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CNN This Morning
Rare Tornadoes Near Chicago; Selling Bidenomics. Aired 6:30-7a ET
Aired July 13, 2023 - 06:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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[06:30:34]
PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN ANCHOR: Well, happening right now, you're looking at President Biden, just moments ago, meeting in Helsinki, Finland, at the Nordic summit, meeting with critical leaders in the Nordic countries, including the Finish president, Sauli Niinisto, the newest member of NATO. The 31st member. Sweden's leader also there. They will be the 32nd very shortly. It's an opportunity for the countries to bolster security cooperation amid threats for Russia and China. We're going to be keeping an eye on this meeting. We'll bring you the latest throughout the course of the morning.
PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: And new overnight, rare tornadoes ripping through towns just miles outside of Chicago.
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BROWN: The National Weather Service confirming multiple twisters touched down near the city last night. This one right here tearing through a field in Elgin, about 30 miles northwest of Chicago. But at least one tornado touched down just 12 miles outside the city.
CNN's Adrienne Broaddus is live in Chicago for us this morning.
Adrienne, what more do we know about the damage here?
ADRIENNE BROADDUS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, good morning to you.
Elgin is just one of those locations where the National Weather Service says tornadoes touched down. The damage is widespread. Even though these storms were powerful, as you can see from the images here, there are no reported injuries.
We heard from witnesses who were caught in the middle. Here's what they had to say.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The tornado come right out of the sky. It was over our car. It was spinning. I was - I seen two guys taking a film and I'm looking up and here it comes down towards our car. I move my car over and it just rolled right over us and it just started destroying everything.
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BROADDUS: So, it destroyed some property and also halted air travel for a moment. And folks who were passing through O'Hare International Airport were told to shelter in place.
Today, the cleanup begins.
Pamela.
BROWN: All right, Adrienne Broaddus, thanks so much.
MATTINGLY: Also new this morning, Pennsylvania officials increasing the reward to almost $20,000 for the capture of escaped inmate Michael Burham. State police say the 34-year-old is wanted for kidnap, murder, arson and carjacking and he's considered armed and dangerous. The self-taught survivalist escaped through a hole in the roof last Thursday using bed sheets - you can see them right there, to repel down. Officials are searching surveillance cameras and looking at several clues.
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LT. COL. GEORGE BIVENS, PENNSYLVANIA STATE POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMISSIONER OF OPERATIONS: Just prior to the escape there was a drone flying in that area. It could also be that it was somehow connected to his escape.
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MATTINGLY: Burham's ex-girlfriend says he's previously set her car on fire. She tells CNN affiliate WICU, she's in protective custody while he's on the loose.
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NICHOLE, MICHAEL BURHAM'S EX-GIRLFRIEND: It's either going to end because he is exhausted, dehydrated, starving and he comes out because of that, or it's going to end with a body bag.
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MATTINGLY: Police are interviewing - are also interviewing possible accomplices in the case and believe Burham is still in Warren County.
BROWN: The last American standing now out of the men's singles at Wimbledon. A look at Christopher Eubanks' inspiring underground run at the tournament just ahead.
Plus -
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We hit a major turbulence, which was petrifying.
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MATTINGLY: Four people were injured after a Florida-bound Allegiant Air flight hit severe turbulence. How the passengers describe what they experienced. That's coming up ahead.
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[06:38:18]
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And that will do it. Danilil Medvedev in five sets. Moves into his first Wimbledon semi-final and ends the Cinderella run.
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MATTINGLY: That would be clear, ends the Cinderella run, this chapter of it.
BROWN: Yes.
MATTINGLY: The Cinderella story for American tennis player Christopher Eubanks. He lost his quarter final match yesterday at Wimbledon against Russia's Danilil Medvedev, currently ranked number three in the world. But let's put this in context. Eubanks proved it's definitely not going to be the last you'll see of him.
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CHRIS EUBANKS, PROFESSIONAL TENNIS PLAYER: I definitely believe alto more in my ability to contend with some of the best players in the world. It's tough to really know until you've played some of the best players in the world.
I've seen how my game can stack up against them, how I can disrupt them, how I can frustrate them.
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MATTINGLY: Joining us now, CNN sports analyst, "USA Today" sports columnist, Ottawa Hills Green Bear, Christine Brennan.
CHRISTINE BRENNAN, CNN SPORTS ANALYST: Fellow Green Bear.
MATTINGLY: We went to the same high school.
