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Violence in Egypt; Time Running Out for NBA; EU Leaders Delay Summit; Bailout for Dexia Bank; Austerity Measures Costing Greeks Health; Britain Cuts 300,000 Public Jobs; Living on the Bread Line; Occupy Wall Street Protests Voice Diverse Complaints; Occupy Movement Goes Global; Mini Ice Age for Europe; London Heat Wave Hurts Winter Clothes Sales; What Prediction Means for Europe; Eye on Macedonia; Parting Shots of Pilot Ditching Plane in Pacific

Aired October 10, 2011 - 16:00   ET

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

BECKY ANDERSON, CNN HOST: Pain and anger as Egypt suffers its deadliest clashes since the fall of Mubarak. Egyptian activists tonight debate their country's uncertain future.

Live from London, I'm Becky Anderson.

Also this hour --

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAN RIVERS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is one just 17 distribution centers around the country, which is set to get busier and busier, as more and more people rely on food handouts simply to survive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: It's the new reality for people who never imagined they'd need charity. We examine the unexpected toll of the economic downturn.

And in Europe, is this the shape of winters to come, as scientists warn a mini ice age could be upon us?

Anger, grief, uncertainty and some very pressing questions tonight in Egypt. You're looking at pictures from the funeral of a protester killed in Cairo during clashes between the army and crowds supporting Coptic Christians. At least 25 are dead, hundreds more are wounded. There is uncertainty over just who was responsible for inciting the violence and questions about Egypt's halting moves toward democracy eight months after Hosni Mubarak's departure.

Ben Wedeman joining me now live from Cairo -- Ben.

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Becky, well, we're still waiting to see if tonight will pass more calm than last night. Certainly, we did see a lot of people outside the Coptic hospital, the main hospital here many of the bodies were being taken. And we also saw thousands of people outside the Abbassia Cathedral, the main Coptic church in Cairo, many of them very angry at the regime. They feel that they've done very little in terms of protecting Christians. This is not the first such incident of sectarian violence.

But on a broad -- in a broader sense, many Egyptians, Muslims and Christians, are very angry with the ruling military council, which they feel has really not lived up to the demands, the expectations of the people who overthrew the regime of Hosni Mubarak. They want more and a sort of clear movement toward democracy. They want an end to military trials of civilians. There's a lot of complaints, for instance, that the state-run television was putting out incorrect information, inciting people against the Copts after this clash broke out here.

So a lot of anger, a lot of unhappiness with the rulers of Egypt -- Becky.

ANDERSON: You say a lot of anger, a lot of unhappiness.

How do you describe the mood on the street?

And could you imagine from here on in that things could possibly get worse?

WEDEMAN: Well, they definitely could get worse, because one of the complaints we've been hearing for several months now is that the security forces are very thin on the streets. In my neighborhood, for instance, I think there's a third as many police as there was before. There's an increase in muggings, carjackings, thefts.

There is a feeling that these people simply don't have the wherewithal or the will to really impose law and order.

And there's also other worries, especially among the Christians, that the military council has taken the easy way out, has made a de facto alliance with the Muslim Brotherhood, with the Salafis, ultro -- ultra conservative Muslims, just simply to keep themselves in power.

And, therefore, in this equation, the big losers are, of course, the Christian minority -- Becky.

ANDERSON: Ben Wedeman is in Cairo for you this evening.

Ben, thank you for that.

What's changed, then, in the eight months since Hosni Mubarak was swept from power?

Let's take a look, shall we, this evening?

I want to show you something akin to a report card on Egyptian reforms. If you recall, the nation's military rulers promised the emergency law would be lifted once order was restored. This is effectively what they said to us.

As of today, that hasn't happened and emergency law remains in effect. The U.S. hopes it will be lifted before June of next year.

What about the elections, the promised elections?

Well, the military council promised them within six months. We are well past that date. However, there is a plan in place to hold a first round of parliamentary elections, at least, in late November, with staggered balloting throughout March, I'm told.

What about this constitution?

That's an important one. The provisional constitution was put in place after a March referendum. But the idea is to create a new constitutional assembly after parliamentary elections. A presidential election can take place only after the new constitution is ratified. And that could still be a few years away.

So, let's take a look at what we've got here, effectively. OK, let me just take this off for the time being. Take this away. And here we go. I think most people would say you've got a zero -- you've got a zero, maybe you've got to cross on all of these.

This latest violence could very well set back that timetable.

A bit earlier, I talked about Egypt's current unrest and uncertain future with Hossam Bahgat -- he was an Egyptian human rights activist -- and Dalia Ziada, who's an Egyptian blogger.

And I started by asking Dalia how these recent effects are impacting her life.

