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Connect the World
Liz Truss to be Britain's Next Prime Minister; Canadian Police Search for "Armed and Dangerous" Suspects; Manhunt for "Armed and Dangerous" Suspects Ongoing in Canada; Liz Truss to be Britain's Next Prime Minister; Much-Needed Aid Arrives in Flood Hit Pakistan; Truss: I will act boldly to cut taxes, grow the Economy. Aired 11a-12p ET
Aired September 05, 2022 - 11:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[11:00:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ISA SOARES, CNN HOST, CONNECT THE WORLD: Hello and welcome to a special edition of "Connect the World". I'm Isa Soares coming to you live from
Abingdon Green in London where of course the race for the next leader of this country is now over.
It's just gone four o'clock here in London, busy day outside the Houses of Parliament because Liz Truss has won her party's leadership contest to
become Britain's new Prime Minister, the foreign secretary defeated her rival Rishi Sunak with more than 57 percent of the vote.
In her victory speech she pledged to bring down the cost of living and proposed a bold plan to cut taxes. Those are her words. Her work is set to
begin though tomorrow when she formally is appointed by the queen. She will replace Boris Johnson who served as she praised in her victory speech. Have
a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LIZ TRUSS, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE PARTY LEADER: Boris, you got Brexit done. You crushed Jeremy Corbyn. You rolled out the vaccine and you stood up to
Vladimir Putin. You are admired from Kyiv to Carlisle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Liz Truss there praising Outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Of course Liz Truss trust will inherit many of the problems that Boris Johnson
face from domestic challenges, of course, likes soaring inflation to international crisis like the war in Ukraine. Bianca Nobilo looks at the
plan. She has to address these key issues.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
BIANCA NOBILO, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Britain has a new prime minister, an ambitious political chameleon.
TRUSS: I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, and we will deliver.
NOBILO (voice over): Liz Truss is unlikely Ascendance complete. Her leadership campaign got off to a shaky start. She couldn't even find the
door notoriously gaffe prone.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We import two thirds of our cheese. That is a disgrace.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tactless about Britain's closest ally.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: President Macron Friend or foe, the jury's out.
NOBILO (voice over): And mocked by Russia's Foreign Minister.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It seems like we listen but don't hear.
NOBILO (voice over): The former Foreign Secretary was widely considered to be less informed and less willing to be scrutinized than her rival Rishi
Sunak. But that didn't stop her because she wasn't appealing to the wider British public.
One of two candidates selected by Tory lawmakers Truss was ultimately chosen by less than 1 percent of the British electorate, a slither of the
conservative base older, whiter and more Right Wing than the average voter.
She played a blinder, promising a hard line on immigration and tax cuts to a party drifting further to the right, channeling their hero Margaret
Thatcher even dressing like her.
NOBILO (on camera): Like half of Britain's Prime Ministers, she studied here at Oxford University. But back then she was a liberal Democrat
activist in favor of legalizing cannabis and abolishing the monarchy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Abolish them, we've had enough.
NOBILO (on camera): Now she's the darling of the Right Wing of Britain's conservatives, the pro monarchy party of Law and Order quite the 180. And
when it comes to Britain's biggest political question of the last decade, Brexit she's supported remaining in the EU, only to reemerge as a born
again, Brexitier, and the U turns continued.
NOBILO (voice over): Before graduating in 1996 with a degree in politics, philosophy and economics Liz Truss campaigned alongside Neil Fawcett for
two years.
NEIL FAWCETT, LIBERAL DEMOCRAT COUNCILOR & FORMER TRUSS COLLEAGUE: She certainly always seemed to be very ambitious. Sometimes she thought her
main aim was to impress people that she was always playing to the gallery. She would say what needed to be said to win popularity amongst the people
she was in front of at the time.
NOBILO (on camera): Do you feel like she does have substance?
FAWCETT Well, I couldn't tell you what she actually believes.
NOBILO (voice over): Her supporters those see flexibility, independence of mind and a boldness.
CHRIS SKIDMORE, BRITISH CONSERVATIVE MP: She doesn't take no for an answer, she said and I've seen that as a minister myself in private. You know she
can be direct but she is also very warm. And I think that has endeared to many MPs.
NOBILO (voice over): Truss inherits a nightmare war in Europe a biting cost of living crisis, the country braced for a winter of potential blackouts
and fuel poverty. Britain's desperately hoping she'll leverage that ambition and adaptability to rise to the challenge. Bianca Nobilo, CNN
London.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
[11:05:00]
SOARES: Well, let's get more now from Nina dos Santos joins us outside 10 Downing Street. And Nina of course, she has a bulging in tray as really, as
Yang could just outline there. And one thing that she did say is that she will deliver, deliver and deliver. So how exactly is she going to deliver
on this, Nina?
NINA DOS SANTOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, no answers to how, how, how she would deliver. She's promised that she's going to come up with a plan
immediately to try and tackle this urgent cost of living crisis, which by the way is going to get extremely painful come the month of October.
