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Gas Prices Fall For 35th Day, Down 50 Cents From Month Ago; Major Surge In London Fires Amid Record-Breaking U.K. Heatwave; Ukraine: Odessa Civilian Areas Struck By Missiles Overnight; Ukrainian Officials Say Influx Of Western Weapons Is Shifting Balance On Battlefield; Putin Makes Second International Trip And 1st Outside Former Soviet Territory Since Ukraine Invasion; House To Vote On Bill To Codify Same-Sex Marriage Following Roe Reversal; Cruz: Supreme Court "Clearly Wrong" About Same-Sex Marriage Ruling. Aired 2:30-3p ET
Aired July 19, 2022 - 14:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[14:30:00]
BOB WARD, POLICY & COMMUNICATIONS DIRECTOR, GRANTHAM RESEARCH INSTITUTE ON CLIMATE CHANGE & ENVIRONMENT: Well, I'd like to think so.
But we have had, over the past week or so, a series of hustings with potential candidates to be our next prime minister, and two of them wanted to weaken efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
So there really is a disconnect between the reality people are experiencing on the ground and what policymakers think is the priority.
And unfortunately, that is the same in many countries around the world, including, of course, the United States.
ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: Yes. Understood.
Bob Ward, thank you very much for trying to help us understand what's happening in London and beyond.
VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: All right, a couple of cents a day, gas prices are coming down. How much longer will this trend continue?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[14:35:23]
BLACKWELL: Gas prices are continuing to come down. The national average for regular unleaded has fallen for the 35th straight day now. It's now at $4.50 per gallon.
CAMEROTA: CNN's Pete Muntean joins us now live from Alexandria, Virginia.
Pete, $4.50, that's not cheap, but it may be the start of something. Is it expected to be a trend? PETE MUNTEAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Alisyn, 17 states have seen
their gas prices drop 50 cents in the last month. Virginia is one of them, $4.69 here at this Exxon station in Alexandria.
The national average, $4.50, as you mentioned, but it's gone down about two cents overnight.
It wasn't all that long ago that we were here talking about when prices would get above $4.50 a gallon.
Think about where we were a month ago. It was $4.98 for a gallon of regular. Prices really peaked on June 14th. And $5.02, that was the national average.
The most common price for a gallon of regular in the nation right now, according to GasBuddy, is $3.99.
Now, I want you to listen to drivers, who know that this big economic picture, the idea that demand could get cratered because of the global recession, might be a bit of good news for them in the short term.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SPARKLE ENGLISH, GEORGIA DRIVER: Right now, it's ridiculous at this time and moment. And my husband being a truck driver, so right now, he's paying, like, at least $600 or $700 a gallon, you know, traveling back and forth.
JOSEPH VEREEN, GEORGIA DRIVER: I'm glad the gas went down, because it's making people feel a whole lot better.
MUNTEAN: How much longer do you want it to go.
VEREEN: I'll say probably in the $2 range. About, you know, $2.50, $2.75 I think people would be satisfied.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
MUNTEAN: OK, $2.50, $2.75 we might not see any time soon. Remember, it was $3.17 on average a year ago.
Although we might see the prices go down a little bit more. Patrick De Haan, of GasBuddy, the GasBuddy guy, says we could see prices slip by another dime by the end of the week, putting the national average closer to $4.40, $4.39 -- Alisyn and Victor? So we'll have to wait and see.
BLACKWELL: It all sounds good.
CAMEROTA: Yes. Why didn't that gentleman say, I'd like it to be 25 cents a gallon? He had any choice.
BLACKWELL: Ninety-nine cents.
(LAUGHTER)
CAMEROTA: Yes, 99 cents.
BLACKWELL: Anything you want.
CAMEROTA: That's right.
Pete Muntean, thank you.
CAMEROTA: Now to an update in Ukraine. Officials there say they've beaten back multiple Russian assaults in the east. But attacks escalated overnight in the south where Russia is accused of hitting homes and a school. So we have a live update for you next.
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[14:42:39]
BLACKWELL: Happening right now, first lady, Jill Biden, is hosting Ukraine's first lady, Olena Zelenska, at the White House.
CAMEROTA: The two first ladies first met in May, in-person, when Jill Biden made a secret trip to Ukraine on Mother's Day.
This is just one stop of Zelenska's high-profile trip to the U.S. Tomorrow, she will address members of Congress.
And in Ukraine, Russia is ratcheting up its attacks in the south, injuring at least two people in Odessa. This is according to Ukraine's military.
BLACKWELL: In the east, Ukrainians say they've beaten back Russian assaults in Donetsk and that an influx of Western weapons is helping shift the balance on the battlefield.
CNN's Nic Robertson joins us now from Kyiv.
Nic, what's the situation there now?
NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Overnight, seven cruise missiles fired by Russia into Odessa. The Ukrainians say they were able to knock one of those missiles out of the sky before it reached that important strategic port city.
Further east in the country, Kramatorsk, there, again, Ukrainian officials saying a Russian cruise missile fired from the air hit a residential area there. Sixty-four injured there. One person killed.
Schools, cultural centers in the area, about 20 different apartment buildings impacted by that blast. But flames could be seen coming out of one of the buildings.
But importantly, the Ukrainians saying that in all Russia's efforts at advancing their frontline, a lot of artillery fire, rocket fire along different areas of that frontline, the Ukrainians say they're holding them back thanks to being able to target Russia's ammunition dumps.
And that's thanks to having the HIMARS system that's come from the United States, longer range, more accurate weapons systems.
CAMEROTA: Also, Nic, we understand that Russian President Putin is making a rare trip out of the country today, meeting with leaders from Iran and Turkey. So, why?
ROBERTSON: Yes, he doesn't get out very often these days, does he?
