Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Newsroom
U.S. Fed Expected to Announce 3/4 Percent Point Rate Hike; Committee Releases Preview of Ex-White House Lawyer's Deposition; White House Announces Presidential Trip to Saudi Arabia; U.S. Hit with Heat, Floods and Fires; Heat Waves Making for Record Temperatures Globally. Aired 4-4:30a ET
Aired June 15, 2022 - 04:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[04:00:00]
ISA SOARES, CNN ANCHOR: Hello and a very warm welcome to our viewers joining us in the United States and right around the world. I'm Isa Soares in London. And just ahead here on CNN NEWSROOM --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Jobs are back, prices are still too high, COVID-19 is down but gas prices are up. Our work isn't done.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are still going to have inflation for quite some time to come and we're probably going to have a slowing economy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need to find alternatives. Like this is not going to be livable, for me right now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I'm just a regular guy and I don't have a six figure job. You know what I mean, I have to be careful.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The president will, and he said this before, he will meet with leaders across the world if it is in the best interest of the American people.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: On the questions that I have though, does he believe that MBS was responsible for Khashoggi's death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The president has spoken this before and I'm going to just let his words stand.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Saudi Arabia is a major player, so I have mixed feelings on this and if the president called me, I'd say Mr. President, you can't trust these people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ANNOUNCER: Live from London, this is CNN NEWSROOM with Isa Soares.
SOARES: Welcome to the show everyone. It is Wednesday, June 15th, 9:00 a.m. here in London, 4:00 a.m. in Washington. Where the U.S. Federal Reserve is planning bold action today to try to keep soaring inflation from really getting any worse. The central bank is expected to raise interest rates by .75 point. That is the biggest increase in almost 30 years. The concerns over the economy is driving down financial markets. The Dow lost another 150 points on Tuesday -- as you can see there. The S&P 500 finished lower for a fifth consecutive day pushing it further into bear market territory.
President Biden blames the Russian president and his war in Ukraine for higher gas as well as food prices. But says that he is doing everything he can to fight inflation. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Under my plan for the economy, we made extraordinary progress and put America in position to tackle a worldwide problem is worse everywhere but here, Inflation. It's zapping the strength of a lot of families.
LARRY SUMMERS, FORMER U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: We're still going to have inflation for quite some time to come and we're probably going to have a slowing economy as well. So, there's going to be an element of what people call stagflation in our situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well meantime, China is reporting a sluggish recovery from a straight COVID lockdown, factory output is up but retail as well as car sales remain weak. Financial markets are around the world has been reacting to all of this. A lot to digest. The NIKKEI there down just one percent. Hong Kong Hang Sang and the Shanghai Composite is doing slightly better this morning.
Let me get to Clare Sebastian -- actually were going to review the European markets for go to Clare. European markets well actually taking this all in their stride. All up, green now is right across board. Market action expected today, we're expecting to see more market action. Clare Sebastian is here on the European front because the ECB is meeting today. So, rap this up because it's a lot for us to get through. Let's start first in the United States. You know, the last time we saw such a big rate rise was in the 1990s, a remarkable action, but investors, Clare, believe that might not be enough.
CLARE SEBASTIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, they're certainly not going to be the last. You know, I think, Isa, it's worth sort of looking over the last years, as long as you and I have been covering. Has there ever been a meeting where they been debating, you know, a range rises between 50 and 100 basis points? I can't remember anything like that. But this is where we are.
The thinking is that the Fed was slow to act to curb inflation. They spent too long saying that it was transitory because of the supply chain issues during the pandemic and the surging demand that came after that. Then the war in Ukraine also added enormous pressure to food and energy prices. And there was some thought after the April inflation numbers that the inflation might be peaking in the U.S. but then the main numbers showed another acceleration on Friday. And then what had been sort of trailed as a half percentage point hike for this coming meeting today for the Fed, now the rumors were put out into the market on Monday that 75 basis points. That is apparently if you look at the markets and sort of the Fed watch tools out there, that is now priced in.
