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Supreme Court Rejects Request To Quickly Hear Trump Immunity Dispute; United States Officials Warn Texas-Mexico Border Near Breaking Point Amid Record Migrant Crossings; Hamas-Controlled Health Ministry: Death Toll In Gaza Rises To 20,000+; Humanitarian Crisis Deepening Every Day In Gaza; Tricky Travel Possible As Storms Merge, Target Central U.S.; Fed's Favorite Inflation Gauge Showed It Easing Further In November; CA Water Board Approves New "Toilet To Tap" Regulations. Aired 1-2p ET

Aired December 23, 2023 - 13:00   ET

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

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[13:00:38]

OMAR JIMENEZ, CNN HOST: Hi, everyone. Thanks for joining me. I'm Omar Jimenez in for Fredricka Whitfield.

We've got a lot to get to, starting with just weeks -- we're weeks away to go until the start of the 2024 presidential race.

GOP front runner Donald Trump just scored a major legal victory against Special Counsel Jack Smith in that the Supreme Court issued a one sentence judgment yesterday, bluntly rejecting Smith's request to fast-track arguments on the president's -- on the former president's immunity case.

So, what comes next? CNN's Evan Perez breaks it down for us.

EVAN PEREZ, CNN SENIOR JUSTICE CORRESPONDENT: The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request by federal prosecutors to skip the appellate court and have the High Court decide whether Donald Trump has immunity from prosecution in the election subversion charges.

The decision deals a significant blow to Special Counsel Jack Smith's effort to keep a March 4th trial date on track.

That's a lot harder now that prosecutors will have to wait several weeks while the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals weighs the same consequential questions.

Now, Trump is arguing that he has immunity for actions that he took while in office to pursue his claims of election fraud.

He also claims that because he was impeached by the House of Representatives and acquitted by the Senate, prosecuting him would violate the Constitution's double jeopardy clause.

Trump's attorneys urged the Supreme Court to stay out of the dispute for now, saying that the special counsel was, "trying to rush to decide the issues with reckless abandon."

The justice department had argued that the fact that this case deals with an unprecedented criminal trial of a former president, required taking the unusual step of bypassing the appeals court.

The special counsel said, the public interest in a prompt resolution of this case favors an immediate definitive decision by this Court. Now, the one sentence rejection by the Supreme Court on Friday didn't come with any additional explanation. There is no notice of the sense among the justices. But Trump's claim of immunity could make its way back to the High Court in the thick of the political calendar.

The D.C.-based appeals court has scheduled or oral arguments on the immunity question for January 9th. And that is just days before the Iowa caucus on January 15th.

JIMENEZ: Evan Perez, thank you so much. So, lots to talk about here. Joining me now to discuss the legal implications of these developments is Neama Rahmani. He is a former federal prosecutor and the president of West Coast Trial Lawyers. Neama, thanks for joining us.

So, what is this decision tell you about the courts' thinking right now, and the justices decide not to fast track this case, let the court of appeals handle at first, and when they don't give a single reason why, it's just your petition is denied?

NEAMA RAHMANI, FORMER FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Well, the Supreme Court is a court of discretionary jurisdiction and granting cert or an appeal before a judgement in the Court of Appeals is rare.

Obviously, this is a unique case. And we all know that delay is the friend of Donald Trump. If he wins in November and regains control of the White House, it's well established that a sitting president can't be prosecuted.

So, it's in his interest to push this out as long as he can, especially because there is that state or that pause in Judge Chutkan's case in the D.C. court.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And there's always questions too about what her jurisdiction, Judge Chutkan would actually be over the course of this appeals process and potentially a Supreme Court.

Now, look, Special Counsel Jack Smith, and part of his -- part of his argument pointed to a Watergate-era case in his brief. In that case, the Supreme Court, they leapfrog the appeals court to quickly hear a case, in which the justices ultimately rejected then-President Richard Nixon's claims of presidential privilege in a subpoena fight over Oval Office tape.

So, if you're a Supreme Court justice here, would you also have rejected Smith's argument?