BRENNAN: Yes.
MATTINGLY: Chris, so, this has been my favorite story of a long time. It will probably be eclipsed by the Women's World Cup, but I have absolutely loved and embraced and consumed everything I could possible about Christopher Eubanks.
Talk about the meeting of -- why did this story capture people's attention? BRENNAN: One, I think we haven't seen an African American man win
Wimbledon since Arthur Ashe in 1975. So, two generations, right? An American man hasn't won Wimbledon at all since Pete Sampras in 2000. So, the women, of course, have dominated. The Williams sisters. But the idea that an American man could actually win Wimbledon again, I think that's fantastic.
This young man has kind of always been out there, but he has never had the confidence.
[06:40:03]
He's admitted this, Phil, that he said, you know, I just didn't know if I belonged. So, he's been talking to people like Naomi Osaka and Coco Gauff, who have been pumping him up to get to this point. He also has never liked grass. He called it the stupidest surface possible. And then he goes and wins the preliminary tournament right before - before Wimbledon.
MATTINGLY: Mallorca.
BRENNAN: Yes, exactly, Mallorca.
So now he comes in with a full head of steam. He's six foot seven. He is 20 - what, 27 years old and he has the run of his life. And you're right, it's about the potential. Because he's so good, and he has his head screwed on straight. And by the way, you know what he's doing in his other job is to be a tennis channel commentator.
MATTINGLY: (INAUDIBLE). Right. Which he thought he might have to shoot to full time.
BROWN: And he learned from that, right? He said he learned from being a commentator and watching other players play and analyzing and that's -
BRENNAN: Exactly. So I think it means all of us now might have to try to make a Wimbledon run.
MATTINGLY: Clearly, U.S. Open, we're coming.
BROWN: Clearly. Yes, watch out world.
BRENNAN: Right. Yes.
BROWN: No, it's so beautiful. It really is. It was a beautiful run. And as Phil said, this is just one chapter, right? I mean it really -
BRENNAN: Oh, I think so.
BROWN: It's exciting to think about what the future holds for him.
BRENNAN: Pamela, absolutely. And, you know what, he seems to get it, right? That sometimes we're sick of athletes who seem full of themselves or a little too much or whatever. He is us. You know, when you hear him talk, when you see him do the interviews, when you see him play, it's almost like, well, that's the kid next door. That's - you can -- you can find a reason to cheer for this young man almost more than - than some of the others who might be throwing a tantrum or a fit. He deserves it. He's put in his time. And now he's there. And to watch him move forward I think will be fantastic.
MATTINGLY: I just want my kids to watch his press conference yesterday. I thought it was very powerful and very kind of head on straight, to your point.
BRENNAN: It (INAUDIBLE).
MATTINGLY: I do want to ask you, on the other side of the draw, the women's side, there's also a spectacular story. Ukraine's Elina Svitolina has been making headlines, advanced to the semi- final, but also, you know, where she came from in particular with the conflict that's ongoing there, but also having just given birth in October.
I want to play something that she said about the war itself.
BRENNAN: Sure.
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ELINA SVITOLINA, UKRAINIAN TENNIS PLAYER: I think war made me stronger and also made me like mentally - mentally stronger and mentally -- you know, I - I don't take difficult situations as a like disaster, you know, because, you know, there -- there are worse things in - in life.
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BRENNAN: Yes, you know, I think this is a Netflix documentary in the making when you consider - and I'm not making - saying that in jest. From Ukraine. She has vowed she would not shake hands with any Belarusian or Russian player, and there are several in the tournament.
She, as you said, she just gave birth. So, she had her daughter in October. She's just come back to tennis in April. And here she is having the run of her life.
And just like Eubanks, it's one of those stories that if people are kind of sick of sports or sick of hearing about contracts or steroids or whatever, you look at this and you say, boy, this is about as good as it gets. To see this woman playing her best, again, the perspective she has and, of course, knowing what it means to her and her fellow Ukrainians.
MATTINGLY: Does she win today?
BRENNAN: I think she wins today. And then she's in the Wimbledon final.
MATTINGLY: There we go. There we go.
BROWN: Crazy. There you go. All right.
MATTINGLY: Put money down. Let's gamble. But if you do, Chris Brennan has given you advice.
Christine Brennan, it's great to see you.
BROWN: Thank you.
BRENNAN: You too. Thank you.
BROWN: And up next hour, tennis sensation Chris Eubanks will join us himself after ending his Wimbledon dream. How he's feeling this morning. Can't wait for this segment. Favorite one of the morning.