So, if you don't do that, I think that would be show. But they have some credibility to win back market. They have to show that they are on top of this. They're willing to sort of really act aggressively to get it under control. I think otherwise they've got a bit of a problem.
[04:05:00]
SOARES: It is a fine balancing act. And speaking of balancing act, the ECB in the last hour now, they have an unscheduled meeting. Why has the ECB announcing this meeting? What's rattling them?
SEBASTIAN: Well, the Fed, Bank of Japan, the Bank of England now the ECB meeting this week. What we know, they say the government counsel will have an ad hoc meeting to discuss current market conditions. I think that is a reference to what is going on in the European bond markets. We've seen Italian, other high investment countries, even German bonds this week at an eight year high. And in particular we're looking at what they call the spread, the difference between Italian and German yields.
Because what the eurozone has traditionally worried about is when borrowing costs really diverge between different countries is very controversial. How do they deal with this? Do they -- they sort can't be seen to be paying more into some countries than others. So, the question is what will they do about this? Will they announce something today? Will they use it as a communication tool to sort of reassure the markets that they're on top of this. I think that's a question. But we see the euro rallying today and yields coming down a bit today.
SOARES: I know you'll stay on top it. Thank you very much.
Well, the January 6 Committee has released a new video ahead of Thursday's hearings featuring a former White House lawyer. It's expected the hearing will focus on team Trump's scheme to use the former U.S. vice president to block the certification of the 2020 election which obviously, never happened. But the ex-White House lawyer claims conservative attorney John Eastman was the architect of that campaign and presented it to then President Donald Trump. Here's part of Eric Herschmann's testimony to the committee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ERIC HERSCHMANN, FORMER WHITE HOUSE LAWYER: An he started to ask me about something dealing with Georgia and preserving something potentially for appeal. And I said to him, are you out of your f'ing mind? Right? I said, I only want to hear two words coming out of your mouth from now on: orderly transition. I said, I don't want to hear any other No matter what, other than orderly transition. Repeat those words to me. And I --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What did he say?
HERSCHMANN: -- eventually he said, "orderly transition." I said good, John, now I'm going to give you the best free legal advice you're ever getting in your life. Get a great f'ing criminal defense lawyer. You're going to need it. And then I hung up on him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well, a member of the January 6 Committee told CNN more about the panel's findings and what exactly the Trump team had plotted.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): Eastman really was the final card that they played. The so-called Green Day sweep in the idea was essentially to deny and overthrow the Electoral College majority that Joe Biden had assembled, and to overthrow that required Vice President Pence to step outside of its proper constitutional role and function and declare unilateral lawless powers to nullify Electoral College votes that had been certified by the governors of the states and sent in. And then they thought that either Trump could be declared the winner in the Electoral College or they could kick the whole thing into the House of Representatives for a so-called contingent election which they knew Trump could win by virtue of the number of state delegations controlled in the House.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Well meanwhile, New York Attorney General has opened an investigation into Donald Trump's fundraising efforts after the 2020 election. A financial investigator revealed Trump's team sent out as many as 25 fundraising emails a day full of false claims about donations being used to challenge alleged wrongdoing in that election. The January 6 Committee claims the funds instead went to a political action committee formed by Trump himself. While the jurisdiction only applies to New York, the Attorney General says the allegations are her duty to investigate.
It's a split decision for candidates backed by Donald Trump in South Carolina's Republican primaries. Incumbent Congressman Tom Rice voted to impeach Trump. CNN projects he will lose to state lawmaker Russell Fry who got the former president's endorsement.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RUSSELL FRY, U.S. HOUSE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE: Today the conservatives in the Republican Party won. Today Donald Trump won. And today the voters of the 7th Congressional district won.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: In South Carolina's first district, CNN projects the incumbent Nancy Mace was able to fend off a challenge from Trump backed Katie Arrington. Mace didn't vote against Trump, but she broke with Republicans who objected to Joe Biden's election.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[04:10:00]
REP. NANCY MACE (R-SC): I also want to thank Mick Mulvaney who endorsed my campaign early on. He helped us raise some money. He's a great fiscal conservative. I also want to thank former South Carolina governor and U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: And CNN projects another Trump backed candidate will compete for U.S. Senate seat from Nevada. Adam Laxalt is the former state Attorney General and grandson of a former governor, as well as Senator.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ADAM LAXALT, NEVADA REPUBLICAN SENATE CANDIDATE: I'd like to thank President Donald Trump for not only believing in me, but for believing in Nevada and leading an America First movement, a movement that is alive and well today here in Nevada.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: Laxalt will face the incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto in November. A win for him could help tip the balance of the Senate in, of course, the Republican's favor.