RAHMANI: I would have accepted the case. But we know during the Supreme Court conference, it takes four justices to agree to an expedited appeal. And the issue now is the D.C. Court of Appeals is going to hear oral argument in January. And it may take months for them to issue a decision.

And unless this case gets on the courts calendar, and there's oral argument by April, the Supreme Court isn't going to hear this case. So, that's going to push this out. The question is does that stay in place? Is there the pause in the proceedings?

[13:05:04]

And if so, then, we're likely going to see this heard if at all during the Supreme Court's next term.

JIMENEZ: And that's part of what Jack Smith was arguing. That the gravity of this case requires the Supreme Court to look at it right now, or as soon as possible, as opposed to going through an appeals process, where, in theory, either side would be appealing, whatever is decided, at that point.

Now, as you mentioned, those the appeals arguments, the first one scheduled for January 9th, and you alluded to sort of what the timeline could be that we're seeing. But you've worked in the legal system long enough. I mean, how long of a purview are we looking at here, when you consider going through an appeals court, and then, potentially the Supreme Court as well?

RAHMANI: Now, that there is no expedited appeal, or certain before judgment, like we saw in the United States versus Dixon -- Nixon. Or some of the other cases, frankly, that Donald Trump handled. He expedited death penalty cases, for instance, with his department of justice. It's going to be pushed out months. There's really no set timeline for the D.C. Court of Appeals.

They may issue an opinion, sometime this summer, or well into the fall. There is no specific guideline for them. And then, of course, once that order comes out, then, we have to be if the Supreme Court agrees to take the case.

Again, they have discretion, and if so, they are going to set a briefing schedule. But probably, we're looking into, well, into 2024, maybe even 2025, if it goes through the normal process.

JIMENEZ: Yes. So, and obviously, that would be after the November election to which so many are looking at this as a critical, critical point, specifically with what the president is charged with, in this particular case.

Neama Rahmani, I got to leave it there. Thank you so much for being with us.

RAHMANI: Thanks for having me.

JIMENEZ: And we want to shift to the unprecedented migrant surge at the southern border. In recent days, there has been more than 10,000 migrant crossing. The numbers not seen since before COVID-era restrictions were lifted.

And this comes as Texas Governor Greg Abbott just signed into law a measure, which grants local law enforcement the power to arrest migrants, and gives judges the ability to issue orders to remove them to Mexico.

Earlier today, a Catholic bishop in El Paso told CNN, those types of laws are a real concern.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BISHOP MARK J. SEITZ, CATHOLIC DIOCESE OF EL PASO: And it's not helpful to have states fighting with the government, the federal government, in this role of receiving immigrants. So, it is set out in our constitution as a federal authority. And they need the opportunity to do that.

We also -- it's not also helpful to treat those who are coming to our borders, though, is there an invading army.

They are people who are fleeing to the border. And once we recognize that reality and their humanity, then, we can begin perhaps to develop responses that will be truly helpful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

JIMENEZ: We're covering this on multiple fronts. And joining me now is Rafael Romo from Texas. He is down in Texas right now. And Kevin Liptak, from Washington.

Let's start with you, Rafael. How are border communities responding to the surge?

RAFAEL ROMO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: It is a very tough situation here because beyond the politics, and this is a very political issue. As you know, Omar, there is a very real concern about the resources that these people have to take care of their own emergencies, whether law enforcement is going to be able to respond in any given situation, given that they're tied up, trying to take care of this crisis.

And let me describe the extremely complicated situation, here at the border. Right behind me, you see hundreds of migrants that were brought here by border patrol agents after they surrendered themselves to officials at the border. Something that happens hour after hour. They are now waiting to be processed.

The Rio Grande -- the Rio Grande is just beyond this migrant camp behind me.

On my right you see the international railroad bridge. Trains are moving now, but railroad crossings were suspended for the last week because border officials had to reassign personnel with the numbers of migrants here, and trying to take care of this situation in this area.

