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Early Start with John Berman and Zoraida Sambolin

Moscow Revives Cold War Tanks To Replace Those Lost In Ukraine; Today: "Big Help Out" Across U.K., Part of Coronation Festivities; Bankrate.com: 52 Percent Say Money Has Negative Impact On Mental Health. Aired 5:30-6a ET

Aired May 08, 2023 - 05:30   ET

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

[05:30:00]

CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN ANCHOR: Can we expect the same this year, and does it reflect, I guess, the reality on the ground in Ukraine?

CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes -- no, it doesn't. It significantly glosses over, of course, Christine, the reality on the ground in Ukraine that on the one hand, Victory Day this year will be somewhat scaled back in Russia. Several regions have announced, particularly the ones closest to Ukraine, that they are either canceling or scaling back parades and things like fireworks displays. Many of them citing security concerns.

But on the one hand, we will be seeing Russia try to put out its top military capabilities, and all while we're seeing significant losses of equipment on the ground. We know that sanctions are hurting their ability to produce more quick enough. And we found evidence that this means that Russia is having to dip so far back into its historical stockpiles that it's bringing out 80-year-old tanks onto the battlefield. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JOHN DELANEY, SENIOR CURATOR, IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM: What a missile will do is it will fly over the tank and then down, and then 90 degrees straight into the top of the turret, which is less well defended.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): This scenario has played out hundreds of times over the past 14 months -- Ukraine using Western weapons to a devastating effect. Russia, according to one recent estimate, has lost up to half its operational tank fleet in this war. Now Western officials say Russia is dusting off much older models to replace them --

DELANEY: This gun was used on the SU-100 tank destroyer in 1944, so it's a Second World War gun.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): -- including the T-55, first built in the 1940s. This one now housed at the Imperial War Museum outside Cambridge.

Satellite imagery for a storage facility in Russia's far east showing dozens of tanks have been removed in the last year. This image showing the T-55 at that same facility. Video that first surfaced in March also showing a trainload on the move, reportedly somewhere in Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense hasn't confirmed their deployment but in recent weeks well-connected Russian bloggers have begun showing T- 55s in Russian-occupied territory in Ukraine.

DELANEY: There's so many of these that were manufactured -- over 100,000 altogether -- and the parts -- the basic mechanical parts are all interchangeable, so there will be vast stockpiles of these.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): The T-55 was a central piece of the Soviet Union's Cold War arsenal, helping crush democratic uprisings in Eastern Europe -- Hungary, in 1956, and the Prague Spring 12 years later.

But by the time Iraq used them in the Gulf War in the early '90s --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We took out, all told, 14 T-55 tanks.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): -- they were already outclassed by U.S. M1 Abrams and British Challengers -- earlier versions of the tanks NATO countries are now supplying to Ukraine.

TREVOR TAYLOR, PROFESSORIAL FELLOW IN DEFENSE, RUSI: I think faced with Western weapons, the Russians must expect very heavy casualties if they expect to move forward using that type of system.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Experts say behind the official propaganda, Russia cannot build new weapons quick enough.

SEBASTIAN (on camera): But Western sanctions primarily targeting Russia's access to higher-tech parts for weapons have made it much harder for them to manufacture more modern equipment. Older, simpler tanks like this -- thousands of them just sitting in storage -- provide an alternative.

But this against, say, a Leopard 2 or a Challenger, what happens?

DELANEY: If it's a one-on-one tank engagement over a reasonable distance this will lose every time. But in wooded or closer-built environments this is adequate.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): It's also simpler to maintain and train on the newer systems -- an advantage for Russia's mobilized troops.

DELANEY: Dig a pit and sit the tank in the pit so you can only see the turret. And then that can be used to defend the front line against the counterattack.

SEBASTIAN (voice-over): Russia is now digging in with everything it has as Ukraine gets ready for what may be its biggest counteroffensive yet.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

SEBASTIAN: So look, it's clear that Ukraine, in many ways, has the quality edge here with the Western weapons -- the NATO-standard weapons that it's being supplied, in particular -- those tanks. Russia, though, may be able to bring the quantity to bear and that could be significant on the battlefield, particularly as it goes into defense mode if Ukraine launches this counteroffensive.