Well, given economic and as well as security priorities, the White House says President Joe Biden will visit Saudi Arabia, Israel and the West Bank in July. The Saudi stop on this trip is revising some controversies. As a candidate the president vowed to make Saudi Arabia a pariah over human rights abuses and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIDEN: Khashoggi was in fact murdered and dismembered and I believe in the order of the Crown Prince and I would make it very clear that we were not going in-fact sell more weapons to them. We were going to in fact make them pay the price and make them in fact, the pariah that they are. There is very little social redeeming value in the present government in Saudi Arabia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: That was in 2019. Well right now, members of Mr. Biden's own party are not happy about his planned trip to Saudi Arabia citing the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of Saudi operatives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
REP. GERRY CONNOLLY (D-VA): I believe President Biden was right when he was candidate Biden about this relationship and holding to account the individual who was complicit in and ordered the brutal murder and dismemberment of my constituent Jamal Khashoggi. And that is the Crown Prince. SEN. BEN CARDIN (D-MD): I hope in that conversation he will make it
clear that the accountability in regards to Khashoggi atrocities have not yet been completed. We have differences with the Kingdom on several issues. I hope that he'll reinforce and underscore those issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
SOARES: For more on President Biden's upcoming trip and the state of U.S./Saudi relations, I'm joined by international diplomatic editor Nic Robertson. And Nic, you and I were talking about this, waiting of course, previewing this meeting. It was pretty much the worst kept secret to be completely honest. But what did you hear from the White House yesterday in terms of how the relations that that meeting may go, however awkward it might be to start off with?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Yes, they're framing in the bigger context of not only meeting with Saudi leaders, the King, pointing that out, the invitation coming from the King, so they're framing it that way as well. But they're meeting with, you know, the Kuwaitis, the Emirates, Bahrainis, Jordanians. There's going to be other nations. They're framing it in that bigger context. And they're framing it in a broad range of mutual issues.
You know, President Biden -- and this is a difficulty for the Saudis -- did make good on some of what he said, stopping selling weapons to Saudi Arabia. He did do that. He has subsequently found and the Saudis said that he would find that trying to fight the war in Yemen was ultimately going to come round to their view and the United States does seem to be drifting back to that position.
But, you know, for the United States, there is no getting away from this, it is going to be awkward. MBS in the view of the United States has blood on his hands and President Biden is going to have to do business with him.
SOARES: And it is awkward but it's -- you know, I read a fascinating article in the "Atlantic" that was basically saying that President Biden's decision is the right one because it's important on the policy front for America's middle class. And this is important because we were talking about stock market, inflation, oil prices and that is where Saudi Arabia has -- you know, those ties, long ties with the United States but it was very much needed.
ROBERTSON: That trade between the United States that sort of first began aboard the "USS Quincy" where President Roosevelt and the founder of Saudi Arabia King Abdul Aziz have been in 1945, it was all about a trade for oil for security. And that relationship exists today and that's why President Biden is going back. And if he can get Saudi Arabia -- as it's done in the past -- it does have spare capacity built in to produce more oil. It has been the sort of swing oil producer. It can do it again if it wants to for geopolitical reasons.
[04:15:00]
But let's not forget MBS has a hugely ambitious project to building a whole new city for more than a million people, with new industries, outside of the hydrocarbons and he needs a high oil price to be able to meet the expectations of his people. There's a lot in play for him.