And this meant, Omar, losses of $200 million per day. And this is according to figures by the railroad company, Union Pacific Railway, and American agricultural groups complaining about backups on the rail system as far north as the Canada border. And then, on my left, you see one of two international bridges for cargo trucks that are -- that also have to be inspected. And as you can imagine, handling all of this puts a lot of pressure on border officials, especially, given the record numbers of migrants crossing the border.

[13:10:03]

Local officials like Congressman Tony Gonzalez, a Republican say the situation here at the border is at a breaking point.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. TONY GONZALES (R-TX): They are exhausted, we are all exhausted. This crisis has spiraled way out of control. And we are at the point of no return.

That is where we're at. The point of no return. So, while -- the time to act is now. More people are still coming, and there's more people in the pipeline, and I suspect Christmas will be worse than today. And New Year's will be worse than today. We are going the absolute wrong direction.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMO: And Omar, across the border, Mexican president, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, said, he will host both U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Homeland Security Secretary Alexandro Mayorkas, on Wednesday in Mexico City to discuss joint measures, so that both countries can address this crisis together. Now, back to you.

JIMENEZ: And it's been an ongoing crisis. It's important perspective from the ground there. Kevin, I want to get to you, because the Biden administration at a negotiating side of things, they have been coming under fire for how they've been handling this crisis. So far. How are they responding?

KEVIN LIPTAK, CNN WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yes, and certainly this is a logistical challenge for the Biden administration. When you look at where these migrants are crossing, it's not just one particular sector, it's all across the border.

And so, it is a major challenge for the administration that -- in that area, but it's also a major political challenge for President Biden, as it has been for so many presidents before him.

This is really an intractable issue, that few presidents have really managed in a way that gains approval from all sides. One thing that President Biden is doing is trying to apply pressure on the Mexican president, they held a phone call last week, and what President Biden really wants to do is increase enforcement on that side of the border. So, it will curb some of these flows that you're seeing into the United States.

The White House has also requested $14 billion from Congress for more enforcement along the border to bolster resources, to increase the personnel that are trying to manage these flows to process them when they come into the United States.

But right now, that money is caught up in a back and forth between Democrats and Republicans who do want to reform some of these migration rules.

And that has been in a negotiation that's ongoing. Congress did leave town for the holidays. So, it won't be until they come back until that money is approved.

But, when it comes down to it, President Biden is caught in a bind here, certainly, from Republicans and even some Democrats who want him to do more to stem the flow of migrants. But also on the other side, from progressives, from immigration advocates who do worry that some of the rules changes that are being discussed would amount to a reversion to some of the highly restrictive policies in the Trump administration.

So, certainly, as we head into this election year, this will be an issue that continues to weigh on President Biden as the election heats up, Omar.

JIMENEZ: And Kevin, this is something that Rafael mentioned as well. But I want to get some of the White House perspective, because Mexico's president said he would meet with U.S. officials in Mexico City to discuss immigration and the surge at the southern border next week. What is the administration expecting from this meeting?

LIPTAK: Yes, and this trip really does tell you how urgently the White House is viewing this. It will be Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the Homeland Security Secretary Mayorkas, as well as President Biden's Homeland Security Adviser Liz Sherwood-Randall, they will be going to Mexico and one of the things that they want to discuss is sort of ramping up the enforcement in Mexico that could prevent some of these flows coming into the United States. Whether it's positioning more troops in southern Mexico to sort of intercept the flows coming from Central and Southern America, but also ramping up personnel along the U.S.-Mexico border, on that side.

This is something that the U.S. has been discussing with Mexico for some time. And in fact, administration officials do believe that they have made some progress on that front. They describe a level of cooperation with Mexico that they're pleased with. But certainly, this tells you that they do want Mexico to do more. And this will be a sort of an urgent trip during the holiday season for these officials to continue these discussions that President Biden initiated last week in his phone call with the Mexican president.

JIMENEZ: Yes, an ongoing issue with a lot of perspectives at play here. Rafael Romo down in Eagle Pass, Texas. Kevin Liptak at the White House. Thank you much -- thank you so much.