But I think what this really shows, Christine, is Russia's commitment to keep this going -- to bring everything it can possibly get its hands on to keep this attrition-style war -- keep it going, essentially.

ROMANS: Remarkable.

All right, Clare Sebastian. Thanks for that look.

All right, quick hits around the globe right now.

The Arab League restoring Syria's membership 11 years after it was suspended, marking an extraordinary milestone in Bashar al-Assad's efforts to regain recognition and possibly remove crippling sanctions against his regime.

Tensions rising in Turkey as angry protesters pelt the Istanbul mayor's campaign bus with stones at a Sunday rally ahead of a tight general election next weekend. At least seven people were injured.

[05:35:03]

Rocket Lab launching two satellites for NASA in New Zealand, each the size of a loaf of bread. They are the first of four cube sats designed to improve hurricane forecasting.

All right. Just ahead, closing arguments expected this morning after Donald Trump rejects his last chance to testify in his civil rape case. And the Dallas Stars head coach speaking out about the latest mass shooting in Texas.

(COMMERCIAL)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KATY PERRY, SINGER-SONGWRITER: Singing "Roar."

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ROMANS: Katy Perry right there at last night's coronation concert in the U.K.

Today, newly-crowned King Charles III inviting millions in the U.K. to support causes in their local community. The initiative called the "Big Help Out" is part of the coronation festivities.

CNN's Max Foster live in London with more after quite a weekend. Max, which royals will be participating today?

[05:40:03] MAX FOSTER, CNN ROYAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, we know the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh are and there will be others as well. The details aren't being released, basically, until the time because they are going to be out and about on this volunteering effort.

So this is an idea of using this public holiday today there because of the coronation but to emphasize public service. Everyone being encouraged to go out and do something for their local communities. We're going to see the prime minister out and about as well today -- the leader of the opposition.

So this is sort of uniquely Prince Charles' kind of effort -- King Charles, rather -- very much King Charles, as you can see from the images. Very much his idea to get people out and about.

The other thing we're expecting today, hopefully, is the formal portraits of the coronation, which were taking place at Buckingham Palace, but after the coronation, after this balcony moment -- so those outfits in a portrait setting. And we're waiting to see that probably a bit later on today.

So they are the big events today. Hoping to see the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, but also the Prince and Princess of Wales out and about today.

So this is the final day, really, of coronation celebrations and then it's down to the hard work, I think, of being monarch, Christine, for the king as he steams ahead. Really, the weekend was about sort of branding himself and what sort of king he wants to be.

ROMANS: Fascinating.

All right, Max Foster. Thank you.

Here is today's fast-forward lookahead.

Police in Brownsville, Texas will hold a news conference this morning on Sunday's deadly pedestrian crash. Eight people were killed when a car plowed into a crowd of -- in front of a migrant shelter.

Closing arguments set to begin today in E. Jean Carroll's civil battery and defamation trial against former President Trump. Trump has decided to forego his last chance to testify.

President Biden will speak later today about airline flight delays and cancellations. The president will propose a new rule that could make airlines cover expenses for customers facing controllable cancellations or delays.

All right, the head coach of the Dallas Stars is speaking out after the latest mass shooting that left nine people dead at a mall in Texas.

Coy Wire has this morning's Bleacher Report. Hey, Coy.

COY WIRE, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Christine. The Stars had to cancel their watch party for game three of their playoff series against the Seattle Kraken and they said this was out of respect for the survivors and the families of the victims in nearby Allen, Texas.

Coach Peter DeBoer said after the game it was tough to even think about playing in this one.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETER DEBOER, DALLAS STARS HEAD COACH: Frankly, when you hear victims as young as five years old you just -- you get tired of hearing it. And I think -- I think when you hear Sandy Hook and Parkland, and Nashville, unless it's in your backyard you compartmentalize it and put it aside. And then when it happens in your backyard you realize the horror of it. And I don't pretend to know the answer on how to fix it but it's too great a country and too many intelligent people not to do something about it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: The Stars would end up losing to Seattle, in Seattle, 7-2. Game four is tomorrow.

