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Recession Fears Rattle Wall Street Investors; Microsoft: Kremlin-Backed Hackers Launched Hundreds Of Cyber Attacks; DHS Chief Mayorkas Faces Congress As Border Crisis Worsens. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired April 27, 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: The Dow is up 146 points right now, and this follows yesterday's major selloff of more than 800 points. Despite today's gains, new economic forecasts that suggest a coming recession are rattling Wall Street. Mark Zandi is the chief economist at Moody's Analytics, let's bring him in. Mark, great to see you. Do you think a recession is coming?

MARK ZANDI, CHIEF ECONOMISTS, MOODY'S ANALYTICS: No, I don't, Alisyn, recession risks are high, you know, we're clearly in an environment with high inflation and rising interest rates, so recession risks are elevated. But I think better than even odds that we make our way through the difficult period and the economy avoids a downturn. So, no, I don't think we're going into a recession.

CAMEROTA: What do you think is happening with this wild ride on Wall Street.

ZANDI: Well, Investors are nervous, you know, with good reason. We've got painfully high inflation, and the Federal Reserve is on high alert, and it's made it very clear that they're going to be raising rates very aggressively dead ahead. They meet next month, and they're going to raise interest rates a half point, and then probably another half point in June and more after that. So, the just makes investors very, very nervous.

And on top of that stock prices have come a long way over a long period of time. So, valuations that they say are very high. So, they're quite vulnerable to a rising rate environment.

But, you know, let's put this into some context, Alisyn. You know, even with the decline since the beginning of the year, prices are down, 10, 12 percent, which is kind of like a garden variety correction in the stock market, so far, it's not anything that's particularly unusual.

CAMEROTA: Let's talk about the housing market because this is also interesting to look at some of these graphs. So, if I put up the first one about what's happened to housing prices -- this is over the past basically 20 years. And you see the peaks and valleys abound here. And then if we dive into it in some of the hot spots and look at what's happened just over the last year, look at Phoenix, up 32.9 percent in terms of prices -- the housing prices. Tampa, 32.6 percent. Miami, 27.7 percent. And then last, if you look at the mortgage rates over the past year, they have basically doubled. So, what's going to happen next?

ZANDI: Well, you know, I think house prices are going to weaken, kind of follow the direction of stock prices. They're not going to fall 10, 12 percent, but they're certainly going to roll over, and I do think these very strong house price gains we're seeing right now are a reflection of the very low mortgage rates that we had up until, you know, really just a few weeks ago.

I mean, go back to this time last year, the 30-year fixed rate loan was going for less than 3 percent -- of a record low. And now of course it's raising considerably up over 5 percent, and I do think that is going to -- obviously it's going to hurt affordability. First time home buyers aren't going to be able to buy at these interest rates and at these prices. Demand will weaken and prices will start to roll over and go flatten. And then decline in some places, you know, the places like -- the places you pointed out in the Mountain West and South that have gotten really juiced up, I think are areas where we might see some outright price declines.

CAMEROTA: And so then, what effect does that have on the economy as a whole?

ZANDI: It will slow it. You know, but to some degree, this is by design, right, because the economy is strong, growth is very, very strong. Creating lots of jobs, coming in, which is a great thing and then we got back from the pandemic recession very quickly. But here we are, we're very close to full employment, inflation is very high.

So, the economy's growth where it has to slow to be something more consistent with the economy's potential so that unemployment doesn't continue to climb, and inflation doesn't become a bigger problem. So, need to see slower growth and part of that process is lower stock prices and ultimately flatter to down house prices.

CAMEROTA: Yes, I mean, Mark, it's so interesting to hear you say the economy is strong. You're not the only person. We do hear that from the experts, but then there's this disconnect between what people feel obviously because of inflation and so consumer confidence is just not reflecting what you're saying.

ZANDI: Yes, well, I think it's inflation. I mean, people in many markets have never felt this, right. I mean, the last time we saw inflation like this is a couple of generations ago. So, they're say, what is this, this is really painful, I don't like it. And it's understandable, it is very painful. But you know, that's different than a weak economy. I mean, the economy is barreling along.

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I mean, we're creating over half a million jobs each and every month, and we have been doing that for more than a year, and unemployment is falling steadily, we're at 3.02 percent, spitting distance from the bottom prior to the pandemic. So, the growth rates and the economy have been very robust. That's not

the issue. That's not the problem. I think people will say the job market is really healthy. The problem is, you know, I got to pay a lot more at the gas tank, and every time I go to the grocery store my bill is higher than the last time I was there. That's what's really bugging people with great reason.

