Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Investors Looking to Fed Chair's Speech for Clues About Rate Hikes; Alzheimer's Association Applauds Lecanemab, Urges FDA Approval; Russian Lawmakers Pass Strict Anti-LGBTQ Law, Putin to Sign Soon. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired November 30, 2022 - 10:30   ET

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

BIANNA GOLODRYGA, CNN ANCHOR: Macron will be at NASA headquarters with Vice President Kamala Harris.

[10:30:03]

Now, he also plans to visit the State Department and Arlington National Cemetery.

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: CNN White House Correspondent M.J. Lee joins us now live from Washington. So, M.J., I see you there at the White House, his arrival comes at a key moment in the relationship with the U.S. Why now and what's ahead for the visit?

M.J. LEE, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes, definitely a key moment for the U.S./French relationship, but all of this kicks off today with the French president spending some time with the vice president. They are, as you said, set to spend some time touring the NASA headquarters.

This is obviously going to provide a great sort of visual, but it's also heavy on symbolism too, right? They can draw attention to one of the many areas that U.S. and France have worked together on, including space and science, and also, just more generally, areas of cooperation between the two countries that go back for so many decades.

But tomorrow really is the big, main diplomatic day. This is going to be the day that the Bidens host the Macrons at the White House here, already just walking around behind me, around the White House grounds. You can see a number of French flags on display, as they prepare to welcome the French president and his wife to the White House.

We are going to see a big arrival ceremony in the morning, and then, obviously, there is going to be the big bi-lat meeting between the two leaders, including a press conference afterwards. And then there will be the big state dinner in the evening.

Now, senior administration officials say that there are many things on the agenda for the two leaders to talk about, including, of course, the war in Ukraine, and the various energy and economic crises that that war has unleashed, and they're also expected to talk a lot about China. One administration official is saying that the two countries should speak from a common script when it comes to China. They will certainly trade notes on dealing with Xi Jinping, the president of China. And also Iran is supposed to be another major issues that the two leaders are expected to talk about.

Now, as you noted, this is President Biden's first state visit that he is hosting at the White House, and official say that, in and of itself, goes to show just how deep and far-reaching that relationship between U.S. and France is.

SCIUTTO: M.J. Lee, thanks so much.

This afternoon, investors will be watching closely as Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell delivers a critical speech at a critical time. Many economic experts, as always, they are going to be searching for clues into whether the central bank will slow its increases in interest rates. This comes as a new GDP report shows the economy grew much faster than expected in the third quarter, up nearly 3 percent. Previous estimates put it around 2.6. We are as well in a historically tight jobs market. New data shows the number of job openings in the dropped in October to 10.3 million.

Let's bring in Jeanna Smialek. She's a Federal Reserve and Economy Reporter at The New York Times. Jeanna, good to have you back.

JEANNA SMIALEK, FEDERAL RESERVE AND ECONOMY REPORTER, THE NEW YORK TIMES: Thanks for having me.

SCIUTTO: So, The Wall Street Journal reported that at the most recent Fed meeting, even as they raised rates another three quarters of a percentage point, that there was general agreement that it's getting to time to slow these increases, or at least have not as big increases. Is that what is expected? And do we expect to see the Fed chairman hint at that in his public comments today?

SMIALEK: Yes. Fed officials have made it extremely clear that they're getting ready to slow down these rate increases, but they're trying to simultaneously communicate that they are not done with rate increases, that slowing down does not mean stopping in the fight against inflation.

SCIUTTO: Okay. Markets love it when rate increases slow at least. Would we expect a big positive response if that's the indication coming from Powell?

SMIALEK: So, I think that's exactly what Chair Powell is going to try to avoid today. He does not want markets toll up (ph) this message. And so I think what you should expect to hear from him is confirmation that, yes, we're moving towards a slower pace of rate increases but also an emphasis on the idea that interest rates are going to go higher than people previously expected them to go next year, that the central bank could keep raising interest rates well into 2023, and that the Fed just doesn't think its job is done yet when it comes to bringing down this very rapid inflation.

SCIUTTO: There have been some good economic indicators of late, including today, 2.9 percent of growth in the third quarter. That's no small thing and up significantly from the previous -- the preceding two quarters, but also a very strong Black Friday, Cyber Monday. Retail sales seem to be continuing strongly. I mean, is there talk of the Fed achieving that magic soft landing, right, with a spate of rate increases but still managing to keep the economy afloat?

SMIALEK: The Federal Reserve is still hoping it can achieve that soft landing because a hard landing would just be so painful, costing people jobs, lowering wage growth. But I think that that path has just become narrower and narrower as we see people continue to sort of just consumer right through these rate increases.

