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Fed Releases Minutes From Meeting Where Historic Rate Hike Was Approved; U.S. Retail Sales Stagnated Last Month, Up 10.3% From Last Year; U.S. Natural Gas Prices Spike To 14-Year High; South Korean Says North Korea Fired 2 Cruise Missiles; Tom Holland Takes Social Media Break Citing Mental Health. Aired 2:30-3p ET

Aired August 17, 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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[14:34:17]

ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: We now have new insight into the Fed's all- important interest rate strategy and how many more rate increases could be on the horizon.

The central bank just released the minutes from its July policy meeting. The Fed made history by raising interest rates by .75 percent for the second time in a row.

CNN's Matt Egan joins us.

Matt, you speak Fed talk. Help us understand what they are saying?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Alisyn, I'll try to. These minutes, they reveal the Federal Reserve is really worried about very high inflation and determined to knock it down before it spirals out of control.

What they're trying to avoid is a repeat of the 1970s where Americans start to expect that high inflation is here to stay and that changes their behavior.

[14:35:01]

And that actually causes inflation to go higher and higher. It can become a negative feedback loop.

That's why they're aggressively raising interest rates, as you can see on your screen, moving them up rapidly, whereas, last time, they did a stair-step increase. Now it's --

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CAMEROTA: Now it's a ladder.

EGAN: Now it's a ladder.

At the same time, Fed officials are worried, kind of like all of us, that they're going to overdo it. These minutes show that officials are concerned that, because the

economy is constantly evolving and because there's a lag from when these rate hikes get announced and when they hit the economy, that they could end up overdoing it and essentially slowing the economy right into a recession.

That's why Fed officials in these minutes say, at some point -- quote, "At some point, it will become appropriate for them to slow the pace of rate hikes." No details on when that is.

It's important to remember, this is from the late July meeting. The economy looked very different then. The jobs market is hotter than it was when these Fed officials were meeting. They didn't realize just how many jobs were being created. And inflation looked better.

So the Fed has some time to sift through those reports and more jobs reports and inflation reports. They don't meet again until September.

CAMEROTA: OK. How about retail sales numbers that were just released?

EGAN: At first glance, this looked like an ugly report. Retail sales were unchanged between June and July. If you dig in, it shows that people just sort of shifted what they're spending on.

Gas prices plummeted. So spending at gas stations went down. Auto sales were down. Spending went up at home improvement stores. Online spending was up.

If you exclude gas and auto, spending was up steadily in July. So much so that some economists actually think that GDP estimates for the third quarter that's going on right now could get revised higher.

People are still opening their wallets but they're spending differently.

That was a story that played out in Target's results, too. Target said sales were up almost 3 percent in the quarter. That is a slowdown. But it's still positive.

But their profits were crushed, down 90 percent. That's because Target, like other retailers, they have too much stuff that people no longer wanted, too much inventory, and had to cut prices.

Good news for us, bad news for Target's bottom line.

CAMEROTA: So explain this. Gas prices falling. Natural gas prices spiking.

EGAN: Yes, OK, so just when you thought the energy inflation situation was looking better, we look at natural gas prices are acting crazy. Natural gas futures, as you see on the chart, going straight up lately, up 70 percent since the end of June.

And this is a big deal because natural gas is the leading fuel source to power homes and to heat homes right now. And so why is this happening? A few factors. Demand is strong because

we're all cranking our air conditioning because there's been these rolling heat waves.

Also, supply is weak. Inventories are low. Natural gas production in the United States hasn't kept up with demand.

Europe, they're dealing with this full-blown natural gas crisis. Natural gas prices in Europe are at all-time highs. They're paying about seven times what we are for natural gas. So it's good to keep that all of that in context.

Gas prices, prices at the gas pump, that's good news. Prices are down 64 days in a row. National average $3.94 a gallon. We actually have 14 states now averaging $3.60 or below.

Some analysts think this could continue. If there's a bad hurricane season, if something happens with Russia's oil exports, all bets are off. But for now, the gas price situation looks good. Natural gas is a concern.