So, you know, if the Saudis to increase the oil output, they know the revenues that come back to them can fall, and there's got to be a quid pro quo for them. Part of it is the recognition of MBS. But there will undoubtedly be more. But these are tradeoffs on many levels. Saudi Arabia is a partner on many things. But again, and I think we talked about this yesterday, that in the big picture you can't -- if the united -- if that relationship is based on oil for security, fundamentally, if you don't provide the security part for Saudi Arabia, they may not provide the oil. And if you don't provide the security, they will go somewhere else and they may go to either Russia or China, and not the U.S. long term.
SOARES: What is clear though looks like another big win for Saudi Arabia in terms of the global stage. Given that we saw on the LIV Golf tournament -- which we do not have time to talk about. But Nic, always great to get your perspective. Thank you, Nic.
Well, we're keeping an eye on the U.S. Supreme Court in the hours ahead to see whether any opinions will be announced. The justices have yet to decide on a number of cases including a dispute concerning a Mississippi law that bans abortion after 15 weeks into pregnancy. Gun rights are also in focus. Another case involves a New York law restricting permits for people to carrying concealed firearm outside the home for self-defense. At issue, whether this violates the Second Amendment.
The White House says President Joe Biden will sign into law legislation that provides additional funding for security to Supreme Court justices and extends security protections to their immediate family. The issue of security has been in the spotlight this week after a man was arrested if you can remember near the home of Justice Brett Kavanaugh as protests surge following a report the court may be poised to overturn the landmark abortion rights ruling Roe v. Wade.
Record heat and widespread power outages have many in the U.S. looking for ways to keep cool. The latest on the dangerous hot conditions. And that is not the only extreme weather impacting the United States. We'll tell you about concerning wildfires and as well as flooding, that is just ahead.
[04:20:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
SOARES: The U.S. National Park Service say parts of Yellowstone National Park will remain closed for a substantial length of time following extreme flooding in its northern area. CNN estimates heavy rains as well as rapid snow melt created the equivalent of two to three months of runoff in only just three days. More than 10,000 visitors were forced from the park. Parts of roads and bridges have been washed out from the rising water leaving nearby cities isolated. Supplies are being flown into those who are stranded. 40 large wildfires in the U.S. have burned more than 1 million acres
of land in six states. That is according to the National Interagency Fire Center. They say seven new large fires were reported on Tuesday, three in Alaska and Arizona and one in Utah. Alaska a currently experiencing the most active wildfires in the country.
The flooding and wildfires are just a few really of the extreme weather events across the United States including a blistering heatwave affecting more than 100 million people. Power outages in Ohio are making extreme heat even worse. A power company official says more than 200,000 homes as well as businesses are still without power following severe storms on Monday. And that outages could last into Thursday.
And one Texas county has issued a disaster declaration after a broken water main near Odessa jeopardized water for 165,000 people. The city says residents should expect a significant loss in water pressure or no water at all. Those who do not have water -- who do have water, pardon me, are being told to boil it before using. Temperatures near 100 degrees Fahrenheit, almost 38 degrees Celsius, on Tuesday.
For more on all of this, let's bring in CNN meteorologist Pedram Javaheri. And Pedram, I'm looking at your screen right now and those numbers, those temperatures, are just staggering. Put it into perspective for us. What's going on?
PEDRAM JAVAHERI, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, you know, we're running about 10 in some cases almost 20 degrees above seasonal averages, Isa. Summer officially doesn't even get under way for another week. And you look at these observations, they're impressive as it is, but then you've got to factor in that this is in the shade, this is ambient temperature, not factoring in the humidity which makes it feel another say 5 to 8 degrees warmer in some of these areas. And as you noted, almost about 100 million Americans under the risk here of excessive heat over the next 24 or so hours. And in some areas temperatures easily climbing up into the century mark and staying there the next several days.
