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Prosecutors: Oath Keepers Brought Explosives To D.C. Area; Cipollone Testified Before Jan 6 Committee; Russia's War On Ukraine; Grieving Community Comes Together Today To Honor Victims; Brittney Griner Pleads Guilty To Drug Smuggling Charges; Economy Adds 372k Jobs, Well Positioned To Beat Inflation; Shrinkflation: The Inflation You're Not Supposed To See. Aired 11a-12p ET

Aired July 09, 2022 - 11:00   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:20]

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me this Saturday. I'm Fredricka Whitfield.

We begin this hour with chilling new details on alleged planning by the Oath Keepers to prepare for violence in Washington D.C. on January 6. A new Justice Department filing says at least one member of the far right extremist group transported explosives to an area just outside of D.C. and says that chapters of the Oath Keepers held training camps focused on violent military tactics. The new court documents also say another member had a handwritten document with the words "Death List" that included the name of a Georgia election official and their family member.

For more on this stunning new allegations let's bring in Marshall Cohen. Marshall, good to see you. What more can you tell us about this new court filing?

MARSHALL COHEN, CNN REPORTER: Frederika, this is from the perhaps most important criminal case stemming from January 6th. It's the seditious dishes conspiracy case against several members of the Oath Keepers, people that were really at the tip of the spear of that attack making their way into the Capitol.

You already laid out a lot of the crazy horrifying allegations from the Justice Department that are trying to bolster this very challenging charge -- seditious conspiracy. It is very important here for the prosecutors to try to prove that these people did not want to just disrupt what was going on on January 6, that they wanted to use force, to use violence to stop the transfer of power to President Joe Biden.

And to bolster those claims about violence, these filings mentioned how there were training sessions in the weeks after the 2020 election for what they called unconventional warfare and ambushes.

The prosecutors here are spelling out how these alleged militants stockpiled ammunition and guns, grenades and explosives. They had things allegedly like bomb making materials and information on how to communicate secretly to try to keep the feds away from that.

Very scary stuff, obviously it will all need to be proven in court but it is just bolstering this claim that this was not just some protest. At least for this specific group of defendants who have all pleaded not guilty, by the way, Fred. The feds say that this specific group was planning for violence on January 6th. That is what the seditious case -- seditious conspiracy case is all about.

WHITFIELD: And Marshall, this new court filing comes as the January 6 committee is planning to hold a hearing on Tuesday focusing on connections between far right groups like the Oath Keepers and the White House. So how might this impact the hearing?

COHEN: I would be shocked if they did not bring this up, you know. This is coming at a perfect time for the committee, just more and more allegations of horrifying stuff, a reminder of how lucky we all were on January 6th that it wasn't more violent, that there wasn't more bloodshed.

But the committee here in D.C. on Tuesday, they will be holding another hearing during the day. It is about those far right extremist groups. They're going to try to link these groups to the Trump White House.

And there are some connections to look into. Some of President Trump's close aids and allies did foster relations with some of these groups. People like Roger Stone and Michael Flynn who were in regular communication with Trump during those critical weeks. They all denied that they participated in any plot for any violence on January 6th. The committee says that they have more to reveal on that so we'll just have to tune in on Tuesday, Fred.

WHITFIELD: We will all be tuned in. All right. Marshall Cohen, thank you so much.

So at Tuesday's January 6th hearing, we could be hearing some testimony from a critical witness who just spoke to the panel. Pat Cipollone, former White House counsel to Donald Trump testified before the committee for more than seven hours on Friday. The interview was videotaped and a source says Cipollone provided a great deal of new information.

CNN's Ryan Nobles has the details.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

RYAN NOBLES, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Pat Cipollone may be the most important witness that has come before the January 6 Select Committee up until this point. And he spent a lot of time with the committee on Friday. He gave testimony for more than seven hours.

And according to committee sources they asked him a lot of very specific questions about his view of how the former president conducted himself on January 6th, and the decisions that were made on that day including Trump's desire to go to the Capitol on January 6.

[11:04:53]

NOBLES: Now sources close to Cipollone do say that he was cooperative but they do take issue with some of the characterization by the Committee.

Zoe Lofgren who is a member of the committee said that he didn't contradict anything that previous witnesses have said. That would include Cassidy Hutchinson. And sources close to Pat Cipollone specifically said that he was ever asked about one key detail that Cassidy Hutchinson provided.

