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Biden To Announce $2.8 Billion In Grants For U.S. Battery Supply Chains; Pelosi Fires Back At GOP On Inflation, Calls It A "Global Issue"; Ukraine Response To Russia's Martial Law: Kremlin's Guise To "Legalize Looting, Forced Deportations". Aired 3-3:30p ET

Aired October 19, 2022 - 15:00   ET

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

KRISTIN FISHER, CNN SPACE AND DEFENSE CORRESPONDENT: And so it's really able to peer into those clouds of interstellar gas and dust which makeup what appear to be those sort of rock formations. But the real stars of the show here are the baby stars, Erica, and you're right, they are quite cute, right?

Because what's really neat here is this is where baby stars are born. And so those bright red spots, those are actually baby stars. The red wavy lines are some of the objections from the stars. And a lot of people are - have different takes on what this actually looks like. Some people say they see the hand of God coming up. The producer for this show says he sees a galloping horse, I don't know about that, what do you think ...

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR AND NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I see a horse.

FISHER: ... Victor?

HILL: I do see it. Do you see a horse? I see a horse.

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN HOST: I can be convinced to see the horse.

HILL: Yes.

BLACKWELL: I just love that now I know that there's a such thing as a baby star, but also just how detailed this picture is. Hubble was nice. It was nice. This is fantastic.

HILL: Yes, it really is impressive. It's so cool. Except that now I have stuck in my head and I give it to the both of you. Baby star ...

BLACKWELL: Baby star - yes, I knew that was coming, yes.

HILL: We did not even plan that for the record.

BLACKWELL: We didn't. Kristin Fisher, always good to have you. You always bring good stuff.

FISHER: (Inaudible), guys.

BLACKWELL: Thank you.

FISHER: Okay. HILL: Top of the hour here on CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Erica Hill.

BLACKWELL: I'm Victor Blackwell. Good to have you along.

Any moment, we will see President Biden make his now second economic announcement of the day. The President is expected to award $2.8 billion in grants targeting the electric grid and electric vehicles. Now, earlier today, he announced he's releasing 15 million barrels from the national oil reserves. This is in hopes of keeping gas prices coming down.

HILL: Context here is key, midterm elections, of course, now just 20 days away, although folks in many states have already started voting, inflation and the economy, as we know, still the number one issues for consumers and voters. So the President says these moves, he says they are not political.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: It's not politically motivated at all. It's motivated to make sure that I continue to push on what I've been pushing on. And that is making sure there's enough oil that's been pumped by the companies so that we have the ability to be able to produce enough gas that we need here at home, oil we need here at home and at the same time, keep moving in the direction of providing for alternative energy.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HILL: CNN White House Correspondent MJ Lee joining us now live. So MJ that was announcement number one, of course, what are we expecting from the President this hour?

MJ LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, it is definitely shaping up to be an economy heavy day here at the White House. So let me just lay out for you this announcement from the President that we're about to hear any minute now. As you pointed out, it is a $2.8 billion investment program, a grant that will be spread out across some 12 states to really invest in battery supply chain. It is related to things like electric vehicles, the electric grid and it is going to be something that the President rolls out in person at an event in Pittsburgh tomorrow.

So you can just imagine that the event is going to have multiple layers, where he is, one, able to talk about this big legislative accomplishment because remember, the money for all of this comes from that bipartisan infrastructure bill that Congress was able to pass last year. It is also something where he can talk about trying to take action to bring down inflation and also invest in clean energy.

All of these things are obviously big, important priorities for this administration and politically significant, too. You're just talking about the midterms, some of these grants are going to be handed out in states that have very important and competitive races coming up in just a couple of weeks. Now, you mentioned this first announcement that we saw at the White

House earlier today. This was, of course, the announcement of releasing 15 million additional barrels of oil from the strategic reserve. This comes from the 180 million barrels of oil that the administration previously had announced, would be coming out over the course of six months.

And this, of course, is another action that the administration is taking to try to sort of move the needle to bring gas prices down. If you remember, earlier this summer, they saw some good news. They felt like gas prices were consistently coming down. And then in recent weeks, we did see prices coming up a little bit.

