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Blue Origin's Space Tourism Flight on Hold; Woman Finally Escapes Kharkiv; McCain Visits Food Distribution Center in Poland; Chris Rock Speaks Out. Aired 9:30-10a
Aired March 31, 2022 - 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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[09:32:05]
ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: Housing prices across the country are skyrocketing and they're expected to keep climbing. But, there are some experts who are now warning they see signs a housing bubble is brewing.
CNN chief business correspondent Christine Romans joining me now.
Christine, I told you in the break, I saw this headline on cnn.com this morning and I immediately clicked because you look at these prices and you think, where does it end?
CHRISTINE ROMANS, CNN CHIEF BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: It's crazy out there. If you're trying to buy a house, you know that it is just nuts out there. And if you're trying to sell a house, I mean you -- it is a -- completely a sellers' market. There's just not a lot of inventory. There are not a lot of houses for sale and there are a lot of people who are trying to buy.
The Dallas Fed, a new blog post, I want to read this to you, Erica, home prices are rising faster than market forces would indicate. And this, they're becoming unhinged from fundamentals.
HILL: Unhinged.
ROMANS: Unhinged from fundamentals. I mean look at prices in January of 19.2 percent from the year before. That's -- look, December was up 18.9 percent in some of these cities. Like, if you're moving to Phoenix, and you're trying to be a home buyer in Phoenix, my goodness, almost 33 percent home price increase. San Diego, I can see, that tends to be a hot housing market. Dallas up almost 30 percent. Tampa, Miami, just across the board here.
A couple of things. Labor costs are high. There are construction shortages. So, you know, in terms of building a house. It costs more to build the house. They're passing that cost on to you.
But essentially there's way more demand than there is supply for homes. For first time home buyers, it's just been brutal out there.
You know, I talked to people in the real estate sector and they say, like, if you're a seller, I mean, and you can sell --
HILL: Yes.
ROMANS: And you know where you're going to live next --
HILL: Right.
ROMANS: Because if you sell your house, you might have a hard time buying a new one.
HILL: Well, that's the key, make sure you have somewhere to go.
ROMANS: But this is all -- it's all about the seller.
And interest rates are going to start rising. If you're in the market now for a loan, if you're close to sealing the deal, interest rates will keep rising. This will be a year of rising interest rates. That could help cool the market a little bit because it will be more expensive to borrow the money for a house.
HILL: Yes, it's all those numbers. Those numbers are crazy.
ROMANS: They really are. I know, it's just -- there's just not a lot of supply.
HILL: Christine, thank you.
Jim.
SCIUTTO: That's all great until you've got to buy the next one.
HILL: Yes.
SCIUTTO: This just in to CNN, Blue Origin's fourth tourism flight to the edge of space scheduled to happen minutes ago. It's actually on hold for now.
CNN's Rachel Crane joins me now live to discuss it.
So, Rachel, do we know what's causing the delay, and how long? Is this a long-term one?
RACHEL CRANE, CNN INNOVATION AND SPACE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, well, Jim, you know, these holds are pretty typical for these Blue Origin flights. And when it comes to what exactly is causing the holdup, we don't know because this is a private flight unlike the NASA flights where there's a lot more transparency. It's currently been held for about 30 minutes. So hopefully that hold will be lifted.
But, of course, safety is the most important thing here. So we know that they're going through all the safety checks to make sure that all systems are aligned and weather is a go.
But let me tell you a little bit about the journey this these future astronauts are hopefully about to embark on.
[09:35:02]
The whole ride, Jim, is only about ten minutes long. The booster will blast them off from west Texas at launch site one, where you see them there, you see them seated, I'm sure very, very anxious about whether or not this launch is about to take off. But they'll be blasted off.
And the booster and the capsule, they separate at about 250,000 feet. That's when the capsule itself will continue to coast past the Karman line. That's 62 miles above earth. And that's when they technically become astronauts.
But, Jim, it's interesting to note that the FAA, they sort of redefined who was going to get astronaut wings because so many people are now getting them because of the proliferation of these suborbital flights and, you know, the growth of the commercial space sector. This really has ushered in the dawn of the commercial space industry.
So, while the FAA will not be awarding these six astronauts with official wings, they will be put on an online database, you know, signaling that they are, in fact, astronauts, that they did, in fact, pass that Karman line. Hopefully that event will happen today. That's what we are all waiting to see if this launch will occur.
Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes. A short flight. I'd still take it.
CRANE: Me too.
SCIUTTO: But still waiting for my invite.
Rachel Crane, thanks so much, as always.
CRANE: That makes two of us.