Because people are expecting household bills to soar by 80 percent as an energy price cap system is lifted yet again. There's all sorts of talks
going on behind the scenes with energy companies about how exactly these bills can be mitigated.
But on the one hand, Liz Truss is sort of boxes up into a corner, if you like, in terms of saying she wants to cut taxes to spur growth. And she
doesn't necessarily believe that handing out more money to people to try and mitigate the cost of living problems that they're dealing with is a way
to go.
Feel like she's in favor, ostensibly of less government not more and giving people a chance, and figuring out how they want to deal with their money
before the government takes it away in tax revenues. And then gives it back in terms of subsidies.
The big question is how exactly will she manage to make that work? How can you cut taxes at a time when the government's already loaded up in
borrowing, and interest rates are rising as well, we're going to have to pay more for servicing debt. It looks as though her government may well
start to borrow a bit more money. But we just don't know what the exact details of any future Liz Truss budget will be. We don't know exactly what
this energy cost mitigation plan will actually be.
It might be that in the next week or two, as we see her cabinet crystallize over the next 24 hours, that we get more of an indication of how that will
actually happen, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, yes, at the moment, we don't have much detail. Of course, it's the main priority as she made clear, but we do not know how she will fund.
One thing she might struggle with the you know, you might have more clarity on this, of course, she won by 57.4 percent of the vote, uniting the party
that she had the support of the party, because of course, any measures that she wants to push through, they need to be all singing from the same hymn
sheet here.
SANTOS: Yes, that's right. Well, she won in the high 50s, around just shy of 58 percent of the Conservative Party membership vote Rishi Sunak,
getting about 42 to 43 percent, I think so in the low to mid 40s.
That margin is actually less favorable than both David Cameron and Boris Johnson when they want their Conservative Party leadership elections among
the members to then become the occupants of number 10 Downing Street here.
So it's not as comfortable margin as you might have liked. And you've also got to remember that this is a very narrow target market, as we just heard
earlier from Bianca.
This is a small number of hundreds of thousands of people who are committed members of the Conservative Party. It is not the elected members of the
parliament who she will have to convince if she needs to get laws passed.
And there is a significant number of them or vocal number, I should say, on the back benches, who are not convinced that Liz Truss government will
deliver for the country.
You know that there's a number of them who obviously signed up to Rishi Sunak's campaign and believe that actually cutting taxes, if they're not
properly funded, is going to lead the party to disaster in two years' time when there's another election coming around.
So among the sidelines, you're also seeing people who are close to Boris Johnson say, well, look, maybe he's not completely over and done. If
there's another leadership challenge, if there's another election around the corner, the party could potentially see him come back and try and win
back number 10 Downing Street, something that, for instance, is great icon Churchill did around about the time of the Second World War, which was the
last time that we saw taxes as high as they are in this country.
And the last time that we saw such a precipitous economic situation and cost of living crisis, with the exception, of course of the 1970s when of
course, we saw big strikes, like we're seeing today. And that's something else that Liz Truss will have to contend with the unions, Isa.
SOARES: Yes. Let's see whether she can stitch the party together as she just clearly outlined it, definitely means that she definitely has to do
that. If she wants to push these measures through any sort of measures that she may have a bold plan and she said that.
Nina de Santos outside 10 Downing Street, thanks, Nina, appreciate it. Well, Liz Truss also said, I will deliver on the energy crisis that was a
declaration from her just a short time ago.
Spiraling energy costs Nina was talking about are going to be one of the biggest issues when she takes over in Downing Street that's happening
tomorrow. Russia's decision of course to shut Nord Stream 1 of its key pipelines is making the situation even more urgent.
European shares reacting to the Nord Stream news and the British pound dropping to its lowest level against the U.S. dollar since 1985. Let's put
it all in context for you.
[11:10:00]
SOARES: CNN's Anna Stewart is in London with the latest on the really the energy crunch. And Anna just --really explain to our international viewers
the job at hand the task at hand that Liz Truss has facing her with obviously this energy crunch.
ANNA STEWART, CNN REPORTER: The last time we had a leadership contest, it was all about Brexit. That was Boris Johnson's leadership contests. This
one really has all been about the economy because the UK economy is in pretty much a dire state and actually few prime ministers have come in with
the economy in this sort of state in history.
I mean, it really is quite shocking. We can bring you some figures just to show you in context of how the UK is doing in terms of inflation. Inflation
has topped 10 percent already in the UK and the Bank of England expects it to go higher still expected to top 13 percent this year, dire forecasts
from central banks and warnings.
And banks like Goldman Sachs and Investment Bank last week saying that they expect inflation could even top 22 percent next year. And as you say a huge
part of that driving up those costs is energy.
No surprise that the energy crisis is continent wide. And in the UK, it's been felt very, very keenly not least as we can show you the energy price
cat rise that Nina was mentioning there is rising every few months, we see it rise in line with wholesale gas prices.
So compared to April where you can see it on the far end to where we're going to be next month when the next raise comes in households will be
spending over triple a year what they were.
