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Police Shoot Woman They Say Opened Fire Inside Dallas Love Airport; Biden's Doctor; COVID Symptoms "Almost Completely Resolved"; Mother Identified Son As One Of 2 Americans Dead In Donbass; Interview With Heather Boushey, Member, White House Council Of Economic Advisers. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired July 25, 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]

ED LAVANDERA, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: But the woman, according to the police chief, walked into a bathroom, changed clothes, put on some type of hoodie, then emerged from the bathroom and the police chief picks it up from there.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

EDDIE GARCIA, CHIEF DALLAS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Produces a handgun and begins firing. At this point, we don't know where exactly the individual was aiming, but from what we're seeing, she was aiming at the ceiling. But there was several rounds found.

Simultaneously, our officer engages the suspect, strikes her in the lower extremities. She's taken to custody.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LAVANDERA: So that officer shot the 37-year-old female, who we are told has been taken to a hospital and is being treated for her injuries there. Motive behind the shooting is not clear at this point. We're still awaiting details on that. Nobody else was injured inside the airport.

Victor and Alisyn, as you can imagine, it set off chaotic moments and a completely confusing situation inside the terminal.

We talked to one passenger who arrived shortly after the shooting and he decided to leave the airport and is driving himself to his final destination.

Things trying to get back to normal at the airport this afternoon -- Victor and Alisyn?

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: I mean, just looking at the consequences of everybody having to sit there, flights delayed, ground stoppages, all of that stuff from this one violent person.

Ed Lavandera, thank you very much.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: President Biden's doctor says that his COVID symptoms have almost completely resolved.

In an update this morning, the doctor said the president only noted some residual nasal congestion. His pulse, temperature, blood, all normal. He is continuing treatment with his antiviral, the Paxlovid.

CAMEROTA: CNN's chief White House correspondent, Kaitlan Collins, shares us now.

Kaitlan, President Biden shared this new photo of himself working in basically isolation, though his dog is with him. What's going on today?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It's about 90 degrees here in Washington, today. But that was a photo the White House published earlier of the president showing that he is working.

Of course, after his doctor provided the latest update from Dr. Kevin O'Connor saying his symptoms are pretty much all gone, save for congestion and mild hoarseness.

We are expecting to hear from the president virtually, and we'll see what his symptoms are like coming up a few moments from now.

They did say this is his fourth full day of Paxlovid. He is still isolating, but he has been progressing well, according to the White House in these daily updates we're getting.

The White House hasn't said whether he has tested negative yet. That is going to be the determining factor is when he returns to full in- person work meetings and whatnot here at the White House. Until then, he's been isolating in the residence.

And in the letter, we should note his doctor did say he is being conscientious about being around White House staff, given he does, they believe, have the BA.5 variant that is very contagious. They are keeping an eye on that.

He is doing some virtual meetings while he's here. We're going to see from him shortly talking about semiconductor chips.

But he did have a meeting where he prerecorded some remarks to speak with executives. And we are expecting to see those remarks.

They're not just talking about efforts to make communities safer, but he's also going to talk about how heroic police officers were on January 6th and he is going to note, as we are told by a White House official, while some sat idly by like Donald Trump.

Of course, that was the theme of last week's hearing from the January 6th committee when President Biden had COVID and we're told he did watch some of it.

It would be notable to see that remark, Alisyn, because we haven't really seen President Biden comment at length on the January 6th hearings as they've gone on to progress, certainly not from last Thursday. But he did plan to do so during those remarks today. BLACKWELL: We'll look forward to those.

Kaitlan Collins, at the White House for us, thank you.

[14:33:58]

CAMEROTA: At least four Americans have been killed in Ukraine. The mother of a South Carolina man who was just killed by a Russian strike joins us next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:38:41]

CAMEROTA: At least four Americans have been killed in Ukraine since the war there started. This is according to the State Department, which says that 31-year-old Luke Lucyszyn, of South Carolian, recently died on the frontlines in Ukraine's Donbass region.

Luke's mother, Kathy Lucyszyn, joins us now.

Kathy, thank you so much for being here. We're so sorry for the loss of Luke.

Just tell us, if you would, what he was doing in Ukraine, why he went over there.

KATHY LUCYSZYN, MOTHER OF AMERICAN KILLED IN DONBASS REGION: He went over there, he told us, to drive an 18-wheeler, to try to get food to people who were in desperate need of it. He went there, he entered Warsaw and got a visa.

