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Oil Falls Below $100 a Barrel, First Time Since Beginning of March; Russia T.V. Anti-War Protester Found, Appeared in Moscow Court; Police Say, Suspect in Custody in Shootings of Homeless People in NYC, D.C. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired March 15, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: For the first time this month, the price of oil fell below $100 a barrel today, and that is significantly below that nearly $140 it was selling for nine days ago. So, will those falling prices translate to what you see at the pump?

CNN's Matt Egan joining me now. So, these falling gas prices, as we know, would be welcomed news for millions of Americans, I put myself in that category. It is scary when you go to the gas station these days. Realistically, when could we see this start to impact what we see at the pump?

MATT EGAN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Well, Erica, yes, definitely good news and we could see it play out at the gas pump within days.

Oil is a notoriously boom to bust commodity and we are seeing that play out right before our very eyes. As we speak, U.S. oil plunging another 8 percent down to $94, just under $95 a barrel of Brent crude, $99 a barrel. Again, that's not cheap but it is a huge improvement.

U.S. oil spiked well past $125 a barrel, as you can see on that chart, just nine days ago. And it looked like it was going to go much higher. It is setting off recession alarm bells around the world.

A few factors behind the reversal, one of them is this COVID outbreak in China. That has forced lockdowns and it's drawing some concerns about slower growth from the world's number two economy. No matter the cause, the fact that oil prices have come down is definitely good news for gas prices.

HILL: It's as good as for gas prices. But real quickly, as you mentioned, it's very much a boom to bust scenario. So, I mean, does this last? Is there any way to know?

EGAN: There is no way to know. I think, if anything, the last few months have shown how hard it is to predict anything in this COVID economy, certainly given the geopolitical concerns as well. But we are already seeing gas prices level out. In fact, the national average dipped down to $4.32 a gallon. Again, that's not cheap but it is a step in the right direction. The analysts that I'm talking to, they see the national average dropping by 20 to 25 cents a gallon in the coming days. Diesel prices could actually drop more. And everyone is going to be watching closely to make sure this price relief actually gets passed along to consumers at the gas pump because big oil making a lot of money right now in high oil prices. Last year alone, ExxonMobil made $23 billion in profit, Shell, Chevron, B.P., all making a lot of money last year, that's drawn some criticism from Democrats accusing the industry of price gouging, which the companies, of course, deny.

Again, for now, definitely good news that oil prices have stopped going straight up and should ease some of those recession fears.

HILL: I will take it. I'll take whatever I can get.

EGAN: We'll definitely take it.

HILL: Matt, I appreciate it. Thank you.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Consider it perhaps unfortunate timing, more people returning to their offices at the same time as gas prices have been going up. That has left some commuters questioning if now is actually the right time to go back.

CNN's Pete Muntean joins me now. Pete, of course, a lot of anticipation about this, but the gas prices are high, even as the oil prices come down below $100. What are you finding?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, let's compare and contrast here, Jim. The morning rush, so much more expensive now than it was back just before the pandemic hit. In fact, gas then was about $2 a gallon cheaper on average than it is right now, meaning this great return to the office, that's what they're calling it, is going to have an even greater impact on your wallet.

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MUNTEAN (voice over): Across the country, companies are welcoming workers back to the office.

[10:35:00]

Just this week, tech giant Twitter opened its doors along with banking goliath Wells Fargo to its quarter million employees.

New data from research firm Enrick (ph) shows commuting has shot up 25 percent just this year despite soaring gas prices.

JOSE MORALES, LOS ANGELES RESIDENT: Times are tough and trying to make ends meet and stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: $6, this impacted me.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's not fair.

MUNTEAN: Sarah Kirakosi (ph) is turning to the L.A. Metro. In California, gas prices are among the highest in the nation.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's very expensive. It's like an extra $200 a month for my car. That's not including my daughter and my husband.

MUNTEAN: Moody's Analytics broke down the cost. It found that high gas prices will force families to spend another $1,300 a year, roughly 1 percent of the average household budget. Moody's Analysts Scott Hoyt says that makes remote work even more enticing.

SCOTT HOYT, SENIOR DIRECTOR, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: They force people into the office. They're forcing them to incur a larger expense than they have in the past.

BILL EISELE, TEXAS A&M TRANSPORTATION INSTITUTE: COVID has really been this great reset.

MUNTEAN: Bill Eisele of the Texas A&M Transportation Institute says the pandemic has proven to companies that remote work is possible and workers may still be able to push back.