CAMEROTA: Mark Zandi, it was great to talk to you, thank you.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: Russia's invasion of Ukraine is also digital. New reporting on how Kremlin-backed hackers launched hundreds of attacks.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: As Russia relentlessly shells Ukraine on the battlefield, it is also engaging in cyber warfare. Microsoft says that Kremlin backed hackers have launched hundreds of cyber-attacks since the onset of the war. That's more than previously was thought, and some were timed to coincide with military movements. CNN's cybersecurity reporter, Sean Lyngaas is following the story. Sean how is Russian cyber activity shifted since the war began.

SEAN LYNGAAS, CNN CYBERSECURITY REPORTER: Well, Anderson, it's our understanding that's sort of evolved at what's happened. At the beginning of the war there was always expectations that there would be these loud noticeable cyber-attacks that might disrupt critical infrastructure like power grids in Ukraine. That didn't necessarily happen early on. What we had is more psychological cyber-attacks, things that knocked out web sites of key government agencies in Ukraine, just ahead of the invasion.

As time has gone on, we've seen more of what's happened, the analysis has been allowed to take place, the data has come in, and today Microsoft's report really paints a clearer picture than we have had so far of the scale of attacks and a lot of the Ukrainian defenses that have worked. And some of the hacks have been able to knock services offline, but by and whole, there haven't been sort of the wide scale disruptions that some U.S. officials feared -- Anderson.

COOPER: And the report from Microsoft says that the attacks sometimes coincide with military operations?

LYNGAAS: That's right. There's several examples where we've seen hacking take place to sort of pair with missile attacks or other types of kinetic attacks from Russia. One example was the bombing of the TV tower in Kyiv in the beginning of March. That same day there was also a cyber-attack on a major Ukrainian telecommunications provider.

Another example is amid the siege of Mariupol, the strategic port city in eastern Ukraine, there were malicious e-mails being sent to Ukrainians saying falsely that the Ukrainian government was abandoning them. So, they go hand in hand. Cyber is sort of a tool that goes along with military operations, and this report makes clear that just the scale is much larger than we previously knew -- Anderson.

COOPER: Yes, Sean, fascinating report. We really appreciate it. So much happening here, Victor and Alisyn, behind the scenes that we're not able to see, these hacker attacks just one of them.

CAMEROTA: Yes, Anderson, it's great to have you there for us. Thank you very much.

BLACKWELL: The Homeland Security Secretary is testifying right now on Capitol Hill. He says he expects more migrants will start to cross into the U.S. we'll tell you how the committee is receiving those comments, next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: Right now, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas is testifying before Congress. Now this appearance comes as the Biden administration prepares to lift the Trump era order policy known as Title-42.

CAMEROTA: OK, let's go to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She's been following this hearing. So, Priscilla, what's the secretary been saying?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN REPORTER: Well, the secretary is trying to relaying that the administration is prepared for the potential of an influx of migrants at the U.S./Mexico border. In these preparations has taken on added urgency because the administration plans to end a Trump-era pandemic restriction on the U.S./Mexico border next month.

And so, the secretary has been telling lawmakers that they are implementing a plan that includes bolstering capacity along the border, surging resources like personnel, as well as working with countries in the region to try to stem the flow of migration. But even with all of that, the secretary has been clear that it is still a strain on their system. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALEJANDRO MAYORKAS, HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY: We inherited a broken and dismantled system that is already under strain. It is not built to manage the current levels and types of migratory flows, only Congress can fix this. Yet we have effectively managed an unprecedented number of noncitizens seeking to enter the United States and interdicted more drugs and disrupted more smuggling operations than ever before.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now that claim that the border is, quote, effectively managed did not sit well with Republicans. Take a listen to Republican Congressman Clay Higgins who went after Mayorkas in the hearing just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) REP. CLAY HIGGINS (R-LA): So, if you would identify our border as effectively managed right now, how would you identify failure? How would you identify failure if it's not what you have delivered thus far? My god, man. Own the moment.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: And he's not the only Republican who criticized Mayorkas. We also heard from Republican Representative Michael McCall who said, quote, it's not under operational control. It's out of control when referring to the border.

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And we heard Republicans say if the GOP were to take over Congress next year that they would try to impeach Mayorkas. And this is the challenge for the administration. Is both trying to convey that they are putting preparations in place for flow that is very hard to predict. But also having to navigate the politics of the moment -- Victor, Alisyn.

BLACKWELL: Priscilla, there is some bipartisan support for keeping Title-42 in place. There's a legal fight right now. Where does that stand?

