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U.S. Economy Shrank in First Quarter; Renters Forced to Move as Prices Surged Across the United States; Moderna Seeks Emergency Use for COVID Vaccine for Kids 6 Months to 5 Years Old; Interview with Representative Mike Quigley (D-IL) about Ukrainian War and U.S. Accepting Refugees. Aired 9:30-10a ET

Aired April 28, 2022 - 09:30   ET

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

[09:31:10]

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: New numbers just in that show economic growth in the U.S. plunged in the first quarter of the year. The nation's GDP declined at a rate of 1.4 percent between January and March. Now that snapped a streak of six consecutive quarters of growth.

CNN's Matt Egan is with me now to discuss. So this is a bit of a head scratcher because household spending and business spending has remained strong. So what's behind this number?

MATT EGAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Bianna, the headline here is no doubt it's ugly. But I think if you dig into the report, it's clear that we really shouldn't panic. The U.S. economy did contract unexpectedly in the first quarter at an annual rate of 1.4 percent, that does snap the streak of a year and a half of uninterrupted growth. Worst quarter since COVID turned the world upside down two years ago.

But GDP crashed by the more than 30 percent back then, this is not that, this is a much more gradual decline and really importantly it's being distorted by a number of one-offs. First, Omicron, earlier this year, that messed up things in the economy. We had COVID, assistance was lapsing. The big one is the trade deficit really blew out in the first three months of this year. That was a negative for GDP.

Companies they didn't stockpile inventories at the ridiculous pace that they did at the end of last year, although they did still grow inventories. This is what's really important, though, is that the underlying factors that really drive the economy, those are strong. Consumer spending, the main catalyst for growth, actually accelerated in the first three months of this year. Business investment was also strong.

That's why economists are telling me that this is not a sign that the economy is falling into a recession. Mark Zandy said the economy, he just told me the economy continues to grow strongly and at a pace that continues to bring unemployment down.

GOLODRYGA: So hopefully the next quarter will be better.

EGAN: And that's the thinking, is that we could return to growth in the second quarter.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Matt Egan, thank you.

EGAN: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: Well, people across the country are also worried about soaring rental prices and that it may force them out of their homes and they are now seeing few affordable options. Rent has risen an average of nearly 20 percent over the past two years. And it's even higher in cities such as Miami where rent has soared 58 percent.

CNN's Vanessa Yurkevich spoke with a woman whose rent has doubled.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LAURA GUILMAIN, FLORIDA RENTER: List and list and list.

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT (voice- over): Laura Guilmain and her daughter Carson have 30 days to find a new home.

(On camera): How many properties do you think you've explored?

GUILMAIN: Thousands. Thousands.

YURKEVICH (voice over): For three years Guilmain has been paying $2100 a month for this three bedroom in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. But last month she got a letter from her landlord.

GUILMAIN: Due to unforeseen circumstances --

YURKEVICH: Her new rent, $3200 a month. An attorney for her landlord tells CNN, rising property taxes and mortgage rates are so blame.

GUILMAIN: I freaked out. We can't afford -- can't do it.

YURKEVICH: There's a housing affordability crisis. Home prices are sky high, forcing more Americans into a competitive rental market.

Guilmain, a single mom and disabled veteran, is reliant on rental assistance from Housing and Urban Development or HUD. She already had fewer options, but now landlords looking to capitalize on rising rents are less willing to accept the strict guidelines of her rental voucher.

(On camera): How critical is the HUD voucher to your existence?

GUILMAIN: That is our existence. Without it we would be homeless.

YURKEVICH (voice over): Rents are rising across the country, up a record nearly 20 percent on average in two years. Double that in cities like Memphis, Tampa and Riverside, California. But the Miami- Palm Beach area tops them all at 58 percent, nearly three times the national average.

GUILMAIN: When there's a hurricane, it's illegal for gas stations to jack up the prices.

[09:35:03]

Why is there not a cap in the state of Florida? Why am I looking at a 43 percent increase?

YURKEVICH: In fact, it's illegal in Florida to impose rent controls.

SARA ESPINOZA, CORAL GABLES, FLORIDA RENTER: It actually gives me a lot of anxiety.

YURKEVICH: Sara Espinoza is facing a 106 percent increase on her rent in Coral Gables, Florida.

ESPINOZA: Try to put it together.

YURKEVICH: For 22 years she's called this three-bedroom home. She raised her son here. She says the $1700 she pays in rent is below market value but the $3500 her new landlord is charging is out of her budget.

ESPINOZA: It's not reasonable at all. I guess right now everybody is just price gouging because people need somewhere to live.

