Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Southwest Vows To Make Things Right With Passengers After Meltdown; Nearly Half Of All States Will See A Minimum Wage Hike In 2023; Senior Citizens Receive Big Hike In Social Security Benefits; Study: Staying Hydrated Could Lower Disease Risk, Help You Live Longer; Actor Jeremy Renner Critically Injured In Snow Plow Accident; Thousands Pay Tribute To Soccer Icon Pele During Wake. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired January 02, 2023 - 10:30   ET

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

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:34:15]

JIM SCIUTTO, CNN ANCHOR: Well, the holiday season mostly over, means the travel nightmare for thousands of passengers at U.S. airports also hopefully coming in. Imagined Stillson folks got fly on.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: I mean, cross your fingers and toes.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Right? Who knows. After Southwest Airlines disastrous meltdown, maybe putting it mildly, I'm sure a lot of folks would say, the carrier is now vowing to make things right with outrage travelers, some of whom were stranded for days. CNN Aviation Correspondent Pete Muntean joining us now live from Reagan National Airport. So, OK, they're vowing to make it right. What does that mean?

PETE MUNTEAN, CNN AVIATION CORRESPONDENT: It's a great question, Erica. You know, we will see as the days pass here, there's so much pressure on Southwest to get it right not only from the passengers, and the consumer angle, but also from the Department of Transportation, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and also members of Congress who are vowing to investigate exactly what went wrong here with Southwest.

[10:35:08]

So far so smooth today, about a 300 flight cancelations nationwide. Southwest has canceled only about 130 flights. So they account for about half of all the cancelations nationwide. That is way down from where we were around this time last week, when Southwest was canceling 2,000 or 3,000 flights a day. We're talking about stranding the population of Wyoming in terms of passengers.

Look at the cancelations board here at Reagan National Airport. Things are relatively on time. We've seen some delays pop up. The big question now, according from travel experts, is whether or not Southwest can quickly refund all these passengers who had their flights canceled. And employees say it is so crucial for Southwest to repair its reputation, not only from their standpoint, but also from the passenger standpoint.

I want you to listen now to one of the leaders of the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association, who says Southwest has to fix this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE SANTORO, VICE PRESIDENT, SOUTHWEST AIRLINES PILOTS ASSOCIATION: I think, initially, it's going to cause some damage. Of course, the lives of people not getting to their Christmas plans, which one of the most important days of the year. So totally, completely understandable that they're going to be upset.

I do encourage them, though, to give us a shot, another shot. I think we're going to end up fixing this going forward. You know, it does take a pretty -- very large weather event to make this happen. And the union -- the pilots union is definitely repressing the company very hard and making sure things get fixed.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MUNTEAN: This is the way that you can get refunded by Southwest Airlines, southwestairlines.com/traveldisruption. You put in your confirmation number and your name. That is the way you can submit receipts and get refunded for expenses that you incurred from the airline if your flight was x.

The other big thing now is reunited passengers with their luggage. There is still a big pile here at Reagan National Airport. We've seen it happen at airports across the country, Oakland, El Paso, that part of the story is not yet over yet, Jim and Erica.

SCIUTTO: Yes, let's hope to know Christmas presents in there. I do want to ask because a lot of money went to airlines during the pandemic.

MUNTEAN: Yes.

SCIUTTO: Could any of this money have been spent on a system that would have prevented this?

MUNTEAN: I think that's a question that Congress will really have to ask. You know, Southwest received about $7 billion in COVID funds, airlines 52 billion in total. The biggest part of that money was to keep airline employees on the job. And it did do that. There were not mass furloughs over the pandemic.

Now the question is, should have Southwest spent that money on updating its outdated infrastructure in the back end to try and make it so that this meltdown could have been avoided in the first place.

SCIUTTO: Pete Muntean, good to have you on the case. Thanks so much.

HILL: Well, the New Year, ushering in some new laws that were passed during the midterm election. So let's see what some of those are. People in nearly half of all states will see a hike in the minimum wage. At the top, Washington State now has the highest 15, 74 an hour. Washington, D.C., however, continues to have the overall highest minimum wage for the country. It will hit $17 July 1.

SCIUTTO: Lots of big stuff that taking effect this month. The sale of recreational marijuana will also begin in three new states this year. Those are Missouri, Connecticut, Maryland, although Maryland's law takes effect in July. Finally, two key provisions of Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, as it is known, are now kicking in. A $35 cap on the price of insulin for Medicare beneficiaries. That's a big deal.