He didn't have a visa. He got into Ukraine and then met up with different men and found out that there was no 18-wheelers to be driven anywhere. He has his cdl license. So he met up with men and he ended up joining the Ukrainian military.

All Luke talked about was he really wanted to help.

CAMEROTA: And I know, of course, you were so worried about him, though he felt compelled to do this, compelled to go over and help. What were your conversations like with him?

[14:39:58]

LUCYSZYN: Well, we told him that, you know, it was really dangerous and no matter where he went, even if he drove a truck, he was still in danger. So we talked to him, but he couldn't be persuaded.

His dad is 100 percent Ukrainian. So Luke is 50 percent Ukrainian and he just wanted to help. All he talked about was, mom, I really want to help. And that's what he did.

CAMEROTA: Yes. And do you know exactly where and how he was killed?

LUCYSZYN: Yes, we do. We know that he was -- well, I know it was in the Donbass region and we found out from Facebook exactly what happened. We know that he was hit by artillery and he was knocked out and that three men tried to save him, and that is even more heartbreaking.

CAMEROTA: Yes, that is. They were brave and I read that as well, that they tried to save him and were killed. And I know how hard this is. As you say, he's not only your son. He was also the dad of two young children. How are those kids doing?

LUCYSZYN: Actually, neither one of them know about it yet. The 4-year- old, her mom is going to tell her, and the 8-year-old is going to be told tomorrow.

So it's been really hard. I just told my 94-year-old mother today, and she went ballistic. She was -- she just had trouble handling it.

CAMEROTA: I'm sorry this is all so fresh, and I understand that you're still processing it and having to tell your relatives. How do you make sense of it in your own head?

LUCYSZYN: Oh, my god, I can't. My heart is so heavy, it's hard to breathe. Some days are better because you're with other people.

And my daughter was here this weekend, which helped a lot. She came because it was my birthday weekend. She came to celebrate with me, and we didn't tell her until Saturday because we knew how she would react. She went home this morning.

There was really nothing for her to do here and she knows where we live, we have a great support system and she really wasn't needed now. She'll be needed when it comes time to come back for the memorial.

CAMEROTA: When is the last time you spoke to your son?

LUCYSZYN: Well, that's the thing. He told us that -- we were having regular conversations while he was over there.

And maybe -- I think it was like three or four days before it went dark, he told us that he was going into the Donbass region and that he would not be able to communicate with us, because he said that the Russians could track their signals.

So the last conversation was -- oh, my goodness, he kept saying, mom, we need equipment, we really need equipment, we need helmets, we need tactical vests, we need scopes, can you send me some?

And I would have done anything for him to be able to send him something. I even called the police department to find out what the best vest would be to send him, but he never got back to me with an address, so I couldn't do anything for him.

(CROSSTALK)

CAMEROTA: Well, Kathy, we've heard that from so many people, but hearing your personal story really drives it home for us. Thank you very much for coming on and telling us about your loss, and we're thinking of you and, of course, your grandkids.

Kathy, thank you very much. We'll check back with you.

LUCYSZYN: Thank you very much.

[14:43:59]

And we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:48:17]

BLACKWELL: The White House is bracing for a flood of economic news this week. And a lot of conversation recently about the economy has been about whether a recession in the U.S. is inevitable or when it might start or how bad it could get.

Let's take all of that to Heather Boushey, a member of the White House council of economic advisers.

Good to have you here.

Let's start with the state of the economy. The line from the White House has been that the most recent inflation numbers are out of date because they were before the drop in gas prices.

So what is the state of the economy right now from the White House perspective?

HEATHER BOUSHEY, MEMBER, WHITE HOUSE COUNCIL OF ECONOMIC ADVISERS: Well, there's three things I want to note.

First of all, we've seen over a million jobs created over the past three months, so that is certainly a strong economy, good news for American workers, American families. We have not seen typically that recessions start when you see this kind of robust job creation.

Second, while we did see a high print for inflation last month, the majority of that was due to energy prices. And one of the things we have now seen is that for 41 days straight gas prices have been falling.

In fact, the typical driver is now going to spend about $35 less per month because of the recent decline in gas prices.

And the third thing I'll note is that even as we weather these historic challenges with inflation and the challenges with inflation, of recovering from a global pandemic and all that it entails, American families continue to be in a relatively strong place. Household balance sheets are relatively strong.