HILL: Jim, of the many things I love about you, it's that you are not giving up on putting that feeler out there.
SCIUTTO: I'm not. I'm going to keep that (INAUDIBLE) and I'm awaiting -- awaiting that email back.
HILL: I will be cheering -- I will be cheering your trip to space when it happens.
SCIUTTO: Thank you.
HILL: Still to come here, she escaped to Lviv after spending weeks in a bomb shelter in Kharkiv surrounded by Russian shelling. Up next, we have her story and why she says she will not leave Ukraine.
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[09:41:28]
SCIUTTO: Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine is Ukraine's second largest city. Because of that, as well as its proximity to the Russian boarder, the city remains under heavy shelling. It sustained just enormous civilian casualties.
HILL: And like so many of these cities across Ukraine that are being targeted, it is residential areas that the Russians are targeting.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: As one woman showed us, that includes a kindergarten.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is the sleeping room, where our children were sleeping. And it was on fire because the Russian rocket hit this exact room right here on this wall. The nearby residential houses are also heavily destroyed.
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HILL: Hitting the room where kindergartners would sleep. Nearby residential buildings also heavily destroyed.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: John Berman back with us now.
So, John, I know you spoke with a woman about her escape, her harrowing escape out of Kharkiv. What more did she tell you?
JOHN BERMAN, CNN ANCHOR: Yes, you know, Kharkiv's right on the Russian border. The Russians thought they would take that city in days. That didn't happen. But there's been nothing but suffering ever since. Relentless air attacks. And I met Anastasia, who spent weeks in a shelter under ground, a bomb shelter under ground, and she told us what it was like to be inside there.
Listen.
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ANASTASIA, ESCAPED FROM KHARKIV BY TRAIN, BOYFRIEND STAYED BEHIND TO FIGHT: We were there, like, 50 people, and half of the people were children. And we are staying there together. It was kind of frightening because each time we had to get out to get the food, like, we were hearing bomb shelling and bombs and sirens and -- but we had to get the food. So, we were afraid, but we had to survive somehow. But staying in the bomb shelter, it's not really easy in comparison to normal life.
BERMAN: And you're here in Lviv.
ANASTASIA: Yes.
BERMAN: Four million people, 4 million Ukrainians have left the country. But you're not going to leave. Why not?
ANASTASIA: Because I'm at home and I don't want to leave it. And I do feel that here I can do something for people. I have been volunteering at (INAUDIBLE) train station, and I do feel that I am needed here and people need me. So -- and I don't want to leave my country.
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BERMAN: Her boyfriend is still back in Kharkiv fighting for the territorial defense. She hasn't been able to speak to him, just exchange texts. She found out at one point he was in the hospital, but now she has heard her boyfriend is out of the hospital and back fighting with the territorial defense, Jim.
SCIUTTO: Yes, it's a national cause there, right? Men between 18 and 60, they have to stay and fight.
So, Lviv, it's become something of a lifeboat, right, because you have people fleeing through Lviv to get out of the country, but some staying there as well, hoping for things to change. I know you spoke to a mother and son that left Kherson just an hour before Russians tried to devastate that city, really. What do they tell you?
BERMAN: Yes, they were on a bus at 9:00. The city that they lived in outside Kerson fell at 10:00. And they're been in Lviv here for a few weeks. And they're staying at a Christian shelter. They're evangelicals. And they're at a wonderful Christian shelter where people are working and living together right now. And I just talked to them about their feelings about the country and also about Russia.
Listen to this.
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MARK MAKHINYA, FLED KHERSON: We think we should forgive our enemies, but it's so hard.
[09:45:00]
We know -- we know Bible says you should forgive your enemies, but how we should forgive our enemies if we -- if we saw how -- how just died, people and kids. It's hard. But we tried. We continue praying, even for our enemies.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BERMAN: Yes, how can we forgive our enemies, he says? He says there was before and there is now after for all these Ukrainians and their relationship with Russia is truly changed forever.
Jim. Erica.
SCIUTTO: Yes.
HILL: Yes, absolutely. It's so important to hear all of those first person stories, all of those accounts because it really gives us such a good idea of what it's like on the ground there every day as they're living in a country at war.
Berman, appreciate it, as always. Thank you.
Well, this war in Ukraine is, as we know, causing a growing humanitarian crisis. And that includes a dangerous shortage of food.
Cindy McCain is the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Food Agencies. She just visited a food distribution center along the Polish/Ukrainian border.
SCIUTTO: Think of that, millions, millions of refugees.
CNN reporter Salma Abdelaziz is live there now.