Still to come, the Israel Defense Forces claimed they have killed a top Hamas official. We're going to take you live to Tel Aviv next.

And later, hoping for snow this Christmas? You may be just disappointed. The wet, not white Christmas for millions of Americans. [13:14:49]

Stay with us.

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JIMENEZ: We've been following breaking news out of Gaza. Israel Defense Forces and Israel security agencies say they have killed a Hamas official who was involved in smuggling weapons into the enclave.

Now, the announcement comes as the IDF issued new evacuation orders for central Gaza. Warning it's working forcefully against Hamas in the area. The Israeli military also says it's expanding operations with an emphasis on Southern Gaza.

On Friday, the U.N. Security Council adopted a resolution calling for urgent steps to allow safe and unhindered humanitarian access throughout the enclave. And Gaza's Hamas controlled health ministry says more than 200 people have been killed in the last 24 hours alone, pushing the death toll well over 20,000 since October 7th.

CNN's Will Ripley is in Tel Aviv.

So, Will, The U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees is criticizing new Israeli evacuation orders for central Gaza.

[13:20:02]

Why? What are they saying?

WILL RIPLEY, CNN SENIOR INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, let me just set the scene for you here, Omar.

We have had horrible weather over the last few days, we've had cold, bitter, cold, biting winds, torrential rain, that you can't see around me, because I'm lucky enough to be standing under a roof with protection on either side.

But if I were to step just a few feet to the right, I would be drenched in a matter of minutes, especially about five minutes ago, when the rain was coming down so hard, you could hear it really pounding on the roof.

People are living on the elements right now in Gaza in these conditions, maybe they've been able to put up makeshift tents, in some cases. Just imagine now having to be told that you have a matter of hours to pack up your family, when everybody is hungry.

The entire population of Gaza 2.2 million people facing acute hunger right now. It's exhausting, when you don't have enough food to eat, to have to pack up, and then, be told to go somewhere else in this kind of weather. You have no idea where you can go, you have no idea where it's going to be safe, where there is not going to be airstrikes, with airstrikes happening all around you. That is the situation that people in Gaza are facing right now. And yet, Israel insists that this is what they have to do to carry out their military objectives of eliminating the Hamas leadership. And you mentioned, one of the officials that in charge of smuggling weapons, the IDF says was killed in a jet fighter strike, within the last day or so.

I want to also tell you about what this -- what people are saying. What the United Nations is saying about these force movements of Gazans. Some of these families have had to relocate not just once or twice, but three or four times. 80 percent or more of the population at this point is displaced.

So, let me just read you this quote from Thomas White, head of the U.N. Agency for Palestinian Refugees. He says, "People in Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a checkerboard. Many have already been displaced several times. The Israeli army just orders people to move into areas where there are ongoing airstrikes. No place is safe, nowhere to go."

So, misery on top of misery, and now even more uncertainty for so many families in Gaza with these new -- with these new orders to move, or else, they could die.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And as you've alluded to, the humanitarian crisis is just deepening in Gaza. UNICEF now says more than 330,000 children are at high risk for malnutrition and preventable deaths.

I mean, what is the situation? And you talking about the weather and frustration over evacuation orders. But what is the situation on the ground in Gaza right now, especially for some of these children?

RIPLEY: The food situation in Gaza is more horrific, according to those who measure this sort of thing than even North Korea at the height of the famine there in the late 1990s. The percentage of people who are now facing acute hunger, which is the entire population of Gaza, more than 2 million people. The IPC says this is the highest catastrophic level of food insecurity they have ever classified for any given area or country, since they have been keeping records. Let that sink in for a moment.

And it's impossible to get supplies like food in, because safely, you just can't -- you can't do it. You can't do it when there is a constant bombardment, there is -- there is intense ground fighting happening right now. And so, people are essentially trapped in Gaza. Food is unable to get in, people unable to get out, and the situation getting more dire, not just by the day, but by the hour.

JIMENEZ: Will Ripley, thank you for your reporting.

I want to bring in David Sanger. He is a CNN political and national security analyst, also, a White House and national security correspondent for The New York Times.