And that was that Cipollone he warned members of the Trump administration, including specifically her, that if they went to the Capitol on January 6 and if Trump went to the Capitol on January 6 that there could be legal consequences. They say he was never asked about that. And if he had been asked about it he would have said that that conversation never took place.

Now, regardless the committee points out that no one has refuted a single thing that Cassidy Hutchinson has said under oath. And they believe that's important.

And they also believe it is more important, the general information that Cipollone provided to them in this lengthy deposition. They say that we will see much of it in the coming days ahead.

Of course, the committee does have a hearing scheduled for next Tuesday. There are more hearings planned for the future. So there is a lot more that we're going to hear from Pat Cipollone after this lengthy testimony that took place on Friday.

Ryan Nobles, CNN on Capitol Hill.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. And now overseas, at least four civilians were hospitalized including one child as Russian missiles struck a residential area of Kharkiv. That's according to Ukrainian military officials.

New video shows extensive damage to an apartment block on the city's outskirts. Russian forces have intensified their attacks in the area in recent weeks and it comes just as the U.S. announced close to $1 billion in additional assistance to Ukraine with both military and humanitarian packages on the way.

CNN's Alex Marquardt is in Kharkiv. So Alex, how intense is the fighting?

ALEX MARQUARDT, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL SECURITY CORRESPONDENT: Well, Fredricka, the Saturday morning silence in Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv was shattered by that huge strike in the center of the city. There are often strikes, usually at night but usually further out on the outskirts of the city.

The impact of that Russian missile was very visible from higher elevated places. It was on social media. There's a large plume of smoke that was visible.

We went to the site of that strike and saw a huge crater in the courtyard of a residential building. Two floors of a residential complex and part of that complex did collapse.

Now, thankfully, no one, we are told, was killed. There were a handful of wounded and people who did have to be hospitalized. But it does speak, as I was saying, to the daily strikes that the city does come under.

Now, on the other hand, Ukrainian forces have been successful at pushing back Russian forces back toward the border, taking back villages that had been occupied by the Russian forces.

And just yesterday, Frederika, we visited one of those villages with postal service workers who were on a very specific and very important mission. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: In downtown Kharkiv, this team of postal workers is gearing up for a trip to the front lines, a village that until recently was occupied by Russians. Their mission is critical. They have cars full of cash to deliver to Ukrainian pensioners who rely on the meager funds to survive.

They drive past fields littered with mines to Dherkivka (ph) where the older residents have already gathered in the small post office pockmarked by shrapnel.

"Only the most vulnerable people stayed here", says the head of today's operation. "During the Russian offensive it was impossible to evacuate these people. We come here because no one else will help them."

Bills are counted out and one by one they collect around $100 at the counter, their pension for an entire month. 78-year-old Stepania Leskiv (ph), has came from nearby. We walked back with her past a school that was destroyed.

Stepania's home also lies in ruin, hit in late March. She burst into tears at the sight of it and says the shelling happened right in front of her.

"The house started burning. I fell down and I managed to call out to the road," she said. "In 20 or 30 minutes everything was burned down."

She is staying with a neighbor but worries what will happen when winter comes. She is a widow whose son died from the Chernobyl disaster.

"I wish it was over for me," she says. "When the bombing starts I don't know where to hide."

Russian forces occupying much of this region have been pushed back by Ukrainian troops. Fear is growing they will try to come back soon. These Ukrainian soldiers claim they are ready.

[11:09:59]

MARQUARDT: "They might be stronger than us in numbers and weapons. You known that," this soldier says. But we are much more motivated. "We will be fighting until our last bullet so they don't take our land."

These Ukrainian forces have positioned this rocket launcher here among the trees to try to hide it on the edge of this field. This is called an "Uragon" (ph), it's an old Soviet era Ukrainian rocket launcher. It is much more basic with far less range than the handful of American rocket launchers that have just been given to the Ukrainian military.

But this is what these troops have and they tell us that their commanders today have given them the coordinates of a Russian position inside Ukraine to fire on. And in a couple of moments they will drive this truck with its rockets a short distance away and target that Russian position.