EISELE: It's easier to have a conversation with an employer about, hey, this is really starting to notice in my pocketbook.

MUNTEAN: Even still, the Biden administration sees the value in coming back to the office.

JOE BIDEN, U.S. PRESIDENT: It's time for America to get back to work and fill our great downtowns again with people.

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MUNTEAN (on camera): One interesting impact here, Jim, this is having a bigger impact on folks where gas prices are high but wages are lower. A place like Nevada is having a big impact by this. You know, unlike places like California, D.C., L.A., where the wages are high and the gas prices are high, it's just not as big of an impact there. Jim?

SCIUTTO: Yes, and a lower portion of the home budget today than it used to be many years ago, but still one that definitely has an impact. Pete Muntean in Washington, thanks very much.

HILL: This just in to CNN. We have learned that the Russian T.V. editor who protested the war on a live newscast, she has been found. There you see it, a picture of her. We're going to tell you what her lawyer is now telling CNN. Stay with us for those updates.

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HILL: We are just learning that a lawyer for the Russian television editor, the one who you see on your screen there, the woman who held up that anti-war sign during a live broadcast on Monday, one of her attorneys confirming now to CNN she has been located in Moscow. SCIUTTO: Just a remarkable courageous stand for the location of her, the station employee, not known during a broadcast. She held a sign reading, no war, stop the war, do not believe propaganda, they tell you lies here. She recorded this message right before that protest.

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MARIA OVSYANNIKOVA, RUSSIAN T.V. EDITOR: What's happening now in Ukraine is a crime and Russia throughout the country. And the responsibility for this aggression lies in the conscience of only person. This man is Vladimir Putin.

Go to the rallies and do not be afraid. They cannot arrest us all.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SCIUTTO: She's wearing a necklace in the Ukrainian colors, which we noticed she was also wearing in that picture, as she appears before a Russian court.

We're joined now by Ukrainian Journalist Mark Savchuk. He is in the capital of Kyiv. He is a coordinator for Ukrainian Volunteer Journalists Initiative. It's a group working to get military equipment to Ukrainians. Mark, it's good to have you on.

I wonder, one of the issues with this war, right, has been that Russia, largely a propaganda bubble, it's been lying to its people about what's going on there, what did it mean to you to see a Russian journalist make such a stand as she did on that Russian state T.V. broadcast now, a great risk to herself? What does it mean to you?

MARK SAVCHUK, COORDINATOR, UKRAININAN VOLUNTEER JOURNALISTS INITIATIVE: Well, it's definitely good that we see examples of people speaking out. That's, for sure, is incredibly important, although I doubt it's going to have like a big attack on the Russian population since they have been able to completely cut her off in a second's notice, and so they will probably not even show this episode in the T.V. anyway.

So, what I'm trying to say is that this act is courageous. It is incredibly good that we see that there are people in Russia that want to speak up and said that they are against propaganda, that they have been lying to people but, unfortunately, I just don't think it's going to have a massive effect on Russian people, which is exactly what we want actually, because this is the end goal, right?

HILL: We wanted to have an impact on them.

SAVCHUK: Of course.

HILL: Our colleague, Nic Robertson, pointed out, what would be interesting to note too, is whether she had help, right? Did she have help getting to the set? And if so, that would be a broader message than, to your point, if it's just one person.

I want to talk a little bit more about what you're doing on the ground. Because as Jim said in the introduction, you're helping to coordinate, you're trying to get military equipment to Ukraine. Give us a sense, how difficult is that and what is the type of equipment that you're trying to get to them?

SAVCHUK: Absolutely. Well, we are doing this from day one since the war began. We are a group of volunteers and patriots. We clearly understand that, right now, Ukrainian military mobilized much more people than it can supply, thus, we're basically tasked with doing three things.

[10:45:08]

First is fundraising, because we need to fundraise as much money as possible. Second is to actually find the gear. We're talking about military gear, like armor plating, like helmets, kneecaps, stuff like that. We're trying to buy them in as many numbers as possible. And third is the logistics to get it to Ukraine and then distribute to the frontlines. So, that's basically what we do every day.

SCIUTTO: It really is an all hands on deck effort there. I wonder, we've been showing pictures of an apartment building struck in Kyiv just in the last 24 hours. This has become more common. As Russian forces have run into roadblocks, they're attacking civilians more, not less. It seems to be deliberate. You're in Kyiv. You're living in a bomb shelter right now. What is the danger to you and what do you expect to follow? Do you expect more of this?

