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Emergency Hearing Today To Stop New Illinois Gun Law; Key Report: Inflation Easing But Retail Spending Weaker; More People Raising Chickens As Egg Prices Soar; Study: Greenland's Ice Sheet Warmest In At Least 1,000 Years; Wyoming Bill Would Ban Electric Vehicles; Finland Study: Visiting Green Spaces Could Lower Need For Certain Meds; Starting Today, Veteran In "Acute Suicidal Crisis" Can Receive Free Emergency Mental Health Care. Aired 1:30-2p ET

Aired January 18, 2023 - 13:30   ET

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

[13:30:00]

WHITNEY WILD, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT CORRESPONDENT: And then, finally, the main argument they're making here is that they believe that the state, particularly when it comes to this limit on the number of bullets you can have in a magazine, that basically they are criminalizing law-abiding citizens.

Who have used laws that had been -- you know, or methods rather that have been lawful up until this point, basically criminalizing commonly used and traditionally lawful methods.

As you had mentioned, there are members of law enforcement here in Illinois who are saying, point blank, they won't enforce the law.

To which Governor Pritzker says there's nothing yet to enforce yet.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GOV. J.B. PRITZKER (D-IL): It's a lot of political grandstanding by elected Republican sheriffs you're hearing from. The truth is there's nothing for them to enforce at this point.

The fact is that, right now, we have one year for people to register the serial numbers of their assault weapons that are in existence. And of course, we've outlawed the purchase or sale of any of those types of weapons in Illinois going forward.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WILD: Erica, it's notable to remember this law is a direct response to the shooting in Highland Park over Fourth of July that killed seven people.

This law slid through the Illinois legislature very, very quickly. Again, these challenges were anticipated so certainly this is a case to watch.

ERICA HILL, CNN HOST: Whitney Wild, appreciate it. Thank you.

Well, inflation may be slowing. What about spending, though? Why are Americans reining it in? We'll take a closer look.

Plus, what the cluck? Oh, yes, the puns keep coming, my friends. Egg prices rising. Maybe you're thinking it's time to raise your own chickens? Is it really, though? Those chickens are not without risk. So before you build the coop, stick around for a little bit. It will help.

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[13:41:25]

HILL: Some good news for you and some not as good news when it comes to the economy today.

First up, a key report on -- a key report on wholesale prices, reinforcing the growing consensus that the worst of inflation is actually behind us. That sounds good, right?

There's also this report where shows consumers are reining it in and spending less, which could be another sign that a recession is near.

CNN's Rahel Solomon joining up now.

It's tough because the U.S. economy is built on, of course, consumer spending. So walk us through the numbers and what they tell us.

RAHEL SOLOMON, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: A great point, Erica. Consumer spending is the backbone of the U.S. economy.. So some good news.

Let's start with the good. Inflation. Yet another example inflation is easing. So this morning, we got the PPI report, the Producer Price Index report, which is essentially inflation or prices at the wholesale or supplier level.

And what it showed is that prices fell on a monthly basis 0.5 percent. Now, on an annual basis, prices are still higher by 6.2 percent so that's also not so good. But directionally, this is a good sign.

Now, when we look at some of the categories with the largest declines, it's categories like gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Vegetables, chicken, chicken eggs, however, not going down. And we saw price increases as well as electric power.

A few ways to look at like this. We can look at what it tells us about the most recent history but also what it tells us about where we're coming from and directionally where we may be going.

And take a look, 6.2 percent. That's a nice ways down from the peak we saw in March of 2022. That was 11.7 percent. So a nice -- wow, that's supposed to say 11.7. Nice decline there.

At the same time, Erica, as you pointed out, we have retail sales fell, which tells us about the health of the consumer. That fell. This was a disappointment. A 1.1 percent fall in retail sales for the month of December. November was also revised down. So, Erica, what this is telling us -- and I should say these are broad-based. What it's telling us, Erica, is that these higher prices, the higher rates are really starting to bite and it's shifting how people spend.