[10:35:04]

It becomes much harder to pull off a gentle landing.

SCIUTTO: Meaning what, because people are spending so much, they're not really responding to these rate increases, as expected?

SMIALEK: Meaning that we still have a lot of dollars chasing what goods are available. If you're a company and you're thinking about price sensitivity among consumers right now, what you're seeing is that consumers are pretty hearty. They're increasingly looking for deals again, but there's a good chance they're going to consume right through some small price increases. And so as long as that remains the case, it could be harder to wrestle this inflation back under control.

SCIUTTO: Yes. The word is that they've been spending from their savings, had a lot of savings built up from the pandemic.

Okay. So, let's talk about inflation. Those numbers in the last couple of months, the rate of inflation, prices still going up, but the rate of increase has slowed somewhat in recent months. When you talk to folks -- and how does the Fed read this? Do they read it as inflation has peaked?

SMIALEK: So, when you talk to economists, they will say things are looking a lot better. There are a lot of reasons to believe that inflation has peaked and that it's going to continue coming down into next year. When you talk to the Fed, they will mostly tell you that it is way too soon to declare victory. Inflation is still 7.7 percent on annual basis here in the United States, which is very fast. By way of context, the Fed aims for about 2 percent.

So, we're still nearly four times what the Fed is aiming for. This inflation still feels really bad to anybody who is on the street or trying to shop for eggs or groceries or what have you. And so the job is just not done yet.

SCIUTTO: Jeanna Smialek, we'll look forward to an update from the Fed chair today. Thanks so much.

GOLODRYGA: It's the first drug that's showing promise in slowing Alzheimer's in its early stages, but it's not without risks. We'll give you a closer look at the newly released findings, up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:40:00]

SCIUTTO: The world's largest active volcano still spewing lava for the first time in almost four decades, and now, the flow from Hawaii's Mauna Loa is creeping closer to the big island's main highway just four miles away. Wow, those pictures are crazy.

GOLODRYGA: Just look at those images. I know.

SCIUTTO: It's crazy.

GOLODRYGA: Unbelievable. Hawaii's governor signed an emergency proclamation, which allows the government to issue alerts and order evacuations when necessary. Officials say no communities are in immediate danger though conditions could, of course, change.

SCIUTTO: I'm just mesmerized by those pictures. We'll keep on top of that story.

Another story we're following this morning, a potential treatment and potential good news for Alzheimer's sufferers. A new treatment gets high praise from the Alzheimer's Association calling now for FDA approval. The new drug appears, Lecanemab, appears to slow the progression of the disease in critical trials, but it also is raising concerns about some adverse reactions among some patients.

GOLODRYGA: Yes. For more on this, CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joins us now. So, Elizabeth, how promising is this new drug? And given the side effects, is it worth it in terms of what researchers are seeing at this point?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Bianna, essentially, that is what the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has to decide. They fast-tracked this drug, we're expected to hear from them in the coming weeks. But the study authors themselves say that longer studies need to be done to look at efficacy and safety.

So, let's take a look at efficacy first. What they did in the study is they took 1,800 people between the ages of 50 and 90 who had mild sort of early stages of Alzheimer's. And half of them got a placebo and half of them got the drug. The half that got the drug did still see a cognitive decline over the course of 18 months but it was 27 percent slower than the folks in the placebo. Also, the folks who were in the drug group, they lower levels of amyloid. Amyloid are those plaques that we see in the brains of people with Alzheimer's.

So, the two big questions are, okay, well, that's good, there's no question that's good, but is that enough to make a difference? Will it really make a difference in their lives? Will they be able to function better? Will their families notice a difference? And then the second question is, what about the side effects? And that's a serious question for this drugs. 17 percent of the people who took the drug on the study, 17 percent had brain bleeding and another 12 percent had brain swelling.

Now, to be clear, some of the folks who took a placebo had those two things, too, but not nearly at rates that high.

Now, the media has reported on two deaths among participants who got the drug. The company said those deaths are not associated. It will be really interesting to see what the FDA does. Jim, Bianna?

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth, put this in context for us, because Alzheimer's sadly is sort of a hope-free zone, right, for people who suffer from it, and there hasn't been a lot of hope from treatments out there. Is this one unusual? And is there something in the method here of going after those amyloids, in effect, the kind of gunk, right, that builds up in brains of people who suffer from this, is that at least a promising path?

COHEN: Sure. That is a promising path. And so this drug is a monocolonial antibody, and there have been others out there as well. There was one that came out last year, which we all talked about when it came out last year. And there was a lot of hope for it and the hope didn't quite pan out. It's really not being used terribly widely.