And this is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DALIA ZIADA, EGYPTIAN BLOGGER: I was like very optimistic about everything until yesterday. Yesterday was a shock to everyone, actually, whether he is or she is an activist or a grassroots or -- it was a shock to the whole Egyptian community. It's something we did not expect.

ANDERSON: The U.S. president, Barack Obama, himself, through his spokesman, said -- and I quote -- "Now is the time for restraint on all sides so that Egyptians can move forward together to forge a strong and united Egypt."

And from Europe, Cathy Ashton said that she was extremely concerned by the large number of deaths and injuries.

Your response?

HOSSAM BAHGAT, EGYPTIAN HUMAN RIGHTS ACTIVIST: My organization has been monitoring and reporting on sectarian violence. And we know firsthand how this, our -- well, you know, the problem of sectarianism runs in our society.

But that was not the issue last night. Last night was and issue of a peaceful rally of Christians that came out to protest an attack of one of their churches a week earlier.

And the armed forces committed a massacre.

ANDERSON: Dalia, your response?

ZAIDA: I live in a neighborhood where Coptic -- Coptic people are a majority. It's Shoubra. And it's where from the rally started yesterday.

I'm telling you, all the day today, Coptic people and Muslims, everyone is taking its own round in -- in the streets that used to see people mingling together and talking together. Now, everyone is taking a side. They -- they feel like they can't speak to each other comfortably.

So I hope, actually, what I am worried about is not what happened yesterday but what may happen next because of that.

ANDERSON: Hassam, somebody writing in one of the British newspapers today, and I quote: "Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces is doing everything it can to stifle and frustrate meaningful change, suggesting that collectively, the day's events illustrate something that has been clear on the ground for a very long time.

Has it?

BAHGAT: We don't think that the army planned yesterday's events. But we think it's yet another sign that the army has failed in leading this transition and that the armed forces -- the Supreme Council of the armed forces has to step out of power immediately.

This -- in -- in eight months since we unseated Mubarak, this is the third church to be burned. Three churches have been burnt down or destroyed completely since Mubarak was defeated. And the army -- the army's response has been dismal. And there's finally -- we have reached a new low, because not only has the army failed to resolve a conflict over a church in which Copts have been holding prayer since the mid-1980s, but they have also failed to prevent the destruction of this church. They have failed to prevent the attacks on Christians living next to this church. They have failed to, you know, even condemn the destruction of the church.

ANDERSON: Does that resonate with you, Dalia?

What's your message to people watching --

ZAIDA: Yeah, actually --

ANDERSON: -- this tonight, as an Egyptian.

ZAIDA: Yeah, actually it's -- I don't think CAP alone should be blamed for this, but also the Mubarak regime from before, who allowed the extremists on both sides to grow.

I think it's our role now, as civil society actors, as organizations working so far on this, to both intensify our campaign that calls for community actions that combines both -- both sides, Coptic and Muslims. This way, I think this is the only way, actually, to stop the intolerance of extremists from both sides.

ANDERSON: Sure. Hassam, just finally, is there -- is there anything positive that you can -- that you can suggest tonight, that you can -- that you can leave us with tonight?

BAHGAT: Oh, absolutely. Becky, we are going to win this thing. You know, we -- we were on the streets for 18 days. And we unseated a dictator that had been in power for 30 years. We faced the bullets of Mubarak's abusive interior ministry and defeated them. And we are going to win this thing.

But for this to happen, we have to (INAUDIBLE). And we need to fight in order for the transition to start.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON: All right, our top story tonight, Egypt's suffered its deadliest violence since the fall of the old regime.

We will be keeping a close eye on the country as the promised November 28th date for that first round of parliamentary voting moves closer and as Egypt's people try to once and for all move forward from past repression to promised reforms.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN with me, Becky Anderson.

Twelve minutes past 9:00 in London.

Up next, bad weather hampers efforts to contain the oil spill from a ship stranded off the coast of New Zealand.

About 10 minutes after that, these men are involved in last ditch efforts to save the start of the American football season. We'll talk more about that.

And too big to fail again -- Richard Quest is explaining why the fate of one European bank matters, well, to this -- all of us.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: I'm Becky Anderson in London.

You're watching CONNECT THE WORLD.

It's 15 minutes past 9:00.

A look at some of the other stories that we are following for you this hour.

And blistering criticism tonight leveled at Syria's president following clashes that killed at least 31 people. European Union ministers called on Bashar al-Assad to step aside, adding that the regime may have committed crimes against humanity.