Let's go to the NBA Playoffs now.

James Harden had a special guest at game four of the 76ers' game against the Celtics, John Hao -- paralyzed in the shooting on Michigan State's campus in February. And Harden put on a show for him, Christine.

Philly down two with 20 seconds to go. The beard putting Al Horford on skates, driving to the rack and forcing overtime. Then, in overtime -- again, 20 seconds to go -- Harden hits the go-ahead three-pointer -- the last of his game-high 42 points -- sealing the deal.

Boston did have one last chance but Marcus Smart's shot just barely not a buzzer-beater.

Philly wins 116-115 tying the series at two apiece.

Harden spending time with John Hao afterwards, signing his sneakers and giving them to him. And then he talked about what a special friend means to him.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JAMES HARDEN, PHILADELPHIA 76ERS GUARD: He's my good luck charm so I've been keeping in contact with him.

Obviously, like any of us in here, a tragedy like that to happen -- you know what I mean -- it's like -- it's a lot of nonsense that's going on in the world. So for him to be a victim of that is -- it's heartbreaking -- you know what I mean? But he's strong. He's bouncing back. He's recovering very well. And I feel like it's my job to just give him that light -- a smile that he deserves and that he needs, and I hope today was one of those days where, you know what I mean, he's smiling. That's all I'm here for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WIRE: The Nuggets and Suns in Phoenix. You have to see this, Christine.

Denver star Nikola Jokic scored a franchise-high 53 points. But a wild moment in the second. He beelines over to the courtside seats and rips the ball away from a fan. But not just any fan -- it's Suns' owner Mat Ishbia -- and Jokic elbows him. Ishbia flopped to his seat. Jokic gets called for a technical foul and there is a chance he could be suspended for game five for this.

[05:45:00]

As for the Suns, Devon Booker and Kevin Durant each scoring 36 points. And then it was the Landry Shamet show. He had the game of his life. The Wichita State great hitting four huge threes, scoring 14 of his 19 points in the fourth to rally the Suns to a 129-124 win evening the series at two apiece.

Two more game fours tonight on TNT. The Knicks and Heat followed by Warriors at Lakers.

And 270,000 fans flocking to South Florida over the weekend for the second edition of Formula 1's Miami Grand Prix. Tom Cruise, DJ Khaled, J Balvin, and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes all in attendance and they got to see an all-time performance by two-time reigning world champ Max Verstappen coming just the fifth driver in F1 history to win after starting the race in ninth place.

It was three months ago, Christine, that Harden made a promise to John Hao via Facetime as he was in his hospital bed and said whenever you can make it to a game I'm bringing you. And what a moment it was last night, huh?

ROMANS: Yes, absolutely. What a weekend for sports, too, by the way -- wow.

All right, nice to see you. Thank you so much.

WIRE: You, too.

ROMANS: All right. Next on "CNN THIS MORNING" a deadline at the southern border. What happens when Title 42 rules for migrants expire this week.

And next, right here, where the jobs aren't. One key industry still struggling after the pandemic.

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[05:50:29]

ROMANS: All right, your Romans' Numeral this morning, 400,000. The leisure and hospitality industry still 400,000 jobs short of its pre- pandemic level. That's down about 2.4 percent from February 2020. This sector added back another 31,000 jobs in April trying to climb out of that big COVID hole for those jobs.

Looking at markets around the world right now, Asian markets ended the day mixed. The Hang Seng finishing up more than one percent. Investors focusing on Chinese inflation data due out this week. European markets are higher. Markets in London, though, closed today. The Bank of England will make a decision on interest rates later this week.

On Wall Street, stock index futures at this hour narrowly mixed here after a pretty volatile week last week. The Dow and the S&P 500 recorded their worst week since March. The Dow finishing more than one percent lower. Meanwhile, the Nasdaq finished slightly higher.