The launcher rumble into the middle of the field and fires four rockets in quick succession. Black smoke trailing into the sky. We move out in case there is a response but the soldiers' day is just getting started.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARQUARDT: And Fredricka, those soldiers on the frontline there echoed what we've heard from Ukrainian leaders that in order to defeat the Russians they need more and sophisticated weaponry.

Now, the Pentagon says that that is on the way. $400 million of that aid that you mentioned earlier will be given in security assistance and the major item in that package is more of those High Mars systems. Those are those advanced longer-range, more precise rocket launchers. The U.S. had already given of them. they're adding four more bringing the total to 12.

Fredricka, the U.S. is also going to be giving 1,000 more artillery shells, a new type, the Pentagon says, that are more precise, Frederika.

WHITFIELD: All right. Alex Marquardt in Kharkiv, thanks so much.

Still ahead, back in this country, a grieving community beginning to heal. Highland Park residents are coming together to honor the victims of the July Fourth shooting as we continue to learn more details about the shooter's past.

Plus, huge crowds of protesters storm the palace in Sri Lanka. How leaders there are responding.

And your eyes are not deceiving you. That roll of toilet paper is smaller than it used to be. We'll explain shrinkflation, straight up ahead.

[11:12:21] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Today the grieving and heartbroken community of Highland Park, Illinois is coming together to heal. Residents are gathering for a rally just days after a gunman opened fire on their Fourth of July parade killing seven people and injuring dozens more.

And one of those injured, an eight-year-old boy who was paralyzed by the gunfire is now no longer in critical condition.

Meanwhile the parents of the young man charged with the shootings have obtained a new attorney.

CNN's Camila Bernal is in Highland Park. Camila, a community in mourning, how are they coping with what has happened?

CAMILA BERNAL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Hey Fred.

Look, I think everyone is coping in their own different ways. I talked to one person who was here on July Fourth and he told me that the only way he is coping is by going to the memorial every single day. He likes to take pictures and documents everything that happened and said talking really helps.

And multiple people that I talk to told me they go through waves of emotions. Sometimes they break down, other times they are angry or sad or upset, or just in shock.

I talked to Aly Pedowitz. She is a business owner here in the area, has been in this town for three generations, or her family has, and she owns seven different stores here behind me. They are all closed at the moment but here is what she told me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ALI PEDOWITZ, HIGHLAND PARK BUSINESS OWNER: Before this all happened our street was meant to be a place that provided a safe and fun-loving space for families and for kids.

We will be able to reclaim it as this place of where we can all be together and be happy and heal together and just support one another.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BERNAL: And all morning long, we have been seeing crews power washing the street.

Aly, the business owner telling me that she will likely be allowed into her stores tonight. But she doesn't know when she's going to open. She says when she does, she wants to get customers and members of the community to maybe decorate some of the windows as a way to come together and try to heal.

But overall the biggest question is why did this happen and authorities have not given us a motive yet. But there are a lot of questions and serious questions around the role that the shooter's father played in all of this since we do know that he sponsored the gun license. There were many calls to their home of reporting domestic disputes and threats.

But look, the bottom line is that this shooter Fred, was able to pass these background checks and purchase these guns legally.

WHITFIELD: Camila Bernal, thank you so much in Highland Park.

All right. Sadly the attack in Highland Park is just the latest of more than 300 mass shootings in America already this year.

Here now to talk about it is Cynthia Miller-Idriss. She is the director of the Polarization and Extremism Research in Innovation Lab at American University, and the author of "Hate in the Homeland: the New Global Far Right".

Cynthia, so good to see you.

CYNTHIA MILLER-IDRISS, DIRECTOR-POLARIZATION AND EXTREMISM RESEARCH, INNOVATION LAB-AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: It's good to see you too.

WHITFIELD: So here we are. I mean another mass shooting perpetrated by a young man. I mean what is happening, in your view, in American to these young people for these horrific acts to become seemingly so commonplace now?

[11:19:49]

MILLER-IDRISS: Well, there is no central formula, there's no singular formula that can really predict exactly what happens here because there are lots of different motivations going on as we see in this case where we don't yet have a very clear motive from the authorities. But there is always a toxic mix of elements that are somehow in common.

Now we have a lot of young men who have been spending hours and hours online. On average young people spend more than half their waking hours online and these young men are spending time in toxic spaces were violence is dignified (ph), it's glorified or you desensitize and dehumanize other people.