David, good to see you. I want to start with the U.N. Security Council. I mean, they finally passed a resolution on aid for Gaza after weeks of talks; U.S. abstained from the vote. But when you make of this resolution, I mean, will it actually help people in Gaza?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, Omar, as you heard from Will, and there is sort of two separate things going on here.

What happens at the U.N. and what happens on the ground? The good news about the U.N. resolution is the process of getting there with the Israelis to open up some new gates, including one of the key gates that is in the northern part of Gaza. And that's comes in straight from Israel.

So, there should be more trucks that can get in. But as you just heard from Will, that doesn't help you very much if you're in an active war zone. And what the resolution did not include and the United States said it would not -- it would not abstain or vote for it, and left the impression of good will veto if it included this, was any call for a ceasefire.

JIMENEZ: Yes.

SANGER: And, of course, that's where the U.S. and its allies have now split.

You're seeing most of the European countries saying we need a ceasefire there. The U.S. has taken the position if you do that, Israel cannot accomplish its goal of eliminating Hamas.

And that's what leads us to the critical question, which is, are there ways to go after Hamas other than what President Biden himself last weekend once and only briefly referred to as indiscriminate bombing?

[13:25:05]

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. And there have been pushes to try and make the Israeli military option operation much more targeted, as opposed to, again, as you said, indiscriminate bombing, for example.

Now, the IDF is expanding operations in southern Gaza, even as we learned that an American who has held hostage by Hamas has died. How much pressure is on President Biden to get the remaining Americans home, as Israel, of course, deals with the dichotomy that they have been clear about trying to get hostages out, but also trying to eliminate Hamas at what it seemed to be nearly all costs.

SANGER: Well, essentially, there is some pressure on President Biden, just as there always as long there are American hostages. And Gaza is not the only place, unfortunately, where Americans are being held hostage. But by comparison, I don't see quite as much pressure on him on the hostage issue, as I do on the issue that you're hearing from so many that the U.S. is providing much of the armament that's being used for this bombing. Prime Minister Netanyahu is facing, in many ways, more pressure, because almost all of the hostages are Israeli. And there are two goals that he has laid out. Once to destroy the mass, the others to get all the hostages back. And clearly those two goals are in deep tension with each other.

JIMENEZ: Yes, yes. Now, look, this conflict and this war, the fighting has not been happening in a vacuum. I want to turn over to the -- to the war and between Russia and Ukraine. There is a new report in The New York Times today that cites anonymous sources, but says Russia's Vladimir Putin is privately saying he is ready to make a deal on a ceasefire.

Do you buy that at this stage of the war here?

SANGER: Yes. So, this article, which is worth your viewers taking a look at, written by my colleagues, Anton Troianovski and Julian Barnes. It's a remarkable piece of reporting, because it shows that twice, Putin has raised the possibility of entering negotiations for what would essentially be a ceasefire in Ukraine.

But what he has floated, and he's always done this, you know, through intermediaries so that it's deniable, and so forth. What is floated is basically that Russia holds on to the existing lands that it is now occupying, and that's much of the south and east. It's just shy of 20 percent of the country. And that's simply not a discussion that, at this point, that you're seeing President Zelenskyy be willing to answer.

And, you know, the Ukrainian goal here is still go back to the lines of February 23, 2022. In other words, the lines that existed the day before the invasion.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Now, it will be a critical set -- a critical dynamic to watch moving forward here. I also want to point to Putin critic, Alexei Navalny, he is now missed a second court appearance. His team says, he'd been missing for over two weeks.

SANGER: Yes.

JIMENEZ: What do you think his disappearance, at least, as far as we know, at this point means? Do you think he's still alive at this point?

SANGER: I certainly hope he is. You know, he was being kept in a maximum-security prison. But, as you say, you would -- you would see him show up, as you see in those images right now from months ago, at court hearings.

He is not in the prison where he had been held. As far as we know, his family does not know where he is, where he is been transferred to. Putin has been known to move these critics around. But he is also been known to eliminate critics along the way.