CAMEROTA: Yes. For now, gas prices definitely going in the right direction.

Matt, thank you.

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EGAN: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK, so North Korea carries out its first cruise-missile test in months. The timing is no coincidence. We have a live update next.

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[14:43:08]

CAMEROTA: North Korea has launched two cruise missiles into the waters off the west coast of the Korean peninsula. The launch comes one week before the U.S. and South Korea are set to hold joint military drills.

CNN's Oren Liebermann joins us now.

Oren, tell us about the timing of this.

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Alisyn, we often see North Korea carry out missile launches or missile tests in response or ahead of something from it views as its adversaries, the U.S. or South Korea.

In this case, there are a number of different possible explanations. Key among those, as you point out, is a U.S.-South Korea joint military exercise scheduled for next week.

These two cruise missiles launched off the west coast of the Korean peninsula also come on the 100th day of South Korean President Yoon's presidency. So this could be a statement to him.

Cruise missile launches are not prohibited under U.N. Security Council resolutions and they're not viewed as being as provocative as ballistic missile launches. We've seen a number of those over the course of the year.

The last cruise missile launch was earlier in January. But since then, we've seen a number of short, medium and even long-range ballistic missile launches coming from North Korea.

Those viewed as more provocative, more of a statement, more of an aggressive statement, if you will, coming from North Korea.

What's also possible here -- and the U.S. and South Korea made this clear when they just wrapped up the KIDD, the Korea Integrated Defense Dialogue, yesterday.

The U.S. and South Korea are looking for the potential of a nuclear test coming from North Korea. This is something U.S. officials have warned about over the course of the past few months.

It will be the seventh test, perhaps the most powerful nuclear test North Korea has carried out to date. That is still something very much the U.S. and South Korea are looking out for.

The U.S. and South Korea promise a severe response if that happens, perhaps even the movement of U.S. strategic assets into the region -- Alisyn?

CAMEROTA: OK. Oren Liebermann, thank you for all of that reporting.

[14:44:52]

Now to this, "Spiderman" star, Tom Holland, is talking candidly about social media and what it's doing to his mental health. That's next.

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CAMEROTA: "Spiderman" star, Tom Holland, announcing he's taking a break from social media for the sake of his mental health. He told fans that he's deleted Instagram and Twitter from his devices.

Here's how he explained it.

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TOM HOLLAND, ACTOR: I have taken a break from social media for my mental health because I find Instagram and Twitter to be over stimulating, to be overwhelming.

I get caught up and I spiral when I read things about me online. And ultimately, it's very detrimental to my mental state.

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CAMEROTA: A study last year found a significant link between young adults' social media habits and their chance of developing depression and anxiety.

One of the study's co-authors is public health researcher and family physician, Dr. Brian Primack. He's the dean of public health and human sciences at Oregon State University.

[14:50:07]

Dr. Primack, thanks so much for being here.

If a big star like Tom Holland is struggling to preserve his mental health because of social media, how can any young person be expected to navigate it?

And by the way, also, what a gift he's given to all of us being so candid about this.

DR. BRIAN PRIMACK, PUBLIC HEALTH RESEARCHER & DEAN OF PUBLIC HEALTH AND HUMAN SCIENCES, OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY: Yes, I think this is very helpful. Obviously, Mr. Holland's experience is unique because of what a big star he is. But a lot of ordinary people are making similar decisions.

And I agree with you that a lot of people will be empowered to be able to say, hey, you know, this is an option for me.

CAMEROTA: Yes, if a big star who's super successful is having a hard time navigating it and he's spiraling, if his ego is suffering, I mean, you know, how can we mere mortals have to deal with all of it.

And in fact, you, having studied this, say there's something called the "opportunity cost" of social media. How do you define that?

PRIMACK: Sure. Well, the "opportunity cost" is just that, if you're spending hours mindlessly scrolling, that may be taking time from things that might be more fulfilling and meaningful to your life. That's it in a nutshell.

CAMEROTA: Yes, but you don't even have to spend hours, Doctor. I spend 20 minutes, and I find myself going down this rabbit hole of scrolling for 20 minutes, and I realize I could have been doing yoga. It is a huge time suck.