So this is something that they're certainly trying to tackle. And on all of these fronts, we're getting a reminder that it is really all about the economy. Yesterday we were talking all about the abortion- related a political messaging. Well, today it's back to the economy and that is really where the focus is for this administration in the White House.

BLACKWELL: MJ Lee setting the table for us. Thank you very much.

Let's talk more about these moves from the Biden administration with CNN's Matt Egan. Matt, how do you see the decisions about the 15 million barrels, the petroleum reserve affecting consumers?

[15:05:02]

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Well, Victor and Erica, I think that the impact looked bigger about 24 hours ago, because we saw oil prices move down sharply and that usually drives down prices at the pump. But we've seen basically a complete reversal, oil prices are back up to where they were 24 hours ago, so that's going to limit the impact here.

I think there's been some confusion even in the energy market about exactly what's going on. You can remember that in late March, the President announced he would release 180 million barrels, a record setting amount and that was in response to the war in Ukraine. He said that would happen by the end of October.

Well, we're almost at the end of October, and they had about 15 million barrels left. So this is not a new emergency release, it's really the same one. I mean, it would be like if I announced that I was going to run five miles. And after four, I stopped and held a press conference to say I'm going to run a mile, it's not a longer run, I'm just making a bigger deal about that final mile.

So I don't think we should expect to see a dramatic impact for prices at the pump. It probably helps on the margin. And I think if you zoom out, this president has clearly been more aggressive than his predecessors at releasing oil from the emergency reserve. And a lot of the experts I talked to they say, you know what, it has been at least somewhat effective at keeping a lid on energy prices. We can debate how effective but it's certainly been a factor. Looking forward, I think the two big factors are going to be what

happens to the flow of energy out of Russia as the war in Ukraine continues and sanctions bite, and what happens to the economy, because while presidents can't make gas prices cheap again, recessions can and that's obviously a big concern that's out there.

HILL: It certainly is. And also looking forward, one thing we did learn a little bit more about today, but I need you to explain it to me, because you're a numbers guy, is that the IRS is announcing it's actually going to adjust for inflation. What is this mean?

EGAN: Well, normally these adjustments are pretty subtle, but because inflation is so high, the adjustments have been bigger. In fact, the adjustment for the standard deductions, this is the biggest increase that we've seen, since the cost of living adjustment started in 1985. For individuals, there's an increase of $900, married couples is 1800. That is significant. The IRS is also bumping up the income thresholds for tax brackets.

To give you an example, in 2022, if your income is $90,000, you're in that 24 percent tax rate, 2023, that same $90,000 is going to be taxed at a 22 percent rate, same story for joint filers. So I think if you put all this together, it shows at least one silver lining of inflation, less money to Uncle Sam and more money in your pocket.

HILL: All right. We'll take (inaudible). Matt Egan, appreciate it. Thank you.

A record number of Georgia voters are turning out for this year's midterm election, more than 268,000 in just the first two days of early voting, according to Georgia Secretary of State. Now, that's actually up 75 percent from the first two days of early voting during the 2018 midterms.

BLACKWELL: Let's discuss now with Senior Political Correspondent of Puck News, Tara Palmeri, CNN Political Commentator and former Republican Congressman Charlie Dent and Democratic Strategist, Zac Petkanas. Thank you for being with us.

Zac, let me start with you. And I really like Matt's analogy here of I'll tell you I'm running five. At four, I stopped and say I'm going to run this last one. The President didn't hold a news conference every 15 million barrels along the way, only 20 days out from the election, as he's saying, we're moving forward on this. How are voters supposed to see this as anything other than a political announcement?

ZAC PETKANAS, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST: Well, I think they're supposed to see it as part of a package of activity that the administration has done to get prices down. And it's not just by releasing oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve. It is also passing the inflation Reduction Act, which is about getting prescription drug costs down for folks, getting health care costs down for folks, ensuring that people will - utility bills that they start coming down.

And so this is one of a number of actions that the administration has taken to get cost down for people because that's what inflation is. It's higher costs for folks. It doesn't matter where it's coming from and so the administration has been really laser focused on showing the actions that they are taking, the Democrats are taking to get prices down for people. And that's what people are talking about on the campaign trail.

