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Jobless Claims Dip Signaling Strong Labor Market; U.S. Home Sales Dropped in July for Sixth Straight Month; NBA Won't Hold Games on Election Day in Effort to Encourage Voting; DeSantis Targets "Woke" CEOs in New Rules for Pension Investments; Boston Children's Hospital Faces Threats After Right-Wing Tweets. Aired 3:30-4p ET

Aired August 18, 2022 - 15:30   ET

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

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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN HOST: CNN's Matt Egan is with us now to explain all this. What does all of it mean to the economy?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Alisyn, there's a lot of mixed signals about the economy right now right now. Let's start with the positive from today, jobless claims. They were supposed to go up to nine-month highs. That didn't happen. They actually dipped. They're still historically low. These fears of widespread layoffs have not played out yet. So that is obviously a relief.

If anything, the jobs market is too strong. It's overheating. And that is actually lifting inflation. The housing market was overheating. It is now cooling off in a big way. We learned today that existing home sales fell in July for the sixth month in a row. Weakest pace since May of 2020. That was when much of the world was shut you down by COVID. If you exclude that month, you actually have to go back to late 2015 to get a weaker pace of sales. Why is this happening? Prices are too high, mortgage rates have gone up.

But we have to remember, demand for homes remains really strong. People still need houses. They just can't afford them at these prices. Inventories are still really, really tight. Supply is low. So, prices have actually continued to go up. Prices in July up 11 percent. The median home stood at $404,000. But the price gains have actually slowed down. That's the slowest pace in two years.

Good news for home buyers, though, mortgage rates, the costs to borrow, that came down a bit. 5.1 percent is the latest average. We have to watch that closely because the cost to borrow is going to really say a lot for what happens next to the housing market.

CAMEROTA: OK. Thank you for all that. Now, the Inflation Reduction Act that was just signed this week into law, it has incentives, big incentives for people to do things like buy electric cars. So, what do we need to know?

EGAN: Well, I think the good news for consumers and for everyone worried about the climate is that the law does have these tax credits to incentivize people to buy electric vehicles. And the bad news is it became a little bit more complicated. The new conditions in this law, there's a few of them. So, what you need to know is that the $7,500 tax credit for new EVs, that's still there. And there's a $4,000 tax credit for used EVs. But there's a ceiling on how much cars can actually cost to be eligible. The tax credit only applies to sedans that are $55,000 or below, SUVs $80,000 or below. And there's also a new requirement. The cars have to be made in North America. So that eliminates some of the popular EV brands that are made by Hyundai and Toyota and others.

CAMEROTA: What about Tesla?

EGAN: So, Tesla's actually back in because there's another tweak to the law and that means that automakers that make a certain amount of EVs. They previously were excluded from this tax credit. Now they're back in. There's also an income change here. To get the full tax credit your income may not exceed $150,000 if you're single, $225,000 for head of household, $300,000 for joint filers. At the end of the day the government wants to speed up both the adoption of EVs and the manufacture of EVs in North America.

CAMEROTA: OK. Here's the biggest burning question of the day. Is Mariah Carey the "Queen of Christmas?"

EGAN: That is going to be for a judge to decide. The reason why you're asking, right? Is Mariah Carey is filing a trademark to try to become the "Queen of Christmas." Now, she's obviously got the 1994 hit song that we all --

CAMEROTA: The best Christmas song ever.

EGAN: Right. And actually billboard --

CAMEROTA: Listen to that for a second. I just need a nat sound pop -- as we call it. So, yes, what's it about?

EGAN: Billboard said that's actually the most popular song ever in its top 100 holiday chart list. She wants to trademark this so she can brand everything from cookies and jewelry to wine and dog clothing. But this is not going over well with at least two other Christmas singers. We've got Darlene Love. She's been singing Christmas songs for over half a century.

CAMEROTA: For sure.

EGAN: She says David Letterman, quote, officially declared her the "Queen of Christmas" in the early '90s. I don't know if because David Letterman says it makes it official.

CAMEROTA: Probably. I say yes.

EGAN: Alisyn, this is another court -- this is a Christmas battle that a judge is ultimately going to have to decide.

CAMEROTA: I didn't even know there was a "Queen of Christmas." But OK. Thank you for sorting all of that out.

EGAN: Thank you, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: OK. So, the NBA says they will not play games on election day. Details on the leaguewide effort to get fans to the voting booth this November.

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CAMEROTA: This year on election day, November 8th, don't expect to watch a professional basketball. That's because the NBA is scrapping all games that day. All in an effort to encourage fans to get out and vote. The league says in the months leading up to the midterms all clubs will give fans voter info about their state's voting process and voter registration details. Teams will play the night before the election as part of what the league is calling a civic engagement night.