Navalny only is of such a high profile. That it strikes me that eliminating him would be pretty high risk. You know, they had opportunities, obviously, to kill him before -- they tried to before he went back to Russia after surviving a poisoning effort.

But it's a -- it's a real mystery, and the Russians are not answering any questions about it.

JIMENEZ: Yes. Well, David Sanger, thanks for covering a wide array of topics for us. Really appreciate your insight.

SANGER: Great to be with you and happy holidays.

JIMENEZ: Same to you.

All right. Later for us, we are tracking two storm systems that could impact holiday travel for millions of people. The latest forecast just ahead.

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[13:33:53]

JIMENEZ: Two major storm systems out west are set to merge into one and could delay holiday travel for millions of Americans in the Central Plains and Midwest region this weekend.

Joining me now is CNN Meteorologist Chad Myers.

So, Chad, what more can you tell us? What are you seeing?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: You know, it feels an awful lot like Halloween than it does Christmas out there for sure. It's going to be 60 degrees on Christmas Day in St. Louis.

So this is a wetter Christmas than a whiter Christmas, I think. Even though we do have some winter weather advisories in the mountains, not a lot of snow going to be coming down on the interstates. Maybe I-80, I-70 through Nebraska and Kansas.

The bigger story will be the amount of water that might be on the roads, with flash flooding possible. These areas in yellow are all two inches of rain or more in the next 48 hours.

So here's how it shapes up. By morning, yes, if you're driving through the rain here, it will be Dallas, Waco, San Antonio and farther to the east by tomorrow night.

But even for Christmas morning, if you're getting a bike for Christmas in Atlanta, Nashville, St. Louis, may have to try to keep the training wheels on inside. It is going to be a wet Christmas Day here.

[13:35:04]

Now, if we're traveling tomorrow, I don't think it's going to be too bad. Not a lot of people will see a white Christmas. Nobody really the east of Mississippi. Not even, for that matter, Atlantic, Canada. This is going to be warmer than normal for sure. There's the rainfall. Could see some delays tomorrow. Kansas City,

maybe New Orleans, out in Minneapolis. But I'm talking 30-minute delays. No trains, planes and automobiles out here today. Or for that matter tomorrow.

There may be some problems on Tuesday trying to get back home as the rain ends up in the bigger cities.

But look at Chicago, Christmas Day, 55. That is actually warmer than most Halloween nights for sure -- Omar?

JIMENEZ: Literally, Christmas Day last year I was in Chicago covering what I believe was negative windchill past like negative 10.

MYERS: I remember.

JIMENEZ: So to have basically like a 60-degree swing a year later is pretty wild.

Chad Myers, thank you, as always.

MYERS: Yes. See you later.

JIMENEZ: Just ahead, a Christmas gift for holiday shoppers? We are talking the key inflation news revealing some great stuff on the state of the U.S. economy. That's next.

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[13:40:26]

JIMENEZ: It is Super Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year. The National Retail Federation estimates nearly 142 million people are out today getting some last-minute Christmas shopping done.

It's also a huge day for grocery stores as shoppers stock up for holiday meals.

The U.S. Commerce Department says inflation cooled further last month, down to 2.6 percent, meaning, shoppers should expect to save a little more this holiday season.

So here with us, Stew Leonard Jr, the president and CEO of Stew Leonard's Grocery.

Stew, great to see you in your actual store.

Are you seeing food prices fall there?

STEW LEONARD JR., PRESIDENT & CEO, STEW LEONARD's GROCERY: We've seen them level off right now over last year. You have a couple things that are up, a couple things that are down.

Dairy is pretty much the same as last year. A lot of our bakery items are the same as last year. You look at the produce, there's some ups and downs in that, but overall, it's pretty flat. The only thing we've seen increases in is meat this year. I've talked

to ranchers in Kansas and they've reduced the herd sizes of cattle, so it's a supply and demand thing.

But we should see meat prices ease a little bit in the future.