HILL: They're focused on showing those actions. Some of the messaging, though, may not be landing the way they'd like it to when it comes to talking about inflation, but we've heard pretty consistently as, look, this is global, it's a lot worse than other places, so it's really not as bad as it looks. Maybe true, doesn't land well when things are really tough in your household.

I was struck, Speaker Pelosi told Punchbowl that Dems need a better message when it comes to inflation, although she kind of continued that same message that we were hearing, Tara. I'm curious, is there any sense that there is a new message coming for these last three weeks from Democrats on inflation?

Tara Palmeri: There really isn't. And frankly, it's not - the Republicans don't really have a message on inflation either other than we'll do it better, right?

[15:10:01]

So they're both kind of claiming that they can handle the issue, but obviously it's on the incumbents who are up for re-election who are saying we know you're suffering right now, but we'll do it better. And I'm sure voters are thinking, well, why hasn't it been fixed right now? Why should we give Democrats the key to leadership in the House, the Senate and the White House as it is if they haven't changed anything?

They don't really seem to have a plan on how to change the inflation problem, but neither do Republicans. It just seems that perhaps voters are willing to take the risk go on a gut feeling that Republicans are better with the economy. That's what polling shows that voters feel that way about Republicans. But again, Nancy Pelosi said, Republicans haven't shown how they would fix it either.

BLACKWELL: Congressman, do you see a Republican plan to bring down inflation, bring down gas prices?

CHARLIE DENT, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, look, let's start with this administration. (Inaudible) like the Inflation Reduction Act is really going to have a negligible effect on inflation. This recent release of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve of 15 million barrels, well, we consume 20 million barrels a day in the United States, I supported the administration, when they released - they opened up the reserves back at the time Putin invaded Ukraine, that was right. But this is going to be a drop in the barrel, so to speak, this 15 million barrels, so not going to do much.

Look, inflation is caused largely because I think the Fed had been too easy with the money for too long, they've tapped the brakes, they waited too long. So it's partly a monetary stimulus that occurred, partly fiscal stimulus and the Democrats should take some blame for this. Their American rescue plan, you could call that the Inflation Acceleration Act overspent. They juiced demand at the time when demand was already high and supply was low, so that's on them.

So this is (inaudible) I'm not blaming the Democrats entirely for this, but they are partially responsible, not the Republicans have an ideal plan either, but they're going to have to. But I think we're all realizing now that all this fiscal stimulus and monetary stimulus has caused the situation that we're in (inaudible) ...

BLACKWELL: You say Republicans ...

DENT: ... we're going to tighten.

BLACKWELL: ... Republicans don't have an ideal plan, do - is there any plan? I was listening very closely for the Republican plan to bring down inflation and bring down gas prices,

PALMERI: They always connect it to the debt ceiling and they say that we shouldn't be - we should balance the books. They say very general things about how to deal with inflation. But you haven't heard any real specifics from Republicans on how they would deal with inflation. And, Charlie, you can correct me if I'm wrong on that, but I haven't heard anything other than balanced the books, stop stimulus spending and debt ceiling issues. But they're probably going to have to raise it (inaudible) anyway.

DENT: Well, I ...

PALMERI: In the next Congress.

DENT: Tara, the only thing I'd say to that is like the debt ceiling, I would not screw around the debt ceiling, if I were the Republicans. Don't - do not do that. But at the same time, I think there will have to be some fiscal tightening because there has been just too much money thrown out there. I mean, that's a big part of it. What's the definition of inflation? Too much money chasing too few goods and services. That's where we have been.

And we can we can try to assign blame all we want to the Fed, the Congress, to the President, but that's the reality of the situation where not just the United States, but throughout much of the world.

HILL: And I want to touch quickly on what's happening here in New York, there's some new polling from Quinnipiac shows Lee Zeldin really gaining on Kathy Hochul in the governor's race, really tightening in the suburbs. We're also talking about a state where nine of the 26 House seats are in play this year. I'm curious, Zac, what do you think is going to drive voters more in New York? Is that the governor's race? Is it those House seats that are up for grabs? What's fueling voters?

PETKANAS: Look, we're facing, I think, a national climate here where a lot of Democratic base voters are enraged about what's happening and the policies that are being pushed by the Republicans starting with the Supreme Court overturning, Roe v Wade, which is fueling huge rush amongst Democratic voters. I think there's anger amongst some of the gun rulings from the Supreme Court and what's being pushed on Republicans on the state legislature.

