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CNN Joins Coast Guard On Flight Over Iceland Volcano; Millions Under Flood Alerts In Southern California As Heavy Rain System Threatens Holiday Travel; Mortgage Rates Drop To Lowest Level Since June; U.S. Economy Grew At Revised 4.9 Percent Rate In 3rd Quarter; Cameron Diaz: "We Should Normalize Separate Bedrooms". Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired December 21, 2023 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[14:33:42]
BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN HOST: Some incredible new images of an Icelandic volcano erupting as lava and gas pour from a two-mile fissure in the earth. At this hour, the intensity of the activity is diminishing. The lava flow gradually slowing.
BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN HOST: Experts are uncertain though whether additional eruptions could occur. They are stressing that the situation is still dangerous.
The Coast Guard continuing to conduct flights over the area to keep an eye on the situation.
CNN's Fred Pleitgen was on one of those flights.
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FRED PLEITGEN, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Iceland's Coast Guard flying into the eruption zone in the Arctic night.
(on camera): These flights are extremely important for the Icelandic Coast Guard. On one hand, they have to survey the area but they also have to practice in case they need to do plan evacuations.
(voice-over): Iceland was prepared for the massive eruption that started earlier this week. A more than a two-miles-long fissure spewing magma hundreds of feet into the air.
But while residents have been evacuated, authorities are still working in the area.
JENS POR SIGURBARSON, COMMANDER, ICELANDIC COAST GUARD: So this is highly important for us to do this during the night. And it serves -- (INAUDIBLE).
PLEITGEN: The crew even spots a person walking close to the lava and say they notified police to check it out. The eruption has weakened considerably but magma is still bubbling
below us. The crew strapping in for a closer look.
[14:35:07]
(on camera): This is an amazing thing to be witnessing from up here. We can see just how active the volcanic zones still is. We can see the lava, we can smell the magma, we can feel the power that our planet is unleashing.
(voice-over): The chopper drops off right by the lava field to train evacuations.
(on camera): This is extremely challenging flying for these aviators. Right now, they are practicing hoist operations in case they have to medically evacuate a casualty from this area in the dark.
(voice-over): As furious as the eruption was initially, it also seems to be subsiding fast. Seismologist Kristin Jonadottir tells me.
KRISTIN JONADOTTIR, SEISMOLOGIST, ICELANDIC METEOROLOGICAL OFFICE: It was quite active in the beginning. Four-kilometers-long fissure that opened. Very high rates of magma flow. So it was a bit of a surprise that it has all culminated.
PLEITGEN: Those evacuated cannot return home yet as the magma tunnel here remains active and authorities say further eruptions are still possible.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KEILAR: Our thanks to Fred for that report.
Meanwhile, back here at home, busy holiday travel weekend and it, unfortunately, could get a lot worse for some on the west coast.
SANCHEZ: Yes. Right now, more than 25 million people across southern California are under flood alerts as an atmospheric river threatens to dump heavy rain that could trigger travel delays and road closures.
KEILAR: Let's go to CNN Meteorologist Allison Chinchar in the Weather Center.
Allison, tell us how things are looking out west right now?
ALLISON CHINCHAR, CNN METEOROLOGIST: It's pretty foggy out there right now. It's amazing how heavy the rain is right now. Especially from Oxford up towards Santa Barbara. For those unfamiliar, just the northwestern suburbs of L.A.
You can see all of these storms training. That means a lot of the same areas are getting hit over and over and over again.
You will notice that we have the flashflood warning there but also flood watches. Those are starting to expand eastward into Arizona because that is where the system is going to be moving in the next 24 to 36 hours.
Today, again, the focus across southern California, but notice the moisture moves into New Mexico, Nevada, also areas of Utah and portions of Colorado eventually.
The focus for today is still going to be across southern California, L.A., San Diego, and some of the northern Los Angeles suburbs as well.
Tomorrow, the concern for flooding still includes the eastern suburbs of Los Angeles. But then it really starts to stretch to the east, places like Phoenix, Tucson now in the threat for potential flooding.
Then the system as a whole continues to make its way across the U.S. This is likely going to cause further travel delays on Friday, even Saturday, and Sunday if you have some last-minute plans.