By January when the raises once again the forecast is they could be spending almost a quintuple in terms of their energy bills. So this is
households having to find thousands of pounds more every year. That is simply unaffordable.
And that is why it is so interesting that for Liz Truss, who is really a free market, Tory she wants to lower taxes, she wants to remove what she
calls red tape for businesses, she's very pro-business.
But at the same time against that she does want to intervene, I think to help households and businesses tackle these energy bills. And that probably
means more spending more borrowing.
SOARES: Yes, and of course, all that questions about how exactly she's going to fund all this. What impact that has on inflation. And of course,
this is just the beginning of it right, Anna?
Because you and I were talking on Friday night, I believe about Nord Stream 1 of course and the impact that's having on energy prices, not just in UK,
but right across Europe.
STEWART: We saw energy prices in terms of gas benchmark European gas futures spike some 28 percent earlier this morning, as investors started to
react to that news on Friday that Gazprom has shut down Nord Stream 1 now, indefinitely citing some sort of issue with an oil leak something that's
demons, you make the compressor and question, say shouldn't be shutting it down.
And all of that is in dispute. But right now it's looking pretty poor for Europe, which was already in an energy crisis. It's done, I would say the
best it could in terms of bolstering energy security, its facilities for storage are over 80 percent full, it's two months ahead of its target.
But it still needs Russian gas really to get through this winter, unless it markedly reduces air consumption. And it is the similar situation for the
UK. So this morning on that news, we saw the Euro sink below 99 US cents.
For the first time in 20 years, we saw the British pound hit alone not seen since 1985. I would say this is also though against a strong dollar due to
the economy and expectations for rate rises.
But this is a continent not yet ready to leave Russian gas behind and we're going to see this play out until of course Russia turns back those taps
back on if of course it does, but this is a crisis.
You know, Liz Truss is becoming Prime Minister with an entry where practically everything is marked urgent.
SOARES: Yes, it's just a bulging intro. She's got a lot on her plate and when she of course, starts as Prime Minister tomorrow. Anna, thank you very
much, appreciate, Anna Stewart there for us.
And Eleni, as you heard there from Anna and Nina and Bianca, the top of the hour just the amount of work ahead for this Prime Minister is enormous, not
just with cost of living crisis, but of course, with the war in Ukraine, Eleni.
ELENI GIOKOS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, I mean, leading in a time of incredible uncertainty. This is going to be interesting to see how she
juggles all of those, Isa we'll be back with you soon. You'll have more for us at this hour as the UK's future is discussed and of course the country
bringing in a new leader.
But coming up next long awaited report from the Israeli military on who likely was at fault for the death of a Palestinian American journalist and
a day after one of the worst mass killings in Canada's history. Police are still searching for the killers but is the trial betrayal running cold?
That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:15:00]
GIOKOS: Welcome back now as we continue our special coverage on the announcement of UK's new prime minister. There are also several other
stories making news out today.
An extraordinary admission by the Israeli military the IDF just released the findings of its investigation into the shooting of a Palestinian
American journalist back in May.
It's admitting for the first time that Israeli soldiers likely shot and killed Shireen Abu Akleh during a military operation in Jenin, but
officials say it was an accident and troops didn't know they were shooting at the press.
Let's bring in CNN Hadas Gold in Jerusalem. Hadas, the statement as we've said is extraordinary, so like in IDF bollards but no criminal
investigation, what is Shireen's family saying?
HADAS GOLD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Eleni first let me go through what the IDF investigation said they found they said that they undertook a very
intensive investigation. They said that the soldiers were operating as we know in a military operation.
They're conducting raids that have been ongoing for several months, or they say to target militants, Shireen Abu Akleh and her colleagues were there to
cover the raid. Now the IDF says that their soldiers had come under fire for about an hour and 15 minutes before Shireen Abu Akleh was killed and
that it's most likely that the shot came from soldiers who were sitting in an armored military vehicle south of where Shireen Abu Akleh and her
colleagues were standing.
They say that the soldiers did not identify Shireen and her colleagues as journalists, this despite the fact that we have video and images from the
incident where it's very clear that Shireen is wearing those protective vests that say press on both the front and the back.
The IDF says that the soldiers thought that they were shooting at militants that they're shooting at the direction of where militants were shooting at
them. An idea of official that briefed, a reporter said that the soldier regrets what happened, that the IDF regrets what happen and that this was
not supposed to happen and should not happen and that the soldier did not do this on purpose.
Now in terms of any sort of consequences, the Israeli military Advocate General's Offices says that they will not be pursuing criminal charges. And
they say this is because they determined that the soldiers did not deliberately fire.
And anyone identified as a civilian and in particular at anyone identified as a journalist. And so this is why there will not be any criminal charges.
And we have not heard from the IDF saying that there will be any sort of other punishments because they are calling this essentially a tragic
accident.
