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Interview with Jennifer Granholm, Energy Secretary: Biden's Release of Oil to Curb Gas Prices; Biden Administration Announces End to Trump-Era Pandemic Restrictions at Border; Humanitarian Convoy Arrives in Zaporizhzhia from Mariupol. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 01, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

[15:30:00]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: New numbers out today show another month of strong job growth in the U.S. Employers added 431,000 jobs in March and the jobless rate dropped to a new pandemic low of 3.6 percent. Today, President Biden insisted the job gains will help ease supply chain issues and surging inflation.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: More and more Americans get jobs as they do, it going to help ease the supply pressures we've seen. And that's good news for fighting inflation. It's good news for our economy and it means that our economy has gone on the mend to being on the move.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: Joining us is Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm. She's also the former governor of Michigan. Secretary Granholm great to have you here. I heard this news about jobs characterized as the largest jobs comeback in U.S. history. Obviously, that's something -- an achievement that the president would like to trumpet particularly because Americans don't seem to be feeling great about the economy. I'll show you the latest Kaiser Family Foundation poll about what people think is the biggest issue facing the country right now. And it is inflation and rising prices by a long shot. 55 percent of respondents think that is much bigger than the Ukraine war, climate change, et cetera. So, why aren't people feeling the progress?

JENNIFER GRANHOLM, ENERGY SECRETARY: I think because they drive to the gas station and they have to see the price on average about $4.30 per gallon across the country. That is really hard. That's really hard for people to be able to take because they see it every single day. And we know that the price of fuel is the biggest component of the rising inflationary -- the inflationary increases. So, energy is a big piece of this. And this is why what the president announced yesterday, which is this release of 180 million barrels of crude -- of oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is important to try to stabilize the market so that we can get the oil companies to begin producing again. And this will be a bridge to when that happens.

CAMEROTA: I mean, that is -- that move as the president announced is called historic and unprecedented -- a million barrels day. So, when do you think Americans will see the prices go down now?

GRANHOLM: Well, I mean, remember that Putin's war has pulled essentially two and a half to three million barrels per day off the global market. We know that oil is traded on a global market.

[15:35:00]

And that's so -- what we're paying in the United States is what every other country is paying as well. And so, the question is how can we all increase the supply to make up for the lost Russian barrels of oil so we can stabilize. So, if there's 2 1/2 to 3 million barrels per day that have been off, what the president has done is say we're going to put a million barrels per day back on until the oil and gas industry -- some of which have really stepped up to the plate and said they're going to increase production. We want more to do that.

But the estimates are that by the end of the year they will be up to a million barrels additionally, per day. So, this release for the next six months is a bridge to that point. But we still want -- we still need more supply in order to meet the demand if those Russian barrels continue to remain off the market -- which it looks like they will. But the war is really the cause. It's just going to volatile, as you can imagine for a while, but what the president did was really insure that it smoothes out of it.

I chaired a meeting of 31 countries this morning, Energy ministers like me. And there will be another release by them, which will be announced -- the number will be announced next week. But the bottom line is, every country is looking to do what they can to smooth out these markets. Because everybody -- every citizen is paying ridiculous amounts at the gas pump.

CAMEROTA: So, can you put date on when people will feel relief at the gas pump?

GRANHOLM: We don't -- no, I can't put a date on it, Alisyn, and who knows. I mean, part of the drop in -- the drop yesterday was due to the president's announcement. But last week there was a drop also because China has lockdown because of COVID.

So, there will be external factors that cause the price to go up and down. But I will say this, that in the industry it's called rockets and feathers. Meaning that when the price goes up for per barrel of oil, the price at the gas pump goes up like a rocket. When the price per barrel comes down, at the gas pump, it comes down like a feather. So, there's a delay in the realization of those savings at the pump. And that's just an unfortunate byproduct of processing. Having to process the crude oil and then getting it the gas station.

But I will say that we just don't know. We don't know what it's going to do. We know that this action on the part of the president will help and we know that long-term -- and the most important thing -- and this is what the president said yesterday -- it's a twostep maneuver.