Because this system is going to continue sliding east. So Christmas Eve, likely dealing with rain first, then some snow in a city like Denver and rain across Minneapolis and Chicago.
Christmas Day likely to be very soggy from Wisconsin all the way down to the gulf coast.
SANCHEZ: Allison Chinchar, thank you for the forecast. Appreciate It.
Just ahead, some encouraging news for perspective home buyers. Mortgage rates are now the lowest they have been in six months. Will that trend continue? We will break it down for you when we come back.
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[14:42:26]
KEILAR: Good news for anyone who is looking to buy a home. Mortgage rates continue to fall. Enough though, that is the question. New data out today showing the 30-year fixed-rate fell to an average 6.67 percent this week. That is the lowest level since June.
SANCHEZ: CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich joins us now live.
Vanessa, home affordability has been really at its worst point since the 1980s. Are we expecting this to help get more home buyers into the market?
VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS & POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: It should because you have so many Americans that were not able to buy a home because mortgage rates were over 7 percent. And even in the fall, coming close to 8 percent.
Now that you see rates coming down to 6.67 percent today, that is a significant drop from just a week ago. And that is the ripple effect of the Federal Reserve deciding to pause interest rate hikes last week.
The one thing that home buyers are going to have to contend with is still low inventory and high prices. The median price for a home in the U.S. right now is $387,000.
The hope is that along with falling mortgage rates, you will have more inventory on the market and that will help bring down home prices.
KEILAR: Yes, because if you have to move, this is good news. But you're seeing people who maybe would have considered moving, they're not going to when they look at these rates so high and they were used to the low ones before.
Vanessa, there is also new data on the strength of the U.S. economy. Tell us about that.
YURKEVICH: Yes, so we had a GDP revision today. GDP revising down to 4.9 percent from 5.2 percent. That is largely because there was a little bit of weakening in consumer spending.
This was still really a strong, strong quarter. The third quarter, there you can see it, just really is above the rest.
But over this time period, the third quarter, the reason why it was so strong ultimately is because a lot of Americans were going out and spending on experiences, spending on concerts.
But the economists do not expect this kind of pace going forward. In fact they believe that we will see some drops off the 4.9 percent in the next few quarters. And ultimately, consumers' spending back just a little bit.
[14:45:00]
KEILAR: Coinciding with the end of Taylor Swift's tour. Coincidence?
(LAUGHTER)
KEILAR: I think not.
Vanessa Yurkevich. Vanessa, thank you for that.
And now to some of the other headlines we're watching this hour.
You don't have forever to pay 66 cents for Forever Stamps. The U.S. Postal Service says, one month from today, the cost for Forever Stamps is going to go up two pennies to 68 cents.
Other postage costs will also rise. That includes Priority Mail, Priority Mail Express and USPS Ground. It is the fourth rate hike in less than two years.
I don't know if you're feeling lucky, but the Powerball jackpot has jumped to an estimated $620 million after there was no winner in last night's drawing.
Lottery officials say, if someone wins the next drawing on Saturday and they choose the cash option, they could go home with close to $311 million. Just in time for Christmas.
What about it? May be, huh?
And scientists in California say they have successfully replicated nuclear fusion at least three times this year.
Nuclear fusion is a reaction that involves smashing two or more atoms together to form a denser one in a process that releases huge amounts of energy and leaves no long-lived radioactive waste.
If scientists master this process, they could provide the world with a near limitless source of clean power and potentially help solve the global climate crisis.
SANCHEZ: That would be a huge game-changer.
Still to come on NEWS CENTRAL, there is an old marriage advice, don't go to bed angry, right? But what if I told you more couples are not sharing a bed at all anymore. It's called a sleep divorce. Apparently, it's a growing trend. We will discuss with an expert in just a few minutes.
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[14:51:09]
KEILAR: Cameron Diaz has a suggestion for married people that has a lot of people talking. She said we should -- this is a quote, "We should normalize separate bedrooms."
I don't want that confused with me. That's what she said.
The actress has been married to musician, Benji Madden, for eight years, who, by the way, she calls wonderful. But she opened up about giving each other space, literally, as she said, for the sake of good sleep.
SANCHEZ: Sleep is really important.