Now the Abu Akleh family has issued their own statement reaction saying that the Israelis tried to obscure truth and avoid responsibility. They say
that Israel has refused to take responsibility they say for murdering Shireen that their family is not surprised by this outcomes as they say
it's obvious to anyone that is really war criminals as they're calling them cannot investigate their own crimes.
However, they say they remain deeply hurt, frustrated and disappointed. They're also continuing to call on the United States to carry out a
thorough independent and credible U.S. investigation that leads to accountability which they say is the bare minimum the U.S. government
should do for one of their own citizens.
[11:20:00]
GOLD: And Shireen, of course, was not only a very well-known journalist here and across the world, but she was also an American citizen, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Hadas, I want to also talk about news that hits the wires over the last couple of days a controversial new visa law for foreigners wanting to
enter the West Bank needing to declare love interests. Could you take us through whether this is actually going to be ratified?
GOLD: Yes, so this is actually not going to happen. Although there was a draft regulation that was put forth by the Israelis was actually first
published in February. And what the regulations essentially Israeli said the regulation trying to codify what they said were already norms in
practice.
And under these regulations, there was a few very controversial parts of it. One of the most controversial was requiring foreign passport holders
who wanted to live in the West Bank, to register a formal relationship romantic relationship with a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, within
30 days of that relationship starting.
This would be they said the relationship start date would be either a wedding and engagement ceremony or moving in together. One of the other
controversial elements of these new rules was going to actually be quotas on the number of lecturers, foreign lecturers, and students who could come
in and be at universities, Palestinian universities.
Now this received very swift and harsh pushback not only from Palestinians, but also from human rights organizations. And it received several
challenges in the Israeli Supreme Court. And ultimately, that led to actually the delay of the implementation for several months.
And then we received word yesterday that the Israelis had essentially removed all of those controversial elements from this new rulebook that
it's going to be a two year pilot that will be reassessed afterwards.
And an Israeli official when I asked them about it tried to explain it to me saying that when it came to the romantic relationship, well, for
example, they thought that they were trying to make it easier for people.
They gave the example to me that, that if somebody was in the West Bank on a student visa instead, and they got and they fell in love and they wanted
to live with someone instead of having to renew their student visa, they could get a couple's visa essentially the equivalent of a spousal visa.
But Palestinians and human rights organizations said that these rules were just a further example of Israel's tamping down what they say are their
human rights, their rights to freedom of movement, their rights to have freedom to live and be with whoever they want to be.
Now, as I said, these regulations, the controversial ones are no longer part of the new regulations. U.S. Embassy also put out a statement saying
that they were aggressively involved in talking to the Israeli Government about it.
And despite the fact that these more controversial regulations were removed, they still continue to have very intense concerns about the
regulations still in place, Eleni.
GIOKOS: Alright, Hadas Gold, thank you very much for breaking that down for us. Now Canadian police say they search for two mass stabbing suspects was
unsuccessful overnight, they're pleading for information to help find two men accused of killing at least 10 people on Sunday.
The suspects are considered armed and dangerous and urgent manhunt now stretching beyond the province with the attacks took place. CNN's Paula
Newton is in Ottawa watching developments for us.
Paula, I mean, traumatizing and devastating incident and now the two perpetrators are on the run. It's been over 24 hours. What do we know about
the manhunt?
PAULA NEWTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, and for sure, residents in that community and beyond now completely terrorized by the fact that the
suspects as you say, are still on the run. And police being fairly blunt, that at this point, they do not have many leads on where they might be.
You have to think that this manhunt now is spanning several thousand kilometers although the police chief of Regina, this is about a three and a
half hour drive from where the initial incidents took place.
The police chief saying they had a credible sighting of them midday yesterday and that he in fact still believes there is a good chance they
are still in that city. I want you to listen now to the police chief from Regina giving us an update just in the last few hours. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF EVAN BRAY, REGINA POLICE SERVICE: We know we are confident that someone out there knows the whereabouts of these two and has information
that will be valuable to the police. And I urge you to get in touch with your local police service to let us know.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NEWTON: Now the reason this is even more concerning to people in the community is they do not have strong leads from law enforcement. They
really need the public's help on this. And this despite the fact that they have put up quite a dragnet around those initial communities who are
obviously traumatized, but also many speaking out saying that they are fearful that these suspects will return to the community and again continue
to do terrorize them.
I want you to also know that Justin Trudeau says that he is keeping a close eye on this. And he tweeted yesterday and released a statement I'll let you
know what he said here.
[11:25:00]
NEWTON: The attacks in Saskatchewan today are horrific and heartbreaking. I'm thinking of those who have lost a loved one and those who were injured
and more to the point as well. He also encouraged people to listen to their local authorities and to when necessary shelter in place. So think about
this.
You have hundreds of thousands of people right now wondering if the suspects could appear on their doorstep. Again, Eleni in terms of mode of
policing, that some of these attacks were, in fact targeted, but others were random, they're not speculating on a motive at this point.