And so we see again and again, they are posting gory pictures, awful pictures, videos and, you know, torture of animals, threatening others and there are plenty of other kinds of (INAUDIBLE) signs happen but a lot of that is in toxic online spaces that are really festering that kind of celebration of this type of violence.

WHITFIELD: I mean you call it a toxic mix of elements. And I mean, case in point, in this recent case, I mean police were called to the home of the suspected shooter at least a dozen times in recent years over fights between his parents.

The gunman allegedly threatened to kill his family. Shared violent imagery online. You wrote an article for "Foreign Affairs" where you see these gunmen share a similar set of toxic traits -- I'm just more, you know, elaborating on what you just said. And I'm quoting now, "A history of murderous fantasies, violent nihilism, self-harm or suicidal ideation, withdrawal from friends and family and streaks of cruelty expressed through the torture or killing of animals, the stalking or harassing of women or threats of rape and other physical harm."

And yet in this case of this gunman in Highland Park and so many others there were all of these warning signs or at least many of these warning signs that you just talked about.

So what is going on? Is it a case of people who are around these individuals, just like in the case of this recent shooter that perhaps people just kind of surrender to -- I don't really know what to do so and there is really nothing more to see here or nothing to say?

MILLER-IDRISS: Yes. I think part of the problem -- I mean what we have seen really recently in Buffalo and in Texas, here in Highland Park was some combination of those toxic elements are there.

And in many cases an authority member is called, a police member is called, or there has been a psychiatric evaluation. But nothing illegal is happening yet or it doesn't rise to the level of being able to commit someone. Until, you know -- unlike that, and I'm talking you today from Berlin where I'm spending this summer, studying what other countries do about this. And they have better community-based therapeutics reporting mechanisms for parents, for teachers, for employers.

We don't have any of that. It either rises to the level of something illegal where someone can be arrested or a lot of communities are left on their own. And I think we're seeing here so clearly the need for better solutions to equip local communities with tools to respond earlier and often.

WHITFIELD: So more therapeutic measures that might be one thing. At least that's what you are observing in Germany. But what are some of the other things that perhaps America needs to entertain so that law enforcement are better equipped and better prepared. Parents, family members, teachers, educators have, I guess more tools on how to respond to when they see something awry.

MILLER-IDRISS: Well, one of the things is -- and we have a guide for parents and caregivers, we are doing along this summer with the Southern Poverty Law Center for adults that don't live with young people, but coaches, mentors, youth mentors, other kinds of adults and the like.

There's always -- there's aunts, there's uncles, there's grandparents, there's so many people out there who can recognize warning signs if they know how to do it. And one of the things we learned about our parents and caregivers guide is from testing it was 750 parents.

It doesn't take very long. It only takes seven minutes of reading our guide, you know, or at least for parents to do better and a pre- and post-test of being able to recognize warning signs and know where to get more help, know how to respond. So we need more resources for parents but we also need to get the word out that it's not that hard to equip yourself and to know who to call and how to get more help. There are organizations like Hope After Hate, there are places where you can call, you know, 1-800 numbers to get additional help without necessarily going only to law enforcement which have very strict criteria for what they can do.

WHITFIELD: Well, maybe that underscores one of the obstacles which is if people don't know about all of these organizations that you just mentioned, they don't know to call. So perhaps there has to be a better, I guess, awareness, you know, some kind of better marketing to tell people these are all the outlets, these are all the places that you can call which are alternatives to calling law enforcement.

Of course, that was really in cooperation --

(CROSSTALK)

[11:24:54]

MILLER-IDRISS: Absolutely. There is --

WHITFIELD: -- with all of those agencies.

MILLER-IDRISS: Yes, exactly.

There is some -- there's a Web site being built right now, I know through the Department of Homeland Security, one of its projects. But not our project but for parents. I think there are some things on the way. But I would say we are playing serious catch up at this point. And it is very hard to start so far behind when this is already happening and when it is practically inevitable. We know there's going to be more.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Sadly, yes.

All right. American University's Cynthia Miller-Idriss, thank you so much for your time.

MILLER-IDRISS: Thank you.

WHITFIELD: Still ahead, WNBA star Brittney Griner pleading guilty in a Russian court. How will that impact her case and her prospects of coming home. We will discuss, next.

[11:25:41]

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WHITFIELD: Welcome back.