So I think that it's going to be a combination here in New York. It's not just the top of the ticket at the governor's race. I think that there's a real feeling that we need to make sure that we don't give the house over to these Republicans who are pushing national abortion bans or pushing book banning, who are pushing these really extremist positions that are not doing things that need to address that people feel like they need to be dressed like inflation.

HILL: So you're saying that's separate and that can't be tied, right, because those would be Democratic voters. That wouldn't be tied to this push that we're seeing, these gains that we're seeing from Lee Zeldin who's the Republican running here for governor.

PETKANAS: I mean, I would take one poll with a grain of salt. I mean, I think that we're going to be okay here in New York. But I think that that is part of the natural dynamic that we're seeing with it.

BLACKWELL: All right. Zac Petkanas, Tara Palmeri, Charlie Dent, thank you.

Vladimir Putin declares martial law in the four regions of Ukraine that he claims to have annexed. The Western world does not recognize those. Details and what that means ahead.

HILL: Plus, the son of an American citizen imprisoned in Saudi Arabia is speaking out, saying his father is nowhere near a dissident. We'll have more on that story next.

[15:15:05]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[15:19:26]

BLACKWELL: Ukraine says that Russia has started a new stage of terror after Vladimir Putin declared martial law today in four regions of Ukraine that he claims Russia has annexed. Martial law is when the military takes over the civilian government. Now, Ukraine's foreign ministry says the move is a guise so that Russia can deprive people living in these areas of basic rights and allow Russia to legalize looting and forced deportations and mobilization.

HILL: The images show thousands meantime being moved in the Kherson area. Just a short time ago, President Biden said martial law shows that Putin is just running out of options.

[15:20:03]

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BIDEN: Vladimir Putin finds himself in an incredibly difficult position. And what it reflects to me is it seems his only tool available to him is to brutalize individual citizens in Ukraine, Ukrainian citizens, to try to intimidate them into capitulating. They're not going to do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLACKWELL: All right. We'll come back to Ukraine in just a moment and Nick Robertson there.

Let's go to the White House. President Biden is now speaking about an investment in electric vehicles and electric grid.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BIDEN: ... 10 million new jobs have been created just since my presidency began; 3.5 percent unemployment, the lowest in 50 years; nearly 700,000 manufacturing jobs created since we took office, and you all are going to create a lot more, up there on the screen.

And some people gave up on American manufacturing, but not me, not the Secretary, not the American people. Because where in the heck is it written that we can't be the manufacturing hub of the world?

Well, we are now, and that's what we're going to be announcing - talking about today. It's about my industrial strategy to bring America back manufacturing and industries of the future: semiconductors and clean energy.

That includes a Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that I signed and it was a once-in-a-generation investment in our nation's roads, bridges, railroads, ports, airports, water systems, and high-speed Internet.

Federal infrastructure funding is helping states and cities with these projects all across the country. But the Infrastructure Law also invests in people and companies that are going to build our future, like electric vehicles and advanced batteries that are going to power those vehicles.

This is critically important, because the future of vehicles is electric, but the battery is a key part of that electric vehicle. And right now, 75 percent - as the folks on the screen can tell you - 75 percent of that battery manufacturing is done in China. And for some battery components, critical materials, China controls nearly half the global production. But China's battery technology is not more innovative than anyone else's.

In fact, our national labs, our research universities, our automakers led the development of this technology here in America. But by undercutting U.S. manufacturers with their unfair subsidies and trade practices, China seized a significant portion of the market.

Today, we're stepping up with - to hold the - really to take it back - not all of it, but bold goals and actions to make sure we're back in the game in a big way.

And we're doing it right away, centered around workers and communities and building the economy from the bottom up and the middle out.

Last year, I signed an executive order setting the goal of having 50 percent of all new cars and trucks sold by 2030 to be electric - electric vehicles. Auto companies, unions and the federal government are all working together to meet this goal.

I signed the - into law the Inflation Reduction Act, the biggest investment in climate ever in all of history.

It includes tax credits for up to $7,500 for folks to buy new electric vehicles or fuel-cell vehicles made in America. And for the first time, you get a tax credit for buying a used electric vehicle.

