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Blinken Comments on Ceasefire Proposal; House to Hold Rules Vote on Garland Contempt; Lael Brainard is Interviewed about Inflation; Pope Repeated Homophobic Slur. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired June 12, 2024 - 09:30   ET

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

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[09:31:46]

JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, just a short time ago, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken questioned whether Hamas is negotiating in good faith on ceasefire and hostage discussions over Gaza. The secretary says Hamas keeps changing its demands.

Let's get right to CNN's Kylie Atwood, who's traveling with the secretary in Qatar.

You were there for this news conference, Kylie. Tell us what he said.

KYLIE ATWOOD, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Yes, this first U.S. response to what - excuse me. Sorry, I wasn't on my mic, John, there. This was the first U.S. response to that Hamas response to the proposal that was on the table. The secretary of state saying that numerous changes were put forth by Hamas.

Some of them are workable and some of them are not. Clearly trying to strike a tone of hopefulness, but also frustrated with the fact that Hamas has come back questioning their legitimacy, how seriously they are engaging in these talks, because some of the things that they have put forth in this counterproposal here, the changes that they are proposing, are positions that they have previously taken, and effectively the United States believed that they had moved on from that point.

But the secretary of state made it clear that they are determined to try and bridge the gaps here. The secretary said, in his view, they are bridgeable, but he's just not sure if they'll be able to get there, but made the case that a deal here is in the benefit of both the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Listen to what he said.

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ANTONY BLINKEN, SECRETARY OF STATE: The single most effective and most immediate way to end the suffering of people in Gaza, to end the suffering of the Palestinians and Israelis alike, to tackle the humanitarian assistance crisis, to prevent the conflict from further escalating and spreading to other places, is to get a ceasefire that allows us to get to work toward a more durable end to the conflict.

Here again, Qatar's been a tireless partner, and the prime minister personally, a tireless partner in working to mediate a ceasefire.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ATWOOD: Now, he said that in the coming days they're going to be engaged in what he called an urgent push to try and get both of these sides to bridge the gaps. And also in the coming weeks, he said that the United States and the other partners it has been working with are going to roll out proposals for the day after plans in Gaza with regard to governance and how Gaza will look after this conflict is over. He said that will be key if they're going to be able to take a ceasefire and make it into an enduring peace.

But, of course, John, in order to get there, they've got to get a ceasefire agreement. And they simply are not there today.

BERMAN: No. And it seems like the situation getting even more precarious in terms of these talks, but we will see what the next few days bring.

Kylie Atwood, great to have you there. Thank you very much for your report.

We have brand new economic data released this morning. Future soaring as there are signs that inflation has cooled more than expected.

And then Russia is sending warships, including a nuclear-powered submarine, to the waters not far from the coast of the United States. So, what is the U.S. response?

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[09:39:39]

BERMAN: So, there might be an uneasy feeling for Republican leaders in the House at this moment. Do they have the votes? They are due to vote on a rule to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt for violating subpoenas, but the count might not be going their way, or is it?

Let's get the very latest from CNN's Lauren Fox.

[09:40:01]

You've been assigned to go count those votes, Lauren. Where do things stand right now?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it's been a moment to moment situation. We did hear from Republican leaders as they were entering their GOP conference meeting this morning. Steve Scalise, the majority leader, said it's really important that Republicans get this passed, get this out of their chamber today. He said that that is the hope. That is the expectation. Meanwhile, Tom Emmer would not say whether or not the votes were

there. He, of course, is the Republican vote counter. That is his gig. And he made clear that they plan to vote today, but he would not say whether or not the votes would be there.

You can expect that behind closed doors, as we speak, Republicans are wrestling with what to do. There had been some concern that there might be some moderates who were on the fence and leaning against voting for this proposal. But again, it just all matters because of such a narrow majority in the House. The speaker can only afford to lose two Republican votes. That means they have to count very carefully when they have these close votes coming to the floor.

So, we'll see whether or not they ultimately put that on the floor today. The rule vote happening at 10:30 a.m.

John.

BERMAN: And, look, and I don't mean to be glib here, but counting is hard. It has been hard for this particular group of Republican leadership. That's because of the way the members have been behaving.