And a tax credit of up to $7,500 on electric vehicles. We should note, though, that starting in March, there will be some restrictions to qualify for that full credit including where exactly the vehicle is built, its price and your income things to keep track of.

HILL: Also, millions of senior citizens set to see a big boost in their social security checks this year.

SCIUTTO: That's a big deal. Benefits will increase by 8.7 percent. That is the largest increase in more than 40 years. CNN's Tami Luhby, she joins us now. She's been following this. That's a big increase. Inflation is also high though, right? So does it cover the inflation rate?

TAMI LUHBY, CNN SENIOR WRITER: Well, it certainly is a big increase. It's good news for the 70 million senior citizens and other Americans who are on Social Security. It means their monthly payments are going to go up by more than $140.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

LUHBY: And they'll receive an average of $1,827. And that will certainly go far to help buy them buy food --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LUHBY: -- pay for the high heating costs now, other essentials. But Social Security has failed to keep up with inflation for years, for decades. And in fact, the Senior Citizens League has calculated that last year's Cola, which was also pretty sizable, fell short by -- of inflation by about $42 a month -- I'm sorry, $42 a month or about 46 percent.

And that means more seniors have had to go -- they found from their surveys that more seniors had to go to their -- to food pantries --

SCIUTTO: Wow.

LUHBY: -- to apply for heating assistance. You know, it's been difficult on them so they've had to turn to public assistance.

SCIUTTO: Wow.

LUHBY: And that's partially because it's not a new problem.

[10:40:01]

And in fact, the league also calculated that inflation has caused Social Security payments to lose 40 percent of their buying power --

HILL: Wow.

LUHBY: -- since 2000.

HILL: 40 percent in 20 some odd years, that's a lot.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: When we look at this, when there's this bigger cost of living adjustment, right? We see the biggest one in nearly four decades, are there any downsides here?

LUHBY: There are. So it's good that, you know, obviously, they're receiving more money. But that may mean also that they no longer qualify for or as much for Medicaid, public assistance, food stamps, rental assistance. There are a lot of programs that are based on income, and if their income gets too high --

SCIUTTO: This could put you over that limit.

LUHBY: -- this could put you over the edge.

SCIUTTO: Interesting.

LUHBY: And also, they may have to start paying taxes on their Social Security benefits or more taxes on their Social Security benefits.

SCIUTTO: Oh men.

LUHBY: And finally, of course, Social Security's finances are on shaky ground as it is.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LUHBY: The trustees think that the trust funds are going to run out -- or be depleted by 2035. So big increases like these also --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

LUHBY: -- cut into that.

HILL: Could potentially (INAUDIBLE).

LUHBY: There are mitigating factors --

HILL: Right.

LUHBY: -- but it could be a problem.

HILL: All right, Tami, always good to see you. Appreciate it. Thank you.

LUHBY: Thank you.

SCIUTTO: All right. So, maybe something good to at least help you out, right, when it comes to health.

HILL: I love something good.

SCIUTTO: One of the major factors and living longer maybe how much water you drink. The impact staying hydrated has on your health and ways to do that, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:46:01]

SCIUTTO: We've been talking a lot this morning about this story because --

HILL: Yes, we have.

SCIUTTO: -- there's some news here that it's helpful. Staying hydrated, important for your body in so many ways, a new study shows. This study suggesting it could be a lifesaver.

HILL: A true lifesaver. CNN Senior Medical Correspondent Elizabeth Cohen joining us with more details on this. I love this one. It's good health news for us. That's also really easy to follow.

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: Elizabeth, what else did the study find?

ELIZABETH COHEN, CNN SENIOR MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Exactly. So many times we sort of -- people have complicated ways to prolong their life and avoid illness. This one's really quite easy, just stay hydrated. This was a fascinating study of more than 11,000 people, they followed them for decades, they looked at their hydration levels by checking their blood. So that's a really good way of doing that.

And here's what they found in this huge study. They found that folks who were on the low side of hydration who weren't giving enough, they were had a 21 percent increased risk of premature death, and an up to 64 percent increased risk of heart failure, diabetes, dementia, increased risk of all sorts of other things as well.

So I think we all know this, that you should stay hydrated. Today is a great day to make that new year's resolution. You know, you don't have to do anything complicated. Just drink more. Erica, Jim?