The EU also welcomed opposition efforts to establish a untied platform and lauded the creation of the opposition Syrian National Council.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, COURTESY EBS)

CATHERINE ASHTON, EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF: We need to examine carefully what relationship we need to have. It's not just about what the EU does. It's about what the individual member states are looking to do. And we discussed that briefly today and the feeling that we need to engage and then see how we go forward. It's a big step to recognize and we will take it only when we're convinced that's the right thing to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, in Libya, anti-Gadhafi fighters are battling street by street in an air assault on Sirte. Fighters loyal to Gadhafi are putting up resistance with sniper fire. More than a dozen opposition fighters reportedly killed on Monday. But their forces have claimed key landmarks, including a hospital and one of Gadhafi's former residences.

Well, high winds and heavy swells continue to stall the operation to pump fuel from a leaking container ship stranded off the coast of New Zealand. Only about 10 tons of fuel was pumped off the ship before bad weather closed in.

Now, oil has been washing up on nearby beaches that are popular tourist spots on the east coasts of the North Island. And rescue teams are trying to save wildlife caught up in that spill.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From tip to toe, they are covered in black, sticky gunk, matting up all their feathers right down to the skin. They've ingested it and they've started to get anemic, which is part of the toxic effect of the oil.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, relentless monsoon rains have left large swatches of Thailand and Cambodia under water. The floodwaters have killed nearly 270 people in Thailand, another 200 odd in Cambodia. Millions more have been displaced. And today, the Thai prime minister ordered officials to reinforce flood barriers in Bangkok.

The region bracing for even more rain forecast for Tuesday.

Well, there is a health alert for more than 300,000 Japanese kids living near the Fukushima nuclear plant. They're being checked for signs of thyroid abnormalities after a survey found that irregularities in a small number of children evacuated from the area after radiation leaks were concerning people.

The plant was crippled by an earthquake and tsunami, you'll remember, back in March. And parents, well, they say they are concerned.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The impact on children will be known not now, but only after five years or so. I am worried what will happen then.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) when they fell, but they are still young. I am worried for their future.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Well, a pair of U.S. economics professors are the newest Nobel laureates. Thomas Sargent Christopher Sims won the Nobel Peace Prize for economics for their work for studying how changes in government policies and economic shocks affect a nation's economy. The announcement made Monday in Stockholm. The two laureates will share the nearly $1.5 million prize.

Well, I'm Becky Anderson in London for you.

This is CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN.

Facing an uncertain season back home -- we're going to hear from one American past football player who's found his way back onto the court in what is an unexpected place.

And a little later this hour, these scenes might send a chill through anyone caught in last year's travel chaos. But severe weather may become more and more common. A possible mini ice age, just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: It is 21 minutes past 9:00 in London.

I'm Becky Anderson.

It is a frustrating time for basketball players, and, indeed, their fans -- the start of the new NBA season in the States. Well, it looks set to be canceled as both sides, in what is an ongoing dispute on a new labor deal, refusing to budge.

Officials and teams are now talking. But with today being that deadline for an agreement time running out to save the season.

Don Riddell -- Riddell, as they call him in the studio -- joins me now.

What's at stake here?

DON RIDDELL, CNN SPORTS CORRESPONDENT: Well, an awful lot. I mean the NBA commissioner has said that if they don't make sufficient progress in today's meeting, then they are going to sacrifice the first two weeks of the new NBA season, which is due to start on November the 1st. Becky, they've already lost the training camps. They've already lost all the pre-season games. And we are now in very real danger of eating into the real season, which will be very, very costly for the league and for the players.

ANDERSON: Right. Remind me, is this about a bunch of greedy basketball players or is the more to it -- more to it than this?

RIDDELL: There's a bit more to it than that. I mean there's an awful lot of things that they are negotiating over.

ANDERSON: Yes.

RIDDELL: They're trying to come up with a new collective bargaining agreement, which is about to expire or has expired.

Now, the biggest sticking point does seem to be the money. They're looking at a six year period of time in which $4 billion will be generated from what's known as bri -- basketball related income.

Now, the last time they had an agreement, the basketball players took 57 percent of that, the owners only 43.

The players are prepared this time to come down to 53 percent, giving the owners an increase. But the owners say they're trying to settle for nothing less than 50-50. And that does seem to be a real problem.

ANDERSON: Just -- you may not know, so I'm going to put you on the spot here, 3 percent equivalent over here, you have people take, right?

RIDDELL: Um-hmm.

ANDERSON: So I wonder what the average 3 percent would be to a player?

Can we work that out, quickly?

RIDDELL: You know I only got simple math when I went to school, Becky.

(LAUGHTER)

ANDERSON: It's going to --

RIDDELL: Yes, you did pretty much know that.