JIMENEZ: Yes, I mean, do you see -- I mean, obviously, there's a lot of people in the store right now. We know people have been frustrated over previous years leading into this with prices of food.

But what is the sense there you've been getting from people? Do they feel like prices have fallen in many of these categories?

LEONARD: Yes, Omar, we have talked to customers right now. You know, during the week, in a normal week, we find customers putting one less item in their shopping carts.

For this holiday right now, they're loading up. You know, we're -- you mentioned 142 million people are out shopping. I think 141 million of them are here at Stew Leonard's today.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: Yes, I could see it's busy behind you. It's motivating me to get out there.

LEONARD: You know what it is? It's all about -- this is an oven ready filet mignon. And these things will do 200,000 pounds of these this week right now.

And then the other thing everybody loves is these little guys right here. We have these lobster tails. They're the same price of $5.99 each, same price as last year.

So you're seeing -- you know people are buying. I know credit card debt is up a lot. But it just seems like there's an exuberance of excitement here about the holiday meal that people are preparing.

JIMENEZ: Yes, and one of the things that you just held up, some of your best sellers there right now.

LEONARD: Yes.

JIMENEZ: But just give me a sense of -- I was out in Wisconsin covering a lot of the midterms. I was out in Michigan covering the midterms there. You talk to folks there and a lot of their big concerns was, you know, at the grocery store. How am I going to pay for the price of eggs and the increase in milk.

Give me a sense of, over the past few years, what have you felt or what have you read is the temperature with shoppers that come in day in and day out there?

LEONARD: Basically, if you look at the Consumer Price Index, it was up 12 percent from like '21 to '22. Now we negotiated with our suppliers and split any increase coming along 50/50. So we were only up 50 percent.

This year, the Consumer Price Index is at a 2 percent increase. We were only up 1 percent here at Stew Leonard's.

So we're trying to do as much as we can for the customer to make it less impactful. But obviously, some of the prices go up.

A talk to a lot of our farmers. They talk about increases in labor rates and fuel prices for their tractors. They talk about feed prices going up. They're getting squeezed. Energy prices. They're getting squeezed, and they just are family farms.

And you know, when they come and they ask you for a little bit of a price increase -- I mean, these are the people that helped me get through Covid. They kept supplying us. We had full shelves.

We have great relationships with our suppliers and we want to continue that.

JIMENEZ: How much of an issue is it, in some of those cases, when the supply chain is more what's being affected, as opposed to some of the concrete actions it sounds like you've been taking there at Stew Leonard's?

LEONARD: We're 80 percent fresh products here at Stew Leonard's. So our prices depend on whether there's rain in California or a drought in the Midwest, the cattle, even rough seas off the coast of Maine or down in New Jersey.

[13:45:12]

So we have to ride that sort of supply and demand curb all the time. Customers have always -- we've always ridden that forever here.

But I would say the inflationary stuff you see, most of it is coming up in the center of the store, where we have all the consumer products in there. I know catsup has gone up a lot. Mayonnaise has gone up a lot. A lot those packaged items, cereal has gone up.

That's where you see a lot of the price increases the most.

JIMENEZ: Yes. And before we go -- we've got to go -- but I just want to -- can you hold up that meat one more time? What was it you were holding up there?

LEONARD: This is an oven-ready filet mignon. Our butchers do this. So you don't have to wait in line. You just come in, it's already trimmed. It's got some rosemary in it. And you pop it in the oven for like 35 minutes.

(CROSSTALK)

JIMENEZ: I'm on my way. I'm on my way.

LEONARD: I got all of our top-selling items on my nail.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

(CROSSTALK)

LEONARD'S: It's dedication. I go to our stores and I ask managers, what are our top-selling items? And they go, oh, wait a minute, let me get a piece of paper out and I'll list it. I say, you don't have to. Look, it's right here. You know?

(LAUGHTER)

LEONARD'S: Here's a glass of wine. I've got filet mignon.

JIMENEZ: I love it.

LEONARD: I got everything on my fingernails.

JIMENEZ: Stew Leonard Jr, thank you so much. Great to see you.