HILL: We're rethinking some of those decisions.

Rahel, appreciate it, as always.

From inflation to egg-flation. You heard Rahel mention that the price of eggs not going down and keeps rising.

Before you turn your backyard into a chicken coop and -- trust me, my husband has suggested this. Want to put the hen to work for you? You may want to think about it twice.

Who better to walk us through than our good friend, Tom Foreman.

It could work for you. But there's a lot to take into account, Tom, before you go and get chickens.

You have personal experience with this.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: I grew up in farm country. I was around people with chickens. I have been around chickens. I know chickens. Chickens are my friends.

The reason people want to do this is look what happened to prices here. From November to December, 11 percent up, the cost of egg, 60 percent up annually. That's a big, big jump out there.

So a lot of people are saying, look, can I invest in my backyard and get my own chickens and raise these chickens.

A lot to consider on that. You have to look at the rules of your neighborhood. You have to make sure you have the right amount of space for them.

And you have to consider some of the risks that are involved. If you have chickens out there, chickens are very prone to carry salmonella, at least they can carry it, their beaks, feet, even their bodies.

So you have to watch that. You have to keep their environment very clean if you're going to do that. That means work. You can't just grab them and let them go there.

How big a risk is this? Plenty of people get sick from it. And some, 225 wound up in 2022 would up in the hospital as a result of this, two deaths.

Is that enough to stop you? No. But it is enough to caution you. Think about what has to be done if you want to be safe raising your own chickens and your own eggs out there.

[13:40:02] Again, they have to have plenty of room. They have to be kept clean. You have to keep the place nice for them. Good for the chickens and you.

Children under 5, basically keep them away. Their systems of being able to fight off disease is not developed enough. They shouldn't be around the chickens.

Don't kiss or snuggle the chickens. I know it's tempting. But don't do it. Don't eat or drink near the chickens, especially not Popeyes, obvious reasons.

And you might want to have coop shoes, shoes that you only wear when you go in to see the chickens. And when you come out, you take them off so you don't bring that into the house.

Chickens are wonderful animals. You can be around them but you have to take them seriously for your health and for their health.

And ultimately, Erica, here's the thing. If your husband goes ahead with this and start raising chickens at home, you have to treat the eggs in a special way as well.

First, collect them immediately. Don't let them sit out there forever. Throw away any with cracks that could allow bacteria to get inside. These are also porous, though they don't look like it.

So you wipe off the dirt. You don't wash them off unless you're going to immediately refrigerate them. Even then, use warm water to push the bacteria out, not draw it in. Refrigerate them.

Yes, if they're fresh, they can sit on the counter for a while. Some people don't want to refrigerate them. But it's safer.

When you use them, look for a firm white and yolk to tell you that that egg is healthy.

It's a great experiment. It's a fun thing to do. It's interesting to do and it might save you money.

Although, a little warning. If you and your husband get a bunch of little chicks --

HILL: We're not.

FOREMAN: -- they won't produce eggs for a long time.

HILL: We are not getting chickens. If I were to, I would call chicken expert, Tom Foreman, for advice.

FOREMAN: Call me. We'll talk about it. You'll have chickens before next weekend.

HILL: You and Dave can chat. But the fact you can't cuddle with your chicken, out the window here.

(CROSSTALK)

HILL: I'll stick with the dog. Stick with the dog.

Tom Foreman, my friend, always good to see you.

FOREMAN: Good to see you.

HILL: A terrifying tipping point. Sea levels rising and so are the temperatures in Greenland. The warmest levels on the ice sheet there in at least a thousand years.

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[13:46:35]

HILL: A new study shows the temperatures on Greenland's ice sheet are the warmest in at least a thousand years. And as temperatures rise, of course, ice melts, the water levels go up, and it can be a recipe for disaster.

As we've seen potentially leading to more scenes like this one. You remember this house in North Carolina that washed into the ocean.

CNN chief climate correspondent, Bill Weir, is here.