MATTINGLY: So excited. So excited.
BROWN: Just ahead.
And inflation falling for a twelfth straight month, even after the Federal Reserve paused its aggressive rate hike. So, do our experts think Bidenomics is working?
MATTINGLY: Plus, our own Wolf Blitzer just sat down with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin moments ago. What he told Wolf about Ukraine's future in NATO. That's coming up next.
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[06:47:59]
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: But guess what? Bidenomics is working.
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MATTINGLY: Remember that? You're probably going to be hearing it a lot more. It was a comment President Biden made two weeks ago. It raised some eyebrows. Republicans thought it was an attack line made for them. Some Democrats didn't necessarily love the tag line. But now the White House has got some news that could definitely bolster that claim.
The rate of inflation slowed to 3 percent year-over-year in June. That's according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's a sharp difference from this time last year when inflation had spiked to over 9 percent. Wall Street pretty stoked about the news. All major indices closing up yesterday.
Now, when President Biden unveiled his 2024 sales pitch for Bidenomics two weeks ago, Republicans have said they saw that tag line ripe for potential political attack, coopting it to describe the not-so-bright spots of the current economy. Democrats, they were grumbling a little bit. Even Biden seemed to hesitate to full embrace the moniker.
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JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I've got asked by a press person this morning getting on the helicopter in Washington, why -- when I asked about Bidenomics a long time ago you said you didn't know what it was. I said, I didn't name it Bidenomics. I didn't (ph) realize the economist in "The Wall Street Journal" did. But I think it's a plan that I'll - I'm happy to call Bidenomics.
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MATTINGLY: He's getting there. It took some time. He wasn't - he wasn't fully all in there for a couple weeks.
Well, here to discuss the news on inflation, Bidenomics generally, "Bloomberg News" White House correspondent Akayla Gardner, "New York Times" Federal Reserve and economy reporter Jeanna Smialek, and "Reuter's" White House correspondent Jeff Mason.
Mason, I've got to warn you, man, current and two former "Bloomberg" people with a "Reuter's" guys.
JEFF MASON, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "REUTER'S": Yes.
MATTINGLY: There's a wires battle going on here.
MASON: I can hold my own in the wires battle.
BROWN: No doubt.
MASON: You guys give me a try.
MATTINGLY: Let's test this.
Jeanna, I think the question right now is, two things can be true here. That was a very good number yesterday. There is no question about it. And yet, particularly if you look through kind of the various sectors, prices are still high, the American people haven't responded when you look at polling in terms of how people are feeling right now. What's your takeaway for the actual tangible impact when it comes to inflation right now?
JEANNA SMIALEK, FEDERAL RESERVE AND ECONOMY REPORTER, "THE NEW YORK TIMES": Yes, so this was an incredibly hopeful report, but not one that says that we are past this period.
[06:50:05]
You know, 3 percent is great. It's a third of where we were last summer. But if you take out food and fuel, which are pretty volatile, they move around a lot month to month, we're still at 4.8 percent inflation. And so I think that this is great news. Probably the best inflation report we have gotten in this sort of inflationary period. But it's not the end of the road yet.
BROWN: And it's important to note too about the wage growth, right? That wage growth is notably outpacing inflation for the first time since March 2021 I believe. It's up more than 4 percent in the past year. So, how significant is that. How should we view that in the context of everything? AKAYLA GARDNER, WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT, "BLOOMBERG NEWS": I think
specifically for high income earners their wage growth has been significant. But for folks that are on fixed income or minimum wage, they are not seeing those same effects. And when you have high prices on groceries and things like clothes, they are not getting some of those things priced in when they're going to the grocery store, where they are paying for rent. And so they're not really feeling the effects that Biden talks about when he says Americans are better off now than they were before the pandemic.
MATTINGLY: Jeff, to that point, I think it's always the interesting one, because there was such a kind of laser focus on the lower quartile when it comes to this administration and how they were trying to - trying to spread around, what's Biden say, the trickle-down economics is what he hates.
MASON: Yes.
MATTINGLY: He wants to bottom-up (INAUDIBLE). I should have memorize that based on the three million times I've heard it.
MASON: We've heard it.
MATTINGLY: Over the course of the last two and a half years. But the idea itself, when you look at the broader economy in terms of the scale of the recovery, the durability of that recovery and the general economy. If you compare the U.S. to other G-7 countries, both on inflation and on growth and on jobs, it's outpacing all of the nearest competitors and yet, and I think my question, particularly with talking about the wage growth is, when does this start to settle in and sink in, or does it?