And also whether or not the suspects are related, they are Damien and Myles Sanderson. They share the same family name that does not mean they are
related. And police still looking for more information on that. 15 people at this hour still in hospital, and some say some with critical injuries
Eleni?
GIOKOS: All right. Paula Newton, thank you so very much. We'll be following the story closely. Now in Ukraine, the country's nuclear agency says the
last operating reactor at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plants has been disconnected from the Ukrainian grid as a result of a fire caused by
Russian shelling.
It comes as only two members of the International Atomic Energy Agency inspection team remain at the plants despite a senior pro-Russian official
saying the mission would end Tuesday.
Ukraine says it has inflicted losses on Russian forces in the southern region of Kherson after nearly two dozen airstrikes on Sunday. Officials
say Russians lost six tanks along with other equipment. CNN's Melissa Bell is in the capital Kyiv for us.
Melissa, you know you and I were discussing just a couple of days ago that we saw things quieten around Zaporizhzhia power plants, specifically around
the IAEA inspection, things have changed dramatically now, the power plant off the electricity grid, what does this mean from a safety perspective?
MELISSA BELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: That's right. This is the result of the shelling, that's continued. You're quite right, Eleni, despite the presence
of the IAEA inspectors, and that has continued to cause damage, including that fire that has caused one of those last remaining electricity lines to
reach the plant that went from a thermal plant just not very far away, to be switched off deliberately in order to protect it.
Now, we are getting this from the IAEA itself. And I think that is the point that Rafael Grossi was making when he said that it was a game changer
that the inspectors should be inside that in all the claims and counterclaims of who's responsible for the shelling, we are getting closer
to the facts of exactly what's going on.
So whilst Rafael Grossi had said that he had two main concerns about this plant, which lies Eleni of course, on active frontline, and that was the
workers inside it, but also the power supply.
You'll remember that on August 25, there had been a complete disconnection of the plant for a while from the electricity, not just grid, but it's the
grid's ability to supply the plant in electricity and therefore to keep the plant cool if it had to revert to being on the generators.
That is not the case today, because what we're hearing from the IAEA is that with that six reactor of functioning, it is able to provide all the
electricity that they need inside the plant to keep the reactors cool. So we are on a much lower level of threat than we had been on August 25.
And yet, it is a reminder Eleni of the fact that as the shelling continues and continues to cause damage, it is an extremely worrying situation. There
have been shelling over the weekend that had left just that last sixth reactor functioning.
And all of the main power lines to the Ukrainian grid cut, meaning that the plant was just functioning without one reserve line itself now switched off
as a result of the latest shelling, Eleni.
GIOKOS: All right, Melissa Bell, thank you. Now more on our top story coming up next we now know who Britain's next prime minister will be. We
hear from the leader of the House of Commons about what we can expect from the Liz Truss era. Isa Soares will join you after the break. You're
watching CNN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[11:30:00]
SOARES: Welcome back, everyone. It's 4.30 here outside the Houses of Parliament. And a reminder of course, if you're just joining us by big
story this hour, Britain's next prime minister is promising decisive action to tackle the cost of living crisis after winning the leadership of the
ruling conservative party which happened a few hours ago.
Liz Truss took 57 percent of the vote over her rival Rishi Sunak who won 43 percent. She thanked 160,000 members of her party who were eligible to vote
and the party will be there for the people of Britain, have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRUSS: My friends, I know that we will deliver, we will deliver, and we will deliver.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Conservative be Mark Spencer, who's Leader of the House of Commons is here, Mark, great to have you on the show. From what you and I were
talking just before obviously, we came out on the break you backed Rishi Sunak.
So how are you feeling now that Liz Truss has got the - is going to be the next prime minister?
MARK SPENCER, LEADER, UK HOUSE OF COMMONS: That's how democracy works, you know, so we had a competition the membership have chosen Liz Truss. And now
it's the duty of the party to get behind her and support her and make sure we deal with the huge challenges we face. And as a nation, we face huge
challenges.
SOARES: 57.4 percent of the votes, not as high as many at the polls were as many in the polls were expecting. Do you think that she will have the
backing the support from members of the party as there can be unity here?
SPENCER: Yes, I think you know that's the duty of the Conservative Party now to get behind her. She's won that competition, legitimately. She's
proven to the members that she has the right and the mandate to form a government and that's what she'll be doing.
And you know, as the United Kingdom, we've got huge challenges ahead of us, not just the global spike in energy and food, but dealing with the
aftermath of the pandemic and backlogs in the health service. So big challenges for the government ahead, we need to unite behind the new prime
minister and supporter all the way. SOARES: Let's talk about the cost of living crisis, something that we've been talking about something they've
covered as I've traveled the country to get a sense of how really people feeling the pinch.
Give me a sense, first of what you're hearing from your constituents. So our viewers get a sense of really just how worrying is for so many people.
SPENCER: Well, they're clearly very concerned, because I don't know what the future holds. But the government has been there in the past. You know,
I think under the Johnson Administration, we saw huge support through COVID through the furlough scheme.
