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Sec. Blinken Pushing for Ceasefire and Hostage Deal in Qatar; Interview with Former Secretary of Defense Under President Clinton and The Cohen Group CEO Former Senator William Cohen; Hezbollah in Lebanon Fires 200 Rockets at Israel; U.S. Tracks Russian Warships En Route to Cuba; House GOP Vote to Advance Garland in Contempt Measure; U.S. Consumer Inflation Slows in May; Southern Baptist Convention Crucial Vote Underway. Aired 10:30-11a ET

Aired June 12, 2024 - 10:30   ET

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

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[10:30:00]

JIM ACOSTA, CNN ANCHOR: And joining me now is William Cohen a former Republican senator who served as defense secretary during the Clinton administration Mr. Secretary great to see as always. Thanks for being with us Your sense of things in terms of Tony Blinken's trip right now, how he's handling this and this push for a ceasefire deal? It seems like it's one step forward, two steps back on a lot of these things. Where do you think -- where do you see things right now?

FMR. SEN. WILLIAM COHEN (R), FORMER SECRETARY OF DEFENSE UNDER PRESIDENT CLINTON AND CEO, THE COHEN GROUP: Well, I think the Biden plan is the best that we've seen put forward because it anticipates, number one, the hostages will back, the hostages will be released. Palestinian prisoners will be released. There'll be a ceasefire. And there'll be a process for having a set of independence date for the Palestinians, which they are entitled to and should have.

So, what's frustrating about this, and I think anyone who gets involved in the Middle East diplomacy, it will either harden your heart or break it. From Henry Kissinger to Odom Powell, John Kerry, Senator Mitchell, all who have put their shoulder against the wheel and pushed it toward a settlement have been unsuccessful. And I think Tony Blinken is at that point right now where he said, everything is ready. And so, it's almost a snatching something from a the "Peanuts" cartoon, and Lucy just snaps the ball away at the last second.

ACOSTA: Yes.

COHEN: Only it's not a cartoon, it's a catastrophe. But I think the mistake that -- in my judgment, has been made is the notion that the Israelis have agreed to it. When Sinwar sees that the Israelis are on board or seem to be on board, that gives him in his mind leverage, saying, now, I can hold back and demand more. So, I think at this particular point, I think this is why Bibi Netanyahu has not publicly said he's for it.

The moment he does, he's got a problem on his right in terms of the abandonment of the far-right. So, they can take the government down. And so, he's held back. And I think what's happening here, Sinwar is misreading the public opinion, maybe with the Palestinians right now. But if they reject this opportunity, public opinion will turn against them.

ACOSTA: Well, and one of the other questions that I have, Bill, is this issue of what happens to Gaza after the war finally comes to an end? There's been a lot of talk in terms of the sticking points and the ceasefire deal over hostages and how long the ceasefire will be and so on. But there's this whole other issue of, what happens to Gaza? And there's just no clear sign as to what that's going to be.

COHEN: Well, the Palestinians have to be in and own Gaza. And the other Arab states, be it UAE, be it Qatar, be it Saudi Arabia, have to make an investment to rebuild Gaza. That is prime territory for the Palestinians, that plus the West Bank.

And so, the Arab states have to be committed, I believe they are, to turning Gaza into a modern part of the Palestinian State combined with the West Bank. That's the ultimate goal. And so, I think this is -- Sinwar is making a big mistake because Bibi Netanyahu, right now, is not committed publicly. But once he comes to the United States Congress and gives a speech, he will have the Congress on board with him and not with the Biden administration. So, he's misreading this, the best chance he'll have.

But you have to understand, he doesn't want to have a two-state solution. He doesn't want to have the Israelis alive and existing as a separate state. So, dealing with him is almost a mission impossible because he doesn't want a solution, other than the destruction of Israel.

ACOSTA: And what about the issue of Hezbollah? I mean, they say they're retaliating for Israel killing one of its commanders yesterday, releasing -- or unleashing, I should say, these barrages of rockets on Northern Israel. That is a whole other part of this and a whole other dimension to this.

[10:35:00]

COHEN: It's another dimension in which, once again, the Palestinians will lose on this issue. If the Israelis have to go to war on the northern part of their state against Hezbollah, that will take the focus off what's going on in Gaza. More Palestinians will die. And if Sinwar thinks that's good, we'll have more, tens of hundreds of thousands even Palestinians will die. The world will be looking at what's going on with Hezbollah. Oh, they're making a big mistake.

The Israelis now are really seen as the problem and not really seen as the problem -- proposal or some modifications of it that are acceptable to the Israelis and to others. Then, I think, we have a chance for a settlement. Barring that, I think Sinwar says, I've got the public on my side and they're going to be with me forever. And I think that he's making a big, big mistake.

ACOSTA: All right. Former Secretary of Defense Bill Cohen, as always, thanks so much. Great to see you again. Appreciate it.

COHEN: Thank you, Jim. Good to be with you.