Lauren Fox, thanks so much. Keep us posted, needless today.

Kate.

KATE BOLDUAN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning there's also some welcome news on the inflation front. Consumer prices rose 3.3 percent in May, compared to a year earlier. Slowing even from April's rate. A cooling off. And on a monthly basis, prices were flat, slower, which means better pace than April.

This read on the U.S. economy also is coming just hours before the Federal Reserve makes its latest interest rate announcement. Meaning, this is a big day on the U.S. economy front.

Joining me now is one of President Biden's top economic aides, Lael Brainard. She's the director of the National Economic Council.

Lael, thank you for being here.

With the full understanding you all take a lot of care to not weigh in on the Fed and respect the Fed's independence, would you expect the data out just this morning to have a demonstrable impact on what we learn this afternoon?

LAEL BRAINARD, DIRECTOR, NATIONAL ECONOMIC COUNCIL: Yes, so I don't speak about the Fed's policymaking. The president respects the independence of the Federal Reserve.

I will say that today's report on inflation, which showed zero inflation in the month, an inflation down by two-thirds, is welcome news, particularly for families that are feeling squeezed by the cost of living. Grocery prices down or flat for four months in a row and gas prices below $3.50 at the pump. Those are prices that are very important to American families. BOLDUAN: And, Lael, you talk about how families are feeling squeezed. And in general, when it comes to the U.S. economy, how people feel about the economy is a huge issue. It - how they feel about the overall economy. How they feel about their personal economy.

The president's approval rating and how people feel about the economy remains under water. We have showed - we're going to show everyone a graphic kind of tracking his approval on the economy over the course of the year, really from - since March of last year. And now it's kind of remaining in the low 30s.

If the data is showing improvement, and that is what you see with this report today, why aren't people feeling it?

BRAINARD: You know, the president knows that families have been through a lot with the pandemic. Inflation went up with the pandemic. And he knows that the cost of living is just too high for a lot of families. And he is fighting really hard to lower those costs.

On health care, of course, he secured important legislation, bringing the cost of prescription drugs down, like on insulin to $35 a month. Those are real savings.

Grocery prices, he's been calling on grocery chains to bring prices down. They've kept their profit margins pretty high. And now you see grocery stores answering the call. Price reductions on thousands of items. Grocery prices flat or down for the past few months. Same on gas prices, where we are seeing record production and gas prices coming down going into the summer driving season.

But look, we know that in coming months that's the kind of choice that's going to be in front of us, you know, whether to keep fighting to lower costs for middle class Americans, which is at the center of the president's agenda, or to be fighting for tax cuts for the ultra- wealthy and corporations. That's really where the Republicans are focusing.

BOLDUAN: With all the data that you all are tracking, would you say that the U.S. economy has achieved a soft landing?

[09:45:03]

BRAINARD: So, I would certainly say, if you look at where we are today with inflation, down by two-thirds and continuing to come down, unemployment below 4 percent for the longest period in 50 years, robust growth, very high levels of investment, factory construction, those are all positives. But we really need to keep working on bringing costs down. That's going to be our focus in terms of grocery, housing, gas prices, health care. That's what's going to be important to American families.

BOLDUAN: So you're saying you don't think a soft landing's yet been achieved, or you're not comfortable saying it yet?

BRAINARD: So, I think that we have achieved a good labor market, more in balanced and inflation coming down. But we have more work to do and so we're going to keep working to keep the labor market at the good place that he is today and continue to bring costs down because we have more work to do there.

BOLDUAN: AI is a topic that Biden's going to be discussing with G-7 leaders in Italy. It's also a big topic when it comes to AI's future impact on the U.S. economy and jobs. Sam Altman, who's the founder of OpenAI, he said last month, Lael, "one of the things that annoys me most about people who work on AI is when they stand up with a straight face and say, this will never cause any job elimination. This is just an additive thing. This is just about to be great," Altman says. Altman goes on to say, "this is going to eliminate a lot of current jobs. This is going to change the way that a lot of current jobs function, and this is going to create entirely new jobs. That always happens with technology."

What are you planning for on this front? An elimination of how many jobs on balance?