ANDERSON: -- it's going to be tens of thousands a week probably, isn't it?

RIDDELL: Look, there -- there is quite a compelling argument to say that the amount of money that's going to be lost if they lose the first two weeks -- and we may go beyond that. We -- we could yet lose the whole season.

But let's just say if we lose the first two weeks. The amount of money that everybody is going to lose in that says, you know, why don't the players come down just a little bit more, the owners agree to just take a bit worse than 50-50, because if -- if they lose the first two weeks, then everybody loses out. So perhaps they should agree to do a deal here.

But I'll tell you something else that is certainly being noted in the United States at a time of a great recession or when, you know, a lot of people are struggling.

It's not just 30 owners and 400 players we're talking about that could be impacted here. It's all the support industries.

ANDERSON: Yes.

RIDDELL: It's all the people that work for the teams and in the arenas and in the 30 cities that have NBA teams with, you know, the restaurants and the bars and all that kind of thing. You know, all these these people will suffer, as well --

ANDERSON: Yes. And that's not nothing.

RIDDELL: -- if the games don't go on.

ANDERSON: Yes. It sounds like a sort of -- it sounds quite parochial when you -- when -- when we discuss it, but you're right. I mean, you know, there's sort of -- there's back draft to this or the back story to this is absolutely huge.

Don, always a pleasure.

RIDDELL: All right.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

Well, as Don, always a pleasure.

RIDDELL: All right.

ANDERSON: Thank you.

Well, as Don mentioned, many players have been left frustrated by this deadlock between officials and teams.

So then what's important?

Well, it's about playing the game that they love.

Kevin Flower met up with one player who has found a way back onto the base -- basketball court that is drawing envious glances from his NBA teammates.

Have a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KEVIN FLOWER, CNN JERUSALEM BUREAU CHIEF (voice-over): It looks and sounds like your average NBA game. Pumped up fans get ready for the start of play amidst the throbbing beat of a sports anthem. And with the introduction of the home team, an expected ovation for one of its star players.

But this is not the National Basketball Association and the 24 -year- old New Jersey nets point guard and two time NBA champion, Jordan Farmar, is not playing in Newark, but rather in Tel Aviv's Yad Eliyahu Arena.

(on camera): Farmar is among an increasing number of NBA players who's choosing to sit out the NBA's labor dispute by playing the game that they love in different parts of the world. For Farmar, that meant signing up for Israel's Maccabi Tel Aviv club and playing in Europe's highly competitive league.

JORDAN FARMAR, MACCABI TEL AVIV: My stepfather is from Tel Aviv. So I came out here and visited him and his family when I was younger. I went to the Maccabi basketball and soccer games when I was a little kid and knew a little bit about their organization and about the winning culture and -- and what was going on, you know, recently with the -- with the organization. And thought it would be a great opportunity.

FLOWER (voice-over): Farmar says his fellow NBA teammates took envious note of his move to the Middle East.

FARMAR: They said take me with you. I mean everybody who knows about European basketball wants to play for Maccabi Tel Aviv. You know, they want to live by the beach. They want to have the pretty girls. And they want to play to win. And, you know, that's -- that's the way you think about when you think about Maccabi.

FLOWER: While Farmar is making a fraction of the $12 million contract he enjoys at home, he says playing hoops in the Holy Land has been a positive personal experience.

FARMAR: Being one of the better Jewish players in the world, just having the chance to play for Maccabi and for Maccabi to say I play for them, as well, I think it was a good fit.

FLOWER: Farmar's deal with Maccabi allows him to leave as soon as NBA owners and players come to an agreement, but he is not holding his breath.

FARMAR: This decision and this agreement will affect all the players who are coming up playing basketball now who are 10, 11, 12 years old, who, in five to 10 years, will be in the NBA. This -- this decision is a big one.

So it's important that we -- we get a fair deal.

FLOWER: In the meantime, Farmar says he is dedicated to his new club and he has a clear objective.

FARMAR: Of course, that we -- we win the championships, you know, not only in the other leagues, but hopefully a Euro League title. And I know they were close last year and won, you know, they made it through the finals. So the goal is to win.

And every time I step on the floor, the goal is to win.

FLOWER: A chance he might just get this season.

Kevin Flower, CNN, Tel Aviv.

(END VIDEO TAPE)

ANDERSON: What about that story?

RIDDELL: Becky, they've been meeting for an hour and 27 minutes in New York. The NBA commissioner, David Stern, has said if they don't make sufficient progress today, then he is prepared to sacrifice the first two weeks of the season.

And beyond that, who knows?

ANDERSON: Yeah, watch this space.

An hour from now, Don back with your "WORLD SPORT."

