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Average U.S. Gas Price Falls 30 Cents In A Month; Elon Musk Ridicules Twitter's Court Threat In New Tweet; Judge Rules Steve Bannon Trial Will Start Next Monday; Ukraine Preparing A "Million- Strong Army" To Retake South; Wildfire Threatens Majestic Sequoia Trees At Yosemite; 35 Million People Across Western U.S., Midwest Under Heat Alerts; Estimates: New COVID Cases 7X Higher Than What's Being Reported. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 11, 2022 - 14:30   ET

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

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[14:34:36]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Some welcome news for drivers. The national average of a gallon of gas is down 30 cents compared to a month ago. This is according to AAA. Today's price is $4.68.

CNN business correspondent, Rahel Solomon, is with us.

Rahel, is this a trend?

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: I certainly hope so. And I'm hearing that we could see prices move a little bit lower. So the forecast I'm seeing, $4.50 a gallon in the weeks to come.

[14:35:02]

Part of the reason we're seeing prices move lower, we've seen additional supply. We're at 12.1 barrels per day. We were 13 just before the pandemic. We're not quite there yet but we're moving in the right direction.

We've seen some demand destruction in the sense that people have pulled back how much they're spending, likely because gas became quite expensive.

And also fears about additional demand destruction if the case of recession. If we see a recession, we see people pull back on U.S. consumption even more.

In terms of where prices go here, well, the variations are pretty wild. I've seen estimations of $65 a gallon in the case of a recession to up to $385 a barrel.

CAMEROTA: Per barrel.

SOLOMON: So I'm trying to - exactly, conditions, sort of what we expect to see prices do from here.

AAA is saying that 84 percent of gas stations are under $5 for regular. So we can all sort of --

CAMEROTA: It's going in the right direction.

SOLOMON: Exactly.

CAMEROTA: But it's still high but going in the right direction.

Let's talk about Elon Musk. What is he doing? He says now he's not interested in buying Twitter.

Is there going to be some sort of financial penalty for him flirting with this publicly for so long and promising to do it?

SOLOMON: Yes. For months, lots of folks have been sort of scratching their head and questioning, is he negotiating for a lower deal, does he really want to get out? Friday making it clear that he wants out.

Twitter, its board saying we intend to see this close at its intended price, $54.20. Shares are about 20 bucks off of that.

So this is likely going to head to a Delaware civil court, considered one of the most sophisticated courts in the country for this type of litigation.

The scenarios are wild in terms of what we could see. Some say perhaps a $1 billion breakup fee. We'll see. Some say that he actually could be forced to go through with the deal. That would be $44 billion.

And so, of course, there are scenarios anywhere in between those two, but it will likely be very expensive, even just in terms of litigating this.

You have to wonder, too, the Twitter employees who are watching all of this play out on Twitter, all of this play out on the news.

You have to be wondering what's going on in terms of morale, in terms of questions directionally where the country is going, operationally where the company is going. It's a mess. An extensive mess.

CAMEROTA: OK, Rahel, just more chaos.

Thank you very much.

OK, Ukraine's defense minister says they're preparing a major operation to retake the Russian-occupied areas in the south. We're live from Kyiv with the details.

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[14:42:03]

CAMEROTA: OK, this just into CNN. A judge has ruled on whether to delay Steve Bannon's criminal contempt of Congress trial.

CNN justice correspondent, Jessica Schneider, is back with us.

Jessica, what did the judge decide?

JESSICA SCHNEIDER, CNN JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, this case will move forward as planned. There will not be a delay in this trial. So it is slated to start next Monday, one week from today.

So Steve Bannon losing that motion to delay this trial and a cascade of other motions that this judge ruled against him on.

Including exactly what Steve Bannon can present in his defense at trial. In fact, his lawyer was so dismayed at the judge's ruling that he exclaimed in court, "What's the point in going to trial here if there are no defenses?"

That's because the federal judge, Carl Nichols, he severely limited what Bannon can and can't say when it comes to the trial slated to start on Monday.

First of all, the judge here saying that Bannon really can't bring in any evidence of claims of executive privilege as his reasoning for defying that subpoena.

The judge saying here that he can only talk about his reasoning for defying the subpoena when it comes to dates.

Steve Bannon can only say perhaps he misunderstood the exact date that he needed to comply with or believed that there was some wiggle room in complying with the actual date on the subpoena.

But he cannot bring up that he believed that he had executive privilege claims from the former president.

So a lot working against Steve Bannon here as we move to T-minus one week until his criminal trial on these contempt of Congress charges here, Alisyn.

There will be another pretrial hearing on Thursday but then trial is slated to begin on Monday, one week -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Jessica Schneider, thank you for that development.

Meanwhile, Russian strikes killed more Ukrainian civilians over the weekend as heavy fighting continues in the east.

At least six are dead in Kharkiv, including a father and his 17-year- old son. In the eastern Donetsk region, at least 29 are dead after a Russian strike hit apartments.

Ukraine's defense minister says the country is preparing on offensive against Russia in the south.

CNN's Scott McLean is in Kyiv for us.

Scott, what's the latest?

SCOTT MCLEAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, the Ukrainians have been telegraphing this new offensive for some time now. And warning Ukrainians living in the Russian-occupied areas of southern Ukraine that they ought to evacuate any way they can, even if it means going to Crimea or further into Russian territory or Russia itself.

Because they recognize the reality is that oftentimes the Russians are making it extremely difficult for people who cross over the front lines and flee into Ukrainian-held territory.