It's been a thousand years, so we know that it was this warm a thousand years ago. What happened when it was this warm a thousand years ago?

BILL WEIR, CNN CHIEF CLIMATE CORRESPONDENT: We didn't have the civilizations on the coast as we do now. That's our richest, most- coveted real estate. We hadn't built on places like the barrier islands, which you saw there.

And at the current rates and at the current melt rates, Greenland will add a foot and a half of sea level rise by the end of the century. That means re-engineering every port, as you think about that.

But this is just more empirical evidence of what scientists have been trying to tell us for a long time.

CNN was with these scientists when they put the ice cores in 10 years ago. Fred Pleitgen with them.

Now they can look at the bubbles of gas and measure it against the long record and see, yes, we now live on a planet much warmer than any human ancestor before.

HILL: I think it's important when you put it in that context. Not just about people's homes but re-engineering all these ports. So much of what the world depends on.

I wanted to get your take on this story. This stood out. A group of lawmakers in Wyoming has proposed a bill that they want to phase out sales of new electric vehicles in the next 12 years or so. And part of the reason that they're citing is they're impractical and raising issues with the batteries that could cause environmental issues in terms of disposal.

And they highlight how important the gas and oil industry is to the state's economy. One sponsor told "The Washington Post," well, really this is about starting a conversation.

WEIR: Right.

HILL: Do we see more of these types of conversations happening?

WEIR: I think so. The last line in that particular measure was, "I want to copy this and send it immediately to Gavin Newsom, the governor of California, who, of course, is banning gas-powered cars by 2025.

But they raise good points in places like Wyoming where you drive long stretches of highway. How are you going to build charging infrastructure fairly in places like that?

Yes, it will disrupt mineral mining and recycling. And we should have those conversations.

The joke is that if horses could vote around the time of Henry Ford, we wouldn't have cars. You know? They didn't get replaced by vote. They got replaced because a new technology came along that was better. Kerosene replaced whale oil.

So the market, we're not going back. E.V.s are one out of every 10 cars now.

HILL: Bill Weir, always good to see you.

WEIR: Good to see you.

HILL: Thank you.

[13:49:06]

If you were tired of taking a lot of medications, maybe you should try a walk. There's new proof today that the great outdoors really could be the best medicine.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

HILL: If you'd like to cut back on the number of medications and pills you're taking, a walk in the park could be the best prescription.

CNN medical correspondent, Dr. Tara Narula, joining us now with the details on this new study.

This sounds like a win to me.

DR. TARA NARULA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I hope you have your walking shoes on, Erica. This is an interesting study out of Finland where they surveyed about

6,000 Finland individuals who lived in three of the largest cities and they asked them about their use of green and blue spaces within one kilometer of their residents.

And they found those individuals that frequented green spaces the most often required or used less of their mental health medications and their blood pressure medications by about 30 percent and a 25 percent or more decrease in asthma medications.

It's hard to know what the cause-and-effect relationship here is. But you can surmise that it has to do in some part by physical activity, because it did require walking to a park, possibly lower stress hormones or reduced stress levels. And then social connections.

[13:55:00]

HILL: I mean, either way, it sounds like a recipe for success, or a prescription for success, I should say.

NARULA: Yes.

HILL: Another reason to get outside.

I know we're short on time, but before we let you go, military veterans, as we know, there's an acute crisis when it comes to suicide in this country. Now they can receive free treatment.

What do we know about this?

NARULA: This is a huge step forward and so important. We know that suicide in 2020 by report took the lives of about 6,000 vets. It was the 13th leading cause of death, second leading cause of death for vets under the age of 45.

To get free care in the sense, in the setting of an acute suicidal crisis will be really important. Free inpatient care and 90 day out patient care.

HILL: That is huge. So important.

Dr. Tara Narula, appreciate it as always. Thank you.

Thanks to all of you for joining me this hour.

Stay tuned. Much more news coming your way with Alisyn and Victor after this quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)