Maybe they'll have a decision by then.

RIDDELL: Who knows?

We'll see.

ANDERSON: Good.

Thanks, Don.

Coming up next, the countdown to a final plan -- Europe's leaders take sweeping solutions to fix the Eurozone debt crisis. But they -- well, they aren't giving us any details. Our Richard Quest sheds some light on all of that.

And the temperatures in the region are set to drop for the next decade at least. And find out why it's so hard to predict the weather here in Britain. Well, I don't really know, but, anyway, I found out. That's coming up after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON: You're back with CONNECT THE WORLD here on CNN. Half past nine in London, this is the world's news leader. Let's get you a check of the headlines this hour, shall we?

And Coptic Christians in Egypt held funerals today for some of the 25 people killed in weekend clashes with the army. It's the deadliest violence since the ouster of Hosni Mubarak back in February. The protesters say they were on a peaceful march when chaos broke out.

Well, the European Union today welcomed today the creation of the opposition Syrian National Council, ministers calling it a positive step forward. It comes on the heels of weekend violence that killed at least 30-odd people across Syria, according to opposition activists.

Libya's revolutionary fighters say they are in the final phase of their assault on Moammar Gadhafi's hometown. The opposition says its forces have gained more ground in the month-long battle for Sirte, with Gadhafi loyalists trapped in the city's center.

Tar balls from a leaking container ship are washing up on a popular New Zealand beach, and more probably on the way, I'm afraid. Crews had to halt cleanup and recovery operations due to bad weather. The Rena began spilling oil on Wednesday when it hit a reef.

And two Americans have won the -- this year's Nobel Prize for economics. Thomas Sargent and Christopher Sims given their awards for the research on how government policies can affect a nation's economy. Pertinent in these days.

And those are your headlines this hour.

Well, European leaders have been given more time to agree on a plan to deal with the region's debt crisis. A summit scheduled for next Monday has been pushed back six days.

Now, on Sunday, the leaders of Germany and France promised to come up with measures to stabilize the euro zone. They signaled that that could include recapitalizing banks.

Well, a bailout is already on the way for troubled Franco-Belgian bank Dexia. The governments of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg agree to guarantee up to $122 billion of funding for that bank over the next decade.

Earlier, I sat down with CNN's Richard Quest and asked him just how significant he thought that bailout of Dexia is.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RICHARD QUEST, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: The states' rescue of Dexia is important because it's a warning sign. Dexia suddenly found itself shut out from the wholesale money market, the very life blood that it needed to keep the bank going.

Now, once that had gone, the only thing was how to carve up the bank.

ANDERSON: I think it's obvious that we need two things, here. Recapitalization of these banks in Europe and, indeed, some -- some sort of plan to sort out Greece's woes and others.

I know that Merkel and Sarkozy have spoken. They won't tell us what their plan is. Is anybody prepared to shed any light on this European mess?

QUEST: Yes, because this plan that Sarkozy and Merkel are coming up with has to be presented by the end of the month in time for the G-20, and President Barroso at the European Commission, the president of the commission, has also got a plan.

And what I think's going to happen is these plans are all going to coalesce into one large plan. But what they do agree on is what the plan has to cover, and President Barroso is now quite firm about what that involved.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOSE MANUEL BARROSO, PRESIDENT OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION: The problem of Greece, the size of the response to Greece. Secondly, to avoid contagion in the sovereigns, to avoid contagion in the banks, to restore conditions for growth and also reinforce discipline -- budgetary discipline. And fifth, the issues of economic governance in the euro zone.

This is our plan, and I think this plan is shared and will be shared by France, Germany, and all the other members of the euro area.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

QUEST: So, you have a plan, you have a deadline, you have the G-20, and frankly, they have now got themselves into their own mess if they don't meet that deadline.

ANDERSON: Hold the front page, Richard. Tonight, we hear that Slovakia --

QUEST: Yes.

ANDERSON: -- may just be stepping out of line on all of this. They may not be prepared to support the bailout fund 2.0.

QUEST: They will eventually. That's just my -- humble opinion.

ANDERSON: They will --

QUEST: The will go forward. I would be very surprised if they don't.

But, you know, although -- remember one thing, Becky. Bailout 2.0 is already old. This comprehensive plan that Merkel, Sarkozy, and Barroso will be talking about will be Bailout plan 3.0. We are already onto the next iteration of the EFSF.

So, let's not worry too much about this. They've got to get this one done first, but it's old news. Forget your front page. It's yesterday's newspapers.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: All right, there, Richard. Thank you for that. Richard Quest.

The austerity measures in Greece may be saving the country from default but, for now, it's costing the health of its citizens, though. That is according to researchers writing in the medical journal "The Lancet."