MASON: Well, and I think that's the - the fear hanging over the economy, hanging over Americans who may be seeing some of these really positive numbers but still not entirely feeling it at home. It's also the political sort of sword hanging over the Biden campaign.
MATTINGLY: (INAUDIBLE).
MASON: Thank you for that. Thank you.
MATTINGLY: (INAUDIBLE).
MASON: That - that is a concern. You know, I think the Biden folks have a great story to tell and it just so happens that it's coming right after this branding pitch with Bidenomics. They, to some extent, I thought it was ironic that President Biden was overseas yesterday.
MATTINGLY: Right.
MASON: You know, talking and negotiating about NATO when he probably would have very much like to have been in Washington or gone out and done a big, big statement about the - the inflation report. That said, he'll have another opportunity and he will no doubt talk about that.
But there are still concerns among not just political people, but average Americans, all of us, about some of the underlying issues in the economy that haven't gone away.
BROWN: Go ahead.
GARDNER: I think one thing that Democrats are hoping is that the economy is not the end-all, be-all, right?
We saw in the midterms that the economy was this huge issue but things like abortion, threats to democracy, were just as important, if not more important for some voters. And I think they're sort of still hoping. And that's why we're seeing Biden center freedom, abortion, these other topics in his campaign pitch as well.
BROWN: Yes, that makes sense.
And I'm just wondering, as someone who's not an expert like you all are on the economy, what all of this means. You know, there was so much talk about a recession, possible recessions. How does that fit into the picture? Does it - does it give you more hope that there won't be?
SMIALEK: Yes, so I think that this report yesterday was probably a very good sign in that direction. We are not guaranteed to miss a recession at this point, but it does mean that the Federal Reserve might not have to do quite as much with interest rates, might not have to hit the brakes on the economy as hard as they otherwise would have to, to get inflation down, which definitely improves our changes of missing a recession.
That said, I do think that for people at home there's still that concern hanging over their heads. And beyond that we still do have 3 percent inflation on top of 9 percent inflation last year. What that means is that prices are still going up. So they've already gone up a lot and they are still increasing, which I think is maybe why we're not seeing some of that relief in the voter and in the consumer confidence statistics yet.
I still think for those at home that still have a concern, and beyond that, we still have 3% inflation on top of 5% inflation. That means prices are still going up. They've gone up a lot and they are still going up. That might be why we are not seeing that relief with consumer confidence just yet.
MATTINGLY: Jeanna, can I ask you, just because I'm curious, we're out of time and so naturally I'm going to keep talking, which infuriates the control room, but I love this topic and they know that. Lael Brainard, the National Economic Council director's speech yesterday where she kind of took a shot at those who thought there would have to be significant job loss in order to tame inflation. Yes, it's a very kind of weedsy to some degree. But this battle - give us the juice on this.
SMIALEK: Yes.
MATTINGLY: Like, I love this fight.
SMIALEK: This was Lael Brainard's victory lap speech yesterday. She just - it was very -- she took a couple of shots at people who have been saying that the economy couldn't do it, we had to see higher unemployment, there was absolutely no way inflation could come down without it. She was just kind of owning them throughout this speech because she has been arguing for years now, including when she was vice chair at the Fed -
MATTINGLY: At the Fed, yes.
SMIALEK: Before she became the National Economic Council director, that you could get this kind of moderation, that you could see a world where things came down. And she thinks that if, you know, corporations kind of get in line, stop trying to pad their profits so much, you could see the rest of the disinflation.
[06:55:05]
And so yesterday's report was very good news for the White House. It was particularly good news for Lael Brainard.
MATTINGLY: (INAUDIBLE).
BROWN: All right. Did you get your fix? Are you good? OK.
MATTINGLY: I'm so happy right now.
BROWN: I don't know about the control room, but I'm glad that you're happy.
All right, thank you all so much. Akayla, Jeanna, Jeff, thanks so much.
MATTINGLY: Thanks, guys. Appreciate it.
All right, coming up -
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WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: So you have no doubt that after the war Ukraine will become a member of NATO?
LLOYD AUSTIN, DEFENSE SECRETARY: I have no doubt that that will happen.
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MATTINGLY: That's Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin sitting down with our Wolf Blitzer. That exclusive interview coming up next.
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