YURKEVICH: She set a new budget of $2800. This week, she found an apartment right next door, but it's smaller and overbudget by $400.

(On-camera): How does that rationalize in your mind?

ESPINOZA: It doesn't. It doesn't rationalize at all. And I just think it's very unfair. Makes me upset.

GUILMAIN: You know how many people have reached out?

YURKEVICH (voice-over): For Laura and Carson, their search continues with no prospects in sight.

(On-camera): So where does that put you?

GUILMAIN: Puts me on the street.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

YURKEVICH: Now there are just a handful of states that have rent controls in place. The majority do not, including right here in the state of Florida. But on a local level, the city of Miami just passed a new law that requires landlords to give tenants 60 days' notice if they're raising the rent more than 5 percent.

But, Bianna, according to experts that we've spoken with, with rising inflation and low supply and big demand, they're expecting that rental prices will continue to increase, so tenants really not looking for a heads up that their rent is going up, more like some relief -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. Shocking to hear her say that that would put her on the streets. So many families are feeling the same way right now. Vanessa Yurkevich, thank you.

Well, the U.S. is now fast tracking entry for thousands of Ukrainian refugees. Just how many Americans are stepping up to help? That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:41:52]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: CNN has learned that within just 48 hours of the Biden administration launching its streamline faster process for Ukrainians seeking to come to the U.S., the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services received more than 4,000 applicants to sponsor those Ukrainian refugees. The newly launched Uniting from Ukraine Parole Program requires Ukrainians seeking entry to the U.S. to have a sponsor, an American citizen or anyone legally in the U.S. Big sign of generosity there. It's nice to see.

Joining me now to discuss the Ukraine situation, Democratic Congressman Mike Quigley of Illinois. He's a co-chair on the Congressional Ukraine Caucus, just returned from a congressional delegation trip to Poland, Slovakia and Romania.

Congressman, thanks for taking the time this morning.

REP. MIKE QUIGLEY (D-IL): Glad to be here, thank you.

SCIUTTO: First, if we can get a battle space update, I know this is a situation you follow very closely. But there are signs of some Russian territorial gains in the east, perhaps even some improvements among the Russian military, including things that they encountered up north, that they're trying to correct as they make their attempts in the east.

As you watch that, is that concerning to you? Do you worry that perhaps Russia sorted out some issues and can make -- can grab more territory in effect in the east and the south?

QUIGLEY: Sure, look, I was proud to lead a delegation of my colleagues from the Intel Committee in the three countries bordering Ukraine and we talked to our counterparts on military, intel and government. You know, the concerns the fight in the east are multifold. I mean, first of all, this is better terrain for the Russians. Second, it is shorter supply lines, lessons learned, and the fact that you've got a very angry Putin here who is trying to rehabilitate, I think, the Russian military to the rest of the world.

So these are big concerns. I'm also concerned that the West may be thinking, well, Ukraine is winning, and gained some sort of overconfidence here. What I glean most of all from this trip was the humanitarian aid, the military aid is getting there, but this going to be a long, difficult fight and probably a much tougher fight in the east.

SCIUTTO: Yes. Let's get then to the U.S. response to the refugee situation. It's great to see these early volunteers to be sponsors for the many thousands of Ukrainians that want to come to the U.S. I was speaking to a family last night who wants to do that as well. But when you compare the numbers to those countries you visited, Poland, more than two million refugees. I mean, that's a country, a ninth the size of the population of the U.S. The U.S. capped this at 100,000.

Is that too small an effort, too small an offer in effect, a welcome from the U.S. given how many refugees there are seeking to leave the country?

QUIGLEY: Yes, and I'm sorry, Jim, I don't know how -- at what point, it's breaking up, but it's breaking up. I apologize.

[09:45:05]

SCIUTTO: OK. Congressman, we're going to fix that and we're going to come back to you momentarily.

Apologies, folks. Audio issues. Bianna, we'll get those fixed.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, it happens. We'll get back to you in just a moment when that is fixed.

But also this morning, a COVID vaccine could soon be available for young children. Great news for millions of families. Moderna just announced that it is seeking Emergency Use Authorization for its vaccine for kids as young as 6 months through 5 years old.

CNN's senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins me now.

Elizabeth, any idea of if or when Moderna will actually get the green light for this request?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: So, Bianna, I'm glad you said if, because this is not a slam dunk. Let's take a look at the efficacy data that Moderna got in this trial. So it was a relatively small trial, with about 2500 children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years, 51 percent efficacy for the littlest of them, 6 months to 2 years, and 37 percent efficacy, 2 to 5.