PRIMACK: Yes. Yes. And, you know, there are many other things, too, in those 20 minutes. Yes, there's the time suck itself. But then there's also what it does to our mind, which is sort of what I hear when I hear his comments.

For a lot of common people, the issue is social comparison, the highlight reel on social media we're, of course, bathed in these beautiful moments of other people like us that can make us feel like we don't measure up.

But I feel like, in his case, what I'm seeing is more of what we call negativity bias. And this is a natural thing about human beings.

When we're given a lot of information, we tend to focus on the negative things. This is just how we're designed as human beings. And it's adaptive.

So just as an example, since I work at a university, if you're a student and you're taking four classes and you have three "A"s and one "D," what will you be focusing on?

So in the case of Tom Holland, there's a ton of positive out there on social media because he's so talented and loved. But those few negative things, like he said, can leave him spiraling.

And we've shown in published research that those negative experiences, truly when you look at it quantitatively, are more powerful than the positive ones.

CAMEROTA: Right, for everybody.

You have the self-care tips for all of us. Let's just go through these. I think that they're really helpful.

You say, "Create a healthy framework to consume a digital media diet." What does that mean?

PRIMACK: Yes. No, it's a great question. So I wrote a book about this, called "You Are What You Click." And basically, it follows this idea of the diet and a food pyramid for social media.

You know, if you think about it, there are some similarities. If you're eating a lot of fat and excess sugars, that's going to be a problem. If you focus on fiber, protein and balance, it's often good.

And I think that that model can help us develop a food pyramid for social media.

Now, what goes into that food pyramid is obviously going to be very different. So for example, a lot of people don't think of the nuance of who are your connections.

I think one thing that may be going on in Mr. Holland's case is that --we've done some studies and shown that, if your contact group, the people that you frequently interact with on social media, is made up of people you already know well, face to face, that's linked to better mental health.

But if you commonly interact on social media with a lot of people you don't know, IRL, in real life, that is linked to more depression, anxiety and loneliness.

So that's an example of a nuance --

CAMEROTA: Yes.

PRIMACK: -- that all of us can do. And I think is probably related to his situation.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting.

I want to get to one last one because this is one that we all suffer from: Fight comparison syndrome.

I mean, how many times are you on Instagram and you're looking at somebody else's fabulous vacation, and you feel bad? So how are you supposed to fight that?

PRIMACK: Yes. No, social comparison is certainly an issue. As I mentioned before, it is the highlight reel.

By definition, we are being exposed to hundreds, thousands of examples of things that we are not doing at that moment. And that can be very difficult for human beings because we are designed to compare ourselves to others.

[14:55:05]

But we also see this in the animal kingdom. And I certainly talk about this in "You Are What You Click."

But one thing that we can do -- I mean, one is we can be more aware of this.

Once we bring it to the conscious, and we say to ourselves, we really analyze, yes, of course, they're posting about their beautiful trip this year. That's the only time I ever posted this year. That can be a help.

The other thing is that social comparison, interestingly, can be our friend. Not always.

But think about it this way. Sometimes social comparison leads us to feel bad about ourselves because, oh, my gosh, I don't look that good, and haven't gone through that diet plan or whatever.

CAMEROTA: Right.

PRIMACK: But sometimes, social comparison can be motivating. It can help us say, hey, if this friend of mine was able to do this, I would like to catch up with them, and turn this into something positive for my life.

So I think that one thing we can do is we can try to manage social comparison.

And the other thing we can do is we can actually leverage it in certain cases to actually help our lives.

CAMEROTA: That's really interesting and helpful.

And then the last option, of course, is we can also just delete these things from our devices if we think they're taking over our lives. I think that Tom Holland gives everybody permission to do that, as he did.

So, Dr. Brian Primack, thank you very much. Great to have this conversation with you.

PRIMACK: Thanks so much.

CAMEROTA: So Rudy Giuliani appears before a grand jury in Atlanta as they investigate his role in trying to overturn Georgia's 2020 election results. We are live from the courthouse with the latest.

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