Since hospital budgets were slashed more -- by more than a third, researchers say 15 percent more people are putting off going to the doctor or dentist, mainly because of long waiting times.

New HIV infections are projected to jump by 52 percent this year. That is terrible, isn't it? Partly due to a third of programs for drug users in Greece being cut.

Well, in Britain, government budget cuts are expected to cost more than 300,000 public sector jobs over the next few years. Economic growth has slowed to what is a crawl here, and 2.5 million people are out of work.

As Dan Rivers now reports, that means an increasing number of Britons, well, they are living on what is known here as the bread line.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REBECCA SANDERS, BRITISH WELFARE RECIPIENT: Thank you.

DAN RIVERS, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): For Rebecca Sanders, this small bag of food is critical. She's just one of the 35,000 people in Britain helped out of food poverty by a network of charities.

With a disabled husband, she can't work, and without this help, she literally can't afford to feed her two children.

She lives in a deprived area of Leicester, surviving on just under $200 a week in state benefits.

SANDERS: Today, we got pasta and two tomatoes, some fresh ham.

RIVERS: She shows me the weekly food handed out by the charity FairShare. Without their intervention, all this perfectly edible food would be thrown away by supermarkets because of overstocking.

It means her daughter Amelia gets a better diet, but every week is still a struggle, especially as winter approaches.

SANDERS: Also got off beat, and for the kids, and when they're poor, they're going to need vitamins and stuff like that, so they'll need more fruit and veg. And we just can't afford to do it on what we get.

RIVERS: At the FairShare depot in London, more surplus food donated by supermarkets is packed for distribution.

RIVERS (on camera): You might not thing that food poverty was possible in a first-world country like the UK, but FairShare says it is overwhelmed with demand.

This is one of just 17 distribution centers around the country, which are set to get busier and busier as more and more people rely on food handouts simply to survive.

LINDSAY BOSWELL, CHIEF EXECUTIVE, FAIRSHARE: It's a very, very real issue. And it's an issue that's getting bigger. And the principle reason it's getting bigger is because of the economic situation. More people are finding it harder to make ends meet.

RIVERS (voice-over): Roger Clarke also relies on weekly food handouts in nearby Loughborough. The Joseph's Storehouse Christian Center was set up to predominately help the homeless, but it's increasingly seeing victims of job cuts like Roger swallowing their pride and asking for food.

ROGER CLARKE, BRITISH WELFARE RECIPIENT: It is very hard to start with to accept that I could have the food parcels, that without them, I would be in -- a fair bit of trouble. So, for me, it's a godsend.

RIVERS: The weekly battle to put food on the table made a little easier as Britain's poor struggle through what the Bank of England is describing as the worst financial crisis the UK has ever faced.

Dan Rivers, CNN, Loughborough.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Ordinary people paying the price for this financial crisis, well, that is the cry of discontent being voiced on the other side of the Atlantic, too.

The Occupy Wall Street movement is spreading across the States. There were demonstrations over the weekend in more than a dozen cities.

Now, the sit-in near Wall Street has hit day 24. CNN's Susan Candiotti found a diverse group of protesters with a range of complaints, but united by their desire to be heard.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Eating a bowl of cereal after sleeping under the stars, this retiree and her teenage grandson took a bus from Detroit to camp out with Occupy Wall Street.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Show me where you're -- what this is like. You have this tarp.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is home.

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): For a week, choosing to sleep on the ground under a blue tarp mainly with young people in a public park.

CANDIOTTI (on camera): Why was it important for you to come here and bring your grandson?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I felt the need to show support to the movement. The politicians, apparently, don't understand what people need.

HESHI GOREWITZ, BUSINESS PROFESSOR: How are we doing?

CANDIOTTI (voice-over): Heshi Gorewitz isn't sleeping over with protesters.

GOREWITZ: You camping out here? Thank you, guys. You're doing a great service. Your generation, my generation, everybody. Keep it up, man.

CANDIOTTI: The community college business professor who also founded an upstate farm co-op is just spending the day. He likes the mix of young and old, employed and unemployed, trying to build a consensus.

GOREWITZ: It's happier, it's bigger, it's -- it's more sophisticated, it's more real, it's more powerful than I ever could have imagined it.

It's the 99 percenters, it really is. Let's not focus on what divides us. Let's focus on what unites us. That's the way that we can bring about change.

HEATHER GAUTNEY, PROFESSOR, FORDHAM UNIVERSITY: I see this movement as a movement of movement.

CANDIOTTI: Fordham University sociologist Heather Gautney says movements like Occupy Wall Street don't really need a leader.