We've seen that since then, with the global spike in energy with a 37 billion pound support package which is now being rolled out. As we enter
the winter, the government understands the challenge we face.
We want to see small businesses succeed; we want to see them continue to make profits and pay tax to support the public services that we hold --.
SOARES: We had Liz Truss mentioned she had a bold plan. What do you think of her bold plan? And there's not much detail there yet.
SPENCER: No, no. But you know, let's give her a chance. Technically--
SOARES: No, I am just saying there's not much detail in what she's announced is of texts carts of course and cap one energy right. But what
she's make of it?
SPENCER: So she's clearly given a lot of thought.
SOARES: Yes.
SPENCER: She enters Downing Street at some point tomorrow, she's been seen the queen that we need to get a chance to get in the door and under the
table, establish her cabinet.
And then rollout her plan and once we see the detail over that, we'll understand that. But I think the good news is, she's still given a lot of
thought, she understands the size of the challenge and she has a plan to deliver on it.
[11:35:00]
SOARES: What do you make of the tax cuts because she's taking a very different tact from Rishi Sunak of course, when it comes to tax cuts? So, -
do you think it's fair; first of all, her plan to cut taxes here?
SPENCER: Well, so I think, number one, the tax regime as it exists today is actually very fair. So there are lots of people in the United Kingdom that
don't pay any tax at all. So the lowest paid are taken completely out of that tax bracket that has to be right. So those were the broader shoulders
share the burden of responsibility. But I think what Liz has set out is that she wants to see the economy
stimulated and companies from outside the UK come and invest in the United Kingdom that has to benefit us all.
If we get investment coming from overseas into the UK that generates jobs that generates taxation, and that's good for the exchequer.
SOARES: But some may say, you know, by cutting taxes, you're really appealing to a sliver of the population those of course who on --. But what
do you say to that?
SPENCER: So this is not about appealing to people. This is about managing the economy in an efficient way. And I only think what she was setting out
there was actually trying to stimulate the economy, so that we all benefit.
You know, whether you are a pensioner, or you're a young person in education, we all benefit from a strong economy because it generates the
taxation from those successful businesses to pay for the public services we love.
SOARES: Let's talk about cabinet finally, Rishi, you think, Rishi Sunak, do you think you'll get a - you'll be offered a place in a cabinet?
SPENCER: One of the privileges of being prime minister as you get to choose your own cabinet and she will have given that a lot of thought. I'm sure
she will want very talented people. And Rishi Sunak clearly is a very talented, bright, individual and, you know, any cabinet would be, would
benefit from a Rishi Sunak around the table.
SOARES: Fantastic. We shall see, Mark Spencer.
SPENCER: Thank you. We bet.
SOARES: Thank you very much. And still to come right here on "Connect the World". More than 1300 people have been killed and millions displaced in
Pakistan's devastating floods. Why aid agencies said the worst may be yet to come. We'll have that report after this short break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Welcome back. You're watching "Connect the World". Now in Pakistan the death toll continues to rise due to historic flooding. Officials say
more than 1300 people have died. Nearly a third of the victims are children.
Early on Monday, Pakistan's Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif visited some of the hardest hit areas. Relief supplies from Dubai and Turkmenistan have
arrived in the country. CNN's Anna Coren has more on historic flooding.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ANNA COREN, CNN JOURNALIST (voice over): As rushing floodwaters turn stagnant, the nightmare for Pakistani citizens who survived the initial
onslaught now displaced by one of the worst flooding events in the country's history has only just begun.
[11:40:00]
MUHAMMAD KHURSHID, FLOODING SURVIVOR: Villages have been submerged one after another. Our village was on the front side and it was also suddenly.
In 30 minutes our village was there, no more.
COREN (voice over): With an estimated more than one third of the country underwater, makeshift shelters like this one are overrun with survivors
with no homes to return to.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are too many people and very few rooms. The bathrooms are clogged and there is no water.
COREN (voice over): Hunger, lack of sanitation and disease now threaten to extend the monumental suffering for the more than 33 million people
affected.
FAISAL EDHI, EDHI FOUNDATION: I can see a very big famine looming very close very soon. I can see its initial stages. Right now there are people
who are hungry for a week or even 10 days. This is a very alarming situation.
COREN (voice over): Doctors also sounding the alarm about a system struggling to cope.
VIJAY KUMAR, HOSPITAL DOCTOR: Before the flood, we used to see 50 to 60 patients during my night duty, but now we're seeing 130 to 140 patients due
to illness arising from unsanitary conditions.
COREN (voice over): Well, it's almost impossible to comprehend the level of devastation brought on by what the UN calls a monsoon season on steroids.
This satellite image of just one district in --Punjab province a little less than a month ago compared with now gives a glimpse into just how dire
the situation is. For some fortunate enough to see floodwaters recede, a new shock.
ASHAN ULLAH, SHOPKEEPER: The town has been turned to ruins before it was a lively place and hundreds of tourists would come and go. But now everything
is turned to ruins.