WNBA star Brittney Griner this week pleaded guilty to drug smuggling charges in Russia. She now faces up to 10 years in a Russian prison. Her supporters say the charges and the trial were politically motivated as tensions heat up between Moscow and Washington.

CNN's Matthew Chance explains.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: This is Russian justice conducted behind closed doors, just a glimpse of Brittney Griner towering above her guards being led handcuffed into the courtroom.

The 31-year-old was detained at a Moscow airport in February when Russian customs officials say they found small quantities of cannabis oil in her luggage, an illegal substance under Russian law.

Recordings made inside the court capture the female basketball star, through a translator, pleading guilty to the serious drug smuggling charges against her.

BRITTNEY GRINER, WNBA PLAYER: I would like to express my attitude my charges.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Of course.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, please.

GRINER: I would like to plead guilty on the charges.

But I had no intention of breaking any Russian laws.

CHANCES: But under those laws which carry a maximum 10--year sentence, the U.S. athlete who told the court she packed the oil in a hurry by mistake. She could now be made an example of, especially at a time of such strained U.S.-Russian relations. And this concern the Biden administration should be doing more to help the Olympic gold medalist.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is the White House doing enough to get Brittney Griner home?

VANESSA NYGAARD, WNBA COACH: We've had great response recently with BG's letter to President Biden and Biden responding with a call to BG's wife, Cherelle. We think progress is being made on that front, you know.

The coverage of women's sports and the coverage of women athletes is really the concern here. I mean the question is would Tom Brady be home? But Tom Brady wouldn't be there, right, because he doesn't have to go to a foreign country to supplement his income from the WNBA.

CHANCE: But U.S. officials in Washington and Moscow insist they are doing everything they can.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was able to speak with Ms. Griner in the courtroom. She said that she is eating well. She's able to read books and under the circumstances she is doing well. Most important, I was able to share with Ms. Griner a letter from President Biden. And Ms. Griner was able to read that letter.

CHANCE: It is unclear what was written. But U.S. officials already negotiated the release of one U.S. citizen Trevor Reed from a Russian prison earlier this year in a controversial prisoner swap.

U.S. diplomats say they are committed to bringing home all Americans, including Brittney written Griner and others, who they say are wrongfully detained.

Matthew Chance, CNN -- Moscow.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's bring in Jason Rezaian. He is a CNN global affairs analyst, a "Washington Post" opinion columnist and he spent 544 days imprisoned in Iran.

So good to see you, Jason. So let's begin with this guilty plea of Griner. I mean the strategy seems to be to make the play in hopes the court will be more lenient. Do you see that that is potentially the path?

JASON REZAIAN, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: I think part of it is the quest for leniency, Fred. But there is another aspect to this which is trying to speed up the legal process to a point where a verdict comes in and other moves can be potentially made behind the scenes.

I do not know if that is the right move or the wrong move here but ultimately what happens in that courtroom shouldn't be taken seriously because it is not open to the public, we know about the conviction rates in Russian jails. And it is really just, you know, a farcical judicial system like the one that I was subjected to in Iran.

WHITFIELD: Right. In fact, let's remind people, Jason, what you endured. I mean you spent 18 months in prison. You were convicted for espionage. You are an Iranian American journalist working for the "Washington Post". You're Tehran's bureau chief there. You're scooped up, you're imprisoned for espionage.

You were convicted in a closed court, right? but it wasn't as a result of a plea that you made but your release came, along with the release of other Americans, in exchange for seven Iranian prisoners.

Do you see that it will be that same type of potential prisoner exchange that would be part of what you call a potentially speeded up process for Brittney Griner?

[11:34:53]

REZAIAN: Look, each one of these instances of routes (ph) of detention and how we resolve them is different based on the circumstances, different based on the country.

But ultimately, I think until we effectively create some deterrent mechanisms, legal deterrent mechanisms and come together with our international partners and say, hey, this is a serial crime that's being perpetrated against the citizens of democratic countries by authoritarian ones, this is going to happen over and over and over again. And to me the safety and security and really the right to live a free life of our fellow citizens is the most important thing to consider here.

So you know, we might have to hold our nose and except some kind of trade for someone who is convicted, duly convicted in the U.S. court. That might be the only opportunity to bring Brittney Griner and also Paul Whelan and other Americans held in other countries back to the United States.