The CHIPS and Science Act that I signed into law is literally supercharging our efforts to make semiconductors - those small computer chips that power every - our everyday lives, including our vehicles - here in America.

And the Infrastructure Law is investing $7.5 billion to build electric vehicle charging stations all across America. So finding a place to charge up your vehicle is going to be as easy as pulling into a gas station.

So, earlier today, I talked about our efforts to keep gas prices down at the pump without delaying or deferring our transition to clean energy. Electric vehicles are part of that plan and since I took office, electric vehicle sales have more than tripled.

But with more electric vehicle sales, the demand for batteries and the critical minerals that go into those batteries has grown and is going to continue to grow.

In fact, the demand for critical materials is set to skyrocket by 400 percent to 600 percent over the next several decades.

[15:25:03]

The demand for minerals like lithium and graphite is expected to increase by as much as 4,000 percent.

Some see it as a challenge, but we see an opportunity - a real opportunity to shift to a net-zero sum carbon world in one of the most significant economic transitions since the Industrial Revolution. That's not hyperbole; that's a fact.

We're also confronting it head on with American ingenuity and American jobs. That's why my Infrastructure Law invested over $7 billion in battery supply chains that are going to bolster U.S. capacity for processing, manufacturing, and recycling critical minerals like lithium, nickel, and graphite.

And that's why today I'm proud to announce $2.8 billion in awards to 20 companies represented on the screen across 12 states, funded by the Infrastructure Law, to build electric vehicles and a battery future here in America.

Nearly 200 companies applied for these grants. Only 20 were selected from Georgia to North Carolina and to Nevada to the state of Washington. We have awarded these this funding, and we've asked companies how they're going to partner with community colleges, minority-serving institutions, labor unions, and local organizations to provide job training for workers and benefits for the whole community.

Together, these 20 companies are going to build new commercial-scale battery production and processing facilities all across America. They're going to develop lithium to supply over 2 million vehicles every year. And that $2.8 billion investment is going to unlock billions of dollars in private investment from these companies.

That means the projects are going to generate $9 billion total for American manufacturing and the battery supply chain across America. And that's going to create thousands of good-paying jobs, many of them union jobs that require college degrees - that don't require, I should say, college degrees.

On top of the $9 billion - since I became President, other companies - including GM, Ford, Honda, Siemens - have announced over $100 billion in new investments to produce electric vehicles, batteries and charging stations here in America, creating thousands more jobs.

Today, I'm announcing the launch of the American Battery Materials Initiative. It's going to coordinate the effort across the federal government and work closely with the private sector, labor unions, Tribes, community organizations, and our partners and allies abroad.

This initiative is going to lead - going to be led by the White House and housed in the Department of Energy with the support of the Department of Interior to secure America's electric vehicle battery supply chain and clean energy future.

And we're going to do it the right way: respecting the rights of Tribes, creating good-paying union jobs, and protecting the environment and local communities.

HILL: There his second economic announcement of the day talking about this $2.8 billion in grants. So this was part of the infrastructure act. They're now being rewarded to some 20 manufacturing and processing centers across 12 states. But the goal with all of this is to - in some of these cases - we're talking specifically about batteries to reduce that dependence on China, on Chinese minerals. The President also talking there about the 8,000 or so jobs, he says, will be created for this in this effort to move away from that dependence on China.

BLACKWELL: All right, let's get back now to Ukraine and the declaration of martial law in these four illegally annexed areas of Ukraine, this declaration by Russia, and go to Nic Robertson, who joins us now from Kyiv. So Ukrainians are now urging the world to respond to Putin's announcement, are they saying how?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: They are. They're being very clear about it, laying it out point blank. They're saying, look, what Russia is doing here with this martial law is null and void. It has no legal meaning or enforcement for Ukrainian citizens. Reality is for those Ukrainians who are trapped under Russian control

and those illegally annexed areas, they're at the point of a gun now. The military is in charge and what Ukrainian authorities are saying to their allies is, look, you have to stand up right now. You have to denounce this. You have to say very clearly that those Ukrainian citizens are being denied their human rights, that what the Russians are facilitating here is the legalization of looting of forced deportations and potentially of mobilization.

[15:30:02]