However, there are hundreds in the pipeline and some of those worked differently.

[10:45:00]

They're different classes of drugs. The hope is that those might be even more promising than these.

GOLODRYGA: So many people suffering out there and so much money and research going into this. Hopefully, we can get that perfect match and cure at some point. Elizabeth Cohen, thank you.

Well, up next, Russian lawmakers passing new law that cracks down even further on the LGBTQ community. Why one Russian couple is defiantly sharing their love for the world to see. I'll speak with one of them, straight ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:50:00]

GOLODRYGA: Any day now, Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to sign a bill that would put even harsher restrictions on the LGBTQ community in his country. Russia's upper house of parliament unanimously passed it this morning. Now, the law would ban Russians from all ages from, quote, praising homosexual relationships or publicly suggesting that they are, quote, normal. That includes advertising, books, films and any form of media.

But one Russian couple, one prominent Russian couple has been leading an effort to challenge the Kremlin's views on gay marriage. They publicly shared the news of their wedding and have also protested the war in Ukraine.

Joining me now from Berlin is Mikhail Zygar. He is a friend of mine, a journalist and author of All the Kremlin's Men. Mikhail, good to see you, Misha, thank you so much coming on with us.

You shared your pictures of that special day, where you marry Jean- Michel in Portugal. You have left Russia now, and you are an expat after protesting the war, so you are living in Europe with many other fellow journalists who are protesting the war as well. There we see pictures.

On that day, when you posted those wedding pictures, you said that we got married, love, freedom, truth and happiness. It's time to start liberalization from yourself. What do you mean by that, liberalization?

MIKHAIL ZYGAR, AUTHOR, ALL THE KREMLIN'S MEN: You know, actually, we've got a lot of fissures (ph) with our liberty in Russia, and I think that we've got -- after the war has started, we all have to think about our own responsibility and about our own guilt and what we should do and what we could do.

So, I think that is very important for any Russian and that was my wedding toast, actually, at our wedding day. I suppose that probably after that terrible war has started, we should not recognize the Russian state anymore and we cannot recognize all those inhumane laws they are voting for. So, we have to set our own precedents, so we, as Russian civil society that opposes the war and is fighting against the war, we should set our precedent, and getting married, we are setting that precedent of legalization of same-sex marriages in Russia a future.

GOLODRYGA: And this anti-LGBTQ law follows a similar law passed in 2013. And for many people at home watching Russia essentially lose this war, some were asking why focus on the LGBTQ community when there's so many big existential threats to Vladimir Putin's reign at this point? Can you walk us through why, I don't know how else to describe it, but other than his obsession with the LGBTQ community and tying it to the west specifically?

ZYGAR: Sure. I won't surprise probably that there are a lot of rumors about high-ranking Russian official to be really gay but in the closet. And we don't know anything for sure because none of them has publicly admitted that, but there are a lot of rumors, for example, the chairman of the state Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, who became the first-time -- the first proponent of that so-called anti-gay law back in 2013, and now is the most ardent supporter of the new law. Besides, a lot of people from Putin's inner circle are supposed to be gays, so it's -- these are the widespread rumors.

I don't think that those rumors about, including himself, are reliable, I don't believe that, but, definitely, for the inner circle, that's not a sin and that's not a crime. So, it's quite obvious that they are privately okay with that. But they consider that it's a very cheap way -- cheap and easy way to get the approval of the huge masses of Russian population. They consider the Russian population to be very homophobic and they are sure that that law would be very popular.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, very homophobic and very conservative.

[10:55:02]

And you talk about this hold that the Kremlin still has over propaganda and the media, but you, as an expert on Putin's inner circle say that that may fool the Russian public, but it doesn't fool the inner circle in terms of his status now given that this war is not going at the speed that he had hoped it would, to say the least. Do you believe he's vulnerable right now, Vladimir Putin.

ZYGAR: I think he's more vulnerable than ever because especially after the retreat from Kherson, especially after the latest news from the frontline, it's obvious for the Russian bureaucratic elite group that he's not going to get away with it. So, it's probably the first time ever since the beginning of the war last month, it is obvious for the inner circle that he is losing, he is going to lose, and there is no way out for themselves, so probably they are thinking for their personal ways to escape that situation. They are still voting for any law he proposes. They are publicly supporting him but we're close to the end.

GOLODRYGA: Yes, his power is waning. Listen, Mikhail, it's great to have you on. Congratulation to you and Jean-Michel. Thank you so much. Take care.

ZYGAR: Thank you.

GOLODRYGA: And thank you so much for joining us today. I'm Bianna Golodryga.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto.

At This Hour with Kate Bolduan starts right after quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[11:00:00]