Everybody --

(CROSSTALK)

LEONARD: OK, Omar. Happy holidays to everybody.

JIMENEZ: Same to you.

(LAUGHTER)

JIMENEZ: We'll be back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[13:51:05]

JIMENEZ: From wastewater to tap water. How does that happen? California's State Water Board has approved a regulation that aims to turn recycled sewage into pure drinking water.

It may sound extreme, but officials say it will help fight climate change and cut the state's dependence on the Colorado River. The wastewater would, of course, be extensively treated before going from a flush to the faucet.

But for more perspective, I want to bring Heather Cooley because she's the director of research at The Pacific Institute.

Heather, walk us through this process. How would this actually work?

HEATHER COOLEY, DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE: It's a great question. First, I want to highlight that we are already recycling water in California. We recycle about 25 percent of the wastewater that we generate each year.

Much of that is happening by taking the water and then using it, treating it, using it for irrigation, using it for agriculture.

We are also already treating that water to a high degree and then putting it into groundwater or putting it into reservoirs. And then treating that water again and using it for drinking water.

What these regulations are allowing us to do is to take that highly treated water, using the most-sophisticated technologies we have available to purify that water. And instead of putting it into groundwater or a reservoir, putting it directly into the drinking water system.

So it's using reverse osmosis membranes, it's using advanced oxidation, and it's using carbon filtration. It's really three layers of protection to provide, again, a safe, clean, reliable supply of water.

JIMENEZ: Now, the concept isn't necessarily all too new, but part of the reason it maybe faces criticism early on is people, it's hard for them to get past the initial idea of it, toilet to tap, so to speak.

But it's not really that simple. What has the public's reaction been to the news this time around? Are you seeing differences than maybe when it was first introduced to what we're looking at right now?

COOLEY: Yes, there has been a change. There's been a shift. Initially, there was a yuck factor, I think, particularly back in the 1990s, which is when that phrase "toilet to tap" came about.

But there's been a lot more experience, there's been more comfort with recycled water. We're already using it for lots of different purposes.

What we're seeing is that there's growing public acceptance of recycled water, and now reuse of recycled water, direct reuse of recycled water.

That being said, there's still, I think, a need for greater education and outreach about the technology, about the plants that are already doing this. And I think, with that, we will see public perception and public acceptance grow even further.

JIMENEZ: All right, so let's get past the actual process of it and let's get to why this is actually important or significant. What are the long-term benefits here, especially for a state like California?

COOLEY: Well, as you've rightly pointed out, we are facing real constraints on our water supplies, and that's true in communities across the United States.

But in California in particular, we are heavily dependent on the Colorado River, particularly in southern California. And we know that there is going to be less water available out of that system.

In addition, we're seeing pressure on our groundwater aquifers. We have essentially over-tapped our existing resources, both our rivers and streams and aquifers. So we need to find more reliable supplies of water, and in particular

local supplies of water. That's exactly what recycled water is. It can help to reduce our reliance on imported water.

[13:54:56]

It can even help those systems recover environmentally, right? If we're taking less water out of rivers and streams, those can become healthier.

There's also a benefit into the current places where we discharge our wastewater. Much of our water, we use it once and then we throw it away. We throw it into estuaries and in the oceans. And that water contains a lot of nutrients and it pollutes the waterways.

So buy recycling and reducing that water will not only help augment that water supplies, diversify our water supplies, but we'll also be improving water quality and environmental health in our oceans and our estuaries.

JIMENEZ: Yes, exactly.

Heather Cooley, thank you so much for that perspective. Obviously, we needed it, from the initial of what you see in the title, to actually understanding how it works.

Heather, thank you so much.

COOLEY: Thank you.

JIMENEZ: Of course.

And coming up tomorrow, on a special "STATE OF THE UNION," a look back at climate change this year and what to expect in the years ahead.

Former Vice President Al Gore and billionaire investor, Ray Dalio, join Jake Tapper with how we can all make a difference. "STATE OF THE UNION: A CLIMATE WARNING," airs tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m.

We'll be right back.

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