So we think we have the tools and we're in a good enough place to weather the challenges in front of us.

BLACKWELL: Second quarter GDP numbers come out on Thursday. What's the expectation?

[14:59:59]

BOUSHEY: Well, certainly, we are well for positive growth in the second quarter. But expectations are that it will be small to, you know, it will be small to negative.

Here's the thing. Again, we are recovering from a historic pandemic. What we saw last quarter was that, although growth was negative, a lot of that was due to the change in inventories. And it remained the case that the consumer was quite strong.

Given the fact that the labor market remains robust, given the fact that we have been creating jobs to the tune of about 375,000 per month on average for the past few months and consumers have remained strong, we'll have to see what the numbers show.

BLACKWELL: Yes. Of course, you say that there are some expectations that it will be a second consecutive quarter of negative growth. That has been generally the definition of a recession. Not the specific definition.

I want you to hear -- and I can see you smiling, you know where I'm going here with this -- the treasure secretary, Janet Yellen, describing that broader definition. Let's watch.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED NEWS CORRESPONDENT: If the technical definition is two quarters of contraction, you're saying that's not a recession?

JANET YELLEN, U.S. TREASURY SECRETARY: That's not the technical definition. There's an organization called the National Bureau of Economic Research that looks at a broad range of data in deciding whether or not there's a recession.

And most of the data that they look at right now continues to be strong. I will be -- would be amazed if the NBar would declare this period to be a recession, even if it happens to have two quarters of negative growth.

We've got a very strong labor market. When you're creating almost 400,000 jobs a month, that is not a recession.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CAMEROTA: But, Heather, nearly two-thirds of Americans, 64 percent in the latest CNN poll, they feel that the economy is in a recession right now. Feelings are not facts, right? We all understand that. But if confidence stays low, and American families feel like they're in a recession, is that not more impactful than what some organization, some agency in a bureaucracy determines it is?

What's the impact of public perception?

BOUSHEY: Here's the thing. We know a couple of things to be true at the economy right now.

First of all, we've recovered from the depths of this pandemic shock, and we've gotten people back to work. So all across America, folks who want a job, who need a job, in large part, folks are able to find one.

The unemployment rate has been hovering around 3.6 percent. That is certainly good news for families.

But people are frustrated because prices have been rising and because things feel out of control, especially things like gas prices.

But the definition of a recession does affect how policy makers should think about the tools they have in front of them.

Certainly, the president is doing everything he can to focus on making sure that we maintain the job gains while also dealing with today's high prices.

It's why he's focused so much on the agenda that quite frankly he came into office with.

We need to move to clean energy, which will give us more stable prices, lower prices for energy over time.

We need to make sure that Congress, well, Congress needs to make sure they get across the finish line. Legislation that can reduce costs for families on key pain points, like health care.

And of course, Congress could do a lot more reducing cause for families on a variety of things the president has put on the table.

Families do struggle with high costs. And that is an ongoing challenge. The good news is you've gotten the unemployment rate down, and you continue to see those job gains.

BLACKWELL: We'll see what the numbers tell us about the economy over the next several days.

Heather Boushey, thank you.

[14:54:43]

CAMEROTA: Well, Vice President Kamala Harris is in Indiana where state lawmakers are holding a special session to consider restrictions on abortion.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[14:58:33]

#"m Movie audiences are saying yes to Jordan Peele's new movie "Nope," It opened over the weekend as the number one movie in America.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Tell me, did you see in the cloud? (MUSIC)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: "Nope" made an estimated $44 million this weekend in north America. It's Peele's third movie and each of his films has opened at number one. It is a science fiction film starring Keke Palmer and Daniel Kaluuya.

Love the movie, it's my favorite.

CAMEROTA: If you want to leave right now and we'll go see that movie, I'll go see that.

BLACKWELL: Love "Get Out." Every time hear a teaspoon hit a teacup.

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

BLACKWELL: All right, the sequel to "Black Panther" just dropped and is getting a lot of votes.

CAMEROTA: Marvel studios' highly anticipated follow up premieres in November. It includes familiar faces from the original and a few new ones. Here's a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(MUSIC)

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: I am queen of the most powerful nation in the world. And my entire family is gone.

[14:59:47]

Have I not given everything?

(SINGING)