GAUTNEY: I think it's really about grassroots democracy. I think it's about -- about people trying to create ways of expressing themselves politically, because they feel that the electoral channels are closed to them.

CANDIOTTI: Change for a teacher, change for a retired grandmother worried about her grandson's future. All looking for signs that someone's listening.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, New York.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: And if you thought this is just a Stateside story, well, think again. This Saturday, the Occupy movement could go global. Facebook groups have been springing up, calling for sit-in protests across 25 countries.

On October the 15th, the Facebook group called Occupy the London Stock Exchange, for example, has attracted 8,000 followers already.

Well, coming up next, parts of Europe are enjoying unusually warm weather, but don't expect it to last. Last year's winter storms could be more and more common. Details of a mini ice age and its potential impact on you in 90 seconds. Stay with us.

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ANDERSON: Well, this was the scene last December at Heathrow Airport when a few inches of snow brought the busiest hub in Europe to a grinding halt.

Well now, a new report suggests that the entire northern hemisphere may endure more winters like this one, and Europe in particular may be facing a sort of mini ice age over the next ten years. So, what's this all about? CNN'S Guillermo Arduino is going to break it all down for us.

There is a new report, what does it say, sir?

GUILLERMO ARDUINO, CNN METEOROLOGIST: I think it's important to remember the cycles before we delve into the report as such.

Remember that the sun goes through cycles of roughly 11 years. One is at a minimum. Like here, you see some dark spots. And then, we have the maximum, when we have a lot of action, and you're going to see explosions here, magnetic fields, radiation, a lot of UV light like this, the maximum.

So, once we understood that, we need to take into account what the report says. In essence, this is what it says, that the winters are tied, now, to periods in the sun's cycle that are quiet.

And they believe that in the last 100 years, this last period was one of the quietest in nearly 100 years. That's why the change, especially this century, right? That we're talking about global warming and all that.

Now, towards the end, we see the cold events. Then, it coincided with some of the worst winters in decades. That's why the correlation. And a decrease, as I was saying before, Becky, of UV light with going through this minimum solar cycle.

So, it means that we are getting less heat, in essence.

ANDERSON: All right. I'm getting a brain ache, here, but I think I get what you're talking about here.

This is the question my dad had for me this weekend, and I couldn't answer it, so I'm putting it to you. Does this have anything to do with La Nina or, indeed, global warming?

ARDUINO: Well, with La Nina, remember this is a cooling of the waters in the Eastern Pacific, so that is going to have an effect all over the world.

But we are pretty sure that what we saw last year, and this is especially for your dad, Becky, it's related to the Arctic oscillation.

When we have weaker polar winds, weak polar winds, like what we saw last December, then the air expands all the way, and it cools down the northern hemisphere. That is to say, Europe, the entire continent, and also North America.

If we had had strong winds in here, the cold air would have been contained. So, we think that it's more of an Arctic oscillation negative phase situation rather than La Nina, even though last year was La Nina in size expression, and it has an effect all over the world because the temperatures in the Eastern Pacific cool down, and the winds, then, take the cool air all over the world.

ANDERSON: Excellent. And I shall test him next time I see Mr. Anderson. Guillermo, thank you. Thank you for that. Guillermo Arduino with an explanation for you.

It's hard to believe that we could be headed for a deep freeze when just last week, London was a blazing 28 degrees. The warm weather has been wreaking havoc, as you can imagine, on retail sales of winter clothes, which depend on crisp autumn days to get people in the mood to buy up coats and sweaters.

So, how much damage has been done? Well, we hit the streets of London to find out.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't bought anything for winter. It's hot, you don't -- yes, you're not in the mindset for winter clothes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've not bought any winter clothing yet. I do plan on getting some soon.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I haven't got anything for winter yet, no. Don't see the need because it's lovely. Sitting outside at a pub at the moment, and it's lovely.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm looking at the moment to go and buy a big wooly jacket and just get ready for winter and snow because, I don't know, prices are expensive, and bills are going up, so you've got to wrap up in a big jumper and keep warm.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ANDERSON: Particularly if an ice age is on the way. How likely is that, though? Well, I put that question to Professor Michael Lockwood from the University of Reading on a warm afternoon, I've got to say, here in London. Here is what he told me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MICHAEL LOCKWOOD, DEPARTMENT OF METEOROLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF READING: There's something that people call the "little ice age" about 300 years ago, when the sun's activity was very low. It's not an ice age at all.

What it was was a period where we got more cold winters, and we may well return too those sort of conditions in the future. By the future, I mean over the next few decades. But it wasn't an ice age, it was just more cold winters. It's a different thing.