In terms of the battlefield, the Ukrainians say they are launching strikes behind lines and targeting command posts and other military installations to try to cut off the supply lines for the Russians.

[14:45:01]

They also say that they've captured a village not far from the city of Kherson. Remember, Kherson was captured by the Russians with relative ease in the early days of war and it has stayed in Russian hands since then and become entrenched in the Russian system.

The people there have been eligible to easily get Russian citizenship since May. They can use the Russian ruble as well.

The Russians, though, not exactly rolling over. They're launching their own shelling into Mykolaiv, only about 30 miles or so down the road.

In an interview this morning, the Ukrainian defense minister said right now the problem in getting -- retaking this territory is not manpower.

He says the Ukrainian forces are about one million strong once you combine the regular forces, the reservist, the territorial defense, the police at the border. They have a lot of people.

It's not even pledges of Western weapons. The issue is getting those Western weapons to the front lines quickly enough.

He says, every day they sit waiting around for howitzers, for instance, they could be losing 100 men -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK, Scott McLean, thank you very much for all the developments.

Well, a wildfire is spreading inside Yosemite National Park, threatening the famous 2,000-year-old Sequoia trees. We're live on the ground there next.

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[14:50:33]

CAMEROTA: A fast-spreading wildfire at Yosemite National Park in California is threatening the largest grove of Sequoia trees there. Some of those trees are thousands of years old.

The fire has already burned more than 2,300 acres, doubling in size over the weekend.

CNN's Nick Watt is at Yosemite.

So, Nick, what's the latest?

NICK WATT, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, right now, Alisyn, it is 93 degrees here. And that temperature is still climbing. And heat is an issue when you're trying to fight a wildfire.

Now, the big thing with this fire is not its size. It is the location. It is very close, within a mile or two, of Mariposa Grove, which is home to 500 ancient Giant Sequoias.

So what they're trying to do there right now is, around one of those trees, they have a sprinkler system set up around the tree to keep the tree wet and the atmosphere humid and moist in the hope that prevents any damage to the tree.

Listen, these trees can survive fires. They have survived many fires over the course of millennia. But they are not, perhaps, equipped to survive the kind of intense fires that we are now seeing rip through the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Why? Well, because extreme drought and high temperatures have basically created so much fuel that gives rise to these huge infernos that could jeopardize the very survival of these trees.

So what they're doing right now is 500-plus firefighters are trying to give no more fuel to this fire. No one wants to see these ancient trees destroyed on our generation's watch -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: Nick, it's incredible to hear the length they're going to, to try stop prevent that.

WATT: Yes.

CAMEROTA: Thank you very much for all the reporting from out there.

More than 35 million Americans across the western U.S. and the Midwest are now under heat alerts. Temperatures are expected to reach triple digits in some areas.

CNN's Tom Sater joins us now.

Tom, what are you seeing? What are the worst spots?

TOM SATER, AMS METEOROLOGIST: Alisyn, these heatwaves coming through the U.S., it's July, it's hot, but when you have advisories and warnings, that means it's much warmer than it should be.

Fourth major heatwave. These heatwaves are not packing overnight bags. They're staying the weekend. Large pieces of luggage. They're here for weeks on end. And that's the problem.

Look at some of the records yesterday. I want to point out, Austin, San Antonio and Houston now experiencing their hottest summer on record. The benchmark was 2011. It was the hottest across all of Texas. We could see at least the second-hottest this year.

But the number of days -- Dallas has had eight days straight, 100 degrees or higher. They're looking at the rest of the week and through the weekend. Already 17 days over 100. It continues. San Antonio.

But I want to talk about the power. Only 10,000 without power. But ERCOT, the power supply company, is concerned. They set an all-time demand record, Alisyn, on Tuesday. They shattered that record on Friday.

Their threshold, 80,000 megawatts. They could hit it today, which means rolling blackouts are possible between 3:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.

That's not good. Not only can you not use your air-conditioning. You can't plug in a fan. It's going to be a rough day later this afternoon.

CAMEROTA: That is really concerning.

OK, Tom Sater, thank you.

[14:53:44]

Well, the actual number of COVID cases could be much higher than we think. And what we know about this new highly contagious subvariant. That's coming up.

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[14:58:36]

CAMEROTA: COVID-19 cases could be seven times higher than what is actually being recorded. This is according to health researchers.

Because people are relying on at-home tests, which means cases are not always making it into official records.

And also, there's a highly contagious subvariant out there.

CNN health reporter, Jacqueline Howard, joins me now.

Jacqueline, this is the latest variant is apparently the most transmissible strain yet. So what are doctors saying?

JACQUELYN HOWARD, CNN HEALTH REPORTER: Alisyn, doctors are concerned about how quickly the BA.5 subvariant, which is a subvariant of Omicron, is spreading.

What we know about this subvariant is it is highly transmissible. Thankfully, we have not seen increased ICU admissions and deaths associated with the transmission of BA.5 quite yet.

But this is something that researchers are actively watching right now. And the reason why is because this subvariant is very different from versions of the virus we've seen before.

Scientist, Dr. Eric Topol, talked about this just yesterday. Have a listen.

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DR. ERIC TOPOL, DIRECTOR, SCRIPPS RESEARCH TRANSLATIONAL INSTITUTE: This variant is so unrecognizable to our immune system, relative to previous versions of the virus.

So that's why gearing up with things like high-quality masks and the distancing, and air filtration, ventilation, all of these things are important.

[14:59:57]

No less, critically important are getting boosters and second shots for people over age 50. That's how we can increase protection against BA.5.

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