got it. Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Still ahead, something good to talk about. A win for Team USA ahead of Saturday's big match against the Netherlands. Star player Christian Pulisic who scored that goal you're seeing there despite really getting hurt as he did it, he's on track to play. That's good news. So up next, we're going to be joined by a member of the 2014 U.S. Men's national team, Alejandro Bedoya, on what the team has to do tomorrow. Can they pull it off? We'll find out.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:01] GOLODRYGA: Well, we are just over 24 hours from the U.S. Nen's national team big round of 16 showdown at the FIFA World Cup. Tomorrow, the U.S. will face off with eighth ranked Netherlands for a spot in the quarterfinals. Now if they win, we are praying they do, it will mark the farthest the U.S. has advanced in the tournament in two decades.

SCIUTTO: The big question, will the star, Christian Pulisic, who scored that heroic goal but paid for it, will he be healthy enough to suit up? Coach Greg Halter seems confident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GREG BERHALTER, HEAD COACH, U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM: We're going to see him on the training field today. What I think is it looks pretty good, so -- but we'll have to see him today on the pitch to get confirmation of that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: Our next guest knows a thing or two about big games like this. Alejandro Bedoya played for the U.S. at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. He's currently serving as the captain of the Philadelphia Union in the MLS.

Alejandro, good to have you on this morning.

ALEJANDRO BEDOYA, FORMER U.S. MEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER PLAYER: Good morning. Good morning. Thanks for having me on.

SCIUTTO: So I saw Alexi Lalas, also former U.S. Nen's national team player, yesterday. When he saw Pulisic interviewed yesterday, the way he was talking about the game, he's like, that guy is going to play tomorrow. There's no question he's going to suit up there. And I wonder, do you have any doubts about whether he's going to be on the field or is it still an open question?

BEDOYA: I do not have any doubts about him being available for tomorrow's game. In his press conference, he looked pretty in a good mood and just seeing Berhalter's comments right there, that he looks pretty good, I mean, if there was any doubt, I think he wouldn't have used those terms. And I have no doubts that he's going to be playing.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. And we also heard Pulisic say that his big moment at this World Cup has not come yet in his opinion. Obviously, the question that was asked of was referencing that amazing goal against Iran. And stemming from that, let's go from what you saw on the field versus Iran because you know those last few minutes were nail-biting. It was sheer luck that the U.S. was able to avoid and stave off Iran scoring again.

So going into this weekend, into tomorrow's game, what in your opinion either defensively or offensively do you think the U.S. team needs to focus on, perhaps even tweak going into this game?

BEDOYA: Yes, absolutely. I was actually in a local sports bar in New York City watching the game, and like you said, those last 10, 15 minutes were very nervy, very tense. I hope that doesn't come down to that. I think offensively, you know, we still struggle to score goals. And I think it's going to take more than one goal to beat a team like Netherlands, so hopefully we can, you know, we're doing a good job of creating chances, of setting ourselves up for good opportunities. We just haven't been able to convert them.

And then defensively, it's just remaining solid. We haven't allowed a goal from open play. The only goal came off from a penalty kick. So as long as we continue to stay solid in the back, you know, our defense is playing well. We've got a good shot stopper in the back and just be able to make better use of our chances because I think we're going definitely need more than one goal.

SCIUTTO: So let me ask you that. I mean, given they are underdogs here, Netherlands is number eight team in the world and also by the way has played well in this tournament. You watch their striker got goal, I mean, they've got some real threats up front. Is there a way to read that as something of an advantage for the U.S. to be an underdog here? Because, I mean, they got nothing to lose here, right? I mean, it's win or go home. Can they play a bit more aggressively, right, and manufacture those chances and take risks to finish those chances?

BEDOYA: Yes, I think that the title of underdog suits us, suits our team. You know, I think they'll go in there a little bit less pressure, less nervous, and like you said, nothing to lose mentality. And they'll play more on the transition, which I think allows them to play a little bit better because they do have, you know, guys that can threaten behind as you see Timothy Waya has been, you know, with his speed, been able to get behind guys and actually attack with his technical ability.

Christian Pulisic, you know, you saw his goal, it came off of a great play and then to be able to get, you know, running towards the goal to finish that off.

[09:45:02]

So, you know, I think it's harder for us to break teams down. We just haven't been able to have that, you know, key number nine striker up top that can finish chances, so I think playing on a counter in transition moments, you know, if Netherlands like to keep the ball in possession, but if we're going to bait them into, you know, start them play with Tyler Adams locking on the midfield, reading plays and be able to turn them over and just hit them on the counter, and transition, I think that really suits us.

GOLODRYGA: What's been so exciting about this World Cup are all of the surprises. I mean, that initial loss for Argentina versus Saudi Arabia, right. They're back in it. They won their last game. And Messi is still in it, perhaps his last World Cup. But I have to ask you, yesterday what we saw with Japan really stunning Spain and then forcing Germany subsequently even though they scored four goals and won the game out of the World Cup. Was that second controversial goal by Japan in your view in or out? SCIUTTO: Yes.