One is you increase supply now. Two is you diversify away from the volatility of these fossil fuels. You move into clean energy. You grow a whole clean energy economy. Part of the jobs numbers that you see today are a reflection of the opportunity of this whole emerging and growing sector of clean energy. And that's really what the bipartisan infrastructure law that the president signed is all about.

CAMEROTA: Well, on that front, Senator Joe Manchin wants to include more funding for fossil fuel infrastructure in the Clean Energy Bill. Is that a non-starter for you?

GRANHOLM: Well, fossil fuels will be around -- according to Environmental Panel on Climate Change -- you know, for a good while. But the question is, can you remove the carbon pollution from fossil fuels? And then, can you move away from unabated fossil fuels to clean energy. And so, that is -- you know, the president has put forward a series of tax incentives for the buildout of clean energy and that next step of his agenda.

And that's why it's so important to get the next step, so that we can really move away from being reliant on countries that don't have our interests at heart. Whether it's Russia or another adversary, we want to be energy independent using clean energy.

CAMEROTA: One last thing. As you know, the president calls this Putin's price hike. And you were saying that this is a result of Putin's war. But if you look at the numbers just from the price of gas per gallon on average, if you look back a year ago -- so obviously well before Putin invaded Russia or start -- sorry, started attacking Ukraine -- it was 2.88 per gallon, that was the average. Then one month ago, 3.62, now 4.22 per gallon. So, this -- I mean, how much can you truly blame on what's going on in Ukraine?

CAMEROTA: Clearly, coming out of the pandemic -- the demand during the pandemic was through the floor. I mean, and people were not traveling so much so the price went way down. That was the result of -- that's what you saw in that first part of the increase. The second part though -- I mean, it's gone up a dollar since the last month. That is clearly because of supply and demand. It's clearly because the Russian barrels have been pulled off the market. So, we had a supply crunch coming out of COVID, that's was exacerbated enormously by Putin's war. Those are -- that's the facts and that's why the president took such a big move yesterday by releasing all of those barrels for the next six months.

CAMEROTA: OK. Secretary Jennifer Granholm, thank you.

GRANHOLM: You bet.

CAMEROTA: So, the CDC just announced its ending a pandemic era policy that blocked migrants from entering the U.S.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: The Trump administration put the policy in place. But there are Democrat who are worried that the Biden White House is not ready to handle the change.

[15:40:00]

We're live at the border, next. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The Biden administration announcing it will end the Trump era Title-42 restrictions on immigrants trying to enter the U.S. at the border. It will lift the restrictions next month.

BLACKWELL: President Trump invoked the public health authority at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic despite concerns from public health experts and immigration advocates. CNN's Priscilla Alvarez is live on the border in Del Rio, Texas. So, Priscilla, what are you learning about the changes and how some members of the president's own party feel about it?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, after more than two years, the CDC now deciding that it will terminate those restrictions on May 23rd. What that means is that border authorities are going to return to their normal operating procedure before the pandemic. Instead of turning away migrants as they had done under this public health authority.

Now, the Department of Homeland Security has had to plan for that.

[15:45:00]

And that is why the CDC gave the May 23rd date. They are building additional capacity. Sending hundreds of officers to the U.S.-Mexico border. And then also lining up transportation contracts. Now even though they've outlined the plans, it is already receiving criticism from members of Biden's party. Senator Joe Manchin already calling it a, quote, frightening decision. Other Democrats have been a little more welcoming of the decision. But the overall, you know, feeling here is the concern that more migrants will try to cross the U.S.- Mexico border in the next few weeks -- Victor and Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: Priscilla Alvarez for us along the border. Thank you.

CNN went inside a women's center in Poland and spoke with a new mother who made this dangerous journey out of Ukraine so that her baby could be born away from the dangers of war.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, let's go now to Zaporizhzhia, our Ivan Watson is there. Where there is no this convoy of buses, people who were allowed to leave Mariupol. Ivan, what are you seeing?