BRAINARD: Yes. So, this is an area where the president was really out front early on, lead in the G-7 on recognizing the promises of AI, but also that there are some downsides to AI, and to put a framework in place where we really grapple with those comprehensively put safeguards in place, and in particular on workers. Thought it was very important to work with labor leaders, business leaders, to come out with some principles about how to make sure that AI enables workers. Workers are trained to take advantage of AI tools to enhance their work, enhance their productivity.

But that there are safeguards against, for instance, surveillance that would impinge on privacy and that workers are given an opportunity to use AI tools as opposed to seeing the kind of displacement impacts. So, I don't have updated estimates, but I will say, we put out a set of principles and we are going to want to work with labor, with business leaders to integrate AI in ways that American workers have the capability to use AI to enhance their jobs and their productivity.

BOLDUAN: Lael Brainard, from the White House, thank you so much for coming on.

Coming up still for us, Pope Francis facing new criticism today after he allegedly repeated a homophobic slur.

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[09:52:48]

BERMAN: New this morning, the pope is drawing criticism after he allegedly used a homophobic slur again. But some Italian media is reporting that he was quoting a phrase said by a monsignor.

Let's get right to CNN Vatican correspondent Christopher Lamb with the latest on this.

What are you hearing?

CHRISTOPHER LAMB, CNN VATICAN CORRESPONDENT: Well, John, these remarks from the pope are causing quite as surprise and a stir because he's reported to have used the same anti-gay slur that he apologized for two weeks ago. So, this is causing a lot of surprise.

Now, there is, as you mentioned, some context to this. Italian newspaper "Corriere Della Sera" is saying that the pope was effectively quoting back in this meeting with priests, quoting back what a monsignor, a senior member of the clergy, had told him.

Now, look, there are some people in the Vatican and the church who say Francis, who's 87, is a little bit like an uncle or a grandfather who says an inappropriate remarks at the dinner table, but doesn't completely understand the offensive nature of what he's saying.

Nevertheless, this is difficult for Francis because he is the pope who said, when it comes to gay people, who am I to judge. He's offered blessings to same-sex couples. He's modeled a very different approach for the church when it comes to LGBTQ plus Catholics. And so the reports of these remarks, and they are just reports because we haven't got an official transcript from the meetings, but the reports to these remarks are damaging to the pope's efforts, which have been very sustained over the last few years.

Now, I asked the Vatican for a response. They put out a statement about the meeting that the pope allegedly made these remarks. And they said, and I quote, "the pope spoke of the danger of ideologies in the church and returned to the issue of the admission into seminaries of people with homosexual tendencies, reiterating the need to welcome and accompany them into the church and the prudential indication of the dicastery for the clergy."

So, the Vatican saying this was about the admission of priests or men into the seminary. But, of course, these questions of these reported remarks are damaging for Francis' efforts when it comes to LGBTQ plus Catholics.

[09:55:04]

John.

BERMAN: All right, a lot going on there.

Christopher Lamb, thank you very much for that.

Kate.

BOLDUAN: Now a beef over imitation beef. Major League Eating, which is a real thing and is the organization that oversees the famous July 4th Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest in Coney Island now says Joey Chestnut is out this year, all over his sponsorship deal with Impossible Foods. The league apparently has a long-standing rule that competitors cannot represent rival brands, even if - even if it is imitation beef.

Joey Chestnut himself not happy, posting on social media that he's disappointed to learn he's band from the contest. He - that's what he says. He really is a phenom. He's won the competition 16 times. He also has the world record for hot dog eating, 76 eaten in ten minutes back in 2021. The MLE says they would welcome Joey Chestnut back once he no longer is working with a competing hotdog brand.

BERMAN: He truly is one of our country's greatest athletes. And it's a shame to see him missing out on this premier competition. You know, I somewhat famously interviewed him last year prior to the hot dog eating contest.

BOLDUAN: OK, John Berman, whenever I say this random thing happened, John Berman is like, I did a story on that once.

BERMAN: He told me he goes into the competitions loose and empty. So, we leave you with that.

Thank you so much for joining us. This has been CNN NEWS CENTRAL. "CNN NEWSROOM" with Jim Acosta is up next.

BOLDUAN: God, John.

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