COREN (voice over): Aid agencies alongside the Pakistani military are doing their best to reach those still cut off by impassable roads with Herculean
rescue efforts ongoing. And as the death toll continues to rise, more rains are expected for much of September that forecast an ominous warning that
the worst may be far from over. Anna Coren, CNN, Hong Kong.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GIOKOS: And now the UN children's relief agency is sounding the alarm on the risk to families displaced by these terrible floods. My next guest
tweeted "Today UNICEF delivered 32 metric tons of life saving medical and other emergency supplies to support the Government of Pakistan's national
response to devastating floods.
This shipment is critical and lifesaving but only a drop in the ocean of what is required". Abdullah Fadil is UNICEF's Pakistan representative; his
team have been working around the clock to assist the humanitarian response.
He joins me now live from Islamabad. So thank you very much for joining us. I want you to put this into perspective, when we talk about 32 metric tons
of life saving medical and other emergency supplies. And we say 33 million people are currently affected by these floods. How far can these 32 metric
tons go?
ABDULLAH FADIL, UNICEF PAKISTAN REPRESENTATIVE: Thank you, Eleni. They go nowhere at all. Of course, we're targeting children. We're targeting
pregnant mothers. And actually, we have another 33 metrics of flight arriving tomorrow. But it's not enough.
What we need is actually humongous task to respond to 33 million people who are immediately in need, healthcare systems decimated 70 percent of
Baluchistan healthcare system is gone.
Over 1600 medical health facilities also gone, 18,000 schools gone and the remaining school is actually not a shelter in many parts of the country. So
what we need actually is almost everything you can imagine.
And so far, you know, aid has started to trickle in. I mean, luckily, number of countries have responded. We have flights coming in every day.
But we need more, a lot more.
GIOKOS: Can we quantify it and see how many metric tons you will be requiring going forward? I think it's important to understand the scale and
the urgency, we were showing that map of what certain parts of the country look like prior to the monsoon.
And basically you can see I mean it's basically completely covered with water. So you understand the scale of this, which means that the urgency
the response needs to be just as aggressive.
FADIL: Yes, just to make you understand what we received afterward medical supplies, medicine, water purification tablets, therapeutic food for
children and pregnant mothers, hygiene kits, safe delivery kits, but these are only going to reach anywhere between eight to 15,000 people.
And you know the children in need are almost 3.4 million children immediately in need. So we're talking about reaching only tens of thousands
of people when we need to reach millions of people.
[11:45:00]
GIOKOS: During an occurrence report, there was one person saying that we are expecting a famine that we're in the initial stages of this. How
important is food and grain going to be in parts of the as part of the emergency response? And are you seeing any of that coming through at this
stage?
FADIL: Critical because some of the areas that have been hit by the floods actually were the most deprived of the country. In some parts, you had
almost 40 percent of stunting of children. The global acute malnutrition in some of these places was critical beyond critical to begin with.
And then you have over 3 million acres of harvest, decimated, over 800,000, livestock is lost. So these communities, they have lost their livelihoods
and whatever they have saved. So it's going to be critical to provide food and shelter on urgent basis.
GIOKOS: With some of the doctors that we spoke to saying that they used to see 40 to 60 patients a day, now they're seeing over 150. I want to talk
about how difficult it is going to be to reach some of these remote areas where the aid agencies can get to the vulnerable that are completely cut
off from roads.
FADIL: Actually our teams have not been able to move for almost now four or five days because the roads are impassable. But you know, we've established
mobile clinics, because the waterborne disease already the impact as it started.
For listeners already we're seeing cases of diarrhea, cholera, skin diseases, we're already seeing a number of diseases already starting.
That's why we want to not only preposition for more, but also immediately deploy what we have, so these mobile clinics, doctors are going to be
critical to save lives in the next days and weeks.
GIOKOS: Fadil, thank you for putting it into perspective for us, and helping us understand what you need what Pakistan needs? Thank you very
much for your time.
FADIL: Thank you.
GIOKOS: Alright. And you can find out how you can help the millions of people this is vital, the millions of people that are impacted by these
devastating floods in Pakistan. Please go to cnn.com/impact to make your mark.
And still to come, Chile's president said a new constitution would make his country one of the most progressive in the world. But what did voters think
about that idea. And Britain's next prime minister will inherit a long list of problems touching every part of life in Britain how she propose to
tackle the problems. That's coming up next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GIOKOS: Two years ago, voters in Chile overwhelmingly said they wanted a new constitution. But on Sunday, they said they didn't want the one
proposed by their president, close to two thirds of voters rejected the progressive constitution put forth by leftist President Gabriel Boric.
It would have expanded social welfare and put new environmental regulations in place. Rafael Romo is covering the story for us. Really fascinating
calling for a new constitution, but some of the most important elements of this, so environmental issues as well as welfare really are the standout
points.
[11:50:00]
RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, that's right, Eleni. What happened here was that the voters spoken they spoke very loudly. The new proposed
Constitution was rejected in every single province and even failed in the more liberal region of Santiago, the capital and its metropolitan area by a
nearly two thirds majority.