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IVAN WATSON, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the buses have finally arrived from the Russian occupied city of Berdyansk. It's supposed to be a 2-1/2-hour drive and we were told that they left around noon local time. It was around noon local time and they come in at just before 11:00 p.m. And these buses have red crosses on them. And there are dozens and dozens and dozens coming behind them. And they're pulling into this parking lot. It's all rather dark because the city is blacked out to protect it

from the threat of air strikes and so on. And people here are piled in and exhausted. This has been close to a 12-hour journey for people who were already trying to flee the besieged city of Mariupol.

So, people have already had to endure bombing and weeks without electricity and a connection to the outside world, cellphone signals. And they're finally here, reaching a Ukrainian-controlled piece of territory. But it has been an incredible ordeal to try to help these people through. You can see the exhaustion here, if you take a look at some of the faces of folks.

These are people who didn't have cars to make their own escape. They were waiting for this kind of transport. Everybody has been forced to leave their homes. Many of the people who arrived earlier today with their own cars said that their homes were destroyed by Russian artillery, by Russian air strikes. I saw people bruised and bashed up as a result of surviving explosions and blasts.

There are estimated to be more than 100,000 civilians still in Mariupol. The International Committee of the Red Cross, they were trying to reach those people and they publicly announced that their convoy, just kind of five vehicles, or three vehicles, nine people, were not allowed into the city and Russia controls the entrance. Because it encircles it with its troops.

So here you have people coming in after just an incredibly long day, and what happens is they're brought in by Ukrainian police, and then Ukrainian volunteers who register people, they check their documents, and then they're welcomed into a super store that the city government and volunteers -- they've organized medics, hot meals, clothes for free if they weren't able to get out with their clothes in time. And then further information about where to go from here with free transport. Because then again, everybody, a lot of these people, this is all they have left. A bag, a suitcase, perhaps. And if they're lucky, their family members with them.

So, this is a major evacuation. There are estimates of at least 2,000 people on some 52 buses that have finally made it through many, many Russian checkpoints to Ukrainian-controlled territory. Back to you.

CAMEROTA: Ivan, it's just incredible. It's incredible to be there on the ground as these poor people who are stunned and dazed, leaving their homes. Who knows what they've just endured for 11 hours. You've pointed out all the obstacles to get where they are, and then who knows, for them, what's beyond Zaporizhzhia? Ivan, thank you very much for being there live for us and letting us see what's happening on the ground.

Russia is accusing Ukraine of a major counterstrike on this fuel depot in southern Russia.

BLACKWELL: But Ukrainian officials refuse to confirm or deny the attack. We'll have the latest from Ukraine, straight ahead.

[15:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

CAMEROTA: The 2021 top ten CNN hero, Dr. Ala Stanford, sprang into action at the beginning of the pandemic, testing and vaccinating Philadelphia's hardest hit black and brown communities.

BLACKWELL: Today she's still working to bring protect her community from the virus and bringing people the health care they deserve.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

DR. ALA STANFORD, 2021 CNN HERO: So, we started in the midst of this pandemic with testing. Then vaccination. We were seeing folks that hadn't seen a doctor in a decade. We were just literally putting a band-aid to a much bigger problem with health inequities and health disparities.

So, I opened the Dr. Ala Stanford Center for Health Equity. We are a multidisciplinary clinic. We take care of newborns through grandma and grandpas. And that is the next step, to not just save lives but really impact an entire lifetime with people.

But after Christmas, there were so many people sick, literally wrapped around this building, to get COVID tested. The positivity rate was 45 percent. So, we had to stop primary care and just focus on testing and vaccination. The need here right now is so great. I feel that this is where I'm supposed to be.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CAMEROTA: To find out how you can support Dr. Stanford's work and nominate your own CNN hero, go to CNNheroes.com.

OK, so a very proud moment for a Jersey girl --

BLACKWELL: Is it now.

CAMEROTA: It is. The governor of New Jersey has just changed the New Jersey state bird to the middle finger.

[16:00:00]

I've never been prouder.

BLACKWELL: There's no bird more common in New Jersey.

CAMEROTA: There isn't. No, there's not one that you see more often, that's true.

OK, that's what he said. This is an official tweet from Governor Phil Murphy. I mean, it's just so great. But it is April fools.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

"THE LEAD" with jake tapper starts right now.

CAMEROTA: You're welcome.

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