ALVAREZ: Well, Title-42 -- to remind our viewers -- is a public health authority that was invoked under President Trump. And what it allowed was border officials to turn migrants away at the U.S./Mexico border because of the public health crisis. And to your point, Republicans and Democrats have told the administration to hang on to this, and there have been lawsuits filed including one by Louisiana, Missouri, Arizona, along with other states.

In case we heard from a judge this week who said he intends to temporarily block the administration from going forward with ending this pandemic restriction. There's a hearing coming up on May 13th. That is ten days before the administration plans to end the authority. Where we're we'll hear more about what happens moving forward. But the administration for now saying that they are moving forward with their plans, and when they see that order -- an administration official telling reporters -- that they will they'll comply with it.

BLACKWELL: Priscilla Alvarez, thank you.

CAMEROTA: OK, so launching into history. NASA Astronaut Jessica Watkins breaking more than just the sound barrier. That's next.

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(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right, this just in.

CAMEROTA: Yes, this looks important.

BLACKWELL: President Biden will skip the meal portion of the White House correspondents dinner.

CAMEROTA: Is that a sacrifice?

BLACKWELL: You know, everybody loves rosemary chicken.

CAMEROTA: Is that what they're serving?

BLACKWELL: I don't know. I was wearing a mask at the events in an effort to take extra COVID precautions too.

CAMEROTA: So, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki says the president's decision to attend is a risk assessment and a decision that he made on a personal basis. Because as we know, Doctor Fauci decided he's not going to go.

BLACKWELL: Oh!

CAMEROTA: But the president is still going to go. So, everybody is just, you know, taking their own personal assessments now.

BLACKWELL: Jonathan Reiner yesterday said the president shouldn't be in the room at all, right. Because of the spread of COVID and some of the spikes in DC.

CAMEROTA: There are 2,000 people at that event -- which I'm sure you can do. You talk this close to 2,000 people.

BLACKWELL: And then there's someone right here.

CAMEROTA: That's right.

BLACKWELL: I mean, OK, so you skip the meal portion. It's not as if COVID leaves with the last course.

CAMEROTA: All right, well meanwhile, the White House says Vice President Kamala Harris remains asymptomatic. This is one day after testing positive for COVID-19. She is working while isolated at the Naval Observatory, we're told.

BLACKWELL: Yes, of course, our best to the vice president there.

In just a few hours, four astronauts are set to arrive on the International Space Station.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Three, two, one, zero. Ignition and liftoff.

(CHEERS)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: So, NASA's SpaceX Crew-4 took off early this morning from the Kennedy Space Center. And tonight, they'll be greeted by a cohort of astronauts including three Russian cosmonauts. Making history today will be Astronaut Jessica Watkins. She becomes the first black woman to live and work in space for an extended period. More than a dozen black Americans including four black women have traveled to space, but she's going to stay there longer.

BLACKWELL: So excited for this barrier to be broken. I mean, I'm just surprised that it hasn't happened before now. The ISS has been there for so long. This is the first black woman -- this is a big deal that this is happening.

CAMEROTA: It is a big deal and it's so exciting. It still gives you goosebumps to watch the takeoff and to know that they're heading into space for an extended period.

BLACKWELL: Yes. You want to talk about beer?

CAMEROTA: Oh, yes.

BLACKWELL: Ukraine's most popular beer brand is coming to the U.S. Anheuser-Busch is bringing Chernigivske -- I practice during the break -- to select major cities.

BLACKWELL: The pale golden logger is named after the Ukrainian city of Chernihiv where it's been brewed since 1988. It will be sold in L.A., New York, Chicago, Houston, and Phoenix and all profits will directly go to Care Ukraine Crisis Fund. Anheuser-Busch says it will also donate $5 million to humanitarian aid organizations. I mean, everybody should be drinking the beer for that reason alone.

BLACKWELL: Yes, I mean, when you drink one, you say listen, I'm helping the cause. I'm doing my part.

CAMEROTA: OK, now this story. Parenting, of course, can be a juggling act, Victor. Just ask --

BLACKWELL: So, I have heard.

CAMEROTA: Just ask this dad who was feeding his baby when he took multitasking to a new level.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And on the injured list, bicep soreness. Pops it up. Nice job.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: Look, so dad never took his left hand off the bottle. Baby still eating here. Reaching up to catch the ball with his right hand. Dad later said that safety was top of mind, but also wanted to keep his son happy as he tried to catch the ball. This was the Reds/Padres game.

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Baby looks completely unimpressed by this. Just like, all right, this is what dad does. Turns out mom had been telling dad, watch out for the fly balls throughout this game. CAMEROTA: That's awesome. So, team effort, and he'll get dad of the

year. That was great.

OK, and "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right not.