SAVCHUK: I absolutely expect more of this, of course. Probably some of the regions of Kyiv will be almost leveled, like we saw severe bombings in Chernihiv, in Kharkiv, other places, like Mariupol, for example, they'll be definitely fighting around the city, maybe even within the city. But we're pretty optimistic about our ability to crush their forces because they are very low in morale, their logistics is quite low quality and our forces have managed to kill already four generals out of 20 that are participating in the invasion of Ukraine.

So, clearly, their logistics and organization is lacking and we just think with our troops and morale so high, they don't really have a chance. They will be able, obviously, to kill lots of civilians and to destroy property, but actually gaining any military advantage, gaining any military holes is out of the question. We don't think so.

SCIUTTO: Mark Savchuk, it's remarkable to hear your courage, your defiance. We just hope you stay safe, as best you can.

SAVCHUK: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: Back in the U.S., police say the man suspected of shooting five homeless people in New York and Washington, D.C., now in police custody. We're going to bring you the latest details right after a quick break.

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[10:50:00] SCIUTTO: This manhunt is now over for the suspect believed to be behind a string of shootings targeting homeless men in New York and Washington, D.C.

HILL: Yes. A man captured by police in Washington, D.C., in connection to at least five shootings over a nine-day period, those shootings leaving two men dead.

CNN National Correspondent Brynn Gingras has been following all of these developments for us. So, someone is in custody.

BRYNN GINGRAS, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Someone is in custody being questioned right now. What an effort, right, I mean, between the NYPD, the D.C. Police, ATF, all of these agencies working together and bringing someone into custody pretty quickly.

My colleague, Evan Perez, he actually is telling us the ATF team located the suspect they believed connected to these shootings overnight, walking outside of a gas station. He was learning from law enforcement sources that they actually were able to identify this person, as you're seeing from the pictures circulated sometime yesterday afternoon, and the, again, able to find an arrest him overnight.

Again, that person being questioned right now by the D.C. Police Homicide Bureau, hoping to learn a little bit more information as we get details from a news conference scheduled in D.C. in about an hour and a half or so, and NYPD is also going to hold a news conference as well later this afternoon.

Now, remember, this arrest is coming shortly, really, after a news conference that was held yesterday by the mayors of both D.C. and New York getting together along with the ATF releasing those updated images that you're seeing of the suspect they believe is connected to all of these shootings taking place over nine days, within the two cities. The connection authorities are telling us was through the ballistics of this case. And you're seeing the timeline of these events.

That first shooting happening March 3rd, where a man who is believed to be homeless, was shot, did survive. But then on a third shooting on March 9th, police believe this man is connected to a killing. And then they think he actually came here to New York City, where two incidents happened just this past weekend on Saturday, where one man was killed, another was injured, so it does appear that this man actually possibly went back to D.C. after this and that's where they located him overnight.

So, again, we're hoping to get a lot more information about who this person is, the motive behind this, why was he targeting these people who believed to be homeless, sleeping on the streets, in some cases, taunting these men before firing the gun. And, of course, do they find the weapon, a lot of details hopefully to come out of these news conferences.

HILL: I think it was Mayor Adams yesterday said it was just coldhearted.

GINGRAS: Really, and have a lot of people on edge, honestly. So, this is good news, that it happened quickly.

HILL: All right. We know we can keep us -- will continue, sorry, to keep us updated. I appreciate it, thank you.

SCIUTTO: A group of Ukrainian soldiers who gained notoriety for their defiance of the ongoing Russian invasion are now being honored with a new stamp. The Ukrainian Postal Service said the winning sketch in their competition shows soldier standing on Snake Island, you may remember that story, holding up well, you can see it there, a middle finger, to the approaching warship.

HILL: A certain type of salute, as it's known. The 13 Snake Island soldiers made headlines, of course, after audio emerged of them telling off a Russian warship.

[10:55:05]

Originally, the soldiers were feared dead but then the Ukrainian navy said they were alive but had taken prisoners of war.

The man who designed that stamp, by the way, lives in Lviv after he was forced to leave his home in Crimea during the Russian invasion there in 2014.

SCIUTTO: You may remember that radio communication, F off, Russian warships.

Thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Jim Sciutto.

HILL: And I'm Erica hill.

At This Hour starts after a quick break. Stay with us.

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