Like I said, until we have effective deterrent measures it is one of our few options.

WHITFIELD: Yes. So Jason, take a listen to what Brittney Griner's wife said last night at a press conference about this whole situation and what they are experiencing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

CHERELLE GRINER, WIFE OF BRITTNEY GRINER: Our next move as supporters for BG is to make sure that the administration understands that they have our full support in doing any and everything necessary to bring BG home as well as other wrongfully detained American.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: How do you see this kind of public pressure assisting in Brittney Griner's release in even what seems to be, you know, building relationship and cooperation between the family members or Brittney Griner's wife who says hey, we're in full support of what the administration is doing and at the same time getting to the airways where for a very long time in her four months of detainment there wasn't a peep publicly from family members or even other supporters and friends of Brittney Griner for fear that there would be some backlash.

REZAIAN: There is really no official playbook on how you deal with these wrongful detention cases. I look back to how my brother handled the advocacy for me and you know, like Cherelle Griner, he was signaling his support and readiness to cooperate with the U.S. government but when asked that question is the administration doing enough his answer was invariably well my brother is not home yet so they are not doing enough.

And I think that unfortunately, what I have learned from my own case and from that of so many since me is that you have to raise the public pressure and make this a matter of political concern to get the attention of administration to realize that it's a political liability if you leave Americans behind.

No president going back, you know, more than half a century has dealt with this perfectly. But it's been a challenge that each one of them has had to face and I'm hopeful that with the body of evidence, the number of cases that we are getting closer to a point where we can develop that policy and those mechanisms to make this much harder for authoritarian governments to do moving forward. WHITFIELD: Jason Rezaian, always a pleasure talking to you. Thanks so much.

REZAIAN: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right. Still ahead, starting to wonder if you are getting less cereal in that box? Well, you are not alone. It's called shrinkflation. That's happening to other products that you're used to as well.

All that, coming up next.

[11:38:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right. Welcome back.

President Biden said the U.S. is well-positioned to tackle inflation after the labor market added 372,000 jobs in June. In a statement, the president touted the historic strength of our job market which far exceeded expectation and eased fears of a looming recession.

Unemployment held steady at 3.6 percent though inflation overshadows most of the gains. Biden cautioned that while further job growth will be slower it signals economic stability.

All right. I want to bring in now CNN business reporter Nathaniel Meyersohn for more on what this means for you at the checkout.

Nathaniel, good to see you. So there is a sneaky tactic going on now. It's called shrinkflation, that grocery stores and consumer products are deploying. So explain what this is and why we are seeing it.

NATHANIEL MEYERSOHN, CNN BUSINESS REPORTER: Yes. So shrinkflation. Has been going on for years but it ramps up when manufacturers and grocery stores costs go up, which we're seeing right now.

And what this means for consumers is that the products that they are buying are shrinking and they are paying either the same price or even more for smaller quantities. So we see less cereal in a box, fewer rolls on toilet paper, smaller box sizes. And you know, consumers don't necessarily know, you know, how many rolls are in the toilet paper case or how many chips are in the Doritos bag. So it's very -- you know, it's easy for these manufacturers to kind of sneak that in there.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Because consumers are just noticing, I've gone through this packaging, this supply pretty quickly.

Ok, so is there ever a return to the product size or the price before shrinkflation ration or are we kind of stuck with this forever?

MEYERSOHN: Well, I think we are stuck with this for as long as inflation is at 8 percent or 10 percent and these manufacturers costs are this high. And once you, you know, once you shrink the size of a box or take out a few chips in the bag and the manufacturers realize they can get away with it, it is hard to go back.

[11:45:00]

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well now they're not going to get away with it because you just told everybody their secret. So what are some of the other ways that, you know, perhaps stores are raising prices?

MEYERSOHN: Right. So increasing prices at the shop is not the only way that manufacturers get away with this. You see them pulling back on coupon, you see fewer discounts. So, you know this is just one tactic in the playbook that comes along when costs go up.

WHITFIELD: All right. So I guess maybe there is a silver lining somewhere that, you know, inflation hasn't killed and hit everything? Explain the few products, I understand, that still haven't been tampered like the ones that you just mentioned.