In fact, record temps, potentially 50 more of them to add to the list by this time tomorrow across portions of the Midwestern United States, even along the southeastern U.S. with these temperatures in place. And keep in mind we had severe weather the last several days but still at this hour into early Wednesday morning across the eastern United States have left about 400,000 customers without power. So, no power, excessive heat, very little relief into the overnight hours. Really a dangerous setup when it comes to when your body typically recovers in those overnight hours. And then not really being able to get good sleep and comfortably get the rest when it is incredibly hot outside into the morning hours and no air conditioning to go around as well.
But Chicago, 98 degrees on Wednesday. We expect to cool off just a little bit down to 94. And eventually back closer to seasonal averages. But this multiday setup continues once we see the brief cooling trend as we go in toward Saturday and Sunday. This dome of high pressure begins migrating a little farther back toward the north and eventually back towards areas of South. Look at the 7 day forecast in places like Atlanta. We should be about
87 degree this time of year, it stays about 10 degrees above that for the next several days. Brief cooling trend, and by brief and cooling, I'm talking 92 come Sunday afternoon and by this time next week, resume back into record territory into the upper 90s with heat indices into the lower 100s.
Chicago, again, similar sort of a trend. A more significant cooling trend come Friday and Saturday.
[04:25:00]
And then this time next week, just like nothing's ever changed. We go right back up again to almost 100 degrees. So pretty an incredible run of heat given that summer at this point still a week out and these temperatures equivalent to what you'd see in the middle of summer, even say the middle of July into early August. Certainly not the middle of June before summer even starts -- Isa.
SOARES: Yes. Pedram Javaheri, thank you very much, appreciate it, Pedram.
All around the world, heatwaves are producing destructive and sometimes deadly conditions. After the hottest March on record, India and Pakistan are dealing with more record-breaking heat. Pakistan's climate ministry says that the country jumped from winter to summer without experiencing any spring this year. Spain is enduring its earliest heatwave in more than 40 years. Temperatures are reaching more than 40 degrees Celsius in some areas. Forecasters warn that the weather system could move to the France and the U.K. in the coming days. Expecting to get here by Friday I believe.
CNN's Al Goodman is live in Madrid for us this hour with an update. And Al, it's 25 past 10:00 in the morning there. How hot is it already?
AL GOODMAN, JOURNALIST: Thanks for asking, Isa. 29 degrees centigrade, 84 degrees Fahrenheit. And that's up a couple degrees centigrade just in the last couple of hours. Where is it going? Up to 40 degrees here in the Spanish capital, centigrade, 104 degrees Fahrenheit. Higher still in the south of Spain in places like Seville. And this according to the National Meteorological Service is the hottest day of this heatwave that's been gripping Spain this week. And it's the earliest extreme heatwave in 41 years and it's on the heels of hottest May recorded in 58 years.
So more than half of Spain's regions are under a level three alert, that's the highest. Many others are on a level two alert. The cause according to the weather experts is a stable front that is combined with a very hot flow of air coming up from North Africa. So, the Spanish Health Ministry advising people to drink a lot of water, a lot of fluids, even if you are not thirsty, even if you are not doing exercise, to stave off dehydration.
It's not just here, Isa, it's going up to France -- as you mentioned -- where they're expecting 40 degrees centigrade temperatures. They're expecting this could be the hottest extreme heatwave in 75 years. And there are several parts of southern France that are under a heatwave alert.
It's not just France, it's up to the United Kingdom as well where they're expecting temperatures in the 30 degree centigrade range, about 86 degrees Fahrenheit. Very hot for there. I'll tell you, in this part of the world, the hottest ticket in towns, in this town and in many towns, is a piece of turf next to a swimming pool -- Isa.
Al Goodman in Madrid this hour, thanks very much, Al. Good to see you.
Up next right here on CNN NEWSROOM, an urgent call for more weapons in Ukraine as officials say the war has now reached a critical stage. We'll have the latest for you from Kyiv.
Plus, the engines were on, the cabin crews on board but the last minute the court called for the UK's first deportation flight from Rwanda, reaction from the ruling and what's next for the controversial policy. We're live for you in Paris.
[04:30:00]