James Cadogan is the executive director of the National Basketball Social Justice Coalition. James, thanks so much for being here. What do you think of this move?

JAMES CADOGAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, NATIONAL BASKETBALL SOCIAL JUSTICE COALITION: Great to be with you, Alisyn. Thanks for having us. Well, this is a really important next step for us in what has been a long tradition of players and the NBA community standing up and trying to get more people engaged and involved in the process, make sure that we support civic engagement.

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And so, for the first time not playing games on election day and encouraging fans and people across communities all across the nation to register to make a plan to vote and then get out to the polls. That's an important next step in our work to contribute.

CAMEROTA: And so, of all the causes why is voting at the top of the list here?

CADOGAN: Ultimately because voting is the first right in democracy. Without the ability to participate in your system of governance, to raise your voice and make your opinion heard, all the other rights really don't matter. So, making sure that we are contributing to the conversation around what it means to engage, informing and making sure the public understands that this is how you help shape the world for the better. That basic right to vote and encouraging civic engagement is a real priority for us and has been for a long time.

CAMEROTA: As you know, over the past few years there's been so much specious information, just erroneous, about, you know, election fraud, things like that. Is this to combat that?

CADOGAN: This is about making sure everybody has the right information. I think the notion of disinformation and misinformation applies across a lot of different topics. Democracy is no different. And so, one of the contributions that we can make as an organization that has broad reach and a big platform is to try to get accurate information into the hands of every voter, whether they are a fan or otherwise. And allowing teams in all 30 of our markets -- all 20 of our markets, excuse me -- with our 30 teams to be able to communicate to their fan base and their communities about when election day is. How do you register? How do you make your plan to vote? That helps to ensure that the right information is in every eligible voter's hands.

CAMEROTA: And how will they do that? How will they tell people how to register to vote?

CADOGAN: Honestly, it depends team to team. And what we've seen over time, this is partially what's so exciting about this initiative, is everybody does something a little bit differently. We have the Washington Wizards and Mystics run by Monumental Sports who are partnering with an organization so that fans can actually vote in arena.

You have the Sacramento Kings who two years -- four years ago started an initiative called "Rally the Vote" bringing not just NBA teams but other sports franchises into a public awareness campaign about the importance of civic engagement. They're doing the same thing again and want to deepen that commitment.

So, market by market and city by city you're going to see a lot of different initiatives both in arena, on the airwaves and around the NBA community that connect with the public and communicate to people about what's important, how they can register, how they can get out and vote and raise their voice in our democracy.

CAMEROTA: And so, James, as you know, the NBA is known as the most socially progressive professional sports league. So, what message does this send to other leagues?

CADOGAN: Well, this is about non-partisan civic engagement. So regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, raising your voice and making your voice heard on the issues that matter to you most, that is the single most important thing. So, our civic engagement initiatives have always been non-partisan. And right now, our message is everybody should be part of the process. The more people that engage, the better outcome we're going to have on behalf of all of our communities. So, this is about bringing as many people as we can into civic engagement, understanding that their voice matters, their vote matters, so that they should go out and exercise it.

CAMEROTA: Such a great message. James Cadogan, thank you very much for being here.

CADOGAN: Thanks so much for having me, Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Now to this. Boston Children's Hospital says it's receiving violent threats for providing care to transgender youth. At the center of it all is rampant online misinformation.

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CAMEROTA: Florida governor Ron DeSantis is adding another issue to his anti-woke crusade. In the latest culture war, the Republican is taking aim at Wall Street banks, asset managers, big tech companies and who he calls woke CEOs. CNN's Steve Contorno joins us from Florida. So, Steve, explain all of this.

STEVE CONTORNO, CNN REPORTER: Alisyn, Governor Ron DeSantis has basically accused these asset fund managers and corporate executives on Wall Street of essentially having a political agenda and using the power of their shareholder votes and investments to push businesses to get into the political arena and support causes like climate change and racial inequality.

And DeSantis is saying we're not going to have this in Florida. We're not going to consider social good when we invest our $200 billion pension fund. And this week we got our sort of first look at what this new policy for the pension fund is going to look like.

And it mainly comes down to three main pillars. There is when investment fund managers direct funds they can't -- they can only think of risk and return on investment, they cannot consider things like social, political, or ideological interests. And when they participate in shareholder votes they must vote, quote, solely in the interests of the Florida retirement system. Last month Governor DeSantis had a press conference where he essentially laid out his vision for why this is necessary, and he had this to say.

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GOV. RON DESANTIS (R-FL): This is an important issue because it raises the question of, you know, who governs society. Do we govern ourselves through our Constitution and through our elections?

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Or do we have these masters of the universe occupying these commanding heights of society? Are they able to use their economic power to impose policies on the country that they could not do so at the ballot box.