ACOSTA: All right. Right now, growing tensions only 100 miles off the Florida Coast, a Russian warship. Take a look at this. And a nuclear submarine just arrived in Havana, Cuba. Russia's defense ministry says the ship is normally equipped with hypersonic missiles. It's part of a four-ship convoy heading into the islands.

Water is there while sailing into Cuba, Russia has been conducting military exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean. A Pentagon spokesperson telling CNN these deployments are part of Russia's routine naval operations, pose no direct threat to the United States. But this all comes as the Biden administration has given Ukraine permission to carry out limited strikes inside Russia with U.S. weapons.

CNN's Patrick Oppmann joins us now. Patrick, this is -- I mean, you know, we know these sorts of things have happened before. The Pentagon is essentially saying no big deal, but that is unnerving to see this and coming into the port in Havana.

PATRICK OPPMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: See right over my shoulder, Jim. The symbolism really is inescapable. That is a nuclear-powered submarine, just over my shoulder, the Kazan, it came in moments ago before we came on air with you. And there it is.

And so, yes, submarines have made ports of call to Cuba throughout the years, certainly very frequently during the Cold War. Never this publicly known that I've spoken to this morning ever remembers a submarine coming out of the water, into the port for all to see. Vladimir Putin has sent some of his most modern, sophisticated naval weaponry to Cuba this week. And it has been shadowed closely by U.S. military assets as you would expect.

And, of course, while the U.S. says there's no direct threat, Cuban officials say that these ships are not carrying any nuclear weapons. This comes at a time when Vladimir Putin says to the U.S., if you're going to put high-tech weaponry on my borders, I can do the same to you.

And increasingly, we're hearing Cuban officials back Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine as they receive more oil and food and promises of Russian investment. So, it does feel like a very much a blast from the past, even if though the Soviet Union, of course, is long gone, even if though It's a very important part of and billions of dollars will not flow ever again from Russia to Cuba. This is a country that is literally trying to keep the lights on.

At the moment, Russia is one of the better allies they have. And today, you were seeing them repay the favor by letting this extraordinary convoy of Russian vessels into the port just behind me.

ACOSTA: Fascinating and just remarkable to see these kinds of images there in Havana, Cuba. Patrick Oppmann, as always, always appreciate your reporting from the island. Patrick, thank you so much. Coming up, welcome news on the inflation front, but will this make a difference in your wallet at the grocery store? That's what we're all hoping for, for those prices to come down at the supermarket. We'll talk about that next.

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ACOSTA: Right now, up on Capitol Hill, House Republicans are moving forward in their plan to hold Merrick Garland and the attorney general in contempt. That's after the attorney general and the Justice Department refused to turn over audio tapes of President Biden's interview with the Special Counsel Robert Hur. But a source tells CNN a handful of Republicans aren't so sure about supporting the resolution.

CNN Congressional Correspondent Lauren Fox joins us now. Lauren, take us inside what's happening in the chamber right now. What's going on?

LAUREN FOX, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes. So, right now, the House is preparing to vote to advance the Garland contempt through a rule vote. We are still waiting to see what their plan is for the actual and underlying resolution that would hold Merrick Garland, the attorney general, in contempt of Congress.

But leadership is gaining confidence that they are going to have the votes to get that done this week. Speaker Johnson saying in a press conference just a few moments ago that he is confident that they will be able to finish this up.

Now, we are waiting to see what time that vote gets scheduled today. But, you know, this was the explanation from Speaker Johnson on why he thinks it needs to happen sooner than later.

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REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R-LA), HOUSE SPEAKER: And the contempt of Merrick Garland is a very important principle here. This week on the House floor, as you heard, Chairman Jordan and our leader and our whip discuss, we'll be holding Attorney General Garland in contempt of Congress.

He is refusing to comply with a lawful subpoena, and that's a problem under Article 1. We have to defend the Constitution. We have to defend the authority of Congress. We can't allow the Department of Justice, an executive branch agency, to hide information from Congress.

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[10:45:00]

FOX: And just to remind viewers at home, Jim, this is all stemming from the fact that House Republicans have requested the audio tapes of Special Counsel Robert Hur's interview with President Joe Biden. The transcripts have been released, but they say they want that underlying audio tape as well, to check the transcript and make sure it's correct, Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Lauren Fox up on Capitol Hill, really appreciate it. In the meantime, a new inflation report might have you breathing a sigh of relief. The latest Consumer Price Index report shows that price increases slowed more than expected in May, marking the first time in nearly two years that the consumer inflation did not go up on a monthly basis.

CNN's Matt Egan joins me now to discuss. Matt, it's not going down far enough. Everybody knows that, but it is cooling and that's a good sign. That's good news. What does the data tell us?