In Iran, we know he's trying to buy drones from Iran. That would be part of his conversation. The two share an interest there because they work together in Syria, to prop up President Bashar al Assad in Syria. So conversations there between Putin and the Iranians.
But I think everyone's, really, from a Ukraine perspective, been watching the conversation with Erdogan and Putin.
[14:44:59]
Why? Because President Erdogan has been the sort of mediator in talks between Ukraine and Russia and the international community.
To try to find a way for Ukraine to be able to export its grain through the Black Sea, out of Ukraine to the developing nations in the world that are desperate for their wheat supplies, their grain supplies.
Putin holds the key. He, from comments made at the meeting here, is commenting that maybe they can make some progress here. Erdogan sounding confident.
But interesting because one of the key cities for exporting all that wheat and grain that Putin is supposedly going to sign off on, well, that's Odessa. And his forces fired cruise missiles into there last night.
So does it make sense? No. Could will be progress in Tehran? Possibly. We night know later in the week.
CAMEROTA: OK, Nic Robertson, thank you for explaining all that.
BLACKWELL: House Democrats want to protect same-sex marriage. They're worried that it could be in jeopardy now that Roe has been overturned. We'll talk to the man whose landmark case legalized gay marriage next.
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[14:50:14]
BLACKWELL: Just into CNN, 16 Democratic members of Congress have just been arrested as part of an abortion rights protest outside of the Supreme Court.
Among them, Congresswomen Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ayanna Pressley, Ilhan Omar, Jackie Speier, Cori Bush, Rashida Tlaib. U.S. Capitol Police say they arrested 34 demonstrators in all who were starting to block traffic. CAMEROTA: House lawmakers are set to vote today on a bill to protect
marriage equality, following the Supreme Court's historic overturning of federal abortion protections.
Progressive lawmakers are anxious to codify same-sex marriage after Justice Clarence Thomas suggested the court should revisit the 2015 ruling.
Jim Obergefell was the lead plaintiff in that case. He is now running for Congress, hoping to represent his home state of Ohio.
Jim, great to see you. Thank you very much for being here.
When Roe v. Wade was overturned, there were all sorts of Americans who said, uh-oh, what's going to turn to other civil rights like same-sex marriage. Some people thought, well, you're just being alarmist.
And then, this week, Senator Ted Cruz confirmed that, yes, he does think the Supreme Court should revisit all sorts of other cases, particularly same-sex marriage, the Obergefell case, as it was called.
Here's what he said.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED CRUZ (R-TX): Obergefell, like Roe v. Wade, ignored two centuries of our nation's history. Marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.
In Obergefell, the court said, no, we know better than you guys do. And now every state must sanction and permit gay marriage. I think that decision was clearly wrong when it was decided. It was the court overreaching.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CAMEROTA: Jim, what's your response to that?
JIM OBERGEFELL, (D), U.S. CONGRESSIONAL CANDIDATE FOR OHIO & PLAINTIFF IN "OBERGEFELL V. HODGES" MARRIAGE EQUALITY CASE: Well, I believe the Senator is wrong in all ways. He says that marriage was always an issue that was left to the states.
Well, just like Justice Thomas, in his concurring opinion, he's conveniently ignoring Loving versus Virginia.
And for 178 years of our nation's history, marriages, interracial marriages were left up to the states. It's only been 55 years since that right has been affirmed by the Supreme Court.
Marriage is not something that should be left up to the states. And I just find it appalling and offensive that he believes that. And yet, they ignore Loving v. Virginia.
So will this Senator go on the record saying that he also believes Loving v. Virginia should be overturned? Because that was a matter that was left to the states.
CAMEROTA: And do you think that the Supreme Court is going to overturn Obergefell?
OBERGEFELL: Well, I can't see into the future. All I know is I am very concerned. If a case should make its way through our judicial system and make it to the Supreme Court, I am very concerned about what this current court would do.
They have clearly stated antipathy towards Obergefell versus Hodges. They believe we should be trying to change hearts and mind. They believe we belong in a court of law.
And I would like to just remind the Senator, the Supreme Court and everyone else who is opposed to marriage equality that the surest way to abridge the rights of a minority is to allow the majority to vote on them.
So kicking this back to the states is the wrong thing for this country. And it's especially appalling coming from a party that claims that they are pro-family.
(CROSSTALK)
OBERGEFELL: How exactly is allowing -- I'm sorry, Alisyn, go ahead.
CAMEROTA: Well, I hear you. And this point has been made on our air before, also, that the pro-family mantel is being claimed but challenged on various sides.
But today, Democrats in the House are trying to codify this. They're trying to offer the protection for same-sex marriage. So they are voting on the Respect for Marriage Act.
Basically, they want to say, "No person acting under color of state law may deny marriage between two individuals on the basis of sex, race, ethnicity or national origin of those individuals."
So it will likely pass in the House. But do you believe that there will be 60 votes for this to pass in the Senate?
OBERGEFELL: You know, I haven't looked into that closely enough to really have an opinion at the moment.
But I want to believe, Alisyn, that the Senators in the United States Senate have realized, they have seen that marriage is between two people of the same sex have not harmed any other marriage or any other person in this country.
[14:55:05]
And they should stand up for and vote in support of protecting, respecting, and providing dignity to our marriages. We deserve that as citizens of the United States, and as human beings.
CAMEROTA: Jim Obergefell, great to talk to you. Thank you. We'll be watching closely what happens in Congress, obviously.
OBERGEFELL: Thanks, Alisyn.
BLACKWELL: A "Sesame Street"-themed amusement park is apologizing after this video has now gone viral showing a costumed character appearing to ignore two black children. The mother of one of those girls will join us ahead.
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