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CONTORNO: Now, this is push back against ESG movement. That is Environmental, Social and Governance investing, which basically says there, you know, are big societal problems we face, and businesses should have a role in trying to solve them. And it has some pretty big backers behind it, including Larry Fink. He's the CEO of Black Rock who in a letter to other corporate CEOs earlier this year, defended the ESU movement.

And he said that it, quote: Stakeholder capitalism is not about politics. It is not a social or ideological agenda. It is not "woke." It is capitalism, driven by mutually beneficial relationships between you and the employees, customers, suppliers, and communities your company relies on to prosper. This is the power of capitalism. Now Alisyn, this is sort of like the first silo in Governor DeSantis' new front in his fight against "woke" ideology. He also wants to use the pension fund combined with other states to push back, using their voting power against these Wall Street actions. And there's also going to be a legislative agenda coming next year. So, Alisyn, if Governor DeSantis wins a second term, you could expect this to be a big part of his second term in office.

CAMEROTA: OK. Steve Contorno thank you for all of that information.

Now to this. Boston Children's Hospital says it's working with law enforcement after many of its doctors and staff received violent threats. Right wing extremist groups are spreading online misinformation and conspiracies about the hospital providing care for transgender children. CNN's Alexandra Field is here. So, what's going on here -- Alexandra?

ALEXANDRA FIELD, CNN CORRESPONDENT: OK, look, the claims about what's happening at Boston's Children Hospital that are being made online are demonstratively false. But it seems that the threats against the hospital are very real. This is a hospital that says it has the first pediatric and adolescent transgender care facility in the country. They say they are now using all of their resources to protect members their community. They are condemning the threats against them and they are also going after the misinformation itself.

Putting out a statement that says really in no uncertain terms, Boston Children's does not perform genital surgeries as part of gender affirming care on a patient under the age of 18, period.

The U.S. attorney's office in Massachusetts says it is following leads concerning these threats. The threats have spiked after there's been a proliferation of misinformation online, including a post shared on TikTok by an account that has some 1.3 million followers. It showed a doctor describing the hysterectomy procedure.

Now while the doctor never speaks about minors or girls, the text accompanying that post says this: Boston's Children is now offering gender affirming hysterectomies for young girls.

False, is just false. The hospital has made that perfectly clear. But we've got to talk about this because the threats, again, to this community are serious. They are being investigated. But also, because there is a broader context here, where you're seeing these kinds of efforts to restrict access to gender affirming care at facilities across the country. 15 states have taken states to either enact or tried to enact laws that would restrict this kind of care.

And Alisyn, the care we're talking about, it's not just surgeries. It's described as multidisciplinary. It is a range of resources, support services and medical care for transgender people.

CAMEROTA: OK, Alexandra Field, thank you for explaining all of that.

OK, so a judge agreeing to a possible public release of some portion of the affidavit for the FBI's search at Mar-a-Lago. We have more on today's decision, coming up.

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CAMEROTA: Severe drought continues to plague the Southwest. Steep water cuts are coming for region, as the Colorado River and Lake Mead's water levels continue to shrink. Meteorologist Jennifer Gray is live in the CNN Weather Center for us. So, Jennifer, the drought's not just in the Southwest. Where else are you seeing it?

JENNIFER GRAY, CNN AMS METEOROLOGIST We're seeing the drought pick up across portions of the Northeast and in a very fast and big way. This is called a flash drought. This has come up very quickly, just two weeks ago. Eastern Massachusetts had no areas in extreme drought and now we have 40 percent of eastern Massachusetts in extreme drought. So, you can see the difference there. We've had a number of heatwaves across this region. The lack of rainfall, and that's what's contributing to the drought in this region.

Of course, the forecast rainfall, this is for the next three days. You can see very little to none. This is not going to be enough rainfall to help the drought situation at all.

The other areas that you were mentioning were across the South. Texas is an area that we have been concerned with over the last couple of months. The beginning part of the year, we had zero percent of Texas in exceptional drought. Now, a quarter of the state is in exceptional drought. And again, it's because of the number of heatwaves we've had, the lack of rainfall.

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And if you think about just a year ago, where Texas was drenched from hurricanes, and now so much of the state is in drought conditions also across the Southwest, as you mentioned, more rain expected there -- Alisyn.

CAMEROTA: Totally agree, Jennifer. It's just amazing how quickly the tables can turn and these new weather phenomenon. I mean, a flash drought. We just didn't know that that phenomenon existed recently. Jennifer Gray, thank you very much.

And thanks, everyone, for joining me. Make sure to tune in tonight at 9:00 p.m. Eastern, I'll be hosting "CNN TONIGHT."

And "THE LEAD" with Jake Tapper starts right now.