On inflation watch, gas prices holding steady overnight at $3.54 a gallon.

Another critical week coming up on the economic calendar this week. We've got Consumer and Producer Price Indexes, so important inflation information. Jobless claims and consumer sentiment data. And, of course, that really important meeting at the White House this week about the debt ceiling.

OK, to this now. More than half of U.S. adults say money has a negative impact on their mental health. To break down these numbers let's bring in senior industry analyst at Bankrate.com, Ted Rossman. Good morning, Ted.

This survey caught our attention here. What did you find about the correlation between money and mental health?

TED ROSSMAN, SENIOR INDUSTRY ANALYST, BANKRATE.COM (via Webex by Cisco): Unfortunately, it's worsening. Fifty-two percent of us say that our mental health is negatively impacted by money worries, and that's up from 42 percent a year ago. And pretty much every demographic is feeling worse about this. Some that really stood out were women, Gen Xers, and lower earners.

But really, across the board, inflation is the problem. That's the number one factor by far that's stressing people out. Connected to that, of course, being able to pay for day-to-day expenses. It does seem like we've taken a notable turn for the worse over the past year, unfortunately.

ROMANS: Yes, and over the past year we have seen credit card interest rates rising, interest rates rising, but also inflation has not come down meaningfully just yet. Medical costs, retirement -- what are people most concerned about?

ROSSMAN: I think it's all connected -- yes. I think broadly speaking it's inflation. More specifically, day-to-day expenses seem to be the biggest worry. So really, my advice here would be start to make a plan. I think

that's step one towards starting to feel better about this. Because these are persistent worries. A lot of these people are worried every single day so I definitely empathize with that. Maybe get a zero- percent balance transfer card or have money automatically transferred every paycheck into your savings and retirement accounts.

I know it may be easier said than done but I do think starting to move in the right direction will help. Knocking out that debt, building those savings, and just chipping away at it day by day -- I think that's probably the best way to go.

ROMANS: It's interesting, Ted because we know that household balance sheets are better today -- more solid, more robust today than they were after the great financial crisis, right? So people -- when you look at the data, people are in better shape today than they were the last time we had a crisis. But so much of this is psychology. People don't feel that way. And that's sort of the -- kind of the contradiction here.

ROSSMAN: The psychology has been a huge part of it, especially with inflation. Wage growth has been pretty good. The unemployment rate is tied for its lowest rate since 1969. And yet, it doesn't feel good because inflation is gobbling so much of our paycheck.

I think also the K-shaped economy is a big factor here. So even though the overall stats are more positive. There are definitely pockets of trouble before --

ROMANS: Yes, explain that -- the K-shaped economy. Explain that.

ROSSMAN: Basically, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There are definitely a lot of pockets of trouble -- people with lower incomes, lower credit scores. That's really where they're feeling inflation and credit tightening the most.

ROMANS: Fascinating. Ted Rossman of Bankrate.com, you're right. Everyone, please be careful about high-interest-rate credit card debt. I mean, record high credit card rates right now. That means that's really dangerous, dangerous stuff.

Ted, thank you.

ROSSMAN: Of course -- thank you.

ROMANS: All right, coming up on "CNN THIS MORNING" new details about the suspect in this weekend's deadly shooting at a mall in Texas.

[05:55:00]

And what the White House says President Biden will not talk about during tomorrow's debt limit meeting.

(COMMERCIAL)

ROMANS: Our top of the morning this Monday morning, the top movies at the box office.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from Marvel Entertainment's "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: "Guardians of the Galaxy: Volume 3" debuts at number one. That's the second-biggest opening for a movie this year.

Here's number two.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from Universal Pictures' "The Super Mario Bros. Movie."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: "The Super Mario Bros. Movie" had the biggest debut of the year just a few weeks ago.

[06:00:01]

And here's number three.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Clip from Warner Bros. Pictures' "Evil Dead Rise.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMANS: "Evil Dead Rise" falls. It was number two last week.

All right, thanks for joining me this Monday morning. I'm Christine Romans. "CNN THIS MORNING" starts right now.

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