ANDERSON: Is this going to help you guys get it right more often than you get it wrong? I've been promised barbecue summers, for examples, for the last couple of years, and we haven't got them. Is this good for forecasting?

LOCKWOOD: It will help, yes. You have to say that European weather in general, and the UK in particular, is by far the hardest to predict.

ANDERSON: Is that right?

LOCKWOOD: Because of where we sit relative to the Atlantic jet stream, it's the first place the jet stream hits land after coming across the Atlantic. The northern hemisphere jet stream doesn't spend much time over water, so it's actually a very difficult place.

And actually, because it's difficult, it's why we British talk about the weather a lot. But actually, we're very good at predicting it, believe it or not.

ANDERSON: Listen, at this time of year, I would normally probably be thinking about wearing this out here, or just going in there, into the restaurant. What sort of impact does what we've learned today have on you and me going forward?

LOCKWOOD: What we've learned today tells us that we are likely in the future to see much colder Decembers, Januaries, February times than we have in the past. And the recent winters may be the first symptom that that is -- that is kicking in.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: Cold winters, then, and warmer summers. How about that? I don't know that we've learned anything tonight.

Up next, its culture spans the centuries, but we have our eye on a country, tonight, just 20 years old. Macedonia is a country on the move, hoping to attract foreign business and visitors, but some critics say its priorities are all wrong. We must take you to the streets of the capital after this.

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ANDERSON: All right, CNN has its eye on the world, traveling to a new place for you each month, and our journey takes you around the globe, revealing insight into a country's business, culture, and people, but little gems that you're probably unaware of.

Well, so far this year, we've visited Ukraine, Germany, India, Georgia, Mongolia, and Poland. And now we have got our Eye on Macedonia for you.

Once part of the former Yugoslavia, Macedonia gained its independence in 1991. Twenty years on, the country's going through a process of transformation, nowhere more so than in the capital. New monuments and government buildings are under construction as Macedonia looks to attract foreign investment and new visitors. Atika Shubert taking a look for you.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ATIKA SHUBERT, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): From the moment your plane touches down at the brand-new Alexander the Great Airport, you are swept up in Skopje 2014, the campaign to revitalize this tiny European capital city.

Population, almost a million people. Famous landmarks, well the 15th century stone bridge, but not much more than that.

Until the government unveiled this, 22 meters of nationalism in rainbow-colored lights. It's officially called Warrior on a Horse, a not- so-secret reference to Alexander the Great, claimed by both Greece and Macedonia to much diplomatic hand-wringing.

The monument dominates Skopje's main square. So, what does the public think? From this woman, a rapturous review.

"When you see Alexander, you have the feeling you are among the stars," she says. "It is really beautiful, and all the Macedonians here are thrilled with the beauty."

But this man is waiting for the final bill. "Is the amount spent for the statues equal to their real value?" he asks. "I like art, but I want the amount spent to be realistic and not associated with any kind of money laundering," he says.

It all adds up to a government estimate of about $100 million, but critics say the cost could be hundreds of millions. With a whopping 30 percent unemployment, some say the money could be better spent elsewhere.

Skopje 2014 includes museums and a constitutional court built in neoclassical style. And of course, these tributes in stone to Macedonian history.

SHUBERT (on camera): Of course, projects like these are not just about art and design, they're about what it means to be Macedonian, and how a young country defines itself.

SHUBERT (voice-over): The government says the project is a national boost, already attracting visitors, citing a 25 percent increase in foreign tourists to the city.

But one blogger compared the project to the statues of Easter Island. Massive monuments that literally drove the civilization that build them to ruin.

FLIP STOJANOVSKI, MACEDONIAN BLOGGER: We know who we are. We know we are Macedonians. We don't need anybody to reminds us about it. But we need conditions to express our -- our potential in our daily lives.

SHUBERT: Macedonian government is keeping many of the cost details quiet, letting the statues and the smiling faces that pose beside them speak for themselves.

Atika Shubert, CNN, Skopje.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ANDERSON: That's a series you'll see all week here on CNN.

In our "Parting Shots" tonight, an incredible rescue story off the coast of Hawaii. Have a look at this.

The pilot of a small plane was flying in from California on Saturday when just 30 miles from land, he ran out of fuel.

Now, the US Coast Guard recorded this video as the plane touched down in the Pacific Ocean. Then, the 65-year-old pilot calmly climbed out of the cockpit window and onto the wing.

He'd called ahead for help, so the Coast Guard was waiting to pluck him from the ocean. They took him to hospital, he is doing just fine. Remarkable stuff. We wish him the very best.

I'm Becky Anderson, thank you for watching. The world headlines and "BackStory" will follow this short break. Don't go away.

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