MEYERSOHN: Right. So inflation has hit just about everything. But there are a few products that it hasn't. So Arizona Iced Tea still costs 99 cents as it has since the 1990s. The CEO and founder of Arizona Iced Tea says that he does not want to raise that price. Consumers are very familiar with it. He is willing to make a little less profit to keep that 99 cents Arizona Iced Tea can and he is making it up. And the company is making it with some of these other higher- priced drinks that they sell, energy drinks and that sort of thing. But that 99 cent bottle is still strong.

(CROSSTALK)

MEYERSOHN: We also see Costco, we see Costco, they have had, you know the $1.50 hot dog/soda combo since the 1980s. They are keeping that at $1.50.

The founder of Costco once told the CEO that he would kill him if he raised the price of the hot dog/soda combo. So consumers are very familiar and committed to the $1.50 hot dog at Costco.

And then we also see rotisserie chicken prices staying the same. That's $4.99 at Costco, $4.98 at Sam's Club. What we see that the -- I mean the reason the grocers are keeping the prices the same is because they know that they can get consumers through the door with these rotisserie chickens and rotisserie chicken meals and they are using them as loss leaders.

And so they know that, you know, they are not making as much profit there, people are still exploring around the store picking up other things on their way to get the rotisserie chicken.

WHITFIELD: Ok. I was going to say too at least it seems fairly generous because, you know, Arizona Iced Tea and hot dogs, those are staples in the summer. And you know, everybody needs to be able to reach for those and hopefully not have to dig too deep in order to get them.

Nathaniel Meyersohn, good to see you. Thank you so much.

MEYERSOHN: Thanks.

WHITFIELD: All right. Coming up, blistering heat baking more than a dozen states this weekend. We'll tell you the cities where records could fall.

[11:48:17]

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WHITFIELD: It is hot out there. Just about everywhere. More than 50 million people in fact are under heat alerts today. And more than two dozen high temperature records could be broken this weekend mainly across Texas.

Tyler Mauldin joining me now from the CNN Weather Center. So Tyler, who will be effected the most?

TYLER MAULDIN, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Pretty much everyone living across southern U.S. Right now the temperatures, get this Fredricka, are already in the low 90s out here towards the Mississippi River Valley. Little Rock, Arkansas already at 93 degrees and we're not even at 11:00 Central just yet.

We have millions under heat alerts at this time. Again, the most impactful and the hottest temperatures are probably down here across the southeast where you could see heat advisories and excessive heat warnings set in this area.

Heat index could get up to 115 degrees later on this afternoon. That is when you take the humidity and combine it with the air temperature and that is how hot it could feel on your skin. And that's when you start getting dangerous levels of heat because your body can't cool down and you end up dealing with heat-related illness.

This afternoon, we're going to see temperatures get really close to 100 degrees with the air temperature. Little Rock you're going to go from 93 to 99 come this afternoon. Heat index of 115 degrees.

Atlanta, about 90 degrees with a heat index close to the century mark. The overnight low temperatures are not dropping, which sets us up for dangerous heat. And not only do we have the potential for record highs, we also have the potential for record warm temperatures during the morning hours. Notice that the temperatures which you saw right now, temperatures in the 80s and in some areas in the 90s, well morning lows through Tuesday will continue to be around 75 to 80 degrees in this part of the country.

And then we rebound all the way up in the nearly 100 degree mark both today and Sunday and even Monday too. You'll notice Atlanta though goes from 91 degrees, all the way down to 83 and that is because this cold front right here draped across the Eastern Seaboard that is pushing down.

[11:54:51]

MAULDIN: What is going to happen with that, Fredricka, this front is going to eat up the warm humid air here, spark some showers and thunderstorms and maybe some flooding but then you get that drier humidity coming in behind it.

I guess it will feel pretty nice from the beginning of next week.

WHITFIELD: We'll look forward to that. Because it is just soupy out there right now. Hot and muggy and steam room like.

All right. Thank you so much.

All right. Still to come, a $44 billion bill at stake. Elon Musk told Twitter he wants out of his deal to buy the company. But Twitter says it will force him to close. We'll discuss straight ahead.

And this programming note, "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA with W. Kamau Bell is back with lucky season 7. Kamau traveled from Appalachia to Hawaii to understand the unique challenges that they are facing in their communities. "UNITED SHADES OF AMERICA" premiers tomorrow night at 10:00 right here on CNN.

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