Chileans decided they would rather keep the constitution that has ruled the country since 1980 instead of adopting a more progressive one, the
rejection came as a surprise to the leftist ruling coalition of President Gabriel Boric who took office in March and who scored a decisive victory in
last December's presidential election. And Eleni in an address to the nation Sunday night Boric said, the Chilean people have spoken and they
have done so in a strong and clear manner. They have given us two messages he said.
The first one is that they love and value their democracy. The second message, the president said is that Chileans were not satisfied with the
proposed Constitution adding that there's a need for a new one that better represents everybody.
Now, you may ask why did the effort to replace the Constitution approved during the dictatorship failed. The document was a wide ranging proposal
some viewed as a wish list. It included demands for social rights and special interests.
It also mandated the creation of expensive welfare programs that the state would have been responsible for at 388 articles Eleni; it would have been
one of the longest in the world, back to you.
GIOKOS: Fascinating stuff, Rafael Romo, thank you so very much. Now before we wrap up this hour, I want to bring in Isa Soares, she has been doing
incredible work covering what Liz Truss will be inheriting as the new Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
I have been watching with incredible fascination, Isa, she's going to be inheriting a long list of issues and major uncertainty.
SOARES: Major in trade, that is for certain thanks very much, Eleni. Well, Liz Truss is being handed an economic catastrophe as a next leader, of
course, of the Conservative Party. Across the UK, both businesses and households are basically warning that they won't make it through the winter
without help, of course, from the government to tackle the surging prices.
Let's break this all down for you make sense of the upcoming economic challenges with CNN's Scott McLean, he joins me in London. So Scott, talk
us through the kind of economic conditions the new prime minister will face of course, as she gets into office, Tuesday.
SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, so Isa, Liz Truss that over the weekend, she's under no illusions about how bad things are. Of course,
energy prices have been dominating headlines recently, this is what a typical British household would pay a year ago, this is what they're paying
today.
And if you're doing the math in your head, it's almost three times as high. This number here more than $4,000 annually for gas and electric represents
more than 11 percent of the after tax median take home pay for British households.
And it's hitting them in all kinds of everyday ways that they're going to notice because of course, the inflation rate is 10 percent in the UK right
now. And so they notice when they go to the store and pasta is 50 percent more expensive than it was a year ago.
Bread is 16 percent more expensive vegetables, chicken, all of these things hammering people's wallets, what's not happening a lot is things getting
all that much cheaper.
In terms of wage growth the blue line here represents year over year wage growth in the UK, anything over zero is a good sign, this year we're at 5.2
percent, that's pretty good, right? Wrong.
Because once you factor in inflation, it's actually a real world pay cut that people have been getting of two and a half percent. The only time that
it was this bad in recent memory was here. This is the depths of the financial crisis back in 2009. What's scary is a recent survey found that
one quarter of British households are now dipping into their savings to pay for everyday spending and more than one quarter Isa say that they could not
find 1000 bucks in a pinch if they needed it.
And so it is no wonder that all of a sudden you have all of these wages, or all of these unions, excuse me, going on strike or threatening to go on
strike.
SOARES: Yes, I mean, it's staggering. I met one lady just in Orange who told me that she's already in debt. She got rid of her microwave of her
cattle because of course, the energy crunch.
And whether we think that inflation prices by 11 percent Goldman Sachs expecting predicting something like 22 percent. So Scott, what do we know
about what Liz Truss is promising to really help the people kind of plan, you call that bold plan? What do we know?
MCLEAN: So it really depends on which Liz Truss is going to show up. And more pragmatic Liz Truss that a lot of general election voters hope will
show up tomorrow when she steps into Downing Street for the first time as prime minister or the more ideological conservative ideological Liz Truss
that won over the Conservative Party membership pretty successfully.
So we know that Liz Truss has promised thus far to reverse the British equivalent of Social Security the increase there.
[11:55:00]
MCLEAN: She's also planning to scrap plans to raise corporate taxes to 25 percent, that's not happening anymore. She's also going to scrap a green
levy on energy bills, though that's only about $180 per year a drop in the bucket when bills are 4000. She was asked a month ago what she would do
about energy bills.
And she said I would do things in a conservative way lowering the tax burden, not giving out handouts. This quote got a lot of attention at the
time. Perhaps though, she's changing our tune a little bit because over the weekend, she said that she plans within the first week of her new
administration to set out an immediate action plan.
She also said she wants to build on the government plan already they've already done given the lowest income households $1,200 to deal with energy
bills beyond that in terms of civics though, still a question mark, Isa.
SOARES: Yes, we'll need the details. Of course we'll find out in the next week or so the details of that bold plan or whether that compares at all
with the plans that we've seen in Germany and in Italy.
Scott, really appreciate it. And do stay right here for more coverage of the UK's new prime minister back in the next few minutes, do stay right
here.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:00:00]
END