That is way lower than efficacy rates that we have seen earlier in the pandemic, but it's similar to adults with both doses with Omicron. What that tells us is that these vaccines are not nearly as effective against Omicron as they have been against previous variants.

Now the reason I say if is this. Pfizer is also working on a vaccine with this -- you know, for this age group, and it is possible that the FDA will say, you know what, Pfizer, which is going to be three doses, if it's better, the FDA could say we're going to go with Pfizer, we're not going to go with Moderna. Dr. Fauci has said he is sort of reluctant to have two different vaccines out there with two different schedules confusing parents everywhere. So it may be that if the Pfizer three-dose regiment looks better. But in the meantime, let's take a listen to what Dr. Paul Burton at Moderna had to say on CNN just moments ago.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DR. PAUL BURTON, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER, MODERNA: We submitted here in the United States, we'll be submitting to other major regulators around the world. I think regulators, the FDA, public health organizations, recognize a medical need here. They'll obviously do their very, very thorough review as they always do. But I think there is a general feeling to move fast.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

COHEN: So we'll see, since the FDA does want to move fast. Do they convene their outside advisers to take a look at Pfizer's data and Moderna's data? They don't have to. If they don't, they will certainly come under fire of criticism. This is a complicated decision. Many people have told me, boy, they better concede these -- better convene these outside experts -- Bianna.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, because we know that parents of some 18 million young Americans have been waiting for months for their children to at least get one shot in their arm. This is welcome news.

Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

COHEN: Thanks.

GOLODRYGA: Well, in less than an hour, President Biden is expected to speak about U.S. support for Ukraine as its citizens defend their country. This as Vladimir Putin threatens retaliation if the West intervenes.

More on CNN's live team coverage is up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[09:52:35]

SCIUTTO: We're back now with Democratic Congressman Mike Quickly of Illinois, audio problems fixed now.

Back to the subject we were discussing, Congressman. The U.S. is going to accept up to 100,000 Ukrainian refugees. Poland, the country you visited, a ninth of the population of the U.S., already has more than two million. I wonder, is the U.S. accepting enough people from this country?

QUIGLEY: No, I think it's a good start but you're absolutely right. There's five million refugees, we're talking 100,000. I'm hoping that's sort of a pilot program, if you will, so that we get all the kinks out of place and that we can expedite this process. Obviously, I serve Ukrainian village in Chicago, one of the largest diasporas in the United States, a lot of interest there. But I'm hoping as I'm sure you are, that this shines a light on the fact that there are refugees in war-torn countries that the United States should care just as much about. Ethiopia, Yemen, Cameroon. They're out there and we need to be just as concerned about them as our Ukrainian friends. SCIUTTO: Energy is at the center of this crisis and ironically,

amazingly, Russia is exporting more, not less oil than it did at the start of the war. Some of those are contracts that predated the war, but you know the world still has not gotten off its addiction to Russian oil and gas. Should that be happening more quickly? And if it doesn't, does Russia end up winning this thing?

QUIGLEY: You know, I think Secretary Austin's line, the speed of war, needs to apply to weaning off the world, particularly Western Europe, from Russian energy. The fact that Bulgaria and Poland refused to pay in rubles, kudos to them. But I think -- and the fact obviously that Russia shut them off, I think that's not a bad thing because I think it creates that urgency of now for all the Western countries.

This isn't a weaning off process anymore and the U.S. needs to help its allies as quickly as possible because winter is always coming.

SCIUTTO: We've heard public comments from senior U.S. military officials that Ukraine could win this war, very different from what we heard a couple of months at the start of this conflict. Is that optimism in your view too early?

QUIGLEY: I think it is. I think the fact is it's a fine line. It's a balance. You have to have a sense that you can win this war and indeed Ukraine can.

[09:55:02]

But for too long we were lagging behind in a sense. And I'm referencing the West as a whole. You know, what were once considered too extreme and escalatory measures are now standard practice. The good news is, in my trip over there, we saw that urgency. We saw the fact that heavy weaponry is now moving, and Ukraine is indeed getting what they need, but that has to continue.

Today the House is going to pass a lend-lease measure that the Senate had already passed. We need to pass a supplemental that's very large and put that forced posturing in the east of Europe ready to go, sending a message to Putin that we have a long-term commitment.

SCIUTTO: Congressman Mike Quigley, thanks so much for joining the program.

QUIGLEY: Thank you, any time.

SCIUTTO: In less than an hour, President Biden expected to speak about U.S. support for Ukraine as its citizens continue to defend its country. We're going to bring you the president's announcement as it happens.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)