KEILAR: It is.
SANCHEZ: As we all know.
I want to read part of what she said on the "Lipstick on the Rim" podcast.
She said, quote, "I have my house, you have yours, we have the family house in the middle. I will go into my room, you go sleep in your room. I'm fine. And we have the bedroom in the middle that we can be for our relation.
Is she on to something there? Let's discuss with psychotherapist, family therapist and author, Robi Ludwig.
Thank you so much for being with us, Robi.
Spouses can have different schedules, potentially a partner that snores, kicks, punches, does all sorts of things. That can cause problems in a marriage, right?
ROBI LUDWIG, PSYCHOTHERAPIST & AUTHOR: Absolutely. Also, there are other problems that can happen when somebody gets less than their seven to eight hours sleep.
They can be more vulnerable to certain medical conditions, like diabetes or cardiovascular issues, even dementia. And also, our mood can suffer making us more irritable and difficult to get along with.
So there are a lot of reasons why sleep is so important. But I don't know that people necessarily need to sleep in different beds in order to achieve good sleep hygiene.
KEILAR: It's interesting because you have to weigh different things, right? And to your point about being irritable, I was reading up on this, this was fascinating, this conversation she started.
And it was talking about how when people are tired, they can be really terrible when it comes to arguing in a marriage, right?
LUDWIG: Yes.
KEILAR: They are not productively dealing with issues that they have in the marriage.
LUDWIG: They could be more triggered, angrier. And they may be less emphatic and may be plugging into your partner in a less empathic way, which is very -- which can contribute to increased arguments.
And of course, if your mood is stable and you are feeling like you are happier, you are more open to your partner and you can do crisis resolution better or just better everyday living.
But I want to make it clear that sleep divorce -- and I don't really like that name because it suggests -- you know, divorce sounds so dire. But we want to achieve sleep compatibility.
It doesn't need to be all or nothing. If you have a big business meeting, or if you find during the week it's important for you to have good sleep, you know, you can find that maybe you have separate sleep for a period of time and sleep together on the weekends.
You just want to make sure that your intimacy as a partner doesn't suffer. So I think that's really important here that you find time to be intimate, share and connect with one another if you find your sleep schedules are not aligned.
SANCHEZ: Intimacy is incredibly important, right?
LUDWIG: Yes.
SANCHEZ: But I am curious, you mentioned you don't like the term, sleep divorce. Is something like this potentially an omen that it's not meant to be, that maybe there are deeper issues in the relationship that need to be addressed?
LUDWIG: I mean, it certainly can mean that. And that is something that a couple can explore with a therapist.
There also can be medical conditions that underlie not being able to sleep throughout the night. There are certain medications that can increase insomnia.
So I think it makes sense to explore medically, psychologically. And if there are any medications first.
[14:55:00]
And if you find that there is no medical reason for it, and there doesn't appear to be some psychological conflict underlying the separate sleeping issues, you know, then you can figure out a plan that makes sense for both of you, in terms of your partnership.
And it's not one-size-fits-all. And that's what's really important here. Each couple can come up with their own solution that works for them.
SANCHEZ: Yes.
KEILAR: You mentioned intimacy, and that's all kinds of things. That's also the discussions that people have even as they're going to bed.
If couples do have to, at times, not sleep in the same room, how can they make sure that they are maintaining that, because that is obviously something that can get lost here, Dr. Ludwig.
LUDWIG: Yes. You want to make sure that you are disclosing with your partner and sharing intimate conversations. That you make sure that your life outside the bedroom is special and that you are sharing special time together.
SANCHEZ: It might be tough to have this conversation with whom I share my bedroom with. It's a 90-pound rottweiler. I don't think he would take it well. I was just thinking --
(CROSSTALK)
SANCHEZ: -- sleeping separately now.
KEILAR: Yes.
SANCHEZ: A story for another day.
(LAUGHTER)
SANCHEZ: Dr. Robi Ludwig, thank you so much for your time. Appreciate it.
LUDWIG: Thank you. Thank you.
SANCHEZ: Plenty more to come on NEWS CENTRAL, including new meaning to the term "autopilot." How a cargo plane flew 50 miles without a human on board.
We will be right back.
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