MATT EGAN, CNN REPORTER: Yes, Jim, it shows progress, much needed progress with frankly, the biggest sore spot in this economy, the cost of living. So, consumer prices, they went up by 3.3 percent year over year in May. That's not good. That's not a healthy number. But it is progress, that is improvement from the month before, and of course, from two years ago, when this figure was above 9 percent.

Month over month, prices did not budge. As you mentioned, we haven't seen that in almost two years. This was a big surprise. It beat expectations. It was driven by the fact that we've seen price drops for gasoline, for clothing, for airfare and new cars.

Now, when we zoom out, inflation, of course, is not solved. Life remains a lot more expensive than it was just a few years ago, and we're not going to turn the clock back on those price hikes. But, Jim, this is a step in the right direction. I would argue a significant one.

ACOSTA: And grocery store bills, how are they going?

EGAN: Well, food prices, that has been such a sore spot for all of us, right? We feel it at the checkout aisle, we feel it when we get the bill at restaurants, but there were some encouraging developments on that front as well. We saw that food prices, they went up by 2.1 percent, that is slower than the overall rate of inflation. That's actually the smallest increase year over year since March of 2020.

Grocery prices up by 1 percent. Restaurant prices still going up fast, but 4 percent, that is actually a three-year low for this figure. And when you look into some of the specific items that you might be buying at the grocery store, again, some things are going up rather quickly, like meat prices, eggs, still 3 percent.

But there were also some signs of progress there as well. Look at baby food, 2.5 percent more expensive than a year ago. That's the slowest rate we've seen in almost three years. Milk prices were actually down. And look at that, apples were 13 percent cheaper than a year ago, biggest drop that we've seen in 15 years.

So, I think when you put it all together, again, there's some progress here. Whether or not it's enough is another question, right? Is this going to be enough to satisfy voters who are obviously and understandably frustrated with the cost of living? I don't know. And is it going to be enough for the Federal Reserve as the Fed meets in the next few hours and tries to decide whether or not they're going to rate lower, lower interest rates later this year.

And obviously, Jim, there's a lot at stake there when it comes to things like the cost to get a mortgage and car loans and credit cards. So, that will be a major development later on today that we'll be waiting to see from Fed Chair Jerome Powell.

ACOSTA: All right. My wallet is letting out a sigh of relief a little bit there, Matt. All right. Matt Egan, thanks. I'll stock up on some apples while they're so cheap right now as well. Matt, thanks a lot.

EGAN: Don't do too much that the prices go up, Jim.

ACOSTA: Yes, there you -- that's true. Good point. All right. Matt, thanks a lot.

EGAN: Thanks, Jim.

ACOSTA: Coming up, a crucial vote underway at the Southern Baptist Convention as women pastors could be a thing of the past. We'll talk about that next.

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[10:50:00]

ACOSTA: Today, the largest Protestant denomination in the United States is voting to formally ban churches with women pastors. The Southern Baptist Convention's doctrine states only men can serve in leadership positions within congregations. Members of the SBC voted yesterday to oust a historic Virginia church that has women pastors.

CNN Senior National Correspondent Ryan Young joins me now. Ryan, how is this vote going to turn out? What's the anticipation there?

RYAN YOUNG, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, the anticipation, Jim, good to see you, is playing out where they believe this will happen today. There are over 10,000 members that plan to vote in this. In fact, looking down at the clock here, it was about 11 minutes ago when this vote finally did happen.

More than 10,000 votes cast. It'll take some time to go through these votes. But like you said, as you look in right now, as someone's at the mic there, they last year voted already to sort of move away from having female pastors. This is a part of their constitution. And of course, you also brought the fact that a church in Virginia was already ousted yesterday when this convention first started.

This is a very large group, over 13 million members. But take a listen to the battle as one of the members from the church from Virginia talks about the ousting that happened just yesterday.

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ROBERT STEPHENS, SENIOR PASTOR OF 1ST BAPTIST CHURCH OF ALEXANDRIA: Women have had a prominent role within the ministry and pastoral positions within the leadership of 1st Alexandria for over 44 years. 1st Alexandria stands before you today as a testament that we can maintain a fruitful partnership with churches that take a different stance on women and ministry.

JONATHAN SAMS, CHAIR OF CREDENTIALS COMMITTEE, SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION: We find no joy in making this recommendation, but have formed the opinion that the church's egalitarian beliefs regarding the office of pastor do not closely identify with the convention's adopted statement of faith.

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[10:55:00]

YOUNG: Now, Jim, CNN is doing some reporting, has seen more than a hundred churches across the country have women in pastoral roles. So, you understand this could have some big impact. This also could have impact with a lot of the black churches that are in this group because there are a lot of female pastors who are serving across the country.

So again, this vote happening just in the last 12 minutes or so. We are continuing to watch this. And when that vote results come out, we plan to bring them to you. Jim.

ACOSTA: All right. Very important story. Ryan Young, thank you very much. And thanks to all of you for joining us this morning. I'm Jim Acosta. Our next hour "Newsroom with Wolf Blitzer" starts after a short break.

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