SCIUTTO: So here's the key question, right, because sometimes this could sound intimidating, because folks are like, oh, I got to drink like, 12 bottles of water a day. And, you know, that's inconvenient. So exactly how much do people need to be drinking to be healthy?

COHEN: Right. So there's no way to say exactly how much because it depends on how big you are, it depends whether you live in a hot climate, or a cold climate. It depends on how active you are. But there are some general guidelines. So let's take a look at this. For women, nine cups of fluids a day, and for men 13 a day.

Now, as I said, that's really going to vary based on your age and your size, and all sorts of other things. But I think that gives you kind of a rough idea. And, by the way, it doesn't have to be water. It can be coffee, it can be juice, it could be beer. But, remember, if you drink a lot of coffee, you might get a little too hyped up on caffeine. Drink too much juice, you're getting too much --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

COHEN: -- sugar, drink too much beer, you're going to be drunk all day, like that's not good. So, you know, think about, if it's not water, think about the downsides of what you're drinking or the potential downsides.

SCIUTTO: That's one that caught our attention is that -- and Erica told me first, I should say, is that actually drinking coffee does hydrate you a bit, maybe not ideal --

HILL: Yes.

COHEN: -- but it gives you some hydration.

HILL: There was always --

SCIUTTO: I don't know that.

HILL: -- just talk out there that it sort of negated --

SCIUTTO: Yes.

HILL: -- in my mind, it negated every cup of water, every cup of coffee negated that cup of water but that's not actually the case. So, I love it. I'm in.

SCIUTTO: Time it's going to go. You know, let me just go fill this up --

HILL: Jim is going to get healthy now.

SCIUTTO: Elizabeth Cohen, thanks so much.

Now a serious story we've been following this morning, the actor Jeremy Renner is in critical but thankfully stable condition at a Nevada hospital. This after being injured in an accident while snowplowing. The Washoe County sheriff's offices that Renner was the only person involved in a traumatic injury incident yesterday in Reno, where he has a home.

The Oscar nominated actor currently stars in the series, "Mayor of Kingstown." Renner's representative says his family is with him, and he's receiving excellent care.

HILL: Just ahead here, thousands of Brazilians paying their final respects to soccer legend Pele during a 24-hour public wake. We're going to take you there live. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[10:53:40]

HILL: In Brazil, thousands of people are paying their respects to soccer icon Pele who died last week from colon cancer. A 24-hour public wake is now underway in Santos. Pele's coffin resting in the middle of the pitch there at the stadium where he started his legendary career.

SCIUTTO: Journalist Stefano Pozzebon joins us now from Santos. And I wonder, folks, of course, know Pele, world famous beloved, I think around the world, but in Brazil, in particular, right, he's such an icon, so important in so many ways. And I wonder if you could explain that and how people are expressing that today.

STEFANO POZZEBON, CNN JOURNALIST: Yes, Jim. I mean, it's hard to put into words how a significant ambassador for this country Pele has been there since he rose to stardom in 1958 when he score two goals in the FIFA World Cup final when he was just 17 years old. From that moment, he has been a staple of Brazilian sports lines, but also Brazilian -- Brazilianist, if you want, he was really an ambassador and a symbol for this country, was a mentor for so many soccer stars throughout the decades.

But at the same time, I have a little trivia for you, Jim. I don't know if the last match, the last soccer game that Pele played in 1977 was actually in New York City with rolled club New York Cosmos against the club here Santos FC.

[10:55:01]

So I think here we see this double condition of Pele as being a global icon and ambassador of the beautiful game playing in New York just at the old giant Stadium, the old MetLife Stadium close to where you and Erica are. But at the same time, a very Brazilian icon and that is reflected here with samba that is going on a very low samba here, as people are paying their respects, and just a multitude of Brazilian flags in front of his casket. Jim?

SCIUTTO: I'm glad you brought that up. I remember the Cosmos. I was a fan as a kid in the 70s in New York, and it's a nice memory of him.

POZZEBON: That's right.

HILL: Stefano, appreciate it.

POZZEBON: That's right.

HILL: Thank you.

And thanks to all of you for joining us today. I'm Erica Hill.

SCIUTTO: And I'm Jim Sciutto. Very Happy New Year to you and your family. "AT THIS HOUR" with Jessica Dean starts right after a short break. (COMMERCIAL BREAK)