BEDOYA: Initially, obviously, I definitely thought it was out for sure. But I think like everybody else, you know, I've had like geometry lessons on social media, on the internet, talking about spherical shapes and angles and things like that. So, I know, you know, FIFA and then the World Cup is testing out a lot of technology, and sure, I guess it's plain and conclusive that it was out -- that it was staying in. But I definitely thought it was out. But no, I think the World Cup, it's been very entertaining. I think, you know, soccer in general I think is very unpredictable and this World Cup has been no different with some upset for sure.

SCIUTTO: No question. A lot of teams in that final 16, right, you might not have expected a lot but we're sure were going to be there, like Germany, they're not there. That's exciting. That's why they play the games.

Alejandro Bedoya, great to have you on.

GOLODRYGA: Thank you.

BEDOYA: Thank you very much. Let's go, USA.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Let's go, USA, tomorrow.

Well, still ahead, protests erupting in China. Here a clash as police try to take COVID positive students to quarantine. Up next, how authorities in China are using phone data to track protesters.

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[09:51:30]

GOLODRYGA: Unprecedented protest in China, in the wake of China's strict no COVID policy.

SCIUTTO: Yes, they haven't stopped there. Take a look at this video. These are Chinese authorities in hazmat suits forcibly dragging a man from his own home after he allegedly refused to go to a quarantine facility. The man was identified as having had a close contact with a COVID-19 patient. Imagine this in your own home.

CNN's Ivan Watson is live in Hong Kong.

So, Ivan, I mean, this really flared up on the weekend. China cracked down hard. Big police presence but they haven't quite disappeared at this point, and we're seeing incidents like the one we just showed our viewers here. Tell us what you're seeing. Do we have a sense of how broad this is and what we're learning about how China is responding.

IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Right. Well, there are these kind of examples of just popular frustration and discontent with the COVID restrictions that are popping up. We found three different videos from three different cities of just ordinary residents. We're not talking about thousands of people, but maybe a couple of dozen at a time just breaking down the barriers that authorities put around their communities to wall them off from the outside world.

When there is concern that there could be a COVID pocket there. I mean, that just hints that people are saying enough is enough, and they're tired of the arbitrary kind of restrictions on their day-to- day life where you get stuck in your apartment for potentially months at a time. You have to ration food. Your kids can't go to school.

So while that's happening, we also have seen a crackdown on some of the protests of last weekend in Shanghai and Beijing with some ominous anecdotes. CNN spoke with one protester who had been at a protest in Beijing who was called up days later by a police officer. We've listened to a recording of the conversation where the police officer says we know you were there because we detected your phone in that area, come to the police station for questioning.

And that fits with another pattern we've seen in Shanghai, anecdotal testimony from people where police were stopping pedestrians in the vicinity of previous protests, demanding to see phones, demanding to see if people had apps that could help them circumvent the great firewall.

Now the Chinese government has changed its tune, Jim and Bianna. They're not scrapping Zero COVID but they are conceding that they're making some changes to it to soften kind of the restrictions. In the meantime, the Chinese economy continues to suffer costs. Formula 1 just announced that they're not going to hold the 2023 China grand prix because of difficulties over COVID.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

WATSON: Back to you, guys.

SCIUTTO: Remarkable. And we're seeing the Chinese police state in action.

Ivan Watson in Hong Kong, thanks so much.

New just today, the Ukrainian military says that Russia is now using dummy missiles fitted with nonexplosive warheads. Why? It's an effort to exhaust Ukraine's air defenses as they try to shoot them down, in effect flood the zone. This is a fragment of the KH-55 missile which is nuclear capable that the Ukrainian government put on display.

GOLODRYGA: CNN senior international correspondent Matthew Chance joins us live from Kyiv.

And Matthew, what are we learning about these warheads and is there any weight to this possible withdrawals here?

[09:55:04]

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, it's an interesting development, isn't it? The idea that the Ukrainians are now saying the Russians who have been bombarding various infrastructure installations across the country with missile attacks are actually using dummy missiles, cruise missiles from the Soviet era, these KH-55s that are normally armed with a nuclear warhead.

Those warheads have been taken off and they're being fired with no warhead at all, no explosives at all. The sheer kinetic impact and the fuel on board the cruise missiles is what is causing the damage. And of course there are a couple of reasons for that. The Ukrainians say the main reason is to exhaust the anti-aircraft systems inside Ukraine so they shoot down missiles that aren't going to cause necessarily that much damage any way.

But I think you could read more into it as well. I mean, it suggests, doesn't it, that the Russians are actually running out of conventional warheads that they can actually strike across the country. They're using so many attacks taking place. That could be a factor, too. Nevertheless, interesting developments in this ongoing missile bombardment campaign on the part of Russia on Ukraine.

SCIUTTO: Yes. No question. Good point about potential shortages.

Matthew Chance there in Kyiv. Keep you and your team safe. Thanks so much.

And to all of you watching, please stay with us. We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)