So, what are you seeing? I'm curious what Cindy McCain said about her visit, any additional U.S. help that might be offered.
SALMA ABDELAZIZ, CNN REPORTER: Absolutely. I'm just going to start by explaining where I am. I'm at the key train station here that's right on the border with Ukraine. It's through this station that hundreds of families come through every single day, trying to figure out what they're going to do next. Of course, fleeing violence back home. And that's exactly why Cindy McCain was in this area yesterday. She wanted to see firsthand what the need is. And, of course, the need is enormous.
Take a listen to what she told me.
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CINDY MCCAIN, U.S. AMBASSADOR TO THE U.N. FOOD AGENCIES: My role is as a humanitarian. And so the things you see here are what -- are what we need to be worried about in the short-term right now, and that is making sure that we can -- can feed a population that can't feed themselves and make sure that we -- we keep them safe and -- and secure. So.
ABDELAZIZ: And tell me about America's contribution so far to the WFP?
MCCAIN: Well, as always, the American government is number one. It's wonderful to represent a country that's so generous in this. But, more importantly, this could all be stopped if Putin would simply pull out and stop bombing.
ABDELAZIZ: Are the people who need help getting the aid they need?
MCCAIN: Yes. I have seen firsthand that the people who need help are getting the help.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ABDELAZIZ: Now, the ambassador went on to tell me that she's going to carry a message when she gets back home, not just to the U.S. government, that more help is needed, that there is a bigger and bigger crisis here, but also to private donors. Millions of dollars have already been given. But as you can imagine, as this war continues, as we lack a sort of resolution to this conflict, the refugee crisis, the largest we've seen since World War II, the fastest we've seen since World War II, rather, that need continues to grow and the ambassador wants to make sure that America continues to help and address it, whether that's from private donors or the U.S. government. SCIUTTO: We saw a private donor, for instance, Jose Andres' World
Central Kitchen operating there inside and outside Ukraine as well. All these groups doing the best to make a difference.
Salma Abdelaziz, thanks so much.
Still ahead this hour, Chris Rock, he addresses for the first time the slap at his first comedy show since Will Smith hit him at the Oscars. CNN has obtained audio from that show. We'll play a clip, next.
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[09:52:57]
SCIUTTO: The comedian Chris Rock has now broken his public silence after Will Smith slapped him on stage at the Academy Awards. CNN has obtained audio from his first stand-up show since then in Boston last night. He came out to a massive round of applause, joked that the audience was trying to get him choked up.
Here's more of what he said to the crowd.
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CHRIS ROCK, COMEDIAN: How was your weekend?
I'm not -- I don't like have a bunch of (EXPLETIVE DELETED) about what happened, so if you came to hear that, I'm not -- I have like a whole show I wrote before this weekend, and I'm still kinda processing what happened, like -- like I'm -- so at some point I'll talk that (EXPLETIVE DELETED) and it'll, you know, be serious, it'll be funny.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
HILL: CNN's Chloe Melas was also inside the room and she joins us now.
So, Chloe, what was it like in there?
CHLOE MELAS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: I mean, first of all, he got two standing ovations, Erica. So, he finally told them, just give me a moment to be misty. I got a show to do.
He also explained to the crowd that, you know, I had a whole show planned before all of this happened over the weekend. So, if that's what you came here to listen to, as you just heard, you know, that's not what we're going to be talking about tonight. But he says at some point he will be addressing it in the future.
This all happening just moments after the board of governors for the Academy Awards, they released a statement saying that they have given Will Smith 15 days' notice that he can write a written response, he can show up in person and sort of, like, plead his side, but that around April 18th they're going to come down with their repercussions.
[09:55:01] Could that mean a suspension, expulsion from the academy? Could it mean that he's banned from next year's Oscars or in the future? And why would that be significant? Because some people say, OK, well, so what if he's banned from the Oscars. But that is a big deal because the individual who wins the award presents it the following year. So it will be, you know, a huge dark shadow again next year where this will just continue.
We haven't heard anything from Will Smith about the fact that the Academy has also said that he was asked to leave the theater after the incident. Many thought, oh, you know, Wanda Sykes has come out, and she went on the Ellen DeGeneres Show saying that it wasn't fair, that it shouldn't have happened, that Will sat there and was able to sit for about 40 minutes before accepting his award. But it turns out Will was told to leave and he refused.
SCIUTTO: Notable.
Chloe Melas, thanks so much.
Still ahead, new intelligence from the U.K. that Russian soldiers have been sabotaging their own equipment, even accidentally shooting down their own aircraft. We're going to have the latest from the battlefield just ahead.
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